Sponge: Welcome back everyone! We're getting into the plot now, so I hope you all enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, and Hanna Barbera.

Chapter 4: They Told You About Us

Because there were twelve of them, they couldn't all fit in Ricky and Cassidy's sedan. So Shaggy and Scooby rode with them, while Velma, Daphne, and Fred waited with Brad, Judy, and Nova to rent a car.

"We'll meet you at the beach house!" Brad called as Ricky and Cassidy left the airport with Shaggy and Scooby in tow.

Shaggy couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief as he and Scooby stepped outside into the Californian sun. It was good to see his friends – seriously, he'd missed them a lot – but it had also been a bit jarring. Especially seeing Velma. Looking like…that.

"...So…" Scooby said softly.

Shaggy shot him a warning glare. "Like not now Scoob," he growled out of the corner of his mouth.

Scooby shrugged and loped after Ricky and Cassidy, who hadn't heard any of the pair's exchange.

Shaggy sighed. It wasn't Scooby's fault. Scooby had known this would happen from the jump.

"It's like, not going to be a big deal," Shaggy had assured him last week, as they'd packed for the trip.

"Res it is," Scooby had replied knowingly.

And look at that, he'd been right.

Shaggy had really thought he was over Velma. They'd been broken up for months now. But it had been easier to pretend when they hadn't been in the same state. Now, they were about to be living in the same house for a whole week.

And Shaggy had to contend with the fact that it was indeed going to be a big deal.

x.X.x

The beach house, which wasn't that far from the airport, was amazing. It was just one story, but there was plenty of space both inside and out. The back door opened right out onto the sand, and the ocean was only ten yards away. The kitchen (Shaggy's and Scooby's favorite room in any house) was airy and open. The furnished living space was cozy. A back door led to a sunny screened-in patio. Further into the house were four bedrooms, two with queen-sized beds, one with a full-size, and one with two twin beds.

Shaggy took the twin room so he and Scooby would have a bit more space to spread out. Ricky and Cassidy had their own place not far away, so they wouldn't need to stay overnight. He imagined Brad and Judy would want one of the queen rooms and Daphne and Fred would want the other one. He hoped Velma would be okay with the double bed. He hoped that he would be okay that their rooms were right next door to each other, and shared a wall.

When the others arrived, everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the space.

"We're going to have great weather for most of your visit," Ricky explained as he helped carry luggage through the door. "It's supposed to be rainy on Wednesday, but every other day this week should be sunny and warm – perfect beach weather!"

As Fred and Daphne lugged their suitcases through the house, Velma slung her duffel bag over her shoulder to follow them. Shaggy averted his gaze as she passed by him, determined not to stare at her legs. It was not fair how spectacular she looked.

It didn't take very long for everyone to unpack, and it was still a bit early for dinner. Ricky and Cassidy sat on a couch in the living room chatting with Brad and Judy until the rest of the gang returned.

"Come in, have a seat!" Brad called to them, gesturing them into the room. "We have a little time before dinner – thought it might be nice to catch up with everyone."

The gang took seats around the room, with Fred and Daphne opting for a loveseat while Velma and Shaggy claimed armchairs on opposite sides of the room from each other. The dogs settled at the feet of the humans, looking content.

"So," said Judy to Fred, Daphne, and Velma. "We see Shaggy and Scooby all the time, but we'd love to know what you all have been up to this year!"

"Well, as you know, I officially declared my major," Fred announced excitedly. They did already know this – Fred emailed or called Brad and Judy every now and then with important life updates – but he was still proud.

"Mechanical engineering, right?" asked Velma. The rest of the gang also already knew this. Fred was by far the most active in the group chat, texting the others with news both big and small, just as a good leader should.

Fred nodded. "Yep. All my expertise building traps is finally about to pay off."

"That's fantastic, son," Brad beamed. "We're so proud of you. And so is the mayor."

It continually floored Shaggy that there was no bad blood between Fred's adoptive father or his birth parents. They all got along exceedingly well – in fact, they regularly all spent Thanksgiving and Christmas together, with Brad and Judy coming to Coolsville for the holidays along with Shaggy and Scooby.

"He has an internship lined up at an architecture firm for the second half of the summer," Daphne added proudly. Even though she and Fred went to different schools, they always kept each other abreast of what was going on in their lives. Daphne had been Fred's first call when he'd decided to declare his major, and she was the first one he'd told when he'd gotten the internship offer. She was so proud of him, so happy for him. He'd seemed adrift his first year at college, but he was starting to come into his own now.

"That's wonderful!" Cassidy exclaimed.

"Well speaking of internships," Fred said, glancing over at his girlfriend. "Daphne has a pretty exciting one lined up for next fall."

"Roo do?" Scooby asked inquisitively. The gang had known about Fred's internship, but they hadn't heard about this yet.

Daphne chuckled. "I just found out a few days ago. Freddie's the only one I told, because he was with me when I got the call. I wanted to tell the rest of you in person." She looked at her friends. "So you know my journalism elective I took last year?"

The gang nodded collectively. Daphne was an acting major at NYU but had taken a journalism elective back in the fall. She'd figured it would just be an interesting class to take to fill up space in her schedule, but she had unexpectedly fallen in love with it.

"My professor knows people at a broadcast studio in the city," she told her friends now. "They're looking for interns, so she convinced me to put my name in the hat, and I got it!"

Everyone jumped up to hug and shower congratulations on Daphne.

"That's incredible!"

"Good for you, Daph!"

"Like way to go!"

"Ra-hoo!"

Daphne beamed under their praise, and Fred smiled broadly, just as proud of her as she was of him. Daphne wasn't sure if she wanted to make broadcast journalism a career, but she had been surprised by how much she'd loved her elective. Fred had encouraged her to go for the internship after she'd told him her professor had recommended her, and he was glad she'd done it.

"When does it begin?" asked Judy.

"I don't start until I go back to school," Daphne replied. "So I'll have a lot to juggle with both the internship and my regular classes. I'm sure I'll be able to handle it, but I'll definitely be busy."

"Like you're telling me," Shaggy remarked. "I feel like this is my first chance to breathe since I got that job at the restaurant."

"How's that going?" asked Ricky.

"It's great," Shaggy replied honestly. "The rest of the kitchen staff are like, a little rough around the edges, but they're good people. It's definitely where I can see myself after graduation. But like, maybe not long term."

Velma perked her head up. This was news to her. Had Shaggy told the others something he hadn't told her? Not that she'd blame him – they were broken up after all – but they were still friends. Weren't they?

But Fred and Daphne also looked perplexed. Only Scooby seemed unfazed.

"What do you mean?" asked Fred.

Shaggy gestured to Daphne. "I kind of had a similar experience that you had last semester, only instead of a journalism elective, it was my required restaurant management course. I did like, way better in it than I thought I would. And I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, too. And I think…I don't know. It like, might be cool to own a restaurant one day, instead of just working in one."

Velma's eyebrows shot up. That was the most ambitious thing Shaggy had ever said in all the years she'd known him.

"That's great!" exclaimed Daphne.

"It really is," agreed Fred.

Nova smiled, then nudged Velma's leg with her paw. "And what about you?" she asked kindly.

Shaggy held his breath. This time last summer, Velma had been considering dropping out of college after getting caught cheating on an exam, and would deflect anytime someone asked her questions about school. She had ended up going back to Stanford once the summer was over, but Shaggy wasn't sure how it was going.

To his relief, she smiled – which unfortunately had the side effect of making his heart do a somersault. "I'm doing really well," she answered. "I'm still roommates with Marisol – and I've made some new friends, so I'm less lonely. And the best news is I passed the chemistry class I had to retake, and they even let me take my old job back once my probationary period was over. I go to a physics tutor twice a week to keep up, and I take advantage of all my professor's office hours. I should be on track to graduate in two and a half years."

Shaggy nodded. Essentially, this meant Velma was one semester behind them all in terms of graduating. That wasn't what he would have expected at all if you'd asked him back in high school. In fact, he would have even predicted she would graduate early, before any of the rest of them. But life could throw curveballs – he certainly knew that.

Brad checked his watch. "It's getting to be about dinnertime. Is anyone hungry?"

"Yes," Scooby and Shaggy responded in unison, to no one's surprise, but everyone's amusement.

"There's a great restaurant on the boardwalk," Cassidy told everyone. "It's called the Clam Cabin. Our friend Skipper Shelton runs it, and it's not far from here."

"Is it a seafood restaurant?" asked Daphne, who was allergic to shellfish.

Ricky got up from the couch. "It is, but don't worry, there are plenty of non-seafood options for you."

Daphne nodded. "Good enough for me."

"Me too." Judy rose from her seat as well. "Shall we walk?"

"A ralk?!" Scooby barked excitedly. Nova couldn't help a few small excited jumps herself.

Shaggy chuckled. Because Scooby and Nova were smarter than their average counterparts, sometimes it was funny to watch them react like they were regular dogs.

The warm California sun was dipping lower in the sky, but they still had plenty of light to see by as they walked. They passed all kinds of shops on the boardwalk; souvenir stores, ice cream parlors, even an office space for the local paper, The Crystal Cove Chronicle. But no one appeared to be around. The boardwalk itself was pretty empty, which surprised Shaggy a little – a cute little beach town like this surely should have been overrun with families on vacation or students on break.

But the reason for the empty boardwalk became clear once they arrived at the restaurant. It appeared that the entire town had gathered there – the whole building was teeming with people. But service moved swiftly. Moments after they walked in the door, they were seated by a red-haired young man named Ethan, who seemed to be about the gang's age and knew Ricky and Cassidy by name. He greeted the two adults enthusiastically and deftly led the group through the crowd and deposited them at a large empty table.

"You must be the old friends and the mystery-solving kids that Ricky and Cassidy told us about," Ethan said to Brad, Judy, and the gang as he handed out their menus.

The gang blinked at him confusedly. "They told you about us?" asked Velma.

"They haven't shut up about you," Ethan replied, grinning. "I think the whole town must know you're here." He pointed over to a booth where a group of students their age were sitting. "Those are some of my friends over there. They'll probably come over and say hey at some point." He finished setting the menus down. "I'll be back in a bit to take your orders."

When Ethan had gone, the gang stared at Ricky and Cassidy.

"Haven't been able to shut up about us, huh?" Fred teased.

Cassidy smiled, slightly abashed, and shifted in her chair. "We were excited about y'all coming to visit," she explained.

Ricky's face had gone a bit pink. "It's been a long time since we've been able to put roots down anywhere," he added gruffly. "Is it such a crime for us to look forward to having visitors?"

"Of course not," Daphne assured him. "It's very sweet."

"Like yeah," Shaggy agreed. "We're excited about this visit too."

"Reah, reah!" Scooby nodded exuberantly.

Ethan was right – throughout their meal, several other people in the restaurant did in fact stop by to say hello to Ricky and Cassidy and introduce themselves to the gang. The only adults that made an impression on the gang were the restaurant proprietor Skipper Shelton, a salty seadog of a man with a limp and – for some reason – a nosepatch; and the mayor, Janet Nettles, who had shiny brown hair and a warm smile.

Ethan's friends had a much bigger influence on the gang. They came over around the same time Ethan brought out their dinner orders.

"These are my pals," Ethan introduced them over his shoulder as he set down the heaping plate of clams that Shaggy and Scooby had ordered. "We all went to high school together here in town, and most of us are at the same university now too."

"I'm Gary," said a tall, broad-shouldered young man with brown hair. He wore a purple and yellow soccer jersey for the Crystal Cove Fighting Urchins and flashed them a friendly smile. "It's great to meet the famous mystery kids that Ricky and Cassidy have told us so much about."

Embarrassed, Cassidy buried her face in her hands as the gang laughed.

"It's great to meet you too, Gary," Fred replied with a grin of his own. "I'm Fred. This is my girlfriend Daphne, and our friends Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Nova."

"You guys should double date with Brenda and Dylan," Gary said, gesturing to an attractive couple on his right. "They've been attached at the hip since like, middle school."

Brenda tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder and gave the gang a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She reminded Daphne a bit of a girl they'd gone to high school with, Maureen Fischer. Dylan, who had lighter hair and a slender build, seemed a bit friendlier.

"I'm Rung Ladderton," interrupted a tall, thin young man with curly reddish-brown hair. Brenda and Dylan stepped out of his way, giving him a rather wide berth, but he didn't seem to notice. "You may be familiar with my family's legacy, the Ladderton Ladder Company." He leaned forward to shake Daphne's hand, holding it a bit longer than was necessary. Fred scowled, but Rung didn't seem to notice. "We also dabble in pharmaceuticals." He grinned wolfishly.

Daphne, who absolutely understood the effect she could have on men, wouldn't have been bothered by this flirtation if not for a sinister glint in Rung's eyes. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way. So she just decided to remain cordial. "It's nice to meet you," was all she said.

"And I'm Mai Le," said a pretty Asian girl with cropped dark hair. She flicked her eyelashes over to Shaggy and shot him a coquettish smile.

"If you guys are interested," said Ethan. "My parents own a vineyard not far away, and I always kick off the summer with a party. It's tonight if you'd like to stop by. There's a pool, yard games, and always plenty of food."

"Rood?" Scooby was sold. "Rokay!"

Ethan laughed. "It starts around eight-thirty. The place is called Mitchell's Winery."

"What do you say, gang?" Fred asked.

"I'm in," Daphne replied.

"Like me too," Shaggy agreed.

Velma and the dogs also nodded.

"Fantastic!" Ethan grinned broadly.

"Later, doll," said Rung, flashing his dark eyes Daphne's way.

"See you tonight, Shaggy!" Mai Le called as she trotted after the rest of her group out of the restaurant.

Fred glowered after Rung, and Velma, irritated by Mai Le, crossed her arms.

"The kids in this town are all really great," Cassidy said to the gang, seemingly oblivious to Fred's and Velma's dark expressions. "I bet y'all will have a lot of fun at that party."

"I'm sure we'll have a good time together," Daphne said, putting her hand on Fred's knee. She'd noticed Fred's discomfort with Rung, but he had nothing to worry about – Fred was the only one for Daphne.

Shaggy had also been aware of Mai Le's attention to him – and the way that Velma had stewed in her seat. He couldn't help feeling smug about it.

"Well hello Ricky and Cassidy," said a new voice. "I'd hoped I'd get a chance to meet your visitors!"

Everyone glanced up at the newcomer, a handsome young man who seemed older than the gang, but slightly younger than the adults. He wore a brown suit jacket and large wireframe spectacles. His long dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and he spoke with the slightest hint of a British accent.

Velma recognized him immediately and couldn't help the gasp that escaped her.

"Jinkies! I don't believe it – you're Ben Ravencroft!"

Sponge: Thanks for reading! Reviews make for happy writers! See you next week!