I was back in Crystal Cove High after yesterday's surprise questioning, having this power so far felt like a blessing. I had no idea what I'd do if I were sent here without it. still this world had more depth than I'd imagined.
I continued up to my locker and popped it open when I heard her.
"How's your hand?"
Turning my head I caught the auburn hair of Velma Dinkley, standing about two feet to my left with her tote wrapped across her shoulder, glasses catching the bright lights, looking at me with a patience.
"good as new." I raised my hand so she could see.
"Mhm. Very convincing." She fell into step beside me as I started walking to class. "You slept?"
"Like eight hours plus tax." I gestured, to emphasize my claim.
"I'm just asking. You never take care of yourself, besides making sure your full that is."
Well I had no idea if that was true or not so I could only manage a sheepish smile in return.
"Yeah I'll make sure to get better sleep." I said before we headed our separate ways.
By second period I'd started to notice a sort of pattern.
she was definitely timing her class exits to match mine.
It wasn't obvious at first. She didn't make a production of it but there she was at the end of English, materializing from the opposite hallway, and there she was again after History, coming around the corner at the exact right second to be walking the same direction.
After third period I ducked into the boys' bathroom and took my time. Washed my hands twice. Read the graffiti. Someone had written Mr. Avericci gives homework like it's a personality trait which, if you knew him I'd be spot on. I waited a full four minutes.
I came out.
Velma was leaning against the opposite wall, reading.
"Like, how—"
"I was already going this way," she said, turning a page.
I stared at her. She didn't look up. I stared a little longer.
It was clear to me she was going to do this all day and there was nothing I could do about it. I could feel it in my bones.
Had she decided I needed watching and she was going to monitor me with the full force of her considerable focus, and I get powers are a mystical thing but sheesh, I guess I'll accept it with some dignity.
"Did you know," she said, closing her book and falling into step, "that Great Danes have one of the shortest average lifespans of any dog breed? Around seven to ten years. Cardiovascular complications mostly."
"That's depressing."
"It's just their biology. Better to know."
I glanced at her sideways. Was she thinking three steps past the conversation we were having out loud. or is her predicting that good.
I realized, not that she was the best conversationalist around me or anything, that being silent was kind of her whole thing in front of people she did know so this was better than nothing.
Lunch. Finally.
The four of us landed at our usual table by the windows. Daphne had her phone out trying to type and muttering aloud about coordinating something for student council between bites, Fred scrawling in the margins of his history notes clearly not reading that fast but thinking he could. Velma had the same book with her, propped against her water bottle.
I of course ate. 'Fully' as one might say.
"Okay so," Fred said, without looking up from his notebook. "After school, are you guys free?"
"Well, student council runs until four," Daphne said, in a thinking pose. "Sorry, I completely forgot they moved the meeting."
"Track," Velma said.
Makes sense eveyone- Wait
I did a double take.
She turned a page.
"You run track," I said.
"Mhm."
"Like — you. Velma. Track."
"The sport has existed since ancient Greece, Shaggy, it's not a new concept."
"I know what track is—"
"Four-thirty then," Fred cut in, which was probably a mercy for me.
"Will meet at my place. I came across something interesting and I'd rather not sit on it too long."
Daphne looked up from her phone. "How good of a something?"
Fred smiled, "Good enough that I'm calling the meeting."
"Done," Daphne said, already back on her phone, "Foour-thirrty." she drawled out typing one her phone.
The afternoon cleared out fast. Daphne east wing, Velma toward the track, Fred AV club.
I had nothing until work later, which didn't start until evening, so I had a stretch of dead time that was entirely blank.
Damn, I really need to get a hobby.
later that day I arrived in his neighborhood t looked like a postcard. Regular houses. A gas station. Kids on bikes who weren't wearing anything that cost money It was honestly surprising to me, since I only had daphne as reference for the finance of our group.
Walking down Freds neck of the woods took a while. It was technically my first time here and with only the address and general direction it made me take longer than I expected. But I eventually found it.
Fred's place was a two-story building with blue shutters and a porch that looked cropped from an ad. It was a nice house, definitely better than my own parents.
The car in the driveway was also a lot newer than my parents and the gutters weren't doing anything suspicious, so there was that. But still nothing like what I'd expected from a guy like Fred Jones. I even remembered my friend telling me his dad was rich and some sort of important.
My eyes were observing the house slightly in the distance. Oh.
Daphne's car was already there, parked at the curb, It was obvious the Porche here didn't belong. She was leaning against the hood with her phone, ankle crossed over ankle.
"Hey Daphne, Nice neighborhood right," I said with a small smile.
She returned the smile. "Of course, he grew up here. no wonder he loves it so much." Then, tilting her head "You look like you're doing better."
"Like, yeah," I gave a thumbs up, "I'm ready for a new mission."
"Yea, our first was a little scary but I'm excited to find out whats next."
my smile grew a little, she felt the same way I did. I was gonna respond but I heard pattering feet coming up behind me.
Velma came up the sidewalk a minute later, slightly flushed, hair pulled back, glasses somehow still perfectly straight. She looked at us tired and gave a wave before she walked up to the house.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
A few seconds went by.
Fred suddenly appeared threw the door. "Hey Gang! Come in,"
Fred's presented his living room to us and it was exactly what his front porch promised. Corkboard on the wall with something pinned to it a picture esc living room without the flat screen I'm accustomed to and weirdly but not weirdly for Fred blueprints, or something close enough to blueprints that I wasn't asking questions scattered along the kitchen island in the short distance. Engineering books stacked on top of mystery paperbacks on top of what looked like a woodworking catalogs.
He had snacks on the coffee table already prepared. Chips and dip, a bowl of grapes, and Brownies.
Fred had his hands in his pockets, seemingly relaxed but clearly holding back some excitement.
"Okay," he said, once we'd all settled onto the sofa. "We're here for two things gang."
"I want us as a team to decide our role within our new club."
Daphne was already pulling her phone out. Velma had her legs crossed in the armchair, watching him. I grabbed a chip.
"For me I think Trap Maker would suit me best, to Design, build, organize it all, I'll make a case, I've been thinking about this stuff since I was like twelve and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise."
"And, if it's okay with you, I want to run point when we're in the field. Coordinate, and make the calls." He looked at us braced for pushback.
"Yeah, obviously," I said.
Daphne nodded without looking up.
Velma simply said, "Makes sense."
Fred's shoulders dropped about half an inch but his smile grew. "Okay. Daphne — funding, we already talked about, but I was also thinking you could also run some PR. If this is a real club it needs to look like one. A column in the school paper, or something like that would be good."
"I Already got that handled, the drafts are in just wait and see." Daphne said.
"Of course you did."
"You said four-thirty, Fred, I had an hour."
He almost laughed but held back refocusing. "Velma I think your best suited for researching what where going into, een wipping up some case files for the mysteries where solving or already solved would be nice, you put things together faster than anyone else here."
Velma looked at him for only a second. "Alright."
Then he turned to me.
I waited.
"I don't have a clean title for it yet," he said. "But you're good in the field. You think fast when things go sideways that's for sure." He paused. "You've already kind of proved that."
"The bait, Alright I'll take it," I said half joking but thats probably what I'd unironically end up doing.
Fred nodded as I crunched on chips And that was that
Velma picked up the chip bowl put it on my lap without comment.
naturally I grabbed another one.
Fred stood grabbing a paper, the same newspaper.
He'd had it folded on the side table this whole time, dramatically he held onto it locked in, then set it on the coffee table face-up.
I leaned forward.
Stopping my chewing I moved the chip bowl
Read the headline.
Read it again.
Daphne made a sound that wasn't quite words. She leaned in from the couch, and her expression was a fast shock she tried to hide.
Velma had crossed to the table and was reading over my shoulder, and I heard her inhale once, sharp, through her nose.
"Fred," she said.
"Yeah."
"When did you find this?"
"After our school incident" He looked at all three of us. "I thought about waiting but — I don't think it's the kind of thing you wait on."
Nobody disagreed.
I was still looking at the page. The four of us in a circle around it, chips forgotten, the whole easy energy of the room pulled taut around whatever was printed there.
"Where do we begin?" I said.
Fred's mouth pulled into something that was almost a grin. "Already got a few ideas."
"Don't worry Mystery Gang, we've got this."