Written for the hs_bingo prompt 'bus ride'. I do not own Scooby Doo.

He was absolutely not going to let Red trip that hippy-kid today. He was going to stop him even if it meant getting a tender bruise on the arm from the big bully later. He would put his foot down and that would be it.

Fred Jones didn't do any of those things and Red tripped the hippy-kid. It would be easier to stand up to Red if the guy acted like he even cared. Norville didn't even blink an eye. "Like, my bad," and a nervous giggle was the only thing he ever said. Red always tried to give him a high-five.

"Grow up, Herring," Fred grunted, turning to the window.

"Gay for him, Jones?" Red elbowed him and Fred couldn't stop the groan. Thankfully the blow covered Fred's blushing face. He was not completely distracted by Norville.

Fred came up with a plan to stop Red. He always got boxed in by the big teen because he was one of the first people who got on the bus. He always took a seat by himself and Red always crowded into his seat with him. Today he sat down with a pretty blonde that always took a seat near the front. His goal was to wait until Norville got on the bus and then follow him to the back. Hopefully (and here he was putting a lot of faith in his quaterback status) Red wouldn't try to trip the hippy with Fred right behind him.

His plan got a little foggy there. He wasn't sure what he was going to do once he followed Norville. Fred figured he needed to start some sort of conversation or end up looking more than a little crazy. But he didn't even know the guy. Well, yeah. He knew that one of his favorite foods was chocolate covered hotdogs (and strangely the idea of that combination only turned him a little green); he knew that Norville slept through most of his classes (and they only shared one); he knew that his favorite color was green. So maybe Red wasn't far off when he asked if Fred was gay for the hippy. He might have been a little too focused.

Who wouldn't be a little intrigued? Norville rarely spoke, unless he was rambling incoherently after doing something embarrassing. He didn't participate in class discussion. And Fred wanted to know things; like why didn't Norville stand up for himself when Red continually bullied him. Didn't he care, at all? He was a mystery to Fred and Fred loved mysteries.

The girl Fred sat with (Susie, apparently) hadn't stopped talking since he sat down next to her. Red was staring at him suspiciously from where he sat alone in their normal seat, and he was doing his best to ignore the bully's eye. Fred tapped his fingers to his own beat and waited as the bus stopped. The hippy was late getting to the bus, as usual. This time the bus driver was already starting to pull away when Fred watched Norville fly down the sidewalk; it was like the teen could move at superhuman speed. He could be on the track team.

"Like, sorry, man. Wont happy again," He gave the bus driver a big smile.

As Norville passed Fred he stood up and followed. The hippy jumped, looked behind himself at Fred and the muscles along his shoulders tensed. It was the most reaction Fred had ever seen from him. Red glared, but his foot stayed where it was and Norville didn't take a tumble to the floor. The bench seat was still open and they both sat down.

"Hey," Fred said, lamely, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Um, hi," Norville looked at him suspiciously.

"Fred Jones," He stuck out his hand. The other teen looked at it confused for a moment before taking it.

"Norville Rodgers, you can, like, call me Shaggy." They were quiet the rest of the ride to school but Fred triumphant. He knew one more thing about Shaggy now and even though he was still a pretty big mystery he had hurdled the toughest part. Introducing himself. Now he just needed to pull more information out of the teen, keep Red off his back, and not totally embarrass himself. What the hell was he getting himself into?