A/N: Hello, Peanuts lovers! I feel it's very redundant to say that I have found this fanfic page due to my part in the musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. What can I say? My director told me to do some research on my character, and one thing led to another!
So I started off with a short Linus/Sally fluff which was so very fun to write, I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I have an enormous soft spot for Salinus. Anyone who writes anything close to cute about them, no matter how terrible the writing, I'm putty in their hands!
While I absolutely adore their cute little pairing, I also have always enjoyed Lucy/Schroeder. After seeing that there are NOT THAT MANY of these (WHY?) I decided to take it upon myself.
So without further ado, I present you with my very first little Peanuts novella, so to speak. Please enjoy and review! Thanks all!
xoxo ~ml
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*Chapter One: Silence.*
"D'you know something, Schroeder? I think the way you play the piano is nice. D'you know something else? It's always been my dream that I'd marry a man who plays the piano. At parties he'd play something nice, like April Showers. I'm sure you could play something nice, like April Showers. Beethoven's nice, too. Just imagine, what would you think if someday you and I would get married? Wouldn't you like that if someday we two should get married?" ..."NO!" "My Aunt Marian was right. Never try to discuss
...
Ten years later
"Since when did ... he get so ...hot?"
Lucy yawned. It was the gang's first day back at school. Lucy and the others (except for Sally) were in their junior year of high school. Frieda, Violet, Patty, Lucy and Sally were clustered around their usual before-school hangout: a tall oak tree right outside the school beside the front double doors. They were observing everyone as they made their way around the schoolyard, watching out for any new faces that might interest them- male faces, in particular.
But one very familiar face stood out in the usual crowd of immature, pizza-faced teenagers. Light blonde hair that gently curled around his ears, wearing a deep purple v-neck with thin black stripes. He had on black skinny jeans with purple converse. He strolled across the school yard with his purple backpack slung over his shoulder, holding it steady with one hand. His other hand he waved around, twiddling his fingers in the air as if playing an imaginary keyboard. His head bobbed very slightly in time with his fluttering fingers. He reached his small group of friends on the opposite end of the yard and turned his back to the girls.
"Seriously, who knew a year's exchange student trip to Germany could have such an effect on him?"
Again, Lucy yawned. Her long black hair was loosely collected into a single pleat which snaked down the side of her neck and hung down to her belly button. She wore a deep, night blue v-neck with a silver pendant hung around her neck. She had on black skinny jeans and dark brown moccasins with night blue ribbons which matched her shirt. She seemed to be the one girl who wasn't very interested in the blonde boy. She rolled her eyes as her friends climbed over each other to get a better look at the back of his head.
The youngest of the girls, Sally Brown, was dressed in jeans and a cute, baby blue flowered top that fell gracefully over her shoulders and slim waist like a flowery blue waterfall. She stood up on her tiptoes to try and peek over the top of Frieda's curly red head.
Even on tiptoe, her height barely increased by a few inches. Of course, it didn't help much that Frieda was the tallest girl in their little group. She had always been pretty tall, and she'd kept her reputation throughout the majority of middle and high school. Her bright red hair, as usual, was curly and styled to perfection. It reached the very small of her back and still left the other girls green with envy over her gorgeously perfect locks. She wore a bright yellow top with a thick black belt wrapped around her lower waist. She had dark blue jeans and black boots on her feet. She grasped Lucy's arm tightly as she gazed dreamily at the boy.
Violet and Patty wore matching green tops which were splattered with pink paint. They had made these shirts over the summer during a cheer camp they'd both attended and were very fond of them. Violet's dark hair reached her shoulders and was straight and perfect. Patty's blonde hair was short and chin-length, her bangs held back by a simple green bow. The two girls were extremely close friends and stood in sort of a mini-huddle, whispering and giggling to each other about the blonde boy.
After a while, Lucy became bored with her friends obsessing over him.
"Come on you guys," she muttered half-heartedly, trying to pique their attentions. "School's about to start! We should be worrying about better things than that, er... him right now!"
Frieda scoffed and let go of Lucy's arm. "Oh yeah? Like what? Homework on the first day? Get real, Lucy, this is what's important."
The other three girls paid no attention to the encounter and went on whispering amongst themselves.
Lucy threw her arms up in defeat. "You blockheads make me sick," she groaned. She looked desperately around the schoolyard for another friend she could talk to-someone else who wasn't boy-crazy and gaga.
She didn't have to search for long, however; as soon as she turned around she spotted two of her old friends, Peppermint Patty and Marcie, sitting on the ground near the wall. They hadn't spoken in a while, but hey-she was Lucy. She was sure they would be honored to have her even say a single word to them. So she quietly stepped away from the goo-goo-eyed gawkers and headed over to the girls peacefully talking to one another.
"Hey, you two!" she announced, plopping herself down with them without a second glance. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and smirked, "Those blockheads over there are going crazy over ol' whatshisname being back in the country or something. So I decided to come over here and join you guys. So just continue on with your conversation, like I'm not even here."
Peppermint Patty and Marcie shared a look of confusion and annoyance. Peppermint Patty's green t-shirt and navy basketball shorts were wrinkly and worn, for she barely had more than three outfits to her name. Marcie's red t-shirt and gray sweatpants shared a scrubby likeness to her best friends' outfit, but held a bit more slack and misplacement to it.
Peppermint Patty turned her head without shame, first towards the cluster of girls, and then followed their gaze to the small group of boys on the opposite end of the yard.
"Who is that?" she asked, half disgusted, half surprised.
Marcie pushed her large round glasses up her thin nose and replied, "Looks like Schroeder's back from his study abroad program to Beethoven's birthplace, sir."
Peppermint Patty rolled her eyes. "Big whoop," she grumbled, turning back to look at Lucy. "He isn't thatcute." She did a double take and quickly shook her head. "Not as cute as Chuck, anyways."
Lucy decided now was as good a time as any to get the subject off of the newly-returned student-even if it was to talk about her least favorite blockhead. "Well? Are you guys dating yet or what?" she asked Peppermint Patty assertively, giving her a friendly nudge.
Peppermint Patty's eyes flickered from Lucy's face to Marcie's before she answered with a small grin, "Yeah, you could say that."
Lucy forced a friendly smile for a moment, and then dropped the act at once. "Oh who am I kidding, why would you ever date that blockhead? What do you see in him anyways? For ten years he's been nothing but a screw-up and you actually want to have a relationship with him? You sure do need to get your eyes checked, because I'm pretty sure the only one who thinks Charlie Brown is cute is his own mother, for Pete's sake."
Peppermint Patty's reaction was a bit different from what Lucy expected-she laughed. Lucy's eyebrows furrowed but she kept her angry poise. Then to her embarrassment, Peppermint Patty stood up and walked around her, to greet her boyfriend with a big hug and a peck on the cheek. He'd been standing behind her the whole time.
"Hiya, Chuck!" Peppermint Patty said ironically.
He responded with a muffled "Good grief."
Charlie Brown hadn't changed a single bit since the old days. He still wore that same old yellow short with the black zigzag stripe on the front. He still had a large, round head. He still had white-blind hair that blended in with his skin, so he still looked bald. He was still the same old wishy-washy Charlie Brown.
Peppermint Patty laughed. Marcie stood up and offered her greeting as well ("Hello, Charles,") and left Lucy sitting on the ground feeling foolish as ever.
But that didn't phase her (Did anything ever phase Lucy?). She hopped right up and grabbed hold of Charlie Brown's hand, giving it a firm shake.
"Glad to see you survived your summer, blockhead," she said in her usual tone.
He blinked as she shook his hand, almost numbing it. "Good to see you too, Lucy."
She let go of his hand with such force that it swung backwards and he smacked himself in the leg. "Ouch," he muttered, rubbing his hand. He glanced over his shoulder at the huddled girls—one of them his own sister—and wrinkled his eyebrows.
"Schroeder's back already?" he wondered out loud to no one in particular. Lucy rolled her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day.
Peppermint Patty shrugged and Marcie chirped up, "He sure has gotten handsome in the past year."
Then Lucy snapped.
"ARGHH!" she cried, causing the others to whirl around and stare at her. Here comes another one of Lucy's famous rants... "Yes, we all understand that he's back, and Germany made him cuter than ever! We all know that it's him and he went to the birthplace of Beethoven for Pete's sake. He's still the same old kid who sat at his little piano as a kid, playing Beethoven and Bach and all that other stuff that drove me crazy. He's still obsessed with Beethoven and he still plays the dorky little piano-I bet even the same exact little toy one he used to have. He's still the same rotten little boy who broke my heart two summers ago and I'm still never going to forgive him for it. Never." Lucy was nearly in tears now. She was also nearly screaming. She was panting and her long black braid had become messy and _unkempt_. Her deep blue eyes glowed fierce with the fire of rage and despair. Her friends didn't understand what it was like for her to have to see him again, after he'd left her. After the boy she'd loved had ripped out her heart in the cruelest of ways that summer. That summer seemed so long ago, so distant; they were two young children, it seemed, and Schroeder still had that cute, boyish charm that she'd loved so much about him...
...
2 summers earlier
"You're-you're what?" "I'm leaving." Lucy blinked and threw herself off of the small piano she'd been leaning against. "What? Why? Where are you going?" Schroeder was grinning from ear to ear as he told her of his year-long trip to Germany which he was to take in a few months. He told her how it was the birthplace of Beethoven, and how he was going there to visit for some foreign exchange program. Lucy blinked again. She blinked several times, her eyes fogging up. "A whole She turned away from him and wiped her eyes with the backs of her palms. "Well what am His smile faltered a bit and she still didn't look at him. "I don't care what you do while I'm gone," he said matter-of-factly. "I'll be in Beethoven's birthplace and the beautiful country of Germany. Beethoven loved the country, you know. Maybe I'll be able to take long strolls in the silent-ha, silence! Can you believe it? A whole year away from—"
Lucy tried to force the memory out of her head. She couldn't go back to reminding herself how little he'd cared about her-how much he'd hurt her. But she couldn't do it. The memory of his words crept into her head as she stood there in the schoolyard, having just freaked out yet again on her friends over the boy she'd once lived every breath in her lungs for. It took all of her strength to struggle back to reality and wake herself up from the terrible nightmares that were her memories with him.
"...Lucy? Are you okay?"
She opened her eyes. Charlie Brown was standing in front of her still, with one hand hovering protectively over Peppermint Patty. Both Peppermint Patty and Marcie had looks of worry and fear on their faces—as if Lucy might lash out at them at any second.
Another person had joined the four of them—none other than Lucy's younger brother, Linus. He had skipped fifth grade and was tall for his age, so he fit in with the older crowd well. He was slender and lank, wearing a dark red t-shirt with black stripes running horizontally across it. He wore black jeans and black converses. He held in his hands a tiny scrap of blue fabric—all that was left of his blue security blanket. He had worn it into extinction, wrapping it around things, snapping it at everything—he had tried his best to sew the pieces back together, but it had been hopeless. Now all that was left of the blanket was a small scrap, roughly the size of a sheet of loose-leaf paper, and it was laced into his fingers like a gentleman's handkerchief.
He stood there with his other hand in his pocket and stared at his sister. It had been him who'd asked if she was okay. She stared back at her brother for a moment, thankful for a relative's face she could focus on as her breathing slowed back to normal.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry."
Thankfully she hadn't caused too much of a scene—most of the highschoolers gathered around the school hadn't noticed a thing—especially not the gaga girls—and thankfully not Schroeder. He was nowhere to be seen.
Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie all relaxed a little, but they were still on guard in case another one of Lucy's aftershocks occurred—which, every so often, they did.
Luckily, the school bell saved the five of them from any further discussion. Lucy, still panting slightly, snatched her backpack up from the ground where she'd left it and followed the rest of the group inside the school.
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A/N: Well there you have it—chapter one! PLEASE review! I can't write a chapter 2 unless you review me! If I don't get at least ONE review, I will DISCONTINUE! So please, please, PLEASE review! I need all the tips and opinions I can get!
xoxo ~ml