Lost Cause Diaries #2: The Last Ballgame
CHAPTER 1: 8TH GRADE BLUES
Charlie Brown had become more assertive as he got older. He was still considered a failure, but not to the extent of how he was when he was younger. Some of the kids even started respecting him more, with one sole exception: Lucy Van Pelt. Lucy, on the other end of the spectrum, had not gotten better, but had gotten worse as she got older. She was crabbier, mean, and didn't hold her tongue when it came to what she thought about a certain person or thing. She even started putting on weight as the years went on. The weight gain began around 4th grade. She had started spending her money on fast food after school, while her brothers ate reasonably. She was still best friends with Frieda Rich, considered one of the prettiest girls in school, by contrast Lucy was one of the fattest and ugliest. She even surpassed Molly Volley, the tennis-playing girl whose temper could rival Lucy's. Now she was seen as skinny compared to Lucy. And Molly had even started caring about her own physique as of recently.
The week before the gang was to start 8th grade, they had one last baseball game against Peppermint Patty's team. Charlie Brown's team had improved quite a bit, though they were still on the losing end of things. They weren't as terrible as they used to be when they were younger, save for one fat fussbudget. So Charlie Brown and his team were getting ready for the big game. Peppermint Patty's team had showed up to the field.
"Heya, Chuck!" she greeted. "Ready to get this game started?"
"I sure am, Patty," said Charlie Brown eagerly. "Let the best man, or woman, win!"
"You have learned, Chuck," observed Peppermint Patty. "There may be hope for you yet. All right team, we're up to bat, go get ready."
"All right, everyone, take your positions," ordered Charlie Brown. As Charlie Brown mounted the pitcher's mound, Schroeder, who was catcher, walked towards him to go over the signals. Lucy, who had now tipped the scales at 280, started flirting with Schroeder as she always had.
"Hey, good looking!" she said, trying to shimmy her overweight body. "You know what they say about large woman: more cushion to cuddle!"
Schroeder gagged at the idea. He would rather cuddle with a porcupine for a whole week than with Lucy ANY day. Her bad B.O. didn't help matters, either. When Schroeder reached Charlie Brown, they went over the signals.
"One finger will mean the slow ball," he began, "two fingers will mean the fast ball, three fingers will mean the curve ball, four fingers will mean it's time to retire." And Schroeder went back to his position.
"After all of these years catchers are still hard to understand," lamented Charlie Brown. He was determined to win this game. As he was finally reaching his breaking point with the team. While many of them had improved on their playing, Lucy was the only one that was dragging them down, and she would be the first one to pin the blame on Charlie Brown for losing, when everyone was responsible for losing. Charlie Brown decided this would be their make or break game. If they won, they'd continue to play. If they loss, the team would be dissolved that day.
NEXT CHAPTER: ONE RUN NEEDED