He raced rapidly to her house. His curly, black hair flopping into his amber eyes as he came up to her house at the end of the street. He never minded the five-minute run there as it always put a smile on his face when he'd get there. He panted out of breath as he rang the doorbell, pressing his light brown finger on the 'press' button he began going into a daydream of melodic voices, red roses, shining blue eyes and opaque lenses when-
"Franklin, what are you doing here at this hour?" a slurred voice asked. He jumped a little before chuckling lightly. "Guess I caught ya at a bad time, huh?" he replied in humiliation. "Not at all, I overslept" the girl explained giggling at the African-American's nervous face. It always reminded her of a guilty, puppy that isn't house-trained; or a cat that just knocked over an antique vase. It was cute. "So...are you busy today?" he questioned, scratching the back of his chin; not because he was flustered but because a mosquito just bit him.
"Not today. I've got a free schedule" she responded obliviously, making him smile. He giggled at her appearance: her black hair was soaked, small circles were visible under her eyes, toothpaste foam circled her mouth and her glasses were really askew and about to fall off the tip of her nose. "Do I look alright?" She asked in a random, frantic voice as she grabbed hold of Franklin's red-orange shirt collar.
"You always look good" he answered honestly and he wasn't lying either. Ever since he met her in pre-school, he found her a beautiful girl and he remained sincere as he said those four words to her. "I mean it. Do I look alright?" she repeated louder. Franklin looked around in a mild panic before deciding to tell her.
"Listen, Marcie, you're beautiful. You always have been beautiful and I...I...I love you!" he explained blushing a not-so-obvious pink on his light brown cheeks. Marcie looked at him in confusion before he repeated those last three words, "I love you!" he repeated, "I've loved you since we were in the first-grade; but when we first met, I knew that the butterflies in my stomach weren't from eating those cookies; it was from your beauty. I also think you're cute" he added sincerely, shuffling his feet on the welcome mat.
"You think so?" she asked as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Because...I love you too. It's a different 'love' than when I'm with Charles; but in the years to come, I might feel your 'love' for you too" she told the African-American as he kissed her on the cheek again.
"Gee Chuck, they're weird huh?" a husky voice asked as she and her friend-Charlie Brown-walked by "No. I'm just glad they're happy" he explained to the freckle-faced tomboy. Franklin smiled at Charlie Brown in happiness, knowing that even though there was no science to decode the secrets to love; it was there. It was there when he pecked his bespectacled friend on the cheek, it was there when he accidentally touched her hand when waiting for the school bus, it was there when she'd give him a hug and it was there when he first knew he was in love three grades ago.
"So, wanna see a movie together later on?" she asked, pecking him on the nose. "Sure. Pick you up at 11" he responded as he blew her a kiss, leaving the front step to go home and prepare for his 'date'. He smiled as he remembered their first time meeting each other all those years ago.
Franklin was playing blissfully in the sandbox when a group of five-year-olds came up to him, kicking the sand in his face. His cries of help startled a little girl. She was holding a small, pink case in her hands, but dropped it when she heard his quivering voice. "Leave him lone!" she roared timidly. The group of bullies looked at the girl in shock and ran off swiftly as they didn't expect a two-year-old to be so easily ticked off. "Th...th...thanks" Franklin quietly said with a smile as he invited her in the sandbox with him. "Really?" she asked in insecurity as she picked up the pink case, opened it up and placed the opaque glasses that were inside it on her face. "Cause no one likes my new look" she explained, climbing in the sandbox. "It's nice. I'm Franklin" he replied sincerely. "I'm Marcie" she introduced meekly. At that moment, he knew she was beautiful.
He smiled lovingly as a pinch brought him back from cloud nine. "Franklin, we have a baseball game at 2 this afternoon, now get out there and pitch a few fly balls!" Charlie Brown ordered. "One day...one day she'll be the wife of Mr. Franklin Marleik Armstrong" he told himself. "Good grief" Charlie Brown thought as he threw the fly balls to Franklin.
The End