Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. None of the Peanuts or Charlie Brown etc.
1. The First Day
My alarm clock gave a loud buzz, jarring me from sleep. I groaned and curled up tightly, trying to slip back into the comfortable blanket of sleep. Why is my alarm clock ringing anyway? It was like seven fifty… And on a Monday… Wait a second. It's seven fifty on a Monday. And my alarm clock is going off. It's the first day of school! I'm gonna be late!
I tossed the blanket off my bed, slamming the off button on my clock. I grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans, and a yellow Polo shirt with a black zigzag on it. I yanked the clothes on and grabbed the comb my mom had left for me. I quickly pulled it through my dark blond hair, and then tossed it away.
" Backpack!" I muttered running around my room, looking for said item. My sister skipped by my door.
" It's down stairs big brother!" She sang I stopped my frantic searching. Right, I'd placed it by the door so I wouldn't forget it. I ran out of my room and down the stairs, tripping and falling flat on my face.
" Rats!" I said pulling myself up. I yanked my black shoes on and rolled down my white socks. Linus van Pelt would be here any minute with his sister, Lucy van Pelt, so we could walk to school together. I ran into the small kitchen and yanked the refrigerator door open and pulled out the glass of water I'd put in there the night before. I gulped it down just as the doorbell rang. I tried to get to the door before Sally, but I wasn't able to. Sally skipped up to the door, blond hair swinging around. She smiled when Linus stepped inside.
" Hey there Linus." She smiled and twirled some hair around her finger.
" Hey Sally." Linus said. He was currently wearing a red and black striped shirt, black jeans, black sneakers like mine, and his blond hair was nicely brushed. I grabbed my bag and walked over, moving around my sister who was fixing her pink shirt and skirt, and sliding her shoes on.
" Hey Linus." I said smiling a bit at my best friend. Linus smiled.
" Hey Charlie Brown. Ready for school?" He asked. I shrugged, completely indifferent.
" Kind of. Where's Lucy?" I asked.
" I'm right here you block-head!" Lucy called, marching up my porch steps. Her dark, dark, almost black, brown hair was loose around her shoulders; she wore a blue blouse, super dark blue jeans, and silver ballet flats. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder, and a smirk was on her face.
" Hey Lucy…" I sighed. If the first thing she says to me 'I'm right here block-head' then without a doubt, she'll probably tease me later today as well.
I looked at Linus, who was happily fingering a beat-up light blue security blanket that was lovingly placed over his shoulder. It was a blanket since he's had since… well… forever I guess. It had been abused by Lucy many times over the years. Occasionally my dog Snoopy would attack it, but it was mostly Lucy. Linus was actually a year younger than I, but is so smart he was moved to my grade. And he is my best friend.
" Linus… you're bringing your blanket to school?" I asked. He blinked once, and then nodded.
" Of course." He replied. I sighed- internally- as Sally picked up her bag.
" Guys, we've gotta go! Or we'll be late, and being late on your first day of eighth-grade is probably not a good thing!" Lucy said turning and marching down the steps. Linus and I sighed, and followed her, sally behind us. Sally is a year younger, and starting seventh grade.
Walking down the street I admired the beautiful day. The sun is shinning, birds still singing, but was I having a good day? So far, no.
" I think today will be great. How can it not be? We're at the top of the school now!" Lucy said smiling, and was no doubt, fantasizing about being the ruler of the school.
" As long as I have my sweet baboo I'm happy." Sally said smiling dreamily at Linus. Good grief.
" I am not your sweet baboo!" Linus said, face staining a bit pink. Sally rolled her eyes and kept smiling at him.
" Just think of it! I'll rule the school!" Lucy said, daydreaming.
" I hate to break it to you Lucy, but the principle will always be the ruler of the school." Schroeder said walking up to the group of us walking. He had Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata sheet music in his hand. He usually had some kind of Beethoven music with him- I wouldn't be surprised if he had a folder of it in his backpack. He wore a purple and black stripped shirt with blue jeans and sneakers. His blond hair had been carefully brushed and his backpack was slung over his shoulders.
" Well… then I'll be class-president that's what!" Lucy said, not giving up her ever-present dream of power. I sighed as we kept walking.
" What's wrong Charlie Brown?" Schroeder asked.
" I don't know… just dreading another horrible year." I said.
" Charlie Brown, maybe this year will be better. We are the oldest grade in the school. Maybe you'll get more respect this time around." Linus suggested patting my shoulder.
" Maybe. Lord I hope so." I said as we approached the school. Outside the school, kids were gathered, talking to friends whom they haven't seen over the summer. Sally immediately ran to go meet her friends.
" I wonder where the ret of the gang is." Linus said. Lucy started to scan the crowd with her sharp brown eyes.
" There! By the tether-ball pole!" Lucy said pointing. We ran over and sure enough there was most of the gang. Standing there was Roy, Patty, Violet, Pig-Pen, Molly Volley, Frieda, Eudora, and Sally was there as well. A few people weren't here yet, but we'd probably see them later today.
Pig-Pen came over and tried to hug me. Pig-Pen was probably the filthiest kid on earth. And if not that, the filthiest I know. I pat his shoulder before he could hug me. When I pulled my band back, it was coated in dirt. Figures. Lucy was now hanging out with Patty Violet, and the newly arrived Charlotte. Schroeder was sitting and reading over his music, undoubtedly wanting to get his hands on a piano. Molly Volley was tossing a tennis ball around, and Sally, Eudora, and Frieda- who was playing with her 'naturally curly hair'- were all gossiping. Roy and Pig-Pen were talking about baseball. Linus turned to see me, smiling.
" C'mon Charlie Brown! Let's go get our schedules!" He said. I agreed to go get our schedules- 'our' meaning those of the gang that was there. Then we stood in the hall and compared schedules up to lunch period. Linus and I had English first, then we had Spanish, then I had Science, then I had art with Lucy, Patty, Violet, Charlotte, and Molly Volley. Then it would be lunch.
The first bell, which signaled home-room, went off and we all went to our home-rooms. Home-room was twenty minutes long and extremely boring. All the kids were talking to their friends. But I didn't have any friends in my home-room. I was sitting at a desk in the room, back-pack by my feet, and I was staring ahead. I could tell today wasn't going to go all that well. Lucy, Violet, Patty and Charlotte would probably tease me- no, they will tease me. About what? Probably everything I did. But I could think of a few specifics.
One; Football. I don't know why I gave in again. Lucy asked me to kick the football. I had given her a look. 'No way Lucy. You'll just pull it away from me again.' I'd said to her. Lucy put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. 'I swear on my life I won't pull it away.' She paused. 'Okay I swear on my Aunt Marion I won't pull it away.' She corrected. After a long moment of thinking and consideration, I sighed. 'Fine.' I said exasperated. She grinned and knelt down, holding the football into the ground. I backed up and turned towards her. 'I can do this…' I muttered to myself. I got ready to run, gaining confidence. I ran forward. I neared the football. Things looked good! I was going to do it! I was going to kick the foot ball! I felt my toe touch the football and- 'AAUG!' I yelled as the football disappeared. I flew through the air and landed hard on the ground, flat on my back. Lucy walked over and looked down at me. 'You know what I realized Charlie Brown? I love my Aunt Marion too much to risk her for a block-head like you.' She said before walking off. 'Rats!' I muttered staring at the sky.
Two; Baseball. We'd played our summer baseball games and, of course, always lost. Most of the team blamed me for our losses. It's not my fault we just happen to not be that good! It's everyone's fault! On one particular game we were playing a rival team, and I was pitcher. Lucy was in the outfield. I pitched the ball, and the person up to bat hit it. 'I got it! I got it!' Lucy shouted, hand holding the mitt up in the air, running to catch the ball. In her haste to catch it, she ran into Schroeder, Patty, and poor Linus, who tumbled to the ground. The ball got closer to the ground and- whump! It hit the ground. Lucy's cheeks flushed in fury as the other team cheered with victory. She marched up to me. 'Charlie Brown because of your lousy pitching we lost the game!' She shouted in my face before yanking her baseball cap off, smacking my chest with it pretty hard, and marching off to go gripe with Violet, Patty, and Charlotte. Good grief!
Three; The Kite. The kite has been my life long struggle. Usually I couldn't get the kite in the air, but if I didn't, it would end up getting caught in something like fences, bushes, or the kite-eating-tree. Over the summer I had tried to fly my kite numerous times, and wasn't able to fly it very successfully and of course, I was teased and annoyed about it relentlessly.
So maybe they'd tease me about those things. Or maybe just my being on this earth. Who knows? They're unpredictable.
The bell rang and I grabbed my backpack. I stood and my toe caught on the leg of the chair. I stumbled right out the door and into the hall, bumping into some poor sixth grader. I sighed, apologized, and shuffled towards the English room. When I walked into class, Linus was sitting in the middle of the room next to Franklin. When Linus smiled and tapped the empty desk to the left of him. I sat and took out my English stuff. The teacher came in and told us we needed to write a paper on what we did over summer. Wonderful. I get to write about everything I failed at over the summer. I sighed and pulled out a pencil, glancing at Linus. He'd already jotted down half a paragraph. Franklin was biting his pencil eraser. I dated my paper and decided to just write about how bad my summer was. After ten minutes of writing, and twenty minutes of the whole 'what we're going to do this year' talk, class ended. Now it was Spanish time.
Spanish was forty-five minutes of barely understanding anything. Linus and Franklin actually understood things the teacher was saying! I'd only had two classes and I already had two dozen papers to keep.
Science I found I had with Peggy-Jean. We sat next to each other at the same lab table. Science was actually a relatively good subject for me. It was interesting and not in a foreign language. We did the whole year review talk as well.
Art. Oh, art. I was first to class, so I sat at my chosen seat. Then I was joined by Lucy, Patty and Charlotte. We had to draw a scene from something that happened from our vacation. I sighed and drew my kite in a tree. Lucy peered over and snickered.
" Charlie Brow was all you did over the summer fail?" She asked before she and her friends burst into laughter. I sighed and added the last branch on the kite-eating-tree. Maybe that's all I did do over summer. Maybe all I do is fail.
Lunch is probably the best time of the day. The gang and I all found a table and sat, Linus to my right, Lucy to my left and a few empty seats directly in front of me. The school lunches are horrible. No one ever knows if the meat is real meat or some kind of disgusting fake meat. Before I could gripe about the food to Linus I was interrupted by a familiar voice.
" Hey Chuck!" My other friend, Peppermint Patty (her real name is Patricia Reichardt) said as she sat down across from me.
" Hey Peppermint Patty." I said smiling a bit. She smiled back. Peppermint Patty was a usually happy girl my age, and she had a spray of freckles on her cheeks, straight light brown hair at the length of an inch of two above her collar-bone, blue eyes that shifted colors- at the moment it was a lively light blue- and her lips were pulled into a happy grin. She was wearing a green loose-fitting Polo shirt, black shorts that ended just a few inches above her knees, and brown sandals- this was one of her many signature outfits.
Peppermint Patty is a good friend of mine. She was a usually upbeat person, loving to play sports- usually baseball and football but also was a very good ice-skater (figure skating and hockey)- and sometimes gave good advice to others- just not on school work. She has a D- average in everything but gym. Always had, ever since elementary school. She's good at cheering people up- everyone but herself. She is very insecure about herself. She's also very protective of her friends and isn't afraid to get physical.
" How were the last few days of your summer Chuck?" She asked me as she leaned back in her chair.
" Horrible" I responded blandly. " I broke my kite again."
" Sorry to hear that." Peppermint Patty said. Lucy smirked and turned away from Violet, and to Peppermint Patty.
" You should have seen it. It was hilarious. He was running all over the place trying to keep it from crashing. It crashed into a tree and got torn into pieces." Lucy teased.
" Good grief!" I all but yelled and smacked my forehead. Peppermint Patty sighed.
" Lucille could you try and leave Chuck alone today? He's looking like he's not having a good day." She asked. Lucy made a face when Peppermint Patty's nickname for her, Lucille, was said.
" I'll try." Lucy replied. She turned back to Violet. To get away from the subject of my kite, I asked,
" So where's Marcie?"
" She's coming I'd guess. She just had math." She said, face turning into disgust when she said the word 'math'. Almost on cue, Marcie walked over and sat by Peppermint Patty.
Marcie is Peppermint Patty's best friend. Marcie has straight black jaw-length hair, brown intelligent eyes, which were framed behind her new rectangular rimmed glasses. She was wearing a simple red shirt with black shorts and brown shoes.
" Hello Charles." She said to me smiling as she set a book down on the table. Marcie had a tendency to call me 'Charles' and Peppermint Patty 'Sir' much to her disliking.
" Hey Marcie." I said.
" So, Chuck, what do you have next?" Peppermint Patty asked. I pushed my tray of inedible school food to the side and pulled my backpack up onto the table. I pulled my schedule and looked at my last three periods.
" Math." I said. She grinned.
" Same!" She said.
" Hey, so do I!" Linus said happily.
" Then what?" She inquired excitedly.
" Social Studies and then gym." I said as I put my schedule away.
" Same!" Both Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie said happily. All of us high-fived. I then stared at the mystery food.
" What is this stuff anyway?" Lucy muttered. " No idea." Linus said. Pig-Pen prodded the food with the eraser of his pencil. We all stared as the food seemed to move. We all pushed our trays away, any bits of appetite that had been left, had suddenly disappeared.
After lunch we walked to math and discovered that Lucy, Patty, Molly Volley, Pig-Pen and Schroeder were also in our math class. Linus wanted us all to sit up front but Peppermint Patty strongly insisted we sit closer towards the back. Linus game in, as we all knew the reason she wanted to sit more in the back. She doesn't too so well in class- that included not knowing the answers in class or on tests, and often falling asleep in class. She gets in trouble for that often. But if she fell asleep in class usually Marcie would wake her up. Unfortunately, Marcie wasn't in this class. It was up to the rest of us to keep her awake.
Five minutes into class, she passed out, head falling backwards. Linus took his blanket and smacked Peppermint Patty in the face with it. She sat up straight quickly the passed out again, head falling onto the desk with a sharp thud. The teacher didn't notice, but was bound to call on someone soon. I frantically whispered,
" Wake up! Wake up!" It didn't work. Schroeder slid his chair closer to her and loudly tapped some part of Beethoven's 5th Symphony on her desk by her ear. It didn't make her flinch. He slid away. Patty and Lucy and Molly Volley poker her with their pencils but that didn't work either. When that failed, Pig-Pen tried throwing dirt at her. And THAT didn't work. Then the teacher shouted her name.
She woke up
" Huh? What! Yes ma'am the answer's Baltimore!" Peppermint Patty shouted. The teacher informed her that it wasn't Baltimore and that she was in math class. " Oh… this is math class… so the answer's five? Sorry ma'am…" She trailed off, sliding down in her seat, cheeks staining red.
After math we walked to Social Studies. Marcie had saved seats for Peppermint Patty, Roy, Lucy, Pig-Pen, Violet, Patty Schroeder, Linus and I- needless to say we took up the back of the room. And who would've guessed- Peppermint Patty passed out again. Marcie grabbed a book and whacked her on the head, and she woke right up. The rest of class passed without incident.
Having gym class with my friends wasn't going to be so bad. Maybe we'll get better at baseball. Who knows?
Lucy, Patty, Charlotte and Violet all were jumping rope, Schroeder was practicing pitching, Molly Volley was smacking a tennis ball into the wall with the help of her tennis racket, Pig-Pen, Roy and Franklin were playing three-square, Peppermint Patty was practicing football with Marcie, and Linus and I were tossing a baseball around.
We all played around in our own little groups before the bell rang and we all left for home. When Linus and Lucy departed on their way to go home, I was alone- well Sally was with me but she was absorbed in her own thoughts.
When we got home, I flopped down on my bed. What and exhausting day. And tomorrow, I get to go back and do it all again.
Afterword: Did you like it? Please let me know if you did! I'm currently in a production of 'You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown!' and it's been mixed with a few songs/scenes from 'Snoopy!' and felt like I needed to write the Peanuts in the age I am. I have the roll of Peppermint Patty and LOVE HER. She's so much like me! Anyway please review! I would love it!