Hello! There are a lot of Peanuts high school fics out there, so I felt like trying it out. Just a bit of a warning before we begin- some of the characters in this fic are gay and are in relationships with members of the same sex. If you don't like that, then you should not keep reading.
I hope you enjoy.
For most kids, the yellow school bus was a nightmare.
Lucy van Pelt prided herself on her grit, but even she had spent much of her childhood and adolescence despising it. Wishing, hoping, and praying that one day she wouldn't have to ride the bus anymore. Wishing, hoping, and praying that she could finally escape the smelly bus and the yelling kids and the rude driver and the wildly flying balls of paper. She remembered horrible, sweltering days in late August when the sticky, sweaty plastic seats would stick to the backs of her thighs. She remembered frigid January mornings when the cold windows numbed the side of her face as she leaned against them, trying to catch extra sleep on the drive to school.
Lucy van Pelt had been waiting for an escape for years. Finally, her dream had come true. That summer- July 13th - Lucy had gotten her license. Now, on the first day of her junior year, she was ready to drive herself to school for the first time.
Of course, in her dreams, she hadn't counted on chauffeuring her two younger brothers.
Standing at the front door, she was ready for the day. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder, and the blue dress that she wore was perfectly neat. Her dark hair was sleek and straightened, but the expression on her face became increasingly frazzled as the minutes wore on. "Linus, Rerun! Get down here!" she shouted at her lagging brothers, stomping her foot impatiently.
Linus was the first to come down, but he wasn't nearly as put together as her. He was just a year younger than her, entering his sophomore year. He held his shoes in his hands and his brown hair was mussed.
"Put your shoes on," Lucy said.
"I'll do it in the car. We can't be late," Linus answered.
She let out an exasperated sigh. "Well we'd be on our way by now if it wasn't for you and my other idiot brother."
Linus immediately picked up on her tone, and he knew that talking back to her wouldn't get him anywhere but a hospital room. With this in mind, Linus paid her no mind and headed out to the car. He was learning that it was better not to argue with Lucy, especially this early in the morning.
"Lucy! Can you unlock the door?" Linus called from the front yard. The neighbors had long since grown accustomed to the noise coming from the Van Pelt home every morning, afternoon, and night.
She ignored him as her youngest brother Rerun came stumbling down the stairs. Today was his first day of seventh grade, and his eyes revealed his nerves. "Sorry, big sister," he apologized as he hurried out the door.
Lucy rolled her eyes as she followed him, locking the front door behind her. Then, she unlocked the car with a small 'beep.' "Finally!" Linus yanked the front passenger door open, tossing his sneakers and backpack on the floor before climbing in.
Soon the Van Pelts were packed into the small Toyota Camry and Lucy pulled out of the driveway. She felt immensely happy as she drove down her street. Her dream was coming true. She had her license. She was driving her own car. She didn't have to sit on the bus every morning and every afternoon. She was her own woman!
The dream was interrupted when Linus began fiddling with the radio.
"Linus, cut that out!"
"I'm just looking for a good station," he defended, spinning the dial on the radio. A loud staticky sound ripped through the car.
"I don't want to listen to the radio," Lucy huffed. "And neither does Rerun. Right, Rerun?" She looked back at her youngest brother in the rearview mirror. This was not turning out how she had expected at all.
"Yes, he does," Linus insisted, still searching for the right station. "Don't you, Rerun?"
Rerun looked between his two older siblings. He opened his mouth to speak, but he remembered that of the two of them, Lucy could hit harder. He shrunk back in his seat. The two oldest Van Pelts carried on in their arguing, hardly taking notice of him.
More static sounded on the radio. "Linus, quit it!"
"Not gonna happen," he retorted.
"You blockhead!" She slapped his hand away from the dial.
"You can't hit me while you're driving!"
"Oh, yes I can!" Lucy yelled back, punching him hard in the arm.
"That's not safe," he said, wincing when she hit him again. "Stop!"
"It's my car! I'll do what I want." She slapped his arm as he reached for the dial once more.
"Lucy-" Linus began in protest, but his dark-haired sister slammed on the brakes. The car came to an abrupt stop. Rerun lurched forward in his seat.
"That's it!" Lucy cried, face red in anger. "Get out of my car."
"Me?" Linus, eyes widening.
"Yeah, you. Right now." She unlocked the doors.
Linus was about to protest, but he saw the look on his sister's face. She was stubborn, and he could see it in the blaze of her eyes. He was stubborn too, but no match for Lucy. He knew there was no changing her mind. Reluctantly, Linus got out of the car, dragging his backpack with him. "Have a good day, Rerun," he said, before making a face at Lucy.
She returned it as he slammed the door shut. The car sped off.
Linus just watched them go, a look of disbelief on his face. "She really did it," he said. "My own sister!"
"Linus?"
He instantly recognized the voice. "Hey, Schroeder," he greeted, turning around.
"This isn't your stop…"
Linus shook his head. "It's not. But Lucy kicked me out of the car."
Schroeder wasn't even surprised. That sounded like exactly the sort of thing that Lucy would do. "I forgot she had her license now," Schroeder said, grinning. "Oh well, you can ride the bus with me."
"Thanks," Linus answered, but noticed that Schroeder was staring at him funny. Was staring at his feet funny…
Linus looked down. "Oh, rats!" He had left his shoes in the car, and now he was standing on the sidewalk in his socks.
"Where are your shoes?" Schroeder asked, amused.
"I left them in Lucy's car. I was going to put them on, but then she, you know, kicked me out."
"Don't worry about it, you can borrow a pair of mine. My house is just up the street," Schroeder offered, beckoning for the younger boy to follow.
"Oh, gee," Linus said, walking a few paces behind the blond boy. "Thank you so much. I mean, can you imagine? Showing up to the first day of school with no shoes."
"Just say Lucy's name, and no one will ask questions."
Linus grinned- it was true. Everyone at school knew what Lucy was like. If someone didn't know, they learned fast- either from hearsay or personal experience. She had quite the reputation. They all knew how she treated Charlie Brown and the other neighborhood kids when she were younger, and most had seen or heard about her psychiatric help booth. With all this, she could be the biggest social pariah in the school, but instead she was strangely popular and was even student body president. Linus didn't understand it.
"Lucy would just love for people to hear about this," Linus said sarcastically, but then they were on Schroeder's block.
"Here we are," the blond said, walking up the path.
"I know. I've been to your house before."
The two boys exchanged smiles as Schroeder unlocked the door and stepped inside. The house was empty- both of Schroeder's parents worked long hours and they usually left early in the morning and returned around dinnertime.
They walked through the living room in order to get to the stairs up to the second floor. A grand piano was the focal point of the room. "Wow," Linus said to himself, unable to keep his eyes off of it. He knocked hard into Schroeder's back as the other boy stopped. Only Schroeder's hands gripping his arms kept him from falling backwards onto the carpet. "Sorry," Linus said dizzily, steadying himself.
"I thought I heard you say something," Schroeder explained. "That's why I stopped."
"I said wow… at the piano."
"Oh," Schroeder smiled, his own light eyes traveling to the instrument.
"I haven't heard you play for a long time… I miss hearing you," he admitted, and felt his cheeks heat up. He wished suddenly that he was back in Lucy's car, because he realized that while yeah, he had been to Schroeder's house a bunch of times, he had never been there alone.
Schroeder, however, was smiling down at him. "I'll have to play for you sometime. I miss playing for people other than your sister and my parents."
Linus shot back a nervous smile. After all these years, his sister still had feelings for the musician.
They went up the stairs in silence. After Linus's new realization that this was the first time he had ever been the only one of his friends at Schroeder's house, he felt self-conscious. He didn't know what to say or how to carry himself.
"I think my shoes'll be a little big," Schroeder said as they reached his room.
"Better than nothing," Linus nervously mumbled, sitting down at the blond's desk chair as he rummaged in his closet. The bed was unmade and clothes were strewn across the floor. Linus felt uncomfortable enough downstairs, but now in this personal, intimate space, his stomach churned.
"How about these?" Schroeder asked, finally emerging. He was holding black and grey sneakers.
"Those'll be perfect," he answered, taking them and slipping them onto his socked feet. Schroeder was right: they were a bit big, but his feet weren't slipping out of them, so they would do. "Thanks again. You're a lifesaver."
"It's no trouble," the blond assured and checked the digital clock on his bedside table. "We should get to the bus. It's due to be here soon."
The boys made it to the bus on time, and found an empty bench. They sat down, Linus squashed against the window and their backpacks on their laps.
The seats were small. They had seemed so giant- the bus had seemed so daunting- when they were kids, but now Schroeder and Linus's legs pressed together as they crammed into the seat.
The ride to school was just getting started when Schroeder turned to him. "You know, you should come over sometime," he tentatively offered. "I can, uh- I could play for you."
Linus was stunned, and a small smile crossed his face. "I'd like that, Schroeder," he answered, and then quickly looked out the window, his face heating up.
He spent the rest of the short bus ride in embarrassed silence.
So here's the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed. This is also posted on ao3, I have the same username over there.
If you liked it or have any feedback, please review :)