Earrings
A Peanuts Fanfiction by LivingOnLaughs
Lucy had always admired girls that had earrings. The thought of having her lobes pierced made her smiled; though her mother HATED the idea with a passion. So for her ninth birthday, she planned to rebel against them.
"You know what I'm thinking of doing?" she asked as she leaned against Schroeder's piano like always. "I'm thinking of having my ears pierced…should I do it?"
"You might as well…you pierced mine a long time ago!" Schroeder replied nonchalantly as Lucy's blue eyes widened.
Walking home from his house, Lucy stumbled upon her little brother-Linus. "Linus," she began. "do you think I should have my ears pierced?"
"I have a better idea…" Linus smiled, removing his thumb from his mouth. "Why don't you have your mouth bordered up?" he suggested before Lucy socked him before leaving him alone. "That was worth one hit…two hits, no! But it was definitely worth one hit!" a dizzy, star-seeing Linus chuckled to himself.
Lucy sighed as she walked to the brick wall. Seeing Peppermint Patty there, she decided to open up to her, especially since it was just the two of them. "I'd like to have my ears pierced, but I'm afraid it will hurt." Lucy sighed.
"It probably doesn't hurt any more than a punch in the nose." Peppermint Patty responded wittily-or as wittily as she gets.
"Who wants to get punched in the nose?" Lucy asked.
"That's how I judge pain, Lucille…that's how I decide whether or not I should do something…will it hurt MORE than a punch in the nose or LESS than a punch in the nose?" the tomboy explained. It was no wonder why Marcie called her weird.
"Why don't we both go and have our ears pierced?" the fussbudget suggested.
"I have no doubts about my femininity, Lucille!" Peppermint Patty replied sharply.
"I never said you did, Patty…" Lucy continued. "I just don't want to do it alone..."
Thinking about it, the tomboy smiled. "Okay, I'm game for anything…let's do it!"
"You're both going to get hepatitis and end up in the hospital!" a nervous voice explained from behind the two. Turning around, the two girls saw a younger girl in red.
Groaning, Peppermint Patty said, "Marcie, you always look on the dark side of everything!"
"Don't blame me when your ears fall off, Sir!" the younger girl retaliated.
"Can that happen?" Lucy wondered before a thought hit her. "I know where we can get our ears pierced"
"I think I catch your drift. There's a store up the street where they'll pierce your ears for nothing." Peppermint Patty smiled.
"All we have to do is buy a pair of earrings." Lucy chimed in.
"Let's just hope they know how to sterilize their equipment." Marcie suggested as Peppermint Patty looked at her in annoyance. "Maybe all you'll get is a mild cellulitis infection…a penicillin shot would take care of that…now hepatitis…that's something else…"
"A PENICILLIN SHOT?!" the tomboy shrieked.
"If you're going to have your ears pierced, Sir, why don't you go to the doctor? He'll use a hypodermic needle, and then, to avoid infection, he'll put twenty-four karat gold bars in your ears for ten days until they heal." The youngest of the three girls explained.
"How much will he charge?" Peppermint Patty asked.
"Probably twenty dollars…that's the cost of an ordinary office call." Marcie responded.
"Twenty dollars?! For twenty dollars, he should pierce your ears, check your eyes and cure your asthma!" the tomboy sighed.
"Marcie's asthmatic?" Lucy thought.
That evening, Peppermint Patty had invited Lucy and Marcie over. "Well, Patricia?" Lucy asked, looking up from a game of snakes and ladders.
"Come here." The tomboy explained. "I got to tell you something. The nurse said they'll pierce our ears if we get parental permission."
Lucy beamed. "That's no problem…" she explained, grabbing a paper, pencil and smirking.
"Don't tell me…are you?" Marcie sighed as she saw Lucy write up a storm.
Dear doctor, Okay! Let her have her dumb ears pierced! I am sick and tired of arguing with her. What can I do? Let her learn the hard way! What do I care? Go ahead! Pierce her dumb ears!
"Right here, Patricia. A letter written by Mrs. Van Pelt." Lucy beamed.
"That's perfect, Lucille! It sounds exactly like a fed up mother!" Peppermint Patty beamed as Marcie clutched onto her stomach. The thought of forging letter made her sick.
"Now let's fake a letter for YOU." Lucy suggested pompously.
The big day finally came and Lucy and Peppermint Patty sat in the waiting room. "The nurse said the doctor will see you now, Lucille." The tomboy translated as guilt overtook the fussbudget. She COULDN'T rebel against her parents without being scolded.
"Why don't you go first?" Lucy gulped.
"Having our ears pierced was your idea, Lucille!"
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea…"
"The doctor is waiting, Lucille…"
"Why don't you go first? I'm not ready…"
"How can you not be ready?"
"My ears aren't warmed up!"
"The doctor's still waiting…" Peppermint Patty whispered. "I'll tell you what we can do, Lucille…we can alternate ears…I'll go in and have one ear pierced…then you go in and have one ear pierced…then I'll go in again…then you go in again…then I'll go in again…then you go in again…"
"That's six ears!" Lucy stated.
"You're right…we'll have to tell them to stop us on the fourth ear!
"Okay, Lucille," Peppermint Patty inhaled, puffing up her flat chest. "Just to show you I'm not afraid, I'll go first!" and with that, she courageously marched off.
"I guess I've been kind of scared for nothing…actually, it'll be great to have pierced ears…we can wear beautiful earrings that…" Lucy rambled.
"YIPE!" screamed Peppermint Patty, startling Lucy.
"FORGET IT!" the fussbudget exclaimed, running off. Maybe her mother WAS right. Maybe she WASN'T ready for earrings JUST yet.
"LUCILLE, YOU RAN OUT ON ME!" Peppermint Patty shouted into the phone after leaving the doctor's office as Marcie watched in shock. "I HAD ONE EAR PIERCED AND YOU RAN OUT! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH ONE PIERCED EAR?!" she asked, slamming the phone in disgust before turning to her friend.
"Sir, I have a confession…" Marcie began.
"Not now. I should've listened to you, Marcie…besides, what do girls like us who have long hair need with pierced ears?" Patty rambled.
"It's about that…you see…this might seem hypocritical but…I had my ears pierced last year, Sir…" the bespectacled girl confessed.
"AAUGH!" the freckled girl screamed.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Sir."
"You mean you have earrings?"
"Yeah…just brush back the hair near my ears…"
Patty sighed. "No thanks…I don't want to feel more insulted."
"You're weird, Sir." Marcie sighed.
"And stop calling me 'Sir'."
"Charles, did you know I have pierced ears?" Marcie wondered.
"Really?" Charlie Brown asked in confusion.
"Yeah...Peppermint Patty and Lucy wanted to get their ears pierced..." the bespectacled girl sighed.
"Oh good grief..."
Snoopy-who was walking by-chuckled to himself. "And that, sweetie, is why dogs don't wear earrings."