Disclaimer: I don't own the Peanuts

A/N: I'm also too young to own the Peanuts. They've been around for 60 years!

Chapter 1

The little pings coming from the piano keys were all Lucy needed to be happy. Her prom date, Schroeder, played nonstop the day after. At the moment, he was still in a state of shock that he was the one to ask her on a date. There wasn't anyone else. All of his friends had dates including wishy-washy ol' Charlie Brown who asked Peppermint Patty about a month in advance! Schroeder didn't want to be left out so he found the only girl unavailable: Lucy van Pelt.

He remembered all of the posters on the wall saying: Birchwood High Senior Prom! They surrounded him like the dark in the middle of the night. "You better get your date soon." His friend, Pig Pen, said one day at lunch. "I mean, we better get our dates soon." He looked around. "All the girls are going to be taken!"

To Schroeder, Pig Pen never changed. He was still his old dirty self. This time, he had an excuse to be dirty at the age of 18. He was a football player. He'd get down in the mud whenever he got the chance! "No offense, Pig Pen, but who would ask you?" He asked.

"I don't know. I sort of have my eye on someone." He said, looking towards the girls at the next table. It was their old childhood friends, Patty, Shermy, Violet, Lucy, and Sally. Shermy was only there because he and Patty had been a couple ever since it was okay by their parents for them to date. They already declared their love by the age of four and again at ten, twelve, and sixteen.

"Who?" Schroeder asked, scanning the table for a plausible date.

"Violet, duh!"

"Doesn't she nag you all of the time about all of the dust you attract?"

"Yes, but underneath her cruelty and lack of acceptance for this dust that won't go away, she digs me." He winked towards her when she happened to look towards them, earning Pig Pen a scoff. "I'm going to go make my move." He stood up, not bothering to dust himself off and walk towards the table. Schroeder, on the other hand, decided to continue eating his sandwich.

Then, Charlie Brown came to the normal lunch table where Schroeder sat. He had his cell phone glued to his face and a big bag of chips on the other. "I know. I got it." He said, tossing the bag on the table. "I know, I said I got it. How do you know I got the wrong colors if I didn't even… Oh, is that so?" He rolled his eyes. "Pepp… Pepper… Peppermint…" It seemed to Schroeder that Peppermint Patty wouldn't let Charlie Brown talk…again. "Peppermint Patty, calm down. I have it under control. What do you mean by 'Well, you are Charlie Brown?'?" He sighed. "No, I'm not starting anything. No, you're the one jumping to conclusions. Yes, I bought the silver tie like you asked. I… I… Well, uh…" Schroeder raised an eyebrow when his bald friend looked at him. Charlie Brown shrugged. "I'll have to talk to you about… No, the dress is nice on you!" He pulled the phone away from his ear as his prom date started shouting on the other line. "I have to go." He whispered before getting up and leaving.

"Well, that was something." Schroeder commented to himself before Linus sat down next to him.

"What was something?" He asked.

"Charlie Brown is just being his old wishy-washy self." They laughed. It was true. Charlie Brown didn't change at all except for his height. His weight even stayed the same. No one knows why but Charlie Brown is pretty skinny. It was assumed that he ate the same things every day since he was a small child.

"So do you have a date for the prom?"

"Oh, I'm not going." He said with no problem.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not a senior. I'm still a junior."

"I thought you planned on graduating early."

"No, not anymore." He sighed. "Sally won't let me. When I told her, she panicked."

"Oh?"

"I really don't want to get into detail at the moment. So how did you do on your history test?" Linus was always the one to bring up academics when no one really cared. It was a way to keep everyone on task and it was a conversation starter.

"I aced it." He smiled. "It was in Beethoven's era."

"Oh, of course!" Linus laughed. "So do you have a date for the prom?"

"No." He frowned. "It seems that everyone has a date but me."

"Not Lucy. She's waiting for you to ask her, you know."

"Ugh." Schroeder turned around and saw Lucy with her new hairstyle: still dark but wavy towards the ends. She had on a dress similar to her old childhood dress but this one was more mature. It had a scoop-neck instead of a collar and it was all flappy at the end. She saw Schroeder looking at her and waved. "I can't believe she's waiting for me."

"If you want to go to the prom, what choice do you have?" It was just like Linus to be the voice of reason. That didn't change about him and neither did anything else. He rummaged through his backpack as he spoke. "I say you ask her now while you have this beautiful opportunity."

Schroeder grew suspicious. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." He said. Schroeder grabbed his backpack. "Um…don't do that."

He yanked the backpack from underneath his hands. As he did, a long light blue cloth came out: Linus's childhood blanket. "Oh, Linus." Schroeder commented with shame in his voice. "I thought you got rid of it."

"I did!" All of a sudden, he was sucking the thumb of one hand and caressing the blanket with the other. "I found it yesterday when I thought it was gone forever. I can't help it. I'm hooked."

Schroeder rolled his eyes and saw Lucy again. This time, she was talking to Sally about the prom. It was obvious when she pointed to him. Sally responded with a giggle. "Maybe I should ask her." He signaled her over. "I mean, what choice do I have?"

"Hi, Schroeder." Lucy greeted. Then, she saw Linus with his blanket. "Oh, good grief. You're seventeen years old. Will you give that blanket up already?"

Linus sighed. "You're right." He stuffed the blanket in his backpack. As soon as he looked up again, all he could see was Sally Brown's face.

"Hiya, Linus!" She cheered.

"Good grief." He responded.

"Are you going to the prom, my sweet baboo?"

"Sally, it's a senior prom. We're not seniors."

"We don't have to be seniors. We just have to look like them!"

"No, we have to be seniors." Linus pressed.

"Or you could get a senior to buy your ticket." Lucy said.

"Then, buy our tickets! I have the money!" Sally yelled. "I have enough for me and my sweet baboo!"

"Go ask 5." Lucy shooed them away. The two grabbed their things and left. "Now, what did you want to ask me?"

Schroeder sighed. "I wanted to ask you if you had a date for the prom."

Lucy blushed. "Well, no." She knew that he was going to ask, but she wanted to hear him say the proper words.

"Would you go to the prom with me?"

"Yes!" She shouted, making the whole cafeteria grow quiet. And that was that.

Now, Schroeder was constantly playing all of Beethoven's fast paced songs (that required a lot of finger work) on his piano. By the age of thirteen, he was told to play an actual size piano because it was bad for his spine. He was no longer a kid, so he had to stop playing with the toy. It was quite an adjustment but he did it!

"I had so much fun at the prom." Lucy stated. Schroeder only ignored her. She was used to it. "Didn't you have fun?" He continued to ignore her. "Oh, what am I saying? Of course you did! I mean, look at all of the pictures Marcy took! You were smiling at all of them."

She sighed, bringing out her pictures. There was one with her in a powder blue A-line dress that went down to her shins, Sally in a light pink princess-like dress, and Peppermint Patty in a green strapless Marge Simpson dress. Everyone was surprised to see her in a dress and without flip-flops. She actually had heels on! Then, there was a picture of Schroeder, Linus, and Charlie Brown with ties that matched their dates' dress. Then, there was more of the couples individually, Charlie Brown tripping and knocking over the punch bowl, Sally posing by the classy table decorations, Sally posing in front of the bathroom mirror, Sally posing next to Linus and Franklin, Pig Pen and Violet, Shermy kissing Patty, Shermy proposing to Patty, Peppermint Patty kissing Charlie Brown on the cheek, and Schroeder hugging Lucy. That was her favorite.

When she put the pictures down, Lucy kissed Schroeder on the forehead, making him stop playing. "Lucy, remember when I told you that I only asked you because I had no one else?" He asked.

"Yes, what's your point? Are you saying that you want me to be your girlfriend now?" She beamed.

"No. That's just it. I only asked you to the prom because I had no one else. That's it."

"Oh." He continued playing. "I bet if Beethoven had a beautiful girlfriend waiting for him right in front of his face, he'd see it." She got off from the top of his piano and walked out the door.

At first he didn't care. She'd come crawling back like she always did, so he continued to play. Then, seconds later, the guilt got to him. She had a point and he discouraged her. He felt like he had to make it up to her for agreeing to go with him to the prom. Schroeder ran out the door and prayed to catch up to her. "Lucy, wait!" He called as soon as he saw her walking all alone. She rolled her eyes before turning around. "Sally's throwing a party next weekend." He said. "Will you go with me?"

Lucy's face instantly lit up. "Yes!" She hugged him before skipping off.

Some things never change, Schroeder thought, watching Lucy skip home like her young self ten years ago. Never.

Well, that's chapter 1! I wrote it about half a year ago to a year ago so it was technically ten years after new comic strips have stopped. Anyway, review and tell me if I did a good job writing this!