A/N: This story evolved from a series of Peanuts comic strips from October 1990 of which I'm using some of the dialogue. It was such a touching series that I could see a connection to my favorite television show. Cartoon and real-life characters interacting might be kind of strange to imagine, but hopefully I've done it well. Dedicated to Kristen3 and leighAnn415

When the phone rang, Charlie Brown lowered the volume on the television and went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Charles, I'm coming over to see you."

His eyes widened at Marcie's request. She was his friend but the idea of her-or anyone else for that matter—coming over to see him was practically unheard of.

"Me?"

"Yes. I need to talk to you."

"Me?" He asked again.

"Yes! And please stop saying 'me'!" she yelled.

Charlie Brown looked at his dog Snoopy who sat on the sofa beside him. "Us?" He asked, still in disbelief.

The dial tone buzzed in his ear, a signal that Marcie had hung up on him. Apparently Marcie wasn't fond of his attempt at humor, even if was pretty bad.

"Well, Snoopy. What do you think? It's kind of weird that Marcie wants to come over and talk to me. I wonder what she wants to talk to me about. I don't know any more about anything than anyone else does."

Snoopy, of course, didn't answer and instead wagged his tail. Crazy dog.

But Charlie Brown wasn't fooled. He knew that look that Snoopy always got at this time of day. He glanced at his watch and sighed. "Snoopy, you know I'd feed you, but

Marcie will be here any minute. I wonder-."

The doorbell rang and he went to answer it. As he expected, Marcie was on the other side. But what he didn't expect to see was how upset she looked; as though she might cry, or might have already been crying a little. He didn't know what to say. He'd never seen her so upset before. And so he just stood there, staring at her.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" She demanded.

Charlie Brown blinked in surprise. "What? Oh yeah. Come in." He opened the door wider to allow her to enter. "Would you like-." He was about to offer her a glass of water, but she moved past him and climbed onto the couch.

"What's going on?" He asked, after a long, uncomfortable silence. "Why did you want to talk to me?"

"My parents are driving me crazy, Charles! They want me to be perfect! They want me to get straight A's in school and do everything perfect! I'm cracking up, Charles! I shouldn't even be here! I'm supposed to be at home reading Ivanhoe!"

Charlie Brown was at a complete loss. He knew he had to say something but he had no idea what to say. Marcie always seemed so happy and she was such a good student and was constantly getting B-pluses and even A's; much better grades than he could ever make. How could her parents possibly expect her to do even better than that?

"I don't know what to say." He finally admitted. He expected her to be mad, but when she didn't reply, he became even more confused. "Marcie?"

He turned to look at her, surprised to find her holding a book, staring at the pages. Where had that book come from? Marcie must have been carrying it when she arrived at his doorstep. Funny that he hadn't noticed it before.

"Keep talking while I read this last chapter." She said.

But he could only stare at her in confusion. He was doomed. His friend had called him and asked him for help and he had no idea what to say.