Snoopy woke with a start as he felt something fly over his stomach. Quickly, he shot up and looked both ways.
"I'm here, you stupid beagle!"
Almost immediately, he saw Schroeder, and it all came back to him.
He'd made him think that Lucy wanted to go out on a date with him without thinking about the fact that both of them would think that the other wanted to date them, therefore, causing problems. And when he'd went to bed last night, he didn't think that one of them would figure it out and confront him.
Crap. He was in a lot of trouble.
Snoopy got off his rooftop and, unsure of what to do, ran into the house and slammed the door. He grabbed a table and hurled it in front of the door. Then, he ran into the living room. Sally was sitting there, eating spaghetti. In front of her, the TV blared and in front of it, was a clock that read 1:26 p.m.
Was it already the afternoon? Did Snoopy really sleep for that long?
Snoopy went to the pantry and got out a packet of macaroni. He took it to Sally, hoping she'd agree since she'd done it before and she could do it again, and waved it in front of her.
"Fine, you stupid beagle," she said, standing up. She set her bowl down on the glass table in front of her and took the packet. She walked over to the stove and started it, pouring the macaroni into the cup and boiling it. Snoopy watched TV as Sally continued to work. On the screen, for some reason, it was the BBC reporting about two adopted parents that murdered their child.
Snoopy wasn't sure why they were watching the BBC when they lived in Canada, so they should have been watching the CBC instead. Not that he bothered to change the channel.
"Here you are." Sally placed the bowl of macaroni in front of him as she sat and took her bowl of spaghetti. She twirled her fork around and took it out and put it into her mouth, not taking it out after five minutes because she was so fixated on the TV screen.
Snoopy took a bite of macaroni, focusing on the TV screen the way Sally did. In fact, he was so fixated on the screen that he didn't hear Charlie Brown knock on the door. And when he did, he ran to the door and opened it, letting Charlie Brown in. He had just come back from Linus', even though he wasn't supposed to go outside of the house because he was still grounded, though that was okay because his parents weren't home. It was like nobody in the neighbourhood's parents were home anyway.
"Snoopy, what would I do without you?" Charlie Brown was happy that he'd been let in. The last time he had to wait for half an hour just for someone to open the door was at Lucy's birthday party in fifth grade, and he ended waiting not for half an hour, but TWO hours just for someone to show up at the door. The only person who could ever go through something like that was Charlie Brown.
At times, it felt like the universe was against him, such as now.
After he changed and showered, Charlie Brown told Snoopy that Schroeder was outside waiting for him. Charlie Brown may not have known what that might have meant, but Snoopy did.
"Big brother, what do you think is going on between Snoopy and Schroeder outside?" asked Sally. Charlie Brown shrugged. He had his headphones in, so he really couldn't hear too much.
"Schroeder is shouting at him. It's like he's angry with him." Sally turned off the TV. "Although, he's probably reminding him how much of a stupid beagle he is."
Charlie Brown took out his headphones and listened for a couple of seconds.
"You son of a-" That was Schroeder.
Wait. Did Schroeder just say what Charlie Brown thought he said? Oh no. He was not getting away with that. It was about time Charlie Brown paid Snoopy back for saving his ass that September they ran into a bunch of Grade 8 girls that filmed them.
Charlie Brown turned off his music and ran out the door, quickly throwing on a flip-flop on his left foot that was meant for his right, and one of Sally's boots. He then ran out, leaving the door open and constantly tripping over himself as he ran onto the driveway, where Schroeder was standing.
"Leave Snoopy alone!" screamed Charlie Brown. His teeth were gritted, and he was ready to slug Schroeder if necessary.
Schroeder snorted. "Says the guy with a rock in his nose."
Did he actually have a rock in his nose? Whatever. If Schroeder wanted a fight, then that's what he was going to get. With all of his might, Charlie Brown charged toward Schroeder and punched him, sending him back.
"Get. Out. Now." Charlie Brown pointed to the sidewalk.
Schroeder scoffed. "Just so you know, your stupid beagle told me that Lucy wanted to meet me, and when I got there, I found out he told Lucy that I wanted to meet her. We got into a fight after I'd figured it out and told her." Then he got up and left.
"Snoopy?" He came out, hands behind back and smiling meekly, as though he expected Charlie Brown to cut him some slack, though he wouldn't. Behind them, there was a car engine roaring, but they ignored it.
"Did you tell Schroeder that Lucy wanted to meet him?" He put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot, waiting.
"Who do we have here?" A sharp female voice cut in before Charlie Brown got his answer. That sounded like...
Like...
His mom.
Crap. Now he was going to get it.