Here's the next chapter of my Peanuts story! Anyway, enjoy!
After school got dismissed, Marcie came out with a big sigh as Peppermint Patty came out with a smile.
"The teacher was really impressed with you today, sir." Marcie said. "She acted surprised like you studied for once and you didn't fall asleep once in class."
"Who knew?" Peppermint Patty shrugged as she turned to Marcie. "Shall I walk you over to Chuck's place?"
"Thanks, I could use the support." Marcie said as she and the tomboy girl walked together. "Anyway, as I was saying, having your father at home for the week sure helped."
"Yeah, and it's going to be even more so when-" Peppermint Patty smiled... but then stopped as she sighed. She then hugged Marcie.
"What's wrong, sir?" Marcie asked, confused.
"N-nothing for now. Just wanted to say that I'm happy that you find an interest in Chuck." Peppermint Patty said as Marcie just blinked behind her glasses in confusion.
The two basically said nothing until they reached Charlie Brown's place, where they noted Snoopy writing on the typewriter. Peppermint Patty turned to Marcie as she said, "You go on ahead and knock on the door, I'm going to talk to Snoopy for a minute."
Marcie raised an eyebrow, but nodded as she knocked on the door. To her surprise, Charlie Brown's mother answered as she looked at her.
"Hello, Mrs. Brown. I'm one of Charlie Brown's friends from the other neighborhood, Marcie. Is Charles at home?" Marcie asked as she listened to Mrs. Brown's sentences. "He's not home yet? But his school bus should be arriving soon? Well... would it be okay if I came in and waited for him?"
The bi-spectacled girl listened to Mrs. Brown as the young girl gave a smile. "You don't? Thank you, ma'am, I appreciate that."
As Marcie came inside, she heard Mrs. Brown call over to Peppermint Patty as she sat down on the couch and waited. A few minutes later, Peppermint Patty sat down and joined her.
"Did you talk with Snoopy?" Marcie asked.
"I got what I wanted from him pretty clear." Peppermint Patty nodded. "So... yes."
Marcie noticed that Peppermint Patty was shuffling her feet pretty nervously. "You know, sir, if there's something wrong, you can tell me. We are friends, after all."
Peppermint Patty looked up to Marcie and sighed. "I guess I can tell you, but I don't know how you'll take it."
"Sir, if I can be patient with you when you taught me baseball, football and any sport that I never cared for until you and Charles taught me, I can be patient with you talking to me." Marcie smiled.
Peppermint Patty took a deep breath. "All right, I'll tell you. You see, remember when I said my dad came home pretty early yesterday? Well... that day, when he took me to dinner, he told me that he had a promotion at his job, see, and even better, it's between seven in the morning and four-thirty in the afternoon."
"That doesn't sound so bad, sir. It sounds like with your father always being home in the afternoons, you won't have to worry about your sleeping in class problem anymore." Marcie smiled. "And I can always help and remind you of your homework, JUST in case."
"...That's just the thing, Marcie. You see, I don't know how-" Peppermint Patty started before she heard the door opening.
"Hello, Mom, I'm home. And I brought over a friend. Sorry I didn't say anything, but I hope it's okay." They heard Charlie Brown say.
Peppermint Patty yelped as she turned to Marcie. "Sorry to cut this short, Chuck's here... and it looked like..."
"This is Heather, the little red haired girl I told you about yesterday." Charlie Brown's voice said from the other room.
"...he brought the little red haired girl with him." Peppermint Patty sighed. "Marcie, act cool and calm."
Marcie nodded as she and Peppermint Patty heard Charlie Brown say, "Two other friends of mine came over as well? Well, all right, sure. I wouldn't want to keep them waiting."
Pretty soon, Charlie Brown walked in the living room and saw, to his surprise, saw Marcie and Peppermint Patty on the couch.
"Oh, hey Peppermint Patty, Marcie! What a surprise to see you two!" Charlie Brown smiled happily.
Peppermint Patty stared at Charlie Brown in surprise as she whispered to Marcie, "You're right, Marcie, Chuck DOES look like a different person than he does all the other months and years we knew him!"
"Told you." Marcie whispered back to Peppermint Patty.
"Hiya, Chuck!" Peppermint Patty smiled towards him.
"If you're here to talk about the baseball game this Saturday, I'll be glad to talk about it... unless you want it to be cancelled, in which case..." Charlie Brown groaned.
"Relax, Chuck, we're not cancelling the game." Peppermint Patty said as a couple moments later, the two girls noticed someone walking in.
"Oh, good." Charlie Brown sighed in relief as the person came in as this time, the two girls had a closer look at her.
The person walking in was a red haired girl... with a green bow, a green dress and white shoes with green socks. Peppermint Patty just stared in surprise as Marcie sighed. Charlie Brown nodded as he pulled the red haired girl close. "I don't know if you all met, but Heather, I'd like you to meet Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Marcie, Peppermint Patty, this is the little red haired girl I told you all about... her name is Heather."
"Yes, I do believe we met... in some odd manner of speaking." Heather said as she used her hand to do a 'sort of' movement as she turned to Peppermint Patty. "Aren't you that girl who marched up to me at summer camp and cried her eyes out upon meeting me?"
"Uh... yeah. Same one." Peppermint Patty chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that, by the way."
"I had to admit, it did put me in quite a lot of confusion, but oh well, past is in the past." Heather giggled. She then turned to Marcie. "And I do believe I already met you, in a way... at that same summer camp."
Marcie gave a giggle to herself, as she remembered quite clear what happened that year...
It was a year later at summer camp as Marcie was looking around. "Hello? Sir? Are you there?"
It was then Marcie turned a corner and accidentally ran into someone, her glasses getting dropped. "Ow!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" The figure said, handing Marcie her glasses.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, thanks." Marcie said as she put her glasses on her face... and for the first time, she saw a little red haired girl with a baseball cap and a camping uniform on. "Sorry, I was looking for my friend. She went off a bit and I needed to talk to her for a favor..."
"Oh, that's all right." the girl smiled. "I didn't watch where I was going, either. I had some friends to meet as well. Hey, maybe we'll see each other again."
"All right." Marcie smiled as she and the red haired girl shook hands. "I'm Marcie."
"Heather. I hope we talk to each other again sometime, Marcie." Heather said as she started to go off. "I hope you find your friend."
"Don't worry, knowing her, she probably isn't too far off." Marcie smiled as she noticed something dropped at her feet. Marcie picked it up as she said, "Excuse me, you dropped your... your..."
Marcie took a look and gasped.
"...school group photo?" Marcie said in surprise noticing the school group photo... and noticing her class, including the friends she knew were in the picture... and being blocked from view, but can clearly see the top of his head from the back... was good ol' Charlie Brown himself.
Marcie gasped in shock as she looked up. Peppermint Patty told her about the little red haired girl that Charlie Brown had a crush on, but she didn't think she would actually meet him. Marcie pocketed the photo and started to go off, wanting to tell Peppermint Patty about the chance meeting...
"Nice to meet you again, Heather." Marcie smiled.
"Oh... so you already were acquainted with each other?" Charlie Brown said, slightly disappointed.
"Sorry, Charles." Marcie looked down. "But in a way, I'm glad we're all here."
"Indeed." Heather smiled as Peppermint Patty looked around and smiled a bit nervously.
Peppermint Patty then whispered to her bi-spectacled friend, "I don't know how you're going to win against someone like Heather, but hopefully, you can make Chuck change his mind."
"What are you two here for, anyway?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Actually, Chuck, can I talk to you alone for a minute? There's something I wanted to tell you, and... well, I'm not comfortable telling it in front of a crowd." Peppermint Patty said.
"Uh... sure. Okay." Charlie Brown said as he turned to the other two girls. "Heather, Marcie, would it be okay if you waited?"
"Sure." Marcie shook her head.
"I think it'll be fine." Heather nodded.
"All right, great!" Peppermint Patty said as she and Chuck went to the other room.
Marcie sighed. "If I know Peppermint Patty, she'll manage to talk his ear off."
"That type of friend, huh?" Heather giggled. "Say, you know, I haven't even talked to you since summer camp. I mean, I've seen you in the baseball games Charlie Brown's team is playing, but I never approached you. How has everything been?"
"Oh, well... everything's been going all right. I'm actually near the top of my classes... correction, I AM at the top of my classes..." Marcie explained. "And with Charles and Peppermint Patty being a couple of my friends, I have been socializing quite a lot."
"Charles?" Heather asked.
"I gave Charlie Brown that name, and he doesn't mind if I call him that. He doesn't mind if anybody calls him Chuck, but I like to call him Charles. It's more formal." Marcie blushed.
"Ah, I see." Heather smiled.
"Say, Heather... what do you think of Charlie Brown?" Marcie asked.
"Huh?" Heather asked in shock. "What do I think of him? Well... he's a great guy. He's a very positive person, even if he manages to put himself down. I see him every day and..."
"...and you just wish you can help him, give him a hug, be supportive of him?" Marcie sighed. "I think of Charles that way too... heck, I even helped him try to be a better person the other day by having him do something that was beyond even him."
"What was that?" Heather asked.
"I told him to step out of the boundaries and... make a new friend." Marcie blushed.
"No way, that was all you? I'm impressed. Normally, people wouldn't want to go near Charlie Brown with the exception of Linus, his dog, occasionally his sister... and even you and your friend." Heather smiled.
"...Because people often see Charlie Brown as a luckless loser?" Marcie looked down.
"Indeed, but... he's a really great guy. And as of recent, nothing bad has happened to him, so you must be his lucky charm." Heather giggled.
"Me... l-lucky? I don't know about that." Marcie said, looking down.
"What's wrong?" Heather paused... then stopped. "You like him, don't you? I mean, you like-like him."
Marcie squeaked as she covered her face with her hands, but uttered a small, "Yes."
Heather giggled. "Hey, it's okay. Nobody's going to think of you differently because you like-like someone. It's natural."
"Well... what about you, Heather? Do you..." Marcie started.
"What? Well, no. I mean, I like him, but... just as a friend." Heather said. "Like a young brother or something."
"Really?" Marcie said, in shock. "But what abo-"
Before Marcie could finish her question, Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty came out, Charlie Brown keeping a smile, but trying not to keep it down to a frown with Peppermint Patty, satisfied but worried.
"Everything go okay?" Marcie asked.
"Everything's fine." Charlie Brown nodded.
"Of course." Peppermint Patty said as she looked at the clock. "Well, it's getting late. I should be getting home. Marcie, you want me to walk you home?"
"S-sure, sir." Marcie said.
"Oh, Marcie, hold on a second."
The bi-spectacled girl stopped as she turned to Heather. "Yes?"
Heather pulled out a notepad and started writing down an address. "Why don't you come over to my place tomorrow... maybe we can talk about a good way to approach... the matter in your hand?"
Heather then gave the note with her address to Marcie as she pocketed it. Marcie smiled. "Thanks, I'll visit!"
Heather nodded as Marcie and Peppermint Patty left the house, saying their good-byes to Charlie Brown and Heather.
As the two started walking home, Peppermint Patty looked over to Marcie as she said, "Everything go okay with the little red-haired girl? Do you know how she feels for Chuck?"
Marcie paused... and gave a smile. "Let's just say, she likes him as a friend... like a little brother."
Peppermint Patty stared with wide opened eyes... then smiled. "Heh, that means there's still a chance for you! Don't screw this up, Marcie! You're going to need all the help you can get!"
"Aren't you going to be involved in this? I mean..." Marcie asked.
"Marcie, I know what you're going to say, but... I think it may be best if you go after Chuck. After all, with me being-" Peppermint Patty started... then stopped as she looked down.
"You okay?" Marcie asked.
"Oh... fine. Just fine." Peppermint Patty looked down.
"So, what did you and Charles talk about? Was it the baseball game on Saturday?" Marcie asked.
"I-" Peppermint Patty paused... then smiled a bit, putting her hand on Marcie's shoulder. "Yeah, let's just say the game was part of the conversation."
Marcie paused, but just gave a nod as the two walked on their way.
And that's this chapter done! How'd you all like it? Anyway, if you have any suggestions for this story, leave it in a review or PM me! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest!