A/N: Yep, I'm still alive! My biggest problem is that I spend more time daydreaming about this story than actually writing it. Sighhhhh.
The Reichardts — Patty and her father Paul — arrived almost immediately afterwards, and all four families were sitting down to dinner within ten minutes. There were three seats left when Lucy arrived at the table — Charlie and Patty were sitting next to each other on one side of it, and Sally and Matthew were on the other side, with one seat between the two of them. Lucy settled herself next to Charlie Brown, but just as she did, Schroeder and Linus arrived at the table, and Linus sat between Sally and Matty, leaving only the seat next to Lucy free for Schroeder.
With zero attempt at subtlety, Lucy bolted up from her seat. "Linus, switch seats with me."
Linus looked up from his plate. "Huh? Why? I don't mind sitting with Sal—"
"Just do it," she said, giving him a stern look.
He hesitated, but finally shrugged and stood with plate in hand, and they traded spots quickly and quietly.
And in this manner dinner began.
"Wonderful lasagna, Mrs. Julia," called Schroeder toward the end of the table the adults were at.
"Thank you, Thomas," smiled Mrs. Van Pelt. "But Linus and Lucy helped, so I can't take all the credit."
"Ah, well, I know that if Lucy's involved," he said, stealing an attempt at a charming smile at his girlfriend, "it must be good."
The parents murmured their agreement, and Lucy chuckled politely, but as soon as the adults had returned to their own conversation, she markedly rolled her eyes and turned back to her food.
First attempt failed, Schroeder mentally noted with a frown.
The kids continued to dine mostly in silence, with only Charlie and Patty — the only ones oblivious to the elephant in the room — quietly chattering together and making an occasional attempt at small talk with the rest.
Several uneasy minutes transpired as Schroeder wistfully watched Lucy in the hope that she'd look in his direction and he'd get a chance to say something — anything — to her, but after it became evident that she was avoiding his gaze on purpose, he finally gave up and turned to Linus instead.
"So how come you weren't at Vi's party last night?"
"Oh, Charlie Brown and Patty and I got together to watch the Twins game," he answered, then after receiving a subtle look of encouragement from Sally, prompted, "I might ask why you didn't watch the game with us."
"Uh— Well, Lucy and I agreed to go to the party together."
"That's a laugh," muttered the girl under her breath, causing the others to give her a curious look for a moment.
"Well, you missed a great game, Schroeder," pointed out Patricia, who, along with Charlie, had just leaned closer to join the conversation.
Schroeder nodded. "I'll bet it was. Although, I did see something rather interesting at the party. Or I should say someone. Charlie Brown, guess who's— oof!"
He stole a dirty look at Lucy, the culprit of the kick in the shin he'd just received, but she was busy giving Sally an urgent look.
Sally nodded at Lucy and quickly looked around. "Er— uhm… Oh, Matt! How's your first week of high school been?"
Matthew looked up in surprise. "It's, uh… It's been good. Not nearly as scary as I thought it would be."
Lucy finally managed a laugh. "Yeah, sweetie, just wait 'til you get to junior year and then you can make a proper judgment."
"Don't scare the poor guy, Luce," chuckled Linus nervously. "Say, did you try out for the basketball team in the end, Matty?"
"Mmm." He held up a finger while he finished chewing. "No, I decided to wait 'til next year. Gives me time to get some credits out of the way and all."
Linus nodded, as did Charlie, who after giving a casual agreement with Matty's decision, cut in with, "Sorry, Schroeder, what were you saying a second ago?"
"Oh, only that—"
"Hey, I think our drinks could use some refills!" Lucy frantically interrupted, abruptly standing for the second time that afternoon. "Schroeder, care to help me in the kitchen?"
He looked at her in confusion. "Are you, uh, sure?"
"Yes," she confirmed through gritted teeth, taking his hand and quickly dragging him away.
Once in the kitchen, Schroeder took a breath to ask what was going on, but had little chance to do so before Lucy gave him an only moderately gentle slap on the arm. "What's wrong with you?"
He was even more baffled now as he rubbed his arm. "What do you mean? Why won't you guys let me talk?"
"Well, what's the idea, spilling to Charlie Brown about Heather being back?"
Schroeder scoffed. "I don't know, I thought he'd be interested to know about it. What's wrong with that?"
"Look, Schroeder," she said as she began to refill the empty pitcher she had brought in from the dining room, "you and I both know that Heather was a really big deal to him, and it's going to affect him to know she's back."
"Well, yeah," he agreed with a shrug, "but he has to find out eventually. Isn't it better if we, you know, offer our support?"
"No, because then we're making a big deal of it. If we just let it pass like it's no big deal, then we minimize the damage."
"Wha— but you just said Heather was a big deal."
"Yes, but if we all make a federal case out of it, then it blows out of proportion. But if he finds out for himself, then he can have his mini heart attack, think it over, talk it out with the person he chooses, and it blows over — not to mention that we don't want Patty to think we're all making a thing of it."
Schroeder was silent for a moment, cocking his head to one side, then another, as he considered it. "Okay, I guess you're right."
Lucy nodded as she finished stirring the second jug of tea of the evening. "Of course I am. I'm 'Dear Lucy,' remember?"
"You certainly are," he said with a smile. "Although it kind of surprises me that you're the one trying to minimize the drama. That's not… you know… what you usually do."
The ease which had crept into Lucy's manner disappeared as she heard these words, and she immediately tensed up. "Well, maybe last night made me sensitive to the fact that it might bother Patty to see her boyfriend's head turned by some other girl."
"Oh," he groaned, biting his lip. "Look, Lucy, I feel really bad about that, and if I could only—"
Lucy shook her head as she backed toward the kitchen door. "No, okay? Don't start. It's not the time or the place to talk about it." And with this she swiftly pushed the door open and exited.
"Second attempt failed," sighed Schroeder as he followed her out to the dining room.
Dinner proceeded, and conversation among the teens started flowing more smoothly. Eventually the subject turned to Lucy's involvement in the Homecoming committee.
"So you've decided on the theme, huh?" prompted Sally.
"That's right. It's gonna be announced in the Schulz High Gazette on Monday."
"Oh," said Sally with a nod. "But you can tell us what it is, can't you?"
Lucy shook her head as she finished sipping her tea. "Mm-mmm. It's a secret until the announcement."
"Aww, come on, Lucille," pouted Patty. "You're not serious, are you?"
She assured them that she was perfectly serious.
"But how am I supposed to find a dress if I don't know the theme?" complained Sally.
"You only have to wait a day and a half to find out at this point," replied Lucy. "And besides, the dance isn't for three weeks. I'm sure you'll have time."
"Are you going to Homecoming, Sally?" inquired Schroeder.
"Well, of course I am!" she replied adamantly. "I only missed it last year because I had the flu, and I absolutely refuse to miss out this year."
"Has anyone asked you yet?" asked her brother.
"Not yet."
"Do you think they will?"
"Well, sure. I think Harold Angel is planning to, and maybe Cormac, too."
"Linus isn't at the table right now, Sally," said Lucy over another sip of tea. "You don't have to brag about all the boys that love you."
Sally glowered at the black-haired girl as the others broke into giggles. "What does one thing have to do with the other?" she asked, tension rising in her voice.
"You know," returned Lucy with a knowing look.
"No, I do not," Sally answered curtly, and Lucy arched a quizzical brow.
Ordinarily, Miss Van Pelt would've prodded the subject and teased further (perhaps by citing one of the many instances this summer where Sally had flirted with Linus), but tonight she found in Sally's expression a particular earnestness, a sincere desire to be left alone over this particular person, that she recognized as one she'd worn herself just last night when the roles had been reversed — Sally had wanted to know what had happened with Schroeder, and Lucy had wanted to speak of anything but. And that look managed to appeal to Lucy's compassionate side just enough for her to assent with a nod and turn back to her food instead.
The evening seemed inevitably to be in the shadow of some awkward moment or other.
But encouraged by Charlie, the subject of being asked to Homecoming soon continued in a more casual manner, and Sally spoke of the way she'd like to be asked ("with sunflowers and a box of chocolates," she declared to be the sweetest way she could think of), as well as who she'd like to go with (Harold King appealed to her more than Cormac, she said).
Once they'd exhausted the topic of the dance — as well as their desserts —, the seven moved into the living room for a thrilling game of Spoons. Schroeder lost first, followed by a grumbling Lucy when she broke a nail in the process. As the game continued around the coffee table without them, Lucy couldn't help notice the way Schroeder kept looking at her — appearing something like a starstruck child.
This, too, was a look Lucy recognized — she had looked like this many times as a young child, lost in observing Schroeder's piano playing while he tried so hard to ignore her flirting and silly questions (such as "What makes you think Beethoven was better than Elton John?" — here she bit her lip to avoid laughing at that memory). The fact that the tables were turned this evening did make her feel just the tiniest amount of remorse at refusing to listen to him like she had, but soon enough the recollection of Nancy looking at Schroeder that same way the night before did away with any guilt on that score. She was glad when Patty was the next to get out of the game, as talking to her was a good distraction from the angry butterflies swarming in Lucy's stomach.
"So when are you gonna start handing out those campaign buttons, Lucille?"
"Monday, with any luck," she answered. "I just have to figure out what I'm gonna carry them in. They're just in a box on my bed at the moment. Any suggestions?"
Patty shrugged. "I'm not sure. A tote, I guess?"
"I guess," said Lucy, nodding and frowning as she examined her broken nail.
"I can't stand it," interrupted Charlie Brown as he scooted back from the table to sit next to Patty. "I never win at Spoons. Never!"
Lucy and Patty smiled sympathetically.
"Oh, that's not true, Chuck. You won once." Patricia pretended to be hard at thought a moment before proceeding, "Yes, I think you won once in sixth grade."
Charlie scowled, though with a smile in his eyes. "Thanks, Patty."
The three of them — no, make that four, as Schroeder was listening in, as well — laughed, and Lucy felt light again for a moment. She seemed to be bouncing around between emotion-charged seriousness and lighthearted joy a lot tonight.
This was when Schroeder stood from the carpeted floor and announced he was stepping into the restroom. Those who weren't absorbed in the game acknowledged him with a nod, and Lucy with a mutter of "okay."
None of them had any reason to suppose that wasn't where he was headed.
With stealth and many glances over his shoulder, Schroeder walked past the door to the powder room and toward the stairwell. He crept upstairs quietly and slipped in through the barely open door of Lucy's room.
He felt his way around, not daring to turn on the light for fear someone would notice. As his eyes adjusted to the general darkness of the bedroom and the dim lighting from the window and her nightlight, he couldn't help but dawdle a moment as he looked around at the walls and many decorations of the room. He had only been up here once, a couple of years ago, to visit Lucy when she was sick.
He found his way to her bed and felt a cardboard box on it. This is it, thought Schroeder with a smile as he opened it and found it full of the campaign buttons he'd heard Lucy speak of.
He figured this wasn't a bad plan, as far as plans made in the space of thirty seconds go. It might earn him some points with Lucy to help with her campaign by handing out pins at school on Monday. He grabbed a few from the box and stuffed them into his pockets.
That was when he encountered the first flaw in his plan. How would he carry the pins out without them being noticed? They were too big to carry more than four or five in his pockets, and even those, Schroeder now realized, would be noticed easily. He frowned and looked around the room for some kind of idea.
After some seconds of hurried consideration, he figured he could simply take them downstairs in his pocket and then transfer them to his mom's purse.
"Yes, that's what I'll do," he mumbled as he grabbed a few more, though careful not to take so much that their absence would be noticed.
He had just closed the box and taken the first step back toward the door when he heard the footsteps — hurried, high-top kind of footsteps. Lucy.
Schroeder gasped and did the first thing he could think of: he dove behind the bed. He had to exercise much self-control not to wince in pain as he felt one of the pins in his pocket poke his leg just as the door opened and the lights came on.
As quietly as he could, he dragged himself under the bed and observed Lucy's feet walking about the room. He hoped, for the love of Beethoven, that she wasn't here to change.
Quietly humming and apparently oblivious to anyone else's presence, Lucy walked to her dresser and took a long drink from her water bottle, after which she headed to her bedside table and crouched down to open the drawer. Schroeder could almost see her face now, and he was breathing so heavily that he was almost certain Lucy could hear him, but it seemed she didn't as she pulled a nail file out of the drawer, closed it, and exited.
The moment the door was closed, Schroeder felt himself practically deflating in an extended sigh of relief. He remained in hiding for a few seconds longer, just to make sure Lucy was properly gone, and quickly scrambled out and returned downstairs before anyone could notice that the powder room was empty.
Perhaps, he thought as he took his mother's bag from the coat rack in the foyer and filled it with the pins, this would be his ticket to finally getting Lucy to listen to him. Perhaps by Monday night, the issue would be peacefully resolved.
Or so he hoped.
Whatever the case, they all somehow managed to finish the evening without too many insults exchanged — a considerable feat for having spent it playing Spoons and Mario Kart.
A/N: I'm sorry if the second half is kind of meh. I finished it in a big hurry so as to finally get the chapter published, and if I'm honest, it did feel kind of flat as I wrote it. So I might come back to it later to edit and revise a bit, but for now, I'm glad to finally get it published. Reviews are highly appreciated, so please take a couple of minutes to let me know your thoughts :) Thanks for reading!