Author's note: Real quick, to those of you who were alerted of my PM saying that I would from now on only be posting this on Wattpad, I have changed my mind. That said, here's the next chapter for you all. Enjoy!

The next school day at lunchtime, our usual group was chatting and eating away together at their table.

"So, how was your time with Janice yesterday, Linus?" Heather asked Linus.

"Very enjoyable," Linus replied. "It didn't last as long as I would've liked, but we enjoyed our time together."

"What did you guys do?" Mary asked.

"Well, Janice and I first went to the playground. However, Janice saw that they had taken down the swings for the winter," Linus said. "So we then instead just made a quick visit to Nelson's for some food. While we were there, Janice filled me in on how she and her family had managed to move back here into Sparkyville."

Linus then went on to tell everyone Janice's relatively quick explanation of her father's plans.

"Interesting," Mary said, appearing sort of amused. "So eventually being able to move back here was clearly the plan all along."

Linus nodded and grinned at her.

"Speaking of Janice and her family..." Schroeder motioned towards a table that was currently unoccupied, except for the new kid that was sitting there by herself: Janice's older sister, Janette.

The others looked and saw her, and Charlie Brown and Heather remembered that she was also the one who was now filling Thibault's vacant seat in their homeroom.

Seconds later, Heather stood up. "I'll be back in a second."

Heather then began walking towards Janette.

"Hello there," she said, causing Janette to look up at her.

"Oh. Hello," Janette replied, looking a bit surprised to see Heather standing there. "You're Heather, right? I believe Janice said that's what your name was."

Heather nodded. "I couldn't help but notice that you were all alone here. If you'd like, you're welcome to come join my group at our table," she told her, giving her a welcoming smile.

"Really?" Janette asked.

"Sure," Heather said as she motioned to her table.

Janette looked and saw that present within Heather's crew were the same faces she saw who had come to see Janice. They were all looking back at her, also appearing as though they would be welcoming of her judging by their expressions.

A few seconds later, Janette smiled. "Why, thank you! I'd be happy to join you guys."

And so Janette stood up, picked up her lunch tray, and proceeded to follow Heather back to Heather's table.

While with the group, Janette was introduced to Mary and Schroeder. However, from among everyone in the group, she interacted a bit more with Linus.

"I hear that Janice was slightly saddened by the fact that you wouldn't be going to school with her due to you skipping two grades," Janette said to Linus with an amused grin.

Linus chuckled. "Don't worry. Janice is well assured that the two of us will spend plenty of time together."

"I'm sure you will," Janette said. "Janice speaks pretty highly of you, you know. She says that you are an amazing person to hang around with."

Linus became a little bit flustered upon being told this. Janette noticed and gave him a smirk. If it was true what Janette thought about Linus' and Janice's dynamic, then Janette was going to have a blast teasing them over it.

On Wednesday afternoon, like usual, Lucy was busy having her weekly session with Dr. Bliss. Currently, Lucy was looking at Dr. Bliss in confusion by what she had just told her.

"You say you feel happier when you give to others rather than receive?" Lucy asked the psychologist in disbelief.

Dr. Bliss nodded. "That's correct. It always warms me up whenever I see the smile on someone's face after I do something nice for them. Even something as small as telling them that they look nice."

"But how though?" Lucy questioned. "I've always felt more 'joy' when I'm on the receiving end of things."

"That's kind of a good question, Lucy, and one in which I can't really give a concrete answer for," Dr. Bliss said. "I guess it's just the way we humans are wired."

Lucy still looked quite skeptical.

"Tell me, Lucy, what do you feel when you do something for someone else. And without expecting to get anything in return," Dr. Bliss asked.

Lucy tried to think back to the last time she actually did do something for someone else without the expectation of return. Had there ever really been any times like that? The closest thing Lucy could think of was the day she thought she had secured a piano recital opportunity for Schroeder. Of course, even that wasn't quite the "doing for someone else" Lucy was sure Dr. Bliss had in mind. Lucy had done this for Schroeder in the hopes of getting him to appreciate her more. And it all didn't even work out as planned thanks to shortly finding out that the event was actually meant to be a rock concert.

"Lucy, I think that if you were to just push your doubts aside and try to get involved in doing some things for others, you'll be able to experience firsthand how joyous it really can be," Dr. Bliss told Lucy. She then picked up a brochure that was lying on the table next to her and handed it to Lucy. "I'd like you to take a look at this."

Lucy took the brochure and looked at its cover.

"Sparkyville Hospital's Candy Stripes Volunteer Program?" she said to herself.

Dr. Bliss nodded. "Indeed. It's a program where you perform different kinds of volunteer work at Sparkyville hospital. Basically, the idea is that you start off with wearing a white uniform that has just one pink stripe."

Lucy listened to Dr. Bliss as she began browsing the brochure's pages.

"But... if you prove yourself to be a hard worker, and are caring, kind, and gentle with any patients you find yourself assisting, you can get "promoted" by receiving a uniform with more stripes," Dr. Bliss continued.

Lucy looked up at Dr. Bliss with a glazed look in her eyes. She then laughed derisively. "Really? That's the reward for the volunteer work that you do? Ha! What kind of a reward is that?"

"It's meant to be a display of honor," Dr. Bliss said. "When I was part of the program, I always enjoyed it when I got a new uniform with an additional stripe. To me, it was a sign that I had positively impacted the lives of so many people. So many people who really needed it at the time."

"I really still find it hard to believe that people think that being the giver can make them happier than being the receiver," Lucy said.

"Like I said, I think that if you just try it out for yourself, you'll see firsthand that what I'm saying is true," Dr. Bliss said confidently. She then heard her watch beep. "Oh! It looks like our session is now over."

The two of them stood up and began making their way to the door.

"Just think about all of this," Dr. Bliss instructed of Lucy. "You can keep that brochure with you and show it to your parents. I think that they would also recommend the program to you."

Lucy said nothing, but was still looking over the brochure as she left Dr. Bliss' office.

The next morning, it was the beginning of the school day, obviously meaning homeroom once more. After everyone had arrived, and the homeroom teacher took roll call, she faced the class and clasped her hands together.

"Good morning, everyone!" she greeted cheerfully. "Today, I would like to announce a little something special for you all."

Upon hearing the teacher say "something special", the attendance of the students sharpened.

"As you all know, it is now just ten more days until Christmas," the teacher continued. She then brought forth a jar filled with pieces of paper with names on them. "In honor of the occasion, I would like to have us as a class partake in a classic tradition called "Secret Santa". I'm sure many of you already know what a Secret Santa assignment means."

About half of the students nodded, indicating that they did know what was to come.

The teacher smiled in satisfaction.

"Good. Now, the rules are simple: Each student will take a name from this jar. Whoever you wind up picking, you are that person's Secret Santa. You must purchase or make a gift for them to be given to them, wrapped, on the last day of class before Christmas break. That day is Friday, December the 23rd. If you decide to purchase a gift, the monetary limit is five dollars. And finally, of course, it would not be a "Secret" Santa assignment if anyone knew who their Santa was, so until all the gifts are handed out, no one is to reveal to anyone who has whom as their Secret Santa. Disciplinary action will be taken on anyone who does not follow all rules. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Mrs. Z," the entire class said in unison.

"Alright then," the instructor then said. "When I call your name, come up to the front and select a name. Jessica Anderson?"

From the third row, farthest to the left, a girl in pigtails whom Charlie Brown didn't know, stood up and went to do as instructed. After taking a name and reading it, she walked back to her desk, looking indifferent about who she had chosen.

"Charlie Brown?" the teacher called next.

Charlie Brown slowly stood up and began to approach the jar. On the way, he shot a quick glance at Heather.

It'll be interesting if I choose Heather. That would be both exciting, and nerve-racking at the same time, he thought.

Once arriving at the desk, Charlie Brown tentatively stuck his hand into the jar. A couple seconds later, a name was in his hand and he read it. He frowned slightly.

It was just a boy whom Charlie Brown had never spoken to that he can recall. He was sitting in the third row farthest to the right. There was very little that Charlie Brown knew about this boy, except for one key thing. And although Charlie Brown knew deep down that he shouldn't let this thing bother him, it sort of did.

This guy was currently dating Peggy Jean, his old flame from elementary school.

The two of them had actually only gotten together in the past month. And perhaps Charlie Brown wasn't remembering correctly, but he could have sworn that just before Peggy Jean and this guy had gotten together, that Peggy Jean was happily together with someone else.

Regardless, Charlie Brown could only give the boy whom he was now a Secret Santa to a glance before returning to his desk.

Over the next few minutes, most of the other students had been called to choose their Secret Santa delegates. The last person to be called was Heather Wold.

Said red-haired girl approached the jar and took out the last name. Once she read what was on the little piece of paper, she smiled, appearing delighted.

I got Charlie Brown, she thought.

It was now about fifteen minutes shy of one in the afternoon on Saturday. Lucy had just arrived at Sparkyville Hospital and was in search of a bathroom. Clutched in her right hand was a crisp white apron with one pale pink stripe down the front of it.

Yes, Lucy was now officially a volunteer worker there, operating under the Candy Stripes program Dr. Bliss had filled her in on. Today was her very first day. She would be here on both Saturdays and Sundays for about four hours each day.

As of right now though, Lucy's expression clearly indicated that she would rather not be here. Did there really have to be so many sick people? She couldn't believe that she was about to go through with this, but here she was. After she had shown the brochure to her parents, they both instantly agreed that this would be good for her and signed her up, despite Lucy's protests.

As she was now approaching the bathroom, she held up her apron and looked at it with a frown. At the same time though, the door opened, and since Lucy wasn't paying attention to where she was going...

Bonk!

Lucy and this other person wound up walking into each other, bumping heads in the process.

"Ow! Good grief, watch where you're going!" Lucy snapped at the other person.

The other person, who had just put on her own Candy Stripes apron, frowned and narrowed her eyes at Lucy as she rubbed the spot where Lucy had bumped into her. Once she was aware of who this was though, her eyes went wide in surprise.

"Lucy?"

In turn, Lucy matched the other person's surprise.

"Heather?"

Author's note: And this will mark the end of this chapter.

So yeah, I'm not going to go into details, but I will say that now that the dust has settled, that I may have overreacted a bit when I made my decision to only post on Wattpad.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. I don't think an actual canon name was given to either of Janice's siblings, so I went with Janette for the older one. There was also a mention of Peggy Jean, whom I've got something interesting planned for some time after Charlie Brown and Heather become an item.

See you soon with the next chapter! What will Heather, as Charlie Brown's secret Santa, get for him? :D