It was a relatively quiet afternoon on Wednesday, December the Twenty-Eighth at the Brown household. For the most part, the Peanuts Gang were free to go about enjoying their Christmas vacation without having to worry about school work. There was just one minor history assignment for Charlie Brown to work on over their vacation, but it was something that could easily be completed within a day. In fact, that's what Charlie Brown was currently doing right now. Him, and of course, Heather, were working on it together, as they were in that same class. Linus was also with the duo.
At about four in the afternoon, the two of them had finished it up.
"And that's a wrap," Heather declared with a satisfied smile. "Fairly easy work, eh Charlie Brown?"
"I'll say," Charlie Brown agreed. "Leagues better than having to do an entire book report or something."
"A bit too easy, but still enjoyable," Linus added.
As Charlie Brown was putting his completed assignment away in his binder, the telephone began to ring. He closed the binder and placed it on the nearest piece of furniture before proceeding to answer the phone.
"Hello?" he greeted upon picking up.
"Hiya, Chuck! This is Peppermint Patty!" came the familiar voice of Charlie Brown's athletic pal.
"Oh, hi," Charlie Brown said.
"Great news, Chuck! Marcie and I are going to throw a New Year's party at my house," Peppermint Patty said excitedly. "You know, wring out the old and bring in the new?"
"Oh, cool!" Charlie Brown said with a smile. "I just got done with my vacation schoolwork, so I would be able to come."
"That's good to hear, Chuck. The party is gonna be great. There will be games and dancing and everything," Peppermint Patty told him. Her voice then took on a more persuasive sort of tone. "I should let you know though, Chuck, that this is a boy-ask-girl party, so you'll want to ask someone to go with you."
Charlie Brown gulped upon hearing this. He glanced over at Heather and Linus, the former of which smiled back at him.
"Well... awesome. I'll keep that in mind," Charlie Brown said, now sounding slightly nervous.
"It sounds like you're getting a little nervous, Chuck. You know, being at your first real date," Peppermint Patty said.
Date?! Hearing that didn't make Charlie Brown feel any less nervous.
"Anyway, call me later, Chuck," Peppermint Patty finished before hanging up.
Charlie Brown hung up as well. Immediately afterwards, everyone was able to hear the front door opening, followed by excited footsteps running.
"Big Brother! Big Brother! Guess what?" Sally's voice rang throughout the living room.
"What?" Linus and Heather asked in unison.
"I just heard from Lucy that Peppermint Patty and Marcie are going to be hosting a New Year's party!" Sally told everyone.
For some reason, Sally was skipping and jumping about, as though one of the biggest opportunities she's ever had had just presented itself to her.
"Yes, Sally. I found out about it just now. Peppermint Patty called me," Charlie Brown said.
"Oooh, a New Year's Party. That sounds like fun," Heather said, sounding delighted.
Sally continued to act excited. "It's boy-ask-girl, and I just know that my Sweet Babboo will ask me to go with him!"
"I am not your Sweet Babboo! And I wouldn't invite you to a business meeting!" Linus exclaimed.
Sally clasped her hands together. "Isn't he the cutest thing?"
Sally really thinks that I'm going to ask her to this party, Linus thought. Oh, I'm going to the party, and I will be asking someone, but she's gonna be quite surprised when she learns that the lucky girl isn't her.
The next morning, Linus and Lucy were in the living room watching television. While they were watching, the phone began to ring.
"Do you want to get that?" Linus asked his sister.
"Nah, you do it," Lucy replied, not taking her eyes off the screen.
And so Linus stood up and went over to go answer the phone.
"Hello?" he said after picking it up.
"Hello. Linus?" came a female voice from the other end. "It's Janice."
Linus smiled. "Good morning, Janice. How are you doing today?"
"Not too bad. I'm currently busy trying to finish up this vacation homework, but unfortunately I'm struggling with it quite a bit," Janice said. "It's history-related stuff, so I was wondering if it wasn't too much to ask... maybe you could come over and help me a little with it? I know that history is your strong point."
"Oh. Sure thing. I'd love to help you out," Linus answered.
"Only if you want to though," Janice said. "I know that you may also have your own schoolwork to do."
"I've already finished what I needed to do over vacation. Currently, I was just watching TV with my sister," Linus told his friend. "However, I would take helping you out over continuing to watch Lucy's silly programs any day."
Janice giggled in response to this.
"Anyway, would you like me to come over now?" Linus asked Janice.
"That would be great!" Janice replied.
"Alright. Well, I'll see you in a little bit then," Linus then said before hanging up.
After he was finished, Linus proceeded to get his winter gear on. Once he was ready, he began making his way towards the door.
"Where are you going so early in the day?" Lucy asked him as he opened the door.
"I'm going over to help Janice with the rest of her history homework," Linus answered.
"Suit yourself. You're missing out on a great show though," Lucy said.
"I'm sure I won't be missing out on anything," Linus muttered to himself as he went out the door.
A short while later, Linus arrived at Janice's house and he rang the doorbell. It was answered by the youngest of the Emmons sisters.
"Oh! Hi, Linus. What brings you here?" asked the curly-haired girl.
"Hi, Janet," Linus greeted with a friendly smile. "Janice asked me if I could come by and help her out a little bit with something."
"Awww, how cute," Janet squealed. "Linus coming to help his girlfriend in her time of need."
Linus felt his face heat up at this comment.
"Uh... J-Janice is not my girlfriend," Linus said, though he was clearly flustered.
Janet merely smirked before opening the door further. "Well, anyway, she's up in her room waiting for you."
"Thank you," Linus said as he was being led inside.
Linus then proceeded upstairs towards Janice's room. It was located the furthest down the hall just past the bathroom.
Linus saw that the door to Janice's bedroom was already open, but once he arrived he knocked anyway.
"Janice?" he said, getting his friend's attention.
Janice smiled brightly upon seeing Linus. "Linus, I'm happy you're here," she greeted as she stood up.
Linus entered the rest of the way as Janice shut the door behind them.
"Did you have a good Christmas, Janice?" Linus asked her as he hung up his coat and hat. "Did you get everything you wanted?"
"I sure did," Janice replied, smiling. Suddenly, she seemed to have remembered something. "That reminds me! Linus, before we get started on the schoolwork, I have something I want to show you that I know you'll really like."
"Oh, what's that?" Linus inquired as Janice made her way to her desk.
From the shelf hanging above, Janice removed a small box that had a navy blue velvet covering before walking back towards Linus.
"It's something very special that I got for Christmas," she told Linus.
Linus looked on curiously as Janice opened the little box. His eyes lit up once he saw what was inside. It was a stainless steel chain necklace that had a carefully crafted pendant attached to it of Jesus on His cross. The pendant was made of the finest sterling silver.
"Oh, Janice... its beautiful," Linus said, both in awe and appreciation. "Who gave it to you?"
Janice smiled and her cheeks tinged slightly pink. "I thought you would like it since you're a Christian too. My dad gave it to me. He also got both my sisters and my mom something like this."
"Have you tried wearing it yet?" Linus asked Janice.
Janice hesitated slightly at the question. "Oh. Um, no. Not yet. I don't feel like I'm quite ready to do that yet. I definitely will someday though."
"Well, I'm glad that you had a nice Christmas, Janice," Linus said to Janice, smiling at her.
Janice returned his smile. "Thanks, Linus. I hope your Christmas was just as good."
The two of them then shared a hug. After they broke apart, Janice placed her necklace back into its box and placed the box back on her shelf. She and Linus then proceeded to get to work on that history assignment.
The assignment took approximately an hour to finish up. Once they were finished, Janice closed her binder containing the worksheet. She gave off a relieved sigh.
"Finally, that's done," she said, feeling satisfied. "Thanks again, Linus for coming over to help me with this."
"It's no trouble, Janice. I enjoy helping you," Linus told her.
With the task completed, Linus stood up and was about to leave the room. Before he got to the door though, he managed to remember.
"Oh! Janice, before I forget," he began. "I have this sort of friend of mine, she goes by the nickname 'Peppermint Patty'. I found out yesterday that she's going to be hosting a big New Year's party at her house."
"Oh! That sounds fun," Janice said.
Linus then suddenly began to feel a little bit nervous and his voice took on a more shy-sounding tone. "Yeah. And she said... that anyone who's going could ask someone if they'd like to come along with them. So, I was wondering... if maybe you'd like to go with me?"
At a certain other part of the neighborhood, Schroeder the maestro was banging away at his piano playing Beethoven's "Les Adieux". He was just finishing up the last notes. After he was done, he stood up and stretched his arms out wide before going to get a glass of water. Being under such a busy and stressful schedule, it felt so good to finally have something of a break from it all. It was his intention that for the duration of his vacation, he was going to dedicate every possible minute he could to honing his piano craft. Right now, he was warming up with some good ol' Beethoven tunes, but after this quick break, he was finally going to take a crack at playing his first ever original piece that he had written!
While he was away, a faint sound of clicking and clacking could be heard as Lucy, on her crutches, was making her way into the living room. Yes, on the day after the situation regarding Matthew, Lucy decided to take up her crutches and leave behind her hospital bed. Upon arriving, she began contemplating whether to lean against Schroeder's piano like she always did, or take a chance and sit on the end of the piano bench. Seconds later, she decided to go with the latter. Schroeder wouldn't dare push her off when he knew that she had an injured foot, would he?
About a minute later, Schroeder came back out into the living room. He stopped short though when he saw Lucy sitting on his piano bench.
"Lucy?" he said. "What are you doing?"
Lucy turned to face Schroeder. "Nothing, sweetie," she answered with a smirk as Schroeder approached her. "I just decided to sit today instead of lean. You know, broken foot and all." Lucy slowly motioned her fractured foot for emphasis. "You wouldn't want to shoo off someone with her foot being like this, would you."
Schroeder gave off a sigh. Unfortunately for him, she kind of had him there. "No, Lucy. I guess you can sit there. Just try not to do anything too annoying while I'm trying to practice, okay?"
"I won't," Lucy said as Schroeder sat back down on the middle of the bench. "If I may though, I do have something I want to show you."
"And what might that be?" Schroeder asked her as Lucy unzipped her backpack.
Lucy then pulled out from her bag her current Candy Striper's apron and brandished it in front of Schroeder. "See that? I got my first extra stripe! I have two now. What do you think of that?"
It was true. After the program manager learned of the whole situation regarding Lucy and Matthew, she had rewarded Lucy with her second stripe, and Lucy was actually very proud of this accomplishment. Obviously, she was hoping that maybe she could impress Schroeder with this news.
Did he appear impressed? Well, in truth, Schroeder at least looked as though that this wasn't something he had expected to see. Schroeder didn't know much about this program other then the minor details that he learned from Heather, but he did know that this whole thing was essentially supposed to be some kind of volunteer program. And Lucy would've had to have done something right in order to be earning her stripes.
"So you did," Schroeder said, giving her a small smile. "Well... good job, Lucy. I'm happy for you."
Lucy grinned widely, feeling borderline elated now. Schroeder just said he was happy for her! As Lucy was putting her apron back into her backpack, she felt fully confident now that Schroeder would therefore be willing to go to Peppermint Patty's New Year's party with her.
"So Schroeder, you know that Peppermint Patty is gonna throw a New Year's party, right?" Lucy asked him.
"Yes," Schroeder replied. "And I won't be going."
At that instant, the grin on Lucy's face completely vanished. "What?! What do you mean you're not going?"
"Well, for starters, musicians don't dance," Schroeder said matter-of-factly. He then gestured towards his piano. "Second of all, this vacation is pretty much the first time this year that I've had any decent time to myself."
"So? Since when is going to a party considered work?" Lucy said derisively.
"Obviously, it isn't," Schroeder responded. He then picked up the piece of sheet music that was his original work and showed it to Lucy. "But I am a pianist. And I've now finally found a chance to do something I've been trying to do for a couple months now: write my own original music."
"I see," Lucy said. She briefly looked at the music sheet before giving it back to Schroeder. "Well, why not play it at the party then? Then you and I could still go together?"
Schroeder shook his head. "Not happening. There's no piano at Patricia's house, and although you haven't been quite as much of a nuisance these past months, I still do not wish to take you to the party."
With that said, Schroeder placed the sheet music back into position and began his first attempt at playing it. Lucy continued to sit, but she only half-listened as she began to mope over the fact that she had been rejected by Schroeder yet again.
There's just no winning when it comes to your heart, is there? she thought bitterly.
Later in the afternoon, Charlie Brown was on the phone again with Peppermint Patty, the subject of discussion again being the upcoming party.
"Have you thought anymore about who you're gonna invite to the party?" Peppermint Patty asked Charlie Brown.
"Well... I do have someone in mind," Charlie Brown admitted. "I haven't asked her yet though."
"Come on, Chuck. You don't have to feel nervous about it. I'm fully confident that she would say yes," Peppermint Patty said, sounding very confident in this claim.
"Hm... you're really sure about that?" Charlie Brown asked, a bit surprised by Peppermint Patty's assurance.
"Yep. In fact, I bet she's literally just waiting for you to just budge up and ask her," Peppermint Patty said resolutely.
Charlie Brown was surprised by hearing Peppermint Patty say this, but he smiled. "Wow. Thanks, Patty. Then with that confidence, I will do it. I will ask Heather to go with me."
From the other end, Peppermint Patty quickly slumped upon hearing this, and she wasn't completely able to suppress her sigh as it escaped her lips. Peppermint Patty wasn't talking about Heather! She was talking about herself. Why couldn't Charlie Brown just get the hint?!
"Patty, are you still there?" Charlie Brown asked from the other end.
A couple of seconds later, Peppermint Patty responded, though her tone now sounded quite monotonous. "Yes, I'm still here, Chuck."
"Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" Charlie Brown, sounding a bit concerned.
"No, Chuck, you didn't," Peppermint Patty said. "And I'm fine. I'll see you at the party."
And with that, Peppermint Patty hung up. Feeling defeated, Peppermint Patty decided that she needed to step outside. It looked like it was going to take a while still for Peppermint Patty to come to terms with the fact that she really did not have a chance with Charlie Brown anymore. Despite her sudden change in attitude, she really wasn't mad at Charlie Brown. She just didn't know why she thought for a moment that he would ask her to be her date at the party. Peppermint Patty really had to learn to accept that she had blown her chance. Charlie Brown's heart has, and was always going to be with Heather.
A short while later, Charlie Brown was standing by the phone again, trying to muster up the courage to ask Heather to go to the party with him. Linus had arrived moments ago and was standing behind him urging him to go forward with it.
"I'm worried, Linus," Charlie Brown said to his friend.
"Why?" Linus asked. "I asked Janice to the party with no problem. And she said yes."
"Obvious reasons, Linus. What if she says no?" Charlie Brown said.
"I honestly think it'd be close to ridiculous if she said no, Charlie Brown," Linus responded. "Heather has become such a close friend of yours, and it's not even like this is a real date."
Charlie Brown knew that Linus was right. Despite what Peppermint Patty had said, this whole thing was really nothing more than a large festive gathering of friends. And he remembered that Heather had seemed to show interest when she had first heard about the party.
Finally, Charlie Brown nodded at Linus. "You're right."
And so, after taking a deep breath, Charlie Brown picked up the phone and proceeded to dial Heather's number.
Author's Note: And so another chapter is done. Is Heather going to accept Charlie Brown's invitation to go to the party with him? ;D
Now, this isn't going to be one of my most happy notes, but this is kind of important. To the guest who keeps reviewing every few days asking... or rather demanding, updates (you know who you are), I understand you are really enjoying this story, and I've put up with your reviews for a while because they do increase my review count, but put plainly, you've started to go overboard now. I've been through this already with everyone; I have had a lot going onin life lately that has been leaving me with less timeto work on this story.
It's time to ease up now. I've not abandoned my story at any point, nor do I plan to. The story will get finished, but it will be on my timing to ensure that the writing remains the best quality I can provide. Any future reviews you leave that are demanding of me to update will from hereforth beremoved. I apologize if I come off as harsh, but thisneeded to be said.
Anyway, on a more positive note, I'm personally definitely looking forward to the next chapter, mainly in regards to the ending scene. Starting from that point, Charlie Brown and Heather's relationship is going to start getting more serious, so I hope you're looking forward to that.
See you all soon with the next chapter!