Charlie Brown was doing his best to control his nerves as he waited for Heather to answer the phone. At the same time, he felt somewhat proud of himself for even having the courage to do this. Had he attempted to call her for something like this in say, third grade, he knew that he'd be way too chicken. The best he'd hope to be able to do was mail her an invite. Finally, after several long, tense seconds...
"Hello?" came the sweet feminine voice that Charlie Brown had become very used to over the past few months.
"H-Heather?" Charlie Brown said with a bit of a stutter. "It's Charlie Brown."
"Oh! Hi, Charlie Brown," Heather greeted. "How are you doing?"
Charlie Brown gave a small grin. Boy, he always loved hearing that coming from her.
"I'm doing pretty good," Charlie Brown replied.
"That's good to hear," Heather said.
Charlie Brown looked over at Linus as his nerves continued to display themselves. Linus looked at him and nodded, as if to say quite plainly, "Ask her, Charlie Brown."
Finally, Charlie Brown cleared his throat. "Heather, can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What is it?" Heather said.
Charlie Brown gulped and swallowed. "S-So, as you know, Peppermint Patty is throwing that New Year's Party. And she said that... it was a boy-ask-girl party." Charlie Brown's grew even more nervous. "S-So, I was wondering... if... maybe you'd like to go with me? I mean, if you don't have anything else to do."
After Charlie Brown had finished, he brought his hand up to his chest and took a deep breath. He had actually done it. He had just called and asked Heather to go to the party with him. But now the question was, what would Heather's response be?
Fortunately, Charlie Brown was about to be smiling big.
"I'd love to go with you to the party, Charlie Brown," Heather said, sounding actually happy that Charlie Brown was asking her.
Charlie Brown's eyes lit up. "You would?"
"Absolutely," Heather said.
Charlie Brown felt ecstatic now. Sure, this wasn't technically like a date. At the same time though, there was nary a doubt that this was closer to that milestone than was the time when he was about to ask Heather to join his friend group for lunch at Nelson's.
"Well... great!" Charlie Brown said before looking at Linus, who responded with a grin and a thumbs up. "So, how do you want to do this? Do you, like, want me to come and pick you up when it's time? Or do you want to just meet me there?"
"Well, you live closer to Peppermint Patty's house, so my suggestion would be that I meet you at your house," Heather responded.
"That'll work too," Charlie Brown said.
"Wonderful. I'll see you then," Heather said. "Thank you for inviting me."
"No problem, Heather. I'll see you soon," Charlie Brown said.
And with that, he hung up. He then turned towards Linus and began shaking his fists in excitement.
"She said yes, Linus. She and I are going to the party together! I can't believe it! he exclaimed.
"Well, I kind of figured she wouldn't mind going with you. But still, congratulations," Linus said, happy for his pal.
But while Charlie Brown could celebrate being able to go with his chosen partner, Sally was not going to be so lucky.
It was now approximately noontime the next day, meaning it was now the day before the big shindig. And despite Sally's expectations, Linus had still not asked her to go to the party with him. Currently, she was on the phone with him, about to take a different approach in the hopes that this would get him to ask her.
"If you don't ask me to the party, I'll just go with someone else!" Sally said, pretending to appear angry.
What Sally was aiming for here, however, would not at all go as planned.
"Good. Go with someone else," Linus told her, appearing completely unfazed.
Now Sally was starting to get angry for real. Though this was going to be nothing in comparison to how she would feel once Linus dropped this on her.
"Besides, even if I did want to go with you, I couldn't at this point," he continued. "I've already asked someone else."
Sally now looked as though Linus had just slapped her. "You WHAT?!"
"That's right. I asked Janice to..."
SLAM!
From the other end, Linus flinched as he heard the sound of what to him was apparently Sally slamming the phone on her end back onto the receiver. All he could hear afterward was the sound that indicated that a number needed to be dialed.
From Sally's end, the crash had actually been so loud that Charlie Brown was now running downstairs into the living room to find out what the heck had just happened. He first encountered Sally storming past him, looking angrier than Charlie Brown had ever seen her, no lie. Then, he looked at the phone, which was not back on the receiver, but rather it was dangling down precariously off the side of the mini table.
Charlie Brown then heard his mother call out to him.
"Yes, Mom, everything's okay," he answered her.
He then heard Sally scream, "I AM NOT GOING TO THAT STUPID NEW YEAR'S PARTY!", followed by the sound of her bedroom door being slammed shut. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Good grief," he muttered to himself as he proceeded to put the phone back in its proper place.
Although he wasn't one hundred percent sure what had ticked Sally off so badly just now (and he didn't dare for a second think that now was a good time to ask her), he did have a strong hunch.
He suspected that Sally had just found out that her alleged "Sweet Babboo" was going to the party with Janice rather than her.
At last, it was the night of Peppermint Patty's New Year's Party. After Charlie Brown had put on his winter jacket, he looked over to Sally, who was slumped deep inside her beanbag chair watching television.
"Are you sure you don't want to come to this party? Everyone is going to be there," he asked her.
"No, thank you," Sally said plainly. "Nothing is better on New Year's Eve than a TV-and-chips marathon."
Charlie Brown merely shook his head, not even bothering to try to convince her otherwise. If Sally wanted to miss out on root beer, party games and dancing, and the privilege of staying up past midnight, that was her decision. He was fully aware that she only refused to go because of Linus and Janice going together.
Charlie Brown then heard the doorbell ring. Knowing that that was certainly Heather ringing the door bell, Charlie Brown proceeded to leave.
"Suit yourself. Heather and I are going to go and have some real fun," he said to Sally as he made it to the door.
Upon opening the door, Charlie Brown saw Heather standing there, decked out in a full new winter ensemble that looked both comfy and very stylish. Mary was standing beside her, though she was not accompanied by a boy. Either no one asked her to go with her, or she decided on her own that she didn't want a partner.
"Hi, Charlie Brown," Heather greeted.
"Good evening, Charlie Brown," Mary greeted.
"Hi, Heather. Hi, Mary," Charlie Brown greeted back.
"Are you ready to go?" Heather asked Charlie Brown.
"Uh-huh," Charlie Brown replied.
And so the three of them began making their way to Peppermint Patty's house. After walking a short distance, Heather realized that someone seemed to be missing.
"Hey, uh, Charlie Brown? Why isn't Sally with you?" she inquired.
"Oh," Charlie Brown said, scratching his head. "She's refusing to come."
"Why? She's really going to miss out," Mary asked, surprised.
"It's because of Linus. Sally had found out that Linus had asked Janice to go with him to the party instead of her," Charlie Brown told the girls.
"I see," Mary said.
"And I'm going to assume that she didn't take the news well?" Heather asked, already knowing the answer.
"You don't even want to know," Charlie Brown said before sighing.
"Good grief," was all Heather could say.
Things were mostly quiet between the trio for the rest of the trip except for the occasional small talk. At about ten in the evening, they finally arrived at Peppermint Patty's house.
Heather was the one to walk up and ring the doorbell. About twenty seconds later, Peppermint Patty answered.
"Heather! Chuck! Mary! Thrilled that you could all make it! Please, come join the fun," she said enthusiastically before standing aside to let everyone in.
"Thank you for inviting us," Mary said as the trio walked inside.
They then took off their jackets and hung them up before proceeding to search for Linus and Janice. They found the duo over by the snack table. Linus was pouring for Janice a glass of root beer, who giggled as she accepted it.
The two of them then saw their pals approaching them and waved them over.
"Hi, you three," the both of them said in unison.
"Hi, Linus. Hi, Janice," the three others greeted back.
"I see Sally isn't with you guys," Linus commented seconds later.
Charlie Brown shook his head. "Nope. She's flat out refusing to come."
Linus rolled his eyes. "Good grief."
And all this was over the fact that Linus would not go to the party with Sally, but instead with Janice. That Sally was actually starting to border on little on the side of crazy by this point, and it was causing the group to become rather worried.
"Why is Sally refusing to go to the party?" Janice asked Linus.
"Believe me, I truly it would be better if you didn't know," Linus said with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
Janice frowned slightly at this answer.
Before the conversation could go further, Peppermint Patty's voice rang throughout the living room. "Okay everyone, gather around! It's time to play Musical Chairs!"
Upon hearing this, a chorus of "Yays" echoed throughout the area.
"Now, because there are more than twenty people here, and since there are only seven chairs, players will probably have to play in groups instead of all at once," Marcie followed up. "So, whoever of you wants to play, please raise your hand."
In response to this, nearly everyone in the room raised their hand. Marcie then counted up the raised hands and did a little quick math in her head.
"Okay, so a total of twenty-one people are going to play. That being said, we can easily divide all of you into three groups of seven," Marcie announced.
Lucy then spoke up. "And if I might make a suggestion, I suggest that this first group be an all-girls group."
"Oooh, good thinking, Lucille. I concur with that suggestion," Peppermint Patty agreed.
"Very well then. So, in this first group, I would like to call forward..." Marcie looked around at all the different girls that were currently in the room. "Peppermint Patty, of course. Lucy, the other Patty, Violet, Heather, Janice... and Mary."
"So, it's decided," Lucy declared. "Will the chosen girls please come forth."
And so the seven chosen girls got in position to play the first round of Musical Chairs. Meanwhile, Marcie went over to the record player to select appropriate music for the game. As soon as everyone was ready to go, and six chairs were put in place, Peppermint Patty cleared her throat.
"Alright, girls, let the games begin!" she announced.
And with that, Marcie started the music.
It's time for Musical Chairs, come on, let's go. We set up the chairs now all in a row. You run around the chairs until the music stops. And you have to find a seat, now don't get caught. Cause when the music stops...
The music then stopped. Much to Linus's dismay, Janice was the one not to get a seat, meaning that she was the first out. She blushed in embarrassment, slumped, and slowly walked away back towards Linus.
"Too bad, Janice," Linus said apologetically.
"Oh well. Maybe next time," Janice said casually.
The remaining players then stood back up and Peppermint Patty pushed one of the chairs away. Seconds after that, the music started playing again.
Now we've taken away a chair and we're running around. Don't let the kid in front of you get you down. Just listen to the rhythm and don't miss a beat, cause you don't want to be the only one without a seat. Cause when the music stops...
The music then stopped again. This time, Violet was out.
The game continued on for the next few minutes until there were just two players left: Heather and Peppermint Patty. The two girls stared each other down until the music began playing once more. From the "audience", Charlie Brown was silently rooting for his crush to win.
Now it's the moment of truth, we're getting down to the wire. You're filling up inside with musical fire. You hop around each corner of the precious seat waiting for the moment when you can get off your feet. Cause when the music stops...
The music stopped. The one to get the remaining seat and win the game was...
Peppermint Patty!
Heather pouted before turning and walking over to Charlie Brown.
"Aw man, I thought for sure you were gonna win," Charlie Brown said, feeling mildly disappointed.
"No biggie. You know what they say: 'Win some, lose some'," Heather responded.
Peppermint Patty raised her arms triumphantly as Snoopy walked in and pinned a "number 1" ribbon onto her shirt.
Now it was time for the next group to play. This time, the group was all boys, and it consisted of Charlie Brown, Linus, Franklin, Shermy, Pig-Pen, Roy, and 5. As Charlie Brown sort of expected, he was not the winner. But, like Heather, he did make it to runner-up.
It was now getting close to midnight. Currently, Charlie Brown was over at the snack table getting himself some more root beer. While he was doing so, he had begun to reflect on the past few months. However, the party was quite noisy, and he was finding it quite difficult to think. After a moment of deliberation amongst himself, he decided that he needed a little fresh air.
"Excuse me, Linus. I think I'm going to go sit outside for a few minutes," he told his friend.
Linus was a bit surprised by this, but nonetheless, he respected his wishes. "Oh... sure, Charlie Brown."
And so Charlie Brown proceeded to go out the door (which didn't go unnoticed by Heather, who had just come out of the bathroom). Upon arriving outside, he found a bench that was located off near the side of the porch. He took a seat and began to meditate on the past few months.
The past few months had been something Charlie Brown was very unfamiliar with. He... actually had enjoyed them. More good things had happened to him in these past months than in all his life put together, and that was not an exaggeration. His grades had improved. He had been able to accomplish things. He had certain people make more of a presence in his life (and for the better). And he had even found the confidence to get back into playing his favorite sport.
All this that had happened to him, he had one person to thank for all of it. Had she not entered his life, he'd still be the depressed loser he had been up until his junior high years had started. Just as he was thinking about the beautiful redhead who had done so much for him, he heard the sweet, yet familiar voice of this very girl call out to him.
"Charlie Brown?" she called out from the entrance to the house.
Charlie Brown craned his head to look at her, and he smiled. "Hi, Heather."
"How come you're alone out here instead of inside enjoying the party?" she asked him.
"Oh. I just needed a little time to myself," Charlie Brown answered.
"Is everything alright?" Heather then asked, sounding slightly concerned.
Charlie Brown nodded. "Yes. I'm doing well." Charlie Brown then scooted a bit over to his right and tapped the now empty space next to him. "Here. Come sit with me for a few minutes."
Heather was briefly surprised by this sudden request, but nonetheless, she put on her jacket. She then stepped outside, slowly shutting the door behind her, and took a seat next to her round-headed friend.
For a moment, the two of them were just silent as they stared out into the night. The skies were mostly clear and the almost full moon shone brightly.
"It's a pretty night out tonight, though obviously a little cold," Heather said as she rubbed her hands together. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Charlie Brown nodded. "It certainly is."
After a few more seconds, Heather spoke again. "You seem as though you're deep in thought. Is there something on your mind?"
Charlie Brown glanced at Heather before giving her a small smile. "Yes. There is in fact."
"What is it?" Heather asked.
"Well..." Charlie Brown began. "I've been thinking about my life over the past few months."
Heather nodded in understanding. "I see. We all think about that from time to time. I have actually been thinking a bit about my own life lately."
"Really?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Yes," Heather replied, nodding again. She then went silent again briefly as she picked off a couple of hairs that were stuck to her jacket. "Is there something specific in your life you've been thinking about? If it's okay of me to ask that is."
Charlie Brown was silent for a few seconds and he began to fidget slightly. He appeared as though he had to inwardly work up the courage to say what was his answer. Finally, he nodded.
"I've..." he said with a bit of a stutter. "I've actually been thinking... about you."
Heather blinked. She was definitely not expecting that answer.
"I mean... what I mean is, I've been thinking about everything you've done for me over the past few months. And how my life had changed in that time."
Heather said nothing at first, but kept her gaze on Charlie Brown, appearing as though she knew he had much more to say, and was waiting for him to continue. He felt a bit nervous, but he did continue.
"The past few months have been the best in my life," Charlie Brown said truthfully. "Up until I had started Junior High, I was a failure. I was depressed. And I was too weak and lowly to ever stand up for myself, no matter how badly I wanted to. But once you came into the picture... things finally began to change."
Heather smiled, and she found the smile on her face growing bigger the more Charlie Brown spoke.
"Over the past few months, you've given me something that I needed and longed for for so long," Charlie Brown continued. "You've become a friend who accepts me for who I am. You listen to me. You always find the good in me, and have never berated or insulted me. And you've been a real source of encouragement, making me feel so much more confident in myself. You remember that I recently told you that I had decided to get back into baseball."
Oh, yes. How could Heather forget how she felt when she had heard that news. The day after Christmas, Charlie Brown had told her that her giving him the baseball glove as a gift was that final push he needed to decide to get back into the sport again. Heather was so happy to learn that her plan had worked as she hoped, and it was one of her all-time proudest moments in her journey of helping those she cared about.
By this point, although she appeared as though she perhaps wasn't even aware that she was doing it, Heather scooted closer to Charlie Brown, to the point where the sides of their jackets were touching each other.
"I guess what I'm really trying to say is... if you hadn't come into my life, I don't know where I would be right now," Charlie Brown said, though by this point his face was red and his chest felt tight. "So, thanks, Heather. Thank you for everything. It all means the world to me."
Heather felt a bit of a lump in her throat after Charlie Brown had said these words. She was touched, to say the least. She knew already that Charlie Brown was appreciative of what she had done for him, but to hear him express his gratitude in such a heartfelt way... it made her face go red.
Also, it was rather impressive that Charlie Brown had become able to communicate his feelings like this. Evidently, his life circumstances weren't the only things that had improved. He was growing as a person as well, and his newfound ability to communicate his feelings like this was one indicator of that.
"Y-You're welcome, Charlie Brown," Heather still managed to say. "It makes me really happy to hear how much better things have gotten for you."
"I mean everything, Heather. You really were the one to truly make a difference," Charlie Brown told her as he stared back into her eyes to show his sincerity.
Heather said nothing, but instead, gave off a happy and contented sigh as she leaned back. Things went silent again as the two of them stared out into the night. Although it was chilly, neither of them looked as though they wanted to go back inside yet. In truth, for some reason Heather was feeling some kind of internal tranquility just being out here with Charlie Brown, and she decided to do something she had never attempted before.
Heather slowly began to lean her head in Charlie Brown's direction. As she did so, she began to fidget slightly as the nerves kicked in, but she did her best to suppress these feelings. Midway, she cast a quick glance to see if Charlie Brown was giving off any kind of reaction. He wasn't. He appeared to have somewhat zoned out as he stared at the moon.
She kept leaning closer... she was now almost there, and her face had gone red again. But then...
"Chuck! Heather! Where are you guys?!" a certain voice loudly called out to them.
The booming of the voice startled both Charlie Brown and Heather quite good, and they both jumped. Unfortunately for Heather, her head had already been so close to Charlie Brown's shoulder that as a result, her head got accidentally hit by Charlie Brown's shoulder.
"Oh! Good grief! I'm so sorry, Heather!" Charlie Brown quickly apologized.
"No, it's alright. It's not your fault," Heather told him, rubbing the spot where she had gotten bumped.
The two of them quickly stood up and looked in the direction of the doorway. Peppermint Patty was now standing there.
"It's just two more minutes until midnight!" she said to them. "Come on back inside!"
"We're coming, Patricia," Heather told her. She then glanced back at her friend. "Well, shall we go back in?"
Charlie Brown nodded. As the two of them went back inside, another thought was now going through Charlie Brown's head. It had to do with the moment before he accidentally bumped Heather on the side of her head with his shoulder. What was happening at that moment? Why was Heather's head there in the first place? He was spacing out at the time, so he didn't see what she was trying to do. But if her head was that close to his shoulder... did that mean she was trying to...
Charlie Brown gulped. No way. It couldn't be. There's no way she would want to do that... was there?
Charlie Brown had little time to dwell on this though as the clock had now just struck midnight. The living room filled with loud cheers and yells, which was then followed by everyone in the room singing.
Should old acquaintances be forgot and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintances be forgot and days of all things I'm? And days of all things I'm, my dear. And days of all things I'm. We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for the sake of all things I'm.
At last, it was a new year. And for Charlie Brown, for the first time in many years, he was actually looking forward to the new year. So much good had happened to him over the past few months, thanks to who else, but the once-little red-haired girl who went by the name, Heather Wold. As long as she continued to remain by his side, he was sure that even more good things awaited him this year.
AN: And done. If you couldn't tell already, these past two chapters was essentially my own rewrite of the TV special "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!". But of course, it was made to fit in with the flowing narrative of my story. As such, for all intents and purposes, what actually happened in that special did not happen in my story's timeline.
Wow, this chapter makes for my longest chapter yet. In fact, as of this chapter, my story is now as long, if not longer than what I had anticipated the total length to be when I first planned this out. In my outline, I had broken the story into seven "arcs". And together, my expectation was that the total story would come up to around 70,000 words. Well, we're now over 73,000 and this chapter marks the end of "Arc 4". This means that there are three more to complete the story.
On that note though, this upcoming arc is going to be a major deal, as the second half of this arc will mark a very important milestone in CB and Heather's relationship. I'm excited to get to writing that and I hope you're hyped to see some real development in CB and Heather's relationship. For the first part of the arc, which I'm also pretty excited for, will heavily involve Sally. There is some major change and character growth coming her way, so stay tuned for that as well.