CHAPTER 3: A "NOT-SO-FRIENDLY" GAME OF RUGBY

The gang had met up at Zac's place for the game of rugby between Zac and Franco. Charlie Brown, Frieda, Linus, and Eudora met up with the rest soon after their shopping spree. And Snoopy, Woodstock, and Grace joined them after their escape from the crocodile. They promised not to stray from the yard after that without either Charlie Brown or Claudia with them. Hops had stayed behind along with Snowflake, as they feared the poachers would nab them if they ventured out too much.

Franco was ready to play for his fraulein's honor. Peppermint Patty, for lack of a better term, was wondering why her boyfriend was being hostile towards the Aussie. What she didn't realize, but what everyone else did, was that Zac had a crush on her. When Franco made the accusation, only then did her friends chime in with their own concerns.

"You too, Chuck?!" she gasped when Charlie Brown revealed that Zac told him he had feelings for her.

"Frieda and I also told him that you were with Franco," said Charlie Brown. "We all agreed not to say anything, but Franco seemed to have dropped the gauntlet already, so to speak."

"You're not lying, Chuck," said Patty. "Still, it doesn't mean that Franco has to be so mean to Zac."

"Put yourself in his shoes, sir," said Marcie. "What if it was a girl going after him? Kind of like how that Mallory Simpson girl went after Dominick back home? Sure they used to date in the past, but they weren't anymore, but it's almost the same thing with Zac. He KNOWS you're with Franco, and he's trying to get close to you. Which is why he set this game up."

Over where the two rivals were, Zac asked Franco, "Y' want t' set up teams, Frank?"

"Okay," said Franco. "Charles and Franklin are with me; Andrew and Skylar are with you. Snoopy, you can be referee."

"Oh brother!" sighed Charlie Brown. After the teams were set, the game began. Franco's team did pretty well, as did Zac's. Franklin managed to score a goal for Franco's team in the beginning, so did Andrew on Zac's team. The girls watched intently. Linus was keeping score.

During one play, Franco seemingly tripped Zac on purpose. Everyone took notice.

"What the bloody hell, mate?!" yelled an angry Zac, who rarely got angry.

"Sorry, Zac," said a fibbing Franco. "Foot got in the way."

"Y' did that on purpose!" Zac protested. The other boys, including Franco's own team did, as well.

"We all saw it, man," added Franklin. "That was dirty play."

"We understand how you feel about Zac, but this isn't the way to handle things," Linus chimed in.

"Come on, let's finish th' game," said Andrew, trying to keep the peace between his best friend and the increasingly angry German teen. It looked like the game would, in fact continue, and Franco would drop the subject, for the time being, until Peppermint Patty, out of concern for Zac, ran up to see if he was all right. Any other time, no one, Franco included, would have given a second thought to that, but this was done in front of her boyfriend, already hating the Aussie teen, and purposely tripped him in retaliation for flirting with her in front of him.

"Zac, are you okay?" asked the genuinely concerned Patty.

"Sir, what are you doing?!" yelled Marcie, worried that the two rival would come to blows any minute. But Marcie's words fell on deaf ears, at least with Patty.

"Let me look at your ankle," said Patty.

"It's all right, kangaroo," said Zac. "No thanks to yer man there." He glared at Franco, now boiling over with rage. Linus and Charlie Brown had only seen that come out in one person only, and that was Linus's sister Lucy, when she got really angry. Franco had that same look in his eyes, and his vision turned crimson red at the sight. He stormed over to the two of them.

"GOOD GRIEF, FRANCO!" shouted Charlie Brown.

"FRANCO STOP!" pleaded Frieda. But it was too late. Before anyone could intervene, Franco delivered a serious blow to Zac. It was soon followed by a barrage of punches to him. It took Charlie Brown, Andrew, Franklin, and Linus to pull the boys apart.

"Bleib weg von PATRICIA!" growled a furious Franco, as Charlie Brown and Franklin held him back. But the next bit of yelling did not come from Zac, or anyone else, but from a furious Peppermint Patty towards Franco.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!" she screamed. "DON'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU DID TO ZAC?! LOOK AT HIM! HE'S A MESS BECAUSE OF YOU!"

While the rest didn't condone what Franco did to Zac, all were surprised at how Patty was defending Zac, and got why Franco acted like he did.

"YOU COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY HURT HIM WITH YOUR STUPID ACTIONS!" she continued to rant.

"Patricia, I'm s-"

"SAVE IT! IN FACT, DON'T SPEAK TO ME FOR THE REST OF THE TRIP! Come on, Zackie. Let's leave my blockhead of a boyfriend to think about what he did." And Patty escorted a sore Zac back inside his house. The rest of gang soon followed suit. Franco looked down and was now ashamed of his actions. Not for thinking that Zac was trying to date Patty, everyone thought that, except for Patty herself, but for how he reacted. The last person to leave was Linus, who looked at Franco. While not as angry as Patty was, he was concerned.

"Good grief, Franco," he finally said. "What were you thinking?" And he followed the rest inside. Franco just left to head back to the Grandin household. When he got back, he stayed in the room.

NEXT CHAPTER: FALLOUT