Chapter 3: Is it Love?
The next morning, Bill strolled over to Hank's house with weeds in his hand. They had little flowers that grew on the ends of them. He happened to know that Peggy had the day off from being a substitute teacher, so he wanted to see if he could hang out with Peggy. Hank and Dale were at work, and Boomhauer wasn't anywhere to be found at his house, so Bill had nobody to hang out with.
He found Peggy sitting on the patio furniture in the backyard. She was grading some essays. "Hey, Peggy," Bill said. He came through the fence and entered the backyard.
"Oh, Bill," Peggy gasped. She was startled that he was there. "What are you doing here?"
"I took a day off from work," Bill said. "I wasn't in the mood for working today, and since the guys are gone, I just wanted to stop by," he continued. He then held out the weeds with flowers at the ends. "I got these for you," he said, handing them to Peggy.
Peggy looked at them in a funny way, and then she looked at Bill, who looked a little bit embarrassed around her. "Why did you give me weeds, Bill?" she asked.
"Oh, uh, they're not weeds, Peggy," Bill said, scratching his back. "They're flowers," he managed to smile.
"Bill, I appreciate the thought, but these are not flowers. They're weeds. They only have little flowers sprouting from the ends. Those are flowers," Peggy said, pointing to her flower garden near the fence. There, Bill saw the many azaleas. He went over and ripped out several from the garden. "BILL! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?" Peggy shouted.
"These are for you," grinned Bill. He dropped the flowers on the patio table. Peggy gritted her teeth in anger, but she tried to keep her cool, knowing that Bill was only trying to be nice.
"Thank you, Bill," sighed Peggy.
"So… Peggy… are you planning to do anything today?" Bill said, scratching his head.
"Yes. I've got a mountain of essays to read and grade. I'd say it would take me all day to get them finished," Peggy said, starring at the large stack of essays on the table.
"Well, why don't you take some time off and rest?" Bill suggested.
"Bill, are you crazy? I promised the students that these papers would be graded by tomorrow. I can't afford to take any time off!" Peggy said.
"It's okay. I'll give them to Boomhauer and have him grade them… whenever he gets back…" Bill said.
"BOOMHAUER? No offense to Boomhauer, but that man can't tell an apple from a peanut!" Peggy said.
"Yeah, b-but I'm just so lonely today," sighed Bill.
Peggy felt guilty about leaving Bill alone. It was tough for him to go seven years without a wife. It was even worse that he hadn't even had any girlfriends. Peggy felt sorry for Bill, but she just couldn't leave the essays without being graded. However, she decided just to hang out with Bill for a while.
"Okay, Bill, I suppose that I could take a short break from grading these essays," Peggy said, getting up. Bill squealed with joy. "So what do you want to do, Bill?" sighed Peggy.
"Oh, I dunno, maybe we could get some coffee down at the Starbucks," Bill said.
"Oh, all right. Why not?" Peggy said. "Let's get in my car…" she started.
"No, wait, Peggy – I'll drive us there," Bill said.
"Oh, thanks, Bill, that's awfully sweet of you," said Peggy.
About 15 minutes later, Bill and Peggy arrived at the local Starbucks. They both got a cup of coffee and sat down at one of the tables. They remained strangely silent as they sat and drank. Bill nervously glanced around the room. He noticed all the couples that had come to Starbucks. The couples were all hugging and kissing each other. Bill then took a quick look at Peggy. He was sad that he no longer had a wife, and it had been years since he dated. He felt so out of place in Starbucks without making out.
"Hey…Peggy…" Bill started.
"Yes, Bill?" Peggy said.
"Sure a lot of couples making out, huh?" he asked.
"Yes, there are," sighed Peggy. "It's so disgraceful to make out so reprehensibly in public. Why, if I were their mother, I would ground them for life! I would be so ashamed and would not want to speak to them again!"
Peggy was being so outrageously against the couples's behavior, so this squashed any hopes that Bill had. He was saddened once again. "Peggy, I have to get back home now," sighed Bill.
"OK, Bill. It's a good thing because I need to grade more papers," Peggy said.
Bill and Peggy silently left the restaurant and got into Bill's car. Bill drove Peggy back home. Peggy rushed back to the patio in the backyard to grade papers. Bill sadly drove off, but he suddenly fainted. His car stopped in front of the fence where the gang usually hung out.