"There's no excuse for what he did, Honey, and somebody will want you, trust me."
"I put so much time in Schroeder, who would want me?"
"Why did you do all that, when everybody told you hundreds of times, himself thousands, that he wasn't interested in you," Linus wondered, "Sally isn't even as bad as you were."
"C'mon, Linus," Violet glared.
"I thought he was cute and wanted him to myself."
"What about what he wanted?"
"I never thought about it, I can see that now," she started to cry.
"I'm sorry Lucy, we're here for you," Violet hugged her, "you let him go, or it's gonna kill you… and as much as it pains me to say this… to add fuel to the fire… I'm the only one that can do it. Schroeder has already moved on."
"You're my friend, Lucy, I just… don't have the heart to tell you, I can't do it and Frieda can't do it," Patty added.
"What is it, where is Frieda?"
"That's what I'm getting at," Violet sighs, "Frieda is at home, she cares for you and is concerned, but she's afraid of you. Here it goes; we were at the mall, we saw Schroeder there, please, please don't get mad…"
"What happened," Lucy sniffed.
"She told him how much she loved him and asked him out… he said he would go out with her," Violet braced for impact.
"Nooo," she gasped, bursting in to tears.
"Sorry Lucy, she's secretly had a thing for him, we didn't know either," Patty added.
"Why… would she…"
"She loves him, you kept them apart this whole time, she was absolutely depressed over it, and none of us even knew," Violet explained.
"If you really loved him, don't you want him to be happy, Don't you want Frieda happy, what if this was Frieda every night, for who knows how long, hurt because she would never have him, and she would hurt one of her closest friends?"
"Catch-22; a no win situation," Linus stated.
"But… but… I loved him…"
"Did you, sis? He always threw you out his house, yelled at you, called you names, never have I seen you like this. Like it was a game. He hits you and then it registers. He called me right after he did it, explained everything to me. I did tell him never to hit you again, even he thought he went too far, he also hated it had to go that far."
"I get that, I see it now… way too late. I just… I never had somebody treat me like that, do that to me… Frieda… I was hurting my friend the whole time, I didn't know."
"We didn't either," Violet said.
"You've made Charlie feel this way for a long time with just words," Linus added.
"He's a nobody, he doesn't fucking matter," Violet replied.
"Good Grief… why do I even try to give a shit. Ya know what… I don't! Suffer! Real question is why does he care," Linus stormed out.
"Please tell Frieda I want to see both of them, okay? She makes all of this… different."
"You're going to be fine, right," Patty asked.
"You'd better be nicer to Charlie, if you really like my brother. There's no hope for me."
"Lucy…please."
"Violet, I love you girls, but I need to be alone to take all of this in, there's so much to think about."
Monday is the big day for Charlie, Peppermint Patty has crammed as much driving basics as she could, hoping it stuck, he's ready, trying to keep Lucy off his mind until that moment comes, he's determined to get that car.
"Charlie, you ready for that drivers test," Linus asked.
"Oh yeah, We worked all weekend, I'm certain I'm going to pass this time."
"Good luck, I know how Trish is, you eating, sleeping, and shitting driving," Linus laughed.
"How's Lucy?"
"Don't care. How's your eye?"
"Much better, can see out of it.
"Oh… and I might be getting the car first, my parents said that whoever has the best grades will get a new car… not new new, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, my Granddad is going to give me a sleeper car, I can't wait to see what it is."
"Please… for me, Violet said it wasn't bad, I can trust Violet and Lucy won't lie to me. I know you don't want anything to do with her, I know it's a big thing. If I'm wrong, you can break up with me," Frieda begged.
"Okay," he sighed, "I don't want to break up with you… I think I'm actually happier than normal. Where does she want to meet?"
"By the football field I think, before lunch. Thank you for giving me a chance."
"No need for that. You're a really sweet girl, with so much love to give, I wish you had told me earlier, like anybody would be lucky to have a girl like you, makes me wonder how you can be friends with them," he leaned down and kissed her.
"When did this happen, boy is Lucy gonna be mad," Peppermint Patty grinned.
"You don't know," Frieda gasped.
"All right Brown, this is it, your last hurrah, sir," the gym teacher spoke.
"I think I can do it, Trish helped me all weekend, I gotta get it," he sat in the drivers seat.
He made sure to adjust the seat, and mirrors before driving off.
"What are you doing out here, Linus," Peppermint Patty asked.
"I want to see how Charlie does, if you taught him, he'd better ace it."
"I taught him, he better," she snapped.
"There she is, over there," Frieda pointed.
"Let's get this over with," he sighed.
They walked over to the bleachers by the parking lot to meet Lucy.
"Yo… what do you want," Schroeder sneered.
She whipped around startled, just looking at both of them.
"I… I… didn't know, Frieda," she started crying.
"You really aren't mad are you," she asked puzzled.
"At m-my self… p-please treat her right, she didn't wait this long for nothing," she cried, I'm sssoreee Frieeeda!'
"Pffttt," Schroeder huffed.
"Lucy," Frieda hugged her, "thank you, I was afraid you, I thought you were go-"
"You shoulda been afraid of her, she probably would've pummeled you."
"Baby!"
"He's right. I was selfish. I wish I got the picture years ago, I made both of you unhappy for so long. I'm just a screw up, nobody will love."
"Don't say that, somebody will, one day."
"I want you happy," she looked at Schroeder, "p-promise you'll make her happy, she bottled up h-her love for you, for me, she deserves you, I shouldn't be asking anything from you, but I'm begging for her sake."
He threw his hands up and rolled his eyes.
"Oh god, d-don't hit me again," she hid behind Frieda.
"I'm not going to hit you," he spoke coldly, "I uhh… shouldn't have hit you the first time."
"I-if I promise to leave you alone… will you please not hurt her? I know it doesn't mean anything, but I regret everything I did to you. I deserve more than a slap," she cried again, "I'll… leave you two alone.. I don't want to keep being a burden… take care, you were a good f-friend, F-Frieda… sssorry I wasn't a better one."
"You're still my friend, Lucy."
"I don't deserve you," she whispered as she walked away.
"Hey… Lucy; you can't stop being her friend. She's going to be hurt."
"I can't be her friend and leave you alone," she cried."
"Congratulations Brown! You finally passed the test! I prayed you had it in you, kid!"
"All right, Charlie," Linus yelled.
"Damn right you passed the test," Peppermint Patty cried.
"I'm proud of you, Charles," Marcie said.
Both girls kissed him on the cheeks.
"What's going on," Frieda asked.
"I got my certificate!"
"Right on, man," Schroeder yelled.
"That's cool, Charlie," Frieda smiled.
Charlie walks past Lucy sitting by herself at lunch, he was still concerned about her, but decided not to say anything and ruin his moment of joy.
"I guess you passed, judging by all the cheering," Lucy asked, not facing him.
"Yep. Thanks to Trish, plus I'll be getting a car," he replied.
"At least you did something right for once… failure-face."
"Yeah… I did. You can't face my success," he tried to look her in the eye.
She turned her head, he saw her cheeks flushed.
"I don't want to look at your happy face, right now, Charlie."
"Hey, Lucy…"
"What?!"
"Never mind," he walked away.
