Charlie had thought about what Lucy said, most of the day, deciding to confront her, and try to get a straight answer, the next time he saw her.
"Hey Lucy," he stopped her in the hall, "what did you mean at lunch, about not being competition?"
She glared at him, slammed her locker shut, "what I meant was; somebody already has a crush on you, has had one for years."
"Really? Who; Patty, Frieda, it can't be Violet."
"No, no, and no."
"Tapioca? Molly? Lydia, or whatever her name is?"
"No, not them… Pepp- Pat. Pat has a crush on you, and everybody but you seems to notice. That girl is almost as bad as Sally."
"Pat likes me," he grew his trademark goofy grin.
"Yes. Do you like her? Apparently it was never going to organically happen, so why not just spill the beans? She'll be good for you… think about it," she walked away.
Charlie did start paying attention to Pat, after realizing all the flirting, as poorly as it was, was indeed flirting, they often spent quite a bit of time talking to each other about their problems, enjoyed sports, in his eye; maybe she was worth a chance, they were already friends, she did support him, and thought highly of him. Then that typical Charlie Brown dread started to set in; she expects him to be things he's not, and what of his new self-discovery? Would she be okay with that, what if she thinks he can't just be with one person because of it? He just needs to play it safe, he just needs to be more okay with himself, then he'll talk to her about it.
Lamar sat next to Pat in the computer lab during a free period, since their teacher had an emergency, somebody managed to install a shooter mass online multi-player game on the computers, which many were playing.
"Augh, I got taken out again," Pat whined.
"Yeah, I suck at these things, too, more of a racing and rpg guy, myself… darn it, Pig-Pen!"
"Whelp, at least it's a break from school work."
"So I was wondering; when are you going to tell the rest of our friends, I don't think they're gonna judge you at all."
"I was thinking it might be better to show them… maybe. I don't know, it was just so easier to tell you and Schroeder, I felt like you two could relate."
"I get it, dude, but… well… when you feel the time is right, if Schroder could trust Lucy of all people."
"You got a point, I'll make sure to tell them before the end of the year."
"You know the rest of us will be there."
"I know, I know, and I feel silly about it."
Towards the end of the year Pat decided he would gather everybody up, to officially come out to the whole group before summer break, to lessen the impact of the whole school finding out in what he assumed to be a deluge of rumors and judgement. He had them all meet up at their favorite pizza place. Even Joe Cool was there.
"I wanted to gather you all for an important thing for me, as soon as Chuck and Sally get here, we can get this thing on the road."
"Umm…," Linus raised his hand, "they're out of town, remember?"
"He even told you about the family emergency," Marcie added.
"It must've slipped my mind," he snapped his finger, "I've been freaking out so much about this."
"Whenever your ready Pat, we're all ears," Linus said.
"Maayybe, we should reschedule, until they get back," he said nervously.
"Oh no, not with all the pressure you put on us to be here, I like you guys, but I'm missing a very important episode of my favorite show," Lucy snapped.
"But… but."
"No buts, let's just get on with it, girly! We can tell them when they get back."
Marcie, Lamar, Schroder, and Franklin just stared at Lucy.
"Umm… yeah…"
"I don't mean to sound impatient, miss Reichardt, but if it's really important we know, I think everybody else is worried and curious."
"That's it… I'm not- okay, here it is; I feel that… I am a… boy, so… not girly, or miss anything," he took a deep breath, "I've been on hormone therapy for a few years now, to be a boy, I realized that I just wasn't happy being a girl, I struggled with it for a while before I figured it out. I'm just happier this way, I feel like I'm beginning to be the real me. If this isn't okay to you, just let me know, and please don't make fun of me… this was really hard, and I've been scared of what you guys would say, or feel."
Linus and Lucy were stunned.
"Sooo… okay, yes, my hair is still long, I was trying to hide myself," he pulled his snapback from his belt loop, tucking his hair in it, "but I started to realize that wouldn't last… see?"
Roy chuckled, "I always thought you shoulda been a boy, it don't change nothing in my eye, guess we'll just call ya Peppermint Patrick."
To that, a few of them snickered.
"Roy, you wise guy, thanks."
"Well I'll do my best not to call you a girl, congrats on your self-discovery," Linus said.
"I was not expecting this to be what you had to tell us, I thought it was going to be something else… not this… this… amazing news!"
Everybody had a sigh of relief. Snoopy… err… Joe Cool handed him a rainbow pin, with a salute.
"This could be a vulnerable state for you, and if anybody has a problem with it; you come to me, okay?"
"You really mean that, Lucy?"
"She won't even do that for me, you're lucky," Linus said.
"She will for me! Welcome to the boy club," Rerun yelled.
"Thanks guys, this means so much to me."
"Lemme guess… the rest of you already know, right," Linus guessed.
"Of course, I was the first to know," Marcie stated.
"Of course," they all said.
"Rerun said it right," Linus grinned.
"Yes he did," Roy said.
"Peppermint Patrick, you made a horrible girl, anyway, you'll be a great guy," Lucy smiled
"Dudes," Lamar said.
"All together fellas," Schroder held his fingers like a music conductor.
"Welcome to the boy club," they all cheered.
That summer, his dad surprised him with a camp for LGBT youths, where once warmed up, he was able to actually be himself, come in to himself. Once he came out of his shell, with the help of a softball game win, he had so much fun, with a few people crushing on him, going on a few dates, making a few friends. Eventually, he even got the courage to cut his hair for the first time, feeling entirely whole. Those weeks away created a new person.
Charlie and Sally were stressed with their parents, helping his uncle with their problems, he decided to go on a walk with Sally around town, on one trip they ran in to a group of kids they had seen around town, who invited them to hang out with them. Eventually they found out two of the girls were dating each other, which initially grossed out Sally, her ability to annoy got them on the edge to the point they accurately revealed Charlie wasn't straight either, which she denied, refused to believe. One night they were invited to a barn fire, and on cue, the girls and Sally followed Charlie and one of the girls cousin, where she saw her brother making out, they had to fight with her to quietly drag her away.
"Is he…" Sally stammered.
"Yes he is," replied Jessica, "you don't… have a problem with it, do you?"
"I just don't understand, he wasn't raised that way."
"Well… we wasn't either, it's something in you," she explained.
"Yeah but, I don't understand!"
"You don't need to… all you need to do is support him- it's hard for us queers out here… well it can be, sometimes, I personally don't like playing victim. Look; he's still your brother, he just likes guys, okay?"
"How can boys like boys?"
"The same way boys like girls. I like girls, I'm gay, Sonya is my girlfriend, she's gay… we're still normal people. We weren't expecting your brother to be queer, or you- it was just nice meeting new people."
"Should I say something to our parents?"
"No! If he wants to, then that's on Charlie… when he's ready," Sonya stated.
"Is it that serious‽"
"Yes, would you want your brother sent to some place that will… try fix him, when he doesn't need fixing? Tear him up mentally? Do you care about your brother?"
"I do!"
"Then let him be- if he wants to tell you, he will."
"Have… have you been to a… place like that," Sally inquired.
"I escaped from a place like that. Sometimes Sonya sneaks me in her bedroom at night, but there's an abando, I stay in, you might've passed it on the way here. My family hates me, they sent me to a reconditioning camp, that can be mentally abusive- they told me that I can't come back until I'm fixed."
"that sounds horrible.. I'm so sorry," Sally exclaimed.
"Is that what you want to happen to your brother?"
"N-no, I don't!"
"Do you think it makes him a different person- he's still the same Charlie… it's like… it's like… he has a new shirt. You should support him, some people need as many allies as they can get," Sonya explained.
"He does have a few people who already hate him, sometimes I don't treat him right," she sighed, "when you said send him away, the first thing I thought about was I'd finally get his room- I didn't even think of how it'd effect him… I never think about that."
"Then start," Jessica poked her forehead.
Sally followed them to the fire pit, where she saw a few other same sex couples among the teens at the party, Jessica brought her and Sonya a soda, with a thank you kiss for her girl. Eventually Charlie and Glenn joined them.
"That was… an interesting conversation," Charlie said.
"Yeah… I enjoyed it," Glenn blushed.
Sally exchanged glances with Sonya and Jessica, Glenn offered to get Charlie a soda.
"So, I saw you finally got to make out with the new kid, was it what you dreamed," some teen walked up.
"I… um… well yeah- it's just," Glenn stammered.
"Good grief," Charlie moaned, blushed with his head in his lap.
"Tch… look what you did, you blockhead! Did it ever occur to you, that maybe they went in the woods for privacy, Thomas," Sonya scolded.
"We all know Glenn is bi," he dismissed.
"Maybe so, but did you think maybe Charlie was still in the closet‽"
"Oh rats, hey guy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dox you like that… I know how hard it can be," Thomas said.
"Sally… I can explain," he started mournfully.
She looked at Sonya and Jessica giving her a concerned look.
"Big brother… you don't need to explain anything," she hugged him, "I love you no matter what, and I promise I won't tell anybody, that's up to you."
"Really Sally," he looked up.
"I don't need to understand, all these other kids like you… they're just regular kids- I'm going to support you, like you've always tried to support me."
"Thanks Sally," he hugged her back.
"You know, Charlie; I know how hard it is… the fear… but sometimes you can find help and support through strangers, where you have nothing to lose, like with those close to you," Jessica told him.
"You think so?"
"I know so, it doesn't matter who you are to us, we know you as you, not who you were before, so we have no expectations for you to be anybody but you… besides… this is a coming out party," Jessica smiled.
"Yeah, plus… if your friends and family reject you, you're welcome here, we'll be your family," Thomas added.
"It's true," Sonya smiled.
"I guess… could I do it? I'm not sure… I guess I am just wishy-washy," he frowned.
"There's people like you here, gay and bi, and I don't know what else, big brother, if you can't tell them, then who can you tell?"
He gave it some thought, "Sally you're right," he stood, "I'm doing it!"
Charlie nervously stepped towards the fire pit, catching everybody's attention.
"I just wanted- well I don't know how to say it…"
They all waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, some just watched intently, others were holding back their excitement. He tried to gather his thoughts, when Sally walked up and grabbed his hand.
"I told you… I'm here for you."
He looked at her, looked up, "I'm Charlie Brown from Sparkyville… and… I'm bisexual!"