Pat got strange looks when he walked in the school, but he expected that, he hoped that anybody who recognized him would remember he could be a hot head. What he didn't expect was to see Melody in school, while trying to find his classes, along with everybody else.
"Pat," she tapped his shoulder.
"Mel? You go here, too‽"
"I sure do, handsome!"
"Who is that hot guy over there," asked Frieda.
"I've never seen him before, let's go see," Violet said.
Violet, Patty, and Frieda walked over to Pat, as Melody walked away.
"Hello new guy," Patty greeted.
"Hot new guy," Violet corrected.
"You're still with Shermy," Frieda scoffed.
"Hiya Violet," Pat greeted.
"My name must precedes me," she flipped her hair.
"Huh?" I don't know what that means, but we already know each other."
"How, I've never met you before."
"Yeah, well, you're going to find out eventually; I was Patty, now I'm Patrick."
"I'm Patty," she looked confused.
"Reichardt."
"Peppermint Patty," Frieda exclaimed.
"Yeah… I was."
"What do you mean was," Frieda was baffled.
"I'm a guy now."
"Good grief… I thought you were cute."
"I guess you're supposed to be one of those trans things," Violet scoffed, "fitting for you."
"This meetup went how I expected it to go; you three are still bitches. This is the new me, love it, or hate it."
"You thought she was cute," Patty laughed.
"He," Pat corrected.
"Exactly… he… I'm not that much of a bitch," Frieda said.
"Whatever Frieda," Violet walked away.
Pat just glared at them, when they walked off.
Charlie and Linus were talking In class, he was upset that Melody ditched him on their date and told him, she simply forgot, Charlie reassured it would work out, he then explained how he saw that new kid with a girl, assuming she was his girlfriend. Charlie and Pat managed to miss each other all day, even lunch, when Charlie managed to get in the wrong lunchroom. Between periods Pat ran in to Melody again; after chatting, she made sure nobody was around, pushed Pat against a locker and made out with him, but they were spotted by Pig-Pen running late.
"Wow, Mel," he blushed.
"Wow, yourself," she giggled.
"You doing anything after school?"
"Oh yes, I promised a friend we'd hang out, but tomorrows another day," she kissed his cheek.
Charlie had actually been looking for Pat all day to tell him the news, but just missed him on his way to meet with Roy and Franklin.
"How was your first day, Pat," Roy asked.
"It was interesting, most people didn't recognize me… and I think I might have a girlfriend."
"That sounds like a good first day, but… uhh… what happened with Violet, I heard them talking, and figured it was about you," Franklin asked.
"Yeah… might be a problem there, I'm not sure."
"She was talking about some girl, and Frieda kept getting on her case about misgendering… there might be hope for those girls, yet."
"Girlfriend, huh, what's her name," Roy asked.
"A new girl named Mel."
"Mel," Franklin asked.
"Yeah, it's Melinda- I think?"
"... you might be a boy, but you haven't changed at all," Franklin laughed.
Linus and Melody had joined Schroder and Lamar at the popular burger joint, talking about how school went.
"Charlie should be here soon," Linus said.
"Oh good, you've been talking about him all summer," Melody smiled.
"He is my best friend, after all."
Harold Angel walked in the burger joint to get a to-go order, spotted Melody with Linus.
"Hey Harold," she waved.
"Don't you 'hey Harold' me, like everything is okay, Melody-Melody! Linus, she's a sick person, get out while you can… she's a man-eater!"
"Are you nuts, Harold‽"
"She's not any of those things, dude, they've been dating nearly all summer."
"I dated her first, and-"
"Oh, so you're just jealous it didn't work out," Linus interrupted.
"That's exactly it, dear, I offered my friendship, but it seems he's grown bitter, seeing me happy," she stuck her nose up.
"I understand dating is hard, but this isn't a good look, Harold," Schroder said.
"You don't understand!"
"Dude! You're being bitter… let it go."
Melody gave him a nasty, smug look, when the boys weren't looking.
"Don't say I didn't try to warn you… good luck, Linus," he left.
"I thought that guy was better than that," Linus rolled his eyes.
"I did, too, dear, but he was just toxic, as you can see, dear," Melody kissed him.
"Excuse me, while I use the bathroom," Linus got up.
Pig-Pen walked in with Five, he noticed Melody with Lamar and Schroder, "Lamar, Schroder, how goes it?"
"Pig-Pen, fine, we're doing a sort of double date, until Charlie shows up," Schroder explained.
"Oh. I get to meet that new guy I saw, then."
"New guy… she's dating Linus, you know that."
"Yeah… yeah, sorry about that," he chuckled.
"You should clean the dirt from your eyes, sometimes, Linus is the only boy for me."
"I'm getting there… I'm waiting for this prescription body wash."
"I hope it works out, you seem so nice," she gave a pleasant smile.
"Linus is crazy about you, and from what my sisters told me; Sally is livid… that girl is obssesed," Five said.
"He's a swell guy, that Linus," Melody admitted.
Pig-Pen caught Linus coming out of the bathroom, quickly making his way to him.
"Hey Linus, man I need to talk to you about getting my own redhead… one with particularly curly, bouncy hair, like yours. What's your secret?"
"You mean Frieda?"
"Yeah man, can we talk in private?"
"…suuurreee."
"Great," he dragged him outside in a cloud of dust.
Once outside, Linus looked at him seriously.
"You know Frieda is probably out of your league, right," he raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not worried about that- I needed to get you away from Melody for a moment."
"Why? Did you date her, too?"
"No, Linus; I saw her in school kissing another boy in the hallway… some boy I've never seen before. You're a good a friend as Charlie, and I wanted you to know."
"Wait, are you sure?"
"Positive. I was running late for class, turned a corner, I saw Melody push this kid on the lockers and plant a big wet one. I'd never lie to you!"
"No… you never have," he glanced in the window at her.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to confront her about it. Harold just left, saying he dated her, and some other things.
"Sorry I'm late," Charlie ran up, "I had to help my dad with the shop. There's that girl."
"What girl, Charlie," Linus asked.
"The one I saw with that boy I thought was cute," he then noticed Pig-Pen, "rats… I mean… umm…"
"Cute boy," Pig-Pen replied.
"That's not important right now, it's not a problem is it," Linus interjected.
"No! No, I don't care if he sees cute guys."
"Good. I think you might be on to something… let's get to the bottom of it."