Welcome to Australia, Charlie Brown!

Episode 7: Fixing Things

CHAPTER 1: GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

It had been over a week since Franco returned to Sparkyville from Australia. He was trying to deal with what had happened between him, Peppermint Patty, and Zac. He wasn't feeling any better and was actually thinking about convincing his parents to move back to Germany and possibly reunite with Hans and his old friends in his old town. He wanted to be anywhere but near Peppermint Patty at that point, as he knew she would return home eventually, as well.

He had talked to some of the gang who stayed behind like Cobra, Rattler, Matt, Sidney, Violet, Shermy, Patty (Swanson), and Ox about what had happened over in Australia. All were sympathetic to the German boy and gave him comfort in his time of need. Trips to Joe's Café and Ace's Ice Cream Shop also helped, as he could forget his problems at least for a while. During the 4th of July he went to Sparkyville Park to watch the fireworks. Many of his friends were there and kept him company, which also helped. But the situation that happened in Australia was not far from his mind.

A few days after the 4th of July, he was at the wall moping around. Lucy, who had just returned from her trip to Oklahoma with Schroeder when they visited his relatives*, spotted him looking sad.

"Franco," she greeted. "Just the man I was looking for."

"Guten tag, Lucy," Franco greeted, sadly.

"Rerun and Linus told me about what happened in Australia. Rerun also told me you wanted to speak to me about it, but I had just left to go to Oklahoma to visit Schroeder's aunt and uncle and cousins."

"How was that trip?"

"It was good. I'll give you the details later. For now, let's discuss what had happened with you, Patty, and this guy. Zac is it?" Franco nodded. "Give me the details, Franco."

And Franco proceeded to tell Lucy about how Zac had flirted with Peppermint Patty from the day they met. While he didn't mind that he had a crush on her, it was the open flirting that he had an issue with. And while Patty initially didn't think he was flirting with her and just being a good host, he and everyone else saw what was going on, and even Andrew, his best friend, told him to back off as it was upsetting Franco. But it all came to a head with the rugby game and he and Zac coming to blows, and how Patty took Zac's side, which eventually led to them actually kissing each other at Jadan's house on the couch. He told Lucy that he had enough and that Zac could have her if he wanted her, and he returned home to Sparkyville.

"And that's what happened, Lucy," said a tearful Franco, finishing his story. "Patricia is now with that Dummkopf!"

"That's 'blockhead' in German, right?" asked Lucy. Franco nodded. "Franco, forgive me for saying this, but Patricia's the real blockhead. She was never the brightest bulb in the socket. Hell, she made Charlie Brown look like Einstein by comparison! She let this Zac flirt with her and while you probably should have handled the situation better than you did, it was wrong of her to do what she did with him, regardless of her being upset with you or not. From what you told me, everyone else is siding with you on this. There are more folks in your corner than in hers right now, because yeah, you slugged that Aussie blockhead, you did give him a black eye, but she seemed to forget that she was YOUR girlfriend. Aside from decking Zac, you did nothing wrong."

Franco took in what Lucy had to say and he was finally starting to feel better. While the situation was far from resolved, he wasn't as depressed as he was before.

"Now, as far as your relationship with Patty goes," Lucy continued, "give her some space, and you take some time to yourself, as well. Then get in touch with her when you're ready, just to break the ice and talk things through when cooler heads prevail. And don't do anything drastic, either. Just give each other space and then see where you're at."

"Danke, Lucy," Franco said. Lucy gave him a hug.

"No problem, Franco. By the way, you don't need to give me a nickel for this. It's on the house."

NEXT CHAPTER: THE FLIRTING CONTINUES