CHAPTER 3: EMERGENCY CALLS
Charlie Brown and Freida were having lunch at Joe's the next day since they had no school given that it was the weekend,and they were both talking about their little stunt they pulled the previous day as well as the upcoming music festival as the former calmly stated while he fiddled around with some of his fries "I'm interested in how this music show's gonna go down,the school hasn't been this up and about since the talent show." to which Freida smiled and happily retorted in response "As long as one of us doesn't go around accusing anybody of betrayal,I think it'll go by pretty smoothly." before Charlie Brown sighed and remarked with a big sense of relief "I'm just happy that yesterday's meetup with Christine went as well as it did,she seemed so nervous when she walked into that room,like she was about to have a heart attack."
"I know,everytime me and the girls would have a day out,I would ask if she wanted to come beforehand,but alas she would never come around to it. I think it was about time she met up with the rest of the gang." Freida nodded her head and couldn't help but agree with her boyfriend's statement to which the round headed kid added in agreement "Me too,she's been living here for quite a while and only knew me, you, Ed and Ashlynn for that long. I mean I get that her anxiety is really bad to the point of even putting mine to shame when I was known as the punching bag of the neighborhood,but if me and Claudia could overcome it,I think she could too."
"Exactly,although I do think it wouldn't be as bad if she didn't have to go through so many foster homes across the country and be left in the orphanage here for so long too." Freida immediately agreed with her boyfriend's point of view on Christine's anxiety while they began to make their way to the front door after finishing their meals before Christine herself suddenly walked inside to which Charlie Brown greeted her out of surprise "Oh hi Christine,we were just talking about you."
"Hi." Christine meekly greeted the two kids with a slight wave of her hand to which Freida lightly chuckled and joked "If we knew you were coming we could have done half a double date." only for Christine to shake her head and kindly decline the potential offer "Nah,I would have just come in to get something to take home anyway,but thanks for the thought." to which Charlie Brown shrugged and respectfully retorted "Well you do you then,how'd you like meeting the rest of the gang yesterday? You seemed pretty nervous back there."
"Oh I was,I was not expecting that at all yesterday and you could have just told me that was what we were gonna be doing." Christine nodded her head and firmly agreed with Charlie Brown's assumption before she continued in a little more mellow and thankful tone "Well then again,I did start to loosen up and warm up to them overtime. I even have to admit that my anxiety kinda mellowed out,not a lot mind you,but still a little." which prompted Freida to happily congratulate the girl "Well that's good to know,you're opening yourself up a little. Have you considered joining the singing festival at school then?"
"Oh heck no,I'd rather try pushing Olaf uphill with a bendy straw than do that." Christine immediately mocked the idea of her partaking in the music festival with widened eyes and a bewildered look on her face to which Charlie Brown slightly rolled his eyes and politely brushed the idea aside "Yeah that still seems like a little much for you,but it was nice that you opened up yesterday. There's a lot of stuff we do that I think you'd have fun at and I think if you keep this up,you'd have a lot of fun with the rest of us." which prompted Christine to smile a little and show her gratitude for the compliment "T-thanks you two." before the two kids took their leave of the place and left Christine to get her food to go,fully confident that she wouldn't have to be burdened by the music festival,but oh how wrong she was.
Later on in the day,many of the kids were over at the school auditorium and practicing some of their acts, Lucy was practicing her Nutcracker themed ballet, Scheroder was obviously practicing Beethoven on his piano much to the surprise of no one, Franklin was fiddling around with a guitar in preparation for his act in the show, Dolores and Jose were trying out their dance moves for a tango act they had planned similar to the talent show, Claudia and Skylar were messing around with a xylophone long enough for two people as part of their act, Snoopy, Andy, Olaf, Gracie and Roger were getting ready for the return of Cuban Beagle as their act,even to the point of wearing the same ridiculous costumes again aside from Gracie and Roger who were newcomers to the act, Freida was tuning out her singing voice and lastly James was gonna be doing a dancing act but at the moment he was just looking around at a clipboard,since he was also overseeing some of the show's preparations. Charlie Brown, Linus, Eudora, Rattler, Cobra, Dominick, Thibault, Ox, Peppermint Patty, Franco, Marcie, Patty Swanson, Ashlynn, Ed, Rebecca, Violet and Shermy were also there but they were just watching the preparations from the sidelines and weren't actually planning on joining the show.
"Oof,this isn't good." James muttered to himself in frustration as he glanced over at his clipboard and marked something on it to which Rattler took notice from the sidelines and wondered "What's the problem James?" which prompted the boy to politely answer while he walked towards the bystanders "One of our performers just called in sick and that leaves us with a completely empty slot on our performance list." making Linus roll his eyes and bitterly moan "Why can't we all do something together and NOT have anything go wrong?"
"Is there anyone else you know who can take the spot?" Charlie Brown calmly asked in response to the conundrum only for James to shake his head and regretfully retort "Unfortunately no chap,unless someone already on this list is willing to do a double performance,this spot is gonna remain empty." before Freida suddenly walked towards the group and wondered out of curiosity when she ended up sensing the discourse "What seems to be the trouble?" which prompted Cobra to nonchalantly explain what was going on "James over here is freaking out that he lost himself a performer."
"They called in sick and they have left us with an empty time slot in the show." Ox nodded his head and added onto Cobra's explanation which caused Freida to hang her head a little and optimistically remark "Well that's definitely gonna be a problem. James do you have anyone who can take their place?" only for the boy to disappointingly repeat himself from before "Nope,unless anyone on this list is okay with a double performance,I got no one. I'd see if Francesca wants to join in but…..you know how she can be despite how much better she's objectively gotten."
"Well if this ain't a rock in a hard place then I don't know what is." Ed groaned and angrily lamented at the seams before Rebecca added in a slightly more panicked and concerned voice "There's gotta be someone we can get,I mean we can't search the whole school,but I'm sure someone will be glad to sign up. What do you think Charlie Brown?" to which the round headed boy sighed and reluctantly suggested "I think I may know someone who can join but I highly doubt they're gonna even want to." only for James to firmly insist that the boy get whoever he was talking about "Well Charles if we don't get a replacement soon,the show's gonna have an anticlimactic end and the school will be heavily breathing down my back like Olaf at the thought of DoorDash going straight to his doghouse,if he had one."
"Yeah you're right,I'll give her a call and try to work something out." Charlie Brown lifted his eyes up to the ceiling and reluctantly decided to go along with his idea as he and Freida stepped away from the crowd to make room for his call before the latter asked out of concern "Charlie,I think I know who you're talking about,are you sure she's the right choice?" to which the round headed kid sighed and cautiously admitted while he pulled out his cellphone and began setting up a call "I don't know Freida,but if this show is gonna go right without any problems,we need to get Christine over here."
NEXT CHAPTER: FOLLY