CHAPTER 5: PEPPERMINT PATTY; GRADE "A" STUDENT?!
Peppermint Patty nervously waited for her exam to get back to her. She didn't expect to ace her exam, but to at least get a halfway decent grade on it; maybe a C plus or a B minus. She just wanted to get any grade higher than a D minus. That would make her happy. The teacher began handing back the exams to the students. Melanie got hers and managed to scrape by with a D plus. In her case, that was a miracle. Franklin scored an A on his. Marcie, of course, got an A plus. Patty shook nervously.
"What did you get, sir?" asked Marcie.
Patty looked at the exam to see the grade she got. Her nervousness immediately turned to happiness. She said with excitement, "I got an A plus! I actually got an A plus on my exam, Marcie! I passed!"
"I'm so happy for you, Patty!" said a happy Franklin.
"Me too, sir!" added Marcie. "You've come a long way from being a D minus student."
"I know, Marcie," said a tearful Patty. "Ever since our trip to Germany a few years back, I wanted to do better than I have in the past. And I'll continue to do my homework and study when I can."
"I always wanted to hear you say that, sir," said Marcie.
"Likewise," added Franklin.
"We need to celebrate this," said Patty. "I'll call Chuck and some of the others to join us at Joe's for this after school." And Patty looked at her exam with pride. She had finally become a model student.
At Joe's Café a while later, Charlie Brown, Frieda, Linus, Eudora, Sally, Michael, Lucy, Schroeder, and Joslyn joined Patty, Franco, Marcie, Hans, Franklin, Melanie, Dolores, and Jose for celebrating Patty's passing the exam with flying colors.
"We're happy for you, Patty," said Frieda.
"We all are," added Charlie Brown.
"Thanks, everyone," said Patty. "And I will try to continue my streak of getting good grades. I don't ever want to go back to being a D minus girl."
"I don't blame you, Patricia," said Lucy.
"So how have you liked our town so far, Joslyn?" asked Charlie Brown.
"I've enjoyed it immensely, Charles," said Joslyn. "I even went with Lucy and her friends to see Margaux's grave yesterday. I was glad I went."
"We all were," added Lucy. "I finally feel like we have some sort of closure on that chapter of our lives."
"That's great, Lucille," said Patty. "Oh, and Jos, if you ever want to do anything baseball-related, let me know."
"I was told of you," said Joslyn. "Something about being able to strike Charles out with three pitches?"
"Yeah, that's me," giggled Patty.
"Ahem," coughed an embarrassed Charlie Brown. "Anyway, again great job on passing your exam, Patty."
"Thanks, Chuck," Patty replied. And the gang all chatted and ate their meals. They were proud of Peppermint Patty doing so much better. And now with her father dating Colleen, her life was starting to finally come together.
NEXT CHAPTER: WHEN ONE LEAVES…