CHAPTER 2: BIG AS AN "OX"

At the school, the kids were arranging their lockers. Charlie Brown and Linus had lockers next to each other. Lucy and Frieda's were side by side as well. Sally had met up with Eudora, who was in third grade; a step up from Sally, but they still worked together when they could. Rerun was getting his stuff ready and heading for class. A pretty girl walked up to him.

"Hi, Rerun," said the girl.

"Oh hi, Piper," Rerun greeted. "Are you in Mrs. Halverson's class, too?"

"Yeah, I am," Piper said. "I'm glad we're in the same class together."

"Me too," said Rerun. "I almost didn't come today, but I'm glad I did now."

"I'm glad you did too, Rerun."

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown and Linus were in their classroom waiting for class to begin. They were wondering how it was going to start.

"So how do you think this class will start, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked.

"I don't know, Linus," said Charlie Brown, "but I think it'll be alright."

Just at that moment, a big shadow entered the doorway. But it wasn't the teacher. A giant of a boy entered the room. All of the kids gasped when they saw him. He wasn't fat; just big and brawny. His footsteps almost shook the entire room.

"Is HE in our class?" whispered Linus to Charlie Brown.

"I think he is, Linus," said Charlie Brown, nervously. "He's monstrous!"

"I hope he's nice," Linus said. When the kid shuffled to his seat in the back, he pushed back some of the desks that were too close without any effort.

"Good grief!" Charlie Brown said quietly to Linus. "Did you see that?"

"I did, Charlie Brown," Linus said. "He's really strong! I thought Lucy was tough."

Just then, Mrs. Edmonton walked in and greeted the class. She had everyone introduce themselves. Schroeder, Linus, and Charlie Brown all introduced themselves when it was their turn. When she came to the big kid, he stood up and began to speak.

"My name is Oxford Warren," he began, speaking surprisingly softly for a kid his size. "My friends back home called me 'Ox' for short, and I'm as big as an ox. I moved here from Boise, Idaho, and my father works for a big company, which brought us here. I don't have any brothers or sisters, but I do have a few cousins."

The teacher said that was enough and Ox took his seat. The teacher then starts the day with introducing what was happening for the year. Mrs. Edmonton was very pleasant and warm toward her students.

Meanwhile in Sally's class, Mr. Frumple waddled into the classroom. He grunted about how he expects his students to work hard and not slack off in class. He would not accept any excuses for late schoolwork. Plus he said that any late homework will result in an automatic F. Sally groaned thinking to herself this will not be a good school year.

In Mr. Garrett's class, the girls were swooning over the handsome teacher, except Frieda, who was paying attention to his lesson plan. Lucy and some of the other girls were dreamy-eyed over the rugged looks of Mr. Garrett. The boys and Frieda were actually listening to what he was saying.

Later at lunch, Charlie Brown, Frieda, and Linus ate at a bench together. Charlie Brown and Linus told Frieda about the new kid Ox.

"He's as big as a house," said Linus, "and really strong! Everyone is scared to talk to him."

"Nobody's said anything to him?" asked Frieda.

"Well I thought about talking to him to break the ice," said Charlie Brown. "I know firsthand what it's like to be shunned. And I'm nowhere near as big as he is. He doesn't seem mean at all. When he spoke in class, he sounded nice and polite."

"Well they say never judge a book by its cover," said Linus. "That's a good idea, Charlie Brown. See what kind of a guy he is."

"See what kind of a guy who is?" Lucy walked in and joined them.

"A new kid in our class, Lucy," said Linus. "There he is." And sure enough, Ox was walking with his tray of food. He was looking for a bench to sit at and possibly meet new friends. No one wanted to be near the giant of a boy and moved away when he tried to sit with other kids. Ox sighed and sat by himself. Charlie Brown knew how that felt from experience. Lucy, of course, was not compassionate.

"Why would you guys want to be friends with that kid?" she said, without a shred of remorse. "He's a monster! He'd eat you and then ask for seconds! I'm not going anywhere near him!"

Charlie Brown and Frieda glared angrily at Lucy, who didn't see them, but kept staring at Ox. "Why must you always see the bad in everyone," said an angry Linus. "Just to prove you wrong, I'm going to talk to him."

"Are you mad?!" said a bewildered Lucy.

"Yeah, maybe I am!" And with that, Linus walked over to the giant of a kid, eating his lunch sadly. Charlie Brown, Frieda, and Lucy watched closely.

"Hi," said Linus to Ox. "We're in the same class together. Ox is your name, right? My name is Linus."

"Hi, Linus," said Ox, quietly. "Nice to meet you."

"I see you're eating lunch by yourself," Linus noticed. "How would you like to join me and my friends for lunch?"

"I would like that very much," the gentle giant said with a smile.

"We're eating over here. You're welcome to join us." Linus and Ox proceeded to walk over toward the rest of the kids.

"Oh good grief," Lucy said, with annoyance. "That blockhead is bringing him over here."

"Oh be quiet, Lucy," said Frieda. And Linus began to introduce Ox to the rest of the kids. Schroeder also walked in and joined them.

"Ox, these are my friends," Linus began. "This is my best friend Charlie Brown."

"It's nice to meet you, Ox," said Charlie Brown. "We're also in the same class."

"This is Frieda, Charlie Brown's girlfriend."

"Hello, Ox," said Frieda. "I hope we can become good friends."

"And this is Schroeder."

"You're the one I heard that likes Beethoven, aren't you?" said Ox.

"That's right," said Schroeder. "You like Beethoven, too?"

"Oh yes. Back in Boise, listening to his music made me feel good."

"And this is my sister Lucy."

"Charmed," Lucy said, coldly.

"Well it's nice to meet all of you," said Ox. "All I want is to make new friends and have a fresh start."

"Well I'd be glad to be your friend, Ox," said Charlie Brown, smiling.

"I am too, Ox," Frieda agreed.

"Likewise," said Schroeder. "Especially someone with a passion for Beethoven like me."

"Well," Lucy began, "I think you're okay. Excuse me for being cautious, but it's just… you know…"

"My large size, right?" said Ox. "No worries. I'm used to it. In fact I always thought no one liked me because of my large size. People didn't want to include me in anything; even sports."

"Believe me, Ox," Charlie Brown stated, "I know firsthand how that can be. And I'm not even half the size you are." And for the rest of lunch, Charlie Brown and his friends got to know Ox and find out more about his life in Boise before moving to their town. Linus told him about the Great Pumpkin, of course, Schroeder asked which Beethoven sonata he liked best, Charlie Brown asked if he would be interested in playing on his baseball team and told him about Snoopy, Frieda told him about her singing and how she loves her naturally curly hair (and Charlie Brown, obviously), and Lucy told him if he ever needed any "friendly advice" to come down to her psychiatric booth and she could analyze him for a nickel. Charlie Brown also told him about Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Franklin, Roy, Hans, and Franco, and promised to introduce them to him. When it was time to get back to class, Ox was even happier than he was at the beginning of the day. He just made some new friends and he was going to make more later.

NEXT CHAPTER: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE…