CHAPTER 5: CLIMAX!

"I can't believe she'd do something so cruel to a nice guy like Ox!" Frieda said angrily. "Lucy has done some under-handed things before, but this is just wrong!"

"I know," said Charlie Brown. "Hopefully we can catch Ox before he asks Patty out."

The kids were on the playground the next day at school. Linus walked up to Charlie Brown and Frieda. He looked pretty mad, as well.

"Rerun filled me in," he said. "What Lucy is doing is awful. Even for her!"

"And when I was about to give her the benefit of the doubt," sighed Charlie Brown.

"Should we tell Ox about what Lucy is planning to do to him?" Frieda asked.

"As much as I hate to say this," Linus said, "I say we let it play out. All we can do is be there for Ox when they are finished with him. He won't listen to us anyway. He's in love. And when someone's in love they think anyone who doesn't approve is against them. So as much as any of us don't want this to happen, I'm afraid it has to. Maybe then Ox will see what we were talking about once and for all."

"I agree, Linus," said Charlie Brown. "I just hope they aren't too hard on the guy. He is new here, after all. It's not like it's me they're going after. I'm familiar with the routine, but he's not."

At that moment, Ox came by and started walking up to Patty and Violet. Lucy watched from a distance and smirked evilly. Charlie Brown, Linus, and Frieda also watched nervously. Patty turned her head to Ox to see who was tapping her on the shoulder.

"Uh hi," said a nervous Ox.

"Oh, hello," said Patty, stoically.

"My name is Oxford, but people call me Ox for short."

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Oxford. My name is Patty, and this is my bestie, Violet."

"How do you do, Oxford?" said Violet, also stoic. Charlie Brown, Linus, and Frieda continued to watch, intensely waiting for what was going to happen.

"It's nice to meet you Violet," said Ox.

"Likewise," Violet replied.

"So Patty," Ox said, turning his attention back to Patty, "I was wondering since I'm new here, and I know we just met, if you would like to go out for a sundae at Ace's one of these days and get to know each other better."

The whole playground grew silent; you could hear a pin drop. Charlie Brown, Linus, and Frieda waited in anticipation. Lucy, meanwhile, grinned even wider. Her plan was about to come to fruition. Another was going to fall to Lucy Van Pelt, the Queen of Mean, her Royal Crabbiness, herself. The other kids were watching as intensely, waiting to see what Patty's response would be. What Patty said next shocked everyone to their core, even Lucy.

"I'd love to go with you to Ace's, Oxford."

Charlie Brown's jaw literally dropped when he heard that. He was expecting anything but Patty accepting Ox's invitation. Lucy smarmy grin disappeared into dumbfoundness. Linus and Frieda were equally shocked.

"You would?!"

"Absolutely! I know our reputation is probably not that great, especially how we treated your friend Charlie Brown in the past, but I assure you, I'd never give a new kid who's as sweet as you a hard time. At least not in the first meeting." She winked at Ox, causing him to blush.

"Wow," he said with disbelief. "That's great. So how does this weekend sound?"

"Unfortunately, I will be busy with my family this weekend, but we can do it Friday night," said Patty.

"Friday it is," Ox said with excitement.

"Okay, then," Patty said with a smile. "I'll see you Friday night, Oxie."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Oxford," said Violet, as she and Patty left. Ox waved to the two girls. Patty looked back and smiled at him. They then walked past Frieda, Linus, and a still shocked Charlie Brown.

"Don't worry, Charlie Brown," said Violet. "I promise we won't turn him against you. We think he's a good kid as well."

"But I heard that Lucy called you and planned to humiliate him," said Linus. "Why didn't you?"

"I'm curious about that, too," said Charlie Brown, finally snapping out of his stupor.

"Well it was true," Violet began. "Your sister had plan on making a fool out of poor Ox, as you call him. What she didn't plan on was I had already talked to the kid earlier. He told me about his crush on Patty and how he'd like to meet her. I told him I'd set everything up."

"When Violet told me," Patty added, "I had told her I liked Ox, as well. I liked him the day I saw him. He was so sweet and nice, and after the whole Thibault debacle* I wanted to try with someone who was nice, for once."

"After I got done with Patty," Violet continued, "that's when your sister called me, Linus, and told me about her insane plan to sabotage Ox's asking Patty on a date. She wanted Patty to say some of the cruelest things to him. The insults she had for him, they were so bad, I wouldn't even dream to say them to anyone. Not even to Charlie Brown here."

"I appreciate that," Charlie Brown said, half-sarcastically.

Violet continued with her story. "When Lucy told me her plans for Ox, I knew they were beyond cruel. Even more than the football gag she pulls on you, Charlie Brown. I may be mean, even snobbish, and a bit cruel myself, but even I have my limits!"

"YOU!" Lucy stormed towards the group with anger in her eyes. Linus, Charlie Brown, and Frieda wisely got out of there.

"WHAT HAPPENED?! WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BIG PLAN TO EMBARRASS THE BIG OX?! THE BIG, STUPID, ROLY POLY, WISHY-WASHIER THAN A CERTAIN BLOCKHEAD, OVERLY-BLOATED, FATTER THAN MOLLY VOLLEY ON A GOOD DAY, CREEPILY SOFT-VOICED, MORE ANNOYING THAN MY BROTHER WITH HIS STUPID BLANKET AND THAT STUPID BEAGLE SNOOPY COMBINED, BIG FOOTED, BIG HEADED, PEA-BRAINED, OBNIXIOUS OXFORD WARREN?!" Lucy was panting hard after that outburst.

"Are you finished?" Violet asked calmly. "Well, in the words of Samuel L. Jackson, 'allow me to retort.' What happened is that I already talked to Oxford prior to our conversation and he's a decent guy. Patty would be lucky to go out with a sweet guy like him. Yes he is bigger than the normal 10 year old. Heck, I'm older than he is, and he's taller than me. But he is a good guy. He's also a new kid here. This is different from Charlie Brown. We've known Charlie Brown most of our lives so he's fair game; Oxford just moved here. And if Patty wants to make him feel welcomed, that's her business. And she genuinely likes him as well. Does that mean they'll be boyfriend and girlfriend? Maybe; maybe not. But it's their lives. Let us get to know him before we rag on him."

Lucy stood quiet and embarrassed. Violet and Patty calmly walked away from the raven-haired brat leaving her alone on an empty playground. Class was back in session, but she continued to stand still. It was Charlie Brown and Frieda when they first started dating all over again. While not as intense as that moment was, she was humiliated again. After processing what just happened, she slowly walked back to class.

(*RECAP: Patty very briefly dated Peppermint Patty's former teammate Thibault. But because of his chauvinistic attitude, and threatening her, she broke it off with him at the Spring Dance. This is featured in my fanfic It's New Love, Charlie Brown.)

NEXT CHAPTER: A BRIEF DETOUR TO SEE WHAT SNOOPY'S BEEN UP TO