Schroeder ran until he was out of breath, stopping in his tracks when he came to the familiar yellow booth'; the one with the sign painted in black letters that read THE DOCTOR IS REAL IN. The fact that Lucy had painted the word REAL next to IN made him smile. Or maybe it was the way she looked sitting there so calmly waiting for her next patient.
Linus was right. She sure looked crabby and Schroeder almost felt sorry for the next poor kid who tried to approach her for advice. Lucy was sure to humiliate them. But there was something else about the way she looked. Something he couldn't quite explain.
Oh who was he kidding? He knew darn well how she looked. It was the reason his heart felt like it was doing summersaults; especially now.
Drat! Why did she have to kiss him? Things were much better when he hated her! Well, he never really hated her. Dislike was a better word. She was, after all, a girl and girls were bossy, annoying and just plain dumb. Most girls anyway.
There were some girls that he liked. Sally was always nice to him even though Charlie Brown told him that she could be a real pain sometimes, especially when she hassled him crazy questions and called Linus her Sweet Baboo.
Peppermint Patty wasn't dumb at all, even though she wasn't a very good student. She definitely liked to daydream a lot. Good thing she had Marcie to keep her in line. He suspected that both Peppermint Patty and Marcie had crushes on Charlie Brown and Schroeder had to admit that the idea made him a little jealous. Not that he wanted Peppermint Patty and Marcie to like him, at least not the way Sally liked Linus.
But then he had a thought. Lucy DID like him that way! Who else would go to all that trouble to make him a cupcake for Beethoven's birthday? Peppermint Patty and Marcie wouldn't. Sally wouldn't and He sure as heck knew that Snoopy wouldn't, even if he was just a dog. That only left Lucy.
He wanted to be annoyed by her but when he thought about that cupcake, he just couldn't. And come to think of it, he couldn't bring himself to eat it either. It was just too special. Instead, he'd carefully carried it into the kitchen and put it on his favorite plate, the one with the faded image of Beethoven. And then he placed the cupcake on it. Making sure that no one was looking, he slid it into the refrigerator in a secret place, hidden behind the asparagus. No one would ever think of looking for it there.
However, he couldn't resist taking a peek every now and then. It was dark except for the moon which was glowing full and bright through the kitchen window casting a shadow on the linoleum floor. It was just enough light to guide him to the refrigerator.
His hand shook as he thrust the door open and the tiny refrigerator light shone brightly onto his slippers. Carefully he reached in and removed the cupcake. He couldn't resist putting it under his nose. The pink icing smelled so good and it was hard not to take a bite. But he couldn't. Because once he devoured Lucy's cupcake, it was gone forever.
And so he glanced at it and then returned it to the refrigerator behind the asparagus. With a sigh he went back to bed, unable to get Lucy out of his mind.