The next day at school he could barely concentrate and like the day before, he rushed home without saying a word to anyone. If he kept this up, he was going to have to confess and he couldn't' do that. He just couldn't! He'd never hear the end of it! There was no time to worry about it now, though. He'd just think of a good excuse later; one that wouldn't exactly be a lie. But now he had more important things to do.
As soon as he got home, he removed the baseball mitt from the bag and tied a bright blue ribbon around it. Blue was Lucy's favorite color or at least he hoped it was. Her dresses were always blue. When he'd carefully placed the baseball mitt aside, he went to his piano and began to play. But it was hard to concentrate, knowing that any moment Lucy would be ringing his doorbell.
And sure enough a few minutes later the doorbell rang.
Schroeder swallowed hard and went to answer it, unable to stop smiling when he saw her standing in the doorway. "H-hi Lucy!" he stammered. "Y-you look-." He tried to continue speaking but his throat was tight. And his legs felt like jelly when he opened the door wider to let her in.
But Lucy was crabby that day. Boy was she crabby! Her hands went to her hips and she glared at him. "How do I look, Schroeder? What were you going to say? Don't you think I look pretty? If you don't tell me the truth, I'll slug you!"
He flinched at the sight of her fingers that slowly closed into a fist. He had to think fast.
"Um... of course, Lucy. You look pretty. You always look um… pretty."
Good grief! Had he really told her that she looked pretty? Judging from the smile on her face, he really had. He could barely look at her as he walked to his piano and sat down. As usual Lucy sat across from him and leaned onto the piano watching him intently.
"Play something!" She demanded in a strange, sweet way.
His hands were shaking so badly that he wasn't sure if he could play at all. But he did his best and soon began playing the most romantic song he could think of.
It was a song that he had played many times before, and Lucy wasn't amused that he'd chosen the song as the music for last year's Christmas play. But it wasn't Christmastime now, and she was getting crabbier by the minute. So he began playing "Bagatelle in A Minor" otherwise known as "Fur Elise." He expected her to get mad but to his surprise, she sighed. "Oh Schroeder, you play beautifully."
Schroeder stopped suddenly and stared at her in amazement. He must have heard her wrong. No one had ever told him that he played beautifully before.
"Um… Thank you." He stammered in reply.
"Play something else!" Lucy demanded.
He thought long and hard but he couldn't decide on a song. Perhaps now was the time to give her the surprise.
"Um… Lucy, I have a better idea."
"All right, but that stupid beagle better not be in this house, do you hear me, Schroeder?"
"N-no, no. Snoopy's not here, but there is something…"
"Well, what is it?"
Schroeder's heart pounded in his chest and he hurried to the sofa where he'd put the baseball mitt for safekeeping. As carefully as possible, he picked it up and handed it to her. "Here, Lucy."
She glanced at the mitt and then at him. "What's this?"
He smiled sheepishly. "It-it's for you."