Her eyes widened and she smiled. "F-for me?"

"Well… I noticed that your mitt was coming unlaced so I thought you could use a new one."

Lucy looked at the mitt and when she returned her gaze to Schroeder, he saw that she was crying. Darn it, now he'd made her mad!

"Lucy, I'm sorry, I-."

"Oh, Schroeder, you do love me! Thank you!"

When she hugged him, he tried to pull away but quickly found that he liked being hugged by a girl; especially this girl. She smelled good, like powder and flowers and soap all mixed together. But then she let go before he wanted her to.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you. For the cupcake I mean. That was very thoughtful."

"I know." Lucy replied, making him smile with her assertiveness. "So how was it? I went to a lot of trouble to make it, from scratch of course. My mother helped me but it was mostly my doing."

"I'm sure it was." Schroeder said.

"So did you like it? You never told me."

Schroeder thought about the cupcake that was hidden safely in his refrigerator. "Well, I uh..."

"You what?"

She demanded with her hands on her hips.

"I, uh..."

"You hated it, didn't you?" She yelled. She kicked his piano, which sent it flying through the air.

"N-no. I-I haven't even eaten it yet!" He confessed.

"Well, why not?"

He sighed and looked at his piano, which was now laying in pieces on his living room floor. He should have been furious but he had a whole stack of toy pianos in the closet. When he returned his glance to Lucy, he noticed that her back was to him.

Boy, she must really be mad!

He turned around and hurried as quietly as possible to the kitchen, where he carefully removed two small plates from the cabinet, and a dull knife and two forks from the drawer. He was careful to grab a knife that he knew wouldn't cut him, the way his mother had taught him.

"Schroeder where are you?" Lucy yelled. "It's not polite to leave your guests waiting!"

Balancing the cupcake in one hand and the silverware and plates in the other, he returned to the living room, pausing to retrieve a new toy piano from his closet. When the piano was safely in place, he sat the plates on top of it. Then he handed Lucy a plate and a fork. He carefully cut the cupcake in half and put it onto her plate, making sure to give her the bigger half. It was only fair, since she went to all that trouble to make him a cupcake from scratch.

"Schroeder, what are you doing?"

"Mmm! He exclaimed, finally taking a bite of his cupcake half. "Lucy, this is so good!"

"Really?" She was glowing with pride, and not the kind that she usually had, where she wanted to feel superior to everyone. She looked genuinely proud of herself. And it was then that he realized how hard she had worked on baking the cupcake for him. No wonder she was so upset that he hadn't yet tried it.

"Yes, really." Schroeder said. "Try it and see!"

She did as he asked and had the same reaction. "Wow, this is good! I'm a good cook!"

Schroeder couldn't agree more. "You sure are!"

"Well then why did you wait so long to eat it?"

Schroeder's cheeks turned red with embarrassment. "Well, actually…"

Lucy scowled; a sure sign that she was going to return to her crabby self any minute now. "Come on, out with it!"

"Um, well… the reason I waited so long to eat your cupcake is because I wanted to share it with you and nobody else."

Lucy gasped and threw her arms around him, making him feel like he could fly. "Oh, Schroeder, you do love me!"

And then to his surprise she kissed his cheek, making him blush even more. He couldn't have been happier than if someone told him he'd never have to go to school again.

Before he knew what was happening, he turned and kissed her cheek. At first he thought she'd be mad, but she simply smiled.

It wasn't a mushy kiss like the kisses he'd seen in the movies. Good grief, he was just a kid and so was Lucy! They were too young for that stuff! But they were growing every day and they were bound to be in the same classes for years to come, or at least until high school graduation. And with any luck, there would be many more moments just like this one.

He could hardly wait until Beethoven's next birthday.

THE END