DISCLAIMER: I do not own Peanuts and most of the characters in this story. Charles M. Schulz created them. This disclaimer applies to the rest of the fanfiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welcome back! If you read this story ~seven years ago, you'll now be receiving updates every threeish days! Enjoy!

"Letters to the Red-Haired", a Peanuts fanfiction

The First Bus Chapter

"Um, excuse me?"

The somewhat-little red-haired teenager looked up from her book.

"Do I happen to know you?" Asked the male teenager, standing in the aisle. She slowly looked him up and down. He had springy brown hair, but it looked like there was some blonde in there as well. He was surprisingly tall, and wore brown shorts with brown sneakers.

Somehow, the only thing the girl found remotely familiar about him was his face - he wore an uncertain look, no smile – and his collared shirt was a pale yellow.

However, after quickly looking through her memory, she couldn't remember seeing this person at all – maybe she had just seen someone with the same top?

"Uhm… I'm really sorry, but I don't… think I do…" She said, trying to sound friendly, but it came out more unsure. Did she know him? That uncertain look did seem familiar as well…

The male teenager just shrugged. "Alrighty, thanks anyway. You probably just remind me of some friends I, uh, had…"

The young red-haired woman raised an eyebrow. Had? She was about to press him on the subject, but decided against it. Who knew what "had" meant? This guy was probably... just a weird stranger. She buried her face back into the book.

Moments later, the two-seater bus they were in went into gear, and started moving. She quickly glanced up again, just to see if he was still there.

He was – except he seemed to be staring at the front, deep in thought. She wondered why he had just stood there, instead of sitting down.

She pushed herself up a bit - not as much as to stand, but enough to peer over the seat in front of her to look around the bus. As she glanced around, she realised that the entire bus was full. She had come onto the bus at an earlier stop, and had been buried in her book the whole time that she hadn't noticed the bus fill up.

There happened to be only one seat remaining – which was the seat next to her. However, that seat was currently occupied with her own green backpack.

She debated with herself; should she ask the young man if he'd like to sit?

Well, he seems like a good person. Spoke one part of her mind.

But he's also a complete stranger that muttered about friends he "had". Spoke another part.

He's kind of cute. Just a bit. Spoke a third part, which she immediately pushed away.

VROOM! A fast motorbike drove past the bus, with envelopes and letters trailing behind the bike.

What a peculiar sight! Thought the girl. The bus driver suddenly swerved out of surprise, making sure to avoid the bike. The young man standing shouted "WOAH!", and fell onto the chair next to the young woman, face-first – just missing her lime dress, which she quickly tucked in more towards herself. Most of the people in the bus looked over to see what the commotion was.

"Uhm…" The red-haired girl tried to help him up, but he was already standing again before she could even unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Uh, sorry..." He muttered to her, blushing lightly.

She smiled. "It's alright…" Okay, time to ask…

"Would, uh, would you like to sit here?"

He looked at her surprised.

"Really?" He asked.

"Well… yeah, of course." She replied, somewhat shy herself. "Come, uh, sit down." She moved down her green backpack to her feet.

He grinned, and plopped down on the fairly soft seat. "Thanks! Like, seriously, thanks so much! No-one has ever really done this sort of stuff for me."

"Um… anytime!" She said, quickly looking down, back into to her book before he noticed her light blush. Immediately after that, she realised that maybe she should be polite and chat, as the people of Scotland tend to do. So, she coughed and put her book into her lap.

"So… where are you heading?" She asked, attempting to make some sort of light conversation.

"Uhm…" He pondered for a moment. "What's the second last stop on this station, again?"

She frowned. "…the stop. You forgot it?"

"…yeah…" He said, rubbing his hair.

"The stop is Maxwell Street. We were just at… Bell Street, I think."

"Near the Domino's Pizza place thing?"

"Yeah, I think Maxwell Street is right next to it."

"Alrighty. Cool. Thanks."

They sat in silence for a minute, before the boy asked a question, also trying to make conversation.

"So… when are you getting off? If you don't mind me asking, of course." He quickly added after.

"Um…" Do I tell him? I guess it doesn't matter... he would see me get off with him.

"I usually get off at the last stop, but I need to go to the second last stop first."

"Oh. Uh, alright." He didn't pry further.

She changed the subject. "…so, you aren't from around here?"

The boy rapidly looked around the bus, as if someone else was watching him, and then looked back at her."How do you know?"

"You don't sound Scottish."

He pursed his lips. "Well, neither do you."

"Well, then I'm not from Scotland, am I?"

"…then where are you from?"

"Uh…" Crap. "I'm from America. What about you?"

"I'm from America as well."

"Oh! Really?"

"…yeah. What state are you from?"

She bit her lip. "Um… I'd rather not say."

"Ah. Alrighty. That's fine."

Again, they sat in silence for a bit.

"So… why are you here?" Asked the boy.

"Oh. My family moves often. Like, a lot. I've went from America, to Canada, back to America, and now I'm here. It's because of my mother and father's jobs. They both work in an investigation business. I'm fine with it, really – it's sorta hard to make new friends, but it gets easier. I want to get into things like journalism and writing, so moving around is... pretty on course for a journalist. Uh... yeah"

"Huh." He responded. Am I talking too much about myself? She wondered.

"So… why are you here? She asked him.

"Er… well, I met up with a friend here, and I'm currently living with her. For a bit. Sorta like I'm an exchange student, except remove the word student." He said, somewhat reticent.

"Oh. Um… alright. You look a bit young to be living with someone else…?"

He shrugged. "I had nowhere else to go, and she let me stay there. Oh, and I'm fifteen. Well, I'm fifteen next month – I don't think that's that young. And I'm going to pay rent soon! Hopefully... just need a job." He rambled.

"Uh, Okay. I'm, uh, fifteen as well. I've been here for about six months. When did you come here?"

"…um… recently. I guess. A week or so ago?"

Wow. Really new.

"Which school are you going to?" He asked.

"Uh, I'm getting homeschooled."

"…oh. Alright."

Well, I suck at conversations.

The girl went back to reading her book, while they boy sat and thought about what to say to her next. However, at that moment, the bus screeched to a stop.

People shuffled around. A lot of people went off, and a few came on. There were now lots more empty seats.

The male teenager coughed, and unbuckled his seatbelt. "I guess I can just move to another seat now-"

"Uh, you don't have too…" She said quietly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I sorta need to practice my conversation skills."

He smiled. "So do I. Alright." He buckled his seatbelt again. "Um… why are you stopping at Maxwell Street?"

"I have to get there before 8:00pm, because that's when Leo's Fish and Chips shop there closes."

"Oh, yeah, I live near there. Fish and chips sound nice."

She smiled. "Well, I won't be eating it."

"No?"

"No, I'm going to ask for a job there. I was there a couple of days ago and they said they were accepting job applications."

He stared at her blankly.

"Uh, what?" She asked, slightly confused.

"There's… they're accepting job applications?"

"Um, yeah. Why?"

He continued staring at her blankly, and then he turned towards nothing.

He then sighed.

This single sigh sparked a memory in the Little Red-Haired Girl's mind.

Before she could make a comment on it, however, her thought process was interrupted. "I've been looking for jobs everywhere… and it turns out there's one available five minutes away from me. That's just like me!" He said, more to himself than to her.

"Would you mind if I went with you? Actually, no, I don't want to be copying you or anything."

She hesitated. He was still a stranger, but... "Well… no, you said you needed to pay your rent, right? It's fine..."

"Yeah? I'll probably go to the Fish and Chips place tomorrow, then. I don't want to cramp your style, right?" He joked.

She was about to respond when the bus screeched to a stop.

"Our stop." She muttered. She picked up her light green bag, which was easy to carry – only her resume for the job was in it.

Most of the people stood up, and got off the bus. The male teenager thanked the bus driver as they both got off.

They both stood at the sidewalk, near the bus stop, as the bus drove away. "So… uh… thanks for talking to me." She muttered, shyly.

"No problem." He said, shrugging. "You seem like a nice, uh, a nice person."

She tried to conceal her blush. "Thanks…"

"So… is there a way I could keep in contact with you? I, uh, don't have much friends here, and I sorta need to remember what it feels like to talk to other people." He said, the sentence coming from nowhere.

"Uh…"

"I don't have any of those new mobile phone things – but I could give you my address or something…"

But he's a stranger! A part of her thought.

But he's cute! Said another part.

She ignored both parts.

"Sure!" She said, trying not to sound too eager.

He smiled, and felt his pockets and brought out a pencil. He felt around his pockets some more, and turned up with nothing.

"Er… do you happen to have some paper?"

The girl looked through her bag, and pulled up some light red paper. "Ah…" Crap. Wrong paper. She thought to herself, embarrassed.

"Red paper?" He asked, smiling.

"Yeah… my family likes to buy light red paper." She said, giving the paper to him.

He quickly scribbled down the address, and gave it back to her.

"Thanks!" She said, and suddenly remembered why she had stopped here in the first place. "I, uh, should go to the Fish and Chips place."

"Oh! Yeah, sorry for keeping you up. If you don't mind me asking, though… why the coloured paper?"

She laughed shakily. "Probably because my whole family is red-haired. Even my grandmother is! She's still in Minnesota, though. Haven't seen her for a while. But, uh, I gotta go! I'll send you a letter or something!" She said, waving.

"See you!" He said to her, as she turned and ran to the fish and chips shop.

...

All of it had happened rather quickly, and Heather didn't even have any time to think.

She had taken the address from the boy, went to the fish and chips shop, been accepted pretty much immediately (the store literally opened up a month ago, and they had nearly zero staff), had walked home, and was currently lying in her bed, thinking.

And, right before she went to sleep, she wondered;

How did I go through all of that without asking him his name?

...

He stood there as she ran into the distance, out of sight. He chuckled, slightly surprised with himself.

"How did I manage to make a friend here… and a red-haired one, no less?" Charlie Brown muttered to himself, turned around, and started walking to Morag's house.

And then he realised something.

"Red-haired…" He whispered to himself, and whipped around.

The girl was long gone now, but Charlie remembered what she had said.

"…whole family is red-haired. Even my grandmother is! She's still in Minnesota, though…"

"It can't be…" He said, but he remember what she had.

Red hair. Green dress. Green backpack. It's what she used to have as well. He thought. But it can't be her… what are the chances?

He shook his head, in denial with his instincts, and kept walking. It just can't be…

Even if it was her, he wouldn't be able to ask her.

He couldn't remember her name.

…

Dear Charlie Brown,

It's me, your pencil-pal. I'm sorry to hear you've been having a lot of trouble over in America. Maybe you should visit Scotland sometime! I live in an old apartment complex, so no-one wants to live here, but! You would be welcome to visit! Especially if you help paid the rent, haha!

Yes, all my other pen-pals are fine. You are the only one to write in pencil still.

Your friend, Linus Van Pelt, sounds interesting. You should give me his contact information! Another pen-pal to my list!

And your dog, Snoopy, has brothers that travel a lot? Well, if I see them, I'll say hello.

Listen, I know life can be hard. Just keep taking care of yourself, okay? You gotta live with where you are, sometimes.

Hope you feel better soon,

Morag

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, what's gotten into me? Am I really about to finish all my Peanuts stories? We'll see...

I'll do a mega Author's Note once the story is done, with bonus thoughts and material. Thank you everyone!

Oh, and of course, if you've never read the strips with the pen(cil)-pal, or Olaf and Andy, I recommend it!