Charlie Brown took a seat near the front, while Lucy went and sat at the back.
A few minutes passed, and still no one had entered except the teacher; for once, Charlie Brown was early to something. While he waited there, he played with his thumbs, delving into his mind, wondering if any more of his friends would come through the door. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the sound of Lucy's chair rocking back and forth; she could never sit still at all. Charlie Brown just sat and looked forward, trying to calm himself down.
He heard footsteps behind him and saw Lucy slide beside him, putting her shoulder on the desk next to him. He rolled his eyes, ready to hear whatever Lucy had decided was so important she had to come up here to him.
"You know students that sit in the back of the room tend to do better, right?" She asked, trying to sound smart.
"Pretty sure they say that it's the other way around." Charlie Brown responded, already annoyed by whatever Lucy was trying to say about him.
"That's only because people in the back want to keep our secret safe. Watch the next student who walks in here and is smarter than you, blockhead, will come and sit by me," Lucy responded, slowly raising her voice the whole time, then storming off back to her desk. Charlie Brown wanted to comment that the only reason she was in the back was so the teacher couldn't hear her big mouth, but he figured she was stressed too.
Finally, after about five minutes of sitting in silence, he heard a new pair of footsteps approaching the door. He looked up to see his blond-haired friend Schroeder walk through the door. He first looked at Charlie Brown and smiled before he looked in the back and saw Lucy. Lucy was in the back trying to wave down Schroeder to come over to her; he could practically see the hearts in her eyes.
"Oh, Schroeder!" She called, and Schroeder rolled his eyes and looked at Charlie Brown, who was laughing a bit. At least the whole class wasn't here to see it. Schroeder thought to himself.
"Mind if I sit here?" He asked Charlie Brown. The last thing he needed all year was Lucy in his ear while trying to learn. Charlie Brown nodded, and Schroeder took the desk next to him.
"Didn't want to put up with Lucy, huh?" Charlie Brown asked Schroeder as he put his backpack down and sat.
"She's not too bad, but also students have the best success when they sit in the class's front," Schroeder responded, looking forward. Charlie Brown laughed a bit but kept quiet. He could see Lucy in the corner of his eye, and she didn't look happy after hearing that comment.
"That's what I've heard, too, but also, you won't have to deal with Lucy's big mouth," Charlie Brown said. Schroeder's head turned quickly to look at him, and he looked annoyed.
"I don't believe Lucy has a big mouth, Charlie Brown; in fact, you listen to her at that booth all the time," Schroeder retorted. Charlie Brown looked confused, as the one thing Schroeder would complain about all the time was how much Lucy talked while he was trying to focus on his piano.
"Sometimes being a bit more chatty can be a good thing, like a public speaker," Schroeder continued to lecture, closing his eyes while gesturing, Charlie Brown's eyebrow raised. He knew Schroeder was going off on one of his tangents, and Schroeder never knew when to stop himself from talking during them. Lucy had also started listening in on the conversation as well.
"I would say I find her voice soothing or comforting, maybe even—" Schroeder stopped after opening his eyes and seeing Charlie Brown's grin on his face, then looking over to see Lucy was listening in as well. He would cover his mouth after what he had just said, accidentally losing himself in his thoughts.
"Oh, good grief," Schroeder said, uncovering his mouth and realizing what he said and who had heard it. Lucy was almost jumping with joy after hearing what Schroeder had said. The years of her constant pestering had worn down Schroeder, and it showed, with him warming up to her more and more every day.
"Well, I think you made her day," Charlie Brown said after a few minutes. By then, a few more people were filtering into the classroom. There were no familiar faces, however, which worried Charlie Brown a bit, but he still hoped that he would see more of his friends come through the door soon.
After a few more minutes, the class was almost full; still, no one had walked through the door that Charlie Brown knew. Lucy could already be heard in the back of the class talking to someone; Schroeder was getting prepared for the first day, taking out a notebook and pencil. Charlie Brown just sat there and watched the door, hoping to see someone soon. While he was glad to have Lucy and Schroeder in his class, most likely if they had any projects in that class, they would partner up.
Finally, someone he knew walked into the room. It was Heather, and Charlie Brown was extremely excited. He watched as she walked to the front of the class, looking for a seat. He would offer the one next to him, but Schroeder had taken it. She looked over to where he was sitting, and he quickly looked away, flustered. Schroeder noticed this, looked at Heather, then back at Charlie Brown, and grinned.
"Come on, Charlie Brown, why didn't you ask her to sit next to us?" Schroeder teased him; Charlie Brown looked up to see that she had sat on the other side of the classroom near the front. He then noticed Schroeder's huge grin waiting for his response.
"AUGHHH! Did Linus tell you as well?" Charlie Brown responded, annoyed that he had to deal with another friend knowing about his crush, but at least it was Schroeder and not anyone else.
"No, it's just extremely obvious; you should tell her sooner than later," Schroeder answered, going back to organizing his notebook. Charlie Brown sighed because he knew Schroeder was right.
"But Linus told me as well," Schroeder added. Charlie Brown frowned with anger and slumped into his chair.
After five minutes, the class started with their homeroom, which also doubled as their math class. Introductions were short however, the teacher claimed that they didn't have nearly enough time to cover everything they needed to cover this year, so they would start early. Upon hearing this news, a collective sigh was heard throughout the room, with several students taking their notebooks out of their backpacks, expecting the first day to be slow with no work.
However, Schroeder was happy with this news as he found first-day formalities boring and a waste of time. Charlie Brown was glad to do work as it took his mind off the current situation. Lucy, however, scolded the teacher for this decision; after all, the talking and games were her favorite part of the first day.
The bell would ring, dismissing everyone from the class into the hallway. The bells were set to ring earlier today to allow students more time to get from place to place. This allowed Charlie Brown and Schroeder to wait outside for Lucy, who came storming through the door to the classroom.
"Outrageous!" she yelled while walking towards the two; Charlie Brown and Schroeder gave each other confused looks and then looked back at Lucy.
"Are you two not outraged by the erasure of games for a first-class? I can't believe I was forced to do math my first day!" She said, walking away from the two. They ran to keep up with her.
"Well, it's not the worst thing; maybe we'll have more time to study for the test," Charlie Brown responded, trying to reason with her so she wouldn't be crabby all day. Lucy turned around and looked Charlie Brown in the eye.
"I ought to slug you for even recommending something like that, you blockhead!" She responded, waving her fist at Charlie Brown, who backed up a bit with a scared look. Lucy lowered her fist and opened her mouth to say something, but then turned around, storming off to go to her next class.
"It's ok, Charlie Brown. I agree with you; don't worry about Lucy. I'm sure she'll be fine by lunchtime. See you then. Schroeder responded, walking away to go to his band class. Charlie Brown stopped momentarily to catch his breath and started looking for his next class, English.
He wandered the hall looking for the room number, finding it near where he needed to be. Now he just had to check every room for the number he was looking for, easier said than done, but at least the halls had cleared out a bit.
"Hey, Charlie Brown!" He looked behind to see Linus walking towards him, looking like he had the best day. Charlie Brown smiled at him as Linus walked towards him.
"How was your first class?" Linus asked as he approached Charlie Brown; he didn't know how to respond at first, as it had been a bit of a rollercoaster of a class.
"It was ok; Lucy didn't like that we were doing the math the first day, so she's a bit crabby now. Schroeder is also in that class, and he went off about how much he likes to hear Lucy talk," Charlie Brown responded, laughing a bit at Schroeder's behavior. Linus raised his eyebrow after hearing about it.
"He must be warming up to her; she can't stay crabby all day knowing that. Did anything else happen? We just went around the room and introduced ourselves." Linus said. Charlie Brown hesitated to respond momentarily, debating whether to tell him about Heather.
"No, not much, just did some math. Heather is also in the class," Charlie Brown responded, saying the last part under his breath. Linus laughed a bit after hearing that part.
"You know, Charlie Brown, you can't say much about Lucy since you never talk to—"
"Excuse me, but do either of you know where English is? I can't seem to find it at all. " A shy voice chimed in behind Linus, halfway interrupting his speaking. Linus turned around, and Charlie Brown looked over his shoulder to see Heather's red hair. Charlie Brown blushed and was frazzled by it, quickly looking away. Linus smiled at the opportunity.
"I'm heading to math, but good ol' Charlie Brown is heading to English right now, in fact," Linus responded to Heather, nudging Charlie Brown a bit while saying it. Heather looked at Charlie Brown, waiting for him to answer.
"Uh, yeah, it's right down this hall, I think." Charlie Brown finally responded after a moment of silence, trying his best not to make eye contact. While Linus tried to hide his laughter the whole time.
"He can take you right over there since you're both heading in the same direction. I've got to head to math. See you at lunch, Charlie Brown," Linus said, walking away, giggling a little at the situation. Charlie Brown stood there frozen up a bit while watching Linus walk away.
"Shall we?" Heather asked Charlie Brown
"Yeah, I think it's right over here; just follow me." Charlie Brown managed to get out after a few seconds. Thankful but also mad at Linus for the situation he had put him in, the two walked to class.