Charlie Brown awoke to the sun peering in on his face; he rolled over in regret; the first day of middle school had come, and that terrified him. He had spent his whole summer losing baseball games and falling on his back from trying to kick the football. If summer was that bad, how could school be better at that rate? He shut his eyes tight and tried to fall back asleep, trying to think of anything else.

His door creaked open, and he heard soft footsteps walk over to the side of his bed, and then someone shook him. He opened his eyes to see his sister still in her pajamas, looking at him with a confused look.

"What is it, Sally?" Charlie Brown grumbled, rolling over again.

"You told me to wake you up at 6:45 so you could get ready," Sally responded a bit annoyed.

Charlie Brown shot up, "Is it that time!" he yelled worried

"No," Sally responded as Charlie Brown slumped back down.

"I slept in 30 minutes, so I think that makes it 7:15?" Sally responded.

"AUGHH!" Charlie Brown shot out of bed and ran to his closet, pulling open the doors with haste, then flicking through his shirts to find the correct one to wear for his first day; he wanted to make a good impression on his teachers but also a good impression on Heather when she first saw him today.

Racing down the stairs, he stopped for a piece of toast and an apple. He had absolutely no time to waste getting to the bus stop; he had remembered the bus got to his stop at 7:35 every day, and if he was late, he would have to miss the first day or, worse, be late and make a bad impression on his teacher and Heather. Meanwhile, Sally had just then wandered down the stairs yawning; her classes didn't start for another two days. Charlie Brown burst through the door, leaving it open and his way out.

"SALLY, SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, PLEASE." He yelled out, with no time to waste; Sally groaned as she shut the door behind him after he left. By Charlie Brown's count, he had about five minutes to make it to the stop before the bus left without him.

Racing for his life, tripping over small cracks the whole way and nearly face-planting, he finally made it to the bus stop, with no one there and no bus. Charlie Brown panicked. Had he been too late? Maybe everyone else forgot. But he knew it was his fault as he slumped down, sad about all the great first-day activities he was going to miss. He sat there for a while thinking about it as the wind blew by. A few minutes went by before he heard some footsteps approaching, probably some adults he thought to himself

"Charlie Brown, what are you doing here already?" He lifted his head and looked behind him to see his friends Linus and Lucy. He smiled at first but then frowned as he had to break the sad news to them that they were going to miss the first day of school.

"Linus, we missed the bus; it was at 7:35, remember? Now we are the laughingstock of the school." sighed Charlie Brown disappointed

"Charlie Brown, it's fi-"

"Charlie Brown, you blockhead!" Lucy yelled, interrupting Linus, "They said they were changing the schedule so the bus would pick us up here at 8:20; maybe if you listened, you would know that." Charlie Brown's head shot up, and he sighed with relief. Thank goodness, he thought; good thing no one else saw that.

"Well, there's the school bus now. See, Charlie Brown, nothing to worry about at all," reassured Linus while patting Charlie Brown on the shoulder. While he was happy about not having to miss the first day of school, he could feel a pit forming in his stomach about school. For one, it was going to be a lot harder for him, but for two, he had to worry about first impressions first and foremost.

"You know, in a way, I'm glad schools are starting up again," said Lucy as she watched the school bus get closer to the stop.

"Why is that?" asked Charlie Brown.

"Profits are much higher at my psychiatric booth when schools are in session, especially during testing days." Responding, Charlie Brown rolled his eyes, despite being a repeat customer of Lucy's "psychiatric" booth.

The bus pulled to the corner and came to a halt as the doors flung open, inviting the gang inside. Charlie Brown followed last onto the bus, and as he climbed the steps peering over the seats, it looked pretty full. Lucy had gone to sit with Violet, knowing that trying to sit next to Schroeder was a fool's errand as that's all she tried to do last year. Linus had gotten a spot with an open space near the front of the bus. No sign of Heather, Charlie Brown breathed a sigh of relief and went to sit next to Linus.

"Took you enough time to decide to sit here, Charlie Brown. Are you ok? You're acting more Charlie Brown than usual," Linus said as Charlie Brown finally took his seat next to him. He looked down for a moment and played with his thumbs, then looked back up at Linus.

"Linus, this year is going to be—"

"About Heather again, AUGHHH, when will you just talk to her?" Linus interrupted Charlie Brown; he had heard the same thing over and over again for more than two years. Linus had watched Charlie Brown grow close each year, but each time something happened where those two weren't able to talk, he was sick of it. Charlie Brown frowned as his face got a little red.

"Not so loud, Linus!" Charlie Brown snapped back, despite a few of their friends knowing already, the last thing he needed was for the whole school to know the first day

"Sorry, but at this point, it's becoming old, so yes, this is going to be the year, or I'll do it myself," responded Linus, annoyed, patting his friend on the back in the assurance that Charlie Brown could do this.

The bus made its rounds through the neighborhood hood stopping by and picking up some familiar faces that Charlie Brown recognized, but still no sign of Heather, he was slowly getting more and more nervous for the start of school and knew this trip on the bus was coming to an end here soon. He just had to hope that everyone around him maybe felt the same.

Finally, he saw Heather get on; regretting not grabbing a seat with an empty one by it, he tried to wave to her when she first got on, but she didn't seem to see him. She took a seat towards the front of the bus. Meanwhile, Linus was rolling his eyes at Charlie Brown's behavior; at least he wasn't like his sister thought Linus was to himself.

The final stops were made, and they had finally arrived at their new school. They were to be split up into 3 different homerooms; Charlie Brown worried he wouldn't be with anyone he knew. As he took his first few steps off the bus, he headed towards his first class of the day. The halls were like a labyrinth to him, twisting and turning all while trying to find his way. He felt lost.

Lucy managed to see him; she knew he was feeling a bit overwhelmed, and he looked the part too. But they were given a tour, and still somehow Charlie Brown was lost again. Still, she felt a little bad for him, just a little, though.

"Hey Charlie Brown, lost again?" She teased him; he frowned at the remark but was glad to see someone had come to his rescue.

"Oh lighten up, I'll help you find your way. Which room is it?" Lucy asked. Charlie Brown looked down at his schedule.

"Homeroom 214," he responded.

"Oh, that's the same as mine. Well, at least we know they are not sorting by IQ levels." She responded, walking off in the direction of the homeroom. Charlie Brown scolded the back of her head; he knew he had gotten a better score on their last test anyway.

They made their way through the halls getting a little lost as Lucy's sense of direction wasn't as good as she thought. If they hadn't bumped into a teacher to ask for directions she would've been crabby all day.

Charlie Brown finally made it to his homeroom; Lucy wouldn't admit it to him, but she got lost there for a second as well. Despite that, they were the first ones there, however. Charlie Brown breathed in a deep sigh of relief, the first challenge of the year was done and he was already exhausted.