Charlie Brown kept his head hanging down as he entered the cafeteria and sat down at his group's table. He didn't even stop to get himself some lunch. After what had just happened in cooking class, he wasn't sure when he would feel the desire to eat again.
The others at the table exchanged worried glances.
"Is everything okay, Charlie Brown?" Mary asked him. "And where's Heather?"
"I have no idea. Probably still in the culinary room," Charlie Brown answered, not looking at her.
"So... I take it your first actual day of cooking did not go so well?" Linus asked him.
"It was going great actually... until apparently it was revealed that the cake I made tasted like it had a whole cup of salt in it," Charlie Brown muttered. The others shuddered at hearing this. "And I was working on it together with Heather too. I feel so stupid."
"Speaking of Heather... whoa," Schroeder said, looking at the cafeteria entrance where Heather was now showing up.
Concern was etched on Mary's face at the way Heather looked right now. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen her bestie appear this angry before.
Without even acknowledging the others, Heather came up to Charlie Brown.
"Charlie Brown, I know what happened to our cake!" she exclaimed.
Charlie Brown slowly raised his head up until he was looking at her, expecting confirmation that the problem was indeed on his end. But he was in for quite the surprise.
"The reason our cake turned out tasting the way it did was because VIOLET had snuck into our station and replaced the cup of sugar I had filled up with a cup of salt!" she told him.
Charlie Brown blinked while others looked at Heather in shock.
"So it really wasn't my fault that everything went wrong in the end?" Charlie Brown asked just to be sure.
"No, it wasn't," Heather answered. "And I knew that too."
Finally, after Heather's rant was finished, she took her seat at their table. Charlie Brown, meanwhile, felt so relieved. But that feeling was very short-lived as he felt himself getting angry now too. Just why did Violet hate him so much? Why did it bother her to see him not always appear insecure or depressed? Why couldn't she just forget he existed if she hated him that much?
"How did you find out that Violet was the one responsible for what happened?" Linus asked Heather.
By this point, Heather had now calmed down a little, but she blushed slightly in embarrassment in response to Linus' question as she remembered that she had just eavesdropped on someone.
"I... was listening in on her and her friends," she admitted, looking slightly guilty. "I first heard Violet saying bad things about Charlie Brown and I couldn't stop myself."
Charlie Brown's cheeks tinged slightly pink upon hearing this as he now felt a bit flustered.
"I see," Mary said, appearing somewhat amused.
Things were fairly silent for the next few minutes. Then, suddenly, Violet and Patty began to approach their table. Violet was holding a paper plate with two small pieces of her cake on it.
"Charlie Brown? Heather?" she said, trying to sound friendly.
The group all looked up at the duo. Nobody looked like they were happy to see them right now, and Heather responded by narrowing her eyes at them. Just what were these two up to now?
"We feel bad about what happened to your nice-looking cake and I wish to offer you some of my cake as consolation," she said, holding out the plate to them.
Charlie Brown looked at the plate, unsure how to respond to this, but Heather stood up and walked straight up to Violet.
"Awww, thank you," she said with something of a smile.
Violet grinned, but then furrowed her brows in confusion as she watched Heather walking with the cake towards the cafeteria exit. Her eyes then went wide as Heather reached the garbage can, and then turned back towards Violet before, while smirking, dropping the plate containing the cake right in.
Heather then did that "brushing-off-one's-hands" gesture before returning to her seat, leaving Violet with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
"What the hell, Heather?" Violet demanded. "I offer you some of the cake I made because I felt bad about what happened to yours and this is how you thank me?"
"I'm sorry, Violet, but we at this table do not accept 'consolation' from those who like to play cruel jokes," Heather said simply. "Oh, and the language is not necessary. Thank you."
"What?! I don't know what you're talking about," Violet said indignantly, crossing her arms.
"Oh, yes you do," Heather said, her voice sounding eerily sweet. "I know for a fact that you were the one who ruined me and Charlie Brown's cake."
Violet stuttered. "I...I did not! Where's your proof, Heather?"
Heather remained calm. "I will admit that I don't have any concrete evidence... that is besides what I overheard from you and your clique just moments ago."
Patty looked stunned. "You were listening in on us?" She quickly turned towards Violet. "Violet, she was eavesdropping on us! She heard everything we said... Oof!"
"Patty!" Violet hissed at her after elbowing her.
"I was only doing so because of the derogatory remarks you both began making about Charlie Brown," Heather said, giving both girls piercing stares. "I know it's not like me to do something like this, but as I once said to someone else, I'm ready to do whatever it takes to stand up for my friends."
Charlie Brown was feeling a mixture of emotions as all this unfolded in front of him. He was angry that his and Heather's cake had been sabotaged by no fault of their own. But now he was feeling really warm inside as Heather was defending him. She really did care about him.
"Well," Violet then said. "If this is how you are going to be with us, you are not invited to sit with us at our table or hang around with us anymore. Ever!"
"That's fine. It was a mistake to ever think you guys were worth spending any time with anyway," Heather said, completely unfazed. "I'm not interested in being part of a toxic clique who likes to tear down others or gossip all day. I only hang out with nice people."
Violet appeared stunned for several seconds. Once she had regained her composure, she turned up her nose and stormed away, Patty following awkwardly behind her.
As they were walking, the two of them caught sight of the culinary instructor, who was eyeing the both of them, appearing very displeased.
"I heard everything, you two," he said. "You both will be meeting with me immediately after school today."
"AAUGH!" Violet and Patty both shouted in frustration.
Meanwhile, back at our group's table, the tension in the air was dispersing and the normal mood amongst the group was resurfacing.
"Not bad, Heather," Schroeder said, clearly impressed. "Not bad at all."
"Yeah. You handled that so well while remaining so calm," Linus told her, just as impressed. "Especially when at first, you appeared really angry."
"It's all in support of my real friends," Heather said with a smile.
She then turned to Charlie Brown, who grinned back at her. He felt very appreciative of having someone like her by his side. Maybe it was actually possible for good things to happen to him. Heather was truly someone amazing.
The school day had now come to an end and Schroeder was now in the music room. Minutes from now, the first official meeting of the Classical Composer Appreciation Club would commence. He had his eyes glued to the door as he waited longingly for people to show up.
The first two to arrive were Heather and Mary. Schroeder smiled at them, grateful that they had kept their word.
"Hello, Heather. Hello, Mary. Welcome!" he said enthusiastically to them. "I'm happy you could make it."
"Hello, Schroeder," the two of them greeted in unison before taking seats in the front row.
Over the next several minutes, other students steadily trickled in, and Schroeder greeted each one of them, enthusiastically and by name. Not quite as many people were showing up as he had hoped, but he was still fairly pleased with the current turnout.
The last two to arrive though were students that Schroeder really would not have minded if they didn't show up."
"Guess whoooooo!" Lucy sang as she entered the room.
Following right behind her was a certain girl who in the past had also periodically come to visit Schroeder at his piano, but who Schroeder did not like much better than Lucy.
"Hello, Schroeder," Frieda greeted. "Be excited. Your club should get a leg up now that it has a member with naturally curly hair."
"Oh, good grief," Schroeder muttered to himself as Lucy and Frieda took seats next to each other in the back row.
Lucy and Frieda were the final two to arrive, making for a day one total of twelve members. Once it was time for the meeting to start, Schroeder closed the music room door before standing where the music instructor would begin teaching class.
"Welcome all of you to the Classical Composer Appreciation Club," he said. "Here in this club, members will get to talk about various famous composers of classical music, such as Ludwig Van Beethoven."
"Beethoven?!" Frieda suddenly said, surprised. "But I thought Beethoven was a drink, not a composer!" She thought back to the day when she and Lucy were leaning against Schroeder's toy piano and Lucy had asked Frieda if she liked Beethoven.
In response to this, Schroeder shot daggers at Frieda. Fellow members of the club were now looking at Frieda, either as though she had grown a second head, or to giggle at her.
"UGH!" Schroeder exclaimed. He couldn't believe he had to explain this. "No, Frieda! Beethoven was not a drink. Now, please let me continue!"
"Yikes," Frieda said, rolling her eyes.
"Now, as I was saying, members can talk about the classical composers that they like, such as Beethoven. They can talk about songs these artists have written that they enjoy the most. And as someone who has been practicing a lot of these melodies, they will get the privilege of hearing me play a lot of them, including many from Beethoven. Perhaps you'll be able to hear some great music you've never heard before," he continued.
As Schroeder was talking about the club's functions, Lucy and Frieda only half-listened as they chatted amongst one another.
"Schroeder really isn't very friendly, is he?" Frieda asked rhetorically.
"You'll eventually get used to it," Lucy told her.
"I think it's really quite terrible how easily he seems to get angry," Frieda continued. "Especially when there's someone in the room that has naturally curly hair."
"Now, to kick off this meeting, I will be introducing a composer who had been touching my heart ever since I was a baby," Schroeder announced. "He is none other than Ludwig Van Beethoven."
"Go figure," Lucy muttered to herself.
And so for most of the remainder of the meeting, Schroeder rattled on about Beethoven to his fellow members. He told them various facts about Beethoven's life, and how the classical composer came to become a global phenomenon. He concluded the meeting by playing for his members his favorite Beethoven tune, the Moonlight Sonata First Movement.
A lot of the members, even Lucy and Frieda, and particularly Heather, seemed to enjoy hearing him play this sonata. Once Schroeder was done, he stood up and took a bow as the other members applauded his performance.
"That was amazing, Schroeder. You really are a piano prodigy," Heather told him with a bright smile.
Schroeder's cheeks tinged slightly pink (much to the chagrin of Lucy). "Thank you, Heather. I'm glad you liked it."
Finally, the club meeting came to an end. Schroeder spoke to each member as they left the room, telling them he hoped to see them again (the exceptions to this were Lucy and Frieda) until only Heather was left. Mary had a small emergency back home and needed to leave early.
Heather approached Schroeder as he hitched up his backpack. "Hey, are you busy immediately after this?" she asked him.
"I do have a bunch of homework that needs to get done," he said. "Why?"
"Nothing much. I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a couple minutes about something," Heather told him.
"Oh! Sure thing, Heather. Just give me a moment to finish cleaning up here," Schroeder responded before finishing up fixing the music room.
After he was done, he and Heather began walking side-by-side as they proceeded to leave the school.
"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Schroeder asked her. "By the way, I was really impressed with the way you dealt with Violet in the cafeteria."
Heather smiled in response before proceeding to collect her thoughts. "I wanted to talk a little bit about Charlie Brown."
"Oh? What about him? Is something the matter between you two?" Schroeder asked.
Heather shook her head. "No, nothing like that."
She tried to think of how she wanted to address her concern while Schroeder looked at her, wondering what she was about to say. She came to realize that doing this came with the risk of being perceived as prying into his personal life, so she had to be very careful in her choice of words.
"I guess what I'm asking is if he's really been... well, okay lately," Heather said, hoping she wasn't inserting herself where it may not be appropriate.
Schroeder was silent at first as he studied Heather for a few seconds. He then gave a reply. "He's okay-ish, I guess. I do believe that he's having a personal struggle with a decision he had made not long before school started."
"Really? What decision is that?" Heather asked. "If it's okay of me to ask that is."
"He's disbanded our baseball team," Schroeder told Heather. "And he also says that he thinks he's done with baseball altogether."
Heather blinked, rather shocked by this news. Meanwhile, a certain athletic girl with stringy brown hair was passing by behind them. She froze in place upon overhearing what Schroeder had just said.
"He doesn't want to play baseball anymore?" Heather said in disbelief. "But even I know that baseball was like, his life."
"I know," Schroeder said, frowning. "Most of the team were on board with the disbanding because either they wanted to try out for the school team in the spring, or because they were just sick of playing on a baseball team that never wins any games. But Charlie Brown not wanting to even play anymore? I can only suspect that his constant defeats had led him to make this decision, though I can't say for sure if that's the case."
Heather was rather saddened by this news. Although Charlie Brown didn't know it, she had watched a few of his games. It was true that his team hardly ever won, but he never gave up on trying. She had suspected this before, but she knew now for sure why he seemed so downtrodden and depressed a lot of the time. His failures in life, and quite frankly, the lack of support or care he'd get from his peers, are what were to thank for the state he is in.
"I have to admit, Heather, you show quite the bit of concern for good ol' Charlie Brown. You really do," Schroeder said with an amused grin.
Heather's cheeks tinged pink at this remark. "Well, he's my friend, just like you," she said, feeling quite flustered.
Schroeder inwardly chuckled at Heather's response. Clearly, he suspected that there may be a little bit more to the story than that. And although he was rather amused, he couldn't stop the mild feelings of jealousy that bubbled up inside of him.
Later that evening, Charlie Brown was finishing up some homework at the kitchen table. He was interrupted though at the sound of the phone ringing.
Placing his pencil down, he stood up and went to go answer it.
"Hello? Brown residence," he greeted.
"Hiya, Chuck. This is Peppermint Patty," came a voice from the other end that was trying to sound enthusiastic.
"Hi," Charlie Brown said to her.
"H-how have you been, Chuck ol' boy?" Peppermint Patty asked.
"Okay, I guess," Charlie Brown answered, wondering what Peppermint Patty was calling him for. "What about you?"
"Feeling the same here." Peppermint Patty bit her lip as she tried to find her next words. "Look, Chuck, I have to ask you straight up. Is it true that you're no longer interested in playing baseball anymore?"
Uh-oh. Charlie Brown gulped as he decided how he should respond. He was eventually going to tell her the news, but he knew that the news would upset her, and thus he was waiting until he felt ready before telling her. How Peppermint Patty had just found out of his decision he did not know, but regardless, he knew that he could expect a rather unpleasant reaction coming from her over it. Nevertheless, the subject had now been brought up and he needed to come clean.
"That is true," he told her after sighing.
"WHAT?!" Peppermint Patty cried out, making Charlie Brown jump. "You can't be serious, Chuck! Baseball has been your life!"
Charlie Brown sighed again. Yep, she was ticked.
"I'm just sick of never being able to win any games, no matter how hard I try," Charlie Brown told her. "Between that, and most of my teammates not even really supporting or respecting me as their manager, it's all hit a breaking point for me."
"But Chuck, there's always room to improve," Peppermint Patty argued. "Heck, maybe you are just destined to play a different position. Like maybe catcher!"
"It's not worth it, Peppermint Patty. I've gone on as long as I could. I just don't want to deal with it all anymore," Charlie Brown argued back. "Why continue to practice at something when you're always going to be terrible at it?"
"Oh, I dunno. Maybe because you enjoy it? Ever think of that, Chuck?" Peppermint Patty said angrily.
Charlie Brown was silent for a brief time as Peppermint Patty continued to so fiercely argue against his decision to quit baseball. He knew that she wasn't going to take the news well, but couldn't she just at least try to understand how he felt? He found himself actually starting to get a bit angry with her now.
"I use to enjoy it, but I don't anymore," Charlie Brown said plainly. "Patty, I'm sorry if this bothers you, but my decision is final."
Peppermint Patty sighed. "I can't believe you, Chuck. I seriously cannot believe you."
Great. Now Charlie Brown was being made to feel guilty. But at the same time, something else was now happening deep inside him. He felt a real deep intent to stand his ground by any means necessary. His jaw became firm as he made his next statement.
"You know, Peppermint Patty, I would think that as a supposed good friend of mine, you'd be just a little more sympathetic towards my feelings on this matter," Charlie Brown told her. "I'd think you'd at least try to understand where I'm coming from instead of blindly getting upset with me."
"Chuck, I'm only upset because..." Peppermint Patty began, but she was interrupted by Charlie Brown.
"Let me finish!" Charlie Brown demanded. From the other end, Peppermint Patty flinched and was taken aback. Usually she was the one to railroad Charlie Brown and talk over him, not the other way around. "I'd think that as my friend, you wouldn't be yelling at me right now, or making me feel guilty because I said I couldn't take it all anymore."
"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, Chuck! I..." Peppermint Patty argued, but was interrupted again.
"Yes, you are!" Charlie Brown shouted. He wasn't sure what had come over him just now, but he was going to finish what he wanted to say. It was about time he grew a spine and really stood up for himself. "If you weren't, you would not be acting like this towards me right now. You would be treating me much better, and would be more empathetic towards my point of view!"
"Oh, don't tell me, are you going through another 'Poor Sweet Baby' phase, or something like that?" Peppermint Patty asked in disbelief.
"No!" Charlie Brown bellowed, his anger now boiling over. "I'm going through a 'I'm going to grow a spine and stand up for myself' phase! Actually, it's not even a phase. This is the real deal! And I'm going to start by no longer putting up with you and your domineering self anymore!"
Charlie Brown then took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. But once he did, he came to know what he really had just said and how that all might have actually sounded. There was dead silence on the other end of the line. Charlie Brown's anger began to dissipate and was now being replaced by worry and nervousness. He had to clarify what he really meant, and stat!
"Patty, I..." he began.
"I see," Peppermint Patty said in barely above a whisper.
Charlie Brown flinched as the regret instantly started pitting in his stomach. Her voice now sounded really hurt.
"Wait, I didn't mean that..."
"If that's how you really feel, Chuck..." Peppermint Patty said, not sounding like her usual self at all. "... then that's just fine. You do not have to deal with 'domineering' Peppermint Patty anymore."
"No! I mean, what I meant was..." Charlie Brown tried to explain.
But Peppermint Patty just hung up before he could say anything. All that could be heard now was that sound the phone made before a number was dialed.
Charlie Brown hung up the phone and clenched his chest. What did he just do?!
Meanwhile, Sally was peeking at Charlie Brown from around the corner. Clearly, she had just witnessed the whole exchange. She appeared both shocked, and even a little apprehensive about being near her big brother as she immediately ran away once Charlie Brown had spotted her.
Pain and regret filled Charlie Brown as he next proceeded to go to his room. He did not want anything else to happen, or to do anything else tonight. He just wanted to hide now.
The next morning, Charlie Brown was walking into homeroom. Like usual, Marcie was already there and Charlie Brown took his seat before turning to face her.
"Hi, Marcie," he greeted.
"Hello, Charles," Marcie greeted back.
Seeing Marcie's still friendly smile, Charlie Brown held out hope that at least Marcie and him were still on good terms.
"How's Peppermint Patty doing?" Charlie Brown asked her.
Marcie's smile was replaced with a small frown. "Not too good, Charles. She said you really hurt her feelings."
Charlie Brown was saddened to hear this and he felt his guilt return.
"I didn't mean for things to turn out the way it did," Charlie Brown insisted. "It's just that..."
Marcie held up a hand. "There's no need for explanations, Charles. I don't believe that you meant her any harm."
Charlie Brown blinked in surprise. "You don't?"
Marcie shook her head. "From everything she had told me about what happened, I think that there was just a big misunderstanding. I don't really think you no longer want anything to do with 'domineering' Peppermint Patty. With what you said, it was just the heat of the moment."
Charlie Brown felt tempted to chuckle at the "domineering Peppermint Patty" part. He was so relieved to know that Marcie believed that he didn't really mean quite what he said.
"Thanks, Marcie," Charlie Brown said gratefully. "Have you told Peppermint Patty all of this?"
"Not yet, Charles," Marcie answered. "I think for now that Peppermint Patty needs some time to cool down. You know how stubborn she can be. I will talk to her soon for you though."
Charlie Brown felt better than he had a moment ago, but he longed for things with Peppermint Patty to be patched up as soon as possible. While she might not always be as good of a friend as she could be towards Charlie Brown, he knew that she did care about him.
By this point, Heather and Schroeder had come into homeroom and were now taking their seats.
"Good morning, Charlie Brown," Heather greeted her yellow-clad friend. She then looked a bit concerned though by his current expression. "Is everything alright?"
"Sort of," Charlie Brown answered.
He hesitated as he thought about if he wanted to talk to her about this matter. He remembered that Heather had told him after the first day of term that if he ever needed to talk about anything or if he needed help with anything, that she was available to him.
Finally, he decided that yes, he could use her help with this.
"Heather, would it be alright if you and I met in private at some point today?" he asked of her. "Something bad happened between me and a friend last night and I could use your help in figuring out what I should do about it."
"Oh. Sure, Charlie Brown," Heather answered. "We can meet outside the cafeteria at the start of lunchtime if you want."
"Thank you. That would be great," Charlie Brown said appreciatively.
By this point, the homeroom teacher was now arriving and the class began to pay attention to her.
It was now lunchtime, and Charlie Brown and Heather had found themselves a relatively quiet area not far from the cafeteria where they could have their little discussion.
"So, what happened between you and this friend of yours?" Heather asked Charlie Brown after she was sure no one was listening in on them.
Charlie Brown took a deep breath. He wasn't sure what would become of this discussion. He wasn't sure how Heather would feel about him after he had explained all of this. Would she still admire him? Would she want to be his friend anymore? Charlie Brown shuddered at the thought of Heather not being his friend anymore. She had become too important to him and he wasn't sure what he'd do without her in his life.
"Okay. This friend of mine and I got into a fight last night over the phone," Charlie Brown finally confessed.
He then went on to explain all the details, including everything he had said to Peppermint Patty. Heather listened quietly as she took in everything Charlie Brown was telling her.
"I see," Heather said, appearing now as though she was in thought.
"Yeah," Charlie Brown said. "If you're upset at me for what I did, I understand. And if it seems I no longer have the qualities that you admire, I understand that too."
Heather shook her head. "No. I'm not upset with you at all."
Charlie Brown blinked in surprise. "You're not?"
"No. Of course, I agree that you didn't handle the situation as well as you could have," Heather responded. "But at the same time, I can understand how you must have felt. I would be quite upset too if someone unreasonably guilt-tripped me."
Charlie Brown didn't know what to say. Once again, Heather wasn't pushed away by what Charlie Brown had done. She even said that she wasn't even upset with him. Could this girl be anymore awesome?
"One thing I will say though is that I think you need to give Peppermint Patty some space for right now," Heather told him.
"Really?" Charlie Brown asked.
Heather nodded. "I get that you probably want to make up with Peppermint Patty as soon as possible, but I think it would be best if that waited. Based on your description of her, I feel that she's probably going to have this on the back of her mind for a while. But if she really is a true friend of yours, I do believe that she'll eventually come around and you two can have a real discussion to sort things out."
Charlie Brown was silent as he took in Heather's advice to him. It hurt him a bit to know that for the time being, he and Peppermint Patty were likely now cut off from contact with each other. But at the same time, he knew that Heather was right. He needed to just let things cool down for a little while.
"Thank you for your advice, Heather," Charlie Brown said appreciatively. "And also, thank you for not being upset with me."
Heather nodded and smiled. "Of course, Charlie Brown. I know that you didn't mean for this to happen. Now, why don't we go get some lunch. I'm starving."
Charlie Brown nodded in agreement and the two of them began making their way back to the cafeteria.
Although Charlie Brown was a bit sad that he wouldn't be able to interact much with Peppermint Patty for the time being, he felt better by the fact that he really could talk to Heather about anything. Charlie Brown was even more grateful now by the fact that this girl was making more of a presence in his life.
Author's note: I'm actually a little nervous about the reception this chapter will get due to the whole Peppermint Patty fiasco. I really do have some beef though with the way Peppermint Patty sometimes treated Charlie Brown and wanted to take an opportunity to address these issues and make Peppermint Patty a better character and friend for it.
As for the Violet and botched cake fiasco, I know some of you might have wanted me to be a bit harsher on Violet, but I also wanted to keep Heather from becoming too OOC in her confrontation with Violet. I hope what I've written will suffice.
Stay tuned for the next chapter!