It was truly amazing how quickly time would go by when one was very busy. Between working on school reports, practicing for the upcoming talent show, and making sure that between it all there was time left for play, the next two weeks had gone by at lightning pace for our beloved Peanuts characters.
It was now November the Eighth, and Charlie Brown and Heather were currently in the library. By this point, they had already felt that they had done enough research on their topic to begin writing the actual paper, but Heather had been enjoying the research aspect of the project. Between that, as well as some encouragement from Linus, Charlie Brown had agreed to this one final afternoon in the library. He didn't mind though, since it was just another excuse to be able to spend some more time with Heather.
After jotting down one final note, as well as of course listing the resource, Heather put down her pencil and closed the book that they had been browsing.
"And I think that should be enough now," she declared.
"I must say, your efforts toward this project have been beyond reproach. That goes for both of you," Linus said, approaching the duo as they began to pack it up.
"Thank you," Heather said, smiling.
Charlie Brown also grinned at the praise. When that day came when he was in third grade, and he and Heather were assigned that book report, he was by far the most committed he had ever been regarding a school assignment. With this assignment, although without appearing as obsessive, he was indeed just as committed. One thing of course that made it better was the fact that he and Heather had actually gotten to work together on it. Such hadn't been the case with the third grade book report.
As the three of them were walking together out of the library, they were approached by Schroeder.
"Hello, Charlie Brown, Linus, Heather," he greeted them.
"Hi, Schroeder," they all greeted back.
Schroeder then turned specifically to Heather. "Heather, I have been looking for you. Are we still on for practicing our skit at my house this evening?"
"You bet." Heather grinned.
Suddenly, Charlie Brown felt that same pit of jealousy that he had experienced when Heather had first told him that she couldn't do the talent show with him. Truth be told, he had pretty much forgotten that Heather and Schroeder were doing the show together. That was until Schroeder had just now brought it up again.
"How have your practices been going so far?" Linus asked them.
"Quite well actually," Schroeder answered.
"Yeah," Heather said before scratching her cheek. She then appeared slightly embarrassed. "Though the dance routine that I have come up with is more challenging than I expected."
"Oh, come on, Heather, it's been working out great," Schroeder reassured her.
"You give me too much credit," Heather said, slightly flattered. "I've lost count of how many times I've stumbled or tripped."
Charlie Brown frowned as he witnessed Heather and Schroeder's interactions. Those feelings of jealousy that had bubbled up inside him were continuing, but this time they were beginning to come on stronger. It appeared to him that Schroeder and Heather had been spending a decent amount of time together since they had agreed to do the talent show together. And it was clear that they had been enjoying working together.
Linus noticed Charlie Brown's expression and gave him a nudge.
"Gee, Charlie Brown, is something bugging you?" he asked.
By this point, Heather and Schroeder had both also turned to face Charlie Brown.
Charlie Brown blinked and rapidly shook his head. "N-no, nothing wrong here!"
"Are you sure?" Heather asked him.
"I'm sure," Charlie Brown lied.
The look on Heather's face suggested that she didn't really believe him. However, she didn't press the matter. She had repeatedly assured him that he could talk to her about whatever was bugging him, but at the end of the day, whether he did want to talk about something or not was still his decision.
Charlie Brown then worked to push the unwanted feelings aside. He was being a blockhead right now. Even if Schroeder and Heather did enjoy working together, what was wrong with that? Especially since he and Heather also always enjoyed the time they spent together.
"So anyway, I've actually been meaning to ask you guys something," Schroeder said, motioning to Charlie Brown and Linus. "If you've got some time on Friday, since it's Veteran's Day, I was hoping you'd both stop by my house. Heather and I want to give you a sneak preview of our performance. A couple of others will be coming as well."
"Sure, Schroeder. I can be there," Linus answered.
"What about you, Charlie Brown," Heather asked, sounding hopeful.
Charlie Brown found Heather's hopeful smile softening him up and he smiled at her. "Of course I'll be there."
Later that evening, Schroeder and Heather were at Schroeder's house having their next practice session. They had just gotten through their most recent attempt at perfecting their routine.
"I think I'm finally getting the hang of it! I didn't stumble or trip once on that one," Heather said, actually sounding excited.
"That was very good Heather," Schroeder said, smiling at her. "Let's give it one more shot and then we'll call it a night."
And so they proceeded to take it from the top once more.
Meanwhile, Lucy was currently making her way to Schroeder's house. As she got close, she heard the familiar sound of Schroeder's piano being played to Moonlight Sonata First Movement. In fact, Lucy noticed that the tune had been unusually familiar to her lately and she had begun to wonder why. Schroeder had said that Moonlight Sonata was his favorite, but he could play a much wider variety of music than just that.
Regardless, Lucy entered the house and proceeded to make her way into the living room. She was shocked though at what she found.
"What the?!" she cried out.
Schroeder and Heather instantly stopped their performance and their heads shot in the direction of Lucy.
Seconds later, Lucy shook off her shock and looked at Heather, narrowing her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I might ask you the same question," Heather retorted. "What do you think you're doing just barging into someone's house uninvited? Do you not have a single idea how inappropriate that is?"
"Heather, wait a second," Schroeder said calmly.
"But Schroeder, it's true. You wouldn't ever walk into someone's house when they haven't invited you over, would you?" Heather asserted. "That's trespassing!"
"No, I wouldn't, and you're absolutely right," Schroeder said. "But I'm going to need to ask that you let me deal with it. Please, just trust me on this one."
"Well, okay..." Heather said hesitantly. Regardless, she turned back to Lucy and frowned at her.
"I can see that you both are rather busy right now," Lucy said, not taking her glare off of Heather.
Heather couldn't help but find herself glaring back at her. Lucy had some nerve to be shamelessly barging into someone else's house unwelcomed, and then to be behaving the way she was now.
"Yes, we kind of are. We're busy practicing our routine for the upcoming talent show," Schroeder said to Lucy.
"Well, don't let me be a bother," Lucy said, her voice laced with venom. She then turned and proceeded to storm out of the house.
As soon as she was gone, Heather looked at Schroeder, confused.
"What... was that all about?" she asked.
"Pay her no mind, that's just how she is," Schroeder replied. "Pretty much every day, no lie, she likes to come and visit me while I'm playing the piano. She's actually obsessed with me, and has this deluded idea that someday we're going to be married."
Heather blinked, not really sure how to react to all of this.
"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Schroeder said, noticing Heather's expression. "In fact, a lot of the time when she does visit, she talks about something related to marriage. Like what she'd do as my wife, or she'd talk about something like "What if someday, we had no money, and you had to sell your piano to buy me saucepans?".
Despite Heather's still shocked expression, she was now beginning to hold in her laughter. Lucy was certainly quite the character, that was for sure.
After a couple minutes to let the dust settle, the subject had turned back to the task at hand. Schroeder and Heather had made one more attempt at performing their routine, and this time, it was executed almost perfectly.
"Yes, that was great!" Schroeder yelled in excitement.
"It certainly was," Heather agreed. "We're definitely going to be ready by the day of the show."
"I think that's enough practice for tonight though. I've got a lot of homework still left to finish," Schroeder said after yawning.
"Yeah, same here. Oh, but real quick, I thought of a very good idea for our routine," Heather said.
"Oh? What's that?" Schroeder asked.
"Actually, to be more to the point, I have an idea as to how we can look really nice while performing our routine," Heather said, giving him a wink. "I hope you have something very nice-looking in your wardrobe to wear."
The next morning, Linus and Lucy were boarding the bus. As Lucy was passing by Linus and Charlie Brown's row, Charlie Brown noticed that Lucy didn't look too happy. Her current expression was reminiscent of the crabby Lucy he had known up until the day when Lucy had begun having her weekly sessions with Dr. Bliss. Charlie Brown then looked at Linus, who appeared to be looking rather exasperated.
"What's the trouble, Linus?" he asked his blanket-loving friend. He noticed that Linus had decided to carry his blanket today even though he had made a resolution earlier in the year to try to not carry it with him during school hours. Evidently, he was a little stressed right now.
"Ever since Lucy came back from Schroeder's last night, she has been much like her usual crabby self again," Linus said. "She was constantly getting upset by even the slightest thing that went wrong."
"Gee, I hope that her sessions with Dr. Bliss are having an effect," Charlie Brown said, looking back towards Lucy as she took her seat.
"I'm not going to say that she's relapsing or anything yet. I think I know why she was upset last night," Linus said.
"Why is that?" Charlie Brown asked.
"It was because she had found Heather there, and she saw what she and Schroeder were doing," Linus guessed. "Clearly, Lucy is quite jealous."
"Oh, that," Charlie said, a small frown appearing on his face.
He didn't know why, but just now, he actually felt a hint of sympathy for Lucy. He remembered that she was still just as much into Schroeder as Charlie Brown was interested in Heather. So to stop by Schroeder's house only to see him and Heather hanging out and having fun together...
"Gee, Charlie Brown, I can't help but notice that every time it's mentioned what Heather and Schroeder are doing, your mood starts to go south," Linus said suspiciously. "What's up? You're not jealous too, are you?"
Hearing this, Charlie Brown quickly shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. Why did Charlie Brown keep caring so much about this one thing where Schroeder and Heather were partners? He had to stop with it all, there was no reason for it. He was being so selfish right now. Heather and Schroeder were two of his best friends, and they didn't deserve to see Charlie Brown acting this way.
"Sorry. I guess I'm just still wishing that Heather and I could've done the show together," Charlie Brown said. It was partially true.
Linus had a feeling that this wasn't the whole story, but decided not to press further on the matter. He just went back to zoning out with his blanket.
Charlie Brown meanwhile made a firm resolve that from now on he would work extra hard to suppress any further hard feelings that would come up regarding Heather and Schroeder. He had to remember that the two of them had decided to partner up strictly due to how their special talents would go together in creating a great performance.
Despite this resolve, he still had a nagging thought in his head: just what did Schroeder and Heather really think of each other?
Early the next evening, Mary and Heather were inside the mall, on their way towards the shop that sold all different kinds of dresses. Although Heather already owned plenty of nice clothing, she had insisted that she should buy something special for the talent show. Of course, Mary didn't at all mind. Like many other girls her age, she very much enjoyed a good shopping trip.
However, even Mary wasn't prepared for how long they would be on this trip.
Currently, she was waiting outside the fitting room as Heather was busy inside the fitting room trying on different dresses. Mary had guessed that she had been waiting here for upwards of an hour.
Finally, Heather opened the dressing room door and stepped out for the first time. Was it possible that she had finally decided on something? Mary turned in her direction and gave a light gasp at what she saw.
Heather approached her and did a little twirl. "What do you think?"
"Wow, Heather! Are you buying a dress to wear for the talent show, or for your prom night?" Mary asked, holding back a laugh.
"The talent show, of course!" Heather said matter-of-factly before turning towards one of the mirrors. "So?"
"It's absolutely gorgeous, Heather. Nothing else really to say," Mary told her.
"You really think so? You think that Charlie Brown will..." But Heather then quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. "W-wait a minute! I mean..."
"Aha!" Mary then said, giving Heather a huge knowing grin. "So that's why you were taking this dress shopping so seriously. At least, that's a big part of it."
"N-no, what I meant to say was..." Heather tried to say.
But Mary wasn't going to have any of it though and she continued smirking at her bestie. She had long had her suspicions about this ever since the first day of school when they were riding the bus to school. But with this slip of the tongue, there was nary a doubt in Mary's mind now. Heather was totally crushing on Charlie Brown.
Heather looked at Mary with pleading eyes. Mary knew what she was hoping for, but she wouldn't be giving it to her this time though.
"Good grief!" Heather cried out before darting back into the fitting room.
A few minutes later, after regaining her composure, Heather came back out, now back in her normal attire. She turned to Mary with narrowed eyes and a pouty expression on her face.
"Let's go," she said flatly.
"Did you decide that you wanted that last one?" Mary inquired.
"Yes," Heather replied, not looking at her.
And so Heather and Mary proceeded to head to the register to check out. After the transaction was completed, the two of them walked out of the shop and began making their way towards the food court.
Upon arriving, they saw that Schroeder was also there, along with Charlie Brown and his sister.
"Hello, you guys!" Mary greeted them as they began to approach their table.
"Oh, Heather. And Mary. Hello," Schroeder greeted.
The two girls sat down and Heather placed her bag containing her new dress underneath the table.
"Hi, you two. What brings you here?" Charlie Brown said.
"Oh, you know, us girls like shopping. Well, at least a lot of us do," was all Mary would say.
"What did you girls buy?" Sally asked. "Big brother and I just went shopping for new shoes."
"Sorry, Sally, it's actually a secret," Heather said, to which Sally responded with a pout. "But... are you going to be watching our school talent show? You'll be able to see what I bought then."
Sally instantly perked up upon being asked this. "Of course I am. My sweet babboo is going to be in the show. Oh, and of course, Big Brother here is his partner."
Everyone mentally groaned at hearing Sally say the "sweet babboo" part. Seriously, it was getting way too old now.
Heather turned towards Charlie Brown. "What are you going to do for the show, Charlie Brown."
"I'm gonna try to perform that magic act that I had wanted to do for that talent show we had in elementary school," Charlie Brown answered. "Schroeder knows what I'm talking about."
Schroeder nodded at this. "It was a shame that you weren't able to do it that time though. Your act looked really cool."
"Yes, but the compassion Charlie Brown had shown for Sally that day is something I still have not forgotten," Heather added, smiling fondly at Charlie Brown.
Charlie Brown blushed in response to this and looked down shyly at his lap. At the same time, Sally leaned up against him.
"My big brother is the best," she said affectionately, smiling up at him.
The group continued to chat for a few minutes. Then, Heather and Mary left, leaving Charlie Brown with just Schroeder and Sally again.
"I'm feeling really good that me and Heather's act is going to wow the crowd. We've put a lot of work into it," Schroeder said confidently.
"Yeah, it sure seems you have," Charlie Brown said. "You both definitely have your place in the world of performing arts."
This brought upon a realization to Charlie Brown that made him feel a bit nervous. Schroeder and Heather had at least a few things in common. They were both smart (Schroeder presumably so given his potential eventual acceptance into Juilliard), and they both were good performing artists. Not only that, but in the latter case, they were able to bond and work together, improving their crafts.
But what did Charlie Brown and Heather have in common? The fact that they both nibbled on their pencils? That was just one thing. One thing that was very small and inconsequential.
Once again, Charlie Brown began to feel the green-eyed monster working mayhem inside of him.
"Uh, Charlie Brown? What's the matter?" Schroeder asked him, noticing his expression.
"Oh, uh, nothing. Just thinking about what people might think of my act," Charlie Brown replied.
Schroeder looked at Charlie Brown suspiciously. He knew that wasn't true, and knew that something was not quite right with Charlie Brown. He was now quite curious as to just what was up with him.
It was now evening on Veteran's Day, and Charlie Brown was now arriving at Schroeder's house to watch him and Heather perform their talent show routine. Upon entering the living room, he noticed that the furniture had been moved off to the side to allow plenty of floor space. Evidently, this was done so that Heather had plenty of space to dance.
"Hello, Charlie Brown. Thanks for showing up," Schroeder greeted. "Please, take a seat on the sofa if you'd like."
Charlie Brown obliged and took his seat on the sofa, sitting between Linus and Mary. There were also a couple of chairs that were occupied by students whom Charlie Brown guessed were members of Schroeder's club.
After a couple more minutes, Heather came into the living room and stood next to Schroeder. She smiled and waved at each member of their little "audience".
"Now," Schroeder began once everyone was paying attention. "What you are about to witness is something that Heather and I had spent many hours these past couple weeks on practicing. I'm going to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, First Movement on the piano. And in tune to that, Heather will be gracing you all with her finest moves that she had invented all on her own."
A gentle applause could be heard and Charlie Brown gave a smile, looking forward to seeing what graceful moves his crush had worked up this time.
Silence then filled the room as Schroeder walked over to his piano and Heather positioned herself in the very center of the room. Schroeder stretched out his fingers, took a deep breath, and then began to play his favorite melody. At the same time, Heather began to work her magic.
As the other kids watched, none of them could take their eyes off of Heather. She really was an excellent dancer. It looked like possibly, she was going to do the routine perfectly this time. Charlie Brown was watching on admirably. It was evident to him how much practice Heather had put into this routine. How much work she and Schroeder had put into this skit.
She and Schroeder.
Charlie Brown then frowned as he thought again about Heather and Schroeder's relationship. He once again wondered how they felt about each other...
Stop it, you blockhead! Stop it now! You are being stupid now! Charlie Brown inwardly demanded of himself. You are here to be supportive, not jealous!
It was now down to the final seconds of Schroeder and Heather's routine. At no point yet had Heather stumbled or tripped, or had Schroeder accidentally played a wrong note. Finally, it was down to the very last move. But then...
"Whoa!"
Unfortunately, Heather had slightly misjudged her landing and she began to fall over. She landed ungraciously on her side. The audience gasped and Mary clasped a hand over her mouth.
Schroeder instantly stopped his playing, jumped up and rushed over to her.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Schroeder asked in concern.
"No, I don't think so," Heather answered as Schroeder proceeded to help her back up.
Fortunately, it appeared that Heather really was just fine, to which everyone, particularly Schroeder, was happy for. It would've really sucked if now of all times Heather suffered a sprained ankle or something. The talent show was now just over a week away.
Once Heather had caught her breath, she looked at the concerned faces of her miniature audience before blushing in embarrassment.
"I guess that we still have some work to do," she said, feeling rather dejected as she cupped her face in her hands. What luck she had tonight, messing up on the very last jump and falling over, and in front of several other kids. She shuddered to think of how she'd feel if something like this happened on the night of the show.
Schroeder placed a reassuring arm around her. "Come on, Heather, don't say that. You've been improving with each practice session."
Charlie Brown witnessed Schroeder's gesture towards Heather and felt his jealousy now hitting a critically high point. Those two looked way too close right now and it was now really starting to upset his heart. Suddenly, he decided that he could not be here anymore tonight. He stood up and began to walk away. Linus and Mary were taken by surprise and they worriedly watched him go.
"Let's give it one more try, Heather. We can do this!" Schroeder said, eager to really impress his little crew this time.
Heather hesitated a little, but agreed to give it one more try. Schroeder went back to his piano and Heather took position once again in the center of the room. But as they were about to attempt their skit again, Heather saw Charlie Brown pass by her, on his way to the door.
"W-Wait, Charlie Brown, where are you going?" she asked, rushing up to him.
Charlie Brown stopped to answer, but did not look at her. "I'm sorry, I just realized that I have a bunch of missed homework I have to do."
Heather knew that wasn't the real reason. He had all weekend in which he could catch up on school work. Right now, Charlie Brown was looking quite upset and Heather knew that something was bothering him.
"Charlie Brown," she said, concern in her voice evident. And then like that one other time, she found herself taking Charlie Brown's hand into her own. "I know that's not why you're leaving all of a sudden. Please tell me what's wrong."
Charlie Brown felt his breath catching in his throat again as Heather again had his hand in her own. He then turned to look at her, but was silent at first as he contemplated what he should do. A few seconds later though, he just shook his head.
"It's something personal that I can't discuss, Heather. But I really need to go for right now," he then said. He gave his best attempt at a smile at her, trying to convince her that he'd be okay.
Heather didn't return the smile though, but did let go of his hand. "Okay. I'll see you later then." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and sounded almost sad.
Charlie Brown nodded and then made his way out the door. Schroeder watched him leave, looking a bit offended that Charlie Brown was walking out on him and Heather like this. Seriously, what was up with that guy lately? This was not like him at all.
Heather was wondering the same thing. Something clearly has been troubling Charlie Brown lately, and for some reason he was not willing to talk to her about it.
Just what is the matter with you lately, Charlie Brown? You know it pains me to see you upset like this, she thought. If only she knew...
Author's note: Oooh, looks like a little drama has taken hold of members of the gang. Of course, you as readers already know that there is zero chance of Schroeder and Heather actually having a fling, but Charlie Brown isn't assured of that yet though. What will happen next? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out! Please review and let me know what you all think!