Charlie Brown looked up to see Jo Agate, a kid he never thought he would see again after he beat him in marbles. Heather ran over to help Charlie Brown up and made sure he was ok. Joe Agate's sinister smirk flooded his face even more.
"You and your friend are on our turf, Brown, so I suggest you get off of it if you don't want a beating," Joe Agate taunted as he lunged forward, pushing Charlie Brown again and causing him to stumble back. Heather's face turned to anger, but she was too scared to fight back against him; she had to think of something quick.
"I'll go get Lucy and Peppermint Patty," Heather said. Charlie Brown nodded, and she raced off to get help. Charlie Brown stood his ground, looking him in the eye.
"You know, I let you keep some of your marbles last time; I didn't think you would lose them all." Charlie Brown teased; Joe Agate's expression turned to one of confusion.
"Lose what marbles I still have—" Like a light bulb went off in his head, his face scrunched and turned to an expression of anger. "That's not funny, Brown. Just for that, my gang and I will pound you here and now." He whistles for the other two people who followed him to come over, as a few more come from behind the bleachers.
"You are going to be sorry, Joe. You all will when my friends arrive!" Charlie Brown yelled, trying to sound intimidating, but slowly backing up, realizing what he had gotten himself into. Thibault appeared to the right of Joe Agate. Despite his small stature, the boy always packed a punch. To the left of Joe Agate, an unexpected face appeared. Charlie Brown lowered his guard for a second, as surprise flooded him.
"Why are you with them?" Charlie Brown asked,
Lucy walked alone, trying to avoid confrontation with Schroeder, hoping he would forget what she had told him. She looked around and found a bench, looking behind her shoulder for any sight of Schroeder, but she couldn't see him, only some trees and kids playing off in the distance. She breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down.
"So how long are you going to avoid me?" Schroeder asked as he came out from behind a tree. Lucy gulped in fear, knowing she couldn't hide in her lies any longer. He walked over, sat down, and crossed his arms, waiting for Lucy to say something.
"How long were you behind that tree for?" She whimpered out; Schroeder uncrossed his arms, surprised by the question.
"Well, like 10 minutes—no, not that long. You know Beethoven used to take nature walks as well." Schroeder responded, trying to explain himself, causing Lucy to giggle. "But that doesn't matter. Now, are you going to tell me what happened?" Lucy looked down, wondering how to phrase it.
"Violet thinks I'm dumb or not good enough or whatever to hang out with them anymore, all because my brother got to skip a grade, and I didn't." She answered, blurting out the truth. Schroeder looked at her, confused, as she hung her head down; her eyes started to water, embarrassed. She loved her brother, but sometimes wished he hadn't skipped a grade.
"You two were fine on the bus this morning; what happened?" He asked, concerned; she shook her head; she didn't even know why there was such a big shift between the two.
"Plus, you're not dumb; I mean, you're smarter than she is at least," Schroeder added, patting her back to comfort her. She looked up and smiled at him, and he smiled back.
"I'll talk to her and Patty and see what happened. I'm sure it'll all blow over in a few weeks." Lucy opened her mouth to respond but was surprised by the sound of Heather running over to them. They both spot her and look at each other, confused.
"What's wrong, Heather!" Schroeder yells at her as she runs up.
"Maybe she finally got sick of that blockhead," Lucy comments, laughing a bit. Schroeder shoots her a look of disappointment. Heather makes her way over and stops, struggling to catch her breath; Lucy and Schroeder look at her in anticipation.
"Bully in the field… going to beat him up… Joe Agate…went to tell you and Peppermint Patty." She gets it out between her rapid breathing; Lucy's face turns to one of anger.
"That's the idiot who took Rerun's marbles; he used to be the neighborhood bully. I'll go pound him right now!" Lucy said, putting her hand in her fist.
"I thought you were the neighborhood bully," Schroeder asked. Lucy looked at him in disgust at the comment at first but then took pride in it.
"A title I rightfully earned; if he thinks he can return, he's got another thing coming." Heather and Schroeder both look at each other, confused; Lucy notices but decides not to focus on it. "Heather, you go get Peppermint Patty; Schroeder and I will help the blockhead," Lucy commands, and Heather races off again to find Peppermint Patty.
"I'm going with you?" Schroeder asks Lucy, she gives him a look of intimidation. "I mean, let's go help him." They race off towards the baseball field as Heather runs the other way to where Peppermint Patty and Franklin are passing a football.
"Say, Franklin, you know you're supposed to catch the ball, right?" Peppermint Patty asks with a completely straight face. As the ball slips out of his hand, Franklin rolls his eyes while chasing it. She continues to stare at him, causing him to realize it is a genuine question.
"Yes, of course. I know you're supposed to catch the ball; I'm just a bit rusty." He responds, annoyed, throwing the ball to her.
"I just wanted to make sure because it looks like you're confusing it with the other kind of football," she comments as she catches the throw perfectly. She throws it back to Franklin but slips a little, overshooting and hitting Heather in the head, knocking her down. They both run over to make sure she's okay.
"You're supposed to catch the ball with your hands; maybe more people have forgotten, and it's just not you, Franklin," Peppermint Patty says. Franklin rolls his eyes again.
"Are you ok?" Franklin asks; Heather sits up and nods, rubbing her head where it hit.
"I have little time; Charlie Brown needs your help. Some bully named Joe Agate claimed the baseball field and is going to beat him up." Heather explains, still a bit out of it; Franklin's face turns to confusion, while Peppermint Patty turns to anger.
"Marcie told me about him before, but claiming the baseball field is outrageous. Come on, let's go; we got some business to settle." Peppermint Patty responds, getting up, fire in her eyes.
Lucy and Schroeder barged onto the field; she pushed her way through the crowd and stepped between Joe Agate and Charlie Brown. Schroeder slips through the crowd that had formed and goes over to see if Charlie Brown is alright.
"Hey, no one pound the blockhead, except me!" She shouts into the crowd, which goes silent. Joe Agate smirks at the sight of Lucy.
"Defending Charlie Brown, how low could you get!" Violet's voice comes from the crowd; Lucy turns red but keeps eye contact with Joe Agate, and Schroeder gives Violet a look of disapproval.
"You must be the sister Rerun always talked about; he got it right; you are crabby." He teases her, and Lucy's face scrunches and turns redder from anger. "You might as well back off Lucy, Brown's mine, and I hate to make two examples in one day,"
"Two examples? There are three of us." Lucy responded. Schroeder gulped and backed up a little, not wanting to go to his next class period with bruises. "Just let us go, Joe Agate. I'm sure the blockhead did nothing too bad." Joe Agate looks at her, offended; he steps closer to Lucy, about to throw a punch before someone steps between them. Lucy looks down to see a short girl with glasses, her friend Marcie.
"Marcie, what are you doing?" Lucy asks, unclenching her fist, breaking eye contact with Joe Agate, and looking at her.
"Marcie, I told you, if you're going to roll with us, you have to let us keep our territory," Joe Agate says, displeased that she has interrupted him for the second time today.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you must let them off with a warning; they did not know," Marcie responds, Joe Agate thinks about it for a moment, lowering his fists.
"Fine, but the next time they step on my turf, it's over for them." He responds, glaring at Lucy and then Charlie Brown.
The crowd slowly dissipates from the field, leaving only Charlie Brown, Schroeder, Lucy, and Marcie. Schroeder helps Charlie Brown dust off his clothes as Lucy stares at Marcie in disapproval.
"Are you ok, Charles?" Marcie asks,
"Yeah, I'll be fine, maybe a bruise on my side, but nothing worse than what Lucy's put me through." He responds, laughing a bit, trying to lighten the mood of the situation. Marcie and Schroeder laugh, but Lucy stands there sternly. Marcie feels her eyes drilling into her head.
"I guess I owe you all an explanation," Marcie says.
"Think you owe us a bit more than that," Lucy comments, crossing her arms.
"A few days before school, I told Patricia I couldn't help her cheat anymore and that I didn't want to be around her if she would not take her schooling seriously. Well, she said that was ok, and I would come around in a few days," Marcie explained.
"But why, Joe? You could've come to any of us and asked or told us about this," Charlie Brown responded, wanting to understand Marcie. Their eyes interlocked as tears formed, and she quickly looked away.
"Because you all enable her. I know she's your good friend, but she has to take this all seriously, or she will not make it. And I know you would've taken her side in the end, Charles." Charlie Brown opened his mouth to respond but stopped, knowing what she said was true. "Joe Agate and Thibault have both changed; they keep their grades up now and are both nice once you get to know them. You can bring up them being bullies or mean all you want, but you are friends with someone who wears the 'town bully' title like a badge."
Schroeder's mouth drops open, and the whole group goes silent. Marcie stands there for a few moments, giving them all looks of disappointment before storming off. Peppermint Patty, Franklin, and Heather make it to the field, missing all the action. Peppermint Patty spots Marcie and runs over to her.
"Hey Marcie, I haven't seen you in a while!" Peppermint, Patty said with excitement; she had missed her talks so much and was glad to see her.
"Leave me alone, Patricia," Marcie responds, storming past her, tears in her eyes; Peppermint Patty stands still in shock.
"She didn't call me sir." shocked, she ran up to Marcie again, concerned.
"Are you ok? Listen, if it's about our talk a few days ago, I'm sorry." Peppermint Patty asked,
"I said I don't want to talk, Patricia," Marcie responded, walking faster; Peppermint Patty almost ran after her again, but Franklin stopped her.
"Well, that was an eventful first recess," Schroeder commented.
"I'll say, what's gotten into her, abandoning us for them, saying I wear the title 'town bully like a badge?" Lucy added.
"Well, didn't you say it was a title you rightfully earned?" Schroeder responded. Lucy looked at him with anger.
"It was in the heat of the moment, of course; I said that because I was trying to rally us together!" Lucy shouted back.
"Good grief, it's the first day of school, and all this has already happened" Charlie Brown commented. The bell rang causing all the students to shuffle back inside, the group followed, and not a word was said as they were all shocked by what had happened