Chapter Text
Schroeder Felton remembered the time when he kissed his friend on the cheek. That friend being Lucy van Pelt, a girl who pestered him without fail about their future and marriage. He remembered it because it was the day of Beethoven's birthday; she had gone up to him and greeted him with a cupcake.
Lucy ran away after that, thinking it was a dog that had kissed her. At the time, Schroeder was glad that she misunderstood, because if she knew that he had kissed her despite rejecting her multiple times, she would never cease to speak about it.
Now, unfortunately, Schroeder wished she knew it was him. Truly him, and he wished that he could kiss her again.
It was a strange situation. They were sophomores in high school now, and they sat in the cafeteria with Schroeder being about three tables away from Lucy. He could see her face clearly despite the distance. Her glossy hair shook in a satisfying way as she laughed, and the smile on her face was no less than brilliant. Schroeder wondered where these feelings came from.
Another unfortunate thing was that Lucy seemed to have moved on from him. Yes, she moved on from him. It was like he was somehow in a different world; Schroeder was the one pining for her. He hated that he took her feelings for granted. If she was as devoted to him as she was when they were eight years of age, he would have happily talked about their marriage and reciprocated the giddiness.
His already soggy cafeteria food had gotten cold now. His friends, mainly Charlie Brown and Linus van Pelt, noticed his demeanor. Maybe it was because he was reminiscing, but when they called out to him, he was surprised that he was looking at two grown boys instead of two tiny, hairless kids. Charlie Brown and Linus had grown up to become rather large. Schroeder himself didn't work out much; he was mainly a pianist, not a football player. Because they were both in the school's team, Schroeder found that Charlie Brown and Linus often walked around the campus without him. Not that he minded, really, it was just pretty interesting to him. The two had been inseparable since they were little.
"Felton, do you still want my bacon strips? You look like you can't stomach any more food," said Charlie Brown. Schroeder's last name was commonly used among the group of friends. They insisted that it was befitting for a musician.
"What? Oh...no thanks, you can keep them." He paused. "Linus, how has your sister been?"
The guy frowned. "...Are you talking about Lucy?"
Schroeder looked at him blankly. "Do you have any other sisters that I don't know of?"
Linus blinked, many times at that. "Sorry. Uh, she's alright, I guess. She comes home later than usual now, but she said it was because she's been helping a friend with something." He scratched his head. "Why do you ask?"
Why was he asking? Screw that, he knew why. Thinking about the question was redundant. Schroeder, for all his musical and creative prowess, blurted out the answer without any sort of filter. "I think I like her."
Everyone's jaw dropped. Charlie Brown made a sound from the back of his throat, Franklin choked, Linus dropped his utensils. Silence fell on the table and it stayed that way for an embarrassingly long amount of time.
"Say something, please?" Schroeder pleaded. Still nothing.
"Damnit guys, real helpful," he said while rolling his eyes. "If no one has anything insightful to share, then I'll be on my merry way." Were they even still breathing? The pianist stood up, leaving his spot from the table and ditching his food.
"Wait!" Linus shot out his hand and grasped Schroeder's arm. "Uh, we'll talk about this more later, yeah?" He breathed out.
Schroeder swallowed his nervousness. "Yeah. I'll see you guys. Bye, I guess." Then he walked away, blush blooming and growing redder every time he took a step.
"...Thanks for the bacon!" He heard Charlie Brown yell out minutes after. He figured his friend was still confused.
When he looked back at them again as he was standing by the cafeteria's exit, he could see that they were still in shock. If you asked him, Schroeder did indeed care about what his friends thought of him. They would question him non-stop the next time they saw him, wouldn't they?
-
Classes went by like a blur for the rest of the day, and Schroeder wanted to punch himself for it. It was crude and unlike him, but there was reason for it. The class right after lunch was Music, which was obviously his favourite class. To make things worse, Schroeder couldn't even play anything on any piano. His fingers would slip, and his mind would momentarily forget all the pieces he's played.
Schroeder wanted to vomit. He felt like a failure; surely his idol would be looking down on him, literally and figuratively. He couldn't even count how many times he slammed his fists on the piano. His classmates noticed, and few walked up to him to check on him, but he brushed them off and stated that he merely felt sick. He pretended not to notice the continued disbelief on their faces.
Even in his own home, he could not produce a single pleasant sound from his beloved piano. He tried to hold himself back, really, but the frustration was getting to him. This piano, too, received some harsh blows. He even cringed at the sight of Beethoven! The statue on his grand instrument was there, sitting innocently as it did for the past few years. It was only then that Schroeder realized his problem.
He missed Lucy van Pelt. He hated admitting this, so he might as well admit other things. He liked Lucy's silky black hair, her deep brown eyes, her soft pink lips (don't ask him why he knows they're soft.), and her delicate hands. He also liked how her cheeks turned pink whenever she was happy, how she was graceful yet ambitious, how she remembered every single detail about every person she knew. Lucy was amazing like that. She was kind and attentive but fiery and determined. He missed her because she was Lucy, and Lucy hadn't visited him in more than a week.
He rarely ever looked up from his piano, but whenever he did, he would see her lying down on its sleek surface beside Beethoven. He reprimanded her for this countless times, though she never listened to his complaints. Sometimes she would be staring directly at him while he played a piece, and other times she would doze off due to the boringness of the ceiling she was facing.
Schroeder didn't understand though. Why now? Why was he experiencing this now? Was it because he had just noticed her absence? Good grief, this was all so ridiculous. He supposed he should seek her out, but at the same time, he didn't want to face her teasing. More than that, he didn't want to face rejection. It was something Lucy experienced a lot, something Schroeder subjected her to. He didn't know how he would react. Would he have the right to be upset? No, definitely not. He had the chance, he had multiple chances, since their childhood. But. He absolutely needed to get his sweetie back.