Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: 

“Charlie Brown,” Lucy rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

 “Talk. To. Her.” She slowly reiterated, hoping it would get through to his numb-skull of a brain before she keeled over and died. 

“But how do I just talk to her!” His expression resembled three squiggly lines, his white-blonde hair emphasizing the ever present anxiety on his face. 

Lucy was about to start charging him again for advice, if he did not pick up his big boy pants and talk to the girl. She wished he had just gone to Linus instead. Alas, Linus didn’t have a free period, and Lucy (not insane like Linus) did. And that free period happened to be the same free period of her beloved (begrudgingly so) best friend, Charlie Brown. Thus, Lucy, Charlie Brown, and his inability to speak. 

“I have a hard time articulating just about anything when I’m near her, Lucy!” Charlie Brown whispered in weak defence. 

Lucy could not argue with it, of course. When it came to Heather, Charlie Brown–from the age of 6 when she first moved to Hennepin– had not been able to utter more than a collection of stuttering sentence fragments or bumbling compliments that can’t reach any human being’s ears. She would berate him for it more than she already did, but it would just be a kettle meeting a pot. Not that she relates to Charlie Brown’s unrequited love, anymore of course. Lucy decided not too dwell too much on any other blonds than the one in front of her. 

“Well, I suppose you could write her something?” Lucy suggested in a whisper, knowing that Charlie Brown was actually a very good writer, despite his speaking skills. He leaned back into his wooden chair, making it squeak at the stress of his anxious movements.

“And deliver it to her? In person?” he shook his head in resignation. “We all know I wouldn’t make it to her! Not without dropping it into the mud, or getting run over by a truck!” His voice began to gain volume as he spiraled. 

“Whisper! I am not getting kicked out again in the same week,” Lucy reprimanded him before continuing, “and I won’t argue with your luck, I know,” She acknowledged, running her fingers through her onyx curls, only to scrunch her face in frustration when she messed up her new blue ribbon headband in her hair. 

Lucy leaned back, staring at the ceiling of the bleak Jamestreet High School library. She sighed, as she realized the only solution to Charlie Brown’s problem. The only solution would most likely result in the start of a problem of her own. 

“I’ll take it to Heather then, and I’ll say it’s from you,” She tightly shut her eyes as Charlie Brown thanked her profusely. 

“I will never say your mean or awful again! I’ll even make sure Snoopy doesn’t steal your socks for his productions anymore! Wow! Lucy you are just the greatest friend a guy could ever have!” 

“What do you mean he takes my socks? What production?” Lucy cursed whoever made her have to care out about Charlie Brown. 

“Sorry! Gotta write! See! Writing!” Charlie Brown wrote furiously in his notebook, and Lucy progressively got angrier and angrier. 

“Tell me. What productions?” Her quivering voice began to rise in volume, as she began to stand up out of her own rickety wooden chair. 

“Whose production? Snoopy? I have a-uh CAT!” Charlie Brown sped up as he panicked, and he attempted to scoot farther away from Lucy. Her hands were making choking motions as she looked at him with one sentence at the tip of her tongue. 

“Charlie Brown!” She finally caved, as she smacked him upside the head. “TELL ME you stupid BLOCKHEAD!” 

Lucy’s angry voice radiated around the library, waking Peppermint Patty from her daily free period nap. Even Marcie looked up from her book (which is a surprise since not even Peppermint Patty obnoxious snoring distracts her). Charlie Brown winced as he felt the impending presence of their forever strict librarian. Lucy and Charlie’s quiet conversation and study time at the library quickly came to an end, in the form of a firm push of their backs and the slam of the library door. 

After a short walk to the school’s cafeteria, and a small fifty cents from Charlie Brown’s pocket, Lucy–with her free ice cream–stared calmly at the Spring sky as Charlie Brown finished his letter to Heather. Lucy crossed her free fingers that he wouldn’t be done until lunch, so she wouldn’t have to take it to Heather during her current class: orchestra. 

She hadn’t stepped foot into any music room since freshman year, and she had no plans of stepping into one, on purpose at least, for the rest of her life. Or she had that plan, until she was forced to deal with the promise she made to her bumbling friend. If only she wasn’t so kind. What was she saying? If only she weren’t so trained in advice and helping others. She curses her childhood job of an advice gifter, and only wished this compulsion to help people would go away. Because if there was anything Lucy hated, it was annoying people. And musicians. 

“Done!” Charlie Brown exclaimed with relief. Lucy looked for holes in the earth that happened to need a girl to swallow. No holes. No avoiding her fate. 

Lucy walked her way to hell, hearing the sounds of clashing melodies and faint piano notes, no doubt being played with perfection. 

She faintly knocked upon the dark wood door, hoping for no answer. The door opened, revealing the kind face of Franklin, one of Lucy’s childhood friends. To be frank, everyone was a childhood friend at their school; it was too small to not know everyone. Thus, you would run into every single person you knew at least once–regardless of whether you want to see them or not. She counted to three in her head as she smiled at the oblivious Franklin, and lightly punched him in the shoulder. 

“Sorry! Just gotta make a delivery from Charlie Brown to one Heather,” she explained to him before whispering “no other way to make him confess to her,” in which Franklin nodded in understanding, as he opened the door wider for her arrival. He too had been subjected to Charlie Brown’s depressing cycle of approach, decay, retreat, replay. 

Lucy kept her gaze upon Heather, walking with purpose. She would not look at the piano in the corner of the room. If she did, she knew, just like she knew that last day of freshman year, she would never be able to leave if she did. She focuses on the girl’s flaming locks as those tantalizing notes of Beethoven range out around her. 

“Lucy!” Patty ( not peppermint) exclaimed as she saw her, setting her violin down in a rush. 

“You’re just the person I need! I need some advice and quick!” Lucy felt the compulsion taking over with a grimace. 

“Yeah alright, shoot. “ she said in resignation, pinching the bridge of her nose, with the other hand on her hip. She knew if she didn’t force her hand to stay there, she would mess up her hair again. 

“So shoot,” she said, as Patty frantically nodded. 

“You know how Violet’s like my best friend and all? Well today I swear I saw her with someone! And not just any  someone! A boy-someone! And she didn’t tell me! I thought she was my bestfriend and that means we do everything together! And she’s getting a boyfriend without me now! And Violet didn’t even tell me! Doesn’t it sound like she hates me? Shouldn’t I hate her? But what if she asks me to be her maid of honor and I say no because she didn’t tell me when she started dating that stupid guy and then she’ll hate me for real because I ruined her wedding! Oh no! She’ll have kids with him and be happy but now I’ll never be Aunt Pat and–” Lucy put a hand over Patty’s mouth for everyone’s sake. 

“Okay so what I understand is that you saw Violet with a boy, and she didn’t tell you about meeting him before it happened?” Patty nodded silently, as Lucy’s hand still covered her mouth. 

“And you’re worried she is growing up without you, because you’re scared you’ll end up growing apart, correct?” Patty looked away, before silently nodding again. 

“Alright, I am going to take my hand away, do you promise to listen before getting carried away again?” Patty nodded. 

“Listen, friends aren’t meant to be attached at the hip, even best friends okay?” Lucy began. 

“But-” 

 “Nope not done yet!” 

Patty sighed and waited silently. 

“Regardless of what relationships you guys get into outside of each other, your friendship–from what I’ve seen at least–is much stronger than some silly boyfriend,” Lucy continued, as Patty’s anxious face seemed to relax ever so slightly. 

“If I were you, I would go up to Violet, tell her you saw her with some guy, and see what happens. You just need to communicate with her as you always do,” Lucy put a comforting hand on Patty’s shoulder, with a soft smile that she doesn’t show to most. 

“Yeah, you’re right Lucy,” Patty smiled back with a small laugh. “Gosh I must’ve lost my mind for a minute there! Thank you for always knowing what to say! I’m gonna go find her now!” Patty said with a new found sense of energy, as she left all of her things behind, heading for the art room across the hall. 

Lucy–now that Patty was out of the way–walked over to the back of the room where Heather sat, tuning her Cello. 

Unbeknownst to her though, Franklin watched this with a pondering expression. 

“Heather, this is for you!” her words tumbling out as fast as they could. 

“Lucy! Charlie Brown’s friend! What do you have for me!”  

Lucy didn’t know what to think of that label. Happy for Charlie Brown or scared of how much people associated Lucy with him. She settled for both. 

“It’s a note! I won’t go into the details since I am not doing that much for him, but you’ll figure it out inside!”  Lucy was speaking as quickly as possible, hoping to sprint out of the horrific orchestra room in the next 30 seconds.

“Wait, who is it from?” Heather started to ask but paused, as a grin adorned her face. “Is it Charlie Brown? That’s the only person you would walk this far for, right?” Heather’s face seemed to glow, as did Charlie Brown’s future if Lucy was reading her correctly. Despite her friend’s shot at happiness (with a girl so out of his lead it should be studied), she could not help but replay what Heather had said. Only Person you would walk this far for. Only person 

Lucy was so lost in her mission, lost in her past, lost in him , that she didn’t notice how he had been playing the same note over and over since the moment Lucy’s presence was announced by Patty’s shout. 

She was so lost that she did not hear the silence coming from the piano with an empty bench. 

“Please just don’t open it while I’m here! I don’t wanna become a pigeon carrier for you two!” Lucy exclaimed, spinning purposefully towards the opposite corner of the piano, preparing to speed out of the room. 

Her plans were wrecked, of course. They were wrecked from the moment she walked into this terrible room, from the moment she left it that final day of freshman year, from the moment she saw him at three years old, the moment she was cursed to love him even when she hated herself for it. 

A single word or a siren song, with him she could never tell the difference. She had not heard his voice in two years. She was hoping she would never have to hear it again. 

“ What do you think of me then? Tell me and I'll leave.” 

“Lucy,” his voice was breathless and his cheeks were flushed as they usually would be after completing a complicated piece. 

“Shroeder,” 

“What are you–I haven’t seen you in awhile,” Lucy averted her eyes from his ever-piercing green stare. 

She and Linus worked all summer before sophomore year, figuring out every route to get to her classes, so she would never have to run into him. None of it mattered now. 

“Really? How strange!” she couldn’t bear to carve a full fake smile, so she opted for a grimace. 

“Lucy I–” she didn’t want to imagine the different things he might say. “I hate you so much and the last two years have been the best of my life!” or worse, “I am so sorry for what I said and I really didn’t mean to hurt you!” 

The former would hurt terribly, but it was what she had expected since the night of the incident; the latter would be so much worse, as it would pull her back in, her expectations already rising at the thought. 

She shed her naive sad little  thoughts, adopting the emotion that gave her the most comfort: anger. She would not love him again, not if she had a say in it. 

“I’ll stop you there!” she said briskly, not letting him finish the impending words that were sure to come. 

“I have to go tell Charlie Brown, and I have no intention of coming back here, so there’s no point in talking, okay?” 

“Lucy, wait!” She stormed out the door as he called for her, leaving Heather, Franklin, and Shroeder behind. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wait so she smiled when she saw my note!” Charlie Brown asked for the 5th time that following lunch. 

“I would assume Lucy did not lie the last four times, Charlie Brown–don’t worry so much!” Linus said with a grin, looking up for the whooping 3rd time all lunch, as he was doing strange calculations Lucy did not care for, rather than eating the actual lunch in front of him. She decided to not attempt the mother coddling she does secretly with Rerun, and instead shoved an apple onto his paper. 

“Eat before you turn into more of a bobble-head. Numbskull!” she said quickly, before jumping up from her seat to throw away her trash. Linus hid his grin as he bit into his favorite apple honey crisp, knowing she had packed it for him specifically. 

Lucy, watching from the trash can, was pleased he was finally eating. He would only eat when forced, it seemed as he was too wrapped up in his homework, and too stubborn to change his ways. Only Lucy herself and Sally Brown had been able to get him to eat when he had homework in front of him. Not that he’ll admit Sally has managed such a feat, of course. 

Lucy realized she probably looked like she was getting ready to jump in the trashcan and become a female pig pen, so she started her walk back to her lunch seat. Yet before she could complete her venture, a single Franklin stopped Lucy in her tracks. 

“Franklin?” she asked in surprise, as they usually talked only from instance to instance or in group events, not on purpose. 

“Lucy! You’re just the girl I wanted to see!” She quirked her eye-brow in suspicion. 

“And why is that?” She really just wanted to sit down, but her curiosity is getting the best of her. 

“Well,” he started, before sighing sadly (so depressing of a sigh, one would think it's borderline staged), “I need your advice, Lucy.” 

Lucy groaned, looking up to the sky, asking anyone to help her out of her own compulsion. Curse you Lucy who wanted 5 more cents than she already had! Curse you! 

“How can I help,” she asked begrudgingly. His face seemed extremely devious for someone supposedly in some sort of pickle, but alas, this was Lucy’s fate regardless. 

“I just don’t know what to do! I’m starting a radio show for kids our age, but I need one of our daily hosts to answer caller’s questions about their lives–sorta just giving advice you know? Between songs and stuff! But I have no one to give advice out–so I was wondering if you know anyone for the job? It would start off sorta low on pay, but as we get sponsors it would add up fast!” 

Lucy realized midway through Franklin’s spiel, that this was not a cry for help–no, this was a pitch for a job offer. A job he was essentially offering to Lucy. 

She weighed her options. One, she would eventually get money (great motivator already, in her opinion); Two, she would get to give people advice without anyone getting mad when they hear it since they’re the ones who call; Third, she’s always wanted to have a secret codename and be sorta famous before she graduated. 

After a quick run through of these very important priorities, she looked Franklin right in the eye and asked, “What if I were the advice host? Would that help?” 

“You’re hired!” That was quick, he didn’t even pretend to think about it. 

“Now I just need to go get our music host!” Lucy paused in confusion.

“Who are you gonna get to do that?” She knows why she would do it, but why would someone else actually want to for logical reasons? Everyday afterschool, they’re listening to the same songs, the same complaints, and the same voice of reason from Lucy herself. That sounds like a hell in the making. 

“Oh! Don’t worry! Now that I have you hired, they’ll be jumping at the chance!” Franklin rubbed his hands together, as if he were a supervillain, not a producer. Lucy decided any of Franklin’s evil tendencies would be afterschool Lucy’s problem, and headed back to her lunch table. 

She definitely should have checked. If she had seen Franklin’s scheming smile, or more importantly who he was directing it towards, she may have realized what truly was to come. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: 

Lucy had a bad feeling that afternoon, walking into the recording room at their small town high school. She found Franklin sitting down in a casual position (it would be completely casual if not for his leg bouncing up and down, and his avoidance of eye contact with Lucy) in which she too sat across from him. 

“So! Here’s the plan for today!” Franklin said quickly before Lucy could ask about any suspicious behavior. 

“I though the music guy was gonna be here too?” Lucy questioned, her arms crossed in slight annoyance. What was Franklin playing at? 

“Oh yes! He will be! Soon! Had to take care of his last pian–his uh dog help! You know how it is!” 

Lucy did not know how it was, but she decided to blame it on Franklin’s nerves for now, letting him continue. 

“I was thinking we would brainstorm what you guys' radio names would be and go over the structure of the broadcasts. Then we could do a trial run in action!” 

Lucy truly did feel excited, despite Franklin and his odd actions. 

“What do you mean brainstorm names? Why not just use a nickname of my own name?” 

Franklin leaned forward conspiratorially. 

“It feels more fun for the audience if they don’t know for sure who you are!” Lucy scoffed, raising her eyebrows and disbelief. The town had a total of five people. And three of them would be in the broadcasting room. 

“They’ll figure it out, Franklin. I have no doubt about that,” she replied, attempting to sound mature and pessimistic–channeling her inner Linus if you will. At the end of the day though, Lucy’s top 3rd reason for doing this radio show was in fact, for the cool codename. Franklin couldn’t know she was that eager though-reputation and all. 

“What would be my nickname anyway? Adviser?” Creative writing was Charlie Brown’s thing, not her’s. 

“I actually had a few in mind!” Franklin said excitedly, which created a pit of dread within Lucy’s stomach. Here we go. Top 10 worst names released with her luck, and she would take Charlie Brown’s place as the poster child of a loser. 

Lucy began to read through the papers Franklin made which explained the structure of the show and how they would maximize the runtime. Or at least she was. 

A door slammed, and both teens jumped at the sounds of many things falling over. Lucy looked towards the source of the noise to find the one thing she should have expected, yet never dared to think of. Schroeder stumbled into the broadcasting room with those same flushed cheeks, yet this time it was from exertion. His hair made him look like he had just gotten out of bed (Lucy’s personal favorite) but she knew it was because he had spent the last few hours playing. She knew him too well for her own good. 

Lucy looked at the ground. 

Schroeder was looking at Lucy, she could feel his stupid green eyes staring with that same terribly incredible intensity that ruined her day with its perfection. Damn it. She couldn’t even insult him in her head properly. She let out a sigh, knowing the culprit Franklin (who most likely tricked Schroeder into this mess) would never speak first. 

Lucy looked up. Schroeder was still staring. She was going to die from heart failure, before ever making it to eighteen. Money, Lucy, you’ll make money . 

“So I guess you’re who's doing the music part of the show?” Lucy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, stopping herself from ruining her hair in a panic. Completely composed and unfeeling, she had to pretend she didn’t mind or else someone would think she did mind–not that she does of course. Schroeder gulped, and Lucy assumed it was from running down the hall to get here semi-on time. 

“Yes, I suppose I will be,”  His voice cracked, contrasting the smoothness it usually had. Lucy tried not to smile, thinking back to 7th grade, he would get so angry at Lucy for distracting him while he was playing on his new grand piano, that his new voice would crack at every syllable. 

“And you’ll be giving the advice, correct?” Schroeder questioned, breaking Lucy from her likely bad terrible memory she should not be remembering. 

“Yep! Sorry about this, you must’ve just realized you’ll have to be working with me!” Lucy said graciously, as that was probably the only way he would’ve set foot in this room. 

Franklin finally spoke at this, after sitting in his scheming silence. 

“Oh no–the only reason he joined was because–” Schroeder took two long strides before putting a hand over Franklin’s mouth. 

“What he is trying to say is that I need to make extra money for a certain part of my piano that needs to be fixed!” Schroeder quickly explained. 

Lucy understood immediately–Schroeder took his piano very seriously, and he would do or work with whoever it took to get it fixed. Still Lucy couldn’t help but care about him just a bit, enough to ask:

“Oh, is it one of the felt hammers? “ Lucy asked.

 “Because you would definitely need to get a new part for those if you want the tone and just sounds in general to be right.” 

Franklin raised his eyebrows in surprise. Schroeder stood beside him with an odd expression–one, for once, Lucy could not decipher one bit. 

She had spent over ten years sitting on his piano. Of course she knew everything about one, inside and out, despite only playing it a total of 8 times. It also helped that she had memorized everything about building pianos during the summer between eighth grade and freshman year (he was away at piano camp or something silly like that) in order to impress him. Lucy suppresses the ache in her chest when she remembers she never got around to telling him about it. 

Schroeder eventually shook his head, smiling at the ground softly, before coughing into his hand. With a serious face, he finally got around to answering. 

“Yes–I need that exactly. They are really affecting the sound of my piano lately, and I ran out of my money from the music camp I ran over winter break,” 

Lucy vividly remembered how all winter break, Charlie Brown bought a ticket for the elementary winter orchestra show so he could hear Heather do her harp solo with those annoying little kids. She also remembered him tripping over his feet when attempting to give Heather a rose, and when he tried to stand up and tell her he thought she hung the moon and stars, he got hit with the prop crescent moon that was being taken off the stage. Lucy held back her grin with much effort. 

“So! Schroeder, you already know what to do since you looked over the plan during lunch, and Lucy–I’m guessing you’re ready to go?” She nodded, letting Franklin walk her to the recording booth. 

Lucy sat in the chair closest to the wall, scooting closer to the long desk in front of her. The desk held her microphone that was connected to a pair of headphones, Schroeder’s matching set of the same, an on-air sign, and a music selection device on the farther side of the desk. It seemed comfortable to Lucy, and she had an excited feeling rush through her. Only for the feeling to be squashed into a ball of anxiety when Schroeder sat down, and she realized the recording booth was incredibly small. 

One wrong move and she would brush hands with Schroeder,  if she were to scoot in too close, their knees would knock, and don’t even get her started on how close his face was to her’s. 

“So, Franklin said we could either use his names or come with some on our own,” Schroeder said with a low voice. It wasn’t so low that he was whispering, but low enough that it felt intimate. Lucy fought the shiver racing down her spine. Radio focus radio focus . 

“Ehem” Lucy slightly cleared her throat, and hoped to reset her brain. His hand was half an inch away from hers and his eyes were locked on her every move and–NOPE LUCY CALM DOWN YOU HATE HIM YOU HATE HIM BELIEVE THAT YOU HATE HIM. 

“What are his options?” she asked, knowing her face was at least slightly flushed from embarrassment. 

“Uh nothing good….”  Lucy rolled her eyes with a good nature scoff. 

“I just knew he wouldn’t come up with anything good!” she said with a grin, because Lucy always did love being right. 

Schroeder cracked a grin of his own, chuckling slightly in agreement. “I had also predicted him to fail at anything related to word play,” They both nodded in solidarity, silently remembering the poetry incident of 7th grade. Shakespeare didn’t deserve what Franklin did to sonnets. 

“So,” Lucy shifted, “What should we go by?”  Schroeder shrugged, since he also was completely stumped. 

“I guess just figure it out later, and just kinda talk and practice in action for now?” Lucy proposed. 

“I suppose we don’t have another option!” He said with a slight smirk, and turned to Franklin, giving a thumbs up. He then pressed the large “AIRING NOW” button, causing the red sign to light up on the desk. 

Lucy waited for Schroeder to say something, Schroeder waited for Lucy. Lucy realized she would have to start, because Schroeder just couldn’t talk to no one and pretend it is a conversation like Lucy. 

“Hello everybody! Today we are here to bring you music and everything in between! I’m here to serve you the answers  to your biggest questions and advice about your problematic lives! And next to me is the guy you request music from, even though he’s also great with helping out as I am” She lied at that last bit, knowing that Schroeder was the most unsympathetic person she knew. She tried not to sound bitter when she thought that. 

Schroeder finally piped in, “Send me any music request and I will add them to the cue,” His voice sounded like it was right in Lucy’s ear with the headphones they were wearing, and Lucy’s tried not to blush at the thought. She hoped to Snoopy on the Great Pumpkin that a caller would appear soon. It had been 30 minutes–half way into their song line up when it happened. 

Her hopes were answered, as the button “LINE 1” began to flash. Lucy pressed on it eagerly. 

“Hello wonderful caller! How can we help you today!” Schroeder grimaced at her peppy tone. Lucy tried not to agree that it was a little much. Only she was allowed to think that. 

“Hiya! Yeah so I was calling because like I need some help cause I’m pretty sure my best friend is in love with me,” Schroeder looked at Lucy with his eyebrows raised in surprise. Lucy was also in shock that their caller had such an interesting dilemma. 

“Wow caller! Sounds pretty serious! Tell us more about your situation and maybe we can help!” 

“Alright so my best friend since we were babies has this journal since she’s a real smarty pants nerd and all, right?” Lucy nodded along even though she couldn’t see her. 

“But sometimes I’ll take a peek at it and see what she's writing about, you know? I just wanna see what future einstein's got in that mega brain of hers! And well so there was this boy who really liked her at the ice cream shop we went to after my travel game–and well he was just so sweet on her I had to know! I mean it wasn’t the first time since she's always been so pretty that it's annoying and all but come on! After my game he had to bother us!”

 Lucy was confused on why the game was relevant, but Schroeder seemed to nod vigorously in agreement as if it had happened to him before. When had anyone he was friends with go to a recital of his besides her? He never told Lucy, she supposed. 

“And when I look at her journal-thing, I see my name in hearts and it says her first name with my last name everywhere! Now, I’m no good with numbers, but I gotta say it was not adding up. That’s when I realized that she likes me! And I don’t know what to do!” 

Lucy felt a pit in her stomach, thinking of when she was on the other side of unrequited love.

“So caller, “ Lucy began, in which the caller interrupted. “Call me Candy Cane so it doesn’t feel like I’m talking to a total stranger,” 

“So Candy Cane,” Lucy restarted, trying not to be bothered by Schroeder’s ever present stare.  

“First of all, if she doesn’t bring it up, then you should just pretend you don’t know. It would be terrible to embarrass her by bringing up her feelings, only to crush them,” Lucy said, sympathy seeping into her tone. 

“But it is completely normal to only feel platonic love for your best friend, even if she feels differently,” She reassured their caller, Candy Cane. 

“Well! I can’t just not bring it up! She’s gotta know I know or else she’ll get suspicious! And unlike me, Mar-she’s real smart, and she’ll add things up real fast!” Lucy was just confused now. Why would she say that she doesn’t want to hurt her best friend and wants everything to stay the same, but she also needs to tell her or else she’ll panic? Lucy tried not to pull out her hair, sighing to herself. 

“Wait so what do you even want then?” Lucy was agitated at how indecisive this girl was. 

“You’re supposed to tell me! You’re the one with the advice!” 

“And you’re the one who can’t figure out how to tell your best friend about seeing her as a best friend!” Lucy felt that the guidelines of the show should’ve included a “no fighting with callers’ stipulation, because she was very scared this would end with the show in flames. Or her head in flames from anger. 

“You’re in love with her too, aren’t you, Candy Cane?” Schroeder spoke for the first time, all call. 

“What?” Lucy and Candy Cane exclaimed in surprise. Lucy regained her composure much faster than their dear caller, rolling her eyes. 

“She’s obviously not! She kept insulting her the entire time–like a sibling!” Lucy retorted. 

He mimicked her, rolling his eyes as well. 

“She obviously was using those insults in order to mask her compliments! Since when is it an insult to call someone ‘so pretty it’s annoying!’ “ His voice grew in pitch ever so slightly in exasperation. 

“That’s just not true! Someone called me pretty much the same thing and trust me they did NOT like me!” It was Schroeder, but Lucy knew he wouldn’t figure it out if she spoke broadly. 

His face became darker than before. “How would you know? And how many people have insulted you like that besides,” he stopped himself, the unspoken “me” hung in the air for only a moment. 

“This isn’t about me! And loads of people have said that! And not one was saying it because they wanted to kiss me or something! It was just because they wanted to tell me they didn’t like me, actually! So Candy Cane does not like her!” 

“Oh really? So if you can’t identify something, then it’s probably not true?” 

The radio booth was incredibly small, and it seemed smallest at this moment, as they’re knees knocked against each other, fingers brushing with every push back of each voice, and they’re faces less than a foot apart. 

“Yes!” Lucy said hopefully not too breathless, “Exactly that! I always end up being right!” 

Schroeder leaned his head back to the sky before looking straight into Lucy’s eyes once more, his frustration electric. 

“You aren’t right about everything! And this conversation proves it!” he said with confidence. 

“We don’t even know what Candy Cane has to say!” Lucy says, then pushed her hair back, only to accidentally unplug her headphones with a clatter. 

Schroeder didn’t even notice, and neither did Lucy, too wrapped up in their argument. 

“I wasn’t talking about Candy Cane!” Schroeder yelled back, out of breath. 

“Then who were–” Lucy began, but Candy Cane finally piped up. 

“So uh Static side of the radio I guess the girl–I can’t really hear you anymore,” Lucy silently cursed as she looked at her head phones beneath Schroeder’s chair. 

Candy Cane continued as Lucy got up to reach beneath him. 

“I am in love with her, your friend manning the stereo music thing is right,” she mumbled at the beginning speaking more confidently as she reaffirmed it. 

Lucy, on the floor, was floored. Lucy was not only confused by Schroeder’s weird argument, but also Candy Cane’s hidden feelings? How could she have been wrong about someone’s feelings, and how was it that Schroeder was right? 

“Uh yeah so static is uhm,” Schroeder stuttered out, looking slightly red as Lucy shuffled along his legs as she grabbed her headphone with a huff. “She’s getting back in right now, but she heard you loud and clear, Candy Cane!”  Schroeder continued with a much more relaxed posture (as much as his perfect back placement can be relaxed) as Lucy got her mic and headphones reattached. 

“So, when did you realize your feelings? And what do you wanna do about them?” Lucy asked, with a new found calm, routed in her emotional exhaustion. 

“Well honestly in between the static and the fighting with the stereo guy, I sorta realized why I wanted her to know that I knew about her loving me and all, and she’s sorta perfect not that I would tell her that…wait I definitely wanna tell her that! What do I do! I’m gonna die if I try to say somethin so sappy!” Lucy smiled a bit to herself, seeing a little bit of Charlie Brown’s spiral in Candy Cane’s panic. Luckily, Charlie Brown Breakdowns were Lucy’s specialty. 

“Deep breath, Candy Cane,” Lucy said, giving her a minute to calm down enough to listen. 

“All you need to do is tell her. You know she likes you. You now know that you like her. Nothing much will change really–accept your allowed to say all the stuff you keep in your head, and uh,” Lucy blushed, and felt how Schroeder was waiting for her to continue. 

“Uh, there are other perks of relationships that friends don’t exactly…” Lucy trailed off, and Schroeder realized what she had been saying as well, causing a red to bloom across his neck and ears. 

“I would have to agree on that one uh what's your name again, cause I just can’t calling you static! You probably hate that like I hate being called sir!” Lucy actually didn’t hate that name, Static. It just felt right. 

“Static’s alright with me Candy Cane, and my music partner here is called stereo guy!” Lucy said with a slight overdone tone, hoping that Schroeder would hate the nickname. 

“Stereo’s fine,” he replied calmly, and his eyes never strayed from Lucy. She would’ve felt uncomfortable if it were anyone else. But it was Schroeder, so despite her anger and her frustration and her want to hate him, the teensiest part of her felt so incredibly fond. 

“Alright!” Lucy said quickly, “I hope we're able to help you to the best of our ability, and please let us know what song you want as the finale of our first day on air!” 

“Yeah for sure! Could you please play….” Lucy let Schroeder worry about the song request, sitting back after putting her sound and mic on mute. After about 4-5 minutes of a song Lucy couldn’t even care to know, Franklin came in with an excited look on his face. 

“I don’t know how you two did it!  Listeners trickled in at the beginning, but after the caller came on, your numbers started skyrocketing! Most radio shows don’t have more than 10 listeners until after their first month, but you guys had over a hundred! And we got a shout out on the local broadcast a couple minutes ago from some caller saying that they accidentally switched stations, found us, and thought Static and Stereo were hilarious!” 

“That’s great!” Lucy cut Franklin’s ramblings off, and continued. “Well! I have to go! Linus and rerun waiting so I have to re uh run!” Bye Franklin! Bye Schroeder!” she said Schroeder’s name with a squeak, and sprinted faster than she had the morning earlier, when she left the orchestra room. 

“Bye Lucy!” Franklin yelled out, and she could hear the grin in his voice. “See you tomorrow afterschool!” Great. Just great. 

Lucy was storming out into the hallway like usual, hoping to get home and wallow as soon as possible. Before she could make these perfect plans, she was caught up to by the long strides of one Schroeder. 

“What!” she exclaimed with panic. “Did I forget to turn of the mic?” She was worried now that they heard her heartbeat going a million miles per hour, after that debacle. 

“No,” he replied with a half smile. “You just forgot your blue ribbon,” he continued, holding it out for her. She grabbed it, trying not to flinch when their hands brushed, and held back a blush from the timid contact. 

“Thank you,” she said quietly, unlike her normal persona. 

“You’re welcome,” Schroeder said, so calm and more confusing than ever. He spoke again, with slight hesitance. 

“Can I wa–get home safe Lucy,” he ended, leaving Lucy with even more questions.

It wasn’t like she could ask him what in the world he was thinking, so she just nodded and turned back towards her path. 

Lucy walked at a normal pace this time, feeling Schroeder’s eyes never leave her. This would be a long wild ride. Lucy didn’t know if she would be there to see the end of it. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 3:

Lucy was a mess. She walked home on autopilot, reaching her house just before 6 o'clock. Linus was working on his homework at the kitchen table, raising his head as she closed the front door.

“You’re home late, whatever were you doing, Lucy?”

Linus seemed concerned but Lucy did not feel like reliving her biggest failure of the year, in which she made a fool of herself over the same damn pianist. She could already feel their fight entering her low light reel of memories, playing every night before she falls asleep. So, instead of dealing with the consequences of her actions, she sprinted to her room, and locked the door.

“Sorry! I'm so tired! Shut up! You don’t know anything!” Lucy yelled, safe from Linus’s observant gaze. She was successfully outrunning her problems. If only she could outrun the education system, as well.

Linus knocked on her door, startling Lucy who had been rolling around, cocooned with her comforter and latent embarrassment.

“Rerun went to bed around 8 pm. He said the dinner you made was really good.” Lucy heard Linus sigh, probably tired of Lucy’s shenanigans.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

Lucy leaned back against her door, weighing her options. He was bound to find out eventually. But, he wouldn’t find out for at least another month–he never picked his head up for human interactions, much less current media like a silly radio show. When he does finally find out, Lucy will probably have a new co-host, as Schroeder will have made enough money for his piano part.

“No–it’s not important! I’m just mad that I got kicked out of the library again, and I left my book in there today!”

She could hear the gears in Linus’s head chittering away as always. He probably didn’t completely believe it, but would choose to let it go for now. It was 9 o’clock on a school night, anyway.

“Fine, I’m going to bed–don’t be too loud,” he said, in which Lucy rolled her eyes at his farewell, listening to his footsteps fade.

Now that Linus was blocked out, Lucy could focus on the real dilemma at hand: not being in love with her musician. That musician. Not her’s. Damn it, Lucy! 2 hours of time together, and Lucy could already see a high probability of her downfall. She rolled around in her bed for another four hours, before finally falling asleep.

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Lucy made her way through that school morning with one thing on her mind: not Schroeder. She thought about everything but him, on purpose. She studied for her math quiz, she started on her paper that wasn’t due for a month, she thought about what she wanted from the lunchline, and she even listened to Charlie Brown and his constant wonderings about Heather. All through their free period and lunch. All of it.

“She wrote me a note, Lucy!” She wrote said note an hour beforehand. Charlie Brown had not stopped talking about it. Lucy, for once, thanked the lord for his constant worries, putting her own on the backburner.

“She said that she liked my letter! Does that mean she likes me too? Or hates me and likes the paper I used? Should I get her that paper and ask her out again? Or would that be pushy since she already said no? Or was that maybe since she wrote a heart at the end of her note?” He continued on, wrapped up in his own worries and love. So much so that he didn’t notice Heather staring at him from across the cafeteria, all lunch. At first, Lucy had thought someone was staring at her, feeling a burning sensation in someone's eyes. She quickly realized it had just been the knockout-out of his league-Heather staring at Charlie Brown. She would shake his hand if he ever really asked her out. Miracles deserve such praise.

Heather seemed sold on Charlie Brown, and why Lucy and the world will never know. Despite this internal praising, Lucy couldn’t help but feel she was missing the eyes of another. And as her mind flitted to those dangerous stupid forbidden green eyes, she nodded goodbye to Charlie Brown, heading to her biology class 5 minutes early.

She would not think of Schr–PIANIST. Of course, she couldn’t avoid her fate, for another episode was set for afterschool, and he no doubt would be there. But until then, she wasn’t thinking of him once. At least that's what she told herself.

“What do you mean she’s out sick?” Lucy exclaimed as Marcie pointed to the sign their biology teacher left on her door.

Sick with the flu! Biology 8th period class please go to the art class one hall over for roll!

Lucy, looked up at the sky, raising her fist with a grimace. The art classroom is across the hall from the orchestra room. And someone never left the orchestra room. Damn it, Lucy.

Peppermint Patty walked up to the classroom with a yawn.

“Hiya Marce! Like your glasses this morning! “ Peppermint Patty? Complimenting someone in a normal way? Lucy momentarily stopped cursing at the sky to watch.

“They’re the same glasses I always wear, sir,” Marcie replied with her usual blank tone.

“Well-uh they’re more shiny than usual– I dunno–but hey we gotta go to the uh art classroom!” Peppermint Patty exclaimed, grabbing Marcie’s hand without looking back. Lucy couldn’t help but see Marcie’ red ears as she was dragged by her brawny friend.

Lucy followed them, no pep in her step, for their love lives were even better than Lucy’s lack of one. Figures.

The art room was, of course, locked. Since the three of them had shown up early for class–Lucy to avoid her problems, Patty to see Marcie, and Marcie to actually learn–they were either going to wait for the art students and teacher to arrive, or get a key from someone else. With their heavy backpacks, at least for Lucy and Peppermint–she picked up marcie’s while panicky running down the hall–it was safe to say they wanted to set their stuff down. Thus, they would need to get a key from someone who has a teacher’s key at all times. Someone who has gained permission to use a classroom without a teacher. Someone who happens to be across the hall. Someone who is incredibly attractive and tall and–you get Lucy’s point. Its Schroeder. Marcie wasn’t stupid, and she would remind Patty. Lucy sighed in anguish. Fate always kicks her in the butt, even after all this time.

She knocked on the door of the orchestra room, like the ghost of christmas past. Schroeder opened the door after the 4th knock, his annoyed face shifting to surprise as he stared at one uncomfortable Lucy, her eyes zeroed in on the ceiling.

“Hi, Lucy…what are you doing here?” His voice was stilted, and in general the interaction was just awkward. A grand shift from their argument the day before. He began to ramble on:

“Not that I don’t want you to be here or anything but are you here to grab something or see something? Like uh you used—I mean um ask like about the show or anything?”

Lucy could not tell you what Schroeder said. Was his mouth moving? Yes. Did she know the words coming out of it? No. His face—a great weapon—thwarted her normalcy once more.

“I need the key to open the art room door, so we can set our stuff down.” Lucy roboticly explained, just like she had rehearsed 4 minutes before knocking.

Schroeder nodded his head vigorously, rubbing his hand through his hair.

“Oh yeah! Key! Of course!” his voice cracked as he ushered Lucy inside.

He rummaged through his backpack near his piano that was in the corner of the room. Lucy stood awkwardly, rocking back and forth, hands wound together.

“One second, the key is stuck on the zipper,” He said, bent over his backpack.

Lucy, wanting to end the interaction as quickly as possible, walked over to help.

“Here—just let me” she started grasping for the key he was trying to pull off.

“Wait, I think I got it!” Schroeder pulled again, as Lucy’s hand grabbed onto his, tugging simultaneously.

The key, Lucy and Shroeder went flying backwards.

plink!
On one hand, the key fell with grace, sliding across the orchestra room floor.

On the other, layed the ungraceful pile of Lucy, with Schroeder half on top of her. His hands were on either side of her head, protecting Lucy from the brunt of his weight, but his face was still 3 inches away.

She couldn’t help but think of the fight from the day before, they’re just as close. Close enough to touch.

“Sorry,” Schroeder whispered, the awkward tension traded for a different kind.

“It’s fine,”she whispered back. His stare trailed below her eyes, and she couldn’t help but follow the tantalizing green. She technically could’ve moved, he technically could’ve gotten up. But they were frozen, stuck in a moment she wasn’t sure if she could ever leave by her own will. He was her weakness, though she doesn’t like to admit it.

“You get that key, yet? “ Patty yelled from the hall, causing Schroeder to fall next to Lucy, breaking the trance they had both been in.

He quickly got up, offering Lucy a hand.

“I’ll get that key for you!”

Schroeder stumbled over to the other side of the room with a reddening neck.

Lucy stood there in a daze. What had just happened? Was Lucy going insane? If she was…was Schroeder in the same boat?

He handed her the key, causing Lucy to abandon these ridiculous thoughts. There was no way. They had had several moments before the great divide, and he still felt that same way. She knew, despite this stupid yearning, that would never change.

“Thank you, I’ll ask Marcie to give it back once we’re done!” Lucy headed towards the door, and with all her might, not looking back.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------
It was safe to say that things were awkward as they began to set up the booth, afterschool. Franklin noticed–Lucy could tell from the eyebrow raises he did whenever they avoided eye-contact–but he obviously didn’t want to interfere (or deal with the consequences). Lucy wasn’t sure how to get herself sorted out. She had exactly 5 minutes before they went on air, and her sentence forming skills were at an all time low anytime she saw his face. Maybe she could close her eyes? No one would realize besides Schroeder anyway…

Lucy–eyes closed–promptly knocked her water onto the ground, thankfully nowhere near her show partner or the equipment.

“Are you okay?” Schroeder finally broke the awkward silence that had plagued them since their arrival. He picked up her empty plastic cup, throwing it in the trash nearby.

Lucy took this time to silently curse the sky for letting her carry out such a stupid idea.

“Yeah, all good!” Lucy’s voice cracked, and she winced. Not too convincing. But enough, since they only had 1 minute until there time to air, thank the lord.

“If you say so…” Schroeder–obviously not convinced–said with a sigh letting it rest, and they were silent again in that too tiny booth waiting for the longest 5 seconds of their lives to pass.

“Welcome back listeners!” Lucy called out with her self-proclaimed “radio” voice, full of energy.

“I’m Static–the one whose here to lend you an ear!” She cringed at the rhyme. Franklin asked if she could try out one of his “catchphrases” since the show was getting popular. Never again.

Lucy moved on: “And this is Stereo, who helps you get your groove on!” Fine. She used one more of his catchphrases. But only because she couldn’t be the only one with a cringey introduction. Schroeder’s disgusted face showed he felt the same about Franklin’s writing skills as she did.

“We are opening the lines for advice and music now,” Schroeder’s voice was serious and straightforward like usual.

Lucy internally swooned because she was insane. She was in fact, down bad. Not that she would ever admit that she literally did the one thing she said she wouldn’t do again.

The music played for only 5 awkward minutes before line 1 lit up. They really had gained some recognition fast. Schroeder accepted the call, and focused on her task at hand.

“Static and Stereo here! How can we help you, caller?”

“So uh can you guys hear me?” Lucy’s heart quite literally dropped when she heard the voice. It was Sally Brown. No doubt about it. As Lucy saw Schroeder expectant face, she knew he didn’t know that it was her, thank goodness. Either way, this call ought to be interesting.

“Hear you quite alright! How can we help S-well caller?” Lucy hoped it wasn’t too obvious she knew her identity, for everyone’s sake.

“So pretty much I heard about the show yesterday from my friend Eudo–uh my friend and she said that you guys really helped out the girl on here from yesterday, so I thought if anyone can help me, it’s y’all!” Lucy prayed that Linus didn’t get annoyed with Sally again and yelled at her like he did 4 years ago. Hell was nothing to Sally scorned. Schroeder quirked a questioning brow at Lucy at which she shook her head, waving him off. Some things were better off forgotten.

“Wellll so pretty much: I like this boy, right? And I have liked him for about I dunno 10 years? And well I thought I was pretty being obvious I liked him. Like I mean he would probably realize I still got a thing for him if he just picked his head up from his book, y’know?” Lucy tried not to laugh, knowing that Sally was completely correct. Linus thought Sally got over him back in grade school, despite her Scrapbook of “Liny Memories,” being updated every week. She was not jealous of Sally’s situation, that’s for sure.

“But things got REALLY turned over today!” Sally continued, much to Lucy’s surprise. “So like there’s this guy in my math class who I know had a bit of a thing for me, but I am obviously not interested. But he insisted that he was fine with just being friends, and like I was COOL with that. But then when we go to the library to study together, he sits on my side of the table and like starts to get closer and closer, which I was not into at all. I was ABOUT to tell him off and all, but THEN get this! Li–the boy I like sits down right in between us, and starts reading his book like usual! And I was confused obviously but I was not gonna complain. But stupid math class guy decided to, instead! He’s yapping to my crush all like “We were in the middle of something man! I was answering a question she had on function!” and I DID NOT need help on functions let me tell you! When you’re future husband is gonna be the next Einstein you do not slack off in school. Plus, I’m gonna be a patten lawyer so he has to ask for my help whenever he’s inventing something new,”

Lucy didn’t know whether to be impressed by Sally’s dreams or scared for Linus. Eh, he would survive just fine.
“So ANYWAY! My crush is all like ‘she knows more about functions than you could, and I can tell from the state of your homework,’ and I tried not to SWOON because what??? He has never done this with any of my other friends!! Then it gets better! The math guy is all like ‘well maybe she asked me because she’s interested in something other than math!’ and just as I was about to kick his ass, Linu-my crush takes his book and hits him in the face with it!”

Linus. Hit someone with a book. Nerdy and uses a calculator before bed and reads books about philosophy instead of watching TV. Scrawny Linus who used to walk around with a blanket. Used brute force to hit a boy for Sally Brown. Lucy wanted to stand up and applaud, because somehow Sally won for every girl who ever had an unrequited love. She somehow did it.

Lucy decided standing up was not the best course of action because one, she had a headset attached to the table; two, Schroeder would notice and look at her again. Two very bad things, and two very good reasons, so she instead vocalized her internal actions:

“Caller! I feel like there is no other way to look at this!” Schroeder looked at Lucy, most likely waiting for some cynical let down.

“There is no way he was NOT jealous!!” His eyebrows shot up in surprise as she continued.

“I mean–he only did it because it’s a boy that liked you, and the whole getting in between you two made that clear. I mean, there’s no better way to express your feelings other than well saying it I suppose,” Schroeder looked at her scandalized, and Lucy raised her eyebrows in confusion. What was wrong with her statement? It was true wasn’t it?

“So Static, if I am understanding you correctly–you understand and can confirm this how?”

Lucy thought back to all those times when Frieda visited Schroeder, her luscious curls splayed across his piano. She understood why her and Linus were related, more now than ever, as she replayed the moment that she punched Frieda for calling her a stupid girl with ugly hair. Lucy grinned (somewhat evilly). Of course, Frieda was her friend now, and much less mean, but at the time there was no better feeling.

“I have had the exact same experience so I say this with confidence!” in which Schroeder was Sally if Sally hated Linus.

“Oh? So you have had this exact same experience with some guy that you liked?” Schroeder’s voice seemed calm. He wasn’t–just to be clear. Lucy could sense his anger, radiating in waves with each purposefully even syllable he uttered.

Was he okay? Why is he surprised she has a jealous streak?

“Yep. Pretty much the same thing, well–I guess it ended up being a little more physical…” Lucy grinned looking at her fist. Much better than some book (unless it was Linus’s new book because that thing was a fridge).

Schroeder coughed on nothing apparently, and reached for his water.

“Physical? Did you just say PHYSICAL?” Schroeder was learning words for the first time now, great. Lucy sighed, directing her attention onto Sally, instead of the suddenly angry Schroeder.

“So Caller, what are you going to do about it?” Lucy heard the crinkling of Schroeder’s water bottle, as he stared at her face, clearly not listening.

“I am definitely going to wait this one out! I have been playing this game too long to score once, and just forfeit,” Sally and her strange ways of thinking. Granted, Linus was also stranger, so Lucy supposed they fit together.

“But…” Sally continued “I think we have a different relationship to talk about!” Sally knew about another relationship? Lucy was floored by the amount of content they were getting from one girl. Schroeder was still grimacing and brooding in the corner. Lucy didn’t mind, since he finally stopped looking at her.

“Who?”

A laugh rang out on Sally’s line. “You and Stereo!” It was Lucy’s turn to cough harshly, nearly choking on air. Schroeder perked up at this, finally deciding to tune back in at this terribly inconvenient moment.

“Please do explain,” Schroeder said, apparently the idea of a relationship between them was so alien, he was asking for a summary.

“Well I feel like this is obvious! Come on! Listen to you guys! I thought you guys were already dating!” Lucy was still choking, sending panic eyes to Schroeder.

“I am not dating anyone, and Static seems to like someone,” No way. Did Schroeder realize she still has feelings for him (not that she does–don’t get it twisted). Lucy stayed silent as Sally replied.

“Well, do you like someone else then?” Schroeder looked at Lucy, as if he were searching for something in her eyes.

“I never said I liked someone else–I said that Static liked someone else,”

WHAT. THE. FUCK. DOES THAT FUCKING MEAN. Schroeder saw that they only had 1 minute left in the show, in which he motioned for Lucy to help him wrap it up.
Lucy was furious, so angry she could scream, punch him, tear down the walls, kill him, break his piano, throw him against the wall and kiss him and–

“Thank you caller for your input, but I am afraid we have to stop here for today! Thank you so much for listening! I am Static”

“And I’m Stereo–have a good rest of your evening!” and with that, the on air sign turned off, and Lucy took off her headset.

Schroeder and her sat there, the episode unfolding in each of their brains. Lucy, so achingly furious, got up, opened the door, stormed past an approaching Franklin, and did what she did best: Run.