Okay, This is going to be a long story, so I will post it chapter by chapter. Here is the synopsis….
Eugene doesn't feel like he fits in, which depresses Sheena, which makes Lila angry. Arnold slowly loses confidence when he can't help them. Helga begins to lose her motivation when this happens to him. Phoebe fears she has failed at helping her friend cheer up. Rhonda looks for a way to escape the drama. Nadine feels her interests are meaningless when everyone begins to change.
Sid freaks out at the idea of living life the wrong way now that Arnold isn't there to solve all his problems. Stinky also realizes with Arnold looking down, he has no one to encourage him in his tough times.
Normally Gerald is logical, calm and a bit pessimistic towards society. All this chaos has made him downright aggressive. He has to find a way to fix Arnold, so Arnold can fix the class. Gerald forces Harold and the rest of the boys to help.
In case you couldn't tell, everyone is acting the complete opposite of how they normally would. How they act are all symptoms of what a person experiences in a 'Quarter Life Crisis' hence the title.
Please ENJOY and REVIEW!
Chapter 1: I Don't Fit In
I've said it before, I'll say it again. The best quote from this show was… This is real life, and in real life, you can't always win.
Some of the characters on this show knew that to begin with. There are some who imply it without even knowing it. Then there are others who feel they have no need to give into the idea, no matter how hard life smacks them in the face with it.
It was the middle of their eighth grade year. Arnold was happy to be with his aggressive yet passionate girlfriend. Gerald was as cool with their relationship as Phoebe was supportive of it. Everything was going smoothly, or so they thought…
P.S. 118 Hallway
"You ready to discuss that new topic Simmons brought up yesterday, buddy?" Gerald asked his friend, leaning against the locker.
"I guess. It seems a little strange to be worrying about something like that at our age though." Arnold replied, shutting the door to his locker.
"I think we all know by now how open-minded that guy is." Gerald pointed out.
"Yeah, but still, I…." Arnold was then interrupted by a loud crash from a ways down the hall. He and Gerald turned their heads to see Eugene had slipped on a sheet of paper someone had attempted to throw away that had missed the trash can.
Seeing the poor boy struggle to pull his head out of the trash can, Gerald shook his head and said "Mm, mm, mmm! There's no hope for that kid."
"Oh come on Gerald. It's not that bad."
"Arnold, have you EVER seen that guy go a day without hurting himself? A day without tripping, falling, or doing SOMETHING to imply he's not as clumsy as…"
"Oh my Eugene!"
Before Gerald could finish, he and Arnold watched Sheena race over to rescue him. After watching the sweet girl pull her friend out of the trash can, Arnold simply sighed and headed towards class.
Classroom
Oh Arnold! My beloved! Only you can change my life when I'm truly feeling down! Never are you afraid to fail! Where would I be without your optimistic personality? Without your…
"Helga? Helga? Helga!" A voice called, as Helga quickly turned away from her notebook to face her best friend who was sitting beside her.
"Huh? What?"
"I was merely asking if you enjoyed your time with Arnold last night?" Phoebe wondered, while a smile formed on her friend's face as she thought back to the night.
*Previous Night*
Avon Theater
"So what movie did you want to see?" Arnold asked, looking at the choices they were given.
"Think you can handle the new Evil Twin movie without wetting your pants?" Helga asked, giving him an evil grin.
"Only if you hold my hand during it." he smiled, hearing a heavy swoon release from her.
After staring into his sweet eyes a moment, she shook her head and said "You're on headboy!"
As Arnold was buying the tickets, Helga heard someone approaching from behind her.
"Why hello Helga?"
Rolling her eyes at the sound of the voice, Helga turned to see an annoyingly sweet classmate of hers standing there.
"Are you and Arnold here to see a movie together?" Lila asked.
No, we just came to stand outside for an hour. Sheesh! Helga thought to herself. Before she could say anything to make her perky classmate leave, Arnold returned with the tickets.
"Oh, hey Lila. What movie are you seeing?"
"I'm ever so certain I haven't decided." she smiled, as Helga glared, hoping to send the message she wasn't welcome to join them.
"I guess we'll see you at school then." Arnold waved, turning to see the angry look on Helga's face.
"What's wrong?"
"Aren't you 'ever so sick' of her? I mean criminy! All she ever does is act sweet and innocent. The saying goes sweet and sour, not sweet and sweeter." Helga scoffed, following her boyfriend to the snack stand.
"Umm I hope you're not still jealous, because I don't like her anymore."
Rolling her eyes, Helga scoffed "I think you mean you don't like her - like her. You obviously still like her."
"Not enough to hold her hand during the movie." he smiled, watching Helga's eyes fall half-lidded. Despite the inconveniences she experienced from time to time, she knew Arnold would always be there to comfort her.
Classroom
"Eh, it was okay. Football head made it through without any nightmares." Helga said, as she turned her head to see her boyfriend entering the classroom.
Taking his seat in front of her, Arnold turned to smile at his girlfriend and said "I had a good time at the movies last night."
Helga began to blush as these sweet words. Before she could respond, the class turned their heads to hear…
"Good morning class! Today's going to be a special day, now that we get to discuss our topic I told you about yesterday!"
"Unless you're a lonely, pathetic, poor person whose life started out meaningless to begin with, I really don't see why this is necessary." Rhonda said, leaning back in her chair.
Giving a perplexed look, Mr. Simmons replied "Yes, well we're going to be discussing…Quarter Life Crisis Signs."
"What in the heck are those?" Stinky asked, not having heard of such a thing.
"Quarter Life Crisis. It's when a person begins to feel doubtful of their own lives. Here are some examples.
Don't Feel Like You Fit In
Depressed
Frustrated
Loses Confidence
No Motivation
Fear You Have Failed
Escapism
Detachment; Life Is Meaningless
Life Is A Lie
Never Go The Extra Step; It Won't Change Anything
Feeling Trapped
Being Forced To Do Something With No Options
As Mr. Simmons reviewed these traits one by one, Arnold didn't feel there was anything to worry about. Everytime he or one of his friends had a problem, he knew there was a way to fix it. He was the class problem solver; the word fail was not in his vocabulary.
While a smile remained on his face, Helga sat behind him rolling her eyes at the list of traits. She possessed a realistic way of thinking that reminded her these traits were always going to be a part of life. All except ONE that is…
Despite how unfathomably depressing her life had always seemed, she made it through those hard times because she DID have something to motivate her. Be it sitting in front of her in class, waiting around the corner on the street, or joining her in her dreams. She never had to worry about losing it...or him.
When the bell for lunch came, Arnold turned in his seat and asked "Ready for lunch Helga?"
"Sure football head." she replied, not concerned about the topics having been discussed that morning.
Cafeteria
Standing in the lunch line with her best friend, Helga listened to Phoebe ask "What did you think of the lecture this morning Helga?"
Shrugging her shoulders at the question, Helga replied "All it did was imply Mr. Special's giddy performances every morning are his way of hiding the sad truths about life."
While the girls were grabbing lunch, the boys were sitting at a table in the center of the cafeteria.
"Since when does Pataki buy you lunch?" Gerald asked.
"She said she wanted to pay me back for the movie last night." Arnold smiled, seeing Gerald lift an eyebrow at the unusual gesture.
Arnold then looked down to see a tray of food placed in front of him, as he listened to his girlfriend say "Here ya go football head."
"Tha…"
Before finishing his sentence, the group turned to see Eugene had once again tripped and slid across the floor. After crashing into a cart filled with trays of unfinished meals, the group listened to him say… "OW! I'm okay!"
"Oh brother! What a klutz!" Helga scoffed.
"I'm afraid he does tend to experience one or two more physical flaws a day than the average person is known to have happen." Phoebe said regretfully, while listening to her boyfriend say "A few?"
Wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder, Arnold sighed and said "It's not THAT bad you guys."
"Arnold, wake up and smell the coffee. The guy broke every bone in his body riding his bike, slid off the rode both times in the Grand Prix Go Kart race, had his goldfish killed, three birthday parties wrecked, got framed for pulling the fire alarm…"
"What Geraldo is trying to say football head, is that doofus is as likely to go a day without hurting himself as Pink boy is to go a day without eating."
"At least he's always smiling. He doesn't let things like this bring him down in life."
"Whatever you say Arnold." Gerald shook his head, feeling his friend tended to over do it with the optimism from time to time.
Classroom
"Thanks for carrying my things Sheena!" Eugene said, seeing his friend help him back to class after his accident in the cafeteria.
"I was happy to help! Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sheena asked worriedly.
Rubbing his leg that he could feel a bruise already forming on, Eugene replied "I'm sure I'll be fine."
Sheena walked over to her desk just as the rest of the kids were beginning to enter the room. While most of them didn't care to consider what had happened in the cafeteria to be anything unusual, Arnold felt the need to see how his clumsy classmate was doing.
"Hey Eugene. How's your leg?"
"Oh, it's fine Arnold. I'm sure the feeling will come back by the end of the week." Eugene replied, seeing a frown form on Arnold's face.
"Uhh maybe you should go to the nurse's office."
"That's okay. I've still got my wheelchair from a few years ago when we tried breaking all those world records. It's really come in handy since then!" Eugene smiled, while Arnold's frown grew even bigger.
Just the thought of Eugene not finding this to be depressing was beginning to upset Arnold. The last thing he wanted was to take away his optimism however.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay." Arnold sighed, walking over to his desk.
As he sat down, he listened to his girlfriend scoff "What happened? Did Mr. Wrecks-a-lot invite you to his next performance?"
Rolling his eyes at the remark, Arnold replied "I just wanted to make sure he was okay."
"A damaged leg caused by a slide across a hard floor, topped off by non stop laughter from the whole school who received a front row viewing of it. He may be; I can't speak for his dignity." Gerald said wittily, seeing Arnold roll his eyes yet again.
Just then, the kids turned their heads to see the teacher enter the classroom. "Hello boys and girls. I hope you all enjoyed lunch."
Hearing the constant snickers of his friends about what had happened during it was upsetting Arnold. All he wanted to do was do something to fix Eugene. Even if it wasn't bothering Eugene that these kinds of things were happening to him, it wasn't fun seeing the rest of the class get a kick out of his inconveniences.
When classes at last ended, Arnold looked to see Eugene struggling to get out of his desk. As he continued to watch his friend having a hard time get up, Arnold heard his girlfriend ask "Ready to go football head?"
"Huh? Oh umm I'll be right back Helga." Arnold said, seeing her cock her brow.
Helga rolled her eyes when she saw he was going to check on their clumsy classmate…
Oh brother! When is he going to catch a clue? That kid is un-jynxable!
"Hey Eugene. Do you need me to walk you home?" Arnold asked, seeing his friend at last stand from his desk.
"Oh, that's okay Arnold. I….OW! I'm okay." Eugene exclaimed, tripping over his backpack.
Arnold began rubbing his neck, not sure of how to say Eugene WASN'T okay, without making him lose his optimism.
"Uhh Eugene. I really would like to walk you home if you don't mind."
"Gosh Arnold. Are you sure?" the clumsy boy asked.
"It's no problem. Wait here while I talk to Helga."
"Gee Arnold. You're a pal!"
As Eugene sat in his chair, waiting for his escort, Arnold went over to his anxiously waiting girlfriend and said "Umm Helga. I'm going to walk Eugene home if that's okay."
"Pttss...whatever. Come on Pheebs!" Helga insisted, knowing what a waste of time it would be for her boyfriend to try and help someone who had proven time and time again how unfixable he was.
"Coming!" Phoebe chirped, following her best friend out the door.
Gerald then stood from his seat before allowing Arnold to return to the hopeless classmate and said "You sure about this buddy?"
"Yeah. He needs me."
"Whatever you say Arnold."
Walk To Phoebe's
"Can you believe football head? Wasting his time helping a loser like that!" Helga scoffed, as she headed towards her best friend's house.
"I believe the purpose of Arnold's friendly gestures is to encourage our classmates to look on the bright side in their most troublesome times." Phoebe reminded her friend, knowing it was what she treasured most about him.
Walk To Eugene's
"You didn't have to do this Arnold." Eugene reminded him, limping along the way. Arnold held Eugene's bag in one hand, trying to hold his injured friend up with the other.
"I wanted to make sure you got home safely." Arnold said, about to cross the street.
"Actually Arnold, can we stop by the bookstore? The new Abdicator book is finally out! I've been wanting to buy a copy."
"Sure Eugene." Arnold smiled, happy to know there was something that would cheer his friend up.
Phoebe's Room
Sitting on the floor with their books, working on their math assignment, Phoebe looked over to see her friend staring blankly at the open book in front of her. She recognized the look on Helga's face. One she carried when a problem pertaining to a certain something (or someone) was on her mind.
"If I may say so, that was a lovely thing you did for Arnold today Helga."
Cocking her brow at her friend, Helga asked "What lovely thing?"
"Buying him lunch. It was quite a sweet gesture." Phoebe reminded her friend.
Shrugging her shoulders at the comment, Helga replied "Eh, I think he's bought me enough tapioca for one year."
"I understand your frustration with his optimism. Keep in mind however, how meaningless your life would feel if it were to lack something so valuable."
Helga let out a deep sigh as she continued to listen to her friend.
"Although you tend to think realistically, Arnold's abstract way of thinking has been the inspiration behind your hopes for a pleasing life." Phoebe reminded her.
"Thanks Pheebs."
Lamoreaux's Bookstore
"Thanks for bringing me here Arnold! I'm really excited about this book!" Eugene said, not thinking about his injury.
"It was no problem." Arnold reminded him, walking him up to the front desk.
"Excuse me ma'am. I'd like a copy of the new Abdicator book!" Eugene said excitedly.
"I'm sorry, we're sold out." The employee said bluntly as Eugene's jaw dropped.
"We sold our entire shipment the first day, so it'll be awhile before we get more in."
While Arnold's eyes widened in disbelief, Eugene's fell to the floor. As hard as he tried to overlook the hard things in life, he felt he had reached his endpoint.
Walk To Eugene's
"I'm really sorry Eugene! It'll be out again before you know it." Arnold said, hoping to cheer him up.
"Oh it's not just the book Arnold." Eugene sighed, not taking his eyes off the ground.
"What is it?"
"My whole life I've watched other kids laugh, enjoy what they're doing, and look forward to things. Something always manages to go wrong when I try to have fun. Kids laugh AT me. I hurt myself when I start to enjoy what I'm doing. I can't look forward to anything without it ending badly. I'm just not like you and the other kids. I don't fit in." Eugene sighed, approaching his front porch.
As depressing as Eugene's life was, he had always been the most optimistic person Arnold had ever known (aside from himself). Now here he was, convinced he might as well give into the idea of expecting as well as accepting everything he did to end tragically.
"That's not true Eugene. No one's life is perfect."
"I'm going inside. Thanks for the help." Eugene grabbed his bag, limping up the porch steps. Arnold stood and thought about how normally in times like these, he was able to do something to help his friends. Eugene's constant unlucky stream tied together with his classmate's unsupportive behavior was causing him to lose his confidence however.
Walk Home
Maybe everyone was right. Maybe there are just some people you can't change no matter how hard you try. Maybe...OW!
Rounding the corner of the street, Arnold bumped heads with his girlfriend. "Arnold!"
"Sorry Helga. I didn't mean for that to take so long."
"Uhh don't mention it. So, how's klutzilla?" she asked, dusting herself off.
Letting out a deep sigh, Arnold replied "I don't know. Normally Eugene bounces right back. I'm not sure how much more of this he can take."
"Pttss...I think you mean, how much more the world can take FROM him." Helga smirked.
After not receiving a response, Helga took notice of the sad look in her boyfriend's eyes. A look that cried out hopeless. As annoying as his optimism maybe at times, it was what she found to be his most admirable quality. His constant ability to look on the bright side was what gave her a reason to believe it was possible her life even had one. How was this feeling supposed to remain with her if he continued to feel this way?
Taking his hand in hers, she began to rub it gently as she said "Cheer up football head. It's not your fault that guy has no coordination skills. Let's go grab a shake. I'm buying."
Smiling sweetly as his girlfriend, the two walked hand in hand down the street as Arnold said "If you don't mind my asking, how'd you get the money to buy lunch and have some left over for ice cream?"
*Before School*
Helga's House
"Criminy Miriam! Can't you find some other place to pass out?!" Helga scowled, snatching her lunchbox from underneath her mother.
As she opened to see the usual moist towelettes and crackers that her mother had considered to be a suitable lunch for her grade school daughter, Helga felt a set of arms wrapped around her.
"Good morning baby sister! How are you?!"
"Get off me! I can't breathe for crying out loud!" Helga scowled, fighting her way out of her sister's arms.
"Is that your lunchbox?" Olga asked, seeing Helga roll her eyes at the dense question.
"No, it's my backpack." she said sarcastically.
"Did mommy do a good job with your lunch?"
"That depends on what you consider good?" Helga scoffed, grabbing her backpack.
"Let me give you some money! Daddy gave me a bunch the other day when he asked me to go shopping for a chocolate cake to celebrate his new cell phone commercial. I decided to just bake it myself."
Of course you did...Helga rolled her eyes, watching her sister race towards her purse.
"Here you go baby sister!" Olga screeched, handing Helga the money, as she snatched and smirked "Pttss...thanks."
Slausens
"So he had a bad day, big deal. Like you said, the kid always bounces back." Helga reminded her boyfriend, as they sat in the parlor awaiting their treats.
"I guess you're right. I just can't stand seeing him so alone."
"Pttss...please. That kid doesn't know what alone is." Helga blurted out, without thinking.
Arnold looked up to see the desolate look on his girlfriend's face, knowing what she was referring to. The emptiness she felt from the constant neglection her family forced upon her. The pain she experienced from the unrequited love she felt before having the courage to reveal her feelings to her beloved.
Seeing the comforting look in his eyes as he reached across the table for her hand, Helga gulped and said "Uhhh I mean, I'm sure he'll survive; long as he's got someone like you to watch him hehe."
The waitress then came to hand them their drinks as she said "Here ya go darling. Two extra large triple chocolate shakes."
Helga quickly took her hand back, relieved at the chance to forget about what she had just said. As she sat quietly sipping her shake, she watched her boyfriend sadly stirring his.
Arnold then looked up to see his girlfriend set her cherries on top of his milkshake "What's this for?"
"Those idiots forgot your cherries. Apparently me asking for an extra cherry to them means 'no cherries for him.' What a bunch of dweebs."
A warm smile then came to his face. The one she had been waiting to see all day. With his half lidded emerald eyes fixated on her shy sapphire ones, he once again reached across the table for her hand. Caressing it with his thumb, he said softly "Thanks for believing in me."
"Well doi! Of course I believe in you! They wouldn't give the title 'Number One Problem Solver' to just anyone."
"Whatever you say Helga."
Helga's House
After a long evening of discussing emotional conflictions and the reasons behind them, Arnold walked his girlfriend home.
"Guess I'll see you tomorrow football head." Helga sighed, hoping the next day would go better for everyone. As admirable as Arnold's helpful qualities were, even he had his put down moments. Seeing him in such a sorry state of affairs put Helga through her toughest times. His optimism was the inspiration behind her hope for a happy life. Without that, what did she have to live for?
Standing outside her front door, holding her hands in the moonlight, he smiled at the one person he knew would always believe in him no matter how little faith she had in his dreams.
Pulling her close to meet his lips, Arnold held her face in his hands, relieved at the idea of having someone he never had to worry about letting down.
"Sweet dreams." he smiled, watching her lovesick smile form. The one implying a swoon was dying to be released.
"See ya football head."