Spring Break
A/N: This is a short little series that I thought of based on the same kind of structure as 'Married', where we see a glimpse of the kids in their 20s, while Arnold is still stuck in his ten year old mind- as a 20 year old.
"That's wack- homework on spring break!" cried Gerald as he threw his hands in the air.
"It's not so bad." replied Arnold, as they walked home together.
"Not so bad? I've got a whole list of things to do, and I can't accomplish half of them with this stupid essay we have to write!"
P.S 118 was out for their spring break, it had been several months since they had traveled to San Lorenzo and had their adventures that brought Arnold's family home. Since then, everything settled and things were back to normal.
The ten year old answered his best friend, "Well I think it's interesting to write where we think we'd be in ten years." Arnold thought about a hundred scenarios at once, and now with his parents back in his life- they seemed to build upon themselves.
His high school years, his college life, and the life after that- no matter what at least now he had his mother and father to share them with.
"Whatever you say, man." Gerald sighed, they walked around their block and noticed several college kids celebrating outside of the corner tavern. Hoops and Hollers from within almost shook the building itself.
"One day Arnold, that'll be us. We'll be released from school and have the world as our oyster." Gerald Johanssen said with a dreamy sigh, "We could go to the beach and meet girls, we could take a road trip, or do absolutely nothing. I can't wait till the day when I don't have to answer to anyone but myself."
"Well you can write about that in Mr. Simmon's essay." replied Arnold.
Gerald shook his head, "Nah, I expect I'll have to have one of those thought provoking discussions with myself."
They turned their last corner and Arnold bumped headfirst into someone from the otherside.
"Watch it! I'm walking here!" came the boisterous voice of Helga G. Pataki as she brushed off her dress.
"Oh, sorry Helga." Arnold apologized, brushing himself off as well.
"You weren't looking either!" Gerald said as he defended his friend.
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine." Arnold looked at Helga, "Any plans for Spring Break?"
She scoffed, "As if that's any of your business Football Head, but if you must know- I'm going to the Alps for the next week." Helga finished with her classic boasting.
"The Alps? That sounds wonderful? Why are you going to the Alps?" Arnold asked.
"Miriam want's to go visit the country of her people, and is dragging us all along to 'bond'." she said the last word with imaginary quotes.
"Well that sounds great, Helga. Have a safe trip." Arnold bid.
"Yeah, it will be a great trip- a trip away from you two morons." She said and shoved her way passed.
Gerald shook his head again, "Mmm, . Wherever we are in ten years, I hope Helga Pataki is not there with us."
"I wonder if she'll ever change?" Arnold asked. Gerald raised an eyebrow.
"Helga G. Pataki, is mean, will always be mean, and nothing will ever change that. Could you imagine what she would be like in ten years?"
Arnold shook his head, he honestly couldn't picture anyone in ten years time.
"Well let's meet up tomorrow and we'll go ride bikes in the park." said Gerald as he wished his best friend goodbye, sealed with their secret handshake.
Arnold walked up the steps of the Sunset Boarding house, he figured he might as well get started on that essay.
Arnold sat up that Friday night and began to brainstorm all the scenarios of what life in Hillwood would be like in ten years. Would hisgrandparents be around, would his friends still stay together, or would he even still be here?
How would he be in ten years? Would he be on his way to being an architect? An ambassador? Oh the possibilities...
The Next Day?
"Arnold. Arnold. Arnold."
Was it already morning? Did he stay up most of the night just daydreaming?
"Hey Arnold." came a voice, someone was trying to shake him awake.
"Yeah, I'll be up in a minute grandpa." he mumbled.
"Grandpa?" the voice said, shaking Arnold even more. "HEY ARNOLD! WAKE UP!"
That was not someone he recognized. Arnold bolted up, flinging the blanket away from him as he looked wide eyed at the stranger in front of him.
"Dude, you've been dead to the world since last night- it's almost 11." said the stranger as he peered down at him. It was a young man in late teens or early twenties, he had brown hair, glasses, and was in sweats standing infront of him.
Arnold, confused, looked around and noticed he wasn't in his room anymore. He was laying on a twin bed, with another one on the other side of the room. Strange heavy metal band and horror movie posters decorated the opposite side while framed art, books, and aviation figurines laid neatly in shelves above his bed. The room had a split personality of two people.
"Who are you?" Arnold asked incredulously. "Where am I?"
The man looked at Arnold with confusion and a sense of worry, "You okay man? I didn't see you drink anything at the party last night."
"Party?" he asked again.
"Yeah man, it was epic!" The man said, "Everyone was there...uh..you sure you feeling okay?"
Arnold looked around for a moment, and tried to take it all in.
"What day is it?" he asked.
"The first day of spring break, Saturday." the man confirmed.
"Where am I?" Arnold asked another question, the man still looked at him strangely.
"Dude, did you hit your head and then fall asleep? You must have a concussion, we should get you to the nurse." the man said, pulling Arnold up.
"It's me, your roommate. Sven Skadenski?" the man, Sven inquired.
"Here I'll take you there-" Sven said as he swung Arnold's arm over his shoulder, as Arnold got up he noticed that he was taller than he'd ever remembered.
"Up we go!" Sven heaved, "The nurse is just at the other end of the hall."
Arnold walked with the man, Sven, down a corridor filled with doors. Several guys were walking in out of each room, some saying hello to him, but he didn't respond back. As he passed a door he noticed two names written on a plaque besides each one, he concluded that he was currently in a dormitory.
They reached the nurse's office, a man in his late thirties looked at the two of them with surprise. His eyebrows shot up from behind his glasses as he rubbed his scruffy beard.
"Something wrong Shortman?" He asked, and his voice had a very honeyed tune to it.
"I think he's got a concussion, he woke this morning and didn't even know who I was." Sven explained.
'Is that so?" the male nurse asked, then pointed to the white cot in the room, "Have a seat Mr. Shortman, we'll take a look and check your vitals. Thank you Skandenski, for bringing him." he nodded toward Sven.
Sven nodded then looked toward Arnold, "I'll be back in the room, I'll come back and check on you in a few." he said as he walked out.
Arnold looked back at the nurse. He was very handsome man. "Who are you?" Arnold asked. The nurse seemed to be in disbelief over Arnold's lack of memory.
"I'm Eddie Mackey, the nurse for the boys dormitory, you always call me Eddie though." 'Eddie' said, and Arnold noticed that he had a slight Irish accent.
"Eddie?" Arnold mimicked. "Where am I?"
"You are a Sophomore at University of Washington, you're Arnold Shortman, you're 20 years old.." Eddie tried to go over the basics, but the last fact put Arnold's mind in a boggle.
"20!?" Arnold said, shaking his head rigorously, "I'm only 10."
The nurse grabbed a light and bent down to check both of his pupils. "Did you remember if you drank or ingested anything last night?"
"No, I was thinking about an essay I had to write for my 4th grade teacher and then I woke up here." Arnold explained.
Eddie checked Arnold's pulse and felt for a fever, when all vitals came up normal he took a long look at Arnold.
"I think you've overworked yourself Mr. Shortman." Eddie said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Go get some fresh air, you were fine yesterday and I think a bit of air will do you some good. Take a walk around campus and come back here in a bit to check it." He ordered.
Arnold nodded, "Can I just..wash my face?"
"Sure the sink's over there." Eddie jerked his head toward the direction of the sink.
Arnold got up and reached for the faucet, hoping that a splash of water would melt away this surreal dream.
He grabbed a towel beside him and patted his face dry before taking a look at himself in the mirror.
He crashed backwards, hitting trays of wooden sticks and plastic cups.
"You okay, son?" Eddie said, this time his thicker accent showing.
Arnold saw himself in the mirror, it was like looking into the eyes of a stranger. He was not a ten year old boy, he was a man. His face was more chiseled, his face had looked more like his mother's now, and he could feel the deepness of his voice as he looked into the face of his twenty year old self.
"Mr. Shortman?" Eddie inquired again. But the door to the nurse's office swung open, and another young dark skinned man with a prominent Afro walked in.
"There you are, man! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Arnold recognized him instantly.
"Gerald?!" Arnold practically yelled, causing the other gentleman to look at him oddly too.
"Your roommate said you may have hit your head or something, you okay?" the older Gerald asked.
"Mr. Shortman here, seems to be having himself some memory loss." Eddie said to Gerald, "I suggest you take him with you and let him relax, I'm sure it's just stress."
Gerald nodded and grabbed Arnold by the elbow and gently nudged him to follow, "Let's go buddy, we've been waiting for you for over an hour."
"Have a good break, Mr. Shortman!" called Mr. Makey as he waved them out the door.
"Man, you gave me a scare. That roommate of yours was going crazy, saying you lost your memory, couldn't remember who he was-" the older Gerald stopped and looked at Arnold in the eye.
Arnold could see the twenty year old Gerald clearly. He wasn't as buff, but he was very much a carbon copy of Jamie-O.
"Are you okay?" Gerald asked, worried, and searching Arnold's face for some kind of answer.
"Yeah, I think I just need to relax." Arnold said, this time going with the flow of this surreal dream. Gerald smiled.
"Good! That's just what we're gonna do! The guys are in the car downstairs, we'll be at the Hotel by 3." said Gerald as he led his best friend outside into the parking lot. Once sunlight reached his face, Arnold shut his eyes at the searing light. Once adjusted, he looked around at the 'campus' that was UW. Students were crawling everywhere, masses piling in and out of the dorms. Arnold turned his attention infront of him when he heard a loud 'honk' of a vehicle.
"Hurry up! I'm Hungry!" came a booming voice from the driver's side of an old Hummer.
"We're coming!" Gerald yelled and was about to run toward the vehicle when he stopped and whirled around to face Arnold.
"Almost forgot! You're luggage?!" Gerald asked, noticing that the other man didn't have a bag with him. "You did pack right?"
"Uh..." Arnold was at a loss at what to say, he didn't know what year it was- let alone what to pack for.
"Nevermind! You can just borrow some of my clothes, we'll stop by a store along the way." Gerald said as he grabbed his friend and got into the Hummer.
"What took you guys so long?" said the driver, wearing sweats and a backwards baseball cap.
"Cool it, Harold. I found him." Gerald said. Arnold was in the very back and noticed the three other men in the vehicle.
Harold, obviously, was still heavy set and it seemed to have gotten worse throughout the ten year gap.
"Boy Howdy, Harold! We're going to get there after the girls, so lets GO!" said an older Sid in the passenger seat, his voice deeper and hair less wiry then when he was 10.
"Stinky, how long till the first rest stop?" Sid asked as he looked back at the other man sitting behind him.
"I reckon, we'll reach it by 1:30." said Stinky, still tall and lanky but with a bearded face.
"Well let's go!" Gerald yelled at Harold. "One whole week of Rock Bands and Festivals!"
Coming up next on Spring Break:
"By the way man, I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't come if you knew she was coming..."Gerald rattled on, appearing to sound nervous.
"What are you talking about? Who's coming?" Arnold asked, still exhausted with having to keep up with anything that was going on. How did adults deal with all of these topics? He felt more like the ten year old boy he was yesterday than the twenty year old he was pretending to be.
"Helga Pataki." Gerald said out right, with a sigh.
Arnold was confused. Why would it bother him if Helga was around?
"Okay." Arnold replied, not knowing exactly how he should respond. Gerald's eyes widened a bit.
"That's it? That's all I get after worrying for the last two weeks!?" He threw his hands up in the air, "That's wack!"
"Why would it bother me if Helga's here?" Arnold probed.
"Well, it's always awkward seeing your ex-girlfriend after two years." said Gerald.