Chapter 1: Somebody Has To
Why do you always do that? Why do you always have to look on the brightside?
Somebody has to….
Do they really have to? Is it really necessary to always have someone nearby looking on the brightside? If you can't always win in real life, then why bother? Just because somebody's optimistic doesn't mean they could actually fix all the problems you're facing.
While Arnold and Helga had only been dating a few years, he and Gerald had been friends since their first day of preschool. Despite how many bad situations they and the rest of their friends managed to face throughout the years, Arnold always managed to find a way to look on the brightside.
Classroom
The kids were all sitting in class one morning, waiting for their 'special' teacher to arrive, while listening to their classmates go on about any problems that may have occurred recently for them.
"Well Arnold, only a few more days before we're sitting at that baseball game!" Gerald said happily.
"Yeah, it's going to be great!" Arnold nodded his head at his best friend. Before anything else could be said, the boys turned their heads to hear a complaint from the back of the room.
"Aww gee!"
Walking towards his troubled friend, Arnold asked "What's wrong Stinky?"
"I forgot to do my math assignment."
After placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, Arnold said "Don't worry Stinky. Math isn't until after lunch. You can use both that and recess time to do it!"
"I reckon so."
After smiling at the idea of helping his friend, Arnold returned to his seat to see Gerald shaking his head. "Mm, mm, mmm. Arnold, why do you have to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Why do you always have to look on the brightside? It's his fault for forgetting to do it. It's not your job to fix everyone else's problems." Gerald pointed out, while Arnold began to shrug his shoulders.
"Somebody has to. Besides, he didn't do it on purpose."
Before Gerald could respond to that, Arnold's pessimistic girlfriend couldn't help but lift her head from doodling in her notebook to scowl "Yeah football head! Do yourself a favor and quit butting into other people's business! Sheesh!"
Although it sounded as though Helga was on his side, Gerald couldn't help but lift an eyebrow and ask "Something tells me you haven't had the best morning either?"
"Pttss...ya think?"
Helga's House
"How in the heck am I supposed to go to work without my big white belt Miriam?!"
Criminy! How in the heck do you lose something that either sits in your closet or around your waist? Sheesh!
As Helga struggled with grabbing her lunchbox that was laying underneath her past out mother, she managed to pull it out and find the only things in there were moist towelettes and shaving cream. Apparently her mother wasn't even sober enough the night before to throw in a packet of crackers.
After letting out a deep sigh, Helga was about to make do with what she had and head out, before feeling a tug on her arm.
"Hold it there missy! Where do you think you're going?"
"School dad! The place kids go to hopefully become smart enough to one day move away from losers like you!" Helga scowled with her hands on her hips, not caring how little disrespect she showed for her father.
"Not 'til we find my belt, you're not!" he scowled, crossing his arms.
"Criminy! You're the manager of the store for crying out loud! You're not going to lose your job for losing some cheap piece of junk!"
"Hey! Hey-hey-hey-hey-hey! That belt attracts customers. Customers buy cell phones. Cell phones are what keep us in business!"
"Pttss...right? I suppose every time a customer walks into the store, they're ready to walk up to you and say 'Excuse me, I'm looking to buy a phone that goes with my outfit. Do you think this one matches my belt?"
Before Bob could grow any angrier, the two of them looked to see the door opening.
"I'm home! I did some early grocery shopping for dinner tonight, and picked up your belt from the cleaners daddy. I took it in to be cleaned for your special sale you're doing today!" Olga exclaimed, while Helga stood there rolling her eyes at her sister's need to impress Bob.
"Thanks Olga! At least someone in this family recognizes the importance of the family business." Bob smirked, looking over at Helga.
"Pttss...whatever. I'm out of here."
Classroom
"Mm, mm, mmm! That is truly sad." Gerald shook his head. Although his family got on his nerves, his didn't treat him as just an extra set of hands to keep around the house.
Reaching over the desk to place a hand on hers, Arnold said "He just doesn't want the business to fail again. He likes to take care of his family."
As she sat there, feeling her boyfriend rub her hand, Helga couldn't help but smirk "Arnold, if he cared about us, he wouldn't have hung onto those stupid beepers as long as he did. I mean criminy! We moved into the stinkin' store because he wasn't willing to face the facts that things couldn't be fixed."
"Everything worked out though. You're back at home, he has a new store, it's like things are back to the way they were."
"You say that like it's a good thing for her." Gerald couldn't help but interrupt.
Before the three of them could continue their conversation, Mr. Simmons walked in the room.
"Hello class! Today's going to be a very special day. I've borrowed the tv from one of the other classes so we can watch an exciting video for our nutrition class!" Mr. Simmons explained.
Although no one was interested in the video, the kids were happy to have an excuse not to have to keep their minds focused on any lecture that may be given that morning.
Once the lights were out, Arnold's eyes stayed focused on the video, not seeming to care about what his friends had to say about his personality. He was used to being criticized for his optimism.
Helga sat there with her head in her hand, continuing to doodle pictures of her beloved, as she sat thinking to herself…
Oh Arnold! Where would this world be without your optimistic nature? Your uncanny ability to always look on the brightside. The way you're always capable of seeing the good in a bad situation. Your successful skills that allow you to find a hopeful meaning behind every dark situation this wretched world curses us with.
When morning classes ended, the bell for lunch rang and Helga turned to her quiet friend who hadn't been feeling well.
"So Pheebs, you doing any better?"
"I'm afraid I may have gathered a few germs from when Eugene had the flu not long ago." Phoebe explained, while collecting her things to head for the cafeteria.
Cafeteria
"So, did you get us some good seats?" Gerald asked his optimistic friend, while moving through the lunchline with him.
"Yeah. After Mickey saw how excited I was to hear his brother was going to be starting this season, he got me some box seats!" Arnold exclaimed, pulling the tickets out of his pocket.
"Mm, mm, mmm! Comfortable chairs, great food to go with it. Arnold, this is going to be sweet!"
After leaving the lunchline, the boys came to see Helga sitting alone at a table. "Hey, where's Phoebe?" Arnold wondered.
"She went to the nurse's office. Thanks to geek bait's inability to keep a box of kleenex handy, she's still not feeling too good." Helga scoffed, pointing in Eugene's direction.
Arnold took a seat beside his girlfriend, wrapping his arm around her, as he pushed his lunch over to share with her. "So, what'd the nurse say about her?"
Shrugging her shoulders, leaning back in her chair as she took a bite of the tapioca her boyfriend was sweet enough to bring her, Helga replied "Beats me. If nerd boy's germs are as severe as he is clumsy, we won't be seeing her for a week."
"I'm sure it's nothing serious. Probably just a cold." Arnold began to smile, while Gerald couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Arnold, wake up and smell the coffee. The guy didn't ask her to throw away a used kleenex. He practically sneezed on her face!" Gerald exclaimed, hoping Arnold would see how pointless his optimism was in this situation.
"There's still a possibility she could be okay. I don't know my percentages like she does, but it's not guaranteed she has the flu."
Shaking his head in defeat, Gerald looked over at Helga and sighed "Why does he have to do that?"
"Pttss...don't look at me? I'm not the one who wakes up every morning, prancing around like Ms. Mary Sunshine, saying to myself 'Life is amazing, even if everything of mine in it sucks.' Sheesh!" Helga scoffed, pushing the unfinished dessert aside.
Arnold rolled his eyes at his friends' ungrateful attitudes. The one time he did decide not to find hopeful suggestions for them by deciding not to butt into their business, it wasn't long before they came running back to him.
Classroom
The kids made it back to class, not caring to say much to one another. While Gerald took a seat, wondering if his girlfriend was alright, Arnold couldn't help but rethink his lifestyle. Was all the helpful advice he gave to people in his life really because he was that optimistic, or were his friends' lives just built around nothing but problems?
"Alright class, you can now pass up your math assignments!" Mr. Simmons said enthusiastically, as if the students has been just as excited about doing it as he was about assigning it.
Arnold assumed Stinky had taken his advice and completed the assignment during their free period before returning to class. Whether or not he did, that didn't mean he did a decent job on it however.
While these thoughts were pondering his mind, his girlfriend was sitting quietly behind him, leaning with her head in her hand, not feeling like drawing pictures. Instead, she gazed at her beloved with sorrowful eyes, thinking to herself…
Oh Arnold! If only you knew how much we need you. Our ungrateful attitudes and need for venting our hostile emotions for our unfortunate happenings is merely a cry for help. Be strong my love! Continue to look past our ungracious behavior!
When the bell for the last class rang, Arnold turned to see his girlfriend grabbing her things. Knowing she couldn't be ready to go back home, he softly asked "Would you like to go to Slausens for a milkshake?"
"Eh, I guess so." shrugging her shoulders. Although the last thing she wanted was to spend any extra time with her family, her mind was on places other than her stomach.
Taking his girlfriend's hand in his, Arnold turned to his best friend and asked "Would you like to come with us Gerald?"
"Nah, I think I'm going to go check on Phoebe. Thanks though." he said, heading for the door.
Slausens
"I'll have a bowl of vanilla ice cream." Arnold said politely to the waitress, seeing her write down the order.
"And for you darlin'?"
After turning to see Helga staring sadly out the window, Arnold said to the waitress "Uhh she'll have an extra large triple chocolate shake with two cherries. If you could add some extra whipped cream to it for her, that would be good."
"I'll have that right out for you."
A moment after the waitress left, Arnold hesitantly interrupted Helga's thoughts. "Helga, are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I was just thinking about this morning." she admitted. Although she hated appearing weak, she knew they were at the point in their relationship where Arnold was able to tell the severity of her issues. If she acted overly aggressive, she was obviously having a bad day, but capable of dealing with it. If she was being her usual witty self, there was nothing to worry about. If she showed no interest in what anyone had to say (including him), something was clearly wrong…
"I'm sorry your dad makes you feel like this Helga. It's not right that he uses you like he does. He just doesn't realize what he's doing." Arnold began to explain, reaching across the table for her hand.
Although Helga found his positive nature admirable, a shameful use for it was her need to vent her anger without taking any of his encouraging words into consideration.
Snatching her hand back, she scowled "Criminy football head! This isn't just about how used he makes me feel. If that was true, I'd actually have something to be proud." she smirked.
"What do you mean?"
"For crying out loud! Arnold, if he had already had that sorry excuse for an advertisement this morning around his gut, he wouldn't have even remembered I existed. If this was just about being used, I'd at least know there was a chance they'd remember to make me lunch, pick up MY clothes from the cleaners, or dare I say...remember my freakin' name! But no, they only remember I exist if it benefits them. Heck, I bet he wouldn't have even remembered I did if he hadn't seen me walking past him to head for the door this morning! Sheesh!"
The waitress then appeared with their sweet treats, neither of them feeling in the mood for it. Helga leaned back against the booth with her arms crossed, looking out the window. Arnold stared at his neglected girlfriend, unsure of how to help her. Although he had some comforting words for her, it wasn't enough to change what seemed to be both hers and his best friend's outlook on life…
In real life, you can't always win.
Phoebe's House
"Achoo"
"So, you've got the flu babe?" Gerald sighed, sitting near his girlfriend in her bedroom.
"I'm afraid so. I regret to inform you I'll be missing school for the next few days or so." Phoebe sniffled.
As he watched his girlfriend shaking mercilessly under the stack of covers (which seemed to be doing her no good), he handed her a kleenex and said "I'll stop by with your homework every day. Not that it'll help make you feel better."
Smiling weakly at him, Phoebe replied "That would be delightful."
Helga's House
After realizing neither of them was interested in the desserts they had ordered, Arnold began walking Helga home. As he watched her stare sadly at the ground, he knew she must be thinking about how terrible things would be once she returned to her house.
"Well, see you later football head." Helga sighed, as she was about to head inside.
Taking her hands in his, Arnold stopped her a moment to say "Helga, I don't know everything that goes on in your house. I have a feeling your family does love you no matter how terrible a job they do of showing it. One thing's for sure, I love you. You're a very strong person, and if they can't see it, you should be proud of yourself for dealing every day with the fact that they aren't willing to acknowledge it."
As she glanced at him with what almost appeared to be tearful eyes, Arnold pulled her close to kiss her. Lacing their fingers together, Helga stood there, letting out a comforting sigh. Despite the fact she would spend each day living in a lonely environment, she would always have someone to remind her she wasn't alone in life.
