The dust starts settling as I get up off the ground watching the car driving off into the desert and dust myself off. I look back at our car, everyone is still hiding behind it sept for Helga.
With a deep sigh I look to her and say; "Make the call."
She takes out her phone and taps the screen a few times. "Phoebe its Helga, we didn't get him."
A week earlier
"It sure is great to finally be back in Hillwood." I say driving down the road and looking around at the shops as I pass them by. "The city hasn't changed much." It's only been a few days since we got back into town from collage. It was a rough four years but luckily for me I had Gerald as my roommate so I always had my best friend with me and didn't have to worry about a new roommate every year.
Just then my phone rings. "Hello." I say as I answer it.
"Hey Arnold it's Gerald."
"Hey what's up?"
"Just want to make sure you guys are on your way."
"I am, had to drop her off at her parents; her sister came into town for a surprise visit. So she said she come by after a quick visit with her, I should be at Slausen's in a few minutes."
"Alright, see you in a bit then."
"Later." I hang up the phone.
I get to Slausen's and park around the corner. Inside the shop I see some old failure faces.
"Hey guys." The gang had thinned out some over the years but most of the old PS 118 guys were here. Harold had gone out of state to get a double major in business and culinary, but had to come back to Hillwood after his dad got sick. He's better now and Harold is Mr. Greens apprentice and hire to the butchers shop when he finally retires. Phoebe's been working to become a doctor and will be heading out to California to start medical school in the fall. Gerald and her have been dating since we were in the seventh grade and are still going strong. Gerald himself got a business degree, but he never seemed to be into it. I guess he just didn't want to disappoint his dad. Both Eugene and Sheena skipped going to a traditional collage and went to an arts school and now are acting in some big plays. Nadine and Rhonda are still the best of friends (Like me and Gerald). Even with Nadine studying Entomology and Rhonda majoring in Fashion. Sid and Stinky never even applied for any schools, they work for the same construction company Ernie works for. Helga (who wasn't here yet) had gotten a full ride to collage and has a degree in English with a focus on creative writing. She's even gotten a book of poetry being published and it is coming out some time later in the year. Thaddeus (though we still call him Curly) surprised all of us with starting down the road to become a lawyer. I myself just went for cinematography; I've always had an interest in film and had a lot of fun learning how to make them. Grandma and Grandpa are very proud of me happy even though none of my movie ideas were ever made by the class.
"Hey Arnold!" they all say as I shake a hands and even get a few hugs from friends I hadn't seen in a while.
"It's good to see you all." I sit down at one of the tables the group had taken.
"Yeah it has been far too since we all have been together." Rhonda says.
"And in a couple months some of us will be leaving to other parts of the country to continue school." Curly says.
"We need to do something big, one last hurrah as a group before we have to go our separate ways." Sid says
"I know what we should do." Curly says.
"What's that?" Harold asks.
"Vegas." Curly says in response to Harold's question.
"What?" Gerald asks.
"Vegas. We all go to Vegas for a few days and have a grand old time."
"That, actually sounds like a good idea. I've always wanted to go to Vegas." Gerald says.
"Me too." Rhonda Says.
"Vegas sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but when could we all go?" I ask.
"What about next Friday? We call can fly out and have a whole weekend there and fly back Sunday night. And don't worry Daddy travels down there often so I'm sure we can barrow his private plane.
"Rhonda, is there anything your dad doesn't have a private one of?" Gerald asks.
"He probably doesn't have a space station." We all turn around to see who said that. It was Helga that spoke as she walked in to the shop.
I get up "Hey Helga how's your sister?"
"She's good, proud and happy for me but made me promise to give her an autographed copy of my book when it comes out" she says as she walked up to the group.
"Do I get one too?" I ask giving her a hug.
"Of Corse you do football head." She replies back then kisses me.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Me Helga have been dating since the eighth grade. She got put on the spot during a game of truth and dare, and after a little coaxing I got her to confess her feelings for me and we've been happily dating ever since. Phoebe and Her were also roommates at the same collage that Gerald and I went to, so we saw each other all the time. We all agree to the Vegas trip and plan to be at Rhonda's bright and early next Friday.
Helga and I are riding with Phoebe and Gerald in Gerald's car to Rhonda's. And when we arrive we're told by one of her house hands that we are supposed to meet her and the others at the Hillwood airport.
"Criminy why didn't she tell us to go there in the first place." Helga says next to me in the back seat.
"It's to be expected from our favorite fashion queen." Gerald says putting the car into gear and talking off down the street.
Phoebe turns around in her seat and asks; "So Arnold, did you bring your video camera with you?"
"Na, I didn't want to worry about losing it so I left it at home, I think Helga brought a digital camera though."
"Yep, graduation gift from the parents, I plan on taking all kinds of pictures on this trip" Helga pulls out her new camera from her bag.
"Ooo, it looks very fancy." Phoebe says admiring Helga's new camera.
"It is, I'm still figuring out all the little things it can do." She puts it back in her bag.
After find Rhonda and the others at the airport we get through security (and stop Helga from punching a TSA agent who "got too frisky with her") we boarded her father's plane, which was big enough to seat around twenty people. The plane is just as fancy as everything else Rhonda's family owns. It was carpeted from wall to wall in a lush red carpet and has couches instead of normal plane seats. There is even a mine bar at the back of the plane.
"Jesus Rhonda, what does your dad do for a living?" Helga asks as we walk into the plane.
"Ha ha ha please." She says sitting down and talking a drink the bartender brought her. "Thank you Linus." She says to him.
Helga and I look at each other then back to Rhonda. "Okay…" I say as we take one of the couches accost from Gerald and Phoebe. "Dare I ask?" I say to Helga.
"I wouldn't." She says.
The plane ride was enjoyable, we laughed at jokes and Harold was in a constant state of psyching us up the whole flight. "This is going to be awesome guys!" He says for maybe the hundredths time.
"We know Harold, you've been saying that the whole flight and it's starting to get old." Sid says turning from looking out the window.
"Sorry, this is just the first time I've ever been any ware outside of Hillwood." He says as he bounces up and down in his seat like a little kid. A few of us laughed at Harold and his child like joy.
"This is your Captain speaking, Mrs. Lloyd we will be arriving in Las Vegas in ten minutes, please have everyone seated and buckled in." We hear the captain over the intercom system.
"Ok people, you heard the man, sit down and strap in." Rhonda says as she buckles herself in with her seat belt and we all buckle in as well to prepare for our decent into Las Vegas. The plane lands and docks at the terminal Harold is the first one off the plane running like a little kid. As I get up from my seat to join the queue to get off the plane Gerald grabs my arm and says;
"Hey Arnold, hold back for a second. Don't worry girls, it's just guy talk." He says when Phoebe and Helga look at us with a confused look on their faces.
"Ok, well see you guys in the terminal." Phoebe says as Helga and her leave the plane.
I turn to face Gerald and ask; "What's up?"
"This." He says talking a little box out of his jacket pocket and hands it to me.
Unsure of what it is I open it. "Is this what I think it is? Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?" I ask looking at what's in the little box then to him?
"Arnold." He says talking the box back from me. "There are a few things I am suntan of in life. One of them is that we will always be best friends, and the other is that I love Phoebe more than anything and I want to be with her for the rest of my life." He puts the box back into his pocket.
"I'm happy for you, for both of you. No one deserves this more than you two."
"What about you and Helga?" he asks as we start walking to the door of the plane.
"I love Helga and we are very happy together but I don't think were ready to take that leap. Yet."
"Ha ha, well just don't go stealing my thunder this weekend."
"I promise I won't, it'll be your weekend." I say as we exit the tunnel from the plane and join the rest.
We arrived at one of the hotels again thanks to Rhonda's planning we arrived in style in a limo; she even had rooms pre booked for us. Rhonda had put me, Helga, Phoebe and Gerald in a room together that had two bedrooms, Her Nadine and Sheena are sharing a room and the five guys (Eugene, Curly, Sid, stinky and Harold) have to share a two bedroom.
As she was handing out room keys Stinky says; "You know Rhonda for this being Curly's original idea you sure have planned almost everything, like you were in on the idea from the beginning."
"Don't be silly, it was a good idea and I just made it work. But if you don't like the kindness given to you by a friend, you can always take a bus back to Hillwood." She says holding back his key.
"I didn't mean no disrespect Rhonda. Thank you very much for the trip."
"Good. Now let's head up to our room and settle in and meet back down here in an hour and well hit the town."
We all agree and ride up the elevator and head to our rooms. Inside our room the bedroom doors were on opposite sides of the sitting/dining room and each room had its own bathroom.
"Wow, this place is really fancy." Phoebe says as we look around the room.
As she opens the door to our room Helga says "Yeah, this is pretty swanky. Oh look fancy bottled water." She walks into our room and picks up a bottle of water from the table in our room. I walk into the room, drop my bag on the ground next to the bed and fall backwards onto the bed.
"Ugh, flying can really drain the energy out of you."
"You're not getting tired on me are you?" Helga asks sitting down on the bed next to me taking a drink from the bottle.
"Not tired, I just feel drained." I say putting my arm over my eyes.
"I know a way to recharge you." She says leaning down to me.
"Oh yeah?" I say taking my hand off of my head.
"Yeah." She leans down like she's going to kiss me and I lean up to kiss he back closing my eyes. That was my first mistake. I feel our lips barely touch then she quickly draws back and splashes me with some water. "Take a shower that will refresh you."
"Ack!" I quickly sit up whipping away the water.
"But you'll have to wait till I'm done." She says walking over to her bag.
"Helga!" I say getting up. She giggles at me as she picks up her bag and walks towards the bathroom
"Oh no you don't" I say walking after her. She picked up her paste and was into the bathroom before I could get her. I try and open the door but she had locked it and I can still hear her laughing through the door.
I walk back into the sitting room and find the ice bucket and knock on Gerald and Phoebe's door.
Gerald answers the door saying; "What's up man? Why are you wet?"
"Long story, could I use your rest room? Helga is taking a shower and has locked the door."
He steps aside to let me in saying; "Sure thing man." I walk into their bathroom and fill the bucket half way with water.
"What are you doing Arnold?" Phoebe asks.
"Escalating." Is all I say as I walk out of there room. "Don't worry it's all in good fun. But if she kills me, tell Abner that I love him and that I regretted nothing."
"Okay…" is all she says.
Back in our room I shut the door and move a chair from the table to next to the bathroom door. I climb up on it and wait. While I wait I lean up against the wall, she didn't take too long in the shower and soon I hear the shower turn off. I stand up straight and hold the bucket in both hands in front of me. A few minutes later I hear the door unlock and prepare to strike. She opens the door steps out fully dressed in new cloths and I say; "Hey Helga."
She looks up at me just as I dump the water on top of her head. She screams as the water falls on her and I quickly jump off of the chair.
I couldn't help but laugh as she slowly turned and looked at me, she had a look of anger on her face. "What the HELL Arnold?"
Still laughing I say "Escalated vengeance, you taught me that." She doesn't say anything back she just jumps at me. "Eep." Is all I say as I drop the bucket and she pushes me onto the bed. She gets on top of me pining me down and holding my arms down away from my body. She still has the look of anger on her face as she holds me down onto the bed.
"That was a very mean thing you did." Her expression relaxes into a small smile "I guess I've taught you too well."
"You will always be the master of pranks Helga." I say smiling at her.
"You're damn right Football Head." She gives me a quick kiss and gets off me.
"I'm going to end up paying for this later aren't I?" I ask sitting up on the bed
"Yes you are, and here's the first part." She pulls her wet shirt over her head and throws it at me. It hits me in the face and I pull it away just in time to see her shirtless walking into the bathroom. "Ok, that was mean."
"The worst is yet to come." She yells from the bathroom closing the door.
"Oh boy."
"But would you love me if I was any different?" She asks stepping out of the bathroom with a dry shirt on.
"Nope, I wouldn't want you to be any different." I say as I pick up my bag to take a shower myself.
"Good, cause nothing's going to change this girl."
"You're adorable Helga." I say entering the bathroom.
"You bet I am." She says as I close the door.
After I take my shower the four of us head back down to the lobby to join the rest of the gang. Harold is still far too excited about being Vegas.
"Come on you guys! Let's hit the hotel bar before we go out on the town."
"Calm down Harold, your acting like were ten again and are on our way to the chocolate factory on a field trip." Sid says trying to calm his friend.
"A quick drink dose sound good though." Helga says.
"I could go for one too." Rhonda adds.
We head over to the bar of the hotel, it's a nice sized one with only a few other people in the room. There is an elderly couple in a corner and a guy at the bar itself. We take a couple of tables and a server comes and takes our drink orders. Most of us guys ordered a bottled beer except for Curly who got bourbon on the rocks. The girl's drinks were all different kinds of different ones; Helga was the only one who got a beer like us. As we enjoy our drinks we talk about what we are going to do out on the town, unfortunately we all couldn't agree on doing the same thing. Sheena and Eugene wanted to catch one of the shows and Sind and Stinky wanted to go to this Museum of strange creatures.
"I'd love to check out some of the clothing stores, I hear that the stores in Vegas have all kinds of great cloths." Rhonda says finishing her drink.
"That sounds boring, we should hit up one of the casinos. Maybe one of us will hit a jackpot." Helga says in response to Rhonda.
"We have the whole weekend, so why don't we save going to shops and other attractions till tomorrow and hit a casino and the maybe one of the shows?" I say trying to get everyone to agree to something. It took a little more work to persuade everyone to agree to my idea, but in the end they did.
"Alright. The night is young and so are we, let's get this party train going!" Sid says as we get up from the tables. As we walk towards the door of the bar (after paying for our dinks of course) Gerald stops and says; "Hold up guys."
"What's up Gerald?" I ask knowing what he's probably going to do.
"Phoebe." He says grabbing her hand.
"Yes?"
"Baby, there are a few things I am suntan of in life, and the most important one is that I love you Phoebe Heyerdahl more than anything." I couldn't help but crack a smile as I watch my best friend.
"And I love you too Gerald."
"And I feel like I need to do this before the night gets too crazy."
"What are you talking-" She stops talking as Gerald takes the little box out of his pocket and gets down on one knee and asks.
"Phoebe Heyerdahl will you marry me?" He opens the box revealing the engagement ring inside it.
"Oh my god, YES a thousand times yes!" She says taking the ring out of the box and putting it on her finger. She pulls him up and hugs and kisses him.
"But what about school? I'm moving out to California this fall?" she asks breaking the kiss.
"You think I wasn't going to go with you?"
"But what about your parents? Where will you live and." He places a finger over her mouth to stop her.
"Baby, you're killing the moment. Well worry about all that later."
"Right, later." She then turns to the rest of us that were either quiet to not interrupt them or out of shock. "I'm getting married!" She says her voice going very high pitched.
Helga is the first to get to her best friend and gives her a hug. "I call dibs on being your maid of honor."
"And you have to let me design your dress!" Rhonda says giving her a hug followed by Sheena and Nadine both giving there congratulations.
The guys and I were around Gerald shaking his hand and patting him on the back congratulating him. We were too preoccupied congratulating them to have noticed that Harold had disappeared.
"Hey guys, I got us something." I turned to see Harold carrying a tray of glasses over to us.
"What you got there?" Nadine asks.
"Champagne to toast the engagement." He says holding out the tray for everyone to take a glass. We each take a glass and hold them up as Harold says; "To Gerald and Phoebe, coagulation's and we all wish you the best of luck on your life together."
"Here here." We all say approving of his toast and down our glasses.
"This champagne tasted kind of funny." Rhonda says as she looked into her emptied glass.
"Maybe it's just a cheap brand." Phoebe says setting her glass back on Harold's tray.
Still looking at her glass Rhonda says "Hum, maybe." She gives the glass a quick sniff then shrugs and sets it on the tray.
"Alright, enough standing around, lets hit the town." Helga says sounding like she's getting impatient.
"Yeah let's get this night going!" Sid says. We head out of the hotel and head down the street to the Vegas Strip.
AN: The first chapter of my Hey Arnold Hangover spoof, I've been working on this for a while and have been posting it on DeviantART but was told that I might get more reads here on . I will upload all the other chapters I have written when I figure out how to. (First time post is always the hardest ot figure out .)