A Precious Long While

Story by Pyrex Shards
Pre-read by Lord Malachite

Prologue – Strawberry Milkshake

Gerald Johansen sat in the corner booth of Big Al's Tasty Cafe with his head resting against his right hand, staring intently at the cheeseburger, fries, and Yahoo cola that he had ordered barely five minutes ago. Outside the window, every now and then, there was a white fleck of snow falling all by itself, the humble beginnings of a snowstorm. There was not much traffic into Big Al's on a Sunday night, even more so with snow on the way. So this was the perfect place to hide out.

Gerald was hiding from his family. No, not hiding, Gerald thought to himself, curling his mouth downward into a soft frown. More like trying to preserve my sanity. Earlier in the night a word was said from Timberly to their father. That word got a strong response from their father and pretty much the entire night went downhill from there.

This was becoming a common occurrence. Timberly was becoming a pro at arguing, almost as good as her dad, who was the undefeated king of arguments. Their mom, on the other hand, was a great referee, emphasis on was. It was this night, when their mom decided to join in on the argument, that Gerald decided to make a hasty retreat to Big Al's for a cheeseburger and some quiet time before another week of school.

"Gerald?" a soft, mousy like voice, a voice he instantly recognized as that of an angel, inquired of him.

Gerald looked up from staring at his cheeseburger to see Phoebe looking at him from the side of the seat opposite his. "Hey Phoebe. What's up?" Gerald inquired of the girl, while actively trying to keep his voice above a certain pitch. It always seemed to go a bit lower when Phoebe was around.

His attempt didn't stop Phoebe from blushing mildly, however. This had been a game of theirs for a precious long while. A romance of endless flirting, never going anywhere. Both of them had grown accustomed to it. It had become second nature. "Mind if I join you? It doesn't make sense if two acquaintances are sitting in this diner alone."

Gerald made a half-hearted gesture to the seat in front of him, trying to avoid the light-headed dreamlike trance that Phoebe's presence always seemed to induce. "Sure Phoebe... I could use the company"

Phoebe took off the heavy powder blue coat she was wearing, and then sat down on the seat right in front of Gerald.

Her actions gave Gerald a bit of time to pay attention to the high school junior that Phoebe had become. Her trademark glasses hadn't changed one bit for as long as he could remember. It was almost as if the manufacturer knew she liked them, and kept them in stock just for her. She still wore something akin to her blue shirt and powder blue knee-length skirt of years gone by. Because it was cold out she had on a light blue sweater and powder blue slacks. In fact there was no mistaking what Phoebe's favorite color was. Gerald didn't mind one bit.

He also didn't mind that Phoebe had acquired some curves in all the right places. He noticed Phoebe's blush and looked down at his burger again. Her blush was cute, that was for sure. One of the many things he liked about her. He could almost get her to blush on command. He gathered some strength again and looked up at his dinner companion.

The waiter on duty came up to the booth. "What would you like, miss?"

Phoebe wasted no time, smiling and answering with almost practiced precision. "A turkey sandwich with everything on it, and a Yahoo soda please."

The waiter jotted the order down and smiled at the girl, "coming right up" he said, then turned around and proceeded towards the kitchen.

Phoebe paused for a moment, the cold of the air outside had tinged her cheeks a slight shade of red. She put her hands up to her cheeks to warm them while looking at Gerald and smiling.

Phoebe was an Asian-American girl from Kentucky. Her skin tone hadn't changed much since they first met, uniquely Caucasian with a hint of an Asian hue to it. Her eyes had for the most part stayed the same but her glasses betrayed their beauty. Gerald fancied a time when he could remove her glasses, taking in the sight of those deep, blue, Japanese-almond but uniquely Kentuckian eyes, unmarred by the frames she wore.

"So what brings you to Big Al's?" Gerald asked. He shook his head slightly to clear out the lingering thoughts weighing his head down, and went at his hamburger with gusto.

"Nothing really. Just wanted to go out for a bit. Mom and Dad had some errands to run so I decided to come here instead of cooking at home."

"I hee". Phoebe smiled at Gerald's muffled response as he chewed on a piece of cheeseburger. It was Phoebe's turn to notice the guy that Gerald had become. He wore a simple red t-shirt with a big white thirty-three written on it, along with his slightly worn blue-jeans. It was all uniquely Gerald. She imagined Gerald looking through his wardrobe in the mornings, searching amongst the red t-shirts with white thirty-three's, pondering over which one to wear; a little joke she shared with none but herself.

She noted, as she always did, how his brown eyes matched the coffee color of his skin. In fact, she could almost smell that pleasant aroma of the French roast that her mother and father enjoyed so much after dinner. Even though the scent was imagined, it made Gerald even more surreal for her, more unnatural. He did not have the completely athletic build that his brother did in High School, from what Phoebe remembered of his brother, but she also didn't care in the slightest. He wasn't large by any means, but he had just enough fat to accent his face. Phoebe loved that.

The way he acted around her most times, when he wasn't so obviously melting at the sight of her, made her giddy in such a way that she had to fight to control herself. Of course this is something she dared not speak of to anyone, for it was part of an endlessly running game between the two. A game of flirting, almost like chicken, to see who would flinch first. Of course, every now and then they'd walk each other home, flirtatiously holding each other's hands. But it never came to anything other than a deep, unspoken, unrealized romance between the two. Phoebe thought of it as game of chess caught in a stalemate.

Gerald finished his bit of cheeseburger with a swig of Yahoo soda. "I came here to get out of the house. My sister got into a fight with my father again over something stupid. In fact I don't even know what they were fighting about this time. It changes every time so I don't keep track anymore."

The waiter came to the table with a plate and soda in hand. "Here we go miss. One turkey sandwich and a Yahoo soda."

Phoebe looked at the waiter and said a cheerful "thank you" to the him before looking back at Gerald. She paused, then responded. "I'm sorry to hear that." Phoebe took a little bite of her turkey sandwich, chewed, and swallowed before continuing. "I don't have any siblings so I don't know what it's like"

"For the most part it's enjoyable, until something sets off the arguments. I love Timberly, I just don't think we can live under the same roof anymore."

At Phoebe's nod of understanding Gerald couldn't help but grin inwardly. He had to fight back the comment, 'I'm sure I could live under the same roof with you Phoebe.' His face betrayed his thoughts, however, as Phoebe could see he was giving her that dreamy stare that he was so good at. She looked down at her sandwich. "I don't get into fights with my parents but we don't see eye to eye on some things. I guess it's all generational differences."

"Yeah..." Gerald let his voice trail off a bit into dreamland, before catching up. "I mean yes. I agree. This one time, Timberly wanted to wear this dress of hers to a school dance, and my parents wouldn't have anything of it. She insisted so much, but the school dance was a day later, so the next day Timberly couldn't find the dress. Our parents had hidden it somewhere then pleaded the fifth. That happened two years ago. She still can't find it!"

"Oh my." Phoebe said with a giggle as she covered her mouth in an attempt to prevent breadcrumbs from falling out. After the fit of giggling subsided, she picked up her soda and took a swig to wash down the sandwich.

After Gerald's story, the two ate in silence, exchanging glances and giggling at the mental image of a distressed Timberly running through Gerald's house trying to track down a dress.

"Well, that meal is done for." Gerald said as he patted his stomach. Phoebe nodded as she finished off her last bite of turkey sandwich along with her soda.

"I agree, that was good." She said, smiling at Gerald, slightly lethargic from the meal.

"The night's still young, my dear. Care for some desert before we end the night's festivities?" Gerald said in a mock gentleman's accent.

"Of course we shall, good sir!" Phoebe played along, trying to keep from giggling too much.

Shortly after, the waiter came by to pick up the empty plates. "Would you two like some desert?" He asked cheerfully.

"A strawberry milk... shake..." they both said in unison. There was a very quiet pause as the pair looked into each other's eyes.

The waiter just shrugged at the silence between the two. "One milkshake and two straws coming up." He walked away to make the milkshake.

"Phoebe, is this a date?" Gerald asked after a long pause, his voice a whisper so as to keep the conversation as quiet as possible. He continued staring into Phoebe's eyes. Snow started to fall outside.

"Yes. I think it is Gerald" Phoebe didn't blush, she just continued staring into Gerald's eyes.

Phoebe moved her left hand to rest between the two. Gerald did the same with his left hand, and put his fingers over hers. With a slight motion of their wrists, they intertwined their fingers.

The stalemate ended as each chess player noticed the opening.

End Prologue

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The Author's Corner

First off let me just say that I am new to the Hey Arnold series and its associated fanfic community. This is not a plea for you to go easy on me however, as I have written fanfics in the past. I won't be offended if you find something wrong with my story. This is just the prologue so it's going to be shorter than the actual chapters. While this story is actively beta read, I'll never know how the fans will react until I actually release material. In other words, since I am posting this I am asking for it, so lay it on me!

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm placing this story in a metaverse created by my friend Lord Malachite with his story Instant Gratification. This of course has his full blessing or else I wouldn't have done it. I highly recommend that you read Instant Gratification because it is an awesome story, but it is in no way a prerequisite to reading my story. IG is more of a guidepost or anchor on which my story stays afloat. There will be subtle references to IG but they will in no way spoil the story for you should you decide to read it.

I intend to post an update to this story every other week. I'd try to increase my schedule to a weekly release but this is an ambitious project for me (my previous works are all single chapter short stories). By ambitious I mean, "I can't believe I am embarking upon this project, what's wrong with me?" So I don't want to burn myself.

All questions, comments, criticisms, and other forms of verbal abuse should be directed at my e-mail address available in my profile, or in the review section. You may also contact me via my AIM screen name: The Robonerd.

Peace out.

05/31/2008