Author's Note: Alright, it's been a while since I uploaded on this site. So many years of inactivity. I've been meaning to update my old story but I couldn't find the inspiration. Then I was watching Hey Arnold episode "Busses, Bikes, and Subways" and I started to brainstorm on how the fourth grade class of P.S. 118 reacted to Harold and Helga going missing for the night. We did get some glimpses of it from Arnold and Mr. Simmons' perspective, but that was it. Before you knew it, the thoughts became words on a word document, and well here we are. So, without further ado, enjoy chapter one of "Field Trip Absences".
The lights of the bus illuminated the highway as it transported a group of children back towards the city.
The kids on the bus were bummed that the field trip to the chocolate factory was cut short due to a stowaway child being caught swimming in a vat of chocolate, but they kept things in brighter spirits by singing "99 Bottles of Beer" on the trip back.
Most of the children on the bus and even their teacher were singing along merrily, but one kid with a head in the shape of a football ceased singing as a light feeling of uncertainty began to hit him.
The kid next to him noticed the silence right next to him.
"What's wrong? Why did you stop singing?" the boy asked.
"I don't know. I just got this strange feeling like something was…missing."
"Arnold, you're probably just bummed about leaving the chocolate factory early and what you're probably feeling is just disappointment."
"No Gerald, that's not it." Arnold retorted. "Something just feels off, I just don't know what it's off from."
"Whatever you say man." Was all Gerald said to his friend as he went back to the song.
Arnold kept quiet as the rest of the bus continued their sing-along. The boy pondered to himself as to what was making him feel so uncertain.
He saw all the sights he wanted to see at the factory.
He got to sample some of the chocolate.
He had all of his belongings on him.
He did all he wanted to do and he did not leave anything behind, yet he still had this vague feeling of absence.
The kid with the football head decided to look around the bus to see if he could get some clarity. When Arnold looked behind him, he noticed an empty seat that he thought was where one of his classmates sat. Arnold turned to the girl next to the empty spot as he asked her a question.
"Hey Phoebe, where's Helga?"
"Gosh. I don't know." Pheobe responded. "I assumed she was sitting up front."
Arnold finally found out what was missing.
"Uh-oh…"
Arnold got off his seat and he went down the aisle with Phoebe right behind him, leaving Gerald confused at his seat. As the two went towards the front of the bus, a boy with a large nose and stringy hair spoke up.
"Hey Arnold, what's wrong? Do you have to use the boy's room or something?" the boy asked.
"No Sid." Arnold answered in a agitated tone. "We lost Helga and we don't know where she is."
"Oh I know where she went."
"You do?"
"Sure, she went to go get Harold"
"And where would Harold be Sid?" Phoebe inquired.
"Last time I saw Harold was-" Sid's eyes went wide as he stopped talking. As if he made a sudden realization. "back at the factory…"
Arnold's suspicions were confirmed and he and Phoebe left their now worrisome classmate as they continued towards the seat of their teacher, Mr. Simmons. When the two students got to the front of the bus, Mr. Simmons turned his attention to them.
"Arnold, Phoebe," the teacher addressed his students "is something the matter?"
"We have to turn the bus around." Arnold demanded.
"What?! But why?" Simmons growing more confused.
"Because we left Helga and Harold at the chocolate factory!" Phoebe answered.
The confusion on the teacher's face immediately turned into one of shock and horror.
"WE'VE WHAT?! OH-MY-WORD!"
That outburst from the teacher stopped the song, as well as the bus, dead in its tracks. The other kids on the bus began to talk amongst themselves as to what was going on.
Mr. Simmons stood up and acknowledge the class while Arnold and Phoebe returned to their seats.
"Now class I know this might seem sudden, but we have to turn the bus around and go back to the factory."
Most of the children were confused with Mr. Simmons' actions. Soon after, the bus made a U-turn and began heading to the factory. As Arnold and Phoebe sat back down in their seats, a girl in a red sweater began asking the two of them questions.
"What just happened up there Arnold?" The girl asked. "Why are we going back to the chocolate factory."
"Because we left Helga behind there Rhonda."
"Harold too!" Sid added, making the rest of the kids gasp at the revelation. Rhonda's eyes widened for a moment before she immediately regained her composure.
A tall boy sitting in front of Sid jolted up from his seat frantically.
"Wait, what do you mean 'Harold too'? And what's this about Helga being left behind?" The boy asked in a southern drawl.
"Well Stinky," the boy replied while he fidgeted his hands. "I believe that while we were getting ready to leave, Helga went off on her own to find Harold."
"But last I remember, Harold was in the hospitality room at the factory." Stinky stated.
"Exactly." Arnold interjected. "Which is why we're going back to the factory. To get Helga and Harold and go back to the city."
"If they're still at the factory Arnold." Sid added.
"And what do you mean by that Sid?" Gerald inquired.
Sid's eyes seem to bulge out and he started to perspire as he explained himself, "It's getting pretty dark out, so the factory would be closed by now. Harold and Helga would be left at the gates where anything can happen to them. They could get run over by a delivery truck, or eaten alive by wolves, or even come across an angry group of CIRCUS FREAKS!"
Sid's list of scenarios for the missing pair made the children on the bus increasingly nervous with each new possibility. The tension on bus kept growing until Rhonda let out a scoff.
"Puh-lease," she stated as she was filing her nails. "You're being over dramatic."
"Am I Rhonda? AM I?!"
Rhonda did not even respond to the outburst as she kept filing her nails, appearing as nonchalant as one could. This display irritated the paranoid boy.
"Well, if I'm 'over dramatic', what about you?"
"What about me?" Rhonda stopped her nail filing and shot Sid a mean look.
The look had no effect on Sid. "You're acting like nothing is wrong. Like Harold and Helga are alright."
"Because they are alright."
"How can you be so sure of that?" Stinky interjected with his own question.
"Because none of the nonsense that Sid's spewing from his mouth could possibly happen. Chances are, those two are at the factory gates waiting for us to come back and pick them up."
"I'm not so sure if that might be the case Rhonda." Phoebe stated.
"And why's that?"
"Because all throughout the trip, Helga kept on mentioning a wrestling event going on tonight that she had attain tickets for."
"You mean Wrestlemania?" Gerald asked.
"Correct. She even stated on how she didn't even want to go on this trip and even seemed excited when the trip prematurely ended, more than likely due to the fact that an early departure from the factory would mean her getting to the event sooner."
Arnold joined the conversation at this point, "So you're saying that Helga didn't want to go to the factory in the first place?"
"She did seem firm in her opposition of the field trip."
"And she probably left the bus due to fact that Harold wasn't on the bus in the first place?"
"Precisely. She assumed that the bus wouldn't depart unless all the students were present and accounted for, therefore she got off the bus in order to collect Harold so she can leave the factory and go to Wrestlemania."
"Guess that assumption was wrong." Gerald remarked.
"So what does this have to do with anything?" Rhonda inquired.
"My point is that due to Helga's desire to attend Wrestlemania, she may have set off on her own so she can get to the event on time." Phoebe concluded.
"Willikers," Stinky stated, "and I reckon that Harold probably tagged along with Helga, on account of him being frightful of being by his lonesome, 'specialy when it's so dark out there."
Rhonda lost her patience with this conversation. "This is ridiculous. We shouldn't use hearsay evidence to jump to conclusions, and we certainly don't need scenarios that sound like they came from a cheesy B-movie."
Rhonda made sure to look at Sid for that last part, which made the boy turn around and sit back down in his seat arms crossed.
"It's much more reasonable for them to realize that the bus will come back for them, which it's in the process of doing might I add."
The other kids silently agreed with Rhonda's assessment, with the exception of Sid, who acted like he was ignoring everyone.
"Trust me, when we get back to the factory, we'll see Harold complaining about how hungry he is while Helga will have a look that says the she's about ready to deck someone. If I were you Arnold, I would hide from Helga when we pick her up."
That last part made Arnold a tad nervous.
Rhonda went back to filing her nails while the other kids talked amongst themselves. Without anyone noticing, the stuck-up girl in red flashed a look of uncertainty on her face as she continued to work on her cuticle.
AN: Well there you go. I hope that was a good start for you all. I'm going to update as soon as possible. Until then, leave a review if you want to give me any sort of feedback, I appreciate reviews both positive and negative.
Also shout-out to otalku17 for both proofreading and helping me come up with a title for the story.