Hey Arnold: Sid & Lorenzo

by woodyknox1994

This is a reimagining of the Arnold's Room episode that places more focus on developing the friendship between Sid and Lorenzo. Both of their home lives and backstories are also explored.

Ch.1

It's a typical late summer morning for Hillwood's PS 118. The sky is pearly blue with barely a cloud in the sky and a breeze gently lifted the red, white and blue. Breaking up this serene atmosphere is the loud ring of a school bell, providing the signal that a new day of learning has begun…or long stretches of boredom sitting around listening to teachers rambling depending on who you are.

After the bell had ceased ringing, a loud high-pitched scream can be heard echoing through the hallways.

"STINKY!" Sid yelled, "GIVE BACK MY HAT! I'M NOT KIDDING!"

A panting Sid was spiritedly gave chase as if an essence of his existence depended on it. He almost hit Eugene and Sheena but managed to squeeze between them just in time to narrowly avoid a double collision. One of the few times the boy was thankful for his short and thin stature.

Stinky continued to run, easily keeping a good distance between himself and Sid due to having longer legs. All the while the Country boy giggled and teased at Sid by extending his arm towards his direction, gently jingling the hat as if it were Pavlov's dinner bell.

After recovering from the brief shock of almost bumping into the Jinx and The Flower Child, he observed Stinky disappearing from view as he turned a corner into the right hallway towards Mr. Simmons' homeroom.

Wishing now he was a lot taller and faster, Sid followed suit and made a violent sharp turn only to be greeted by two wide brown eyes!

Those eyes belong to Lorenzo aka. The Rich Kid

Both 4th graders briefly let out short, incoherent shouts before being greeted with visions of red, yellow, and blue stars. After colliding, they both found themselves lying on their backs on the dusty yellow-red tiled hallway floor outside of Mr. Simmons' homeroom.

Simultaneously, they both tried to feebly get up using their elbows and hands. During this Sid let out a baby-ish wine while Lorenzo let out a baffled lower-pitched groan.

Sid opened his eyes while still rubbing his hat-less head. Without the signature hat, his thick black hair that reached down to the mid-section of his neck is exposed for the whole Hillwood world to see.

Upon realizing he ran into Lorenzo, teeth-grinding panic swept over the long-nosed 9-year old's body.

He just collided with the new popular rich kid at school.

Lorenzo, up until this point, had been attending PS 118 for three months after being transferred from Peavine Academy. The "Pea" part never failed to make Sid giggle a bit.

When he initially arrived at the school, he was all work and no play. His schedule was filled to the brim with business lessons and viola practice sessions while his briefcase contained stacks of flash cards as thick as bricks. Instead of playing on the monkey bars or throwing baseballs during recess, Lorenzo would sit by himself taking calls from his cell phone or studying note cards.

Lorenzo came off more as a thirty-year old man than a kid, heck, Stinky sincerely wondered if he was actually a robot. That maybe the case, Sid thought back then, which was fueled more when Lorenzo practically had a public nervous breakdown when he fell behind his own daily agenda. Sid never quite understood why Lorenzo seemed so dependent on his schedule, but then again, nobody has ever accused Sid of being the organized type.

However, thanks to Arnold, Lorenzo soon learned to let himself goof off once in a while. In retrospect, jumping in that mud puddle was almost like a baptism for him. It was as if he was finally freed him of whatever was holding him back from having fun. He remembered to be a kid for the first time in his life. A kid having to be reminded he's a kid…to Sid that's about as weird as a human needing a reminder that he needs to breath.

While Lorenzo still fills his days with scheduled events, especially fencing as of late, he now makes time to…well…be a kid. Sid would see him walk around the playground during recess now, either talking to Arnold or being followed by Rhonda, another rich kid with successful parents.

Sid quickly regained his composure and uttered "Oh man, I am so…so sorry Lorenzo." almost succeeding in hiding his shaky nervousness.

Just play it cool, as he thought. A chance like this may never come again, to make a good impression on a rich person who doesn't know you.

Sid lifted himself off the floor in order to help Lorenzo get back on his own two feet, with the last trace of mental fog from the flash of unconsciousness leaving his head.

"It's okay…" Lorenzo replied while still feeling a bit shaken, "…why were you running?"

Sid explained the whole situation while helping Lorenzo collect the two books he dropped.

Sid quickly scanned the books. The first was a thick white book titled Apollo: The Race to the Moon but what really caught Sid's full attention like blissful whiplash was the second one, issue #48 of The Darkness.

The comic consisted of a runaway subway train with a mysterious figure on top of the roof in the crouching position. He is wearing a blue trench coat and top hat that wouldn't have felt out of place in an old Humphrey Bogart picture along with a flowing Dracula-like cape. With only his exaggerated long Roman nose peaking out, the entire lower-half of his face is covered by a thin yellow scarf. The finishing touch to this epic scene is the amber-orange fire in the background.

The comic's title read:

The Darkness and The Lair of Dr. Octogon
Written By Stephen Miller And Art By Toni Lee

Sid exclaimed in a rush of excitement as he passed the books back to Lorenzo, "Whoa! You read The Darkness?!"

"Why yes.." Lorenzo responds in his usual professional elegant tone accompanied by a slight Mexican accent, "…he is my favorite superhero."

Stinky finally came out of Mr. Simmons' room with Sid's hat still in his hand. He looked utterly perplexed by the scene unfolding.

"The Darkness-d, what is that?" Stinky asked.

Both Sid and Lorenzo looked at each other with big smiles on their faces, with the bumping-into-each-other thing all of a sudden a long distant memory.

Sid, excited at the prospect of being the story-teller this time around instead of Gerald, broke out into intense narration "Only the coolest superhero ever! By day, Bryan Coleman is a rich dude that lives in a big mansion doing rich person stuff. But this is only a mask…"

"…Because at night he becomes The Darkness…" Lorenzo interjects barely able to keep inside the joy of finding another fan, "…protector of the innocent who navigates the dark, dreary and foreboding crime-ridden landscape of Iron City using the shadows, his wits, and impressive sword skills I may add!"

The two boys then turn to each other while holding their right arms in front of their faces as if they are holding invisible capes. They declared:

FOR WHO KNOWS WHAT OMINOUS SECRETS LIE WITHIN THE HEARTS OF MAN…THE DARKNESS KNOWS!

Stinky continues to be mystified while Sid is pleasantly surprised at discovering that a high society human calculator like Lorenzo reads superhero comics.

Both laugh, with Lorenzo finally breaking it off by asking "I don't think we've been formally introduced, what is your name?"

"Ah…Sidney…Sidney Bourdain.." he replied while both hands held onto the neckline of his Wild One Marlon Brando-style black leather jacket, "..but you can just call me Sid."

"Lorenzo Lopez, nice to make your acquaintance,…" as both kids shook hands, "…I should show you my Darkness collection sometime"

Sid replied with a smile, "That would be wicked awesome!"

Both Sid and Lorenzo finally walk into the homeroom, with Sid snatching back his hat from Stinky's thumb and index finger. Sid quickly gave Stinky a livid expression before finally taking his seat in the classroom.

Stinky remained standing in a confused daze after witnessing Lorenzo treat Sid like…a cool kid.

It was only with Simmons' flamboyant declaration "Okay children, class is in session and I assure you today is gonna be something truly special!" that this particular spell was broken.

After a recently re-hat-ed Sid took his seat, he quickly reached for the inside of his open front desk to pull out a notebook to take notes. But In reality, it's not words that fill the white pages but imagery.

Sid opened it to his unfinished drawing of The Darkness fighting against one of Dr. Octogon's latest creations, Half—SharkAlligator-Half-man.

Everyone eventually took their seats with most just making light conversation except for Harold and Stinky, who were throwing paper airplanes at each other from across the classroom.

Still a bit noisy, Mr. Simmons declared, "Today we are gonna learn about famous industrialists such as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnagie, Samuel Colt…Jean Paul Getty…"

By this point Sid had become fully enveloped in his drawings and he was no longer paying attention.

Ch.2

About two hours passed by of Mr. Simmons' spirited but boring lectures that Sid rarely cared for.

With only ten minutes left of class before gym, Simmons' declared "Alright children, we are reaching the end but I just want announce the start of the History project! I'm very excited to see how each and every one of you will present history in your own special way. So if you hadn't chosen a partner do so before you leave!"

Sid broke from the subdued trance he tends to find himself in when sitting through Simmons' lectures, but by that time he missed his chance to partner-up with either Harold or Stinky.

Scanning the room, there is only one kid left un-partnered and he didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to be partnered.

Sid quickly walked over to Lorenzo, who is filing his class notes into his briefcase like an accountant, asking in a calm and soft tone "Hey again Lorenzo, would you…like to be my History partner?"

"Of course, I already got an idea for what we can present about," while simultaneously holding up his Apollo book with both hands as if he were trying to sell it.

"That sounds great." Sid says with relief, "I think we'll make a good team since you are obviously full of great ideas and I have well…no ideas."

Sid gave an shaky laugh with Lorenzo maintaining his formal but sincere smile.

"You're a funny guy." Lorenzo giggles in response to Sid's goofy remark, "Why don't we meet at the main stairs after school today and my limo driver Molina can drive us to my house, that way we can get a head-start?"

"That sounds great, I'll see you then!"

Later that day, after gym class; Sid, Harold, and Stinky are drying themselves off after having stepped out of the locker room showers.

"So Lorenzo invited you to his house!?", Harold shouted out in a jealous frenzy, "Ah shucks!? How come you get to be the first kid to be invited to his mansion! Why can't I be that lucky, I bet he has all kinds of cool toys and all the food you can eat!"

"Wait?" Sid replied while drying his damp black hair with a white towel, "So neither Rhonda nor the Higgins kid have ever been invited?"

"That's right Sid, I guess he thinks you are cool enough to be his friend or somethin'"…" Stinky added.

With the surreal-ness of the situation finally dawning on Sid, he contemplated while pointing his index finger on his chin to signify that he is in deep thought. Rhonda follows Lorenzo a lot, so Sid assumed up until this point that they were friends, it seemed only natural since their both…well…rich. That may not be the case now.

"I don't know about friends, I guess he thinks I'm cool? I couldn't tell you why." Sid uttered in an uncertain tone while putting on his blue jeans and white undershirt, "I mean…we both love The Darkness and all. Maybe that's why he thinks I'm cool…I don't know."

Sid slipped on his hat and closed his gym locker door before leaving for lunch.

Ch.3

"Boy howdy that is a lot of paintings!"

Sid excitingly exclaimed as he reached the top of the fancy red-carpeted staircase in Lorenzo's mansion. At the top he gazed left to right to see an assortment of old Renaissance and Baroque paintings, framed photos and the occasional artifact.

However, what immediately caught Sid's eye was a black-framed 18 X 24 photograph. He immediately recognized Lorenzo, his mom, and Mayor Dixie but there was a man he hadn't seen before. He seemed to be at a similar age to his own dad, which is mid-fifties.

He was a very tall man with a stocky upper-build. He wore a business-like getup that consisted of a blue suit and a red-white stripped tie. His rectangular face had slight wrinkles, a black-grey bushy mustache and slick black hair that Sid recognized was going through the early stages of balding. On his left hand he held a big pair of golden scissors while the other hand shook Dixie's right hand.

These individuals were standing in front of red tape and in the background was a silver-tan steel building with brightly colored yellow letters spelling out LOPEZ FINANCIAL.

Both the Suit guy and Dixie were looking straight at the camera with over-the-top grins. Lorenzo's mother meanwhile is smirking, standing behind the small wire-y Lorenzo with both hands placed on his shoulders. Lorenzo on the other hand gave a huge grin but there was a mark of awkwardness that betrayed his smile. It reminded Sid of the time Ray tried to get him to be in a picture with Anne.

After surveying the picture for a full three seconds, it finally hit Sid.

"Whoa! I know that building!"

"Really? How?"

"My Dad works in construction and he helped build it! He helped make the concrete."

"That's surreal…" as Lorenzo giggled, "…small world huh?"

"I guess so. That guy with the mustache shaking Mayor Dixie's hand, is that your Dad?"

"Yep, that picture was taken on the day of the grand-opening of the new LOPEZ FINANCIAL corporate headquarters here in Hillwood. It used to be our home city of Dallas, Texas."

"So you're from Texas?"

"That's right, my mom helped design the building too. It was hard for my Father to get the building permit, but as is always the case, he never gave up on what he wanted."

"It must be nice to have a rich successful dad."

Lorenzo looked down for a brief moment before giving a dull reply of "Yeah, anyway, my room is down this way."

As Sid continued to follow Lorenzo, he noticed more paintings ranging from Brugel's The Hunters in the Snow to Monet's Madame Monet and Child. He also looked at a few of the ancient artifacts. One of them was a surreal looking golden monkey idol that looked like something from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But what really caught Sid's eye was a suit of knights armor holding a spiked mallet. Seeing this gave Sid flashbacks to those Saturday mornings when he was little watching Scooby Doo cartoons. This caused him to giggle a little bit, thinking it would be funny if Shaggy and Scooby were to be hiding in the armor right now. He proceeded to run quickly to the suit of armor to touch the handle of the spiked mallet. Upon seeing this, Lorenzo let out a quick and harsh "STOP!"

Sid froze just as his index finger was but centimeters from the mallet. Initially he thought he had incurred Lorenzo's anger, but upon analyzing his face further, he saw a blanket of fear instead.

"My father is very protective of his art and antique collection. He spent years collecting them and some of these are so valuable you can buy three Ferraris. So please Sid, don't touch any of it."

"Right, no touchy…sorry." Sid replied in a apologetic tone while inside was breathing a sigh of relief.

Lorenzo proceeded to lead Sid down to the end of the hallway before opening a bright red door.

Sid only imagined up until that point what a rich kid's bedroom would look like. Well now, he needn't imagine no more!

Upon looking into Lorenzo's den, he experienced a sense of awe and exhilaration he hadn't felt since his Dad first took him to Dino-Land.

Lorenzo's room was almost like something out of a Victorian era painting with it's warm yellow-tan carpeting, shiny dark wooden furniture, a fireplace, and a huge bed covered in blue sheets with a bedpost that practically dwarfed any nine-year old. In one corner of the room there was a table consisting of a toy train set and in another corner there was a viola case, a chair and a metallic stand holding sheet music.

The room was mostly lit by a chandelier at the center of the ceiling along with numerous S-shaped lamps that lined the walls. Hanging from the ceiling on fishing wire were multiple model aircrafts such as the Boeing 747, Blackbird, the Curtis NC-4 and many more!

But what made Sid really feel like he just stepped into a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory situation was witnessing the wide range of high-tech toys that up until now have always lied on the other side of a toy store window. All of them were neatly arranged on a tall wooden bookshelf with labels underneath!

It's almost as if Santa Claus' gift bag accidentally tore open and the contents all spilled into one room!

Sid, with a wide grin on his face, carefully walked into the room while Lorenzo fast-walked to his Macintosh computer, setting down his black binder and the Saturn V Rocket model kit on the desk.

After getting settled in, Lorenzo broke the temporary silence by asking Sid while still staring at his computer screen "So I was thinking about researching the technological side of the Apollo program along with the missions themselves while you present the program's early days and the socio-political aspects. I thought it would be neat for each of us to create something for the presentation too. I got the rocket, what about you?"

Sid did not give a response because he was too distracted playing with one of Lorenzo's toys.

The toy in question that struck Sid's 9-year old fancy was a remote controlled red triplane (aka. The Red Baron). Something he always wanted but could never afford on his Dad's construction worker salary. By the time Lorenzo was asking the question, the Red Baron had already commenced lift off. Sid was having the time of his life making the Baron do daring ariel stunts such as flying underneath the bridge of the train set.

Lorenzo asked the question again and then at the third time, showcasing greater irritation in his voice, called out at a much greater volume.

Lorenzo's sudden yell distracted Sid long enough that the Red Baron meet his second untimely demise by crashing into one of the fancy lamp posts on the wall, immediately shattering the glass.

The glass and the plane both fell to the the floor.

Sid immediately froze in fear, afraid to look in the direction of Lorenzo as if he had became the Basilisk. I've done it now, Sid thought, surely the rich kid will tell him to leave immediately now that he broke what must be one of his prized possessions.

Thoughts rushed into his head such as "Crap! There goes my chance of being friends with a popular kid!" and "Shucks, I was really starting to like this guy too! Why do I always have to mess things up for myself!"

These thoughts lead Sid to instinctively kneel down, remove his hat and extend his right hand in order to pick up the glass shards. While this was happening he rapidly yelled, "OH my gosh I am so sorry, I am so sorry! I'LL CLEAN THIS UP AND AFTER THAT I PROMISE TO NEVER TOUCH YOUR TOYS AGAIN I DOUBLE, NO...I TRIPLE PROMISE!"

Suddenly Sid heard Lorenzo's worried reply "SID STOP!"

Sid froze and finally looked behind to see Lorenzo's face. He was surprised once again that he didn't see anger but surprise at what had just occurred. This made Sid feel worse somehow. What happened next was something Sid never would have expected.

Lorenzo started giggling a bit, trying to hold it in with his right hand while lowering his left hand.

"You really shouldn't touch glass with your barehands." Lorenzo softly interjected as he walked over.

The stress all over Sid's body immediately subsided and was replaced by confusion. Sid looked at the glass again and replied "Oh, yeah…" as Sid Looked at the glass again while putting his hat back on his head "…you're right. Hehe!"

"I didn't really care much for these lamps anyway. It was something my Mom had installed recently to class up the place or something like that. I rarely even turn them on because all it does is make the room too bright and after a while it hurts my eyes."

Sid then remembered the Red Baron, which was lying a foot away from the glass. Most of it was intact but the left three wings had snapped off.

Sid nervously asked, "Do you even care that I broke one of your toys?"

"Not really, I only really care about three things in this room: my model vehicles…" Lorenzo points up at the ceiling, "… my soccer ball…"

Lorenzo points to his bed with two fingers. Sid didn't really notice until now the unusually common looking soccer ball lying squarely on the center of the fancy bed.

Lorenzo proceeded to grab the ball and lightly kicked it to Sid. Sid respectively kicked it back. While passing the ball around, Sid interjected "So you play soccer?"

"Not exactly, I purchased this soccer ball recently, shortly after Arnold and the rest of the class showed me how to be a kid. I saw you, Harold and Stinky play with one. I thought it looked cool so I got one."

Sid paused for a brief moment after hearing this, whispering under his breath "You thought THAT was cool?"

The ball hit Sid's boots, causing it to bump back into Lorenzo's direction. Sid got out of his surprise trance, but by that time Lorenzo had already reclaimed his ball.

Lorenzo continued "Unlike the toys on that shelf and the lamps, this was a purchase I made on my own, not my parents."

"So wait, you do not care for any of these toys?"

"No, but whenever I build models or do tricks with this ball, I feel a sense of…well…release. My mom thinks soccer is a hooligans sport, but that's okay. In fact, it kinda gives me a bit of a rush, doing something my mom doesn't approve of." Lorenzo replied in calm voice hiding an undercurrent of cathartic pleasure.

After that, Lorenzo proceeded to perform a juggling pick-up trick with the ball before setting back on his bed.

"That was sweet!" the amazed Sid shouted, "Why aren't you on the school soccer team? I think the school maybe have try-outs this week."

"The school has a soccer team?"

"Yeah, from the tricks you've shown me, you may not be a bad addition"

"Speaking of not bad additions, let me show you the third thing in this room I hold dear. Well…to be factually accurate…purchases"

Lorenzo proceeded to open one of two red wood doors to reveal a closet space full of everything The Darkness from vinyls containing the original radio dramas to around three tall bookshelves full of comics. Sid could hardly contain his blissful wide-mouthed joy.

"Whoa! How did you get all this?

"Most of what you see here is from the comic store on Dousman street. I've been collecting these for the past three months."

"No way! I go there too!"

"I can't quite explain why I like The Darkness so much. I think it's the whole dual identity thing, where he is a boisterous bachelor by day and a brooding avenger at night. I've always been fascinated by duality."

While Lorenzo is deconstructing The Darkness, Sid is scanning the third shelf and saw his favorite run of The Darkness in almost pristine condition. Sid pulled out issue #53 from the third shelf to look at his favorite panel showcasing The Darkness fighting against the evil Dr. Octogon.

Sid remarked "Probably my favorite Darkness run was when Toni Lee was the main artist. His panels are simply too awesome for words. I can't nearly draw as good as him…"

Sid stopped but it was already too late and Lorenzo replied "So you draw?"

Sid became a bit nervous because he never told anybody that, especially Stinky and Harold. Sid immediately kicked himself wondering why he let that slip!

Sid continued to be outwardly calm and collective by responding "Um…yeah but I'm not quite sure I'm any good though."

"Well, no artist starts out great right away. I doubt Rembrandt or Toni Lee were good immediately, it takes practice and persistence like anything else. I still think it's amazing to hear you can draw, I certainly can't…unless it's stick people."

"…actually…that's it!"

"What's it? Stick people?"

"No, an idea for what I can do for the history project. How about I draw a comic book about the Apollo program. I would love to draw rad rocket ships and space stuff! I can be the Comic Man while you be the Rocket Man!"

"That sounds great! Although I'm confused, I thought you said you didn't have any ideas? Lorenzo replied in a sassy tone.

"Haha…" while Sid rubbed the back of his neck giving a big grin "…I guess I lied"

The dynamic duo shared a laugh.

Ch.4

"I should give that double chocolate cookies-n-cream thing a try next time" Sid interjected as he held his humble single chocolate scoop while entering back into the limo.

Lorenzo replied "It's probably my favorite offered at Stone-cold ice-cream parlor" as the limo began to move.

"Anyway…" Lorenzo continued as he got comfortable in his seat, "…so we have a deal right? I'll start on the rocket while you create your epic Apollo comic. I think to be fair, we should have our next meeting be at your place. Does that work for you?"

Sid was in mid-lick of his ice cream when he momentarily froze but quickly recovered to say "Um…yeah…sure…that works."

"Cool, I'll put it in my schedule. Molina can also drop you off, what's your address?"

Sid paused before feeding Molina the first address that came to mind.

As Molina drove Sid to his improvised destination, Lorenzo looked down with a shy smile and exclaimed "I'm glad you and I are partners for this History project because I had a lot of fun tonight…"

"Oh, thanks, I had a good time too…"

"I never realized how cool of a kid your are."

Sid gave an embarrassed smile with red dimples and replied "Thanks, you're pretty cool too." while at the same time feeling a bit sick to his stomach.

The limo stopped and Lorenzo looked out the window to see Sid's place.

"Whoa, that looks like an interesting living arrangement, has an old-fashioned warm Harlem charm to it. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, I'll see you then" Sid replied as he stepped out of the limo while giving a shaky farewell wave.

The limo pulled away as Sid took a brief look at Arnold's boarding home.

After that he turned left, threw his ice cream cone into a city trash can, and began his 30 minute trek back to his real place of residents. With each new block the buildings and streets became more rundown and unkempt. Light fog rose out from the storm drains, smelling of sulfur. Trash also lurked in every other dark alleyway, blowing around the young boy with the help of a chilly breeze.

As Sid kept walking by himself with only the occasional passing car to alleviate the loneliness, his paranoia elevated. This allowed his sense of hearing to be more heightened than usual, letting him catch every little noise and conversation coming from the windows of the surrounding apartment complexes. Sid worried of creepy homeless dudes crawling out and trying to steal his stuff. The thought of losing his hat and boots terrified him beyond words. At that moment, he severely regretted all those horror films he snuck into seeing at the local theater.

One car passed him by in which, despite all windows being closed, the music was turned up so loud that Sid could make out Steve Perry crooning about strangers waiting up and down the boulevard and shadows searching in the night.

Suddenly, the light provided by a lonely street lamp post flickered off. The 4th grader became enveloped in darkness like a blanket had been tossed over his head. Sid stood still, shivering due to the cool night air, paralyzed by fear to the point that he was unable to move his legs.

The light flickered back on, which brought temporary relief to Sid's psyche before being stolen away from a figure standing in front of an adjacent dark alleyway. It was a homeless man who looked to be in his late 40's wearing a long brown coat, heavy mud-covered black boots, torn red pants and a green winter cap. But what really disturbed Sid to his core was the hobo's yellow angular teeth, his long nose consisting of multiple pink sores, and the fact that his mouth was moving with no audible words coming out. He looked up to the night sky while giving off a voice-less chant.

Sid's heart reached up to his throat, unable to conjure the courage to scream. The hobo stood still for 10 seconds before slowly walking back into the dark void of the alleyway. And almost like a phantom in a waking nightmare, disappeared into the night.

Sid stood still for a couple of moments before he un-froze and continued the walk home.

Under his breath Sid depressively and frustratingly uttered to himself "I'm certainly not as brave as The Darkness." as he looked around at the dark forbidding cityscape that surrounded him.

Sid did finally arrived at his home on 223 Thornton Ave, but strangely the windows were not lit. Darkness filled his boarding house just like everywhere else in Hillwood tonight.

Ch.5

Sid unlocked the front door with the house key hidden under the door mat and entered into the entrance hallway, which had pasty white walls and orange-brown carpeting.

"Howdy Dad! I'm home!" Sid called out in a perplexed tone.

Sid's Dad did not respond.

Sid slowly walked into the kitchen area where he noticed a bright neon-green sticky note on the fridge. Sid knows that whenever his Dad wants to notify him of anything like to do chores or if he's pulling another shift at the construction site, he always goes for those sticky notes.

Sid approached the note where it read:

Out to dinner with Anne for our 1-year anniversary. Last night's meat-loaf is in the fridge.
Let it heat up in the microwave for about 2 minutes and make sure to clean your dishes!

You are my #1,

Ray

Sid crumbled the note and threw it in the trash before opening the fridge to pull out the sole leftover meat-loaf. As Sid placed the meat-loaf into the out-of-date microwave, he noticed the three bananas in the adjacent fruit basket.

The bananas were now getting super ripe and won't last much more than a day.

Sid knew what that meant, it was either banana bread…or nothing.

So for the next hour or so, Sid ate his meatloaf while meticulously making a classic favorite between him and Ray. At around 6:05 pm, the banana bread was finally ready after Sid ensured that it passed the tooth-pick test. He placed the bread in the middle of the creaky four-legged wooden kitchen table.

Given it's Ray out on the town with Anne, he knew they probably won't be back until after he is asleep, so he left his own neon-green sticky note on the table area adjacent to the banana bread.

It read:

Banana's were about to go bad so I made this for Ray and I.

Sid then proceeded to put Anne's name at the bottom with a No symbol on top of it.

Whenever Sid climbed the stairs he always rushed to the top due to the tendency for the tight spacing of the staircase to give him claustrophobia. He reached the thin wooden door with a "Sid's Room" sign on it. The sign had a metallic hook on it that wrapped around the top of the door. Due to the metal hook, Sid has to apply extra force when pushing and pulling the door.

Sid slowly entered into his messy bedroom. Cloths equally populated the grey-orange carpeted floor along with sports gear (baseball bat and ball, football, soccer ball) and some worn-out toys. In the left corner of the room lied a small stack of comic books that were partially crumbled and had torn corners.

On the walls were some peeling wall paper along with two posters, one of The Darkness and one of Red Baron Snoopy.

He entered into the room with a plate of freshly-hot banana bread smeared with butter. After throwing his backpack to the right corner of his room, Sid sat on his un-made bed in the pretzel-leg position.

Before taking a bite, the lie he committed to Lorenzo came flooding back into his memory. Feeling depressed, he placed the plate in front of him while he opening the drawer to his nightstand to pull out a small framed photo.

The photo depicted five-year-old Sid sitting on the lap of a woman with tanned skin and long black hair. She wore an orange top along with blue jeans. Her smile was further accentuated by her rose-colored dimples.

Next to her with his left arm wrapped around her shoulder is Ray with his confident smile, long Roman nose, and partially balding grey hair. Even in this photo, Sid could see the can-do and uplifting sociable demeanor that characterized him for as long as the young boy remembered.

Then Sid looked at his younger self wearing of course…his hat and boots. He had his arms all spread out and nervousness filled his face. Sid smiled and his mind slipped into a lucid scene from a memory…

Sid remembered sitting in his crib with his mother standing over him, her arms were parked on the white rails. She was smiling while sunlight hit her face as if she were a evangelical figure.

Without a word, she grabbed Sid and lifted him from the crib and on to the soft red floor. She playfully touched his nose before placing a slightly over-sized green hat on his head and white go-go boots on his feet. Then, the mother gently held the young boys hands, helping him stand-up.

Sid took a few steps with the boots before tripping, but his mother was right there to catch him before he hit the ground. Both the mother and the child gazed at each other in mutual bliss, with Sid breaking the silence and laughing out loud.

The mother looked down for a bit and then uttered "Sid, you are so cool!"

Sid is not quite sure if this memory is even real, but it's one of the happiest he knows.

Sid snapped back into the present, wiping away the small tears from his eyes. He was about to place the picture back into the drawer when he then noticed a cut-out picture of Rhonda Lloyd Peterson that came from last year's PS 118 yearbook.

Rhonda, for a short time, was the object of Sid's affection with her clean black hair, smooth golden-brown skin, and British Mod-fashion style. Up until Lorenzo came along, she was the richest person in the class, the heir to French fashion consultants.

For the longest time, Sid looked up to Rhonda as an example of what it looks like to have "made it".

There was a time Sid would have envied having Rhonda follow him as she currently did with Lorenzo. She was both rich and popular, and Sid is neither of those things.

One time Sid attempted to impress Rhonda at the annual Cheese festival with his "manly" throwing arm, trying to knock down a stack of bottles at a carnival stand. He missed by a mile and Rhonda pointed, laughed, and called him out on his elephant ears, long nose and cheap leather jacket. Her remark towards his "cheap jacket" was the moment he realized that a rich girl like her would never be interested in a low-class penny-less wretch like him.

Sid proceeded to tear the picture in half.

Still sitting on his bed, he looked up to see his distant reflection from his mirror across the room. There are plenty of days where wants to wish away his long nose and elephant ears.

After that, he looked around his room and finally decided:

"Yeah…I can't let him see this…"

Ch.6

The next day Sid is eating a baloney sandwich in the school cafeteria with Stinky and Harold. After taking a bite while listening to Harold and Stinky debate over whether Ronnie Matthew's singing voice is really his voice, Sid spotted Arnold at the tray line scooping some mac and cheese.

After taking a sip of his Yahoo soda to wash down the sandwich, Sid quickly left the table unannounced.

"Hey Arnold, how's it going?"

Arnold turned around and casually replied "Okay I guess, yourself?"

"I'm pretty good…listen…can I ask a favor?" Sid said as both Arnold and him walked over to the napkin and plastic silverware stand.

"Ahh…sure, what is it? Arnold replied in an unsure tone.

"Could Lorenzo and I use your room, just for an hour or two?"

Arnold finished pulling out the third napkin from the dispenser when he turned to Sid looking both relieved but no less mystified.

"Why…do you guys need my room?" Arnold replied in a dull confused tone.

"Well, we were going to work on the history project at my place but bugs where found in my room yesterday so it's being all fumigated and…other…exterminator…stuff. I thought your room would be the next best thing since it's spacious and cool, just like us." Sid explained hoping Arnold would buy the story.

Arnold grabbed his lunch tray again and walked over to the table where Gerald was waiting for him with Sid following suit.

As Arnold sat down while looking to be in deep thought, "Well…if that's the case then I guess there is no harm in it. Gerald and I are going to the library after school to research jazz anyway so my room will be open then."

"Great! You're quite the guy Arnold"

After a short awkward pause due to Sid's brown-nosing, Arnold replied in a awkward smile "Umm…thanks, glad I could be of some help."

As Sid walking backed to his table, Gerald turned to Arnold asking "What was that all about?"

After explaining to Gerald, he sarcastically asked "Do you really believe that bogus story?"

Arnold gave a quick giggle while placing his hand over his mouth to prevent the mac and cheese from involuntarily slipping out. After swallowing Arnold replied "Not for one second."

Sid returned to the table to quickly finish his baloney sandwich. Once he was done with his lunch, he immediately got up to leave, much to the surprise of both Harold and Stinky.

"Where're you'd going?" Stinky questioned.

"Headed to the library" Sid replied before running off.

Stinky officially felt like he was in The Twilight Zone, uttering to Harold "First Sid makes friends with the ri-ach kid and now he is going to the liberry…I've officially sane everything."

Ch.7

"…So as if my injured foot wasn't trouble enough, supposedly I was using the crutches all wrong. Leaning on them too much lead to me damaging a nerve! Now all of a sudden I couldn't use my left hand no more…" Ray explained as he lifted his left hand while bending it downwards. He then shook his hand to showcase how helpless he was to freely move his hand.

"Oh no!" Anne giggled

"Anyway, some medicine, a surgery, and three months of rehabilitation later I got the use of my left hand back."

"There you go."

"It sucked but I got through it, never been one to complain or give-up. It also helped I was much younger back then, so young I still had most of my hair. " the 53 year-old Ray humorously said as he used his left hand to pat his bald spot while Anne laughed out loud.

"Although to this day, I still feel some tingling sensations on the back of this thumb and pointer finger."

Anne took another light sip of coffee before giving a sly smile, gently caressed his left hand and kissing it.

Both Ray and Anne gazed at each other for a moment before leaning over to kiss each other on the lips. As this was occurring, light floor tapping could be heard coming from the stairs adjacent to the kitchen. However, Ray and Ann were too lost in the moment to notice.

Sid came walking into the kitchen with his backpack, immediately grossed out by the sight of his Dad kissing this long brown-haired 40-ish woman, giving out an audible grunt to make sure Ray knew he was there.

"Oh hey big man, how's it going? Off somewhere?" Ray exclaimed.

"What's up Dude-erama? Anne followed suit.

"It's going good I guess" Sid awkwardly replied to Anne, masking his annoyance of the unwanted pet name she assigned to him. Sid gave a quick glance to notice her wearing a tan tank top with blue jeans. However, what really took him aback was seeing her eating a slice of his banana bread.

Sid thought she either didn't get the memo or…

"I'm going to the town library to meet up with my history partner" Sid directed at Ray after giving minimal acknowledgement to Anne's presence in the room.

"Finally going to the library eh? Cool, whose your partner? Stinky? Harold?" Ray replied as he drank another sip of coffee.

"Neither."

Sid explained how he partnered with a rich kid named Lorenzo, detailing their near-concussive first meeting, the tour of his small mansion, and their ice cream hangout afterwards.

"Sounds like Sid is making a new friend" Anne enthusiastically interjected.

"I guess we're becoming friends…anyway…I'm gonna take a couple slices of banana bread with me in case I get hungry." Sid responded as he walked across the kitchen.

With his back turned away from the old lovers, Ray exclaimed "That banana bread was great as always Sid. I tell you my guy is a natural chef. I always tell him he should take some cooking classes, maybe show you a thing or two."

Anne giggled before lightly slapping Ray on the left shoulder, uttering "Oh shut up!"

A pink-cheeked Sid is wrapping his bread slices in plastic foil while responding "…And I told you a million times Ray, if word were to get out that I'm taking cooking classes, everybody would make fun of me."

"Why would they make fun of you? Because cooking is a girl's thing!? You can't go through you're whole life worrying about what people think of you Sid. I never had to fear being the dorky and charming stud I am…and look what that got me?"

Sid frowned, knowing his Dad made another cheesy attempt at being romantic with Anne. Against his better judgement, he turned to face Ray in order to give a "Oh come on!" retort but what he saw nearly caused him to drop the knife on the floor.

Instead of kissing again, Sid saw Ray and Ann holding each other's right hands. Up until now both Ray and Ann's right hands where hidden behind the maze of coffee cups, plates, and a napkin holder.

What Sid saw around each of their fourth fingers were small diamond rings.

"Wha…What are those?" Sid asked, barely gathering the air in his lungs to utter those three words.

Ray quickly looked at Sid and then his right hand before responding "What are wha…oh…yeah…I meant to tell you right away before we got trailed off. Anne and I are getting married. I proposed to her last night on our one year anniversary.

"At the very bar where we first meet." Anne added.

"You mean…like…becoming husband and wife?" Sid asked, losing his ability to think straight and breaking into a light sweat.

"In a year…isn't that cool Dude-erama!?" Ann interjected in a celebratory tone.

Sid finished placing the wrapped bread in his backpack before he looked at the clock on the wall. He doesn't have the time to deal with this now.

"Yeah, I guess that is…oh…look at the time. I gotta go, see ya!" Sid pointed at the clock before quickly running out of the house.

Sid was ten steps away from his apartment before hearing "Sid…wait up!"

Sid turned around rapidly to see Ray standing at the bottom of the apartment stoop. Sid was still sweating while panting silently.

Ray slowly walked up to his son, contemplating his next words before uttering "Boy you are getting faster and faster everyday."

Sid gave a gentle laugh. His dad always knew how to lighten a mood, no matter how serious or depressing a situation may appear.

"So tell me son, how are you feeling right now. I know that was kinda a bombshell…"

Sid looked away before replying "I'm happy for you…" in a dull and succinct manner.

Ray placed his hand upon Sid's right shoulder before responding "Is that how you really feel?"

Sid looked up to see Ray's concerned face before responding in a broken voice "I'm…I'm just…I'm just not quite sure I'm ready for a new mom yet…"

Ray gave a warm smile before hugging a tearing Sid, whispering "Ahh, Sid. Anne is not trying to be a replacement mom…but she is hoping to be your friend. You should really give her a chance, especially since she will be spending a lot more time around the house now."

A full two seconds of silence between the two occurred as they lovingly embraced each other, with the sounds of cars, wind, and barking dogs echoing through the neighborhood.

"I just…I just hate it when she calls me Dude-eraba." Sid responded while sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I'll tell her that then! She may come off a bit over-bearing sometimes, but she means well. I guess you can say that's why I fell in love with her."

Sid and Ray finally broke the hug to look at each other's faces.

"Just promise me that you will stop treating her like a guest. Remember our annual Dinoland visit this Saturday"

"Yeah!" Sid responded with a huge grin on his face.

"Anne will be coming with us too, so you can get to know her then. Oh and one more thing, she officially now has all banana bread privileges" Ray explains as he pulled out Sid's sticky note out from his pocket.

Sid rubbed the back of his neck giving a guilty smile while responding while responding "Okay Ray, I promise…anyway…I really gotta go! Love you!"

Sid replied as he suddenly remembered that he has to leave now if he were to beat Lorenzo to Arnold's place. Ray stood up smiling while yelling out "Love you too! Remember, you will always be my number one!"

Ray walked back to his apartment door while rubbing his left knee, which was sore after using it to kneel on the ground. Times like these made Ray wish he was ten years younger.

Ch.8

"…I hope this new friend of yours doesn't live too far in the east side of Hillwood, I hear it's very unsafe…muggers and crazy homeless people everywhere" Lorenzo's mother, Gabriela Lopez, explained to her son as they both shared the backseat of the limo.

Lorenzo sat on the right side while Gabriela sat on the left. The rich kid's briefcase and model rocket box lied in the middle of the mother and son, providing a small barrier.

Lorenzo pulled his gaze away from the window to look at his habitually concerned mother, responding "It's not mom, it's actually a very beautiful-looking residents, you don't have to worry." freely showcasing his annoyance but remaining diplomatic.

Gabriela slowly stroked her black hair before pulling up her white purse to undo the silver locks. After searching through her purse, she pulled out a small red-black cylindrical case.

"What is that?" Lorenzo asked with innocent confusion.

"It's pepper-spray, if someone tries to hurt you, just scream out and press on this red button while aiming for the eyes."

"Mom…you are being over-dramatic…"

"So what if I am, I'm not allowed to be a concerned mother!? It's not something I can simply turn off Lorenzo. Please, for my peace of mind, put this in your briefcase."

"I wish you would trust me more…you know…"

"Like I trusted you to not trash your room, let alone have it be done by your new friend."

"It was an accident…"

"Regardless, your room has been thrown out of architectural symmetry. It was expensive getting those lamps put up. Not only that but you could have cut yourself on a small shard of glass."

"So why not just remove all the lamps to restore symmetry to the room. I never wanted them to begin with…"

"Your room gets too dark without them…"

"Maybe I like it that way, maybe I don't like getting sore eyes after 30 minutes, have you thought about that?" Lorenzo exclaimed in a mild raised voice.

"I'm only looking out for my son and doing what's in his best interest!" Gabriela retorted in a louder voice.

A silence prevailed for a full two seconds as somberness swept across the faces of both passengers. Lorenzo was the first to turn away, once again resuming his scanning of the clouds.

Gabriela placed the pepper-spray next to Lorenzo's briefcase before also turning towards her window, regretting her outburst. She wished Lorenzo would understand her efforts to make sure her son has a more secure, organized, and potential-fulfilling life than she ever knew when growing up in Houston. She has seen too many young men go astray into lives of careless risk-taking, crime, and laziness.

But he is practically a small adult already, Gabriela thought as she quickly glanced at her son again. But Lorenzo has barely been exposed to the harsh world Gabriela knew all too well. Lorenzo is very mature with so much intelligence but is still feeble. Gabriella wondered if she did her son a disservice by sheltering him so much from the real world.

As a little girl she spent endless nights dreaming of leaving Houston for a better life and for awhile, she was living those dreams. She became a successful and respected architect, achieved financial security, married a respectable man, and had a beautiful child. As far as her plans were concerned, that was the end of the story, but life is never that simple.

As it turned out Gabriella married a financial big-shot that loved the idea of having a family more than really spending time with them. Gabriella wondered in retrospect if a family was really what he really wanted or was just following what was expected of a man to do.

Gabriela felt she was on her own when raising Lorenzo, much like her own mother was when raising her. Only this time, Lorenzo's father did not have the excuse of dying in the humid jungles of Vietnam. She hoped finally building the new Lopez Financial headquarters and moving to Hillwood would calm down his workaholic tendencies and he can finally spend quality time with his son.

Actually be a father…but this never came to be.

Rising up the socio-economic ladder only for her son to be placed in a similar situation, life can truly be like a cruel comedian sometimes.

While his mother was lost in her thoughts, all Lorenzo thought about is what that one cloud in the sky looked like.

An octopus? A fancy sword? No…Sputnik!

He never used to look out to the clouds before moving to Hillwood, but now he can't get enough of it thanks to Arnold. Right now, he wished he was flying amongst that tranquil bright blue ocean in the sky.

Ch.9

"Thanks again for letting Lorenzo and I use your room Arnold"

Sid, Arnold and Gerald are at the front of the boarding house. Arnold and Gerald where sitting on the stoop bantering when Sid arrived. Meanwhile Sid stood still, with his ankles geared up for the inevitable sprint he will have to make to Arnold's room.

"No problem, I should be back within two hours from the library. I'll see you later."

"Later Sid!" Gerald interjected.

Sid waited in anticipation until Arnold and Gerald were a good eight feet away before rushing to open the front door. Midway through pulling the door open, he quickly recalled the tendency for animals to rush out of Arnold's boarding house.

And he was right, Sid backed away just in time to avoid the rush of dogs, cats, and Abner. He certainly couldn't afford to have Abner's muddy feet stain his prized boots.

Sid rushed upstairs and into Arnold's room to start the conversion to Sid's room…his better, cooler and more wickedly awesome room.

Still sweating a bit and panting from all the running, he placed all of Arnold's photos in his computer desk drawer and replaced them with a baby picture and his old family photo. He also hid Arnold's potato clock in the closet. The final touch was taking his "Sid's room" sign and hooking it at the top of the door.

Done!

Sid quickly looked out the window overlooking the street to see a limo pulling up. Sid thought to himself how lucky he was at that moment, Arnold leaving and completing the redecoration just in the nick of time.

Sid placed his backpack on the floor before rushing out to go meet with his history partner and maybe friend.

Sid's still not entirely sure of the latter…

Once the limo stopped, Lorenzo opened the door before collecting his briefcase. He saw the pepper-spray lying on the central seat. After a short contemplation and a glance towards his mom, he grabbed it and placed it in his left pocket. Gabriela silently mouths a "thank you" to Lorenzo.

"I'll be back from the art exhibit in two hours, make sure to be ready because you have viola lessons afterwards."

"I haven't forgotten mom, it's in my schedule."

"And Lorenzo…you are right, your friend's place does look nice…te amo!" Gabriela uttered in a warm tone while holding up her right second and third finger, pressing them together. Lorenzo followed suit while repeating his mother's last two words with a faint smile.

As Lorenzo closed the door and the limo drove away, Sid waved to Lorenzo uttering "Hey Rocket man, how's it going?"

"Okay, how about you Comic man?"

"Same here, by the way, what was that your mother said? It sounded like Spanish to me." Sid responded giving an gentle shrug of the shoulders.

"It is Spanish…it…um…means goodbye, anyway let's see you roo…whoa…you okay?"

Sid pulled back, wondering what Lorenzo could possibly be referring to. He was also confused as to how "Te amo" meant goodbye in Spanish. He may not be an expert on foreign languages but he was pretty sure the word for goodbye is something else.

"…The bottom of your eyes look a bit red?" Lorenzo asked in a concerned tone.

Sid lightly rubbed the bottom of his eyes, thinking they are probably that way due to crying earlier.

"This? Oh, my mother was slicing onions earlier."

"Ah, I see, anyway, without further ado my good sir, let's see your living accommodations." Lorenzo uttered while trying to impersonate a British accent.

While Sid was guiding Lorenzo down the boarding house hallway that lead to the steps towards Arnold's room, Sid heard a loud flush coming from the door adjacent to the stairs.

Before Sid could lay his left boot on the first step, the door opened to reveal Grandpa Phil. Sid tried to keep on walking, hoping Phil won't say a word…but to no avail.

"Oh hey there…two of…Arnold's friends…just a word of warning…you may want to refrain from using the toilet for a while."

As Phil was explaining this to the two kids, the stench of feces reached Sid's roman nose, prompting him to hold it while grabbing Lorenzo's shoulder.

"Um…thanks Grandpa…will do!"

Sid dragged Lorenzo into Arnold's room and rapidly closed the door behind him. Meanwhile, Phil stood there with a perplexed look on his face. Why did one of Arnold's friends call me Grandpa?

Phil then remembered that the friend in question is Sid, who has always been a bit…weird. He immediately shrugged it off and walked away.

Back in Arnold's…sorry…I mean…Sid's room, Sid leaned with his back on the door while Lorenzo starred at him.

"Why did your Grandpa call you one of Arnold's friend?"

"Oh that? My grandpa likes to pull people's…haha…legs, but without further ado…here it is…my…living accommodations as you yourself put it." Sid said while spreading his arms out like PT Barnum.

Lorenzo surveyed his new surroundings before stating "Nice, kinda has a simple but effective post-industrial look to it."

Sid gave a big grin before adding, "…And that is not all!" and grabbing Arnold's master remote controller. He carefully scanned the remote before he pressed a grey rubber square button, causing Arnold's retractable red-velvet couch to eject out of the wall.

Sid is relieved that he guessed the right button.

"A retractable couch!" Sid explained as he threw himself back first on to it.

"Very high-tech and a great way to save space" Lorenzo said while looking very impressed.

"But that's not the end of it!" Sid uttered, very impressed with himself thus far and feeling confident enough to push his luck.

While still lying on the couch like a bed, he lifted his head towards Arnold's jam box with the remote pointed at it, pressing the triangle button. Suddenly the lights on Arnold's skyline window started to flash bright beams of yellow, purple, and blue like a Phish concert.

"Oops, sorry" Sid apologized before searching for the next button to press. Blindly, he pressed a circle button, which turned on Arnold's jam box.

However, it didn't play Weather Report or Coltrane or any of the jazz Sid was used to hearing during all those other times he hung out in Arnold's room. No, what rushed out from those speakers was a loud and thrashy guitar riff with thumping drums fills, immediately filling up the room with an ear-blistering wall of sound. Sid was almost afraid that Arnold's glass roof was going to shatter due to how much it was visibly shaking.

Next an almost alien-sounding monotone voice transpired through the speakers singing about not wanting to go home, feeling like a ghost, falling apart, and wanting someone to fix his heart. Sid could certainly relate to the "falling apart" part at that moment.

Officially panicking, Sid rapidly searched for the next button to press while Lorenzo dropped both his briefcase and model rocket box to cover his ears. Sid chose the next square button.

Before he could comprehend what was going on, he felt himself being rapidly lifted and pushed back. Once he felt himself still again, he realized he was completely enveloped in darkness. He attempted to leave his resting position only to hit his forehead against an unseen ceiling.

After rubbing his forehead and wondering how it is that he has hit his head twice in the span of two days, he saw a thin crack of light in the black void that he suddenly found himself in. He looked out to see Arnold's room once again. Feeling confused at first but soon realizing what had happened. He accidentally caused the couch to retract back into the wall.

Sid felt around until much to his relief, he found the remote again. He felt around for the square button and pressed it, launching himself off the couch and onto the red-orange carpeted floor. After regaining his composure, he pressed both the circle and triangle button again, cutting off the song after the singer got done uttering about leaving this old town.

Arnold's room went back to the tranquil silence it was before Sid's shenanigans started.

Lorenzo finished rubbing his ears before running over to Sid's side "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, no problem, it's all good." Sid retorted with aggressive reassurance while still rubbing his forehead.

Sid tossed Arnold's master remote back to his bed before Lorenzo asked, "That…um…interesting music you just played. Who is that?"

Sid put both of his hands together, trying to think of an answer.

"Oh they are…um…Fix My Heart!"

"Fix My Heart? That's a weird name for a band that makes such loud music…"

"That's why I like them…the whole…well…duality between their name and the music they make…hehe…say…don't we have a project to do!" Sid yelled out, desperately trying to change the subject while hoping Lorenzo didn't see through the facade.

"Um…yes…you are correct" Lorenzo responded, confused at seeing Sid seeming to have trouble working his own stuff. But questions can come later, Lorenzo remembered he had a schedule to keep and the project must get done. Both of the boys sat down on Arnold's couch.

"Did you do your end of the research for the Apollo space program?

"I did actually, I was at the library today and I used these books to help me with my drawings." Sid responded while taking out his two library books and sketch note pad.

Sid handed his sketch book to Lorenzo while saying "I hope they are good and all."

Lorenzo licked his index finger before turning the pages, showcasing rough sketches of Sputnik, President Kennedy delivering his inspiring "We go the Moon" speech, the portraits of the Mercury Seven test pilots, Neil Armstrong's one giant leap for mankind, and a harrowing depictions of Apollo 13.

Sid sat in nervous anticipation before seeing Lorenzo with a big smile on his face.

"These are great! I really like your attention to detail, especially when it comes to how you drew the space suits and gravely lunar surface. Your space backgrounds are also impressive."

Sid breathed a sigh of relief while his cheeks started radiating pink. With the exception of Ray, he is not used to hearing complements aimed at him.

"Thanks, it's good to hear I'm headed in the right direction."

For the next two hours both Sid and Lorenzo worked on each end of their history project with brief bantering on the side. Sid ironed out his sketches while filling them up with color while Lorenzo glued together and added paint to his Saturn V model rocket. Sid and Lorenzo began discussing who was going to say what during the presentation when Lorenzo took out blank notecards from his briefcase.

"Why do you use so many notecards?" Sid questioned.

"I need them to help me memorize important stuff."

"But you are like…super smart…you sure know a lot more about things than me that's for sure.

"Thanks for the compliment but I guess it has more to do with the fact that I get nervous whenever I'm in front of a lot of people. So whenever I do speeches or presentations, I use these to help keep myself on track."

Sid remembered back to that photo he saw at Lorenzo's house, wondering if that was why he looked uncomfortable. Lorenzo has stage fright, he realized.

"Makes sense. I personally never needed stuff like that. Gerald and I are kinda the Crypt Keepers of this neighborhood, so speaking in front of crowds of people is one of my specialties."

"I envy you." Lorenzo humorously responded.

"You envy me?"

"You can speak in front of many people confidently and not get nervous. I wish I can be that way…"

"…and I wish I can pay attention to Mr. Simmons' lectures but hey…nobodies perfect right?"

"Especially when he is mostly teaching things I already know about!"

"Okay…be honest with me…do you have a computer for a brain or something?!" Sid interjected with a faux-interrogator voice.

Both of the boys shared a laugh while Sid took out a brown bag from inside his backpack to eat one of the two pieces of banana bread.

Lorenzo stopped jotting down bullet points on the notecard when he looked up and asked "What are those?"

"These? It's banana bread."

"Banana bread…I don't think I've ever had that."

Sid thought this was strange at first, but then remembered this is the rich kid we are talking too, probably used to eating fancier stuff.

"I brought two slices, if you want to try it, go ahead."

"Thanks!" Lorenzo uttered before taking a small piece of the second slice and putting it in his mouth.

After briefly chewing and swallowing the bread, Lorenzo gleefully declared "Mmmmm…very good."

Sid was feeling more assured in Lorenzo's presence at this point, so he boldly said "I hope it is…because I made it!" while holding the neck rim of his black jacket with his left hand.

"So you cook too, impressive."

Lorenzo was licking the smudges of chocolate from his fingers while looking around the room, noticing Sid's family photo on the left wall adjacent to Arnold's computer desk.

"Is that your mom and dad?"

"It sure is."

"Where are they right now? I don't think I saw them when coming in."

Sid carefully thought about his answer before responding with "They…are out on the town right now…celebrating their wedding anniversary."

"Aaah, I understand." Lorenzo responded before looking at his watch. Lorenzo quickly looked out the window to see his limo pulled up in front of the boarding house.

"Uh oh…I hope my mom wasn't waiting too long." Lorenzo said in a frenzy as he quickly gathered his notecards and picked up his model rocket.

"I should get going, let's schedule another meeting at my house this Friday so we can practice our speeches and also…you know…hang out again?"

Sid smiled, responded with "Sounds like a plan. Up high!" before holding his right hand up.

"What are you doing?" a confused Lorenzo uttered.

"It's a high five, you're supposed to slap the palm of my hand. I thought it was something cool people did?"

"Well, you are a cool kid so I guess I'll take your word for it." Lorenzo giggled before dropping the model rocket briefly to give Sid the high-five.

Lorenzo picked up his model rocket again before leaving Arnold's room. Sid looked out from the window to watch Lorenzo get into the limo and drive away. Sid smiled before gathering his photos and placing everything back where it is supposed to.

Just as he was done placing Arnold's clock back on his bed shelf, he heard the door open again, it was Arnold.

"Hey Sid, is Lorenzo gone?"

"You actually just missed him, left not even five minutes ago. I'm gonna get going, thanks for letting me borrow your room."

Arnold walked over to his couch before noticing soft brown crumbs on the floor.

"Did…you guys eat something while I was gone?"

"Oh yes, some banana bread. Hope it's not too much of a mess…"

"It's no problem, I'll see you tomorrow."

Sid quickly shut the door behind him while climbing down the stairs, although he felt a small resistance when shutting the door.

Everything went according to plan. He managed to impress Lorenzo with Arnold's room and his cool kid image has been preserved.

Mission completed.

Ch.10

"Over here Sid!" Harold yelled out, prompting Sid to kick the soccer ball to him.

Harold took three steps before being confronted by Stinky. Both kids had their arms spread out and making jittery motions left to right, but eventually Harold lifted up his foot to kick the ball.

Not in the mood to get hit in the groin by a soccer ball, especially from a big guy like Harold, Stinky quickly jumped out of the way. The ball went flying towards the red-bricked wall of PS. 118. At the wall stood Lorenzo, protecting an imaginary rectangular goal post.

Seeing how fast the ball was going, both Stinky and Sid gridded their teeth in fearful anticipation. Instead of dodging like Stinky, Lorenzo stood his ground and caught the ball before it hit his chest. Both Stinky and Sid breathed a sigh of relief, with Stinky giving Harold a dirty look for almost injuring the rich kid. Sid was just glad his friend is alright.

"Good catch Rocket man!" Sid called out as he walked over.

"Good idea for scheduling this little practice session before the soccer tryouts today Sid!" Lorenzo responded while shaking his hands to ease the slight sting he felt from catching a fast ball.

"No problem, although what Harold did was a straight-on kick, something I rarely see happen." Sid added before Lorenzo handed the ball back to him.

Sid took eight steps back and aligned himself in a way where his left shoulder was facing the goalie. He hoped his pointed boots will not interfere too hard with his accuracy. As Sid and Lorenzo stared each other down, Sid felt the need to up the stakes.

"It's too late for you Darkness! Operation: Doomsday has already begun! Once I…Dr. Octogon...succeed in kicking this soccer ball to the wall…your precious Iron city will become a scrapyard! Muhahahahahaha!" Sid hammed up while holding his arms up in a faux fighting pose.

Harold raised his left eyebrow before looking at Stinky. Stinky responded by spreading his arms out to silently indicate he's just as lost and he was.

"Dr. what's now?" Harold asked out loud.

Sid and Lorenzo both simultaneously looked at Harold, with Lorenzo uttering "Go ahead…" while extending his hand outward in Stinky and Harold's direction.

Ch.11

The following has been passed down from kid generation to kid generation:

Dr. Octogon is The Darkness' arch nemesis…because every hero needs a villain!

Formerly known as Richter Vaughn, he used to be a scientist who through fantastic experiments bravely explored unknown corners of nature and the universe.

Despite Richter's smarts he was still a very vain and egotistical human being, never heeding the warnings of his fellow colleagues over the dangers of his scientific endeavors. One day, his hubris finally got the best of him and through a freak explosive accident, he suffered severe burns over eighty percent of his body and his face was disfigured to the point that he was unrecognizable.

Broken, scarred and ousted by his colleagues, he retreated to the sewers of the city. People thought him dead but neither did they know that he lived on…waiting…planning out his revenge.

He refused to believe that he was the cause of his own pain, with the thought of being seen as a failure too much to bear. Looking in a mirror everyday only to see a disfigured face certainly didn't help matters either. In his seclusion his hatred became more bitter, sinking more into the depths of his own madness.

In his sick twisted mind he has a score to settle with everyone. So using parts of his old destroyed lab, he creates monsters such as Half-Alligatorshark Half-man and destructive weapons such as the Anti-Matter Mazer Annihilator. Not only that, but he also wears a metal mask and a sinister black cloak! His costume became the most dreaded in the history of mankind!

Ch.12

As Sid was depicting Dr. Octogan's origin story, a small group of kids gathered around Sid to hear his tale.

One of these kids was Rhonda, who asked "So why didn't this Dr. Octo-whatever just get plastic surgery?"

"Plastic surgery?" Sid responded.

"Yeah, in fact, why doesn't he just make a machine to de-ugly himself if that's what's bothering him?"

"Well, in one issue he did concoct a formula to make false skin, which he has used many times to disguise himself as other people."

"Shouldn't that have solved his problems right there? Why would he continue to be a villain after that?"

"It's not really that simple…because…well...he's just mad!" Sid responded in a desperate tone.

"This is why I don't read those stupid funny books, come along Nadine!" Rhonda ordered as she walked away.

Before following Rhonda, Nadine uttered "I don't know Rhonda, comics can be kinda cool…"

The kids quickly broke away and returned to their recess activities. Stinky and Harold stood in the same spots not sure what to say. Sid stood there frustrated at how Rhonda made him look like a fool before feeling a hand on his right shoulder, Lorenzo's hand.

"I think the one in need of plastic surgery is Rhonda." Lorenzo said with a sly smirk on his face. Both of the boys proceed to laugh, Sid immediately felt better.

The two immediately returned to there previous positions, with Lorenzo standing in front of the goal wall while Sid prepared to kick the ball. Finally Sid's right boot launched the ball into the air, making a curve to the left, forcing Lorenzo to lunge forth to catch it. Lorenzo swiftly caught the ball while making a recovery roll.

Sid threw his hands up in the air and yelled in a faux British accent "Curses you! Foiled again!"

Lorenzo quickly got up, patting away the gray gravel that accumulated on his blue blue lapel and fixing his yellow turtle neck.

The four kids converged back on each other while Lorenzo responded in a heroic voice "Dr. Octogon has been defeated once again…I bet we won't see him again…until Doomsday!"

Stinky and Harold laughed out of obligation while Sid teasingly replied "Eh…your plastic surgery one was better…"

The bell rang, prompting Lorenzo to grab his suitcase from the bench and hand over the soccer ball to Curly, the ball monitor.

Sid, Stinky and Harold slowly walked back into the school.

"So when can you convince Lorenzo to let us visit his mansion? I really want to see what kind of food he's got!" Harold obnoxiously asked.

"Ummm…we'll see." Sid responded showcasing his unease at the idea of Harold doing who knows what at Lorenzo's house.

"From the way you guys talk to each other, you sure seem like friends to me, especially on the count of he came over to your place yesterday. He must think you're cool or somethin'…actually…now that I think about it…I don't think I've ever been over to your place. Have you Harold?"

"Naha." Harold responded.

"Oh, my home is cool too but it's not nearly as interesting as Lorenzo's place…have I told you guys yet about the toys he has!" Sid responded in order to change the subject.

"He's got a remote controlled Red Baron, a Transformer, an epic train set…"

Ch.13

Later that day Sid is walking over to his locker when he passed both Arnold and Gerald.

"Listen, I'll catch up with you later Gerald, I need to talk to Sid about…something." Arnold uttered before he walked towards Sid.

"You got it!" Gerald responded and waved farewell.

"Good afternoon Arnold, what did you want to talk to me for?" Sid responded.

"Well, I had a very interesting conversation with my Grandpa last night at dinner time…"

Sid listened as he continued walking, he knew precisely what was coming next.

"He was…rather confused about the fact that you called him Grandpa…" Arnold further elaborated.

"That? I was just pulling Lorenzo's leg, it was a joke I was playing on him…pretending your Grandpa was mine…" Sid replied as he arrived at his locker and proceeded to open it.

"Okay, but then I found myself having difficulty closing my door. Leading me to finding this…"

Sid leaned his head outward past the barrier provided by his locker door that blocked his vision of Arnold. What Sid saw was Arnold covertly pulling out the "Sid's Bedroom" sign from out of his brown backpack.

Sid pulled the collar of his white undershirt as he began to sweat.

"That? Oh that…that is…that is…" Sid uttered as he attempted to come up with a likely explanation.

"Sid, what's going on here?"

Sid realized he couldn't lie his way out of this jam, thus he quickly responded "Okay, I can explain but not here!"

At the back of the PS 118 building Arnold is sitting on top of one of the two green garbage bins while Sid paced himself left and right on the black gravel pavement.

Arnold uttered, "So let me get this straight, Lorenzo is under the impression that my room is your room and you're afraid that if he sees your real room, that he will stop being your friend because you don't have as cool stuff like he does?"

"Yes!" Sid responded agreeing with Arnold's re-iteration of the story thus far.

"That is ridiculous! I've seen you guys interact in class and even during recess today, Lorenzo seems to really enjoy your company?"

Sid walked towards the tall metal fence that stood adjacent to the trash bins where Arnold sat on. He grabbed onto the fence while looking out to see a mother pushing a baby stroller on a sidewalk across the street.

"That's because he thinks I'm cool. If he sees my place, he'll see that I'm really just a low-class bum with a messy apartment and a run-down room. And let's not even get into my life with the whole..my dad about to marry an annoying lady that's trying to be my new mother!" Sid angrily retorted.

"So…why my room?"

"I don't know, your place was the first thing that came to mind when Lorenzo asked me where to drop me off! There is something about your room that gives off a sense of control, style, and elegance…" Sid uttered as he frowned and stared at the ground.

"If Lorenzo is really your friend then he will continue to hang out with you despite all those things. You can't keep this charade up forever."

"You think I don't know that Arnold?! I know I can't keep this up forever but what you don't understand is that a kid like Lorenzo lives a rich comfortable perfect life, what makes you think he would want to deal with a kid like me? No money, doesn't have normal family along with a whole other list of problems!" Sid retorted as he walked away from the fence.

"Everybody's got problems in their life Sid, I don't know if you've been paying attention but my life isn't exactly perfect either!" Arnold said showcasing bitter irritation with a bull's glance.

Sid finally looked at Arnold before realizing the ignorance of his pervious statement. Arnold also does not have a normal family. While Sid still has a father around to raise him, Arnold doesn't even have that. Realizing his mistake, Sid quickly apologized.

Arnold jumped off from the trash bin and began walking away before stopping to explain in a dull tone "Listen, I'm not gonna tell Lorenzo…if he's truly your friend then he will want to hear it from you. Do what you think is best but I don't want you using my room anymore. Got it?"

"Don't worry Arnold, I'm working on it." Sid responded in a formal apologetic tone.

"Whatever you say Sid." Arnold uttered in a cold tone that made Sid feel even worse for the lie he told to his new best friend.

Ch.14

"…and after cosmonaut Yuri G…Yuri G…"

Sid quickly looked back into the history book he rented from the school library, which was laying flat on his bed. After a quick glance, he returned to standing in front of the mirror to continue his solitary presentation rehearsal.

"After Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first person to fly into space, President Kennedy and the US government gave NASA additional funding and a mission…to put a man on the moon by the decade's end. Despite the inevitable expenses and difficulties, he believed it was not only important for the future of American space exploration…but for the whole world" Sid explained to his mirror self as he waved his right hand in the air to accent his "whole world" phrase.

Suddenly Sid heard his phone ring, but he didn't answer, he was sure Ray or Anne would get it. He had no reason to think the call would be for him.

Sid continued after the phone had stopped ringing, uttering "We go to the moon not because it is easy…but because it is hard" in an over-the-top John F. Kennedy impression.

"Hey Sid, the phone's for you, it's Lorenzo!" Sid heard Ray.

"Lorenzo? What could he be calling me for?" Sid questioned before he picked up the phone in his room.

"Hey Lorenzo, what's up?"

"I'm okay, listen, we are going have to relocate our presentation rehearsal to your place."

Sid accidentally dropped the phone in shock before picking it back up again from the floor.

"My…my place…what happened to your place?"

"You remember those lamps I had in my room, the one you broke with the remote controlled plane?"

"Yeah…" Sid responded in nervous anticipation.

"Well, the rest of the lamps were being removed and as it turns out, termites were found living in my wall. So the house is being fumigated at the moment."

"Oh…wow…I guess it's a good thing I destroyed one of your lamps huh?" Sid responded in disbelief. Is this some sort of cosmic prank?

"I'm in the limo right now and headed to your place."

"Um…are you sure we can't do this speech practice some other time, it is Friday after all."

"I can't do that Sid, my schedule for the rest of the weekend is full. This will be the only night I can do it before our presentation on Monday."

"Okay…no problem then…I'll see you…at my place…yeah" Sid responded trying to hold on to his composure.

"I'll see you then."

As Sid heard the crack of Lorenzo's end hanging up, he saw the colors fade away from his face as he looked at the mirror. Sid kicked himself, thinking he could have told Lorenzo the truth right there, but the thought of disappointing and potentially losing his new best friend prevented him. Sid felt like an absolute coward at that moment.

Sid stood still for a moment before taking his phone and dialing Arnold's number.

Every ring Sid heard on the other end made the wait feel like an eternity.

As he heard the the phone being picked up, Sid yelled "Listen Arnold I know you said you didn't want me to use your room again but Lorenzo is headed to your place right now and I really…really…need it. I promise this will be the last time!"

"Who is this?" Grandpa Phil responded on the other line.

"Grandpa?" Sid responded instinctively.

"You're that long-nosed friend of Arnold again are you? Listen you little crazy cook, I'm not your Grandpa!" Phil responded in an angry fashion.

"Sorry, it won't happen again. Is Arnold there?" Sid responded.

"No, he is out somewhere…I'm not sure where but I'm more certain than a bear at a water fall waiting for jumping salmon that he'll be back within the hour. I caught plenty of salmon back in my day with my old friend Jimmy Kauf…"

Sid didn't wait for Phil to finish his vignette before hanging up the phone, putting on his black leather jacket, and dashing down the stairs. As he ran to the door he saw Ray and Anne sitting down watching TV, which was showing Apollo 13.

Coincidentally it was at the part where Tom Hanks declared "Houston we have a problem."

Sid came to a screeching halt before touching the door "I'm going to the library to meet Lorenzo so we can practice our presentation, I'll see you later Ray…love you!"

Sid was centimeters from touching the knob before realizing he forgot something. He peaked into the living room exclaiming, "Oh, and I'll see you later Anne!" before finally launching himself out of the front door.

Ray turned around to say "I love you too." but by that point Sid was gone. This didn't go unnoticed by Anne either, who uttered "I wonder what he's in a hurry for?"

"Sid is always in a hurry to go somewhere, I always try to tell him that he should slow down once in while."

"I guess in your case slowing down is not that hard to do huh?" Anne teased.

"You try to hurt me with my age my dear but unlike most men…I'm glad to be old!" Ray responded while lightly pumping his chest with his clenched left hand.

"Curses!" Anne jokingly retorted.

"Anyway, I've seen this movie too many times, what else is on." Ray uttered as he picked up the TV guide.

"Oooo…The Godfather is showing on channel 10!" Ray explained as he changed the channel.

"Nice! It's the beginning, have you ever seen this movie?" Ray asked Anne.

"Not in a while, I remember seeing parts of it with my cousin when we were younger. I've told you this before but…your son Sid really reminds me of him. He was the very reason I looked forward to the camping trips my family would drag me along to. He was just the funniest kid, we had nicknames for each other too." Anne explained as she leaned her head on Ray's shoulder.

"Dude-erama…" Ray interjected, rubbing Anne's head with his right hand.

A pause ensued before Anne said "I didn't mean for it to bother him…" feeling embarrassed over her over-bearing initial attempts at being a step-mom to Sid.

Ray kissed Anne on the forehead before replying "It's okay, I know you always mean well."

The couple silently watched the scene in which Brando explains to Johnny Fontane about how a man who doesn't spend time with his family…can never be a real man.

Sid arrived at Arnold's house after a long marathon-style sprint. He stopped once he arrived at Arnold's stoop. He leaned forward, grabbing both of his shaky exhausted knees, loudly panting. He struggled to climb the stairs on the stoop.

He slowly opened the door to Arnold's room, peaking inside to make sure he was still not home. Much to his relief, the were no signs of him.

He quickly replaced Arnold's photos with his own. Once this was done, he quickly looked out the window to see the sun was setting on the Hillwood skyline. Looking down, Sid saw Lorenzo's limo drop him off. As Lorenzo entered in the boarding house, Sid saw out of the corner of his eye Arnold, Stinky, Harold and Gerald strolling in front of the boarding house with Stinky holding what Sid recognized as his poker-player kit.

At this moment Sid's inside's where screaming in panic. He waited in front of Arnold's door with both of this hands held together as if here were pseudo-praying.

Lorenzo finally entered with a faint smile on his face but his eyes looked a bit saggy.

"So Sid, I got great news that I wanted to tell you personally instead of over the phone. I got accepted into the soccer team!", Lorenzo said while raising both of his arms in victory. Even though he was smiling, there was something weighing his shoulders down as Sid observed.

Sid weakly smiled while still partially looking down, "Wow…eh…that's great…"

"Thank you for those little practice sessions at recess this week, it helped me feel more confident."

Sid knew he couldn't stay for long before…well…the truth came strolling through the door. It was time to abort the mission.

"Hey ah…have I ever took you on a tour of my roof. There is a great view of the entire city from there!", Sid suddenly uttered as he pointed to the small glass door on Arnold's roof.

Lorenzo, baffled by the sudden change in conversation topic, responded, "I…no…you haven't…", while Sid quickly gathered his photos.

Loudly, the scene is interrupted by Arnold's alarm clock screaming "Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold!"

Both of the boys simultaneously turned their heads towards the clock.

"Why…do you have a clock with an Arnold-shaped bell?", Lorenzo questioned.

"Oh…that's not Arnold…that's…that's…uh…we shouldn't be wasting too much time let's practice our presentation on the roof. Nothing like being on the roof to get fresh air. Right?", Sid responded as he guided Lorenzo up the ladder and to the roof of the boarding house.

"I guess?" a baffled Lorenzo said.

Before Sid left, he ran across the room to shut the lights off.

Ch.15

Sid finished shutting the door on Arnold's glass roof before turning back to Lorenzo, who was watching the sun give out it's last light before night cast over the sleepy metropolis.

Lorenzo scanned the Hillwood skyline before looking up at the stars saying "I'm still a little baffled you wanted to practice on the roof, but I'm glad because you're right, the view up here is indeed amazing."

Sid started walking over to Lorenzo, trying to think what he's going to do once Arnold comes into his room and turns on the lights. Maybe I could say Arnold is simply borrowing "my room," Sid concocted. Lorenzo continued looking up into the sky.

"One day, I hope to become an astronaut. Flying out to the farthest reaches of space, going to those stars up in the sky. The very stars that helped guide my ancestors back to shore in Mexico when they went out fishing. Wouldn't that be cool?" Lorenzo questioned after giving a bright monologue.

"Yeah…it certainly would be…" Sid responded.

"It reminds me of a fascinating detail I came across when researching space. Despite light being able to travel around 300,000 kilometers per second, due to the stars being so far away, it takes years for the light to reach Earth. Even the nearest star is very far away…about 4 light years away."

"Soooo…it takes four years for the light to reach us?"

"Correct, and you know what that means?"

Sid shrugged.

"It means for all we know, some of those stars you up there actually burned out a long time ago, but it will be years before we know about it because we are still receiving the light on Earth. So the sky is like…an old photograph…of what the universe was like in the past. Before reading that, I used to think the sky provided a mirror of sorts to the universe's terrain…but I guess that simply isn't the case huh?"

Sid momentarily forgot his predicament as his child mind was blown away by the revelation.

Feeling like now was a good time if any, Lorenzo said with a warm smile "Listen…Sid…I want to thank you…"

"Thank me…fo…for what?" Sid responded.

"For being…probably the first true friend I've ever had."

Sid is taken aback by the sudden turn in the conversation, but stayed silent as Lorenzo continued with "Back at Peavine Academy, which was a rich kids prep school, social stature and family reputation fueled the friendships there. Most people only wanted to be my friend because of my successful parents. When I moved to Hillwood, I feared it was going to be a repeat…"

"Is that why you never invited Rhonda or the Higgin's kid to your house?"

"Correct again, they only want to socialize with me because I'm rich like them…but you are different."

"Different?"

"Yeah, you treat me…just like…you know…a normal kid. I feel like I can be my true honest self with you." Lorenzo answered.

The phrases "true friend" and "true honest self" echoed through Sid's mind, causing him to look down at the gray concrete floor of Arnold's roof. He saw water dripping onto the floor.

Is it raining? No…Sid realized…it wasn't rain at all…but...tears.

Sid couldn't hold the guilt and shame anymore, he put both of his hands over his eyes and began to cry, desperately trying to hold the tears back like the Hoover Dam.

"Are you okay Sid? Did I say something wrong?" Lorenzo asked in a scared but professional manner, raising both of his hands up in preparation to hold Sid's shoulders.

"No Lorenzo…you didn't do anything wrong…" Sid responded while attempting to wipe the tears from his face.

After looking up to face Lorenzo again did Sid finally confess, "Listen Lorenzo, I gotta tell you something…my room…it's not my room…it's Arnold's", with the lights in Arnold's room finally coming on.

Lorenzo noticed the glass roof to Arnold's room light up, but kept his glance at Sid.

"What do you mean?" Lorenzo uttered even though he understood right away.

Sid walked towards the illuminated glass roof, extending his right hand signaling Lorenzo to come and see. Lorenzo walked over and saw Arnold and the four other boys walk into the room. Arnold is pulling out the retractable table from under his bed.

"Sid…you lied to me?" a disappointed Lorenzo asked while scanning the scene unfolding in Arnold's room. When he didn't get an immediate answer he turned his head to see Sid was no longer standing next to him but sitting at the small wall six feet away from the glass roof. He was half covered in darkness and light.

Sid continued to look down explaining, "I wanted to tell you sooner but I…I was afraid that you were gonna stop hanging out with me because I didn't have cool stuff or a perfect life like you do!", before covering his face with his arms, which were resting on his knees.

During the process of Lorenzo walking over and sitting down next to Sid, he asked "Perfect life? What are you talking about?" with a mix of annoyance, disappointment, concern and confusion.

"Oh come on Lorenzo…don't make fun of me…" Sid uttered lifting his head from his arms and giving a sharp stare at Lorenzo "…you live in a mansion lined with expensive paintings, a fancy room loaded toys and a closest that's practically a comics library. Not to mention rich successful parents. Meanwhile, I live in a boring trashy apartment, a dad whose been thanklessly working construction for three decades, and an annoying woman that's trying to be my new mom!"

"Sid…I don't care if you don't have cool stuf…wait…your new mom?" Lorenzo responded with a heavy stress placed at the end of his sentence once he realized another inconsistency in what Sid had told him thus far.

"Okay Sid, no more surprises, whatever lies you told me up to this point, clear it up now! I don't want there to be anymore secrets between us…" Lorenzo angrily added.

Sid reached into his backpack, which was sitting on his left side, and pulled out his old family photo. He pointed his right index finger at his biological mother and explained, "That there is my real mom, when I was five she ran off, my Dad and I have not seen her since. It was taken three months before she left."

"Why did she leave?

"I don't know…for the next two years before going to bed I always asked my Dad when Mommy was coming home. All she left behind for me was a green hat and these boots." Sid explained as he took off his hat to demonstrate to Lorenzo.

"Why do you hang on to them? Are you hoping she'll come back so you and your Dad can be a family again?"

"I wish that can happen…" Sid responded while placing his hat back on, "…but my Dad is completely twitterpated with this new woman. If anything, I just hope I see her again so I can ask her why she left…" Sid uttered with bitter resentment undercutting his voice.

"You sound like you hate her?"

"Hate who?"

"Your would-be stepmom…what's her name?"

"Her name is Anne and it's not like I hate her or anything, it just…feels weird to me because for three years it was just my Dad and I. Now he's sharing the house with a stranger who calls me Dude-erama…acting as if she's known me all my life! I don't know anything about her and now she is going to be my new mom!" Sid monologued putting an over-the-top doofus voice to the word Dude-erama.

"Is she ever mean to you? It sounds like she really wants to be your friend." Lorenzo questioned.

"Not really…she's okay and all…I just don't feel ready for a new mom…"

Sid paused, rubbed his hair with his right hand before continuing with "I don't know if you noticed but, I have my mom's hair…"

"I did notice the resemblance…"

"I guess if I have anything to thank her for it's that I don't have to fear going bald like my old man…" Sid gave a quick awkward laugh while patting the top of his head with his right hand in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, "…I love my Dad, we are like a team him and I. Without her we had to get by alone, even learning how to cook meals together. This may sound cocky but it's a hundred percent true…I'm the better chef" Sid uttered while smiling at Lorenzo. Lorenzo gave a sweet genuine smile back.

Sid further added, "In fact…I have to be the one to cook his omelet or else he'd burn it!" causing both the kids to giggle uncontrollably.

After that Sid became over-wrapped with somber thoughts, "But I get why he wants to marry Anne. He wants to move on…be free of mom…so really we both want the same thing. I know this may sound stupid but…I know I remind him of her. When that happens I start to fear that he secretly doesn't want me…that he spends time with Anne to get away from me…" Sid barely got out the words before pushing his face against his arms to prevent Lorenzo from seeing his teary eyes.

"Why would your own father want to get away from you?"

"I don't know…like I said…it's stupid…I just…can't help wondering to myself why she left me? Did I do something wrong…was I a bad child?"

Lorenzo quickly gave Sid a hug. Three seconds passed by before the pair broke away with Sid softly thanking Lorenzo.

"So…that about covers it. You now know the whole truth now…messed up huh?"

Lorenzo frowned and stared down on the ground before responding "At least you have a father that loves you…" in a clinical delivery.

Sid lifted his head up in shock and gazed at Lorenzo, who was looking down while relaxing his arms on his bent knees.

"What?" Sid responded

"I haven't been a hundred percent honest myself…"

Ch.16

One hour earlier...

Lorenzo is standing adjacent to the Monet painting. His mom kneeled in front of him with both of her hands on his shoulders. Lorenzo could only make out the odd words and phrases such as separation…settlement…weekends…but he could only hear the walls of his room rumbling from the sounds of repair men removing the lamps.

Lorenzo was feeling like he's having an out-of-body experience right now, as if he was actually a specter observing himself from across the hallway. It was only when his mom called his name for a third time that his mind snapped back to reality.

"Lorenzo…do you understand what I just said…"

"Ye…yes mother…you and father decided to get…separated…you rented a condo downtown where we will live together. We will be moving out of the house in a week."

"How are you feeling right now?"

"I…ummmm…" Lorenzo uttered before looking at the carpeted floor adjacent to the right of his mother. Many emotions raced through his head. Sadness, powerlessness, anger, disappointment, but probably the one that troubled him the most was…relief…Lorenzo was not entirely sure why he felt that last part so strongly. It troubled him, so much that he desperately searched for a way out of his predicament. He didn't want to deal with this now.

Lorenzo looked at his watch before exclaiming "I gotta go now. I'm meeting Sid at the library to practice our presentation and maybe get ice cream afterwards."

"I thought you told me Sid was coming over here?" Gabriella responded while taking her hands off of Lorenzo's shoulders.

"At first, but we chose the library instead just in case we needed to do further research on our history project…" Lorenzo retorted, almost scaring himself at how easily he just lied to his own mother.

"Okay…I won't hold you up then, but remember Lorenzo, you can talk to me. It's okay if you are feeling sad or angry…"

"You don't have to worry about me mom, I'm fine." Lorenzo uttered as he walked down the hallway.

"Lorenzo wait!" Gabriella called out.

Lorenzo stood still and turned around, with Gabriella saying "Before you go, I want to say I'm proud of you for making the soccer team. I'll be cheering for you at your first game next Saturday."

Lorenzo felt worse now for the lie he just told, but kept his poker face to give a dull "Thanks mom, I'll see you later."

Lorenzo continued walking down the hallway and increased in pace as he dashed down the mansion's central staircase. He was about to grab unto the golden door knob of his red front door to meet with Molina outside before he spotted something out of the corner of his left eye.

It was his father, or at least, the backside of his father showcasing two men in black suits one of his prized paintings. The painting in question was a recreation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. He could hear faint laughter amongst the inaudible chatter. Lorenzo stood frozen, feeling light headed with everything seeming to fall into silence. He wanted to say something to his father, but what?

In fact, what could he say to him?

He imagined himself going over to him and loudly vent out all the frustrations he kept bottled up for so many years, but Lorenzo was not feeling particularly brave that night. Lorenzo turned the door knob and stepped out into the front of his house.

The limo was still parked in the cul-de-sac plaza. Lorenzo entered in and saw Molina writing in a yellow crossword puzzle book in the front seat. Molina rapidly placed the book down and asked "Where to Mr. Lopez?"

Lorenzo momentarily wondered if he will be getting his last name changed now that his parents are divorcing, then responded "To Sid's boarding house please."

Molina began driving while Lorenzo remembered that he should probably notify his best friend of the change in plans. Yeah, that's what I need right now, Lorenzo thought. Hanging out with Sid always lifted the nine year old's spirits. He picked up and dialed his cell phone, hearing on the other line "Hello?"

Lorenzo figured it was Sid's father, who sounded precisely how the rich kid imagined he would sound like from his photo.

"This is Lorenzo Lopez, is Sid home?"

"Sure thing Lorenzo…" Lorenzo heard Ray say before he yelled out for his true friend to pick up the phone.

Ch.17

"So wait? That whole thing about your house getting fumigated?" Sid asked trying to not to seem like he's interrogating Lorenzo.

"Not true, I made it up because I didn't feel like talking about…the thing going on with my parents…"

"Huh? That's kinda funny…"

"That my parent's are separating?" Lorenzo asked in an astonished surprise with vague disgust.

"No, no…when I was trying to convince Arnold that I needed his room…I used a similar story to yours…" Sid rapidly explained.

Lorenzo's face straightened out after before giving a slight grin "Oh…hehe…that is a funny coincidence…I guess it's true what they say about great minds thinking alike huh?"

"I guess so!" Sid responded before both shared a laugh.

"Anyway…that really sucks man…that your parents are splitting up. It's not easy."

"It's not like this came out of nowhere though, it's been happening for a while, I could practically sense that they didn't love each other anymore. Mom was hoping that completing the Lopez Financial building and moving to Hillwood would provide a fresh new start…but it didn't. It's the same story, my father is constantly gone for business meetings, trips and parties while my mother and I are left alone."

It dawned on Sid as to why Lornezo's mother is so protective, because she was practically raising a child on her own, which is something Ray can perfectly relate to.

"Make no mistake, I respect my father for all his accomplishments. Ever since I was young, I tried to gain his attention by trying to be like him. Dressing all nice, studying everything there is to know about business, math, and the arts. Learning be logical and practical. Tightly adhered to a daily agendas much like him, that's why I had that nervous breakdown three months back..."

"You were trying to win your father's approval by being like him?"

"Yes, that's why I'm glad Arnold and you guys came into my life, because one night I was lying in bed…and I had an epiphany. I realized trying to please my father only ever brought me unhappiness. Hanging out with you guys and playing games like soccer made me feel…well…invigorated…for the first time in my life, so from that moment on…I decided I was going to do what Lorenzo wants to do…not what I think my father wants me to do."

"Sounds like you and your father don't spend much time together…"

"Not really, he treats me more like another business partner if anything."

"You sound as if you are…kinda…relieved."

"Am I bad person for feeling that?"

"Given what you've told me so far, I can't blame you."

"I do still love him though, I can't help it…he's my dad. Still, there is a part of me that feels guilty, as If I could have done more, but that doesn't matter now. I wish my dad was like yours…"

Lorenzo finally buried himself into his arms, with Sid hearing small yelping noises that indicated that he was crying. Sid paused for a second, wanting to say something but words refused to form. Finally, he remembered the gesture Lorenzo did the other day and decided to return the favor. Silently, he place his right hand on Lorenzo's left shoulder. Lorenzo raised his head and patted his left hand on Sid's right hand while silently thanking him.

"I guess both of our lives are kinda messed up in a way huh?" Sid exclaimed, causing both the kids giggle.

"I still should't have lied to you?"

"I lied too so I don't think you owe me an apology…"

"Nah…I lied way more than you did…so I want to say I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" Sid responded while he got back up on his own two feet. Sid extended his right hand to help Lorenzo up.

After helping him up, Lorenzo responded, "Well…you did lie to me, but you also told me the truth on your own accord. Having said that, if you want to save our friendship…then you must do two things…"

Lorenzo raised up two fingers,"One…you must take me over to your place tonight and two"

Sid leaned over in fearful anticipation as Lorenzo made a drawn-out pause, "…you better have some banana bread left over." Lorenzo explained while putting on a faux tough-guy voice.

Sid slapped Lorenzo on the side of Lorenzo's shoulder yelling "I hate you! Don't scare me like that!" while both kids laugh out loud.

Ch.18

Arnold, Harold, and Gerald are sitting on the table while Stinky is shuffling his deck of cards. As Arnold waited patiently, he scanned across his room, getting the sinking feeling that something…was a miss…

It then hit him.

My pictures!?

Arnold got up from his chair and silently walked around his room. He could see the dust outline on the walls were the pictures used to be. Arnold wondered if he was losing his mind right now…where could he have put them?

"Are you okay Arnold, what are you looking for?" Gerald asked.

"I just noticed my pictures are missing…" Arnold responded.

Suddenly, Arnold and the rest of the kids in his room hear a voice yelling, "I hate you! Don't scare me like that!" causing them to snap their heads towards the direction of his glass roof. Arnold became startled before realizing whose voice that was…Sid!

The door to the glass roof opened with Arnold peaking out to see Sid and Lorenzo. Arnold was not quite sure what to say at the moment because from his point of view, it seemed Sid was using his room again, which annoyed him greatly. However, he didn't want to be the one to tell Lorenzo the truth.

"Hey Sid…how's it going?"

Sid and Lorenzo finally noticed Arnold and both greeted him.

Stinky was still sitting at the table shuffling the cards but he heard Sid's name, calling out loud "Sid? What the hell is he doin' on top of your roof Arnold?"

Arnold turned his head with his right index finger over his mouth and made a "shhhhh" noise to silence Stinky…but it was too late.

Sid saw what Arnold was doing, so he place both his hands up and uttered "It's okay Arnold, I've told Lorenzo everything and I'm gonna show him my real room tonight."

A relieved Arnold replied "That's cool, come back inside, it's getting a bit chilly."

Sid and Lorenzo climb down into Arnold's room. Stinky, Harold and Gerald were all confused at the sight of the pair.

"What…were you guys doing on Arnold's roof?" Gerald asked.

"Sid knows how much I love space and Arnold's roof has the best view in all of the city, so he decided to show me…being the great friend he is…" Lorenzo replied while placing his right arm over Sid's shoulders. Sid gave a big smile.

"Oh Sid, since you are here, I need you to explain a few thangs for me?" Stinky interjected.

"Sure, shoot!" Sid replied.

"I was over at the comic book store on Douseman today to get myself a Darkness comic. I was a little disappointed to see there wasn't a whole lot left…" Stinky explained as Sid glanced at Lorenzo, knowing the rich kid practically bought out the store.

"Anyway, I got an issue but I'm a bit confused. From the way The Darkness and Dr. Octogon talk to each other…are they old friends or somethin'?"

"Yes actually, Coleman and Vaughn were the best of pals during college, the former came from a life of privilege while the latter had to work his way up the social ladder. Despite Vaughn going mad, Coleman believes deep down inside that his old friend is still there. I never quite understood that myself until…now really."

"Understood what?" Harold interjected.

"Understood why Coleman's refused to ever end Octogon. But I think I understand now, it's because Coleman is a true friend. No matter how ugly Vaughn got or how many misdeeds he commits, Coleman still wants to help his friend no matter what."

"Oh!" Stinky replied.

"Anyway, we should get going." Lorenzo interjected.

Both Sid and Lorenzo walk to the door while everybody in the room said "Bye" or "See you later."

Lorenzo opened the door and allowed Sid to enter first and before shutting the door himself, he waved and said…

Adios!