Hey, everyone! My name is Tangerine53, and I am so incredibly excited to be writing on Fanfiction again after over 5 years! Quite a dry spell, to say the least (I know), but how can you not be inspired by Hey Arnold!, I ask you? I thoroughly enjoyed the cartoon as a kid, but watching it again as an adult has sparked a new love for it within me, one I never had before as a child (at least not to this extent). It's just so amazing! I am excited to share own ideas beyond the initial series as well as stretch my writing muscles once again. Hopefully, I'm not as dusty as I think I am. ;) If you enjoy my writing and are interested in reading any of my previous work (some of which was written over 10 years ago!), please do. Make sure you leave reviews with your thoughts as well! Also, please do leave reviews as you read through this story as well. I welcome any and all feedback, and love to hear how people are reacting to my work. Who knows, it may even spur me on to update faster. ;) Fair warning: I am in grad school as well as work a full time job, so I may not have the chance to write and update as much as I'd like, but I promise to attempt it in a timely fashion. Now, enough of my ramblings. You didn't come to read those, you came to read about our favorite football head. This story takes place after the series and Hey Arnold! The Movie.
Chapter 1
"Hey Arnold!" Gerald waved to his best friend as he walked out the doors of P.S. 118. It had been a long time since the two had darkened those doorways – seven years, to be precise. But when Mr. Simmons requested an audience, you answered. Especially Arnold. Mr. Simmons had been his favorite teacher, and a mysterious summons needed no further prompting to bring him hurrying over to their former elementary school after class let out.
"Hey, Gerald." Arnold descended the stairs and strode over to the stack of black hair leisurely, his usual, nonchalant smirk firmly affixed to his indifferent expression.
"So, what did Mr. Simmons want, man?" Gerald asked, brimming with curiosity.
"He wanted to know if I'd be a counselor at Camp What-a-Nut this summer," Arnold replied.
"That's awesome! You gonna do it?"
"I think I might, Gerald. It's a great opportunity."
"Yeah, and you're great with kids."
"He asked Lila to be a counselor too," Arnold said, attempting to appear as casual as possible.
"Uh-huh." Gerald drew the vowels out in a manner Arnold knew only too well. "So that's why you're doin' it."
"That's not the only reason," Arnold countered.
"It may not be the only reason, but it's certainly the first one on your list. Admit it, Arnold, you've been holdin' out for Lila since the fourth grade."
"So what if I have?"
The boys waited for the crossing signal's red hand to dissolve into the image of a glowing white man, then proceeded across the street and continued their mosey along the sidewalk.
"So you're thinkin' that if you two spend the summer together as counselors she might actually start to "like you" like you," Gerald reasoned, then sighed. "I can't believe I just used that phrase. How old are we?"
Arnold grinned. "Seventeen."
"Exactly. Face it, Arnold, if she hasn't developed feelings for you by now, she probably never will."
"Probably still leaves room for reasonable doubt."
"There you go again," Gerald sighed.
"What?"
"Looking on the bright side."
Arnold grinned again. "Somebody has to," he said.
"I just hope your sunny optimism doesn't end up letting you down one of these days."
"Don't worry, Gerald. At best, Lila and I will end up spending a lot of time together and maybe something will come of it. At worst, I'll spend the summer having fun with a bunch of kids. Either way, it'll be great," Arnold said, stopping in front of his grandparents' boarding house.
"You got a point there," Gerald assented with a nod. "When do you leave?"
"Next week."
"How long is camp?"
"Practically all summer. I'll get back about a week before school starts back up."
"Well, I'm happy for ya, but I was also lookin' forward to spending the summer together," Gerald admitted, a melancholic note entering his tone momentarily.
"I know, Gerald. I was too. I'm sorry." Arnold placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder with a sigh.
"Ah, don't sweat it. We'll have plenty of time to make some epic senior memories next school year," Gerald said, shrugging Arnold's hand off his shoulder and praying the expression of concern in his eyes would disappear just as swiftly. Thankfully, it did.
"Definitely," Arnold agreed.
The two friends exchanged their signature handshake.
"I'll hold ya to it, no matter what happens with Lila," Gerald said with a wink, resuming his mosey down the sidewalk toward his own abode.
Arnold chuckled as he proceeded up the boarding house stoop and placed a hand on the knob of his front door. "Don't worry," he said, opening the door to let the slew of animals within stampede down the stairs and out into the street, disappearing into the adjoining alley. "Whatever happens, next year is gonna be our year, I promise."
Very little had changed for the football head in seven years, except for the fact this his body had become ever so slightly more proportionate with the exaggerated shape of his oblong cranium. His grandparents, though several years older, were still as spry as ever, and the tenants at the boarding house hadn't changed. Oskar, Susie, Ernie, and Mr. Hyunh – a motley crew, to say the least, but they were his crew. He still thought about his parents from time to time. The journal he'd found in the attic years prior rested peacefully upon the top shelf of his bookcase beside their picture, which he had finally removed from the drawer in the wall beside his bed. His grandfather had then had it framed so he could display it prominently, and it suited the room perfectly. It no longer caused him pain to look at it – quite the opposite, in fact. Even though the mystery of just why his parents had never returned from San Lorenzo still remained unsolved, hearing the rest of the story in his father's own words had managed to finally soothe the boy's restless soul regarding the matter. He had been loved; he had been special; and somehow, knowing this, he didn't feel like quite so much of an orphan anymore, and he had begun to fully embrace his life in the boarding house. He couldn't imagine his life without each and every one of the eccentric boarders who lived there, as much as they might aggravate him more often than not. He had never known anything else, and he didn't want to.
"Yes sir, there's gonna be some major changes around here, Olga."
Helga rolled her eyes as she watched her father pace the floor of Big Bob's Beepers, her cheek cradled in the palm her hand, elbow resting on the front counter.
"Still Helga, Dad," she sighed heavily.
"Eh?" He paused temporarily and raised a quizzical eyebrow, observing his youngest daughter skeptically. "Whatever," he said, and resumed his pacing, "the point is that this place is gonna be completely revamped for the twenty-fist century."
"I know, Bob, I've only been hearing about it for the past six months."
"It's gonna kill me to close up for three months, but it'll be worth it. You know what this means, though, don't ya? You're gonna be out of job, girl."
"Big Bob's Beepers isn't the only place in town, Dad. I'm sure I'll find another job for the summer," Helga said.
"Uh-uh, your mom and I have already talked about it and we think this is the perfect opportunity for you spend a little, uh, 'quantity time' with your big sister."
Helga's eyes nearly shot out of her head they widened so quickly. "What?"
"She called the other day and offered to have you come spend the summer with her and Chet. They'll show you around Boston, take you on a few college tours, and you can help them with the kids," Bob said.
"What makes you think for even one millisecond that I'd want to spend my summer walking around college campuses and babysitting Olga's brats?" she cried.
"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough out of you, little lady," Bob scolded. "Let's put it this way: you are going to stay with Olga for the summer, and that's that."
"Criminy!" And with that exclamation, Helga pushed herself out of her seat and stormed out of the beeper emporium.
"You better be goin' to pack!" Bob called as the automatic doors closed behind her.
