Chapter 2 - "You Won't Believe What Happened"

The rest of the month of September raced by. Their schoolwork was, of course, harder, but Mr. Simmons made it enjoyable to learn. Most days after school and most weekend days, the kids still got together for their little adventures and games - baseball at Gerald's Field, bike rides, the pier, Dinoland and the dozens of other fun things and adventures the kids were always up for.

Arnold had tried multiple times to talk to Helga, but she made it impossible. She pointedly never looked at him in class, no matter how many times he glanced over his shoulder at her. She was practically glued to Phoebe's side, so he rarely caught her alone – which was what he wanted because what he wanted to talk to her about he wanted to without anyone around. Yet she seemed to never be alone. He never even ran into her outside of school like he sometimes had done before.

The few times that Arnold did catch her by herself, she displayed that amazing ability to disappear. He still could not figure out how she did it. It had to be that she never looked him in the eye; as he tried to talk, she would be staring so intently at something else that he involuntarily (no matter how many times he was determined NOT to look) looked in that direction, only to turn back to her and find her gone. It truly was uncanny.

When all the kids hung out, she was always there, participating in the games and fun as usual and seemed to enjoy herself, but it was different in a way. She still had a temper, but she was nowhere near as bad as she used to be. No-one, of course, would mess with her. She was still intimidating and still had a way of scowling at someone to get her way, but he didn't really hear any mean insults coming from her directed towards anyone. He especially noticed that nothing mean came from her towards him. No names, no insults, no shoves or pushes, no spitballs…nothing.

He was glad, in a way. It was good not to deal with the annoyances of her pranks. Yet, Arnold did miss some things. Helga was hilarious when she let herself be, but he wasn't seeing that anymore. She was mostly quiet, even in the group. She had a way with sarcasm that he always found funny, even when she was sarcastic with him, and he missed that.

Arnold wasn't the only one who had noticed this drastic change in Helga. He heard snippets of conversations among his other friends and classmates on the bus or at lunch. He could see the worried look in Phoebe's eyes sometimes as she and Helga sat talking during recess or on the bus. Arnold even noticed Mr. Simmons eyeing the blond girl a few times in class as she half-heartedly answered questions.

The crisp September days passed quickly and before he knew it, October arrived. Arnold was frustrated that he had gotten nowhere with Helga during the entire month. How was she so darn elusive? She practically sat next to him in school, yet he couldn't get hold of her for more than a minute to talk to her.

His problems with Helga, however, paled as a certain anniversary approached. Arnold hated this time of year, in spite of his birthday being just around the corner. It was the day, two days before his birthday, that he dreaded. The day his parents left and never came back.

The few October days leading up to October 5 were spent in school, where he mechanically did his work and made it through the day. He didn't really speak to anyone…didn't go and play after school…and didn't pester Helga. If he would have been paying attention that week, he would have noticed that she seemed almost relieved that he wasn't turning around in his seat every ten minutes to look at her. Helga was finally able to fully concentrate on her work in class and she breathed a little easier, though she had no idea why Arnold was suddenly so depressed-looking – a fact which, of course, worried her.

On October fifth, which was a Saturday, something happened that changed everything.

Arnold found the journal.

And he found a map.

And his problems with Helga were temporarily forgotten.

On Sunday he couldn't wait to get to Gerald's house and share his discovery with his best friend. Gerald, who knew everything that Arnold knew about his parents, was just as excited as Arnold to learn even more. Gerald had always felt horrible about the fact that Arnold's parents disappeared so mysteriously. He was as gung-ho as Arnold was about going to find them. They spent the afternoon brainstorming ideas to make it to San Lorenzo and made many plans to search together for them. Gerald's sympathetic support was just the balm that Arnold needed to help with his mood and when he finally left before dinnertime, he felt happier than he had felt for over a week.

As Arnold turned the corner from Gerald's street, he saw Helga walking ahead of him. Where she was coming from, he had no idea, but she was alone and was heading in the direction of both of their houses. He couldn't believe his luck.

He picked up his pace to get closer to her. She didn't seem to be in a hurry and walked slowly with her hands in the pockets of her jacket. When he got closer, he called her name.

Her step faltered and she seemed to hesitate, then kept walking. Arnold frowned. She had to have heard him.

"Helga wait!"

Helga stopped then and slowly turned around. She waited for Arnold to catch up with her, but didn't make eye contact with him. She stared at the window of the shop she had stopped in front of.

"Hi Helga! Walking home?" he asked her when he reached her. He was determined not to fall for her tricks of making him look somewhere else so she could disappear.

"Um, yeah."

"Can I walk with you for a bit?"

Helga looked surprised at the question and glanced at him quickly before looking away again. "Sure, I guess." She turned around and started walking again with Arnold at her side.

He looked at her as they walked. She had never been this unfriendly when they had hung out before – just the two of them. For instance, even though they were both unhappy at Thanksgiving, Helga at least had seemed to be happy to hang out with him. Arnold, however, was too excited about the discovery of the journal. For some reason, he wanted to share it with her. He knew she would understand.

"You won't believe what happened!"

Arnold watched her as she grimaced slightly. It took Helga a moment before she asked in a flat voice, "What?"

Arnold held up the journal that he was carrying. "I was reading my dad's journal. Grandpa and I found it. I think…I think my parents might be alive."

She stopped as if stunned, then turned quickly to face him, giving him a sharp look before looking down to stare down at the book Arnold held in his hands.

"Really?" Helga asked, her voice and expression showing how much this interested her.

"Yeah! I was just over to Gerald's to show him. There's a map in here to where they went." Arnold opened the book and flipped to the back, opening up the map. "See?" he asked, turning the book and shoving it into her hands. He was so happy that she was actually talking to him that he was a little awkward.

He noticed how gently she handled it though, as if she too considered it a precious object. Helga lifted the book slightly to study the map. "San Lorenzo?"

"It's in Central America."

"Why were they going there?"

Arnold then explained to her a little about the green-eyed people and how his parents were going there to help them, but their plane got lost. Helga watched him and he could see the sympathy and concern in her eyes. Then for some reason, she turned her attention back to the book and started leafing through it, looking at the pictures, one of which made her actually smile. Even as he talked, he leaned a bit closer to her to see which picture she was smiling at and saw it was a picture of himself as a baby.

When she reached the map page again, she waited until he finished his explanation and asked, "You think they were headed to this?"

Arnold nodded. "I think so." Then he sighed a little in frustration. "I just wish I could go there. I'm going to do what I can to get down there and try to find them. Someday."

"That's great Arnold," Helga said, and she sounded pretty enthusiastic and positive about the idea. He watched her carefully fold the map back into the book and then close the journal gently. She then handed it back to him as she said, "This book is, well, it's really a treasure."

Helga saying that surprised him a little, but he felt so happy that she did and he smiled warmly at her. "I think so too."

They kept walking and in a few minutes reached the Sunset Arms where they stopped at the bottom of his stoop. He was facing her and thinking that maybe he should invite her in. Helga did look a little distressed, even though she said to him in a very quiet voice, "Thank you for sharing that with me, Arnold. I…I appreciate it. I hope you can find them."

"Thanks Helga," he said, smiling sincerely at her. "I knew you'd understand," and he did know that.

Helga stared at him, her expression confused and sad at the same time. Arnold tilted his head as he looked back at her, unsure why she would be wearing an expression like that. She finally gave him a half-smile and looked away, up towards his door and he automatically turned, climbed the steps and put his hand on the doorknob. "Oh," he said, turning back to invite her to come inside with him, but she wasn't there.

Frustrated once again, he jumped back down to the sidewalk, looking both ways up and down the street. "Helga!" he yelled, but got no response. "HELGA!" Arnold looked around the building, both sides, but she was nowhere to be seen. "How does she do that!?" he yelled, angry at himself for letting this golden opportunity slip away once again. 'Why didn't I just make her sit here with me on the stoop? If I wouldn't have looked away, I could have gotten her to talk to me.'

Arnold stomped up the steps, slammed the front door, and made his way up to his room. The journal was carefully laid on his desk; in spite of his anger he still treated it with special care. He kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his bed, staring up through his roof. "Why is she acting this way?" he said loudly. "She's never been like this before, and why won't she talk to me?" He couldn't understand at all. Today was the first time she had said more than five words to him since April. He thought they were getting along again, but apparently they weren't.

He put his hands over his face and made a noise like a muffled scream. "Fine! If she doesn't want to talk to me, I just won't try anymore!"

He rolled over, crossed his arms on the bed and buried his face in them.

A few moments later, there was a soft knock at his door. "Short Man?" he heard his grandfather's voice call, sounding worried.

"Come in!" Arnold yelled, though his voice was muffled by his arms.

When Phil opened the door to see his grandson face down on the bed with his face hidden, he had to smile, and, after a moment, hid his smile away.

"It sounded like you're upset Arnold," he said, coming into the room to stand by the bed. "I thought I heard…well something like a scream from here. What's the matter? What happened?"

Arnold groaned and mumbled something.

"I can't understand you like that Arnold. Sit up!" he commanded. Phil was seldom stern with Arnold - the boy rarely did anything bad, but he thought it a good time to bring out that voice.

After a moment, Arnold rolled back over and struggled to a sitting position, his legs hanging off his bed. Since there was now room, Phil sat on the edge of the bed next to Arnold. "Now tell me, what happened to upset you so much?"

"Helga!" the young boy cried. "She did it again!"

"What did she do?"

"She disappeared, Grandpa!" he said, his frustration evident, his face flushed. "I finally had her alone. I caught her as I walked home. I stopped her and asked to walk with her and she said yes. I thought finally I'd have a chance to talk to her."

"And?"

"She WASN'T talking to me and I didn't know how to start. Then I realized I wanted to tell her about the journal we found, so I did. She stopped walking and finally looked at me. I gave her the journal and she looked through it while I told her. She looked…interested…and happy for me. She actually talked to me."

"Well that's good Arnold. I'm glad to hear that…."

"But we started walking again and we got here. I was going to invite her in, but before I could she thanked me for sharing Mom and Dad's story with her." He was kicking his heels at his bed as he talked, showing Phil how frustrated he was.

"That was nice of her…"

"I thought so, and I told her so, and said I knew she'd understand. She just looked…I don't know Grandpa. When I said that, she looked confused, even a little sad. At least I think so. I just stared at her wondering why she would look like that. Then she sort of smiled at me and looked at the door. I KNOW I shouldn't look away from her. She disappears when I do, but I thought things were good between us again. So I turned to walk up the steps, not realizing that I hadn't asked her to come in. I turned to ask her and SHE WAS GONE! AGAIN!"

The boy nearly shouted the last few words and it was all Phil could do not to laugh. The girl was working his grandson up into a frenzy. This, to Phil, was a good thing. Pookie would be delighted to hear this new development. Arnold certainly had strong feelings for Helga - that was obvious now. Not obvious to Arnold, Phil could see, but obvious to Phil.

"I yelled for her and tried to look for her, but she was GONE! I don't know HOW she does it! How could she get away that quickly? There was no trace of her!"

Phil put his hand on Arnold's shoulder. "First of all, Arnold, you need to calm down."

Arnold took a deep breath, then realized how he must be sounding to his grandfather. He was a little embarrassed and took another deep breath to help dissipate his anger.

"I'm sorry Grandpa."

"It's ok Arnold. I know you're frustrated. I would be too. It's ok to be angry, but let's talk about what you can do about this."

"I can't think of what to do Grandpa. How can I do anything when she won't even talk to me?"

"Why do you want to talk to her so badly, Short Man? What do you plan on saying to her?"

Arnold turned his head to stare at his grandfather blankly. What was he going to talk to Helga about? He wasn't really sure. He knew he had originally wanted to assure her she was missed that summer, but that was now over a month ago and seemed stupid to bring up.

"You're trying to talk to this girl so much and you have nothing to say?" Phil asked.

"No I have something to say!" Arnold insisted. "I mean, I think I want to talk about what happened at FTi."

Phil reached up to rub at his chin. "You know Arnold, I may be wrong here, but did you ever think that Helga is afraid you want to talk to her about that?"

Arnold looked down at his lap. He hadn't thought of that. Did that mean she didn't mean what she said? So she didn't want him to think she really did like him? Maybe she thought he liked her back and didn't want to hurt his feelings?

"Um, I don't know Grandpa."

"She may not be ready to talk about it Arnold," Phil suggested. "She may not have been ready to tell you how she felt in the first place. It sounded like you pushed her into it. She might not be able to face it again right now."

Arnold thought that over. "Or maybe she doesn't like me Grandpa and just wants to avoid me."

"Oh I suppose that could be the case too," Phil grinned inwardly at the frown that showed on the boys' face when he said that. "But I don't think that's it. The way she's acting, I'm sure she still likes you."

Arnold's expression brightened up noticeably when Phil said that, but it still remained clouded and upset. "What do I do, Grandpa? How do I fix this?"

Phil put his arm around Arnold and pulled him closer for a side hug. "I know you feel you need to fix everyone, Arnold, but sometimes you just can't, until the person is ready to be fixed. If I were you I would give her some space. I'm assuming you trying to talk to her so much is something out of the ordinary?" he asked and received a nod from his grandson. "I'm not saying ignore her, but just don't chase her down anymore. Go back to normal and let her feel comfortable again. The time will come when you'll need to be more aggressive about letting her know how you feel, but for now, just let her alone."

It sounded like good advice to Arnold. He was willing to try anything at this point. He nodded again, "Ok Grandpa. I'll try that. Maybe I was being too forward. She's just so hard to figure out!"

His grandfather chuckled and stood up. "The best girls are, Arnold. She'll be worth it in the end," he said, then left the room, leaving a very thoroughly mystified Arnold still sitting on his bed.