Jealousy
Chapter 2
At school the next day, Arnold decided to just get the news out of the way. As always, he told Gerald first. He did choose to wait until they were at school, since Gerald had a habit of getting easily distracted when he was driving. So, while Gerald was getting his books out of his locker, he kept it simple, "Arnie's coming for another visit."
As predicted, Gerald's reaction was explosive. "Arnie! You mean the weird side of your family is coming?" He shuddered in fear as he slammed his locker shut.
Sid and Harold heard Gerald as they were walking by. "Your cousin Arnie's coming back? Oh man, that's gruesome, Arnold. Hope you have enough lint to occupy psycho," Harold stated as he leaned against the wall next to Gerald's locker. Sid could only nod in agreement.
Arnold just sighed as the four walked to their Calculus class. "Well, he's not coming until 2:00, so that gives me time to mentally prepare myself. He called this morning. Apparently, his school has the whole week off for some conference the teachers are having. In any case, I'm stuck with Arnie for the week."
"How did your grandparents take the news?" asked Sid as they arrived at the classroom. The four boys came across Lila and Rhonda standing in front of the door, discussing latest hair styles that had been seen in movies. Once again, Rhonda was wearing an exact replica of the outfit being shown on the front cover of her favorite fashion magazine, and Lila was ooing and ahhing in envy.
"Grandpa got upset that the "little weirdo" was coming. All the boarders could do was state how creepy he is. Grandma, of course, was oblivious to everything. I can't believe Arnie's coming!"
Lila squealed as she overhead the last part of Arnold's statement,
"Arnie's coming back? How exciting! I can't wait to see him again. Do you think he'll remember me?" she turned toward Rhonda, who merely shrugged, acting uninterested in the entire conversation, as it had diverted from herself.
Arnold just groaned as he pushed he way past the girls and took his seat in the back of the class. Gerald, Sid, and Harold sat around him. The teacher came in shortly afterwards, and Arnold temporarily forgot about his situation. Even with Arnie's arrival, he still needed concentrate on school.
The day was over before Arnold was ready. Forfeiting the offer for a ride home from Gerald, Arnold took the long route and walked home. That decision only prolonged the dread for so long, and before Arnold was aware, he was in front of the boarding house. He entered cautiously, calling out, "Arnie? Are you here?"
"Arnold?"
Arnold turned toward the kitchen. What he saw stunned him. There stood Arnie, dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Though his frame was lean, his body was toned, no longer being the lanky kid he once was. His hair was slicked back, not sticking in all directions as his cousin's did. Arnie then did something that Arnold had never seen him do.
Arnie smiled.
"Good to see you, Cousin," Arnie said, grabbing Arnold in to a hug. Arnold awkwardly returned it, still shocked that Arnie had shown any sort of emotion.
"Hey, Arnie. How's it hanging?" Arnold asked once he was released.
Arnie resumed his place at the table. It was then that Arnold noticed what Arnie had been doing in the kitchen. On the table sat a large pile of peeled potatoes. A knife was next to one that Arnie had been working on. He picked it up and resumed his job. "Things are going good. Just thought I would help out in the kitchen. What's going on with you? How is everybody?"
Arnold sat down across from Arnie before he answered, "Oh, everybody is doing great. Lila Sawyer is extremely excited to see you. That's all she talked about today. 'Oh, Arnold, when does your cute cousin arrive?' I heard that question about fifty times today."
Arnie simply grinned at Arnold as he replied, "Lila? Isn't she the one you like when we were nine? The one I went out with the last time I was here?"
Arnold cringed at the mention of his adolescent crush on Lila. "Don't worry. I don't really like her that much anymore. That is ancient history. Water under the bridge. She's all yours," and with that he got up and headed toward the refrigerator. He hastily grabbed an apple and turned back to face Arnie. By that time, Arnie himself had gotten up, standing to face Arnold.
"Well, that certainly is a changed of perspective. Tell me, Cousin, what brought this on?" Arnie asked, a look of interest on his face. Both boys were the same height, and now stood eye level. There was no response from Arnold at first. He was instead thinking of the answer to Arnie's question. It was simple, yet complicated at the same time.
Helga Pataki.
At some point, Arnold and Helga had become friends, good friends. And through the endless nights of late night phone conversations, he realized that it had been Lila's innocence that he had been attracted to. That innocence no longer existed. Lila and grown into a very beautiful woman, and it had not been long before she had been out on a date with a majority of the male population at P.S. 119. Word got around, and Arnold didn't bother disproving what was being said. Lila was more than willing to confirm the intimate attentions she received from her numerous suitors during Calculus. At first, Arnold felt like strangling half of the school. Anyone who said Lila was "easy" almost got decked by him, had Gerald not been there to drag him away. Over time, however, Arnold grew not to care. In fact, Lila got rather annoying with her tales of all of her "been there, done that."
He couldn't remember when he had become friends with Helga. All that he remembered was one afternoon, the summer after fifth grade, they had literally bumped into one another. Instead of yelling at him, Helga simply got up and reached out a hand to help him up. She had grown up that day, and it became easier to talk to her. Gerald had thought he was insane. Afterwards, even he admitted that Helga had changed. In fact, she and Gerald had become close friends. Close enough that Helga picked up on Gerald's fascination with Phoebe, and often schemed with Arnold to try to get them together.
Helga had been the one to make him realize the truth about his attraction to Lila. Although she was still naïve on some subjects, she was no longer the little piggy-braided girl she once was.
Arnold was brought back to the present by Arnie snapping his fingers in front of his face and saying, "Arnold, snap out of it. I don't need a philosophical interpretation of your deepest mindset."
Reluctantly, Arnold returned to the present. "Sorry, I guess I just grew out of my crush for Lila. She is not the same person I 'liked-liked' when we were younger," he simply said.
Arnie just gave him a funny look, replying, "Okay Arnold, whatever. Why don't we go for a walk? We can see how many people I remember." With that, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, dragging Arnold behind him.
The two cousins had barely made it off the last step of the boarding house when they were bombarded by both Lila and Rhonda. The latter was impressed by Arnie's transformation, and did not bother hiding her interest. "Hey Arnie. Looking good. I didn't know you had such an awesome sense of style," Rhonda said coyly, licking her lips as her eyes traveled down Arnie's form. Arnie, in turn, just smirked as he leaned in close to her and replied, "Looking good yourself, Rhonda. And thanks, I do try."
Arnold just blinked in surprise. He honestly didn't think Arnie would remember any of his classmates. Now here he was, flirting with one of the wealthiest women in his neighborhood, and in the process irritating Lila, who was shooting daggers at Rhonda. Unable to contain itself, a chuckle escaped Arnold, which caused the remaining three to turn and look at him curiously. However, he refused to admit anything, instead opting for escape. "Come on, Arnie. Let's go see what Gerald's up to." Nodding, Arnie followed him down the street.
They did not have to go far. In fact, they were passing Gerald Field when they spotted him. He was throwing a baseball to Phoebe, who was trying to perfect her catching skills for the next baseball game.
Once again, Arnold had to smile at both Gerald and Phoebe. It was obvious to those around them that each was intimately attracted to the other. What kept them apart was something Arnold could not get out of Gerald. All Gerald would say was that it was "hard to explain." Helga had confided in Arnold that it was the same response she got from Phoebe.
It was Phoebe who spotted them, calling over, "Hey Arnold. Who's your friend?" Both boys made their way over to the pair, and Arnie grinned as he grabbed Phoebe's hand and kissed it gently. The contact caused a deep blush to make its way to the young Asian's cheeks. "Bonjour. Ja mapplle Arnie. It is good to see how your beauty has grown, Phoebe," Arnie said, winking at her as the blush deepened. It took all of Arnold's strength to hold Gerald back. Arnie took no notice as he turned toward the two. "Hey Gerald. How's it hanging?" he asked
Gerald just shoved Arnold off as he answered, "What's it to you, Arnie. I'm surprised that you even remembered my name," he spouted angrily.
However, Arnie was looking past Gerald, and he had a look of pure fascination.
Frowning, Arnold turned around to see what had captured Arnie's attention in such a manner.
Helga was walking towards them.
Constructive criticism welcomed.