Let's get going with the next chapter of the story, shall we? Anyway, enjoy!
The next morning, Arnold slowly awoke to the sound of his alarm clock, always shouting 'Hey Arnold!' as per usual as Arnold tapped the off button. Arnold got up as he sighed, looking at the sun lit windows in the early morning. He was hoping an idea about how his problems with Rhonda yesterday would come to him with a solution... but sadly, all his dreams consisted of were pretty much the usual fare, Arnold trying to find his parents in an adventure, only to get so close, yet so far.
Normally, whilst thinking about those types of dreams saddened him (and they did), he had much bigger problems to worry about today. So, for the moment, he casted those dreams aside as he started to pace around the room, gathering his clothes to wear for the day... before pausing as he looked at the nice attire.
"Would Rhonda's parents want me to wear something formal, or will they be okay with my casual wear? I know they told me that whatever I want to wear is fine, but if I really want to play up this charade, I have to make sure I'm sophisticated enough for them!" Arnold said to himself as he picked out a black tuxedo and looked over at his hair. "Maybe they'll like me more with my hair down a little bit."
As Arnold was gathering some more clothes, more thoughts plagued Arnold. "Would they accept someone who's fashionably early or fashionably late? Are they the type of people who prefer their guests to be on time? Oh, this is pretty complicated..."
Arnold looked towards the phone as the thought of calling either Sid or Harold for advice on what to do with Rhonda's parents since he remembered that Rhonda had mentioned that they were over at her place a couple of times... but then he stopped himself, thinking, "Then I'd have to explain WHY I'm going over to Rhonda's place... and they'll misunderstand that I'm going out with Rhonda, and knowing Sid, he'll likely reveal the secret. Heaven KNOWS I haven't ENTIRELY forgiven him and Stinky for the 'Iggy incident'. And Harold will just blurt it out loud without thinking, and me and Rhonda are in enough hot water as it is!"
Arnold took a deep breath as he looked at the clock. "Okay, it's almost six fifteen now... they won't go out to celebrate Rhonda's mother's birthday until noon, so maybe I'll arrive at their place at eleven-thirty... after all, I got plenty of time. Rhonda must be having as much of an easier time with this as I am..."
Unknown to Arnold, Rhonda had also gotten up, as she was looking between a red dress and a purple dress as she paused to think, "Should I go classic garnet, or violet? Hmmm... well since it's a birthday occasion for my dear mother, I think violet would be an interesting choice..."
Rhonda sighed in relief as she said, "At least I won't have to worry about the others bugging me to go out today... I'm sure Nadine at least relayed that message to everyone the other day, luckily..."
The heiress paused as she sat down, "Oh, but what if someone Arnold and I know spot us through a window and misunderstand our intentions? I'm just in disbelief as I am, selecting a perfect dress for my "boyfriend", as my parents and his grandparents think our relationship is! Well, maybe he'll like it, who knows?"
Rhonda stopped herself as she said, "Did I just say out loud that Arnold might like my dress? How would I know that? And why am I concerned over what Arnold thinks about? This is all just to keep my parents thinking that we're a sophisticated couple... right?"
It was right at this moment Rhonda heard the phone ring. She didn't answer it at first, knowing her parents had probably got it. As Rhonda finally made up her mind and selected the purple dress, she heard Brooke call to her, "Rhonda, it's your friend Nadine."
Rhonda's eyes lit up as she picked up the phone in the other room. "All right, mother, you can hang up your phone, I got the call from the other end!"
"All right!" Brooke called over as Rhonda leaned her ear over to the phone.
"Hey, Nadine!" Rhonda smiled.
"Hi, Rhonda! How's everything going with you this morning?" Nadine asked.
"Oh, everything is just dandy, as per usual, Nadine." Rhonda smiled as she blew on her nails. "So, what's going on?"
"I know you're busy with your mother's birthday today, but there's something I thought you might be interested in. At the park, there's going to be a big event going on involving..." Nadine started to say.
Rhonda laughed as she said, "Let me guess, bugs?"
A slight pause as Nadine's voice said in a huff, "You know, Rhonda, I am more than just a bug lover."
"Oh, I know that. I'm just teasing you, that's all." Rhonda smiled.
"Oh, okay." Nadine laughed. "But anyway, part of it involves bugs. You see, there's a little ceremony being held tomorrow after school on the opening of a bug sanctuary in the park. Where all bugs that are very rare live in very stable environments. Would you like to attend the opening ceremony with me?" Nadine smiled.
"Sure, I'm game." Rhonda smiled.
"Awesome! And don't worry about today's game, I already gave Helga the heads-up a few days ago you weren't participating." Nadine said.
"Well, heaven knows that Helga doesn't like fashionably late players, so hopefully she isn't too angry about my absence." Rhonda shrugged.
"I heard her say something along the lines of, 'Eh, someone can do her position in the field and do double duty, no big deal.'." Nadine said. "Well, I don't want to keep you from getting ready for your mother's birthday. I know you guys have a big family outing today."
"Oh, you bet. At least it'll help entertain them when Arnold shows up." Rhonda said, then yelped as she realized she said something about her plans with Arnold without thinking.
"Wait a minute, what about Arnold?" Nadine said in confusion.
"Er, gotta go! Bye, Nadine!" Rhonda said as she quickly hung up the phone and covered her mouth. "Oh no..."
Rhonda took a deep breath and sighed, "Okay, keep it together, Rhonda. It's just your best friend you may have accidentally slipped the secret to. No big deal. I'm sure she'll just forget about it, or maybe she thinks I'm reading another schedule and I picked the wrong one. I'm sure she won't question it..."
Back with Arnold, after finishing up a hearty breakfast and helping out the boarders through every day activities (along with the fact that he had to unfortunately lie to them about Rhonda and his relationship with her), he was just about ready as he looked pretty good in a tuxedo, and his hair was all down as he looked pretty slick. He looked at the mirror and gave a smile as he gave a nod.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the man of the hour." Phil smiled as he peeked in to see the refined Arnold as he was stuffing a comb into his pocket. "Looking good, Shortman. Ready to impress the girl, huh?"
"Her and her parents." Arnold nodded as he looked at the time. Almost quarter to eleven, plenty of time before he had to go.
"Well, let me just get the keys to the car and I'll take you over there, all right?" Phil smiled as he walked out of the room.
The football headed kid gave a nod as he gave a sigh of worry, wondering how much longer he could hold this charade... at least nobody else knew...
All of a sudden, he heard the doorbell ringing as he walked out of the bathroom door, Phil calling, "Get that, will you, Shortman?"
Arnold nodded as he walked downstairs, wondering who it could be. Maybe Rhonda and her parents were coming to pick him up? No, because Rhonda would have called ahead... curious, he went to the door and peeked out the peephole... and yelped upon seeing his best friend Gerald outside, holding his baseball mitt. His eyes widened as he then realized that he forgot Helga had scheduled a game at Gerald Field today. But he didn't want to leave his best friend outside in confusion, so he opened the door a tiny smidge as he peeked out, much to Gerald's confusion.
"Hi, Gerald!" Arnold said.
"Hey, man, ready for baseball?" Gerald smiled.
"Oh, right... today's game..." Arnold chuckled nervously as he said, "Er, could you tell Helga I can't make it today?"
Gerald raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Eh? Since when do you always refuse to go down to Gerald Field to play a game of baseball? It's always been a tradition for us fourth graders!"
"Well, it's a bit complicated..." Arnold said as he was about to back away from the door.
Gerald, not having any of Arnold's lame excuses, pushed the door all the way back, making Arnold stumble for a moment. Gerald's eyes widened as he noticed Arnold's attire and his combed up hair in surprise. "Whoa! Man, you're all dressed up for something formal? What's going on?"
"Oh, uh, this get-up?" Arnold smiled nervously. "Well... I, well... that's part of the reason I can't play baseball today. Grandpa is driving me over to a very important place that requires formal wear, and I don't know how long I'll be out. Long story short, I don't think I can make today's baseball game. Can you tell Helga and the others I'm sorry for not attending."
Gerald looked a bit skeptical as he sighed, "I'll tell them, but let me tell you, Helga's not going to be in a good mood when she learns that we won't have enough players to play."
"Let's be honest, Gerald, when has Helga EVER been in a good mood?" Arnold said, rolling his eyes.
"...Fair point." Gerald said as he turned around. "Well, if there's nothing el-"
"Come on, Shortman, we don't want to keep your girlfriend waiting!" Phil called out as Arnold's eyes widened.
Gerald blinked in confusion as he turned to Arnold, "Wait, what was that about you having a gi-"
"Sorry, Gerald, but I need to leave now. Maybe we can talk later tonight! Good-bye!" Arnold said as he grabbed the door and immediately slammed it in Gerald's face.
Gerald just stared stunned and confused as he said to himself, "Did Phil just say Arnold has a girlfriend? Did I just hear things...?"
Back inside, Arnold looked worried as he started to run from the door and came over to Phil, who had grabbed the keys, "Who was that at the door, Shortman?"
"Oh, er, just Gerald, Grandpa. He wanted to know if I was available for baseball today." Arnold said nervously.
"Did you tell him that you'll be busy with your girlfriend today?" Phil smiled.
Arnold frowned a bit as he sighed, "Er, something like that..."
"Okay, Arnold, don't worry about it... I'm sure Gerald will realize that Grandpa was kidding... it's not like he'll have it on his mind, right?" Arnold thought to himself.
Little did Arnold know that, despite his thoughts, Gerald DID have what Phil said on his mind as he was rounding the corner to Gerald Field, where the other kids were waiting, Helga impatiently tapping her foot.
"About time." Helga grumbled as she suddenly noticed something, "Hey, Gerald-o, where's Football Head? He's coming, isn't he?"
"Er... not exactly." Gerald said. "You see, when I came over, he was all dressed up, fancy-like and said he couldn't make it due to an event he was going to today."
Helga frowned. "At least he should have had the decency to give us three days' notice, like Rhonda did."
Nadine paused as she turned to Gerald, "Er, hang on, Gerald. Did Arnold tell you EXACTLY what the event was?"
"He didn't say. But I thought I heard Phil say something about Arnold having a girlfriend." Gerald said.
That caught everyone's attention as they immediately turned to Gerald. Helga's eyes shrank upon hearing that, but shook her head to keep her angry demeanor, "Well, you know old people. Always rambling on about things they don't talk about..."
"Er... Gerald, if it helps, I think I may know where Arnold went to." Nadine said.
Everyone then turned to Nadine as Gerald asked, "You do?"
"Well, yes. He went over to visit Rhonda to help out with her mother's birthday." Nadine said. "Rhonda may have said something about that when I called her this morning."
Helga laughed a bit as she said, "So, he's helping Rhonda with a little surprise party for her mother, big deal!"
"Er, no, Rhonda told me a couple days ago the arrangements were already arranged." Nadine said.
"Well, then why would she invite Arnold of all people?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, it's not like both Arnold and Rhonda are both a cou-" Harold started to say... before everyone's eyes widened, Helga and Curly's eyes growing big upon the revelation.
"Wait a minute... Arnold and Rhonda are dating?" Gerald's eyes widened.
"Oh my..." Phoebe covered her mouth in surprise.
"When did this happen? No, seriously, when did this happen?" Curly growled.
"Willikers, I knew Arnold was a bold kid, but I never thought he'd take it to the next level!" Stinky said.
Helga was looking around in shock upon hearing this, before shaking her head and growling, "PEOPLE! FOCUS! There is no way our football headed friend and a princess would EVER go together!"
"I wouldn't exactly say that, Helga." Phoebe said. "I mean, when you think about the signs..."
"Signs?" Helga said in confusion as she looked around everyone.
Curly crossed his arms in annoyance as he asked, "I'm interested to see what signs there were..."
"Well... maybe Gerald Field wouldn't be a proper place to explain all this... let's move this meeting over to another place where I can kindly show you everything." Phoebe said as she motioned everyone. "If you all would follow me..."
Everyone looked in confusion, but nodded as they started to follow the small girl.
Helga and Curly brought up the rear as both of them had the same thoughts, that this couldn't have possibly been true... could it?
And with that, the chapter is completed! How did you guys like it? Looks like Arnold and Rhonda's situation now got a little complicated, even if they don't know it yet! You'll see what happens in the next chapter, though! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!