Chapter 6
"Folks, we have begun our descent into the Cadiz airport," the pilot announced. The class immediately perked up. Arnold almost jumped out of his seat from excitement. Throughout the flight, his mind had been going through thoughts of his parents and the night before the trip.
"Now, Arnold.." Phil had started. He was sitting on Arnold's bed, scratching his bald head. "I know you're excited for this trip, but there's something I need to tell you."
Arnold was sitting up with his arms wrapped around his legs. He observed his worried grandfather. He had never seen him so anxious.
"What is it, Grandpa?" he asked calmly.
Phil looked at Arnold and took a deep breath. "I want you to think about the negative side of things. I don't think you understand how serious this is, Arnold. I don't want you to give up on life because you don't find what you're looking for." Phil said this in a rush.
Arnold let this sink in. The truth was he had thought of this. He knew that if he didn't find his parents, he would be devastated. He also thought what he would do if he did find them, only for them to be long gone, buried under the ground. He looked up at his grandfather. "Grandpa, I need to do this. One way or another, I just need to know what happened. I can't sit here hoping for something to happen. It's been 9 years. I need to look for them. I know they might not be alive, but it's something I can't spend my life wondering about." Phil was about to interrupt him, but Arnold continued. "If they aren't alive anymore, I know I'll need to move on with my life. But I just can't sit here with this aching hope anymore. It hurts too much." He sighed. 'But I know they're alive,' he thought. What he was telling his grandfather was true, and he had meant it. But deep down, in a way he couldn't explain, he knew they were alive and needed to be found.
Phil hadn't moved from his spot on the bed. He had been listening intently and knew Arnold meant what he had said. Several minutes passed with neither person saying anything. Suddenly, he chuckled and rubbed Arnold's head, messing up his hair. "You're growing up fast, aren't ya, boy?"
Arnold smirked and said, "Yeah." He sighed. "I'm going to miss you, Grandpa."
"I'll miss you too, Arnold. But I'll be at the airport when you come back home." As Phil was about to get up and go to bed, he turned to his grandson. "Say, did I ever tell you about the time your father fought the saber-tooth alligator?" For the rest of the night, Phil told Arnold stories of his parents. They were laughing and enjoying each other's company for both knew after this trip, Arnold would never be the same. The next morning, Arnold had woken up early, and got dressed in a rush. He checked his bags several times, made sure he had the picture of his parents, his father's journal and map, and quickly ate breakfast. He hugged his grandfather, kissed his grandmother (who snuck a fly swatter in one of his bags), and hugged and kissed Abner goodbye before setting out.
"Hey, Arnold! We're here!" Gerald had exclaimed, taking Arnold out of his reverie. He yawned and stretched. "Man, I'm going to need to buy one of these chairs."
Arnold couldn't help but smirk at this. "Yeah, they are pretty comfy." As they, and the rest of the passengers, got their carry-on bags and made their way out of the plane, their excitement was welling up inside of them.
"Ahh, this is going to be great!" Eugene said excitedly. Sid glared at him, having been annoyed with his incessant singing on the plane. Unbeknownst to Eugene, Sid was very close to punching him.
After picking up their luggage, the students lined up in the airport lobby, waiting for Mr. Simmons, much to his relief.
"Okay, class." He put up his hands to his chest. "We are in a very unique place, and they have a very unique way of speaking. Right, Principal Wartz?" He turned to Principal Wartz, only to spot him heading for the airport shop. Mr. Simmons mumbled to himself and got out his Spanish dictionary. "Now, if anyone needs to ask a question, come talk to me first before you ask a native."
"Okay, where's the restroom?" Rhonda almost yelled. The rest of the girls, except Helga, started to ask the same.
"Hm, good question." Mr. Simmons looked around. "Ah! There! Okay, before we go anywhere, everyone take a bathroom break. I believe the bus will be here in 15 minutes to pick us up and take us to the village. I want everyone to meet up back here-oh..." Before Mr. Simmons could finish his sentence, most of the students ran ahead to the bathroom.
Arnold stayed behind and looked around, taking everything in. The lobby was busy with people; a lot more than he expected. He wondered if it was going to be this busy at the village. He then realized he was alone with Helga. She was standing alone, holding her and Phoebe's bags, with her arms crossed and the usual scowl on her face. Arnold didn't like the way she looked. He thought back to what Gerald said.
'You'd think she'd be happy about something in her life at some point.' Arnold's mind quickly jumped to the kiss they shared at the FTi tower. Suddenly, Helga snapped her head in his direction.
'What is he looking at?' she thought. Her instinct would be to yell at him and ask why he was staring at her. But she promised herself that she was going to win him over on this trip. She swallowed hard and curved her lips into the best smile she could muster and waved weakly.
Arnold's eyes widened. 'Why isn't she yelling at me?' He then shook his head and smiled back. Arnold couldn't stop looking at Helga's smile. 'She's so..pretty,' he thought to himself in amazement. He started to walk over to talk to her, but before either could say anything, they heard Mr. Simmons call to them.
"Helga! Arnold! Let's go, the bus is early!" They both grabbed their bags and made their way to the rest of the class. They hadn't caught up with them yet when Helga started to talk to Arnold.
"So, football-head! You excited?" She smiled again at him again. 'That's it. Be pleasant! Get his attention! Come on, Helga. You've dreamt of having regular conversations with him. Don't think too much.'
Arnold looked at her curiously, but decided not to question it. He liked this nice Helga.
"Yeah, I am. Are you?" He smiled back.
She shrugged. "I guess. I'm kind of hoping for something new to happen." She looked into Arnold's eyes as she said this, winked, and ran forward to catch up with Phoebe. 'Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Criminy, I'm good!' Helga felt giddy inside. She then decided that no matter what, she was going to get Arnold. 'This is my one chance to prove myself.'
Meanwhile, Arnold was left surprised. He shook his head and figured he had been seeing things. 'That was weird. Why is she being nice?' Without helping it, he smiled to himself and made his way to the bus. 'This is going to be an interesting trip.'
