A/N: Mehhh, decided to post already. Because I am bored and want to. I'm also extremely tired at the moment. Boo.
In le order:
~Lovely People~
Gloria Spark
Panfla
metalheadrailfan
braygirl
Nep2une
acosta perez jose ramiro
Narcisa Le Fay
pinkdolphin92
Thanks for letting me know what you think! It's nice to know that you guys are enjoying this, because I really love writing for you. AWKWARD HUGS FOR EVERYBODY. Wheeee~!
Disclaimer: AYYE AYYYE AYYYE AYYYYYYYE... own it all. And am also the Frito Bandito, give me your freaking chips. Oh, and the entire concept of "Hey Arnold!" is Craig Beautiful-Bartletts. PEACE!
Almost Perfect
Part 2
"Geez," Zack winced, nursing his sore wrist. "The price you pay for your car."
"Ha," Phil smirked. "I wouldn't worry. You probably deserved it."
Zack shot him an amused look, pushing him away as he walked through the hall in the direction of the kitchen.
Phil stumbled, only managing to gain his balance back when his hand hit the wall. Gaining back some composure, he glared menacingly at the back of Zack's head, willing it to burst into flames.
Phil made to turn around then, only to have his green eyes smash into two judgmental brown ones. Stumbling back, he waved his arms at the stranger defensively, yelping. "Whoa, hold up, what the heck is this?" He looked around himself accusingly, putting his hands on his hips. "I don't remember anyone warning me about another one of Dad's losers."
Chris sniffed, ragingly offended, and stood to his full height. "I'm called a guest, Mud Head. I was invited here."
Phil looked at him dryly. "Wow, seriously? I never could have guessed that." He rolled his eyes and turned away from him, waving a hand behind himself as he walked away. "It doesn't matter. You'll be nothing more than a fading memory soon enough."
Chris' shoulders stiffened, and Amanda traipsed daintily around him to follow after her brothers to the kitchen. She thought better of it, though, and stopped to wave Chris along. "Come on," her soft voice rang plainly.
Chris didn't make any expression. Simply followed after her. Arnold wandered into the house and locked the door shut just in time to see them disappear into the dining room, and he smiled ever so slightly to himself. "So far so good. They haven't killed each other yet." Putting his keys away in his pocket, he scratched his head a little. "Kinda odd. Helga and I would have been screaming at each other by now."
"Football Head!" his lovely wife's voice screeched across the house out of the blue, ripping the wallpaper to shreds. "Get your scrawny ass in here right now and start setting the table!"
Arnold smiled ruefully, shaking his head a little and making his shaggy, wild hair sway at the tips. Some things never changed; and it never failed to surprise him just how comforting he found that to be. Chuckling, he made his way down the hall and hollered back, "Coming, Helga! Patience is a virtue!"
"Yeah, and not one I possess—hurry the heck up!"
Wandering into the dining room, he found Zack and Phil waging a battle of paper football, Ham sitting on the sidelines watching boredly. Amanda hopped up to sit beside Phil, leaning closer over the table to try to better observe his technique. Chris stood at the end of the table awkwardly, eyes shifting around to take in the room.
But it was just a simple dining room. There wasn't anything interesting to behold. A plain, family-sized wooden table wiped to shine, old cushioned dining chairs, a large, glass cabinet to keep their dishes safe, and warm colored walls with a few paintings he'd done in college hung here and there. Pictures of fruit and nuts and an interestingly split tree he'd once seen on a class trip. Nothing that should engage such an intense interest, though. Smiling, Arnold walked over to the cabinet to pull out some plates and began setting them down on the table. Glancing over at Chris curiously for a moment, he divided some of the plates and offered a couple to him. "Hey, Chris, why don't you help me out a little? These are heavy."
Chris seemed startled, but he took the plates nonetheless and stuttered, "Uh, yeah, I guess—"
One of the plates slipped out from under his fingers and smashed into the floor, causing a violent shudder to wave through his small form.
"AH!" Zack jumped high in his seat, pointing to the offending plate with his mouth wide. "The first sign of the apocalypse has struck! Quick, everyone, get under the table!"
Phil just gaped at the plate, eyes snapping from it to the boy's face in alarm. "Kid, what the heck?"
"Do I yell Yahtzee now?" Ham asked tiredly, yawning.
"Oh, that's fine," Arnold soothed, setting the plates down so he could kneel to observe the mess more closely. "Nothing I can't glue back together. I should have made sure you had a good grip on them before I let go." Standing back up again, he handed him another plate, adjusting his hands a little for him so they wouldn't fall, then smiled and went over to the cabinet again to get a new one. "No harm done."
Chris still shook a little in his spot, eyes straight ahead and dilated.
Zack chuckled, flicking the paper football without looking as he observed the boy. It smacked into Phil's face dead center, but he didn't notice. "Hey, you okay over there?"
Chris blinked once, tightly, before snapping his eyes over to the teenager with his lips pursed. "I'm fine."
"Don't look fine to me," Zack commented, shrugging. Turning his attention back to the game a moment, he laughed at Phil's glaring eyes and flat expression. Shaking his head, he added, "There's no reason to feel bad you know. Phil breaks the plates all the time. He's a total butterfingers."
Phil gawked at his audacity, slamming his hands on the table as he leaned over in offense. "I am not!"
"You are kind of a butterfingers, Phil," Ham muttered tiredly, eyes bleary and head resting in a large hand on the table.
Phil cut his eyes at him, flopping back down into his seat. "Way to take sides, Josh."
Ham sighed, opening his eyes wider. "You know I hate that—"
"Doi, Josh, that's the point," Phil deadpanned, looking at him sarcastically.
Ham shook his head. "I was just saying, Phil. I didn't mean to offend you."
"Okay, then how about I call you a two-bit dweebasaurus rex then, huh?" Phil asked, voice raising an octave and eyes going a wild, forest green, set aflame with madness. "How about I tell you you're nothing but a pretty-faced nerd with no actual prospects or future and that you'll probably end up as one of those losers that sit around on the phone all day calling families like us right in the middle of dinner time in hopes that they'll buy something that nobody on this God forsaken planet actually wants? Huh? Why don't I tell you that, and then just assume you won't get offended because, hooo, it's only the facts! I was only meaning to inform you!" Phil near screamed, leaning over the table all the way to get as close as he possibly could to Ham's beleaguered face. "You imbecilic beast! What intricate mediocrity you wrought without barely a blink! You're no better than Mom when she tells me to finish those infernal peas!"
"Phil," Arnold said unperturbed, placing a plate in front of him, "sit back down please. We're not having peas tonight."
"Oh," Phil faltered in his outrage and blinked his eyes a few times as his expression relaxed. "Oh… Well," he sat back down calmly and ran a hand down his sweater to clear it of any wrinkles, "all righty then."
"You went off your medication again, didn't you?" Zack asked in a deep tone, leaning on his elbow across the table to look at him with a mockingly grave expression. Phil just gave him a flat faced look in response, unimpressed with his quip.
"Wow," the boy still standing at the end of the table murmured, bringing everyone's attention to him. His eyes roved slowly over them all with the strangest look they'd ever seen. "You're all nuts."
They all paused at that, eyes blinking.
"Uh," Ham raised a lazy hand in the air, waving it a little, "I'm not. In my defense."
"Ah, Josh," Zack sighed wistfully, sliding an arm around his shoulders and giving him a firm pat with his free hand, "we will soon fix that."
"I'd really rather you didn't—"
"All right, ya bunch of chuckle heads," Helga's voice came booming as she waltzed into the room, carrying a heavy pot in her wake, "soups on!" She lifted the pot up and let it fall with a racket onto the table.
Arnold was at her side in an instant, looking her over worriedly. "Are you okay, Helga? You know I could have helped—"
"Oh, I don't need any help," Helga waved him off before casting him a loving smile. She rarely ever needed his help but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate the gentlemanly offer. Even if she had needed help, she never wanted to take advantage of his sweet nature. That was what everyone else did—but not her, never her. Wiping her hands off on her apron, she tore it off and placed it over her chair, speaking to the room, "Okay, since I heard we had a guest coming over, I tried to be a little fancier than usual." She rolled her eyes with a smile, pulling the lid off the pot to reveal a steaming… thing. "So I made asparagus and ham casserole."
Phil's pupils dilated as soon as his eyes connected with it, and he looked up at her, wide-eyed and sickly pale. "Geez, Mom… why… why would you do this? I thought you loved me."
Helga raised an eyebrow at him and leaned over to run a hand through his soft brown hair. "Of course I love you, darling. It won't kill you to try it."
Zack shook his head and laid back in his chair to cast the idly standing Chris an apologetic look. "Sorry for this, kid. Shortman women aren't known for their cooking ability. Just, if an alien insectoid doesn't rip out of your stomach within the next twenty-four hours, you should be safe."
Helga whacked him in the head with her spatula, unamused. "You keep quiet, short man. You know the rules, no being a dork at the dinner table."
"I'm not short!" Zack yelped, sinking low in his seat with a disturbed pout.
Helga shot him a look. "Maybe not now, but the ceramic pot you're about to get to the head should shrink you down a few inches."
Phil cackled, pointing at him across the table with wicked delight. "She got you!"
Zack exhaled a puff of hot air from his nose, grumbling.
Arnold pulled another chair up to the table and sat down in the seat beside it, next to Zack, and gestured it to the brown-eyed boy. "You can sit here, Chris," he offered warmly.
Chris looked at it oddly, before pulling the chair out and hopping up into it. He sat the plates he still had in his hands out onto the middle of the table, a little embarrassed that he hadn't done anything with them before. Coughing uncomfortably, he said mechanically, "Thank you, Mrs. Shortman. This looks really good."
Helga did a little silent scoff to herself, beginning to cut into the casserole. "Yes, even a woman named Helga can make a nice meal for her family."
"Helga," Arnold scolded quietly, shooting a look her way.
She shrugged her shoulders innocently, placing the neat little crumble onto her daughter's plate. "I'm just putting it out there."
Zack leaned over to mumble out of the corner of his mouth to Arnold, "Do I want to know?"
Arnold sighed. "Probably."
Before he could inquire any further, a plate clattered in front of Zack, making him start. "No whispering at the table." She slid a piece of casserole onto his plate, giving him a sharp warning look. He just grinned his brightest in return.
"'manda," Ham's questioning tone sounded as he looked at her curiously, "you haven't said anything since you got here. Are you okay?"
Amanda looked up at him, her face soft and subdued and not at all lit with it's usual bubbly smile. "I'm fine, Ham."
"Ham?" Chris suddenly piped in a ridiculous voice, twisting around to look at the teenager with his face twisted, "What kind of a name is that?"
Ham blinked, startled. "Uh, it's just a nickname—"
Chris snorted, his lips sneering. "That's stupid. Are you a meat product? Are we eating you right now?" He gestured widely to the casserole on everyone's plates.
"Hey!" Phil suddenly shouted, standing up from his seat furiously with an intense scowl. "Who the heck do you think you are? You shut your trap!"
"Phillip—" Arnold tried.
"No!" Phil snapped, pointing at him still with a scowl. "No, no, no, don't you 'Phillip' me! He said it himself, he's a guest, and that means he's required to shut the heck up!"
"Phil, it's okay." Ham put a hand up, face clean of emotion and still heavy with needed sleep. "I'm used to people joking around about it."
"Then why don't you change it?" Chris' voice came in high-pitched incredulity, staring at him.
"Um, Mom," Amanda piped up timidly, wishing desperately for this to end, "there aren't any forks."
She'd said this just as Helga had sat down, and her shoulders stiffened instantly at the information. Eyes darting around the table, she realized she was correct. There was a pause in her movements, before she slid back up from her chair with a dark toned grumble and marched angrily over to the cabinet to pull some silverware from the drawer. "Always a damn production."
Arnold laughed sheepishly, rising from his seat to help her. "I'm sorry, dear, it completely slipped my mind."
Helga just rolled her eyes, shoving the silverware into his hands. Things always slipped his mind when he was on one of his little charity ventures.
As his father set the silverware beside his plate, Phil begrudgingly sank back down into his chair, keeping his eyes slit at their 'guest.'
"So," Zack clapped his hands together, changing the subject for Amanda's sake, "first day back in school! Total hell, am I right?"
Ham immediately groaned, slamming his head down onto his arm on the table. "You have no idea. I'm going to kill whoever's idea it was to have a big test on the first week back in school."
"Ha," Phil laughed once with a smirk.
This managed to get Ham's attention, and he lifted his head up to open his blue eyes wide at his younger brother, mouth falling slowly open. "First you scream at me, then you defend me, now you're laughing at my pain. Will I ever understand you, Phil?"
Phil pouted his lips out, flicking a loose green bean at him.
"Hey, hey, hey," Helga raised her voice, smacking his hand down. "No food fights. I'm not having a repeat of last month's fiasco. I'm still finding scraps of beans around the house." She shot her eyes up with a grimace.
"It flew so elegantly," Zack reminisced with a far away look. "Who knew?"
"Never should have given them plastic cutlery," Arnold murmured, picking up some casserole with his fork and putting it in his mouth.
"Yeah, we really shouldn't have been lazy with the dishes that night," Helga sighed, shaking her head. "Lesson learned."
Amanda giggled at this show, forgetting herself, and announced with a gleam, "I love beans."
Apparently this inspired Chris to sniff out, "I hate beans."
Phil cut his eyes at him, one hand absentmindedly picking at his food. He snapped his head to his father and asked lowly, his mouth as slow to form the words as his brain was in accepting them, "Why is he here?"
Arnold's eyes flew apologetically from a stiff-lipped Amanda to Phil, and straightened up in his chair, trying to be the professional he was as he explained, "Chris just had a little trouble today in class, so I invited him over to discuss tutoring arrangements." The response came a bit too mechanical for his liking.
Phil barked out a cruel laugh, destroying any pleasant atmosphere that had been residing in the room, before he bowed his head down, green eyes dark beneath his brown locks as he stared at the second grader. "Criminy, he must be really dumb to be needing tutoring."
Chris looked stricken, chest heaving as if he was about to scream something really inappropriate.
Arnold stopped any such catastrophe from occurring when he slammed his fist down on the table, yelling, "Phillip Robert Craig! You apologize right now!"
"Okay," Phil chimed too brightly, smiling insincerely at Chris, "I'm sorry you're an idiot."
"Phillip!"
Helga leaned forward in her seat, scowling warningly at him with a fork pointed. "Listen to your father, Phil, or so help me—"
"It's not my fault he's a jerk!" Phil yelled, offended he was even getting in trouble for this.
"You're the one being the jerk, Phil," Ham tried to tell him calmly.
Phil's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to protest when suddenly his eyes bolted open and he yelped in pain. Reaching a hand down to nurse his leg, he glared at Zack. "Did you kick me?"
Zack shrugged slightly, eyes down, and muttered quietly, "Just apologize, Phil."
Still rubbing his sore leg, he stared in gaping disbelief.
"Phil—" Arnold tried once more, reaching a hand out in gesture.
The room fell violently silent when Chris' chair suddenly screeched against the floorboards, and his voice bellowed hoarsely across the room in lightbulb shattering rage, "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Seeing them all shell-shocked into quiet, Chris huffed and sank back down into his seat. "Good." He went back to eating his food, as if he hadn't just scared the living daylights out of everyone.
After a few minutes, Helga wheezed out a tense breath, unsure whether to be angry or thankful. "Uh… that was…"
"Interesting…" Arnold finished for her, staring at the boy out of the corner of his eye as he ate.
"And by interesting, you mean boss," Zack giggled, lightening the mood a tad.
"I think it was rude."
All eyes snapped in surprise to Amanda, where she had her eyes narrowed fiercely at Chris. He blinked at her, dark eyes just as surprised. He managed to gain back enough composure to huff at her, though, and bit out with a mock, "Nobody asked you, 'manda."
She growled, her fists clenching under the table. "You weaseled your way into my home, you should at least be polite."
"I was invited," he ground out, daggers flying from his eyes. "I didn't want to come."
"Then you shouldn't have."
"Your dad insisted."
"Yes," she agreed in a lighter tone, sitting up straight in her seat, "because he's nice. Unlike you."
Chris harrumphed, having no more to add.
"So…" Zack drew out awkwardly to the strange atmosphere, before a grin broke out on his face and he looked at his dad, "who's gonna, ya know, tutor the kid?"
Arnold, grateful for the subject change, spoke honestly, "Well, I was thinking at the end of the school day every other day I could stay at the school an extra hour to give him a little help."
"Arnold," Helga frowned at him, "you know you drive Amanda home every day. If you stayed after for an extra hour, who's going to take her home? Me? You know how much gas that eats up."
"Well," Arnold hesitated, wincing a little as he finished slowly, "I was thinking she could help…"
Amanda's face was swept of all emotion as soon as these words reached her.
Helga bowed her head ever so slightly, giving him a look that told him she knew exactly what he was doing. Casually popping another bite of food into her mouth, she stuffed it into one cheek and said, innocently enough, "Oh, well, I guess that would work. If Amanda was okay with it anyway."
"Um," Amanda babbled out, her posture tense.
Chris stared at her, waiting.
The chocolate eyes on her made her even more uncomfortable, and she sputtered desperately, "Couldn't I just stay over at Elli's on those days instead? Then her mom could drive me back to school in the morning?" Amanda seemed enchanted with the idea, growing ever more enthused as she went on, "We could do our homework together and write poems and play tea party." Hands clasping themselves over the table, she leaned over to look almost beggingly at her father. "Oh, Daddy, please could I?"
Shoulders and expression stiff, Arnold's eye twitched slightly.
Helga noticed this and jumped in to save him, looking adoringly at her youngest, "Sweetheart, we don't even know if the Bermans would be okay with that."
"We could ask," Amanda begged, choking slightly on the thick emotion.
Helga had never seen her daughter frown so much. Her heart clenched. "Uh, I, um…" She broke into a sweat, struggling to keep her resolve. She never thought it would be so hard to refuse anyone of the 'Little Miss Perfect' variety. It just so figured she would give birth to one. She hated irony. She tried to swallow, only to realize her mouth was bone dry.
Phil was gobbling up his food without even looking, absorbed in the scene, as if it were one of his favorite movies. Zack just looked awkward, sitting there in such an uncomfortable atmosphere and having to bite back comment after comment. Ham had long dozed off in his seat, head resting against his hand and quiet snores falling from his lips.
Arnold bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood, hoping and praying someone would say something before he could.
He was saved when the phone rang suddenly, startling Ham enough that his arm jerked away and his face splattered down into the casserole. Head shooting back up, he coughed, his hand dragging down his face to try to remove the remnants of green beans. It was just the thing needed to break Zack from his nervousness and make him explode into laughter.
Voice more relieved that he'd have liked to betray, Arnold wondered aloud as he stood up, "Now who could that be?"
"Betcha it's a telemarketer," Phil guessed glumly, disappointed with the interruption.
As Arnold exited the room, Helga stared tentatively at the children. Things were not going quite as planned for her husband, she was sure, but she was uncertain of how exactly to assist. For whatever reason, she'd assumed something like this wouldn't be happening until well into their golden years, and although they were not the young, vivacious twenty-year-olds they once had been, they certainly were not elderly. She supposed in retrospect she should have seen this coming. Kids picked on each other all the time, and who wouldn't be charmed by dear sweet Amanda? The splitting image of her father that she was, and certain other people that would remain unnamed for eternity. Angel ran in the family. But still, she felt unprepared.
A cough broke her from her thoughts when her husband reentered the room and sat down, his face down. "Just someone asking if we had life insurance."
"Called it," Phil grinned, doing a small fist pump in victory. "Ham's future job strikes again."
Ham growled a little at him, still feebly attempting to wipe spare bits of ham and green beans from his face.
Zack grinned his approval, just as Amanda was sinking down in her seat, the only things peaking out from under the table being the top half of big, brilliantly shining green eyes and the top of her giant bow. Arnold noticed this and coughed again, having had a little time to collect himself. "Amanda…" he began gently.
She just groaned and ducked her head fully under.
Just as Arnold was opening his mouth, a hand came down on his shoulder and he looked over to see Zack giving him a look. It was one he'd worn many times himself as a child, the one that let people know just what he thought of their harebrained schemes. But, perhaps against his better judgment, Arnold shook his head at him. Zack just sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, his face expertly cleared of emotion.
Opening his mouth, Arnold began once more, "Faith, sweetie, an arrangement like that would be rather complicated to sort out. And it would only be going on for a few weeks, tops."
Her voice made a small whine from under the table.
Chris seemed to have had enough of this charade, and he pushed his plate away with a jerk and crossed his arms roughly over his chest, eyes hidden beneath his eyebrows. "Hey, if the little princess can't be bothered for one measly little hour of her time, then who cares? Let her go over to her stupid little friend's house."
Within half a second, the room was ablaze from Amanda's death stare as she snapped up from under the table. The burning rage that tumbled and swirled beneath her normally serene eyes was enough to make Chris' eyes widen for a fraction of a second before he glared back pathetically.
"I mean," he had the nerve to add, "after all, Amanda always gets her way. Why should now be any different?"
"You want," she shoved herself up from the table, the words tumbling out strained, "to be, tutored? Fine." Her soft voice wavered as she took in a harsh breath. "One plus one equals two, two plus one equals three, two plus two equals four—get it so far? Because you'd be surprised just how simple things become, when you pay attention to the right way of doing them." Looking down, she asked quietly, "May I be excused now?"
"Uh," both Arnold and Helga started in a baffled fluster.
Not waiting for any further permission, she wandered calmly out of the room.
Chris stared after her facelessly.
"So," Phil started, completely unaffected by what had just taken place as he balanced his fork between his forefingers and looked casually at Chris, "your problem's in math? Second grade addition? Fascinating… Funny, though, I don't recall that ever being all that difficult—OW!" He glared at Zack, who just cut his eyes back in response.
"I need sleep," Ham groaned, throwing his head back.
A knock came at the door.
An agonized moan was pressed into the pillow as she pulled it harder over her head. She made no further response.
There was a pause on the other side of the door, before it opened up a crack and one large blue eye peeked inside. "Amanda?" a soft, motherly voice came.
Amanda sighed, pulling the soft pink pillow from her face. She kept her eyes on the ceiling. "Is he gone?"
Helga entered the room, not bothering to flick the light on, and walked over to her daughter's dimly lit beside. Pulling up the chair they'd kept by her bed whenever she insisted on a bedtime story, she sat down and stroked her sunshiny bangs back from her eyes. "Your father's driving him home now."
Amanda didn't react to her mother's touch. Normally she would smile or blink her eyes wide and happy at her, but now she just kept her eyes up to the ceiling. "Good."
Helga pursed her lips, concern stressing at her brow. The room was silent for a while as Helga began chewing at her lip, unsure of what to say. She used to be so much better at planning things out. Motherhood had made her soft—too concerned to think before she acted. She mentally smacked herself for her thoughtlessness. Of all the times. This could be a very critical conversation and here she was sitting like a clueless idiot. She was starting to understand how her husband must feel all the time.
The sound of her daughter's soft voice nearly made her fall over in shock, "I didn't want him to come. I don't want to tutor him." Her big green eyes turned over to look up at her, the light of the lamp reflecting off of them. "I really don't. Do I have to?"
Helga gulped, eyes wide. A moment later, she answered, "Well, you don't have to if you really don't want to, but you already said you would. Your father would be disappointed." For Helga, this would have been an obvious out, and one she would have gleefully taken, but she knew her daughter better than that. She couldn't say no to something she'd already agreed to.
She furrowed her brows at this, displeased with the reminder.
Her face softening some, Helga ceased stroking her hair and put her hand down on the bed to support herself as she leaned closer with a reassuring smile. "It won't be so bad, angel. Who knows? Maybe it'll turn out better than you think." Her smile turned a bit sly.
At this, her daughter's face darkened and her eyebrows dropped. She didn't even have time to be surprised before Amanda mumbled, "That's what I'm afraid of."
"What?" Helga blinked.
"Nothing," she sulked, turning over on her side and pulling the covers up over herself. Her next words came as a muffle, "I just don't want to. You saw how rude he is. Why should I have to deal with that anymore than I have to?"
Helga chuckled, smiling fondly at the pale pink lump. "You remind me so much of your father sometimes."
The lump didn't respond to that. Helga could just imagine the confused look on her face at the seemingly random statement. Grinning with mischievous amusement, she added, "Now I'm sure he can't be that bad, Amanda. He just needs a little help with math is all, and Arnold will be there the entire time. It's not like we're sending you in to face down a bull."
The lump grumbled at that.
Shaking her head, Helga rose from her seat and leaned down to kiss the lump's head. "It's about bed time for you, my love. Get some sleep. You've got school in the morning."
Amanda never thought she'd see the day she'd be loathing the idea of going to school. She groaned beneath the covers and stretched her toes out, her mind raging.
She heard her mother click off the light and head for the door. As the near silent creak of it beginning to close reached her ears, her mother uttered some final words, "You know, I think he likes you more than he lets on."
There were a few quiet moments of silence then, before her mother softly shut the door with a deft click.
Just as she closed the door, Amanda pulled the covers from her head and shot her eyes to the ceiling. "I know," she groaned in utter despair, pulling her pillow up over her head again to muffle her screams.
The drive to his home was silent. For his part, Chris' face remained impassive the entire way, his eyes staring out the window, seeing but not seeing.
Arnold was careful when he glanced at him in the mirror. Despite it, though, he'd made eye contact with him a couple times, though he hadn't seemed to care. He'd just stared blankly back before Arnold looked away.
He'd called ahead for directions before they'd come. The woman on the phone had been soft-voiced and a bit hesitant at times. She seemed nice, albeit a bit confused. Arnold wondered if Chris had really called to ask permission or not, because she'd asked a lot of questions about things she should have already known. He hadn't pressed it, though. He found himself trusting this boy. He wasn't sure why. He just struck a cord in him. He seemed so familiar. At first he'd dismissed it as him reminding him of Helga, which he did, but he knew it was more than that. He felt like he knew him somehow. Though that was impossible.
His head swimming with thoughts, he pulled up into the driveway of the apartment complex and turned the car off. As the metal beast clicked to sleep, he turned around in his seat to face Chris only to see he was already getting out of the car. Eyes wide with surprise, Arnold blinked and jerked a little when the door slammed shut.
He turned around and got out of the car. As he clicked the button on his keys to lock the doors, he looked over to where he'd thought Chris had headed off. His body jerked around when he realized he was gone.
Some panic gripping at him unbidden, he called out as calmly as he could, "Chris?"
"Go home."
Going rigid for only a second, Arnold blinked out of his surprise and turned slowly around. Chris was leaning against the back of the car near where the trunk was popped open, his backpack hanging carelessly from one of his shoulders with his skateboard sticking out.
Arnold's jaw dropped. He hadn't opened the trunk. "How did you…"
Chris held up a screwdriver. His voice came without any real tone, "I popped it open as we were pulling up. Your car is old. I'd get a new one if I were you. This one would be easily robbed."
Arnold blinked incredulously. "I didn't hear it open."
Chris shrugged, stuffing the screwdriver back into his pocket. "You weren't paying attention. Not my problem." He sniffed, adjusting his backpack a little as he stood back up from against the car. "Look, we can start this whole tutoring thing on Wednesday. I've got plans tomorrow." He began towards the metal stairs, tossing over his shoulder as he passed him, "Now go home."
Arnold blinked once more, before he ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He started, jerking his hand off as he swiveled around. He looked up at him with a tinge of anger. "What?"
Arnold withdrew his hand from the air. "I can't just let you go up there alone." He tried smiling.
Chris just frowned deeply, before reaching behind himself and pulling something out of his pocket. For a second Arnold thought it would be another screwdriver or some kind of weapon, but instead he just held up a key, not offering it to him, just showing. "I can go up fine on my own. I do it all the time."
Arnold's eyes widened. "You're eight."
"And you're balding. You don't see me pointing it out." He scowled. "Go home."
"I—"
"Just go already. Your family's waiting," his voice grumbled lowly, before he turned around and marched purposely towards the apartments.
Arnold blinked, a blind hand reaching up to touch at his hair.
Just as Chris was halfway up the creaky metal of the stairs, he heard an extra loud squeak and snapped his head around to see Arnold following after him. "What are you doing?" he hissed.
Arnold just sighed and pushed him along up the stairs, not bothering to answer. That would only invoke an argument and this wasn't something they could discuss.
Chris was unwillingly pushed up the remainder of the stairs, forced to listen to them groan and wail at the added weight. It wasn't long before he was being led along the long balcony, riddled with dried mud and desperately in need of some WD40.
As they made it to the door of his apartment, 13, Arnold gave a strong few knocks on the door. Chris glared at him and held up his key again, waving it around in a 'Duh' motion. He didn't hesitate to stuff the key in the lock, but just as he was about to turn it the door swung open. Chris jumped back in shock, bumping his back into Arnold's legs. Arnold would have wondered why he was so jumpy, but he was too busy wondering why he hadn't mentioned he had a grandma.
The woman looked to be about in her sixties, her face slightly chubby and flushed with health. Her gray hair tumbled to her shoulders and her crystally eyes blinked at him in surprise.
Arnold smiled a congenial smile. "Hello, I'm Arnold Shortman, Chris' teacher. I just came over to drop Chris off." He patted Chris on the shoulder, noting how tense it was. Looking down at him, he asked the woman, "Are his parents home? I'd like to have a word with them."
The woman blinked again, eyeing the boy before looking back up at him with a strange face. "I'm afraid not… Haven't been for four years now."
Arnold's eyes widened. Chris pulled away from his suddenly tight grip on his shoulder and pushed past the lady into the house.
"Chris," Arnold called.
"Oh, leave him be," the woman said with a smile, looking at him with a level of understanding. "He's a sweet boy but he just needs a little time to himself every once in a while." She reached forward to shake his hand. "I'm Fawn, Chris' aunt."
Arnold made a small noise of surprise, before shaking her hand back. Aunt. But she looked so old… Now that he looked at her he supposed she could pass for fifty. He found himself flushing a little at having assumed such a thing about such a nice woman. "Um, it's nice to meet you…" He smiled, a tad lost. "But where are his parents? If I may ask, I mean…"
The woman's smile lessened.
Arnold stumbled to explain, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't ask, but he'd said—"
"Oh no, no, it's fine," she waved him off, her smile the same. "He does this all the time." She dragged a long sigh from her mouth, leaning her hip against the doorframe. "His mother went up and left one day, and it devastated his father. Ended up dropping him off with me and carting off. Something about not being a good enough father for him. Haven't seen either since. My sister can be rather thoughtless but I'd thought better of him. It's a shame." Shaking her head, she widened her smile a little at him, trying to lighten things up a bit. "He's a good boy, though. His father sends money from time to time, always makes him so happy." Her smile vanished. "He hasn't gotten in trouble has he?"
"Huh? Oh, not at all," Arnold assured her, a bit dazed. Shaking his head, he tried to smile more kindly and professional. "He's just been having some trouble in math. It's the same case every time—he just doesn't know what he's capable of. I know inviting him over for dinner might have seemed a little unorthodox but I like to take a more hands on approach with my students. I was hoping I could tutor him on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to help him improve."
"Oh, no trouble at all," she smiled. She hesitated then, and Arnold got the chilling vibe that he was under a severe amount of scrutiny. "Would it…" she started suddenly, seeming reluctant about something, "Would it be a problem if he had the tutoring sessions here?"
Arnold tried to maintain his smile, despite the sudden uncomfortableness that had settled between them. "Well, I was thinking I could just tutor him in the classroom after class. It would only be for an hour, and it would save gas. I could drive him home since you don't live too far off from the school. Is that a problem?"
"Oh, well…" She bit her lip.
It suddenly dawned on Arnold that he was a complete stranger to this woman, coming to her home after only the first day of school. Of course she wouldn't trust him. He wouldn't trust himself either. As the realization swept over him, Arnold rooted himself to his spot, embarrassed. "Oh, I am so sorry. I know this is very out of the blue… My daughter would be with us, if that helps."
"Oh, you're married?" She softened a tad.
Arnold's face lit up without his realizing. "Yes, seventeen years. With four kids."
Fawn threw her head back in warm laughter. Shaking her head at him, she grinned with cheeks flushed, "Ohhh, you sure have your hands full."
Arnold's smile was immediately weighted down with the truth in that statement. "Oh, you have no idea…" Wanting to prove it to her and further reassure her of his safety, he pulled his wallet out and flipped it open, a tumble of photos falling out in a neat plastic link like an accordion. She made a small noise of delight as she browsed through the pictures. "Is this your daughter?" She held one up with a grin.
Arnold chuckled. Women always got all gushy whenever he mentioned his kids. He couldn't blame them—especially not when it came to Amanda. She was darling. Smiling as he looked down at the picture, a bit faded around the edges, he pulled it out so she could see it more clearly. His thumbs fit perfectly in the faded edges of the photograph, and he chuckled again without meaning to. It had been taken at a trip to the beach when she was three, and she was the smallest thing, grinning too big at the camera with the water lapping her feet. "Yep, that's my Faith."
She cooed over the picture, making the strange, alien noises that spluttered out of people when they saw babies. "Oh, she's precious. How old is she now?"
"Seven—and three months if you listen to her." He grinned, in quite the good mood now as he looked at the pictures. Pictures of Phil at five pouting after his ice cream had fallen, Zack at twelve trying to push a ten-year-old Josh out of the picture as he crossed his eyes at the camera with his tongue sticking out, Amanda dressed in her best hoisted up on Timberly's shoulders in her wedding dress with them grinning like fools, Helga guffawing at a gaping Zack when Ham had pushed his birthday cake into his face, Grandpa giving a horrified Phil a big kiss on the cheek, and then, his personal favorite, their family portrait—AKA, Dooms Day, Volume 6. Helga was the only one that actually looked pleasant. Arnold had his hand pressed up against Zack's face to try to calm him down with his face frozen in shock at the camera going off, Ham laughing ferociously with his finger pointed at Zack, and Phil glaring nastily at Amanda, looking ready to burst with his face bright red, as she looked up at him cluelessly. He didn't know how they had all managed to get themselves so worked up right before picture day, but they'd accomplished it.
He was snapped out of his reminiscing when Fawn handed the picture back to him, her face flushed with a sudden likeness towards him. "Oh, that is too cute. I'd always wanted a daughter. You're very lucky."
Arnold's eyes softened. "I know."
Before any further words could be exchanged, Chris suddenly shoved his way into the doorway in front of his aunt and glared up at his new teacher. "Yeah, very lucky, very lucky, we get it—now go home already!" The door slammed shut in his face, a gust of overly freshened air bursting in his face.
Arnold stared at the door a while, his wallet still out and free hand clutching onto the faded photo. He stared at nothing, feeling the cool wet of raindrops begin to kiss at his nose. Before long, he wordlessly placed the picture back into his wallet and put it away, before turning to the creaking metal deathtrap that was the staircase. His eyes still soft, he began down it to his car. "I will."
By the time Arnold arrived home, he'd come to a decision.
Talking to that woman had reminded him of just how lucky he truly was. Once upon a time he'd been an orphan living in a boarding house with a family that most of which he wasn't even related to. He'd always tried to make do and see what he had for it's full worth, but that hadn't changed that he'd still been sad. He knew exactly how Chris felt. Having your parents just up and leave at the drop of a hat and never coming back was confusing and hurtful. He'd had to live with that pain for most of his childhood as well.
He'd been a short kid with an awkwardly sized head and a hat ten times too small, with kids constantly snickering at him because they thought he wore a skirt. He'd often felt alone, but he'd grown used to it. Accustomed even. It had matured him, and he'd found himself humbled to the world. This big, exciting world that seemed so small and plain without his loved ones.
But everything had changed, and now he was here. It felt strange to be so old. He didn't feel old. Most of his childhood memories still felt just like yesterday. He could remember riding bikes and shouting under broken fire hydrants and reading comic books in his room; laughing at his crazy friends and blushing at Helga in class and kissing under shady trees. But most of all now, he could remember romantic nights in the dark that had lead to crazily scuttling feet along floorboards and countless nights being woken up by the sound of anguished wails.
He couldn't even remember the last time he'd felt lonely. If anything, any time alone at all was a relief, for it was short-lived. He forgot sometimes just how lucky he was. Somewhere between Zack's stupid faces, Phil's dramatic outbursts, Ham's proclamations of heart-shattering career choices, and Amanda scuttling away with every sugary item in the house, the thought had been washed over with exhaustion.
Amanda…
Wandering away from the doorway to the living room, where his three boys were all staring lazily at some action flick raging on the television, he quietly made his way up the staircase. Mindful of the slight creak in the door, he cracked it open just a slight bit to look inside.
The night-light she'd insisted she didn't need was plugged in beside her bed, and Arnold hid a smile just in case she was awake. But she didn't stir, and he managed to squint his eyes enough to see that her eyes were closed. His smile widening slightly, he shut the door with a soft click and wandered back down the stairs.
He'd just wanted to tell her she could go along with Elli after all. Not all the days, but he figured three times a week was a bit cruel. They were just kids, after all. There was nothing wrong with taking things slow. With how adamant she'd been about how rude and mean Chris was, it was probably for the best. He didn't want to give up his little girl that quickly anyway. Not for a long time.
Oh well. They wouldn't be starting tutoring until Wednesday anyway. He could always tell her later.
Amanda chatted with Elli in the halls of the school before class, retelling the horrific events of the other night. It was already halfway through the school day, but Chris had yet to show. It was a serious relief to her system but that didn't change the dreadful things that had already come to pass.
"Elli," she squeaked in mortification, "they're making me tutor him. He was in my house. He completely intruded and broke plates and yelled at my mom and dad, and, and they're making me tutor him. Can you believe it? I'm still in shock."
Elli blinked at her, her normally relaxed face twisted in surprised bafflement. She looked uncomfortable. "That… is a bit much…"
Something snapped in the air, the atmosphere crashing around them like a million pieces of flesh-tearing glass. Amanda's head slowly twisted around to stare at her, her face stiff, before she suddenly had Elli up by her collar and was nose to nose to her best friend. She gripped her collar tight enough to cut off her air supply—she didn't need it, though, she'd long stopped breathing. Amanda's voice came out as an incredulous squeak, "You think I don't know that? A bit, a bit much, it's… it's barbaric!"
"That's a big word." Elli winced, cowering a bit under her intense graying stare.
Her pigtails were sagging again, her giant pink bow seeming almost ominous now as it sat droopingly atop her head, the cheery color coming in teeth-chattering contrast to the raging despair on her best friend's face.
"For an entire hour," she whispered gravely, as if it were a death sentence, her grip loosening as her eyes went hazy. Organ music practically blared in the background.
Elli blinked in surprise, her hands coming up to her shoulders as she swayed. "'manda, are you okay? Snap out of it. It's not that bad."
Amanda laughed almost maniacally, her eyes wide and focused on the ceiling. "Not that bad, not that bad." She snapped her head down, sanity crashing back as she clenched her teeth, the jellybeans of her eyes melting into an ashy steel. "It's the worst thing that's ever happened to me!"
"Amanda," Elli said calmly, reaching up to tighten the ties of her pigtails back to their usual perk, "I know that Chris is a pain, but I think you're overreacting. It's only an hour, and you're only helping. You won't be alone with him."
"My dad'll try," Amanda despaired.
Elli went to work on the other pigtail. "Even so, you know Chris will make a fuss sooner or later. You can use that as an excuse to wait outside or write in your notebook."
"Hmmm," Amanda mulled this over, her eyes flicking to the side. "Well, that's true. Can always count on him to say something awful." Her eyes fell halfway just at the thought of how true that was.
"Right?" Elli smiled her gentle smile, vainly attempting to make her bow not so droopy. It was no use in the end, though—the bow was too big, and Amanda's head was too small. It fell no matter what she did. Sighing to herself, she dropped her hands. "I'm not saying it will be easy, but I don't think it will be bad either. You just have to make the best of it. Look on the bright side, remember?"
"That only works when there's a bright side to look at," Amanda grumbled glumly.
"Don't be like that." She frowned. "Now smile already, you look weird and people are starting to stare."
Looking around herself, Amanda realized she was right. People were looking at her funny. Looking back at Elli, she drew out a breath, letting her shoulders fall in rhythm with it, before she grinned her biggest and widest. "Happy?"
Elli stared at her, suddenly astonished. "'manda…"
Amanda blinked, trying to keep the monster grin up even though her cheeks were starting to hurt a little. "What? If I grin any bigger my face will break."
"Huh? Oh, no, Amanda, it's not that, it's just…" She deftly held a finger up to her teeth, her eyes large and fascinated. "That."
"That?" Amanda's grin dropped, her eyes suddenly flaring with panic. "I don't have a cavity do I? Or do I just have something stuck in my teeth?" She reached a hand up to touch around at her mouth in concern, when suddenly something popped out into her hand. She froze.
Elli stared at it as well, her mouth hanging open. "I… I think your face already broke."
Amanda stared at the tiny item in her hand, her tongue running along her gum line to feel where the tooth was gone. The coppery taste of blood came sharply on her tongue but she didn't react. For a second, Elli thought she was going to lose it again—she'd lose it a little too if a piece of her face suddenly chipped off and fell to the floor. Things that were attached couldn't just fall off like hair-clips. She must have been a lot more stressed out than she thought.
The sound of an ear-piercing scream nearly shattered her eardrums as Amanda suddenly started squealing and jumping up and down. "I lost my first tooth! I lost my first tooth!"
"Your first?" Elli gawked. "There's going to be more? Amanda, really, you don't have to freak out this much. The Chris thing—"
"Oh, forget Chris!" She waved him off like bad lunchmeat, holding the tooth to her chest as if it were the world's most precious jewel. Her smile was big and genuine now as she spun around on her foot, before she suddenly jumped forward and engulfed Elli in a big hug. "Elli, it's my first tooth!" All that gnashing her teeth over Chris' visit must have paid off. There really was a bright side.
"Amanda…" Elli shifted uncomfortably. "Why do you keep saying that?"
Amanda pulled back, grinning big and showing off the obnoxious gap that was suddenly in her teeth. "It's perfectly natural, Ell. You don't know?"
Elli stared at her bug-eyed. "Don't know?"
Amanda stared at her a moment in surprise, before she burst into giggles. Holding the tooth up to the light, she explained, positively gleaming and looking very much like her usual self now, "Teeth fall out. These aren't our permanent teeth. They're just here for when we're kids. Haven't you ever wondered why grown ups' teeth were so much bigger?"
Elli blinked, her eyes still large. "I always thought they just grew—"
Amanda giggled, shaking her head. "Teeth can't grow. I know it's weird, but apparently it's normal. Your teeth gradually start to fall out, and in their places better teeth grow."
Elli stared at her, before her lips slowly formed her words back, as if trying to sound them out in hopes of understanding dawning on her, "They fall out gradually?"
Amanda beamed, nodding her head.
"But… But why don't they just fall out all at once? Just to get it over with?" Dinner tonight was no doubt going to be spent with a lot of awkward questions, 'What else falls out?' being probably the most concerning.
Amanda giggled gleefully at the silly statement, feeling all the more endeared to her gentle friend. "Because then we wouldn't have anything to eat with while the new teeth grew! We'd be stuck with apple sauce and pudding."
"What's wrong with that?" Elli stared at her blankly, much calmer than before.
Amanda shook her head, feeling the tooth all the bigger in her hand now as she looked down at it. Her grin grew as she declared, "I've got to tell Daddy!" She started to turn around to do just that, no doubt skipping a foot off the ground the entire way, when she was suddenly smashed up against something mid-turn. "Ow!"
She stumbled back, rubbing her sore face with her free hand. "I'm sorry, that was—"
"Pig."
Her eyes snapped open to see Chris standing there, brown eyes even nastier than usual and a deep frown carving his face to the point she thought it was going to split in half.
She couldn't move
"What?" he hissed, practically shaking with… something.
The bell rang, but Amanda didn't move. She just stared at him, a statue stuck to the floor. As all the kids went running to their respective classrooms, Elli looked around herself in worry. Taking quiet steps over to put a hand on Amanda's shoulder, she said, "Amanda, class is starting. Your dad's waiting."
Amanda blinked slowly. It was a small thing, but it was enough for Elli to know she was well enough to walk. She grabbed hold of her arm and started pulling her in the direction of the classroom, away from Chris' petrifying stare and bared teeth. Elli guessed that when his teeth started falling out, wolf's fangs would grow in place. The thought made her purse her lips and she pulled Amanda all the more determined.
Soon enough, Amanda managed to blink herself back from the underworld she'd found herself in and gulped, turning around to walk with her friend. When Elli noticed she was walking with her, she smiled and let go of her arm. Amanda smiled her thanks.
That is until, Chris called out, "Have fun listening to Daddy Dearest drone on about nonsense, Piggy Pig! I hope that massive nose he likes to stick in everyone's business falls off!"
It was so small. It was hardly any different from any of his other attacks. But it struck a cord. No, it didn't strike one. It snapped one like a guitar string and caused a mind-numbing zing to echo off of the halls. She heard it quite clearly in her ears. It was the loudest thing she'd ever heard.
She didn't even feel herself turn around. "That… is… it!" The sound of her screech reverberated throughout the entire school but it crashed like waves against her ears and caused things long buried to bubble up like acid.
She had him by his shirt, was pushing him to the floor and towering over him like a skyscraper. He stared up at her in such horror. She hardly registered it past the red in her eyes. "You are going to shut up," her voice was nothing more than a seething whisper, the sound of white heat forcing through teeth. "Criminy, why won't you ever behave? What changed in you? Why are you so horrible? We used to be friends!"
"Amanda…" he whispered, shuddering on the floor.
"Is that my name?" she asked acidly, her feet apart and fists clenched so hard her fingers were turning white. "Since when is my name Amanda? I thought it was pig. Wasn't that right? Christian…"
His eyelids twitched and he looked like he wanted to scream something back but he couldn't.
"Listen, delinquent," she grabbed him up by his collar and bared her teeth in a growl, a million times more terrifying a look on her than it had ever been on him, "I'm done. If I'm going to tutor you for the next few weeks, you are going to zip it. No more name calling, no more torture, and no more pretending you don't care 'cause I know you do. My name is Amanda F. Shortman. Get it right! I am not going to get stuck with you for the rest of my life with you acting like this! I don't deserve this kind of pain day in and day out!"
"The rest of your life?" he echoed like he was in a dream.
Amanda's eyes widened for a split second before she growled, "The next few weeks, the rest of school, you get it! A really long time! But the point is, I'm not putting up with you anymore! Be a good person already, geekbait!" And with that, she grabbed him by the back of his collar and proceeded to drag him to class with her, her feet stomping down the hall like she was a stormcloud. Elli stared in shock as she dragged the dazed and strangely euphoric Chris with her, before she disappeared around the corner.
Amanda Faith Shortman was like the sun at P.S. 118. She made perfect grades and had the loveliest personality, and was very rarely caught without a smile. There was very little wrong with her, some might say. Some might even claim she was an angel. But no one on this earth is perfect.
Amanda Faith had the nastiest temper, and that combined with the resolve of a bull and morals even more strictly adhered to than her own father, was Armageddon in the making. Any sort of wrongdoing was enough to set her off. It was perhaps her biggest fault and often ended in walls crumbling and cities setting aflame.
As far as Chris was concerned, he was the world's biggest screw up. He broke twenty rules before breakfast and acted as if it was nothing. Amanda would never understand the change in his demeanor, considering they'd been friends in kindergarten, but all she knew was that she despised it. She had to resist ripping him to shreds on a daily basis, and it often drained her of her energy. He would never understand just how much he frustrated her.
Especially since she could remember quite clearly what her bedtime stories as a small child had been of. Of a nasty bully that tormented the boy she adored for attention, until one day he found out and fell in love with her in return and they got married. She remembered her father telling her he was that boy, and she remembered falling asleep with a smile on her face. She remembered her great-grandparents telling her a similar story, and how it was shaping out to be a destiny kind of thing. She'd had no idea she'd learn to dread that at the time.
If there was any chance that she could get around it, she would. She would scour the entire galaxy for a loophole if she had to. Chris wasn't like her mother was. Her mother was funny and playful, he was just mean and stupid. He never tried, he was completely unmotivated in everything he did, and he knew how to hotwire a car. No good could come from that. It simply wasn't the same concept. Besides, wasn't she the one that was supposed to fall and pick on him? Not the other way around?
In any case, she was done with it. No more getting picked on, and no more acting the bully. He would be a good person from now on, she would make sure of that. He didn't have to be perfect, she liked him just the way he—… He didn't have to be perfect. But he did at least have to stop with the remarks.
Of course, who knew how long her ill-timed fury would last?
He'd be back to himself as soon as the month was up.
A/N: Well… that was a long-winded way of making one point. I guess that's essentially all any book is huh? Blah. Points to anyone who can guess who Chris' dad is! Fo' serious, I will give you a cookie. A virtual cookie but a cookie nonetheless. Hint: he's from the show. LOL
So then, Arnold takes a forty minute to an hour drive to home from getting out of school at 3, dinner is already ready when they get there at around 4, and after a half-hour to hour long dinner session it is now Amanda's bedtime. Hmmmm… Seems legit.
Seriously, I'm going to say they just had dinner a little early because Helga wanted to get him in and out as soon as possible. Then I'm gonna say that dinner ran a bit long (because with this family, everything takes longer than it should), then they all sat around watching TV and being a-holes for a couple hours and lost track of time, and that Arnold was long taking Chris home when Helga went up to talk to Amanda because Chris just lives so stinking far away (because I can, I'm freaking SuprSingr, the flying donkey from Saturn). So that leaves Amanda's bedtime around, ehhh, eight-ish. Mwahaha, I am a master at cheating around details. Screw you, Writing, I'll violently manipulate you all I want.
There are other flaws with this but I'm not going to point them out. Shhhh… *Shifty eyes*
The next chapter is going to be super Zack-centric, with all sorts of new OCs introduced and a few characters you already know! ;D As I said before, these chapters are titled "Shortman Secrets." REVEAL ALL DA SECRETS. Mwahahaha! Hopefully none of them find out I blabbed because then I'm dead. :P BUT IT WILL BE WORTH IT }:D
REVIEW!
If you please, cobbler and cheese
