And now, onwards towards the next chapter! Anyway, enjoy!
Arnold and Rhonda had approached the boarding house after a nice little game of finger touching (whilst they were holding hands, but neither of them were aware) as Arnold blinked in confusion.
"Arnold?" Rhonda started to ask before he shushed her. Arnold leaned his ear towards the door as he heard... complete silence, which made him feel uneasy.
"I don't hear the animals waiting to come right out..." Arnold said as he leaned his ear closer. "Nor do I hear the sound of Grandma hooting and hollering. Something's up here..."
Rhonda looked at her fake boyfriend nervously as she asked, "Should we open it?"
"I don't see any other alternative..." Arnold said as he felt the knob, wiggling it and opening up the door.
Much to Arnold and Rhonda's curiosity, a sign next to the stairs had greeted them as Arnold picked up the sign and read it. "To Arnold and Rhonda, please come to the backyard."
The two kids looked at each other with confused looks before following the sign. Eventually, when the kids arrived in the backyard, they were greeted with the following.
"SURPRISE!"
Arnold and Rhonda looked in surprise as they saw Arnold's grandparents, Rhonda's parents and most of the boarders (save for Ernie Potts, who was working late) were sitting down at a nicely set up table with cake and party favors.
"Wh-what's all this?" Arnold asked in confusion.
"I think it's a party!" Rhonda said in excitement. "And my goodness, you all went to a lot of trouble!"
"You like it?" Brooke smiled. "We all came together and we figured, why not do this for our kids, especially since they've been dating for... what, the last half of the week?"
"I would say it's pretty close." Buckley laughed a bit.
Arnold raised an eyebrow as he asked, "But why the party all of a sudden? It's not my birthday nor is it Rhonda's... and I'm pretty sure I would get a heads-up if one of our odd holidays was coming up."
"So?" Phil laughed.
"Why do you have to wait for a holiday to do something nice for people you love?" Gertie pointed out. "You do it all the time, Kimba."
Arnold opened his mouth to protest... before pausing to think. Rhonda gave a smile as she said, "She's right, you know, darling."
Arnold's eyes widened as he gave a smile. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. You didn't have to put this all up for us..."
"You're right, we didn't have to. We wanted to." Brooke said as she kneeled down towards Arnold. "To show our appreciation for helping everyone out in the past... and for being such positive influences in our lives... you and your grandparents."
"Oh... well, I suppose when you say that..." Arnold blushed a bit as Brooke and Buckley looked down at the football headed kid.
"Arnold, you know, if you want to talk to anybody about anything, even if it's something frustrating, it's all right for you to talk with us." Buckley smiled. "I just want you to know that."
"All right..." Arnold nodded as Rhonda was already sitting next to Phil.
"Well, come on, Arnold. We are NOT letting this party go to waste!" Rhonda gave a laugh as she patted the seat next to hers.
Arnold gave a small smile as he joined with Rhonda and sat next to her as the two spent the next couple of hours talking about their day with the adults and the fun times they were going to have.
Brooke and Buckley gave hidden smiles to themselves, having a good feeling that their daughter had made the right choice in making a boyfriend, even if they didn't realize that their relationship was built under false pretenses...
Later that night, after both of the kids finished up their homework together, Arnold and Rhonda sighed as both of them sat down on the retractable couch as Rhonda gave a smile. "That was certainly quite a divine party, wasn't it?"
"I say." Arnold gave a chuckle. "I wasn't quite expecting it. I wonder what caused our family members to think up the idea." Arnold smiled... before pausing. "You don't think they'd..."
Rhonda raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she noticed Arnold blushing a bit. "What's wrong?"
"You would think this is silly, but... do you think they arranged us to... well... marry?" Arnold asked nervously.
Rhonda's eyes widened in shock... before she laughed. "Oh, Arnold, you have a very vivid imagination. We're only kids! Why would they throw our early engagement party? Just because we're fake-dating doesn't mean we escalated it to a point where I'm calling myself your wife."
Arnold took a deep breath as he relaxed. "I suppose you have a point, but still, you can't help but wonder..."
"Arnold, can't you accept that you have family that loves you?" Rhonda giggled.
Arnold gave a pause as he seemed to be thinking about something. Rhonda looked at Arnold in concern as she noticed he wasn't laughing. "Arnold? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking. But yes, I realize my grandparents love me, and I love my grandparents. No matter what, I always see them as the best grandparents that ever raised me." Arnold said, looking at Rhonda.
"Oh... well, that's good." Rhonda gave a small smile, although she couldn't help but notice the hurt in Arnold's eyes. Changing the subject, she smiled, "So, we have at least a couple of hours before we have to go to bed... why don't I have another sleepover at your room?"
Arnold shook his head in surprise. "Will your parents be okay with this?"
"We'll talk with both my parents and your grandparents, they'll be fine with it, I assure you." Rhonda said as she patted her back. "Besides, we need to make sure this whole fake-dating thing is convincing..."
Arnold sighed as he rolled his eyes. Rhonda groaned, "Oh, don't give me that, Arnold. You know we have to go through this."
"I know, I know... but still, we should be thinking about ways to break up on good terms." Arnold said.
"Don't you think that's what I'm doing?" Rhonda said. "Besides, it's just a couple sleepovers in your room. I won't be hanging up here all the time, you know."
Arnold paused... as he gave a chuckle. "All right, let's make arrangements..."
Meanwhile, over at Phoebe's house, Helga was relaxing in her best friend's bed as she seemed to be panicking a bit as Phoebe was looking over a yearbook.
"Okay, so to recap, we know that somebody is attempting to frame you with the shoe that you wore during your first date with Ice Cream... as Cecile." Phoebe said.
"Not only that, Pheebs, but whoever came in OBVIOUSLY knows my secret, that I love Ice Cream! And if he thinks that I tried to... talk with Rhonda, there's no way he's going to talk to me! I may as well hang up my love for him and all my poetry books now!" Helga groaned as she held her head.
"There is a SLIGHT chance that this thief doesn't even know about your crush... and it may not even be one of the students." Phoebe pointed out.
"No, it's one of the students, it has to be!" Helga said nervously.
"Well, let's just start with the basics." Phoebe said. "Who knows about your secret?"
"Besides you?" Helga asked as Phoebe nodded. "Well... Dr. Bl-"
"No adults."
Helga groaned. "Well, I did tell Lila, but... she doesn't like Ice Cream in that way... at least, I think she doesn't."
"Believe me, she doesn't. I checked." Phoebe sighed. "And besides, didn't I tell you that Ice Cream was already over her?"
"I know, but I like to throw that idea out there... maybe Lila has a hidden dark side and she's exposing my crush on Ice Cream and framing me to be the shoe thief!" Helga laughed.
Phoebe stared at Helga with a frown on her face. "Now that's just plain ridiculous. Why would Lila waste her time doing all of this? We saw her for ourselves during Lila's first days, Helga."
"Well... she might have changed since then." Helga pointed out.
The Asian girl could only stare at her unimpressed as she shook her head. "Right, so Lila is out, safe to say... hmmm... what about that other boy you say that keeps sneaking up on you, listening to your poetry? He may have been the shoe thief?"
"Brainy?" Helga said in surprise. Phoebe nodded, before Helga scoffed. "Please, Pheebs. Brainy may be a bit of a creep, but he doesn't steal shoes. Or break into other people's homes. And at least he's quiet and respects my secrets."
Phoebe sighed. "I guess that's a good point. Scratch Brainy then..." Phoebe then turned to Helga. "Anybody else?"
Helga sadly shook her head.
"Then it has to be someone who might or might not have overheard your secret... or an enemy you made during your time. Do we have any enemies?" Phoebe asked.
Helga paused as she thought about it. "Er... well, there were those sixth grader girls who picked on you..."
"No, I don't think they would go through the trouble." Phoebe shook her head.
"Maybe Wolfgang or one of his fifth grader friends overheard Gerald's story and broke into the first house to get a shoe... and it just so happened to be mine." Helga pointed out.
"Would Wolfgang really go through the trouble, though?" Phoebe said. "If you ask me, I think you became careless and inadvertently revealed your secret to someone who just overheard you at the wrong time."
Helga groaned as she held her head. "Well, I guess we won't know for sure until he attacks again, hm?"
Phoebe sighed. "I guess so... we'll wait and see, Helga."
The pink bow wearing girl nodded as she looked out at the night sky, sighing. "For God's sake, I just hope that shoe being stolen was just a coincidence..."
And that ends this next chapter! How did you guys like it? Next chapter, Arnold and Rhonda will be having themselves a little sleepover! Get excited, my fellow Arnda fans! Or just Hey Arnold fans in general! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!