Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or it's characters.
Chapter 9,
Arnold and Gerald climbed into the bus and they sat together of course. Arnold looked out the window, and he didn't even notice when he started impatiently bouncing his knee. But Gerald noticed this immediately and he quickly got annoyed by it.
"Arnold man. You got to cut that out." Gerald said.
"Huh? Oh." Arnold said, when he noticed his knee. He then started to bounce his hand in a similar nature to his knee. Gerald rose an eyebrow at that.
"Arnold, what's plaguing your mind?" Gerald asked and Arnold glanced around, and he felt safe enough to tell Gerald.
"Ok, I'll tell you, but I don't want a lot of people to know about it because you know how our class can be, alright?" Arnold said and Gerald nodded.
"Just tell me." Gerald said and Arnold took a deep breath.
"Ok, well yesterday Phoebe gave me Helga's anniversary present for me. It was a book she wrote about our childhood. But it was all about me, and... not enough Helga." Arnold started sadly and Gerald nodded.
"Alright, continue." Gerald said.
"I convinced Phoebe to let me borrow her key for Helga's house. So I went up to Helga's room and I started reading her old diaries." Arnold said and Gerald's eyes widened.
"Man, are you crazy? If Helga wakes up and learns you did that, she will kill you." Gerald quietly hissed at him and Arnold's face fell.
"If she wakes up?" Arnold repeated with a broken voice, and Gerald sighed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Gerald said and Arnold looked down at his phone.
"Phoebe told me that I can read her diaries for 2 hours everyday; as long as I take better care of myself. But I promised I wouldn't take the diary out of Helga's room, so when it was time to leave... I took a few pictures of the diary so that I could read it without taking the book out of the room." Arnold said.
"And what? Now you're feeling guilty?" Gerald asked and Arnold shook his head.
"No, not that. I've been reading a lot, but now I'm almost done with the pictures I took. And I won't be able to read more of the diary until after school." Arnold said and Gerald scoffed.
"Man, you're twitching like Chocolate Boy." Gerald said and Arnold paused.
"I am?" Arnold asked and Gerald nodded.
"A little bit man. It looks like you're getting addicted to Helga's diary." Gerald said.
"Oh?" Arnold said and he looked down at his hands. Now he was sitting a little too still.
"Arnold, don't be that way." Gerald said and Arnold sighed.
"You might be right though. I'm sitting here, just trying to hold off until lunch to read more, but I just can't stand it. It really would break my heart if Phoebe revoked her key privileges." Arnold said and Gerald blinked.
"What exactly did you agree to?" Gerald asked and Arnold rubbed the back of his neck.
"She allows me to borrow the key as long as I take better care of myself, and to return the key after my two hours are up, and I'm not to remove anything. She wants me to keep Helga's room the same as I left it and she can add new rules or make the key whenever she wants." Arnold said. For a moment, Gerald was silent as he mulled over these conditions.
"I'd like to walk with you to Helga's house today." Gerald said and Arnold blinked.
"Why?" Arnold asked.
"When we get to Helga's place, I want you to give me the key for about 30 minutes, an hour tops." Gerald said and Arnold got even more confused.
"But why?" Arnold asked and Gerald crosses his arms over his chest.
"Arnold, do you trust me?" Gerald asked and Arnold sighed.
"You know I do." Arnold said and Gerald nodded.
"Good. Then you know I won't do anything to you Helga, or that key. So... just trust me, ok?" Gerald said and Arnold nodded.
"You're a bold kid, Gerald." Arnold said.
"Will you stop stealing my lines?" Gerald said and they both laughed.
-
"Mrs. Pataki? Mrs. Pataki?" Miriam heard and she groaned at the sound. She felt a hand on her shoulder and it felt odd.
"B? Did your hands shrink?" Miriam asked as she blinked her eyes opened.
"Who are you?" Miriam asked when she saw a strange woman in front of her.
"My name is Stella. We met last night; do you remember?" Stella asked and Miriam struggled to remember... anything.
"How did you get inside my house?" Miriam asked and Stella blinked at this.
"Well, your front door was-"
"Oh, my god. You're sleeping with Bob, aren't you? How could B cheat on me? I gave up everything to be with him." Miriam said, as tears flowed down her face.
"Honey, honey, come on. I am not sleeping with Bob." Stella said and Miriam sniffled.
"Really?" Well... wait, you aren't sleeping with me, are you?" Miriam asked and Stella chuckled.
"No. Now how about we move you from the stairs to the couch; it's comfier there." Stella said and she carefully helped Miriam to her feet.
"I don't understand." Miriam stated as she shifted most of her weight onto Stella.
"What don't you understand?" Stella asked and Miriam wrapped her arms around this friendly stranger.
"If you're not sleeping with me or my husband, then why are you being nice to me? What do you want?" Miriam asked as they walked to the couch.
"Do I have to want something in order to be nice to you?" Stella asked as she put Miriam onto the couch.
"In my experience... yes." Miriam said and Stella grew sad at this comment.
"Well, the only thing I want to do is talk and perhaps be your friend." Stella said and Miriam scoffed, but it sounded more like a zerbert.
"Fine, don't tell me." Miriam said, draping her arm over her eyes and Stella stared at Miriam for a moment this depressed lost soul.
"I'll close the front door and put on a pot of coffee." Stella said, walking out of the room.
When she stepped away, Stella saw a picture on the wall. It had Miriam, a man that must have been Bob, and a younger blond woman. Did the Pataki's have another daughter? Where was she during this whole coma situation? Wait... where...? There's no pictures of Helga anywhere? Stella took a deep breath as she realized the work she had ahead of her.