A/N: HAPPY ALMOST 2021. Hello and welcome back to Horshack's Brightspot! My name is Bambi and I'm happy you're here. I hope you're all doing well. All I can say for this chapter, Strap. In. As always, I do not/have not/probably nor will I ever own the rights to Welcome Back, Kotter or any of its characters, themes, settings, and plot points. I do own Vera, Cassie, Raquel, and Zoey. Now, onto chapter twelve.
Ch. 12 Lack of Understanding
Arnold's P.O.V
"Horshack, are you kidding me?" Vinnie shouted at me while pulling me away from Vera and into Mr. Kotter's room. "What?" I asked. I'm mad at them because they were rude to Vera. "Thought we told you to stay away from that girl?" Juan asked. "Well I didn't." I snapped. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vera walk in. What is she doing here? They're gonna kill her. I try to get her attention, but she's not listening. She walks in front of me and kissed me harder than any girl has ever kissed me. She's never done this before. But, I liked it a lot and put my tongue in her mouth. She'll probably talk to me about that later. She pulled away and then told me bye baby. Baby? She doesn't call me baby. Maybe she should. The guys looked so mad at me. "Break up with her." Vinnie demanded. "No, Vinnie. I like her." I shook my head. They can't tell me what to do. "Well we don't." Freddie scoffed. Mr. Kotter walks in the room. "What's with the yelling?" He asks.
"Trying to get Horshack to break up with a weirdo." Juan shrugs. "She's not weird. Stop calling her that." I sigh. "What even makes this girl weird to you fellas?" Mr. Kotter asked. "Green hair ends, she dresses like a member of the Addams family, I heard she doesn't eat meat, and she's too smart. Anybody like that is definitely weird." Vinnie lists.
"That's dumb. She's not your girlfriend Vinnie. It doesn't matter what you think. Just be happy for Horshack." Mr. Kotter rolls his eyes. "It's gonna make us look bad." Freddie warned. "No, it isn't. You need to relax. Go sit down." Mr. Kotter shouts. They've gone too far. I'm not breaking up with Vera. When class is over, Mr. Kotter pulls me to the side. "Horshack, you're not gonna break up with that girl because they told you to, right?" Mr. Kotter asks. "No, Mr. Kotter. I don't want to." I agreed. "Good. You can't let them tell you what to do all the time. And she makes you happy. So, why stop?" He asks. I know. Thanks, Mr. Kotter." I nod. The guys walk back in. "What's the hold up?" Vinnie asks. I looked at Mr. Kotter hoping he doesn't tell. Mr. Kotter opens his briefcase, shuffling through his papers. "Talking about the pop quiz from the other day. Good job, Horshack." He congratulated while throwing a piece of paper in my hand. "Oh. Let's go, Horshack." Vinnie grabs my shoulder again.
When we leave and go to our lockers, Verna, Rosalie, and Wendy are there to talk to the guys. I start looking for V. She comes walking down the hallway with Cassie, Raquel, and a girl I didn't know. I grab her arm gently as she starts walking past me. "Sorry, Bandit. I didn't see you." She tells me while I hug her. She holds onto me tightly. "It's alright. How was class?" I asked. "So great. I nailed my isotopes presentation. Also, I made a new friend. Zoey come here." She chirps. A girl walks over. "Zoey, this is my boyfriend Arnold. Arnold, this is my new friend Zoey. She's a senior, she has her own car, she lives next door to Cassie, she's a great artist, genuinely nice, and has a vinyl collection that's just as good as mine." She beams as she chirps between us. "She always this peppy?" Zoey asked me. "Only when she's really happy about something." I laughed. I turn to Vera, "Are we still having lunch in the library?" I ask. "Honey, uh I was going to have lunch with the girls. Zoey wants to show us her portfolio in the art room. We can have lunch tomorrow." Vera explained.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked hoping she wasn't. "No. I just want to spend time with my friends. That's fine. It's just one lunch. You get me all the time." She shakes her head. "I guess." I sighed. Her hands slide up her my face. "I'm sorry. How about we walk home together and then we can play Atari." She invites. "I'd like that." I nodded. "Great." She smiles and I don't feel all that upset anymore. "Horshack!" Vinnie yelled. "Huh?" I said not taking my eyes off Vera. She doesn't look happy. "Don't yell at him." She snapped. I haven't heard her yell before and it's scary. "Brightspot." I tried to stop her. "Mind your business Vampira." Juan rolls his eyes. "This is my business. I don't like how you talk to him. You're supposed to be his friend." Vera steps in front of me. I gotta stop this. I'm scared to do it. They're my friends and she's my girlfriend. I can't win. "Arnold." Vera whispers. When I look at her, she's upset. "Horshack!" Vinnie yells again.
I look between them. I gotta get out of here. I let go of Vera and take off down the hall. I run outside. Nobody's stopping me. I'm going home. I need a drink. It's the only thing that can calm me down right now. Luckily, nobody's home. I go into the kitchen, open a cabinet where ma keeps her liquor, I grab whisky, and take a swig. It burns. I take a few more sips to get use to it. Ma's gonna be mad, but so is everybody else. Why not her too?
A/N: Poor Arnold and Vera's next chapter is even worse. Anyway, that's its for chapter twelve. Thank you so much for reading. I hoped you liked it. I'll see you guys next Tuesday. Bye guys!