Time for another chapter!

For the moment, as Arnold walked inside, he was feeling right at home on Cloud Nine. As he thought about Lulu's tempting offer, he was about to head upstairs when he heard the familiar voice of his grandfather calling him. Arnold raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he decided to walk over to the living room, where he was called from. As he did so, he stopped short to see his grandfather, along with his grandmother and all the boarders sitting down in a circle as Phil gave a grin. "Ah, Shortman. Good to see you joined us. Come in, have a seat."

Arnold cocked his head in confusion, but nodded as he walked over and sat between his grandparents as Phil gave a nod. "Okay, well, now that we're all here, let's begin, shall we?"

"What's going on, Grandpa?" Arnold asked in curiosity.

"Well, as you may have noticed, Shortman, the boarders are back from their little... visit, and they STILL won't say ANYTHING about who stole my money." Phil crossed his arms. "That's why I want to know something. Have you seen anything suspicious?"

Arnold paused as he tried to think... before smiling. "You know, Grandpa, I have seen "Anything Suspicious". It was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. The acting was kooky, the suspense just was lacking, and the main actress just wasn't giving it her all. I would NOT recommend watching that movie. It's for the better."

Everyone just stared at Arnold as Phil lowered his eyelids. "What the hell are you talking about? I mean, did you hear or see any one of these boarders that acted suspicious, maybe about the money that was stolen?"

Arnold sat up in a stiff motion as the three boarders just narrowed their eyes at Arnold suspiciously. Arnold's little devil was sitting down, gulping a little as he tugged on his collar. "Oh boy, kid, I think they're getting S-U-S-P-E-C-T-I-O-U-S!"

Arnold chuckled nervously as he tried to avert his eyes. "Uh, I'm not sure, it happened so long ago, I-"

"It happened two nights ago." Phil said with a frown.

"Oh, did it? Wow, what a blur, huh? You know kids today, always studying and playing around, never have time to look at their surroundings." Arnold said.

"Well, it's just, that, you're the only one who knows everybody in the house and..." Phil started to say.

Arnold, shutting his eyes, started to shout as he turned to his grandfather. "I said I don't know, okay! What is going on here? The boarders are back anyway, that means they obviously didn't do it!"

"We'll take that as a confession." Mr. Hyunh said as he crossed his arms as Ernie and Oskar nodded.

"H-huh?" Arnold blinked.

"Funny you should say that, Shortman..." Phil said. "But let's change the subject, shall we? How was school?"

"Sc-school? Oh, oh, school!" Arnold said as he grinned nervously. "School was... great. Wonderful, I-"

"Was there anything you forgot at your friend's home before you left for school?" Phil raised an eyebrow.

"Forget? Forget? Oh, Grandpa, I always remember everything." Arnold said with a sort of confidence.

"Interesting..." Phil gave a small nod... before pulling out Arnold's backpack from under his seat and showing it to a surprised Arnold. "BECAUSE THE POLICE FOUND YOUR BOOKBAG WAY OUT IN THE DOCKS! And the docks are nowhere near the school!"

Arnold's mouth dropped as he tried to think up an excuse. "Uh, well, you know Mr. Simmons, always taking us on those surprise field trips! Heh heh..."

"Shortman, don't lie to me. The police searched the bookbag and found this incriminating piece of evidence that IS LINKED TO THE MISSING MONEY!" Phil growled as he opened the book bag and pulled out a receipt, showing it to Arnold, who winced. "Recognize this? It's a receipt Arnold, a receipt for a jewelry store... for a priceless necklace that costed... hmmm, I get it, the same amount of money that just HAPPENS to be missing from my vault!"

Arnold's eyes widened in shock as Arnold's devil slapped his forehead. "Why did you not throw away that receipt?"

Phil dropped the bookbag as he glared at Arnold. "I can't believe you stole from my vault! I trusted you, Shortman! Why would you do this to us?"

The kid just started to feel a little small as his grandfather, along with the boarders and grandmother glared at him, looking disappointed in the boy. Arnold then narrowed his eyes as he gritted his teeth, much to Arnold's devil's notice. "Oh, OOOOOOH, I think you're a little angry! Say, angel, want to add in your two cents?"

From the other shoulder, the angel was feeling the horns in concern as he was whimpering. The devil, standing nearby, gave a smile. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Please, just tell us what's going on. We just want to help you." Phil said as he was doing his best to calm down.

"Help me? HELP ME?! What do I need help with? EVERY TIME I TRY TO HAVE A NORMAL LIFE, IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME THING!" Arnold screamed as everyone jumped in shock. Arnold then pointed to Oskar first as he narrowed his eyes and imitated his voice. "Oh Arnold, I have marital problems, solve them for me, please?" Arnold then turned to Ernie and imitated his voice, "Yo, Arnold, help me with my problems because I'm short and insecure and always scream a lot." Arnold then pointed to Mr. Hyunh and imitated him, "Arnold, I need help with my restaurant because if I don't, I'll get fired." Arnold pointed to his grandmother next as he said, in an old lady voice, "Oh, Kimba or Senator or whatever, I'm an old lady with split personalities that I'm not even sure which of them is real!"

The boarders gasped as Arnold's grandmother's mouth dropped. Phil narrowed his eyes in anger as he said, "See here, young man!"

"Hold on, I'm not done." Arnold said as he turned to Phil and imitated him. "Hey, Shortman, never eat raspberries because I tell a lot of stories about the problems you have, while ignoring the fact I have my own problems, and I'll just leave you to fix them!"

"Oooooo..." Oskar winced as the boarders were starting to get uncomfortable, Phil narrowing his eyes, getting even more angry.

"And not just that, you think the students I hang out with are any better?" Arnold growled as he held his head, starting to imitate a bunch of the students. "I'm Sid, and I always get paranoid about everything. I'm Harold, I'm not so much a bully as I am an insensitive pussy! Oh my goodness, I'm Rhonda, and if I don't have anything that flaunts my wealth, I AM RUINED! I'm Helga, I'm a BIG FREAKING BRAT who NEVER KNOWS WHEN TO STOP PESTERING THE FOOTBALL HEAD WITH WHAT I LIKE TO DO BEST!"

Arnold panted a bit as the adults looked at the boy in surprise as Mr. Hyunh whispered to Ernie, "I think he flipped!"

Ernie nodded in quick succession.

The kid continued, "Every time people say this, I always have an intention to help, and you know what, maybe I want to help MYSELF once in a while! Did you not think of that?"

The boarders were stunned into silence as Gertie looked at the boy in sadness. Phil glared at Arnold in anger as he said, slowly, in a calm rage, "Arnold... Phillip... Shortman. There were some lines I never thought you would cross... well, you've done it. You crossed those lines today, and I am honestly disappointed in you. I thought we raised you better, but you just proved me wrong. Arnold Shortman, you are grounded to your room! That means no friends, no going out, and your allowance is being cut OUT from the time being, do you understand!"

Arnold shut his eyes as he screamed at the old man, "I HATE YOU!"

The boarders and grandmother covered their mouths in shock as Phil's last shred of calmness shattered, "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

The boy angrily got up and shoved the chair as he started to march upstairs, muttering angrily, leaving six adults alone in the room. Phil's anger quickly dissolved into regret as he looked down. "I... I can't believe I just did that. I just grounded my own grandson..."

"He needs to learn, Phil." Ernie said as he looked over to the old man. "I'm not sure what his new rebellion phase is all about, but I'm sure he'll get over it soon."

"That's the problem, I'm not sure if he ever will... not as long as he's in the city." Phil looked down. "The police were right, the city MAY not be for him."

"Phil... maybe we should reconsider." Gertie said in concern.

"Yeah, he probably said those things out of anger." Mr. Hyunh said. "Those things hurt, but I'm sure he just needs some time to calm down."

"I made up my mind." Phil sighed. "Maybe we're not as good caretakers as we thought we were if Arnold's showing this type of behavior... no, the only way he'll learn is if he's not here in the city at all..."

The three boarders looked at each other sadly as Phil got up and walked outside, with Gertie following close behind.

Arnold was upstairs all the way as he punched the wall in anger as his shoulder devil shook his head, "It's okay, kid. Explosions often happen when it comes to the family household. And grounding's not so bad. You'll live thro-"

"Are you sure we should do this?" Gertie's voice asked from downstairs as Arnold peered his ear.

"I made up my mind. As long as he's in this house with this type of behavior, it probably will never end. I'm going to call them up tonight. Maybe Arnold will fare better there..." Phil's voice said as the two voices quickly disappeared in the kitchen.

Arnold raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering what the two were talking about... before his eyes widened, remembering what Lulu said earlier. "They're going to send me to jail! I knew it!"

The football head quickly turned around and ran upstairs in a panic.

However, unknown to Arnold, Phil and Gertie's conversation had not finished yet as Gertie continued, "Are you sure that the country is best for him, though? I mean, he still has friends here."

"I know, Pookie, it's really tough to have to do it, but I'm sure he'll make some new ones. Besides, Arnold's always said he wanted to meet up with his cousin, Arnie... now would be a good time." Phil smiled as he looked up. "Even if he has to stay here a couple years until whatever he has is out of his system, then so be it. I just wish I could tell his parents about what happened..."

"I'm sure they'll understand..." Gertie said as she patted the old man's shoulder.

And with that, that's it. Now we're all caught up. Next time, we'll return to Helga and Fifi, then Gerald and Phoebe's reaction to the tape in Helga's left behind video camera! Tune in next time!