When I got home, there were three messages on my machine:

"Hi sweetie. I just called to say hi, call me when you get a chance. I love you!" Olga.

"Hi, it's me. If you get this, call me, if not, that's okay, I'll call back later. That's it." Dad.

"Um, Helga, I need to talk to you. In person. Call me back, okay?" Arnold. It brought me to tears just thinking about it. I knew this would be a bad case of a broken heart.

The door opened, and seconds later I heard Pheobe's voice ringing through the apartment. "Hey, how was your day?" she asked as she set her stuff down on the counter.

"Horrible," I grumbled, wiping my eyes.

Her eyes widened when she saw me crying, and she sat next to me on the couch. "This must be bad." I blew my nose in reply. "What happened?"

"It's over," I said simply.

"What's over?" she asked a little densely.

"Me and Arnold. We're over."

"What?" she asked, clearly shocked. "How.. but.. you.. how did this happen?"

I shook my head slowly, as if in a state of disbelief, and started sobbing. "He said our lives were going in different directions and... that's it."

"Don't worry, it's gonna be okay," Pheebs hugged me and spoke soothingly. "You're too good for him, Helga."

"No," I shook my head. "No, I'm not. We're perfect for each other, why can't he see that?"

"He's just scared. He's scared the distance will pull you guys apart. But nothing can keep you guys apart. He'll realize it too late."

"It won't be too late," I stated, "I'll never find anyone else, and I'd never be able to reject him if he came back to me. Which he won't, because I'll never see him again." I started sobbing again. I didn't know how I'd be able to survive without him.

We were interrupted by the phone ringing. I reached over and grabbed it, then handed it to Pheobe. She gave me a look like 'Why can't you answer it?' then said "Hello?" "Oh, hey Gerald.. um, actually, I don't think I'll be able to make it.. there's a little trouble over here." I shook my head to show I disapproved of her breaking off the date. "No, nobody's hurt.. physically at lea-"

I grabbed the phone from her, cutting off her sentence. "Hey Geraldo?"

"Oh, hey Helga. Uh, what happened to Pheobe?"

"Oh, nothing, I just thought I'd say hi. Did you call to say you'd be late?"

"Yeah, I was gonna meet her at the restaurant, but I called to tell her I'd pick her up because I got held up at work-well, not held up but-"

"Yeah, no, I know what you mean. Listen, why don't you go ahead and pick her up?"

"Well, she said there was trouble over there and I don't want to leave you alone..."

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just get here as soon as you can, okay? Pheebs can't wait to see you, I can tell."

"Um, okay. Sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, see ya soon. Bye."

"Bye." I put the phone back on the receiver and turned back to Pheobe. She had been giving me disapproving glares the whole time I was on the phone, and now I gave her an innocent (fake) smile. "You seem angry, is there something wrong?"

She shook her head. "You're crazy, you know that?"

I shrugged. "It's never bothered you before. And besides, what did I do?"

She scowled at me. "Why did you tell him to pick me up still? I want to stay here with you. You need to eat a pint of ice cream and watch crappy movies with a friend, not sit here alone to wallow in your self-pity. Maybe I should drag you along..." She looked thoughtfully skyward, pondering.

"I can't barge in on your date. Besides, I'd feel.. boyfriendless." That was the first time I could actually say that in six years. I was boyfriendless.

"You are-" she cut herself short when she realized that what she was about to say would hurt me.

"Does Gerald have any friends?" I asked, putting on a (fake) sly smile.

"Yeah.." Pheobe answered, being dense and not understanding the full meaning of what I had said.

"Are they guys?"

"Yeah.."

Ugh. She's so completely dense. "Well, hello! Can you set me up with one of them?"

"Oh! Already?" she asked, looking concerned for my sanity. "I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean, you just broke up with Arnold. Don't you think you should wait, like, an hour at least?" She tried to make a joke out of it, and it almost worked.

"No. I want a date now."

"Okay, if you're so set on it. I'll call Gerald and see if there's anything he can do so last minute."

Turns out, he couldn't. I forced Pheobe to go on her date-I practically threw her out the door-and 'wallowed in my self-pity'. I went to bed that night the earliest I could ever remember going to bed-eight thirty. My dreams were filled with Arnold. They weren't bad dreams, quite the opposite in fact. But somehow I knew, in the dream, that whatever was happening between us was going to end.