(Denotes whispers)
Cause and Effect
By: Starry Nights
David Armstrong stared at the files before him then raised an eyebrow. He pushed the file aside and shook his head.
"Nothing in that case states that the accident was the cause of his personality change. Come on, Lehman. The accident did a lot of damage but not to this extent. it's unheard of. Besides the mother does not and will not consent to the surgery."
"Who cares about technicalities? This never should have happened! The only way this should have affected him was negatively, y'know emotional scares and all that but..."
"Get off your high horse, the boy has been here long enough. He's getting discharged tomorrow and that's final."
"But…"
"No buts. The boy is leaving at 9 in the morning."
* * *
"I heard that he's bald."
"No way, I heard that he's in a wheelchair."
"You're all wrong. He's got amnesia."
"That's not true!"
"How would you know?"
"I said so…that's why."
"Aw, who gives a…"
"C'mon guys, the important thing is that Curly is coming home. None of that other stuff should matter."
"Aw, Arnold. Aren't you a little curious to see what happened? You remember the accident. Everyone thought he wasn't going to make it."
"Gerald…"
He sighed. "I know. We should be glad he's even coming to school right?"
"Right."
"Come off it Arnoldo." Helga began. She dropped her books on the desk and turned around to face him. "I'm curious to see what happened to the little freak."
"Helga, that…"
"Spare me the lecture, football-head. Nothing you can say is going to change Helga G. Pataki's mind."
He sighed. "Whatever you say."
"Guys! I just saw him coming in and we're in luck we have him first period!"
"Pipe down, princess, if I didn't know any better I'd swear you had the hots for him."
Rhonda scoffed. "How dare you!"
'RING'
"Class." The teacher began out-of-breath. "Sorry I'm late but I'm sure some of you can guess why. We have a new student in the class. Class say hello to Thaddeus Gamelthorpe."
("Five dollars says he's bald." Harold whispered.
"I'm game."
"Gerald!"
"What?")
"Hi, I'm sure many of you know me already but I'm Thaddeus but you can call me Thad."
("Thad? Sounds like a cheap brand of soap to me."
"That cannot be Curly…why he's cute!"
"I'm afraid I must agree with Rhonda. It seems that our friend is acting quite odd. One must speculate if it's attributable to his accident."
"Oh, not you too, Phoebe."
"She's human too, y'know. Arnold.")
"Class, please. Settle down. We have a lot of work to do today."
The class reluctantly silenced themselves down as I took my seat. I watched as each member of the gang peered at me curiously save Arnold and Helga. Arnold smiled and flashed me a thumbs up sign. Good old Arnold, he never changes. Helga, however, did not even look my way once. What an odd girl that one!
*~*
At lunch everyone fawned over me asking thousands of questions. Arnold tried his best to get them to leave me alone but it was all in vain but finally the crowd dispersed leaving me alone, as usual. I'd hoped things would be different once I found out what happened to me but it looked like things were the same. Sighing, I got ready to go to my locker when I saw Arnold coming toward me again. He smiled and sat down.
"Hey, Cur- I mean Thad."
"No, it's okay. Call me Curly."
He hesitated then frowned slightly, "Are you okay?"
"Sure, nothing that I can't solve on my own."
He nodded as if he understood. He couldn't. The whole world loved Arnold the boy without the last name. He sighed then I sighed. "What does everyone think?"
He shrugged. "It doesn't matter what they think."
"It matters to me."
He stared at me. His expression was unreadable. "It shouldn't."
"I know."
The bell rang then and he smiled ruefully. "See ya around."
* * *
The walk home was a lonely one. I watched as Gerald, Harold, Stinky and Sid all climbed into what I believed was Arnold's green Packard. Helga and Phoebe sped away behind them in Helga's little red car. Then Rhonda's limo driver picked up Nadine, Lorenzo and Rhonda herself. No one had bothered to ask me to go with them and watching the old group made me miss the bus. Honestly, nothing had really changed in the four months that I had been away. I had expected something maybe a welcome back party or something. I walked past Slaussen's to see the whole gang seated in the back booth laughing and pointing at Sid who was blushing and trying to cover it up. Helga rolled her eyes and saw me through the window. She said something to everyone else and joined me outside.
"What's wrong with you?" she began without meeting my gaze.
I shrugged. "Just on my way home."
She nodded but didn't shift her gaze. She was gazing through the window just as I had done a few moments earlier.
"What are you staring at?"
Her blue eyes met mine. "Nothing."
I shrugged. "What are you going to do now?"
She exhaled. "I'm going back inside."
"Why did you come outside?"
"No reason." She moved toward the door. "I'll see you later."
I watched as she went inside. She said something to Harold, which had the whole table laughing as he mumbled and moved over to make room for Helga. She immersed herself in the conversation and didn't look my way again. Yep, nothing changed.
* * *
When I got home my mother was waiting for me. She was surrounded by dozens of bags and was talking to a strange man.
"Your father," she began bitterly. "Does not know how to take care of a young boy. My god, look at the haircut, Jean-Pierre, it looks like he cut his hair with a bowl."
He did but I didn't tell her that. The man, Jean-Pierre, messed with my hair then smiled at my mother. "Don't worry, I'll fix his hair."
"Mom," she looked at me. "Where's Dad?"
"He's gone."
"What!"
"Calm down, Thaddeus. He went to work but guess what I'm moving to Manhattan!"
I smiled and stepped into her open arms. I'd hoped my parents get back together but this was about as close as I could get. "Come. Let Jean-Pierre work his magic and then we'll try on all these clothes I bought for you."
* * *
The next day, I felt like that kid from Drive Me Crazy after his makeover…not that I actually saw the movie. Rhonda came to me and looped my arm around her waist.
"My God, Thad…you look simply fabulous." She handed me a slip of paper. "Call me."
Stinky and Sid were next. "Curly…you look almost normal."
"I reckon your like one of them pod-people on a account of you don't look like the real Curly."
Harold came behind Stinky and Harold then. "This is funny! Halloween was three weeks ago."
Arnold was next with Gerald and Phoebe in tow. His words were more authentic. "You look great. I like your jacket."
I spoke for the first time. "Thanks."
Phoebe smiled and gave me a hug. "Yes. You look pleasant."
Gerald shook his head. "I can barely believe my eyes. Hey, man we have to go to class how's about going with us to Slaussen's after-school?"
"Sure."
I spotted Helga walking toward us. She was staring at us or more specifically Arnold as they walked away. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm speechless."
"That's a first."
She rolled her eyes. "Shut the hell up."
"Did you get what you wanted when you did this little…" she gestured toward my outfit and new haircut. "Experiment?"
"I guess so."
She nodded. "It's not real."
"I know but it feels nice beside Phoebe and Arnold are really cool about it."
She looked away and shrugged. "You're still that freakish boy running around with tiger stripes talking about freeing the animals."
"And you're still that mean girl with the pink bow and get right hook."
"Everyone's going to treat you different except maybe Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe."
"I know. Will you treat me different?"
She laughed. "Hell no."
"Then that's all that matters."
A/N: Let's clear up some things. First, each story is independent and has nothing to do with the other stories in the series. Second, I know some ideas seem weird but that's the point and besides, I only write what a reviewer wants to see. Nothing more. Third, Any idea is acceptable as long as it's not R-rated. Any questions or ideas can be e-mailed to me and remember it's a first-come first serve kind of thing. This one is for…HazelIris
The next one is for…Jayman
Please review. I'm ~*Starry Nights*~
