Arnold lay face down on his pillow, with both of his arms underneath it. Lorelei watched her brother, just lying there, his back going up and down for every breath he took. She giggled at how he could stand have his face flat down on the pillow like that. She hugged her large stuffed black and white cat, and jumped off her bed. Once on the floor, she began walking towards Arnold's bed, with a yawn. It was early, she could tell, but, alas, she was only four, and couldn't read time (or even read period), so she would have to go by how tired she was. She was smart for her age, and thought by the way the lighting and how tired she was, that it was about 6:00. Plus, if Arnold asked her why she woke him up (which is what she is planning on doing), she would have the perfect excuse to use.
Once she got to Arnold's bed, she dropped her stuffed cat, and climbed up onto the bed. Arnold mumbled something inaudible, making Lorelei laugh. She climbed up onto his back, and slightly hopped, making Arnold jump awake. This was just as his alarm went off, so it was just around the time Lorelei thought it was. "I'm awake!" he shouted, then heard a giggle come from behind him. He looked over his shoulder, to see Lorelei lying on her back, giggling.
"Mowning!" she chirped, then jumped off the bed, and ran to her bed. Arnold slightly snarled, and dropped his head back down onto the pillow. How he wished that his sister had another room. Yeah, he thought his 'relationship' with her was 'special,' but he got tired of staying in the same room as her all the time. She always woke him up way too early, and the way she did was rough.
He stayed there for a few minutes, until he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and he remembered why he had set his alarm. He jumped up, and rushed to his dresser drawer. After practically kicking Lorelei out of the room, he got dressed, and then rushed out the door to the bathroom to brush his teeth. As soon as he finished with his teeth, he rushed back to his room, grabbed his suitcase, and rushed down the stairs, past his parents and Lorelei, who were walking down the stairs. The other three laughed at how he wasn't even stopping for a second.
When they got outside, they saw Arnold sitting in the backseat of the car, waiting impatiently. The three got into the car, and they took off on the eight hour long ride.
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About 2 hours into the trip, Lorelei and Stella were asleep, Miles was, of course, driving, and Arnold was watching out the window. Arnold had been thinking about why his parents had actually said yes to going on a eight hour long trip. It made sense to him at the time, but now, it didn't make an ounce of sense. He turned away from the window, to face forward. He sat forward, and grabbed the sides of the seat in front of him. "Hey, dad? I was wondering. Why exactly did you and mom say 'yes' to going on this trip? And how do you know where Friday Harbor is?!" that was another question that plagued his mind.
His dad just nodded his head, continuing to face the road. "Well, Arnold, the reason we said yes was because we were already thinking about taking a trip soon, but we couldn't decide where. You decided for us. And the reason why I know where Friday Harbor is, is because I went there once, before I met your mom. I think it was a year before."
He smiled, and nodded his head, knowing exactly what his dad was saying. He had heard his parents talking about taking a trip earlier that week, but he had forgotten until now.
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Arnold sighed as he waited for his mom and sister to come out of the restroom. They had already been in there for 5 minutes, what was taking so long? He drummed his fingers against his knee and sighed an exasperated sigh.
A few minutes later, his mom and sister came back, looking disgusted. He raised an eyebrow when they came up, and asked, "What took so long?"
His mom answered as she put Lorelei into her car seat. "First, we had to wait in line, then all but one toilet wasn't clogged. And the floor was filthy, and wet." she made a unusual sound from her throat, and sat down in the front passenger's side.
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This was it. Only an hour away from seeing Helga! He looked down at his watch, to see that it was 3:00. The ferry was to arrive at 3:15. He groaned, and rested his head on his arms. Soon, he felt someone sit down next to him, and heard whoever sigh. He looked up, to see a girl of about his age. She had long auburn hair, in a ponytail held with a lime green bow. She had on a lime green spaghetti strapped shirt with the words 'Angel With a Temper' in pink and a heart in pink, azure with violet speckles capris, and brown sandals. And a mood watch, which she kept glancing at. He sat up straight, slightly smiling at her.
"Um, hi, I was wondering, is the ferry usually late or early?" he asked, and the girl glanced at him as if he was asking about something totally private.
"Well, if you can't remember-"
He cut her off, and held up his hands. "No, it's not that, it's just that I've never been here before. I don't know." he said, with a shrug. The girl half smiled, and shook her head, looking off towards where the ferry was supposed to come in.
"Well then, I guess I'll tell you. It's usually right on time, except it takes forever to wait to get on, because they have to wait until everyone is off, then they begin letting other people on. It's as simple as that, and, oh look! Here comes the 3:15 one." she said, pointing towards the direction she was looking. "Well, see ya. Oh, I didn't catch your name." she turned back to him as he stood up.
"Arnold Dennison," he answered, and the girl nodded her head.
"I'm Emmaline Mimis," she told him with a smile, then turned, and walked off in the direction of the line of people waiting to walk on. Suddenly Arnold heard his name being called from the door, and turned around. His dad was standing in the door, motioning for him to follow.
He followed his parents and sister out to their car, because they were going to drive on, because if they didn't, they would have to park their car there, and it would only be able to stay there for 24 hours. They waited for about five minutes, until the line began bit by bit moving forward. This was just to slow, according to Arnold. He sighed heavily, and drummed his fingers on the hand hold of the door.
Finally, it was THEIR turn to go on, and evidently, they had been the last in the car line, because the people that let them on pulled a orange stretchy fence across the entrance. They parked on the level two parking area, and got out. Stella helped Lorelei out of her car seat, then walked around to the stairs, and walked up them, holding her daughter's hand. Miles followed behind them, and Arnold behind him, smiling widely. This was it, only an hour away from getting to Friday Harbor, and seeing one of his best (ok, not best, but... good) friends again.
When they got to the top of the stairs, they saw chairs, lining the walls, some with tables, some without. They saw a 'just mopped, watch your step' sign, and a few vending machines. There were windows at each booth at each end of the ferry, and there were areas at the front and the back where you could go out onto the deck, or be in between the inside and the outside, just perfect. There was a cafeteria, with chairs and tables included. Stella and Lorelei were already sitting at a booth, staring out at the ocean, and Stella was teaching Lorelei something. Arnold looked around, wide eyes, and an open mouth smile. It was cool! He had never been on a ferry this big, but he had always wanted to, and he thought it was neat that a boat could hold so much and not sink.
Miles walked over to the women, and as he did so, he slightly slipped on the wet floor, but caught himself on the table. Lorelei and Arnold laughed, while Stella just said, "It's a wet floor, honey."
"Ahh!" Arnold let out a cry of surprise when the boat moved, moving him just so much that he would slip on the wet floor and land on his rear end. Once he hit the floor, Lorelei began giggling. Arnold frowned at his younger sibling, and stood up, wiping his pants off. "Ah man, now my pants are soaked!" he sat down roughly in booth, and sighed, exasperated. Miles slightly chuckled, and patted Arnold on the back.
"Ah, don't worry about it, it's fine. Your pants will dry off soon." he reassured his son, and then glanced down at his watch. "At least they'll probably be dry once we get to Friday Harbor. Probably not before then, though." he said, and looked up to see Arnold resting his head on his arms, which her on the table. "You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, except the fact that I fell on a wet floor, and am feeling a little dizzy." he said, with a large sigh. Stella looked at him, and furrowed her eyebrows, then looked to Miles, who was just nodding his head.
"Yeah, I felt dizzy the first time I was on a ferry before, too."
"I feel like the world is tipping from one side, to the other, to the other, to the other. Oh, and this isn't the first time I've been on a ferry. I've been on a smaller one before." Arnold looked up to the window, and saw that they were a little ways away from the dock. He smiled, and then looked to the side, to the pop machine. He stood up, walked over to it, bought a Pepsi, and then walked back to the booth, opening the can. "I can't wait until we get there. Only..." he looked to his watch, and his face fell. "58 more minutes." he sighed, took a sip, and slammed the pop down on the table. "Pooyfoof." his parents looked at him strangely, and he just shrugged. "Something I heard from one of the girls in school. Same grade as me. You've met her before, you know, thick curly copper hair, blue eyes." his parents nodded their heads, and began talking about something. (that girl he explained is ME! I say Pooyfoof when I'm angry... I just had to add me somewhere in one of my fan-fics, ya' know?)
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A half hour later, (only 28 minutes now!) Miles and Stella were still talking, Lorelei was beginning to get antsy, and Arnold was resting his head on th table, trying desperately to fall asleep. It wasn't working, and hadn't been for the past half hour. The time seemed like 5 hours, and he was BORED. Not to mention dizzy.
Suddenly, Lorelei spoke up. "Mommy, I'm hungwy." she said, turning to Stella, who looked down at her, and smiled.
"All right, Lorelei, let's go get a hotdog, or a snack of some kind. Which sounds better?" she asked, and Lorelei laughed, crawling out of the booth.
"Whatdya think, mommy?" she asked, running towards the cafeteria, not once slipping on the still slightly wet floor. Stella followed her daughter, nodding her head.
"Yes, I figured you'd want a hotdog." she said as she disappeared around the corner, into the cafeteria.
Arnold sighed, and lifted his head up, blinking. He felt slightly tired, but more bored, and dizzy. He never got sea sick, or motion sickness, but this was getting to him. The ferry would rock one way, then another, so far that it was like it was sinking into the water. Right now, it was leaning that far to the right. (RIGHT now, it's leaning to the RIGHT... lol) He rubbed his eyes, and yawned, resting his head back down on his arms. (I'm writing this while I'm really tired [well no wonder, look at the time, it's 12 after midnight, and I woke up early], can you tell? I keep making Arnold yawn or rub his eyes or something like... that... *falls asleep*)
"So, does Helga know you're coming to visit her?" he heard his dad asked him, and he sat up, shaking his head. He looked out the window, and sighed.
"No, she doesn't. I didn't send her any 'warning.'" he laughed, and shook his head, thinking about the way he lied to Gerald and Phoebe so they wouldn't think he just wanted to go visit Helga because he missed seeing her. Well, he just missed her like someone misses a best friend (he thinks ^_^), but if he said he did know her address and everything, Gerald would continue teasing him. He just hated being teased by anyone. Well, except one, and he was going to visit her now.
"Ah. From what I heard from Gerald, you told him that you didn't know where Helga lives except for her boat's name." Miles said, and Arnold looked down, biting his lip.
"Well, he was teasing me about wanting to visit my 'dream girl,' and it wasn't the truth, and I hate being teased like that, so... I told him that. And when did Gerald talk to you?" he asked, looking back up at his dad. Miles just chuckled.
"Oh, that was earlier, when I was the only one awake in the car. He called, wanting to talk to you, and I told him that you were asleep. He then went into his message, and told me everything that you had said to him. Arnold, you were taught not to lie. You know better than that." Miles' look turned from happy, to serious, in a second. Arnold looked down, and sighed.
"I'm sorry... I won't do it again, don't worry. Well, I'll TRY not to, but I can't make any promises." he looked up at his dad with a half smile, and immediately his dad was back to smiling.
Soon, Stella and Lorelei came back into the room, with 4 hotdogs, and 4 different kinds of pops, in cans. She handed one of the hotdogs to Miles, then laid one in front of Arnold, laid one in front of Lorelei's spot, and then sat down, still holding her own. They had skipped lunch, so all of them were hungry. And even though Arnold felt almost seasick, eating sounded good. Come to find out, he was mostly hungry, and after he ate it, he felt much better.
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Helga walked out of the King's Market, with a new packet of gum in hand. She was thankful that the grocery store was in walking distance of the docks, 'cause it was uphill, and she didn't get along well with uphill. Never had, never would. She walked down the hill, towards the small grassy area and fountain that she hung around whenever she got bored. She figured she'd wait there for her best friend (other than Phoebe... Phoebe was still her best friend, but she was waiting for her best friend who lived on a boat, too) at the fountain, since they always met there. Her best friend had went away to visit family for the weekend, and was coming back today.
She sat down on the rock-like fence around the fountain, and placed a piece of gum in her mouth. She turned towards the ferry landing, to see a ferry coming in. She smiled when she saw it, and ran a hand through her hair. That was her best friend's ferry, she knew it. Plus, she had told her that she would come on the ferry that left at 3:15. That was the one. She had the schedule memorized, from having a few friends working for the ferry itself. Of course, the friends were older than herself, since she was only 14.
She watched as people walked off the ferry, and drove off. She spotted her best friend in the line of people walking out, although she was so far away, and saw Emmaline's family's car drive off the ferry also. (Yes, Emmaline is Helga's new best friend, and Emmaline likes walking on better, because she can stop by the ice cream parlor on the way to Helga and her meeting spot... hee, hee, hee)
After waiting for a few minutes, she saw Emmaline walking up the stairs that came from below the fountain. Just like always, Emmaline had a cookies 'n' cream ice cream in a waffle cone (I always get that when I'm there... MMM!! It's goooooooooood) in her hand, and she was licking on it. Helga stood up, with a laugh, at seeing her best friend chowing down, like always. "Why are you always stuffing your face every time I see you, ay, Em?" she asked, and Emmaline just shrugged, raising both her eyebrows.
"Maybe because I'm always hungry." she said, and Helga shook her head with a laugh. Luckily, she didn't choke on her gum, but it made her remember that she had popped a piece into her mouth.
"Then how come you're as skinny as me then?" she asked, and before Emmaline could answer, they heard a suddenly cry. They looked around to the source of the sound, to see a little girl, standing on the bottom step below the fountain, facing them. The little girl was obviously crying, there was no doubt about that. She looked about four, had short brown hair up in pigtails held with little pink bows, brown eyes, wore a pink and purple striped dress with short sleeves, and pink sandals with velcro. Helga looked to Emmaline, who was staring at the little girl with a sympathetic look. "Emmaline, should we help her? She's just a little kid, but some mugger or someone of the sort could have told her to stand there and cry until someone comes, so he could steal from them!" she said, and Emmaline looked to her with a look that obviously didn't believe a word Helga was saying.
"Oh come, Helga, what kind of sicko would actually do that kind of a thing? Really, sometimes I wonder about you." she faced forward, and walked down the steps to the little girl. Helga followed closely behind. They bent down to be eye level with the little girl, and both smiled. The little girl backed up a bit, looking between the two older girls. "Hello little girl. Why're you crying?" Emmaline asked, and the little girl sniffled a couple times.
"My mommy and daddy were pawking the caw, and I dethided that I would expwore. My big brothow wath watching me, but I swipped away fwom him, and now, I can't find them!" she cried, rubbing her eyes, and looking up at Emmaline then Helga. "Can you hewp me find them?" she asked, and Emmaline nodded her head quickly, looking at Helga.
"Helga, we need to find this little girl's family. What do you say?" she asked, and the little girl's eyes widened. The two older girls didn't notice this, though. Helga bit her lip, and looked down at the concrete below her feet.
"Ok, I guess we'll help her." she looked up at the little girl, who was staring at her, and smiled. "By the way, what's your name, little girl?" she asked, and the girl smiled, grabbing the edge of her skirt, and doing a cute little curtsy.
"Lorelei Dennithon. And, you'we name ith Hewga?" she asked, and Helga nodded her head, smiling. Lorelei smiled wider. "Ah, ok." Helga and Emmaline stood up, turned around, and each grabbed one of Lorelei's hands. They walked up the stairs, and towards the parking area. Lorelei looked up at Emmaline, and smiled. "What'th you'we name?" she asked, and Emmaline smiled.
"Emmaline," she answered, and they continued walking in that direction. Suddenly they heard someone shout out the name Lorelei, making Lorelei smiled wide.
"That'th my big brothow!" she shouted, and pointed toward the parking area. Neither of the older girls could see anyone, but they figured that she was going by sound, not by seeing. Pretty smart kid. Suddenly, as they were about to walk into the parking area, someone came out from the right (Helga is on the right of the other two) and ran right into Helga.
"Oof!"
"Ahh!"
Lorelei let go of Emmaline's hand, and trotted over to where her parents' car was. They were busy taking stuff out of the car, and hadn't even noticed that their girl had run away from them, nor that their son had been looking everywhere for her. All they knew was that he was supposed to be watching Lorelei closely.
Emmaline stood over the two, laughing. Helga looked up from the ground to her best friend, with a death glare, and Emmaline quickly stopped laughing and ran over to Lorelei and her parents. Helga sat up, shaking her head, and holding it. "Next time, please, watch where you're going." she asked, looking to the person who had knocked her over, and was still lying on the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw who it was. Football shaped head, and green eyes. She knew who this was, and obviously, he knew who she was, 'cause he was staring up at her with wide eyes.
"Arnold!?"
"Helga!!"
Arnold sat up from the ground, staring at how much Helga had changed. She had a pretty good figure, and her goldenrod hair now was held in a single down loose ponytail. Her blue eyes seemed more bright somehow, and her complection was less pale. She obviously didn't wear make-up of any kind, and her features were more relaxed. She wore a orange, red, and white horizontally striped t-shirt, red shorts, and white tennis shoes with pictures of cherries on them.
Helga examined Arnold while he examined her. Her eyes were as wide as his, at how he had changed. He wasn't exactly the little 9-year-old boy she remembered any more. His blonde hair still stuck up in the different directions, except now it was shorter. Not much shorter, though. He still wore his little blue hat, she noticed it right away, and slightly smiled. He wore similar clothes to the ones he used to wear, except the plaid shirt was on the outside of the other shirt, unbuttoned, underneath that shirt was a teal t-shirt, and he had jeans that looked well worn.
Arnold then snapped out of it, grinned, and embraced Helga, momentarily shocking her. She hugged him back, and just as she did so, Miles, Stella, Lorelei, and Emmaline were walking towards the two. They stopped, and Emmaline broke out into laughter. Lorelei just giggled, and Miles and Stella smiled. "This must be Helga." Miles said, looking right at Helga, who had pulled away from Arnold the minute she heard Emmaline laugh. She stood up, dusting herself off, soon followed by Arnold, who was, instead of dusting himself off, staring at a new tear in his worn pants.
"Yes, I'm Helga, and you are...?" she asked, and then noticed the resemblance between Arnold and them. She gasped, looking to Arnold, then to Miles and Stella (and Lorelei). "You're his parents, aren't you!?" she asked, smiling, and they nodded theirs heads, also smiling.
"Yes, we're his parents. I'm Stella, and he's Miles." Stella said, motioning to herself then to Miles. Then Lorelei decided to join in.
"And I'm hith thithter!" she chirped, making Helga's eyes widen. She looked back to Arnold, who just crossed his arms, and nodded his head.
"Yeah, she's my younger sister." he said, then added under his breath, "That gives me a headache." Helga chuckled at him, then looked to him, with a questioning look.
"I was wondering, why are you here? Not that I'm objecting or anything." she asked with a smile, making him look to his parents then back to her with a slight smile.
"Well, we were already planning on taking a trip, and I mentioned coming here, because, well... Uh, you are one of my friends, and I missed you." he said, with a slight shrug, and looked down at the ground below his feet. Next thing he knew, he was being embraced again, and his eyes were quite large. After Helga pulled away, he notice the smile on her face. He blinked a couple times, stuttered a couple inaudible things out, then said, "Uh, what was that for? We already hugged." her seemed to light up a little when she laughed. He couldn't help but stare, still wide eyed.
"That was a thanks for, well, actually caring and missing me enough to visit me. Phoebe wouldn't even visit me." she sighed, and looked towards her right, to the docks. She sighed, and looked back to him, another questioning look on her delicate face. "I was just wondering, where are you staying? If you don't have anywhere yet, you could stay on our boat, if it's all right with Bob and Miriam." she said, glancing back and forth between Arnold and his parents.