A/N: Thanks for tuning in to this second chapter of "All I Can Give". Please have a nice time!
Chapter Two: Don't Know Why
Arnold got home and put his coat on the coat rack once he stepped into the house. He unleased Abner and let him run free around the house.
"Hey Arnold," greeted Mr. Potts from the kitchen.
"Hey Mr Potts. Uh, do you know where my grandparents are?" He asked curiously, looking around the living room and kitchen.
"Eh, beats me." He shrugged. "I'm just here getting somethin' to drink."
Arnold nodded. "Well, good night, then."
"`Night, Arnold."
Arnold ran up the flight of stairs and heard the noise of Oskar and Suzie, arguing about money again. He heard Mr. Hyuen listening to the asian radio again. He passed by Grandpa's office, which was empty. He passed by the room where all of the old books and stuff were, and it was empty. Usually it was filled with the old music of Dino Spimoni or Grandpa would be laughing at the TV. Not tonight.
A surgence of worry overwhelmed Arnold suddenly. Who was he to worry, anyway? After all, he wasn't the parent looking over the child or anything. As a matter of fact, he shouldn't have to worry. Did he have any reason to worry? No…
A loud cough came from Grandpa and Grandma's room. There was a small crack between the door and the room, and Arnold peered into the darkness. "Grandma?" he wondered.
"Move over, Short man," said Grandpa suddenly, out of breath. He had his jacket on, and was carrying a small brown bag.
"Wh-what's going on?" Arnold questioned, with more worry building up in the pit of his stomach.
"Nothing…just go to your room, eh?" Grandpa said, pushing Arnold slightly outside the door. Arnold felt like a little kid, being pushed around in a crowd full of adults. He didn't like the way adults tried to hide things from kids. Of course, little kids didn't know any better, but Arnold wasn't a little kid anymore. He was near an adult. He knew something was going on – and it hurt that he wasn't let in on the secret.
Instead, he was just pushed away.
He stood around the door, after Grandpa closed it behind him. He pressed his ear against the wooden door and listened carefully.
***
"I'm home," Helga said loudly, closing the door behind her. "Not that anyone would care," she muttered under her breath.
"Hello?" She walked passed the trophy room to see Big Bob asleep in his chair, the TV left on some stupid reality show. Well, now that I've found Bob… "Mom?" She walked into the kitchen. Empty.
She walked upstairs and looked in their bedroom. No Miriam. "Miriam?" she asked one last time. This is strange, she thought, usually Miriam would be asleep on the kitchen counter or at least asleep in her own bed…
"Daadd!" Helga shouted, running down the stairs. It's not like she cared where Miriam was. It's just that she was curious…
"Dad!" Helga said sternly, shaking Bob in his chair. "Get up!"
"What? Is it morning?" He grunted, waving his hand at Helga for her to get her hands off him.
"Miriam's missing," she said. "Where'd she go?"
"How the hell should I know?" he replied with anger. "Now go upstairs and do your homework or something."
***
"Gerald, I've been thinking," began Phoebe. The two of them were waiting in line at the concession stand in the movie theatre.
"Yeah?" he wondered, moving up in the line.
"Well…" her voice trailed off when a red haired boy asked Gerald, "How can I help you?"
"Yeah, um, one box of raisinettes, and a medium bag of popcorn, and one large coke."
"Gerald," Phoebe said again with a big of frustration.
"Oh, sorry, Phoebe, what would you like?"
Pheobe sighed. "Nothing; nothing at all." She walked away from the concession stand and stood in front of their movie room and crossed her arms. Gerald followed her shortly, carrying all of his snack items. Pheobe opened the door for him and they searched for a seat. Once they sat down, Gerald began to start munching on his snacks.
"Gerald, we have to talk," Phoebe whispered.
"About what?" Gerald asked uncomfortably. He knew what was coming…it haunted him repeatedly day and night. His sweaty palms gripped the plastic arm rests.
"I really don't think that things are moving like I want them to," she began. He could feel the hurt in her voice. Suddenly the lights dimmed. As she tried to say some more, Gerald shushed her.
"The movie's starting," he whispered, sinking down in his seat. He was saved from this agony for another 2 hours. Two more hours of torture. Not because the movie was Smoochie Kiss, but because he would have to dread every second until Pheobe gives him "the talk". He had never felt so uncomfortable since…since…never.
Well, maybe since that time he wore that strawberry costume in the fourth grade and didn't wear anything underneath. That was certainly uncomfortable for him.
Every five minutes or so, he glanced over at Pheobe. She was so lovely to him. He loved her black hair, and her peach colored skin. He loved the way she would cuddle up close to him when it was snowing and they were on the bus.
The movie came to an end. It was the longest two hours Gerald ever had to live through. He knew what was coming…but he had to get out of it. Someway, somehow.
They held hands as they walked out of the theatre. "Nice movie, huh?" Gerald said.
"Yeah. It was certainly nice," she replied with her soft voice. Her fingers slipped through Gerald's and let go of his hand all together. "Now, seriously, Gerald," she said very sharply.
Gerald gulped. A cold sweat ran down his face. You can either take this as a man or run like a cat, Gerald thought. He decided that he would take it as a man. He looked down at his feet. "I think…I gotta go," he mumbled.
"You 'gotta go'?" Pheobe repeated miserably. "But, why?"
"Just, uh, I promised to pick up some stuff for my mom. Yeah, that's right. Stuff from Mr. Green's shop."
"Oh."
"I mean, I can still walk you home," he offered.
"No. It's perfectly fine. Just go run your errands," she said, followed by a sigh.
"Thanks. See you later," he kissed her briefly on the lips and ran off. Okay, so he decided to be a cat and a coward and run away. Literally. Though, the snow kind of slowed him down.
Pheobe felt slightly relieved that he had to go. It temporarily delayed her pain. She just couldn't handle Gerald anymore. Why couldn't he express what he felt to her? Was it so hard? Was it, really? She put her hands in her sweater pockets and walked across the street, being careful not to slide on the slick ice.
Gerald called his mom on his cell phone and asked her if she wanted anything from Mr. Green's shop. It wasn't a problem, really. He couldn't lie to Pheobe. So, if his mom did tell him to buy something from Mr. Green, then it wouldn't be like he was purposely running away from her. It would be like he had to. Besides, he was already in front of Mr. Green's shop.
"Hi Gerald!" Mr Green greeted, after hearing the chime ring on the door.
"Hey Mr Green," he smiled back.
"What can I do for you?"
"Can I get a pound of beef and three feet of sausage links?"
"Right away!" He began to take out those items and wrap them. "So, how are you and Pheobe doing?"
"Fine, fine." He smiled and nodded.
Mr Green gave him the wrapped meats. "Should I add this to your mom's tab?"
"Yeah. Great. Thanks." Gerald pushed the door open and walked outside in the bitter cold air. The wind blew through his large hair and he began to walk home. Too bad he couldn't drive. Or else things would be a lot easier and warmer for him.
Stupid Jamie-O, he thought constantly. He was off in college, and took the car with him. Gerald was supposed to get Jamie-O's old car. That's the way it was supposed to be. But stupid Jamie-O went to a community college near home. Thus, he stayed home and kept the car. It's not like his mom and dad would buy Gerald a new car.
Stupid luck.
***
"`Morning, Helga!" Miriam said brightly that day, dusting the shelves in the trophy room. She was singing an old song. It was 12:00 noon. Helga had never seen Miriam awake at this time before. Well, at least not consciously awake.
"Um, Hi," Helga replied. "Where's Bob?"
"He went to buy a new white belt and such. So, hey," she turned around and put her hands on her hips. "Are ya hungry?"
"Yeah," said Helga in a sarcastic sort of tone. "But it's okay, you don't have to do anything. I can just…"
"Nonsense, Helga! I've already made you a nice pastrami sandwich in the kitchen!" Miriam jumped off her step stool and kind of skipped into the kitchen. Helga followed. What an unusual mood for Miriam.
Helga sat down at the kitchen table. She was ready for the worst. She was ready to jump out of there when or if the pastrami sandwich suddenly:
a) Jumps up at her
b) Grows hair; or…
c) Has slime coming out of it.
Okay, she was ready. Bring it on, she thought. "Here ya go!" Miriam said happily, putting a plate with a sandwich in front of her. Helga inspected the sandwich suspiciously. It was unusually normal. She took a sniff. No strange scent. It seemed like Miriam knew what she was doing after all. "Go ahead, take a bite."
Helga closed her eyes and took a bite of the sandwich. Miraculously, it was not too bad. In fact, some might have even said it was tasty. "And drink this!" She put a glass of Orange Juice next to Helga. "Fresh squeezed!"
"So," mumbled Helga. "What brings this new Miriam here?"
"Well, you're, what, thirteen…"
"Sixteen, Mom."
"Oh. Right. Sixteen. Well, you're sixteen, and I just felt that you deserve more. And when's a better time to start than now? Hm?"
"Well…" Helga murmered under her breath. It would have been nice if you did this seven years ago.
"So I vowed to be a better mom to you." She smiled. "Would you like anything else to eat? I'm sure I can whip something up…"
"No. Really, it's fine."
The doorbell rang. "Oh, that must be for me!" Miriam pulled her hand through her hair and moved her hands down her purple dress and looked at herself. "Whaddya think?"
"You look nice," said Helga.
"Great. Now I'm going to go. If your father comes home, tell him I'm out to see Grandma." She smiled and took her purse and just left.
"Right," Helga muttered to herself. She felt a vibration on her hip. She took out her cell phone. "Hellllo?"
"Hi Helga," said the sweet, innocent voice of Pheobe.
"Hey Phebes, what's goin on?" She leaned on the table and rubbed her eyes.
"I'm just feeling a little under the weather," she sighed softly.
"Under the weather?" Helga repeated. "So you're going to cancel your date with Gerald? It's such a shame, really. I heard Smoochie Kiss was one hell of a movie…"
"No, I'm not canceling the date, Helga," said Pheobe. "It's just that I can't break up with him."
"I didn't realize you were this serious about breaking up with him, Pheobe."
"I'm sort of reluctant to be doing this so close to the holidays though," she sighed gently.
"Yeah, that's true. But, well, I guess if you have to do it, then you have to do it."
"Thanks, Helga. I'll talk to you later." Pheobe hung up. Helga shrugged and walked out to the living room and peered out the window to see the first snowfall of the season. Which was quite awkward after all the weird weather they've been having. It should have come earlier. It just should've.
***
"It's a swell time to go riding in a one horse sleigh," Helga sang to herself. "That's the jingle bell rock…" Shaking her hips slightly from side to side, walking down the hall.
"Would you like to do that?"
"What?" she asked surprisingly.
"Would you like to go for a ride in a one horse sleigh?" Arnold asked her.
"Yeah, that would be nice," she smiled.
With a snap of his fingers, a glittering white sleigh with one magnificent white stallion appeared before her very eyes. She looked over at Arnold for reassurance, and there he was – dressed in a tuxedo, holding out his white gloved hand to her. She put her hand in his, realizing she was wearing a glamorous blue gown.
He assisted her up on the velvet seats. Off they went, trotting through the park. She put her hand in his coat pocket and rested her head on his shoulder. He put his left arm around her and muttered, "You're wonderful, Helga…"
Then, of course, Helga woke up to the sound of her alarm clock.
"Crimeny," she groaned.
***
Arnold hadn't been able to sleep in two nights. It was incredible how long Grandpa could keep a secret from Arnold.
"Hey Arnold," said Helga, passing by him in the street.
"Hi Helga," he replied drearily. "What's up?"
"You look kinda tired," she said with compassion. "What's been up with you?"
He shrugged. "I just haven't been able to get much sleep lately, that's all."
"That's a shame," she said. "So, what are you doing for Christmas?"
"Nothing much. I'm buying some gifts right now, actually. Care to join me?"
"What? And be seen with you? I don't think so…" she chuckled.
"Suit yourself," he mumbled, walking away.
Helga sighed. "Look, Arnold," she said loudly, causing him to stop mid step and look back at her. "It's the season of giving…and I just wanted to say that I just really don't ---," she drew in her breath.
"Yyeeaahhh?"
"I just really don't like it." She folded her arms.
"What? You don't like Christmas? Come on now," he grinned. "Surely there is a good reason for this?"
"No real interesting reason," Helga lied.
"Seriously. You just don't like Christmas? Just because?"
Helga groaned and stomped her foot. "If you must know, it's because my sister Olga always stole the show. It's supposed to be a time for family and all that, but whenever Olga played her piano, or whatever, my parents just forgot I was there. Then all of a sudden she's off in college, coming back, talking about her wonderful life and crap…
"It just never felt very warm to me. It was always a time I was shut out from my own family." She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can't believe I admitted that to anyone."
"Me neither," Arnold chuckled.
"But at least this Christmas is going to be a little better. Olga is off in foreign exchange whatever and she won't be coming home for any holiday." She grinned.
"And that makes you happy? To not be with family?" Before she knew it, they were walking together in the little "winter wonderland."
"It's not that…well, okay, maybe it is that a little bit. But, I just never really felt the warmth of family. Not truly."
"That's pretty sad."
She sniffled. "Yeah. I guess. I mean, still, we get family time and all. So, you know, it's not too bad. It's not like I'd rather be anywhere else. After all, it is my family. And I'm stuck with them. Through thick and thin. No matter what I think of them."
Arnold just nodded. "Are you cold, Helga?"
"What do you mean? Cold-hearted? Cold-blooded?"
"Just cold. In general. Like, freezing? Because your nose is kind of red and you've been sniffling a lot."
"Oh," she said dully. "Yeah. I suppose I am a little bit chilly."
With those words, he unraveled his scarf from his neck and put it around Helga, tying it in the front. "There ya go." He grinned.
"T-thanks…" She smiled softly to show her appreciation.
"I never realized," he said, "that you have really nice blue eyes."
She quickly looked down at her shoes. "So, do you like Christmas?" She said, changing the subject.
Arnold turned his head to the left and nodded – forgetting that he fell in love with Helga Pataki's blue eyes. The two of them continued to walk down the street. "Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. I love it."
"It's also the most superficial time of the year," she corrected.
"True. But, it's not because of the gifts I get. It's because of the gifts I can give people. I just love seeing people happy, and I like to know that I'm the one who made them happy."
"That seems pretty cocky to me," she chuckled.
"What? Cocky?" Arnold repeated, slightly shocked. "Bite your tongue."
"Haha, yeah. Cocky!" She laughed. "I mean, you want to seem like the best – like you do everything so well and bring everyone so much joy…"
"I call that having a gold-heart."
"Well, you know, I call it being cocky."
With that, Arnold playfully shoved Helga. She smiled and chuckled. They continued to talk and walk down the road until they reached the shopping center. Helga gave in to Arnold's quirky charms and started her Christmas shopping with him.
"What is the one thing you want for Christmas, Helga?" Arnold asked randomly.
You, she thought. She shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe some new boots. What about you?"
"Just for my grandma to be okay."
"What's wrong with your grandma?" She asked cautiously.
Arnold shrugged his shoulders and gave a restless chuckle. "Funny, huh? I don't even know what's wrong. All I know is that she's sick. And there's not much else I know."
A/N: Thanks. Please read and review. If I don't get the next chapter up by/before Christmas, I wish you all a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON! Hehe.