Author's Note: So it has begun...
Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.
Chapter 5: Curly Snaps, Again.
The next day in school…
The bell just rung and the high school students thronged into the hallway, each with their own specific places to go. Rhonda and Arnold joined the crowd, walking next to each other. Arnold was worried about her and Curly, and as the gang's sole mediator which was claimed by his peers, volunteered himself to straighten things up between her and Curly.
"Rhonda, I'm worried. Ever since the library incident you've been acting resentfully at Curly. Can't you just make peace with him?"
"Serves him right, Arnold. That jerk has been bugging me for years and he never gave me a moments' peace and guess what? Ever since I snapped out at him I feel liberated from his clutches. Please take a look from my point of view, Arnold. If someone followed you everyday pestering you and never gave you a moment's peace at all, how would you feel about it?"
"Uhh… well, annoyed, but--"
"My point exactly. Now if you'd excuse me, I'll be heading to the ladies room."
"But Rhonda, that doesn't justify anything." Arnold shot back with a humble voice. "I mean, look at him now. He's a wreck, down in the dumps and he's not talking to anyone anymore. Don't you at least feel a little guilty about it?"
"I don't. Believe me Arnold, I don't." Rhonda replied back dryly. Arnold stopped walking, but Rhonda continued on and left him behind. He looked down at the floor with a heavy sigh, shook his head and walked off to Nadine and Gerald, who had been waiting for him at a gazebo outside the school.
"How did it go?" Nadine asked with a concerned voice.
"Terrible." Arnold answered it short. He then took a seat next to a pile of books that Nadine had borrowed from the library. "I think we should give them time, like about two weeks or so for things to cool down."
"I hope so. I've been calling her everyday asking her to patch things up with Curly, but she just ignores it. I just don't know what to do with her anymore. Just look at what she did to him." Nadine sighed.
"You got that right Miss Nadine," someone concurred, "Because of her, Curly ain't talkin' to no one no more. How am I suppose do our project without him?" it was Stinky, with Sid and Harold tailing him.
"Where did you guys come from?" Gerald asked them. They didn't answer back.
"Go on tell him, it's been several days now for cripes sake," said Sid to Harold, elbowing him softly.
"Tell us what?" Arnold asked.
"Uh, Arnold… guys, there's something important we hafta tell you…" Harold confessed, finally, rubbing the back of his neck. And then he, Sid and Stinky started to tell to Arnold, Gerald and Nadine about their experience when they were in Curly's house and how it may have connected to his behavior that they've noticed in the pass few days.
Nadine gasped, "OH MY GOD!" she placed her hands over her mouth.
"A shrine?!" Gerald responded in skepticism.
"GUN?!" Arnold spurted out. "This is serious you guys! No wonder he has been acting strangely lately. Rhonda's life could be in danger!"
Meanwhile inside the school, Curly was waiting patiently for Rhonda to finish with her business. He leaned against the wall next to the bathroom door so that Rhonda wouldn't see him when she push the door away. He knew she would be there, thanks to all the stalking he did before. A few rooms away, inside a computer lab, Eugene and Sheena was inside doing their latest computing project.
"Sheena, would you please pass me that PHP book on your table?" he asked with a soft welcoming voice.
"Certainly, Eugene." she replied back, and gave Eugene the book he requested. After he had found what he was searching for in the book, he rested it on the table and continued to type on. After a few lines written, he stopped and turned his head towards Sheena. Eugene looked a lot geekier in high school, wearing glasses with an interesting looking frame, bad acne littered his face, and wearing office attire that would make the business world proud. He said that this look would make him look more professional. A computer geek he was, but his heart was still for the theatres; singing and dancing, hopefully that he would make a breakthrough in Broadway someday. Sheena had become quite thin due to the vegetarian diet she took. Her hair didn't change much, apart than it grew longer. Some hippie influence on her attire was visible, considering with the colorful flower shirt and the long skirt and all.
"I'm going to the machine and buy me a drink. You want something?"
"A Dr. Pepper for me please," Sheena requested. Eugene nodded, and got off from his seat and proceeded to the vending machine, humming a song he had sung in his fourth grade school play, Keep Your Sunny Side Up, which still holds dearly in his heart. If his friends knew about it, they're going to laugh at him for sure…
Cut back to Arnold and Gerald, who were at each other's throat, "You're talking crazy here Arnold! Are you suggesting that Curly wants to kill Rhonda!?" Gerald snapped viciously.
"History can repeat itself Gerald. Remember the standoff in Principal Wartz's room? He snapped, and he did something that nobody would've ever thought of doing!"
"You're crazy man! You're not being realistic! You are WAY over the line! As insane as Curly is, he would never do such a thing like that!"
Back inside the school, the door opened up and Rhonda walked away without noticing Curly was next to it. His hands were itching to get a hold of the gun, perfectly concealed inside of his bag. He let Rhonda walked off for a while, and then he followed her from behind. Hastily he opened his bag and took the gun out, with Rhonda still unaware of his presence. He pointed the gun at her legs. Everyone there minded their own business, and they didn't notice Curly with the gun in his hand.
"GUN! HE HAS A GUN!" shouted someone. It was Eugene, pointing shakily at Curly. Everyone in the hallway turned their heads to him, even Rhonda too. Everyone was too stunned to say or do anything.
"Shit." He cursed silently. In realization that any further delay would spell jeopardy to his plan, he quickly released two shots at Rhonda, and both of it hit directly at her legs. Rhonda grunted and groaned in pain as the result of the gunshot. The sound the gunshot made echoed all the way through the school and went to the exterior startling everyone everywhere.
"What's that!?" the gang at the gazebo said collectively in shock, and everyone turned their heads to the school building.
The noise the gunshot made switched everyone's panic button on, and the hallway erupted in a frenzy of horror. It's everyone for themselves as they ran away from Curly. In the panicked hallway, people bumped onto each other and one of them knocked onto Curly, and he fell down with the gun. The gun spun around away from him, and finally laid inanimately on the floor, until was kicked away by the frightened students from Curly again, again, and again until it was out of his sight. Rhonda took the opportunity to go prone and crawl away as far from him as possible. Her legs can't help her now.
"Guys, I'm going in! I'm going to save Rhonda!" Arnold said boldly, although he sounded very nervous.
"WHAT?!" the gang reacted in chorus.
"How'd you know that's Rhonda in trouble?! For all we know, it could be somebody else!" Stinky said.
"I don't know… I can't tell you why, but my instinct tells me she's is in trouble. I can feel it. I'm sorry, I have to go!" Arnold responded.
"Arnold! I know you're the most trustworthy and the boldest guy around but PLEASE listen to reason! Even if Rhonda is inside with Curly trying to kill her, keep in mind that he HAS a gun with him!!" Gerald said to snap Arnold back to reality.
"I know, but I'm going to be very careful. Besides, I'm probably the only person in the whole school that Curly would listen to. If nobody won't help her out, then who will?!" he said, and he ran off to the school building. "I'm going to hate you for this, Rhonda."
"Wait! Come back!" Nadine pleaded, but Arnold kept going. They couldn't swallow the fact that Arnold was actually going to risk his neck for someone else.
"Aww, man. Damn it Arnold. Why man? Why? Why do you have to be so bold? Why do you always have to do the right thing?" Gerald smacked his forehead, hissing in disbelief. "Bold…" he said under his breath. Instinctively and hesitantly, he went after Arnold. "You're going to owe me BIG time, man!"
"Gerald!!" Nadine cried out and tried to run after him, but Harold manages to catch her in time and tried his best to hold her back while Stinky and Sid tried to calm her down.
"Don't stop me, PLEASE! LET ME GO, HAROLD! LET ME GO!!" she shouted. She was struggling to get free from them, but failed. Then she finally gave up, slumming in Harold's clutches, and caved in. She cried and wailed, turned around to Harold and hit him repeatedly on the shoulder.
"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" she shouted brokenly at Harold, crying and sobbing.
Harold then tried to soothe her by hugging. She responded back by crying on his shoulder, clutching him tightly. "It's okay. It's okay… Have some faith; it's going to be alright." Harold said to calm her down. Stinky was touched, seeing that Harold had become a very compassionate person suddenly; which he usually doesn't. Sid on the other hand, was extremely nervous. With his hands trembling violently, he took a cigarette out and lit it up, hoping that it'll calm him down.
As he ran, Gerald quickly grabbed his cellphone from his pocket and dialed 911.
"911, what is your emergency?" an operator answered.
"Yeah, this is Gerald Johanssen on the line. I want to report a shooting spree happening in my school. Please send some SWAT teams and paramedics, quick!"
"This is the third call we got so far… okay Gerald, stay calm, could you tell me how does the situation look like? Do you know where the assailant is?"
At the school courtyard, teenagers from every race and creed fled in terror away from the building. Two familiar faces got away unharmed, and they stopped at the end of the courtyard for a breather. "Whew!" Helga huffed. "I never would've thought this would happen to our school!"
"Just be thankful that we got out alive and unhurt, Helga." Phoebe panted for air. "But we're not safe yet. Let's make a run inside that building over there." She pointed out at the abandoned tenement just a couple of blocks away.
"Didn't anybody tell you that place is a crackhouse, Pheebs?"
"Well, do you have any suggestions in particular?"
"Anywhere as long we're safe! Come on!" Just as they were about to run, Arnold sped off pass them.
"Arnold?! What the… where the hell are you going?!" Helga shouted.
"I'm going in to save Rhonda!"
"WHAT!?" Helga shouted in disbelief. "W-WAIT!" but Arnold ignored her and squeezed his way through the panicking crowd.
"Gerald?!" Phoebe said incredulously.
"Can't talk right now, Phoebe! I'm going to save Arnold!" he said hastily as he went after Arnold. "Head to the gazebo! The guys are there!" Gerald shouted again, instructing them to join with the others. "Gerald, NO!!" Phoebe cried out. Inside, in the midst of the chaos of the stampeding pupils, Arnold spotted Eugene running away for his dear life and called after him.
"Eugene! Eugene! Do you know where Rhonda is?!" he shouted from afar, hoping for an answer.
Thankfully, Eugene heard Arnold's indistinct voice, "Second floor, at the east wing near the girls' restroom! Be careful, Curly's there and he's got a gun with him!" he shouted back. Arnold was right all along, Rhonda was in danger. And because Eugene had his eyes concentrated on Arnold, he ran into a wall in front of him rather violently, and blood began to run down from his nose. "I'm okay…"
On the next chapter it'll be confrontation between Arnold and Curly, where he'll try to negotiate and reason with him to snap back. Be sure to read the continuation and please leave a review!