A/N: The Hey Arnold characters belong to Craig Bartlett, not me. Also, this story is based on a TV show idea I thought of 4 years ago. I tried sending the idea to Craig Bartlett by e-mail, but I didn't have the right e-mail, and the idea was obviously not turned into a TV segment. Therefore, I decided just to put the story on the fan-fiction site.
Chapter 2: More Accidents
The next morning, Arnold and Gerald rode the blue bus to arrive at school. When the bus stopped at the school, they got out and stood in the sidewalk. When the bus drove off, they noticed that Eugene was back. He had missed school the previous day, so it must have taken a lot of time to take care of his tooth.
Eugene walked over and smiled, "Hey, guys."
Arnold noticed that the gap in Eugene's mouth was now filled again. "Hey, Eugene. Did they fix your tooth?"
"Nope," Eugene said. "The pieces were too small and delicate to bother with, so they just decided to give me a false tooth. This one's plastic," Eugene said.
"Uh…neat," Arnold said.
"Yeah," Eugene said. "Today, I'll try to be more careful."
Then, Arnold, Gerald, and Eugene walked up the steps to the school and walked down the halls. They entered Mr. Simmons's classroom just as the bell rung. They sat down in their usual seats.
Mr. Simmons, who was sitting at his brown desk, stood up and greeted the class. "Good morning, class! Today, we're going to be studying gravity. We've got Principal Wartz's permission to go to the top of the building and throw down objects to see the effect gravity has on them." The class cheered. "Now, I've already got a bowling ball and a baseball that we can use. Let's think of some other items we can use." A fat boy named Harold raised his hand. "Yes, Harold?" Mr. Simmons asked.
"Let's throw Eugene! He's a jinx!" Harold yelled. Then, he cackled in laughter. Then, his accomplices, a tall, lean boy named Stinky and a shorter boy with stringy black hair named Sid, laughed as well.
Mr. Simmons laughed lightly. "Very funny, Harold," he said.
"No, I mean it!" Harold said.
"Harold, we are not going to throw Eugene off the building," Mr. Simmons said sternly.
"Aww man," Harold sighed sadly.
Stinky raised his hand. "Yes, Stinky?" Mr. Simmons said.
"How about this here cinder block?" Stinky said, picking up a large cinder block that he had under his desk.
"Stinky, why do you carry around a cinder block?" Mr. Simmons asked.
"I don't know," Stinky said.
"Well, nevertheless, it will work," Mr. Simmons said. "Anyone else have something we can throw off the building?" Nobody responded. "Okay, then, let's go," Mr. Simmons said. Everyone left the classroom and followed Mr. Simmons up some flights of stairs. Eventually, they reached the roof of the school. They looked down. The ground sure looked very far below.
Mr. Simmons called everyone to the front, and everyone gathered around and watched Mr. Simmons drop the bowling ball and baseball. "As you can see, although the bowling ball is larger and heavier, the baseball is still falling at the same speed. Who can tell me why?" Mr. Simmons asked. Then, a girl with black hair, glasses and a blue dress raised her hand. "Yes, Phoebe?" Mr. Simmons said.
"Well, Mr. Simmons, the reason is quite clear. You see…" she droned on. Mr. Simmons nodded his head attentively, but no one else was paying any attention.
Eugene looked over the edge of the school. "That's sure a long way down," he said. Suddenly, he felt his feet slip on the roof, and the next thing he knew, he'd accidentally thrown himself off the building. "AAAAGGGHHH!" screamed Eugene.
Everyone snapped his or her heads in the direction where they heard Eugene. They rushed over and saw that Eugene had fallen on the ground. "I'm okay," Eugene called. "But I can't move," he said.
"Oh my," Mr. Simmons said. "We'd better get an ambulance." He rushed down to the classroom to call for an ambulance.
The next day, Eugene rolled into the classroom in a wheelchair. Eugene was covered with casts. Mr. Simmons turned to Eugene. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Oh yeah," Eugene said. "The doctor says that I won't be able to walk for about six weeks, but after that, I'll be good as new!" Eugene said. He raised his arms, but then, he fell out of his wheelchair. More crunching sounds were heard. "Ow!" Eugene cried in pain.
"Are you okay, Eugene?" Mr. Simmons asked.
"No…" moaned Eugene.
Mr. Simmons went to his phone again and dialed for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived shortly, and Eugene was taken by stretcher into the ambulance. As the ambulance rushed to the hospital, Eugene began to think to himself. He had been in so many accidents ever since preschool, and there didn't seem to be any logical reason for it. Nobody else in class had so many accidents. It was a big mystery to him.
Many people at school had called him a jinx at least once. Arnold always backed him up, though, telling everyone that Eugene was not a jinx. Eugene always tried to believe Arnold, but now it was getting harder and harder to believe that. Eugene felt that perhaps he was a jinx after all, and there was something that was causing him to be a magnet for bad luck.