When Arnold entered his room on Wednesday night, he noticed a bouquet of supermarket flowers lying on one of his shelves. Arnold didn't know how it got there; he never bought any supermarket flowers. He picked up the bouquet and read the note attached to it:

Your spirit blooms through

the slim cracks in the sidewalk.

You will survive this.

Arnold smiled at the haiku. I guess Poetry Girl is still obsessed with me. He assumed that his mysterious, poetic admirer had delivered this while he was at school, and whoever put it in his room (probably Grandma) forgot to tell him about it.

Except...Poetry Girl would've also been in school, right? And considering how the pink book went missing overnight from the same shelf, it was possible that the girl had broken into Arnold's bedroom while he was sleeping and put the flowers there! And...if someone could break into his bedroom while he was asleep, then...

Then he needed a security camera.

Arnold ran to his grandparents' bedroom, forgetting that his finger was broken and he wasn't supposed to run. Gertie was setting the alarm on her clock, but Phil was nowhere to be found.

"Hey Grandma?"

Gertie turned to face him.

"Did someone deliver a bouquet of flowers for me?"

"Not today," Gertie said. "Why? Did you order one?"

"No, there's...already one in my bedroom. I thought you put it there."

Gertie suggested that he ask Phil about it, but when he did, Phil was even more confused than Gertie was. Arnold showed him the bouquet, and Phil laughed at the haiku.

"Well, short man," Phil said, "looks like you got yourself an obsessive fan."

"But I'm not famous," Arnold said, and he didn't want to be.

Phil laughed again, which annoyed Arnold. "This is serious, Grandpa. If the girl put the flowers there herself, then...that means she broke into my room, and..."

"You want me to glue your windows shut?"

"No, I want a security camera. Maybe for Christmas?" It was already November, but Arnold hadn't made a wish list yet.

"What good is a camera if you're asleep?" Phil asked.

"You can get one that records video," Arnold said. "Then, if someone breaks in while I'm asleep, I can watch the recorded video to see who it was."

After telling Arnold that it was a stupid idea, Phil agreed to buy a camera for Christmas. "Now go to bed, Arnold. And prop up your hand this time."

"I don't know about that, Arnold," Gerald said during lunch the next day. "What if Poetry Girl uses the camera to spy on you?"

"It'll probably be password protected" Arnold said. "I'll use a password that she'll never guess."

"Like what?" Gerald asked. "Helga's name again?" Gerald knew that Arnold used "Helga" as his computer password, because in fourth grade Arnold thought that it was the last thing anyone would guess. But now that Helga was sort of acting like a friend to him, Arnold knew that he needed a different password for his camera.

"I better pick a name of someone I'll always hate," Arnold said. "Like Scheck."

"You probably shouldn't say it out loud," Gerald said. "Poetry Girl could hear you."

"There aren't any girls in earshot," Arnold said. "This lunchroom is noisy, anyway."

"I still think it's a waste of a Christmas wish," Gerald said. "What if the girl steals the camera?"

"She loves me, Gerald. She would never do that." Arnold picked up his empty pudding cup—his fourth consecutive gift from Helga—and carried it to a nearby trash can.

Suddenly Helga appeared behind the can, seeming to stand up from a crouching position. "Oh, hey Arnold! I was just, uh...picking up something I dropped, haha!"

The only thing in Helga's hand was a half-eaten sandwich. "You dropped your sandwich?"

"Uh, yeah..." Helga glanced at it, then looked at Arnold. "I guess I can't finish it now, can I?"

"I wouldn't eat it," Arnold said. "Lots of kids probably stepped there, and...all those dirty shoes..."

Helga tossed the sandwich into the trash can, and Arnold threw in the empty pudding cup.

"Thanks again for the pudding," Arnold said. "It's too bad there's not enough for everyone."

"Yeah," Helga said, "but I like the thrill of chasing it." Then the bell rang, signaling the start of recess.

"Do you wanna play cards with me today?" Arnold asked. "I played with Gerald yesterday and Tuesday, but I lost both times."

"What, you think you can beat me?" Helga chuckled. "I'd like to see you try."