You Don't Know Me, Arnold
Chapter 5: Supernatural
Honestly, I think we all wanted to slap some sense into Arnold during that last chapter xD
But oh well, let's see what happens this time.
October 28th: Three Days Before Halloween
Lila, Gerald and I met up at my house to discuss our science project.
"Where are we going to get the eggs?" Gerald asked. "I don't know if y'all have noticed, but we live in the middle of the city and the closest place where we can get a hatchable egg is from the Pigeon Man - which is impossible because he doesn't even live here anymore."
"I wonder where he is?" I asked as Gerald shrugged.
"Don't ask me, you're the one who watched him leave. With your crazy he flew off into the sunset story."
"He did!" I exclaimed as Gerald shook his head.
"Whatever you say Arnold."
"I'm quite sure we can get an egg from the countryside, I'm ever so sure there must be lots of eggs there," Lila suggested as Gerald nodded.
"Lila has a point, we could take a little bus trip to the country - hey Arnold - why don't you ask Arnie?" Gerald asked as I cringed.
Arnie.
His name left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
"Oh, I would love to see Arnie again!" Lila exclaimed.
"Didn't you and Arnie break up?" Gerald asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, but it's always ever so nice to see a friend again."
I smiled, my feelings for Lila ended long ago, I didn't mind that she liked Arnie.
Too bad he only has eyes for Helga.
Gerald, Lila and I met up the next day so that we can take the bus to Arnie's.
Apparently, Lila's aunt lived a few blocks near Arnie so she was going to spend the night at her place while Gerald and I were going to spend it at Arnie's.
When the bus arrived, the three of us hopped off and were met with Arnie.
"Hi Arnie," I greeted, my smile fading when I noticed he was reading the ingredients to a bottle of vinegar.
"Hi. Do you want to read the ingredients to vinegar? It's quite exhilarating," he asked as he motioned the bottle toward me.
WHAT DOES HELGA SEE IN HIM!?
Okay... I know it's not right to think that. Arnie is my cousin after all, but c'mon!
"No thanks," I said as Arnie snorted, shrugged and went back to reading it.
"H-Hi Arnie..." Lila stuttered as Arnie looked up at her.
"Hey, shall we go?" Arnie asked, as Lila's shoulders slumped in sadness.
Gerald and I nodded as the four of us headed toward Arnie's farm.
"So Arnie, we're going to need about two eggs," Gerald started. "One is going to react to the volcanic eruption and one isn't. When will they be ready?"
Arnie turned to look at Gerald and sniffed before pointing to the hen house, "Tomorrow, a hen barely hatched a few eggs today. We have to give it a day before we can remove them," he finished with a snort. "While we wait, want to look at my lint collection?"
"I would love to see your lint collection Arnie, ever so much!" Lila exclaimed as Gerald and I exchanged an uneasy glance.
"Follow me," Arnie said as Lila followed him, causing Gerald and I to groan as we followed them.
"Well, that happened," Gerald said when we came back.
"Do you guys want to go out and do something? There's a shop a block from here," Arnie offered.
"I'm down for that, what do you think Arnold?" Gerald asked as I shrugged.
"Couldn't hurt."
"I just hope that loud family isn't there today," Arnie muttered as Gerald, Lila and I walked with him.
"Loud family?" Gerald asked.
"Yes, I think they are visiting."
"What do you mean there's no stinkin' service!?"
"Oh no." Arnie said. "I think they are here."
I turned and Gerald and I almost had our eyes come out of our sockets when we noticed Big Bob Pataki talking to a landowner.
Wait... if Bob was here, then that meant...
I turned to the parking space and noticed that Bob's car was parked there.
Miriam seemed like she was sleeping in the front seat but when I turned to see if there was anyone else in the car I was faced with disappointment.
No Helga.
"What are The Patakis doing here!?" Gerald exclaimed.
"Aren't those Helga's ever so eccentric parents?" Lila asked as Gerald and I nodded.
"NO! If you want me to sell beepers here you've gotta at least have service! Crimeny!" Bob exclaimed as Miriam woke up and lowered the window to the car.
"B let's just go already!"
"Not now Miriam!"
"Let's just head inside," Gerald said as the four of us walked into the shop.
It was a really nice shop. Full of antiques and vintage items.
Most of the colors were calm and dim, very peaceful.
Brown, Grey, White, Crystal, Pink, Black.
Wait what? PINK!?
I quickly looked back to where I had seen the flash of pink and I realized that there was nothing there anymore.
Strange...
I separated from Lila, Gerald and Arnie as I walked toward where I had seen the flash of pink.
I turned to my right and once again saw the flash of pink, but it ran away when I had turned my head.
Okay, now I really want to know what that is.
I chased it around the store, suddenly realizing that it was a person.
I turned to a corner and suddenly bumped into something.
I rubbed my head and widened my eyes as I came face to face with Helga G. Pataki.
Or at least I think it was Helga...
She was wearing pink overalls and her hair was up in a ponytail, she looked so much like Hilda from my dreams.
"Helga!?" I exclaimed as the girl widened her eyes.
"Arnie!?" she exclaimed as I raised an eyebrow.
"Um... I'm Arnold," I said as I helped her up.
"Oh! Sorry you look a lot like my friend Arnie, I'm Hilda," she said with a smile.
WAIT!? HILDA IS A REAL PERSON!?
"Oh... um... I apologize too. I thought you were someone from home."
"Why would you think that Arnold?" she asked as I shrugged.
"Well her parents are right outside..."
"Oh, you mean that loud man? He kind of reminds me of my dad, except my dad is much quieter," she said as she giggled. "Look, I have to get going, see ya around!"
"Bye..." I muttered as I turned to look at her leave.
This was all way too weird... if Hilda existed, did that mean Lulu existed too!?
I hope not.
"Hey Arnold!" Gerald exclaimed as he walked up to me. "Find anything interesting?"
I turned to where Hilda had gone and I turned back to Gerald, "Hey Gerald, remember that weird dream I told you about? The one where I came to visit Arnie?"
"You mean the one where Lila was a total bully and Helga was the nicest girl on the planet?"
"Yeah... well... I think I just ran into Hilda. The one from my dream."
Gerald blinked, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah... at first I thought she was Helga but she presented herself as Hilda. I thought she was just a figment of my dreams Gerald, it's weird."
"That's some spooky stuff Arnold," Gerald said as he shook his head.
"Hey Arnold and Gerald, it is getting ever so dark outside. Are you ready to head back?" Lila asked as I nodded.
"Yeah, I need to lie down a bit."
The Next Morning
"ARNOLD!"
I jumped and almost spilled my cereal as Gerald came running into the house.
"What's wrong Gerald?"
"THE EGGS! ARNIE'S EGGS! THEY WERE STOLEN!"
"What!?" I exclaimed as I ran after him.
As I arrived outside I noticed that Arnie and Lila were standing face to face with three bullies.
"Give them back," Arnie said but his words didn't seem to have much effect.
"Come and get them SHRIMP!" one of the bullies yelled as he and the two other guys ran off.
Gerald and I automatically chased after them as I turned back to Lila and Arnie, "Stay here. We'll be right back!"
.
.
.
Gerald and I should have brought Arnie.
We're city kids, we weren't very familiar with this area.
Darn.
We had lost the bullies quickly, seems like they had hidden within the corn field a few blocks from Arnie's.
The scenery looked like it was ripped straight off of a scary movie.
The fact that Halloween was tomorrow didn't help.
"Man... this place is freaky!" Gerald exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"Gerald, remind me to never move to the countryside."
"You said it Arnold," Gerald said as he bumped into a scarecrow, causing him to fall to the ground.
The scarecrow then tipped over and fell on top of Gerald, causing its face to come face to face with Gerald's.
Gerald shrieked and pushed it off of him, causing me to snicker a little bit.
"You saw nothin' Arnold!" Gerald said as he stood and pointed at me.
I held my hands up in defense and was about to respond until we heard a yell a few feet from us.
Gerald and I ran toward the noise and we noticed the bullies laying on the floor, completely beat up.
"Take your stupid eggs and get out of here! Before SHE comes back!" the main bully said as he gave me the eggs with shaking arms.
"She?" I asked as I took the eggs and stepped on something.
I looked down and noticed I was stepping on a pink bow.
A pink bow that strangely looked a lot like Helga's...
I picked it up and turned to Gerald, who seemed to have the same thoughts as me.
"Could it be?" he asked me as I shook my head.
"It's probably Hilda's, we have to give it back to her."
Gerald nodded as he took the eggs from me and we started heading back.
Hilda didn't seem like the kind to be violent in my dream - but then again - it WAS just a dream...
"Oh you got the eggs back! That's ever so great!" Lila said as she took the eggs from Gerald. "How did you get them back?"
"Well, we couldn't have done it without Arnie's friend Hilda," I said as I turned to Arnie.
Arnie stopped reading the ingredients from a bottle of lotion as he looked up at me in confusion.
"Hilda?"
"Yeah, she beat the bullies up for us to get the eggs back," Gerald said as I nodded.
"Tell her we said thanks when you see her - this is her bow - she must've dropped it when she was fighting the bullies," I said as I motioned the bow over to Arnie.
Arnie raised an eyebrow, "I don't know anyone named Hilda."
I scrunched my face in confusion as I looked down at the bow in my hand, "Of course you do... I saw her at the shop yesterday, she told me she was a friend of yours."
Arnie blinked at me, "What does she look like?"
"Remember Helga Pataki from where I live? She looks a lot like her but a little different."
Arnie raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "Nope. Never heard of her. This is a small town, I would have recognized her."
I gasped, WAIT!
IF HILDA DOESN'T EXIST, THEN THAT MEANS...
I looked down at the bow and put one with one together.
THAT WAS HELGA G. PATAKI! HOW COULD I HAVE NOT GUESSED!?
I face palmed, Helga, back at it again.
"So you mean..." Gerald started. "Pataki was the one who helped us get the eggs back?"
"Well it makes ever so sense. I mean her parents were here yesterday," Lila added as she giggled at me.
Why didn't I notice sooner!? It was so obvious! There was only one girl who can give a good punch to three tough looking bullies like that!
"Helga is here?" Arnie asked and I could have sworn his face lit up a little bit.
In your dreams Arnie, back off.
"And if she is?" I challenged as Arnie turned to me.
"I just haven't seen her in a while. Sheesh. Calm down Arnold, I'm not trying to take your girl," he said as he snorted.
I widened my eyes as Gerald bust out laughing.
"ARNIE IS WOKE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ARNIE IS WOKE!" he yelled as I turned to Lila and noticed she was trying to sustain a giggle.
"Cut it out Gerald!" I said as Gerald laughed even harder.
I huffed in annoyance as I walked into Arnie's house and grabbed my suitcase and Gerald's, "I'd love to stay and chit chat Arnie, but we have to go. We got school tomorrow," I said as Arnie nodded.
I then turned and grabbed Gerald by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the bus stop with Lila following close behind.
"Will you stop laughing!?"
"I... *breathe* CAN'T! I just *breathe* never thought *breathe* Arnie was that *breathe* WOKE!"
"I don't see Helga that way!" I exclaimed as the three of us walked into the bus.
"But what if you did?" Lila asked as we sat down. "Would it be oh so ever bad?"
"Well – no - but..." I said as I began stuttering.
Lila smiled at me knowingly, "Look Arnold, I know it's not in my place to ever so intrude. But I think you should tell Helga how you feel, who knows, maybe she'll feel the same way."
"I don't like like Helga!" I said again but something in my stomach made me feel queasy when I said that.
"Whatever you say Arnold," Gerald said as he stopped his fit of laughter and turned to look at the window.
Halloween
School was same old, same old when I went back to school the next day.
Spooky decorations everywhere.
Chocolate Boy stuffing himself with chocolate, I seriously thought I helped that boy get rid of that obsession.
Everyone talking about their plans for the night.
Helga crying and Phoebe comforting her...
Wait what?
I turned back and noticed Phoebe was trying to comfort Helga for... something.
Helga looked different though, sure she had her usual pig tails and the dress she started wearing a few months ago but, OH WAIT!
I looked in my backpack and smiled as I noticed that the pink bow was still inside.
It's time for me, Arnold, to pull a Helga Pataki.
I headed for Simmons' class and made sure no one was inside as I slowly creeped over to Helga's desk and set her bow on top of it.
As class started and everyone started to pile in, I noticed Helga walk in with a solemn look on her face.
She was looking to the ground so she didn't automatically see the bow.
"Helga... look!" I heard Phoebe exclaim as Helga looked at her desk and almost fell to the floor with the revelation.
I noticed her eyes light up - which I thought was pretty cute - as she grabbed the bow and put it on.
She then scrunched her face in confusion and I noticed her slowly turn my way, but I turned around before she could see me smirking.
Here we go! Back at it again with another chapter!
Let's try to get this up to 40 reviews! You guys are all great!
Next chapter will involve Halloween and a special revelation from special relative of Helga's.