You Don't Know Me, Arnold
Chapter 13: Retreat
DID YOU GUYS WATCH THE TRAILER!? OH MY GOSH! LEAVE A REVIEW SAYING WATCHU THOUGHT! So far, I think I've been doing a good job with correlating this Fanfiction to the movie. Gerald already knew about Arnold's parents in the trailer and I brought up how Arnold told Gerald about it on this fanfiction, phew. I'm also going to address Phoebe's sudden confidence in this chapter, hehe, I think it's quite a valid reason.
But do y'all understand what I did in the other two chapters? In Arnold's Valentine, Helga learned that she shouldn't disguise herself as someone else to win Arnold's heart and guess what? ARNOLD learned the same lesson with Alberto, just wanted to put that out there. I'm trying to flip flop everything, like turn the tables. I decided to also add the comic relief of Arnold and the hair tie because Helga is ALWAYS trying to find ways out of her schemes whenever the road gets too bumpy; the SAME THING happened to Arnold. I'll go more in depth in the last chapter, since there's still things I can't tell you ;)
Warning: BIG Jungle Movie foreshadowing in this chapter! Heads up!
I think Phoebe is mad at me.
I'm dead serious, and I have NO idea why.
Not only that, but Gerald and Phoebe haven't spoken to each other since the Cheese Festival and when I asked Gerald why, he dismissed it and said not to worry about it.
Every time I walk by Phoebe she gives me this observant and narrow eyed look, it's like she's studying me or something.
But you know what the most obvious sign of Phoebe's anger came from? She's LITERALLY making sure to keep Helga away from me.
Like what gives Phoebe?
I could tell Helga wanted to talk to me and I don't blame her, my poem was pretty obvious, and she's not stupid.
But she can't, because it appears that GERALD is playing this hide Arnold and you best not try to go seek him game with her. Every time Gerald and I come face to face with Helga and she starts approaching us, Gerald grabs my shoulders and drags me away, giving Helga his signature nasty look.
SOMETHING happened between him and Phoebe at the Cheese Festival and I know it's not in my place to ask, but this is AFFECTING my friendship with Helga, so this has officially become my business.
"C'mon Arnold, Mr. Simmons told us we had to be at the auditorium in five!" Gerald exclaimed in a rush as I stood my ground, crossed my arms, and glared at him.
Gerald sighed in defeat, "What did I do now?"
"What's going on Gerald?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't act dumb. Look, I know you and Phoebe are not on good terms but that doesn't mean Helga and I have to get dragged into this, you need to quit acting like such a child and talk to Phoebe about this and fix it. You're ruining my chances of talking to Helga."
Gerald's expression automatically changed to one of anger, "YOU AND HELGA ARE THE REASON PHOEBE AND I FOUGHT ARNOLD!"
I blinked, "Huh?"
Gerald sighed in frustration, "I'll explain later, c'mon, we're going to be late!"
The auditorium was packed with the 5th and 6th graders piled in the room.
Wolfgang - who was now a 6th grader - was throwing paper planes at Eugene who unfortunately couldn't dodge any of them.
"Ouch, I'm okay. Ouch, I'm okay. Ouch, I'm okay."
"What's wrong little fifth grader? Can't take a hit?" Wolfgang asked as he and Edmund started laughing.
"Wolfgang! Stop that right now!" Mr. Simmons scolded as I sat down next to Gerald and Harold.
"Hey Arnold, did ya hear the news?" Stinky asked as he and Sid looked at me.
"What news?"
"Apparently this assembly is about Principal Wartz raffling a Spring Break Camping Trip for one of our classes," Sid informed as Harold nodded.
"Is it the whole week?" Gerald asked.
"No, it's just for the weekend, kind of like a Retreat. And I'm glad, what if we starve - or worse - we get eaten by bears!" Harold exclaimed.
"We're not going to get eaten by bears Harold," I said as Principal Wartz stepped onto the stage with the 5th and 6th grade teachers.
I took this time to glance over at Helga but was stopped when I realized that Phoebe was already glaring at me.
I then realized that Phoebe and Helga sat in an angle where Phoebe MADE SURE Helga and I couldn't make eye contact. Talk about stingy, what did Gerald DO to her?
"Okay students settle down, I think you all know why you're here. As you all know Spring Break starts this weekend," Principal Wartz said as the students began cheering.
"Now now, anyway, I wanted to talk to you all about something new we're doing here at PS 118. So a humanitarian community service organization named the Helpers for Humanity* came up to me to tell me about spreading awareness of conserving the environment to you. To do this, they decided to offer one lucky class from PS 118 and PS 119 an all-expense paid trip to a campsite near Ophelia's Overlook."
"Isn't that the same campsite your Grandpa took us to Arnold?" Gerald asked as I nodded.
I remember that day, I remember Big Bob coming in with his huge RV and Helga being nice enough to invite Gerald and I over for breakfast. But boy did we learn a lesson that weekend.
"Now here's the thing kids," Principal Wartz continued, "Only ONE class can win this trip and I have all your teacher's names in this little jar. The winners will be spending this entire upcoming weekend there and will be staying in a cabin. There, you will be separated into groups and your Camp Counselor will teach you a thing or two about conserving the environment."
"JUST DRAW THE NAMES ALREADY!" Wolfgang yelled, receiving a dirty look from Wartz.
"Don't rush me young man before you get detention! Now, the winning class is..." he said as he put his hand in the jar. "Drum roll please."
All the students in the room including me and Gerald started patting our laps quickly and after five seconds of doing that Principal Wartz finally took a small piece of paper out.
"MR. SIMMONS' FIFTH GRADE CLASS!"
Our class cheered with excitement, especially Nadine, who seemed really excited about going out into nature and finding new species of bugs.
The only who didn't seem to fond of the idea was Rhonda, who sneered when Simmons gave her, her permission slip.
"There is absolutely NO way I am going out into the wilderness to get myself dirty," she said as she pouted.
"RHONDA IS CHICKEN!" Harold chanted.
"How dare you call me such childish atrocities! I am THE most popular girl in the class, how dare you!"
"Yeah but you can't handle a little outside widderness so that makes you a chicken!" Harold mocked as Rhonda held a hand up at him.
"Fine! I'll go, but only to prove you wrong!"
I rolled my eyes at this exchange, some things never change.
I was in the middle of the forest, I don't know why, but I was.*
"Arnold..."
"Arrrnolllddddd..."
"Who's there?" I asked as I swiftly turned to my side.
"Arnold..."
I swiftly turned to my left and jumped when a figure wearing a cape and a mask slowly approached me.
"Arnold," he whispered.
"WHO ARE YOU!?" I asked as I backed away.
He laughed maniacally until I heard a girl scream.
I turned to my right and noticed Helga - wearing a white tank top with a pink cardigan over it, brown shorts held on by a belt and brown mountain boots - her eyes were widened in fear. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ARNOLD!? RUN!"
"Huh?" I asked as she continued to talk, but her voice was muted.
"Come with me Arnold," the evil voice said as he extended his hand.
Helga suddenly exploded into hysterics, I think she was trying to stop me from going.
"HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD!"
I woke up and turned to my alarm so that I can turn it off.
Man... what a weird dream.
I blame it on the fact that we leave today for the Retreat, and on the fact that Grandpa told me another ghost story last night.
I dismissed the dream as I stood up and was immediately greeted by Abner, who was waiting for me to feed him.
I still can't believe Abner* has been around for so long, I mean I know the maximum age for pigs is 20 years but Abner is special, he's about 10-11 years old and he's still got tons of energy.
Maybe he's sacred or something, I mean he was given to my parents by the Green Eyes... who knows...
"Arnold! Gerald is here!" Grandpa called as I grabbed my already packed backpack and walked toward my best friend.
"Alright Grandpa, thank..." I said but stopped in my tracks when I noticed Grandpa wearing a new green sweater*.
"You like it Arnold? Mrs. Johanssen made it for me," he said as he stroke a pose.
"It's really nice Grandpa," I complimented as Gerald looked at me.
"My mom is taking a knitting class, and she wanted to put her skills into practice," he said as he motioned towards the sweater.
"That's great Gerald!"
"Well you two little rascals better get going before you miss the bus!" Grandpa said as he gave me a bag full of snacks.
Gerald and I nodded as both of us headed out of the boarding house and towards school.
We were silent, an aching question ringing in my mind.
"So Gerald..."
"Please don't ask me Arnold."
"You said Helga and I were the reason you and Phoebe were fighting, I think I have a right to know," I said as I crossed my arms.
Gerald opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a guy who tapped on his shoulder.
"Excuse me, but are you guys from PS 118?"
We turned and came face to face with two guys our age. The guy who tapped Gerald's shoulder was short, dark skinned, wore glasses, and had a curly afro. He wore a green shirt and blue jeans. The guy next to him stood in a very firm position, he had blonde hair that was freshly cut and piercing blue eyes. He wore a red shirt with a black jacket over it topped with a pair of jeans. His arms were crossed as he waited for us to answer.
"We are," I said as the short kid's eyes lit up.
"Oh, thank goodness! My name is Tyler and this is Sean. We are from PS 119 and we're going on this Retreat field trip thing and we were told that the bus would be at PS 118, but we can't find our way there..."
"YOU couldn't find your way there Tyler, I knew perfectly well where we were going," the guy with blonde hair interrupted as he turned to Tyler.
"Yeah right, you've been taking us in circles for the past half hour," Tyler retorted as Sean rolled his eyes.
"We can lead you there," Gerald offered as Tyler nodded.
"That would be great, thanks," he said enthusiastically.
He kind of reminded me of Eugene, except without the clumsiness.
Sean disregarded our greetings as he started walking ahead of us, causing Tyler to frown.
"Sorry about that, Sean is very picky about who he makes acquaintances with... he's actually extremely social when you get to know him," Tyler whispered to us as he scratched the back of his neck.
Gerald and I looked at each other and shrugged as the four of us headed towards school.
When we arrived, Tyler bid us thanks as he and Sean headed towards a group of kids I've never seen before, probably from PS 119.
Gerald and I walked toward the students of PS 118, where Harold was complaining that he was hungry and Rhonda was rambling on about how worried she was about getting herself dirty.
I turned and noticed that Phoebe was talking to Sheena about who knows what... but where was Helga?
"WATCH IT EINSTEIN!" I heard someone yell, catching the attention of all the students from both schools.
I widened my eyes as I turned and noticed an angry looking Sean with a damped shirt glaring at Helga, who was apologetically holding a broken water bottle.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Darn RIGHT you weren't!" he yelled as he drew closer to her.
Both our schools gasped, our school was worrying for Sean's utter existence, we all KNEW that we should NEVER enrage Helga G. Pataki.
PS 119 looked equally flabbergasted though, huh? I doubt they knew how scary Helga was.
"Now Sean... it was just an accident..." Tyler nervously imputed but stopped when Sean held his hand up, signaling for him to stop talking.
We all turned towards Helga and I honestly had NO idea how she'd react.
Fourth grade Helga would have gone off on him, leaving a few bruises from Old Betsy during the process. But Helga has changed a lot this year, she's become more... not herself.
Then again, I did see a few glimpses from the Old Helga when I took her out the Cheese Festival, so maybe she will lash out.
Either way, I KNOW I'm not going to like the outcome.
Helga's stunned glace quickly turned into a glare, a VERY well-known glare.
Her hands curled into fists and she stomped closer to him, "Listen here BUCKO, you heard your friend, it was JUST an accident and I apologized. Not satisfied? Fine, see if I care, just stay out of my way. I don't want problems."
Did Helga just... threaten him? She hasn't done that in such a long time! We're making progress!
No Arnold stop it! This isn't something you should be celebrating.
Sean looked equally stunned and his eyes softened as Helga continued to glare at him.
"Wow," he said with a smile as he started applauding her. "You got guts, I like it, what's your name?"
Say what now...
Helga seemed surprised as she relaxed her muscles and raised an eyebrow, "Helga."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, I'm Sean," he said as he extended his hand, which Helga hesitated in taking, but took it anyway.
At this point, both schools seemed bored and went back to doing their own thing, but I was still watching the two like a hawk.
They seemed to be making small talk, and let me tell you, I did not like it one bit.
"Alright everyone listen up!" I heard Mr. Simmons exclaim as he and another teacher stood in front of us. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Mr. Simmons from PS 118 and this is Mr. Lopez from PS 119."
Mr. Lopez nodded, "The Helpers for Humanity have an exciting weekend planned for you all, but in order for you all to have fun we must put you all in groups of five. We are mixing people from both schools so that way you can all get to know each other."
"Here are the groups," Mr. Simmons started. "Group A: Harold Berman, Ryan James, Stinky Peterson, Ernie Carmiki, and Lila Sawyer. Group B: Alice Jones, Phoebe Heyerdahl, Tyler Parker, Eugene Horowitz, and Arnold..." he paused. "Huh, that's weird, there's a smudge over your last name Arnold. Please raise your hand so that everyone can know who you are."
I shook my head at the common occurrence as I raised my hand.
Simmons cleared his throat and continued, "Group C: Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, Kiki Alexandria, Gerald Johanssen, Sean Edmundson, and Helga Pataki."
NO WAY! Sean and Helga are in the same group!
Gerald seemed to be questioning his life choices as he nervously looked at Helga and back at Simmons, clearly he was not happy with being paired up with her.
"Seriously, I'm in the same group as Kiki!?" Sean retorted in disgust as a girl who was painting her nails stopped and indignantly looked at Sean.
"Ugh, well I don't find being in YOUR group such a joy ride either, you peasants are not worth my time."
"OH MY GOSH! Is that the new Caprini Nancy Spumoni nail polish!?" Rhonda exclaimed as she approached the girl who had just spoken.
Well, at least Rhonda won't be whining about how horrible this trip is going to be anymore.
Helga and Sean are getting along a little TOO well.
They spent the entire bus ride talking, mostly because Tyler and Phoebe started sleeping in the middle of the ride.
I tried sitting near her, I really did, but Gerald and Phoebe had other plans.
Phoebe has really changed this past year... she's become more confident in herself.
I think it's because of Helga's personality change - I mean - SOMEONE needed to be the voice in their friendship and since Helga had stepped down from that pedestal, Phoebe must have decided to step up.
Gerald looked up from his comic book and raised an eyebrow at me. "Man will you stop lookin' over there! You look like you dropped your ice cream!"
"I wonder what they're talking about..." I responded as Gerald rolled his eyes.
"Does it matter? Besides, it makes sense that they get along, they're both violent and scary. I smell soulmates."
That comment enraged me.
I turned and glared at Gerald with an angry look, which seemed to have caught him off guard.
"What?" he asked. "Did I say something wrong?"
I sighed in defeat and frustration as I glanced at them again, this time catching Helga's eyes.
I quickly turned away, my face as red as Scheck's when we took back the neighborhood.
Speaking of which, that happened a year ago!
"Hey Gerald, happy anniversary," I said as I smiled toward Gerald who raised an eyebrow at me.
"Today marks a year since we saved the neighborhood," I said as Gerald gleamed.
"No way! Really? Man, time flies."
We were on a boat. **
I heard screaming.
I turned and noticed a flash of pink disappear.
"Helga?" I asked but stopped when I looked into the ocean.
There was the same locket Grandpa had gotten with my picture on it... but there was no picture.
"Huh? What's that locket doing here?"
I reached down but then noticed tiny pieces of paper floating near the locket, I grabbed the papers and realized that it was a ripped-up picture...
A ripped-up picture of me...
"ARNOLD!" Gerald exclaimed as he shook me, causing me to wake up and look around abruptly.
"We're here man," he said as I looked out the window.
What was that all about? ANOTHER crazy dream!
Who was screaming? What was that locket doing there? Why was a picture of me ripped into shreds?
My thoughts were interrupted as all the students started to stand and pile out of the bus.
After a few icebreakers and getting to know our assigned counselors, it was time for our Rowing Activity.
"Who here has ridden a boat before?" our counselor asked as the majority of us raised our hands.
It really sucks to not be in the same group as Gerald, but Tyler isn't bad company.
Phoebe was the one I was extremely uneasy about.
For someone little, she's definitely scary when she wants to be.
She mostly hung out with Eugene, while keeping an eye on me of course.
Alice and I clicked quickly, she was really nice and I enjoyed conversing with her and Tyler.
Phoebe didn't seem to be very happy with me though, every time Alice and I would laugh about something she'd send me a disapproving look.
WHAT DID GERALD SAY TO HER!
Helga and Sean seemed to REALLY be getting along though, at least according to Gerald they are.
That night when all activities were over he told me that he was practically forced to hang out with them because all Kiki and Rhonda would talk about was "materialistic mumbo jumbo."
I laughed but I couldn't hide my obvious distress.
Has Helga moved on? Am I too late? What if she doesn't like me like me anymore...
No, her poem said otherwise, I HAVE to remember that. But it's so hard.
There were times when I really felt the need to punch Sean in the face, he gave me a bad vibe.
"You seem to like Helga a lot," I heard Tyler say from across the hall.
Oh, did I mention that Sean and Tyler were rooming across from our room?
I got up from my bed and got closer so that I can listen in on their conversation, Gerald had gone to get a glass of water.
"She's alright, pathetic, but alright. She's going to be perfect for my plans."
What...
"Plans? I don't follow," Tyler responded. "I thought the plan was to get back at the football headed kid."
HOLD THE PHONE! WHAT!?
"Shush! They are right across the hall! And yes, that was the original plan, but this plan is better."
"How so?"
"Helga likes Arnold, my uncle told me so. Her cringy confession on the rooftop of FTi caught on tape was enough proof of that."
"So?"
"So we are going to mess with their heads until they utterly hate each other, I'll pretend that I like Helga and then I'll drop her like a sack of potatoes, the pathetic sap won't even know what's coming. As for the football headed kid, we'll play mind games for now, he won't stop staring at me and Helga, it's perfect. I'll do a number on his best friend too."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Keep playing that whole 'sweet nerd' role with him, it's going to come to use for us in the future."
"Wow, you're really determined to avenge your uncle, Sean."
"Of course! I can't wait to tell my Uncle Scheck all about it when I get home."
I widened my eyes as I stepped away from the doorway and walked backwards towards my bed.
SEAN WAS SCHECK'S NEPHEW!?
But worse, he's after me, Helga and Gerald!
I have to warn them!
"Arnold..."
I turned and noticed Gerald standing by the doorway with widened, fearful eyes.
"Did you just hear, what I just heard?"
"You heard the whole thing?" I asked, hoping he hadn't heard the part about FTi.
"No, just the part where he was talking about messing with our heads..."
This is not good.
It took a lot of convincing but I managed to convince Gerald to let me talk to Helga the next morning.
He still wasn't okay with me talking to her, but he realized that this was an important situation.
When I approached her, she was already with Sean and they both seemed like they were throwing rocks in a river.
I clenched my fists as I approached them.
"Excuse me..."
Helga turned in surprise as Sean turned with a raised eyebrow.
"Can I speak with Helga?" I asked politely as Sean shrugged carelessly and continued throwing rocks in the river.
Helga nervously looked at me as she followed me to a little pond a few meters from the river.
I had to get to the point before Phoebe found out I was talking to her.
"Helga, you need to stay away from Sean."
Helga seemed taken aback, clearly not expecting that.
"Why?"
"He's not a good person Helga, trust me, he's using you. He's Scheck's nephew!"
"Scheck's nephew? Are you feelin' okay Arnold?" she asked in concern.
She didn't believe me!
I sort of felt a sense of deja vu to last year when Helga warned me about Summer and I didn't believe her.
"No, I'm serious! He's bad news!"
"Arnold, I know he may give off that energy but he's actually a great person, you should get to know him."
"Helga..."
"ARNOLD!"
I turned and noticed Phoebe glaring at me with her hands on her hips and Sean standing right next to her with a frown pasted on his face.
"Is he giving you a hard time Helga?" Sean asked as I widened my eyes.
"No! But you certainly are planning to," I said as I pointed at him accusingly.
He feigned a surprised look, "Me? Dude I barely met her, what could I possibly do? You feelin' okay?"
"Arnold," Phoebe started. "You've been acting very peculiar since September, it's quite concerning and mildly irritating. Leave Helga alone, you made your point quite clear that Friday, why do you keep on insisting?" she put her hands on her hips.
"ARE YOU KIDDING!?" Gerald exclaimed as he stood next to me, since when did he get here? "HELGA has been the one playing mind games with Arnold! She has been since Preschool!"
Suddenly everything clicked.
Gerald and Phoebe were taking sides. Phoebe must think I'm playing mind games with Helga and Gerald must be thinking the same thing about Helga. That must be what caused them to argue!
"Arnold was the one who told her to never speak to her again and yet is the one who continues to approach her and you think HELGA is the one playing mind games? Helga has been keeping her distance away from Arnold to GIVE HIM SPACE yet he CONTINUES TO INSIST!" Phoebe retorted as she motioned toward me.
"Now wait just a second!" Gerald said as he held up a finger. "Let's all remind ourselves WHY Arnold said what he said, PATAKI was the one who struck him in the face with a pie, humiliated him in front of the entire school and put gum in his hair. And that wasn't just a one-time thing, she's been doing this since Preschool! And he has never, EVER said a single word about it, did you really NOT expect him to snap at some point? She was extremely nice during Preschool and one day she just changed and she always directs her torment to Arnold and ONLY Arnold, you think that's not playing mind games? Why Arnold? Why not Eugene or Harold or even ME!? What makes Arnold SUCH a target?"
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!"
The four of us turned to Helga who seemed ENRAGED, "JUST SHUT UP!"
With that said, she walked away, heading back to the cabin.
With one more glare at me and Gerald, Phoebe followed her, causing Sean to go after them too.
Gerald turned to look at me and I walked away from him.
I REALLY didn't feel like talking to him, I know he's just trying to help but he and Phoebe are making things worse.
"Hey Arnold, what gives man?" Gerald asked as he stood in front of me. "I just saved you back there."
"Gerald you're making things worse!" I yelled as Gerald looked taken aback.
"I was just tryna help! It's true that she's been playing mind games with you Arnold, are you going to deny it? You deserve to know the reason!"
"I ALREADY KNOW THE REASON!" I snapped, causing a few birds to fly away from the trees they were in.
Gerald blinked in surprise, "What?" he then put his hands on his hips. "Arnold, are you hiding something from me?"
Oops. Did I just let that slip?
There was no way I could tell Gerald about the FTi incident, not yet! I wasn't ready!
"Arnold, Gerald, there ya are," Stinky said as he and Sid approached us. "Mr. Simmons wants all of us to get back to the cabins."
I didn't hesitate to head to the cabin, hoping Gerald wouldn't bring the topic up again.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" **
"I'm so sorry..."
I woke up, not realizing that I had taken a nap.
I was back in that same jungle again, two voices I had identified as mine and Gerald's echoed through my mind.
Why am I having these dreams?
"Finally awake?" Gerald asked as I stood up from my bed.
I nodded and rubbed my eyes, "What time is it?"
"It's 6 in the afternoon, I came to tell you that it's dinner time," he said sheepishly which was weird since he's usually very confident with what he says.
"Are you okay Gerald?"
"I'm sorry Arnold, really, I shouldn't be butting into your business like that. Forgive me?" he asked as he held up his fist for our handshake.
I smiled, "Forgiven," I said as I complied with our handshake.
We walked downstairs and noticed that all the girls were all sitting in our cabin with annoyed looks.
"What's going on? Why aren't you guys at your cabin?" I asked as Rhonda rolled her eyes.
"Phoebe and Helga are arguing and we simply couldn't stand to be there anymore."
Gerald and I looked at each other as we stepped out of the cabin and looked toward the girl's cabin window.
Indeed, you can see Helga and Phoebe's shadows screaming at each other, but their words were hardly audible.
"They've been ever so at it for the last hour," Lila frowned as she approached us.
"What are they fightin' about?" I asked nervously as I looked at Gerald, BOTH of us knew EXACTLY what they were fighting about.
"I think you know Arnold," Lila said. "And I must say that this is getting ever so out of hand, you must fix it."
With that said she stepped back into our cabin, but just as she left, Sean and Tyler came out.
"What DID you do to her?" Sean asked in a very condescending way. "Was her little confession on that rooftop THAT dramatic?"
"Confession?" Gerald asked as I winced.
Sean seemed to notice what he had blurted out and covered his mouth in a mocking way, "Oh no! I've said too much!"
"Cut the sarcasm Sean, we're onto you!" I exclaimed as Sean rolled his eyes.
"Phoebe and Helga sure aren't, it's only a matter of time before you two pay for putting my Uncle in jail."
"Hey! The guy had it coming!" Gerald retorted.
"And you're both going to have THIS coming to you, the only way to get through to Helga is by getting through to Phoebe. Good luck with that," he laughed as he and Tyler walked back into the cabin.
And you know what, I think Sean was onto something.
Operation Regain Phoebe's Respect was in full effect, I made sure to pair up with her in absolutely every activity.
I needed to demonstrate that I really DO care about Helga and that I'm not toying with her heart or anything. How will I achieve that? Well, by talking to her.
"Arnold, I don't know what exactly you are concocting, but it's not going to work," she said as we sat on a boat, trying to clean up the trash spread across the lake.
"Phoebe just hear me out okay, Sean is BAD news! If you care about Helga, you'll warn her too."
"Are you questioning my ability to secure a proper friendship with Helga?"
"No that's not what I meant!"
"You've really changed Arnold. You don't acquire the same respectable personality you did last year."
What the...
"I'm the same Phoebe! Honest! I haven't changed!"
Just as Phoebe was about to argue, we noticed that Sean was talking to Helga on another boat.
"I really like you Helga... you make me really happy."
"You... do?"
"Yeah, I may even say that I like you like you."
I clenched my fists as I turned to Phoebe abruptly, "SEE! Isn't that the least bit suspicious to you Phoebe!? He's only known her for two days! How in the world can he like her like her in such a short amount of time!?"
Phoebe seemed to be putting in some thought about that, "Hmm, I guess it is a bit strange... you said he was Scheck's nephew?"
I nodded, hoping that I was finally getting to her.
She sighed as she looked at me, "I'll look more into it, but if this turns out to be another one of your mind games Arnold, forget Helga and I ever existed."
There was screaming.
And it was weird because it all happened so fast.
One moment I was laying in my sleeping bag – thinking - the next I heard screaming, the next I noticed Sean running into the cabin with a bloody nose, the next I noticed Helga fuming and screaming at him.
"She punched my nose!" Sean cried to Tyler.
"But why?"
"SHE FOUND OUT! SOMEONE RATTED ME OUT!"
I gasped as I passed by their room and outside, where Simmons was reprimanding Helga and she was explaining to him why she had done it.
Phoebe turned to me and nodded.
I smiled, Phoebe had done her job.
When Simmons and Lopez gave Sean and Helga their respective punishments, Helga approached me and smiled.
"I'm sorry Arnold, for not believing you back there," she smiled apologetically as I nodded, forgiving her.
"It's alright, consider us even since you did the same for me when it came to Summer."
We laughed at the memory and stared into each other's eyes.
There was so much I wanted to say and I'm sure there was so much SHE wanted to say.
Gerald, who had come out after hearing the commotion, observed us with a raised eyebrow and cleared his throat.
Helga and I turned to him as he approached Helga, "Pataki, you and I need to talk."
"And I would like to have a word with you Arnold," Phoebe said as she approached us. "Meet me at Slausen's this Monday at noon."
This chapter was longer than I intended for it to be xD But did I do okay or was it too much?
The last two chapters are going to be hella important, not only do I have to bring closure to Arnold and Helga's relationship, I also have to start bringing in heavy foreshadowing for The Jungle Movie.
45 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE JUNGLE MOVIE!
Notice that I made a little joke about Arnold's last name, trust me, I KNOW it's Shortman, but Craig said he wanted to make a big announcement about that in The Jungle Movie. So for the sake of consistency, nobody knows about Arnold's last name JUST yet xD
TJM References/Foreshadows:
*Helpers for Humanity: This is the same organization that sponsors the trip Arnold takes to San Lorenzo.
*Abner: Abner is going to serve as an important and crucial character from The Jungle Movie, Arnold addressed the fact that he was a gift from the Green Eyes in this chapter. Although I am not quite sure what his purpose is going to be, he is GOING to have a purpose.
*Grandpa's Green Sweater: Craig Bartlett introduced Grandpa's new design by placing a green sweater on him, this chapter gives background to how he got that sweater.
*Arnold's Dreams/Visions: All three visions were a foreshadowing to The Jungle Movie, ESPECIALLY dreams 2 and 3, which were ripped straight out of the trailer. Who caught that? Let me know in the reviews!
Arnold will elaborate more on what he feels about these dreams in the next two chapters, he was too focused on his drama with Sean and Helga in this chapter to really go into depth about that.