Chapter 4: You cook, I'll shop
"How in the heck am I supposed to use this thing again?" Stinky asked, holding the colander upside down and over the stove.
"We won't be needing that until after the pasta is boiled." Lila explained.
"What's boiled mean?"
"It mean to wait for the noodles to soften in the warm water for a few minutes. Then they become oh so soft."
"So that's when we eat them out of here?"
"No Stinky. We use the colander to drain the water from the pot they cook in."
"Well okie dokie then."
The Corner Store
As the kids were being taught simple dishes to make and save for the party the next day, Rhonda was happily leading Arnold to The Corner Store.
"Here we are Arnold. Now we can get the candles, table cloths, and dishes for the special occasion." Rhonda smirked, while Arnold slowly followed behind, thinking about how miserable his girlfriend must be.
Rhonda immediately searched for the candles, while Arnold couldn't help thinking back to the previous evening he had spent with his girlfriend. Not only had he so easily opened up to her, but he was anxious to hear her opinion of what it would be like for them to be married one day. Were his feelings for her really becoming that deep?
As he took this into deep consideration, Rhonda stood eyeing the candles, thinking out loud to herself "Should we get blue or pink? Blue would match the dining room, but pink is far more sophisticated. I suppose we'll just have to go with both."
Rhonda's Kitchen
"Oh brother! I can't believe I'm wasting my time chopping vegetables for a stupid salad in Princess' kitchen with tall hair boy!" Helga scoffed, at last realizing she had been manipulated by her selfish classmate.
"Yeah well, this wasn't exactly my first choice on how to spend a Saturday night." Gerald said, while glancing over at who he hoped would one day be his actual wife.
The Corner Store
"Okay, we've got the candles! Now we can focus on the table cloths!" Rhonda said excitedly as Arnold sighed, following her over there.
After looking them over, hoping to move things along, he picked one up and said "How about his one?"
Rhonda couldn't help but laugh as she said "Arnold please, we can do better than cotton. I'm torn between satin and silk. I suppose silk is a bit ordinary; satin will do."
Arnold rolled his eyes, hoping Helga was having a better time than he was, although he knew the chances were highly unlikely.
Rhonda's Kitchen
"Aww! Why do I have to help with the stupid cooking? I'm not a girl!" Harold whined.
"Don't worry Harold, ours won't take long." Nadine assured him, while preparing the ingredients for the cucumber sandwiches. "There are just four or five ingredients we need to mix into a bowl that we can use to spread across the bread for the sandwiches."
"Like what?"
After showing him the list, Harold tried reading everything out loud. "Wor...worces...oh I can't read this word?"
"Worcestershire. It's a fermented liquid condiment from England." Phoebe couldn't help but butt in from across the room.
"I don't see why we couldn't just do something fun married couples do? Like go to the roller rink." Sid sighed, standing beside his partner.
"Well, as I explained to Arnold and Helga, Rhonda merely felt the urge to see how well the results of her marriage predictor would be if given actual tasks to go along with them."Phoebe explained, while watching Sid place the chicken in the oven.
The walk
After paying for the needed dinner supplies, Rhonda began leading Arnold back to her house. "Now that we've got everything, we can head back home and see how well everyone did with their partners. I think you and I did a splendid job shopping together." Rhonda smiled, while a large frown began forming on Arnold's face.
His girlfriend was stuck spending her Saturday night cooking and cleaning for the last person she would want to do that for, and he wasn't there to help her.
"Uhhh Rhonda, if you don't mind my asking, what exactly was the point of this? I get you wanted to see if your marriage predictor was right about how well we could work together, but you don't really believe that's all marriage is about for people who are less fortunate than you, do you?" Arnold asked.
"Don't be ridiculous Arnold! I was simply doing them a favor by showing them hard times they are sure to be facing later in life."
Arnold stopped to look at his pretend wife, full of rage. "Just because we're not rich doesn't mean we're not happy, and just because we can't afford to have someone do those types of things for us doesn't mean we'll be miserable the rest of our lives."
Rhonda's Kitchen
"Ow! I'm Okay!" A clumsy boy said after slipping on a lady finger that had been dropped on the floor in front of him.
"Oh my Eugene! Let me help you!" Sheena exclaimed, reaching out a hand for her pretend husband.
As Gerald was finishing up the salad, Helga rolled her eyes with her hands on her waists and said "Forget him! Look at the even bigger mess he made in here! It'll take all night to clean up this mess!"
Before receiving a response, the kids turned their heads to see Rhonda and Arnold entering the room with a couple of bags."
Helga examined the annoyed look on her boyfriend's face as she listened to Rhonda say "So, how are we doing? Is everything ready to be put in the fridge until tomorrow?" Rhonda insisted on knowing.
"What's it look like Princess?" Helga smirked, with her hands on her waist.
"Wonderful! Now we can get to the cleaning."
"Man! What kind of party is this?!" Gerald insisted on knowing.
Arnold looked at his frustrated classmates and said "Let me do it Rhonda."
Helga cocked her brow at her boyfriend's eager offer as she listened to Rhonda ask "What for Arnold?"
"Well, I don't think it's very fair that they spent the night cooking while you and I were out shopping."
"Suit yourself." Rhonda smirked, as she exited the kitchen with most of her classmates.
Standing beside his friend, Gerald said "So you're going to clean up this mess all by your lonesome?"
"I uhhh guess." Arnold shrugged his shoulders, glancing over at his girlfriend. He knew it wouldn't be fair to ask her, although he hoped she would stay. Whatever little time he had to spend with her meant the world to him, no matter how it was done.
"Whatever you say Arnold."
After their two best friends left, Arnold stood beside his girlfriend and said "Guess you'll be wanting to leave too then?"
"I wanted to leave before I got hereā¦" she began, while noticing the frown forming on his face.
"I came so Princess wouldn't make you miserable though. I'd be doing a pretty crummy job of that if I left you here to clean this up yourself."
Arnold gave his girlfriend a tight hug, not caring about what a mess the kitchen was. Just the fact that she cared enough to still be there waiting for him when he returned warmed his heart with joy.
One Hour Later
Standing by the sink, scrubbing dishes with his girlfriend, Arnold said "This brings back memories."
Rolling her eyes at the night he was referring to, Helga scoffed "Only we actually got to eat the food that was prepared that night."
"Either way, I enjoyed our time together and still do." Arnold smiled, looking over at his blushing girlfriend.
Helga continued to keep her eyes on the dishes, hoping to hide her red face until she felt herself being sprayed with water.
As she looked over to see her boyfriend winking at her, she couldn't help but let out a swoon, rather than a harsh scowl that time.
Arnold could feel another intense emotional feeling building up inside himself as he witnessed the smile on his girlfriend's face. While standing there, washing the dishes with her, he realized within the past two days, he had done and felt things for Helga his parents had mentioned to him. Were those feelings stronger than he realized?
Helga's House
After finishing the dishes, Arnold decided to walk his girlfriend home. It was a beautiful night. The weather was warm and there were more stars out than usual. When they made it to her front porch, Arnold turned to his girlfriend and said "Thanks for staying and helping."
Rolling her eyes at the idea of him thinking she would dessert him, she scoffed "I'm not that mean you know. I wouldn't just ditch you."
Taking her hand in his, Arnold began to rub it, thinking about what she had just said. 'I'm not that mean.' While it was true she had a bit of an attitude, it was one of the things that made her stand out from the other; something that made her special to him.
It made him take into consideration another thing from his parents' list love their imperfections.
"I know you're not. Even if you did, something tells me I'd forgive you." Arnold smiled softly, as her eyes began to widen. It never ceased to amaze her how forgiving he was about her hostile behavior. The way he was always able and willing to look past her aggressive behavior.
Pulling her close to kiss her, the idea of the unhappiness she experienced that night began to created intense feelings of frustration. He didn't care what Rhonda's reasons were for having everyone do what they did that night. Just the idea of not being able to help his girlfriend, not being there to do anything for her, was heartbreaking.
After feeling he had made his point, he pulled back to see the amazed look on her face.
"Everything okay football head?"
"Uhh yeah. Sorry about that." he blushed, not knowing how to explain the feelings he had been experiencing recently.
Shrugging her shoulders, she said "Whatever. See you tomorrow."
"I think Phoebe and Gerald still want to go shopping for our outfits." Arnold reminded her, before she could make it inside.
"Oh right. I'll talk to Pheebs if you and Geraldo want to meet up with us." Helga sighed, not crazy about the idea of shopping.
"Sounds good. Sweet dreams." Arnold waved good night to his girlfriend, while she waited until he was far enough to way to let out a deep swoon.
