Here comes 'Weird Cousin'! Let's see how this episode plays out! Anyway, enjoy!

Later that day, almost five-thirty, after getting permission from our parents, me, Phoebe, Nadine and Lila were all set up for the picnic, and we added some extra table settings, each for Arnold and his cousin. We were just about to relax when Sheena came along.

"Hey, girls!" Sheena smiled as she looked over at us and came over. "Setting up for a picnic?"

"A little study session under the stars, if that's what you're implying." I said.

"Is it okay if I join you? My family isn't going to come home until eight, and I need some company right now." Sheena said.

Me, Nadine and Phoebe looked at each other before Lila already set up an extra place. "Sure, Sheena. You're welcome to join us."

"She is?" Me, Nadine and Phoebe groaned.

"Oh, thanks girls." Sheena smiled as she sat down with us.

Phoebe sighed. "Well, I suppose this isn't that bad. Okay, Sheena, I guess all we need to do is wait for Arnold and his cousin."

"Oh, Arnold's joining us and he's bringing his cousin from out of town that he told us about? That's so cool!" Sheena smiled.

"Yeah, we heard quite some stories between him and his cousin." I smiled.

"Yeah, almost every summer, Arnold would go for a couple of weeks just to visit Arnie." Nadine smiled. "He told us some good tales about how he's good at farm life..."

"Just like me!" Lila giggled. "Well, before I moved to the city."

"...how he doesn't mind fashion..." Nadine smiled.

"Like me." I gave a smirk of confidence.

"...how good and smart he is..." Nadine said.

"Like me." Phoebe giggled.

"...and he's honest and very competitive, from what Arnold told us!" Nadine smiled. "I can't wait to meet him!"

"Let's just hope Arnie, whoever he is, is really hungry!" Phoebe said. "We sure packed a lot of food."

"I guess we're all nervous to meeting him." I sighed.

"I guess I am as well, since I pretty much heard a lot of him from you for the first time." Lila said.

"Okay, Lila, let's test your relationship with Lorenzo. Let's see how much you like Arnie!" Helga chuckled.

"Wait, Lila and Arnie hit it off in a relationship?" I asked in my mind.

"There was a time back in my timeline when Arnold was interested in Lila that Lila fell for Arnie, yes... but trust me, you're going to be shocked at who Arnie really is!"

"We'll see about that..." I thought as I saw Arnold coming in. "Hey, Arnold!"

"Hey, girls! Looks like everyone's here..." Arnold sighed.

"Indeed." Phoebe smiled. "So, where's your cousin?"

"Oh, he's coming." Arnold said as we all turned to the road.

"Are... you sure?" Nadine asked, curiously.

"Well, I'll be the first to admit he's not... fast. Gerald's here too..." Arnold said, which prompted Phoebe to immediately set up another place at the small picnic area. "...and he's currently leading him with Abner coming JUST in case he wouldn't get lost."

We waited as we raised our eyebrows awkwardly. Sheena then whispered to me, "Is he even moving?"

Pretty soon, we saw Gerald and Abner rounding the corner, leading another football-headed kid over. He looked similar to Arnold from a distance.

"Over here!" Arnold called.

Gerald and Abner stopped in front of us as we all turned to see Arnie for the first time.

He... certainly looked similar to Arnold... if Arnold was some odd cartoon character. Arnie's eyes looked pretty dull, his hair was a lighter blonde than Arnold's, he was wearing a green beanie, a plaid shirt, and jeans held by black straps... overalls? He also had grey shoes.

Arnie then looked at a rock on the ground as he took a deep breath. "Sedimentary."

"Hm?" Nadine blinked as Arnie picked up the rock.

"This is a sedimentary rock." Arnie explained.

"You sure you want to do this, man?" I heard Gerald whisper to Arnold.

Arnold whispered back to Gerald, "I think it's high time I introduce him, at least."

"Your funeral." Gerald whispered as Arnold turned.

"Anyway, girls... I like you to meet Arnie." Arnold smiled, then whispered to us, "I'm aware of what he looks like and his appearance and personality, but try to get along, okay?"

Arnold smiled as he nodded. Phoebe decided to be the first as she smiled. "Well, Arnie, we're so glad to finally meet you for the first time. And on your spring break, too. Arnold told us quite a lot about you. I'm Phoebe, this is Lila, Sheena, Nadine and Rhonda."

"We're just so glad to meet you." Lila smiled.

"Charmed." Arnie snorted a bit.

"So, what have you been doing lately?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"Recently, I've been reading the ingredients on this candy bar I ate." Arnie said as he picked up an empty candy bar wrapper.

"Oh... that's cool." I paused.

"It's quite an interesting read." Arnie nodded.

"Tell us more." Lila smiled. We all turned to Lila as Lila blinked, looking at us. "What?"

"So..." Sheena paused. "Arnold told us you have a pet?"

"He's in my pocket." Arnie slowly nodded.

"Oh, a pocket pet? What is it?" Lila asked.

Arnie then pulled out a pile of... lint? Me and Nadine yelped as Phoebe and Sheena blinked. "Lint, actually. I collect a lot of lint, but this lint is special to me. His name is Button."

We girls just stared strangely... well, all but Lila who appeared fascinated. "Oh, he's adorable!"

"Lila!" Nadine whispered. "What is wrong with you?"

Lila just smiled. "Just being polite to our new friend!"

We all smiled nervously as Arnie snorted. "So... how's the food? I'm starving."

"Food, of course, food!" I smiled. "Let's set up the picnic and we can begin!"

We were later gathering as we were eating... or at least trying to. Lila and Arnold were eating fine, no problem, but the rest of us girls, and Gerald, even Abner, was looking at Arnie weirdly as he just ate a little fast.

"So, Arnie, what do you do with your spare time? What is your... shall I say... hobby?" Phoebe asked.

Arnie looked up as he said, "I like... counting things."

"Oh, a math person." Phoebe smiled. "So, you're a little organizer of sorts?"

Arnie just blinked, looking at Phoebe, confused.

Phoebe sighed. "You like to collect and count from your head, you're pretty smart."

Arnie just blinked weirdly.

Phoebe sighed. "You're good at counting."

"Indeed." Arnie nodded.

"So, Arnold usually tells us you like to play a lot of games." Gerald said.

"Yeah." Nadine smiled. "What games do you like?"

Arnie finished up his sandwich as he looked over at all of us. "Well, normally, Button and I sometimes like to play an intense of game of 'Hide and Seek'. I usually hide Button anywhere in a general area not within three feet distance, and the mission is to find him."

We all blinked as Nadine smiled nervously. "Awe-some?"

"I think that would be a good idea. I'm interested in playing the game." Lila smiled.

"Why not?" Arnold shrugged as Gerald just groaned.

Me, Nadine, Phoebe and Sheena looked at each other, oddly.

A few minutes later, after we finished our picnic, we were currently searching through a lot of bushes to find Arnie's... lint. I groaned as I said, "This is impossible! How hard is it to find a ball of lint!"

"I know, but we can't give up!" Lila whispered. "It would hurt Arnie's feelings..."

"Yeah." Phoebe nodded. "Besides, Arnold seems to be really into it..."

We all turned to see Arnold leading Arnie around as Arnold looked up. "Okay, Arnie, is this it?"

Arnie shook his head.

"Let's just keep trying." Phoebe said.

"All right." Lila smiled as me, Nadine, Gerald and Sheena grumbled.

"Found him." We heard Arnie said.

We all turned in confusion as we saw Arnie holding his lint.

"What? Where was he?" Gerald asked.

"In my pocket." Arnie explained.

"Oh, come on!" Nadine growled.

Arnold looked up as he gasped. "Uh-oh, it's getting a little late. Arnie, we should probably get going."

Arnie took a snort before saying, "Okay..."

"Well, it was ever so nice to meet you, Arnie." Lila smiled. "I think you're pretty cute."

"Charmed, I'm sure." Arnie said as Arnold took his arm.

"Well, girls, glad to see you acquainted with Arnie. I'll bring him to school tomorrow, just for a day to see how everyone else reacts. I'm glad you girls are getting along with him." Arnold smiled.

"Thankfully?" Gerald asked.

"Okay, Arnold, see you later." I waved as he, Arnie, Gerald and Abner left.

Lila giggled as soon as Arnie left as she said, "Arnie is so cute..."

Lila's eyes widened in shock. "WHAT AM I SAYING?"

Lila's eyes closed. "You love Lorenzo, you love Lorenzo, you love Lorenzo, Lorenzo loves you, Lorenzo loves you, Lorenzo loves you."

Lila's eyes widened as she smiled cutely. "Oh, but Arnie is ever so sweet and charming!"

Lila's eyes closed as she frowned. "But Lorenzo is your BOYFRIEND! He wouldn't appreciate you falling for another guy!"

Lila's eyes opened and smiled, "But Arnie is so nice and sweet! He has the greatest interests in his heart..."

Lila's eyes closed and frowned. "He looks like Arnold! Are you saying you like Arnold?"

Lila's eyes opened and paused. "Well... no, I don't like him like him, I just like him, but..."

Lila's eyes closed and frowned. "But nothing! Lorenzo is your boyfriend! He is in love with you! You are in love with him! Besides, what if Arnie has a girlfriend back home?"

Lila's eyes opened and sighed. "I guess you're right..."

"Uh, Lila?" I shook her a bit. "If you're done arguing with yourself, which by the way, stop doing that, you are embarrassing us, then we need to talk about our first reactions to Arnie."

"WE SPENT ABOUT A HALF HOUR LOOKING INTO THE BUSHES AND THAT PILE OF LINT WAS IN HIS POCKET THE WHOLE TIME?!" Nadine growled.

"Aw, look at the bright side, at least Button was sweet." Lila smiled.

"IT'S A PILE OF LINT!" Nadine yelled. "I mean, this is Arnold's cousin? He's dull as dirt and he looks dumb!"

"Hey, come on!" Lila frowned. "I know he looks like what he looks like, but I'm sure Arnie was just a little nervous about meeting all of us."

"Maybe he was just shy." Sheena pointed out.

Phoebe and I nodded as Nadine paused. "I suppose that's true..."

Phoebe smiled. "I think I have an idea... why don't we each spend some one-on-one time with him and Arnold tomorrow? That way, we can know him a little better..."

"Maybe I'll do mine tonight." I smiled. "I'll just let my parents know I'm going to spend some time with Arnold and Arnie tonight."

"Good idea." Sheena smiled. "Then we can each do our thing for school tomorrow."

"Let's get to it, then!" Phoebe smiled.

"Right! And Lila, you better call Lorenzo and hang with him for most of the day, if you can." I advised.

Lila nodded. "Sure, I'll try my best..."

Lila closed her eyes. "But it's ever so hard when your heart aches!"

"You'll be fine, trust me." I smiled as we decided to separate for the time being.

"Look, Rhonda, I know you feel bad for Arnie..." Arnold sighed as we were both sitting in his room, Arnie was in the bathroom. "But you don't have to hang around him."

"Arnold, it's not all that it seems." I sighed. "Look, I want to at least try to make friends with Arnie. We all do. We want to get a chance to get better acquainted with him. So, what do you say? Will you give me that shot with Arnie?"

Arnold sighed. "All right, but don't say I didn't warn you."

We turned to see Arnie coming in as I smiled. "Hey, Arnie."

"Hey..." Arnie said as he was chewing on something.

"What are you chewing on?" I asked.

"Gum. Plain-flavored. Want some?" Arnie asked, digging into his pocket and offering some gum to me.

"Uh, no thank you, Arnie." I smiled as Arnie put the gum away. "Anyway, Arnold told me you were into fashion quite a bit."

"I dabble from time to time changing clothes, yes." Arnie nodded.

"What inspired you?" I asked.

"Inspired?" Arnie asked, curiously.

"You know, who helped you become interested in fashion?" I asked.

"Oh. Well... I suppose you might say I had... a friend who's interested." Arnie explained.

"I see..." I paused as I looked up...

Wait... was that... Curly?

I had to look up again, but I noticed... he was gone.

I blinked as Arnie looked at me. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, nothing." I smiled nervously. "What colors do you like?"

"White. Mostly... white." Arnie said. "I sometimes enjoy plaid, but I like mostly white."

I blinked as Arnold just shrugged.

The next day at the school bus, me, Nadine, Phoebe and Sheena watched as Lila was sitting down next to Arnie as she was putting in headphones in his ears as Lila smiled. "I'm sure you'll love this music. It really brings out the soul!"

"I'm sure it does." Arnie said.

As Arnie closed his eyes and started bobbing his head to the music, I noticed Lila was covering her ears and closing her eyes as she was turning around, not even looking at Arnie, as she was repeating a mantra. "You love Lorenzo, you love Lorenzo, you love Lorenzo! Me and Arnie are just friends, nothing more. He may be cute, but I have a better boyfriend!"

"Man, Lila is in one tough heart love triangle." Nadine pointed out.

"However did you guess?" I asked.

We watched as Arnie pulled out the earphones as Lila gave a smile. "Well?"

Arnie paused. "Do you have 90s rap? I've enjoyed that type of music."

Lila's eyes widened in shock.

A few minutes later, Lila quickly joined us as she frowned. "Turned off. Not in love in Arnie anymore."

"Why, all because he said '90s ra-'" Sheena started.

"YES!" Lila frowned... then sighed in relief. "Thank God, I can still go with Lorenzo. I mean, Arnie and I can still be friends, but... oh my God, I do not want 90s rap music mentioned to me... at all!"

I paused. "Anything to do with those 90s hipster clothes you ow-"

"Yes." Lila frowned.

Phoebe smiled. "Well, I'm sure I can get good with him my next round."

As me and the other girls were getting off the bus, I was suddenly grabbed by Curly. I yelped as I looked at him in the eyes and frowned. "What do you want, freak?"

"Obviously, you have something going on with you and the football head!" Curly growled.

I blinked in shock. He knows I love Arnold! "Curly, PLEASE don't-"

"I will not let you go near Arnold's retarded cousin!" Curly frowned.

Oh. That was it. Man, I thought he discovered my secret. "Arnold's cousin isn't retarded! He's just shy!"

"Oh please! I know retardedness when I see it!" Curly frowned. "I'm warning you, Rhonda! Stay away from him or he faces my wrath!"

Jesus, Curly was scary when he let me go. I had to recover and run to join up with Nadine, Lila and Sheena. "Sorry I'm late... how's Phoebe doing with Arnie?"

They pointed over to where Phoebe was talking with Arnie as Arnie was reciting a poem.

"Lint. It's some lint. So soft, so squishy, can fit in the pocket. Lint." Arnie said.

Phoebe blinked. "Oh... that's... pretty interesting..."

Now it was Sheena's turn as we watched her do something with Arnie, sitting him down as she smiled. "And now, the demonstration of my science project... the making of the chocolate malt. Arnie, I thank you for being my test subject."

Arnie snorted as everyone looked at him weirdly. "Whatever."

Sheena then gave Arnie a cup of chocolate malt as he sipped on it. Sheena smiled. "So, how did it taste?"

Arnie just stared at Sheena. "It tastes chocolately."

Sheena blinked. "Oh... that's nice..."

Now it was Nadine's turn as me, Lila, Phoebe, Sheena, Arnold, Gerald, Tucker and Lorenzo were sitting down, watching as Nadine set up a small bowling like area as Nadine rolled the ball and knocked down nine pins.

Tucker clapped as Nadine turned to Arnie, Phoebe got up to set the pins up. Nadine nodded. "Your turn, Arnie!"

Arnie started blankly... before he threw the ball right at the pins, knocking them everywhere as we ducked.

Arnold smiled. "Wow, Arnie, that's great!"

Nadine stared in shock as she turned to Arnie, who looked at her. "HOW?"

"I just threw it." Arnie frowned.

Arnold sighed as he looked at all of us. "Look, I know you want to make Arnie feel welcome, but don't feel bad for him. He may be different, I know, but..."

"Excuse me, Arnold?"

Arnold turned to see Arnie coming up to us. "Uh, yes, Arnold?"

"Look, I know I'm a slow person. I realize that. But while I am slow, there are things I AM good at. You know I collect lint and counting things and reading the ingredient labels... but Arnold, I'm more than that. I may not have been appreciated back at home, but there are things I'm good at that you don't see quite that often." Arnie explained.

Arnold was surprised to see Arnie talking like this, but motioned him to go on.

"While I may be slow and interested in the most boring things, I can spice up and make things pretty interesting. Trust me, Arnold, on the inside, I am happy to make new friends... but I just don't show my emotions a lot like you do." Arnie explained. "I know your friends may be a little uncomfortable with me, but they are trying, and for that, I thank you."

I paused. "Arnie... look... we want to be your friend. We all do. It doesn't matter what we have in common, it doesn't have to be in our interests... but..."

"But we all have a thing in common." Arnie smiled a bit as he put a hand on Arnold's shoulder. "And that's Arnold. Isn't he the reason he brought me here?"

Gerald paused as he smiled, "True..."

"Si..." Lorenzo nodded.

"He really helped us be friends in his own way..." Tucker smiled.

"I guess what you're saying is, no matter how different you look, you'll always meet a friendly face." I smiled as I hugged Arnie a bit.

"Forgive me if I don't hug you back. I appreciate the hug." Arnie said as I let go of him. "But like I said, I don't show my emotions quite a lot."

"That's all right." I smiled. "So, Arnold's has a good helping people complex... what do you do for people?"

"It's not what I do for people... it's what I can DO to people for people." Arnie said. "Excuse me while I take a walk around your playground..."

Arnie hummed a bit as he started to walk, taking a deep snort before continuing on. To my horror, I saw Curly peeking out as he roared and jumped him.

"Ah ha!" Curly frowned. "Now I got you! I'm warning you to get away from Rho-"

All of a sudden, Arnie's eyes opened up for a brief moment before staring intently at Curly as Curly stopped.

"...Rho- Rhond-" Curly then blinked as he got up, as if in a trance. "Yes, master. What is your wish, sir?"

We all stared in shock as Arnie motioned Curly over. Arnold blinked. "You mean... you know..."

"Hypnotism?" Arnie nodded. "I got a hypnotism kit for my birthday. It's a nice hobby."

I paused as me, Nadine, Phoebe and Lila looked at each other... and smirked as I asked, "May we borrow Curly, hypnotized for the whole school day?"

Later at lunch, I was enjoying lunch in one table with all my friends, including Arnie as Curly was fanning us girls. Arnold then blinked as he asked, "So... when are we going to unhypnotize Curly? We can't leave him like this."

"Let's do it after lunch." I smiled. "Come on, Curly, rev up the fans!"

"Yes, master." Curly said in a trance as he started waving faster.

"Arnie, I love your hypnotism powers!" I smiled as I ate my tuna sandwich.

"Well, I like your bowl cut glasses friend. He's nice and stupid." Arnie said as he continued eating his sandwich.

We all laughed as we continued eating. I think we were going to get along with Arnie just fine.

There's episode one hundred and twenty-five! How'd you like it? By the way, I got the idea of Arnie's hypnotism skill from Slowpoke Rodriguez, you know, a character from the Speedy Gonzales cartoon 'Mexican Boarders'? I thought it would be a pretty cool idea to use that for Arnie... and to show that not all autistic people are slow. I've met quite a few that can be pretty successful in their lives. Well, anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks! And don't forget to check out/add tropes to the TVTropes page!