I'm very anxious to post Chapter 3, which I also wrote today. I want the story to last, and people to review though, so I'm going to force myself to be patient (not an easy thing for me to do) and post it tomorrow. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 2: You Keep It

The Boarding House

Arnold woke up the next morning, ready to head down to the police station with his friends. Despite the drama he had been through because of it, it was nice hearing the money was his to keep.

The blonde boy hurried downstairs to see his grandma setting pancakes on the table for everyone.

Phil was ready to dig into his plate when he saw his grandson walking into the room. "Hey there shortman! Today's going to be quite a Pay Day!" Phil winked.

"Yeah. We still haven't decided what to do with the money though."

"Well, give it to me then." Phil insisted, reaching his hand out, as if Arnold was already holding the money.

The blonde boy stared at his now folded arms on the table and explained "After we found it in the garbage…"

"The garbage? You sure it was money you found?" Phil asked with a perplexed look.

"Yeah. Anyway, we wondered why anyone would throw away so much money? Then Sid said something that sounded crazy."

"Hmm...doesn't surprise me." Phil said, as he began cutting up his pancakes.

"He said maybe they just couldn't handle the idea of having so much money. Gerald and I knew he was just looking for an excuse to keep it. Now that we have it though, it's not easy deciding what to do with it."

Phil looked at the troubled expression his grandson was wearing. He knew how much Arnold loved doing the right thing. That was why his friends trusted him to take the money home to begin with, and why Arnold found it so bewildering that no one was willing to believe his story (no matter how crazy it sounded).

"Well shortman, if it really bugs you that much, why don't you share it with all your friends? Heck it's spring break! That crazy class of yours is bound to come up with even crazier ways to spend it! It'll be gone by the time school starts. Then you'll never have to worry about it again...as long as you keep your head out of the trash."

Hillwood Police Department

"You did it again you weasel!" Vic snapped, as he sat in the jail cell, sitting across from his partner, Morrie.

"What are you talking about?" Morrie shrugged his shoulders as he looked at his vexed partner.

"You blew another scheme of ours!"

The skinny brunette with the pointy nose and unibrow glared at his friend to ask "How is it my fault?"

The muscular man with dark hair stood from his seat to remind his partner of all the schemes they attempted and failed at…

"When we were downtown dressed as fruits, you threw the money to the wrong person! When we were making counterfeit pennies, you carved the stupidest faces on them! When we won everything from Oscar in poker, you gave it back just so he could give to that stupid kid he was sharing a room with! Now here we are in jail, all because you lost this bag of money!"

"I thought I was throwing away my lunch. I was carrying more than one bag. I'm sure it's still sitting in the garbage." Morrie said defensively.

"What are you, an idiot? Who the heck would just leave a bag of money sitting in the garbage you bum!" Vic snapped at the now shook up man.

Walk

"$3,937 guys! And it's all ours!" Sid squeezed his fists in excitement as he anxiously followed his friends towards the station.

"Plus change." Gerald reminded them.

Moments later, the tranquil boy noticed how quiet his best friend had been since they met him at the boarding house. "Hey Arnold. What's up with you man?"

Arnold was still thinking about what Phil suggested. Although he liked the idea of sharing the money, he wasn't sure what his friends would think.

The blonde boy began rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he said "Well, I was just thinking…"

"Yeah?" Gerald lifted an eyebrow suspiciously.

"That was a lot of money we found. It's been ninety days and none of us knows yet what to do with it. Maybe we should share it with the rest of our friends?"

Sid stopped his happy prancing and halted to say "What?! Are you crazy?! We can't divide the money even more Arnold!"

Arnold shrugged his shoulders at his overly anxious friend and asked "Why not?"

"Because...because...because they wouldn't know what to do with it either! Yeah! Why bother them with such a big decision?"

Arnold rolled his eyes at his classmate's sad excuse and sighed "Whatever you say Sid."

"Plus, it's Arnold's money now anyway remember?" Gerald grinned widely.

"What are you talking about?" Sid asked with wide, fearful eyes.

Arnold decided to play along as he reminded his friend "Don't you remember? You decided to pay me back for accusing me of stealing it by giving me your share of the money."

Sid stood speechless a moment as he watched his two friends walk ahead. Arnold winked at Gerald, as they listened to their nervous friend say "Oh, you're not really going to hold me to that are you Arnold? I mean, the whole reason we gave you the money to take home was because you're such a good person. Arnold? Arnold? Hey Arnold!"

Hillwood Police Department

"My name's Bruce. I'm here to see my dad Vic."

The officer took the dark haired boy with a crooked tooth to the jail cell his father was in. Bruce followed the officer down the hall, not pleased about this being one of the many times he visited his father in jail. What kind of example was he setting for his son?

After showing Bruce where his father was, the guard left to give the boy some privacy. Bruce stood embarrassed at the idea of having to call such a crook his parent. Vic turned to see his son standing there and said "Hey Bruce! You here to bail me out?"

Outside

Arnold was preparing to open the door to the police department with his now quiet friends, who all had something on their mind. The blonde boy wondered what they would do with so much money if they really weren't going to share it with everyone they knew. Sid stood worrying now if his friends were actually going to hold him to his promise. Gerald was just excited to get the reward.

"Let's go you guys." Arnold motioned for them to follow.

"Right behind you buddy!" Gerald assured him.

The boys walked inside, unsure of where to go. Arnold then noticed a guard heading back towards the front of the station. He willingly walked up and said "Hi. I'm Arnold Shortman. I received a call yesterday about a bag of money my friends and I found ninety days ago with $3,937."

Rather than responding, the officer went to retrieve the bag. The boys stood there now anxiously awaiting to see it, rather than worrying about what they would do with it.

When they were handed the money, Arnold opened the bag, remembering how they felt the moment they found it. It was overwhelming seeing so much money. It was even more overwhelmingly knowing it was legally theirs to keep.

"Well, let's get going man!" Gerald insisted.

Just as they were about to leave with their reward, they noticed an angry teenager stomping towards them.

While Arnold wondered what he was so upset about, Sid screamed and said "AHHH! It's the guy from the park! He's following us!"

Gerald glared with his hands on his hips and pointed out "Sid, we're at the police station. Why would a murderer follow us here?"

The angry teen marched past the boys, not bothering to confront them. Sid then jumped to the conclusion he was there, looking for his stolen money.

"Oh gosh! It was his money! Okay, you can keep it Arnold."

After sharing a hopeless look with Gerald, Arnold began heading for the door with the money and sighed "Come on Sid."

The Boarding House

The boys made it back to the boarding house, anxious to discuss what to do with the money. They headed upstairs to Arnold's bedroom, and counted out the money into three piles, making sure it was all still there.

"Mm, mm, mmm. Well Arnold. What's the first thing we should do?" Gerald asked, holding his share of the money.

The blonde boy looked down at the huge wad of money in his hands, not sure of how to spend it. Every once in awhile it was good to have some spare change, but he was only in fourth grade. His grandparents paid for the home he was in, he went to a public high school, when was he going to need that much money?

"How about we invite everyone over tonight? Just see if they have any ideas for how to use it. Who knows? We could end up liking what they suggest?"

While Gerald wasn't crazy about the idea of giving up his fair share, a part of him felt he owed it to Arnold. After not believing his best friend's story, the least he could do was go along with the request.

"Sounds good to me buddy."

The boys then looked over at Sid, who still seemed a bit shook up from their encounter with the muscular teenager.

"What do you say Sid?" Arnold asked hopefully.

Pulling his knees to his chest, leaning against the bed, Sid nervously replied "Uhh sure. Sounds good hehe."

Later That Night

After calling everyone, Arnold was in his room with all his friends, who were anxious to know what was happening.

"So what's going on Arnold? Nadine asked.

The eager boy smiled as he pulled the money out of his desk drawer to show to his friends.

"Whilikers! Look at all them shiny bills!" Stinky exclaimed at the sight of the stack in his friend's hand.

The blonde boy looked over at Gerald and Sid, implying they were already in on the plan. "The money is legally ours now. $3,937 is a lot though. We thought we could share it with each other this week. You know? Use it to make our break even more fun for each other."

"Alright! I'm getting my kitten!" Harold shouted in excitement, not caring how weak it made him sound.

"A kitten, Harold?" Rhonda smirked.

The group began to let out a few snickers as the angry boy said "Shut up or I'll pound all of ya!"

After an awkward silence took place, Arnold continued with his plan. "So anyway, I thought we could spend the week together, letting everyone pick one thing they'd like to do."

"It sounds delightful Arnold." Phoebe said sweetly, as she sat on the bed with her hands folded in her lap.

As he listened to his friend, Arnold couldn't help but notice something (or someone) was missing.

"Hey Phoebe, where's Helga? I called her house to invite her to come but nobody answered."

Flashback

Helga's House

The vexed girl was rummaging through the empty cabinets when she finally scowled "Criminy Miriam! What did you do? Forget to go shopping again?"

Normally shouting would be enough to wake the drowsy woman. After standing with her hands on her hips, yelling for her mother to wake up, Helga decided to give up. Even if Miriam did finally budge, it's not like she'd be of any use to her.

The neglected girl then helped herself to her careless parent's purse; lucky enough to find a ten dollar bill inside her wallet.

The pigtailed girl began making her way out the door to grab herself a burger. Before shutting it behind herself, she sarcastically shouted "I'm leaving now!"

Moments later, the phone rang. Miriam continued to lay there drooling on the counter, not hearing the continuous rings of the caller.

End of Flashback

The intelligent girl began to adjust her glasses as she replied to the caring boy "I regret to inform you I haven't seen her since yesterday."

Although they weren't together, not having Helga around (no matter how negative the attention was she paid him) made his life seem empty. He stood there sighing with the money in his hand, thinking to himself…

I hope she's okay.