Chapter 5: I've Been Wondering
Pet Love
The gang stood outside the pet store the next day, waiting for their missing member to arrive. "Where's Harold? He's the one who wanted to come here." Sid said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm sure he's on his way." Arnold said optimistically.
"He better be! I'm not wasting part of my day standing around when I could be at the mall." Rhonda said in a snooty tone.
Harold's House
The excited boy was heading past the dining room where his parents were eating when he heard "Where are you going son?"
Harold turned to see his parents waiting for him to join them. "Nowhere. I'm just going to meet my friends is all."
"That sounds nice." Jerry said in a quiet tone, while Marilyn found it strange her son wasn't joining them for breakfast.
"Don't you want to eat your scrambled eggs sweetie? I made them with extra butter, just the way you like them!"
Harold began to place his hand on the door knob, hesitant to open it after hearing the offer. "Uhhh no thanks. I gotta get going."
"What's your hurry son?" Jerry was curious to know.
"It's nothing! Leave me alone!" the anxious boy raced out the door, knowing his parents weren't crazy about the idea of him having a pet.
After seeing their son leave, Jerry looked at his wife and asked "What do you think is wrong with him?"
Marilyn waved off her husband's concern as she replied "Oh he's fine Jerry. He's a growing boy. You know how kids his age are."
"Well he could stand to fix his attitude a bit."
"JERRY!" the offended lady yelled, as if she was the one who had just been insulted.
The quiet man shrugged his shoulders at his wife's concern and replied "What? A mature attitude? That's all I'm saying. What's wrong with that?"
Pet Love
The gang stood becoming impatient until they finally noticed their friend heading towards the shop.
"Criminy! Where the heck were you Pink boy?!" Helga scowled, not appreciating how long they had to wait.
Harold took notice of the frowns his friends were wearing and snapped "Hey! It's spring break! I can stay in bed all week if I want!"
Gerald lifted an eyebrow at his classmate's excuse and replied "Good luck taking care of that cat then."
"Shut up or I'll pound all of ya!" the husky boy threatened, shoving his fist in their faces.
Arnold didn't like the excessive tension that was forming. What was supposed to be a fun week seemed to be turning into a checklist of errands. "Let's just go inside and get the cat you guys. If he's lucky, there's one that looks like Cupcake."
Bruce's House
Bruce was sitting on his worn out couch, flipping through the tv channels. Nothing good appeared to be on, but what else did he have to do? No matter how he tried to entertain himself, his mind remained fixated on the horrible job his father did taking care of him.
The teen sat sulking on the couch with his head resting in his hand against the arm of it. Sigh after sigh relinquished from him until at last he heard the phone ring.
RING! RING!
Bruce reached over the arm of the couch to pick up the phone and said…
"Hello?"
"Hey bro! It's Jamie O!"
"Hey man. Don't worry, I'm still coming tonight."
"Actually, I thought you might like to hang out now. I've got some extra cash. If you want, we could just spend the day goofing off?"
Pet Love
The kids walked inside to see a blonde teen with a somber facial expression. Arnold walked over to her with Harold and said "Hi, my friend here is looking to buy a kitten."
The depressed girl sighed at what she found to be an obvious reason for their visit and replied "And may I say, what a thrill it is for me. I live to serve."
"Do you have one here that looks like a cupcake?"
The service clerk looked at Arnold, wondering if he knew how ridiculous his friend sounded. "A cupcake?"
"Yeah! You know chocolate covered, and...and a white stomach that...that looks like frosting!" Harold nodded in excitement.
"Are you planning to take care of it, or do I need to report you to the ASPCA?" the teen smirked.
While most of the kids began to snicker at the remark, Stinky couldn't help but ask "The AS what now?"
Happy to fill in the blanks for her friend, Phoebe replied "What the service clerk is referring to is The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This being a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing any cruelty or harmful behavior they feel an animal may undergo."
"Yeah Pink boy. You gonna take care of it, or spend the day licking it?" Helga scoffed with her hands on her hips.
As Harold began clenching his fists, Arnold patted his friend on the back and said "Come on you guys. He took care of the other cat. He'll take care of this one too."
"Whatever you say Arnold." Gerald shook his head, as the gang watched the husky boy begin to make his way around the shop.
Slausens
Sitting with his friend in the ice cream parlor, Jamie O began sipping his chocolate shake as he listened to Bruce ask "So where'd you get the extra money?"
"It was in Gerald's room." the fit teen said bluntly, not caring how self absorbed it made him seem.
A soft smile appeared on Bruce's face as he stared at his folded arms on the table and said "I guess you two still don't get along well then?"
Jamie O pushed his shake aside, realizing how much his friend remembered about him.
"Every once in awhile I try to be nice. Maybe take him out for some ice cream. That's just from time to time though. You know, when I feel like it."
Pet Love
Phoebe and Helga were wondering the shop, waiting for their friend to make a decision. The small Asian girl noticed a new monitor lizard in the center cage of the store. "If I may ask Helga, what happened to your monitor lizard?"
Helga's shoulders began to tense at the question. Although Arnold didn't know the reason behind her having it, speaking of it could easily lead to the mentioning of her poem about him. "Uhh lizard? What lizard?" the nervous girl tugged at her collar.
"Surely you remember asking me to keep an eye on it for you. Then when we were in class the next day…" the intelligent girl began trying to jog her friend's memory, until Helga anxiously hushed her.
"Shhh! Yes, but let's not talk about it in here." the pigtailed girl whispered, while motioning for her friend to join her outside.
As the girls were leaving the shop, their friends were watching Harold trying to make up his mind about a pet. "Awww none of these look like cupcakes!" the husky boy whined, as he crossed his arms and turned to lean against the cage.
Rhonda rolled her eyes at the time she felt was being wasted and sneered "Would you please make up your mind! We're wasting valuable shopping time!"
Arnold looked behind his friend to see a kitten pressing its paws against the glass of the cage. "I think he likes you Harold."
The frustrated boy uncrossed his arms and turned to see a white cat with dark stripes scattered across its body.
Outside
Helga pulled her friend outside and around the corner of the shop. Although she didn't have to worry about anyone hearing them from inside the store, being within their sight was enough to make her uncomfortable.
Standing on the corner of the street, Phoebe looked into her friend's nervous eyes and asked "Is everything alright Helga?"
"Criminy Pheebs! I've been lucky enough not to have him breathe a word of the incident ever since the moment he saw me swing the umbrella at the stupid parrot. I can't risk bringing it up again around him!"
Feeling guilty for putting her friend on the spot, Phoebe said softly "I do apologize Helga. I just felt the idea of you keeping such an eccentric pet to be a bit precarious."
"Well doi!" the blonde girl scowled with her hands on her hips.
Walk
Jamie O and Bruce left the ice cream parlor, anxious to find another place to spend Gerald's share of the money.
"Any ideas for what to do now bro?" the fit boy waved the handful of cash at his friend, implying they had nothing but fun ahead of them.
Bruce looked towards the sky, thinking about all the good times they shared in grade school. "Bet you I could still beat you in air hockey at the arcade."
"You're on! So what else is new with you? Any cars you wrecked, girls you picked up, or crazy pets you may have now?"
Bruce looked over at his friend, intrigued to share the story with him…
Flashback
A Few Months Ago
After a day spent in class full of relief Arnold hadn't found out who the author of the poem was, Helga picked up the lizard to take home.
Although the rain had stopped by that point, the air was still humid. Walking down the damp streets, the frustrated girl carried the heavy pet and thought…
Oh brother! What the heck am I supposed to do with this thing? I'm not going to spend twenty bucks on pet food when...THUMP!
The lizard hissed at the teen Helga crashed into as she shook her head and said "Watch where you're going freakazoid!"
Not appearing to be offended, the teen crossed his arms with a grin on his face and asked "Taking your pet for a walk?"
"Who asked you?" Helga scoffed, not appreciating the smart remark.
"No one. You don't seem to be enjoying yourself though."
Rolling her eyes at his observation, Helga struggled to hold onto the pet as she scoffed "Well doi! Would you enjoy lugging around something twice your weight?"
Bruce stared at the lizard, remembering the promise Vic made to bring one home for his fifth birthday. At his party the next day, the young boy sat at the table, watching his ice cream cake melt in front of his friends as they waited for him to arrive. Finally, the house phone rang. Bruce's mother answered it to find out her husband had been caught drinking and driving.
After sighing at the memory, Bruce smiled at the vexed girl and said "I've wanted one of those since I was five."
Helga didn't hesitate to hand it over as she scoffed "Pttss...help yourself bucko!"
End of Flashback
Pet Love
Helga finished revealing the information to Phoebe just as they heard the gang leaving the shop. The girls approached the front door to see Harold holding the dark striped kitten, and a bag of cat food. Phoebe smiled at her content friend and said "He suits you well Harold."
"Tell them what you named him." Sid insisted.
"Sundae! He looks like white ice cream with chocolate syrup all over him!" Harold said excitedly, as he held the sweet cat up in the air.
Rhonda rolled her eyes at the excessive attention being paid to the kitten and sneered "We've got the cat! Let's get to the mall before all the good things are taken!"
Gerald lifted an eyebrow at the suggestion and replied "It's a mall. I don't think you have too much to worry about."
"Are you coming with us Harold?" Arnold wondered.
The husky boy continued petting his new friend who reminded him of Cupcake. Looking into the cat's sweet eyes, Harold said "Uhh no thanks. I'm going to go home and feed Sundae...then make myself one to eat!"
The Arcade
"Score!" Bruce shouted, once again having beaten his friend at air hockey.
"You got lucky bro." Jamie O said, as he picked up his Yahoo Soda sitting on the side of the table.
"No luck, just talent."
Bruce was about to take a sip of his Yahoo when he said to his friend "I wonder if they'll ever find another Yahoo Soda kid?"
"If they do, he can't be any dumber than the last one." Jamie O rolled his eyes, as he dropped a quarter in the machine to start a new game.
Not giving his full attention to the game, Bruce asked "Why do you say that?"
"Gerald's idiot classmate was the last guy to do it. Then he ended up turning down a million dollar contract."
Bruce thought back to the last time he was at Jamie O's house. It had been a few years since he'd seen Gerald.
"How is your brother doing, by the way?"
Mall
As they were entering the mall, Rhonda wasted no time heading towards her favorite store, while Helga took a seat at a nearby table in the lobby.
Phoebe looked at her uninterested friend and asked "Aren't you coming with us Helga?"
Glaring at her friend's oblivious question, Helga leered "I'd rather have a root canal."
Hot Spot
"What in the heck is this?" Stinky asked, looking around at all the Preteen Miss outerwear.
Rhonda turned to look at her baffled friend and explained "Only the best fashion store in the city! They advertise and sell clothes from Pre-Teen Miss! Anything from rabbit scarfs to diamond earrings!"
"Mm, mm, mmm! There goes her three hundred." Gerald shook his head, knowing it wouldn't take long for Rhonda to run through her share of the money.
While the temporarily wealthy girl began her shopping, Arnold looked around to see the group was disappearing one by one…
Eugene was off enjoying his new bike
Sheena was learning new meals from her nutrition books
Nadine was planting a garden to complete her insect journal
Harold was home taking care of his new kitten
The break really did seem more like a checklist than a fun list of activities. People were using the money more to complete their own interests than they were to include one another in them. Arnold then looked outside the store to see another missing member of the group.
Table
Helga sat with her head propped in her hand, lightly drumming her fingers against the table thinking to herself…
I guess this isn't any worse than sitting in my room all day. Even if I was writing in my poetry books, I'd still be doing it alone. It's not like...ARNOLD!
The startled girl looked up when she noticed someone taking a seat beside her "Hey Helga."
The surprised girl shook her head and added "I mean, what are you doing here football head? Don't you want a fashion lesson from Princess?"
Arnold began to rub his neck at the offer and said "Uhh I think I'll be okay. Besides, you looked kind of lonely."
Helga's eyes widened at his observation. Even if he did notice something like that, why did he care? Was he actually concerned about her, or was it just his usual need to butt into other people's business?
The Arcade
"My little brother's been doing okay. Every time I see him, he's hanging out with his friend Arnold." Jamie O explained while still managing to keep his attention on the air hockey game.
Bruce was growing not so concerned with the game as he asked "Who's Arnold?"
"Some kid with a weird shaped head. Other than that he's pretty normal...SCORE!"
Bruce paused for a moment to think about the people he had seen at the park a few days ago. Although most of his attention had been paid to Sid and his petrified state, Arnold was the one he threatened when he shoved the football back at them.
Not noticing how distracted his friend had become, Jamie shouted "That's game brother! What should we do with the rest of this cash?"
Harold's House
Once he made it home with his new friend, Harold stared at the sweet animal and said "Don't worry Sundae, you'll like it here."
The excited boy did his best to quietly open the door. Peeking around the corner, he began to tip-toe inside when he felt the coast was clear. Just as he was making his way upstairs, the kitten let out a soft noise "Meow."
Living Room
Jerry was sitting quietly on the couch, flipping through TV channels, while Marilyn was cooking in the kitchen. He turned off the TV to see if he had heard that correctly…
That sounded like a cat?
Staircase
Harold began to race up the stairs with his new pet until he heard "What's that in your hand son?"
The nervous boy halted after hearing his father's voice. He turned to see his father with his arms crossed, ready for an explanation. "Aww...it's a cat."
Jerry put his hand to his face and sighed "Harold…"
"What? I'll take care of him. See, I've already got the food. Then I'm going to make us a couple of sundaes!"
Jerry glanced towards the kitchen when hearing his wife finishing up with lunch. He then looked back at his son's pleading eyes and said "Don't tell your mother."
The Mall
"I feel kind of guilty we never found out who the money belonged to. It's pretty cool we got to keep it though." Arnold smiled, while continuing to speak with Helga.
The nervous girl gulped, hoping this wasn't about to lead to what it sounded like "Uhh yeah. Cool hehe."
"I am kind of curious to know how that lady found me. A bus pass doesn't have the name of the school you attend on it." Arnold pointed out, while Helga could feel the sweat forming on her brow.
The blonde girl began to rub her neck as she said "Oh well...maybe she took it to the police. I mean criminy, those people butt even further into people's business than you do football head!"
Arnold smiled at his friend's nervous state. Although nothing had been confessed yet, a part of him knew how much she cared for him. Why would she follow him around, acting like one of his close friends if she hated him as much as she said?
"Maybe. I am curious to know why you weren't at school that day though?"
Helga gulped at the question, wondering why it was so important to him. Was he that nosy, or just that curious?
"Uhh no reason hehe."
Hot Spot
"These heels are first rate!" the high class girl exclaimed.
The remainder of the group was growing impatient with Rhonda's desires. Finally, the fashion princess heard "I reckon we've seen everything."
The group began to nod in agreement as Rhonda sneered "Uhh fine!"
Dragging her supplies to the front, she watched the cashier ring her up until her total came to "That'll be three hundred fifty dollars!"
While the group began to laugh at her inability to keep her shopping under control, Rhonda became outraged. "This is absurd! You must be mistaken!"
A perplexed look formed on the cashier's face as he turned it to show her the total.
The Table
"Pheebs just needed my help with something. She wasn't feeling to great that day. I thought I'd check on her is all."
While Arnold was oblivious to everything Helga had done for him over the years, it still didn't answer the question How did the eccentric lady find him?
The oblong headed boy sat in silence thinking this over until he saw his friend cocking her brow at something behind him.
"What is it?"
The two leaned forward from their chairs to see Rhonda fighting with the service clerk about her purchase.
"Pttss...this should be good." Helga scoffed, not surprised by their classmate's inability to keep her shopping to a bare minimum.
Hot Spot
"I am not leaving without my things!" Rhonda exclaimed, while frowning at the cashier.
"I'm sorry, but I can't sell you everything if you don't have enough money for it all."
Arnold and Helga then walked up to their friends to see the commotion being caused. "What's going on?" the blonde boy asked.
"Rhonda doesn't have enough money to pay for her things." Sid explained.
As the group watched the high class girl continue to blow her stack, Helga smacked her face and said "Oh for crying out loud, here!"
Arnold looked to see her pulling the cash he had given her out of her pocket.
"Why do you have your money with you?" Arnold couldn't help but ask.
"Pttss...hey. I'm not about to leave a wad of bills laying around for my self absorbed family to get their grubby paws on."
Phoebe frowned at her friend's excuse, feeling the need to point out "While I understand your resentment towards your family Helga, I would hardly consider them to be the type to steal from you."
"Especially when they don't even care to notice you." Rhonda sneered after taking the money.
Gerald's House
After a day spent hanging out with his friend until the money was gone, Jamie O punched his friend's shoulder and said "Great to see you bro!"
"Yeah, we'll do it again soon." Bruce assured him.
Jamie O then waved good-bye to his friend and headed inside the house.
Later That Evening
After the money had been spent that day, the group began going it's separate ways. Arnold watched Gerald head off towards his house. Rather than following him, he looked to Helga and asked "Mind if I walk with you?"
Helga's heart began to flutter at the question. Holding back her swoon, she replied "Sure. I mean, whatever floats your boat football head."
The two began their walk back to her house, as she listened to Arnold say "That was a really nice thing you did for Rhonda."
Helga smirked at the memory and replied "It's not like she appreciated it."
The blonde boy rubbed his neck, as if he had a reason to feel guilty. "I'm sure she does. It was just embarrassing that she couldn't pay for it herself. She's not used to having to borrow money from people."
Helga rolled her eyes at the explanation and leered "Yeah well, maybe that'll teach her to watch that attitude of hers."
Arnold smiled at the ground, tempted to point out how similar she and Rhonda were when it came to over-powering people. While Rhonda wanted everyone to feel she was the best at fashion, Helga wanted to make sure no one thought for a moment they could tell her what to do.
Gerald's House
The placid boy returned from what felt like another day of errands. At least it was one step closer to his day spent with the money. He made his way upstairs to get ready for bed.
Before doing so, he opened his nightstand drawer, just to count the money again. It was hard believing something so incredible was right there in his grasp...or so he thought.
The once laid back boy's eyes widened with fear as he saw the drawer was empty. Gerald could feel his heart beat wildly as he screamed "WHAT?!"