I don't own Hey Arnold
Chapter 3-Time to Say Goodbye
After the memorial for his parents, Arnold started to take a good look at the people that he called friends. It started when he got to school and realized he was being watched by everyone. He knew why. Rhonda had spread his bad news.
CRACK!
"I told you these people are full of it."
"I am actually starting to agree with you."
"Yay, he is finally learning. How are you going to handle the situation?"
"I thought I might let you take charge of this one."
"My friend, you are about to learn something today!"
The first thing he did was approach Rhonda.
"I see it didn't take you long to spread the news." Arnold said catching her off guard.
"Ar-Arnold" She jumped. The grin on his face making her nervous. "I um, I um." She stuttered.
Arnold backed her up against a locker. He turned around and faced the student body. "Everyone, can I have your attention please? Ms. Gossip Wellington-Lloyd did tell all of you that my parents died in a plane crash correct?" There were nods and yeses from the gathering crowd.
Arnold continued his performance. "Where is my best friend? Gerald! Where are you? Come on down." A path cleared for a nervous Gerald. The last time Arnold acted out of character he hit a guy with a book. Gerald preferred not to go through that.
Arnold continued. "So what happened to not saying anything Gerald? I thought I could trust my best friend?"
"I didn't say anything. I tried to stop her from telling the group." Gerald said. "You gotta believe me man."
"Rhonda? Arnold looked back at her. "Is what Gerald saying true?"
"Y-y-yes. She said. "He wouldn't confirm or deny anything. He said for your sake, not to say anything." Rhonda was starting to tear up.
"And where pray tell did you hear about my parents, Rhonda." Arnold said.
"I-I overheard Mr. Green say something about your parents." She said nervously.
"What did you hear?" Arnold said, looking dead into her eyes.
"I didn't hear the whole conversation. Just the words Arnold's parents and plane crash." Rhonda said. "I put the rest together."
"And even though Gerald asked you not to say anything. It hasn't been 24 hours, and the whole school knows. Arnold gave her a devilish smile. You want to really know what happened, Rhonda." Do you want to know the whole story?
Rhonda shook her head. No!
"To bad. You want to spread my business, might as well have the whole story. Everybody, my parents have been dead for the last 8 years. I just found out a week ago. My parents had a "hit" put out on them by a drug dealer. You all know what a "hit" is right? A paid contract to kill someone. You wanna know who performed the "hit"? Their best friend. He put a bomb on their plane. Which ending up killing not only my parents, but two other passengers and the pilot. You want know the best part? They were on their way home to their three year old son. There is your story everyone, spread it around." Arnold plowed through the crowd and walked out of the school. The whole crowd was silent. Rhonda slid down to the floor and started crying. That was four years ago.
"Hey Arnold!" Gerald said.
"What?" Arnold said.
"You keep spacing out man. Phoebe is waiting on us and you are taking forever." Gerald said.
"Go ahead Gerald. I got something to do this afternoon. I will text you later." Arnold said.
"Alright man. I'll talk to you later." Gerald put up hit hand to do a thumb shake. Arnold just hit him with a fist bump. Gerald sighed and walked off to meet his girlfriend. He walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey you." He said, kissing her on the cheek.
Phoebe blushed. "Where is Arnold? I thought he was walking with us."
"He changed his mind at the last minute." Gerald sighed. "I just don't get him anymore. He doesn't want to hang out. No one knows where he goes or what he's doing. His grandparent know, they just won't tell. "
"After the incident in the 6th grade can you blame him?" Phoebe said. The couple headed out of the school.
After the incident with Rhonda, Arnold closed off his entire life from the people he once called friends. He hung out with Gerald occasionally. When Gerald started dating Phoebe, Arnold would sometimes walk, or hang out with the two. He wouldn't talk much, he didn't have much to say.
Arnold started to disappear every break, and was usually gone every summer vacation. He had a cell phone, but hardly ever answered it. He wasn't on any social networks. Gerald tried to follow him a few times to see what his friend was up too. He failed every time. It was like Arnold could disappear into thin air.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Come in."
"Hello, Dr. Bliss" Arnold said to the woman sitting behind her desk.
"Hello Arnold. How are you today? She asked. "Please, have a seat."
"I am fine. Nothing has really changed from our last session." Arnold said.
"Is your schedule just as full as before? Dr. Bliss asked. "Last time we talked you said you spend most of your time training and studying. We didn't have time to get into specifics. Could you tell me about those activities?"
"I currently take four forms of martial arts, I am currently learning three languages, and every time I get the chance, I take survival courses." Arnold said. "I also read a lot of books on weapons and military tactics."
"It seems to me like you are planning something Arnold." She said.
"After I graduate from high school, I want to go to San Lorenzo." He said.
"Why?" She asked. Dr. Bliss knew about Arnold's parents. It took a few sessions, but he finally opened up about it. The types of activities he participated in made her feel a though this trip was about more than just closure.
"I want to see where it happened. I also want to find the people that they left me for." Arnold said looking into his lap. "Maybe I can learn more about my parents from them.
"Why do I feel like you aren't telling me something? She asked him.
"I have been thinking about for a few months now. I think I want to join the military. Preferably Special Forces." He said.
"You do realize how hard of a career route that is, right?" She said.
"I have been reading about it, watching documentaries. I have even contacted a recruiter to ask questions. All the research has made me want to do it even more. He said.
"As longs as you are making an informed decision, I don't see an issue with perusing that career choice. Dr. Bliss smiled at the young man. "I have another question in relation to your training and studying. Don't you make time for friends? Do you ever enjoy yourself?"
"I used to have a lot of friends, before the incident. I didn't really want to be around to people after that day. I took a long look at the people I associated myself with. I realized how much time I spent helping them get out of trouble. You know how many of them were there for me when I told the real story to the entire school" Arnold said, anger rising.
"How many Arnold?" She asked.
"Two. Phoebe and Gerald." He said, then sighed. "Everyone else avoided me like the plague."
"Do you hang out with them a lot?" She asked.
"I did before they started dating. Then I felt like the third wheel." Arnold said. "I started finding things to do with my free time. Whenever they would ask me to do something, I would tell them I was busy. It's not a lie. I usually am."
"How do you think that makes them feel?" She asked.
"With Phoebe it's hard to tell. Gerald is starting to feel rejected by me." He said. "I don't talk much when I am around them. I stopped doing a special handshake we created when we were three."
"Is there a reason why you stopped?" She asked.
"I changed Dr. Bliss." He said. "I am not a child anymore."
"We have a few minutes left Arnold. I would like to ask you one final question." She said. "I would like it if you were honest with me."
"Ok Dr. Bliss." He said.
"On the day of the incident, why did you tell everyone the entire story?" She asked.
"Once I saw everyone looking at me, knowing that Rhonda only had part of the story. Something snapped. He said, looking out the window at the sunset. "All good judgment went out the window. If they were going to stare and whisper. They should know how horrible the situation really was."
Dr. Bliss didn't have a comment for his statement. "Ok then. That is it for today, Arnold. Would you like to set an appointment for the same time next month? "
"Sure Dr. Bliss". He said, walking out of the office. "Have a good evening."
"Same to you, Arnold." Dr. Bliss sat down at her desk and rubbed her temples. It had really been a long day. Arnold was not a difficult patient, but he was slowly becoming an introvert. Unless it was family, for teachers, he kept human interactions to a minimum. His reasons being that he was busy or just preferred to be alone. The simple fact was that he had lost his faith in his fellow man. If his parent's best friend would turn on them, what's to keep the same from happening to him? His entire school had already done the same thing.
Miriam was drunk. She was way beyond the legal limit. Even worse, she was driving Bob's hummer. A vehicle she would preferred not to drive. Bob had the car and he was going to be home late. She still had half an hour before the liquor store closed. She was driving faster than she needed too. Suddenly, everything went black.
When she awoke, she was on a stretcher being put into an ambulance. She looked over at the Hummer. The vehicle she crashed into was pinned between the Hummer and a brick wall. She passed back out.
A bright green flame surrounded by a purple ring of fire. Both were surrounded by another larger ring of fire. Suddenly, the outer ring of fire was extinguished. Leaving only the inner ring and the bright green flame...
Susie jumped up from her sleep. She looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. "Where's my phone? Where's my phone?" She started searching frantically until she heard something hit the floor at the foot of her bed. She jumped off the bed and grabbed her phone. "Shit." She said. "It's dead." She found her charger and plugged it into the wall and waited for it to hold a charge. Once it loaded the text and voice mails started to come in. They were all from Arnold. She decided to look at the most recent of both.
The voice mail was Arnold speaking a mile a minute into phone. "Susie, please call me, something has happened to Grandma and Grandpa. It's an emergency. We are at Hillwood medical, 6th floor ICU. Hurry."
The last text said 00:30/911 Hillwood Hospital. Hurry
Before she could to her car. She got another text. This one broke her heart. 01:17/ they're gone. She ran to her car and sped off to the hospital.
Arnold was sitting in the room with the bodies of his grandparents. Their bodies covered with sheets. The doctor told Arnold when he arrived that Gertie and Phil's chances were slim. The driver of the other vehicle was drunk, she passed out and ended up flooring the large vehicle. If it had been a smaller vehicle, the Packard would have been able to take the hit. The Hummer jumped a curb and hit the driver's side of the Packard before it pulled out into the intersection. The monster vehicle pinned the Packard to a brick wall. Fatally injuring the occupants. The woman in the other car suffered a broken arm and cut on her forehead.
Arnold sat in silence thinking about who he just lost. This made Susie his legal guardian. He was the last Shortman. What if something happened to him? He was thinking about joining the military. He let his mind wander to the cage.
No crack this time?
Dude, this is not a time for my "special" form of therapy.
So what do I do?
You had to wait 8 years to mourn your parents. Don't wait 8 years to mourn your grandparents. You have got to say goodbye. Just give in to what you are really feeling.
Arnold got up and walked to the elevator. He rode it down and walked out of the hospital. He text Susie to let her know he was going for a walk and he would be back. He walked to the docks and preceded to cry.
A/N: Please read and review. The next chapter will be the last for this story. This is supposed to be a prequel to next story I have in mind. I hope you liked it so far.