Chapter#19: Catch-22
Rhonda looked at her watch as she and the girls were still waiting for Helga in her dad's limo.
"Helga!." Phoebe called out to her best friend who ran past the limo followed shortly by Arnold.
"Arnold what's wrong?." Rhonda asked.
"I'm leaving." He quickly replied and kept running after his girlfriend.
The girls followed him.
Joey lay in his bed and lifted the letter in his hand to read it one more time..
'…how about we meet at Chez Pierre on Saturday at 7pm?…'
He got up, grabbed a phone and started to dial a number.
"Yeah?." Ernie Potts picked up the phone.
"Hi, can I speak to Arnold please?." Asked Joey.
"Hold on… hey Arnold! Phone call!- Arnold?."
Meanwhile,
Arnold finally caught up to Helga where she stopped in front of a tree at the park.
"Helga." He tried to put a hand on his sobbing girlfriend's shoulder but she pushed it away.
"We should leave them alone." Rhonda told the girls as they walked away from the couple.
"Look Helga it's not that I want to leave-."
"But you want to!." She turned to face him and her eyes met his equally sad ones... and it was as if she saw something in them that explained so many things about why he was leaving and calmed her down.
She turned away from him and faced the tree again where she noticed something carved on its bark… it's was Arnold's head, the one she carved then scratched on as she waited for Arnold one time when she thought he wanted to tell her something… instead Stinky showed up…
"I understand Arnold." She whispered. "You wanna be with your parents too."
(MUSIC: LIFEHOUSE-EVERYTHING)
Author's Note: That tree carving thing, remember that episode? 'Helga's Boyfriend' I think… boy it's been a while since I watched that show. Did anyone else love watching it before going to sleep?.