Chapter 6

Arnold's flight landed at around 11 am. The sights and smells of Arnold's hometown engulfed him in old memories with his friends. The times when they fixed the vacant lot and when they saved the old tree from being cut. The time when they scared the whole town on Halloween. The time he had a geek party on his roof. Those were the days….

Arnold waited at the baggage claim with his parents. He had to admit, he was nervous to see all of his old friends again, Gerald and the gang. Once they got their luggage and went through customs, they went outside the airport to wait for grandpa.

"Are you excited to see your friends again, Arnold?" asked his mom.

"My friends? Like which friends?"

"Oh come on, don't play dumb with me Arnold, like that boy with the funny afro, or that one girl with the unibrow."

Arnold's dad entered the conversation, "Yeah, she always used to come over. The one with the pink bow, right?"

"She was your girlfriend or something, right? Why don't you invite her over this weekend, I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on." His mom said pleasantly.

Arnold never told them that he broke up with Helga, "Uh…I don't think that's such a good ide-"

"Arnold! Miles! Stella!"

It was grandpa.

"Grandpa!" Arnold shouted. He didn't want to talk about Helga with his parents anymore. Best to avoid the conversation completely. They walked to the car, and put their bags in the trunk.

After they had settled in, Arnold went upstairs to his old room.

His blue wallpaper was still covered with little green aliens, and he found the remote control on top of his shelf. The stereo equipment was outdated, but he still wanted to keep it. It sounded pretty nice anyway. Same with his computer, but he knew he wasn't going to get a new computer anytime soon.

Arnold hit a button on his remote that made the ceiling lights turn on and he began to unpack.

After everything was unpacked, Arnold decided to take a walk up on the roof. He looked out over the horizon to point out some old landmarks of his. Gerald Field, which was now being used by Timberly and her friends, still looked up kept. The highway by the boarding house was fixed. Last time he saw it, it was broken in half, and Gerald made the jump with the bus so they could save the neighborhood. Arnold could see the water tower, the one they lit up in the fourth grade as a Halloween prank. As he continued to look out on the city's skyline, he spotted Helga's neighborhood. Arnold was quite tempted to walk over there himself to say hi to her.

NOT a good idea. She's probably still fuming over me leaving.

It was quite sad really. They used to be so close. Inseparable really. They could talk about anything…

xXxFlashbackxXx

They used to lay on the floor and just talk. Talk about everything and anything for hours. Heck, they could even talk about carpeting for hours, and still enjoy themselves. A lot of times when Helga was stressed with Big Bob and Miram she could just let everything out about them, and Arnold wouldn't mind. He actually suggested it in the first place.

Early in Arnold and Helga's relationship, Helga walked into Arnold's room like always after school, and threw her backpack on the ground and slumped crisscross applesauce on the floor with her head in her hands. Big Bog and Helga got into a fight again, and she was moody all day. Arnold kept trying to figure out what was wrong, but she wouldn't let him in. He had a good feeling it was about something that went on at home, but he wasn't sure about what. Arnold walked into the room after Helga stormed through and sighed. He sat down next to Helga.

"Helga, I'm not going to ask again what happened. I'll just leave you. But I really think that this is unhealthy Helga. If you need to tell me something, or just someone in general, you can tell me. I'll be fine with whatever weight you throw at me."

Helga sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, her hair fell onto his chest, "Arnold, you know how twisted Big Bob and Miriam are. I think you would be overwhelmed."

"Helga, I'll be fine. I'm just worried about you. You can't keep everything bottled up like this or you'll go insane."

"I already am insane, football head…" she mumbled, and Arnold laughed, lightening up the mood. Helga smiled, told him everything that had happened.

There were a lot of days like that, when Helga and Arnold talked about their problems. As if Arnold was Helga's football headed psychologist or something.

xXxEnd of FlashbackxXx

And now, he didn't even have the nerve to go and say hi.

I'm a mess… Arnold thought. I'm just a plain old mess.

The incoming clouds were outlined in pink and orange in the setting sun, and Arnold saw something gleaming in the corner of the roof. He must not have spotted it before…

Arnold walked over to where the sun reflected off of.

He saw a gold locket, one with a heart shape. It looked like it had been sitting there for a while. Maybe months since it had been left there? Arnold wasn't sure. But one thing was clear. His picture was in the center of it…

He picked up the locket. He had seen it many times before in his childhood.

Is this Helga's?

He pocketed it quickly and ran downstairs

"E-Z-Way driving, eh? Sounds a bit sketchy to me Stella."

"It'll be fine. I talked with Miriam earlier and she said her oldest took it and they thought it was great. She's signing up her youngest daughter for it too, so Arnold will have a friend in his class. Won't that be nice?" She took a sip from her coffee mug, which wasn't nearly as good as the coffee in San Lorenzo, but it would make do.

"Isn't that the gal with the one eyebrow?" He asked.

She laughed, "Yes Phil, she used to come over all the time, remember?"

"Oh yes I liked her. She's quite the character. I wonder how she is now." Phil definitely knew Helga Pataki. When Arnold was little, he would find Helga lurking around every now and then. Then when Arnold was in middle school, she would come over all the time. Pookie and Phil knew that they had a thing for each other, but they liked to pretend they were oblivious to the whole thing.

"Oh I've seen Eleanor. She was on top of the President's mansion a few months ago!" claimed Pookie.

The door creaked and Phil , Pookie and Stella looked into the doorway, where Arnold stood.

"Roosevelt!" Pookie shouted. "Pop a squat!"

"Arnold! Come sit with us, we signed you up for driver's training today!" his Mother urged.

"Great." He plopped down on the seat in between his mom and grandpa. "Grandpa, can I ask you something?"

Phil smiled, put his arm around his grandson.

"Shortman!" Grandpa started. "What's on your mind?"

Arnold dug into his pocket and pulled out a gold heart. "I found this on the roof."

"What is this Arnold, a token from your girlfriend in San Lorenzo? Grandpa chuckled, but Arnold didn't find his joke funny.

"I never had a girlfriend in San Lorenzo, Grandpa. I didn't like any one like that."

"WAIT! Don't tell me you're a homosexual now?!" he joked.

But Stella quickly interrupted, "If Arnold was a homosexual, we would completely support him…Phil…"

"MOM! I'm not gay!" Arnold quickly said.

"That's what they all say…" Phil said.

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Grandpa…"

"Alright, alright Shortman. About this locket…"

"I think belongs to-"

"Your friend with the one eyebrow?" he finished his sentence.

"That's right! It is Eleanor's! She left it here before her departure for the campaign!"

"Yeah." Arnold muttered. "The problem is, I haven't seen or heard from her this whole time I've been gone. We broke up before I left for San Lorenzo. I thought she was way past me."

"She probably is Arnold. Who would ever date you?" he teased.

"Phil, Arnold is a wonderful young man." Stella said, still drinking her coffee.

"Whatever you say, mom."

"I still think you should invite her over."

"NO." Arnold firmly said. "She hates me. Like, really hates me."

"Why? You two were joined at the hip before we left. Why would she hate you?"

"That's exactly why she hates me. Because I moved."

"I don't see why that would make a person hate you."

"AGH." He groaned and leaned his head into his hand.

"Arnold, I don't like the attitude, I just want to talk."

After a long silence, Pookie made sense of things.

"Well that means the first lady is still thinking about you." Grandma said.

"Why? She was the one mad at me! She could date anyone she wants."

Grandma shook her head, "When you love a person, they are always on your mind aren't they? Sometimes, you just can't let go of them, even if you part with them, because you really do love them." Her voice was serious, and there wasn't many times when Arnold heard it like this. He took her view into consideration.

"Well then what should I do?" Arnold asked.

"Follow your instincts, FDR!"

"Grandma, Helga isn't exactly the kind of person who likes to talk."

"Well eventually she'll come around." She remembered the class they were talking about with Stella. "Maybe you'll be stuck in a situation with her where you HAVE to get along with her."

"I doubt it." Arnold put his head in his hands. He looked just like his ten years old self again.

Phil punched him lightly on the arm. "Stay positive Arnold. And I'll give you the same advice my grandfather gave me…never eat raspberries…"

Arnold stood up and held the locket in his hand. "Thanks guys. I'm going to bed. G'night."