Chapter 31

Everyone Loves Everyone Else

Lila was about to go up the stairs, when she spotted Arnold. Helga wasn't too far off. Perfect.

"Ahh! Help! Somebody, help me!" she cried, throwing herself into the water. "Help! I'm ever so certain I can't swim!"

"Hang on, Lila!" Arnold exclaimed, jumping at the chance to do something for Lila. "I'll save you!" He quickly ran over, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to the steps. "You okay?"

"Oh, Arnold!" Lila gushed, throwing her arms around his neck, "You saved me! How can I ever repay you?"

"It was nothing," he said, as he blushed.

"Thank you just ever so much!" she cried, as she let go of him. She snuck a cruel look at Helga, who was watching in dismay, and then turned back to Arnold.

"So, Lila…now that I saved you and all…do you think that maybe you like me like me?" Arnold asked hopefully.

"I'm ever so sorry, Arnold, but like I've told you again and again, I don't like you like you. I just like you." Then she turned swiftly and marched up the stairs, with a triumphant look on her face. "Ha. That ought to hold them back for a while," she whispered. "Long enough for Arnold to forget all about her."

Arnold sighed and slowly climbed the stairs. Sometimes he wondered why he even attempted chasing after Lila. It was obvious that she wasn't going to give in anytime soon. Why did he even bother?

"Because there's always a chance," he thought to himself. "It might not be for awhile, but someday she may just like me back."

Helga watched him walk up the stairs, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't get it," she muttered. "Why does he even bother chasing after her? Can't he tell that she's just a conniving little villainous who's only intentions are to use him and make him miserable? Can't you get a clue, Arnold? She doesn't like you like you, and she never will!"

Suddenly, the front doors blew open once more, and a mountain of water rushed in. Helga screamed and ran up the steps, but with the doors open, it was only a matter of times before the entire school was filled with water.

She ran up the second and third flights of stairs and then burst through the door of the classroom where everyone was hiding. She slammed the door and turned to everyone, panicked stricken.

"Doors…open," she panted, as she tried to catch her breath. "Water…rising. Fast."

"If my calculations are correct," Phoebe broke in, "then we have approximately twenty three minuets and thirty nine seconds before this room is flooded up to the ceiling."

"Um…then what do we do?" Sid asked.

"Then we…well, unless by some strange miracle we're all rescued, we'll probably end up being submerged under many feet of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, allowing the amount of air that our bodies desire to be cut short, so our brain cells will go out one by one, and we will become deceased."

"Huh?"

"We'll drown. We now only have about twenty minuets and five seconds left to live."

"Are you serious?" Rhonda gasped.

"I'm afraid so," Phoebe whispered, one tear slipping down her cheek. "I-"

"Don't cry, Phoebe," Gerald said, as he gently hugged her. "It'll be…well, maybe it won't be okay, but please don't cry. I can't stand to see a pretty girl like you cry."

"Did you hear that?!" Harold exclaimed. "Gerald and Phoebe sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-"

"Harold, just shut up, will you? If I only have a few more minuets to live, then I intend to use them wisely." Then turning back to Phoebe he said, "Phoebe, I love you. Okay? And if any of you people have a problem with that, I don't care." With that, he bent down and shyly kissed Phoebe on the cheek.

"Oooh. Did you see that?!" Harold shouted.

"Who cares?" Curly shouted. "I say he's got a pretty good idea. Hey, Rhonda! I love you!"

"Well, duh! That's no news flash!"

"Yes, but since we only have a few more minuets left to live anyway, could you just say you love me, so I could die in peace?"

"Um…well…Phoebe? You're sure we haven't got much time left?" Rhonda asked uncertainly.

"Hmm?" Phoebe murmured, still dazed by what was going on. "Oh, yeah."

"Well, you better be right, or my social standard will be completely ruined! Alright, Curly, fine. I…um…I guess I kind of…um…okay, whatever. I like you. Happy?"

"HAPPY?! Do pencils eat tomatoes?!"
"Huh?"

"I'm overjoyed! I'm ecstatic! Will you kiss me?"

"Oh, no. Not again. Don't you even dare!" Rhonda cried, as she ran to the other side of the classroom.

Curly ran after her screaming, "I lost the White House! Where'd it go?"

"I love you Patty!" Harold cried.

"I love you Gloria!" exclaimed Stinky.

"Well, I would say that I love you, Eugene, but you already know that."

"Since when do you love Eugene, Sheena?" asked Sid.

"I told him in second grade."

"Yeah. I always thought it was common knowledge," Eugene said.

"Nadine, I hope I'm not being too forward, but I'm afraid I have a confession to make. I know that you don't know I thing about me, and frankly, I don't know much about you, apart from your unnatural obsession with bugs, but I must tell you that I've fallen madly in love with you!"

"Really, Peapod Kid? Well, that's…interesting."

"Do you have any hidden feelings of desire hidden for me deep within your heart?"

"Um…I'd a know. Maybe. Kind of. Yeah."

"I love you!"

"I love you too!"

"And I love you!"

"And I love you!"

"Ten minuets," Phoebe called out, but everyone was too busy running around telling random people that they loved them to pay any attention to her.