Chapter 2: This Conversation Never Happened

The Boarding House

It was Saturday, and after narrowing down his options of who 'Cecile' could have been the previous night, the next question was 'how do I get her to confess to me?'

After getting dressed, the anxious boy decided to call his best friend.

RING…RING…RING

"Hello?"

"Hey Gerald."

"Hey Arnold! What's up?"

"You want to come over?"

"Sure, be right there."

Twenty Minutes Later

Knowing Gerald must have had just as interesting a night as he did, Arnold asked "So, how was your date with Cecile?"

"It was great man! Who knew some of our country's simplest things could impress people on the other side of the planet; candles, food, electronics."

While Gerald was going on about taking Cecile to the great hamburger joint he had told her about the previous night, Arnold's mind eventually drifted back to his date…

I wonder if Gerald will be able to help me with this? If it IS one of the girls from school, they may not like the idea of opening up in front of the both of us. Maybe I…

"HEY ARNOLD!"

"Huh? Oh sorry Gerald. I just started thinking about my date."

Shaking his head at his friend's inability to stay out of the clouds, Gerald asked "Well, did you ever figure out who she was?"

Arnold then pulled out the red heel and sighed "This is my only clue."

Gerald held the shoe while listening to his friend add…

"That and seeing the extra line about meeting for dinner was in different handwriting from my pen pal."

P.S. I'm flying into town for one night only. Yes that's right, for one night only. I have something very important to tell you. Please come alone and don't make any other plans.

"I figured that meant it had to be one of the girl's at our school. The only ones I know with blonde hair are Nadine, Connie, and…Helga."

Gerald lifted an eyebrow at his friend for mentioning the possibility of it being Helga.

"You're kidding right?"

Arnold shrugged his shoulders as he sat on the couch, replying "I'm just going through all the possibilities. It sounds crazy, but aside from those girls, who else could have known about her?"

Forgetting about Helga for a moment, Gerald couldn't help but add "Wait a minute, 'I' was Connie's date. As you may recall, I was her 'Chicky Baby.'"

Arnold rolled his eyes at his friend's sudden spark of jealousy and replied "Well, we could go ask everyone?"

Glaring at his friend's suggestion, Gerald couldn't help but point out "Arnold, if she wouldn't tell you who she was last night, what makes you think she'd randomly decide to now?"

Phoebe's House

Helga was sitting in her best friend's room, wondering if she made the right decision not to tell Arnold who she was.

Phoebe turned in her chair to see her best friend simply laying on her bed staring at the ceiling, rather than reading a comic or playing with a paddle ball.

"I can't help but feel there's something on your mind Helga?" the intelligent girl chirped.

Not having told Phoebe about her obsession for Arnold yet, the conflicted girl then sat up to ask "Pheebs, do you think it's okay to hide your feelings from people?"

Obviously, something was bothering her friend, but she knew how touchy Helga could be when it came to pushing matters too far.

"Well Helga, while it's true everyone has a few things they feel should be kept in confidence, a great amount of emotional relief can occur if something has been removed from that person's mind."

Although Helga easily agreed with her friend on this, how was she supposed to come clean with Arnold when she didn't even feel comfortable telling Phoebe about her personal feelings?

"So what you're saying is, I should just go ahead and tell Arnold… I mean this person, what's been bothering me?"

Rather than gasping or digging for deeper information, Phoebe simply nodded her head and said "Right."

Helga stood from the bed, ready to leave her friend's house (still unsure about the advice) and replied "Thanks Phoebe. Oh and Phoebe, this conversation never happened."

"Forgetting!"

City Pool

After convincing Gerald he had nothing to lose, Arnold had his friend follow him to the city pool. There the two boys saw the sixth grade girls they had run into not long ago.

"There they are!" Arnold exclaimed.

While seeing his friend anxiously head towards their previous dates, Gerald couldn't help but notice the hot girls' boyfriends weren't standing too far away.

"This is definitely not good."

Connie was sitting in a beach chair next to Maria when she saw Arnold running towards them "Hey, isn't that one of those fourth graders we invited to the dance a few months ago?"

Maria then sat up as she watched Arnold approach her and said "Hey, how ya doing?"

Arnold wasn't sure what to say at first. In his mind, the process seemed much simpler. Just asking if it had been one of them, then moving onto the next girl on his list.

"Uhh fine. I was wondering, what did you two do for Valentine's Day?"

Before either of them could answer, Arnold felt himself being jerked from behind by a jealous sixth grader.

"I thought I told you to stay away from my date!"

Just as Arnold was about to explain himself, Maria stood from her chair and snapped "Tommy, you let him go!"

"But Maria!"

"Now Tommy!"

As the angry pre-teen walked away, Gerald began approaching to hear Connie say "How's it going Chicky Baby?"

"Fine. I must say you girls are looking mighty fine as well." Gerald pointed, hoping to impress Connie.

After laughing at his attempt to flirt with them, Maria finally answered Arnold "Anyway, Connie and I went out with Tommy and Bert for some hamburgers. They could have picked a more romantic place."

"Tell me about it. They didn't even bother to get us flowers." Connie added.

Arnold stood listening, feeling it couldn't have been Connie. Gerald threw him some roses to make up for leaving his date at Chez Paris, when he continuously switched restaurants.

While listening to this, Gerald thought back to something that had happened the previous night…

Flashback

Hamburger Joint

"So you are Arnold?" Cecile asked, getting her facts straight.

Gerald figured the night had been crazy enough already, why not just explain what was going on?

"Well, my man received a letter from you in the mail. It ended with a note saying you would be coming to town and wanted to meet at Chez Paris."

"Ahh so that is why he did not recognize me." the French girl was beginning to understand.

"Yeah. I don't know who…" Gerald was continuing his thoughts until the two of them turned their heads to hear…

Another Table

"Maria come over here!"

"Tommy, you come over here!"

"Just come over here!"

"Can you believe those two? Not paying for dinner, taking us to the cheapest place they could find, and not surprising us with anything like flowers, cards, or chocolates?" Connie said, as Maria was deciding to give in to Tommy's demands.

Gerald's Table

"Mm…mmm…mmm!" Gerald shook his head at the familiar couple.

"Oh my! I wonder what is wrong?" Cecile asked in a concerned tone.

"Let's just say, America's not known for the manners that your country is."

End of Flashback

City Pool

After realizing it couldn't have been one of the older girls who was with Arnold, Gerald said "Arnold, could I talk to you for a sec buddy?"

"Okay. It was good to see you guys again!"

While watching the girls wave goodbye, they listened to Connie say "See ya later, Chicky Baby!"

Walk

As Gerald was explaining to Arnold why they had basically just wasted their time at the pool, another stressed figure was wandering the streets.

If I tell Arnold it was me, he's going to want to talk about my true feelings for him. He wouldn't believe I set up a date just to mess with him.

I don't know if I can handle the likely rejection I'll be receiving from him if I tell him the truth though?

Why did I set that date up? It doesn't matter if he likes me if he doesn't know who I am for crying out loud!

The Boarding House

Arnold and Gerald were up in his room. While it was disappointing they hadn't found out who his date was, Arnold had one name to cross off his list.

"Sorry man. I guess I should have realized it couldn't have been her sooner." Gerald sighed, feeling surprised by himself.

"No problem. We've still got tomorrow. I understand if you don't want to come along."

Gerald shook his head at his friend's determination to uncover the truth and said "Arnold, you're a bold kid."