Jyoti knocked on the door again. "Arnold, honey, your dinner's getting cold."
"Go away."
Jyoti opened the door and saw Arnold seated on the bed, facing away from her. "Arnold, what's wrong? What happened between you and your friends?"
"They're not my friends, at least I don't think they are anymore. And nothing happened. Just leave me alone."
"Well, something did happen since you are so angry. I could hear you all yelling, and I heard something hitting the wall. When I came out of the kitchen, I saw Ralphie holding you against the wall. What happened?"
"Nothing. We just got in a little argument."
"From what I heard, it was not a 'little argument.' Did you get thrown against the wall or something?"
"Fine. I did. But that's all. Just drop it."
"Arnold, if you got thrown against the wall, I can't just drop it. I need to know what went wrong."
"No!" Arnold snapped. "I don't want to talk about it! It was just a disagreement I had with some old friends! Nothing more! End of discussion!" Arnold knew he shouldn't have snapped at his wife like that, but he was so full of anger at the moment. His old friends came to his house and continued the lie that Ms. Frizzle needed help, and they had no right to throw him to the wall. Even if what they said was true, the idea that Ms. Frizzle could be a part of his life again only made him angrier.
Jyoti could not believe how angry Arnold was at her. He was never like this, especially not to the point that he didn't want to talk. Whatever happened between him and his old friends really bothered him. She only hoped that in time, he would start to open up to her and she could help him. For now, she had to deal with him being angry.
"I guess Keesha was right." Wanda lamented as she, Ralphie, and Tim waited in the airport until their plane home arrived. "Trying to talk to Arnold was a waste of time."
"And we spent all that money coming out here for nothing." Tim added.
"Forget about the money. We have bigger issues." Ralphie said. "Without Arnold, we don't have the whole gang. That could stop us from saving Ms. Frizzle."
"You don't think she will be gone forever now, right?" Wanda asked. That silence that followed the question seemed to last forever. The thought had been weighing on their minds since they left Arnold's house. The Bus said they needed the rest of the class, and they knew that Arnold would be tough to convince, but now hope seemed bleak. The idea that Arnold's refusal to help the gang would be the end of Ms. Frizzle could not be true. It just couldn't. And it seemed like Ralphie was not going to let it be true.
"No. She can't be. He can still help her."
"But the Bus said we needed the rest of the class." Tim said. "Without Arnold, we don't have everyone."
"Maybe we don't have everyone, but we are only missing one person. Maybe the Bus can still take us. I mean, we have enough people that we could probably help Ms. Frizzle without Arnold. The Bus could probably make the exception."
"You know, you may be on to something, Ralphie." Wanda said. "Maybe we can do this without Arnold."
"I guess we can." Tim said. "But if the Bus still won't take us, what then?"
"Don't think like that. There's still a chance that we can go without Arnold, and we have to try. Think about the chance we have of saving the Frizz."
Wanda and Tim both thought that Ralphie had a point. If there was a chance they could go without Arnold, they had to try. They didn't want to think about the idea that Arnold's refusal to come would be the end of Ms. Frizzle forever. They tried to stay positive and think about saving her without Arnold, but only time would tell if that would happen.
It was late in the night, and Arnold was asleep next to Jyoti. While Arnold was sound asleep, he kept on thinking about the surprise visit he got from his old friends. As much as he wanted to say that nothing they said was true, he couldn't help but have his doubts. Everything they said sounded too unnatural and inexplicable to be true, but the time he spent in Ms. Frizzle's class had also been unnatural and inexplicable. Maybe they were telling the truth? No, they couldn't be. Ms. Frizzle was out of his life, and that's how he liked it. Still, if Ms. Frizzle really was gone, then why did he continue to have doubts? Why was he still thinking about her if he really wanted her out of his life? Why was the thought that he let his old friends down terrifying? Maybe, just maybe, there was more going on with his feelings towards Ms. Frizzle than hatred.
While Arnold's racing thoughts continued, he started to feel hot. For some reason, it started to feel warmer and warmer in the bedroom. Arnold started sweating and feeling very uncomfortable lying down in bed.
At the same time, Arnold got a strange feeling. He felt like he was being watched. It felt like there was someone, or something, in his room, watching him.
No, that couldn't be happening. There was nothing in his room. He kept telling himself that, but he could not get rid of the feeling of something watching him. Plus, it was still getting warmer for some reason, and now it felt like the entire room was a heater running on full blast.
"Arnold..." Jyoti sounded like she was very tired. "Who... turned up... the heat?"
Arnold opened his eyes and saw that the entire room seemed to have a red tint. Everything was red, as if a very dark red light was turned on in the room. How was that happening? Arnold then turned so that he was no longer sleeping on his side. When he did, he let out a gasp.
"Arnold... what's going-" When Jyoti turned to face Arnold, she saw what he saw and also gasped.
There was indeed someone, or rather, something, in the room. At the foot of the bed stood a creature. It looked human, but it was entirely black, and it appeared to be very shadowy. It was very tall, more so than an average human. The most unsettling thing about it, though, was its eyes. They were haunting glowing red eyes, and the only way Arnold could describe them was "red like you never saw red."
Suddenly, the creature walked towards Arnold's side of the bed and stood right next to him. He wanted to do something, like attack the creature, or call for help, but he was so paralyzed with fear that he could barely move. The creature stood still for what felt like eternity, though it was probably just a minute. It then spoke in a booming voice.
"You have done good. You have continued to reject your friends' claims about Valerie Frizzle and refused to help them save her. My Master is pleased that at least one of you won't partake in the rescuing of Ms. Frizzle. He doesn't want her taken away, and now because of you, she will be with Him forever."
Arnold was still petrified with fear, though he tried to make sense of what this... thing was telling him. Try as he might, he couldn't understand what was going on. And what was this about Ms. Frizzle being with 'Him' forever? Who was 'Him'? And what was that about him refusing to listen to his friends being a good thing?
"There is just one thing. You continue to question whether everything is true. You continue to think about her and whether she does need help. You are thinking about actually helping your friends. That has made my Master upset. Here's the deal: stop thinking about Valerie Frizzle, and we will leave you alone. If you try to help your friends save Valerie Frizzle, there will be consequences. Your torment will be unlike anything you can imagine. It's too late for your friends, but not for you. You have been warned."
With that, the creature suddenly disappeared, and the room was as dark as the night again. It took a minute for Arnold and Jyoti to catch their breath. Then, Jyoti turned on a bedside lamp and turned to Arnold.
"What was that?!"
"I... I don't know!"
"What was that thing saying?!"
"I don't know! It sounded like it was talking about Ms. Frizzle and a 'Master,' but I don't know what any of that meant!"
"Wait, Ms. Frizzle? As in your old teacher that just died?"
"Um, yeah, I think that's who that thing was referring to."
"Well, what does she have to do with this?"
"I'm trying to figure that out, but I can't think of... Oh, no."
"What?"
"Um... nothing. It's nothing."
"Arnold, it's not nothing. If it relates to what that thing was talking about, then I need to know."
"No, I can't talk about it."
"A strange creature just appeared in our room and talked about your old teacher and some kind of warning. You have to talk about it."
"Can we please just drop it and-"
"No! Sorry for snapping, but we can't just brush this aside! You didn't want to talk about what happened when your friends were here, you didn't want to talk about what you saw on the news yesterday morning, and you never wanted to talk about what happened in your third-grade class. I decided not to push you on it, but now I have to put my foot down! With what just happened, I need to know what's on your mind so we can figure out what it was all about."
Arnold looked at his wife and realized that she had a point. Now was not the time to push aside what happened with his old friends. With that creature just appearing out of nowhere, she deserved an explanation.
"Fine, but you probably won't believe me..."
With that, Arnold went into detail of what happened in third grade with Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus. He talked about how there were many times when all we wanted was to have stayed home that day and how he continued to have nightmares about the various dangerous situations Ms. Frizzle put the kids in. He concluded with how his friends stopped liking him when they realized he hated the Frizz and how they claimed that she was in Hell and needed help and came to recruit him for a mission to save her. They got in an argument when he refused and said some things about the Frizz.
Once he was done, Jyoti took a minute to process all that Arnold had said. "Well, that all sounds very outrageous, but then again, that thing that just appeared here was pretty outrageous. I don't know what to think, but I guess I should believe everything you just said."
"I didn't want to believe anything that my friends had said, but now, I can't help but think that they were telling the truth."
"You think that thing that appeared in here was one of those 'demons' that they were talking about?"
"It might be. That must be why that thing, or demon, was talking about my friends and Ms. Frizzle. She must really be in Hell, and my friends really are trying to save her."
"And it talked about some kind of warning."
"It sounded like it was trying to warn me to stop thinking about Ms. Frizzle and to not help my friends save her."
"That must mean that she really does need help, and you decided not to believe your friends."
"I didn't want to believe anything they said if it meant that Ms. Frizzle would be a part of my life again, and I called them crazy for coming all the way here to talk to me about their mission. Now I guess they weren't so crazy after all, especially since they only came here since I wouldn't listen to them over the phone."
"You might be right. That demon that just appeared might mean that they were not crazy. There is one thing I don't get though. If you really didn't want to help your friends save Ms. Frizzle, then why did that demon have to come and give you a warning?"
"Actually, I have been thinking about what my friends said ever since they left, and I've been thinking about whether what they said was true and if they really need my help. I guess those thoughts made that demon appear."
"So, you've been thinking about actually helping your friends?"
"I guess..."
"Maybe there is more to your feelings towards Ms. Frizzle than hatred." Jyoti figured.
"What? No way! I feel nothing but hatred towards her for what she did to me in third grade."
"You keep on saying that. If that's the case, then why have you been thinking about joining your friends to help her?"
Arnold stumbled with his answer for a few seconds. "I... I... don't know..."
"And for that matter, based on what you told me, you wanted to stay home for many days in third grade. Why didn't you? If you hated Ms. Frizzle so much, why didn't you switch to homeschooling so you could stay home and away from her?"
Arnold again found himself at a loss for words. "I... don't know."
"You could have also transferred schools or to another classroom, but you didn't. If you really hated her, then you would have done one of those things."
"I guess." Arnold conceded.
"The way I see it, there is more going on with your feelings towards Ms. Frizzle than you want to admit to even yourself. Maybe the demon came here because of that. It knows that you feel other things towards Ms. Frizzle, and it wants to make sure you bury them again."
Arnold realized that what his wife said made sense. He still wanted to deny that he felt some positive feelings towards Ms. Frizzle, but he could not push back the lingering doubts in the back of his mind. Maybe there really was more going on.
"Maybe you're right. I still want to say that I hate her, but maybe I am just covering up what I really feel."
"You wouldn't be thinking about joining your friends to help her if you really hated her so much."
"Yeah, I guess. So, should I go help them?"
"I think you should. I remember that demon also saying that it's 'too late' for your friends. I don't know what it meant by that, but it can't be good. You care about your friends, right?"
"I don't really know if I do. I am mad that they just showed up here without warning and that Ralphie pushed me to the wall. Yet, I still question whether I should help them. And I keep thinking about all the times we spent together in third grade. They told me that we were really lucky to experience what we did, and I didn't believe them, but now I can't help but wonder if it is true. We remained friends for years after third grade, and even though I'm not really friends with them anymore, it amazes me that they have stayed friends for so many years. I feel like the times we spent together created this special bond between all of us."
"Arnold, what you just said shows that you do care about them. You still think about your time together, and you are still thinking about helping them."
"But, even if I do care about them, would they want my help? They seemed pretty upset when they left, and I think I made them hate me when I insulted Ms. Frizzle. They probably don't want me around anymore."
"I still think that you should help them. If you show them that you care, then maybe you can actually be friends again."
"Maybe. I still don't know if they will accept my help at this point. The Frizz was the most important person in their lives, and I said that she deserved whatever is happening to her. I don't think there will be any coming back from that. I've always been the black sheep of the Frizzle gang for not wanting to go on field trips, and now I think it will be that way forever. What do I do?