Thankfully, Arnold wasn't punished for letting Cory escape. He arrived home (along with his clingy parents) at 3:40.

"There you are, short man," Phil said as he walked into the living room. "I called Pragma an hour ago. They said I can take a tour tomorrow."

"Oh," Arnold said. "What time?"

"Four-thirty to six," Phil said. "They said I can bring my grandson."

"You want me to take the tour with you?"

"Sure I do," Phil said. "You'll get to see why I wanna go."

Arnold recalled his girlfriend's advice. Maybe it's not as nice as the pictures. "Well, OK," Arnold said. "Is grandma coming along?"

"Yeah, but she's hesitant. Says she wants the whole family together."

So do I, Arnold wanted to say.

"Your father and I will also go on the tour," Stella said. "You know how much we miss you when you're at school."

"I hope they have food for youngsters," Miles said. "You should've asked about the menu, Dad."

"Ohh, that's right!" Phil slapped his head and picked up the phone. "I better call them back."

"Where's Grandma?" Arnold asked. "I need to talk to her."

"I think she's in her room," Phil said. "I hope she's not making a mess again. That time she tore the closet apart, looking for that scarf…"

Arnold went upstairs and approached his grandparents' bedroom. The door was open, and Gertie was inside, sewing up a hole in a colorful chevron dress. He decided not to speak until she was done.

"What's the matter, Kimba?" Gertie asked.

"Nothing," Arnold said automatically. "Actually...I'm worried about Grandpa. About him wanting to move to that senior home."

"I'm sure he'll change his mind," Gertie said. "He doesn't like volcanoes as much as your father does."

"Can you please be serious, Grandma?"

Gertie put her thread back into her cookie tin. "OK, Kimba. But I already agreed to take a tour of Pragma."

"I know," Arnold said. "So did I."

The next day was Wednesday, which meant tapioca. Joey Stevenson took the second-to-last cup, so Arnold and Helga had to share one.

Arnold wasn't sure if he should buy the full lunch on Wednesday, but he wouldn't have to decide today; today they were serving penne pasta, which he disliked. He brought a grape jelly sandwich from home.

"Mmm," Helga said, consuming a spoonful of tapioca pudding.

Arnold used a separate spoon to take his share. He didn't make intentional noises while eating it—he never understood why people did that.

That's when Gerald and Phoebe joined them. "Hey Arnold," Gerald greeted him. "Didn't you bring a drink?"

"I didn't have anything to store juice or milk in," Arnold said. His family did have soda cans, but he tried not to drink soda often. Despite not being afraid of needles (or slasher movies), he was terrified of dental procedures.

"Might as well buy chocolate milk," Helga said. "Everyone else is."

Arnold glanced at the lunch line, and was disappointed to see Brainy—one of the protesters—buying penne pasta and chocolate milk.

"I don't think a boycott is necessary on Wednesdays," Phoebe said. "Refusing to buy lunch on other days should be enough, although I haven't yet researched statistics on the effectiveness of similar boycotts."

Helga groaned. "Do we have to use math?"

Arnold chuckled.

Gerald ate a piece of his home-brought pretzel. "Maybe some kids forgot to bring home lunch."

Helga rolled her eyes. "What can I do, send them emails? I thought they'd be passionate about the cause!"

"A newsletter wouldn't be a bad idea," Phoebe said.

"Then you do it," Helga said. "You're the one who finishes homework in ten minutes."

Arnold looked at Phoebe. "You finish homework in ten minutes? All of it?"

"ELA and history," Phoebe said. "Math and science usually take longer."

The conversation morphed into a discussion about math homework, but Arnold couldn't think about math or pudding; all he could think about was his grandparents.