Finally, I can update this! Sorry I took so long to finally getting around to updating this, I did have it updated on Deviantart, but then the site went down... it wasn't until today that I was able to post this up! But hopefully, for my Fanfiction readers, I hope you're able to enjoy this! Anyway, enjoy!
Lunchtime had rolled around right then as Arnold and Rhonda had gotten out of the water, returned the boat, and noticing Rhonda rubbing her stomach, Arnold suggested taking her to lunch over at the nice little lobster shack he saw yesterday. Liking the idea, she agreed as she and him arrived at the entrance of the restaurant as a waiter led them to a table outside.
"Thank you very much." Arnold thanked the waiter who sat them down at the table and asked for their drinks. "Ice water for me."
"I'll take an ice water as well to start." Rhonda ordered as the waiter gave a nod as he handed both the menus.
"Very well, I'll be back to take your order." The man said before walking off to fetch the waters for the two.
"I have to admit, Arnold, having lunch at this place is nice." Rhonda smiled as she looked over the menu. "I've had lobster before, but a bit more fancier…"
"Well… I'm sorry if this isn't the most fanciest place I've taken you to…" Arnold chuckled nervously.
"Oh, Arnold, doll, don't worry about it. Sure, it's not fancy, but we're outside, enjoying the brisk air, AND lobster is… well, it's one of my favorite foods." Rhonda smiled as she looked over the menu.
Little did the two know that hidden behind a potted plant, Helga leaned in to listen as she gave a smirk. "Lobster isn't going to be your 'favorite food' for long, princess."
She cackled a bit as she held a live lobster in hand, having nabbed one from the fish tank showing the lobsters beforehand as she was holding it up in glee. "Oh, this'll be a cinch! Just wait for the right moment for the lobster to be ordered, then when the waiter comes back with some cooked lobster, I switch it in and… SNAP! Scream. Donezo! Boy, will this ruin Rhonda's day for certain!" She then snickered. "Not to mention ruin her hair… oh, Princess is going to HATE that… won't she, Curly?"
She turned her head to see… nobody standing next to her. She blinked twice in confusion before looking inside the window as her eyes widened to see Curly standing inside the kitchen, with two glasses of full water in front of him. The boy snickered a bit as he pulled out a small vial of something from his bag as he gave a snicker before putting the drop from the vial on one of the drinks. The concoction, mixed in with the water, quickly bubbled a bit and popped, causing the boy to stand back.
Helga's eyes widened in horror as she dropped the lobster she was holding (little realizing it was scurrying its way towards the ocean) as she ran inside and grabbed Curly as she pulled him to the side and glared at him. "What did you do? What did you put in that drink?!"
"Just a little combination of gray food coloring, ammonia and laundry detergent." Curly explained. "I figured, why not poison the hell out of Arnold? He'll never get my Rhonda if he drinks that concoction! Imagine the spasms he'll have to endure once he consumes my drink!"
The kid laughed evilly as Helga's eyes widened in horror, before narrowing her eyes. "What the heck are you trying to do?! We're trying to break them up, NOT kill them!"
"Oh, and you haven't tried poisoning?" Curly raised an eyebrow.
Helga stammered a bit, before narrowing her eyes. "NO! Because I'm not insane! I-"
The girl in the pink bow then turned her head and gasped as she noticed the waiter picking up the two waters on the serving tray and leaving with them to serve the two kids. Helga yelped as she quickly ran over and grabbed a glass of water, put ice in it and spilled it into a pitcher before running out the door.
All the while, outside, as Arnold and Rhonda were being served their waters (little realizing that one of the glasses was bubbling up with the concoction mix), the waiter gave a nod as he said, "Now, how can I get you two started?"
"I'd like to order the grilled lobster, shrimp and salmon, side of rice and melted butter, and broccoli." Rhonda smiled.
"I'll take the grilled lobster and 6 oz sirloin steak, medium rare, with a baked potato and sour cream, and broccoli." Arnold ordered.
"Ah, very nice choices. Your food will be cooked momentarily." The waiter smiled as he left with the orders, around the same time Helga ran out with the glass of water in hand. Helga gasped as she noted both Arnold and Rhonda picking up the glasses of water in front of them.
"Shall we toast to a nice day?" Rhonda asked as she held her glass up.
"Why's that?" Arnold asked.
"Oh, my parents always do that during a meal, to show how well of a time we have… it's a bit of a custom whenever we go to restaurants." Rhonda explained.
"Well…" Arnold paused, before giving a grin as the football headed kid picked up his glass. "What should we toast to?"
"To the best spring week of our lives?" The rich girl suggested with a smile.
Arnold paused briefly as he held the glass. "Why not? To the-"
"Hey football head, trade ya!"
Both Arnold and Rhonda jumped as Helga just appeared in front of their table as Helga grabbed Arnold's glass and swapped it with the water.
"Helga? What the-" Arnold stammered, before frowning as he grabbed his glass and gave the other one back to Helga. "Is this one of your jokes? Because I am not laughing."
Helga yelped as she grabbed the water glass out of Arnold's grasp and grinned nervously. "I humbly insist you drink from this…"
As the girl in the pink bow gently nudged the glass of clean water towards Arnold, Rhonda frowned in suspicion as she grabbed the tainted water from Helga's hand. "Why, so you can see him choke from something you likely put in? You're a sick girl, Helga."
"I'm not-" Helga tried to say, but groaned as Rhonda put the glass in front of Arnold.
"Here you go, Arnold." Rhonda politely smiled as she put the glass of water in front of him.
Before Arnold could grab it, Helga, by instinct, grabbed the table as she started to spin the table around, causing the two to yelp as they watched the table with the waters starting to spin like a game show wheel.
"Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows!" Helga smirked devilishly as the two watched the table spin around.
"Now cut that out!" Arnold frowned as he put his hands on the table, stopping it from spinning just as the silverware and mats got blown off from the spinning. Of course, the force of the table being grabbed also caused all three waters to spill out on the table, thankfully away from Rhonda and right onto Helga, causing her to yelp. Arnold frowned as he crossed his arms. "I probably shouldn't say you deserve it, Helga, but…"
"Helga, if you're trying to put us in a sour mood… don't. Okay? And one other thing, I don't know what you were trying to pull with that tainted water trick, but you should really know better." Rhonda frowned. "What if Arnold were to drink it, and he got poisoned? Do you want that on your conscience? Do you?"
"Well, you see, I… I…" Helga stammered, before frowning. "Fine. You know what? I thought I'd be nice, but I can sense the distrust in the room. I gotta clean myself up anyway… ugh, can't believe this…"
As Helga walked off, still wet, but relieved that she managed to stop the water from getting into Arnold's lips, she went back into the shanty, but looked out as she listened to his conversation.
"What is with Helga today? First throwing the darts in our beach ball, now trying to play a joke by giving you some tainted water… who does she think she is?" Rhonda asked in exasperation.
"Believe me, Rhonda, with Helga… I have no clue. Still, even if these do sound like pranks she'd pull, I don't think she'd intend them maliciously… besides, I'm sure it was probably hot sauce in that water or something she wanted me to try…" Arnold explained. "Honestly, I'm sort of glad the water spilled, because I was worried we'd have to do a taste test if that spinning continued…"
"And have one of us succumbed to Helga's prank…" Rhonda rolled her eyes, before giving a smile. "Well, we'll just fetch the waiter and he'll get us some new placemats and the like…"
Helga gave a sigh of relief as she turned around and held her heart close to her chest, before looking back as Arnold got up and got some napkins to see if there was any water residue that got splashed on Rhonda's end. Even though Rhonda was fine, the young man couldn't help but give her some of the napkins from the napkin holder to try to see if he can help dry her off. Rhonda couldn't help but give a giggle, causing Helga to seethe a bit in jealousy… and yet, regret.
"What am I doing?" Helga asked herself before putting her hand to her forehead. "I suppose from his point of view, I'm making myself look like the bad guy, but all I'm doing is protecting them from Curly's stupid antics!"
She paused lightly as she turned to see Curly was sneaking towards the water glasses to try to put in the concoction again. Immediately, Helga screamed as she jumped on Curly and held him down, dragging him out of the restaurant. Her original plans of putting a live lobster in with Rhonda's food was long forgotten.
As for Arnold and Rhonda themselves, after getting fresh mats, silverware and new glasses of water (as well as a new table, seeing that the waiter noticed it was wobbling a bit thanks to Helga spinning it around), the two enjoyed their lunch in peace as they looked at each other, giving smiles to each other. As Rhonda took a bite from her salmon, she couldn't help but give a small smile towards Arnold, as the football headed boy smiled back. Slowly, but surely, the seeds of romance were beginning to grow…
Meanwhile, both Buckley and Brooke were sitting down on the bench and enjoying their ice cream as Brooke took a deep breath, calming down after that encounter with Oskar a while back.
"I can't believe that… that menace!" Brooke groaned as she squeezed her ice cream cone in fury. "Why, if I could call my lawyer right now, I'd…!"
Buckley put his arm around his wife's body as he soothed her. "Don't you worry, my little Babbling Brooke. That man's out of our hair, the police are making sure every item is returned that's stolen… AND not to mention we saw him get dragged to the police car."
Brooke giggled as she laid her head on her husband's shoulder. "How did I ever get so lucky to have a man like you… I mean, aside from the fact that you have a wonderful yacht."
"We're just very lucky to have each other…" Buckley smiled as he took another lick from his ice cream. "But you know, I've been thinking about our daughter…"
"Let me guess…" Brooke giggled. "Thinking about buying her a new pony?"
"That, and the fact that I think she's found someone perfect for her…" Buckley smiled.
Brooke raised an eyebrow as she looked up. "You don't mean Arnold, do you?"
"That is EXACTLY who I mean." Buckley crossed his arms as he gave a nod. "Have you noticed that despite Rhonda finding a lot of negatives within everybody, she had a lot more positive things to say about the young lad?"
"Seeing him ourselves, I can see he is more than worthy…" Brooke smiled a bit. "I mean, she did have her crushes before, but those kids she brought, like Harold and Sid…"
"No, no, I agree. I don't know why she saw something in those two, and I suppose our daughter realized she didn't know either… but Arnold… he's perfectly more suitable for our daughter than those two." Buckley explained.
Brooke giggled a bit. "The fact that the two left this morning with excited smiles on their faces, looking to have fun… it reminds me of us when we were kids, looking to have some fun of our own while we were on OUR vacations…"
"You said it, darling." Buckley smiled as he leaned over and kissed his wife, with Brooke returning the kiss. "And seeing them both together… I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of this vacation, they decided to start going out together…"
"Oh, that would be so wonderful!" Brooke giggled. "I wouldn't mind having Arnold around as an in-law, would you, Buckley?"
Buckley paused for a brief moment as he thought about it, before smiling. "He'd be a good son in-law, but if he wants to earn that title, he'd have to gain my trust."
"Sweetheart, you already trust him." Brooke playfully pushed her husband.
"I mean for when they reach… the awkward years." Buckley rolled his eyes. "Let's face it, our awkward years, we couldn't even keep our hands off each other!"
"That is a matter of-" Brooke started to say before hearing a sound. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Her husband asked, looking concerned.
"I thought I heard a noise." Brooke said as she looked around towards the sound. Then, she heard it again, this time, Buckley keeping a close listen, as if hearing somebody calling for help.
"My goodness, sounds like somebody's in trouble." Brooke said in concern as she looked around to see people were laying on the beach, from couples and families having a good time, to even some swimmers having fun on the beach. "But where?"
The couple then got up as they looked around, but they couldn't see anything but a… moving bucket in the sand. It was then becoming clear the voice was close and muffled… Buckley frowned as he leaned his ear towards the turned bucket… before grinning. "I believe I have found the source of our call for help, dear."
Brooke looked down as Buckley removed the bucket, causing a familiar pointy nosed man to take a deep breath. "Ah, thank goodness! I thought I'd have this bucket on my head the whole week…"
"Ernie?" Buckley asked in surprise as the man looked up at him.
"Buckley! You have no idea how happy I am to see a former acquaintance!" Ernie sighed in relief as he tried to wiggle his head. "Listen, could you get someone to get me out of this predicament?"
"I'll… see if I can get help." Brooke said as she ran off to find a nearby coastal guard, with Buckley staying by the man's side.
"My goodness, Ernie Potts, just HOW did you EVER get in this unfortunate predicament?" Buckley asked.
"Okay, well… this sort of started as a thing where I decided to… well, mingle and meet up with a pretty girl… I asked Hyunh to bury me in the sand, because this was how my folks met, and he went to get his camera to take a picture of me. However, he was taking forever, and I wanted to get out… but these teenagers came in and put a bucket over my head to shut me up! The nerve of them, honestly." Ernie scoffed. "I'm beginning to realize why it was a bad idea to bury myself up to my head…"
Buckley shook his head as he gave a sigh. "Ernie, I can tell you're good at heart, but you can be pretty dense. Have you ever figured out HOW it is that your father and mother met?"
"Uh, yeah, because my father got buried in sand, and my mother had to save him…" Ernie frowned, as if he was asking a pointless question.
"Let me put it another way. Why did your father bury himself in the sand in the first place? Think about it from his point of view…" Buckley pointed out.
Ernie paused briefly as he thought about it for a moment… before his eyes widened. He gave a nervous chuckle as Buckley raised his eyebrow. "Okay, to be fair, my father was always a risk taker…"
"Hm mm…" Buckley nodded right as a Vietnamese man with glasses, a short mustache, a beige hat, blue tank top and blue and white shorts walked up with a camera in hand.
"There you are, Ernie! I was looking everywhere for you because I forgot where I buried you…" Mr. Hyunh, the Vietnamese man in question, said as he walked forward as he held up the camera. "And because somebody put my camera in the wrong place… and I had to make a phone call and…"
Ernie rolled his eyes. "Whatever, thank goodness you're here too. Turns out the whole 'finding a lovely woman' is a bust…"
"I see…" Hyunh sighed as Brooke returned with a lifeguard in hand as he bent down and dug a hole big enough for Ernie to wiggle around in.
Brooke, giving a small sigh of relief, looked up as she shook her head. "Your hearts are in the right place, but I'm afraid your approach is all wrong. You just have to find the right moment when you meet up with a woman."
"How would you know?" Ernie asked as he looked up.
"Well, you just have to find the perfect spark… or realize it's there with the one you fell in love with…" Brooke explained as she held her husband's hand. "Like my husband and I, we were ALWAYS soulmates from the very start…"
Mr. Hyunh paused in curiosity as he turned to Buckley. "Might I, perhaps, get some tips from you?"
Buckley and Brooke looked at each other and laughed a bit as Ernie rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile, back at Helga and Curly's duplex, both Helga and Curly were walking together as Helga was holding a large loaf of white bread, the sun almost ready to set on the day. Needless to say, Helga was a little exasperated as she led the crazy kid towards the house as Curly gave a chuckle.
"So, Helga, how can we manage to break the football head up with my beloved Rhonda? Oh, oh, maybe we can kidnap the boy and threaten to slice both sides of his head off? Won't that be something? Oh, oh, maybe we can throw him in a pool of sharks? Or-" Curly gabbed on in excitement before Helga stopped in her tracks, with Curly running into her back. "Ah!"
Helga slowly turned around in anger as she glared at him. "Curly… what is your deal? I know you're crazy, but what you're doing… KILLING Arnold? Trying to dart him? Poisoning him? Why don't you do those things to Rhonda?!"
Curly just looked at Helga with an incredulous look. "Uhhh, because I LOVE her? She's my destined? I'm not going to murder my DESTINED…"
"Oh my gosh!" Helga slapped her forehead as Curly rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, I've attempted to take Harold and Sid's lives when Rhonda had HER eyes on them! Sure, they didn't go to plan, but she completely HATES them now for ruining her fancy clothes and hair! And in case you haven't noticed, I'm doing exactly that!" Curly crossed her legs. "Look, your little plans may be kids' play, but mine are serious matters…"
Helga growled in anger as she pointed to the duplex. "You know what? I'll separate those two MY way. You're just in THE way, Curly. I don't even know why I asked you to come with me in the first place if all you're going to do is ruin my plans and not listen to what I have to say… so… GO HOME!"
Curly scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "Fine."
However, Curly was still standing in his position as Helga narrowed her eyes. "Now."
"I'm going, I'm going…" Curly frowned as he turned around and walked back to the duplex, only to turn to see Helga still standing there. "What?"
"I want to WATCH you go home." Helga said as she pointed to the duplex.
Curly's mouth dropped in awe as he chuckled nervously, before giving a frown. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're being a creepy stalker to Arnold… I mean, if you really are, then wow, you're just as bad as me. I mean, seriously, you have serious trust issues!"
With that, Curly turned and put his doorknob on the door as he opened it, but not before turning back to Helga. "You should get serious help, girl!"
Helga scoffed as she watched Curly disappear into the door. As soon as she noted that he was closing the door, she immediately turned and walked away from the duplex as she spotted Arnold and Rhonda, back from their fun day at the beach as they were laying down on their stomachs, watching the beautiful sunset. She took a deep breath before approaching the two, trying to get a good look as she looked at the bread she was carrying.
However, the moment her back was turned, the door opened fully as Curly came back out and slammed it before rushing off, preferably around where Helga wouldn't see him as he gave a cackle of his own…
Over towards the beach front, both Arnold and Rhonda were back in their swimsuits as they were laying down on their backs, sitting under the shade of an umbrella Arnold had set up for them, as a small stereo playing music was on Rhonda's left, and a picnic basket carrying snacks and drinks were on the right. As Arnold handed Rhonda a pouched juice box, Rhonda took the time to sip from it as she gave a sigh. "Ahhhh, this is the life, isn't it, Arnold?"
"It feels great… but it's even greater with you around…" Arnold smiled as he looked over towards the girl as he gave a warm smile.
"Awww, that's sweet of you to say, Arnold, doll." Rhonda swooned as she looked at his eyes. "You know, at first, I was a little unsure about this vacation… I mean, having to learn what a duplex is, learning that this vacation was actually cheap for my family to save money… but you know what? I think I'm actually okay with that, because you're here."
"Really? Would it have changed if it was anyone else… like say, Nadine or Harold?" Arnold asked.
"I mean, having Nadine here would have softened the blow a bit, but even we have our times away together… and don't even get me started on Harold." Rhonda rolled her eyes. "Sure, he has his moments, but he seems more obsessed with food, belching and even ruining my good clothes with spilled nacho cheese than a girl like me… oh well, probably for the better anyway… considering he's more interested in Big Patty anyway…"
Arnold raised an eyebrow as Rhonda mentioned some slight details about a bad date. "That moment with Harold… that must have been a bad date…"
"Bad date is… a way to put it." Rhonda said. "Of course, that's nothing compared to Sid. Oh, we have our moments together, we can be a bit playful, but the fact that he got paranoid over something as simple as roaming mice and dodgeballs…" She scoffed. "He claims that he's been getting hit every day with one since he hung out with me, but the one time he took me on a nice little boat ride, he tipped over the boat and ruined not only my hair, but the best clothes I was wearing on that particular day! Ugh, you have no idea how upset I WAS when he did that…"
Arnold paused briefly as he looked to be in thought. "Well, maybe Sid didn't do it on purpose…"
"Maybe not, but honestly, I actually preferred someone who had his head together… and someone who would put others over himself… actually, maybe someone like you, Arnold." Rhonda smiled as she looked up to him. "Honestly, I'm surprised no girl tried to ask you out."
"Well, I did have a crush on sixth grader Ruth, but she didn't even know who I was, and all it was was a puppy crush… and the only reason I thought I had feelings for Lila was because of the rumored written wall thing people thought I did…" Arnold explained.
"...oh yeah, I guess I might have started that rumor… maybe not written at the wall, but I saw the message with Lila…" Rhonda chuckled nervously. "Sorry, I guess maybe one of us should have just asked you first."
"That's okay, it's all in the past now… and I've actually been over Lila anyway…" Arnold shook his head as he gave a grin. "No, if there was a girl I would want in my life… sure, she doesn't HAVE to be perfect, but I'd like her to be understanding, nice and always willing to hang out whenever I offer them the chance…"
Rhonda giggled as she looked up. "Sort of like what I'm doing right now?"
Arnold chuckled lightly. "I guess you could say that… and even though today had a couple of bumps, especially with Helga stepping in and trying to ruin our day, this was especially fun."
Rhonda smiled towards the young man. "Can you imagine that we have the whole week to ourselves? Especially with the sandcastle competition coming up, the more times we get to spend in the sun…" She paused as she gave a giggle. "Oh, do I have a lot of suits I want to display, especially for you…"
Arnold paused briefly as he looked up. "New suits?"
"Just some old get-ups that I asked my mother to buy for me… how about tomorrow, I do a little fashion show, just for you? We can even play dress-up together, if you like."
Arnold blushed in embarrassment. The fact that a girl asked to play dress-up with him was borderline embarrassing… but considering it was just the two of them, it didn't hurt. "Well… I suppose it couldn't hurt."
Rhonda giggled as she sipped her drink. "Aren't you glad you got to hang out with your geography buddy?"
"In a way, I'm glad." Arnold smiled as he put his hand on hers. "Very glad."
Both the cute kids blushed as they kept holding hands as they laid on their stomachs, the sunset going down as the two just looked at each other, their faces blushing as a small, telltale sign of love rang in the air.
At that time, Helga had approached, bread ready in hand as she looked over to see the seagulls flying around as she gave a grin.
"Okay, just sprinkle a little bread around the two while they're looking at each other…" Helga looked over and cringed as she closed her eyes in disgust. "...sickingly in love…" She shook her head as she gave a cackle. "Well, even though none of my plans came to fruition today, this one certainly will! Once those seagulls attack, Rhonda will surely overreact and not want to talk to Arnold for the rest of the week! Then I'll have him all to myself! Comfort him in his moments and-"
All of a sudden, a ghostly apparition of Curly appeared in front of her as he said directly to her face, "What a creepy stalker you are. Seriously, you're no better than me."
Helga growled in anger as she shook her head. "Ugh, get out of my head, Curly. I don't need to hear it from you! I'm not killing Rhonda, I'm just teaching her a lesson…"
"You have serious trust issues." Curly's voice continued to say in a whispery tone.
Helga was about to step forward, before stopping. "Are you saying I don't trust Rhonda, that I'm only acting this way out of jealousy… and for what, the boy who's ever touched my heart?"
"Creepy stalker… stalker… stalker…" Curly's voice continued to echo in her head.
The blonde in the pink bow groaned as she dropped the bread and held her head. "I don't stalk Arnold! Sure, I write poems about him, sure I make shrines, sure I may snip a piece of his hair when he doesn't look… and sure, sometimes I follow him home and try to sneak around his house… but I have my reasons! They were good reasons…"
She paused as she held her head and walked towards the water. She turned her head to see her reflection… who just grinned sadistically as sunglasses formed around her as she gave a wicked laugh.
Helga yelped as she jumped backwards. "I… I… maybe I AM no better than Curly… but…"
She looked back towards the two as they were looking at each other, staring at each other in love. Helga paused as she held her heart. "Do I really have the heart to just let this go… to let Arnold make his own decision…"
She closed her eyes before breathing out a heavy sigh. "Well, if it doesn't work out between them… I suppose I can always see if I can swoop in at the last minute to comfort him… I guess I should just do what I should have done from the start."
With that, Helga decided to walk over towards the two, leaving the loaf of bread behind as the seagulls came swooping over that direction to tear up the bread. As she approached, she gave a cough.
This brought Arnold and Rhonda out of their trance as they looked up towards her as the former gave a frown. "Now what is it, Helga? I thought maybe you'd take your own advice and staying out of my way, and yet, you're doing nothing but approaching me."
"Yeah, Helga, if you're just coming here to be mean to Arnold for no reason, just know that we don't care what you say!" Rhonda frowned as she held her hand close to Arnold's.
Helga seethed a bit upon seeing that, but tried to keep calm long enough as she gave a sigh. "All right, look… you have every good reason to be mad at me, I get that. But I actually came over here to… apologize."
Arnold and Rhonda's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing that as Helga continued, "Look, I was just as surprised as you both to see that I happened to be next door to the likes of you… but that shouldn't mean I want to be mean to you guys 24/7. I mean, listen to us. We're all on vacation. We have no reason to be hostile here."
"...what about the darts? AND the fact that you ruined our waters at the lobster shack?" Arnold asked.
"I had very good reasons for doing that…" Helga frowned. "Look, you don't have to forgive me or believe me, but the neighbor of my duplex… well, he seems to know all of us… and
Little did they know that, in the meantime, Curly was climbing up on the roof, wearing what seems to be a cape and a mask, carrying an oversized guitar as he seemed to have trouble climbing and carrying the instrument at the same time.
"Okay, okay… so the indirect approach was a no-go… and if I want to get to my Rhonda… a better approach is needed…" Curly said as he looked at the guitar and kissed it. "Thank you, Bill and Joe, for inspiring the character that gave us this classic!"
With that, Curly was up on the roof as he picked up a lasso and looked around… only to frown as he realized there were no trees or latches. "Ugh, seriously? No trees? You'd think there'd be at least a palm tree or something to latch onto!"
Curly shook his head as he kept an eye out on Arnold and Rhonda, who seemed to be talking with Helga as their eyes widened. Curly paused as he tried to listen in, but being stuck on the roof of a house, he couldn't hear anything from up there…
"So, you're saying Curly was the one throwing the darts, and the reason you spilled our drinks was because one of them was poisoned by him?" Arnold asked.
"It's the honest truth." Helga frowned. "And believe me, I know I pull pranks a lot, but THIS isn't a prank."
Both Arnold and Rhonda paused as they looked at each other, with the latter looking worried. "Knowing Curly, I wouldn't put it past him, but… oh my goodness, I didn't think he'd be here too!"
Arnold paused briefly as he turned to Helga. "Suppose we did buy your word… that it was Curly and not you doing those pranks… since he IS your duplex neighbor, maybe you can try and keep him in check? Maybe that'll prove to us that you truly do care for our wellbeing."
Helga grinned as he gave a nod. "Yes, yes, that's all I want. Look, we can be mean to each other back at school, or if we're in our usual sports teams, but this is vacation, and I think we all want to relax, like you said. All I ask is that we all have some fun together… it doesn't have to be right away, but we can at least… tolerate each other?"
As she talked, Rhonda looked up to see Curly up on the roof of the duplex, and gave a slight yelp. She then quickly whispered to Arnold as she pointed up. Arnold looked up and his eyes widened to see Curly up there. The two nodded as Helga finished her speech as Arnold said, "Sure. Just… try to keep Curly away from Rhonda or myself… and we'll tolerate you here."
Helga gave a small sigh of relief as she said, "All right, thank you. That's all I ask…"
All of a sudden, the sound of screaming was heard as Curly fell off the roof of the Shortman-Lloyd duplex, landing on the sand with a small thud. Thankfully, for him, the sand was there to break his fall… but as he was getting up, a gash of blood came flowing out of his head as the young man shook his head as he rubbed it… and if that wasn't enough, the guitar he carried fell directly on his head, worsening the injury.
KABONG!
Arnold, Rhonda and Helga winced a bit as Rhonda said, "I may hate the little creep, but even that had to hurt…"
Helga groaned as she held her head and shook it. "All right, I'll make sure to keep him away from you."
"Thank you." Arnold and Rhonda said as Helga started to walk off, as Arnold paused.
"And Helga?"
Helga turned back with a raised eyebrow as he gave a smile. "Thank you for being honest with us."
"Yeah, I suppose you do have SOME good sides somewhere." Rhonda smiled as she clutched Arnold's hand.
Helga found herself cringing for a moment, before giving a sigh and nodding, "Yeah, yeah, I have my moments. I'm taking this kid home and bandaging him up so he doesn't kill himself…"
As she turned her back, she held her head. "For that matter, doesn't kill ANY of us…" She shuddered before walking off, but not before turning and glancing towards the two holding hands one more time. She had half a mind to run back and pummel Rhonda… before giving a small sigh, deciding that… for once, she was just going to let it go and let things happen… she didn't need to interfere with Arnold's EVERY single aspect of his life, after all.
As Helga walked off, Rhonda smiled as she turned back towards Arnold before giving a chuckle. "How do you like that? I guess when she puts her mind to it, Helga's not a bad person…"
"In a way, I knew there was SOME good in her…" Arnold said with a smile. "It just… takes a while for it to come out…"
"Still…" Rhonda shuddered as she looked down. "To know that Curly is HERE… I know he likes me… obsessively, but to go down to this level…"
Arnold held her tight in a hug, calming her down. "Don't worry. If he tries to bother you, I'll step in…"
Rhonda giggled as she hugged him back. "My hero…"
Arnold blushed a bit as the two turned around to look back at the sunset. In some way, this was going to be quite the interesting week…
And the fifth chapter is FINALLY updated after a couple of days! How did you guys like it? Next time, Rhonda will be having the best fashion show, while the Lloyds run into another set of people on their little adventure themselves! What'll happen next? You'll have to wait and see! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!