Gerald very nervously walked up the stool of the school building on that morning. The anxiety was getting to him. He had been seemingly calm while traveling to school. It helped that everyone at the bus, including Arnold were chatting and minding their own business. But as soon as he arrived, his anxiety began to appear. He knew word of his recent disastrous defeat at the ball court was going to spread through the social grapevine. He just didn't know how bad it was going to be.
After taking a gulp, he braced himself and walked through the doors, and waited for the inevitable stares and the gazes of disappointment.
Only, nothing happened. Gerald looked around and saw kids walking by, but minding their own business. There were no stares, no gazes, nothing. For a second, he felt a bit disappointment. It looked like they were ignoring him. Gerald didn't know what was worse. But he tried to look at the positive side of things and went in to go about his day.
Lunchtime…
Once all the kids ate their lunch, everyone made their way to get their coats and ready themselves to head outside for recess. Gerald and Arnold were among those that were heading to their lockers to get their stuff. While Gerald tried to act normal, Arnold noticed something was a bit off.
"Everything alright, Gerald?" He asked his best friend.
"Uh yeah, I am." Gerald responded. "Why do you ask?"
"Cuz you seem...distracted." Arnold responded.
"Nah. Nothing like that." Gerald rejected Arnold's concern. "It's just one of those days, you know."
"What days?" Arnold asked.
"You know," Gerald vaguely responded. "One of those, overbearing type days."
"Okay, sure." Arnold responded, albeit a little confused.
After making their way further through the hallway, both pre-teens noticed a crowd had gathered, so much so that it was blocking the hallway.
Gerald remembered what happened the last time a crowed gathered and immediately tensed up.
Oh no! He thought in fear. They know!
For a second, he hesitated. He didn't know if he should go through the crowd and brace for his rep to be further destroyed, or just turn the other way and forget about it.
No! He thought. I gotta go through with it. A respectable man would never turn away.
Having made up his mind, Gerald approached the crowd and quickly moved through it, politely making his excuses as he gently shoved through the crowd. His heart pounding, he made it through the middle of the crowd, only to realize that it was just two kids playing an intense game. Gerald could not help but let out a big sigh of relief. Arnold eventually reached Gerald.
"What's going on?" He asked when he made it through the crowd.
"Oh nothing." Gerald casually said. "I just thought I...saw something. It's nothing. C'mon, let get through this mob."
Gerald quickly made this way through the other half of the crowd with Arnold closely following him.
"They could have at least met up somewhere it's not causing a jam." Gerald commented as they eventually made it through the other side.
Still feeling relieved, his made his way to his locker to get his stuff. He then followed Arnold to his locker for his winter gear before heading out.
Thinking that the worst was behind, Gerald began to relax as they reached the doors that led them to back of the school and out to the playground. They continued to chat, not noticing that another crowd at gathered nearby the jungle gym. Both pre-teens were making their way to swings when Stinky quickly ran up to them.
"Hey Gerald." He said, getting his attention. "Is it true?"
"What's true?" Gerald asked, looking confused.
"Word on the street says you went all solo at the ball court yesterday and Rodrigo's team completely beat you." Stinky explained.
"Yeah, kids are saying that it was total fiasco." Sid said as he approached.
Gerald's heart completely stopped and fell right to his stomach. He even stopped breathing before his brain unconsciously forced him to inhale. Then all of a sudden, he immediately launched himself at Stinky, grabbed him by the coat and pulled him closer.
"Who...told...you?" Gerald angrily snarled at him.
"N-N-No one, Gerald!" Stinky nervously responded, completely taken aback by his sudden aggression.
Even Arnold was completely taken aback by this, so much so that he froze.
"Then how did you find out?!" Gerald angrily shouted at him.
"Gerald, stop!" Arnold shouted and tried to get in between them but Gerald held Stinky firm.
"It was the note!" Stinky nervously responded as he pointed to the direction of the crowd. "S-Someone posted a note."
"Again?!" Gerald angrily growled. "Who keeps putting those notes up?!" He shouted at Stinky.
"I don't know, Gerald. I swear!" Stinky frightfully said. "No one knows. They were there when we came outside."
Gerald finally let Stinky go, but he was still fuming. Without a word, he stomped his way toward the crowd, this time aggressively pushing and shoving his way until he arrived at the center of all the attention. There, taped on the jungle gym, was a piece of paper with a series of pictures of him and Rodrigo. It showed them pinning against each other, only that Rodrigo had his team behind him, whereas Gerald was all on his own. It followed showing him putting up a brave fight, but was ultimately beaten by Rodrigo and his team. The final picture showed him on the basketball court, but he on the floor, looking defeated. Rodrigo was also on the picture, but he was on top of him, seemingly triumph and laughing. His teammates were all around him, cheering him on. On his hand was what looked to be a heart, probably Gerald's. The picture was not morbid, nor grotesque. Even the heart was a simple heart-shape. But the symbolism was not lost to everyone.
Gerald quietly stood there, glaring at the picture as fire began to burn in his eyes. Then he angrily grabbed the paper and furiously tore it to pieces and then left. The crowd was left bewildered on what they saw.
Gerald emerged from the crowd but continued to walk away.
"What's going on, Gerald?" Arnold asked him when he approached. "Why are you so angry?"
"Where is Rodrigo?" Gerald just demanded. "Where is he?"
"I haven't seen him." Arnold replied. "I think he-"
But Gerald didn't bother to wait for Arnold to answer. He stomped away and made his way inside the building to look for him.
Sometime later…
Gerald walked out of the school building that today determined to put an end to this. He had tried to find Rodrigo all day, but he either couldn't find him or when he did, class had started and was unable to talk to him. When the bell rang he tried to make his way to get to him, but the crowd of kids wanting to get out of the class at the same time prevented him, much to his fury. But whatever the obstacles, he was determined to find him, come hell or high water.
He went down the stoop to look for him.
"Gerald!" Arnold exclaimed and ran up to him. "You wanna tell me now what's going on?" He asked.
"No." He firmly said with a frown. "This is something I gotta take care of with Rodrigo."
"What are you going to do?" Arnold asked, nervous about what the response would be.
"Putting an end to this." He said as he stomped away to look for him, leaving his best friend to stand on the stoop, looking on with great concern.
Gerald didn't have the slightest idea where Rodrigo was. He looked everywhere for him back at the school building, but concluded that he must have already left. He knew enough to know that unless bombarded with assignments or homework, he wouldn't immediately go home. With a bunch, he thought that perhaps he would be at the basketball court.
Wasting no time, Gerald quickly made his way and sure enough, there was he. Only this time, he wasn't playing. Rather, he was with some kids. Lorenzo and Peapod Kid were among those he was talking to. Gerald only glanced at him for a second before quickly opening the gate and going down the stoop and to the court.
"Rodrigo!" He angrily yelled at him, getting his and his friends' attention. "You and I need to talk, NOW!"
"Whoa. What side of the bed did he get up from?" Lorenzo rhetorically asked.
"I'll say." Peapod Kid said. "He looks angry."
Without saying a word, Rodrigo made his way toward Gerald. Seeing just how angry he was, he became cautious and braced himself.
Gerald stopped halfway in the court and waited for Rodrigo to approach him, all while frowning at him. When he finally did,
"Hey Gerald." Rodrigo softly greeted him. "What's up?"
Gerald just glared at him.
"Man, what have I ever done to you?" He asked him.
"Huh?" Rodrigo asked, looking confused. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me." Gerald said to him. "I see right through it all. From the moment you set foot at that school, you've been acting all high and mighty and taking other people's thunder."
"Gerald, I have no idea what you are talking about." Rodrigo said. "I'm not trying to steal anyone's thunder. I'm just trying to make a good first impression. I mean, I figure that would be the standard thing to do for a new kid moving to a whole new city. I just want to fit in."
"Oh you fit in alright." Gerald angrily said. "At my expense. It's bad enough that you took away my rep, but did you have to humiliate me in front of the whole school?!"
"What?" A stunned Rodrigo asked. "What are you talking about? When did I humiliate you?"
Gerald angrily groaned and rubbed his eyes.
"So you want me to spill it out for you." He retorted. "I'm talking about those pictures you've been posting all over the school about you 'taking' me down!"
"What?!" Rodrigo exclaimed. "I had nothing to do with that! Why would you accuse me of something like that?" He frowned
"Qui bono." Gerald said. "Who would benefit? Only you."
"You seriously think I would stoop that low that I would lowball you like that?" Rodrigo asked, feeling offended.
"I wouldn't hold it past you." Gerald fired back. "It's not like you haven't done it before."
Rodrigo became aggravated by that last comment, but he ignored it and stayed on topic.
"Well you need to get your facts straighten out." Rodrigo said. "Cuz it wasn't me. I did not post any of those pictures. I was just as surprised as you were when I saw them."
"Pff! Yeah right." Gerald scoffed.
"It's the truth!" Rodrigo firmly exclaimed. "Why would I want to humiliate you like that? What would I gain from it?"
"You becoming the new cool kid in our grade." Gerald responded.
"That was not my intent!" Rodrigo fired back. "I don't know why you are blaming me for your downfall. If there's anyone to blame for that, it's you."
"Excuse me?" A surprised Gerald asked.
"You're the one that challenged me to that dance competition." Rodrigo explained. "I was just minding my own business. You challenged me and you lost. But instead of taking it like a man, you get all salty about it?"
"I'm salty because you humiliated me by posting those pictures of me losing to you." Gerald retorted. "It wasn't enough for you to beat me. You just had to drag me along the mud in front of everyone!"
"How do I know that it wasn't you that posted them?" Rodrigo asked with a frown.
"What? That is just stupid. Why on Earth would I ever do that?" Gerald asked.
"To discredit me." Rodrigo said. "I know you still have beef with me after what I did at PS."
"You darn right I still have beef!" Gerald retorted. "You not only imprisoned me, but you got away with it! You didn't get any sort of punishment for it. And to rub salt on the wound, instead of you being a pariah, you somehow managed to get back on everyone's good side and have the whole dang school just move on, like nothing ever happened! Everyone got hurt with your so-called 'Revolution'. But you somehow emerged from it completely unscathed and all the more popular!"
"Oh my God, you will not let it go!" Rodrigo annoyingly exclaimed. "Everyone else is moving on, even Arnold. Everyone but you. Why?!"
"Because it is not fair!" Gerald angrily shouted, surprising Rodrigo.
"It's a huge slap in the face that some of us have to struggle everyday to earn some respect while for others it just falls on their lap!" Gerald continued. "It took me years of hard work to earn my stripes and reach the level of popularity that I once had. And this is not mentioning the whole San Lorenzo fiasco last summer. Our whole class got kidnapped by a bunch of psychopathic pirates, yet Arnold, myself and Helga were the ones that managed to find and revive Arnold's parents and a save a WHOLE civilization, all awhile fighting off Lasombra."
"What civilization?" Rodrigo asked.
Gerald realized he said too much and was now regretting it
"Just forget about it." Gerald quickly shut it down. "The point is that did I get a thank you? No, I didn't. Did it make get me more respect? Nada. Despite saving our whole class, people just quickly forgot it and moved on. But what, a new kid comes to town and with a few fancy dance moves, he's all of a sudden everyone favourite? Even after terrorizing this whole town, he is still everyone's favourite person? Please tell me how does that work?"
Rodrigo said nothing and just stared at him with a surprising look. He initially wanted to tell Gerald that he was making an unfair comparison. The whole San Lorenzo ordeal was nothing more than a traumatic experience for that everyone in their class. None of the kids who went there want to talk about it, not even Rhonda. Secondly, there has been a great mystery surrounding that trip. There was never any mention of any 'civilization' being discovered there. All the media mentioned was that a class got duped into going to San Lorenzo for a phony competition. As to why the San Lorenzo pirates targeted Arnold's class, it was never reported, other than probably for kidnapping and ransoming them. So people had little to go on when the class eventually returned from there. As far as everyone was concerned, a group of kids got kidnapped, but managed to come back home alive. A miracle on its own, but nothing of great note. With Rodrigo's case, there was just a lot more information to go on and everyone knew of his fight against Ludwig and how he, however briefly, terrorized the whole town. That was something many people will definitely remember.
However, Rodrigo didn't bother making these points known to Gerald because he knew the real reason why he was telling him this. Although he understood where Gerald was coming from, it was also making him frown.
"That's very selfish of you." He finally said to him.
"What?" Gerald, stunted by the comment, asked.
Rodrigo stepped forward a bit, getting closer to Gerald.
"Look, you see those guys over there?" Rodrigo said as he pointed to his friends, including Lorenzo and Peapod Kid.
Without waiting for a response,
"That's my rep." Rodrigo said to him. "Arnold and Phoebe." He then pointed at him. "They are your rep. Or at least are supposed to be. You need to grow up, dude."
And without saying another word, Rodrigo just turned around and went back to rejoin his group.
"C'mon, let's get out of here, guys." He said to them and he along with everyone else left the ball court.
Gerald quietly looked on with a confused and annoyed frown as Rodrigo left. Angry, frustrated, resentful, but also bewildered by Rodrigo's comment, he hanged around for a while before eventually leaving the area.
Gerald huffed and puffed as he walked down the cold, icy street of Hillwood. But he didn't say anything. He barely led out a mutter. But he was frowning throughout. Try as he might, he couldn't shake away the last thing Rodrigo said to him. It was constantly pestering him in his mind. He wasn't confused by what Rodrigo said. He knew what he meant.
I need to grow up? Gerald angrily thought. Who does this guy this he is to say that to me? And I'm the one being selfish? Give me a break.
That last thought really pestered him. He felt highly offended by it, but the same time, it wouldn't leave his mind. It kept on replaying that scene over and over.
Gerald humphed and rested on the low wall on top of a bridge and looked down on the water below. Despite the cold, the river hadn't froze and so Gerald was able to see his reflection. At first, it was very blurry, but the water soon calm down enough for him to see his reflection.
He then went back to what he said to Rodrigo about San Lorenzo and although it was very hard to admit it, the Latino kid was right. It was very selfish of him thinking that way because the whole reason why he and Arnold even entered that scammy competition was to get a chance to go there and find Arnold's lost parents. From the very beginning, even when they busted Arnold free after being incarcerated by Lasombra, Gerald thought of nothing else but of his best friend's own well-being. Everything they went through in that country, he did it for him, for his sake, for his happiness. He didn't really gain anything by going there, save for finally getting together with Phoebe, although he felt that was eventually going to happen as the flirtiness had been intensifying.
Is it so wrong to want a little boost in popularity due to my exploits in San Lorenzo? He thought. I battled pirates, travelled through dense, dangerous jungles, found a long-lost civilization AND I helped my best friend reunite with his parents.
Gerald just sighed. He already knew the answer and the conflicting feelings only served to aggravate him. He wasn't like Arnold. Never was. Although he went there with selfless intentions, he didn't think he should not use his encounter to elevate himself. It should be his 'reward' for nearly getting killed. He felt he was owed something and to get something out of it. But that feeling only served to make him guilt-stricken. He felt it was doing his best friend a great disservice. He went there for him, to help his best friend find peace and solace in his life. He saw how much it was affecting him and he wanted to help. That should be enough.
Regardless, he was still ticked at Rodrigo's meteoric rise in popularity after only being in P.S 118 so recently. What took Gerald years, it merely took this kid just a few months. This angered him, but when he went back to what Rodrigo said, it made his blood boil.
Man, who does that guy think he is? He thought again. Telling me that I need to grow up!
Gerald kicked a can that was on the floor as hard as he could. He was really dumbfounded by it. It felt like such an arrogant comment. And yet, there was something about it that prevented him from pushing it away from his mind.
"Why did he say that?" He asked myself.
Gerald may not have liked the guy, but he knew him well enough to know that he would not say such things unless there was something behind it.
He went quiet for and headed for home, eventually entering the neighbourhood. As he turned a corner, he saw his friends not far off. Arnold, Phoebe, Helga and everyone else were all hanging around in the street. Some where playing with the snow that was on the ground, while others just talked among themselves.
Gerald stood where he was and made no attempt to greet them. Instead from the distance, he glanced at them and studied their movements and behaviour with keen interest. His mind then went back to Rodrigo when he pointed at his own friends and told him that they were his rep. As he replayed that event, he continued to look at his own friends.
He didn't see it. Sure, his friends meant a lot to him and they played a big role in his life, especially Arnold, but he did not see how he owed his popularity and success to them.
If anything, I owed my rep in despite of them. He thought.
But, something about that logic did not feel right. He felt he was missing something. Yes, a lot of what he achieved, he owed it to his own skills and brains, but where would he have been exactly without his friends? How different would things have been if he had was only friends Stinky, Sid, and Harold? Or if he had completely different friends? Or if he had no friends at all?
It was then when things began to click.
Where would I have been if I wasn't friends with Arnold? He thought. All the fun things we did, all the adventures we had. All the times we helped each other out.
It was Arnold that made Gerald and the whole neighbourhood famous by being part in the World Record book. It was his friends that allowed him to have all those adventures. From that infamous War of the Worlds Halloween fiasco, to cleaning the lot for their own baseball court to play, to searching for treasure on Elk Island. It was Arnold that saved him from his addiction to The King game. Heck, he even got to save the neighbourhood from getting torn down! A fact that he still gets praised for by neighbourhood.
It was then that Gerald realized it. Had it not been for his friends, he would not have experienced, let alone done, some of the coolest things most kids would have killed for. Heck, even Rodrigo did not experience half of the things he had. He didn't save any neighbourhood. He didn't brave any jungle or battled pirates for his friends. He didn't go to any island to seek out treasure. But Gerald did! He had accomplished more in his years than most would have done in decades. What more could he ask for?
It was then when Gerald admitted, much to his chagrin, that Rodrigo was right. He had more things going for him than Rodrigo does. He was just too selfish and myopic to realize it.
Gerald couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle and smirked.
"Well I'll be." He said. "The guy was right."
He then felt something he hadn't felt in a while. He felt. as if a big huge weight had lifted off of his shoulders. He left free, more resilient, as if he could anything.
"Alright, alright. I'll give him this." Gerald said to himself.
He then let out a sigh and continued to watch – with pride – his friends as they continued to interact with each other. His smirk then disappeared and soon gave way to disappointment.
"I cannot believe it had to be him to tell me this." He grudgingly said to himself. "I should have spoken to Arnold about this. At least the shock would have been more tolerable."
Although he heeded to Rodrigo's wisdom, he was not all alright that he had to hear it from him. Whether it was arrogance or a bad feeling about him, he did not want to hear, let along take any advice from him. Of this, he couldn't let go. His pride wouldn't allow it.
Yet nevertheless, Gerald couldn't ignore his wisdom on this.
As much as I don't want to admit it. He thought. He's right. And you know what? I wouldn't give these guys away for anything in this world. He thought. They are my rep.
Feeling at peace, Gerald then turned around and headed for home.
The End