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Adjusting to Life

I had lived in Endora for a few weeks now, and I was feeling right at home. The Grape family were nice neighbors and I would go over to their house a lot, and that would be the highlight of Arnie's day.

"Hannah!" Arnie sung when he saw me. "Hey buddy," I hugged him. "How are you?" "I'm doin' good, but I'm bored," he rocked back and forth on his feet. "What should we do about that?" "Let's go look for bugs!" "Bugs!" I crinkled my nose with humor. "Yeah, it'll be fun," he bounced up and down like a toy ball. I knew it would make him happy if I spent time with him looking for creepy crawlies. "Okay, let's go." "Yay!" he clapped his hands and led me to his favorite spot by the mailbox.

"What's your favorite insect?" I asked Arnie, I wanted to let him know that I cared about him and wanted to know more about his special interest.

"Grasshoppers." he answered immediately. "Why?" I inquired curiously. "Because they can hop so high!" Arnie grinned. "That's true."

We were able to find lots of grasshoppers and Arnie was dancing around in happiness. "So many bugs," he giggled letting them fly away. "Yes indeed," I smiled, his happy and upbeat outlook on life was endearing to me. Arnie was a good kid.

"Ew, why are you looking for bugs." Ellen asked with disgust. She had been watching. Her attitude wasn't the best and I didn't get offended; I got used to it. "Because that's what Arnie wanted to do." I replied calmly. "Why does everyone cater to him so much?" she muttered and stomped away.

Arnie looked sad after his sister's rude behavior. I patted his shoulder, "Don't listen to her, Arnie. You can enjoy what you want." I soothed. "But why is she always so mean?" the boy asked with his lips in a pout. "I don't know buddy." "Maybe she's sad."

The more I got to know the Grape family, the more I noticed the aura of sadness that seemed to be present. I wondered if something bad had happened. Then I remembered Gilbert telling me that his father had died a few years back.

Maybe that's why Ellen didn't have a good attitude and was always abrasive to people.

I later found out that the reason why the family was so protective of Arnie was because he had a habit of running away and climbing the water tower; which was incredibly dangerous. He could get hurt.

Arnie's Antics

I was running errands with Gilbert and Arnie. I always offered to help them because Gilbert always had his hands full with Arnie and Bonnie. We stopped by Lamsons to get some groceries and while Gilbert and I were loading the truck, we saw the police cars speeding in the direction of the water tower and Arnie was nowhere to be found.  "Oh no," Gilbert sighed and he and I sprinted towards the water tower and luckily Arnie hadn't climbed too far up.
"Hey everyone!" Arnie waved to the crowd of people gathering.
"Look at the idiot," a group of boys jeered. "Shut up, how would you like it if someone said that about you?" I scolded them.
"Arnie, come on down buddy." Gilbert prompted. "Be careful," I called up to Arnie. "I'm not gonna fall!" he giggled and climbed up a few more feet when his sneaker slid off his foot and onto the grass.
"My shoe just falled off, but I'm not gonna fall." He waved at everyone again.
Gilbert took the megaphone from one of the police officers so Arnie could hear him better.
"I know a boy his name is Arnie. He's about to turn eighteen and have a big party." he sung. "Come on down buddy, come on."

The crowd waited and Arnie just stared at him. "Match in the gas tank, boom boom." Gilbert sang. "Match in the gas tank, boom boom." he repeated.
Arnie began singing to himself and started to climb down and the crowd clapped.

That was enough excitement for one day.

"Thank you for being there to help me out," Gilbert said gratefully. "Of course, I'm glad to help," I was helping him unload groceries. "Arnie is like my own little brother," I told Gilbert with a smile. "You're too kind, but unfortunately there isn't enough kindness in the world." he replied. "I agree." there was silence for a brief moment, but then he broke the silence. "How's your book coming along?" "Pretty well so far, I just need to narrow down the ideas." I shrugged, "Now it's just fixing the rough drafts and conquering my writer's block." I smiled awkwardly. "I'm here if you need any help." Gilbert said kindly. "Thank you," I said quietly. 

There was a moment where mine and Gilbert's hands touched as we were reaching for the same grocery bag in his truck, and there was a feeling of comforting warmth. We both stared at each other for a while, and then he reached out and caressed my cheek. I felt my face getting hot and then I touched his hand that was touching my face. 

 Then, we were leaning in to kiss each other, but Arnie came running out of the house interrupting the moment, "Hey! What you guys doing?" he skipped down the front stairs and began rocking back and forth on his heels. "We're just talking," Gilbert told his brother. "Do you like Hannah?" Arnie asked innocently. I felt my face getting red again, and I distracted myself by fixing my scarf I was wearing. 

Gilbert's answer would shock me, "Yes, I do."