Feeling Empty (A Hey Arnold Story)

Take Me Somewhere I Can Be Myself

"RHONDA! RHONDA!"

Rhonda's eyes fluttered open and she saw the whole class huddled around her. Nadine was knelt down beside her holding her hand.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" Nadine said with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"I think so, my head is throbbing a bit."

Nadine threw her arms around her best friend.

"I called an ambulance, they should be here any minute." Mr. Simmons informed everyone.

-----------

"Have you been in contact with any sort of prescription or medication?"

"No."

"Have you been getting enough to eat for the past few days?"

Normally she would lie and just say yes, but she desperately wanted to stop suffering. Besides, wouldn't the doctors figure it out anyways?

"No. The truth is.. I haven't really had a whole meal in a few weeks."

-

Rhonda found herself sitting in a lobby waiting to speak to a psychiatrist that specialized in eating disorders. Out of all the places she'd imagined she'd be today, this would definitely be one of the last.

She was sure her parents were going to disown her now that the secret had gotten out that they had been forcing an eating disorder on their daughter. She was scared of what would become of her. Where would she go? Would they put her in a foster home? Would she have to leave Hillwood?

Just then she saw someone familiar. No. It couldn't be. But it was.

Harold.

-

"Woah, Rhonda?"

"Hi Harold."

"Are you doing alright? Everyone was so worried about you! We were planning to come to the hospital to check on you."

"I'm fine, it was just one of the most embarrassing experiences I have ever gone through."

Harold took notice of how she seemed to have no energy at all.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine."

Rhonda shot him a playful glare.

"I assure you Harold, even in my worst, I always look 'fine.'"

This made Harold chuckle a bit.

"To be honest, I'm kind of... worried. For starters, I don't know where I'm going to go. There's no way they're going to let me stay with my parents."

"Well.. you could always stay with me. I'm sure my mom and dad would be okay with it."

"Wow that's really thoughtful, are you sure?"

"Yeah." Harold offered her a smile.

Rhonda smiled back at him, using all her remaining energy to contain her excitement.

"What are you doing here anyway, if you don't mind me asking."

Harold took a deep breath.

"It's no secret that I love food, but I guess I love it too much? I've always felt kind of lonely, like I don't really have anyone there for me. The only thing that was always there was food, I felt better while I was eating, but in the end I would just end up gaining weight and feeling worse. Well, I talked to someone about it and I was diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and food addiction. Since then I've gotten over it a bit, but there are still moments where food is just my top priority. It helps just to talk about it here."

Harold hadn't been planning on exposing himself that much, but was strangely glad he did.

"I'm so sorry Harold. If it makes you feel any better, I've always considered you a friend. And if you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."

He smiled.

"Thanks Rhonda."

Rhonda noticed her hand had somehow ended up on top of his. Judging by his confused expression, he had too. She pulled her hand away before he could comment.

--

Like Harold had said she would, his mom welcomed Rhonda to stay with them as long as she wished. The doctors just had to talk to Harold's mom for a bit to get things sorted out. Once that was finished, she was on her way to her temporary new home.

----------

Rhonda had to admit, Harold's house had a very welcoming feel to it. It was nowhere near as extravagant as hers, but it had a calming quality to it. She felt at home, even though she had just gotten there.

"So.. what do you want to do?" Harold asked rubbing the back of his neck.

He couldn't believe he was sharing his house with one of his classmates. He'd always thought it'd be fun to live with a friend, in fact Sid, Stinky and him had been talking about moving in together after they had finished high school.

He was hoping she didn't think his house looked bad, since his family didn't exactly have the millions that hers did.

Rhonda spotted a deck of cards on the table.

"I don't know, want to play speed?"

"Sure but one question, what's a speed? I only really know how to play Old Maid"

This made her chuckle to herself. Of course he only knew how to play Old Maid.

"It's not too hard, I'll teach you."

Pretty soon the two had played multiple games, Rhonda winning them all of course, but Harold had given her some competition. They were both smiling and enjoying themselves.

"Wow, you just started and you're almost as good as Nadine."

She and Nadine loved to play speed. They would play almost every time they went to each other's houses.

That reminded her, she hadn't seen Nadine since school earlier that morning.

"Do you have a phone I could use?" She asked Harold, getting up suddenly.

"Yeah, it's over there on the wall. Is something wrong?"

"No, I just realized that Nadine hasn't heard from me. She seemed really worried at school."

"We all were."

Rhonda wasn't entirely sure why the thought of Harold worrying about her made her feel so giddy.

-

"Rhonda? Is that you?! Are you alright?! We went to the hospital but you weren't there and we were so worried about you and-"

"I'm fine Nadine. I'm over at Harold's house, I'll be staying here for a while until they say it's okay to live with my parents again."

"Okay to live with your parents again? What happened?!" Nadine asked, extremely concerned for her friend.

"I'd rather not speak about it over the phone. Could I meet you around four-thirty?"

"Sure Rhonda, see you then."

Nadine knew something had been off. And she really hoped whatever was going on would get better for her friend.