Feeling Empty (A Hey Arnold Story)

I Can't Lie

Although they hadn't done anything crazy, both Rhonda and Harold were exhausted. They tried to watch TV for a while but had started falling asleep, so they both decided to go to bed. Harold got up to turn off the light after Rhonda had gotten into his bed.

"H-Hey Harold?"

"Yeah?" He asked, looking back at her.

"You think maybe, if you wanted to, you could.. sleep in the bed again?" Rhonda couldn't remember a time where she had struggled so much to ask a question.

Harold could see the redness in her face.

"Uh.. sure, if you want me to." Harold said, kind of surprised at her request.

"Um... thanks."

Harold awkwardly climbed into his bed and stared at the ceiling. They just lied there in awkward silence for a couple minutes staring at the ceiling.

Then, Rhonda got an idea. She feigned falling asleep and started "sleep talking."

"Harold, help me. Please."

She squirmed and kept talking in an attempt to get his attention.

-

Harold noticed Rhonda had started squirming and heard her call out for his help.

Yet again, he wasn't exactly sure what to do in this type of situation, but he remembered how putting his arms around her had calmed her down before. So, he turned toward her and wrapped his arms around her. She almost instantly stopped writhing around and stopped calling for help.

"Thank you." He heard her whisper.

Harold couldn't see it, but Rhonda had a mischievous grin on her face.

-

After school had finished for Nadine, Rhonda was supposed to go over to her house, so she started walking over Nadine's.

"Hey, wait up!" Someone called behind her.

She saw Harold running down the sidewalk.

"Oh... Hi Harold. Is something wrong?"

"No, I thought maybe the walk there would be a little less boring if you weren't all alone."

Rhonda smiled.

"Hey, when did you become so thoughtful?"

"Maybe I got a sensitive side ok?"

Rhonda giggled a bit and Harold smiled.

-

"Rhonda? Rhonda? Are you even paying attention?"

"Huh? Oh yeah sure Nadine."

Rhonda had been staring off into space while Nadine tried to catch her up in what she had missed at school, but it was hopeless. Her mind was obviously somewhere else.

Nadine decided to change the subject.

"So, how are things at Harold's house?"

Rhonda snapped back to reality at the mention of his name.

"What? Oh he's fine. I mean it's fine. Not that he's not fine... and I don't mean 'fine fine-' "

Nadine grinned and chuckled to herself.

"I see what's going on here."

"What do you-  Nadine, nothing's-"

"Give it up Rhonda, I already know about your crush on Harold. It's been pretty obvious since like fourth grade. You always acted different around him, you would use any excuse to sit by him, plus I saw the way you looked at him during that egg thing."

Rhonda didn't see a point in fighting it anymore.

"Okay, maybe I think he's alright."

Nadine stifled a laugh after seeing how red her friend had gone as she talked about him.

"Alright, well.. what if I said I had feelings for Harold." Nadine pried.

"Then I would say go for it." Rhonda said through clenched teeth.

Nadine burst into laughter.

"For real though. If I said I 'liked him liked him.' "

"Then those would probably be your last words."

Nadine was rolling on her bed laughing at this point.

"Okay I admit it, I like Harold!! He's sweet, funny, thoughtful, giving, smart when you give him the chance and kind of.. cute."

"That's been building up for a while hasn't it? And I bet seeing him all the time doesn't help much."

"Yeah."

"He's a good guy Rhonda. Why don't you tell him how you feel?"

"I don't even know where to begin Nadine."

"Well, at least you told me. It helps to at least let your feelings out sometimes."

"Yeah. It does."

"So... what happened that one night at the cheese festival?"

At this point, Rhonda's face practically matched her bright red sweater in hue.

-

On the walk home, Rhonda thought about what Nadine had said. She would love to tell him and let all her feelings out, but how would she know if he felt the same way? Besides, it was just a naive childhood crush. She was sure she could get over it eventually. For now, she'd just have to tough it out.

-----

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. We're really getting into the romantic cheesy-ness now so that's pretty much what this chapter is.

Song: I just chose the first song that came to mind when I thought about a crush. I thought maybe this one would do the trick since it's pretty simple and the whole "I can't lie you're on my mind" thing just seemed to fit. Listening back, I realized quite a few Maroon 5 songs could fit in this chapter so feel free to let me know if you have any other songs you think would work for it.

Off topic, but I enjoy the first three Maroon 5 albums and pretty much hate the entirety of the other albums afterwards. Anyone else feel the same? It just seems like they became sellouts and sacrificed the raw music they had and decided to make "Target pop" instead. It really is a shame to see a band and their frontman go down like that.

What's your favorite Maroon 5 song? Mine has to be Not Falling Apart from their second album because of the guitars throughout the song