Feeling Empty (A Hey Arnold Story)

Finale

"Oh my gosh Nadine! What am I going to wear?!" Rhonda was in full panic over picking an outfit.

"Calm down Rhonda, you have a closet full of stuff I'm sure we'll find something."

"But how will I know what to choose? Should it be vintage, modern, edgy, classy-"

Nadine put her hands on Rhonda's shoulders in an attempt to steady her.

"Listen to me, you're overthinking this. It's just a school dance, not the Queen's Ball. It really doesn't matter what you wear. You could probably go in your everyday clothes and no one would notice."

"You're right. It's just... he makes me so nervous."

Nadine smiled at Rhonda's sheepish-ness. She made a good point about Harold making her nervous.

"I have an idea of how that feels. I felt the same way before my first real date with Sid, and guess who told me to get over myself?"

"Me?"

"Well actually it was Arnold who told me what to talk about with him, but yeah you helped me pick out an outfit and you helped boost my confidence when I got frantic. Anyway, my point is you've got this. Besides, I'm sure he's just as nervous as you are."

-

"I'm not nervous at all! I'm actually kind of pumped up!" Harold told Sid, jumping back and forth like a boxer prepping for a KO.

"Really? I don't know about you guys, but I'm kind of nervous myself." Arnold said truthfully.

"I reckon I'm just to dang ecstatic to be nervous, on account of I got Miss Lila to be my date." Stinky stated proudly.

"I'm with Bubba on this one, I'm not nervous at all." Gerald added in.

"Yeah, you guys should just suck it up. It won't be that bad."

"Uh Sid, weren't you just in the bathroom crying about how you didn't know how to do the Cupid Shuffle?"

"IT'S TRUE, WHAT IF IT STARTS PLAYING AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND SHE DUMPS ME!" Sid whined.

"Please Sid. No one plays the Cupid Shuffle anymore. They'll probably just play the Macarena or something." Gerald reasoned.

"Wait, what's the Macaroni?!" Sid started panicking again.

"Calm down Sid, if anyone should be concerned, it should be Harold on account of he's going with Rhonda. She'll prolly want ev'rythang to be perfect as a pumpkin seed."

Harold hadn't considered how much Rhonda might want him to do for her.

Okay, now he was a bit nervous.

"That's right! How did you manage to get her to go with you slim?"

"Is it so hard to believe that maybe she wanted to go with me?"

"Uh... yeah." Gerald and Stinky laughed.

Arnold checked his watch.

"We'd better get going if we all want to make it to the girl's houses in time."

They made some final touches to their hair and suits before going off to get their dates. Sid and Harold walked together because Nadine was at Rhonda's.

"You ready?" Sid asked Harold.

"Honestly, not really. But it's now or never."

-

Sid and Harold met the girls at Rhonda's door. Sid took Nadine's hand and they started off towards school. Harold took a moment to admire Rhonda's outfit, a bold red dress with a small black jacket and matching red shoes.