It's About Us

Not So Average Thursday

Arnold's alarm clock was going off. Reaching over, he ended up knocking it onto the floor. The sound of it breaking caused him to grumble. After coming up to his room, he fell asleep. Even being out all night, he still didn't want to get up. It took a knock on his door to even get him to sat up.

"Morning Shortman." Grandpa Phil came in with breakfast.

"Moring Grandpa." Arnold said groggily.

"How are you?" Grandpa set the food down on Arnold's computer desk.

"Tired." Arnold acknowledged the food.

"But you slept so much." Grandpa joked. "It reminds me of the time in..."

"Sorry Grandpa, I'm not in the mood for one of your crazy tales." Arnold's stomach talking louder than his tiredness.

"Okay Shortman. " Grandpa Phil went to leave, but hesitated. "You know, dinner yesterday was intense, but it will be okay."

When Grandpa left, Arnold went back to his bed. He laid on his back and watched the sky. Trying to decide if he wanted to go to school or not. It's the day before the last day of eighth grade. He just didn't feel, anything. Another knock on his door stirred him from his bed again. 

"How are you this morning?" Stella, his mother, was at the door.

"Tired." Arnold sat up on his bed.

"I know you want to lie in bed all day, but I really think you should go to school." Stella sat next to her son.

"Why?" Arnold was tired.

"You need to continue with your life. The fight you two had may seem like an end, but it just shows how much you each care about what the other one feels." Stella tried to reason with her depressed son.

"I guess you're right." Arnold got up to get dress. "I'll go to school."

Stella smiled and left her son to change. She wanted to help but knew this was something both Arnold and Helga needed to get through on their own. Though she had an idea on how she could help Helga. She just needed to wait a bit.

Arnold got ready before rushing out to the bus. He was running a little behind, but he got to school as the warning bell chimed. Slowly making his way to his desk, he got comfortable as he put his head down. His heart felt so heavy.

"Pst... Arnold, what's wrong?" Harold whispered from behind him.

Arnold looked at him with his head still down. "Tired."

"You shouldn't have stayed up so late. It's almost over!" Harold patted Arnold on his back, hard. 

The day felt like it was going by at a snail's pace. The only thing Arnold was looking forward to, was lunch. It would be the first period in the day that he could talk freely to Gerald about last night. There was so much he needed to get off his chest and Gerald was the only one who he could confine in.

When the bell rang for lunch, Arnold rushed to the cafeteria. Luckily, Gerald's class was right next door. Which meant he would already be in the lunchroom when Arnold entered. All he had to do was search the cafeteria for his best friend when he got there.

Arnold wasn't watching where he was going. When he turned the last corner, he ran into someone. The force knocked him down. It wouldn't have if he wasn't so tired. Didn't change the fact that he just ran into someone. He needed to apologize to them.

When Arnold looked up, he felt his heart stopped. "I'm....sorry.... I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's fine." Helga walked around him without another word.