OOM: Gerald Comes Over
Arnold's house isn't really any fuller or louder than normal, but it feels that way to Arnold. Today, Gerald came over.
"You know, you spend the night at my house all the time, but I never spend the night at your house. In fact, I've never even seen your house, except for your room. What about all the people that live there?"
And so the next Friday, Gerald appeared at the Sunset Arms boarding house. Despite a brief detour to Milliways, Arnold was not very confident about this visit, and rightly so. Before he could dash Gerald up to his room they were intercepted by Grandpa, with the reminder that today was rent day and it was Arnold's responsibility.
"This is going to be boring for you, you can just go up to my room and hang out..." Arnold offered.
"No way, I said I wanted to meet your family. This'll be fun!"
Of course, after dealing with Ernie (who didn't have his rent but angrily smashed a few things while they were visiting), Mr. Hyunh (who also didn't have his rent, but made Arnold and Gerald re-tile his kitchen and wallpaper his living room), and the Kokoshkas (whose fight had all the tenants out in the hallway bickering) Gerald wasn't looking so much like he was enjoying himself. Arnold felt miserably justified.
On camp beds on the roof of the boarding house that night, Arnold put his hands behind his head and apologized to the stars. It was better than having to actually look at Gerald.
"I'm sorry about my family. I know they're not exactly...normal."
"Aw, are you kidding?" Gerald responded immediately. "You get to hit people up for rent money, you get to bust up fights..."
He continued in the face of Arnold's slack-jawed expression, concluding his assessment of the household. "Man, your house kicks."
It wasn't until after Gerald was asleep that Arnold managed to respond.
"...You know what, you're right." He sighed and relaxed for the first time that evening. "Good night, Gerald."
[note: some dialogue taken from Hey Arnold! episode 13, "Tutoring Torvald/Gerald Comes Over"]
"You know, you spend the night at my house all the time, but I never spend the night at your house. In fact, I've never even seen your house, except for your room. What about all the people that live there?"
And so the next Friday, Gerald appeared at the Sunset Arms boarding house. Despite a brief detour to Milliways, Arnold was not very confident about this visit, and rightly so. Before he could dash Gerald up to his room they were intercepted by Grandpa, with the reminder that today was rent day and it was Arnold's responsibility.
"This is going to be boring for you, you can just go up to my room and hang out..." Arnold offered.
"No way, I said I wanted to meet your family. This'll be fun!"
Of course, after dealing with Ernie (who didn't have his rent but angrily smashed a few things while they were visiting), Mr. Hyunh (who also didn't have his rent, but made Arnold and Gerald re-tile his kitchen and wallpaper his living room), and the Kokoshkas (whose fight had all the tenants out in the hallway bickering) Gerald wasn't looking so much like he was enjoying himself. Arnold felt miserably justified.
On camp beds on the roof of the boarding house that night, Arnold put his hands behind his head and apologized to the stars. It was better than having to actually look at Gerald.
"I'm sorry about my family. I know they're not exactly...normal."
"Aw, are you kidding?" Gerald responded immediately. "You get to hit people up for rent money, you get to bust up fights..."
He continued in the face of Arnold's slack-jawed expression, concluding his assessment of the household. "Man, your house kicks."
It wasn't until after Gerald was asleep that Arnold managed to respond.
"...You know what, you're right." He sighed and relaxed for the first time that evening. "Good night, Gerald."
[note: some dialogue taken from Hey Arnold! episode 13, "Tutoring Torvald/Gerald Comes Over"]