Wolfgang and Nadine [COMPLETED] | a Hey Arnold! Fanfic

Chapter 8

Nadine was hard at work into Sunday night. She had locked herself in her room, dedicated to finish the project she had started. With a few supplies she had left over from Rhonda's fashion designer endeavours, she set to work until the early hours of the next day...

Monday morning was gloomy by comparison. It had rained the night before, and yet the sky was still overcast, an excellent metaphor for the children's attitudes towards returning to P.S. 118 after the long break.

A fully-healed Wolfgang strutted onto the grounds of P.S. 118 and headed towards a group of fifth-graders that were huddled together. "How's it going, losers? Your fearless leader has arrived. Did you miss me?"

Rather than the warm reception he was expecting, the fifth-graders merely stared at him in silence.

"What's the problem? I don't see you guys for one week, and this is how you welcome me back? What gives?"

"What gives is that you've decided to become a fourth-grader lover," said one of the fifth-graders. "You've gone soft."

"Impossible. Me, fraternizing with a fourth-grader? Ha! Don't make me laugh."

"Edmund says he saw the two of you leaving City Park together. Laughing. Says he even saw you wave goodbye, like you were good friends."

Wolfgang turned to look at his traitorous best friend. "Dude, you can't be serious...why on Earth would I waste with someone like that?"

"I dunno," replied Edmund, feeling the heat of Wolfgang's stare and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "But I'm sure that's what I saw...there she is right now!"

Edmund pointed to Nadine just as she entered the school grounds through the fence.

"Come on, you guys – I'm still the same old Wolfgang! Who are you gonna believe, me or this shortsighted doofus?"

"Then prove it," said the original accusing fifth-grader.

Wolfgang turned to look at Nadine, then back at the group. He narrowed his eyes.

"All right, you bunch of clods. You want proof? I'll give you your proof..."

Nadine entered the playground holding a flat white box. She looked tired, but was all smiles as she past by Arnold.

"Good morning, Nadine," he said. "How was your Spring Break?"

"It was...interesting," replied Nadine.

"What's in the box? Another insect?"

"Not exactly..."

Just as Nadine was about to lift the lid, Wolfgang appeared behind her.

"Hey," he said. "Whatcha got there?"

"Ohh, hi, Wolfgang! Actually, I was just about to show Arn—hey!"

Wolfgang yanked the box from Nadine's grasp and lifted it high above her head. He laughed as jumped and tried to reach it, but to no avail.

"Come on, Wolfgang," said Arnold. "Quit being a jerk! Give Nadine back her box!"

But Wolfgang ignored Arnold and tossed the box to a fifth-grader wearing a beanie. When Nadine went to follow the box, the boy in the beanie tossed to it a lanky fifth-grader with curly red hair. These two played a game of Monkey in the Middle for a while before one of the boys tossed it to Edmund, who subsequently tossed it back to Wolfgang.

"Please give it back!" pleaded Nadine who was now coming towards Wolfgang.

All eyes were on Wolfgang. Fourth-graders and fifth-graders alike were watching to see what his next move would be.

Just a few feet from him, Nadine began to stumble. He was close enough to catch her and break her fall, and almost motioned to do as such, but at the last second sidestepped around her and let her fall into a nearby puddle.

"You snooze you lose, fourth-grader!" Wolfgang heard himself say.

The fifth-graders cheered while the fourth-graders who witnessed the debacle stared, horrified. All except one.

"Nadine!" Rhonda, who had just entered the playground, saw the whole thing and immediately followed after her best friend, who stood up and ran towards the school crying.

His title as "Terror to All Fourth-Graders" secured once again, Wolfgang proudly ripped the lid off the box so that he could claim the spoils.

And at that moment, he felt like the biggest schmuck in the world.

"What's in the box, Wolfgang?" asked the boy in the beanie.

Wolfgang turned to look at him, masking his guilt with a cool demeanor. "Nothing," he lied. "Just some stupid bugs."

The school bell rang and the rest of the students made their way inside. Wolfgang trailed behind, the shame of what he had done getting worse with every passing second.

For the first time in his life, Wolfgang hated being a fifth-grader.