1 Till We Meet Again
by naTALAya
Prologue: The confession
" I'm not going to this stupid party!" Helga told her bestfriend as she closed her own locker with a bang. Phoebe winced at the loud sound that cracked her eardrums, and slightly moved away to avoid Helga's blond gold pigtails that almost slapped straight at her.
" Helga! You have to! Almost everyone's going to be there! And it's Rhonda's birthday anyway!" Phoebe further insisted in Helga's stubborn mind. It was Wednesday and Rhonda has been handing out her party invitations at the start of the week, to almost all the popular kids at P.S. 118.
Phoebe had a hunch on Helga's reason for thinking twice, whether or not she should go to Rhonda's birthday parties.
" It's those stupid games that Rhonda always tries to initiate!" Helga whined. Both were walking down the hallway towards their first class.
" It's not stupid Helga. In fact, I find them…exciting!" Phoebe exclaimed.
Helga snorted. " Hmph, yeah right! And since when, did you find truth or dare exciting?!" Helga asked.
Phoebe smiled to herself, reminiscing the time that Gerald was dared to kiss her. It was one of the happiest moments of her life…of course, no one had to know about her feelings on the incident.
" AAAAgghh!" Helga gagged, at the sight of her bestfriend smiling dreamily over a reason she knew perfectly well of. " Here we go again! Haven't you played that scene enough?! You've been daydreaming about it for almost ten thousand times!"
" You're exaggerating Helga." Phoebe pointed out.
" Look! For Pete's sake! Criminy! We're fourth graders! We're too young to be playing those kinds of stuff! Besides playing truth or dare can be pretty embarrassing! Talk about the Rhonda experience!"
" I guess you're right…" Phoebe nodded as she remembered. It was the same party last year, where Sid admitted to almost everyone in P.S. 118 that he had a crush on Rhonda.
" I mean, God! If I was in Rhonda's place I'd melt in to a state of yuckiness!"
" Yeah, but what would you do, if you were in Sid's place?" Phoebe asked, with one eyebrow raised, emphasizing the torture in Helga's answering.
Helga looked at her bestfriend, and immediately looked away, refusing to answer the question.
" I swear Phoebe! I am never going to do that! Ever! It would cost my pride and my reputation! Who would think, that me, Helga Pataki, the toughest kid in school…next to Harold, would have an immense passion and desire for the football headed kid…..Arnold?!" Helga cried out.
" Yeah…..who would think that? You'd be talk of the town for the whole P.S. 118 History. Your story….handed down from fourth grader to incoming fourth grader…" Phoebe teased.
" Exactly! I don't want to be tormented for my whole life…beyond death even! I may want to leave a legend…but not that LEGEND!"
" As you wish…" Phoebe said, submissively nodding to Helga.
" That's why I'm not going to Rhonda's party!"
" What?! Helga, you could just say no, if you don't want to."
" Yeah right, Pheebs! As if she'd let that pass!…I'm telling you, Pheebs, I'm only going if that football head Baldwin's not gonna go. That way, I'd probably live through the anguish of admitting to almost everyone in school, compared to confessing my deepest darkest secret to Arnold himself." Helga insisted firmly.
" Okay, Helga. I guess you better ask him…cause here he comes." Phoebe warned.
" OUCH!" Helga exclaimed, obviously caught unaware with Arnold's appearance.
" Sorry, Helga." Arnold apologized timidly, picking up, Rhonda's party invitation.
" Watch where you're going, freak of nature!" Helga exclaimed, as she noticed the envelope that Arnold picked up from the floor.
" Hi, Arnold. Hi Gerald…" Phoebe greeted shyly.
" Hi Pheebs…you're looking great today." Gerald commented. Phoebe immediately tried to cover with her books, the imminent blush on her cheeks.
" So, you guys going to Rhonda's party?" Helga asked casually.
" Sure will, I wouldn't miss it again would I?" Gerald said, as he smiled at Phoebe. Phoebe's cheeks flushed more than ever. Helga looked at Arnold waiting for an answer.
" Well…I'm really not so sure. Grandma arranged a Karate lesson for both of us. I don't think I can make it in time." Arnold said.
" So…you're not going?" Helga asked again, trying to make sure.
" Yeah, Helga, I'm not going." Arnold said glumly.
" Did you hear that Pheebs?! This is going to be the best party I've ever been too! Coz Football Head is not going!" Helga said as she sneered with excitement.
" Come on, Gerald. I don't want to be late." Arnold said, ignoring Helga's enthusiasm.
-*-
" Rhonda's house sure is big…" Phoebe said in awe, as she stared at the glistening chandeliers that hang from the ceiling.
" Well, I've seen bigger." Helga snorted.
" Well, well, well, I'm so glad you could come. I hope you got me a nice gift…unlike last year, Helga." Rhonda pointed out, as she lead the best of friends to a large room. Sound immediately filled the air, drowning Rhonda's voice.
" You guys look great!" Nadine exclaimed, as she burst out from the dancing crowd.
Helga and Phoebe smiled proudly. They indeed looked fabulous, thanks to Helga's sister, Olga. Instead of their regular school clothes, Phoebe wore dark inidigo flared denims, and a blue sleeveless tank top; and Helga wore black denim flares with a white floral printed halter-top.
After awhile, the party's wildness simmered down a little bit. The DJ was playing some slow songs, as one by one couple's filled the dance floor. Helga smiled faintly as she reluctantly allowed Phoebe to dance with Gerald. Helga scanned around the room, as she stood alone near the wall.
She felt a soft tap on the shoulder. The next thing she knew, Rhonda was dragging her with the rest of the singles to a smaller room.
-*-
She should've known. Rhonda was again beginning to a start a game of truth or dare, as she gathered and made all the singles form a circle. Helga sighed to herself as she unenthusiastically sat down.
" I'm sure you guys all know the rules of this game. It's just simple. Choose between truth or dare." Rhonda reminded, as the people in the room, nodded in agreement.
" Curly, why don't you spin the bottle. We'll see who's the first victim." Rhonda said as Curly obediently spun the bottle. Helga incessantly prayed that the cruel bottle won't give point at her and give her the ticket to lifetime humiliation. The spinning bottle started to slowdown. Watching the bottle spin, made Helga sweat a little bit. Slowly…the bottle pointed at…
" HELGA!!!!" Everybody shouted in excitement.
" Okay, Helga. Truth or dare?" Rhonda asked, as she raised an eyebrow at her.
Helga sat there thinking for awhile. 'I could say dare…but…there's no one actually worth kissing here! Knowing that's what Rhonda always says when it's a dare…if I say truth… there are about 20 persons in here who'll give me my life's agony…but …'
" Helga, we don't exactly have a whole day for you, you know." Nadine said impatiently. Helga looked at her and then to the rest of the crowd that was looking at her, waiting for her answer.
" TRUTH!" Helga finally let out.
" All right!" The crowd cheered.
" I want to ask something…" Brainy said timidly.
' NO! Not him! He knows something about my feelings for Arnold! Oh no!' Helga thought.
" I hear…that you're madly in love with a certain guy in, P.S. 118…" Brainy started.
" Oooohhhh….the tough girl's in luuuuuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvv…" Harold teased. The crowd laughed along.
" I hear…that you've written volumes of poetry for that certain guy…and you even have a sort of altar…hidden in the remote areas of your room…" Brainy continued.
" Really Helga? That is quiet shocking to hear…" Rhonda said in amazement.
" Hey! Isn't it that I'm supposed to be the one admitting something here?! Can you just stop it with all those impositions?!" Helga exclaimed. She was going to die if Brainy wasn't going to stop with his interrogation.
" Okay…I just want to know….WHO?" Brainy asked.
" Wh…what do you mean who?" Helga asked nervously, as sweat dripped down her spine.
" You know what we mean, Helga…who's the one you're so madly in love with?" Rhonda asked.
Helga's knees turned to jelly. She wished that she could turn back the hands of time, before the whole game started. She looked around the room. Eyes were glaring at her, pushing and pressuring her to tell the truth. She couldn't take it anymore, another minute and she'd probably burst into inexistence.
Helga took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly. " ALL RIGHT ALREADY! Stop it with the staring! I can't take it anymore! It' ARNOLD, ok?! I am madly and over-the-top-out-of-the-baseball-arena-beyond-earth- stretching-towards-the-whole-universe in love with ARNOLD!" Helga confessed.
Instead of cheering, as she opened her eyes, the crowd was staring way past her. She looked behind her towards where they were staring…it was Arnold, standing behind her. He was standing in total shock, hearing every word she said.
by naTALAya
Prologue: The confession
" I'm not going to this stupid party!" Helga told her bestfriend as she closed her own locker with a bang. Phoebe winced at the loud sound that cracked her eardrums, and slightly moved away to avoid Helga's blond gold pigtails that almost slapped straight at her.
" Helga! You have to! Almost everyone's going to be there! And it's Rhonda's birthday anyway!" Phoebe further insisted in Helga's stubborn mind. It was Wednesday and Rhonda has been handing out her party invitations at the start of the week, to almost all the popular kids at P.S. 118.
Phoebe had a hunch on Helga's reason for thinking twice, whether or not she should go to Rhonda's birthday parties.
" It's those stupid games that Rhonda always tries to initiate!" Helga whined. Both were walking down the hallway towards their first class.
" It's not stupid Helga. In fact, I find them…exciting!" Phoebe exclaimed.
Helga snorted. " Hmph, yeah right! And since when, did you find truth or dare exciting?!" Helga asked.
Phoebe smiled to herself, reminiscing the time that Gerald was dared to kiss her. It was one of the happiest moments of her life…of course, no one had to know about her feelings on the incident.
" AAAAgghh!" Helga gagged, at the sight of her bestfriend smiling dreamily over a reason she knew perfectly well of. " Here we go again! Haven't you played that scene enough?! You've been daydreaming about it for almost ten thousand times!"
" You're exaggerating Helga." Phoebe pointed out.
" Look! For Pete's sake! Criminy! We're fourth graders! We're too young to be playing those kinds of stuff! Besides playing truth or dare can be pretty embarrassing! Talk about the Rhonda experience!"
" I guess you're right…" Phoebe nodded as she remembered. It was the same party last year, where Sid admitted to almost everyone in P.S. 118 that he had a crush on Rhonda.
" I mean, God! If I was in Rhonda's place I'd melt in to a state of yuckiness!"
" Yeah, but what would you do, if you were in Sid's place?" Phoebe asked, with one eyebrow raised, emphasizing the torture in Helga's answering.
Helga looked at her bestfriend, and immediately looked away, refusing to answer the question.
" I swear Phoebe! I am never going to do that! Ever! It would cost my pride and my reputation! Who would think, that me, Helga Pataki, the toughest kid in school…next to Harold, would have an immense passion and desire for the football headed kid…..Arnold?!" Helga cried out.
" Yeah…..who would think that? You'd be talk of the town for the whole P.S. 118 History. Your story….handed down from fourth grader to incoming fourth grader…" Phoebe teased.
" Exactly! I don't want to be tormented for my whole life…beyond death even! I may want to leave a legend…but not that LEGEND!"
" As you wish…" Phoebe said, submissively nodding to Helga.
" That's why I'm not going to Rhonda's party!"
" What?! Helga, you could just say no, if you don't want to."
" Yeah right, Pheebs! As if she'd let that pass!…I'm telling you, Pheebs, I'm only going if that football head Baldwin's not gonna go. That way, I'd probably live through the anguish of admitting to almost everyone in school, compared to confessing my deepest darkest secret to Arnold himself." Helga insisted firmly.
" Okay, Helga. I guess you better ask him…cause here he comes." Phoebe warned.
" OUCH!" Helga exclaimed, obviously caught unaware with Arnold's appearance.
" Sorry, Helga." Arnold apologized timidly, picking up, Rhonda's party invitation.
" Watch where you're going, freak of nature!" Helga exclaimed, as she noticed the envelope that Arnold picked up from the floor.
" Hi, Arnold. Hi Gerald…" Phoebe greeted shyly.
" Hi Pheebs…you're looking great today." Gerald commented. Phoebe immediately tried to cover with her books, the imminent blush on her cheeks.
" So, you guys going to Rhonda's party?" Helga asked casually.
" Sure will, I wouldn't miss it again would I?" Gerald said, as he smiled at Phoebe. Phoebe's cheeks flushed more than ever. Helga looked at Arnold waiting for an answer.
" Well…I'm really not so sure. Grandma arranged a Karate lesson for both of us. I don't think I can make it in time." Arnold said.
" So…you're not going?" Helga asked again, trying to make sure.
" Yeah, Helga, I'm not going." Arnold said glumly.
" Did you hear that Pheebs?! This is going to be the best party I've ever been too! Coz Football Head is not going!" Helga said as she sneered with excitement.
" Come on, Gerald. I don't want to be late." Arnold said, ignoring Helga's enthusiasm.
-*-
" Rhonda's house sure is big…" Phoebe said in awe, as she stared at the glistening chandeliers that hang from the ceiling.
" Well, I've seen bigger." Helga snorted.
" Well, well, well, I'm so glad you could come. I hope you got me a nice gift…unlike last year, Helga." Rhonda pointed out, as she lead the best of friends to a large room. Sound immediately filled the air, drowning Rhonda's voice.
" You guys look great!" Nadine exclaimed, as she burst out from the dancing crowd.
Helga and Phoebe smiled proudly. They indeed looked fabulous, thanks to Helga's sister, Olga. Instead of their regular school clothes, Phoebe wore dark inidigo flared denims, and a blue sleeveless tank top; and Helga wore black denim flares with a white floral printed halter-top.
After awhile, the party's wildness simmered down a little bit. The DJ was playing some slow songs, as one by one couple's filled the dance floor. Helga smiled faintly as she reluctantly allowed Phoebe to dance with Gerald. Helga scanned around the room, as she stood alone near the wall.
She felt a soft tap on the shoulder. The next thing she knew, Rhonda was dragging her with the rest of the singles to a smaller room.
-*-
She should've known. Rhonda was again beginning to a start a game of truth or dare, as she gathered and made all the singles form a circle. Helga sighed to herself as she unenthusiastically sat down.
" I'm sure you guys all know the rules of this game. It's just simple. Choose between truth or dare." Rhonda reminded, as the people in the room, nodded in agreement.
" Curly, why don't you spin the bottle. We'll see who's the first victim." Rhonda said as Curly obediently spun the bottle. Helga incessantly prayed that the cruel bottle won't give point at her and give her the ticket to lifetime humiliation. The spinning bottle started to slowdown. Watching the bottle spin, made Helga sweat a little bit. Slowly…the bottle pointed at…
" HELGA!!!!" Everybody shouted in excitement.
" Okay, Helga. Truth or dare?" Rhonda asked, as she raised an eyebrow at her.
Helga sat there thinking for awhile. 'I could say dare…but…there's no one actually worth kissing here! Knowing that's what Rhonda always says when it's a dare…if I say truth… there are about 20 persons in here who'll give me my life's agony…but …'
" Helga, we don't exactly have a whole day for you, you know." Nadine said impatiently. Helga looked at her and then to the rest of the crowd that was looking at her, waiting for her answer.
" TRUTH!" Helga finally let out.
" All right!" The crowd cheered.
" I want to ask something…" Brainy said timidly.
' NO! Not him! He knows something about my feelings for Arnold! Oh no!' Helga thought.
" I hear…that you're madly in love with a certain guy in, P.S. 118…" Brainy started.
" Oooohhhh….the tough girl's in luuuuuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvv…" Harold teased. The crowd laughed along.
" I hear…that you've written volumes of poetry for that certain guy…and you even have a sort of altar…hidden in the remote areas of your room…" Brainy continued.
" Really Helga? That is quiet shocking to hear…" Rhonda said in amazement.
" Hey! Isn't it that I'm supposed to be the one admitting something here?! Can you just stop it with all those impositions?!" Helga exclaimed. She was going to die if Brainy wasn't going to stop with his interrogation.
" Okay…I just want to know….WHO?" Brainy asked.
" Wh…what do you mean who?" Helga asked nervously, as sweat dripped down her spine.
" You know what we mean, Helga…who's the one you're so madly in love with?" Rhonda asked.
Helga's knees turned to jelly. She wished that she could turn back the hands of time, before the whole game started. She looked around the room. Eyes were glaring at her, pushing and pressuring her to tell the truth. She couldn't take it anymore, another minute and she'd probably burst into inexistence.
Helga took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly. " ALL RIGHT ALREADY! Stop it with the staring! I can't take it anymore! It' ARNOLD, ok?! I am madly and over-the-top-out-of-the-baseball-arena-beyond-earth- stretching-towards-the-whole-universe in love with ARNOLD!" Helga confessed.
Instead of cheering, as she opened her eyes, the crowd was staring way past her. She looked behind her towards where they were staring…it was Arnold, standing behind her. He was standing in total shock, hearing every word she said.