This Hey Arnold story, I, er... recently thought up during my writer's block. Give it a look, if you must...
"Hey Arnold!"
Arnold shook his head a bit as he turned to see Gerald, looking through the books. "What is it, Gerald? Did you find something for our history project?"
"Eh, sort of. But take a listen to this..." Gerald said as he read the segment of the book on Egypt. "According to the book, many sultans, when ruling, always gathered a group of girls he liked in particular... and made them all their wives."
"One sultan and a group of girls, married? That sounds..." Arnold raised an eyebrow.
"Ridiculous? Yeah, I know, man, it's nuts!" Gerald said as he put the book aside.
Arnold gave a bit of a toothy grin towards Gerald. Those two were paired up together to do a school project based on a country and the history of the country. For their country, they were given Egypt, and right after school, the two of them were at the library as they were working on the project right now. Gerald was looking through a lot of books as Arnold was writing them down.
"But why would a sultan want a lot of girls? Wouldn't he be just satisfied with one girl he truly loves?" Arnold asked.
"Well... according to this, a sultan can do that, choose one girl from a harem that he loves, and make them sultana, yet sultans still keep the harem mainly for... special purposes." Gerald said.
"Special... purposes? I don't know if I'm... comfortable with that." Arnold said.
"Arnold, my man, imagine yourself for a moment... you, my friend, are a ladies man... albeit so-so on the flirting department, but girls find you attractive!" Gerald smiled.
"Really?" Arnold raised an eyebrow in interest.
"Hm mm! Why, if you had a say in this... I bet you can have any girl follow you, kiss them, date them..." Gerald sighed. "You know, the whole shebang!"
"Gerald, as... uh..." Arnold paused as he thought about the idea for a moment. "As much of an interesting idea as a... 'harem' would be, I don't think I could handle all these girls..."
"Oh no?" Gerald raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Just watch, Arnold. I'm sure the girls are talking about how cute and irresistible you are!"
"...I'm sure they have better things to talk about than me, Gerald." Arnold said, continuing the project.
"Sorry to complain to you, Helga, but I think we have better things to talk about than Arnold... and how you think the 'football head' should stay away from you if he knows what's good for him." Rhonda rolled her eyes as she, Helga, Phoebe, Lila and Nadine were sitting in Rhonda's room.
"Yeah, whatever." Helga frowned. "Just why did you call us here?"
"Well... as Phoebe may have filled you in on this, Helga, we all agree to the matter that... well..." Rhonda blushed. "Out of all the boys of PS 118, Arnold is a very attractive guy."
"So?" Helga raised an eyebrow as she turned to Phoebe.
"So, there's no mistake about it." Lila smiled. "He's mature, he's nice, he's always ever so caring about everyone... he's the perfect man."
Helga raised an eyebrow as she turned to Lila. "Really? You always seem to reject him a lot of times, as I recall..."
"Maybe in some other world, in some other time, I'd probably get together with him... but as I've said, I-" Lila started.
"Oh, do not deny it, Lila!" Rhonda said. "We're all here because... in some way, shape or form... we all have a crush on Arnold."
"Wait... what?" Helga shook her head in shock as Lila, Nadine, Phoebe, and Rhonda blushed and smiled. "Wait, are you telling me that all of you have your eyes on Arnold? Rhonda, Nadine... LILA? And... and et tu, Phoebe? What about Gerald?"
"Gerald's a nice guy, Helga, sure... but let's face it, he never sticks around with one girl... Arnold on the other hand, is proven to be a very loyal guy..." Phoebe giggled. "I wouldn't mind going out on a date with him..."
"I always showed a bit of an interest in Arnold, ever since he thanked me of curing him of his arachnophobia." Nadine smiled. "He always says I'm an odd, but very unique girl in several ways..."
"I always thought Arnold was pretty hot... and pretty cute in his own way. You know, I always dreamed about an opportunity of being Arnold's... girlfriend..." Rhonda gave a slight giggle.
"And... I'm not one to admit it... but even without him being pushy and all... Arnold is still a fun person, and he's ever so sweet." Lila blushed.
Helga rolled her eyes... before realizing that all eyes were looking straight at her. "What?"
"You've been around Arnold more, Helga dear. Don't deny it, you think he's cute." Rhonda smirked.
"Wh-what?" Helga yelped. "What is this, an intervention? I don't like Arnold! I can't even stand the sight of him!" Helga yelled as Rhonda, Nadine, Phoebe and Lila raised their eyebrows.
A brief silence occurred as Helga still felt the eyes piercing into her body... before sighing. "Okay, okay, maybe, in my mind, I do believe that Arnold is... for lack of a better term... cute."
"There you go!" All the girls smiled as Phoebe smiled.
"What's the big deal, though? It's not like we can hold a contest to see which girl he likes the most of us!" Helga frowned... then yelped as he noticed the girls' eyes lighten up. "I probably shouldn't have said that..."
"It's settled then... one day every day this week, one of us will go out with Arnold on a date... and we'll see how he... reacts to us, each day... by the sixth day, we'll all confess to him we set up every date just to wonder which of us he likes more." Rhonda smiled.
"What'll happen if he chooses one?" Phoebe asked. "What about the other four?"
"Well, to the victor goes the spoils, I suppose..." Rhonda said. "But I'm sure we'll cross that bridge when we get there..."
"So, what, do we spy on the date?" Helga asked.
"No, Helga. We're going to have the date as normal, no sabotage, nothing. The only rule to each date is that, at the end of the date, one of us girls has to initiate a kiss with Arnold." Rhonda said.
"A kiss?" Helga yelped, and Lila, Phoebe and Nadine looked up in surprise at the same time.
"Of course. It is only fair. Does anyone oppose?" Rhonda asked as all five girls looked at each other. "None of you? Well... I'm already settling on this idea..."
"So am I!" Nadine smiled.
"Gosh, after all the times I refused Arnold, I never would have thought I'd actually do one date with him..." Lila smiled. "But I'll do it."
"So will I!" Phoebe giggled as everyone turned to Helga.
Helga looked at all four girls... then gave a smile. "All right, I'm in! But just so you know, my date with Arnold will blow ALL your other dates out of the water!"
"We shall see, Helga, we shall see..." Rhonda smiled as all five girls huddled closely, arranging their plans.
"Well, I'll see you sometime. Fortunately, spring break is a good week..." Arnold smiled as Gerald dropped him off at home.
"See you later, man!" Gerald said as he walked off.
Feeling satisfied, Arnold went inside the boarding house, said hello to his grandparents in passing as he walked up to the room, sighing about the project he had done.
"Boy... what a day..." Arnold sighed... then smirked. "Heh, a harem... imagine that idea... I don't think anybody I know has a harem... and even then, why would I have one? It sounds... odd..."
As Arnold was pulling his books out, he heard the phone ringing. Arnold paused as he walked over and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hello, Arnold?" A familiar voice asked.
"L-Lila? Is that you?" Arnold said in surprise. "You actually decided to call me?"
Arnold stood there, giving a major blush as he heard Lila's sweet, soothing voice over the phone as Lila coughed, "Uh, yes. I hope I'm not interrupting anything too important."
"N-no, no, I just got back home, in fact. What's on your mind?" Arnold asked, wondering.
"Well, Arnold, I was wondering if you can do me a favor on Monday... as you know, spring break is coming up, and my father, well... he's kind of working all day on Monday, so, I'll be alone at my house..." Lila explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Arnold looked down... then his eyes brightened, getting an idea. "Do you want me to come over to your house Monday? M-maybe we can do something together?"
"Gosh, would you? It would be ever so wonderful to have some company." Lila's voice gave a sigh of relief.
"It's no trouble at all! How about I meet you at your place at 9 in the morning, would that work?" Arnold asked.
"Sure!" Lila smiled. "I think that'll work!"
"Great! I'll see you on Monday then, Lila!" Arnold smiled.
"See you later, Arnold!" Lila smiled as the phone hung up.
Arnold gave a big smile as he couldn't believe what had just happened. Lila just talked to him, HIM on the phone. And she actually agreed to go on a date with him. He thought this was a perfect opportunity, it could possibly mean that, if pulled with the right moves, Lila could actually like like him back! He couldn't wait for Mon-
The phone rang again as Arnold paused. He picked it up. "Hello?"
"Arnold, there you are!" A familiar voice sounded.
"Nadine?" Arnold asked in confusion. "What's going on? Did you get into another argument with Rhonda again?"
"No, no, nothing of the sort this time..." Nadine laughed. "But unfortunately, it does involve Rhonda. You see, she promised she'd attend a small bug catching convention with me... but wouldn't you know it, her parents are planning on taking her to a party that day."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Arnold sighed. "And we all KNOW Rhonda has to simply attend."
"Yeah... anyway, I needed a partner, and I randomly thought of you. So, I was wondering, if it was all right with you, could you attend that bug catching convention with me Tuesday?"
"Tuesday? Well... sure, I don't have anything to do on Tuesday. I do have plans for Monday, but that's it." Arnold said. "So... sure, Nadine. I wouldn't mind coming over on Tuesday."
"Great! The bug convention is at the park, and it starts at noon! I'll meet you by the entrance!" Nadine smiled.
"See you later, Nadine!" Arnold smiled as he hung up the phone. Arnold scratched his head as he paused. Lila on Monday... and Nadine on Tuesday... wow. Well, Arnold was used to Nadine's quirkiness, so he was more than happy to attend something with her... but his main mind was back on Lila, wondering if she...
The phone rang again as Arnold looked over at it. Arnold picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Arnold, darling! I'm so glad you picked up!" a familiar voice said through the phone.
"Oh, hey Rhonda." Arnold smiled. "What's going on?"
"It's just simply terrible. See, I was trying to experiment with new clothing combinations, when I just remembered, I didn't have a person to help compare!" Rhonda said.
"What about Nadine?" Arnold asked.
"No, I specifically need a boy for the job, Arnold. See, I need my female costume ideas to go with the male costume ideas that I have in mind! It just doesn't work without the male demographic..." Rhonda gave a sigh.
"...And I suppose you... want my help?" Arnold asked.
"Oh, would you help me? I'd greatly appreciate it, Arnold. I'm free on Wednesday, and I'll meet you by my house at ten AM. Don't be late."
"What? I-" Arnold started before Rhonda hung up. Arnold hung up the phone as he sighed. Okay, now he's busy on Wednesday with Rhonda... that's fine...
Arnold heard the phone ring as he picked up. "Hello?"
"Hello, Arnold." A familiar, timid voice was heard on the phone as Arnold relaxed.
"Oh, hey Phoebe. Is everything okay?" Arnold asked.
"Everything's fine, except for one thing. I need your help on Thursday." Phoebe explained.
"You need my help on Thursday? How?" Arnold asked.
"Well... I need your help with the perfect science experiment, and I need you to be my test subject!" Phoebe said. "Please, nobody else wants to do it!"
"I don't know..." Arnold said... then sighed. "All right, I guess I can come over on Thursday."
"Great! See you then!" Phoebe said before hanging up.
Arnold frowned as he held his head, as if having a headache. He decided that the next person that was calling for a favor, he had to turn down. Immediately, the phone rang as Arnold frowned. "I don't know who this is, but-"
"Hey, football head."
"HELGA!" Arnold yelped, realizing who this was on the phone.
"Yeah, hi. Listen, I know I don't usually call, but... look, I have two tickets to a wrestling competition, and nobody else wants to come with me, and you're my last hope! If you don't say yes to this, you will regret it." Helga threatened.
Arnold paused, looking down. He wanted to say no, but at the same time, he knew he would invoke the wrath of a mad Helga. He sighed as he said, "All right, I don't have anything on Friday, guess I'll go."
"All right, fine. See you at the boarding house Friday at five, football head." Helga said as she hung up the phone.
Arnold just dropped the phone as he couldn't believe what was going on... Lila on Monday, Nadine on Tuesday, Rhonda on Wednesday, Phoebe on Thursday and Helga on Friday...
Arnold held his head, fainting on the bed. This was going to be an interesting spring break...
First chapter is done, and next time, we'll begin with Arnold's date with Lila! Read and review!