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Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, anything associated with it, or anything recognized. The plot is mine.
Nothing Happened:
A Hey Arnold Fanfiction
Chapter 1
Helga's POV:
"Hey Miriam!" I called to my mother. "I'm going out!"
"Oh…okay, Helga," She answered back from the kitchen. "Have fun!"
"I don't know how I can have any fun when Phoebe's busy!" I mumbled to myself.
I had planned to spend Saturday with Phoebe, but some unexpected relatives were coming over and she had some homework that "needed to get done." I didn't see why she couldn't just do her homework, that probably didn't even have to be done by Monday, the following day. Good ol' Phoebs, always working ahead.
I ended up taking a stroll because I had nothing to do and didn't want to be stuck inside with Miriam or Bob. Plus, precious Olga was scheduled to call, and I didn't intend on being home when she did.
As I was walking, looking around for something to do, who did I happen to literally bump into? But—
"Arnold!"
"Helga!"
"You need to learn to watch where you're going football head!" I retorted angrily.
"Sorry, Helga…" Arnold said.
"Jeez! You could kill someone, if you're not careful." I sighed, losing the fire that had previously consumed my heart.
"What's the matter?" Arnold asked.
"What makes you think something's the matter?" I asked, jumping into defense mode.
"You were sighing," Arnold pointed out.
"So? What if I just feel like sighing?"
"Do you?" He asked.
I didn't answer him.
"What are you doing out here anyways football head?"
"What do you mean, Helga?"
"I mean, where's Geraldo? Or Stinky, or Sid or…someone?"
"They're…all busy today," Arnold said with a shrug.
"Phoebe's busy today too," I said quietly.
We gazed at each other for a few minutes.
"Well…since you don't have anything else to do—" Arnold said suddenly.
"Get to it!" I snapped, my patience low, as usual.
"You want to help me clean out the storage room?"
"What?" I asked, not believing my good fortune.
"The storage room. It's my grandparents' room with all this—"
"I know what a storage room is! Criminy!"
"So…do you want to help?" He asked me in a hopeful tone.
"By doing this, I'm not saying that I want to help you…" I struggled to search for a realistic excuse. "I just…don't want to be home all day."
"Whatever you say, Helga," Arnold said with a slight smile.
We walked for a few blocks until we reached Sunset Arms.
A large explosion of a cough suddenly came from my scratchy throat.
"Are you okay?" Arnold asked me, concern evident on his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, despite that I felt another cough coming on.
"Are you sure? Because—"
"I'm fine, Arnold," I insisted, even though I wasn't.
"Okay," Arnold said. "If you're sure."
"I'm sure. Now…come on, I'll bet there's just tons of junk up there waiting for us to clean it."
Arnold smiled at me and nodded his head slightly.
~HA~
We worked for a good hour 'til Arnold's grandma came up with some lunch. It was on a plain tray with two paper plates that consisted of egg sandwiches and Yahoo soda. Not much. But a whole lot more than I would've got if I'd been home with Miriam.
"Thanks," I said with a slight but sincere smile.
She smiled back at me and set the tray on the ground.
Arnold stared at me for a few minutes, confused by my uncharacteristic behavior.
"What?!" I asked self-consciously. "Can't I say thanks?"
Arnold nodded.
"Of course," He said quietly. He took a small sip from his soda, watching me the whole time.
"What is it now?" I uttered. But my voice came out rough and cracked. I swallowed before taking a sip from my own soda.
Arnold looked at me with concern but said nothing.
I stared back at him, somewhat irritated, but also entranced by his eyes. I knew he was sort of in his own little world, so I decided to take advantage of the situation by leaving it alone. I probably wouldn't get too many moments like this again. Moments where I could openly be calm and happy and just enjoy Arnold's company without him suspecting something.
I even almost smiled at him, but another stupid cough decided to come right then. It turned into a coughing fit that lasted a good two minutes. I tried to recapture the moment that had been there, but it was gone.
"We better get back to work," I said, not knowing what else to say. I put my soda back on the tray and started to take something out of a nearby box.
"But Helga, you haven't ate anything," Arnold said. "Aren't you hungry?"
"Not too much," I admitted. "Maybe I'll be hungrier later. Don't sweat it, Arnold."
"I guess…" Arnold said hesitantly. "But you should finish your soda at least."
I sighed. "Okay! I'll drink my soda!" I said with fake enthusiasm. I quickly downed the remainder of the bottle and turned back to Arnold.
"Happy?" I asked.
"Very," Arnold said with a chuckle.
I suddenly began to feel cold and shivered because of this.
"Is it cold in here or what?" I asked suddenly, despite that I could see sunshine pouring through an open window.
"Are you kidding?" Arnold asked as he brushed some sweat from his forehead. "It's steaming in here."
"Says you," I said in a bored tone.
I'm annoyed, but yet…I am also immensely flattered. Arnold—my Arnold—is worried about me. He's checking on me every few minutes, every time I cough, checking to see if I'm okay. Oh Arnold, you're too sweet, too kind for your own good, especially for a mere 15 year old boy. But naturally you are more, much more, than a mere 15 year old boy. You are a boy with—
"Helga?" Arnold asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
"What?"
"What were you looking at?"
"Huh?" Oh no…what was I doing this time?
"You were looking out the window, but I couldn't tell what at."
"Oh…it wasn't anything that good…"
Arnold stared at me and sighed slowly.
"What?" I snapped.
"Nothing, Helga…"
"Hey, short man!" Arnold's grandpa called from downstairs. "Your phone is ringing!"
"Okay, Grandpa!" Arnold called back. "I'll be right back, Helga."
"Yeah…" I said. "Whatever…"
Once he sounded far enough away, I crept out of the room and tiptoed up the stairs to his room.
"So you got your project done?" I heard Arnold ask whoever was on the other end of the call. "That's great!"
Then there was a pause and a shake of the head. "Sorry…I can't come over." Another pause. "Well, I made other plans."
Other plans? He couldn't possibly be talking about...?
"Yeah, just cleaning out the old storage room with Helga."
So he istalking about me….
There was then a splutter of sounds coming from the phone.
"I'm not crazy!" Arnold defended. "She's…"
Then he sighed.
"Okay. Maybe later…" Another pause. "How about five o' clockish? Alright…I'll see you then, Gerald."
So that's who he was talking to! Why didn't I guess that?
I quickly made my way back up the stairs before Arnold could catch me. I acted like I was busy sorting things when he entered the room.
"Who was it?" I asked, acting like I wasn't interested, considering I'd just heard about everything I needed to.
"Just Gerald," Arnold replied. "He wanted to know if I could come and hang out."
"So why didn't you?" I asked, with a raise of my eyebrow.
"Because," Arnold said. "I made plans with you, didn't I?"
I smirked slightly. "You know these aren't official plans, football head."
"Yeah, I know…" He said with a slight smile and a shrug. "But they're still plans."
I shrugged back in reply despite that I was cheering inside.
He wants to keep our plans instead of hang out with Gerald! He wants to be locked up in a hot, stuffy, old room with me!
I glanced over at Arnold who was hunched over peering at the tray.
"You hungry, yet?" He asked.
I shook my head. "Nah…maybe I'll eat it later, okay?"
Arnold nodded.
"Yeah…okay…" he said.
~HA~
Three hours later, it was 4:30 and the storage room was looking pretty good. Arnold and I had cleaned it up so everything was nicely organized, and you could actually walk in the place. The door didn't shut because it'd been pried in a position where it couldn't for so long due to all the junk…but overall I think we did a good job.
We lay down, our backs on the peeling, wood ground.
"Hey, Arnold…?" I asked. My long, blonde hair splayed out behind me, mere inches from Arnold's own beautiful, blonde crown.
"Yeah, Helga?"
"What do we do now?"
"What do you mean, Helga?"
"Criminy, you sure do like saying my name, don't you Arnoldo?" Before Arnold could utter a word, I spoke again in an attempt to redeem myself from my prior outburst.
"…What I mean is? What do we do now? Do we act like…this never happened?"
I could hear Arnold slowly turn from his back to his side.
"No, we can't do that…" Arnold said quietly.
"Then, what?"
"We…act like we've been all day," Arnold said with confidence. "We are friends, Helga—"
"Oh yeah? Says who?"
"I do. We can be friends…and have things still be okay."
"No. No, we can't!"
"Why not?" Arnold asked. He rolled over a little further so that I could feel his gaze on me.
I continued to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling.
"Because…" I said quietly. "I…I wouldn't know what to do then."
"You wouldn't have to do anything…you'd just have to be yourself."
"It's not as easy as it sounds…"
"Sure it is—"
"For you, maybe…but for…me, it's not, so…you better quit trying bucko!"
"Helga…I know you don't really mean that…hasn't this day meant anything to you?"
"Sure it has, Arnold…"
"Then act like it," He said shortly. And with that, Arnold got up from his spot on the floor, his presence growing further and further away.
I couldn't take it.
"Arnold, wait!" I called out to him. I quickly launched my body upward into a sitting position.
"I'm right here, Helga," Arnold said. He was by the door, only a few feet away from me, despite how far the distance had felt.
"Oh…" I said embarrassed. "I thought…"
Arnold then knelt down in front of me, just as I went into another coughing fit. My throat really hurt.
"Helga, you sound really sick," Arnold whispered. He was still kneeling beside me and staring at me with a concerned expression. "I should've sent you home earlier…"
"No, you shouldn't have...because…" I said through another cough. "I had fun today, Arnold."
"I had fun too, Helga," Arnold said with a smile.
He got up and extended his hand in the direction of mine. I took it and he pulled me up.
The walk to my house was a dim blur. I recall passing houses and trees and stuff, but I was so tired and nothing really seemed important. In fact, I was so tired that I could barely keep myself upright. Arnold sort of held onto my hand, gently pulling me along the whole way.
Once we reached my house, I yawned, feeling completely drained.
Arnold reached out to press my doorbell when I stopped him.
"Hey, Arnold…?" I asked through a cough.
"Yeah, Helga?" Arnold asked glancing back at me.
I yawned again, causing my eyes to fill with tears.
"Thanks for inviting me over," I said. "It was really nice getting to hang out with you."
Arnold smiled.
"It was really nice getting to hang out with you too, Helga," He said. "I hope we can do it again sometime."
"Yeah…" I said, too tired to put up my usual front. "Me too…"
Suddenly, the door was opening, and I was climbing stairs-too many stairs-and I was waking up to darkness and stars outside my window. I was safely tucked into my bed without my shoes or socks on.
How did I get here?
I glanced around, trying to find something to help me make sense of how I'd got where I was, when a jagged piece of paper on my nightstand caught my eye. I picked it up and began to read.
Helga,
You were so tired when we got to your house. I didn't want to wake you, so I thought it better for me to bring you up to your bed. I know I said this a lot already, at least it feels that way, but I have to say again that I really had fun today. I hope you feel better and find a good medicine to get rid of your cold.
Your friend,
Arnold
I smiled to myself remembering what Arnold had said earlier.
We can be friends...
And he was right. We could be friends...even if I wanted us to be more, even if my "teasing" came out again, even if I still loved him and wasn't sure if he'd ever love me...we could be friends. And maybe, if I was lucky, one day, we could be even more than that.