**A/N: Rated T for Teen due to mild suggestive sexual themes. I tried to be realistic with teenagers, but still more-or-less clean...
I know this isn't the update everyone was hoping for after such a long hiatus, but at least I'm back to writing, right? Anyway, I wrote this as a birthday gift for BrokenRose24! Happy birthday, girl! I hope it was fun! Anyway, the day before her birthday I found out about it and wanted to make her something. I suck at drawing, and so I wanted to write her something instead. I was inspired by her drawing "I Thought You Like Redheads" on DeviantArt. I'll try to put the link to the fanart below...
I was instantly hit by the backstory she came up with for the picture and I wanted to delve more in to it for a one-shot. My only issue was that I had about 24hours to write the story in (basically her birthday itself), and I had TONS of stuff to do. Essentially, I only had about seven hours to write in so the ending is a bit abrupt. I might go back to fix that...
DISCLAIMER TIME:
Hey Arnold! and its franchise are owned by Nickelodeon and remain the intellectual property of Craig Bartlett. I do not own any of the used characters or locations.**
ONE-SHOT
"Helga! Over here!" Phoebe waved down her best friend. A sly grin crept across her lips.
Helga still hadn't woken up fully and stumbled zombie-like on to the high school grounds. Running on auto-pilot, she headed towards the half-asian's voice.
Phoebe sat on the school's main entrance steps. The rest of the girls they grew up with were starting to gather around as well. Over the years, as Helga softened up a little, she ended up becoming more and more "one of the girls". It also meant that she was less and less "one of the guys", but Helga felt comfortable that she found a happy medium between the two groups.
Helga sat beside Phoebe as she waited for the school bell to ring. Typically, everyone gathered about ten minutes before school started – just to get in their morning hellos as well as hear the latest gossip before classes began. Helga was having a harder and harder time getting to sleep at night, though, and so she actually hated getting up early enough to continue the pre-school tradition.
Phoebe's grin slowly grew as anticipation visibly increased across the girl's face. The half-asleep Helga didn't notice the Cheshire-cat grin and instead concentrated on the coffee-filled travel mug in her hands. Phoebe cleared her throat in an attempt to grab Helga's attention, but the blonde was too focused on the warm caffeine as it slid down her throat – hoping it would wake her up before she stared the day in trigonometry.
"Helga?" Phoebe was starting to get antsy.
With a grumble, Helga rocked her head towards Phoebe. "Hmm? Whaja want, Pheebs?"
Phoebe bit her lower lip as if she had the best secret in the world. Helga feared for a second that Phoebe was going to show off a diamond ring or a sonogram at any moment. Instead, Phoebe casually tucked some of her shoulder-length, ebony hair behind her ear. When she did Helga knew exactly what was so exciting to the petite girl. Hidden under the top layer of hair, Phoebe had electric blue streaks throughout her locks. Admittedly, it did look pretty cool, and Helga did like how it gave Phoebe a kind of punk rocker look. However, it just seemed odd that Phoebe would dye her hair at all. Let alone dye it such an unnatural color.
Helga's eyes grew wide, "Phoebe! What on earth?" She was definitely awake now.
Phoebe withdrew and untucked her hair. The playful grin ran away from her lips, "Does it look that bad?"
Taken aback, Helga quickly recovered, "No! No, I just- It was just a bit of a surprise, is all. I wouldn't have expected you to dye your hair." Helga lowered her voice and leaned in so Phoebe was the only one who could hear her, "I mean; we're not as vain as these other girls."
Helga motioned with her eyes. All of the other girls in their grade had done some sort of hair dye job recently. Rhonda, of course, started the trend by lightening her hair to more of a honey-brown color with blonde highlights. She then talked Nadine in to darkening her hair to better match her complexion. Then Helga's doppelganger Gloria started perming her hair and adding high- and lowlights to her blonde hair. Katrinka added red to her hair, for more of an auburn look. One of the shier girls in their grade Mary started lightening her hair to more of a dirty-blonde. Even Patty dyed her hair to a deep, almost mahogany red. In fact, when it wasn't hit by sunlight, Patty's dark hair color almost looked purpleish-red.
The only other person Helga saw with streaks like Phoebe's, however, was Sheena. She wanted to help promote homosexual tolerance, and so a month ago she put rainbow streaks through her hair. She said she liked how the green looked in her hair, and so after the temporary hair dye washed out three days later Sheena put the green streaks back in with semi-permanent dye.
Now the only girls who hadn't dyed their hair were Helga and Lila. With Phoebe now joining the crowd Helga felt a little betrayed.
Phoebe followed Helga's gaze and pouted a little about the vanity comment. Clearing her throat, Phoebe sat proud and upright. "Well, dying one's hair is a harmless form of rebellion as well as reasonably easy means of self-expression. It is only natural that it is so openly accepted by the questioning pubescent youth. We're searching for ourselves and our own individuality and one's hair color can help either develop this individuality or help solidify unity with a larger group. Therefore, I'm not ashamed with my decision nor do I feel it has any weight when it comes to a question of vanity." Phoebe removed her glasses and casually cleaned off her lenses with the hem of her shirt. With a coy smile she winked at Helga and added, "plus, the fact that Gerald seems to like it doesn't hurt matters."
"Wait, Gerald saw this already?" Helga brushed back Phoebe's hair to again reveal the blue streaks.
Phoebe giggled and put her glasses back on. "We went to the mall the other day and there was this store that had hair extension clips. We were talking about Sheena's green hair and we happened to find a set of extensions with the same shade. Just for fun, I decided to try them. We went through a gauntlet of colors, but Gerald's eyes lit up when I put the blue in to my hair. He wouldn't stop telling me how good I looked with them in. So after some debate I finally decided last night to go ahead and put the blue streaks in my hair. I hope he still likes it now that it's actual hairdye."
Helga huffed air out of her nose, like a bull readying for a charge. Trying to get in to an impartial mindset, she stared at Phoebe's streaked hair. The electric blue really did look good nestled in the jet-black hair, and since Phoebe still typically wore blue just made her hair pop more. She thought it before, and she just couldn't shake the idea. Phoebe looked boss with the streaks.
With a soft, reluctant smile Helga finally told Phoebe, "Gerald would be a blind moron to not find you hot with that hair." The goofy, 'ate the canary' smile sprinted back across Phoebe's mouth as she hugged Helga tight.
Throughout the day Helga did catch glimpses of Gerald with his hands all over Phoebe, constantly whispering in her ear and making her blush and giggle. It was a little disturbing to see in the middle of school, but at the same time it was adorable. Plus, Helga wished Arnold would do the same thing.
They had been dating for a little while now. The relationship was still fun and new, but they were getting comfortable with each other – a little too comfortable. Arnold was sweet and reserved. He preferred cuddling on the couch and holding hands in public. She would try straddling him and start a make-out session, but more often than not the boy would just blush and giggle nervously. There would be no way Arnold would be all over her, whispering dirty things in her ear. Not like Gerald was with Phoebe anyway.
Arnold and Helga ended up walking home alone that day. Gerald had offered to drive them home, but with the way he and Phoebe were still eyeing each other up, Helga and Arnold figured the two would rather some alone time. Although both were trying to block out any mental images of what the couple could do once alone.
Yearning Arnold's touch even more after watching her best friend get fondled, Helga abruptly grabbed Arnold and yanked him in to the passing alleyway. Whipping him against the wall, she pressed up against him and gently nibbled his lower lip. She pressed harder for a deep kiss, running her fingers through Arnold's hair. As usual, Arnold's face started burning as he blushed. With an awkward look away, Arnold pushed Helga off of him.
"What the hell?" Helga sighed with sexual frustration tainting her words.
Arnold couldn't look Helga in the eye. Instead, he shrugged his bookbag back on, "You know how I feel about that stuff."
"Come on, you're telling me you've watched Gerald creepin' on Phoebe all day and you don't want to do a little of that with your girlfriend?"
Arnold blushed even more, "We – um - we should probably head home."
Helga huffed, "You don't find me sexy, do you?"
Arnold turned to her, shocked by the question. He looked her up and down and cocked his head slightly to the side. With a knowing sigh he pulled her in to him, holding her tight and cradling her head on his shoulder. "How can you ask me that, Helga? You know that I love you deeply. You're my world."
"That didn't answer my question, Football Head," she responded matter-of-factly.
Still avoiding the question, Arnold simply kissed her on the forehead. "There, can we head out now?"
Helga rolled her eyes. Arnold had as much sex-drive as a Quaker. She gave up trying to seduce him in the alley and begrudgingly took his hand. As they walked to the Sunset Arms Helga pretended to be content with the hand holding and the occasional kiss on the cheek.
Later that night Helga had a knock on her bedroom door. "Baby sister?" Olga's airy voice crept through the wood. "I'm running to the store, do you want to come with?" Over the years the two Pataki sisters actually started to become close. The older they got the less the large age difference seemed to matter. Plus, Olga eased up on her pursuit for perfection, which helped lessen how much she annoyed Helga. They were far from best friends, but at least Helga no longer cringed at the thought of spending time with her older sister.
Helga really didn't have anything else to do that night, and she needed the new issue of Wrestlers Monthly anyway, so she agreed to go to the store. After college, Olga was talked in to being an extra for a movie that was filming near her house. She had a great time while on set, and quickly fell in love with the idea of being a professional actress. She still loved the idea of teaching, and planned on falling back to that career when she was older, but she wanted to try out acting first. This particular excursion to the grocery store was part of Olga's latest try-out preparation. A local playhouse was doing a production of Snow White, and so Olga wanted to pick up black hairdye to better look the part.
Helga moaned and rolled her eyes as she followed her sister in to the hair care aisle. "Apparently I'm the only one not changing my hair color lately," she mumbled to herself. While Olga compared the dye from a couple of differing brands, Helga lazily glanced the selection.
She did a double-take when she spotted a box of red hairdye out of the corner of her eye. The girl on the box had freckles and at first glance appeared to be Lila. Helga scooped the box off the shelf in order to get a closer look. She chuckled a little when she realized that the model was indeed not her classmate, and put the box back. When doing so she spotted another box for auburn dye. This time the model reminded her of Ruth McDougal.
Helga gave another little chuckle. She hadn't thought of Arnold's old crush since they were in fourth grade. It was odd that she'd think of Ruth all of a sudden like that.
Having decided on which brand to buy, Olga walked over to her sister and gave her a nudge with her hip. "Oh, Helga, are you going to dye your hair as well?" With a squeal she grabbed Helga's hand, "We could have a dying party tonight!"
"Yeah, one of us would definitely be dying," Helga mumbled, motioning a stab to her side. Olga didn't notice; she was already scanning the hair color.
"Which color were you looking at?" Olga tried to follow Helga's gaze, "Oh, the red? Hmm, my baby sister as a redhead." She picked up a box of vibrant, cherry red dye and held it against Helga's face, gaging how well it would look on her.
Helga swatted the box away from her face and stepped away. "Oh, yeah," she sarcastically responded, "I would just love to be a redhead." Her eye caught the color Olga was holding and the images of Lila and Ruth again shot through her head. Again she wondered why Arnold's old crushes all of a sudden came to mind. Then she thought of Phoebe and Gerald earlier that day, and Phoebe's comment about how Gerald liked her hair dyed.
Maybe that was Arnold's problem. Sure, he loved Helga. He fell in love with her personality and intelligence and her loyalty to him. He fell in love with all the important parts of her. He loved her for all the right reasons. Did that necessarily mean that he was turned on by her? Sure, he was attracted to her; most people are attracted to the person they love. But did that attraction equate desire? What if the thing they needed to spice up their relationship again was for Helga to not be a blonde. Arnold's past long-term crushes were redheads, so perhaps that was his "type".
With new resolve, Helga snatched the box of hair dye out of her sister's hand and rushed her to the check-out. Olga wanted a hair coloring party? Well that's what they'll do.
The alarm went off at five in the morning. Unlike most days, Helga nearly leapt out of bed as the buzzer sounded. She was like a kid on Christmas morning, wide awake and filled with anticipation. She now understood how Phoebe felt the day before.
She rushed around her room, trying to find the perfect outfit to showcase her new hair. A new look meant a new attitude. Nothing too over the top, she still had to be her in the long-run. But she just didn't feel right wearing her normal T-shirt, jeans, and tattered baseball cap.
Today called for a dress. Nothing too fancy, though. Sort of like when she was a kid; running around in a dress, but still perfectly tomboyish. With a little bit of digging through her closet – discarded clothes thrown across the floor – Helga felt she found the perfect outfit.
She adjusted herself in the mirror and rushed downstairs to quickly have breakfast and finish getting ready for school. She was surprised to discover that Olga wasn't even awake yet. Maybe she gave herself a little too much time to get ready for her big reveal.
"Hey, Short Man," Grandpa Phil called up to Arnold, "I think your friend Lila is outside waiting for you."
"Lila?" Arnold pulled his customary plaid shirt over his white tank. As he reached the bottom step his grandfather handed him a Pop-Tart to eat as he walked to school.
"Yeah, that redhead you used to be all gah-gah over in elementary school, right?"
Arnold blushed, "Um, yeah, that would be Lila. But why would she be waiting for me? We're about ten minutes out of her way to school."
"Ah," Phil nudged Arnold in the rib with his elbow, "maybe someone has a couple of girls fighting over him."
"No, Grandpa. It's not like that with Lila." Arnold huffed and popped the Pop-Tart in his mouth so he could tie his shoes.
"Whatever you say, Don Juan," Grandpa laughed, "Just be careful with Helga's feelings. She's feisty, that one!"
"Thanks, Grandpa, I'll keep that in mind," Arnold rolled his eyes, "See ya later." Just before going out the door he shouted goodbyes to his grandmother and his parents.
Arnold closed the door behind him without truly paying attention to the girl leaning against the banister at the bottom of his steps. Once he finely paid her heed he noticed something was off. The girl at his stoop wasn't Lila, he knew that for sure.
She didn't have Lila's refined posture. Her skin was a little darker than Lila's Irish-pale complexion. The long, flowing, red hair was tucked behind a sort of billy-goat ear with piercings – and Lila didn't have anything pierced. The shade of red was off too. Arnold knew for a fact that this girl wasn't Lila Sawyer, but what other redheads did Arnold know?
He was intrigued by this girl. She looked amazing as she leaned against his stoop. Her strapped, pink dress elegantly draped across her – pulling in enough to show of the girl's curves, but still flowed enough to be a casual sundress. She didn't have Lila's refined posture, but instead possessed an alluring and seductive stance; one leg straight out, supporting her weight, and the other curled so her foot rested against the front of the banister. The red hair was richer and more vibrant than any shade he had ever seen, but at the same time he couldn't tell for certain that it wasn't natural. She was hands-down gorgeous, and he felt guilty ogling her.
He needed to know who this was, "Um, excuse me?"
The girl's back straightened with a start. She pushed herself off of the cement half-wall around Arnold's stoop and slowly pivoted.
Instantly, the dress seemed familiar to him – all it missed was the red stripe along the bottom. He knew that he recognized the girl's curves, and the alluring posture, and those adorable billy-goat, pierced ears. Helga, blushing, looked up at Arnold. She nervously bit her lower lip as she awkwardly tried multiple modeling positions, trying to determine the best one to hold for her big reveal.
Arnold gasped as he realized that this seductive, feminine, redheaded girl waiting to walk him to school was his own beloved Helga G. Pataki. She looked amazing, but what on earth did she do to herself?
"Helga?" he squeaked, "What is all this? What's with your hair?"
She nervously combed through it with her fingers, "Well, I-" She shrugged, "I thought since you like redheads, maybe you'll like me even more if I was one, so, um, do you like it?"
Arnold froze. He had no clue how to respond to that. Of course he liked it! She looked amazing! She was hot and he never felt so attracted to her. Yet again, of course he didn't like it! She wasn't the woman he loved! Where was the tomboy, won't cave to peer-pressure, fireball that he grew up with; fell in love with? Why was he so much more turned on by her like this? Why did she feel the need to dye her hair? He wanted to take her on the steps, and wash the dye out of her hair at the same time. He wanted both the blonde and the redhead.
Finally, Arnold snapped out of his shock. "Well, you know-" how to word this, "you didn't have to do this."
Helga grabbed a lock of her hair and stared at it nervously, "Is it that bad? I mean, Olga was the one who did the dye job. She said this color would look great on me! Why did I believe her?"
Arnold raced over to her and grabbed her shoulders to stop her from rambling, "Helga! No! No, it's not bad. It's not bad at all. In fact, it's rather-" He decided against his next statement, "You know I love you no matter how you look, right?"
"Yeah, well, I never really get to see that," she grumbled.
"Helga, I'm just still kinda getting used to how much I care about you. And frankly, I get really nervous around you because you've loved me for so long."
"What?" Helga pushed away from him, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," Arnold scratched at the back of his head, "the thing is that you've loved me for so long. I dunno, I guess I'm afraid that I won't be able to live up to your expectations."
"Really?" It was Helga's turn to be shocked.
"Well, you know you can be pretty intense." Arnold cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Arnold, it's you. You can never disappoint me. I just want to know that you find me sexy."
Arnold smiled sweetly and grabbed Helga by her hips. He then kissed her gently on the lips, "Oh yeah, you're sexy. And I'm not just saying that because of the dress or hair."
"Really?" She leaned back and stared at him with a playfully inquisitive look.
"Of course," Arnold gave her his sexy half-lidded gaze.
"So you don't, ya know, desire me more now? Like this?" She leaned against him.
Arnold blushed, as per usual, and his breathing became labored. His Adam's Apple quivered as he tried to desperately swallow the lump forming in his throat. Lord knows he loved Helga as she was, but he couldn't deny that she was right about the red hair thing. He couldn't help that red hair just seemed more sexy.
"Well, I-" He tried again to swallow, but to no avail, "I- Come on, Helga, that's not a fair question!"
Helga giggled and Arnold's heart leapt. Without further hesitation, he grabbed Helga and pulled her in to his hungry lips. His hands ran through her silky hair. He'd have to remember to tell Helga later that while he was kissing her he couldn't help but imagine her blonde again.
**A/N: I want to say that I totally get the concept BrokenRose24 came up with for the picture! My husband goes WILD with the idea of me with blue or purple hair (full head or streaks). His best friend is the same with pink hair. Something about un-natural hair color for this guys... *shrug* Maybe it's a case of too much anime...
Anyway, I'd also like to state a few things dealing with the "canon" of this story. First - I'm assuming that The Jungle Movie occurred and that Arnold found his parents. Second - I'm assuming The Patakis occurred and that Olga is now pursuing an acting career. Third - All of my stories are supposed to be in the same "universe" and so they all will flow along the same timeline - creating canon for the other stories. I want to state that this was a complete impromptu story for a birthday present, and so none of the events in this story will be considered canon, and therefore will not show up at all in any of my other work.
Again, I know my loyal readers were waiting patiently for half a year almost (dear god!) for an update, and when I get back to posting here it's not even an update on my main story! So sorry guys! I hope this little one-shot is enough to sustain everyone for a few more weeks until I can FINALLY finish up my next chapter (yay!) I should have the new chapter up by the end of the month (yay again!).
So thanks for reading guys and as always, please Con/Crit because it helps me get better!
P.S. - I'm gonna try again with posting the link to BrokenRose's art, but is odd with links... Just remove the spaces and it SHOULD work:
http:/ /brokenrose24 .deviantart .com /art / I-thought-you-like-redheads- 244743593**