Helga had just rolled out of bed. Downstairs she could hear the grand piano playing loudly. She glanced over to her clock, which read 7:00 AM.

"Why didn't mommy and daddy wake me up? Its my first day of pre-school." Helga was happy- excited even. Today was her first day of pre-school and she was so happy to be somewhere besides her house.

She looked in her closet, where her outfit had been placed out the night before. She was so excited that she had set her own outfit out the night before, since she wanted to make a good first impression. She got dressed and went to the bathroom. She brushed her pigtails and straightened her bow as best as she could.

"Im going to Pre-School!" She smiled in the mirror. She thought she looked nice enough to make a good first impression on her new classmates, and that was what she wanted. Even though her sister Olga was pretty and smart and talented, Helga knew today she was going to make a lot of friends. She brushed her teeth then headed downstairs to grab her lunch box.

"I'll take you to school tomorrow, since it's your first day." Bob had told her last night, before they closed her bedroom door and told her go to bed.

Helga looked around, but only heard the grand Piano in the trophy room.

"That was wonderful, Olga!" Miriam praised her oldest Daughter, as Helga walked into the room.

"Makes me proud to be a Pataki!" Bob smiled.

Helga smiled, her family was happy. "Daddy, who's taking me to pre-school?" she tugged on his pants.

"In a minute Olga…" Bob tried nudging his youngest away "Play us another one!"

Helga couldn't believe her ears "Its Helga dad! Helga!" She pleaded her father with sad eyes "Whatever, go play outside would ya?" he simply responded, as though she hadn't said anything and turned back to Olga.

Helga stood there hurt, offended and angry. After a few more attempts she gave up and decided to walk out the door, hoping they would follow and walk with her.

"Im going to pre-school now!" she shouted, only to have it muffled by the sound of her sister on the piano. She slowly closed the front door.

She was halfway down the street when she realized they weren't following. She decided to keep walking in the rain. Even though her parents didn't take her, she would still have a great first day at pre-school she reminded herself.

She passed some men who looked down at her and kept walking, passing a hobo in the alley, and managed to get to a crosswalk.

I'm almost there… just one more block.

She was about to look up when she was suddenly splashed by a passing car, that drenched her in mud.

Maybe when I get there, my teacher can help get this off…

The light changed and she kept walking down the street.

A stray dog came out of nowhere and bit into her lunch box. After a small struggle, she realized she couldn't win and fell backwards, only to have the dog kick its back paws at her, as though she were trash.

She got up and kept walking, but now she just wanted to cry. I wish it would at least stop raining

Suddenly, the rain stopped. She looked up from the ground. She hadn't noticed the big green car pull up, but now she was under the umbrella of someone just as tall as her…

"Hi. I like your bow" he smiled

"Huh?" I've never been complimented before... he is nice.

"I said I like your bow, cause its pink like your pants." She hadn't realized she was walking with him, until they reached the door and he walked inside. He is nice *sigh*

She realized she was now staring, and decided to walk inside.

"Oh My!" a thin, younger looking woman shouted picking up Helga. "You're drenched in mud! Come on sweetheart, let's get you cleaned up." The younger woman held Helga, carrying her to the restroom to clean up her muddy pink jumper. Once it was dry, Helga was allowed to go out and meet the other students.

Everyone was at a big table. She walked up quietly. The nice boy who had helped her earlier jumped out of his seat and got a chair for her.

"Here" he smiled sweetly.

"Thanks" she smiled, sitting next to him.

They exchanged smiles before looking in front of themselves on their desk where coloring paper and Crayons were set up.

"Okay class, I want each of you to write 3 things about yourself. Afterwards, we'll stand up and you can each read off 3 things about you one at a time." She smiled. Helga liked this lady. Once everyone was done, the teacher decided she would read hers off. Afterwards, the darker skinned boy beside the nice boy would go first, then the nice boy, then Helga, then the small black haired girl next to Helga. She looked around, thinking that her class would be awesome.

"My name is Amanda. I'm 23. I like cookies. I think you're all wonderful." She smiled and nodded at the darker skinned boy "Okay, tell us your name honey." She smiled at the boy who looked terrified.

"H-Hi… I'm Gerald Johansson. I'm 3. My favoritest number is 33. I like playing sports." He sat down happy his turn was over.

"Okay honey, Next" she smiled at the nice boy who stood up blushing, looking down and playing with his thumbs shyly "Hi. I'm Arnold Shortman. I'm 3. My mommy and daddy are adventurers and I wanna be just like them, and I like planes and sports."

He sat down and was now looking at Helga, along with their teacher. "H-Hi. I'm Helga Pataki. I'm 3. I like the color pink, I like sports and I like writing." She sat down, hoping they liked her already.

"Hi, I'm Phoebe. I'm 3, I like playing with my parents, the color blue and I hope to make a lot of friends." She smiled, sitting down, only to have her chair taken from her by a chubbier boy with a blue hat.

"HAHA!" he laughed in her face, causing her to start crying. Helga didn't think that was fair or nice, but she knelt down and extended her hand to the girl, while the teacher apprehended Harold for Time Out.

"Hi Phoebe. I'm sorry he did that. It wasn't nice." Helga said, hopefully the girl would take her hand. Maybe they could even be friends.

"thank you, Helga." Phoebe said wiping her tears away and hugging Helga. They sat back down in their seats and after the assignment was over , the teacher told them they could have some free time to chat and get to know each other. Helga and Phoebe were beyond excited! They had both made a friend and it wasn't even snack time!

"Hey Helga, wanna play with each others hair? Yours is really pretty." Phoebe said timidly.

"Sure." Helga agreed smiling. She was just happy to have a friend.

"Please! Nobody's hair is prettier than mine!" a girl named Rhonda appeared, flaunting about how her parents always told her how special and perfect she is.

"Okay Rhonda" Helga was annoyed. All she wanted to do was play with her new friend. Helga and Phoebe walked to the other side of the room to play with each others hair. After a few minutes, Helga noticed Phoebe with a small blush on her face.

"hey Pheobe, why are you smiling like that?" Helga questioned honestly

"No reason" Phoebe blushed, but couldn't look away fast enough. Helga noticed Arnold and Gerald playing on the Carpet City Rug just a few feet away from them.

Now Helga was nervous. She doesn't like him too, right…?

"Oh… which one are you looking at?" Helga was afraid Phoebe liked Arnold too.

"Promise not to tell?" Phoebe held out her pinky. Helga hesitated for a second before deciding to take it.

"Promise." She nodded, taking a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst.

Phoebe leaned beside Helga and decided to whisper in her ear "I think Gerald is kinda cute… but please don't tell anyone, you promised." Phoebe looked at Helga with a hopeful glance.

"Your secret is safe with me." Helga smiled, and Phoebe returned it. "Do you like anyone, Helga?"

"Well-"

"Alrighty class! It's snack time!" the teacher announced, cutting her off. The girls nodded at each other. Maybe we'll talk about it later.

The kids ran to the snack tables, and Helga and Phoebe sat at the table that was next to Gerald and Arnold, and decided to face them. After a while students started to finish up snack time, including Phoebe, and were excused from the table to play. Helga was still eating, deciding to admire Arnold from afar until she could work up the nerve to talk to him again.

She fixed her bow before she looked over and noticed they boys making a handshake with their fists and thumbs. While Helga was watching the boys, she didn't realize the bully from earlier had taken her crackers, until she went to eat them and noticed they were gone, and now in the hands of a laughing Harold, who was shoving them in his mouth and laughing at her.

For the second time today Helga was on the brink of tears. Suddenly, she noticed a hand holding something out to her and when she looked up, it was none other than Arnold "Want mine?" he was smiling at her, and all she could do was nod. He handed her his gram crackers and walked back to his seat. Helga could only smile at how sweet he was, and to her! She sighed sweetly, admiring him more than ever.

Out of nowhere she heard laughing, and looked over again to the Bully and noticed him and every other kid laughing at her. She looked over to Arnold and Gerald, who didn't understand what was happening, then looked down at the floor. All she could hear was laughing.

Something inside her snapped. She was hurt, then sad, then angry.

Suddenly she felt her arms reach over and push Harold out of his seat, and it felt good. "Quit Laughing GeekBait!" The laughing seized so she stood up on the bench and held up her fists "Or You'll Have to Answer to Old Betsy… and the… and the 5 Avengers!" she now stated a bit more confidently.

"The old who? And the 5 what?" Harold was lost.

"My Fists stupid! That's their names!" Helga stated loudly, hoping her classmates would hear her.

"What? Wait What? Your fists have names?!" Harold put his hands on his head "AH! You're confusing me!"

Helga was annoyed with how slow Harold was so she jumped on his stomach to hurt him. Then walked away announcing "Im the boss around here! Got It?" Helga marched right through Phoebe's block tower. Phoebe was too confused and scared to notice. The other kids nodded in fear.

Helga walked over to the big table they were at earlier, and decided to make use of the arts and crafts supplies. The teacher had taken their photos at Orientation and left a huge stack of each kid, letting their classmates make cute pictures with their new friends. Helga grabbed a light pink sheet of coloring paper and traced a shape she had seen in her sisters room a few weeks before.

"What's That?" Helga asked Olga, pointing to a note on Olga's vanity. "Oh. This?" Olga held the object up and Helga studied it quickly. "Well baby sister, a boy at school gave this to me! Its called a love note. Daddy doesn't like boys giving me such things, but I think I really like this boy." she smiled now holding the object against her chest lovingly.

"What's a love?" Helga was confused.

"Love is a feeling you get when you really like someone a lot." Olga tapped her index finger on her little sisters nose.

"Okay." Helga pointed to the object Olga was now putting down as she stood up to leave her room "What's that shape? I've never seen it before." Helga walked beside her older sister. She wanted to know more about what her sister was telling her, but knew her sister was a busy girl, but she could hope for an answer.

"Well, baby sister, it's a heart." Olga smiled, as the girls walked downstairs to Olga's piano recital.

Helga made a couple of hearts until she made one that was just perfect. Since nobody was around, she quickly snagged a photo of Arnold and taped it to her heart. She quietly slipped the note into a hidden pocket inside her jumper. She grabbed the hearts and threw them away. If she were going to be made fun of for liking Arnold, then she just wouldn't tell people.

She decided now was a good time to show these kids she couldn't be messed with.

"That's Right! I'm Walking Here! Helga G. Pataki!" she marched smashing Eugene's play dough mold, knocking paint onto Sheena, and shoving Harold a bit.

"What's the G stand for?" Harold asked

"None of your beeswax!" she shouted in his face. Dipping her finger into his paint she threated "Now get busy with your finger painting before I make you wear it!" she placed her finger on his nose, leaving a small purple dot. She abruptly walked away from him as he cowered before her.

"Okay" he said as she left. "Madame Fortress Mommy…" he grumbled angrily before turning back to his paint.

Helga glared at a boy named Sid, who smiled before running away quickly. Helga had just finished with her rounds when she saw Arnold painting. She froze, admiring him before running to hide behind a trashcan. Quietly she whispered to herself "I love you, Arnold, and I wanna marry you!" Suddenly she realized there was heavy breathing behind her, which belonged to Brainy. She was annoyed and didn't want anyone to hear her love for Arnold, so she did the only thing she could. She decked him in the face, sending him to the bottom of the trashcan.

Helga walked over to where Arnold was painting.

"Hi Helga." He smiled sweetly at her and all of her anger vanished, so she smiled back "Hi Arnold."

"Wanna paint with me?" he offered her a can of finger paint.

"Sure" she took the other can of paint and began painting with him.

"Oh how cute!" the teacher smiled down at the two blondes, and snapped a quick picture while they weren't looking.

"What was that about?" Helga asked Arnold. "I dunno?" he shrugged it off, going back to finger painting.

"So why did you push Harold?" Arnold asked shyly. He didn't know why everyone was laughing, or why Helga pushed Harold, but nobody would tell him.

"They were laughing. Why?" Helga turned to Arnold, getting defensive.

"Just wondering." He smiled at her, and turned back to finger painting.

"Oh, okay." Helga shrugged it off, continuing to finger paint with Arnold.

"Arnold!" Gerald ran up to the blondes, looking afraid of one, and afraid for the other. Gerald grabbed Arnold and pulled him away from Helga "Arnold, Helga isn't being nice. I think you should stay away from her!" Gerald had seen Helga be mean to their classmates, and didn't want him to get hurt.

"Well she is being nice to me." Arnold smiled, looking back at Helga who smiled and continued finger painting.

"Helga Likes You!" Gerald shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. Suddenly a crowd was gathering. All the kids' attention was on the 2 boys and Helga.

"She doesn't like me." Arnold defended

"Helga likes Awnold? HAHA!" All the kids began to laugh at Harold's statement.

"Guys, Stop it! She doesn't like me!"

"Yeah!" Helga jumped in- shoving Gerald and knocking him and Arnold down. She didn't want to do this… She REALLY didn't want to do this- but she didn't want to be laughed at either. "Why would I like a stupid football head like him!?" she yelled at her classmates, before throwing the paint in her hands all over Arnold. All the other kids gasped, and Arnold looked like he had just been slapped. Helga picked up Gerald by his shirt collar "Don't ever talk about me again Tall Hair Boy!" she snapped in his face, before shoving him by his shirt collar to the floor again, then stormed off.

Helga felt bad for being so mean to them, but she didn't want to be laughed at anymore. She suddenly thought going home sounded better. The teacher suddenly picked her up, along with a crying Arnold and set them both in the back room.

The teacher told Arnold to go wash up in the rest room, while she talked to Helga.

"Honey, why would you do such a mean thing to him?" their teacher asked

"They wouldn't stop laughing at me." Helga was looking down at her feet, and on the verge of tears.

"Who wouldn't stop laughing? Arnold and Gerald?" The teacher asked.

"No… Everyone else." Helga didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Why were they laughing sweetie?" the teacher looked at the little girl whose eyes were brimming with tears.

"Cause I like him," she pointed to the bathroom Arnold just entered "but it's a secret." Helga looked up from her feet, hoping her teacher understood. "Please don't tell him! Or Anyone!"

"Okay Honey, just calm down." The teacher tried to soothe the girl by rubbing her back. "Okay, so just to verify, you like Arnold?" she wanted to make sure they weren't talking about someone else.

Helga nodded her head quietly.

"Alright Honey, your secret is safe with me. Just please be nicer to him. Boys don't like girls who are mean to them, especially ones who's first impression are dumping paint on them."

"Okay" Helga nodded.

Arnold walked out of the bathroom and looked upset with Helga, and hid behind the teacher.

"Helga, is there something you wanna say to Arnold?" the teacher tried to nudge Helga to say something to him.

"You Promised You Wouldn't Say Anything!" Helga started yelling. She thought her teacher was trying to make her tell Arnold about her crush on him.

"No Honey. I mean don't you want to apologize to him for throwing paint on him?" the teacher defused the situation.

Helga was looking at the floor now "Oh... Yeah. Sorry about that Arnold." Helga looked up to meet Arnolds green eyes. Slowly he reached out and hugged her, and she returned the hug. "Its okay." He smiled, and she returned with a smile too. They walked outside the back room and back into the classroom.

"Okay kids. It looks like its time to go home. Your parents will be outside to pick you up, until then, you can play out on the playground just outside the sliding glass door." The teacher announced. The kids ran to their cubbies to grab their things, and then went outside to wait until their parents came.

30 minutes later after a lot of goodbye's Helga and Arnold sat outside chatting on the swings. Nobody was around besides their teacher, who they noticed had snapped another picture of the two blondes for their class photos.

"So… That thing Gerald said today?"

"What about it?"

"Is it true?"

"What part?"

Arnold looked down at his feet "do you like me?"

"Maybe" Helga looked down at her feet, and decided to get off the swings. Arnold followed her.

"Well, I like you when you're nice." Arnold grabbed her hand and smiled at her. Helga looked at their hands, and noticed he was holding hers. She was now blushing and couldn't help but look down.

Suddenly a car honk was heard, and Arnold noticed it was his grandparents. "I gotta go…" he kissed her cheek "I'll see you tomorrow Helga!" he ran off waving at her before getting in his car and leaving.

Helga was standing there holding the cheek he kissed and blushing. She quietly picked up her stuff and walked home.

She made it to her front door and opened it. Nobody was home. Great. She ran upstairs and ran into her closet, looking for a box. Olga had given this to her as a birthday present. She really didn't think she needed it, but now she knew she did. She found the Sparkly Pink Writing set Olga had given her for her 3rd birthday.

She observed it, and grabbed the sparkly pink pencil and the sparkly pink notebook. She wrote her name in it (She had been practicing Letters and writing all summer) and began writing about the boy with the sweet smile, football head and blue hat.