Author's notes: Okay, so while this is not the first fanfic I've ever WRITTEN, it is the first one I've ever published, so I have no idea if I'm doing this right or not. *nervous laughter* Anyway, this story has been floating around in my head for awhile, and recently one of the Writing Challenges at the HA!SaveTJM facebook group happened to cover the basic plot idea pretty well, so I thought I'd go ahead and try to get it OUT of my head.

Craig Bartlett, Nickelodeon and Viacom own "Hey Arnold!" I had nothing to do with it. Seriously, you can't prove anything. :D

Stinky's Girlfriend

Introductions

The small girl lay crumpled on the dark wooden floor. Strands of her long blonde hair caught in the rough, splintered timbers and pulled painfully as she stirred, sitting up stiffly and rubbing the back of her neck.

"What… what happened? Where am I?" She looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of a large group of strangers circling her. "Who are you?"

One of the group, a tall boy who seemed to be about her own age, stepped forward, rubbing his arm nervously. "Uh… hi. We… we brought you here. I don't… suppose you remember anything, do ya?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped and frowned slightly as she realized that, no, she didn't remember anything. Not even her own name. "I… have I got amnesia?" she gulped.

Another member of the group stepped forward to join the boy. He was an older man, and resembled the boy greatly. Surveying her observers, she noticed there was a strong resemblance among them all, despite being of various ages and builds. Her attention was dragged back to the elder man as he knelt before her and spoke gently. "Well, you see… not really. The reason you don't have any memories is because… well, darlin', you ARE a memory."

Her wide blue eyes blinked slowly. After a moment she shook her head disbelievingly. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

The man sighed heavily as he stood back up, bracing himself against his own knees as he straightened. He turned to the boy. "Well go on, son. She's your responsibility now."

The boy gulped and nodded sheepishly. He took another step forward, dragging his feet through the black and white markings she only now noticed forming a circle on the floor and badly smudging several of them. Once he'd destroyed them to his satisfaction, he took a deep breath and approached her nervously. He was blushing slightly and clearly embarrassed about something, but he courteously held out a hand to help her stand. "Um, yeah…" he scratched the back of his neck and cringed, as if expecting her to yell at him or something. "It's… well, it's kinda my fault we had to bring you out like this. But honestly, I swear I didn't mean for it to happen. It's all just a big unfortunate string of coincidences, ya know?"

She frowned down at her hand still clasped in his, then looked up to meet his worried gaze. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

He gave her a half-hearted smile as the other people in the room filed out through a nearby door. "Come on with me into the kitchen and I'll try and explain everything. It's a LONG story and it's already way past dinner time."

As he led her away from the circle, he laced his fingers with hers and gave her another nervous grin. "My name's Stinky. Stinky Peterson. And you…" he laughed slightly, even as his blushed darkened. "Well, you don't know me, but… you're kinda my girlfriend."