REQUESTED BY: ENVYTHESKUNK
Chapter 1: Rate Me
P.S.118 Hallway
"Check out my new Pre-Teen Miss sweater! The same one that's shown on the cover of this months magazine!" Rhonda exclaimed, while showing off her new outfit to the girls in her class.
"Oh my! It's lovely Rhonda!" Sheena said excitedly.
Rhonda leaned against the locker with her arms crossed and a smile stretched across her face, knowing how popular she was.
Moments later, the bell for the first class rang. As she began heading down the hall with the rest of the girls, Rhonda heard an eruption of laughter taking place from behind. "HAHAHAHAH!"
The wealthy girl then turned to see the boys pointing at the gum that was stuck to her new sweater. "Hey look everybody! Rhonda wears gum on her clothes! Haha!" Harold mocked his friend, while pointing a finger at the sticky spot.
"Boy howdy! Nice outfit!" Sid added, happy it wasn't his shirt that had been ruined.
P.S. 118
Classroom
"Hello class! It's another special day!" Mr. Simmons waved to his students upon entering the room.
The students sat unamused in their desks, knowing how the simplest things could bring a smile to his face.
"Today, I have something very special in mind…"
Pttss...of course you do. The pigtailed girl sitting three rows back thought to herself. Helga sat hunched over in her desk, doodling in her notebook, not caring to pay the excited teacher any attention until she heard…
"Our new assignment is for each of you to make your own survey to pass out to the class! Isn't that exciting?!"
As the blonde girl sat up to cock her brow at the unusual task assigned, the rest of the class heard "Survey? What in the heck is that?"
Phoebe, who had been listening attentively to her teacher, decided to take it upon herself to answer Stinky's concern. "What Mr. Simmons is referring to, is a list of records indicating a certain group of peoples' opinions on a particular topic."
The teacher smiled at his intelligent student, who always seemed to be willing to clear things up for the class.
After being filled in on all the details, Rhonda sat in her desk, having a hard time believing she had just been made fun of. She was the most popular girl in class. How could anyone have the nerve to mock her?
It was then, a thought entered her mind. If she really wanted to know what the class' opinion was of each other, what better way than by doing a survey on them?
Cafeteria
Arnold and Gerald were standing in the lunch line discussing the new assignment. While Gerald new from the moment it was announced what his topic would be, Arnold was still having trouble deciding.
"So, you're going to do your survey on Pop Daddy?"
"You bet man! Anyone here would be crazy not to rate him well." Gerald insisted.
Just as they were exiting the line, Arnold turned to see his girlfriend reading something Rhonda had handed to her.
Table
"You seriously expect us to rate each other?" Helga asked, cocking her brow.
Understanding the offense Helga felt towards the situation, Phoebe added "Rhonda, I believe the purpose of the assignment was for us to choose an interest, in hopes to find a higher volume of people resembled us than we originally knew."
Before responding to the reasonable remark, Rhonda turned her head to hear "What's going on guys?"
"Oh there you are." the snooty girl with the sticky sweater said.
"Princess here seems to feel the way to get herself an A, is by having all of us give each other F's." Helga said wittily.
The boys took a seat, stunned at the description of Rhonda's intentions. Having sat down, Arnold and Gerald were handed their own surveys to complete.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have more of these to pass out. You may hand them in to me before leaving class this afternoon."
"Mm, mm, mmm. That girl just can't get enough of herself." Gerald felt the need to point out, while watching the high class pre-teen head for a new table.
"The lowest this thing goes is 1. She doesn't even deserve that." Helga smirked, glancing at the sheet which had been handed to her…
Arnold 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Gerald 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Stinky 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Sid 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Harold 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Eugene 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Helga 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Phoebe 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Rhonda 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Nadine 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Sheena 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Lila 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Another Table
"Awww why do I have to do this stupid assignment! It's lunch time!" Harold whined, looking at the sheet Rhonda had handed him.
"You WILL do it Harold, and you WILL have it handed to me by the time classes are over."
"Okay...Madam fortress mommy." the angry boy mumbled, not knowing where to begin.
After seeing her leave the table, Stinky watched Rhonda continue to circle the cafeteria with her heavy stack of surveys she had spent the morning writing in class."Whilikers! Who do ya reckon the most popular kid is?"
"If I had to guess I'd say Arnold. I mean, he's always helping people." Sid reminded his friend.
Another Table
"I have an oh too perfect idea! Let's all have a sleepover at my house and work on our surveys." Lila suggested.
"That sounds lovely!" Sheena agreed, taking a bite of her salad.
Just as the rest of the girls were about to chime in with their approval, they heard "Excuse me ladies, but I have something for you."
"What is it Rhonda?" Nadine asked, after being handed the paper.
"It's my survey for our class assignment. I need you all to rate your opinion or our classmates and hand it in to me before you leave today!"
While Nadine gave her friend a curious look, Lila smiled at said "The girls and I are having a sleepover at my place tonight. I'm ever so certain you should join us!"
"Sorry ladies. I'm going to be busy." Rhonda grinned, planning on tallying up the survey scores the moment she returned home from school.
Classroom
Taking a seat in front of his girlfriend, Arnold turned to face Helga and asked "So, have you decided what your survey will be about?"
Leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, the blonde girl scoffed "Wrestling doi!"
"That sounds uhhh interesting." Arnold said, knowing the other girls weren't likely to rate it too well.
The sweet boy then turned to face forward in his seat when he heard the teacher entering the room.
"Okay class. We get to continue our exciting lesson on fractions!"
"I don't get it? How is that exciting?" Stinky scratched his head in confusion, while Helga sat slouched in her desk, rolling her eyes in bewilderment at his ignorance.
Although she understood the lesson, Rhonda took no interest in paying attention to it. The anxious preteen sat in her desk, eyeing the clock back and forth the last few hours of the day.
Finally, the bell rang. Just as Rhonda was ready to wait at the door for the class' papers, she watched Mr. Simmons acknowledge Arnold. "Yes Arnold?"
"Could I make an announcement to the class?"
"That sounds wonderful!" the joyful educator replied.
Rhonda slowly sat back down in her desk, with her hands still propped on top of it (as if she were waiting to pounce on someone).
Arnold stepped up in front of the class and said to his friends "I thought it would be a good idea for everyone to bring their surveys to my house Sunday night. That way, after we've all had a chance to create our topic ideas, all we have to do is hand each other the papers to answer."
"What a terrific idea Arnold! See you all Monday!" Mr. Simmons waved, as Rhonda jumped from her seat to wait at the door.
After being nearly knocked over, Helga snapped "Criminy Princess! That rush hour attitude of yours doesn't exactly scream cool!"
Holding out her hand for the surveys from the students who past her, Rhonda glared at Helga and said "For your information, I'm doing what any popular student would do, and that's staying ahead of the group."
"Pttss...right. Let us know if that's how you still feel about yourself after you tally up those scores." Helga scoffed, heading out the door with her boyfriend.
Walk
"So what's your survey about football head?" Helga asked, holding her boyfriend's hand down the street.
"To be honest I'm having trouble deciding." he admitted, while blushing with embarrassment.
Helga cocked her brow at her boyfriend and asked "Since when can you not solve a problem?"
Turned to look at her with his signature smile that always managed to bring a dreamy look to her eyes. As he began to caress her hand with his thumb, he said "I don't have any problems right now. I have everything I need to make me happy, and I don't care about anyone's opinion of it."
Helga swooned at his sweet words, along with the idea of him not caring what anyone thought of him having such deep feelings for her.
Lila's Room
"Gosh Lila! Your room is just lovely!" Sheena exclaimed, looking at the country girl's welcoming room. Yellow walls with pictures of the redheaded girl on the farm. A pink bed comforter decorated with flowers, and stuffed animals scattered across the room to remind her of when she grew up on the farm.
"Thank you just ever so much Sheena!" Lila said, unpacking her things from school.
"What should we do first?" Nadine was anxious to find out.
"I'm ever so certain we should start on the surveys!" Lila insisted, having pulled out her notebook.
The girls took a seat beside her on the floor, ready to think of their topics.
Phoebe's House
"Have you chosen your survey topic Gerald?" Phoebe asked her boyfriend, sitting across from him on her bed.
"I told my man I'm getting the class' opinion of Pop daddy! If it's as good as I believe it is, I won't have to worry about it going off the air any time soon."
Giggling at her boyfriend's interest in the cartoon, Phoebe replied "I'm sure you'll receive an encouraging number of positive votes."
"Let's hope so. What's yours about babe?"
Smiling at the question, Phoebe replied "I've chosen to have everyone give their honest opinion of the list of books Mr. Simmons has chosen for us to read the past year. On a scale of 1 - 10, did the class feel it benefited their education well?"
Gerald gave his girlfriend a questioning look, hoping she knew what the results would look like.
Lila's House
"I'm ever so certain my survey should be how the class feels about these farm animals…
Cow
Goat
Pig
Horse
Sheep
After looking at her friend's paper, Sheena smiled and said "That's lovely Lila! I've chosen to have them give their opinion on these delicious healthy snacks…
Celery
Carrots
Apples
Oranges
Bananas
"If you're interested in protein Sheena, I could show you the different types of insects that carry protein."
Grasshoppers
Crickets
Locusts
Roaches
Beetles
As Sheena looked over at her friend's list, she listened to Nadine add "The first three are said to be from the order Orthoptera, which are the richest in proteins."
Slausens
"Aww I hate school! Who cares what anyone likes?" Harold complained, while shoveling down his hot fudge sundae.
"I'm doing my survey on pudding!" Stinky said excitedly, while receiving bewildered looks from the boys.
"Pudding?" Sid questioned.
Nodding in agreement, Stinky continued "I'm gonna make me a list of flavors for the class to pick their favorite from. Maybe they're all pick Lemon pudding like me!" Stinky hoped.
"Stinky. You're an idiot." Sid replied bluntly.
Disagreeing completely, Eugene butted in with his opinion and said "Oh that's a wonderful idea! I'm doing my survey on fish! I just love Angel so much guys."
"Yeah, well I'm doing mine on frogs. They're the coolest." Sid said, having gotten over his fear of germs.
"What about you Harold? What do you find interesting?" Stinky was curious to find out.
Swirling his spoon around in the empty bowl, Harold leaned his head in his hand as he stared out the window and sighed "Ohhh I dunno…."
Before letting out a heavy sigh, the troubled boy heard familiar music playing outside. His face then brightened as he said "Hey! I know what I'm gonna do!"
"What is it?" Sid asked anxiously.
"The Jolly Olly Man! I'm gonna do a survey on everyone's favorite ice cream!" Harold said, never having been so excited about a school assignment before.
Arnold's Room
Having made it home, Arnold sat on his bed with his girlfriend, watching her put together her survey.
"You seem excited." he couldn't help but tease her.
Rolling her eyes at his remark, the now jittery girl leered "Even if the girls do hate this sport, something tells me my results will still be better than Princess' stupid survey. Sheesh!"
Scooting over to glance at her paper, Arnold wrapped his arm around Helga and said "I'm guessing those are all people you idolize."
Helga turned to cock her brow at the crazy remark and scoffed "Idolize? What planet are you from? Just because I like the sport doesn't mean I'm obsessed with these people like Princess and her stupid Pre-Teen models."
Smiling sweetly at her, Arnold pulled her close to kiss her cheek and said "I know. It's just cute watching you get excited about something."
Helga swooned heavily as she placed a hand on her cheek. Arnold continued to rub her shoulder, while he watched her turn to face him. What he found to be the cutest (yet complexing) thing about this girl, was when she let her guard down. Although Arnold was now aware of her feelings, Helga couldn't give into the idea of letting go of her reputation (and probably never would). That fact made moments such as these all the more sweet.
Shaking her head, Helga focused her mind on what he had said about her and replied "You're not too bad yourself when you have your head in the clouds."
Almost laughing at her nervous need to hide her emotions, Arnold pulled her close to kiss her. While running his fingers through her long, soft hair, he wondered what he could write about. Something she admired him for was his optimism. Although it had only been a day, he was beginning to feel pessimistic about the assignment.
Rhonda's House
Rhonda sat in her room, anxiously tallying up the scores. While she had her assumptions about how well people would be rated, all that really mattered to her was coming out on top.
"At last! I've finished. The winner is...AHHH!"
The Boarding House
"Well, see ya later football head." Helga waved goodbye to her boyfriend, trying not to be trampled by the stampede of animals on her way down the porch steps.
"See ya Helga."
After shutting the door, Arnold decided to stop in the kitchen for a glass of water. "Hey there shortman!" Phil greeted him.
"Hey grandpa."
"Uh oh? I sense another painful boyhood problem. Fess up." Phil insisted, while watching his grandson take a seat.
"It's nothing really. I'm just supposed to pick something I'm interested in to do a survey on." Arnold began to explain.
"Survey huh? That supposed to be the school's new way of rating teachers?" Phil asked.
"No grandpa. I'm not sure what to pick for my interest."
"Well if you ask me shortman, you seem to like helping people. Even those idiot boarders are always turning to you for advice. There's nothing they could say that would make me want to help them, but you're still young and full of patience."
"Uhhh right grandpa."
As Phil got up to leave, patting his grandson on the back, Arnold continued to sit at the table with his drink. There he sat wondering how his friends' felt about what Phil had just pointed out…
You seem to like helping people
On the one hand, his friends were always turning to him in their time of need. On the other, Helga had pointed out how hard it was for him to mind his own business. Just because they needed him, didn't mean they liked the idea of it. There was only one way to find out.