Backstage
"Come on, Phoebe, why won't you come with me? ...but it's opening night! You know they'll have the best band there tonight! ...we won't get caught. ...alright, fine. I'll just go by myself...Phoebe, I'll be fine...well whether you go or not is up to you, but either way I'm not missing it. ...alright, I promise I'll call you when I get home. ...and text you when I get there. Criminy, Phoebe, you're such a worrywart. ...alright, I'll talk to you later."
'Sheesh' Helga thought, hanging up the phone and flopping on her bed'You'd think Phoebe was my mother sometimes with as much as she worries about me. I mean, yes I am attempting to sneak into an eighteen and up club when I'm sixteen, but it's not like I'm jumping off a bridge! But then again, I guess it's nice that someone cares about my well being.'
Helga stood and walked over to her closet to pick out an outfit for that night. As she dug farther back into the closet she found a box that she had forgotten about completely.
'Top Secret! Do Not Open' was written in red marker across the side. Helga smiled and opened the box, a feeling of nostalgia washing over her. Inside were the remains of her last Arnold shrine. She had stopped making shrines when she was thirteen, deciding that she was too old for crazy stuff like that. But she couldn't just throw everything away, so she hid it in this box.
'Wow, I really was crazy, wasn't I?' She thought with a grin, flipping through many old pictures of Arnold. Helga hadn't spoken to Arnold since they went with their class to San Lorenzo. After finding his parents, Arnold and his family moved into the boarding house with the rest of sunset arms. However after a very awkward conversation between Arnold and Helga while lost in the San Lorenzo jungle, the two stopped speaking very often.
Fast forward six years and Helga still hadn't spoken to Arnold since they returned from the trip. She often wondered how he was doing, but even if she had know how to contact him she was too scared to do it.
Helga gently placed the pictures back in the box and closed it; she couldn't change the past, so it was better not to dwell on 'what if?'s
Returning to selecting an outfit, Helga pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black and pink t-shirt. She slid her feet into her old pink sneakers, and brushed her hair out. Finally she tied the familiar pink ribbon around her neck like a choker. Some things would never change.
§
Helga arrived at the club just as the sun was setting. She stepped in line behind the other teenagers, all of them illuminated by the neon sign that read '9 Night'.
'Crap, they've got someone checking ID' Helga thought, cursing under her breath. 'Okay, cool it, Helga. Just act natural.'
"ID please" the guard asked when Helga stepped.
"Aw crap, I left it on my kitchen counter!" Helga said, pretending to search her pockets. "Is there any way I can—"
"No ID, no entry." And with that Helga was pushed from the line by the crowd trying to get in.
'Great, that worked well. How am I going to get in there?'Just then Helga noticed a side door marked BAND ENTRANCE. 'Bingo!'
Quietly, unnoticed, Helga snuck over to the door. By some miracle it was unlocked.
Inside was a network of hallways, but Helga managed to find her way into the main room. She quickly send Phoebe a text, as promised, before making her way to the dance floor in front of the stage. The band would be going on soon, but in the meantime a DJ played music from one corner of the room.
It wasn't long until the DJ got up on the stage and announced the band, Urban Legends. They were local celebrities, and after hearing a few of their songs Helga knew why. As the band to the stage everyone was screaming, but Helga was cut off mid-scream when she saw the rather familiar looking blond keyboard player setting up in the back.
'No...it can't be'she thought, trying to get a better look. No matter where she went, she couldn't get a good view, so she settled for where she was, just left of the center.
"Good evening Hillwood!" a dark haired guy Helga didn't recognize said in the mike. Everyone screamed again, and the band began their first song.
A few songs in the dark haired guy, who Helga had gathered to be Nick the lead singer, passed the microphone off to the keyboard player, who slid it into the stand at the front of the stage and sat on a stool that had been brought out.
"Hey everybody, I'm Arnold. This is a new song that no one's heard before, and I hope you guys like it. This goes out to a very special person who I've known for a long time." Behind him, a guy with a tall afro and a red 33 jersey began playing his guitar again, but this time it was much softer.
I'm the only one you ever let inside
With so much pain and love I don't know how you could survive
Locked away and hidden from a world of prying eyes
You're biggest secret should have come as no surprise
Because you were always there for me
Even when I shut you out, you were still always around
And I wish that you would lose the mask
And let me be the one you need, that's the only thing I ask...
By the time the song finished Helga had tears in her eyes. Arnold, her Arnold, had written a song for her even after they hadn't spoken for six years. Arnold got up from the stool and walked back to his keyboard, pausing for a moment to smile at Helga.
Helga smiled back, but unfortunately she was surrounded by a bunch of fan girls who started screaming, think Arnold's smile was meant for them.
'They'll never know what that smile means. I mean, not like I really know either, but I do know one thing. I have to talk to Arnold before he leaves tonight.'
§
A few hours later the band was packing up, and the club was shutting down. Helga was surprised to find her watch said 1:00am, and she prayed that Phoebe wasn't panicking right not. She left out the front with everyone else, but then went back around the side of the building where she had gone in.
Just as she expected there was a group of girls hoping to get autographs. Helga tried to push her way through, but it was impossible. Finally she gave up and stood a little off to the side, hoping to jump in once the girls were gone.
As soon as the door opened the shrieking began again, but the guys almost seemed used to it, signing CD's and taking pictures like it was totally normal. That is, until Arnold spotted Helga.
He just stood there for a minute, looking at Helga, before he walked over to her, leaving the crowd.
"Helga..." he said quietly.
"Hehe, yeah, that's my name" Helga chuckled awkwardly. She wasn't really sure what she had planned to say to Arnold after all this time, but one look at his face and any ideas she had were gone.
"It's been a while. I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, football head."
Arnold chuckled at his old nickname before glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the band, who was loading up their van now that the fans were gone.
"Helga...would you like to, I don't know, go for a walk or something?"
"Sure"
Arnold went and said something to Gerald before returning to Helga.
"So, ready to go?" Arnold asked.
"Ready when you are."
A while later the two found themselves on the front steps of P.S. 118.
"Wow, this place bring back memories" Arnold smiled, running a hand along the brick.
"I'll say. Some of my best memories happened here" Helga agreed.
"Yeah. You know, I'm really glad I saw you tonight, Helga"
"You are?"
"Yeah. Although I wouldn't make sneaking into clubs under age a hobby. It's not very safe." Arnold almost laughed, recalling all the other not-so-safe things Helga and the rest of their class had done as kids.
"Yeah, I know. But I—wait, hold on. You're the same age as me...how did you get in?"
"The band got let in regardless of age because we were performing."
"Oh" Helga realized that her answer left them sitting in an awkward silence. She wracked her brain for something to say, but couldn't come up with much.
"So why were you there tonight?" Arnold asked.
'Thank you'"Well, I knew that with tonight being their grand opening they'd have a killer band playing, and I didn't want to miss out."
"Well then I hope you weren't disappointed. Our band hasn't been playing gigs for very long, and we still haven't got everything running perfectly yet."
"Yeah. I...I really liked that song you sang. The one that you said was new tonight" Helga felt her cheeks grow warm, and she hoped desperately that she wasn't blushing.
"You liked it?" Arnold asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I did. It was beautiful."
"Well it was inspired by a beautiful girl" Arnold said, blushing a bit.
"Arnold...what happened to us? I mean, for years I was a total jerk to you, then we went to San Lorenzo and...I honestly don't know what to even call what happened there. Then we come home and we stopped speaking." Helga played with the hem of her shirt, unable to look at Arnold.
"I don't really know what happened. After we got back I thought about calling you a hundred times."
"Why didn't you?" Helga asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know. Maybe because I was scared. We said some things in San Lorenzo that..." Arnold paused to talk a deep breath. "Helga...every day since we got back from San Lorenzo I've thought about you. I know we said some crazy things when we were ten, but...I still feel the same way I did then."
"...which is?"
"Helga Pataki, I'm crazy about you"
Helga's whole world felt like it tilted on it's end. She felt mildly dizzy, and her heart was more than likely going to go into shock if it beat too much faster.
"A-Arnold...you...do you really mean that?" she asked.
"I do. It's okay if you don't feel the same. I understand that we've been out of contact for a while, so it would only make sense that a lot has changed in both our lives. I just wanted you to know, even if—" Arnold stopped when Helga placed a very shy kiss on his cheek.
"You really are clueless sometimes, you know that Football Head?" Helga giggled.
"I am?"
"Doi! A girl doesn't just go from loving you unconditionally to the point of crazy lunatic obsession for the majority of her life to not caring at all. I mean sure, I've changed quite a bit since fifth grade, but that doesn't mean I'm a whole different person."
"Well good," Arnold said, placing his hand on hers where it rested on the stone step, "Because you're pretty great."
"Aw, thanks Football Head. But don't go getting all cheesy romance movie on me. Instead, why don't we—crap! Is that the time?!" Helga had just caught a glimpse of Arnold's watch, which read 3:37. "Phoebe's going to have the whole city looking for me! I was supposed to call her when I got home. I should do that now."
Helga punched a few buttons on her phone before stuffing it back into the pocket of her jeans.
"Crap! Battery's dead. Great."
"Wow, Helga, I've never seen you so upset over forgetting something."
"Well it's Phoebe, and she worries about me. I feel bad that I didn't uphold my end of our agreement."
"Well the boarding house isn't far from here. We could walk there and you can call her, and then I can drive you home in the Packard" Arnold suggested.
"Good plan."
§
"Short Man! You're back! And you brought your girlfriend!" Grandpa Phil, needless to say, was very happy to see Helga again.
"Grandpa, Helga's not my girlfriend. Wait, why are are you still up? It's almost 4:00!"
"I figured I'd wait up to see how your performance went. So, how was it?"
"It was great. Everything went pretty smoothly."
"That's my boy! And Helga, how are you? I haven't seen you since you were ten! You look so mature now!"
"Thanks, Phil. Things have been pretty good."
"Um, Grandpa? Would it be okay if Helga borrows our phone, and then I give her a ride home?"
"Well of course! Go right ahead! I'm going up to bed. It was nice to see you again, Helga."
"You too" Helga said, grinning.
"Oh, and Arnold? The downstairs phone died today, so Helga will have to use the one in your room" Phil added before heading up the rest of the stairs.
"Well, uh, then I guess right this way" Arnold said. He had a feeling that Phil was lying about the phone, but didn't want to say so, so he and Helga made their way up to his room.
"Wow, Arnold, this place sure hasn't changed much," Helga commented when they arrived, "I think the only thing I can pick out is you got a new computer."
"New computer, slight upgrades to the sound system, nothing major. Sometimes I think I should do a complete makeover, but I can't bring myself to do it; too many memories in this room. The phone's right there by the couch. Take your time, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." Arnold left to give Helga her privacy, and she stood for a moment looking around the room. Too many memories...
'Well you got that right, Arnold, there sure are a lot of memories here, but you don't even know the half of it! Criminy, I was a crazy kid.'Helga smiled and sat on the red couch by the phone. Phoebe answered on the first ring.
"HELGA PATAKI I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK! IT'S 4:00 IN THE MORNING AND YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CALL ME AT 1:30, WHICH BY MY CALCULATIONS IS THE TIME YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN HOME!"
"I'm so sorry, Phoebe! See, I was at the club, but you'll never guess who was in the band that was playing! Arnold! So then we ended up going for a walk to catch up and whatever and then next thing I knew it was 4 in the morning and my cell phone was dead, so now I'm at Arnold's and he's going to give me a ride home but I am so, so sorry for making you worry!" Helga paused to take a breath, giving Phoebe her opening.
"I accept your apology, Helga. I know you didn't mean to forget, and it sounds like you had good reason to be otherwise occupied. So, if I may ask, how are thing with you and Arnold? I know you two had a rather difficult time when we were younger."
"Everything's going great. I'm not really sure where we stand, but Phoebe? He told me he's crazy about me! I'll have more details soon I hope, but for now I should go. I don't want to stay on the phone too long, and Arnold's waiting for me anyway."
"Okay, Helga. Thank you for calling as soon as you could to let me know you were safe. I know I act like your mother sometimes when I really don't need to, but I worry."
"Eh, it's okay, Phoebe. It's not like Miriam pays attention to me, so I guess I'm pretty lucky to have a best friend who cares as much as you do."
"Anytime, Helga."
After she hung up with Phoebe Helga took one last look at the room before heading for the door, but she stopped with her hand on the doorknob.
'Maybe just one more time, for old time's sake' she thought. Quickly she ran over to Arnold's bed and flopped face down one it. 'He still uses that shampoo'Helga smiled. It was a sent that had drifted through her dreams for many years.
Satisfied with her trip down memory lane, Helga headed down to the kitchen where Arnold sat with a glass of milk and a few cookies. There was a similar setting across from him.
"Hi Helga, want a cookie?"
"I'm not gonna turn that down" she said, sitting down across from him and biting into a gooey chocolate chip cookie. "Mmm, these are great!"
"My mom made them. She and Grandma bake all the time."
"That's nice. How is everyone, anyway?" Helga asked, biting into cookie number two.
"Pretty good, I guess. It still kind of amazes me when I wake up some mornings that when I go down stairs it won't just be Grandma and Grandpa in the kitchen. That my parents will be there too. That I'm not "the kid with no parents" anymore. I mean, Grandma and Grandpa and all the borders are great, but..."
"...but they weren't your parents"
"Yeah. How about you? Are your parents..."
"Still ignoring my existence? Pretty much. Miriam started trying to get help for her drinking, but she only goes to about half the meetings. Bob's still a workaholic, which I never expected to change, and I haven't heard from Olga in a few months, but last I knew she had a teaching job at some fancy French private school."
"I'm sorry your parents still don't pay attention to you."
"Yeah, well it's not like I ever really expected them to make a full 180 or anything, but I hoped they'd at least get better. Anyway, you should probably drive me home so you can get to bed. Good thing tomorrow's Sunday, huh?"
"Yeah. Alright, let's go."
§
'Great, just great. The one time my parents do something responsible!'Helga tried the doorknob one more time, but it stayed locked.
"I don't get it, why start locking the door now? It's not like they've ever done it before." Helga sighed and kicked the door in frustration.
"Do you think if you called the phone would wake them up?" Arnold asked.
"No, Miriam is probably passed out somewhere, and Bob sleeps like a rock. Maybe I can pick the lock..." Helga gave a little huff and began looking for something to pick the lock with.
"Helga...why don't you just come back to the boarding house with me? I can set you up a room, and I know my parents wouldn't mind."
"Arnold, you don't have to do that."
"I know, but I want to. Besides, what else are you going to do?"
"I'm going to—" Helga was cut off by the large clap of thunder that echoed over Hillwood as the sky opened up. The rain started slowly, but picked up pretty quickly. Helga and Arnold ran back to the Packard before they got too wet.
"Alright, I guess you win, Arnold. Let's head back to the boarding house." Arnold nodded and pulled out onto the street. They drove in silence for a while before Helga decided to ask the question that had been pricking at the back of her mind for hours now.
"So, Arnold? About what you said back at the school...I mean...do you really feel that way?"
"You mean am I really crazy about you? Yes. I am, Helga."
"So...where do we go from here?"
"I was going to ask you that."
"Well, to be honest I would love it if...maybe we could try it. Dating, I mean."
"I'd like that. A lot." Arnold grinned and gave her a teasing look, "As long as you're not going to hide behind more aliases."
"No, I'll be me" Helga giggled. "How many of those do you know about, anyway?"
"Well, there's Deep Voice, Cecile, I could almost count that time you faked being blind..."
"Oh geez, you still remember that?"
"Of course. Don't you remember our tango?" Arnold raised an eyebrow while Helga turned red.
"Y-yeah, um, I remember that."
"And you get just as tongue tied now as you did then."
"In my defense, that night you—" Helga stopped and turned a brighter shade of red. She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead, mumbling "Never mind."
"What is it, Helga? That night I what?"
"Forget I said anything, okay?"
"Alright, if you really won't tell me."
They arrived at the boarding house, and Arnold showed Helga to a room they kept ready just in case. He let her borrow one of his many red flannel shirts to sleep in, as well as a pair of shorts.
"Good night, Helga. Sleep well" Arnold said, turning to go up to his own room once she was settled.
"Good night, Arnold. Thank you. Oh, and Arnold?"
"Yeah?"
"That night when you did the tango with me...you made all of my dreams come true." And with that, a blushing Helga disappeared behind the door.
'She really is something, isn't she?' Arnold thought, climbing the stairs to his own room.'Something special'.
Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!