Edited: 7/29/2012

Author Notes:

Hi,

Gerald and Phoebe was an idea that was swarming in my head recently. Surprisingly, this idea kept nagging me, literally and I felt that I should write it. Usually, I have many ideas but I rarely execute them.

This is my first Hey Arnold story. To be honest, it's pretty much my first story ever. I seldom write, which may be visible in my work.

This idea came when I thought of possible scenarios for Season 6. I thought, "How would Arnold and Helga deal with Gerald and Phoebe spending more time together?" This idea isn't new, I believe. One can go many different ways with it, though. My interpretation of this may seem out of character however, I'm just glad to write. Other brilliant writers could turn this into a masterpiece, I suppose. But, for right now, this mediocre piece of work should suffice.

Flintphone

Disclaimer: I do not or will ever own Hey Arnold! It is owned by Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon©.

Gerald and Phoebe

By: Flintphone

Chapter 1: Freshly Sharpened Pencils

"Oh, Criminy...where's that stupid math homework!" Helga exclaimed while she rummaged through her locker. After searching for this paper for over a minute, her patience had already grown thin. Their teacher, Mr. Simmons always worked on math after recess and now the end bell was about to ring. The girl released a growl as she continued her search, hating that she needed the worksheet to bring up her grade.

It had been just last week that Big Bob had opened up one of her progress reports. Most of the time, Helga could get to the mail before her father and especially her mother, since she would be either sleeping or too out of it to care. But on that day, Bob had conveniently come home early from work and decided to open it out of mere curiosity. And there printed in clear type was a C in math.

For the girl, the mark really wasn't a big deal; it wasn't her report card so, it was clearly temporary. But to her father, it was a very big deal. Which thus lead, to Helga's misery, to Bob lecturing her on how she should be more like her sister. "Olga this and Olga that," Helga had mocked as she endured his ramblings. "When will they stop comparing me to her?" To top it all off, Big Bob wouldn't finish without demanding that she raise her grade up to an A.

So here she was, currently digging through her locker for that sheet. She resolved to work on getting her grade up, if only to keep her father quiet; she couldn't stand another of his "Olga's perfect" speeches.

"Hi Helga. Did you find what you needed?"

"What!" shrieked Helga, startled from her thoughts before turning around. "Oh Pheebs, don't scare me like that."

"Sorry Helga," Phoebe stated apologetically.

"Whatever. Anyway, I've been searching for that ridiculous math worksheet for like hours. I've looked everywhere!" Helga declared as she pointed at her now messy locker.

"I believe that you slipped your worksheet into your English textbook. You must have been distracted. I saw you slip it in there this morning before the bell rang."

"Oh yeah," Helga recalled slowly, remembering the incident that happened that very morning as she let out a chuckle. "I had to watch that freak Curly tie himself to the flag pole outside. I bet Wartz is gonna give him at least a week in detention."

Returning to the original task at hand, she turned back to her locker, quickly finding her green English textbook. Once she opened the text up, she spotted the paper right between the front cover and the first page. "How could I have missed that?" she considered. "I thought I looked everywhere for this. Phoebe certainly doesn't miss a thing...does she?"

"Thanks Pheebs..." she muttered out, remembering that a thank you was in order.

"No problem, Helga..." her friend stated with a smile.

The blonde grabbed a few of her other needed school materials from her locker before she felt a sudden urge come over her. With a quick gaze of her watch, she made her decision, realizing that there was four minutes left before the bell. "Uh, here Phoebe, take my books to my desk while I use the bathroom," she said as she shoved books in her friend's arms. "And sharpen these pencils before I get back," Helga commanded, adding to the load. "If I'm late, just come up with an excuse."

Before Phoebe could utter a reply, Helga was already off down the hallway, soon turning a corner. It was then that Phoebe was able to examine the large stack within her arms. She was carrying four books, including a stack of rubber banded pencils that somehow balanced on top.

She reasoned that if she could only adjust her hands underneath all the books, she could manage carrying them. But as soon as she tried to do this, the stack of pencils rolled off the top and fell to the floor. "Oh," Phoebe sighed as she placed the books on the floor, trying to figure out how she could better arrange the writing utensils.

Yet, as she was thinking of a solution, a boy with the familiar stack of hair looked on, deciding that he would offer her some assistance. Nervously, he walked up to her before he voiced, "Hey Phoebe, do you need some help?"

"Oh Gerald," the girl said, startled. "I didn't see you there."

"Sorry. So, do you need any help carrying those books?"

Phoebe, at first thought of declining the service but when she remembered her load she realized that she did need help...and it did help that her companion would be good company. "Well..." she replied, "If you could just carry a few of these into the classroom, I would truly appreciate it."

"Sure, no sweat babe," the boy coolly responded.

Before long, Helga reached her classroom's doorway and peered inside. "Good," she thought, "Simmons isn't here yet. I'm not late."

As she made her way to her desk, she passed a couple of her classmates: Rhonda brushing her hair, Harold eating perhaps his fifth sandwich today and Nadine observing her friend, the beetle.

Once Helga finally reached her desk, she noticed her books there and her stack of pencils, as she requested. But, as she examined her pencils more closely, she realized they were the same as before. "Where is Phoebe? I told her to sharpen my pencils," the girl asked herself.

Quickly turning to gaze at the seat next to her, she found Phoebe's usual seat lay empty. Her eyes scanned around the classroom until they landed on two figures in the back of the room. "Oh there she is, chatting away with Tall-Hair boy," Helga observed as she sat down in her seat.

She had seen them talk several times before but, never as engrossed as they seemed to be now. In the past, she would observe the shy glances they would give each other, understanding exactly what these glances meant. But she never gave any further thought to them, since she was often preoccupied by her Football Headed love.

Phoebe, after saying goodbye to Gerald, spotted Helga, quickly walking over to her. "Hey Helga, I see you're back early. I've been...talking with Gerald," she stated slowly as she sat down in her seat.

"Yeah, I saw..." Helga breathed out, clearly sounding uninterested.

"He offered to carry some of our books since my load was becoming somewhat cumbersome. Then he told me..."

"Pheebs..." her friend interrupted. "I'm not really interested in what Gerald has to say, so could you spare me, please." Truly, she didn't mean to sound rude but the subject of Gerald was not one of her favorites. "Anyway, did you forget to do something?" she questioned, trying to change the subject.

Phoebe's face now wore confusion. "No Helga...I don't think so." The girl couldn't possibly think of anything that she could have forgotten.

Helga sighed, rising out of her seat. "Never mind, Pheebs," she grumbled as she grabbed the pencils and walked to the pencil sharper.

As she grounded one lead after another, she couldn't help but turn her head to gaze at Phoebe, who was now reading a book. "Hmm," she pondered. "Phoebe never forgets. I hope Geraldo isn't rubbing off on her." She let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Just what we need...another Geraldo."

Just then, Mr. Simmons quickly walked in, "Good afternoon, class. Sorry I'm late but I was having a delightful talk with one of our school's special teachers and we got carried away." With a plop, he sat down some papers on his desk. "Now why don't we get started? Harold...put that sandwich away; it's not lunch time anymore."

"But I'm still hungry!"

RING!

"Finally," Helga thought. "School for today is over." She quickly grabbed her books and pencils before making her way out of the door. Roughly, she pushed her way down the hallway until she turned a corner and found Phoebe standing next to the water fountain. The sight of her friend only helped her return to her previous thoughts.

Earlier that afternoon during math, Helga's mind wasn't on the lesson plan or even her Beloved. She was beginning to worry over the day's events. She'd even caught Phoebe giggling to herself, if only for a few seconds.

"Why in the world am I worried?" she asked herself. "So she forgot to sharpen my pencils. What's the big deal?" The girl tried to relax but, she still felt unsettled.

"Phoebe has been acting a little bizarre, though. I mean giggling at nothing? It's probably all Tall hair boy's doing."

Curiously, her eyes shifted over to her best friend. Phoebe was diligently taking notes as usual. Helga narrowed her eyes, trying to study her subject more. If she was to be perfectly honest, the blonde couldn't easily read or understand Phoebe's actions most of the time. This realization only made her worry increase. What didn't she know about Phoebe?

"Maybe they're already starting a relationship and dating and stuff? What am I suppose to do, then? What if they spend all their time together and Phoebe has no time for me?" She shook her head at the idea before a sudden, more pleasant thought came to her. "They've been exchanging glances since forever. Why would they act on it now? I bet they're still too shy to start something, anyway."

The girl released a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. She silently chuckled in relief, "Criminy, why must I always overreact? Here I was worrying about them spending time together and me losing Phoebe in the process...when nothing's happened."

However, the worry still lingered within Helga, even after the bell rang...yet she was still determined to push it aside. She couldn't believe she still had this feeling especially after she rationalized her previous conclusions. "I guess I'm just going to have to prove it to myself that nothing has changed. Phoebe and I have the same relationship that we've always had and nothing's going to change that."

"Hey Pheebs," Helga stated determinedly as she reached the water fountain. "I was thinking that we could walk home together and you can help me with something I'm working on. I just need a list...maybe four to six pages on..."

"Helga," Phoebe spoke, suddenly interrupting her. "I can't walk home with you today."

Helga's face was filled with surprise. "Did she just interrupt me?" She stared at her friend for a few seconds before she registered what she had said. "Why Pheebs?" she asked while she tried to take the surprise and disappointment off her face.

"I was trying to tell you before, Helga. Gerald offered to walk me home and I said yes. I'm sorry," she finished slowly.

The worry inside Helga increase threefold, however, with effort she pushed it aside again. "Don't be...just go walk with Geraldo. I'm good," she uttered quickly, noticing the hint of sadness in her own voice.

However, this sadness came unnoticed to Phoebe. "Thanks Helga, I'll see you tomorrow," the dark-haired girl cried before turning around and walking away to meet up with Gerald near the door.

Huffing out a sigh, Helga walked over to her locker, setting her books and the pencils down on the floor. Putting in her locker combination, she flung the door open. "Helga, old girl, you are overacting again! They can go on a million walks; it doesn't mean that you're losing her. Phoebe is my best friend and will always be," she mused as she took a textbook out of her locker and closed it. She reached down to collect her other things.

Now determined to rid herself of this feeling once and for all, she marched down the hall; books in her left hand and the stack of pencils in the other. "Nothing is going on," she cried out confidently, "I am not losing her." However, her nerves were saying the opposite. Soon, she began to tense up and subconsciously started clenching onto the sharpened side of the pencils in her hand. "Nothing is going to change...Oww!" She exclaimed, having just pricked her fingers. Helga growled and violently threw the items in the nearest trash can. "Stupid pencils!" she barked out as she stomped out of the main doors.

Author's Endnotes:

Helga may be overacting a bit. But, hasn't she overacted a few times before? I hope you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it. If you find mistakes, you can inform me. I may go back and edit it again.

The second chapter could be written in a week, a month, a year; I'm not really sure. Well, maybe not a year, but I'm not certain. I have been considering writing another story, but that one takes more time and planning. The next chapter will have Arnold and Gerald added in the mix.

Next - Chapter 2: A Spoonful of Tapioca Pudding