Chapter 1.
The gang was in the middle of their senior year of high school. Since fourth grade, they all had their fair share of love and loss. In the end, they all seemed to be with the person that Rhonda had guessed them to be with (in her original marriage predictor). If that makes sense. The rest of them met kids from other schools. There were two, however, despite all their relationships, who never actually found someone. Can you guess who?
He was the man of her dreams and she was the woman of his nightmares. Nonetheless, the one thing that I learned in high school, was that people change. People who are your friends in elementary school may not follow you through high school, and sometimes the people you hated, become your best friends. At this point, the two of them had a platonic relationship. They didn't hate each other, in fact, they didn't even really talk to each other. Helga had gotten rid of all of her Arnold paraphernalia but always held on to the dream of him. Arnold would look at her in the halls, but never at anyone else, almost as if he was still haunted by Rhonda's childhood predictions.
And then, there was the dance; the Valentine 's Day dance. It was a formal dance, and everyone was going… with their date. Gerald and Sid had asked Arnold about a hundred times: Who are you taking? He never had an answer. They suggested a few names of some of the underclassmen, but Arnold really wasn't interested. He knew that he wanted to go, but there really wasn't anyone he wanted to go with, especially since Lila already had a date.
Helga, who had since become friends with Rhonda, felt the exact same way. Even with weeks to go, she, Rhonda, Phoebe, and Nadine were on their way to go dress shopping. They were in the first store, Kacie's and Rhonda was just about to try on her fourth dress. It was floor length, probably better suited as a prom dress, and it was metallic red. She walked out of the dressing room to show the others as it tails behind her. "So what do you think? I'm a bit partial to the designer but I feel like being charitable."
"Wow, Rhonda," Nadine commented. "I think that's the best one yet."
"Oh you're just saying that." Rhonda said a bit too rudely. "There is no way I can walk into a dance wearing a wow dress. That is simply not good enough. I need speechless. I need a dress that I can walk into that gym with and everyone around stops what they're doing and stares. Then when they are finally able to catch their breath, I want them to say 'that dress is a Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd dress and no one in any dress will ever be able to compare."
"How do they fit that all on the label." Helga joked as she shifted through dresses looking at the price tags.
"That's the thing, it has to be so amazing that there isn't a tag in the world good enough."
"Maybe you should have on tailored specifically for you." Phoebe asked her.
"I like to keep my options open. Give others a chance. Like I said, I'm being charitable." Rhonda mentioned generously.
"Yeah you're a real saint." Helga laughed. She picked out a dress of her own; a shorter one, pink, with multiple layers of fabric but no straps. She went in to change into it, but was immediately bombarded with the question of who she was going with. Of course, there was no answer. She has no idea.
"Hello guys." Phoebe's voice called from outside of the dressing room.
"What?" Helga asked as she walked out fully clothed in her pink dress.
Standing there was Gerald, Sid, and Arnold. They were talking with Phoebe, but at the sight of Helga their eyes suddenly switched focus.
Rhonda came out and noticed the boys staring. She smiled, thinking that the stares were for her. "I wasn't sure about this one, personally, but I am open to the idea of it now."
"Helga. You look amazing." Arnold finally said.
"Like I need your opinion." Helga mumbled. Even if she had gotten over her childhood obsession, she could never get over her childhood crush. She was then greeted by a reply of confused faced to which she answered sarcastically, "I said thanks for your opinion."
Phoebe, Rhonda and the guys moved to the side to give the two of them space. They had been planning this for a while. Both Arnold and Helga needed a date after all. May as well be each other.
"So, Helga, who are you going with to the dance?"
"Not that it's any of your business, football head, but I don't have a date."
"C'mon, Helga, can you be nice for a minute please?" Arnold begged.
"Fine. One minute. But I'm counting." Helga said as she grabbed out her phone and started a timer.
"Since neither of us has a date… Would it be so bad… I mean would you like to… I don't know… maybe... do you," Arnold stammered.
"Spit it out already. By the time you finish I'll be too old to get out of this dress."
"Helga!" Arnold answered with disappointment.
"Sorry." Helga answered. "One minute… Well I guess 20 seconds."
"Did you want to go to the dance with me?" Arnold finally says.
"Yeah." Helga agrees. Her voice, though monotone, covers the excitement of her childhood-self dying to come through, "sure. Pick me up at 6? Rhonda's having a pre-dance get together so we may as well go there for like half an hour, right?"
"Sounds great, Helga." Arnold says. He puts his hands together and walks back over to the guys. Helga instead walks back into the dressing room to take off her dress. As she walks into the stall she notices that she is no longer alone, but the person who she sees standing there could not possibly be standing there.
To be continued….