The Cover Photo was made through . Art was done by Princeofredroses and the game Rinmaru! Thanks and Enjoy!

It wasn't too early or too late in the day when the chime on the door announced a visitor to the little Bookshop in Hillwood. It sat a street over from Harold's between P.S. 118 and Sunset arms painted a bold but classic blue with green trim that you couldn't really over look. As the visitor made her way into the store, a woman in her early 30's poked her head out from behind a bookcase and let a smile creep across her face.

"Helga! Good Morning!" The woman had a oval friendly face and straight long brown hair that often fell in her face causing her to flip her hair to and fro all day long. Helga gave her a smirk.

"Morning Ms. F." Helga made her way behind the front counter, and set her bag underneath where no one would bother it. She found her apron on the hook and slipped it on. By the time she was settled in the woman had made her way over with a large box. Setting it on the counter, she leaned on her elbow, raising an eyebrow.

"Helga, it's been four years already. Call me Alice. Ms. F makes me feel old." Helga chuckled lightly at her boss's disgusted face.

"Sure thing 'Alice'," She said with sarcasm. "Whatever floats your boat." She stood over the box and rummaged through it looking at the new inventory, mentally adding a few to her reading list. Helga Pataki was 16 now and had defiantly grown from the unique little girl she was at 10. She had decided about 5th grade to start caring about her appearance, letting Olga take the reins during her Christmas visit that year. Her eyebrow had been separated into two and she decided the opposite for her hair trading the two ponytails for one. That was also the year she started to calm down and be a little nicer to the people around her she considered her friends. It may have been the whole trip to San Lorenzo and helping Arnold save his parents. So much had happened then that it's no wonder she and Arnold had grown closer. Her only regret was how close they had been to kissing, yet it never happening. He had been the one to provoke it, that was for sure but Gerald had decided that that was the perfect time to find them. It was just poor timing, she knew that but she could still be bitter. Because despite all the changes, she was still Helga G. Pataki. She still used "Ol' Betsy" and "The Five Avengers" from time to time to keep her reputation in the halls of Hillwood high. She still hated her parents and most of all she still loved Arnold. She knew she probably always would but at the moment she was content with being one of his best friends. Less pressure and more time together.

"So how is your book coming?" Helga snapped back to reality as Alice stood leaning over the counter with a big smile." My Manager wants to get it to an Editor sometime in early November." Her smile stretched across her face exposing her much adored laugh lines and kindness, every inch of it reminded her of Arnold. It could be it was because Alice Flan looked like Arnold, which could be because she was Arnold's Aunt. Arnold's Mom, Stella's, little sister who came back to Hillwood after 6 years. She had left right after Arnold started preschool to go to college and then started traveling for her job. However, while she may not have been able to visit those years she made sure to send Arnold a card on every Holiday and a present on his birthday and Christmas. And right before 4th grade let out, She appeared to the stoop of the boarding house that she had once lived in and it was almost like she never left. She was the one who helped Arnold win the trip to San Lorenzo and was the first person to cry when her sister and brother-in-law walked through the boarding house doors after almost 10 years. There was no doubt she was the cool aunt, having traveled all over America working on her books, and her and Helga had gotten really close the last 4 years.

"Yeah, I have plenty of poems I could use. Believe me. But I've been working on a variety so they aren't all mushy love poems." Alice made a face of mock disappointment.

"But I like the mushy love poems." Helga rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile. Alice was the only person, other than Phoebe, that knew about…Ice cream. And even though she was his Aunt, Alice had kept the secret from him saying she "loved the drama of it all".

It had happened in 6th grade on her way home. She hadn't really wanted to go home but she knew Miriam was most likely knocked out on the couch and Big Bob was "working late", so she needed to make dinner. So she made her way home down the street with the weird blue building with the green trim and awning. As she passed the building a gust of wind blew down the street catching a loose poem in her notebook. She shrieked and turned to race after it only to find that it had been caught. Alice Flan stood in front of her shop with her poem in hand. She had caught it in the wind and curiosity got the best of her as she began to read it. She knew who the woman was since she had not only been to boarding house several times but Alice had been a guest speaker for Mr. Simmons a few times. But all she seemed to think about was… ARNOLD'S AUNT HAD HER LOVE POEM ABOUT ARNOLD!

She felt the color drain from her face and she was about to run when Alice looked up with a smile. Helga was frozen in place and couldn't make herself move. She was going to die from embarrassment. But Alice simply turned to the door and beckoned Helga in with a smile. Helga had never gone into the bookstore before even though she had secretly wanted to many times before. Her feet moved on their own as she robotically made her way into the small shop. Once inside it was surprisingly new and fresh despite the age of the building. She followed the woman to the counter, feeling a little more comfortable now but she wasn't sure what to think. What was this woman going to do? Was Helga in trouble? From behind the counter, Alice reread the paper with a smile. Then she looked up and spoke making Helga jump.

"Helga…" She was a kind of glimmer in her eye. "Mr. Simmons said you were a blooming young writer but this is amazing."

Helga blinked a few times in disbelief. She called her into her store to tell her she liked the poem? Helga was very confused but thanked the woman nicely. But that look in her eye was still there. When Alice seemed to notice the confused look on Helga's face she gave her a big warm smile. It was what Helga now referred to as the Shortman smile since the whole family seemed to smile that way.

"Helga…would you like to come to my shop for writing lessons?" The confused look on Helga's face didn't go away.

"I don't mean to sound rude Ms. F. but what?" Alice gave a small laugh.

"Helga, it's not every day you find someone who has not only the talent to write but also the passion. I want to nurture that talent of yours. And I'm sure Mr. Simmons does his best but you have a reputation to uphold. So you can come here whenever you want and ill work with you. No one has to know." She handed her the paper that her poem was written on. "I'll feed you, you can do homework here, and I'll even warn you the days I know Arnold is coming over." She winked while Helga did everything she could to keep the blush off her face. She mumbled something to herself before snatching the paper back. Alice didn't expect an answer right then and told Helga to think about it. The next day right after school Helga showed up at the shop with a sheepish grin and a blush. It's been four years since then and at first it was once a week, and it soon grew to everyday Helga didn't have plans. From after school until the streetlights began to turn on and weekends from open to close, Helga spent her free time writing and advancing her skills. Over time she let Phoebe in on the secret and on her Sixteenth birthday Alice offered her a job. Not that she really needed someone to watch the shop. It was more to help Helga. Alice had a lot of money from her books and she paid Helga for all the time she sat at the desk, so the teenage girl would have some kind of spending money.

"Helga!" The blonde looked up to find Alice holding a book up in her face. It had some couple almost kissing on the cover and next to it was Alice's face, which was twisted into some kind of smolder. Helga didn't even try to contain her laugh at her boss's ridiculous face. Alice gave her a big smile seeing as she had finally gotten the teens attention. Helga took the book and flipped it in her hands.

"Why did you buy these?" It was defiantly some romance novel, not something Alice usually wasn't too interested in. The green eyed woman smiled and put the book back in the box.

"This was the book I was telling you about a few weeks ago. A friend of mine wrote this. I met him in Florida and he's hopeless romantic side is only rivaled by yours." She winked taking the box, which may have weighed a good 50 pounds. Just then the chime on the door caught their attention. The two girls looked over to find Phoebe followed by familiar football headed blonde.

"Good Morning Guys!" She fumbled with the box catching it before it slipped out of her hands. Arnold rushed forward to help only for his Aunt to turn away.

"Aunt Alice let me help you." He reached for the box which she again moved out of his reach.

"Nope! Not a chance Shortman! I am perfectly capable of doing this by myself. But thank you!" She turned on her heel. "Helga I'm going to rearrange Romance."

"Sure thing boss." The slender woman walked off trying to keep from dropping the box. Helga waited until she knew Alice was safely in the romance section before addressing her friends.

"Hey Pheebs! Hey Arnoldo! What brings you two over this way?" Phoebe smiled.

"Well Gerald left for Basketball camp yesterday and won't be back until the day before school starts…"Phoebe gave a sheepish smile and looked up from under her eyelashes.

"Criminy Pheebs! Nice to know I'm your back up." Helga leaned forward on elbows and then turned an eye to Arnold who, she couldn't help but notice, was having an excellent hair day. "What about you Hair boy? Missing your number one choice so you decided to come over here?"

Arnold gave one of his award-winning smiles and it took everything in Helga's powers not to swoon.

"Guess you caught me, huh, Pataki?" Arnold had a sense of sarcasm in his voice which he had picked up the last few years hanging around Helga. They had started hanging out more after San Lorenzo but the ultimate reason they had gotten so close was the relationship between their Best friends. It was been almost three years since Phoebe and Gerald had started dating and it was inevitable that they would be pushed together. Helga internally had not problems with this though externally she acted like her usually self. Arnold started out with a forced smile but slowly they got used to being around one another.

"Glad I mean so much to you two!" The two laughed at the blonde who gave a mock disappointed look.

"Well, I actually came to see if you want to see a movie tonight." Helga looked to Arnold with an eyebrow raised.

"Wow Football head! You came all the way here to ask me to go see a movie? Getting a bit brave!" She punched his arm lightly missing the little blush on his cheeks.

"Well Phoebe said she was busy tonight and it's date night for my parents so I really have no one else to go with." He gave her a big smile. "I have tickets to Guardians of the Galaxy…" He took them out of his pocket waving them around. Helga's eyes light up.

"I wanted to see that so bad! You got yourself a date, Football head!" But before either could react to the comment…

Across the room came a loud thud. Helga jumped over the counter and the three rushed over to where the noise had come from. In romance they found Alice flat on her bottom surrounded by Fabio and the new novel. She was laughing historically.

"Aunt Alice!" Arnold made his way through the mess to help his Aunt up but she was laughing too hard to stand.

"Alice, what is so funny?" Helga was afraid her boss was finally going crazy. Between her hits of laughter she squeaked out.

"I'm finally surrounded by gorgeous men!" The three teenagers shook their heads with a smile and helped clean up the books.