Disclaimer: Craig Bartlett owns everything.
Summary: After FTI Helga confesses her love to Arnold, who sadly doesn't feel the same way. Now, Arnold is running Hillwood High's newspaper, and dating Lila. As an act of revenge, Helga becomes the mysterious advice columnist 'Geraldine.'
"Lost Love"
I loved you more than I have ever known
Those starry eyes
Those tender lips
You made my heart melt
Then boil into a roaring fire
I now know
What my eyes could not see
You are the only one that is for me
Many nights those tears flew
Being myself without anyone
Anyone to care about the thoughts
Looking at the sky and knowing
Many mistakes I had
Many mistakes I have had
Ask Geraldine by Kat Doll
"Ha, what a load of crap!" said Helga through a mouthful of pork rinds. She was sprawled comfortably on the floor, watching some soap Miriam had fallen asleep to. Strangely it wasn't that bad of a show. The main character, Jacques looked like a dark-haired version of Arnold.
Just when Jacques had pushed Helena up against the wall, his gorgeous green eyes wild with lust, the phone started ringing. Helga jumped, spilling crumbs all over the carpet.
"Archibald is on the phone," yelled Bob's voice from the kitchen.
Arnold? "What does he want?" She pushed herself off the carpet. Why would he be calling?
"Oh for crying out loud," Bob groaned angrily, a huge vein appearing on his forehead. "What do you want?" He gritted out, tapping his fingers on the wall with forced patience.
"Well..." the blonde girl hissed. She tip toed over to the large man, eyeing the phone tentatively, as if it was Arnold himself. "WELL?"
"He wants to know if you want to hang out…"
She scrambled back when he went to hand her the phone. "Are you going to talk to the little twerp or not?" His voice was rising with impatience. Helga snatched up the phone feeling like her legs was about ready to give out "H-hiya, Football head. What, you got the wrong number or something? Oh, well...that's pretty decent of you. No, I'm free today. A-Alright. I-I guess I'll meet ya there? Bye." Helga slammed the phone the wrong way three times before she slid down the wall like a pile of mush.
.......
Over the past few weeks (and many more phone calls later) Helga had been rolling, not walking, on cloud nine. It seemed her heart took most of her energy these days. Arnold, the boy who she had longed for since elementary school had complete hold over her. She trotted like a lost puppy behind him, only this time, she was with him. Not as his stalker, or bully, but his friend.
"Helga. There's this thing that's been on my mind lately."
Helga tensed, already sensing where the conversation was leading. Arnold had rubbed the back of his neck, obviously not comfortable either.
She had been dreading this topic like a hurricane.
"Okay? Spit it out." She turned around to pay for her ice cream. Her hands were shaking so bad that she almost dropped the money.
"It's about that time on the roof…" He hesitated, fumbling with his fingers.
"I thought we discussed this already." Her heart felt like it was about ready to jump out her chest.
"I know we spoke about this before, but…I keep thinking about that night. It's driving me crazy. You kissed me, and said that you loved me. But then you said that was all just on impulse, and you were caught up in the craziness of that night. So, why do I feel like that was all just a lie?"
She froze. Her forgotten Mr. Fudge bar had melted, and was dribbling onto the pavement.
"I don't know Football head. Hey, you know I think I promised Miriam and Olga I'd go shopping with them," she said, aqua blue eyes darting around their surroundings for a quick departure.
"Helga, that doesn't even sound like you. Why can't you just answer the question?"
"What exactly are you asking me?"
"Do you really love me?" he said this so quietly, that she suspected he was embarrassed.
"I...," Just say it. Admit to how you truly feel. " I do. I love you, Arnold." She could feel her heart racketing inside her chest. Sweat trickled, and cooled against the skin of her forehead. It was like the relief after child birth.
He sighed, now looking away from her. "You know, I use to think you hated me."
Helga chuckled nervously. "I was afraid you'd find out my secret."
The corners of his mouth lifted, as his cheeks turned magenta.
"Do you…," she could see him tense, but was too focused on her next words to really take notice, "like me-like me?" She winced, not liking how simplistic that sounded. What she really wanted to ask was, "Do you desire me the way I desire you? Would you give up everything, everyone, just to spend this afternoon with me again?
He looked surprised for a moment, and nervously tugged at his collar. When Helga's heavy glance became too much to bear, he turned to his shoes, twisting and grinding the souls of his feet into the pavement; a sign that made Helga want to run for the hills before he delivered the bad news.
"I…enjoy having you around. Not like it was before, but like now. I knew that deep down; you were always this amazing person. But, so much stuff has happened. I've only known you, the real Helga, for just a couple of weeks."
She exhaled harshly, waiting for the pain to hit. He quickly stepped over to place his hand on her shoulder, but she brushed him off. "You had only known Lila for just a few days and you were CRAZY about her."
"Lila didn't throw spitballs at me and she didn't make fun of me and my friends every chance she got." He stopped, noticing that behind that brave front she put on, Helga was crying, inside and out. This wasn't something he was use to. He'd seen girls crying before, but never Helga. "Helga…I'm-"
"Don't apologize. I had it coming. I need to...," she was already backpedaling, tossing her unfinished fudgesicle into a nearby trashcan. Arnold tried walking after her, but she held her hands in front of her face. "Do me a favor, and don't tell anybody that I was so stupid to think that you-"
"Please, Helga. I was stupid to bring this up in the first place. Don't walk away."
"Forget about it Football head, I'll get over it." She hastily turned on the spot and headed for the street corner, almost getting knocked down by a group of kids on bikes.
"Helga! Just wait a minute."
Breathe in out in out. Almost there ol' girl, you're almost home free. Don't let him see you cry like a baby.
"Helga-"
"GO AWAY ARNOLD!" Fierce blue eyes aimed at him.
"I can't" He said, walking carefully over to her, as if she were a dangerous animal. "Listen, I'm going to follow you till you reach you're block. If you want to talk to me, I'll be right behind you." Helga rolled her eyes, causing more traitorous tears to fall. "Whatever."
He walked behind her all the way till they reached her place. She never did turn around, not when she raced up the steps, or when she went to slam the door on him.
"How long did you love me?"
She eased the door open a little wider, her eyes still not meeting his.
"Too long, obviously."
.......
Six years later…
Helga stared forlornly out the window of her favorite café. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't divert her eyes away from the sight unfolding in front of her. It was like having someone plunge a knife into her heart. Seeing them together hurt a lot more than it did when she was younger.
The very close friends seemed to be in their own element. Nobody could burst their happy bubble. Lila, who had ignored Arnold all throughout junior high, had started taking interest in him again. Especially now that he's Mr. Editor, Hillwood High's most talented student.
Unlike most normal schools where nobody really gives a shit about their school's newspaper, Hillwood High's newspapers sold out like crack, or the Harry Potter books if you're looking for a less vulgar comparison. When Arnold took control over the paper, it drove a few of the teachers who had been teaching since the Stone Age into frenzy. But with the extra money coming in, and the publicity, who cared? Helga had secretly been an avid reader. That was until Arnold let that wench Lila become co-editor. Helga claimed to never read the Hillwood High Today again as long as she stayed at that forsaken school.
Helga sneered, still watching as Lila led them over to an empty bench, Arnold's hand clasped in hers. The friends boasted their closeness like the celebrities, always being caught in the act, yet denying their relationship.
Before newspapers, and all the lovey-dovey bull they acted like complete strangers(well, mostly on Lila's part), just like most of the gang from PS 118, whose friendships died off once entering high school level. Who's going to go off to high school with some kid they knew since Urban Tots pre-school? Nobody wants to be known as that person that hung out with that kid who ate crayons, or brought a ball of lint to school, or, use to help that crazy monobrow in her schemes to win the love of a certain Football head.
Although Helga wouldn't admit it, that had been a sad time for her. She never imagine Phoebe leaving her for new friends; the kind that carried notepads and wore glasses, and made Helga feel unintelligent. Seeing Rhonda ditch Nadine wasn't surprising, or when Harold joined the football team and never looked back, or even when Eugene started dressing in all black, and became the lead singer for some band in school, but Phoebe? All the original cliques had split off, and now it was just her; the moody blond girl, with the outdated pigtails, and no fashion sense whatsoever. Well, there's still Brainy…Isolation leads you to desperate matters.
-
"I've been really thinking about what we talked about on the phone yesterday." Lila said, staring into Arnold's sea green eyes. She was careful not to look at the café window, where Helga's gaze could have burned holes right through the glass.
"You have?" He said his voice embarrassingly high. "I mean, you have?"
"Yes. I'm ever so sorry I hadn't realized this sooner."
"Realized what?" Arnold couldn't hold back the anxiety he felt. Even after six years of knowing her, Lila was a complete mystery. First she wanted him as a boyfriend, then she only wanted a friend, then she goes and pretends he doesn't even exist. Gerald had joked that she probably wanted to be Mrs. Editor, but Lila was interested in other things too, not just the newspaper!
She bit her lip, looking down at her legs. "I don't know how to say this. I'm ever so nervous, Arnold." He wasn't sure if he could handle another rejection. But something about the way she was being with him today said otherwise.
"I never stopped having feelings for you. Remember those times you kept trying to get back together with me, and I always turned you down. Secretly, I still wanted you. But I was too afraid you might break my heart again." She traced the sides of his face, pushing back a few blond strands. It had grown longer since junior high, almost reaching past his shoulders.
Arnold felt hot all over, even if her hands were cold from the slushy she was drinking earlier. Lila was gorgeous when she was young, but now everyone stopped to look when the girl was present. Her hair was a little longer than it once was and now flowed down towards her chest in fiery strands.
"Arnold, what I'm trying to say is..." Lola cringed inwardly. Just get it over with. Then you'll have him at the palm of your hands, just like old times. Just hurry, and be done with it. Say it Say it Say it. If this was really her speaking, she would have just said, "I like you like you", but Arnold was older now. And from what she been hearing in the girl's bathroom during the gossip rush, Arnold wanted a girl he could connect with emotionally, he wanted passion, he wanted a best friend, someone who spewed poetry day and night, and wrote him sonnets. Lila couldn't believe what a sap he turned into, or that she once was interested in that kind of thing.
Luckily, Lila had prepared herself. She knew of a girl that was a bigger sap then Arnold, a girl that wrote sonnets, who was so obsessed over Arnold it made her look almost pathetic. That girl was Helga Pataki; who needed to learn to take better care in watching over her things, most specifically her notebook. It was filled to the max with spewage about sea green eyes, and cornflower hair, and just the tool she needed.
"I feel for you like the burning sun. Every moment you speak, every second I'm near you. I'm addicted to your scent that lingers heavenly in the air. I always get impatient when you're not around, because all I can even think about is you." . Dramatic Pause. Fade to black. Lila you're the best freakin actress in the world!
Said boy with the cornflower hair eyes had widened as the girl looked at him with such passion. He felt adrenaline rushing through his veins, wanting more than anything to just reach out and pull her towards him. "Lila, that was…"
Lila closed her eyes, smiling triumphantly as she was pulled into the warmth of his embrace. With one hand she wriggled her fingers at the girl going mad behind the glass window, as the other clawed the back of Arnold's hair, yanking him forward into a mouth devouring kiss.
AN: Aint she just an evil thang? If you hadn't realize yet, this story is Evil!Lila. Kay?