The Girl in my Nightmares

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey, Arnold! or any of its characters.

Chapter 1 – I Like Your Bow

Arnold's P.O.V.

I was lying in bed looking up at the black night through the glass ceiling in my bedroom, but the starry view wasn't doing anything to lighten my mood. What was supposed to be a very fun weekend was suddenly turning into a nightmare.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with Helga for the whole weekend", I grumbled and sat up on the bed.

Gerald, who was sitting at my desk working on his laptop, turned around to face me. "I'm sorry, man. I wish I could go too, but it's just for one night. How bad could it be?"

I raised an eyebrow. "With Helga?"

The fact that we were now in our junior year of high school, and that I was at least a foot taller than Helga, hadn't changed a thing between us. She still bullied me around and called me a football head.

Gerald, Phoebe, Helga and I were supposed to go camping that weekend to find some insects we needed for our final science project, but Phoebe had called to say she was sick, and now Gerald was telling me he was visiting his grandparents and couldn't make it, so now I was stuck with Helga.

Gerald laughed. "Okay, so it might be pretty bad".

"Not just bad, Gerald. It's gonna be a nightmare."

Gerald closed his laptop and walked up to me on the bed. "Don't worry about it, man! It'll be fine." We did our handshake thing and he headed towards the door. "Just try not to kill each other." He smirked and closed the door behind him.

I lay back on the bed and looked up at the sky again. A whole night with Helga… What a nightmare! I took a deep breath.

Then I remembered another time we'd spent that much time alone together for another science project. It hadn't been fun, but it had worked out fine in the end. Maybe it would work out fine this time too.

I heard a knock and then Grandpa poked his head round the side of the door. "Hey there, Shortman! I brought you some dinner."

I hardly looked his way or even noticed when he came through the door. "Thanks, Grandpa. Just leave it on the desk."

He crossed the room and placed the tray he was carrying on the desk. "What's wrong, Arnold? You seemed so excited this morning about going camping with your friends."

"That's just it, Grandpa! None of my friends are coming. It's just gonna be me and Helga."

Just mentioning it made my stomach turn.

"Helga, ey?" He narrowed his eyes and came over to sit next to me on the bed. "Isn't she the one with the huge bow on her head and the one eyebrow?"

"That's the one."

I couldn't believe she still wore that pink bow on her head. I still had my blue hat stored in a box somewhere, but I hadn't worn it in years.

Grandpa chuckled and glanced at me sideways. "I'd think you wouldn´t mind spending some time alone with her."

"What gives you that idea, Grandpa?"

"Oh, I don't know… just thinking about that crush you had on her back in pre-school."

"W… wait, what?!" I pushed myself up from the bed and turned towards Grandpa. "What did you just say? I've never had a crush on Helga! Are you crazy? Why would you think that?"

"Well… you always came home chattering about how pretty her blonde hair was with her pink bow and how smart she was." He smiled and then his face turned thoughtful. "Up until she started calling you football head and bullying you."

I lay back down, shaking my head. "You're way off base, Grandpa. I'm sure I was just being nice."

"Well… I'm sure it will all turn out okay. You should try to get some sleep. We've got an early rise tomorrow." He stood up and walked to the door. "Good night, Arnold."

"Night, Grandpa."

Early the next morning I got up to get all my stuff ready and get dressed. I was still in boxer shorts, pulling my jeans up my legs, when I heard a knock on the door and invited who I thought was Grandpa to come in.

"Hey, football head! You ready to-"

"H-Helga?" I yanked my jeans up and reached for the first t-shirt I could find and slipped it over my head. "I… I'm sorry. I thought you were Grandpa."

As I was pulling my shirt down, I noticed the way Helga's eyes turned huge. They slowly started to make their way up to my face and then, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over her head, her stunned expression turned into a glare.

"You should ask people who they are before you let them in, football head! No one wants to see your pitiful excuse for a body."

I rolled my eyes and bent down to put my sneakers on. "I said I was sorry."

Helga crossed her arms and shrugged. "Whatever. You ready to go?"

"Yeah."

I grabbed my backpack and we headed out the door and down the stairs. Grandpa was already waiting for us outside to drive us up to the campsite. Within an hour we had arrived. Grandpa helped us unload the car and then gave me a pat on the back before climbing into the driver's seat.

"Take care, Shortman. I'll pick you up tomorrow. Have fun!"

Helga and I both stood there, our backpacks and stuff scattered around us on the ground, as we watched grandpa's car drive away and disappear out of sight.

"Guess it's just you and me now, football head."

"Guess so."

"So, what's the deal? We catch a bunch of bugs to take home and that's it?"

"Pretty much."

"I don't see why we couldn't just look for insects in our own backyards."

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. We'd been there for what, thirty seconds, and she was already complaining?

"There are some insects we won't find in our backyards, Helga. And the whole idea of camping was to have fun. It was supposed to be the four of us."

"It's not like I'm so excited about being stuck here with you either, football head."

"Whatever, Helga. Let's just start setting up camp."

We walked around the woods for a while until we found a good spot for our tents. There weren't many people camping nearby, just a young couple up the hill and a large family down by the river.

As I started to unpack, I noticed some of my stuff was missing.

"What's wrong, Arnoldo? Forget something?"

"Yeah…" I grumbled. "I can't find the bag with my tent and sleeping bag in it. I think I left it back home."

"Well, that was a stupid thing to do!"

"Yeah… no kiddin', Helga."

I kept looking but I knew I had definitely forgotten it.

"Look… don't worry, okay?" I heard Helga say. "My tent is big enough for two. We can share it."

I frowned a little. It wasn't like Helga to want to do something nice for me for a change. "Do you really mean that?"

"Geez, football head! I know I'm not exactly the most warm-hearted person you know, but I wouldn't let you sleep out in the cold."

Our eyes met for a moment and then she shrugged and went back to unpacking. "Just don't get any crazy ideas, okay? I'm sharing my tent, but there's no way in hell I'm sharing my sleeping bag with you."

I chuckled. "Don't worry, Helga. I don't want to share your sleeping bag any more than you do."

For a moment, Helga seemed hurt, but she quickly recovered and said, "Finally something we can agree on".

She pulled her tent out of its bag and started stretching it out on the grass. I walked over to help her and we silently started working together to set the tent.

"So…" Helga said after we were done. "What now?"

I grabbed a box of mini jars from my backpack and handed a few to Helga. "Now we go look for bugs."

We headed deeper into the woods in search of insects and the whole afternoon went by. It was soon starting to get dark.

"I think we've got enough bugs now, football head. Can we please head back to camp? I'm tired and I'm hungry."

I finished catching the last insect in a jar and looked up at the clouds. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. It's getting pretty dark and it looks like rain. Do you know which way's camp?"

Helga's eyes turned huge. "Excuse me?!", she shrieked. "What do you mean which way is camp!?"

I looked around for a moment deciding which path to take. "I think it's this way."

"You think it's this way?" She threw her hands up in the air and growled. "Crimeny! I thought you knew where we were! I can't believe you got us lost, football head!"

"Calm down, Helga. We're not lost. Let's just go back this way."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, bucko! Not until we figure out where we are." She sat down on a rock for a second and then abruptly stood up. "I got an idea." She walked over to the nearest tree and reached for the lowest branch. "I'm climbing up to see if I can spot camp from up there."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Helga. That´s pretty high up."

"What do you know? You got us lost, remember?"

"We're not lost, Helga. C'mon, I'm pretty sure it's this way." I started walking in that direction when I heard a branch crack and a big thump on the ground. I turned to see Helga lying on her back and ran back as fast as I could.

"Helga?!" I lifted her head up and patted her cheek so she'd open her eyes. "Helga, are you okay?"

Helga's P.O.V.

I opened my eyes and saw his worried face looking down at me.

"Helga, are you okay?"

I blinked a few times feeling disoriented.

"Are you okay, Helga?"

"I think so." I tried to stand up but felt a sharp pain in my ankle. "Ow! No, I think I broke my ankle."

Arnold grabbed my foot and gently started examining it. "It doesn't look broken. You probably just sprained it." He leaned in closer to me, put my arms around his neck and scooped me off the floor.

As I felt my body being lifted, I tightened my arms around his neck. "What the hell are you doing, football head? Put me down!"

Arnold started walking in the direction he thought was camp. "I'm carrying you back to camp, Helga. It's getting dark and you won't be able to walk back. I promise I won't drop you."

As we headed towards camp, I couldn't help think about how easily he'd lifted me off the ground. Arnold had always been the skinny type, but for some years now what used to be nothing but a bony chest and lanky arms was now a set of well-defined muscles. Not bulky or anything, just enough to call him athletic. And the thought of those muscles rippling under his shirt as he carried me was enough to make me swoon.

I could tell he was struggling with my weight, but he still continued to walk and carried me all the way back to camp, my heartbeat racing the whole time. He took me into the tent and settled me on my sleeping bag.

I took my sock and shoe off, and examined my foot. "Great, just what I needed! It's already starting to swell!"

Arnold disappeared through the gap in the tent and came back with some kind of gel lotion in his hand. "I think this might help."

He placed my foot on his lap and I watched as he carefully started rubbing the gel on my swollen ankle.

"What is that?"

Arnold looked up at me and smiled in a way that could make any girl's heart skip a beat and said, "It'll keep the swelling down."

Damn football head for smiling at me like that! How could I ever think straight with him smiling at me like that?

When he was done rubbing the gel on my ankle, he wrapped a bandage around it, and I was suddenly sorry I hadn't sprained my other ankle and both wrists.

We sat there in silence for a while and then raindrops started to hit the tent. Arnold pulled the little tent window open and we watched as the light rain turned into a downpour.

"So much for lighting a campfire", Arnold said.

"It's okay. I'm beat anyway."

I folded my legs to my chest and hugged my knees. Moments turned into seconds and seconds turned into minutes as the rain gradually started to thin out until it finally stopped altogether. The moon settled in the sky, lighting up the treetops.

"Hey… Arnold?" I said. "Thank you"

Arnold's P.O.V.

I had never really understood Helga. Most times I couldn't stand her, but then there were other rare moments, like this one, that puzzled me. It was like watching something rise to the surface after being hidden for too long; like seeing a whole different Helga that had always been there, right beneath the surface, but too afraid to come out.

"Thank you for what, Helga?"

"For helping me. I'd be soaking right now if you hadn't carried me back."

"You're welcome."

She blushed and looked away. How could she be such a bully sometimes and then look so vulnerable? Why did she sometimes look at me in a way that made me feel unsure? Why was I suddenly feeling nervous?

I grabbed a couple of sandwiches that Grandma had packed for us and offered one to Helga. She took it with a mumbled thanks and a half smile.

"I wonder what Gerald and Phoebe are doing," Helga said after a while.

I thought about it for a second and then said, "Gerald's probably watching TV at his grandparents' and I bet Phoebe's lying in bed reading or something."

Helga snorted at the picture that formed in her mind. "You're probably right. I don't think they're having much more fun than we are."

After Helga finished her sandwich, she slid into her sleeping bag and let her hair fall down, placing her pink ribbon on the side of her pillow. The thick tresses of her yellow hair hung loosely over her shoulders and back and I realized I'd never noticed how long it really was, or how beautiful. She lay down on her side facing me and rested her head on the pillow, but her eyes were looking down, her long dark lashes almost brushing her round cheeks.

Without a lamp or a campfire burning outside, the only light we had was the moonlight coming in through the small window on the side of the tent.

When I lay back on the floor I turned my head to look at Helga and wondered if she'd fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was calm and even. A lock of her hair had fallen down the side of her face and my fingers itched to brush it aside.

I felt my pulse race as I continued to watch her.

I slid my eyes away from her face and caught sight of the pink ribbon resting beside her pillow. An image of a four-year-old Helga flashed into my mind. She was wearing that same ribbon on her head and she was soaking wet. It was raining and it was cold.

That was the first time I met Helga. She had looked nice with her pink bow and matching pants, and it hadn't mattered to me that she was covered in mud. She had been nice when I first met her and I had actually liked her. Maybe what Grandpa had said wasn't that crazy after all.

Helga's P.O.V.

I closed my eyes and hoped to fall asleep soon, but his presence inside the tent so close to me was too strong to ignore. I heard fabric rustling and peeked at Arnold through my lashes. He was pulling a heavy jacket from out of his backpack and bunching it up to make a pillow.

The temperature wasn't very low, but it was only going to get colder throughout the night. I watched as he lay his head on his jacket and waited until I was sure he'd fallen asleep to pull my spare blanket over his shoulders.

I turned around and closed my eyes, and very unsuccessfully tried to think of anything but the gorgeous blonde boy sleeping right next to me in the tent.

Arnold's P.O.V.

I woke up to the sun's rays on my face and the smell of wet grass. A pink blanket was covering my body and keeping me warm. I sat up and turned towards Helga. She was still asleep, but at some point during the night, she had covered me with her blanket.

Moments later, her eyelids fluttered and her eyes opened.

"Good morning." I said.

Helga yawned and rubbed her eyes before heaving herself to a sitting position. She stretched her back and pressed her palm against her hip.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked.

"No," She grumbled. "My back's killing me. I don't understand how people actually enjoy sleeping in a friggin tent." She rubbed her face and then asked, "How did you sleep, football head?"

I smiled as I folded the pink blanket and got up. "Better than I thought I would."

Her cheeks turned a bright red as her eyes fixed on the blanket. "Yeah, well… I couldn't sleep with all that teeth-chattering going on."

"Thanks, Helga. That was nice of you."

"Don't get all mushy on me okay, football head? Like I said, I was just trying to sleep." She got up and yanked the blanket away from me.

After we finished packing our stuff, we headed down to the lake and sat down under the shade of a tree to eat what food we had left: a couple of apples, a banana, two Kit-Kats and a pack of crackers. Helga pulled a book out to read. I sat there watching people fishing on the other side of the lake and kids playing on the dock.

A while later, Helga was still reading and I was getting bored.

"What are you reading, Helga?" I asked.

She answered without taking her eyes off the book. "What's it to you, football head?"

"I'm bored… wanna do something fun together?"

She lowered her book and finally looked up at me. "Like what, Arnoldo?"

"How's your ankle?"

"It's fine. Doesn't hurt anymore."

"Then we could go hiking."

"Hiking?" Helga rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother!"

"What's wrong with hiking?"

"Why would anyone want to walk for hours in the sun, sweat like a pig… and for no real reason, just to walk back again? I had enough of that yesterday, thanks!"

"Fine. We could swim in the lake, then."

"We didn't bring our swimsuits, genius!"

"Who said we needed a swimsuit?"

Helga's cheeks burned red. "I hope you're not suggesting we go skinny-dipping."

"W-what?! No!" I felt my own cheeks burning. "I meant we could just swim in our shorts."

An awkward silence followed and Helga lowered her gaze back to her book, but I knew she wasn't really reading.

"I brought a deck of cards. Wanna play some poker?"

Helga closed her book and looked up. "Fine, Arnoldo. But let's make it interesting."

"Fine by me." I took the deck of cards out and started shuffling them. "What you wanna bet?"

"How 'bout ten bucks?"

"I think we can make it more interesting than that."

"Okay... I'm listening."

"Winner pushes loser into the lake."

Helga smirked and held her hand out. "You've got yourself a deal, football head."

I shook her hand and sealed the deal, then dealt the cards.

About an hour went by and we were playing our final betting round.

"What do you have?" Helga asked.

"You show me first."

"Better start taking off anything you don't want getting wet, Arnoldo." She leered and placed her cards on the grass. "Flush."

"You're right, Helga. I won't want you splashing me while I dump you into the lake." Her gaze was intense as she watched me lower my cards. "Full House."

"What?! No way!" She started to get up, ready to run. "You cheated, football head!"

I was right behind her. "You know me better than that, Helga."

She shrieked as I chased her and laughed out loud when I started dragging her to the edge of the lake.

"No, wait!" She tried pulling her arm away. "Arnold, no! Please!"

"A deal's a deal, Helga!"

"Okay… just… just wait a second."

I stopped just a few inches from the edge of the lake and let go of her hand, then turned around. "What?"

"Sucker!"

Helga's hands were suddenly on my chest, pushing me backwards into the lake. I barely had time to grab her and we both fell into the freezing water.

We made it to the surface at the same time gasping for breath.

"What the heck was that?!"

The corners of Helga's mouth curled up as she swam to the edge.

I followed and watched as she climbed out. Goosebumps were showing all over her arms and legs and her clothes clung to her body. I'd never really noticed the shape of Helga's body before, but I noticed it now. Her breasts were perky and full, her nipples standing out tight from the cold. Her waist was small and her hips gave way to long athletic legs. I swallowed hard thinking of what lay beneath.

I didn't have that much time to contemplate when she plunged into the lake cannonball style creating a huge splash that left me momentarily blinded. I rubbed the water off my eyes and grinned.

"So… How fast can you swim, football head?"

"Race you to the dock?"

She smiled. "You're on."

Time rushed by and when we were finally exhausted, we lay out in the sun for a while to get dry and then headed back to where Grandpa was picking us up. He arrived just in time, and on our way home, we dropped Helga off at her house.

I helped her carry her backpack up the stoop and when we reached the front door, she fitted her key into the lock and glanced up at me. "Thanks, Arnold. I… uhm…" She swallowed, "…I had fun."

I smiled and said, "I had fun, too."

She turned the key and opened the door. "So… uhm… I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Yeah…"

Her eyes met mine and before I even knew what I was doing, I was already leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Bye, Helga."

I turned and walked down her stoop to Grandpa's car. When I looked back she'd already closed the door behind her.

"So, Shortman," Grandpa asked as we drove off, "was it as bad as you thought it would be?"

"No… I actually had a great time."

If I hadn't been too busy glancing back at Helga's front door I would've seen the smirk on Grandpa's face.