Hey Arnold!

Helga Tells Arnold

Note: This is my first full Hey Arnold fan fic. Please read and review it because I would be very grateful. Hopefully, I will put more up soon.

Disclaimer: The plot of this story is mine, but the characters are not. I do not work on the show.

Helga, Arnold and the rest of the class sat in their classroom. Mr. Simmons was giving them an uninteresting History lesson. Most students in the class were talking amongst themselves or just daydreaming. Harold was asleep. But, Mr. Simmons didn't notice - he was busy looking down at the textbook that he was reading from.

Helga had been firing spitballs at Arnold for the whole lesson. Arnold tried to ignore it. He didn't want to call out to Helga in case he got in trouble.

The bell rang. "Okay, students, off you go," said Mr. Simmons. "After Recess you can tell the whole class how you plan on spending the upcoming school holidays in your own special way!"

The class crowded out. The last ones to the door were Arnold and Helga. "Move it Football Head! Let me through!" said Helga.

"No!" said Arnold. "I'm sick of being bossed around by you!" He pushed past Helga and went out of the door. He walked down the school corridor.

Helga shouted to him. "Hey, Football Head! Nobody gets away with talking to me like that! Get back here!" She caught up to him. "Explain yourself!"

"Listen, Helga! I am sick and tired of you! You have nothing better to do than get on my nerves! I think you need to just leave me alone. You're crazy! I always used to think that there was a good person deep down inside of you, Helga. Somebody that I could actually like, somebody who could be nice to everybody. Now that you have proved that this person doesn't exist - I don't want to be patient with you any more. Leave me alone!"

Later on....

"Well, when the school holidays come around, I'm going on a holiday!" Gerald told the class. "The place that we are staying is right by a theme park with the latest in roller coaster technology! I can't wait!"

"That sounds very special!" said Mr. Simmons.

"Hey, Gerald!" mocked Harold. "How are you going to get past the height restrictions on the roller coasters? Oh, yeah, I forgot! They will measure your hair too! It's bigger than some kids altogether!"

"Now, Harold, that's enough," said Mr. Simmons. "Why don't you tell the class how you are going to spend your holidays?"

"Because I don't know what I'm doing!" said Harold. "I guess I'll just hang out!"

"Well, Harold, it doesn't really matter if you're not going away," said Mr. Simmons. "As long as you spend the holidays in your own special way!"

The bell rang. The class rushed outside onto the playground. "Arnold!" Helga shouted to Arnold.

Arnold walked up to her. "What do you want Helga? I think that I have said everything that needs to be said. You're not a nice person, so why should I carry on treating you with respect? You don't deserve it. Goodbye, Helga." He walked away.

Helga went home and rushed to her bedroom. She got out her Arnold locket and looked at it. "Oh Arnold!" she said. "What have I done? My attempts to cover up my real feelings have only pushed you further away from me! Oh, my love! Why can't you see past my dark, bullying side and look into my heart, which only has love for you! You said that you didn't want to see me any more! You could hardly bear to look at me! There's only one way that I can fix this mess in my heart! I'll have to confess my love to you! It's the only way that I'll ever gain respect back from you and maybe, one day, love from you."

***

The next day in the school playground, Helga saw Arnold and ran up to him. "Arnold, I really need to talk to you in private," she said.

"Why?" asked Arnold. "So you can call me Football Head some more?"

"No," said Helga. "Please just come with me!" She touched his hand. He followed her to a corner of the playground.

"What do you want?" asked Arnold.

"To say something that I have dreamed of saying for a long time," said Helga. "My dreams of saying this always end happily, but I don't know if this moment in reality will."

"Helga - what is it?"

"I... I love you! I'm madly in love with you!"

"Helga, that's not funny!"

"No, Arnold, you have to listen. I'm not joking. I love you. More than anything else in the world! I have a locket with your picture in!" She showed it to him. "I have books and books full of poems about you! I have one with me now!" She showed him my book. "It's my latest book. I bring it to school with me because when I look at you, sometimes poems just come into my head."

Arnold flicked through the pages of the book. "Well, this can hardly be a practical joke. You wouldn't go to so much trouble. So you love me?"

"With all of my heart."

"Why did you act so mean?"

"So nobody would ever find out my secret."

"Well, I know you want me to say that I love you, too. But, the truth is that I don't. But I will always be there for you now that I have finally seen this side to you. As a friend. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," said Helga.

"Maybe one day, when I am looking for a girlfriend - I will turn to you. But know I have to go to class." He kissed her on the cheek and walked away. Those few minutes were the best of Helga's life.

Copyright Daniel Kilkelly 2000

THE END.