Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.
Girl Talk
Young Helga and Rhonda get paired up for a class assignment and the two girls have trouble finding things in common...until they discover one thing in particular. Dedicated to Kryten.
Monday
It was a beautiful, sunny Monday afternoon in the town known as Hillwood and many children were currently were all children should be during this time of the day.
School
At P.S 118, a certain group of sixth graders were in their final period of the day and were just anxious as they waited for the bell to ring, signalling their release from the school for the rest of the afternoon.
" For not by night, even, had Fedallah ever certainly been known to slumber, or go below. He would stand still for hours: but never sat or leaned; his wan but wondrous eyes did plainly say-We two watchmen never rest....'Arnold read out loud.
"Thank you Arnold...now Helga, will you please continue where Arnold left off..."Mr. Simmons asked, as his class was in the middle of reading a book out loud.
And now it was Helga's turn.
"Okay... "The intense Pequod sailed on; the rolling waves and days went by; the life-buoy-coffin still lightly swung; and another ship, most miserably misnamed the Delight, was descried. As she drew nigh, all eyes were fixed upon her broad beams, called shears, which, in some whaling-ships, cross the quarter-deck at the height of eight or nine feet; serving to carry the spare, unrigged, or disabled boats...Upon the stranger's shears were beheld the shattered, white ribs, and some few splintered planks, of what had once been a whale-boat; but you now saw through this wreck, as plainly as you see through the peeled, half-unhinged, and bleaching skeleton of a horse..." Helga continued to read out loud in a simple, flat tone.
Helga continued reading until Mr. Simmons ordered Harold to continue, only for the fat boy to struggle a bit due to his lower than average intelligence but after him, it was Rhonda's turn and as always, the dark haired girl had to be as flamboyant as possible with her story telling.
"It was a clear steel-blue day. The firmaments of air and sea were hardly separable in that all-pervading azure; only, the pensive air was transparently pure and soft, with a woman's look, and the robust and man-like sea heaved with long, strong, lingering swells, as Samson's chest in his sleep. Hither, and thither, on high, glided the snow-white wings of small, unspeckled birds; these were the gentle thoughts of the feminine air; but to and fro in the deeps, far down in the bottomless blue, rushed mighty leviathans, sword-fish, and sharks; and these were the strong, troubled, murderous thinkings of the masculine sea...."Rhonda read out loud, trying to sound as dramatic as possible with her story telling.
It kind of made Helga want to roll her eyes a bit...
"Drama queen..."Helga thought in annoyance before the story telling was finished.
During this time, Helga was having a whispering conversation with her boyfriend and most favorite person in the whole, wide world.
"So Helga, we still going to the movies later?...'Arnold whispered to the blonde girl who smiled at him.
"You know it, Football Head..."Helga whispered back, feeling happy.
Yep, they were dating now. Ever since the trip to San Lorenzo about six months ago. After a harrowing adventure of escaping derange river pirates, exploring perilous jungles, saving a lost civilization and most of all, saving Arnold's missing parents Miles and Stella, Arnold had realized the extend of Helga's love for him and ended up returning her feelings...and now they were officially a happy, loving couple.
FINALLY!
Soon Rhonda was done reading and soon went back to her seat, only to accidentally bump into Helga's seat, interrupting the flirtatious conversation she was having with her boyfriend and naturally, getting on the blonde haired girl's easy-to-get-on nerves.
"Excuse you."Helga said in annoyance, but not loud enough to be heard by their teacher.
"Hmtp ...hardly..."Rhonda said, not even bothering with an apology as she went back to her seat with her nose held in the air.
"Snob...'Helga muttered.
She noticed the disapproving look her boyfriend is sending her.
"What?...' Helga asked in a clueless tone.
"You really need to learn to stop being so hostile with Rhonda, it's not like she meant to bump into your desk..."Arnold chided.
"Oh come on, it's not like a threw an insult at her..."Helga said.
"You just called her a snob behind her back...'Arnold pointed out, making Helga pout.
"Helga, you promised me that you would try and be more patient now...'Arnold reminded.
"Hey, I'm plenty patient, I haven't socked anybody in class in months..."Helga reminded him.
"And that's good but Rhonda is suppose to be one of our friends and every time you both are in the same room, you guys either glare at the other or exchange insults..."Arnold reminded her.
"Arnold, in case you forgot, she does that just as much as me, so what am I suppose to do?..."Helga challenged back.
Before Arnold could answer her, Mr. Simmons got their attention.
"Okay, class...now that we have finished the special tale of Moby Dick, we are ready for our extra special assignment. ..."Mr. Simmons said enthusiastically while his students groaned.
"Now for this assignment, you both will be in teams of two and give a presentation on one particular scene you found most special of the story Moby Dick, now it doesn't have to be big, it can be anything, all I want is for the two of you, to give your own vision on how you saw that scene... all done by tomorrow..."Mr. Simmons said to his class.
"Well, that's pretty vague and not a lot of time.. .'Helga thought as Arnold raised his hand.
"Yes Arnold?...'Mr. Simmons asked.
"So, should we tell you who are partners will be Mr. Simmons?..."Arnold asked as he kept sending a look at Helga, who smiled.
"Actually Arnold, for this assignment, I will be picking your partners..."The teacher said, making both Arnold and Helga share a look.
So far this semester, they tried hard to make sure they both would do assignments together, only rarely getting assigned someone else. The balding, chipper teacher then proceeded to pair all the students in groups of two. He paired Stinky with Lila, Harold with Sid, Eugene with Sheena, Lorenzo with Iggy and so forth...
"Arnold, you and Gerald will be doing the assignment together..."Mr. Simmons said.
Arnold blinked as he sent a look to his best friend who shrugged and then to his girlfriend, who sighed.
"Eh, guess I can last one afternoon without you...'Helga joked.
She figured that she still has a chance to get the work done.
"Phoebe, you and Nadine will be doing the assignment together...'Mr. Simmons said.
Helga blinked when she heard that her second-choice partner was paired off with Nadine...
'Wait a minute...'Helga muttered as she looked around and to her dismay, she saw who was the only available person left in the room.
"And it looks like Helga will be doing it with Rhonda...'Mr. Simmons said, causing the two girls to look aghast and Arnold to look concern, while the rest of the students "oohhhed" in shock.
"Mr. Simmons, surely you jest...'Rhonda said, while Helga opened her mouth to complain, only to be stopped by the teacher.
"Now girls, my decision is final..."Mr. Simmons said, just in time for the bell to ring.
"Now remember class, a presentation due to tomorrow on one scene of the book, it can be any of them...'Mr. Simmons said before he walked out.
Helga and Rhonda both were staring at each other. No, they were outright glaring at the other. Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd and Helga G. Pataki were going to be project partners tonight.
Oh boy...
Out in the hall
"Criminy...just my luck..."Helga muttered in annoyance as she grabbed the things from her locker.
"It won't be so bad Helga..."Arnold said to his girlfriend, who sent him a look.
"Easy for you to say...At least you can stand Geraldo..."Helga said to her boyfriend who sent her a look.
"It's just for one afternoon and Rhonda is one of our friends..."Arnold said.
"You mean she is one of your friends...In case you haven't noticed during the last 8 years, me and Ms. Rhondaloid don't exactly see eye to eye...'Helga said..
"Well, maybe this assignment is a good thing...you guys can finally learn to get along...'Arnold said optimistically, just in time for Gerald to show up.
"Oh please...that'll happen the day after never...'Gerald scoffed as he joined the scene.
'See, even Gerald here knows that is never going to happen...'Helga said. to Arnold who crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Helga, just promise me that you at the very least try and get along with Rhonda tonight, if not for you, then for the assignment...and for me..."Arnold said, sending her a cute look, one that made Gerald's skin crawl a bit as he witness this.
Helga tried to remain strong, but Arnold always had a strong affect on her and she felt her resolve beginning to slip until she finally groaned in defeat.
"Okay, fine...I'll try and be tactful this afternoon but if she starts talking smack to me, I am not keeping any promises...'Helga said to her boyfriend.
Why the heck does he have to be so gosh darn cute?!
Suddenly Rhonda appeared with an unenthusiastic look on her face.
'Alright Helga...since we have to do this assignment together...I suggest going to my house, unless you have any objections...'Rhonda said, obviously trying to sound diplomatic, though she clearly didn't want to be doing this.
The same could be said about Helga as she nodded her head in agreement.
'Fine by me, princess...'Helga said, trying to keep her temper in check, all the while, wondering why she had to get paired with the biggest snob at school, in the first place.
Soon both girls left the school together, while Arnold and Gerald looked on.
"Bet'cha five bucks that come tomorrow, one of them sent the other to the hospital, along with a nasty shiner...'Gerald said to the blonde boy.
"Gerald...'Arnold scolded to his friend, while on the inside he was hoping that Helga really will try and keep her cool tonight.
Later
At the Lloyd Residence
Helga soon arrived to the fancy Lloyd home and was now in Rhonda's overly girly bedroom, both girls reading the book and wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.
Except the girls were discussing exactly which scene they represent tomorrow in front of the whole class.
"I say we should do the scene where Ahab finally confronts the whale, since it's suppose to be the climax of the story, in other words, the interesting part of the story..."Helga said to the dark haired girl.
"I was thinking we do something a little less complicated, like Chapter 132, where Ahab and Starbuck have a chat about their families...it seems like the easiest scene to imitate out of the whole book..."Rhonda said as she carelessly filled her nails.
Needless to say, Helga is getting pretty annoyed.
She really is having a hard time, so far, Rhonda has rejected or made a comment on each and every one of her ideas and the Pataki girl is losing her patience...and her remembering her promise to Arnold and wanting to keep it, isn't making anything easier on her, especially since Helga doesn't want to feel second banana in this project.
"Come on Helga, Arnold just asked one thing from you...is it really that hard?...'Helga's rarely heard from conscious echoed in her mind and the Pataki girl sighed.
'I can't believe I am going to do this...'Helga thought as she used all of her willpower to get these words out of her mouth.
"Fine...I guess we can do that particular scene...'Helga said, actually getting Rhonda's attention enough that the dark haired girl actually momentarily stopped filling her nails.
"Huh? Wait...you mean...you actually want to do my scene?...'Rhonda asked, actually sounding confused.
"I don't exactly want to...but whatever...'Helga shrugged carelessly.
"Uh...okay..."Rhonda said, sounding suspicious about something and Helga frowned.
Just what the heck is suppose to be suspicious about this whole thing...
With Rhonda
Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd, self proclaimed queen of Gossip and Fashion of P.S.118 did not want to be doing a project with Helga. G. Pataki but she had no choice here, according to their teacher. She just wanted to get this over with, since the sooner it was done with, the sooner she and the blonde girl didn't have to spend time together.
She had dreaded this since Mr. Simmons first announced that they would be partners. She suspected that Helga would spend most of the day mocking, insulting her and rejecting each and everyone of her ideas until either Rhonda exploded or threatened her into listening to her ideas...
She expected that sort of situation...not this...
"Fine...I guess we can do that particular scene...'Helga said, after Rhonda suggested doing her scene about Ahab and families.
"Huh? Wait...you mean...you actually want to do my scene?...'Rhonda asked in a confused tone while Helga just rolled her eyes.
"I don't exactly want to...but whatever...'Helga shrugged carelessly.
"Uh...okay..."Rhonda said, feeling a little cautious.
It's not like Helga ever flat out agrees to anything she says, so this is a little peculiar...
The two girls began to read and re-read that scene and Helga suggested acting it out, like a scene from a play. Rhonda, still a little warry of the situation, reluctantly nodded her head, it was decided that Helga would be Ahab and Rhonda would be Starbuck and to her surprise, Helga actually did her half just as the scene depicted. Rhonda stumbled on a few lines but eventually they managed to get it all set.
"Okay...well, that seems to do just that...'Helga said as she put her book in her backpack.
'Wait...your leaving?...'Rhonda asked in surprise.
"Well yeah...unless you want to practice some more of the scene?..."Helga said simply to the dark haired girl.
Rhonda blinked in confusion. Not one all this afternoon did Helga try to bad mouth her like she always does...okay, Rhonda is well passed suspicious now.
"Helga, I want to ask you something and I would like an honest answer..."Rhonda said in a dramatic tone, causing the blonde girl to roll her eyes at her melodrama.
"Criminy, just say whatever it is on your mind...you don't have to get all dramatic on me...'Helga said in annoyance.
"Okay...what's going on here?...'Rhonda demanded.
"What's what?...'Helga asked.
"Don't get coy with me, just spill it...'Rhonda demanded.
"Criminy princess, quit talking in riddles and tell me what's got your panties in a twist..."Helga said, getting well passed annoyed right now.
"I am talking about the fact that all through this afternoon, you did not try and insult me or pick any fights, you just did your half of the work and that's just that...'Rhonda said in an accusing tone, causing Helga to blink.
"And what?...'Helga asked, wondering what the heck is her problem...
"What are you up to? You have never not tried and cause trouble with me?...'Rhonda asked in an accusing voice and Helga groaned.
"Criminy princess, is it really that hard to believe that maybe I just want to get the assignment done and that I am capable of being professional here...'Helga shot at her.
"My memory speaks to differ...remember the model volcano incident from third grade...'Rhonda said in accusing way, as that was the last time the two girls got saddled together for a project.
'Oh please...that was three years ago, let it go..."Helga said.
"Hard to let go all of those stains that ended up on my designer sweater that was imported all the way from Milan..."Rhonda said in an upset tone of voice.
"Rhonda, this isn't third grade anymore, we're in sixth grade and I like to think that I grew up a ibt from then to now, same with you...'Helga said to the dark haired girl.
"What are you implying?...'Rhonda asked in an accusing voice and that was when all of Helga's patience flew out of the window.
"CRIMINY! Will you just stop that! I am NOT implying anything and I didn't come here to pick a fight with you! Arnold personally asked me to try and be tactful during this assignment, to try and be professional and NOT start a fight with you and I tried to do just that. The only one here who has implied anything was you!...'Helga yelled at the dark haired girl, causing her to look surprised.
"Arnold?...'Rhonda asked in a confused tone of voice.
"Yes, Arnold...The old Football Head never can leave his nose out of anyone's business...'Helga said, but her tone was more out of amusement than anything.
Rhonda was silent for a while and Helga wondered if she did something to her but Rhonda looked at her with an intrigued look on her face.
"You know...things really have changed between the two of you since the trip to San Lorenzo...but I guess falling in love can do that to a person..."Rhonda said.
Helga blushed and tried to look away. During the first few weeks of fourth grade, she tried to keep her relationship with Arnold on the down low but that was easier said than done. It didn't take long for somebody to figure out that they were dating and well...Helga tried to live with it as best as she could since at least now, she had her Football Head and he wasn't leaving her any time soon.
"You know...I don't think you ever did tell me how you guys got together...'Rhonda said in a fascinated tone.
"Maybe because I don't have you posting it on the school's gossip column..."Helga shot at her, making the girl smirk a bit.
"Hmmm... must be interesting..."Rhonda said, the same gleam in her eye she usually got from wanting some juicy gossip was visible in her eye.
Luckily, Helga had an entire summer of preparation for this moment...
"Hmmm... well, not really as interesting compared to some other pairings in our class..."Helga said with a dangerous smirk on her face.
'Who?, Phoebe and Gerald?...please, Helga...that might have been interesting news in the fourth grade but now it's too well known it's mundane...'Rhonda said in a snobby tone.
"I was thinking more along the lines of you and a certain boy in our class..."Helga said, getting a dangerous smirk on her face.
"I don't know what you are talking about because I don't have boyfriend..."Rhonda said seriously with her arms crossed.
"Hmmm.. .you sure...because , if my memory serves me, I happen to remember you getting pretty cozy with out of our classmates in the tunnel of love...Harold, I think it was..."Helga said and Rhonda went pale and her eyes widened.
'Wait...you saw that?!...'Rhonda exclaimed in aghast.
"You bet I did..."Helga said and the dark haired girl quickly changed tune.
"Helga, I don't know what you think you saw but Harold and I are just friends and nothing more...'Rhonda said.
"Then why the heck did you drag him to the tunnel of love, even though he was kicking and screaming..."Helga said and Rhonda paled even more but Helga wasn't done yet.
'And the only reason I didn't spread it around was because I consider myself a generous woman...but don't give me an excuse Rhonda...my love life is off limits...'Helga said seriously to the dark haired girl.
"Oh...fine, it's not like I was planning on spreading it around...everyone knows about you two now, it wouldn't even be that interesting at this point...'Rhonda said.
'Sorry but my life is not some sort of TV show for you to critique...'Helga snarked at her.
The was a silence between the two girls for a while, before Rhonda sighed and sent a look at the blonde girl.
"You know...I am capable of keeping some gossip to myself...I was just curious is all...besides, there hasn't been anything good in weeks, so I was getting kind of itchy...'Rhonda said, while Helga looks annoyed.
"And I didn't exactly want to cause any arguments today, hard to believe but it is true..."Helga pointed out, reminding Rhonda that she was the one who expected hostility this afternoon and got it.
After a moment of silence from the dark haired girl, she groaned. She knew that Helga wasn't a bully anymore, ever since she got together with Arnold, she has been surprisingly even tempered...well, for her anyway. Sure, she was still sarcastic and made snarky comments but she was no where near as bad as she was back before the trip to San Lorenzo. The theory is that Arnold being her boyfriend must had calmed down her temper or something. As strange as those two being a couple was, if it had Helga be less violent, then they really shouldn't complain really.
Something she best not do either...she had a feeling it wouldn't be wise to test the patience of the Pataki girl like she has nearly done today.
"Look, I am sorry...perhaps I stepped out of line and I shouldn't have looked a gift horse in the mouth, so sorry...'Rhonda said.
Helga blinked and realized that proud Rhonda, the biggest snob in her class, had offered an apology. Helga wanted to ignore it, but the stupid little thing in her head called her conscious told her not to, since this was the sort of thing Arnold would want her to do and well...she did promise him that she would try and make nice, if only for today.
"Alright...apology accepted...'Helga said to the other girl, who almost looked surprised by the acceptance of her apology.
It surprised Helga to, to be honest. It seems Arnold has rubbed off on her more than even she realizes.
"Okay...so, I guess you are leaving now?...'Rhonda questioned.
"Hmpt.. .looks like it...not that going home to Bob and Miriam is any better than here...'Helga muttered.
"What do you mean?...'Rhonda asked.
"Nothing, I just don't want to spend the rest of my afternoon putting beepers on display, even though everyone knows cellphones are what's in right now...'Helga muttered.
"I heard your dad was...old fashioned but I think he's the only one in town who still uses beepers...'Rhonda commented, not as an insult since she didn't want to cause an unnecessary fight with the girl again.
"Please...try the planet..."Helga scoffed.
"He can't be any more old fashioned than my father, I mean, he still sometimes uses flip phones instead of smartphones like everyone else...so you're not the only one with a dad stuck in the times..."Rhonda said, surprising Helga in the process.
"Why are you doing this?...'Helga questioned with a raised brow.
"Just...trying to make conversation...'Rhonda said, feeling a little self-conscious.
Helga blinked. Maybe she was imagining things but it almost looked like Lloyd is trying to be social...with her...
"Maybe something I said got to her..."Helga thought.
She is curious. She really had no real reason to be here and aside for the last 5 minutes, she had kept her temper and she could honestly tell Arnold that she did at least try to keep her temper during this assignment . She could leave now...but...she is curious.
"Eh...why not?...worse comes to worse...I can always leave..."Helga mentally shrugged as she decided to stick around for a while and see something.
"Sure that's pretty lame but I doubt your dad still uses a Walkman. .."Helga said and Rhonda blinked at the continuing conversation.
"No but I sincerely doubt your father has a collection of records from the 1970's ...ugh..."Rhonda shuttered at the thought of such retro music.
"Okay...maybe we're even on having dad's that aren't getting with the times..."Helga commented.
"And we can safely promise not to pass this on...either of of us. ..."Rhonda said in an almost warning tone.
"Fine...I promise. .."Helga said and Rhonda actually had a more relaxed look on her face upon hearing that.
The two girls then coining talking but it was one thing to complain about something that they both found annoying... exactly what could these girls, who were almost polar opposes, both like that they could actually talk about in a social setting .
"So...any sports you like?..." Helga asked.
"Not really, other than tennis..."Rhonda said.
"Eh, I'm not that into tennis, no offense but it's a little...repetitive for me..."Helga said, actually trying to be tactful now.
"Well, it's not for everyone..."Rhonda said, also trying hard to remain tactful here
"Um...any music you like?..."Rhonda asked in an awkward tone.
"Mostly hard rock and heavy metal..."Helga said.
That's only some of them, there is no way she is telling Rhonda she likes romantic, classical music...the sake of being friendly isn't worth it since she knew that the princess here wouldn't be able to resist turning it into gossip.
"I prefer pop, myself..."Rhonda said.
Both girls sighed in frustration, having spent up the typical small talk subjects.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,..."Both girls thought in sync.
"So... what's it like dating Arnold? ..."Rhonda asked, surprising Arnold.
"Excuse me?..."Helga questioned.
"Well Helga, with the exception of Phoebe, you are the only other girl in our class with a long term boyfriend. ...you can't blame me for being curious..."Rhonda said and Helga frowned.
"I already told you I don't want my love life to be gossip fodder..."Helga said.
"And I told you that I can keep a secret...please Helga... I know this sounds surprising but I haven't exactly found my Prince Charming yet... I'm just curios is all. .."Rhonda sighed.
Helga sent her a look...
"I promise that I won't pass it on...I just have some questions..."Rhonda said and Helga groaned.
"Fine, if it will get you off my back but if you break your promise, everyone at school will know about the Cheese festival and believe me, it won't take me more than 5 minutes to get pink boy to admit to it..."Helga said and Rhonda gulped.
"Okay...it promise...nothing we say will leave this room...total confidence..."Rhonda said as she even crossed her heart.
Helga sighed, unable that she is about to do this...
"Okay, what do you want to know?..."The blonde girl asked the raven haired female.
"Well...I always wondered... what exactly happened on the trip? Before you used to hate Arnold and now you guys are dating?..."Rhonda asked and Helga tried to fight back her blushing.
"It's a little complicated... let's just say that trip helped me see things a lot more clearly..."Helga said.
"What does that mean?..."Rhonda asked.
"Maybe...I sort of liked Arnold a little bit before that... and got the nerve to tell him during that trip..."Helga admitted, giving the most vague, censored version of her history of being in love with her little football headed love prince. Rhonda looked surprised, before she nodded and then asked her next question.
"So...uh... what's dating like?..."Rhonda asked.
"It's blast and Arnold is always a gentleman. ...he always has to be chivalrous... holding doors, carrying my books...even holding my chair for me...this one time, it was really cold and windy and he gave me his jacket before he walked me home..."Helga said,feeling a smile as she though of those precious moments with her one true love.
"That's so romantic..."Rhonda said with a smile, finding this...cute.
It sounds like the stuff she has seen on her favorite drama...
"That's Arnold for you. ..."Helga said, unable to stop smiling and still unable to believe that she is willingly giving details of her love life to Rhonda of all people and the whole universe didn't implode!
"Harold might not be my boyfriend but chivalry is pretty much a foreign subject to him..."Rhonda sighed in annoyance.
"Isn't any topic that doesn't involve food a foreign topic to him..."Helga couldn't resist but thankfully Rhonda didn't look upset with her.
"You can say that again...this one time, we were hanging out at the movies and he not only didn't hold the door open for me, since he was too busy eating hhis snacks...but heverything made a lot of noise and when I told him to hush up, he replied by talking with his mouth full..."Rhonda said in annoyance and Helga chuckled slightly.
"Yeah, I can see pink boy doing that..."Helga commented.
"But still...that couldn't have been as bad compared to that time you dated Curly back in the fourth grade..."Helga laughed and Rhonda frowned hard.
"I already to everyone, that little freak blackmailed me to be his girlfriend when I stained my mother's mink coat at the art show!..."Rhonda said and Helga waved her hands in an "easy" gesture.
"Chill out princess...chill...no need to yell..."Helga said but the smug smile on her showed that she didn't completely believe her.
"I'm sorry but Curly and me go together as well as caviar with liverwurst . ... eww..."Rhonda said with a shutter.
"Don't let the little freak hear that, knowing him... he'd consider that the perfect combo..."Helga joked.
"Only he would.. which proves my point..."Rhonda sighed dramatically.
"Come on... it couldn't have been that bad, right?..."Helga asked.
"In case you forgot, he made me wear a horrendous shirt that said "Curly ' girl" and act as his slave all week and then everybody gave me the cold shoulder when I dumped him..."Rhonda said.
"In Curly defense, you were being super harsh and that's coming from me..."Helga reminded her.
To her, Helga hadn't really cared since it really wasn't any of her business but witnessing how Rhonda brutally rejected Curly in front of the entire school. ..At the time, she had still been keeping her feelings for Arnold a secret and as crazy as Curly is, it was obvious that he has feelings for Rhonda and he was really hurt and humiliated when Rhonda did that to him.
Helga actually felt sorry for him, as she had always feared facing that kind of rejection, So maybe that's whey she was particularly ticked at Rhonda during those days.
A person's feelings, especially involving love, are a big deal ...
"I already apologized to him and worked things out...and he still went back to sticking to me like gum on the bottom of a desk..."Rhonda grumbled.
"Curly has some screws lose...but be honest...if he didn't, would you consider then?..."Helga asked out of curiosity.
"What are you saying?..."Rhonda asked, confused.
"Look...I won't sugarcoat it...Curly is nuts and belongs on another planet but he obviously really likes you a lot. ..so I always wondered. ...if he actually acted like his head was screwed on right . .. would you have considered giving him a chance?..."Helga asked and Rhonda looked almost surprised by her question.
"I don't know...but I sincerely doubt it...it's hard to imagine Curly being anything close to normal..."Rhonda said.
"Point..."Helga said and Rhonda groaned.
"I just can't believe it... no offense but I always figured that by sixth grade, I would be the one with the boyfriend and giving love advice to our peers but the only two guys that expressed interest in me are way too crazy or slovenly for my tastes... yet it sounds like you got a great boyfriend..."Rhonda sighed.
Helga blinked at that and smiles, before she shrugged.
"Life's funny, isn't it..."Helga said with a smirk and Rhonda kept talking.
"Is it really so much to ask for a nice, stable guy who actually makes an effort not to make a pig out of himself in public and can treat me like...I don't know...like I'm the leading lady in a romance movie...give me roses, chocolates, serenade me, treat me like I'm the most special thing in the world to them..."Rhonda sighed in a defeat.
Helga raised an eyebrow, it seems Rhonda has a romantic side to her after all. It's understandable that she would want some romance and still have dreams of a Prince Charming coming to swap her off her feet, since most girls do dream of a guy like that.
"Don't sweat it...you're still young...and there are tons of guys out there... odds are you are bound to find at least one you like that likes you back. ..."Helga said, actually making an effort to be sympathetic too her.
"Thanks... I guess..."Rhonda said slowly .
"Don't mention it..."Helga said.
"You do realize...we have been talking for a while now..about boys..."Rhonda pointed out..
"Yeah...I guess we are..."Helga admitted before she paused for a moment, just like Rhonda.
"Weird..."Both girls said at the same time, only to pause and look at each other in surprise...and then burst out laughing.
"Remember that this never leaves this room..."Rhonda said quickly.
"Gotcha. ..."Helga said in the same kind of tone.
The two girls laughed again and continued talking the rest of the afternoon away...and about boys of all things.
The Next Day
At P.S. 118
It was the day of the presentations and to every bodies surprise, Rhonda and Helga have been surprisingly social the entire day. At first they had assumed that they were discussing their assignment, but that theory went away when both girls started laughing of all things during study hall as they continued to chat
Even Arnold was surprised but before he could ask Helga about it, the bell rang and everybody soon had to leave for English class .
For the presentations today.
"Are you serious?..."Some heard Rhonda say while looking surprised at something Helga said.
"Very serious..."Helga said, almost looking proud about something.
"Oh my..."Rhonda said, almost looking gushy about something, apparently finding whatever Helga said to be endearing or whatever.
Arnold looked more confused but it was then that Mr. Simmons appeared and asked for volunteered to go first. To the surprise of every one, Rhonda and Helga went first and did an impressive presentation on the big climax scene from Moby Dick . Rhonda delivered her lines as dramatically as she could and Helga really made a good captain Ahab. It ended with a very pleased applauding them.
"Excellent job Helga and Rhonda, you both get an A+..." said as the class continued to clap to the two girls.
"Nice job, Helga..."Rhonda said graciously.
"You too, princess..."Helga said good naturedly before taking her seat, right next to Arnold.
It was then that Arnold finally asked her his question.
"So, Helga...what were you talking about with Rhonda, earlier?..."Arnold asked curiously and Helga tried to suppress a smirk before she answered him.
"Oh...just a little girl talk is all..."Helga said with a shrug, while Arnold gave her a questioning look.
He and Helga continued to watch the rest of the presentations until the bell rang. After that they left school to go to the movies for a date. Still, during this time , Helga still couldn't believe that she actually managed to find something to talk about with Rhonda Wellington Lloyd that interested them both...
BOYS...
Who would have thought?
The End
A/N: This fanfic is dedicated to Kryten, the winner of my Hey Arnold fanfic contest. You rock Kryten!
:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)