Author's Note: Hello, Hey Arnold fans! This is my first HA fanfic. Please review. Flames are welcome. =]]
Disclaimer: I do not, in any feasible way, own Hey Arnold! or any of it's characters. They – with the exception of Saydee Moore – belong to Craigg Bartlett, Nickelodeon, and Viacom.
A Little Thing Called Love
"Class! Class! Class, please settle down!" Mr. Simmons' voice was all but lost over the thundering outbursts of his sixth grade class. "Harold, no food in the classroom! Curly, you are not Tarzan, don't hang from the lights!" The exasperated teacher slumped down in his seat in a signal of defeat.
Moments later a tall, thin, young woman with flowing black hair and strikingly green eyes stepped through the door. Silence fell as the adolescent boys gawked, mouths hanging open, eyed wide. Curly's fingers slipped and he fell gracefully to the floor. Gerald, a tall haired boy, leaned forward in his desk to whisper into the ear of a handsome blonde with an oddly shaped head. "Mmm-mmm! Would you look at that, Arnold, my man! Wonder who the lovely lady is. How long do you think it'll be before she spots me and falls head-over-heels?"
The blonde chuckled quietly. "Fat chance, Gerald! She's like, what? Twenty?"
"So what?" Gerald joked. "I like older woman. They're more experienced if ya know what I mean." His wink went unnoticed as Arnold's attention was averted back to the woman who had finally gotten over her momentary stage fright and was attempting to speak.
"Hello..." She began, clearing her throat and turning on her heels to face the poor, defeated looking man slouched in the chair behind a desk that displayed a name plate reading 'Mr. Simmons'. "I'm Saydee Moore, your student teacher."
"Oh, yes!" The man exclaimed as he rose to his feet and extended his hand to her. She gladly accepted his offer and gently shook it. "Class," Mr. Simmons turned to the students in front of him and gestured to the beautiful young Saydee. "this is Ms. Moore. She will be assisting me for the next few months. If you ever need help and I am busy, please feel free to ask her."
"Thank you, Mr. Simmons, for the introduction." Ms. Moore smiled sweetly in the teacher's direction. Entranced, he simply nodded and sat back down in his desk. The woman turned her gaze back to the students and clapped her hands together. "Now then, I know that your wonder teacher had an assignment planned for you to do, but I feel that it is only appropriate to allow you all to get to know me. If there is anything any of you would like to know, please don't hesitate to ask." In an instant, the students began blurting out questions in an earth-shattering roar.
Ms. Moore laughed to herself and raised her hand for the talking to stop. "Please, one at time." As room quieted, hands flew up all at once. "You, in the back corner. What's your name?"
A large, round boy in a shirt that was obviously two sizes too small answered shyly, "Harold."
"Right, Harold. What's your question?"
Harold tugged timidly at his shirt. "Well... uhm... I... I was just wondering... if we had to call you Ms. Moore."
Saydee smiled an alluring smile. "Of course not. You may call me by my name, or Ms. Saydee, or Ms. M... whatever you like." Glancing around the class, she called upon a girl, whose golden blonde hair was propped up in pigtails, her feet resting on the top of the desk, and legs crossed so as not my reveal her panties from underneath her pink dress. "And what's your name?"
"Helga, doll face. Why aren't you a real teacher? Did ya flunk outta college or somethin'?" The class laughed at the girl's insult. Helga sneered in accomplishment.
Saydee chuckled too, something Helga didn't expect. "Very funny young lady. I can tell we'll be good friends." The blonde just leaned back in her seat, muttering unintelligibly. "Well, it seems we have run out of time." Glancing at the clock, the young woman concluded. "For homework I'd like for each of you to write an essay about yourself, due tomorrow." The class groaned in unison. "Now, now. It's an easy grade. Everyone who turns in a paper tomorrow will receive an A for their efforts."
At her last words, the bell ran and kids raced out of their seats and down the halls of P.S. 118.
Helga scoffed as she slammed her locker door shut. "Hmph! Ms. Moore! Who does she think she is, anyway! I mean, can student teachers even give homework? And what was with that whole introduction thing? Seriously, Pheebs!"
The short Asian girl, pushed her glasses up on her nose and shrugged at the blonde. "Well, Helga, I suppose she thought it would be fun."
"Fun? Fun?! Who in their right mind thinks that's fun!"
"I kind of thought it was fun. It gave us a chance to see what she's like on a deeper level."
"Yeah, yeah. Deeper level. Whatever, Pheebs." Helga turned her head in the opposite direction, catching a glimpse of the football head over by the water fountain. "Listen, I think I left my book in my desk. I'll catch ya later." Without even waiting for a response she marched over to the boy, who had just leaned in for a drink, and placed her thumb over the nozzle resulting in a face full of water for the boy. She laughed hysterically at a waterlogged Arnold as he choked and sputtered. "What's wrong, Football Head? Can't swim?"
"Very funny, Helga." He managed in a husky voice. Arnold wiped himself off and trotted off in the wrong direction from his destination; the boys' restroom.
"Arnold?" Ms. Moore called in a slightly alarmed voice. The boy gazed in her direction. "It is Arnold, isn't it?"
"Uhm... yes, ma'am."
The woman walked up to him, taking in his sodden and disheveled appearance. She shook her head in disapproval. "I saw what that girl did to you, Arnold."
"Helga?" Arnold asked before shrugging. "It's nothing new. She's always been like that."
Saydee looked interestingly down the halls as the blonde girl marched toward the door, pushing and shoving other students out of her way. Laying a hand on Arnold's back Ms. Moore led him into the classroom. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
As the two entered the classroom, Arnold pulled his sweater up over his head, tossing it onto a nearby desk, and began to ring out his hair. Saydee picked the blue mass from it's small puddle and walking over to several plants placed on a windowsill, she rung the water out over the parched soil. She handed it back to the boy, and rested back against Mr. Simmons' desk. "You know, Arnold, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'd be glad to listen." Smiling, she took a pen from a holder and wrote a number on the boy's hand. "And you can call me anytime, day or night."
"Th...thanks..." Arnold sputtered nervously. "Uhm... I'd better go. I promised my grandma I'd be home for dinner."
"Of course. Wouldn't what to keep her waiting." The woman waved politely as the boy walked out. "Oh! And Arnold!" She called. He stopped and popped his head around the door.
"Yeah?"
"Don't forget about your homework." Ms. Moore giggled to herself as disgust etched across the boy's face and he trudged home.