Chapter One: Jealousy

He looked up as the teacher walked in, his blonde hair falling into his face a bit. He put down his pencil and tilted his head side to side popping his neck. He didn't quite catch what she had said when she walked into the room, but he noticed a tall brunette male entering the room and taking the empty seat next to Helga G. Pataki. He sighed in relief when she instantly began to talk to the new kid. Thank God he thought and started to take notes on what Mrs. Harrison had started to write down. "Today class, we will be learning about the great trek of the ancient Inca people".

The class seemed to go on for what seemed like forever. He heard Helga laugh and couldn't help but glance at the new kid who had his feet up on the desk and was going on about an adventure he had when he stole something or another from a store. Typical. The new kid had to be a bad kid, no doubt he would turn out to be a bully as well. Arnold let out a sigh as the bell rang and he got up, packing his things in his book bag and then turned to leave the class, only to run directly into the one person he really didn't want to get involved with today.

"Watch where you're going, football head!" she shrieked and he just apologized, as usual, and left the room. He heard the new kid laugh and ask Helga what the whole "football head" thing meant. He ran a hand through his hair and headed to his locker. The day had only just begun, and he was already wanting it to be over. It was a normal day for him. He was used to it, though, he still wanted nothing to do with Helga today.

Helga watched him leave and sighed "why, 'football head'?" she turned her attention to the new kid, "oh… you heard that?" he nodded, "it's my nickname for him since grade school. Believe it or not, he had a weird shaped head for a very long time" she said and laughed, "so… the teach introduced you as Jake?"

"Jacob Valkyrie" he bowed, "but yeah, you can call me 'Jake' if you want to" he smiled, looking the blonde female over. She had an attitude, he liked that. Also, she was gorgeous. Helga had grown to be a beautiful young lady. Her hair had grown out and she started to keep it down aside from a couple of pieces pulled to the back of her head and tied off with her signature bow. She no longer had a unibrow, she had started to pluck them and keep them a certain shape. It made her look so much better. Instead of a pink and white dress, she adorned a pair of black jeans that accentuated the curvature of her bum, and whatever color shirt she decided to wear that day. Today, it just so happened to be a pink halter top with a white leather jacket. Either way, she had Jake mesmerized. She threw her backpack over her shoulder and walked out, Jake following behind her "you gonna follow me all day?" she asked.

"You said yourself, you had art next so I'm just following you so I don't get lost" He admitted, "by the way… you are very pretty"

"Flattery won't get you anywhere with me bucko…" she said flatly as she walked. She met eyes with a certain male and stuck her tongue out as she walked by.

Arnold sighed and watched them walk by. He saw the new kid give him the stink eye and raised an eyebrow "what the…" he shook his head and started to his trigonometry class. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to meet eyes with his best friend "heya bud" the African American teen said grinning from ear to ear "guess what just happened"

Arnold smiled "what happened Gerald?"

"I just got up enough guts to ask Phoebe out… and she said yes!" he crossed his arms behind his head and sighed happily. Arnold blew a strand of his blonde hair out of his face and chuckled "'bout time…" he said pushing his friend lightly. As they walked down the hall, a black haired female walked up to them "good morning!" she sang.

"Hey, Rhonda" Arnold said and smiled.

"O. M. G. Arnold, you'll never believe what I just saw!"

He tilted his head "what?"

"I totally just saw Helga and the new kid, Jake, macking!"

For some reason he felt something inside of him snap "really… are you sure you aren't just making it up?"

"Dude! What is wrong with you?"

Arnold shook his head "sorry… I have no idea where that came from."

Rhonda looked at him for a moment and blinked "do you honestly care? I mean, jeez. Defensive much. And yes I really did see them"

Arnold kept his mouth shut, but he ground his teeth a bit what is wrong with me? Why should I even care? She got herself a boyfriend, so what? It's not like I like her or anything… right? He thought for a moment and backed up a bit, "I uh… I gotta piss… I'll see you guys in class" he ran to the bathroom and turned on the sink. He splashed cold water on his face and looked at his reflection in the mirror "what's happening to me?" he asked his reflection and sighed I can't possibly be jealous… I mean, yeah, she's gotten prettier over the years. But, once someone is ugly on the inside, it's just a turn off. He stopped for a moment and turned off the water. "I'm not jealous of him…" he said as though he were trying to convince himself. "I can't be jealous of the new kid… right? I mean, it's just Helga"

He heard a toilet flush and shut his mouth great… I didn't know anyone was in here. None other than Jake Valkyrie stepped out of the bathroom stall and walked to the sink. He looked over at Arnold "sup" was all he said before turning on the water and washing his hands "you shouldn't talk to yourself man… people will think you're crazy" with that, he dried his hands and left the restroom. Arnold clenched his fists "of course… it just had to be him"

Jake let out a sigh what was with that guy? Does he like Helga? He laughed and walked back into the art classroom "what an interesting school" he said as he sat down next to Helga, who just flipped her hair back. "Something weird just happened in the bathroom. I heard some guy talking about being jealous or not being jealous of me?"

Helga looked up at him "why are you talking to me? Isn't it bad enough that you kissed me even though I told you not to?"

"You… hey! You kissed me back!"

"As if… you are not my type" Helga blushed and continued working on her sketch. Jake looked at it "that looks like the guy I saw in the bathroom"

Helga stopped "wait… what?"

"Yeah, he was talking to himself. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't jealous of me… unless he was talking about another new kid"

She raised an eyebrow "jealous? Of you? HA! Arnold isn't the jealous type… besides, he's way better than you so he doesn't need a reason to be jealous"

"Unless he saw us"

Helga looked down bushing profusely what? Would he be jealous if he saw Jake and me kiss? She thought for a moment, my eyes were open, I didn't see him but I did see… she slammed her fist on the table "Rhonda" she said flatly.

"Excuse me?"

"She's the busybody of the school. She knows what goes on in and out of classrooms. She was standing by the lockers when you kissed me! It all makes sense! She must have told Arnold!" She looked at him, "that still doesn't explain the jealousy… unless" does he like me? "Nah… not possible"

Jake looked at her "what's not possible?"

"None of your business…"

Jake snapped his fingers "I understand now! You like him!"

"Doi! He's my friend!" Helga rolled her eyes and continued sketching.

"No… I mean like him… as in attracted to him"

In the silence, the sound of a pencil snapping echoed throughout the classroom. Jake backed away from Helga for a moment. Her face was so red, he could swear she was about to explode. "I was right! You do like Arnold!"

"Keep it down, would ya!" she shrieked, "criminey, do you think I want the whole class to know?!"

Jake smirked "go out with me"

"Are you nuts?!"

"Please? Just one date, I won't try anything… we can get to know eachother and if all goes well… maybe a second date?"

Helga sighed "fine! One date… but I doubt I'll like you. You bug me"

Jake laughed "we'll see… oh, and if you don't, I'll just have to tell everyone about…" he snatched her locket off of her neck, "this!" he grinned.

Helga gasped "you're going to blackmail me!? That just makes me hate you even more!" she tried to snatch her locket that contained a new picture of Arnold inside "seriously! Give. It. Back!"

"Nope" Jake smirked, "if all goes well on our date, I'll give it back… deal?"

"You're doing this so I don't back out?"

"Yup…" he grinned, "deal?"

Helga shook her head "you're really something… in another life, where you weren't trying to woo me, we could have been good friends. I like the way you think. I am going to have to warn you, no one… and I mean NO one, blackmails me and comes out without a black eye or two"

"Deal?!"

"Fine!" she shook his outstretched hand, "deal babe" she said and the bell rang. Just in time.

Arnold walked out of his classroom, and ran directly into Phoebe "oops, sorry Phoebe," he said helping her up off the floor, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking" she smiled and straightened her glasses, "are you okay? You look pale"

"I… can I get your advice on something? I mean, you know Helga right? What am I saying? She's your best friend, of course you know her…"

"You're asking me for advice on Helga?" Phoebe asked, a bit skeptical.

Arnold rubbed the back of his neck "actually… it's more a problem I'm having… regarding Helga"

"I'm all ears…"

"Well, Rhonda told me she saw her and the new kid, macking…"

"Macking? Oh! You mean making out, right? I can't get over these new terms… so strange" Phoebe sighed and motioned for Arnold to follow her outside. He did so, continuing to tell her about that morning.

"You? Jealous? I never would have thought… but what do I know? There's always two sides to everyone. Like, take Helga for instance. She's a bitch to everyone right? But I know a much more gentle side to her than you do… get it?"

Arnold nodded, "do you think I'm jealous of that guy though?"

"It's possible… do you like Helga?"

"As a friend? Yeah" he sighed sitting on the bench by the side of the building. Phoebe shook her head "what about… like as in a romantic way?"

He froze. Do I? "What do you mean?" he asked, "as in… do I… like, like her?"

"That's the only thing I can think of if you're jealous because some guy made out with her" she shrugged, "but what do I know? I've only known you my whole life" she smiled. "Ask yourself, really ask yourself if you like her… you have to look at the possibilities that you just may actually like her. What do you think of her? Looks, personality… etcetera…"

Arnold thought for a moment "she's definitely pretty… I'll give her that. She's a bit nicer to me lately. When her attitude changed, I was freaked out at first… but now I'm starting to like it. She's one of those independent girls. I've always admired that about her. But do I like, like her? I don't know… I care about her, I think she could do better than that new kid… but…" like me he shook his head, did I just think that? Do I like her?

"Like you right?"

Phoebe was so perceptive it was scary. Arnold just let out a sigh "how…"

"Phoebe! I have to talk to you… right now… it's an emergency"

He looked up to see none other than Helga walking toward the two. "Oh, hey football head" she said flatly.

"I have to go, Arnold… text me if you figure it out okay?" she handed him a slip of paper with her phone number on it and left with Helga.

Arnold sat there for a moment watching them leave and leaned back against the building. He let out a sigh "like… me…" he said finally and then leaned forward putting his head in his hands. "Just great… now I'm really confused" he shook his head.

"Okay… spill, what's on your mind?"

He looked up, seeing his best friend munching on an apple "it's not like you to sit all alone deep in thought"

"Gerald… I think I might like a girl"

"Good! Bout time you get over Lila" he joked, taking a seat beside his buddy. He smiled, "so who's the girl?"

"You're not going to believe me when I tell you… but… I… I think… I think I like… Helga"

Gerald nearly choked on the piece of apple that was in his mouth and coughed a bit "Hel…ga?" he choked out, "you… you mean to tell me, that you like HELGA!?"

Arnold sighed, "I think so… I mean… when Rhonda told us all that she caught them making out, I just… something inside of me snapped"

He looked at the blonde teen beside him and crinkled his nose "but… Helga?"

"Don't ask me… like my grandpa used to say, love is unpredictable"

"Hold up, LOVE!? Are you telling me that you love Helga?"

"I don't know!" Arnold nearly shouted, "and keep it down, I don't know for sure yet… I don't want the whole world to know"

"So you think you might like her?"

"Yeah…" he stood up, "I uh… I gotta think, I'll see you later" He started to walk toward the cafeteria. What is wrong with me today? He thought as he got his tray and took a seat by himself and ate. She is really pretty… he gulped, and… her eyes are like pools of crystal blue water he smiled to himself and started thinking of the good qualities of Helga G. Pataki, from her smile, when she was being sincere, to her figure, even her attitude. I never thought I'd think of her like this he stood up as the bell brought him out of his thoughts and threw away his lunch tray. God my head hurts…

First Chapter done! What do you think? This is actually my first HA! Fic but it most likely won't be the last. I've loved this show for years and it is definitely a part of my childhood. Anyway, please review. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as its done. I have to have at least three reviews first though :)

-EMnEM23