A/N: This might seem a little strange, but I was just struck with the appropriateness of this song for this couple, and I wanted to make it a little different from normal songfics... I apologize if it seems odd or weird. Anywho, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or Just the Girl. Those belong to Craig Bartlett and The Click Five, respectively.
Arnold was in a band.
It was funny. If you had asked any of his friends in high school what he would probably do in his life, being the lead vocals in a band would probably have been one of the last things on that list, right under a shark trainer and right above a janitor. Most people joined a band either because they thought it was cool, or they were trying to find something, and this particular boy wasn't the kind to simply jump on the band wagon. The question was, what was Arnold Shortman trying to find by providing the vocals and some background guitar for Background Noise? The band was growing in popularity throughout the country, and they were just about to start their first country-wide tour.
The band had formed his sophomore year of high school when he and his friends had just been goofing off after school. Sid had been showing off the new bass that he had gotten for his birthday, and soon everyone was talking about the instruments they knew and how cool it would be to start a band. So they did. They wrote a lot of their songs, yet sometimes they covered songs that some other artist had done.
Sid was, obviously, the bassist. His somewhat shady appearance of stringy hair under a skull cap helped him to blend in with the background and still stand out when necessary. Iggy took over on keyboard, making his fingers fly and never missing a note. Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, better known as Curly, played lead guitar. Gerald, Arnold's best friend, was the band manager.
The drummer was probably what surprised people the most. Yes, the drummer was an excellent player and knew how to keep time with the best of them. The band's beats were never out of sync, and truly no one was surprised that this person was great at keeping time. It was who the drummer was combined with what band they were in that was shocking.
Helga G. Pataki had always been one of the boys. Ever since she was little, where the boys went, she went. Many people had even mistaken her for a boy before she hit puberty. Now it was clear that she was, indeed, female, but she still fit in with guys more often than girls.
Most people would have thought that she was just a tomboy, and she used this assumption to her advantage. Of course she had tomboyish tendencies, but her real reason for hanging out with the guys was one guy in particular who she had been in love with since she was three.
When the band had first formed, most people had thought that the universe had imploded. After all, Arnold Shortman and Helga G. Pataki hated each other! It wasn't natural for the two of them to be in the same room together for more than three minutes and not fight. Oddly enough, however, their personal issues with one another, Arnold's annoyance at Helga's bullying and Helga's anger at Arnold's density of the skull, added a unique dynamic to the group. Thankfully their clashes never took away from their music. But recently another problem had been added into the mix.
Arnold was not only in a band, but he was in love.
More specifically, he was in love with the band's drummer. As hard as he tried to forget about her, he knew it was impossible. She was goddess-like, and he was just a guy who was madly in love with her. Her fiery temper and passion drew him to her and warmed his heart. Her piercing blue eyes and enchanting gaze set his heart aflame. Her golden hair and rosy lips teased him, just daring him to try to kiss them. Sometimes it was all he could do just to make it through a songwriting session without lunging at her a kissing her senseless.
He had fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker.
"I don't know what to do about it, Gerald," he confided in his best friend.
"Okay, first of all, can I just get this out of my system?" Arnold nodded his approval with a sheepish smile, fairly certain of what Gerald's reaction to his confession would be. "ARE YOU NUTS? This is Helga G. Pataki we are talking about here. If anything, she's just like one of us. How can you be in love with HER of all people! Mmm, mmm, mmm! You're a bold kid, Arnold, a bold kid." He shook his head sadly.
"Yes, Gerald, I'm bonkers, I'm crazy, and I'm nuts. But I'm in love, and sometimes that's just a side effect."
"Whatever, man, I feel you. It seems that I just can't help but love Phoebe sometimes… Actually all the time," the band manager admitted, a slight rosy tint rising to his cheeks.
"So what should I do?" Arnold wanted to know. Gerald got a grin on his face.
"Have you ever thought about singing a song, for her?"
Arnold's eyes widened as he listened to the rest of his best friend's plan.
This was the most important concert Background Noise had ever played; it was the start of their country-wide tour. If things here went well, it could mean a worldwide tour in the future, and Arnold was hoping that everything would go as planned.
"Boy howdy, the kick off for our first tour!" Sid exclaimed, failing in his attempt to contain his excitement.
"Remember guys, you gotta keep it together out there, okay?" Gerald reminded them.
"Oh, come on Gerald. I've got this all under control," Curly informed him, a clearly relaxed, if not cocky, look on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, you twisted little freak. You're the greatest and the audience will bow before your supreme guitar playing power." Helga rolled her eyes and let her voice drip with sarcasm. "Criminy, let me know when this bozo is off of his little power trip. Yeesh."
"Hey Arnold, why are you so quiet?" Sid couldn't help but point out, a hint of amusement in his voice. He was well aware of the football head's plans for the end of the show.
"Oh, just a little nervous, I guess." Arnold shrugged as Gerald checked his watch.
"Alright guys, it's show time. Get out there and give 'em something like they've never even scene, got it?"
"Really, Geraldo? Because I was thinking of just randomly hitting stuff out there. Heck, maybe I won't even hit the drums. Might as well hit the football head over here, he gives me such a wide shot at his face," Helga sarcastically remarked. Arnold sighed, knowing that she didn't really mean it.
"Very classy, Pataki. Just don't screw this up, okay?" the band manager warned.
Helga rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't dream of it, chief."
"Good. Now get your butt out there!"
It was crazy out there on the stage. Thousands of fans were screaming their band name with snatches of "Iggy!," "Sid!," "Arnold!," "Curly!," and "Helga!," mixed in. Everyone was going wild, and it energized the band. At the end of the second to last song, Arnold looked behind him to see a beaming Helga standing up and taking in her applause.
The football-headed boy smirked. She thought it was over, but he knew differently. Gripping the microphone tighter in his hand, he gestured to the woman behind him.
"Ladies and gentleman, Helga G. Pataki!" he informed them and received thunderous applause. Helga blushed slightly as she came forward on the stage, her drum sticks up in the air in victory.
"Now for this last song," Arnold began, earning a surprised look from Helga, "We have The Click Five's Joey Zehr joining us on the drums!"
"What are you doing, Football Head?" Helga hissed at him, making sure that the audience couldn't see or hear her. Arnold simply grinned.
"Hit it Joey!" he cried. As the band began the song, Arnold turned to Helga. "This one's for you."
Helga simply gawked at him. For her? What was her longtime secret love doing?
"She's cold and she's cruel but she knows what she's doin'," Arnold sang into the microphone as a stool was placed under Helga by a stagehand, "She pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion…
She laughs at my dreams but I dream about her laughter.
Strange as it seems she's the one that I'm after!
'Cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off my feet
And I can't help myself
I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery, she's too much for me
But I keep coming back for more
She's just the girl I'm looking for,"
Helga was confused. Was Arnold singing to her?
"She can't keep a secret for more than an hour
She runs on 100 proof attitude power
The more she ignores me, the more I adore her,"
Helga blushed, remembering the experiment from a couple of months ago where she had tried to get back at Arnold's dating another girl by completely ignoring him. She thought that it had failed, because he only broke up with the chick after she had relented. The poor girl would really do anything to talk to him; it was her great weakness. Apparently, even though she had thought her plan had failed, it had really succeeded? The thought was incredible.
"What can I do?
I'd do anything for her
'Cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off my feet,"
The blonde girl remembered the countless times that she literally ran into Arnold.
"And I can't help myself
I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery, she's too much for me
But I keep coming back for more
She's just the girl I'm looking for,"
The way Arnold was staring into her eyes right now with that half-lidded gaze of his, she couldn't help but melt a little. The football head in question, however, was inwardly surprised by her reaction. She really liked this? Did she actually feel the same way? The thought encouraged him as he approached the bridge of the song.
"And when she sees it's me on her caller I.D
She won't pick up the phone, she'd rather be alone,"
Both Arnold and Helga thought of the time in fourth grade where Helga had commanded Arnold not to ever call her again.
"But I won't give up just yet
'Cause every word she's ever said
Is still ringing in my head
Still ringing in my head!
She's cold and she's cruel but she knows what she's doin'
Knows what to say so my whole day is ruined,"
Helga blushed yet again at the truth in those words
"'Cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off my feet
And I can't help myself, I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery, she's too much for me
But I keep coming back for more
'Cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off my feet
And I can't help myself, I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery, she's too much for me
But I keep coming back for more
Oh I keep coming back for more
She's just the girl I'm looking for!
I'm looking for!
I'm looking for!
I'm looking for!"
Here Arnold locked eyes with Helga and stared deeply into her eyes as he brought his face close to hers, so close that it would only take her protruding her lip a fraction of an inch for them to technically be kissing.
"She's just the girl I'm looking for…"
He kissed her then, right on the lips and right in front of their screaming fans. The microphone in his hand dropped to the stage as he pulled her closer to himself.
To his surprise, he felt her arms wrap around his neck and she kissed him back. It was fiery and passionate and soft and sweet all at the same time.
He was the one who broke away to look into her eyes once more. "It's true you know" he told her, a slight smile evident on his face, "Helga G. Pataki, will you be my girlfriend.
"Doi! Now just shut up and kiss me, Football Head," she giggled and kissed him again. He didn't protest at all. Why?
Because Arnold was not only in a band, and not only was he in love, but now he was in a relationship.
Arnold had found what he was looking for.
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Flames will be used to make me a better writer. Or to heat my house. It's cold in my room here, but that might have something to do with the fact that it's 1 in the morning on a school night...
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Please. :)
-NerdilyNi