It was already Monday morning. Helga wanted to spend the day at home, like she had on Friday. She didn't want to witness Arnold and Jessica's mushiness. She preferred to distract herself watching TV and eating junk food, in her pajamas.
"Hey girl. Shouldn't you be at school?" asked Bob when she sat next to him on the couch, not really caring much. "Yeah" she said as she grabbed a handful of popcorn "what are we watching?". Big Bob let out a loud burp. "A movie about a detective. Now stop talking, I can't listen".
Since Miriam left, Bob was more indifferent than angry. That made Helga wonder, sometimes, if he missed her or maybe his ego was hit. But she didn't care for long. At least he didn't yell so often now.
The weekend had been almost the same. Phoebe called her so they could hang out together, but Helga wasn't very much on the mood. "Sorry Pheebs, I am going to watch a horror movie TV marathon".
She would have done exactly the same today if Olga hadn't threatened her. "Baby sister, are you not feeling ok? Don't worry. I'll take a day off from the beeper emporium to take care of you".
She could deal with Bob all day, but not with both of them at the same time. So here she was, walking to school… wishing she could be someplace else. She entered and went directly to her locker. Nearby was April, the cheerleader capitan talking with two other girls. Helga hated her because she was so mean; but not like herself, April was passive aggressive. If you're going to be aggressive just, be it! Right?
She opened her locker and placed some books and notebooks. "Yeah. I mean, poor Jessica" she could hear. She kept moving things in her locker to keep listening, without them realizing, of course. "She's been talking about this guy for like, what? Months? And he was so rude to her". She stated, with no sympathy for Jessica at all. It really seemed she found that amusing. She closed her locker and the three cheerleaders walked through the hallway.
Arnold? Rude? That can't be… can it?
Helga was confused but tried not to think about them much. She didn't want to get high expectations about maybe… Arnold realizing he loved her and not Jessica.
"I can't date you, Jessica. Helga is the love of my life, my goddess on earth, my everything!"
Yeah right, Helga. You know he is not very eloquent.
The thing is, even though Helga tried not to think about it, she kept overhearing random rumors.
"She seems so down, you know? Maybe Arnold isn't such a nice guy as we thought"
"God, I can't believe he did that at a restaurant"
"Hey man, this is your chance to ask her out"
She spent the whole day wondering what could have happened. And she hadn't seen Arnold yet. When she went to the cafeteria at lunch, she saw Arnold sitting next to Gerald, eating his sandwich very slowly, keeping his sight at his table.
When she went to the lunch line, she saw Jessica stepping out of the front with a full tray. When she walked next to Gerald and Arnold, the blonde one attempted a smile. Jessica gave an exasperated sigh and continued her way; Arnold gave a sad sigh and Gerald pat his back.
"Wow" said Helga when she sat next to Phoebe at a table. "Wow in deed, Helga. How did you accomplished Jessica hating Arnold?" asked the dark-haired girl while she pushed her glasses up her nose. "What? Phoebe! I didn't do anything. I spent the whole day watching TV. I swear"
Phoebe drank from her water bottle and then placed a finger on her lips, thinking. "Well, I heard their date was not very delightful. I thought maybe you had change your mind… but if you didn't intervene… then what could have happened? She really seems angry".
The rest of the school day the mystery remained for Helga. She just couldn't believe it. She knew Arnold didn't have any luck with his previous crushes like Lila or Ruth, but neither of them hated him after their dates.
But even if she wanted to ask him, she didn't see Arnold after lunch time. Who she did see was Jessica. At the end of the day. At the bus stop. And it was kinda awkward. Both knew the other one was there, but Jessica just looked to the front. "God, Phoebe, why did you abandon me?"
Helga not standing it anymore, was about to walk home. "Just do it already, ok?" said Jessica in a harsh tone. Helga turned to look at her. "What?". The brunette placed her hands on her face, exasperated. "Laugh at me, because of my horrible date with Arnold. Everybody else has, you have more reasons to, as you are his ex-girlfriend"
"Listen, I don't care what hair-boy does so it doesn't matter to me how was your date". The blue-eyed girl crossed her arms in her chest. Angry about the assumption. Of course she was ecstatic, but Jessica didn't have to know. "Oh, come on. I'm not dumb. I've seen the way you look at him! Of course you're happy" yelled the brunette at the blond, with intense eyes, threatening to pour.
Helga was taken aback. When she was able to react, she gave an angry look to Jessica "Like I told you, I don't care about Arnold. Besides, it couldn't be such a bad date! It's Arnold we're talking about. You're just being dramatic"
"Right, since I was the one who left HIM waiting for me for like 40 minutes in his bedroom; I was the one who couldn't focus during our date to have a decent conversation; I was the one who made a blond girl uncomfortable with weird accusations at the restaurant! Sure, I'm overreacting!" By the time she ended the sentence, Jessica had stood up, yelling and with her fists clenched by her sides. "You know what. The hell with this!" she said before turning around and walk away, maybe home. Once Helga was standing by herself there was just one thing she could think of "What the hell?"
"Arnold, chill out. I'm don't understand a thing of what you just said" said Gerald slowly. He noticed Arnold left school just after lunch, so he came to the boarding house as soon as the classes were over, to talk with his friend.
"I know it seems weird, but I'm telling you. Helga was trying to ruin my date. I didn't do anything on purpose. I was just trying to avoid it". Answered Arnold, lying on his back, in his bed, and then placing his pillow over his face. "Ok. Explain it again. Slower"
*flashback*
"I really like you a lot, Arnold" said Jessica with tender eyes. Just as they were closing the gap between them, the green-eyed boy listened a weird sound coming from the rooftop, and stopped mere inches away from the girl.
"Did you hear that?" said Arnold, a little nervous, looking up. "It must be a cat". Arnold let go of her and walked towards the ladder in his wall. "Wait for me, here. I'll come back soon"
*******
"And then I saw something pink turning in the corner, from the rooftop. I wanted to catch Helga on the act, so I came down the street using the fire escape. So I tried to chase her. I just didn't realize that I took so long… then I came back to my room, and apologized to Jessica. I couldn't believe she would still go with me to our date, and still I ruined the second chance she gave me"
"Oh, Arnold, man" Gerald made a face palm, before asking his friend "What did you do?"
*flashback*
"I'm really sorry Jessica" Arnold had said for the third time since they made their way to the restaurant. Jessica was very mad; she was about to leave the blonde's room when he came back. But he really seemed sorry, so why not give him another chance. But now, here they were, at Billi's.
"It's ok Arnold. Let's just enjoy the rest of the evening, shall we?" she smiled at him. Both of them picked their menu's and scanned them. "I think I'm going to order the chicken with fries. What about you? Hey, would you like us to share some nuggets? You know at the center of the table."
When Jessica placed down the menu, she smiled at Arnold, but she saw Arnold glaring somewhere else. She followed his gaze and saw the back of a blonde, sitting on the table behind theirs. She was chatting with a brunette guy. Very handsome by the way. Both of them seemed their age.
She looked back at Arnold. "Do you know them?" Arnold narrowed his eyes. "Arnold?" she tried again, raising her voice a little. The green-eyed teen blinked, when he heard his name. "Yeah?"
Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Do you know those guys over there?" she pointed using her thumb. Arnold's eyes widened for a mere second. "What do you mean?" The brunette looked at him in confusion "well, you are staring at them".
Before the blonde boy could answer, a waitress approached to the table. "Hey guys, welcome to Billi's, what can I get ya?" asked the tall girl in a cheerful voice. "Hi. I want the chicken with the fries, and a lemon soda". Answered Jessica with a big smile. "Alright" said the waitress as she wrote down the order "what about you?" she asked to the girl's date. Arnold was looking at the blonde girl in front of him.
"Arnold?" hearing his name took him out of his trance. When he saw the waitress looking at him, he assumed she was taking their orders. "Uh… am… I'm having what she's having" then resumed to look at the table in front of him.
Both Jessica and the waitress, Lois, exchanged a look. She understood Jessica was not having a very good moment with this guy. "Alright… I'll be right back" she left feeling a little uncomfortable.
Just as she left to the kitchen, the guy from the table behind Jessica stood up, maybe he was going to the men's room. Arnold knew what he had to do. "You know what Jessica… I think I know this girl… I'm going to say hi". He stood up from his chair and walked to the table. He didn't even look at Jessica while he did so.
I talked to her, because I was so sure she was Helga. Ready to make a prank on either of us. She kept denying it, then the guy came back and was all like "hey honey, is this guy bothering you?" and I was like "oh come on dude, don't play dumb on me. Did she hire you, or are you doing her a favour?"
"Arnold, are you insane?!" Gerald asked in astonishment.
"After that he pushed me, and then the waitress came to me and asked me to leave. I really thought it was Helga, Gerald. But I guess she just went to the restaurant to do something to the food…" he finished his story, as if he had not heard Gerald.
"Man, what are you talking about? Why would Helga do all those things? I know you used to date, but come on! As if Helga would do that! You know, her reputation and all".
"She has done it before. Remember Cecile? Remember my date with Lila at the cheese festival, ruined?" he said after a long sigh. "Besides, I heard her talking to Phoebe about it. She really was jealous. And I didn't want her to harm Jessica".
"Well… I thought since we're are no longer in fourth grade…" answered Gerald, deep in thought. "So what happened next?" Asked Gerald leaning forward in his chair, curiosity filling his eyes, though Arnold didn't notice because he was staring at the ceiling. "Well, we both heard some laughs not too far away. It was April, and then she said something like "oh my" and kept laughing. When Jessica and I, exit the restaurant she was furious. She knew April was going to tell everybody. And well, she did. I offered to walk her home but she was so mad at me, she told me to stay away from her and grabbed a taxi". Arnold placed his hands on his eyes, ashamed of himself.
Gerald stood up and walked a bit in Arnold's room. "Wow, I can't believe you Arnold. You know…you can't let this ruin any future dates. You have to talk to Helga, look into her eyes and tell her you won't let her do this to you! It's over man. I mean, not that I hate her, but come on!" The blonde said nothing. Gerald sighed. "Sorry it all went wrong Arnold. But don't worry, everybody will forget in a week or so".
Gerald looked at his watch. "I really hate to do this man, but I have to leave. I have to take my little sister and her friends to the movies" Arnold muffled an "ok". Gerald opened the door and said "see ya tomorrow" before leaving.
At some point Arnold had fallen asleep, and awoke at 7 p.m or so. It was already dark outside. He really needed a walk. He went down by the firescape and walked until he found himself in front of Mighty Pete. He had his hand in his pockets and thought to himself "I'm a basket case". He sighed and looked up to the tree house. He could see himself, at age 9, standing next to Helga, and then he catching her, bridal style. Then she glaring at him when she got down. He let out a low chuckle. How many years had passed since then, and still...
"You're still a mystery to me" he said in a low voice.
He didn't notice he had said that out loud, until the sound of steps stopped. He turned to his right, and there she stood Helga G. Pataki herself. She had just taken a bite to her pastrami subway. So she was looking wide eyed at him, taken a back, and her mouth full. He wanted so badly to laugh, but all he did was smile to her, shyly.
She swallowed. "Arnold…" her cheeks lightly pink. "I mean. Jeez, Arnold-O! you scared the hell out of me" her words took him out of his trance. "What do you mean? Am I not allowed to walk around the city?" he answered without thinking it. Arnold seemed mad at her. It was not usual for Arnold to talk like… well herself. He really was angry.
Helga put both of her hands in the air. "You can do whatever floats your boat, football head. Not that I care". She said, before taking another bite and walking in his direction, just to pass by him and continue her way home. She really wanted to hug him, and tell him how much she still loved him. To tell him, she was his one and true soulmate. All those feelings faded when she heard him say:
"Then why did you have to ruin my date?"
She stopped, a few steps away from him, and turned to look back at him.
"What did you say?" he could hear her temper.
"Come on Helga, I know you tried to ruin my date with Jessica last Friday. Don't think I'm stupid. I'm no longer 9" he stated with his arms closed in front of his chest. Helga appoched to him, she was a little taller than him, just a little. So she looked down to him, and placed a finger in his chest "Well to me it looks like you ARE nine. Why would I care about your stupid dates? Don't you think I have better things to do?"
"So, you're telling me you were not at the restaurant, Friday night? Doing your Cecile charade again? Or sneaking in the kitchen to ruin our plates?" he pushed away her finger.
She blushed at the memory. She was kind of embarrassed about those tricks now. She shook her head, and a scowl reappeared on her face "Hey it's not my fault you are a freaking paranoid! My life does not revolve around you, Arnold. I didn't ruin your date!" she said raising her voice.
"Oh come on Helga. I know you are still in love with me. Man, I KNOW you even dragged Phoebe into this. You were so jealous that you planned something to ruin my date. I still don't know what, but you were onto something!" he said rising his voice to match hers. Helga was the only one who could make him this mad!
"Oh really Arnold? Overhearing my conversations. I got you" the blue-eyed girl thought to herself. She placed her hands on her hips and with a smirk she said "And how could you know that, uh? Why would I do something like that?" defying him.
"Because I'M still in love with YOU!" he said, anger in his voice. It didn't sink in his mind what he had just said, until Helga with pink cheeks, and hope in her eyes looked at him.
In his mind, Arnold had said "Because I heard you telling Phoebe the day before" he wasn't really sure if he said what he said. He had taken a step back, with embarrassment in his eyes, until Helga spoke.
"You still love me…?" it didn't really seem she was talking to anybody. Instead she was searching the answer in his eyes. His hole face went red. What was he going to say now? Why did he say that? Was that his subconscious betraying him? Meanwhile Helga, like being under a spell, dropped her pastrami subway and gave a step forward. And then another.
The green-eyed teen swallowed hard. Should he apologize? That, he didn't mean that? Although… didn't he? He didn't know what to do but he kept staring back at Helga, as trying to guess what was going through her mind. Helga's gaze changed from surprise, to tenderness. "She's… so… so…cute…"
The blue-eyed girl was in pure bliss. "Oh Arnold. Could it really be?" she closed the distance between them. Their faces mere inches away. Helga could see he was having an inner battle with himself. Maybe… he… regrets his words? She could say he swallowed for a second time.
She really wanted to kiss him. But she suddenly felt he was afraid of her. She snapped out of it, so she stepped back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to" she said, looking at the ground. "I thought..." she rubbed the back of her neck "I have to go" she said, and ran away. Arnold couldn't move from his spot, but he felt longing.
"I think now I understand everything" said a voice coming from up the tree. "You really love her, don't you?"
Arnold looked up, and saw a brunette girl, looking at him with sadness. "Jessica? What? But… when?" he put his hands in his head, confused.
The brunette came down the tree. "Sorry I overhead, I was up with a friend of mine, you know? She was trying to make me feel better. She left half an hour ago, and I decided to stay a little longer" she rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess I'm glad I did. Now I understand what happened on Friday"
"I'm really sorry she tried to mess up our date. I tried to avoid it and…" Arnold tried to explain everything to Jessica, but she cut him mid-sentence, her palm asking him to stop.
"Arnold, come on. I was with you at that restaurant. We both know, and knew, that girl wasn't her" she said looking down "I could hear you calling her 'Helga'. Even if she had a disguise on, why wouldn't she put on a wig? Who wouldn't recognize her immediately?"
Arnold was embarrassed to admit, HE, didn't recognize her at age 9, when she pretended to be Cecile.
"I don't know why you thought she would do something like that. You know her better than I do" she continued "but, if you ask me, I think you ruined our date on purpose…and I'm not mad at you anymore. I thought you were just a big jerk, but I guess you don't have any space in your heart for me, uh?" she rubbed her arm "Like I said before, I really like you, but I can see you two really love each other, and I'm not really interested in trying to get in-between" she smiled weakly at him.
Arnold was in awe. This girl was so mature and comprehensive. Unlike Helga.
But that was it. She was not like Helga.
"Thanks for not being mad at me anymore. I'm sorry our date was so bad. And thanks for telling me this. I guess I have to do a lot of thinking"
"No problem Arnold" she smiled "You know, when we were at your house, it seemed to me you were talking to someone. I could hear you say her name. I thought I was miss-hearing. But… you really thought she could be there, right?" she laughed and waved him goodbye before turning around. "You should talk to her, Arnold" said over her shoulder, before leaving.
"God, I'm such a basket case" he sighed with his hands in his face.
_
Hours later Helga was at her bedroom writing in one of her pink notebooks how confused she was. She was mad at Arnold for thinking she would try to ruin his date, but knew she had it coming; she was excited that he might still love her, but then it seemed he didn't mean it. She must have written 10 poems before she tossed her notebook on the left nightstand and lyed on her bed. "That stupid football head" she said before putting her pillow over her eyes. She was falling asleep when suddenly she heard a noise outside.
"What the…" she went to her window and saw a shadow. After grabbing her baseball bat, she opened the window, to find a young blonde man, looking at her, trying his best to grab a branch with a hand, hold a pastrami subway with the other, and avoid his feet from slipping.
"Uhm, hi" said Arnold with his famous grin. "Football-head? What are you doing here? It's almost midnight!" she said in a hush. "Do you mind if we talk in your room? I don't want to fall from this tree" he said pleadingly. Helga looked at him skeptically. "Please?" with rolling eyes, she helped him up, through her window.
Once inside, he remained standing in the middle of the room, and she was sitting on the edge of her bed. "What do you want football head?" she said, almost in a hiss. "I, uhm, brought you a pastrami subway" he answered offering it to her "you dropped yours, right? So… I bought you another"
Helga took it. She had forgotten about her dinner. "Is that all? Because if it is, you can leave". She said placing the subway on the right nightstand, not looking at him, and wearing her deepest scowl.
"Helga, I also wanted to say sorry…" he said, taking a step forward. "For saying 'I love you'? Yeah Yeah. Ok, now leave" she said clutching her fists on the blankets. Still not looking at him.
"No. I'm sorry I thought you wanted to ruin my date. I must admit something. I overheard you telling Phoebe some things, and I really… Sorry" He said in a soft voice. "But now that I look back at Friday night… I guess I ruined my date on purpose. I even yelled at a blond girl, who didn't look like you at all, because I thought that could be you. I don't know, I was overwhelmed and very confused. You were jealous when you heard about my date, and I guess I hoped you would ruin it, because that would mean… you still love me, like I love you.
As Arnold made his speech, Helga's face grew softer and slowly turned to him. By the end, she looked at him not believing his words.
"I love you Helga. And I've missed you so much" he walked the rest of the way to her "I'm sorry I froze before. I guess not every part of me knew I was still in love with you" he said as he sat down next to her, placing his forehead on hers.
Helga was stilled shocked, but managed to say a few words "well you have always been dense…" she said and both shared a chuckle. "I love you too Arnold".
Arnold caressed her cheek and closed the little gap between them. He could feel again her warm lips, and could feel the heat raising to her face; almost as himself. They continued to kiss, with little laughs and whispers in between.
Arnold began to pull Helga with him, as he lied on his back. The girl in pigtails placed her thigh between the legs of the green-eyed boy, and Arnold put a hand to her back and the other remained in her face.
Suddenly a sound interrupted. Both opened their eyes wide open, looked at each other and laughed. They sat again and Arnold took the pastrami subway. "Maybe you should eat first" he handed it to her and laughed.
Feeling a little embarrassed, the blue-eyed girl took the subway "uhm, yeah, thanks" she said looking down. "you know Arnold, even if you heard what I told Phoebe… I guess you didn't get the part when I changed my mind. I was afraid you would hate me if you caught me" she gave her an apologetic smile.
"I wish a had heard that. I wouldn't have made myself look like an idiot…" he said, laughing warmly. "Arnold, speaking of which. If you want to make it up to me, you have to tell me what you did at that restaurant" she said with a smirk and a devious look.
The green-eyed boy was first surprise and later ashamed. He looked at her with pleading eyes. "Yes, you have to" she insisted before taking a bite to the sandwich. Arnold gave a long sigh "Ok".
THE END
_
Author's Note: I know I said I was going to write a third chapter, but it really wasn't necesary. Anyway. I hope you enjoyed the story, like I did while writting it. I hope I can translate it later to spanish (my first language). Anyway. Thanks for your reviews and your favs! :)
see yaa