Query

You know what it feels like when you sing on a stage at a talent show, and then open your eyes and nobody's there? Yeah, and you know the feeling when you write a really cool story and nobody review's it? The two are very similarly connected, you know? ~Silence~ Aw, come on, people, do you not get that hint? ~Audience thinks~ No. Reviews. "Oh!" Yes, very nice. If anybody is reading this, go back to the first chapter, review it, come back to this chapter, read,

and review it. I do hope these instructions are not difficult. ~Tomatoes~ Okay, maybe I was a little hostile. Blech! Okay, that definitely won't come off. Okay, so, um, will nicer be better? "Yes." Okay, please review this and the last chapter. "Better." Now, can we get on with it? **Ignore her. She hasn't taken her medicine.** Get on with the show!

I don't own Hey Arnold or Evanescence… even though I wish I could meet them! Oh, yeah, no liability for anyone who says I do own the followed, yada, yada, yada, okay, let's get it on!

"I hate you."

"I know better than that."

"No, I really hate you."

"I beg to differ."

"You would. I wish my boyfriend was this nice."

"Excuse me? You don't have one."

"You know that I'm working on it."

"For approximately eleven or so years."

"Yet again, I'm working on it."

"Apparently. You sniff his pillow everyday."

"Oh, criminy! Man, I need to learn to expect this from you."

"Haven't you already?"

"Once again, I hate you. You're to observant."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't totally meant as a compliment, but… anyway, you're boyfriend is the coolest! When will he ever come over and hang with us again? I actually kinda miss him hanging out with us."

"I don't know, but I hope he does soon. He's really rather occupied these days."

"Duh. What did you think?"

"Helga?"

"Yes?"

"Do you hate me?"

"No, of course… Hey! Trick question!" A 'gr' could be heard on the other end of the receiver.

Phoebe laughed and twisted around in her desk chair. She crossed her legs and fiddled with a loose string at the bottom of her green pajama shirt. Standing up, she walked slowly to her bed, humming to a song that was being played quietly on her radio.

"What you guys did at Arnold's house was really kind of uncalled for, you know," said Phoebe.

Helga laughed. "You mean the whole scene with us acting like you and Kyle? It is kind of true, Pheebs." She inhaled deeply and started speaking in a high voice. "Oh my gawd, Kyle, I just can't believe you got these tickets for me and you got reservations at the restaurant! Oh, and French fries, too! I'm marrying you as soon as I'm eighteen! Sigh!"

Phoebe giggled softly and flopped onto her bed. "Can I have my turn?" Without waiting for an answer, she started talking again. "All the days of the week, I write the name I dare not…"

"OKAY!" yelled Helga. "Okay, you got your lashings. Now you can acquire your revenge on Mr. Johansson."

She lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Phoebe, he got about a millimeter from your face with those lips! It's an unwritten rule that an ex should not even get close to kissing you when you have a boyfriend."

"He didn't kiss me, thankfully. You know as well as I that he was just getting in on the joke the two of you started."

"EXACTLY! You paid me back by reminding me of humilities, then pay him back by… uh…"

"By doing what?"

"Something! I don't care, it's just not fair!"

Phoebe laughed again. Nightly conversations with Helga were always either hilarious or important. It was just always about whatever happened that day or whatever pops into either's head. Anyway…

Sandwiching the phone between her ear and shoulder, Phoebe walked over to her backpack and started packing it with her night's homework and her textbooks. Lifting up one of the books, she saw an old photo album that hadn't been touched since earlier in the school year.

"Hello? Hello? Pheebs, answer me!"

"Huh?" Phoebe lifted up her head quickly and realized that she was staring at the album for some time now. "Oh, my apologies, Helga. I just found a photo album with the pictures from summer in them."

She opened the album and started flipping through the pages. "Hey, here's one of us, Arnold, Gerald, Sid, Rhonda, and Nadine at the movie theater. Remember when we went to go see Evil Twin: Vengeance?"

"Yeah, I remember. We were the odd men out with you, Gerald, Sid, and Rhonda. Then you guys broke up and it was only Sid and Rhonda." Helga mused, "I wish I wasn't, though."

Phoebe grinned and turned the page and found one of her sandwiched between Kyle and Gerald. The two of them had their heads on her shoulders. In the background was the Dinoland Entrance sign. She looked at the page next to it and saw Arnold, Gerald, Helga, and Curly getting out of the roller coaster ride, laughing.

She turned the page again and saw a picture of Phoebe sitting next to Kyle, staring at what she remembered was a concert in the park that they went to… supposedly alone. "Here's one of Kyle and I… at the concert in the park."

She could almost see Helga wincing and biting her lip. "Oh, yeah, I remember. Well, you and Gerald had just broken up, and the three of us went to-"

"I've heard the story many times, Helga, and there's no need for it to be repeated."

For the next thirty minutes, as Phoebe flipped through the picture book, she saw pictures of memories from the previous summer. There were more pictures of the park, the movie theater, the arcade, and Gerald Field. There was one of Arnold and Gerald, where Arnold had put a pair of bunny ears behind Gerald's head at the last moment. There was one of the four of them plus Kyle sitting around Arnold's room, listening to music and talking. There were pictures of her

and Gerald, her and Kyle, the four of them, the five of them, and one of Curly hanging upside down from the tall birdbath in the center of the park. The one that caught Phoebe's eye, however, was one of her and Kyle sitting in a small diner in the suburbs and drinking smoothies. Helga, who was there with Arnold and Sid, had taken it. Seeing this reminded her of previous events that day,

and it made her stomach's butterflies flutter furiously.

"Pheebs, come back, now. You're going to make me hate you again if you keep thinking about it!"

Phoebe snapped back. "Sorry, Helga. I'm just so incredibly excited!" She squealed in delight.

"That's the Phoebe I know," said Helga. "Screaming about something in her bedroom, probably jumping on her bed."

"I am most certainly not jumping on my bed!" protested Phoebe.

"Yeah, but I'll bet you will soon. Oh, man!" cried Helga suddenly. "It's late! I still have a problem on my Algebra to finish, and it looks extremely hard. Gotta jet, bye!"

"See you tomorrow, Helga."

Hanging up the phone, Phoebe looked at her own clock. She yapped in surprise at the time. It was past eleven o'clock. She scrambled to her light switch and

quickly turned off the light before her mother could see it on.

~~~

"Hey! Phoebe!"

Phoebe turned around and saw Rhonda running down the hallway in all of her glorified hairspray and expensive accessories. She cut her way to Phoebe's locker, took a few short breaths and exclaimed, "I can't believe that you got those tickets! They're supposed to be supremely hard to get! The news about you and Kyle is all over the place."

Smiling and overwhelmed, she said, "Well, that's very kind of you, Rhonda. I really don't know what else to say about it. Except…" She smirked. "I am SO EXCITED!" She took a moment to squeal like the girl she was feeling like.

Rhonda laughed with her. "Anyway, when the day after the concert comes," she said, "I want full details on anything that happens. I mean anything."

"Uh…" she stuttered. "Well, I really don't think that anything worth the detail you're hinting at is likely to happen, Rhonda. It's just a concert, and then we're going to a restaurant afterwards. It isn't going to be a, as you would put it, seductive love night."

Suddenly, Rhonda looked bored. "Really?" she asked. "Well, all the same Phoebe, even if nothing like that happens concert night, you've got a really great boyfriend." She reached into her purse and pulled out two dollars. "I'm about to head for my lunch period. Good luck!"

"Thank you," Phoebe replied. "For both things."

Rhonda smiled. "That's what I'm here for. Informing the public." She winked and hurried off to the cafeteria.

Phoebe closed her locker and began to take her own path to the cafeteria, lunch in her hand. She felt someone lace their fingers in hers and looked to her side. Kyle was there, smiling at her. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Everyone thinks we're going to make-out at the concert or something. One year and everyone thinks that," he exasperated. He wrapped his arm casually over her shoulder. "What did your parents say about it?"

"They love the idea, but my father is suspicious for the same reasons that everyone else is," she said. She laid her shoulder on his as they walked, thinking about the up coming night. "I wonder if they'll feature songs from their upcoming album," she wondered.

"Most likely," answered Kyle. "Okay, I'm hungry, can we--"

He stopped in mid-sentence, for someone had hit him lightly on the back. On his right side, Gerald and Helga appeared, smiling.

"Hi, lovers," said Gerald. "Heading to lunch?"

Phoebe giggled quietly and said, "Yes, we are. And Kyle will actually be there!"

Kyle grinned awkwardly. "It's not my fault that I never see you two or anyone else that much anymore," he explained.

"Sure," said Helga. "Of course it isn't. when do you think you'll be back to our study group? Ever since Sid took up that Mythological Discussion Club, and Stinky got into Agriculture, and Nadine had to start helping her mom in the greenhouses, no one is ever there but us and Arnold."

"I've got those art lessons every other night and my part-time job at Yorkshire's," Kyle said. "I do have to bring home the bacon, or in this case, the tickets."

Helga hit him on the shoulder. "Are you sure that your Uncle isn't holding out on us?" she asked. "If he is, then give me the address so I can--"

"No, he's not," he interrupted. He held up his hands dramatically. "Back, Xena."

Helga rolled her eyes and calmed down.

Gerald grinned at the couple and asked, "Are you sure that the rumors about you two planning on other things aren't true?"

Phoebe's mouth dropped. "Gerald, you of all people should know that they aren't." Phoebe looked up and winked at Helga. "Of course, I remember a time when we were at that one camping trip in the seventh grade. Remember how in your sleep you were talking and--"

Gerald's eyes widened and he jumped to clasp his hand over her mouth. "Shh," she snapped. "That was because of a movie I saw before we left for the trip! Plus, all I did was talk."

Grinning, Phoebe added, "And you were pursing your lips."

Gerald moaned in defeat. "When did you get so outspoken, Phoebe? you used to be so quiet and nice."

"I dated you for five months," she said in a bland tone. "Remember? You told me to be more frank."

Kyle laughed a bit and then, changing the subject, said, "Can we please get to the cafeteria now, people?!?!"

Phoebe and Kyle walked ahead, laughing, leaving Helga and Gerald behind. They looked at each other. "Hey, she got me last night," said Helga. "That was for yesterday afternoon."

Gerald nodded, seeming to understand. Then he looked up, more serious now. "How did she get you for that episode?" he asked, a smirk starting to form.

Helga blinked and shook her head. "Never mind, G. Come on, man, I'm practically starving!"

Gerald rolled his eyes and followed Helga into the cafeteria.

~~~

Phoebe walked into her English class with Helga and Nadine, about a minute before the bell rang. They took their seats in the corner closest to the back, which also happened to be closest to their teacher's, Mrs. Wilson, desk.

"Oh, please say that I passed the last week's test," whispered Nadine. "Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please."

"You?" asked Helga. "What about me? I didn't get half of that book we were supposed to read!"

"Come on, Helga, you did so," said Phoebe, moving her binder to the floor. "The Once and Future King wasn't that difficult for you, and I know, since I quizzed you on it. We only were supposed to read half of it, anyway."

"She may have gotten it," said Nadine, "but what about me? When you quizzed me, I sucked as much as a leech does!"

Phoebe smiled. "You're exaggerating. Besides you reread every part you didn't understand. No way you failed."

They grew quiet as the bell rang and the class got off of the top of their desks, ready for their test results. Mrs. Wilson stood and began to speak. "Some of you test results weren't the best I could have given. However, on the most part, this class did better than most of them. Only about five of you failed, most received B's, and a few made A's. I'm expecting your answers for The Giver next week, but that was a smaller book, and to many, more interesting."

Helga sniffed. "You better believe it," she whispered to herself. Mrs. Wilson cam down her row and placed their test's face down on their desks. She flipped hers over and smiled. "Yes," she hissed quietly. "A 92 percent! All right!"

Nadine smiled, too. "A ninety over here."

Phoebe looked at hers and smiled softly. "A ninety-six," she said, nearly as excited as the other two. She placed it in her notebook and rested her chin on her head. She started to hum "Whisper" to herself as she daydreamed about her upcoming date of the century. She thought about how Helga, Arnold, and Gerald would definitely want to go, too. She was going to buy them all tapes of the concert in Las Vegas for their birthdays. She then remembered her visit to Chez Paris, when Helga got her gift certificate for Chez Pierre mixed up with Chez Paris. They had to get Nadine to come with a box of cockroaches, but then had to wash dishes all night. She smiled as she remembered how she had to invite with Gerald, just so that he could invite Arnold, so that Helga could impress him. Then a flash broke her thoughts. She snapped her head back to look at Helga with her camera up to her face.

"I call it: 'Classroom Pastimes'," she said. She stuffed it in her small backpack, and accused, "You were thinking of the concert, weren't you?"

"More or less," she said, pulling out her Algebra workbook. They had the day off in English since they just got their test's back. "I was actually thinking about the event that you never want me to mention again."

"Oh, you mean Chez Paris?" asked Nadine excitedly. "Oh, sorry." She looked at Helga, who was glaring. "Anyway, remember when I had to let the cockroaches loose? It took me forever to get them all back in their box."

"You didn't have to clean dishes," mumbled Helga.

Phoebe turned in her seat to face Helga. "You made me invite Gerald just so that-" She stopped herself, remembering the secret. "So that you could try to fix me with him. It failed, did it not?"

"Yes, it did, and I realize that now. You two weren't meant to be," she said, playing out her role to hush the mistake. "Anyway, Nadine, when is your mom going to let you off of greenhouse duty immediately after school?"

"In two weeks," she answered. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Cool," Helga said. "Excuse me, guys, but I need to finish some homework really quick. Gimme a second."

Phoebe smiled and returned to her Algebra homework. Nadine went to her Science. Ina bout two minutes they would be up and talking again, but in the meantime, Phoebe couldn't help but continue to evoke daydreams of the concert.

Nice second chapter? I hope so. Please like it, please like it! ~Audience talks amongst selves~ Okay, don't tell me now then! Tell me in a review, then, okay? You BETTER NOD, TOO! ~Audience looks scared and nods quickly~ Cool. Well, the next chapter will be up soon. Think Rhonda, parental units, and Arnold (wow! he wasn't even in this chapter!). So, please review, and I'll love you all! Bye!

Phebga Madame Fortress Mommy ~___~