AFTER THAT...the whole room was laughing hysterically, and was betting on who was going to win. But Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, and Lila were all sitting with shocked looks on their faces. A few classmates decided that they want to play along with Helga.
With Helga.
She felt way much better and free while frolicking across the beach, trying to escape from her older sister. The sky was in a beautiful sunset, and it may have been windy, but it was perfect. Everyone was running around, tagging each other while laughing. Helga turned her head to see Olga charging towards her.
"AH!" She screamed. Not just because of her sister, but someone pushed her out of the way into the sand. It all seemed blurry to Helga as she still had her eyes covered with her hands. Helga mumbled, " Okay Olga...you win." But when she uncovered her eyes, her vision returned to normal. Helga's breath caught in her throat when she found out who pushed her. "ARNIE?" She yelped. Arnie smiled at her with half lidded eyes. "Sorry Helga. I didn't mean to push you out of the way that hard."
He helped Helga onto her feet.
She dusted the sand off of her clothes. "What are you doing here Arnie? I thought you lived in the country."
"I do, but sometimes during vacation, my parents let me hang here at the beach. It's nice here isn't it?"
"Yeah I think-Arnie?" *pauses*
"What? Is something wrong?"
"Yeah! You're not snorting."
"Ah, so you've noticed." He smiles.
*Helga's draw dropped slightly.* "But...how...when did you-?"
Arnie held onto her shoulders, causing her to blush bright red.
"It's okay Helga. The answer is plain and simple. The truth is...I'm nothing like the Arnie you thought I was."
Helga raised a brow. "Huh?"
"I was faking. I'm actually an adventurous, all about danger kind of guy. I'm smarter than you think. I made everyone think I was a whole different person. But yet it stinks having to be him, because I feel as if I lost myself. How am I supposed to know if anyone would ever like the real me? I'm insecure, just so you know." Helga stared at him in awe. "You know what Arnie? You and me just might get along very well." Arnie smiles and laughs in relief. "Phew. I was hoping for that." Helga giggles and playfully punches him in the shoulder. "Wanna hang out with me and my sister?"
Arnie smiles back at her with half lidded eyes. "Sure." He took a hold of her hand, and ran with her back to her older sister.
Meanwhile, Arnold had an ice cream cone in his hand with a confused, yet rather jealous look on his face. Harold walked over to where Arnold was standing.
"Aww...is wittle Arnold feeling jealous that his cousin got his girl?"
Arnold gave him a dark glare. "Arnold I feel so bad for you! First he steals Lila, and now he likes Helga too. Twice in a row!"
SPLAT! *Arnold planted the ice cream onto Harold's face and ran away.*
*Harold removed the ice cream from his face, and walked over to Gerald*
"Dude...what's wrong with your friend?" Gerald sighs. "I really don't know these days. Arnold's not really one to talk about his own feelings to his friends. He'd rather hide them. Just give him some space. He'll eventually come around. He couldn't stay mad at anyone for long, unless he has a really GOOD reason to."
"Well...what about Helga?"
"Everyone's mad at Helga. Even her BFF is."
Stinky walks over to them. "If I may interrupt, Phoebe was her only best friend."
Gerald crosses his arms and gives him an incredulous look. "How do you know?"
"She told me when we were together. She said that it was okay she only had one friend, since Phoebe would always be the greatest best friend she could ever have. To know that they've split up, I reckon that it's the most darn tragic story I've ever heard. Did you know that if you spend a lot of time with Helga, she's just like Phoebe? The girl makes really high grades! I find her awesome, even when she's mean. Well I gotta run! I'm going over to the carnival, you guys wanna come?"
Gerald nods in agreement. "Sure, I'll just go and get Phoebe."
"I'm game. Let's go! I'm starving!" They wait until Gerald gets Phoebe, and they all go to the carnival."
On the seashore, the festival has just ended. Helga and Arnie are walking in the sand, while Helga is holding a stuffed giraffe Arnie won for her.
"May I ask you a random question Helga?" He turns to look at her.
"Sure…"
"How did you meet my cousin?"
Helga stopped walking and went back again.
"Who?"
"Arnold."
"Hmm...that name doesn't ring a bell." She put her hand up to her head.
"Oh c'mon. Don't play dumb like that...you know exactly who I'm talking about. And...I know you went out with him once. I saw you two that day at school."
"What the heck?! We never went out! Impossible! We were just hanging out, as friends, that's all!" She blurted.
"Jeez...calm down. It was only a simple question...that- WOW...haha. It still hasn't been answered yet." He chuckled.
"Are you sure you want to hear this Arnie?" She said under her breath.
Arnold was walking by when he hid behind a rock to listen to their conversation.
"Positive." He replied.
*Sighs* "Okay...it was back in preschool….I was ignored by my family on the first day of it. All they 'used' to care about was how great a daughter Olga was to them. They had no free time to focus on me. So...I walked to school all by myself with my lunchbox in my hand. It started to rain, and the ground was all muddy. As a car passed by, I got splashed with a ton of mud. Then, this greedy dog came by and stole my lunch away from me. I felt all alone in the world until...your cousin had the guts to show up. He saw I was drenched and helped me into the school, while covering me with his umbrella.
"I like your bow because it's pink like your pants." Is what he said to me. I felt so happy and relieved, knowing that I wasn't alone after all. When Harold stole my crackers from me in the cafeteria, I thought I would go hungry. Then, your cousin gave me his. This may sound a little crazy but...after that...I was head over heels in love with that guy! Everyone saw that I liked him, and started to bully me about it, so...I snapped from embarrassment. Of course I didn't want them walking all over me whenever they wanted to. I put up my defenses, and...I had locked up my feelings and vowed to never release them ever since. Now that I'm growing up...I'm starting to realize that I shouldn't care whether they like me or not. I love myself, and that's all that matters. I may not be perfect, but that's what makes me beautiful. Understand?"
Arnie nods and smiles.
*BUZZ* Helga's phone vibrates in her pocket.
Arnold: Wow. That took you long enough.
Helga: Why are you texting me? And what are you talking about?
Arnold: Look behind you… XD
Helga:Okay...I'm looking behind me and I don't see anything.
Arnold jumps on her from behind. Arnie was laughing while holding his stomach.
"HEY! Arnold!? How could you do that to a person?!" She said while shoving him on the ground while sitting.
Arnold chuckled. "Because I felt like it."
Arnie chuckled. "Meet my cousin...he's a real pain!"
"Nice to meet ya REAL PAIN I'm Helga!" She shakes his hand.