Chapter One: Rhonda's Grad Bash Weekend

Friday, June 3rd, 2012 - Monday, June 6th, 2012

Rhonda stood before the 119 college freshmen in her Nancy Spumoni espadrille wedges, neon pink bathing suit and black cover up dress, holding a megaphone in her manicured hand, "Attention high school graduates!"

The audience cheered.

"We are about to board the busses. But before we arrive at the beach condos, I need to go over a few rules. One: don't puke on any furniture. Two: take it slow. We're not calling 911 for alcohol poisoning. And three: let's have an incredible weekend!"

Arnold, Helga, Brian, Gerald and Phoebe stood at the back of the crowd, watching in temporary fear as their ex-classmates stormed the five luxury busses. The five friends followed the group to the last bus, grateful that they were in the least crowded one. It was five o' clock, and Rhonda had arranged a large buffet to greet students at the house at six.

"This is going to be a disaster," Helga whispered between the seats to Phoebe. Phoebe was about to protest, but Brian leaned over from the seat in front, "It'll be fun."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, Brainy. Are you going to be the DJ this weekend?"

He shook his head. "No, Rhonda actually hired someone else. Said I deserved one final party."

"That was very generous of her," Phoebe directed a pointed look at Helga.

"Just because she's being nice to Brainy doesn't mean I'm going to speak to her. You know what she did."

"Carly did that all on her own-" Gerald muttered.

Helga spun around, "Are you actually defending Rhonda?"

"No, no, he was not," Arnold interrupted before pulling Helga back into her seat. He had no idea how many more times the gang could argue about this without getting violent. It completely overwhelmed him during the final months of the school year.

Senior year had proved to be more drama than it was worth, thanks to the intense rivalry between Rhonda and Helga. Arnold had no idea what transpired between the two, besides what Helga had told him last summer. But he could definitely sense something else happened.

After the first week back to school, Rhonda had pulled certain freshman and sophomore girls under her wing. Carly was a new sophomore who truly filled Rhonda's shoes in style, poise and deviousness. Now that Rhonda had minions, Helga found herself to be a new target. Even though she was sure to remind Rhonda that messing with her was a mistake. Of course, Princess batted her fake eye lashes and said she hadn't done anything besides tell the girls how Helga had threatened her.

Carly was also in Arnold and Helga's Musical Theater Class. Director Stone required every MT student to participate in the spring play. He noticed from the beginning the natural chemistry and stage presence Arnold and Helga had. They were completely comfortable playing parts with each other, taking everything one step up from tense acting to perfection.

The Spring Musical was kept a secret until the day before fall break. Director Stone was a short, balding man who enjoyed wearing scarves and long coats, even when it was 90 degrees out. He had a very loud and powerful voice even without a micro- or megaphone. And he always acted out a scene from the play to his students, hoping to see which ones knew the musical.

"Alright class, today's the official announcement of our spring musical," he clapped his hands and the thirty students went silent in their seats.

Stone climbed backstage and dressed himself in a raincoat and opened his umbrella. He had his stage crew build a rain machine with a sidewalk that captured the puddles. He was pushed onto stage and began singing while his students cheered.

Everyone knew the infamous scene from the 1957 musical Singin' in the Rain.

The auditions were held on the first day after the week long break. Helga was cast as the undiscovered talent Kathy Seldan, Arnold as the famous Don Lockwood and Eugene cast as his old friend and partner Cosmo Brown. Carly played Lina Lamont, Lockwood's on-screen romance.

No one knew that Helga actually had a decent singing voice. Director Stone had seen the potential in her and was confident she'd follow through after an entire school year of private voice training. And Carly was supposed to sound terrible. Helga had no problems cracking jokes about it.

But Helga was nervous about letting Carly near Arnold. In the play they were "romantically involved," and had to film black and white silent movies filled with kissing and touching. Nothing upset Helga more, even though Arnold swore it was just acting. Helga wasn't so sure she could trust Carly.

But during the end of the first semester, Helga decided to finally become less paranoid about her boyfriend and Rhonda's minion and let them be. And then winter break happened. . .

"Guys, let's just focus on how great this weekend is going to be," Arnold added for good measure. "This is our last chance to be with our class."

Gerald sighed, but agreed that this beach weekend was going to be awesome.

"You better hope I have fun, Football Head," Helga teased before nipping his ear, "Or you'll have to pay."

~HA~

Rhonda rented out three townhouse condos with two apartments in each set; six two-level "houses" in total. That meant six kitchens, twelve bathrooms, six living rooms and twenty-four small bedrooms. She also texted every person with updates on what was happening in order to keep some plan in the inevitable chaos.

RHONDA: Bonfire at 8. S'mores and shots.

"Oh, boy, this could get rowdy," Brainy clicked his phone shut and smiled at Helga. "Don't think we've forgotten your fight."

"That wasn't my fault! Arnold had to be noble and save me," she smiled, her eyes immediately scanning the room for him. They were at Condo #2, where the first keg was cracked opened. "And besides, Iggy is a known drug dealer. Who says he didn't drug my shots?"

On cue, Iggy and Harold began chanting, "Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, every body!" as twelve seniors flipped the mini-glasses back off the counter. Cheering ensued as girls squealed in disgust. A liter of Coca Cola was passed around between the group, everyone chasing away the burn.

Not everyone was drinking. A majority of the kids were on the beach, playing soccer, volleyball and catching the last bit of sun before it fully disappeared for the evening. Phoebe and Arnold hadn't been seen in a while, but Gerald was busy playing basketball in Condo #4's driveway.

Helga watched the party in front of her in amusement, unaware that Brainy had walked away. She kept her back to the patio and suddenly felt two hands wrap around her waist.

"Hey, gorgeous," the stranger's breath was hot against her cheek.

Helga turned around, surprised to see Alex Christof, another senior from MT and Arnold's understudy, holding her.

"Hey, Alex," she stepped out of his embrace, "are you drunk already?"

He nodded. "Rhonda's bus pre-gamed."

Helga pulled on his hand, maneuvering through the crowds of semi-sober ex-seniors, "Let's get you some water and more food." Now that the kitchen had cleared out, it was easy to make Alex a sloppy plate of cold mac n' cheese, hot dogs and chicken tenders.

"You'd think Rhonda would've done fancier food or something," Helga said, more to herself than her friend. Alex nodded, "We're drunk teenagers. Who would want to eat finger sandwiches and drink tea?"

"You have a good point," Helga laughed as Alex dug into his plate.

"Thanks for making this, I'm sure I would've dropped it all on the floor," Alex spoke with his mouth full. And even as he tried to eat, he struggled to keep his fork on a path to his mouth. He ended up stabbing the corner of his lips and cheek three times.

Arnold suddenly appeared in the doorway from the patio with a very sweaty Gerald in tow. They had been playing three-on-three against the top players from Hillwood High. Gerald was cheering, "Yeah, we just kicked the Varsity basketball teams ass! Whoohoo! Isn't John going to school for it?"

Arnold shrugged. "Maybe it was Jeff."

"Ah, whatever. We beat them, that's what matters."

Helga waved goodbye to Alex and left the kitchen, grinning at Arnold. "Hello."

Arnold kissed her, "You ready to go to the bonfire?"

"Where's Phoebe and Brainy?"

Gerald pointed behind him, "Down at the beach. I need to jump into the ocean real quick before it starts, come on!" He grabbed a towel off the couch and the three headed towards the beach.

The scene looked oddly similar to Rhonda's Beach Blow Out Bash, except there were less people. The fire was large enough so twenty people could stand and roast around it and everyone was given a metal stick with two prongs. The DJ had been set up on the upstairs patio in Condo #1, with an extension cord and speakers propped up on the beach.

Brainy was watching the DJ mix, and Helga could tell that he was bummed and a little bit annoyed. Every DJ had their own taste, and hearing someone else cover a party could get upsetting.

Helga held a full shot glass in front of her friend, "Aren't you happy to not be so far away from the party?"

They clinked glasses and counted to three before swallowing the alcohol. Brainy sighed, "God, I missed drinking."

Helga laughed, "Really?"

Brainy's laugh got caught between coughs from the burn in his throat, "No. It fucking sucks."

Phoebe walked over with three sticks covered in marshmallows, handing two off to her best friends. "Come on guys, let's make s'mores!"

The fire provided the only light for miles along the beach. It was alarming to realize how dark it truly was against the shore. "Let's hope no one gets lost on the beach tonight."

Helga's observation went unnoticed as Eugene's marshmallow's and metal stick, which apparently had been accidentally covered in alcohol, was on fire. Girlish screams surrounded the camp fire as Rhonda hurried to the scene, pulling Eugene as far away from the fire as possible. Nadine helped give Eugene a once over to make sure his clothes hadn't caught on fire.

Helga couldn't help but feel bad for the kid.

Even though her bullying ways were practically nonexistent, just a fading memory of childhood passed, she made violent threats that never got carried out. But that didn't mean she wasn't nice.

Eugene and Helga had grown close working together on long hours during Singin' In the Rain and she realized that he wasn't such a bad kid. He was actually very funny. If he was dancing, he wasn't klutzy until he stumbled off stage. But someone couldn't exactly dance every step they took.

Helga made her two s'mores and walked over to Eugene, who was sitting on a log just outside the condos.

She sat down in the sand, back against the log and head near Eugene's knee. She put the s'more on his leg. "Here, Cosmo."

Eugene grinned at his nickname and picked up the dessert, "Thanks, Kathy."

A high-pitched voice made both friends jump, "There you are!"

Helga sneered, "Christ, Lila, you gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry," she smiled and sat down beside Eugene and comfortingly took his hand. "Rhonda told me about the fire. I just wanted to check on you."

Towards the end of the year, Lila and Eugene, of all people, started dating. They had been "pushed together" in Home Economics for a project, and it helped that Lila volunteered to work on the spring musical, so they spent a lot of time together. Eugene had asked Lila to prom - as friends, of course - but they ended up kissing on the dance floor.

"I'm fine," Eugene shrugged, "it happens. I normally would've avoided fire but those beers are starting to get to me."

"Maybe you should lie down," Lila's small hand wrapped around Eugene's semi-developed bicep.

"He's fine, Li-la," Helga shot back, turning around to glare at her old enemy. Eugene took the moment to slip away from the girls and headed towards the makeshift bar. It was a poorly constructed stand in front of the keg and an ice bucket. The frenemies sat in silence, watching as Eugene tripped over a beer bottle in the sand and spilled some of his drink on a girl. Helga thought it was Nadine, but it was so hard to tell in the dark. He kept rubbing a towel on her, which didn't look very good.

"Shouldn't you be worried about your boyfriend getting handsy with someone else?"

Lila smirked when she saw Arnold in her field of vision, "I could be asking you the same thing." Helga gasped and turned around, surprised to see Arnold wedged between Rhonda and a blonde. He was talking to Rhonda, probably about colleges, holding two drinks in his hands.

Helga knew every blonde senior girl, out of paranoia and fear of a relationship-altering mix-up if the situation ever arose, but she didn't recognize this girl. "Who is that?"

"I thought you knew Rhonda invited her underclassmen friends along."

Helga rose to her feet and marched over to the fire, only to feel her body whipped into a tight hug from Harold. Her face collided with the chunk of muscles known as a bicep. "Oof!"

"Pataki!" he smiled, revealing an all too familiar gap in his teeth. For a few years, before football helped knock them out, Harold had nice teeth.

Helga kicked her legs in the air since Harold's hugs involved getting picked up in one arm. "Are you kidding me? Lardo, I don't have the time for this!"

"I need a partner in beer pong. One last game?" He frowned, "For old time's sake?"

Helga looked around Harold's head to see that Arnold had moved, but Rhonda and the blonde were still there. So the crisis solved itself. "Alright, who's ass are we kicking tonight?"

The two walked over to Condo #5, where the living room had been transformed into the ultimate beer pong room. The furniture had been completely taken away and there were two long tables lined up. The keg from Condo #2 was on ice and kept in the kitchen for easy access to refilling pitchers. Extra Solo cups and balls lined the counter. It was like a frat houses' paradise.

Harold, Stinky, Sid and Lorenzo were known as the Beer Pong Champions of Hillwood High, but Sid was off his game (already too drunk to stand). Alex had made a re-apparence with Gerald to be another team. Both laughing and sharing a fist pound, but Helga saw no sign of Phoebe or Arnold.

Harold hugged Helga's shoulders and bounced a ping-pong ball against the table. "Alright guys, you know the general rules. And we're enacting special party rules this time."

Helga's brows furrowed, "What does that mean?"

"Oh, you know, just the basic stuff," Lorenzo began counting on his fingers, "If you don't make any shots you're doing a naked lap, you knock over a cup you drink from your shoe, losing team has to do three shots."

It was Gerald and Alex vs. Lorenzo and Stinky and Harold and Helga vs. Iggy and Jeff (a basketball player). They were playing with eight cups so the game would take longer and kill some of the boring time everyone had at the beach.

"Alright, let's rock this, Harold!" Helga cheered and high-fived her teammate, feeling grateful for the shot she'd done earlier.

Everyone knew you played beer pong better drunk.

~HA~

NEW TEXT MESSAGE:

GERALD: OH MY GOD GET ARNOLD NOW
GERALD: SERIOUSLY
GERALD: NOW
GERALD: COME 2 CONDO 5

PHOEBE: What's wrong?

GERALD: it's helga
GERALD: she has to do the naked lap.

Phoebe grabbed onto Arnold's arm and pulled him off the beach, running towards the townhouse. They made it onto the porch just in time to see everyone standing outside snickering. "Helga!"

Her face was a mixture of relief and anger, "Arnold?"

He smiled at her before turning to the guys, "A naked lap? Are you kidding me?"

Iggy shrugged, "Beer pong rules, bro."

Arnold massaged his forehead, trying to hide the scowl that appeared on his face. Iggy never apologized for hurting Helga last year. "I should've known."

Lorenzo looked at Helga with pity, "I'm sorry Arnold, but she missed every shot."

"How's that possible?" Phoebe asked, "Helga's one of the best-"

"Everyone has an off night," Alex offered. Sid nodded in agreement.

"It's just one quick lap around the house," Stinky shrugged. "We won't even watch her get undressed."

"Aww, man, that's half the fun." Arnold glared at Jeff. Gerald continued to shake his head back and forth.

Helga pulled Arnold off to the side, holding his hand firmly. "Arnold, it's okay. If someone else had missed, I would've made do it. You wouldn't have come if I was drinking out a shoe or taking Loser Shots. It's just part of the game. I'll be fine."

"Helga," he picked her chin up and forced her eyes on him, "I'm not okay with this."

She turned away from Arnold and began walking towards the front of the house, "I'm doing it, so, good luck stopping me."

"Aww, Hel-guh, is your mommy protecting you?" Harold smirked as he finished off a bottle of Jack Daniels. He wouldn't have blatantly insulted his teammate, but he had been busy drinking most of her beers from the game.

"Shut up, fatso!" Helga punched him in the chest as the rest of the group followed her. As she walked through the living room, she kicked off her shoes and pulled off her t-shirt.

Gerald shut his eyes and remained on the patio. Phoebe ran after Helga, trying her hardest to stop her friend from violating personal morals and state laws. "Phoebe, relax, it's pitch black outside. I'll just be a shadow." Helga pulled her shorts off and turned to look back at the group of guys.

"We'll be back out on the patio," Harold called. "I'll be counting down from ten. . .Nine!"

"Helga, please," Phoebe pulled on her friend's hand. "You're drunk and can't see the long term effects of giving into your inhibitions-"

"Pheebs, this is an unspoken rule I need to follow. I'm not leaving high school as a chicken."

Arnold stood in the doorway, listening to Harold count down and watching Helga talk to Phoebe.

"Go pick up my clothes, please."

Phoebe finally turned away, holding Helga's bikini in her arms.

"Three. . . two. . ."

Helga took off sprinting around the house. Everyone was on the outside deck cheering and screaming as the quick flash of her made it around the house. She was barely visible, maybe moving faster than a second in darkness.

Arnold held her t-shirt and shorts at the front of the house, ready to greet her with coverage. It still hadn't dawned on him that he'd never seen Helga completely naked before (usually it was one way or the other) and he had just shared that experience with Phoebe and nine other guys.

Helga was panting but she quickly dressed herself before returning inside. Arnold was upset, a little jealous, and worried about what else could happen on this weekend if it was only the first night.

"All hail Queen Helga!"

Helga took a quick bow before taking one final shot with the boys. "Now, who wants to dance?"