Hi guys! It's me, Killi-chan! Yes, I'm slowly coming back here and all. The reason why I chose to upload this chapter first before the other stories is because this little story on needs progression. And although I'm somehow a HelgaArnold fan, I'm doing my best to portray the characters themselves. XD haha! I'm deeply sorry if this took SO long to make! And yes… this story will take a very slow progression because I have lots and lots of stuff to get over with. So here, with another cliff hanger. I just wanted to show you how Arnold and Gerald reacted. I also wanted to experiment if I got their characters right. I hope none of them is too OC or something.

So I hope you read and support this story (still a beginner HelgaArnold fanfic writer here).

Read, Enjoy and Review!

(509—509)

II. Partners

"Arnold, are you serious? We're talking about the same girl here, aren't we? Helga G. Pataki?" they were at the classroom, the children chatting away over nonsensical matters. Most, if not all, were present, except for one certain someone whom the football headed boy was apprehensive to see.

"For the fifth time, Gerald, it IS Helga." Arnold sighed. His friend still had his eyes wide open like two ping-pong balls. They had been discussing about this at the bus stop and still, his friend couldn't believe it.

"But Arnold, it doesn't make sense!" Gerald said, "How could Helga, the girl who hates your guts, LOVE you if she calls you names, throws spitballs at you, and gives your life a living hell?! What she's doing is the opposite of love!"

"I know, Gerald." Arnold assured him, "But what if… what if…?"

"What? What is it?" his best friend asked, noticing Arnold's bitten lips due to nervousness.

"Well…"

"Yeah?"

"There's a small thought that it's true; that she likes me." Gerald shook his head.

"Man, oh, man, Arnold. You're in hell of a trouble if she finds out you have her locket."

"I know Gerald… but I've got to give it back to her. She needs to know…"

"Have it your way then. Just don't die, okay?" he gave him a pat on the back.

"Thanks Gerald." Arnold sighed once more, eyes gazing at the locket his grandfather found. Looking back, it seemed to make sense now. His grandfather's words, her lame excuses whenever he found her behind an alley, her empty threats and insults; it all fits. Why hadn't he notice any of this before?

"Speak of the devil, Arnold. She's here." Gerald's voice broke through his thoughts, and he lifted his eyes to see the very girl whom he had been waiting.

"Hola, Helga." Her bestfriend, Phoebe, greeted her with meek enthusiasm. The said girl sat down with a tired face and said,

"No Spanish today, Phoebe. I'm… not in the mood today."

"Alright, English!" Phoebe gave a thumbs up before asking, "Anything you want to talk about?"

"No, no," Helga replied, "I just… need some sleep."

Her best friend smiled knowingly, "Ok… I'll wake you up when the teacher arrives." With that said Helga folded her arms and placed her head on top. Little did she know that Arnold has his eyes on her at this very moment. He looked to Gerald for help, but saw him chatting with Sid and Stinky (on the topic of baseball). He looked around, but no one seemed to pay attention to the girl who laid her head on the desk. Arnold opened his mouth to say something, but at the same time, Mr. Simmons came in for the class to begin.

"So, class, now that we've finished the topic of Parts of Speech, we can now move on to the Figures of Speech. I'm sure we've already encountered this topic already so today we're going to have a very special project on this one. We are to write a short story about any topic, as long as we apply the figures of speech. Also, that means I'm going to group you to your special partners. Understood?" There were some heads nodded, and some drifted their thoughts away from class.

"Good, so here goes: Sheena and Eugene, Harold and Rhonda, Abigail and Clinton, Sid and Stinky…"

*five minutes later*

"…Gerald and Phoebe; and Arnold and Helga."

*to be continued*