Hey Arnold: Life Changes

Fanfiction Summery: Arnold in college now in Wendale. During his senior semester he reunites with Helga who is different from what he remembered. But everyone changes since high school. This is the transitional stage where people figure out who they are. They establish a career, find the one, get married, and start a family. Arnold is trying to figure all of that out.

Rating: T for now but I think it might go to M for later chapters.

Author's note: In this fic Arnold and most of the gang are 21 year old in the start of this fic. Harold is of course older being 25. In the episode Harold Bar Mitzvah he turns 13 while everyone else is 9.

So this is an Rhonda chapter that takes place during the same time of the pervious two chapters and the last part takes place during the next chapter. The next chapter is Rhonda's party in detail. So when Arnold and Helga were catching up in those chapters before Rhonda was doing her thing in this chapter. So the senior party Rhonda is throwing is in late September (maybe the 27th) and the fall semester started on September 1st. I was planning on having this after the party chapter but it wouldn't make sense for Rhonda to just switch a class later on in the semester.

I want to dedicate chapters to other characters than Helga and Arnold from time to time.

Chapter 3: Rhonda, The Brain

Chapter Summery: Rhonda is known for being the most popular woman on campus that throws the most exclusive parties, wears the best clothes, and has the most followers. But she never was too hot academically wise. When her college advisor requests to see her she informs Rhonda that if she doesn't fulfill her math requirement she will not be able to graduate.

Rhonda, the Brain

Month of chapter- September 12th-29th

It was a normal day in the school's lounge. Kids just came there to chill and hang out. Sometimes they came there to invite other kids to come to parties. That's what one student had in mind when she walked over to Rhonda Lloyd who was sitting in a bean bag chair.

"Rhonda, will you please come to my party this Saturday. It's gonna be kinda lame but you always know how to lighten things up."

Rhonda looked up from her magazine at the woman standing before her and smiled.

"Of course Stacy, I'm always willing to help," Rhonda said.

The girl beamed. "Thanks!" She started to turn around but paused. "Oh yeah, and I'm looking forward to your annual college party. I know it's gonna be a blast."

"I always try," Rhonda said proudly.

As soon as the girl walked away a guy approached Rhonda. He was one of those football scholarship guys beefy, tall, and just Rhonda's type.

"Oh, hey, Chad," she greeted giving him a smile. She stood up from her chair.

He returned her smile by flashing his own pearly whites. "Hey, Rhonda, there is a concert tonight. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me?" he asked.

She pouted her lips in thought. "Well, I suppose so but only if you treat me to lunch."

He raised an eye brow but still had a smile on his face. "You mean now?"

"Well, it is pass noon," she said fluttering her eyelashes.

Just then Nadine came up to her. "Hold on a minute, Rhonda, you might wanna hold lunch for later and see your college advisor right now."

Rhonda flipped her hair back. "Uh, excuse me? Why would I want to do that?" she asked the blonde.

"Rhonda, your college advisor called again," Nadine said. Nadine and Rhonda were roommates.

"Take a message." Rhonda waved off and brought her attention back to Chad, placing her hand around his arm.

"I did," Nadine said flatly. She pulled Rhonda away from the athlete and excused them. ("Hey!") "I'm been taking messages for you for the past three weeks! I think you seriously need to talk to your advisor."

"Oh no, Nadine." Rhonda waved her arms. "What that woman has to say is not important to me," she huffed folding her arms.

She didn't notice the middle aged woman walking up behind her.

"Is that so, Ms. Lloyd?" she asked.

Rhonda froze at the familiar voice. Nadine smirked, knowing that this was bound to happen sooner or later.

"That's a shame because what I have to say is suppose to benefit you, not me," the advisor said.

Rhonda whirled around and was surprised to see her advisor.

"Mrs. Ong!" Rhonda exclaimed. "Wow, isn't this a little coinkydink? We were just saying what a caring advisor you are!"

Mrs. Ong didn't buy her sudden kiss-up. "In my office, Ms. Lloyd," she ordered flatly. "Now."

.~.

Rhonda shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Across from her was Mrs. Ong behind the desk looking over Rhonda's schedule and grades on the computer. She turned back to Rhonda.

"My, isn't this weird? This might be the second time I've had you in my office in three years. I believe the first time was during your sophomore registration, yes?"

Rhonda readjusted herself in her seat. "Well, yes but I just didn't feel like I needed to bother you about my courses. I know what classes to take."

The Asian-American woman readjusted her glasses and glared at her. "Even if that was so, you still are suppose to meet with me before every semester registration date. This is to help you, you know."

Rhonda nodded slowly.

"The last excuse you gave me for not come here was that you were spending your winter holiday skiing in Alaska and had to make reservations and pack for three weeks."

"Well, I did!" she cried.

Mrs. Ong didn't look sympathetic. "Not only have you been avoiding me, you've been avoiding your math requirement."

Rhonda groaned at the mention of math requirement. She resented it from the first time she found out she had to still take math in college.

"Oh, no! Not that again!" she groaned. "Mrs. Ong, my concentration is in fashion design, why does an artistic student like myself have to take such an left-brained course? It makes no sense, don't you agree?"

Mrs. Ong didn't look happy with Rhonda's explanation. "Everyone, no matter the concentration, has to take at least one 4-credit math course, Rhonda. It's apart of the liberal arts requirement. I wouldn't be as forceful on you if this wasn't your senior year, but it is. You won't be able to graduate if you don't take and pass a math course."

Rhonda frowned.

Mrs. Ong looked back at the computer and began typing. "Now seeing that this is the last day to drop or swap courses, we have no choice but to move you right away." She readjusted her glasses and looked at the screen. "Now it looks like the only math course open that fulfills your requirement is Dr. Hanserd's class… Hmmm, it seems you have too many courses but you're in luck." She smirked then started to move and click on the mouse. "We'll just swap your drama class on Mondays to Dr. Hanserd's math class on Mondays and Wednesdays."

Rhonda's eyes widen and she jumped out of her seat. "What?! You can't do that! I was really liking that class!" she cried.

"Please, Ms. Lloyd, seat back down and stop your whining."

"I'm not whining," she whined flopping back down in the chair. I can't believe this, she thought.

"That course was not even a requirement for your degree. You'll live without it."

Rhonda groaned.

"All I can say to you is to look forward to Dr. Hanserd's classes for now on." Mrs. Ong said.

Rhonda stood up and looked at the advisor in the eye.

"Well, I hope you're happy." She flipped her hair back, huffed, and storm out of the office room with her chin in the air.

.~.

The following monday, Rhonda entered the classroom snobbishly as ever. She wore her most expensive perfume, designer trousers, a halter-top, and golden jewelry. Fashion always put her a bit at ease. She spotted the professor when she walked in. The middle aged African American man was shuffling through his papers on his desk. Dr. Hanserd looked like an uptight professor in every way to Rhonda, right down to the hideous elbow-patched blazer and plated bow-tie.

She took the safest seat; in the back, near the wall. She didn't want the professor to call on her. Rhonda didn't want the professor to bother her.

"Before we begin class let me say I'm glade to see a few new faces," the professor said scanning the room. "Though a few of you are behind I'm sure with dedication and hard work you all won't have too much trouble catching up. I hope we all have a fun semester in this class."

"Oh, joy," Ronda sighed half-heartedly at her desk.

.~.

It was Rhonda's second week of Dr. Hanserd's class, monday. The professor was going over equations or something. Rhonda wasn't really paying any attention. She noticed that Dr. Hanserd liked to talk and explain a lot in a way that Rhonda didn't even want to bother trying to get.

He asked the class to solve the problem on the board. Many hands went up. Dr. Hanserd scanned his sea of pupils but none of them caught his eye than the wealthy, raven-haired female. Rhonda was brushing her hair and not paying any attention to the lecture.

He could not allow this. "How about you, Ms. Lloyd."

She stiffed up at the sound of her name being called.

She lowered her brush and blinked at him. "Huh? Me? I didn't raised my hand."

"It doesn't matter. I called on you," he said sternly.

"Dr. Hanserd, let me reason with you. I'll do the homework and I'll try to suffer through this class but I should not have to go to the board! I don't belong here. My advisor forced me into this class. Math isn't my major," she cried.

The man just smirked. He wondered how many times he had heard the same excuse."Ms. Lloyd, since you seem confident that you don't belong here, why don't you come up to the board and solve this problem."

She huffed but reluctantly got up. She heard snickering from the other students. Rhonda sashayed to the board. Her eyes widen at the problem written in chalk. She gulped and stood there silently for a long while.

"Today, Ms. Lloyd," the professor called out.

The other students laughed.

"R-right." Rhonda tensed up, grabbed a piece of chalk, and just scribbled an answer down.

"There," she said proudly but Dr. Hanserd didn't have a smile on his face.

"Incorrect. Try again."

She tensed up again.

"But I already—"

"Try again," he repeated firmly.

She blew a piece of hair out of her face, erased her answer, and contemplated until she just wrote down a new one.

She whirled around at him and shrugged. "Happy now?" She asked bitterly.

"That too is incorrect." He turned to the rest of the class and paced. "Can anyone tell Ms. Lloyd what the answer of this equation is?"

A nerdy looking boy raised his hand and joyfully told the class the answer.

"Very good, Kyle." The professor turned to Rhonda who still stood by the board. "You can learn a lot from him, Ms. Lloyd."

Rhonda folded her arms. "Oh please! The only thing I could learn from that guy is how much perms should have stayed in the 80s," she huffed.

The class room burst into another round of laughs.

The professor sighed then looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, class that's all for today. Remember to check the syllabus for the homework due next week. Have a nice rest of the day."

Everyone started gathering their things and leaving.

Rhonda smiled in relief, finally it's over! She went to her desk to get her things until she was stopped.

"Hold on a minute, Ms. Lloyd," Dr. Hanserd said from his desk.

"Me?"

"Yes, you need to speak with me," he said in a serious tone.

She hesitated but edged over to him with her books to her chest and her head held high.

"Yes?" she asked.

He held a sheet of paper in his hand. "I've taken the liberty of grading your quiz first." Dr. Hansard gave out quiz every Wednesday.

She shifted her weight. "Why, thank you. That's very kind—"

"And you did very poorly," he interrupted, handing her, her quiz.

She stared at the heavily red marked sheet.

"You're a senior, right?" he asked. "If you want to get an A in this class you're gonna need to put in a lot more effort. It's no wonder you'll failing my class when all you do is sit in the back and gossip with the other students, check your phone, or do your hair. And you have been late quite often too as if you don't even want to be here."

"That's because I don't want to be here!" she snapped then sighed.

He looked at her sternly. "Ms. Lloyd, if you want to pass this class, and for your sake only I hope you do, I'm going to need to see more effort in the assignments, more participation in class, and I recommend you get a tutor."

"What?! Dr. Henserd, my major is in fashion design, I'm not going to use this class in the future," Rhonda whined.

"But you need to pass this class in order to graduate," he reminded. "Now listen, suppose one day you are doing your income taxes, you're gonna need to know—"

"My personal accountant will do them," she interrupted. She knew what he was doing and it wasn't going to work on her. She was prepared for the future.

"Fine." He nodded with a hint of annoyance. "but you'll want to double check his figures—"

"My husband will check them," she answered before adding matter-of-factly, "He's a doctor."

He grunted. "Okay, well your husband is out of town this month. He's out saving lives after a natural disaster in another state and you need to check your taxes—"

"My lawyer will review them," she stubbornly said.

He frowned getting really frustrated with the young woman. "Rhonda, you can't depend on other people to do your work for you. Math is a simple life skill that you are going to have to learn." His eyes narrowed. "Now I hope I see improvement from you."

.~.

Arnold just got done with a tutoring session in the library.

"Thanks man. You're like a wiz at this tutoring thing," the round sunglasses wearing man said.

"No problem, Iggy." Arnold said. They said their good byes and Arnold started to pack his stuff up at the table.

Iggy walked passed a hidden Rhonda who was spying on them behind a bookshelf. When Iggy was gone and no one she knew was in sight she pretended to casually walk towards the blonde man.

"Oh, Arnold fancy seeing you here," she gasped.

He looked up from his bag and smiled. "Oh, hi, Rhonda."

"I was just here about to get some real good studying done," she said enthusiastically, readjusting her books in her hand.

"That's nice," he said as he packed his bags.

"Um, here Arnold." She handed him a card.

He took it and blinked. "What's this?"

"I just wanted to personally invite you to my annual party on the 30th. We grew up together so I'm giving you an exclusive physical invite," she explained.

He opened the card, read it, and smiled. "Gee, Thanks, Rhonda. I'll be there." He went back to putting his things away.

Rhonda stood there and stared at him.

She cleared her throat to grab his attention.

"Hey Arnold, um, there was one more thing I wanted to talk to you about... Um, I heard you were offering some… tutoring services?"

"Oh, yeah." he said. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Oh, well, I'm having just the tiny bit of trouble with Dr. Hanserd math class." Rhonda said making it sound as mild as she could.

"Oh well, we could start right now if you want. I wasn't about to do anything really. I'm good at math."

"You're a life savior! And I don't mind paying you up front," she said as she went into her purse and handed him the money.

He looked down at it and his eyes widen.

"Rhonda, I can't accept fifty dollars for tutoring!" he cried.

"Oh, alright I'll make it sixty." she said casually reaching back into her purse.

"No!" Arnold stopped her. "I mean, that's way too much. Listen, let's not worry about money right now. Let's just see where you're at first."

"Good plan," she chirped. She put her books and homework down on the table. Arnold sat down.

"This is all my homework," she said.

"Alright."

"Okay, just bring it over to my loft tomorrow."

She began to leave until Arnold called out to her.

"Wow, wow. Rhonda. Where are you going?"

She whirled around. "Oh, I'm meeting Nadine and the girls at the club tonight."

Arnold got up and approached her. "Hold on, I'm not doing your homework for you."

She frowned then let out a laugh. "Oh, Arnold you funny man!"

He gave her his signature half-lidded glare and folded his arms. "No, I'm serious. I'll be happy to tutor you but I will not do it for you—"

"One hundred dollars," she stated blankly.

"What?"

"I'll pay you a hundred dollars to do it for me," she repeated.

He sighed. "Rhonda—"

She wasn't finished. "An hour for the rest of the semester," she added.

His eyes widen.

He felt tempted. 100 dollars an hour for the whole semester! That could help him pay off his student loans. Gerald and him could get a new microwave. He could afford to go out more.

"Wow…" There were so many possibilities. But then his morality kicked in. He swallowed his desires and shook the thoughts from his head. "No, that's not right!" he cried. "You need to learn how to do it for yourself. Like I said, I'll be happy to tutor you for a low price—"

"Ohh, I don't need you to tutor me! I need you to do it for me!" she snapped

"Well, it's not going to happen." He scowled putting his foot down.

"Fine, Arnold, but I thought you liked helping people!" she scuffed as she gathered her homework from the table.

She gave the football-headed man one last glare before she groaned and stormed off.

.~.

Rhonda was back in Mrs. Ong's office by four o clock that day.

"Wow, this is a surprise. Twice in my office on the same month," Mrs. Ong awed. "How has Mr. Hanserd course been treating you? You just had class today, didn't you?"

Rhonda sighed.

"Okay, Ms. Ong, I'll reason with you," she said coolly with narrowed eyes. "Just tell me how much money my daddy has to pay for us to just forget about this whole math requirement thing?"

Mrs. Ong raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Lloyd, are you bribing me?"

Rhonda shrugged. "We can call it a bribe, or just a small favor, or even an accident." She went into her purse and pulled out her wallet. "I mean, if I drop 6 hundred dollars on the desk." Rhonda placed six hundred dollar bills on the desk as she spoke. "And you just so happen to type in that I completed the requirement on that little computer of yours, no one has to know." she shrugged.

Mrs. Ong scowled. "No."

"Oh, c'mon!" she begged.

"You will not get special treatment just because you have money," the advisor tsked. "The answer is 'no' and if you really don't think you can pass I suggest you open a book and study."

With that Rhonda was kicked out of the woman's office.

.~.

The next day Rhonda had totally exhausted herself. She searched all around to find a short-cut out of the math assignments but she couldn't. By noon she just gave up on it and just stressed herself with spending her time in the library instead at the beauty saloon.

Even in her fashion class all she could think about was Dr. Hernserd's upcoming quiz the next day. She could hardly stay focus with the lecture, sketched a poor design of a spring outfit, and she barely joined in on the gossip of the other girls during break. When class was over she quickly gathered her things, thinking about spending the rest of her day in the library again until a redheaded girl interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey Rhonda, we're gonna give Clammy Mandy a make over!" She squealed. The girl's name was really just Mandy but the fashion students coined her Clammy Mandy due to her poor sense of fashion and the fact that the poor woman would always sweat through her shirt. "Can you believe all the work to be done?!"

The group of other girls nodded and voiced their excitement.

Usually Rhonda would be as hyper about it as the others but not today. She didn't even blink.

Rhonda just put her backpack on and said in a zombie-like state, "Uh-huh?"

The girls blinked at this strange lack of reaction. They noticed she was a little weird all day but this was overboard.

One of the girls looked down and noticed Rhonda's footwear.

"Wow, Rhonda are those the same shoes you wore two days ago?" Amber asked concerned. Something was wrong with Rhonda!

"Wow, um, Rhonda you look a little tense," another girl pointed out.

The raven-haired woman whirled around at her with red eyes. "Tense? I'm more than tensed. I'm freaking stressed out! And you know why? I got a stupid quiz coming up and my professor is an uptight asshole that wants me to better myself or something," Rhonda snapped.

The women shifted their weight uncomfortably at the sudden outburst.

"Oh, geez that's too bad," one of the women said. "Do you wanna…um, come give Mandy a make over? It'll make you feel better."

Rhonda could punch all of them in the eye.

"Don't you airheads get it? I don't have time!" she yelled. "Gesh, all you care about is your looks and what actress is wearing what, well that's not going to matter out in the real world, you know!" She stormed off leaving the fashion major girls with their jaws to the floor.

"Wow, Rhonda has gone totally coo coo," Jennifer exclaimed.

"Yeah. She sounded like a brain or something," Amber said crossing her arms.

They all nodded in agreement.

.~.

That tuesday night Nadine tossed and turned in her bed. She could hear scribbling, the occasional curses, erasing, and sighing.

Nadine's eyes open to a bright light coming from the corner. She sat up in her bed and turned to Rhonda who was at her desk still studying.

Nadine looked at he clock by her bed. It was twelve o clock in the morning! What the fuck was she still doing up?

"Ugh, Rhonda can you turn the light out and call it a night already?" Nadine groaned rubbing her tired eyes.

"I can't, Nadine, I have to study," she huffed not looking up from her homework. "If I don't pass this stupid class I won't graduate!"

Nadine sighed and flopped back down on the bed and covered her face with her pillow. "Ugh, I can't believe this…"

.~.

On Wednesday Rhonda was more nervous for a quiz than she had ever been in her life. Her quiz was finally passed to her and she stared at it on her desk. It was a ten questioned quiz with only twelve minutes for time. She took a deep breath.

Okay Rhonda it's just a little quiz. It's not like it's a mid-term. Just a tiny quiz, she told herself in her head. But Rhonda couldn't stop the sweat that covered her palms as she wrote her name on the sheet. She couldn't stop her heart from pounding nearly out her chest. All Rhonda could do was remember her studying and answer the questions the best way she could.

.~.

After black Wednesday Rhonda relaxed herself with party planning. The quiz was over and she deserved to relax a little with her annual college party. After that Wednesday there was a lot of talk going on around campus about Helga. Rhonda couldn't help but be sucked into the gossip. It was like she was her old self again. It wasn't till the tomboy bully from Rhonda's past came to her party on Saturday that she could actually get details.

.~.

It was the week after the quiz.

"I have graded all of your quizzes. Some of you should be thrilled and others… well, lets just say you better start preying for the mid-term now." Dr. Hanserd said handing the graded quiz to a student that didn't look to thrilled.

He went over to Rhonda's desk. She gulped.

"Ms. Lloyd."

He handed her her quiz.

She stared at it. "An C plus?! That's it?!"

"And that could turn into a B, maybe even an A, if you get a tutor," he encourage.

She grunted. "All that work for just an C plus..." She couldn't believe it.

"You've improved very well, Ms. Lloyd," he complimented. "At first you didn't have any interest in this class and now you actually are starting to take notes and study. But you still need a tutor and I still strongly suggest one."

"I can't believe that this is the best I can do. God, I really am dumb." She put her face into her hands.

"No, you're not Ms. Lloyd. You just need extra help and that's nothing to be ashamed of. The dumb thing to do is to not ask for help when you know you need it but expect a better result. I believe you will do well in this class. You just need a little guidance," Dr. Hanserd encouraged, before leaving her desk and handing the other students back their quiz.

.~.

After class, Rhonda sat outside at the campus food court table with Nadine and a few girls from her fashion classes. She fell into a bad mood. All that work for just a C, she thought as she picked at her salad. She didn't even noticed that Nadine was talking to her until she repeated her name again

"Huh?" Rhonda asked snapping out of her trance.

"I said, do you want to go to the movies with us?" Nadine repeated. All the other girls nodded and pressed her to come join them.

Rhonda smiled. This would be a good distraction from her grade.

"Sure—"

Just then Rhonda spotted Arnold in the distance. Maybe it was a sign that she should spend her time doing something else.

"Oh, I mean, you girls go on ahead. I forgot that I have other things to do." Rhonda waved off before standing.

"Huh?"

"Really. Have a great time." She insisted before running away from the table to catch up with Arnold.

"Arnold!" she called out approaching behind him.

The young man paused and turns to look at her. "Rhonda?"

"Um, hi." She pushed her hair out of her face.

"Hey, Arnold, um... could I ask you for a favor?" She studied his unsure expression. "I mean, I want you to tutor me. I'm sorry for asking you to do it for me. I know you're not that kind of person that cheats so I'm asking for tutoring services. I'm not going to learn any other way." She said sheepishly.

He blinked then smiled. "Of course, Rhonda."

"Thanks." She said.

"How about the library at 1:00?" he suggested.

Her eyes widen at the mention of shallow, cold, dungeon of books. "Oh no," Rhonda refused. "I'm fed up with that place. Make it the café at 3:00."

"Got it." They shook hands.

.~.

End of Chapter 3