Helga made Track. It wasn't a huge surprise to her when she spotted her name on the list. Spotted her time as well. She was on the top of the list. Smiling with pride, Helga began to make her way down the hallway when Phoebe came up to her to hug her. Gently putting her hands around her best friend, Helga smiled down at her.

"Congratulations, Helga. I wasn't in any doubt that you would make the team." Phoebe told her as they went down the hallway to their lockers.

It was a wednesday and it felt chilly in the corridor. In spite of all the bodies milling around, Helga kept her coat on. "Thanks Pheebs. You know how I love sports."

"Oh yes I do." Phoebe started to look around for any of their friends nearby. "So Curly? Have you ever thought how Arnold would take it?"

Helga shrugged as she got her books out of the locker. "No. Arnold is with Rhonda. I'm a free agent, Pheebs. He doesn't rule my life."

"Just your heart."

Scoffing at that, Helga almost started to bust out laughing too. "He's in my heart. Always will be, but he doesn't rule my heart. I am the one in charge of it. I won't wait around for someone. I want to go out and have some fun. At least I have tons of laughs and seriousness with, Curly."

When she told Gerald last night about what Helga said to her, Gerald went silent. She knew his silence. Knew exactly what he was thinking. Gerald didn't like his best friend's relationship with, Rhonda. He thought it was killing him. He always said that Arnold needed stimulation to his brain at all times, or he'll flop around in a massive depressive state. When he finally admitted that, Helga did provide that for him when they were younger, Gerald once wished that Helga was back to liven his friend up once more.

"Well that is true, Helga. I just want you happy." Phoebe did want her to be happy. She hated it when Helga got depressed. Always hated how her parents neglected her. "You have to tell me everything about that date. I want to know so badly."

"Oh I'll tell you." Helga promised.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Gerald spotted Arnold coming in with, Rhonda, he had to get him away from her. Receiving a disparaging comment from Rhonda before she departed to do her fashion walk, he waited till she was far away.

For Arnold, he wondered if there was trouble involving his friend. He never acted this urgent unless there was an emergency of some sort. "Are you all right, Gerald? Is Phoebe hurt?"

"We are both fine. You aren't though. It is one thing to hear you practically dying over the phone last night talking about her. Seriously, you have to dump her. I know Rhonda isn't really evil, but she is like this evil succubus sucking the life out of you. You are depressed. Unmotivated mostly."

Arnold squeezed his eyebrows together as much as possible. "What the hell is with the dramatic display? I'm fine."

He had to test this theory out. "You should get a look at, Helga. She is looking extra fine today. I'm not attracted to her, but if I was I would be drooling openly at her."

A far away expression crossed his features. "Really? Helga would look good with baggy clothes on. Really good." He thought of her yesterday at try outs. The track outfit she had on looked painted on her body. She was flawless. She was so serious, but also so happy. He loved the combination.

Gerald was very amused by that daydreaming expression on him. That was his old friend. "Helga accepted a date with, Curly. They are going out on saturday." That wiped that expression off his face.

"What? Why?"

"Well to my understanding that when one person likes another, they ask said person. Is that the perimeters of how this works?"

"Don't be a sarcastic ass." Opening up the door, Arnold spotted Helga standing there with Curly and Phoebe. Helga was wearing a pink pea coat with dark blue jeans, and combat boots. She looked spectacular. Of course that got ruined when Curly made her laugh. Shouldn't she be only smiling at him? Closing the door up, Arnold leaned against the wall.

"Why are you still with, Rhonda? At least you and Lila reached a stopping point when you both were bored. Rhonda is using you as her personal mule."

"Rhonda isn't that bad."

"Perhaps, but you aren't happy. As for Rhonda, that girl isn't in love with you. I don't see affection in her eyes when she talks to you." Gerald could of swore he saw dark circles under his eyes. "You are buying Helga dinner tomorrow. I bet you'll be looking your best for her."

He was right. Arnold already picked out something that she would approve of. Hearing the bell ring, they both went inside to start their days.

Heading into Chemistry, Arnold loved the sweater she was wearing. It was a blue sweater that was a V neck with a belt decoration above it as if keeping the sweater from falling off. "You look really good, Helga."

"As opposed to me looking like dookie? Yep! I totally agree with you."

He loved her sarcasm. She always managed to make it very cute. "Where do you want to head out tomorrow for dinner? Since I'm paying I want you satisfied."

She didn't want him spending a lot on her. "You know I wouldn't mind something greasy. I know I have to think of my diet now that I'm in track, but after too many rich meals, I want something I haven't had in years."

"No burgers and fries where you were before?"

"There was, but not as great. I did love the fish and chips. They are the only place you should get them. Always." Helga will tell him about Curly tomorrow.

"So is it true you are going on a date with Curly?"

Guess she'll tell him much more sooner then. "He asked and I accepted. He's a nice guy so I'm sure I'll have a blast."

Turning to face forward, Arnold gritted his teeth. "Yeah he is a nice guy."

Was he jealous? No he couldn't be. "He's single. I'm single. We get along. I thought it would be nice to do." Watching him narrow his eyes, Helga figured to look forward as well. "You know we can forget about the bet. I was just being my usual sarcastic ass. I wasn't serious about it." Opening up her notes, Helga was glad that the teacher chose that moment to come in to begin teaching.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Meanwhile Park was speaking to Curly before class as well. They were both whispering when, Rhonda came in to openly scoff at both the boys. Overhearing, Phoebe, Curly, and Helga speak this morning Rhonda thought to make herself known.

"So Curly. You have finally went below me. Far below me, I might add."

Turning his head to look at her with some disgust, Curly had a feeling what she was talking about. "Excuse me?"

Placing her compact back into her purse, Rhonda flipped her hair back. "By going on a date with, Helga. You finally realized you couldn't get caviar so you went with tilapia instead. I'm so happy you finally got the hint."

Crossing his arms to rest on his desk, Curly smirked. "You are tilapia and she is the finest gourmet meal around. She's 100% real, while you are nothing but synthetic. Sure you only dared to make your nose a little more upturned and got a tummy tuck for someone who didn't need it."

"Why I never." She was offended. She only had a tummy tuck because she gained a couple of pounds. "Are you saying that she is better than me?"

Leaning back in his seat, Curly removed his glasses to make an excuse to clean them. "I'm saying she is a lot better than you. Maybe you still believe that she is a bully still, but in truth she never was. I understood why she did what she did a long time back. I also saw all the good things she has done. I like her and I want to go out with her. Now if you don't mind, I would love to talk to my friend Park here. Also I'm fairly certain that you not only want to lord yourself over everyone else, but also your boyfriend. You do know that you have one, correct?"

Glaring at him, Rhonda went directly to her seat plopping down in it before crossing her arms. How dare he talk to her that way? Pulling out her phone she decided to text someone to meet up with her later.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At lunch, Helga was sitting with most of the gang in the cafeteria. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Helga looked up to see Lila standing there. Since she has been back she hardly saw the little red head. Well mostly brief glances. Scanning her, Helga saw she didn't change too much.

"Hey Lila. What's the haps?"

Smiling at her, Lila whispered into her ear before they both left the cafeteria to talk. Going outside, Lila felt nervous speaking to her. "Hello Helga. You look ever so beautiful."

Raising her eyebrow up, Helga almost laughed. "I know that isn't why I'm out here with you. Are we planning into getting into an ever so polite fight now?" She mocked lightly.

Giggling, Lila shook her head. "Oh you are still so funny. No, I brought you out here to talk about something."

"Alright. What is it?"

Checking out her surroundings, Lila didn't want to tattle tail on someone, but had to. "Rhonda wants to spread rumors about you. She even claims she has old pictures of you drooling over, Arnold when we were younger."

Throwing back her head in laughter, Helga just met pathetic news. "Oh that is rich. Let her. If she is that insecure than let her. I'm glad you told me this because I needed a laugh."

Lila still felt nervous. "I don't want you hurt. Also I'm sorry that I went out with Arnold. I thought I liked him, liked him in that way, but I didn't. I failed in my promise to you."

Putting her hand on her shoulder, Helga shook her head. "That's fine. You both got it in your system and now it is out of there. I have matured since the last time we met. Also I hear that you and this Joey fellow are sweet on one another."

Blushing, she nodded her head. "Oh he is ever so sweet. He is so funny and so interesting."

"Good. I will let you know that if he does something bad to you, I'll rip his eyes out."

"Oh my." Covering her mouth up, Lila figured that she finally received her approval. "That is so sweet, but ever so not necessary. Thank you though."

Shrugging, Helga opened the door up. "So is that it?"

"No. Arnold still is crazy about you and as for Curly... He is ever so handsome and interesting. I wish you luck."

Helga decided to gloss over the Arnold information. As much as she wanted to be with him, she couldn't right now. He had to do things his own way. That is the only way to do it. She had to learn and now it was his time to do the same thing.

Arnold watched as Helga left the cafeteria with, Lila. Of course he had to do it as casually as possible seeing that, Rhonda would of caught him. Listening to her talk, Arnold was bored. He wasn't in love with her. They really didn't have that much in common. Sure she did sports a long time ago, but it was still done with some protest. No, a lot of protest. She never wanted to scuff her shoes. Never wanted to break her nail. He loved Helga's attitude about sports. She was a girl that was all in. Didn't care if she got dirty. Didn't care if she broke a nail since nails always grew back.

Seeing the door open back up with, Lila and Helga walking in chatting away, Arnold saw her maturity level once more. Before she couldn't stand Lila due to jealousy, and here she is talking to her as there was nothing ever wrong in the past.

"I need to make a phone call home." Arnold told the table mostly to be ignored. Sighing he left to head outside mostly to clear his head up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey Olga! So you are in the track thing now. Maybe I should get you to wear a personal logo of the store." Bob informed her in between bites of his food.

Bringing her eyes up, Helga spotted the food just splattering on his shirt while he tore into his chicken. From her end of the table, Miriam sat there hardly eating as she drummed up a business deal. She came back home for this. Why in the hell did they want her back anyhow? They certainly didn't miss her.

"Why don't you contact the school to not only get your logo displayed, but to contribute. Not with uniforms, but contribute to the other programs in school." Helga suggested. "Just imagine how that will be. Word will spread around Hillwood, and people will love your store even more." From the corner of her eye she spotted the intrigue of Bob, followed by Miriam. "I have a feeling that more people will flock to the store to buy more products."

Putting her phone down, Miriam smiled towards her daughter. "You know, that is a wonderful idea, Helga. Oh B! Can you just imagine the possibilities? It will show how much of a true family man you are."

Imagining the possibilities, Bob smiled all the more while revealing some meat particles in his open yap. "Hey yeah! I can see it now." Simmering his excitement level down, Bob looked to his daughter. "Why not the uniforms?"

Helga absolutely didn't want to run in a uniform that had the obnoxious logo on it. "Well since so many are so jealous of how much money gets put into the sports program, people tend to hate even the advertiser. This way if you spend some money on the arts, books, and music programs, those families will have even more faith in you. You know more than there already is."

Bob stared at his wife. He knew she was imagining it all. He loved having a fat wallet. Loved coming home to a home cooked meal. "I knew there was a great reason for having you back, Helga."

"Well B, she is the one who suggested to manufacturer our own stuff. Quality stuff. If it wasn't for her pitching in we wouldn't be living in this fabulous mansion." Miriam held out her arms to indicate their surroundings.

Personally, Helga couldn't stand the mansion. She really couldn't stand her childhood home, but if she had to choose between the two, Helga would run to the boarding house to live. At least that was a homey environment. She would choose Phoebe's place, but another body in there would be crowded.

"Plus she'll be a big time track star, just like she was a big time rower." Bob added in there.

Helga did have to admit that at least they did start enjoying her accomplishments. Before they would sweep it under the rug. Guess they improved a little too. Picking up her fork, Helga resumed eating her approved dietary food for training.