"Long time no see, football head." Arnold frowned at the sound of Duke using the long lasting nickname which Helga had given him. Duke turned his head slightly. "What?"

The blonde shook it off as he began unpacking. "Nothing. Nevermind."

Duke clapped a heavy hand on Arnold's shoulder. "I heard what happened. Sorry, man."

"It's fine. Thanks." He was still putting up his clothing from his suitcase when he found the card he'd shoved into the front pocket of his bag when he boarded the bus. I'm sorry. – Helga. Suddenly the harsh reminder hit him of how he'd treated her before he left. He'd vaguely remembered reading a text from her on his way home about the assignment and the extension she'd gotten. As the memory flooded back into his mind, he couldn't help but sit as the guilt set in on his shoulders. "Hey Duke."

The tall boy was lounging in his bed with his laptop, looking up at him as he was called. "Yeah?"

"Know where Helga is?"

Duke shrugged. "I guess her room. I haven't seen my muse in a few days."

Arnold couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Your muse?"

"Yeah. She makes for great writing. She might even get me in the student art showcase they publish near the end of the semester."

"I thought they never chose freshmen for that."

Duke flashed him his signature smile. "They will this year."

Helga couldn't stand her roommate. Sandra was rarely around and still managed to leave her mark on the room. As much as Helga had always kept her room clean and organized, Sandra drove her insane. Helga constantly found herself picking up old trash and kicking dirty laundry over to Sandra's side of the room. She was still cleaning when she heard a knock on the door, causing her to curse under her breath as she was interrupted.

She threw the door open with a scowl that was normally reserved for her family. "What." Her eyes widened as she realized who was standing in her doorway. "Oh—Arnold. Sorry. I was just…my stupid roommate…she left a mess again and…what do you want?"

Arnold laughed. "It's fine. Look…" He ran his hand through his hair as he spoke, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry for yelling at you last week. You didn't make me mad, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I would have apologized sooner—"

"I know. And look I'm sorry about your grandma."

"Yeah. I got the flowers. Thanks." He looked down at the floor, still avoiding her gaze as the awkward silence set in between them. "A-ah…" he choked a bit, face turning bright red as he noticed what she'd been standing on. "Helga?" He pointed down to her feet.

Helga's face turned as pink as his as she realized, and as pink as the pair of panties stuck underneath her foot. "The-they aren't mine!" She kicked them behind her into the room. "My stupid roommate. I told you she's messy!"

"Right! Yeah!" He was as flustered as she was, unable to fully avert his attention from the floor until they disappeared into the dorm. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

She glared, face still glowing despite the look. "Like you haven't seen underwear before. " She covered. "Criminy, you're such a kid!" And before she had to face him for another second she slammed the door shut. She turned on her heel away from the entryway and narrowed her eyes on the garment, snatching it from the floor, and throwing it into her laundry basket with the rest of her clothes.

Arnold rubbed his nose as he walked down the stairs. As much as he'd wanted to believe that the clothing didn't belong to the blunt and brutal blonde known as Helga G. Pataki, he couldn't shake the image of the pink lace on the floor accented by a distinct pink bow.

Helga worked in the common area that night, unable to concentrate while Sandra was on the phone crying to her mother about being homesick. She'd already finished her homework but midterms started that week, and spring break right after and she wanted to know she could enjoy the week off without worrying too much about her grades. So she found herself curled into herself on the couch that Sunday evening, her eyes focused on her textbook.

A weight fell onto the seat beside her, causing her eyes to cross and lose focus. She glared at the intruder beside her. "Hey, Girly." Goliath waved at her. "Studying hard?"

She rolled her eyes and focused back on her text book. "Yeah. So zip it, gigantoid."

Duke laughed a little." Ouch. And I thought we were friends."

"First of all," her head turned back up to him, her smirk playing across her lips, "that's how I talk to all of my friends. Second, who said we were friends?" And with that, she turned back to her text.

The brunette only laughed and nudged her, distracting her once more. "So." She looked over at him, slightly more irritated at the constant disruption and in no way afraid to show it. He ignored scowl, however, as he continued. "What are you doing for spring break? Going home?"

"Probably not. Any time away from my family is a vacation in itself."

Duke made himself more comfortable on the couch and turned towards her. "So it's not just your sister that you don't get along with?"

Helga shrugged and looked back to her book.

"You aren't going to give me any good stories today?"

"I'm trying to study." She pulled her book closer against her, as if to rub in the hint he should have already picked up. "Midterms start hmm…oh tomorrow?"

He laughed. "Yeah. I guess you have a good point." He stood up to leave, causing and unstoppable sigh of relieve to escape from her lungs. "How about we pick this conversation back up on Friday after midterms? I leave to go home on Saturday morning but how about we grab a post-test dinner?"

Helga blinked slowly. Did she really just get asked out by Goliath? "Ahh…" she looked up at him, craning her neck to meet his stupid smile. "Yeah I guess. You're paying though."

"You got it." He waved to her quickly and returned to his room, entering with a smile towards his roommate. "I'm taking her out on Friday."

Arnold looked up from his book as his friend collapsed on the bed across from him. "Taking who out?"

"Helga." He had a large grin on his face as he explained. "I'm taking her to dinner and we're going to tell more stories. The entries are due Saturday morning so I'll be cutting it close, especially considering my bus heads back home at noon so I guess I'm pulling and all nighter—"

"Wait, Duke, slow down." Duke was already opening his computer, but looked up at Arnold when interrupted, allowing the blonde to continue. "Are you taking her out on a date? Or are you taking her out for an interview?"

The large boy only shrugged. "I dunno. Mainly I just want inspiration but what happens happens, if you know what I mean." He laughed and turned back to his laptop. "Most important thing is the stories."

Arnold put his text book down. "You didn't give her the wrong idea did you?"

"Oh no. I only invited her to an after midterm dinner to tell stories. She's the one who insisted I pay."

Arnold laughed a bit as he imagined her demanding food from a man who was easily twice her size. "Yeah. That sounds like Helga."

"Oh yeah you've known her since you were kids, right? Can you tell me more about when she as younger?" Duke had his fingers positioned on the keyboard.

Arnold shrugged. "I don't know. She was…more violent? Louder? Bossier?" He chuckled. "Just more… Helga than she is now, I guess." Duke was tapping away at his laptop as he spoke. "She was the queen of pranks. She even convinced me she was blind once and that it was all my fault. And she was always the group leader when we played sports. She was great at baseball, even wearing a dress."

"She wore a dress playing baseball?"

"She always wore a dress. A pink one. With pigtails and a big pink bow on her head. She dressed that way until middle school." He smiled thinking back on it. "She was actually a model for the style back in fourth grade. They called her—"

"It girl?"

Arnold nodded. "And she hated it."

"She hated the work or the attention?"

"The attention and everyone copying her. She likes being the one and only Helga G. Pataki."

Duke nodded and continue typing. "All tomboy in a pink dress. Did she write poetry back then?"

"I don't know. She wasn't very open about her hobbies except for sports and what she did in school. If she didn't tell you about something it just wasn't your business." He thought back as far as he could into their school life. "In 10th grade we had to read a poem aloud that we wrote. She blurted out some 'roses are red' poem and sat back down."

"She's secretive…" Duke mumbled to himself. "So you don't know about her family then?"

"Not really. I've met her dad a few times, he's not the friendliest guy."

"So that's where Helga gets it from then."

Arnold shook his head. "She's nicer than him. Just not very good at showing it. She loves her family though. And she loves her friends. Deep down she's just like any other girl."

Duke laughed. "That's hard to believe but I guess you know what you're talking about."

Arnold set his book on the bedside table and turned down his blankets as he continued, "She helped save the whole neighborhood, though. I guess that's more than any other girl, though." He thought back to the two fourth graders, the roof of the FTi building, and the confession. Her confession and the kiss. It was awkward and forced and painful. She pulled him so hard he was surprised that he hadn't busted his lip against his teeth. Despite the awkward moment, however, he had to admit, without her, saving the neighborhood would have been impossible.

"Thanks Arnold." Duke pulled Arnold from his memories as he put away his laptop for the night. "You should get to bed. You know midterms start tomorrow. I hope you studied."

Arnold laughed and shut his lamp off. "Let me read that story when you've finished it."

With a yawn, his roommate replied. "Sure thing."

The week came and went as Helga breezed through her midterms. She'd never been a straight A student like Olga or Phoebe, but her teachers always knew it was more an issue of will rather than skill that kept her at a B average instead. At the end of the week before spring break, Helga felt comfortable relaxing, sure of herself after all the testing was said and done.

She thumped the blonde head on the couch as she walked into the common room of the dorm. "Sup, geek-bait? The professor post grades yet?" she fell onto the seat beside him, her good mood distracting her from the effect of his presence next to her. Over the course of the past few months, she'd almost become entirely immune to his everyday existence in her life, despite the fact that the feelings still existed.

Arnold nodded and turned his laptop toward her. "We got a B on the lab. Would have been an A had it not been late."

Helga rolled her eyes. "I thought that was over with, football-head."

He laughed. "It's over, it's over." He closed his laptop and set it on the table. "How'd you do on midterms."

She waved him off and relaxed a bit on the couch. "Don't worry about me, Arnoldo, I passed. You all packed for your trip back to the neighborhood? Hey while you're there say hi to the guys for me. They still living in that apartment over Green Meats?"

"Harold is working there now so they get a discount so Sid and Stinky still live there too. But I'm not going home. I am having to catch up from being out last week, so I have two papers due and a reading assignment after break. And the boarding house isn't really a great place for school work, you know?"

Helga laughed. "I know how that goes. Dad's always yelling at my place, mom's always passed out ignoring him on the couch or the kitchen table, and Olga is irritatingly perky as usual."

"So what time is your dinner with Duke?"

If Arnold didn't know better, he'd swear Helga almost blushed as she responded. "Oh he told you about that?" She laughed a bit, pink faintly spreading across her cheeks. "I'm supposed to meet him here in a couple of hours. I don't know where we're going still though."

Arnold got off the couch, grabbing his laptop as he stood. "Well have fun. See you around, Helga."

Helga watched him leave. She knew she should have been disappointed about his apathy towards her date, but she wasn't.

Dates were neither frequent nor foreign to Helga. She knew how to dress and behave, and she knew her date with Duke would be no exception. She made her way down the dorm staircase carefully dressed for any scene in a pair of nice jeans and a black square neck top that hung low on her hips. She'd carefully tied a pink ribbon around her waist in a bow at her back. The ribbon accented her bust, and the jeans showcased her long legs. She was dressed in a dark enough outfit that it would be suitable for a nice sit down restaurant, but casually enough for a sit in the café or walk in the park.

"Helga?" Duke was waiting for her in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. He had a pocket notebook with him which he slid into his back pocket as she approached. He was dressed in a tee-shirt and blue jeans. "You look nice. Hungry?"

She nodded. "Yep. Lead the way, Goliath."

He chuckled. "I hope you aren't expecting too fancy. I don't have a lot of cash and I figured talking was more important than the food anyways." He walked her outside with his hands in his pockets.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" She found herself staying one step behind him to straighten her hair from the wind without him noticing.

"I figured just dinner and some story telling." He shrugged and walked her past the bus stop.

"So we're staying on campus then?" She kept following, glancing back at the platform as they went.

"Yeah I have to leave early tomorrow so closer is better."

Helga forgot her worries and let her hair get tossed in the breeze, speeding up to his side. She was regretting the boots she'd chosen, anticipating a cab ride or even a bus ride to whichever eatery he'd decided on. She kept his pace silently as they walked across the campus, stopping suddenly as he headed up the set of steps to the campus caf. "We're having dinner at the caf. I thought you said you were paying."

Duke laughed. "I got it covered."

She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself as he swiped his id twice at the door, once for his meal and once for hers, that the date would get better. It only could get better, right?

A half hour passed as she picked over her plate of campus mashed potatoes and Salisbury steak, answering questions he had about her family and her home-life and her childhood. Finally she dropped her knife, which she'd been unconsciously gripping in her right hand and glared up at him. "Look, I'm tired of the damn interrogation. Tell me about you instead." She knew that there was a better way to ask about him, but she couldn't bring herself to stay in nice mode for much longer.

"I lived with a mom, dad, two dogs, and a little brother. My parents own a grocery store and my brother is in high school. Nothing interesting." He smiled. "Your life is so much more fascinating, however. You're like a character from some kind of brilliant novel or somethin'. I can't seem to get it down."

She sighed and picked up her tray "Thanks, man, but I'm not someone to be 'gotten down' on paper." She stood up. "And just FYI, the caf is a terrible place for a date. No matter what your reason."

"Wait, Helga." He stood, tucking the small notebook from his hand back into his back pocket. "I—"

"Have you been taking notes?" She slammed her tray back down on the table, her glass fell, spilling juice all over the table and floor. Her glare never faltered off of him. "I'm not some kind of wild animal to document."

"That's not what I was doing at all."

"Yeah well what were you doing then, Bucko."

"You're the inspiration for my short story. I'm writing about you."

She rolled her eyes. "My life isn't yours to write about. I'm not your character. And this was a shitty date."

"It wasn't supposed to be a date."

Helga flashed him her trademark smirk. "Good. Then I won't feel out of line doing this." She picked up the bowl of soft serve from his tray and her smile grew. He was telling her that she could have the dessert just as she brought it over his head, letting it drop out of the bowl with a satisfying plop against his auburn hair. She may have heard him stand up, but she was already walking towards the door, making her grand exit.

A/N: Sorry I'm late! I hope you guys don't mind the longer chapters. I'm trying to provide the supply to fit the demand. thanks everyone for your input. I hope you enjoyed!