A/N: *INSERT DISCLAIMER HERE.*

The Blog Project

Day Five Redux: The Captain Came To Party

"Gerald, are you okay?" Arnold asked as Gerald tossed another cup of punch down his throat.

"T-t-totally," his words slurred.

"Oh, no, Gerald. I think Captain Morgan paid a visit to the party," Arnold grabbed the cup from his friend's hand, smelling the horrible scent of rum.

"Hey!" Gerald tried to reach out and grab it back, but he stumbled.

"How many of these have you had?"

"S-S-seven, last time I checked," he hiccuped.

"Gerald, stay here, I'm going to get Phoebe. She'll know what to do to sober you up." Arnold forced Gerald into a chair and began searching the crowd for Phoebe, or Helga. Helga wouldn't go to a party without leaving Phoebe's side.

"Phoebe," Arnold released a sigh of relief as he walked towards her standing in the kitchen talking to Rhonda. "Gerald's drunk."

"Oh, shit," Rhonda hissed before leaving the room.

"Let's take him home," Phoebe smiled.

"Hey you," a voice purred into Gerald's ringing ear. He turned up to come face-to-face with a girl's chest. He smiled and brought his eyes up to see a beautiful, bubbly blonde with big brown eyes. He recognized her from his Latin class, but couldn't recall her name. His vision was slowly going hazy.

Gerald was too dazed to remember what happened. He felt her smooth hand slip around his neck and pull him to his feet. Once he made sure he could walk without falling on his face, he followed the girl into the bathroom. The door locked and he felt her grab onto his waist, pulling him into her. He tried to pull back, but it was no use. The alcohol had taken over.

The loud knock on the door brought the girl off of Gerald. She hastily put her shirt on, inside out and backwards, then threw the door open to come face to face with Rhonda. Rhonda held up the empty liquor bottle, then threw it at the girl. She caught it, smiling sheepishly.

"Get out!" Rhonda screamed. The girl picked her bra up off the floor before running away. Gerald collapsed against the wall.

"Gerald!"

Arnold and Phoebe both looked down on him as Rhonda snapped her fingers, trying to keep his eyes open. Rhonda suddenly gasped, pulling on Gerald's neck and bringing him to his feet. Obnoxiously bright red lipstick marks were visible. "Ow," he whispered a few seconds later.

"She kissed you!" Phoebe screamed. The three teens stood in shock. They'd never heard Phoebe raise her voice. Rhonda handed Gerald off to Arnold, said "Take him upstairs to my guest room," then locked the door.

"Phoebe?" Rhonda asked as Phoebe sat on the closed toilet.

"He hooked up another girl."

"He's drunk out of his mind."

"Gerald's smarter than to let alcohol control him," Phoebe tried to rationalize.

"Are you okay?"

Phoebe's eyes brimmed with tears. "No," her voice cracked before she broke down.

"Gerald, I can't believe you did that!" Arnold yelled at his drunk best friend as they stood in the elevator.

"Wha' happen'?" Gerald asked.

"You hooked up with another girl!" Arnold tried to keep his voice down as the elevator door opened. The first room was open so Arnold stumbled across the hall with Gerald on his side.

"I need to puke," Gerald whined. Arnold watched as Gerald stumbled into the bathroom door before making it safely to the toilet.

Arnold walked over to Gerald, patting his back, "You better stay in this room tonight, okay? I don't want you puking on Rhonda's stuff."

Gerald moaned before curling around the toilet. Arnold knew he wouldn't be going anywhere for a long time.

Day Six Redux: The Morning After

Oh, God, I feel like I was hit by a truck, Gerald held his head as he blinked furiously, trying to adjust his eyes to the sunshine flooding through the bathroom window.

He made it to the counter and began washing his face, only to bring his eyes to a note on the mirror.

"Cheater, take two and get the hell out of my house! -Rhonda." He saw a bottle of aspirin on the counter and he quickly obliged.

"Cheater?" he asked aloud before ripping the note off the mirror and heading downstairs.

Rhonda sat at the counter with Phoebe, Harold, Wolfgang and Edmund. They all had spent the night, Gerald assumed as he stepped into the kitchen. The room went silent.

Harold, Wolfgang and Edmund bolted out of the room with their plates of food. Rhonda shot daggers at Gerald before smiling at Phoebe, "I'll be right outside. Call if there's any trouble."

"Thanks," she smiled before turning her face towards her lunch. It was almost two in the afternoon.

"Some party huh?"

Phoebe acted as if she hadn't heard him.

"Phoebe?" Gerald repeated her name a few more times, then sat down beside her. "What's wrong?"

Phoebe finally looked at him, "I don't know. Why don't you ask Savannah?"

"What?"

"Savannah? The blonde from your Latin class. You guys sure seemed to be studying real hard last night," she stood up from the table and brought her dish to the sink. Gerald followed behind, confused.

"What?"

"Gerald, how could you not remember?"

"I was drunk."

"That's not an excuse, Gerald. You hooked up with Savannah in the bathroom!" Phoebe smacked her hands on the counter before turning her back to him.

Suddenly, Gerald remembered. "Oh, God. I did." Her alcohol covered tongue still tasted sour in his mouth. Or it could've been vomit, he was unsure.

Phoebe started walking away. "Wait, Phoebe we need to talk about this."

"I really don't want to talk to you, Gerald," she shot back before hugging and thanking Rhonda. Gerald thanked her too then followed Phoebe.

Phoebe picked up her pace as she made it to the streets of Hillwood, trying to keep her tears in. She was angry with him. How could he do that to her? Drunk or not, that wasn't the issue. The issue was that she couldn't trust him anymore. Gerald had always been a big flirt, but he never acted on any of it. Until last night, anyways.

"Phoebe, please, talk to me!"

"No! I have to go check on Helga!"

"What happened to Helga?"

"You were too busy vomiting to care," Phoebe glared at him before walking up Helga's door step. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her number, but got no answer.

Phoebe knocked. "Hello? Helga?"

The door flew open and Mr. Pataki half smiled at the teens, "Hi, Phoebe. Olga's not here. Haven't seen her all morning." Phoebe had learned to accept the moments when Mr. Pataki couldn't even remember his daughters name and didn't let them faze her anymore. On occasion, he'd get her name right, but usually it was 'Olga'. She figured habits died hard with the Pataki's.

"Thank you, Sir," she smiled before walking away.

"Wait, Phoebe, please!"

"Go home Gerald!" she slammed her front door in his face. Gerald quickly began running, which he realized was a mistake. Shortly after keeping his vomit down, he resumed walking towards Arnold's house.

"Arnold, you have to help me."

"I'm kinda in the middle of another crisis, Gerald. And besides, I really don't know what you should do. You messed up big time."

"Okay, woah, what happened to my advice giving best friend? And why are you so busy?" Gerald pushed his way into Arnold's house, stopping short in the doorway. "What is the Devil doing here?"

Helga marched over to Gerald, anger rising, "You really should leave unless you want to go in a body bag."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Of course I am you lousy, no good, mother fuc-"

"Alright, stop, Helga." Arnold laughed nervously to release the tension in the room. It didn't work.

"Seriously, why is she here? What is going on? And why isn't she wearing a bra?"

Helga stepped back and smacked Gerald hard across the face. It stung even more because Helga' ring had cut his cheek. Not only was she offended, but she was mad at him for making Phoebe cry.

"Ow!"

"You deserved it! Phoebe would never hit you, but I'm not afraid to!" Helga screamed.

"Helga, it's okay. Gerald and Phoebe will work something out. As their friends, we need to help them," Arnold replied calmly.

"I'll help Phoebe all right, by hi-"

Arnold stepped in between Gerald and Helga. "Please, Helga. I'll talk to Gerald. If you're okay with walking alone, you should go to Phoebe's."

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Keep me updated on this wreck," she shot back from the front door.

"Okay, did you not see her smack me?" Gerald asked as he pressed his hand back to his cheek.

"I wanted to smack you too, Gerald. You went to second base with another girl! And you were drunk."

"Why did I do it?" He collapsed onto the couch.

"Like I said, you were drunk. According to a few kids, she came onto you." Arnold sat on the other side, where Helga had just been sitting, and smiled at his best friend.

"I don't know what to do, Arnold. She won't talk to me!"

"I think you should give her a few more hours. Then, you should go by her house and apologize. Then take it from there."

Gerald nodded as he tried to think of the perfect apology. Arnold didn't even realize that Gerald was quiet. He was too focused on his moment with Helga. Seeing her cry was something he'd never expect to see. Ever.

Gerald couldn't take the silence anymore. "So, what happened to Helga?"

"After I left you puking upstairs, Rhonda said that Helga was in trouble. Phoebe and Rhonda convinced Harold, Wolfgang and Edmund to come outside with me. Some guy was taking advantage of her. It could've been a lot worse than it was if we hadn't showed up."

"Damn." Gerald sat back in the couch and laughed, "Rhonda throws wild parties."

"It's not funny Gerald," Arnold's tone was serious. "None of this is even slightly funny. Helga was almost raped and you cheated on your girlfriend."

"I know, I know. God, why did I do it? I love Phoebe and would never want to hurt her. I'm an awful person."

"You're not an awful person. You just made a mistake."

"A big mistake that could cost my relationship. I've never seen Phoebe so angry and hurt before."

"Everything will be okay, Gerald. If she loves you, she'll know you made a mistake and accept your apology."

"I hope you're right, man."

Helga ran to Phoebe's house, ignoring the burning pain in her legs and knocked furiously on her door. Phoebe was surprised to see Helga stumbled in, panting. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?" Phoebe laughed.

"Seriously, Phoebe, talk to me."

"Helga, I'm fine. I just need to release some steam. I'm gonna fence. You can hang out here until I'm done. You might want another shower," she laughed and kept her face strong.

"Phoebe-" Helga tried to protest as Phoebe guided her to the bathroom.

"I'll get you different clothes."

"Oh, and I'll need a bra too," Helga added quietly.

Phoebe laughed. "I swear I'll never understand what you do in your free time."

"Right back at you," Helga laughed too.

"This is driving me crazy," Gerald threw his phone to the ground and looked back up at the TV.

"Did you really expect her to answer?" Arnold laughed as he returned with a bowl of popcorn.

"I was kind of hoping she would," Gerald admitted.

"Arnold!"

The boys looked up to see Mr. Hyunh at the bottom of the staircase, red in the face.

"Is something wrong?"

"I found these in the bathroom," he threw Helga's work out clothes at Arnold, who let them drop to the ground in front of him. "Next time your little girlfriend comes over, tell her not to leave her stuff behind, okay?"

Gerald couldn't contain his laughter. He began laughing so hard, tears rolled down his cheeks. "That is the funniest thing I have ever heard!"

"Gerald, relax. They're just Helga's clothes."

"Oh, no, I meant the girlfriend part."

"Oh, why, something happen to Eleanor?" Grandpa Phil asked, laughing. Gertie smiled.

"No. She had. . ." Arnold tried to remember what his grandmother had said earlier, "important business to attend to."

Phil smiled, "Well, Gerald, will you be spending the night?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I have something I gotta do," Gerald quickly rose to his feet and saluted Arnold and his family.

"Good luck," Arnold teased as the front door shut.

Phoebe rolled her eyes as she opened the front door. She was tempted to come at him with her fencing sword, but she didn't. Gerald was standing in front of her with a bouquet of flowers. Phoebe expected nothing less from the 'ladies man'.

"Can we talk?"

Phoebe rested against the door, "I have nothing left to say to you, Gerald. Last night was proof that I can't trust you."

"Yes, yes you can Phoebe. I made a mistake. A stupid, drunken mistake that will never happen again. And I'm sorry."

"I think you should go." Phoebe quietly shut the door, but Gerald stopped it from shutting with his foot.

"Please, talk to me."

Day Eight: No Shit, Sherlock

Mrs. Jay was shocked when she read Rhonda's blog post about the weekend. She was about to comment, when a pop up appeared on her screen: "NEW POST FROM Country Girl." Mrs. Jay smiled, Lila wouldn't write anything like Rhonda, even if they were friends.

Country Girl Post # 7: O.M.G. Monday 8:56 a.m.

I'm not one to spread rumors or gossip, that's what my best friend does, but this is just TOO BIG.

I was talking the hallways, smiling at everyone, when suddenly an odd pairing caught my eye.

A, the boy, was smiling brightly at H, the girl. He handed her a bag, saying "You left this at my house. I figured you'd need it if you went insane running again."

She laughed, "You didn't have to give it back."

"Well, after Mr. H found your bra on the floor, I figured I probably should give it back."

OMG! I know! Looks like someone got more than just a walk home on Friday night, huh? -Country Girl.

Oh, no, Mrs. Jay thought as she Xed out of Lila's blog. This isn't good. She never planned on becoming so involved in her students lives, but here she was, eight days into her project and things were already slightly out of control.

Mrs. Jay checked the website again at lunch and there were a thousand hits on Lila's page. She quickly fled her classroom, heading towards the cafeteria. She was relieved to see that Gerald and Phoebe had made up, that was her next biggest concern. She knew Phoebe and Gerald were crazy in love and their fight wouldn't last long. Even if they were in high school, they were both mature. At least, Phoebe was.

Mrs. Jay was still slightly distraught to see Helga and Arnold embarrassed.

Helga was being teased by two older guys, which wasn't unusual, but Helga actually looked upset over it. And every other person in the room was staring at Arnold while he tried to keep focused on his lunch. Lila and Rhonda were whispering and laughing about the whole deal.

Mrs. Jay couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for the rumor spreading around so quickly.

"Class, please, this is serious," she stood up from her desk and put Moby Dick on the tabletop.

"Oh, no. She's not doing Moby Dick, this is serious!" Eugene cried.

"You guys do realize I keep tabs on your blogs, right?"

There was a chorus of monotone 'yeah's.

"Well, today there have been a few posts about rumors and gossip and such. And I figured since we're all friends here, we need to work out whatever happened this weekend."

"Nothing happened this weekend," Helga snarled.

"Apparently, something happened because it's all over the internet. And the school. I don't want this project to be ruined because you guys can't handle it."

"We can handle it," Rhonda protested.

"Okay, well since you guys say you can, then I guess I'll just have to trust you."

Mrs. Jay laughed, "Okay, no that's not happening. How about if everyone blogs for this week, and only does the prompt, I will give you guys the freedom to blog about what you want again."

"Helga, you need to blog this week," Rhonda demanded.

"Oh, yeah like I'm really going to listen to you. You two started a rumor about me!"

"It's not a rumor if it's true!"

"It's not true!" Helga screamed.

"I saw what I saw and heard what I heard," Lila smiled.

"Out of context!"

"Oh, really? So you didn't leave a certain article of clothing at Arnold's house after spending the weekend with him?"

"That's not what happened at all. Not even close!"

"So, tell us Helga, what did happen?"

Helga rolled her eyes and glared at Lila. "You've been spending too much time with Rhonda."

"Yet you're avoiding answering me."

"Okay, enough!" Brainy yelled. Everyone turned to him, shocked. "Helga went running in the park. She passed out. Arnold took her to his house since it's closer. I'm assuming Helga took a shower since she was covered in sweat. Thus, she left her clothes behind."

"Great detective work, Sherlock," Helga laughed.

"For some reason, I don't believe that," Rhonda smirked. "I'm not an idiot, Helga. Something happened between you and Arnold, and I intend to find out what."

"Seriously, Rhonda, nothing happened," Arnold smiled.

Mrs. Jay interrupted, "Well, then since that is settled, let's move on. I think I'll let you guys blog today. I have a great prompt for you."

Day Eight: For the next ten days, post a secret about yourself. If not a secret, something people don't know about you. And explain it with colorful and fun details.