Helga, lying stomach first on her bed, checked her phone for what seemed like the millionth time that day. No missed calls, no new messages.

"Well doi." She told the small device. "How could I have missed a call, I've been starting at this stupid thing all damn day." She slipped the phone in her pocket and rested her head on her hands. "This is stupid." She mumbled. "If he hasn't called by now he's not going to call at all."

Helga glanced over at her alarm clock. It was just past eight. She shoved herself off of the bed and opened her door. A loud clang from the kitchen reminded her why she was hiding out in her room in the first place.

Olga was still making hors d'oeuvres for their New Year's Party. Which wasn't even a party since it was just her family sitting around watching a bunch of nobody's prattle on about nothing in time square until midnight. And eating hors d'oeuvres of course.

Helga closed her door, sat back down on her bed, and pulled out her phone again. No missed calls, no new messages.

"Well," she said as she scrolled through various menus, "if no one is going to call me at least this dumb thing has tetris."

"Helga?" She sat up quickly and glanced over at her door.

"Phoebe?" Phoebe was standing behind her door in a short blood red dress that stopped just below her knees. Helga immediately recognized it as the same dress she had worn to homecoming.

"May Lila and I come in?" She asked timidly. Helga frowned at her. She was wondering why Phoebe had come over without calling, why she had brought Lila, and most of all why she was asking to come into her room. Helga quickly decided she was up to something.

"I guess."

"We brought you something." Lila said as she bounded in wearing her homecoming dress. It was grass green and covered in ruffles. She was suddenly grateful that she hadn't been asked to homecoming in the first place, and that her two friends had been smart enough to avoid taking her shopping.

"Oh?" Helga folded her arms and frowned. Phoebe, still only half visible from the hallway, shot Lila a hesitant look, but Lila just smiled back and nodded.

"Um," Phoebe started, "Well, Lila and I are about to depart for Rhonda's party, and . . . we . . . we respectfully request your presence."

"No."

"Please?" Lila whined. "I'm sure it will be ever so much fun! And Rhonda has worked ever so hard to get everything ready!"

"No."

"I was afraid you would say that." Phoebe stared down at her tiny red shoes so sadly Helga almost felt bad for turning them down. Almost.

"Oh, come on Phoebe. Don't be like that. Besides, she wants it to be some big formal affair, she'd kick me out if I showed up like this."

Phoebe suddenly looked up at Helga, eyes sparkling with something mischievous and slightly unnerving.

"Which," she said as she walked into the room with a long white bag, "is precisely why we brought this."

"Please tell me that's a body bag for when you drag my cold dead corpse to Rhonda's house."

"Helga!" Lila gasped.

"Well that's the only way I'm going to Rhonda's party."

"At least look at it Helga." Lila pleaded.

"No."

Phoebe, who had yet to offer her two cents stepped forward and unzipped the bag. Helga tried not to look, but she could only glare at Lila's envy green eyes for so long before it started to make her sick. She allowed her eyes to dart over to the dress for half a second. That was a mistake. Before she could pull her eyes away it was too late, she had already seen it.

Helga wasn't the type of girl to fawn over a dress, or any article of clothing really, but this was different. It was a long flowing sleeveless gown that shimmered like it had been made from spun moonlight. It was beautiful in and of itself, but what got her attention was the color.

It was the same blue of the dress that Miles and Stella had bought for her. The exact color of blue that Arnold knew would match her eyes perfectly. Before she knew what she was doing she was standing next to Phoebe running her hands over the silken fabric.

"It even feels like moonlight." She whispered.

"What?" Phoebe asked. Helga shook her head and took a step back.

"I can't." She whispered. "I can't go down this road again."

"Helga." Phoebe placed her hand gently on Helga's shoulder.

"Come on Helga, I'm sure everyone will be ever so happy to see you there."

"No Lila, you don't get it, I can't do this again."

"Can't do what again?" Lila asked.

Helga folded her arms and glared at her. "You know what." She snapped.

"Is this about Arnold?" She asked.

Helga slapped her head against her forehead. "Doi!"

"I'm ever so certain he won't be attending." Helga's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "Well, with his grandfather being so ill, I'm sure he'd want to spend as much time with his family as he can."

"But . . ." Helga frowned, "then why are you two bugging me to come?"

Phoebe smiled and held the dress out to Helga. "Because we want to you to go out and enjoy yourself for a while."

Helga glanced from Phoebe's huge brown puppy dog eyes to Lila's overly enthusiastic smile, then sighed heavily and took the dress from Phoebe. "Fine, you two win. I'll go."


Arnold followed Gerald, who was dressed in a suit very similar to the one he wore the night they saved the neighborhood, into his bedroom.

"I don't know about this." He said quietly as he sat down on his friend's bed.

"Aw, come on! Your grandpa even told you to go."

"But what if–"

"Nothing is gonna to happen. Relax Arnold, live a little." Arnold sighed as he watched Gerald rummage through his closet.

"Rhonda didn't even invite me."

"She would have if she had known you were coming to visit." He said with a slight twinge of bitterness in his voice.

"I said I was sorry."

"I know." Gerald pulled out another black suit and tossed it on his bed. "This one should fit."

"But Gerald–"

"You're going to this party. I have specific orders from Phoebe."

"What?"

"Get dressed."

Arnold started taking off his shirt. "You have orders from Phoebe to bring me to this party?"

"Mm hmm."

"Why?"

"I'm supposed to bring you, and she's bringing Helga."

"Really?" He asked warily.

"Arnold, she tormented you for seven years, dated you for four, and you choose now to be afraid of her?"

"I . . . I'm not afraid of her." Gerald raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Okay maybe a little, but she doesn't want anything to do with me. I'm not even sure why she came over to the boarding house to help out in the first place."

"Because she still cares about you."

"Then why won't she walk to me?"

"Well," Gerald straightened his dark red tie, "if you hurry up, you'll have a good three hours to ask her about it."

Arnold zipped up the suit pants and turned toward Gerald. "How is Phoebe convincing her to dress up and go to a party that she knows I'm coming to?"

"She and Lila are leaving that little detail out."

Arnold dropped the white shirt he was attempting to put on. "They're what?" He shouted.

"Relax, man."

"No no no no no. You don't understand."

"What?"

"This is really bad."

"Why?"

"Because when she sees me she's not going to care who forced her to go to Rhonda's party. All she'll be thinking about is the fact that she's stuck in the same room with me."

"Come on, it won't be that bad."

Arnold shook his head and began buttoning his shirt. "The last time we broke up she didn't even look at me for two months."

"Well–"

"And we were all still eating lunch together. This is going to be a disaster."

"It will be fine. Now hurry up, we're leaving in ten minutes." Arnold sighed and continued dressing. He had a feeling this night was going to be a hard one to forget.


Helga stepped cautiously toward the bathroom door clutching her hat in her hands. She opened it up to check its contents. The little pink ribbon she still wore as a bow was tucked safely inside. Exactly where it belonged. Her hair hung down around her shoulders as she took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked back into her room.

Before Lila and Phoebe could grab her she tucked her hat carefully under her pillow.

"Ready?" Lila asked. Helga sat down on the stool they had brought up from the kitchen and nodded. Helga pinched her eyes closed as her friends began brushing and pulling and curling her hair. Chattering on about how fantastic she would look when they were finished. She sighed heavily wondering why they bothered since there was no one there she wanted to look fantastic for.

She stayed quiet and watched the two girls buzz around her like humming birds on crack, debating over which shade of eye shadow would complement her skin tone the best. While they discussed it the curling iron Lila was holding next to Helga's face was making her more and more nervous and she began leaning away.

"Hey!" She snapped angrily causing the curling iron to suddenly jerk closer. "Lila! Watch what you're doing with that thing! I only have one face, and I'd like to keep it the way it is."

"I'm ever so sorry Helga!"

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered folding her arms across her chest as the debate continued.

"Done." Lila said finally after what felt like days of pulling and pushing and curling. Phoebe stepped back from Helga and smiled, apparently satisfied with how her makeup looked.

"Helga, you look great!" Phoebe said excitedly. Helga stood up and stretched. Her back was aching, and her butt was numb.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Now put on the dress!" Lila practically squealed.

"Alright, Alright!" She said as she shoved the other two out of the room. "Crimeny!" She walked over to her bed where the dress was lying and ran her fingers over it again. She removed her clothes, carefully so she didn't get a lecture for messing up her hair and makeup, and stepped into the silky gown. She was grateful that it had a little padding in the front, and that she wasn't well endowed enough to have to worry about it.

Helga zipped up the back and glanced down at herself. It fit perfectly, almost like it had been made just for her, which was odd because she was a tall gawky bundle of bones. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Phoebe and Lila were standing close whispering to one another, but stopped as soon as they saw her.

"Helga . . . you look amazing." Phoebe whispered. Lila just stepped back into the room, grabbed Helga's hand and pulled her over to her closet. As soon as the door was fully open Helga saw her reflection in the mirror within and sucked in a surprised breath.

"Is that really me?" She asked. Phoebe and Lila nodded. Helga shook her head amazed that a dress could make her lanky form look elegant.

"Come on!" Lila shouted, once again grabbing Helga's hand. "We have a party to get to."


The minute they stepped foot into Rhonda's house Arnold had been surrounded by his old classmates. He smiled and greeted all of them, making sure he spent time with everyone and catching up on all the craziness he'd missed out on while he had been gone. It wasn't long before Gerald disappeared leaving him to his own devices.

He was so busy catching up he had completely lost track of time. As Rhonda began passing out noise makers and confetti Arnold realized he still hadn't seen Helga. His eyes began darting around the room but he couldn't find her anywhere.

"Maybe she decided not to come." As he turned back toward the group he was standing with his eyes caught a glimpse of something blue. He jerked his head back toward the doors leading to the balcony and saw someone standing there leaning against the railing.

He walked toward the door excusing himself and telling everyone that he just needed some air. As he slid the large glass door open the girl on the balcony turned around at the sudden noise. Helga's startled eyes grew even wider as he slid it shut.

He couldn't stop himself from smiling at her. She was standing alone on the balcony in a dress the same color as her eyes, with her hair pulled up in a bundle of curls and several loose ringlets hanging down around her face. It was like the beginning of a dream that he knew he'd never stay asleep long enough to finish.

"Hey Arnold." She said quietly.

"Hey Helga." He countered as he stepped closer. "Aren't you cold?" Her dress fit like it had been painted on and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes on hers.

"No, I just came out here for some fresh air."

"Me too." He was standing just in front of her now, close enough to reach out and grab her if he didn't value his life. There was a long silence between them before Arnold finally worked up the courage to speak. "Whatever I did . . . I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything." She said quietly as she looked away.

"Obviously I did, or you wouldn't be avoiding me."

"I . . . You're leaving tomorrow."

"I know, which is why I was hoping to spend some time with you. I've really missed you Helga."

"You don't understand." She folded her arms and turned away looking out over the city.

"Then explain it to me!" Arnold demanded as he moved to stand beside her.

"All the time we were together I was never good enough."

"What?"

"You were never happy with me the way I was."

"I never–"

"You were always telling me that I should be myself, my real self, the softer kinder Helga you thought was the real me." She turned and stared straight into his eyes. "You were wrong. It's all me. The sarcasm, the poetry, the yelling, and the soft words. I can't choose one or the other."

"I know." He reached over and brushed one of the curls that was hanging over her eye back toward the side of her face. "At least, now I know. Watching you at the boarding house the other day, it all made sense, and I realized that I'm still in love with you. All of you."

Arnold saw tears start forming in her eyes. "Don't say that!" She shouted as she pushed his hand away. "You're such an idiot!"

"Helga–"

"You still don't get it! You're leaving tomorrow!" She pressed her hand against her forehead as if she were getting a headache. "Don't you realize how cruel it was to show up at my house the day you were leaving? Don't you see how mean it was to say your goodbyes and then kiss me, just to remind me that the only person I ever loved, the only person who ever loved me was leaving? Don't you understand what that did to me?" She finished in a whisper as her voice broke.

"Helga . . . "

"You can't," she stopped and bit down on her lip, "you can't show up out of nowhere and do that to me again. I can't handle it again." Arnold took a deep breath then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him in a hug.

"We're leaving tomorrow." He whispered. "And then we're coming back as soon as we can. To stay." He wrapped his arms more tightly around her.

"What?" She asked

"Grandma can't take care of Grandpa by herself, and my parents don't want to take the chance of something like that happening again."

"Really?" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Yeah." He pushed her back and looked into her eyes. "Helga, I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you needed to change. You don't." She looked away so he grabbed her chin and turned her face back toward him. "Forgive me?" She sniffled once then nodded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Let's go back inside before you freeze to death. You hardly have anything on." She punched his shoulder. "Ow!"

"I didn't pick the dress. I didn't even thing you were coming." Arnold decided not to tell her that he knew about Phoebe and Lila's plan, and slid open the door.

"Watch out," Rhonda called to them as she hurried past, "There's still some mistletoe leftover from Christmas." Helga went rigid as they both slowly looked up and saw the small green branch taped above the doorway. Arnold was about to suggest that they just keep walking when Gerald and Phoebe happened to look their way. He shrugged and turned toward Helga.

"Arnold–"

"I love you." He told her as he cupped her face in his hand. She closed her eyes and bit down on her lip.

"I love you too." She said finally. Arnold released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and pressed his lips against hers. He ignored the cat calls and cheers from his friends and instead listened to the small contented sigh from Helga.

~End


Author's Note: What? You wanted an actually ending? Conflict resolution? A happily ever after? Well too bad!

P.S. Sorry about the double upload. I thought I submitted chapter 3 on the 28th, but it didn't work. Sorry about that.