Reuniting
(28 Years Old)

Hillwood High School's expansive, and newly renovated, school gymnasium was lit up like a Christmas tree, filled with the chatter of mingling friends underneath the banner that read, 'Class of 2012 - 10 Year Reunion'.

Rhonda Lloyd-Gammelthorpe stood hand-in-hand with her husband, Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, watching their three year old daughter Amelie significantly destroy her perfectly coiffed hair as she tore around the gymnasium causing her unique brand of mayhem. Rhonda wore her long dark hair in a decorative bun, standing in tall black heels and wearing a one-of-a-kind designer red dress that dropped to her knees. Thad, who looked decidedly different from his younger self, was tall and lean, wearing a nicely tailored suit, his dark hair looking very much like it had once been styled nicely and promptly then 'ruined' two moments later.

Lila Sawyer stood beside Rhonda, her auburn hair in the braids she'd worn ever since childhood, her petite frame enhanced with a fitted green skirt and white blouse. She fluttered her eyelashes as she explained politely that she had not yet managed to find her 'oh so special someone', which most took as positive indication that the poor sweet girl still wasn't over Arnie, and had thus come to the event alone.

Phoebe Heyerdahl and Gerald Johanssen stood opposite the Gammelthorpe's, Phoebe happily showing off her sparkling diamond engagement ring, and gushing details about their upcoming summer wedding. Gerald had cut his tall hair down to a more tamable, and employable, length and was wearing a suave looking suit with a bright red shirt on his broad and muscular upper body - something that came from years of professional basketball. Phoebe barely reached his shoulders, despite her tall silver heels, and looked every bit the professional doctor she was in a blue button-up shirt and long black pants.

Harold Berman had meandered over sometime during Amelie Gammelthorpe's second fit of manical laughter, and was currently busy explaining the current status of his and Patty Smith's on-and-off relationship to Stinky Peterson. Harold had chosen a typically casual outfit for the gathering, opting for a simple white shirt and dark blue jeans, which looked fitting on his beefy stature. Stinky Peterson had attended the event with his lanky brunette girlfriend, Jenny, whom he had met over a year ago after moving back to the country to follow in the family farming tradition. Stinky wore a yellow dress shirt and suit pants, looking particularly uncomfortable in the rather dressy attire.

Nadine and Robert Podminecki, better known as Peapod Kid throughout his schooling, were joyfully introducing their two five year old twins Eva and Dean, who had been tightly gripping to their parents legs all evening, and trying to readily encourage the shy duo to mingle with the other children. Nadine had her short blonde hair in tight ringlet curls, dropping only to her shoulders, and was dressed in a modest blue dress that reached her mid-calves. Robert dressed elegantly in a designer grey suit and a heavy, and impressive, long dark coat.

Sid Gifaldi stood nearby the Podminecki's, chatting happily with Brian 'Brainy' Robinson, the two men playfully giving Sid's eleven year-old-son Andy a grilling over his 'little girlfriend' from school. Andy, a charismatic and dark haired boy, had practically been raised by the gang over the years, after Sid's high school girlfriend became pregnant during Sophomore year and then promptly skipped town, leaving young baby Andy fully in Sid's care. Brainy's cheerful and fiery Scottish girlfriend Isla, was laughing happily and defending poor young Andy's honor. Sid wore his customary leather jacket, a fashion trend he never quite moved on from, over slim blue jeans and had cut his thin hair short. Brainy wore a pair of grey suit pants and a thick yellow sweater, his pale hair long and spiky and his glasses now replaced with contact lenses.

Eugene Horowitz and his partner Dave were standing close by, cooing over Sheena's stomach which was currently home to their six-months in progress surrogate child. Sheena's husband Todd stood nearby, holding their two year old daughter Emma in his arms and tickling her whilst she let out shrieks of laughter. Eugene, who was now quite fit and muscular from his days performing on Broadway, wore a bright purple shirt and black pants, topped off with colorful orange and yellow shoes and had cut his curly red hair very short for an upcoming movie role. Sheena was still quite fond of flowers, and wore a floor-length floral dress and a daisy in her long straight brown hair, her tall and slim stature making her baby bump very prominent.

"Oh my god!" Rhonda Lloyd-Gammelthorpe declared as the gymnasium door flew open and a familiar face entered.

Arnold Shortman, dressed in an impressive black suit with a deep green shirt, made his way over toward his primary school friends. His blonde hair was long and unruly as it had always been and his head was still clearly 'football shaped' however, since leaving Hillwood with his parents at age fifteen and his short visit at seventeen, a few things had changed. For one, Arnold no longer lived up to his last name, in fact he was quite tall. He was tanned and muscular from years of living in the San Lorenzo jungle, but, he still had that familiar warm and friendly smile.

Lila immediately rushed toward him, "I'm ever so certain it's wonderful to see you Arnold!" she exclaimed, taking hold of his arm and dragging him over to the group, "It's been ever so many years since you last visited!"

Gerald crossed his arms haughtily, faking annoyance at his best friend, "Yeah, eleven whole years man!" he huffed. Gerald and Phoebe had travelled to see Arnold twice over the years, the most recent being six months ago, and Gerald never missed an opportunity to remind Arnold that he should visit home a little more often.

"Gerald, you know Arnold is very busy in San Lorenzo." Phoebe reminded her fiance, "How was your flight Arnold?"

Arnold let out a frustrated breath of air and rolled his eyes, "Long."

"I must say Arnold," Rhonda began, a curious look crossing her face, "I was fully expecting you to waltz in here with a gorgeous wife on your arm, but it seems you've come alone."

Arnold's face, which had previously looked pained at the memory of his arduous flight, now changed to a familiar dreamy grin, "Actually Rhonda, my gorgeous wife is on her way, with our son." he informed her, looking over his shoulder a little in anticipation for such event.

Rhonda raised an eyebrow, "You have a son?" she asked, knowing that she and the rest of her friends were simply dying to know what Arnold had been up to over the past decade. It was widely known that Gerald and Phoebe had recently visited him, and thus must have met his wife and son, however the pair hadn't been at all forthcoming with information on the subject upon their return to Hillwood.

Harold chuckled a little, "Does your son have a strange shaped head?" he inquired, feeling it was a particularly important question.

"Harold!' Lila gasped, "I'm ever so certain that's rude!"

Arnold simply laughed at the question, thankful to see not much had changed among his friends, "Yes Harold." he confirmed, "He has my head."

Gerald snickered a little beside Arnold, "I'm sure your wife had a thing or two to say about pushing that out." he muttered, knowing full well exactly what colourful words Arnold's wife had chosen to describe the experience of giving birth to a football-headed child.

Arnold shot his best friend a playful glare, as Sid cast his eyes over the large group of old friends that surrounded Arnold, "Looks like the whole gang's here!" Sid declared happily.

"Almost." Phoebe interjected, certain from the looks on people's faces that they knew exactly who she was referring to.

Rhonda was the first to make comment on the situation, "Oh Phoebe, you honestly don't expect Helga to show up do you?" she asked as softly as possible, "None of us have seen her since college..."

Phoebe smiled proudly, knowing her best friend should be arriving any moment, "I'm one hundred perfect certain she will be here." she confidently assured Rhonda.

As if on cue, the doors to the gym flew open once again, this time revealing the tall figure of a curvy blonde woman.

"Woah." Sid mumbled.

Helga stood at the entry of the gymnasium looking like a completely different person. Firstly, her hair was down in soft waves, dropping to her waistline and framing her more mature and softened face. Gone were the baggy t-shirts, loose jeans and tatty sneakers of high-school-Helga, instead she wore a figure enhancing pink dress that stopped mid-thigh, graciously showing off her long lean legs in tall white heels. Lastly, she was smiling, a genuine loving smile down at the small adorable child cradled in her arms.

"Helga!" Phoebe cried out, rushing to greet her best friend, and her gorgeous godson, "Hello little Phillip." she cooed to the little bundle of joy.

Rhonda stared intently at the sight before her for a few moments, before curiously noting a certain interesting detail, "Is it just me or does that child have a strangely shaped head?" she muttered.

"I'm ever so sure he definitely has Helga's nose..." Lila noted in response, adding another interesting piece of 'evidence' to the budding inquiry.

Sid, deciding he had seen enough, put his theory forward, "I'm just gonna put it out there – that's gotta be Arnold's kid..." he stated.

"Which means that Helga Pataki is..." Rhonda began, only to be suddenly interrupted by Arnold clearing his throat.

"Helga Shortman, actually." He corrected her promptly.

Nobody moved for a good few minutes after this revelation, during which time Helga and Phoebe rejoined the group, Helga and Arnold shared a quick kiss and Helga handed over a giggling Phillip to his father.

"Hey guys, how's tricks?" Helga smiled, finally turning to face the group – only to be met with stupefied stares and absolutely no response to her question.

Phoebe pursed her lips together at the scene, "I think they're experiencing mild shock, Helga." she kindly informed her friend.

Gerald shook his head, "Mild is an understatement." he chuckled, as he waved an experimental hand in the eyes of his old classmates.

"Fantastic!" Thad suddenly blurted out, throwing his hands into the air, "I was worried you two would never realise you were meant to be together!"

Rhonda blinked in confusion at her husband's sudden declaration, "What on earth do you mean?"

"I'm ever so certain that Thaddeus means that Helga and Arnold are just oh too perfect for each other." Lila chirped, an incredible grin now settling on her face.

Nadine stepped forward a little, "Your son is adorable!" she said, looking at the small child in awe.

Helga rolled her eyes a little, "Oh, you think he's adorable? Let me tell you about the time I had to give birth to him!" she scoffed, causing Gerald to burst into uncontrollable laugher

"Wait!" Rhonda suddenly protested, "If you two are married, why were we not invited to the wedding?"

Arnold and Helga immediately froze a little at the question, and Arnold rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Uh, you see, it was a long time ago and... well.."

Sid raised an eyebrow at him, "A long time ago?"

Taking a deep breath, Arnold figured it was finally time to explain, "It happened after I visited over summer break when we were seventeen, Helga came back to San Lorenzo with me after my stay. She was there for two weeks, the first two weeks of Senior year, and well... we got married the day before she came back to Hillwood..."

"...Arnold and I both agreed that I needed to finish my education before I could return to San Lorenzo, so I finished high school and college in America before I went back to live in the jungle." Helga finished for him.

"You didn't see each other for the first four years of your marriage?" Eugene questioned.

Arnold crossed his arms defensively, "We Skyped!"

"I don't reckon I could imagine Helga in the jungle." Stinky mused.

"I don't think I can imagine Helga being married!" Harold piped up.

"For eleven years!" Sid reminded them both.

"To Arnold." Stinky continued.

"Wait!" Rhonda cried again, seemingly bothered by something in particular, "You're telling me, that all those times during college that I tried to get back at you for your pranks by telling the Dean ridiculous stories about you, the real reason you never got into trouble was because I was reporting Helga Pataki and you were Helga Shortman!?"

Helga, looking pleased as punch, began to laugh uncontrollably at the memory, "Yep." she confirmed.

"I can't believe it!" Rhonda shook her head, "I'm so impressed and so mad, all at the same time!" she muttered.

"I would conclude, Phillip, that your parents... and you, have been the highlight of the reunion so far." Phoebe said to the cute young boy, who was currently waving his arms about gleefully.

"Cheers to that!" Gerald affirmed, holding his glass high in the air.

Around them, smiling faces of childhood friends raised their glasses to being reunited, and the joy of surprises, "Cheers!" they cried in unison.