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Turn On The Lights

Chapter Seven: Oh, What A Shame That You Came Here With Someone

Helga desperately missed her curling iron. She wasn't usually super focused on her appearance. However, there were some variables that would change her behavior this evening. First, it was Rhonda's annual Christmas party and if she even suspected Helga would show up with pigtails, she may show up and forcefully do her hair for her. Rhonda took her parties very seriously. Second, Arnold was basically taking her. They were going together, so she wanted to look good for once. She could picture her curling iron on the floor next to her full length mirror, no good to her there. She sighed. She would have to wear her hair down. She pulled the rubber band out, letting her hair fall around her face. She stared at her reflection in the mirror of the bathroom. It was doing this nice little wavy thing. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her dress hanging from the door.

She remembered finding it while shopping with Rhonda and Phoebe. Rhonda had made her try on at least twenty hideous red and white lacy dresses that day. Helga was just about to give up and dress up like a reindeer for the party when she stumbled across the one in her hands. Even Rhonda had admitted it was perfect for her. It had a low scoop neck and long sleeves that widened at the wrists. It was form fitting, down to her mid-thighs, with a large white belt at the waist. The dress itself was striped, pink and red. It was a perfect mix between Helga and Christmas. She was actually excited to wear it. She pulled it on over her head and scrutinized herself in the mirror. Her bright blonde hair really set it off.

"Helga?" Arnold knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" She called.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, yeah." She said vaguely.

He entered and looked her over.

"Wow, you look really great actually!" He said smiling. His white button down shirt was untucked and he held a red tie in his hand.

"I guess I don't look great every day then?"

"Well, oh! I didn't mean-of course!" He stumbled embarrassed.

"Calm down football head, I'm just fucking with you." She laughed

"Oh thank God." He sighed relieved and rushed over to stand beside her in the mirror.

"Are you almost ready?" He asked pulling the tie around his neck and doing it up.

"Yeah, just thinking about makeup." She said applying dark red lipstick. She popped her lips and looked at him.

"Does this scream trying too hard?" She asked. He glanced at her as he put on deodorant under his shirt.

"It doesn't really look like you." He said scrunching up his face. She grabbed some toilet paper and began wiping at her lips.

"Do we have to bring something?" He asked running a comb experimentally through his hair. It fell into his face.

"I'm sure it'll be catered genius." Her mouth hung open as she put on mascara.

"I saw people bring stuff last year." He frowned as his hair fell forward again.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to listen to Rhonda bitch about how rude it was for like two weeks after that." She popped her lips again as she applied some soft pink lip-gloss. She could see his hair flop down again out of the corner of her eye.

"Okay, gimmie that." She pulled the comb out of his hand and shoved him forward into the sink. She grabbed a glob on his hair gel off the counter, ran it through his hair, and within a minute, had brushed it up into his favorite way.

"How did you do that?" He asked surprised, leaning forward as he stared at himself.

"How do you usually do it?"

"I usually brush it for an hour until it does that." He chuckled as he shrugged on a black dress coat.

"Well that's a guy answer if I ever heard one." She rolled her eyes as she put her makeup back in her purse. He looked up from buttoning his coat and stepped closer to her. She froze as his hand came up, cupping her chin. He leaned in closely, staring at her lips. Her heart stopped.

"See, that lip-gloss stuff? That looks like you." He said releasing her. She stared back at him. She didn't know how to respond, the air had left her lungs anyways even if she wanted to. He had leaned in so closely to her face. She had been so sure he was about to kiss her. She shook her head. She was being ridiculous. He had no reason to be trying to kiss her. He cleared his throat loudly at the awkward silence.

"You ready then?" He said gesturing towards the door. She nodded quickly and pushed by him out into the hallway. She picked up her white shawl off the table there and pulled it around her shoulders. They hurried down the stairs the foyer.

"Hey there, shortman!" Phil cried from the sitting room. He jumped up from his spot on the couch and came in to look them over.

"Going out then?" He asked smiling. He gave Helga an odd little side glance but looked quickly back at Arnold.

"Yeah grandpa, I told you about Rhonda's party." Arnold said shuffling his feet. He was obviously nervous. She stood quietly at his side.

"Well it's not worries to me, so long as you're back in time for presents in the morning. Who's your little friend here though?" Phil said tilting his head towards her. She tried harder to appear small. Though she wasn't afraid of Phil, she respected him greatly and was afraid of upsetting him. He couldn't know she was staying in their house.

"You know Helga, grandpa." Arnold said shaking her a little by the shoulders. She smiled smally and waved. He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Oh I remember you!" He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "The odd little girl with the unibrow who used to jump rope across the street from the front door!"

Helga blushed, completely horrified that he remembered.

"Um, yeah. Hi." She said.

"Oh, don't you look a thousand times cuter! Did you finally pluck that unibrow? That's good for you." He beamed at her.

"Grandpa..." Arnold groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Alright, I've embarrassed you enough. Go on and get. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Phil said chuckling heartily. He disappeared back into the sitting but his laughter still echoed from there. Arnold rolled his eyes and threw open the door. They rushed through the cold into the garage and piled into the Packard. As they drove towards Rhonda's ridiculously fancy home, a silence fell between them. She felt...awkward. She was kind of upset by it really. She had been staying with him for about a week and it hadn't been awkward at all. But now, something about that moment in the bathroom, the mistake of thinking it was a kiss, was bearing down. But it wasn't like she had said it out loud, so why was he acting weird? Had he realized it too? She glanced over at him staring purposefully forward at the road. He had his hands clenched at the top of the wheel in an uncomfortable looking way. She decided to take a chance.

"Uh, did I miss something?" She said loudly into the silence. He jumped and looked at her.

"What? No. I-" He paused, looking guilty. "It's just, with grandpa looking at us the way he did back there, it made me remember that Lila is supposed to be at the party tonight. I'm kind of nervous about that."

"Oh yeah." She grumbled, immediately sinking back into her seat to pout a little. She glared out the window into the black outside. Of course he was thinking about Lila. Although she was ecstatic about going to the party with him, he must naturally be worrying about what that would look like to Lila.

"She still hasn't decided if she wants to date or not." He said sounding pained.

"Well maybe I'll help push her towards a decision tonight." She said vaguely. She could see his reflection in the window. He glanced over at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're only going together because I'm living in your house, right?"

"Well, yeah." He said. Her heart throbbed painfully for a moment.

"No one else knows that. They'll just be seeing us coming together. Maybe she'll get jealous." She said thinly. She hated him right then.

"Hmm, I guess. That doesn't really seem to work though." He said slowly.

"You never know Arnold." She sighed.

They fell into silence the rest of the way.

HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!

Now, if there was one thing Rhonda Wellington Lloyd was good at, it was throwing a party. No one else in their class attempted to throw one without her permission and even when they did get it, hers were always the highlights of the year. She always knew how to dance the fine line between classy and wild. As they pulled up to her gorgeous Victorian home, valets popped up to take Arnold's keys and park the Packard for him. They stepped out onto the grand marble steps that led up to the front door and were met with the sight of their classmates milling about on the wrap around porch. Arnold offered out his arm to her with a little bow, which she happily took.

Of course people stared as they walked up to the door. She felt smug holding onto his arm. Yeah, he may be there to see Lila but for the moment, she was the one hanging on his arm. They walked into a large room with dome ceiling. A chandelier wreathed with holly twinkled down at them. Garland ropes hung from column to column and a beautiful two story Christmas tree framed the back wall. Tables ladened with holiday themed snacks and drinks were nearby while the main floor was empty, clearly for dancing. Radio music could be heard although they were a small string quarter setting up in a corner. Helga could see Rhonda and Harold by the tree and steered Arnold in their direction.

Rhonda was jerking Harold around roughly by his neck tie, a dark green, obviously attempting to straighten it out for him. As they neared the couple, they could overhear Harold's complaining.

"I just don't see why I have to come to a Christmas party. I'm Jewish." He whined. Harold wasn't the annoying chubby boy they had once known. He was tall, though still just as tall as his thin girlfriend, with a hulking frame brought to you in part by kicking kids butts all through their school career and by his high school long career in football. Still, Rhonda gave his tie a rather forceful tug at his comment and glared at him.

"You could be Mongolian for all you care and you wouldn't want to be here, so stop pretending being Jewish has anything to do with it." She snapped. He looked at his feet, shuffling awkwardly at being called out.

"Just try to remember that being on the football team actually somehow made you popular enough to date me. We need to look good and present a certain image together if I'm going to win prom queen. Got it?"

He groaned but nodded.

"Hey Rhonda." Arnold said politely. She spun around, clearly taken by surprise that she had an audience. The fake smile on her face melted away though as she saw who it was.

"Oh, it's just you guys. Thank God. I thought it was people I don't care about." She blew her bangs out of her face. She looked amazing as usual. She was Helga's height, tall for their age, though very thin, almost wiry. She wore a dark red dress with a dark green sash tied around the middle. Silver pearls hung on her wrists, earlobes, and neck. She smiled at the sight of Helga.

"Well don't you look just darling?" Rhonda said grinning, her fingertips catching the ends of Helga's hair.

"Don't get used to it, pretty girl. This is for you." Helga smirked. She saw Rhonda's eyes stray to her hands on Arnold's arm and dropped them immediately. She didn't want the queen of gossip prying at this moment.

"So what's the game plan? Are Phoebe and Gerald here yet?" She asked attempting to distract Rhonda's gaze. Her eyes went to Helga's face and she sighed dramatically.

"They're driving down so they should be here soon. I, however, have been on edge since six. Everything that can go wrong has, I swear to God."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Arnold asked, ever the helpful gentleman. Rhonda put a hand to her forehead.

"No, unfortunately. It all rests on me." She sighed heavily, looking dejectedly out into the crowd.

"I'm sorry Rhonda. It looks really great so far."

He turned to Helga then.

"Would you like something to drink? Maybe punch or eggnog?" He asked kindly. Rhonda gave Helga another curious look. Harold was not paying any attention.

"Uh." She said awkwardly, feeling all eyes on her. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."

She shooed him away. She could practically hear the thoughts in Rhonda's head whirring.

"Harold. Could you fetch me a cold drink as well? I'm parched." She said poking him in the side. He groaned, probably not for the last time that night, and went off with Arnold.

"Helga G. Pataki." Rhonda began, a taunting twinkle in her eye as her hands went to her hips. Helga braced for it.

"Helga!" She felt Phoebe's tiny body collide into hers for a hug.

"Oh, how I've missed you! Of course though Gerald is a peach, female companionship is just too different!"

Gerald ambled up then, giving Helga a weary look.

"Arnold is at the punch bowl, Gerald." Rhonda said helpfully, though more as a dismissal, as she pointed that way. Helga shot her a dirty look over Phoebe's head.

"Thank you Rhonda." He nodded towards her briefly before walking away. Phoebe released her and looked her over as she bounced on the ball of her feet.

"So don't be coy, tell me everything!" She squeaked in excitement.

"Helga is here with Arnold." Rhonda threw in smirking evilly. Helga glared at her as Phoebe gasped.

"I am not. Bob refused to give me a ride, I had no idea when you two were coming so I bummed a ride with the guy." She said crossing her arms.

"You were practically hanging off his arm, Helga!"

"He offered it to me. You know how he is." She huffed.

"Helga, has there been something going on while we were away?" Phoebe said softly, her facing shining with her excitement. Helga rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you look over there and tell me?" She said stiffly, tilting her head towards them. The other two girls turned to gawk at Arnold, only to see him standing at the punch bowl with Lila. They turned back to her, both frowning a bit.

"I hear she's not even interested." Rhonda said sounding nonplussed.

"Just give him time." Phoebe said putting her hand on Helga's arm. She shrugged it off.

"Why don't you just go after him, Helga? You'll never know how he feels standing on the sidelines." Rhonda said thoughtfully. "Plus, I've never really known you to ever be so...forward when it comes to getting what you want."

"Uh, because I'm not an idiot? He wants her, it's all he talks about, and a few days of hanging out aren't going to change a decade of feelings or actions." She said somberly. They watched her wearily as she grabbed a drink from a passing server's tray and threw it back. She could already tell it was going to be a hell of an evening.