Here's another chapter for you all. I'm sorry it took so long to get it done. I had trouble thinking of what to write. I'm not sure what I think of it so let me know what you think.
It didn't take long for Dean to adjust to living at the boarding house. His aunt was really strange so the people at the boarding house made him feel at home. He told Helga that his aunt died from old age. She was ninety seven years old. Helga had wished she had met his aunt before she passed. Dean didn't go to school for the first week after his aunt died. Helga came over every day after school to bring him his homework and make sure he was okay. He seemed a lot different. His eyes seemed cold and dark and his voice was a little less friendly. Helga expected him to be shaken up, but she didn't expect him to act so different. She accepted it anyway because she knew that he was grieving and she wanted to be there for him. She hoped he would go back to his old self when he was able to move on. Lila had told Helga that it was okay for her to spend all of her time with Dean until he felt better. Helga still managed to spend a couple days with Lila. After Dean came back to school, half of the class was afraid to talk to him for fear of saying the wrong thing and the other half would constantly bombard him with questions such as "How are you doing", "Do you need anything", or the girls asked a random question to be able to talk to him. Dean would mindlessly answer them and continue with whatever he was doing. He would never get irritated at them. Most of the time, he didn't even know they were there.
Meanwhile, Lila waited for her new friend Wilson to move into town. She couldn't wait for Helga and Phoebe to meet him. A month after Lila told Helga and Phoebe about him, he moved to town. He moved in on a Sunday and Lila didn't know it until the next day, Monday, when she saw him at school. She was at her locker getting her books out when he came up behind her and said hi to her. She turned around and was shocked to see him, but very happy as well.
"When did you move to town?" she asked while hugging him.
"My dad had been bringing our stuff down all week and yesterday we finished moving out of our old house and moved into town," he said as the two stopped hugging.
At that moment Lila spotted Helga walking to her locker.
"Come here I want you to meet my friend," she said while grabbing Wilson's wrist and pulling him towards Helga.
"Hey Helga," she said.
"What's up Lila," she said while grabbing her books.
"This is Wilson. Wilson this is Helga," she said while motioning towards the two.
"Nice to meet you, Helga," he said.
"Yeah, you too," she said without ever looking at him.
"Um, I have to get to class and talk to the teacher about something. I'll see you at lunch," he said while smiling.
"Okay, bye," she said very happily while waving.
She turned to Helga and asked her what she thought of Wilson.
"He's fine Lila," she said emotionlessly.
"What's the matter Helga?"
"Oh, I'm just upset that Dean won't cheer up and be his normal self again. I get that it's gonna take some time, but I miss his old, happy self."
"I'm sorry, Helga. I'm sure that he will be his old self before you know it," she said hopefully.
"I hope you're right," she said as the bell rang.
The two girls headed to class and took their seats. After everyone got to class Lila looked around, but didn't see Wilson anywhere and Mr. Simmons hadn't said anything about a new student. Helga looked at Lila and whispered 'where is Wilson' to Lila. Lila shrugged and looked at Helga worriedly. At lunch, Lila got her food and took her seat with Helga at their usual table. Not too long afterwards, Dean joined them. He usually sat there staring at his food and moved it around while occasionally taking a bite and a sip of milk. He hardly ever looked up, even to look at Helga. Helga was trying her best to be patient with him. Lila sat there and looked around for Wilson. She turned around to look and he came up and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw him sitting next to her.
"Where were you in class?" she asked worriedly.
She thought he might have ditched and she didn't like the idea of being friends with a bad boy.
"I guess I forgot to mention that I'm in the fifth grade," he said casually.
This got both Helga and Lila's attention.
"Not that it's a big deal or anything that you would date a girl a whole year younger than you, but," Helga said without finishing her sentence.
Wilson looked at her and said, "Oh I'm not a year older. I'm nine, like you both. I skipped fourth grade."
"Wow that's great, Wilson," Lila said excitedly.
She was relieved that he wasn't a bad kid and very happy that he is so smart.
"Yeah, that is pretty cool," Helga said.
"It's no big deal. I guess that's why I didn't mention it."
"How did you manage to skip fourth grade?" Helga asked.
Nobody had noticed that Dean was still sitting there. Wilson kept glancing at him waiting for someone to introduce them.
"My school said that I was getting good enough grades so I could skip if I wanted. They thought I wasn't being "challenged" in school. I thought it'd be cool to skip a whole grade."
"That's wonderful, Wilson," Lila said sincerely.
Wilson smiled at her. Helga stared at Wilson for a moment just to take him in since she hadn't even looked at him when Lila introduced them. Helga had thought he wasn't the best looking guy, but he was kind of cute. He was perfect for Lila. Finally Helga looked at Dean and realized she never introduced the two boys. Dean didn't seem to care, but Helga figured Wilson would care.
"Oh by the way Wilson this is Dean, my boyfriend. Dean this is Wilson," she said.
"Nice to meet you," Wilson said.
Dean quietly managed to say, "You too," without looking up at Wilson.
Wilson looked to Lila and she whispered she would explain later. He shook his head and the lunch period ended. After school, Helga was at her locker when Dean came up to her and waited for her to put her books away. They usually walk home together. Dean had been feeling bad about how he had been acting. He knew he had a right to be sad, but he felt bad anyway.
"Helga?" he asked.
"Yeah?" she said while closing her locker and looking at him.
"I'm sorry," he said while looking down at his feet.
"Why are you sorry?"
"Because of the way I've been acting lately. It's not fair to you. You're my girlfriend, and I shouldn't ignore you all the time," he said while continuing to look at his feet.
"But you kind of have a right to act that way," she said while starting to walk to the front doors of the school.
"I guess. But I still think that I should treat you better no matter what happens in my life," he said while following her.
"No biggie. Does that mean you're feeling better?"
"I feel a little better, I guess, but I'm sure I'll feel like myself again soon," he said already sounding like his old self.
The two walked home hand in hand. This time, Helga didn't have to practically drag Dean down the sidewalk. He walked right next to her with his head facing forward instead of looking at the ground like he had been doing for the past month. As soon as the two got to Helga's house, they said bye to each other and Helga went inside and up to her room. She set her stuff down on the floor by her bed, grabbed her phone, and sat on her bed. She looked at her phone and it showed she had two messages: one from Lila and one from Phoebe.
Can I come over Helga? Lila asked.
Sure. Helga replied.
Phoebe's text said Hey Helga! Gerald told me that Arnold was coming to visit for spring break in a couple weeks.
Helga was excited to see her old friend, but also a bit nervous because not only was he going to meet her boyfriend, he was going to be staying under the same roof as him. She didn't want things to be awkward when she would go over there to hang out with Dean since she used to be in love with Arnold. The good thing about this was Arnold didn't know she used to love him so Dean would never know and she would be the only one to feel awkward. She texted Phoebe back and told her she hoped it wouldn't be weird.
I don't think it will, Helga. After all, you and Arnold never had a real relationship and he never knew your secret, therefore, I think you have nothing to worry about between the three of you.
Helga agreed and felt a little better. Lila finally showed up after Helga stopped texting Phoebe. Lila sat next to Helga on her bed and listened as Helga told her about what Dean said and how he was acting like his old self again. Then Helga told Lila about Arnold visiting during spring break.
"You're not still in love with him are you?" Lila asked.
"No, no, I just…don't want it to be awkward that's all."
"I don't think it will be awkward Helga. Unless you're still in love with Arnold," she said jokingly with a smile.
"I sure hope it won't and I have a boyfriend," she replied, playing along with Lila's joke.
She really wasn't in love with Arnold anymore, but she couldn't help but worry that Arnold might like her since the last time he visited he was flirting with her. Dean had never been faced with jealousy before and if it turned out Arnold liked Helga, she didn't know how Dean might react. She figured since he is such a nice guy that he would probably not do anything and not only that, but Arnold is also a nice guy and even if he likes her, he will back off when he sees she has a boyfriend. After a few minutes of going over this internal conflict, Helga snapped back to reality.
"Helga…" Lila said trying to get her attention.
"Huh, w-what?" she replied.
"I said that reminded me that I came over to tell you that Wilson and I have a date," she said sophisticatedly.
"Really? He asked you out already?" Helga asked shocked.
"Well, he didn't exactly…ask me…on a real…date," she said with an odd expression.
"Then what kind of date did he ask you on?"
"A, um, a study date," she replied while looking down at the floor.
"A study date?" Helga said while trying not to laugh.
"Well it's something isn't it? After all, you and Dean started dating after you guys had a million study dates."
"They weren't study dates. I was just helping him catch up on his work."
"Still, spending time with him, no matter what we're doing, is going to make us closer," she said confidently.
After a while Lila went home. For the rest of the week, Dean had been slowly returning to his normal self. He still wasn't completely back to normal, but he was getting there. At lunch the four, Helga, Dean, Lila, and Wilson, would sit together and occasionally Phoebe and Gerald would join them. After a few days of joining them, Phoebe and Gerald sat with the four regularly. They had become a group, although they only sat together at lunch and the rest of the time, after school and weekends, they were usually not together other than once in a while. Lila was still waiting for Wilson to ask her out and was becoming convinced that he didn't like her the way she liked him. She decided to tell him she liked him. She did and he told her he liked her, but he was afraid she didn't like him back. With knowing she liked him out of the way, he finally asked her to be his girlfriend. Of course, she agreed.
It was Monday and there was less than a week left until Arnold came to visit. He was coming down on Saturday, and he was leaving the following Saturday. Helga wasn't sure what to say to Dean about Arnold visiting and she figured Arnold's grandpa probably forgot to mention anything to Dean so she casually brought it up at lunch.
"Did anyone at your house bother to tell you that Arnold is coming to visit?"
"Who is Arnold?" he asked.
Helga looked at him stunned that he didn't even know about Arnold.
"Arnold used to live in the boarding house. His grandpa and grandma live there. They never mentioned him?"
"I don't think so, but now that you mention it, I had seen a couple pictures around the house of some kid I'd never heard about."
"Was he blonde with a football shaped head?"
"Uh, yeah, that's him. So he's Arnold? When is he coming?"
"This Saturday. I figured no one told you and I thought you might like to know ahead of time," she said.
"Yeah," he replied.
After school Helga and Dean walked together like they always had. Dean was a lot more talkative now that he was feeling better.
"So tell me about this Arnold kid," he said.
"Uh, well, he's nice," she said.
"That's it?"
"He, uh, he's my friend, I guess. He's pretty cool. He's not bad at sports. His best friend is Gerald," she replied.
"Oh, cool," he said.
"Why?"
"I was just wondering since, you know, no one at the house bothered to mention him to me," he said with a smile that let her know he was making a joke out of it.
For the rest of the week, the six would spend lunch together and after school they would go their separate ways. Dean usually walked Helga home then went to his own house and Wilson and Gerald would do the same for Lila and Phoebe. Then after the boys left the girls, the girls would get together and hang out and the boys would get together and hang out as well and on the weekends either each individual couple would hangout or go on a date, or the group of six would hangout or go on a group date. Finally it was Friday, the day before Arnold's visit. Helga wasn't nervous, but she was a little excited since she hadn't seen him in a few months. Friday went by so fast that before she knew it it was already Saturday. The six planned to get together at the boarding house and wait for Arnold to get there then they would introduce Arnold to Dean and Wilson and then they would all go do something fun. The girls, Wilson, and Gerald met up on the way to the boarding house. Since Dean already lived there he waited for them at the house. They all got there and sat on the floor of the living room. They had waited an hour and Arnold still hadn't shown up yet. Dean suggested they play a board game while they wait. They decided to play Scrabble. Phoebe, Helga, and Wilson were very good at this game, but Gerald ended up winning. It was now three o'clock. It had been two and a half hours that they've waited for Arnold. Arnold's grandma Gertie had made everyone sandwiches. They all ate and then got out another board game. This time they played Pictionary. The teams were couples: Helga and Dean, Lila and Wilson, and Phoebe and Gerald. Dean and Helga won because of Dean's artistic ability. Phoebe, Lila, Gerald, and Wilson were picking on them because he was an artist and that meant he had an advantage. It had now been four hours since they started waiting for Arnold. Gerald said that Arnold told him he would be here around one thirty. It was now four thirty. They decided to play one more board game and if Arnold wasn't here by the time they were done they were all going to go home. They played a game that usually had no end, Monopoly. They picked this game because it would be the longest game and they could wait on Arnold until they were tired and ready to go home. They played for an hour until finally Phoebe lost. Not long after that Lila lost. Then Wilson lost and he and Lila decided to go home. Then Dean lost and finally Gerald lost and he and Phoebe went home. Helga had won and it was now six thirty. She helped Dean clean everything up and then she went home. She told Dean he didn't have to walk her home and he insisted, but finally he gave up after she continuously told him she would be okay walking by herself and she felt like having some alone time. They said bye and she walked out the door. She pulled it shut when suddenly her name was shouted. She turned around and there was Arnold and his parents pulling up to the boarding house.
"Arnold?"
"Hey Helga," he said while getting out of his parents car.
"Took ya long enough Football head," she said with a smile.
"Yeah, we got a late start and there was a lot of traffic and it didn't help that my mom had to go to the bathroom every five minutes," he said laughing.
"It was not every five minutes," she replied laughing with him as she stepped out of the car.
Helga understood now why it had taken them so long. Arnold's mom was pregnant. Arnold looked at Helga and noticed her looking at his mom with a shocked and also interested look on her face.
"Did Gerald forget to tell you guys?" Arnold asked while pulling his bag out of the back seat.
"I guess so. Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?"
"I dunno. My parents say they want to be surprised. I'm dying to know though," he said while walking towards Helga.
As he got closer to her he set his bag down and gave her a big hug. She hugged him back and they both said they missed each other.
"Have you ever officially met my parents Helga?"
"No, not exactly," she replied.
His dad grabbed the rest of the bags from the trunk and the back of the car and walked with his mom up to the kids.
"This is my mom and this is my dad," he said.
Helga shook both of their hands and told them her name.
"You can call me Miles," his dad said as they shook hands.
"And I'm Stella," his mom said warmly.
At this moment Dean walked outside.
"Helga you forgot your phone," he said while looking at the three strangers standing there.
He handed Helga her phone and she said thanks. Then she introduced Dean.
"Uh, this is Dean. Dean this is Arnold and his parents," she said.
They all said hi to each other and finally Dean said something.
"You probably didn't know that I live here now at the boarding house," he said.
"Oh cool," Arnold said.
He was looking forward to having a new friend to hang out with.
"Well, I have to go home so see ya later everyone," she said while leaving.
They all said bye to her and Dean helped with all of the bags. Helga had felt kind of awkward about the way that went. She had pictured it to go differently. She was glad the first meeting was over, now all she had to worry about was the two boys getting along. She went home and told Phoebe about Arnold showing up and his mom being pregnant and then Dean came out and met them.
Meanwhile, it was dinner time at the boarding house. So far Dean and Arnold had been getting along. After dinner they were hanging out in Arnold's room. Dean had never been in there and he was really intrigued about the contents of it. Arnold had asked Dean why he was living at the boarding house and Dean asked Arnold what his story was. They told each other about their lives and then Dean told Arnold about Wilson. He simply told him who Wilson was and then casually mentioned that he and Lila are dating. He then told Arnold how he, Helga, Lila, Wilson, Gerald, and Phoebe have made a group together.
"That's cool. So if Phoebe and Gerald are dating, and Lila has a boyfriend, what about you and Helga? Are you two dating anyone?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah," he said.
"Oh, who?"
"Each other," he replied.
Arnold paused for a moment before he replied.
"Oh that's great," he said sincerely.
Dean asked Arnold if he had a girlfriend and Arnold told him he didn't.
The next day the group got together to try their plan to hang out with Arnold again. They met at a pizza place that was just built. Dean and Arnold got there first and found a booth that was large enough for the seven of them. Lila and Wilson showed up next and Arnold and Wilson were introduced. Then Phoebe, Gerald, and Helga came. Arnold was sitting at the end of the booth. Gerald was next to him, Phoebe was next to Gerald, then Wilson sat next to Phoebe, Lila was next to Wilson, Dean was next to Lila, and Helga was sitting on the other end of the booth across from Arnold. She felt kind of awkward because she couldn't face forward or she would be looking at Arnold and every time she moved her feet she would kick his and she worried he would think she was doing that on purpose because every time her feet hit his she would look at him and he would smile and she would look back awkwardly. At one point he tapped on her foot with his as if to say 'it's my turn now' and he looked at her and smiled. They had ordered 2 pepperoni pizzas with olives and extra cheese and it took them no time to scarf them down.
After lunch, they headed to the boarding house since they planned to do that the day before. They all hung out until around eight when Phoebe and Lila had to go home. Their boyfriends, of course, walked them home and that left Helga, Dean, and Arnold. It wasn't as awkward as Helga had thought it would be until Arnold started asking them questions. He asked how long they had been together and they told him a few months. Then he asked how they met and they told him how Dean was new and had the seat in front of Helga and she helped him catch up on his work. At eight thirty Helga decided she'd better get home. Dean walked her. He wanted to ask her what was happening between her and Arnold at lunch, but he wasn't sure how to say it without sounding accusing.
"So at lunch, you and Arnold kept smiling at each other," he said.
"Yeah," she said trying to sound normal.
"Can I ask why?" he asked as nice as he could.
"Uh, sure, the table was cramped and I accidently kept kicking his feet," she replied.
He shook his head as if to say 'oh, okay.'
"Why?" she asked.
He looked at her with a strange, worried look on his face. Her expression became more serious. He took a breath before he answered.
"I just feel like, I dunno, like you guys had more going on than you said," he said.
"We don't, and we never did. I liked him in preschool, but that lasted about a day," she replied angrily.
His attempt to not upset her had failed.
"I didn't mean to make you mad, Helga. I just wanted to know because I get the feeling he likes you," he said.
They reached her house and she reassured him that he was the only person she wanted to like or be liked by. She was still mad that he would even think something like that, but at least she knew how he behaved when he became jealous.
Meanwhile at the boarding house Dean wanted to talk to Arnold and see if he was right about him liking Helga. Arnold was in his room and Dean knocked and came in. He was sitting at his computer.
"I've gotta talk to you," he said casually to Arnold.
"Okay," he said.
He got up, grabbed his remote, and flipped out the couch. Dean sat down and Arnold sat back down in his computer chair.
"Did something happen with you and Helga?" he asked.
"Yeah sort of," Dean replied.
"What happened?"
"We just had a little argument," he said.
"What about?"
"Well, it was…it was about you," he said awkwardly.
"Me?" Arnold said.
He was at a loss for words so he waited for Dean to tell him what happened.
"Yeah. I saw the way you two smiled at each other during lunch."
"What? No, no, no. She kept kicking my feet and I smiled at her to tell her it was okay that she kept kicking my feet," he said.
"I got that part, but I get the feeling that you like Helga and your smile meant a lot more than that," Dean said.
"I just like Helga as a friend. There were times when I thought Helga might like me, but I don't like her."
"Okay, I believe you. I just wanted to make sure," he said while he stood up and left.
The next day Helga felt bad about her and Dean's argument. She decided to go to the boarding house and try to make things better between them. She got there and rang the doorbell. Arnold's grandpa answered the door and told her Dean wasn't there and she could come in and wait if she wanted. It was about ten in the morning when she got there and she hadn't eaten breakfast because her mom and dad hadn't gone shopping in a while. She had gotten there just in time because Arnold's grandma was making waffles. Helga came in, grabbed a plate of waffles, and sat at the table. Arnold came down a few minutes later and joined Helga. The two started talking and Helga told Arnold about the argument she and Dean had. Arnold told her that he already knew about their argument.
"How did you know?" she asked him.
"Dean told me last night. He also told me that he thinks I like you…" he said feeling embarrassed.
"What? You mean he talked to you about that after I already told him nothing was going on between us?" she said angrily.
"Uh, yeah. He did. Listen, Helga, I don't want to cause any more trouble between the two of you so from now on when you guys want to hang out here let me know and I'll leave," he said.
"No it's okay. I'll just talk to him when he gets here."
She finished her waffles and cleaned up her mess as Dean walked in the door.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked happily.
"I felt bad about yesterday," she said emotionlessly.
Arnold excused himself so the two could talk.
"Me too. I'm sorry about what I said."
"You should be sorry about not believing me."
"What?"
"You didn't believe me. You had to ask Arnold."
"I asked him if he liked you that had nothing to do with what I asked you," he said in a sad tone.
"I know, but what would it matter if you asked him or not. Either way you're still my boyfriend."
"I'm sorry, Helga. I guess I was wrong."
He walked up and hugged her. She stood there for a moment then hugged him back. Helga got a text from Lila saying that she and Phoebe were going to a movie if she wanted to join. She agreed and left for the movie.
Dean went up to Arnold's room to talk to him. His intention was to apologize to him. Arnold's door was open and Dean walked in.
"Look Arnold, I'm sorry about yesterday," he said while holding onto the rest of his words.
"It's fine. I understand why you said that stuff I mean if I had a girlfriend like Helga I'd probably do the same thing."
"I still think you like her and I'd appreciate it if you stayed away from her," he said in a mean way.
"I can leave when she comes over to hang out with you, but Helga's my friend and if she wants to hang out with me then that's up to her."
"If she wants to hang out with you then you can tell her no."
"She's my friend I can't just stop being friends with her."
"If you know what's good for you you can," Dean said threateningly.
"Is that a threat?"
"It is if you want to continue being friends with my girlfriend. I know you like her and I don't want you around her."
"Okay, fine. I won't hang out with Helga."
Dean left after that and went to his room.
The next day was Tuesday, and Helga was walking around town by herself. She ran into Arnold who was also walking around town. Arnold wasn't sure if he should tell Helga about what happened or if he should just keep walking. He decided not to tell her what he said, but he couldn't just stand by and let her continue on clueless about her boyfriend.
"Helga I just wanted to say, I think you should be careful."
"What d'ya mean?"
"I just mean be careful. He isn't who you think he is."
He walked away without letting her say anything. Helga wasn't sure what she meant and she wanted to know what he wasn't telling her. She ran up to him and asked him what he was talking about.
"Arnold what are you talking about?" she demanded.
Arnold thought about what to say. He never did promise not to say anything, he only promised not to hang out with her.
"Dean is jealous of me. He thinks I like you and he doesn't want me to hang out with you."
"What did he say?"
"He told me if I knew what was good for me I wouldn't hang out with you. Helga, he's a jerk and I think you should break up with him."
She stared at him shocked. She thought he might be making that up because he liked her. Arnold wasn't the kind of person to hide his feelings so she shook the thought away.
"He's never acted that way when I'm around."
"Maybe because he's never been jealous and he wouldn't want you to know about it."
Helga shrugged and Arnold said he'd see her later. She decided not to say anything to Dean about it. She didn't want to believe Arnold, but he wasn't a liar. She figured as long as he didn't do anything to hurt anyone that it wouldn't matter and if she had said something he might hurt Arnold. When Helga got home she texted Phoebe and Lila and asked what to do. They were clueless for once. She decided not to do anything and if the situation called for it she would do something. She wasn't going to let Dean tell her who she can and can't hang out with, though.
The next day the group of seven were going bowling together. Arnold got to the bowling alley first. He and Dean felt weird around each other after what happened. Helga got there next and Arnold tried to convince her to not sit by him until the rest come because he didn't want to cause more trouble between them. Helga sat right next to him and didn't budge. Every time Arnold tried to get up Helga would pull him back down or ask him to stay seated.
"Arnold, I'm not gonna let anyone tell me who I can or can't hang out with."
"Okay, Helga."
"Besides, I wanna see if he's gonna act the way you said he would."
Lila and Wilson showed up next and Helga asked them to wait at the snack bar all the way across the room. They didn't understand why, but they went anyway. Helga hoped that Dean would show up next, but he didn't. Phoebe and Gerald did. Gerald was hungry and the two went to the snack bar. Helga was glad she didn't have to ask them to wait over there, but she was becoming impatient waiting for Dean. Finally he showed up and saw the two hanging out. Dean apologized for being late and he sat by Helga. He didn't seem to care that Helga was sitting with Arnold. After a few minutes Lila, Wilson, Phoebe, and Gerald joined them and they all got their shoes and balls and began a game. When it was Dean's turn, Arnold told Helga that Dean was faking. Helga didn't believe him. Every time it was Dean's turn, Arnold would try to convince Helga that she shouldn't be with Dean and that he was faking. She continued not to believe him.
After they were done bowling and everyone left, Dean and Arnold started talking. Dean wasn't mad like Arnold thought he would be.
"I thought you didn't want me and Helga to be friends."
"I don't."
"Then why aren't you mad?"
"I don't know, I guess I just realized that I was being immature. After all, Helga would never leave me for you."
Arnold was insulted. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. He didn't want to make a scene so he got up and left.
For the rest of spring break Arnold and Dean felt uncomfortable as they passed each other at the house. Arnold wasn't going to give up trying to get Helga to see that Dean was hiding a side of himself. Helga wasn't convinced. On Saturday, Arnold was getting ready to go back home. Phoebe, Gerald, Lila, Wilson, and Helga all came to say bye to him. They all said bye and started to leave when Arnold asked Helga to stay back for a moment. Dean walked outside as he hugged her. She hugged him back. She pulled back but the two kept their arms around each other. Arnold was trying to make Dean jealous to prove to Helga that he wasn't lying. It didn't seem to be working so Arnold tried the one thing he thought would work. He kissed Helga. He knew that anyone would get jealous over that, but he wanted to prove that Dean was a jerk who couldn't control his temper. Dean immediately jumped up and pulled the two apart. Helga fell to the ground and Dean punched Arnold in the eye. Arnold fell to the ground as well.
Dean shouted, "I told you to stay away from her!"
Helga got up and tried to get Dean to calm down. Dean pushed her away from him and yelled at her to go home. She told him he needed to go home and she would talk to Arnold. Dean didn't want to leave her with Arnold, but he finally left anyway. Arnold was still sitting on the ground. Helga helped him up and apologized.
"Are you okay, Helga?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Are you?"
"I will be."
"I guess you were right."
"I sort of wish I wasn't, but you're better off without him."
"What do you mean without him?"
"You're gonna break up with him aren't you?"
Her expression didn't change.
"Why would you stay with him after that?"
"He's a good guy. It's like with you and me. I was always mean to you, but you still knew I was good."
"But you never physically hurt me like he did to you, and me."
"I know, but he's a good person. Besides, anyone would react that way to someone kissing their "girlfriend."
"But he pushed you and yelled at you. And he said 'I told you to stay away from her' which proves that he told me not to hang out with you anymore."
"I guess you're right, but that doesn't change anything."
Arnold sighed and said, "If you say so, Helga. I did everything I could, but if your serious then I guess I'll just let you do whatever makes you happy. Bye, Helga."
"See ya football head," she said nicely.
Arnold got into his car and waited for his parents. Helga went home and texted Phoebe and Lila to come over. She told them what happened and they freaked out. Helga started thinking about the day's events so far. She thought about how much it hurt when Dean reacted the way he did. Then she thought about how Arnold must feel. Then she thought if she was doing the right thing by not breaking up with Dean. He seemed to need her especially after what happened. Then she thought about Arnold kissing her. She found herself smiling at the thought. During the kiss she remembered feeling shocked and then feeling like the rest of the world disappeared, even Dean.
Do I still like Arnold? She thought.
"What are you thinking about Helga?" Lila asked.
"I was just thinking about today. Why?" she replied defensively.
"Because you looked upset then you looked happy then you looked afraid."
Helga looked down at her hands and avoided eye contact with the two girls.
"Helga is there something you want to talk about?" Phoebe asked.
Helga took a breath and said, "Well, uh, I think, uh, um-"
Phoebe and Lila looked at each other and said in unison, "Spit it out, Helga."
"Okay," she took another breath, "I think I might still have feelings for Arnold."
