A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 8. I would've posted this chapter yesterday, but I was busy pretty much all day, and the time that I did have on the computer, it wasn't nearly enough time to finish. But I hope everyone enjoys this.
It was midnight, and Helga still wasn't asleep. She noticed that every time she seemed to doze off, memories of that night would come rushing back to her mind. This time, however, it wasn't any thoughts that woke her up, it was the loud shrill of her phone. Groggily, the girl picked it up, yawning. "Hello?"
"Helga…i-it's me, Arnold," the person on the other line stated nervously.
This seemed to wake her up fully. Normally, she would get a goofy smile on her face, and cover up her happy feelings with her snippy attitude. But this time was different…there was nothing to cover up. "For cryin' out loud, Football Head! It's midnight, can't a girl get some sleep?"
"I'm sorry…I-I just wanted to…"
"Don't even try to apologize again for last night, Arnold. I let my guard down to you, I told you I loved you for Pete's sake! And what do you do? You tell me that the whole thing was a setup."
"Look, if you'd just let me explain—" Arnold was cut off once again.
"There's nothing to explain, Arnoldo!"
"Yes, there is! I know I might not be your favorite person right now…"
Helga scoffed. "You got that right."
Arnold continued, ignoring her comment, "but can you just hear me out?"
"If I listen to your pathetic excuse for humiliating me tonight, will you let me go to sleep?"
"Of course."
"Then go."
Arnold sighed deeply, and tried to find the right words to say. "When I was at Rhonda's party, she and Lila started a game of Truth or Dare. I wasn't really in the mood for it, but they chose me to go first. So, I picked dare. And the dare was to…well..you know, write you a fake love note. Helga, I was completely against it. You should know that about me…I'd never try to hurt someone on purpose. But I thought that if I just wrote it, and then got rid of it, you wouldn't get it. But then Curly did and…he made me pretend to really love you." He paused in case Helga wanted to say something, but there was silence. "I really had no other choice. It was either pretend to love you, or have Curly tell you the truth."
There was a bit more silence, and Arnold bit his lip, hoping for the best. Finally, he heard her voice again. "Arnold…that has to be the lamest excuse I've ever heard."
Arnold was dumbfounded. "…What?"
"You honestly thought that it would be better for me to be led on into thinking that you really loved me? You idiot, at least if Curly had told me it would've been before I told you how I felt! And didn't the thought cross your mind that your stupid little plan would go wrong, and I would eventually find out and get the note? Rhonda isn't exactly a genius, but she gets what she wants. I thought you of all people would know that." Her voice was even more bitter than it was before, which made Arnold ten times more scared.
"But I—"
"You explained, Football Head. And now, I get to go to sleep. And let's get this straight. At school, don't look at me, and most importantly, don't try to give me another pitiful excuse."
"It's not an excuse…it's what really happened—"
"See ya."
A click on the other end was heard, and Arnold fell back on his bed, absolutely frustrated. "If she won't listen to me, maybe someone else has to get involved."
A/N: So there you go, chapter 9. I was actually happy with the way it turned out…it took me a while to plan out what was going to be said between to two of them and all that jazz. In chapter 10, Arnold is going to talk to someone else about the situation. Maybe it'll work out, and maybe it won't. I'll be gone for the 4th of July weekend, so expect the next chapter up by at least Tuesday. Reviews are always good.
