Few weeks had passed and Arnold was still dating Lila - although to him it wasn't really dating as apposed to just getting her off of his back and to get Helga to come back. Lila had told him not to tell anyone anything or she wouldn't call the Patakis - in which that frustrated that he couldn't tell anyone about it since Lila didn't want anyone to get in the 'relationship'. All the past few weeks he'd been ignoring his friends he'd once hung out with and talked to. It got annoying to them that they decided to end contact with him until his 'relationship' with Lila ended and they became friends again.
The only few people that would ever talk to him was Phoebe and Gerald who knew that it wasn't possible for Arnold to be in love with Lila - he hadn't had a crush on her since 4th grade when Lila found out that Arnold had used Timberly to get her to love him. Gerald and Phoebe would try and make sense in this. After countless times of trying to figure it out, Phoebe got frustrated and texted Arnold to get some answers but didn't work out since Arnold told her he couldn't but that he'll explain when he got the chance. Phoebe understood and that was when Helga texted her to see how everything was.
Phoebe didn't want to hurt Helga anymore with the situation with Arnold and Lila but knew she would have no choice because Helga would just find out eventually. They ended up texting for few hours and even gave some news on her parents and Olga; much to Helga's disdain.
Phoebe had told Helga that her parents and Olga were happy and had even tried throwing most of Helga's stuff out but were only stopped by Olga for some unknown reason. She had went on to say that Big Bob would brag about Olga and that he or Miriam ever considered Helga their daughter and that she was no longer their problem. Helga grew in frustration and quickly switched the subject to her and her temporary new life and the possibility of coming back but living with her grandma. Helga was happy to tell Phoebe and thought about telling her about hanging out with Justin and even going to the same school as him but decided against it.
Just as they finished talking to each other, Phoebe was quick to tell her parents and they were happy that once again, Phoebe would get to see her best friend.
As it was time to go to school, Phoebe had gotten dressed and quickly ate a to go breakfast before quickly making it to the bus stop where she was greeted by Rhonda, Sheena, and Nadine. They ended up talking to each other for awhile before Phoebe mentioned Helga. Although neither of them ever saw eye to eye with Helga except for Phoebe, they had come to respect Helga and were happy that Helga would eventually come back. They continued talking until they stopped for another pick up - Arnold and Lila. The bus had gotten quiet as Lila with Arnold in tow walked and sat down on the opposite seats across the aisle just mere feet away. They all looked at them wondering why Arnold was still dating Lila. They all agreed that Arnold was miserable and didn't really love Lila. Most of all, his now former friends were still saddened and frustrated that they couldn't make plans to hangout with him unless Lila went with him.
It now became all about Lila from their point of view.
Arnold sighed and noticed the glances he would get. It truly was miserable for him. Not only could he just go up to friends and tell them the situation but he knew he would risk not having Helga back. He hadn't texted Helga in few weeks and wondered how she was doing and if she found out about him and Lila dating.
Of course she does, Phoebe probably told her but because I can't say anything, Helga's going to get the wrong idea
Was one of many thoughts that had ran through Arnold's mind everyday. The only thing that kept him going was the words written in Helga's locket and how much it meant to him. Lila didn't know that he had Helga's locket secretly tucked away in a secret place and he would often open it and read the words when he was in his room alone but had to make sure no one was spying on him.
Every night, Arnold would read the written words and wondered if the words written still held the amount of love as Helga wrote them as they did now. Arnold decided that it was now time to end this so called relationship. He didn't care if Lila would call Big Bob, he would do it and with the help of his friends. He didn't care if he was black mailed or not he was going to get Helga back no matter what Lila did.
As they got to school Arnold pulled Lila aside from everybody else and told her that the 'relationship' was over. He then told her that he didn't care what she did because the truth would come out and everybody would know what she did. Lila, although a little bit worried wasn't too concerned about this and walked away without saying a word. As the day went on, Arnold began talking to his friends more and his plan to get Helga to come back. Phoebe was going to tell him that Helga would be back but wanted it to be kept a secret because she wanted to tell Helga.
They all wished Arnold the best of luck as Arnold got home from school, he told his family what he was about to do. Although worried, Phil and Pookie understood and gave him some extra cash to go to where Helga was temporary living at. That night, he packed a bag and filled it with clothes and other things but most importantly, he placed the locket in the bag to take it back to Helga. He hoped that Helga still loved him but also hoped she didn't fall in love with anybody else and gave up on her love for him. He went to the bus stop to where Helga was living and sat down on a nearby seat. His heart was pounding and his head was filled with thoughts.
He was excited but also nervous. He hadn't spoken to Helga so he wasn't sure how he was going to explain everything but he was also nervous because he hadn't seen or heard from Lila who when in the 'relationship' had always texted or called him; even making it a point to follow him to see where he was at.
It had taken what seemed like days to get there. When he finally did arrive, he grabbed his stuff and headed down the steps off the bus. Looking around, he saw that where Helga was living it was nice and it sort of reminded him of back home except it seemed like everything looked brand new, even the roads. He looked around and asked the bus driver if he knew where any motels were at and the bus driver gave him directions to the nearest one.
Arnold thanked him and as he was walking, he saw other teenagers about his age walk into what looked like an arcade. He didn't think anything of it until he heard someone call out a familiar name. He listened again to make sure it was the name he heard few minutes ago. The unknown person called out the name again and Arnold looked to see that the person the guy was calling, was Helga.
Helga came up from behind in an almost pacing manner along with 2 other people. He heard what sound like "hang on" coming out of Helga's mouth along with a reply with others that were with her. Arnold was shocked to even see Helga this happy. He thought she would be in her room most of the time and if she did go out, just not making friends with anyone. He continued to watch as Helga and her new group of friends went inside the movie theater.
He walked to a nearest hotel and rented a room. After he reached his room and unpack, he decided to take a look around the town hoping that he'd eventually run into Helga and hopefully she'd be alone. He took the locket from his suit case and placed it in his pocket. There was a lot of things he wanted to tell Helga personally and clear up any misunderstandings that she had possibly heard from Phoebe who got it from around school. He didn't blame either of them since it was his own fault for not telling the truth about the situation to his friends sooner and had let it continue for what seemed like months. He himself didn't really know how long he was 'dating' Lila but all he knew was that he was glad it was over.
As he was walking around town, he ended up walking into a neighborhood just few miles from everything that he guessed was the 'city' part. When he continued to walk, he was stopped by an elderly woman who was in her front yard. When he stopped, she had asked him if he could dig up a weed that refused to come out of the ground. The woman wiped her forehead with a cloth and offered one to Arnold who accepted and breathed heavily.
He never expected to be helping someone this much but that's that he always did. Few short minutes later, the woman offered him a drink and to come inside to get out of the heat. At first, Arnold didn't want to but then decided to go in as the heat was starting to get more unbearable with every minute.
He went inside and saw that the back door lead into the kitchen. The kitchen was not too small but he could tell that it wasn't big enough to have a lot of people in it. Arnold was offered a seat and he sat down feeling the coolness of the chair cool off his back. As he rested, he was handed a glass of iced tea. He thanked her and drank it as the cold liquid refreshed his dry throat.
He noticed some pictures hanging here and there and the elderly woman told him that those were pictures of her grand daughter. He continued to look and she told him when the pictures were taken and how she loved the pictures. They continued talking until they heard some talking and footsteps just right outside. When the door opened, Arnold was surprised to see who had opened the door.
It was Helga.