Hi everyone! So in this chapter, I want to give Gerald, Sid, Harold and Stinky an opportunity to be more included into this story. After Rhonda's party, they are all curious on how Rodrigo managed to gain Helga's trust and become her friend. Let's see what Rodrigo has to say about that.

Gerald was not all words about him wanting to know how Rodrigo managed to gain Helga's trust. Since Rhonda's Halloween party, he had been trying to talk to Rodrigo, but either due to Helga being present during lunchtime, or due to school work, they were not able to hold talks for long. He then decided to speak to him on a Friday night after school, where they can actually hold a long discussion. He was not the only one who wanted to speak to Rodrigo. Harold, Stinky and Sid were also curious on how he did it.

"We gotta know how Rodrigo managed to do it; how did he manage to gain Helga's trust." Gerald said.

"You sound upset that he and Helga are now friends." Sid pointed out to him.

"Nah, Sid. I'm just really curious to know how he did it, that's all." he responded back.

Gerald was not sure how he felt, or how he should be feeling. All he knew is that it was bothering him and he wanted to find out. Perhaps if he did, he can also try to be friends with Helga. However, he knew that he would only be doing it for Phoebe and Arnold. He personally had no motivation to becomes friends with Helga, especially by this stage in their lives.

"Aren't you guys also curious on he did it?" he asked his friends.

"Well ya, a little." Sid confessed.

"I guess." Harold said as he was chewing on his food.

"Well, it would be darn nice to know his secret." Stinky said.

"Ok, then it's settled. Let's go to the arcade this Friday night with him and then we can all sit down and get him to spill it." Gerald said.

I'm not sure why I think this is a big deal. They are only friends, they are not dating each other. But even so, it's a miracle that he became friends with her. Everyone else has been trying to do that for years, and only Phoebe and Arnold managed to do it. What did we do wrong? he thought to himself.

They all nodded in agreement.

After a few minutes, Rodrigo came to the lunch room and approached their table where they were sitting.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked them.

"Nothing much. Hey, you free this Friday night? The guys are all going to the arcade and then get some food after. You in?" Gerald asked him.

"Ya sure. I'm free."

"Great! We're all going to meet up at the arcade at 6pm" Gerald said.

Friday night...

As was discussed, all five friends met up at the arcade at 6pm. Their local arcade had changed much since Gerald and everyone else were kids. It had greatly expanded its games to include more teenager and young adult entertainment. They also built a restaurant for people to relax and enjoy some food. Unfortunately, by the time they have added these features, Arnold had already left Hillwood, prompting Gerald and everyone to try out the new games without him.

After almost two hours of almost constant playing, the friends decided to sit down for a bit and order some food. Now it was time for Gerald to make his move.

"Yaa! That was a great games guys!" exclaimed Harold.

"That was so much fun fellers, but I sure worked up an appetite." said Skinky.

"Ya, let's go and get something to eat." said Sid.

After making their orders and paying for their food, they found a nice cozy place to sit down and eat.

After a few minutes of eating and talking, Gerald began his interrogation.

"So Rodrigo, I take it things are better now with Helga? I mean after that whole dating rumor died down."

"Ya it is, finally. The stupid rumor nearly cost me our friendship. We both said a lot of hurtful things, but thankfully things are finally moving upwards, you know?"

"Boy howdy Rodrigo, you must be really good with the ladies if you managed to become friends with Helga. How did you do it?" asked Sid.

Rodrigo took a moment to carefully decide what he was going to say to them without divulging too much information about Helga. He knew that if any word about her ever got out, she would kill him. Yet, he was also glad that they brought up this topic. He can finally ask them about why they are so distant with Helga.

"Thanks, Sid. But I honestly don't really know how I did it. It wasn't easy. It really was not easy. I think it was that I never really bought into her tough and aggressive exterior. I think that is part of her personality, but I also know that there is more to her than just that. I think like that with everyone and I like to give them a chance to show it." he explained.

Wow, he is just like Arnold. Gerald thought. "You're one optimistic guy Rodrigo."

"Not really. I don't just focus on the positive things about people. I fully acknowledge and accept their negative aspects as well, or the things that they lack. No one is perfect, so I think it is important to acknowledge everyone's perfections and imperfections." Rodrigo explained.

"So with Helga, I think the reason why she acts so aggressive and tough is precisely because there has to be something more, something, I guess, nice if not beautiful. Otherwise, why would she waste so much of her energy keeping her guard up?" he continued.

If Gerald was hoping for a different answer about Helga, he was bitterly disappointed. Arnold had told him exactly the same thing years ago and he was not completely convinced by him. It is not that he did not believe that Helga did have a softer, more sweet side of her. Of that he was convinced. He was not sure exactly what the sweet, softer side encompassed, and if whether or not which side of her is her 'real' personality: her softer side or her aggressive one. Unlike Arnold and to some extend Rodrigo, Gerald never patronized Helga. Despite what she may have gone through in her personal lives, he found that insufficient of an excuse for the way she had acted and still acts with Arnold and everyone else. Even the way she reacted towards the whole dating rumor was extremely uncalled for.

However, despite already being aware of Helga's softer side, the rest of the boys were still not convinced.

"Bahahahahaha! Helga, having a sweet, beautiful side? Ya right, nice one Rodrigo." exclaimed Harold. Sid and Stinky also joined him in laughing.

Rodrigo was taken aback by their laughter and was not amused by it.

"I was being serious guys. Why is it so hard for you to even consider that Helga may have a gentler side?" He asked.

At least Gerald was in a better position to have more of an awareness of Helga's personality and back story. Harold, Stinky and Sid were almost completely clueless and it is not surprising why that was.

"Sorry Rodrigo, but you've only known her for little more than two months. We have been putting up with her since we were kids and throughout that time, we have never seen her display any of her 'nice' or 'beautiful' side of her, hahaha" Sid explained while trying to stop laughing.

"It's true Rodrigo. When were kids, Helga would always call us names, would boss us around, whether it is during a game or at a play. She was never the type of person that you could get close to, unless there was a reason for it. And the way she treated Arnold during that time, well that was less of an incentive to even want to get close to her." Said Stinky.

"What did she actually do to him?" Rodrigo asked.

Rodrigo knew that Helga used to bully Arnold when they were kids, but he never got the full detail of how long and how intense the bullying was. Gerald then, proceed to give him the back story,

"Man, you're in for a real treat. What I'm about to tell you is the Helga that we know, the Helga that she has always shown us."

Gerald then told the whole story, as far as he can remember, of just how brutal she was toward Arnold. He explained to him the constant name callings, how she would always push him and Gerald around, the constant spit balls in class, the pranks she would pull on him, not to mention the amount of times she would completely humiliate him on almost a daily basis. He told Rodrigo one April Fool's day when Helga had pulled so many pranks on Arnold, that he eventually decided to retaliate, which ended up in him pushing her into the pool. Throughout this whole torment, it was only by Arnold's confident and optimistic personality that he did not get overwhelmed by her bullying, while other students would have eventually collapsed. Gerald explained that the bullying started right around pre-school and only ended before entering the 6th grade, when they all went to San Lorenzo to find Arnold's parents after winning that bogus class competition; almost a decade of torment.

Yet, Gerald did not stop there. Despite her no longer bullying him, her aggression and violent temper did not cease with everyone else. Although it lessened, she continued to be her usual self with others. Gerald explained that Arnold had to constantly speak to Helga about her behaviour without being seen as if he was lecturing her. He tried to get her to see other perspective on how she should express herself and also how other people may feel about the way she spoke or treated them. Sometimes it worked and she loosened up, but other times she took it the wrong way or she simply did not agree with him.

Gerald continued to explain that their relationship was not unstable, but it was rocky. Both of their personalities were on the extreme end of the spectrum, which encouraged conflicts between them. Although there were times when they agreed over something, and even times when Arnold not only understood, but also agreed with her, this was not a common occurrence. At times when things took a serious turn, Gerald and Phoebe had to intervene in order calm things down between them and to start initiating the two into speaking to each other again.

"Haha. Helga used to say that her relationship with Arnold was passionate, but I knew it to be rocky. The amount of arguments that those two had was unreal. From my perspective, Helga would usually press Arnold's buttons and although he was usually successful in calming her down, there were times when he reached his limit. I wouldn't say it was ugly, but it kept Phoebe and myself busy and sometimes even entertained." Gerald said with a bit of laughter.

Rodrigo however, was not smiling at all. He was still reeling over what Helga did to Arnold before they got together. To say that Rodrigo was appalled by just how she used to bullying Arnold was an understatement. He was completely degusted by it.

I can't believe she did this to him. I had thought she only did small, yet innocent pranks on him. I never thought she would be so vicious toward someone she loved deeply. How was Helga able to sleep at night?! Forget her, how was Arnold able to sleep at night?! He thought angrily.

However, before he could get a word out, Gerald then continued with a surprising twist,

"Yet, despite what she did to him, I have to admit there were times when she really pulled through, as a person and showed just how much she really loved him. When our neighbourhood was being torn down by Future Tech Industries, Helga disguised herself ad Deep Voice and provided us with crucial information that allowed us to save the neighbourhood. After we saved it and things calmed down, Arnold explained to me why Helga was at the FTI building with us. He told me why she sacrificed in securing a good business deal for her father's business in order to save our neighbourhood; she did it for Arnold. He also told me about her confession for her love for him, but I won't go into any details here. Had it not been for her, we would have never have succeed it."

"There was also this other time, around Christmas when Arnold was trying to find the daughter of one of the tenants that lives in the boarding house, as part of his Christmas present to him. I tried to help him but we never succeeded in finding her. However, on Christmas day, her daughter same to the boarding house. She said she was given the address of where her father was living and went there to find him. Naturally, Arnold and I were completely shocked and clueless as to how this happened, but we took it as part of a Christmas miracle. However, after Arnold and Helga got together, Helga spilled the beans to us and told Arnold, whom he told me, that it was Helga that succeeded in finding the tenant's daughter, by sacrificing her Christmas present order to make him happy. I think it was some highly fashionable boots that was in style at that time. When I heard this, honestly, I did not initially believe it. Without telling Arnold, I decided to go back to the government office and personally asked Mr. Bailey, the person who was helping us find the tenant's daughter, if what Helga said was true. He confirmed it. To be honest Rodrigo, I was completely in shock. I did not know what to say back then, and I am still at a loss on what to say." Gerald continued.

"Then there is also when we all went to San Lorenzo to find Arnold parents, which Helga helped organize, which you already know the story. Again, she did it all for him, to make him happy." he concluded.

These three events, eventually everyone knew. Sometime after Gerald was told this, both Arnold and Gerald convinced Helga to allow them to tell everyone else about these stories, about what she did for Arnold and everyone. Naturally, just like Gerald, this came as a rude shock to everyone who heard it. It allowed them to see Helga in a fresh new light, to see that Arnold was right all along about her; that she was not just this tough and bullying persona; she had a real heart and was willing to make huge sacrifices for those whom she cared.

There were other events too that Arnold told Gerald about what Helga did for him. However, these remained private. Gerald wanted to tell it to Rodrigo, but since Harold, Stinky and Sid were present, he was not able to.

"This is the thing about Helga, she is a real paradox. You can choose to like her, or not. But one thing is for sure, you have to respect her, not out of fear, but out of genuine admiration." said Gerald.

Rodrigo just remained silent for a long moment. He was completely baffled by what Gerald had told him.

My God, she really does love him. He means everything to her. This is love at its most purest, at its most sublime. He thought. So why did he leave her? How could he leave her after all the things she did for him? I know he left because of his parents, but did he fight with them at least, to remain here with her? Did he even try to do everything in his power to prevent his parents from moving?

"Gerald, when you heard that Arnold was moving away, did you guys ever talk about if Arnold tried to convince his parents to stay, or if he provided an alternative for them not to move away?" Rodrigo asked him.

Gerald thought for a moment before he answered, "To be honest, not really. Come to think of it, I never did ask him directly if there was any other way for him to stay and he never told us about it. When he told me, he did say that he had an argument with his parents when they told him about the move. But I don't recall if Arnold ever did tell me what he said to them. I don't know if he tried to convince them to stay or not. When he told us, he obviously was not happy about it, but he never showed any serious signs of depression or serious case of sadness. I know he was sad about leaving us, but as he is ever the optimistic kid, I don't think he would let that get the better of him. Why do you ask?"

"Because it makes sense now as to why Helga was really upset about him leaving. After all the things she did for him, after bullying him which cost them precious time to be together, she finally had him, only to be ripped apart from him by things outside of her control. His departure was a serious slap to her face. I cannot imagine what Helga must have gone through. I was wondering if Arnold ever even bothered to fight not just for their relationship, but to stay here in Hillwood? Did he try to come up with some plan to prevent the move? I mean, come on you guys saved the whole neighbourhood, you mean to tell me that neither of you, Arnold or Helga were able to come up with a plan to get two people to remain in Hillwood?" Rodrigo said with a raised and frustrated voice.

All four friends remained silent and just stared at Rodrigo. It's true, no one, not even Helga had attempted to come up with any kind of plan or initiative to get Arnold to stay in Hillwood. Once they heard the news, they took it as a given. Rodrigo's point did have some truth and it was making Gerald feel a bit offended. Rodrigo was essentially accusing him of just allowing his best friend to leave without a fight. However, there were reasons as to why they just allowed Arnold to leave, which Rodrigo did not yet know about.

"You have point there Rodrigo. We never really came together to see what we can do to convince Arnold's parents to stay here, but there were reasons. His parents were unemployed for a number of years since their return from the jungle. Wanting to remain in their fields, they both had to return to school to update their educational qualifications, which took years to complete. Plus they started working in dead-end jobs just to pay the bills. When they were both given the opportunity to go back into their fields, they took it without hesitation. Initially, their jobs were stable and it allowed them to remain here. However, there was serious restructuring within the company that they were working for and their superior gave them an offer of either moving to new places, or being let go. This was not an easy decision for them, as their jobs are extremely limited within the market. They obviously chose the former." Gerald explained.

"As for Arnold, there was an option of him remaining in Hillwood and continue leaving at the boarding house with his grandparents. However, he refused that offer, as it meant that he would have to see his parents leave again, which he was not able to bear. Helga, Phoebe and myself understood that, which is why we never pushed him to remain here without his parents. It was an extremely tough decision to make for his parents, him and us. Arnold had to leave everyone, his grandparents, the tenants whom he grew up with, his friends and Helga. To make matters worse, his parents' jobs required them to constantly move, which has been frustrating for Arnold, as he has not been able to make long-term friends at school. A lot of letters that he send us are about this. I honestly do not know how he was able to cope with this really, but he does. He knew from the very beginning that his was going to be his life and so he took it." He concluded.

Rodrigo just signed and then said, "I'm sorry Gerald. I did not mean to accuse you guys of not being hurt when he left. I know this must have been tough for you guys."

"Darn right Rod. Arnold was the kid who we could always go to solve our problems. He ensured that our group functioned as normally as possible. After he left, there was a big gap and it was never the same really, but we had to cope with it." said Stinky.

"It was especially hard on Gerald. During that summer, we rarely saw him. Actually, we rarely saw each other. I guess we were all reeling from this loss that we didn't want to meet up because it would just remind us of him leaving. We would often meet up at his house so we can decide on what we wanted to do for the day, but after he left, at least for me, I tried to avoid going there." said Sid.

"No doubt. I was actually starting to fall into a bit of depression. But that's when I knew that I had to do something. So I called everyone for a sports games, Helga including. Naturally everyone was pretty reluctant, but I managed to convince them to do it. It was not easy, but slowly, by getting together and helping each other out, we were able to move on." Gerald said with a confident and proud look in his face.

"Which brings me to Helga. Despite her never being my favorite person, I knew that she would be taking it hard. Neither Phoebe, nor Arnold had to tell me that. So I made the choice to call her several times to come out with us during that summer, including even after we started high school. Or just to see if she was OK. The girl never answered any of my calls, nor Rhonda's or even Phoebe's. It was only through Phoebe that we at least knew that she was still alive, and I don't mean that in a joking way, but as a good friend, she never revealed to us what her condition was. We knew it must have been bad, but what exactly it was, we never knew. Eventually man, there was only so much that we could do for that girl. We were going through our own tough times. Helga was not was the only one. If she wanted to be left alone, well that was her choice, so we stopped calling her." he continued.

Rodrigo said nothing throughout. It became more clear to him that he was not going to be able to simply take a side. Both parties had good justifications for acting the way that they did and both were equally responsible for them. However, he did say this,

"Ya, Helga told me that you guys did tried to call her and did confess that she never answered them. What about when she finally appeared in school?"

"Nothing, other than her being her usual self, only more angry. We did ask her how she was feeling, especially when it was clear that something was bothering her. But like always, she would either say she was fine, or say it was 'none of our business'. Plus, we rarely saw her during the first year. She would sometimes come sit with us, but only due to Phoebe pushing her to do so. Second year we did see her more and we could see that she made more of an effort to participate in hanging with us or playing sports, but again, it was a very slow process." Gerald continued to explain.

"Can I ask you guys something? Would it have helped if you guys perhaps had been a little more...direct into helping her out?"

"Uh, this is Helga we are talking about Rodrigo. You do not just go up to her and confront her unless you are willing to pay the price." said Harold.

"Like, I tried to make some jokes about her, but all she ever did was throw her lunch tray at me or, if I was really lucky, simply threatened me."

"Harold, you're idea of making fun of Helga's appearance or about her what she was going through is not funny. It isn't surprising that she would try to punch your lights out." Rodrigo retorted back.

"I guess, but why did she have to be so serious all the times? I mean the girl has never even smiled, unless it comes at someone's expenses." Harold countered.

"And besides," Gerald interjected. "I did try to do what; to confront her about it. Everyone became more aware that Helga was having...family issues. About what exactly, we don't know. Neither Arnold nor Phoebe ever told us the details. So, out of good faith, about a year before Arnold left, I went up to her to inquire about it.

*Flashback* Three and half years earlier...

"Hi ladies. Pataki, mind if I talk to you for a sec?" asked Gerald confidently, trying to mask the nervousness that was starting to grow.

Helga and Phoebe were having lunch together. Since they started going out with Arnold and Gerald, they have attempted to still find time for each other during school. Being as this was one of those days, it was no surprise that Helga got slightly irritated about Gerald was interrupting them.

"What is it tall-hair boy?" she asked nonchalantly.

Phoebe excused herself and started walking towards Arnold and everyone else who has sitting in another table.

As Gerald sat down, his confidence quickly evaporated and he started to become nervous.

"Well umm...Pataki...the reason why I came here is to...ummm...to talk to you about something and...umm.."

Why is he being so nervous? This isn't the first time he has spoken to me. She thought.

"Crimeny tall-hair boy, just spit it out already. What do you want?" she asked him with a strong hint of irritation in her voice.

"Ok, Helga, here's the thing. The reason why I came over here is because, out of good faith, Arnold and Phoebe have mentioned to me, without giving me any details mind you, that you were having...family issues, and I just wanted to see how I can help." he said.

Helga immediately dropped her sandwich and looked at Gerald with wide eyes.

"What?"

Unbeknownst to anyone at that time, including Arnold, two days prior during dinner, Big Bob exclaimed at how thankful he was that he was able to find Olga save and sound Helga's class to San Lorenzo. Unfortunately, he made no mention of how thankful he was for Helga's safety. It took Olga to explicitly mention Helga's name, but all Big Bob said was, "Huh? Oh ya, her too."

Yet, the damage was already done. Helga took this very personal, but she repressed her sadness with even more anger during that week. Sadly, with Gerald having no knowledge of this, his desire to help Helga out came at the wrong time.

Helga simply took a deep breath, let it out, then calmly, but with some snarl, then warned Gerald,

"Gerald, because you are Arnold's best friend, I'm going to give you this one chance to get up and walk away and we will never speak of this again."

Gerald was not surprised by her remark, as he had expected her to say something like that. However, he completely underestimated at just how much of a sensitive topic this was to her. Undeterred, he said,

"Look Pataki, I'm not here to fight with anyone and I'm not here to make fun of you. On the contrary, I just want to see how I can help..."

Before Gerald had any time to finish what he wanted to say, Helga lost it. She instantly got up, grabbed Gerald by his collar and started yelling at him.

"I don't need your help, got it tall-hair boy?! What happens in my life is none of your business, so don't you ever come near me about this again or I will pummel you!"

Gerald however, simply pushed Helga in order to her off of him and yelled back.

"You're crazy Pataki, you know that?! All I did was come here to help you and this what I get?!"

Helga simply launched herself back towards Gerald and actually tried to take a swing at him, but he simply grabbed her fist with his hand. By now Gerald was appalled at how Helga was reacting and started to get angry himself. Helga however, kept trying to punch him, but he kept managing to either dodge her swings or grab her fist.

Just then, Arnold and Phoebe came running.

"Helga stop! What are you doing? Let him go." Arnold cried out to her as he attempted to put himself between Gerald and Helga.

Helga, despite her fury, eventually let him go. Once they were separated, Arnold then asked Gerald what happened.

"Gerald, what happened?"

"Nothing! All I did was come to her and just mentioned about her...'situation' and how I just wanted to help and she just blew up on me!" Gerald yelled.

"Helga, why did you get angry at him?" he asked her calmly.

"Because it is none of his business! And who are you to tell him about my business? Just because I tell you these things does not mean that you have to tell anyone else, football head?" She retorted back.

"Helga, I never told him about any details. All I said to him was that you having issues at home. The only reason why I mentioned that to him was so he can understand where you were coming from. But in respect to your wishes, I never mentioned what exactly was going on." Arnold explained, while still trying to remain calm.

"Make sure that he never knows it." She warned him.

The present...

"Did she ever apologize to you for blowing up on you like that?" Rodrigo asked Gerald.

"Nope. I know that Arnold and Phoebe did ask her to apologize, but she never did." he responded back.

"After that incident, I instructed both Arnold and Phoebe to never mention, nor to talk to me about any of her issues. It was pointless to know them if they were not going to give you the details. Several days later, Helga told Arnold why she blew up on me like that, which he then told me about it. Just so you know how serious this was, Arnold would usually come to Helga's defence whenever she would get angry or start being mean to someone. However, in this case, in one of those rare moments, Arnold made no attempt to defend her."

"Some time after that, I think Helga did try talk to me on several occasions, or at least tried to revert the damage that she caused, but after that incident, I no longer had any desire to seal this animosity between us, much less talk to her, so I just blew her away." he continued.

Rodrigo just sat there in silence. When this conversation started, he had expected to enlighten his friends on Helga's situation, as he had assumed that Gerald and everyone else were ignorant of what Helga was and is still is going through. However, it became obvious that they knew more than he originally thought. Plus he had not expected Helga to have behaved this badly with Arnold or Gerald. Sadly, he concluded that defending Helga, much less convincing them that there was more to her than just being aggressive and a bully, was getting harder and harder. Like Arnold, Rodrigo also made no attempt to defend her. He knew that what she did was wrong and it cost her any hope of becoming friends with Gerald.

"We never said this to Arnold, but we silently took Gerald side on this. Personally, what Helga did was wrong. At the beginning, I kind of believed Arnold when he said, that deep down she had a good heart and is capable of doing nice, and despite what she did for him, after that incident, I felt that most of what Arnold said was not untrue, but just greatly exaggerated." said Sid.

"Is that why just 20 minutes ago, you three just laughed at the mention that deep down, Helga does have something nice and beautiful about her?" Rodrigo asked.

"Ya, pretty much. I mean, can you blame us Rod? Just helping saving the neighbourhood and helping Arnold in finding his parents, they were big things, but the majority of what we see are her short temper, violent antics and bullying. Also, those things, she only did for Arnold. When has she ever done that for anyone of us? Would I trust her to do something like that for me? I don't know about the rest of you fellers, but I sure don't." said Stinky.

"To be fair Rodrigo, her bullying and violent antics did die down a bit after she and Arnold get together. She did become more approachable, but they never really left her." Gerald added.

Thus far, everyone had been making such a good case that Rodrigo found it difficult to argue against. However, he then realized that what Gerald had said may have a potential logical gap that he could exploit.

"Wait, so what happened in the years before the incident? If she became more approachable like you said, did you guys try to become more friendly to her, especially right after the whole San Lorenzo trip? he asked.

All four looked at each other in confusion. After a moment of silence, Sid then said,

"Well, we knew that a lot of what she said, we no longer took it at face value. For instance, if she threatened you, often times we never expected her to actually go through with it, unless if she was really angry at you about something. Because of that, we did talk to her more than before San Lorenzo, but it was never that easy. We never knew when she was in a good mood or not. As far as we were concerned, she could be relatively nice in one day, and mean in another. It actually got very tiring trying to guess her really."

"That and we just thought that this is Helga being Helga. " he continued.

"What do you mean by that?" Rodrigo asked him.

"Listen man, it became clear to us that despite Arnold's best intention in trying to convince us that Helga is a nice person with a good heart, we came to the conclusion that Helga's short temper and aggression was also part of her personality. I no longer believed, as Arnold and Phoebe claimed, that it was all an act. I don't think it was, especially after San Lorenzo, when it was no longer necessary, she still continued to behave that way, even if it was less so after the fact." Gerald intervened.

It was becoming clear to Rodrigo that despite his friend's good reasons for being distant, they seem to have retained this pre-conceived bias toward Helga, so much so, that it was blinding them from any hope that Helga could show more of her niceness and softer side.

"So despite what she did for Arnold, you guys still approached her with caution?" Rodrigo asked.

"You could say that, ya." said Gerald.

"I know you guys agreed with Stinky when he said that he would not trust her to do something for you guys as she did for Arnold, but why not do something for her? Have you guys ever tried to do something to help her?" Rodrigo asked.

"Again Rodrigo, this is Helga were talking about. When will she ever come to us for help? She never did. I mean, look at happened to Gerald and he actually tried to help her." said Harold as he was chewing on his burger.

"Ya, it's kind of hard helping someone who does not want your help to begin with, let alone even appreciating the gesture." Stinky added.

"Which then brings us back to you Rodrigo. How'd you do it?" asked Sid.

By this point, Rodrigo did not know what to say. He actually does not know how he did it. Why did he succeed where everyone else failed.

"I...I don't really know. I guess it may have been because, despite how many times she tried to push me away, or indicate to me to stay away from her, I did not, even when she threatened me, I still came back to talk to her. And there were times when I noticed that she was being nice to me, or when she let her guard down that allowed me to see pass this tough exterior. For example, on my second day, after she made that racist remark, after school I was walking home and she approached me, and we started talking and then she said that she hoped that her remark did not offend me. I told her that I was not offended. That was when I first noticed that pass her aggression, she can be nice person to talk to." he explained

"Yet, during the first months, she was acting hostile towards me and 'attacked' me through smart and inappropriate remarks at me. I did the same back to her but it eventually got annoying and I felt that she did not like me. But I also got the impression that the reason why she was initially acting hostile towards me was because she may have, I guess, wanted or needed my attention, but did not know how to do it in a nice way. Not in an insecure way, but I was kind of ignoring her when I met up with everyone during lunch. Like you guys said, she is an angry person, so the only way to express herself is by being angry or hostile. I guess this was her way to trying to test me, to see I could be trusted. Despite her hostility, I never bought it because I also saw that she could be nice. I was just confused as to why she would sometimes show it, but other times not." he continued.

His friends just stood there in silence. Then, after a moment, came a bit of giggles from all three friends, except Gerald.

" Helga, wanting attention? You're a joker Rodrigo. Helga is the one person that stays away from getting any attention, letting alone wanting it." said Sid, while trying to restrain his laughter.

"Hahahahaha, oooohh I am Helga, and I want some of attention because no one wants to talk to me. boo hoo booh!" Harold said mockingly.

Rodrigo sat there in silence, with some confusion and irritation at their giggles.

"Guys stop it, seriously!" he said with a raised voice.

They instantly stopped laughing and just stared at him.

"That's not funny. I was being serious when I said that. I can't believe that despite everything that we talked about, with you guys even admitting that Helga does possess some capability in being nice and even you Sid, said to me on the first day that you are her friend, you guys are still not able to grasp the fact that she can actually be nice if you allow her to. Just look at what she did for me after the dating rumor. She almost got herself expelled just so I won't get suspended or have a negative report on my record. Yes, she may have deserved it, but she was willing to take responsibility for her mistake." he explained with a serious tone.

"If you guys want to know why she still is being aggressive and distant towards you, it is because of this. You guys don't take her seriously. No, worse, you guys mock her. Of course she is not going to open up to you. Why would she? You guys don't take her seriously so why should she trust you? You guys don't take her issues into consideration and acknowledge just how serious and damaging they have been to her. You don't need to really know the details to see their effects. People are not angry for no reason. They have a reason to be angry, they are angry because they have been hurt." he continued..

Gerald was the only one that took what Rodrigo had said seriously. It finally dawned on him why Rodrigo was able to gain Helga's trust and it was not because of some special skill that he possessed with the ladies. No, it was his personality. Gerald was right to have compared him to Arnold, to some extent. He had the foresight and the patience, albeit barely, to see past Helga's tough exterior. Although he didn't think that Helga had any feelings for Rodrigo, he finally now understood why he succeeded. Because Rodrigo was new to the group, Helga did not have any pre-conceived bias towards him. Perhaps a bit of suspicion, but not enough to completely shut him out. Yet Rodrigo early on saw that she could be nice and just like Arnold, did not allow her tough exterior to overwhelm his judgment. He still persisted and continued to give Helga the benefit of the doubt and give her every reason to trust him.

This, Gerald now had to admit to himself why he failed. Because she had already known him and his friends for years, Helga knew how they see her as; a bully. Gerald realized that despite the attempts in trying to talk to her and be friendly, he never abandoned his attitude towards her. He always saw her as a tough, short-tempered and aggressive person first, and a nice, softer person second. Worse still, he never completely forgave Helga for what she put Arnold through before they got together. He realized that this is what Helga may have picked up and why she never allowed him to get as close to her as she allowed Arnold and Phoebe. He finally realized his mistake.

Just then, realizing that Rodrigo was still talking, he quickly proceed to calm things down before things escalated.

"Whoa whoa Rodrigo, relax man. Don't need to be all upset about this. We're just talking."

He then looked at Stinky, Sid and Harold and continued to speak.

"But he's kind of right you guys. You should not have laughed at this. We all know that Helga has issues and Rodrigo was kind enough to explain to us how he managed to gain Helga's trust."

"Ya, I guess you're right Gerald. Sorry Rodrigo. " Sid said with a guilty tone in his voice.

"Ya, we're sorry Rod." Stinky apologized.

"OK, I'm sorry too." said Harold.

Rodrigo was still irritated at them for mocking him and Helga like that.

I cannot believe that these guys are just that immature. Despite them being Helga's 'friends' they still mock at her and cannot grasp that fact that Helga, at the very least, can be both tough and nice at the same time. He thought.

However, not wanting to spoil the night, he then also apologized.

"Ya, I'm sorry too guys. I know that is hard to see two different sides of her. But ya, I'm sorry."

"Well, this has been a fun conversation, but do you say we continue playing a few more games before we call it night?" Gerald offered, hoping it would allow the tension to go away.

Thankfully, everyone agreed.

After playing a few more rounds, they decided to leave the arcade and head for home.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Gerald walked home whilst deep in thought.

Well I gotta hand it to Rodrigo, he succeed where even I failed to do multiple times. I just wished I realized what I know now, back then. It would have made a huge difference. Perhaps if I had acted less biased towards her, perhaps she would have opened up to me and we could have reconciled, maybe even be friends.

The thought of the possibility of ending his feud with Helga, had he known, saddened him. It would have saved a lot of headaches for everyone, especially for Arnold and Phoebe.

Wanting to think further, he decided to walk around the neighbourhood, which inadvertently was leading him to Helga's house. Eventually, he reached her house, but not noticing, walked past it. Just then, Helga opened the door as she was going to go for a short walk. She had been bored out of her mind at her room and was not sleepy. Once she went down the stoop, she noticed Gerald walking away.

What's Gerald doing here? She thought. Curiously, she decided to call out to him.

"Hey, tall-hair boy!"

Being a bit startled, Gerald turned around and asked her,

"Pataki? What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. I live here, doi." she said as she pointed her house.

"Oh. I was at the arcade with the boys. I was just heading home but I decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood. I did not noticed that I walked right by your house." he explained.

"I take it Rodrigo was there?" she asked.

"Ya he was. We all had a good talk actually. It was...deep." he said.

Although not usually caring for gossip, she was a little curious to find out what they were talking about, if not suspicious. She did not find it coincidently of him having to walk past her house. Unless there was a reason to, he'd never walked past her house.

"What about?" she asked him with a suspicious glare.

Well that's knew. Why does she care? Should I tell her about what we talked about? Nah, she does not like it when people talk about her behind her back and I am in no mood to get into a fight with her tonight. He thought

"Nothing that needs to concern you, Pataki. Just guys talk, that's all." He said with a friendly smile. He then turned around and started walking back home.

Helga stared at him for a few seconds before she eventually turned around to take her walk. However, Gerald then called out to her,

"Wait, Helga! Actually there is something that I would like to say." He turned around again and started walking towards her.

"I'm not going to go into any details on what we discussed, but I would like to say this: I'm sorry."

"For...?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For not giving you a proper chance all those years ago. For not giving you the benefit of the doubt and actually seeing you from a different perspective; the way Arnold and Phoebe see you." he said.

Helga just stood there for a moment, silent. Then,

"Umm...thanks, Gerald. " she responded back with a stunned look to her face.

Helga was completely taken aback by his apology. She does not know what they discussed at the arcade, but whatever they talked about, Gerald's apology nailed right at the spot on how she felt about him. She always knew that he was never able to see her in the way Arnold and Phoebe saw her. The one thing she did feel was relieve; that Gerald was able to realize his prejudice, even if it came very late. Other than that, she didn't know what to say back to him. However, she felt like taken a bold step. She had already been bold in revealing to Rodrigo her pink bow, with positive results. Encouraged by that, and without much thought, she then asked him,

"I ummm...don't suppose there isn't any way to give it one last go?"

Now it was Gerald's turned to be surprised. It was not his intention to attempt to try one last time to reconcile. And yet, he thought about it for a second. Should he try one more time? He now realized his mistake, he has that as an advantage and Helga seems willing to try it one last time. However, he eventually decided against it. Perhaps if Arnold was still here, he would probably try one last time to be on friendly terms with Helga. However, with him no longer being here, he had no desire to do so. If anything, the years of trying to be friendly with her had very much exhausted him. He no longer had the energy to deal with her. As far as he was concerned, Helga and their animosity were now a thing of the past and he had no intention of going back. He had other priorities in his life that were more important now: finishing high school, college, a career, a life with Phoebe. Although Helga would still be around in his life, he was determined that she would be on the sidelines. What's more, despite his new revelation, he still found Helga's past behaviours, with him and Arnold, to be inexcusable and unless she was willing to own up to those past mistakes, he had no desire to reconcile.

"Sorry Pataki, but that shipped has sailed long ago. I have other things to worry about now. Besides, you have Rodrigo as a friend, who seems to be helping you out, so you don't need me." he declared with a smile.

Not waiting for Helga to respond, he simply added, "I'll see ya at school." before he then turned around and started walking home again.

Well, it was worth a shot. She thought as she started walking away for her walk.

She would be lying to herself if she wasn't disappointed, if not sadden by his refusal. But, she couldn't blame him. Despite knowing his prejudice, she knew that her attitude also played a big role in their failure to reconcile. She wondered why it was so hard to trust him. The two people whom she was closest to: Arnold and Phoebe both trust him with their lives. For any other person, that would have been enough to at least give him a chance. But Helga was not like any other person. No, she was Helga. She didn't go based on other people's opinion. She would make her own opinion about someone, regardless of how anyone else felt about it. Unfortunately, this attitude is what ended up preventing her from reconciling with him, not to mention the amount of headaches and stress she put herself, Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald through.

Was it pride or was it just my self-defence mechanism acting up throughout? She thought. It was my paranoia and fear that prevented me from trusting him. Even with his prejudice, he still helped me whenever he could, whether it was talking to Arnold after we got into a fight, or that time when he spoke about my situation at home and offered his help. He did offer his help, and I rejected it, let alone appreciate it.

As she continued to walk, Helga made no attempt to hide the truth from herself any longer, like in previous times. She knew that she ultimately made the choice to let her fear and stubbornness get the best of her. Like Gerald, she became blind from her own prejudice, but unlike Gerald, she rarely owned up to them.

I never even apologized to him for blowing up on him three years ago when he wanted to help me with my family issues. Instead of appreciating his help, I slapped it away. I should have at least have spoken to Arnold about this before I said anything to Gerald.

Helga then remembered the look on Phoebe's face when she saw what her best friend was attempting to do to her boyfriend. It was one of dread, fear and bitter disappointment. For several days after the incident, Phoebe avoided hanging out with Helga. On the day when they did start hanging out again, neither of them ever mentioned to each other about the incident again. It was as if it never happened.

With Arnold, he did not avoid her, but did he show his disappointment. In order to get him to understand why she acted that way, she eventually told him what Big Bob had said at the dinner table just two days prior to the incident. She hoped that if he also explained this to Gerald, he would be somewhat sympathetic. However, not surprisingly, on the day when Arnold spoke to Gerald about why Helga got very upset, Gerald was having none of it. He explained to Arnold that despite what she was going through at home, it was not justifiable for her to take it out on him, especially when he came forward, offering his help. Throughout the entire conversation, Gerald ranted at Arnold for Helga's past behaviour and he criticized him for always defending her, even when it was her fault. Yet, Arnold said nothing back. He just allowed Gerald to talk and yell. He knew that he was not yelling at him; he was angry at Helga.

As Helga thought more of this, she became more saddened and angry with herself at a sudden realization. It was on that day when the seeds of how her current situation with Phoebe, were sowed. As she continued to wonder around her memory, she noticed that after the incident, even when things calmed down, Phoebe slowly started to become more distant with her. It was only small changes, such as making excuses as to why she couldn't hang out or because she wanted to be with Gerald. Helga didn't notice it before because she had thought Phoebe was actually busy and not trying to avoid her. What's more, she always hanged out with Arnold when Phoebe was not available, so she never sensed it. When Arnold left Hillwod, Phoebe immediately rushed back to Helga's life to help her with her depression, so whatever change happened in their relationship seemed to have been only temporary.

Despite the cold breeze, tears were starting to develop in her eyes, but she restrained them from falling down her cheeks. She didn't feel like she deserved to cry. No, if anyone deserved to, it was her best friend. She hurt her. And yet, she came to help her when she was in dire need.

The only sense of comfort she got was what Gerald had last said before he left: she had Rodrigo as his friend.

I can't continue on with this guilt. This has to stop. I have to fix things with Phoebe. I just need to talk to someone about this. She thought.

Not wanting to get into any further sadness, she pushed these thoughts away from her mind and just focused on her walk.

20 minutes later...

Helga opened the door to her house and went inside after her walk. Despite only taking a short walk, she felt completely exhausted and decided to go to bed. After putting on her pajamas, brushing her teeth, she slowly got on her bed and drifted off to sleep. For today, she did not feel like writing a letter to Arnold.

Before I get criticized, I would like to point out that self-criticism is crucial for Helga's healing. We all know that she is a paradox. As a character, I love her but it is also necessary that a lot of her behavior should not be condoned, nor tolerated. This is something that she needs to realize and acknowledge for herself if she wants to move on. She has to come to terms with it. Helga has traditionally been focusing on what she is not able to control, fueling her anger. Instead, she should focus on what she can control. It is this shift that will eventually allow her to be free from the clutches of the past and Rodrigo will help her with this in the next chapter!