FRESHMAN, UNIVERSITY

They were at a party the first weekend of January but no one really knew what the celebration exactly was for. Not that college students ever really needed a reason. Some thought it was for New Year's, some thought it was for the new semester coming up, and yet another thought it was for someone's birthday. Helga and Arnold could care less.

Most of their friends hadn't gotten back in yet from their various homes throughout the country and state, but they had gotten hella cheap tickets to fly back slightly early so why not? It would mean they could unwind a bit before getting back into the swing of college. In other words, party a bit and turn in those late books to the library.

They had been at the local's house for a couple of hours now and things were definitely in full swing. A group of guys were screaming at each other over their game of pool and Helga had seen two separate couples making out. Frankly, she was getting a little tired of this scene. Maybe she couldn't fully appreciate it because she was never blitzed off her ass, but she found the whole thing kind of repetitive and annoying.

Fortunately, Arnold had decided not to drink tonight. Not that she really cared, it was his life after all. Actually, that was a lie. She did care but he never drank more than one or two cups or bottles or cans or whatever the hell they were serving. And it was always nice to not be the only sober one.

Currently they were playing beer pong with a couple of girls. And they sucked ass. Either that or they were pretending to. It was actually kind of pathetic how obvious they were attempting to flirt with Arnold and how much it was going right over his head.

Why did girls always have to do that anyway? Act dumb? Only assholes were attracted to that and Arnold was definitely not an asshole.

Ironically, as she mulled over it, one of the girls landed the ball in their end. "Woo!" they screeched. Helga suppressed a groan as Arnold praised them and took a deep chug of her soda. She belched and tossed the can into one of the larger garbage bins, very obvious of and ignoring the stares she got from the woo chicks. She had no reason to impress them with her manners and, naturally, dropped all pretense to irk them further. It was ok for them to act stupid so why couldn't she let loose a little?

Ok, maybe a lot. "Well, Meo, I'm out. Go grab us another set and I'll shoot first."

"No problem. Same kind?"

"If it's available, sure." As Arnold walked off, Helga washed off the ping pong, fully aware of the girls unyielding stares, and could just imagine what they were thinking. Probably that she was a skank and un-lady like or some crap like that. In fact, any minute now they were going to tell her that to her face as if it was something she didn't know herself. Women always tried to put each other down by going right for their supposed weak spot: confidence. Too bad for them that she didn't go to school to pick up guys and was actually there for an education.

Helga snickered and aimed. Toss. Swoosh.

One of the girls, Kristin, she thought her name was, dug out the ball and cleaned it, starting to sip the beer. "So Helga." Yep, here it came. Helga barely resisted to roll her eyes. "How long have you and Arnold been dating?"

Well, that was a different question. Lifting an eyebrow over towards the other freshman, Helga leaned into her hand that was resting on the table. "What makes you think we're dating, toots?"

The girls shared a look before resting their attention back onto Helga. Wait. What was that look for? "You're not…? You just look awfully comfortable with each other, is all. And I don't think I've ever heard any girl refer to just a friend as 'mine' before." If it wasn't for the genuinely confused look on the girl's face, Helga would have instantly been on the defense.

Instead, she frowned. "Excuse me?"

The girl shifted under Helga's scowl. "I'm sorry, I thought you were saying mio all night." At Helga's blank frown, she continued, "which is 'mine' in Italian. I'm taking Italian so that's how I know. I guess I misunderstood." The last words were mumbled into her cup but Helga had still caught them.

Helga could only stare at her before busting out in laughter. Her Beer Pong rivals stared at her with a mixture of uncertainty and slight fear. Was this chick literally crazy?

Arnold walked up to the table then, carrying a six-pack of yahoos. Thinking that Helga was actually getting along with the two girls, he approached with a hopeful grin. Even though Helga had made some friends earlier in the school year, he was always hoping she'd show what an amazing person she was to more people. "What'd I miss?"

Helga pushed her long ponytail back over her shoulder that had fallen during her laughing fit. "Oh, that's hilarious, Christine."

"It's Kristin, actually-"

"Whatever. And oh hell no, I wasn't saying 'mine'. It's just a nickname. Arnold's a playboy and it just kind of evolved. We've been friends for years. Your turn, Caroline." So it was childish, but one thing she still loved to do to get under people's skin was call them by the wrong name.

Arnold flushed a little and gave a small, nervous grin towards their temporary foes. "I'm not, actually. Helga tends to exaggerate things."

Kristin giggled lightly at the smile as she tossed the Ping Pong and, just like every other time, pouts when it doesn't go in.

"That's ok, Kristin," Arnold started as Helga chased after it, "I'm sure you'll get it in next time." He flashed her a grin and both girls giggle.

"You're really sweet, Arnold. It's really refreshing, ya know… I was beginning to think that every guy here was just a two-timing, arrogant jerk."

Helga caught the last bit of the conversation as she walked up and handed the ball to Arnold to clean it off. "Ha! Arnoldo here is the biggest sap at the school. He's won so many freaking Golden Boy awards that his closet at home is overflowing."

Arnold sighed in obvious, joking exasperation as he prepared the shot. "Ettie, what did I tell you about going through my stuff? Some of those are made of pure gold and your negativity can melt it." He grinned at Kristin and winked before tossing the ball…and missed when Helga elbowed him in his ribs. "Hey! Great team work!" Arnold scoffed, rubbing his side.

Kristin giggled. "It's so cute that you guys have nicknames for each other and you're not even dating. It's like my big brother and me. I was…like maybe four when I first skinned my knee this one time and Cha-wee, that's my brother and his name isn't really Cha-wee, it's Charlie but that's what I still call him even today, and he calls me TK because it's short for tough knees. Because, ya know, that's what I have since I've skinned them so many times," Kristin finished with a giggle and a bright grin.

Helga stared at her with wide, somewhat disbelieving eyes. Was this chick for real? She could think of so many remarks about 'skinned knees' but knew that Arnold wouldn't appreciate the sexual innuendos to an obviously sweet, innocent girl. Helga grinned sarcastically, which obviously went over the girl's head. "Yes, that's exactly it."

"So…like, how did mio-not-meaning-mine come up?"

Arnold, knowing that Helga didn't really like to talk about it to strangers, shrugged it off with a smile. "It's a long story." Kristin giggled. Again.

Helga rolled her eyes. Sheesh, where did these chicks come from? Arnold would never go for someone like this!

Of course, he had to go and prove her wrong two days later when he took her out to lunch. And then a dinner and a movie. Ugh, she was annoying. The only good thing that came from their relationship was Drunk Jenga.

Fortunately, "TK" did calm down after a couple of weeks of them dating. Otherwise Helga knew she would have had to do something about that stupid giggle.

HIGH SCHOOL

Arnold blushed deeply and waved back to Karen, not even fighting the bubbly feeling of excitement in his stomach. Unbeknownst to him, though, a large grin was plastered on his face when he turned to look back over to Helga, who was giving him that look. Obviously she was annoyed. "What?"

"If you're done flirting with half the school, I would love to get back to our project, Arnoldo."

Arnold flushed even more and mumbled, "not half the school…"

Helga rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Romeo."

Helga ignored the constant poking on her spine. Reading about chemical balancing was totally, way more fun.

"Pst!"

Her eye twitched in sync with the poking. If she ignored him long enough, he'd stop. Just like an annoying puppy that wanted to play when you were too busy to give it any attention: pretend it wasn't there.

Poke. "Pst!" Poke. Poke.

The pencil in her hand snapped and she held her breath. One, two… When she counted to five, she realized he had stopped poking her. Smiling in triumph, she sat a bit straighter and refocused on her textbook. If she knew that Arnold would be so annoying, she would never have sat in front of him. After a year of hanging out with him in their high school career, she thought she had known him better than she did. Fat chance of that.

When a piece of paper flew over her shoulder and landed on her book, she growled softly. God dammit!

She didn't have to open it to know what was inside and she had little interest in responding. Instead, she threw it back over her shoulder, hoping it hit him in his face. A few seconds later, it was back on her book. Helga just ignored it.

Five minutes later, another one flew over her shoulder. Growling again and knowing that she wasn't going to get any work done, she didn't spare a glance to their teacher as she opened up the first note. Hopefully she would get caught and then hopefully the teacher would read the note aloud and embarrass the love-struck football head. That'll show him.

What did they say?

Dude, you didn't write anything!

The second sentence was obviously added when she had thrown it back at him. The question had a stupid, crooked smiley face after the question mark. Arnold could never get those stupid faces right.

Although she was loathed to admit it, she was taken aback that he hadn't asked about his latest interest in the female sex as she had originally thought that the notes were going to ask about. She had the unfortunate lot of sharing History with her. More than once Helga had to snap at Arnold to back off from annoying her with his obnoxious need of constant questions. She wasn't going to play wingman to his love life.

The second note was just pathetic.

Plllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssseeeeeeee!

Grumbling to herself, she flipped his second note over to respond.

Have you always been so annoying? Of course they said yes. Like they ever say no.

Again, she didn't bother looking over at him as she tossed it over her shoulder. She didn't know why she was surprised to see another fly back over shortly after.

That's great! Gerald's dad said he can drive us. I'm glad you changed your mind about camping. I know you're not too much of a fan.

Whatever, Arnoldo. As long as I don't have to save your sorry ass from any mountain lions. And stay away from the bushes this time…I still can't believe you got poison ivy last time! Dumbass.

The lady doth complain too much, ya know.

Helga snickered. It's 'the lady doth protest too much, methinks.' Stick with what you know, Football Head. Like daydreaming and baseball. Preferably daydreaming while playing baseball. Maybe you'll get knocked in the head and I can finally get some work done in class.

Peace, peace,Helga, peace! Thou talk'st of nothing.

She couldn't help but grin at his comeback. She was kind of impressed that he remembered that line, as it wasn't a too popular one from Romeo and Juliet. Arnold tended to have a selective memory and she was under the impression that he didn't remember much of anything from that play.

She didn't respond back and rolled her eyes when another note landed on her book.

"Oh come off it, Romeo. You know that you like the attention."

"Shows just how much you know, Juliet." If she didn't know better, she would have taken that as an insult. Instead, she raised an eyebrow towards him.

"Excuse me?"

Arnold just grinned widely at her. "You're excused."

Helga huffed and pushed him, hoping she'd knock him off of the bench. "Whatever, Football Head. You couldn't go a day not getting a compliment from a chick than I could go a day without taking a dump."

Everyone at the lunch table groaned. "Helga, must you be so crude?" Even Phoebe suddenly lost her appetite.

Helga shrugged and took a bite of her salami sandwich, answering while she chewed. "Probably, but I don't feel like it. And stop calling me 'Juliet', Football Head."

He blinked innocently at her. "What? It's only fair. I barely remember doing that show yet you keep bringing it up."

Helga would have scoffed if she wasn't swallowing and tried to ignore the slight pang in her stomach from his comment. She knew that he didn't really remember it, but it still hurt a little bit with the confirmation of it. Not that it really should matter. It meant more to her for reasons that don't even exist anymore.

"I call you that because you keep thinking with your dick instead of your head, dummy."

Arnold flushed a deep red and she couldn't help but snicker. "You really are crude, Helga."

"Whatever, Football Head. I'm sure you guys say way worse things in the locker room." She doubted it. "But hey. Puberty."

"Dammit, Romeo, keep your eyes on the road!"

They were on the back roads of town and Helga was attempting to teach the boy to drive a car. Helga's dad had taught her to drive when she was fourteen and even though Arnold's grandpa still had his license, he felt more comfortable asking his best friend. The one without the license.

Helga was quickly realizing this was a fatal mistake. A pretty blonde had been walking into the general store and Arnold's natural reaction was to stare at her instead of where he was going. An over compensated jerk of the wheel sent them flying into the other lane. By some piece of luck, the only car they had seen going the opposite direction had long since passed.

Once they were back on the right side of the road, Helga shot him a pissed off look. "What the hell, Arnold! You're supposed to be driving, not picking up chicks!"

At least he had the decency to blush. She couldn't remember the last time Arnold's face had been that bright red though. It put to shame that one time she had walked in on him while he had been changing and he had been standing there in nothing but boxers and glorious teenage muscle.

"I thought I recognized her from a long time ago," was his pitiful excuse. He had thought Hilda had just been a figment of his imagination, but when he saw that girl wearing the high ponytail in the pink summer dress walking into the store, he immediately thought of her. Too bad he forgot he had been driving.

Helga made a noise of disgust and continued to glare at him. "I would like to live to see my sixteenth birthday, Football Head. Don't make me come back to haunt you."

He flashed her a nervous grin, still incredibly red.

Looking at the Caller ID, she answered the phone. "Yo, yo, Romeo."

His deep voice chuckled lazily on the other side of the line, immediately letting her know that he had just woken up. He only laughed like that when he was groggy. Not that it was creepy or anything that she knew that. "If Juliet is the east, then who's the west?"

"Elphaba, doi."

Helga grinned when she could practically feel his disdain over the phone. She had somehow come across the book last year and then forced him to read it after she finished it. She knew he wouldn't like it, with him liking rainbows and fairies and all that lovey-dovey crap, but she was never one to back down from stretching his limitations.

"She died, you know."

"No, actually, I don't. That's just what they want you to think. She's most definitely still alive and the sequel will prove it."

"Helga, Wicked was published six years ago. He would have written a sequel by now if he had any interest in doing it."

"Good things come to those who wait!"

"Too bad Romeo didn't think that way."

"Oooh, burn."

"Hey, Juliet, what are you doing tonight?"

"Watching RAW, doi. You want to come over?"

"Sure. I'll pick up some pies. Extra sausage?"

"You know it."

Arnold snickered and hung up, knowing better than to comment on her love of sausages.

"God dammit, no! No, no, no! Now leave me alone!"

Arnold didn't reply and instead just grinned at her. She always had this extra glow about her when she got riled up. At least, only when he got her mad. When it was someone else, she was just plain scary. When he got her pissed, she looked like a goddess of wrath. He could always get away with so much with her.

"C'mon, Jules. You know you want to."

"Ugh, please do not call me that. I feel like a stripper when you say that," she shot him a glare, effectively stopping any comment he would have made. "Don't you dare say a damn word."

He shrugged, smirking, and picked up one of her books without looking at the title. It was probably some poetry anthology or whatever. Arnold leaned back on her bed, resting his head on one of her pillows and flipped through the book without reading a word. She went back to her paper and Arnold eyed her, feeling the artificial tension growing. His grin widened and prepared himself for a violent reaction by tightening his grip on the box he held, ready to use it as a shield. "Got any pasties then, Jules?"

She shrieked and threw her textbook at him.

It was Thanksgiving break and Helga was stuck in bed, still mostly knocked out from the stupid gas they had used on her before taking out her wisdom teeth. She had put up a fuss at first about it, distinctly remembering the last time she had used laughing gas at the dentist, but had eventually caved in. This time, she didn't have any secrets to hide and they were going to knock her completely out, not just make her go numb.

It was the sound of her window closing behind her that woke her. It was still light outside so she had to squint at the figure, even if there was only one person who ever came in that way. "Rrr'meo? Dat oo?"

Arnold snickered and pulled up a chair, bringing it over to her side of the bed. "You look and sound like shit."

Helga groaned and brought her hand to her still-numb face. "I 'ate oo."

"Aw, but fear not, fair Juliet. Because I, your ever faithful Romeo, have brought you your very own frozen concoction called a 'smoothie'. With a spoon, of course!"

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled violently and she wondered exactly what time it was. For that matter, she wondered when she got home. She vaguely remembered telling her dad that they needed to go back to the dentist because they hadn't done the operation yet – yikes, how embarrassing was that – but she didn't remember anything other than that. Sighing, she attempted to sit up. And failed.

Arnold helped by magically producing a pillow and stuffing it behind her back. She blinked, more awake now. "Danks."

He flashed her a grin and showed her the drink. "I'll take that as a sign that you're hungry. Can you lift your arm?"

She grunted and reached for the spoon and drink. Arnold tucked it onto her lap and removed the lid, watching to make sure she didn't drop the spoon. When she made it to her mouth, she gave him an appreciative groan. "Danks, 'Meo. Dis iiiiis goooooooo'. Ddd."

Arnold fought back a laugh at her lack of pronunciation and instead leaned back in his chair, deciding that he could very easily mock her without worrying about some flying object being hurled his way. "Any time, Oo-lee-ette."

Helga pouted and this time he couldn't help but laugh. She never pouted and he couldn't help but think she looked oddly cute. " 'At's how oo say it…"

He nodded in agreement. "You're right. That is how you say it."

She blinked at him after taking another bite of the smoothie. She pouted again. "I 'ean not… Stop makin' fun o' me!"

His response was his continuing grin. "Fine, I'll stop. 'Ette."

Junior year was over. They were almost done, but she couldn't taste it just yet.

During the summer before, they had decided to watch the sun rise on the first day of Junior year and then set on the last day. They'd do it for Senior year too. Helga had to literally drag him out of bed for the sunrise even though it had been his stupid idea. The sunset had been much easier to get him on his roof.

"Hey Meo?"

"Hmm."

"Have you thought about what will happen after we graduate university?"

Arnold blinked for a moment before grinning over at her. "Only you would be thinking that far ahead."

She scoffed and stretched out her legs in front of her and rested on her hands behind her. "I'm serious. I mean, I'm definitely going straight to college after high school. But then once we graduate, we're going to be in the real world and have to do real world stuff. I think I want to travel first. See the world. I'm afraid that I'll never see it if I go straight into the work force."

Arnold didn't immediately respond, still looking up at the increasingly darkening sky. He hadn't given any thought to life outside of school. Sure he had dreams, but nothing was really solid and nothing was really serious. To be honest with himself, he was nervous about what would happen after their senior year. There had already been so many changes in his life by staying put. What changes would happen when everyone moved away? Would he lose all his friends? College was supposed to be an exciting time for them, but it freaked him out. Yeah, he wanted to pursue something in archaeology, but sometimes he wished he didn't need to grow up.

"I really don't know, Helga. I know that we've talked about what we want to do, but that's really all I've thought about. I guess I'm going to have to go to grad school. I think it takes something like eight years to complete, so who knows?"

Helga nodded. Of course it would take that long, if not longer. Archaeology wasn't really an in-and-out degree. Ever since his parents returned home, he had decided he wanted to do something in that field. He just hadn't decided on his focus.

"Have you even thought about where you want to go to college?"

Arnold just shrugged.

"Don't you get in for free if you go to HCU? Since your parents work there and everything?"

He shrugged again and she didn't press the issue. They were silent for several minutes, Arnold lost in thought about college and the life he would lead afterwards, and Helga about Arnold. She already knew that she was going to go to UK. The University of Kentucky was officially in her blood and it was just a no brainer. Arnold, though, was just a lost kitten. She didn't know why he wasn't bragging about being able to go to HCU for free, not that it was really in his nature to do so, but she thought it would just be a done deal.

She tried not to think of it much, though, because it pained her when she did. The thought of Arnold not being a few blocks away really sucked. They really were inseparable and even if there was still a year away, and so much could happen from then and now, she hated the thought that they wouldn't be together after that. But it was too early to think about that.

"Ettie?"

"What?"

"Where do you want to travel to?"

Helga shrugged. "I don't know. Don't really care, really. I just want to get out of here."

"You don't like Hillwood?"

"I don't mean it like that. I guess…" she sighed and trailed off, not really knowing what she was saying. It wasn't that she didn't like living in Hillwood, it's just that it's such a small piece of the world.

When she could feel Arnold looking at her, she laid back onto the blanket and rested her head next to his. "I haven't thought that far into the future. I just know that I would like to go swim in the waters in Fiji and go to the museums in Florence. I want to see ghosts in Savannah, see the painted sunsets of Santorini and get real pearls from Mallorca. And I don't even like jewelry!"

Arnold nodded, showing her that he had been listening. "That sounds like stuff you would like. Why do you want to wait until after college?"

"You're supposed to meet interesting people in college. I'm hoping I'll get some rich guy to fall in love with me and I can travel on his dime." There was a beat of silence and Helga could feel the sudden tension in the air. She turned and grinned at him, wondering where that came from, and poked his forehead. "You know I'm just kidding."

"Sure you are," he smirked, ignoring how his stomach had suddenly flipped at the thought. "Well, maybe I'll join you. You know, in case you need some protection."

Helga laughed and Arnold didn't fight his grin. "Oh, please, Football Head. You'll be the one who'll need protection. But if you want to tag along, that's fine with me. Maybe we could get some free upgrades and food from lonely old widows."

He frowned at her. "So you'll just want me to come along so you can be my pimp."

Helga laughed again. "That's right. So you better keep working out. You'll need to be extra ripped by then."

"If I'm extra ripped, then why would you need to protect me?"

She snorted in response. "Please. You? In a fight? You'd hit someone and then feel so incredibly guilty you'd give them all of our money so they could go to the hospital."

"Nah, I'd at least keep some for dinner that night. Can't leave the widows all alone for dinner, after all."

Helga laughed again as they trailed off, talking about exaggerated plans of European travels. It wasn't long before the sky was completely dark and when they saw the first falling star of the night, they both made a similar, private wish that this wasn't just talk and that, indeed, after high school they wouldn't drift apart as Arnold feared they would.

"Friends forever, right?"

"Forever and a day, Meo."