Arnold POV

"I'm tired of always being the one to do dishes, Helga!" I snapped. "I've done it four times this week already. Why can't you take a turn for once?"

"Because I'm too busy working to make rent, hair boy. And since when did I become your maid anyway?" Helga snarled. She didn't even bother looking at me as she rustled in the fridge for her breakfast. "Now are you done because I'm running late for work."

I narrowed my eyes and stood my ground even though I only had twenty minutes before my own class started. But ever since Helga accepted the management position at the coffee shop all of the chores had somehow fallen on my shoulders. Instead of leaving for six hour shifts in her usual uniform, she now left for nine hour shifts in pencil skirts, blouses, and heels. I wanted to be proud of her, I really did, but I had a job and school too and I still tried to at least clean up after myself.

"Why did you even accept that position anyway?" I grumbled. "We were doing just fine financially."

"Yeah and I absolutely loved burning my fingers and dealing with rude customers for a measly paycheck, just to pay basic bills."

Helga straightened up with an apple in one hand and a carton of orange juice in the other. She started to pour yourself a glass but barely a teaspoon came out.

"Ugh, are you serious!?" Helga exclaimed and slammed the carton down. "Arnold, I thought you going to the store yesterday."

"Since when did I become your personal shopper?" I threw a resemblance of her own words back at her.

Helga let out a deep breath and looked at me, but didn't say anything. Frustration and resentment were clear in her eyes. She finally turned away, grabbing her keys and her bag and left, slamming the door behind her.

I let out a shaky breath and looked around. The dishes were piled up in the sink, the floor was grimy with crumbs, and the counters were sticky with old spills. The living room wasn't much better. The couch pillows were on the floor and there were books, papers, and food wrappers were strewn everywhere. And I didn't have to look at the bathroom to know that it looked messy too.

"Whatever," I grumbled, "If she's not cleaning anymore, then I'm not cleaning up anymore."

With that I grabbed my stuff, and headed out the door before I was late for my own class.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The professor droned on making my head loll on my hand. For some reason I thought that taking a class on the history of Ancient Western Civilizations would be more interesting. But it wasn't like the subject matter wasn't interesting. The professor just had a way of talking in a disinterested, monotone voice that made time move in slow motion. I absently took notes on my laptop, but it was hard to keep track of exactly what the important information was. I hadn't told anyone yet, but I hadn't been doing so well with the professor's quizzes. But it was no big deal, if I worked a little harder I was sure I could do better.

A small movement on the bottom of my laptop screen caught my eye. A little one hovered over my minimized chat window, alerting me of a new message. I hesitated. I really should be paying attention but…

G_man87: Hey man, how's your personal hell going?

Blu_hat86: Eh… I'll let you know when I wake up. How's yours?

G_man87: What can I say? Calc ain't so bad. Boring as hell but pretty easy.

G_man87: What time you get out?

G_man87: Wanna play some ball?

I drummed my fingers on the table and checked my calendar. I wasn't scheduled for work today, but I did have my own calculus test to study for, a paper for Shakespeare class to work on, not to mention some chores piling around the apartment. It felt like forever since I've done anything but work or study.

Blu_hat86: Count me in. When and where?

"Mr. Shortman," the professor suddenly called out, "perhaps you can tell me why ancient Greek culture is the birthplace of western civilization?"

"Uh…" my eyes darted to the notes and I was relieved to find that I actually did write that one down. "Because they created the earliest form of democracy which is the basis of our modern governments."

The professor nodded and turned back to the board. "Thank you. Glad to see that you're paying some attention at least. Now speaking of the Roman Empire…"

He went back to lecturing in his monotone voice and writing near illegibly on the board. I tried paying attention, I really did, but my mouse had other ideas. I opened up a browser window and typed in one of my favorite anthropology photography blogs. University life was alright, but I missed being out in the field. When I traveled with my parents I got to actually experience the culture first hand, not just hear about it through lectures and text books. When I was actually taking my major classes that is. Nearly half of my academic studies were general courses, material that I would probably never use again but I guess it would make me a well-rounded person.

My phone vibrated in my pocket right about the time class came to a close. The professor took his time dismissing us, going over the homework and the upcoming quiz. I slid my phone out to check the new text message from Gerald telling me to meet him in the quad as soon as my class let out. I sent him a quick reply confirming. I also checked for any messages from Helga. Nothing of course. But if she thought that I was going to text her first to apologize, she was crazy. Finally, after so many years, the professor officially let us go and I was one of the first ones out.

The air was starting to cool with the onset of fall. A lot of coeds were walking around kicking up leaves or even lounging on the grass on blankets. A small breeze made me shiver and zip my jacket up tighter. Hopefully some basketball will get my blood running so I won't freeze to death in this sixty-degree weather. The cheerleading squad was practicing in a large grassy area. Gerald and some of his teammates were standing by chatting.

"Gerald!" I called over to him. "Hey, over here!"

Gerald looked up and waved me over with a large grin on his face. By the time I reached him, the cheerleaders had taken a break and were talking to the guys. Two of them were talking to Gerald and eyed me curiously as I walked up.

"Hey man," Gerald smiled as we did our decades old, special handshake, "I'd like you to meet these two lovely ladies, Sasha and Bridget."

Sasha was tall and curvy with dark chocolate skin and deep red hair that was cropped short in the back and long in the front. She wore the university hoodie with dark green yoga shorts despite the cool weather. She looked me up and down for a bit before giving me a smile and waving at me with glassy, dark red nails. Bridget was much shorter with a face full of freckles and wild, curly auburn hair barely contained in a ponytail. She was wearing sweatpants and a university sweatshirt. Her smile came a little easier.

I smiled at them in return and turned back to Gerald. "So are you ready to go shoot some hoops?"

"Of course. Let's head over so I can kick your butt!"

"Aww, Gerald you can't be leaving already," Sasha immediately whined and clung onto his arm, "I thought we were all going to hang out."

"Later, baby, later," Gerald gave her a charming smile and removed her from his arm. "Right now, I got to spend time my main man here."

"Oh fine," Sasha gave a playful pout, "but don't forget that you promised to meet the rest of us at Mitchy's later on."

"It's a promise." Gerald waved to them and we finally started walking away.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but the whole exchange made me vaguely uncomfortable. Since when did Gerald start calling girls other than his girlfriend "baby"? But then again, it wasn't really any of my business who Gerald hung out with.

"So are we playing a real game or just hanging out?" I asked him instead. "Should I stop at my place and get my gear?"

Gerald shook his head with a laugh. "Nah man, just some friendly H-O-R-S-E. Besides, I don't think you can handle my game anymore. Coach has been putting us through conditioning hell this past week. Every day, twice a day."

I let out a low whistle. "How do you have time for that? I've been busy with work and classes that I barely have time for sleep, let alone hobbies. I've been meaning to take Helga camping but you know, schedules." Or at least I was a few weeks ago. Now I wasn't so sure I wanted to.

"I know what you mean, man," Gerald sighed, "Phoebe's been bugging me all week about some day trip to some art museum over in the next state. I love my baby, but museums just ain't my thing."

I laughed. They may have gone together perfectly like chips and salsa, but Gerald and Phoebe couldn't be any more different in tastes. As long as they were happy, that's all that mattered though. It was hard not to be slightly jealous of them.

We reached the basketball court and after putting our stuff to the side, we started a game of good ol' fashioned H-O-R-S-E. Unfortunately, Gerald wasn't lying about having gotten better. Every single shot of his, no matter how convoluted, made it into the hoop cleanly. Every one of my shots hit the backboard with the force of a rock and bounced off again. That may have been because I was playing out my frustrations. I told Gerald about what had been going on between me and Helga for the past couple of weeks, escalating into this morning's fight. Gerald listened and nodded sympathetically.

"I hate to say this, but… I kinda warned you about this man. Chicks are a pain to live with." Gerald shook his head. "Helga's acting like you don't have your own stuff to worry about."

"I know!" I threw the ball way too hard and it missed the backboard completely. "Just because she's making more money than me now, doesn't mean she's the boss of me."

Gerald nodded again, but I immediately regretted what I said. Of course it didn't matter to me who made more money in our relationship. I just wanted to be treated like an equal instead of a subordinate.

"Maybe she's just stressed." I sighed. "She has to deal with school and this new management position-"

"Or she's just acting like any live-in girlfriend?" Gerald rolled his eyes. "I'm telling you, all girls are like this. They want you to clean the place for them. Stop all your plans to take them to some stupid museum. It's ridiculous."

Gerald was close to scowling when he made his next shot. It bounced off the backboard and danced around the rim a little before making it in. My thoughts went back to the two girls he was hanging out with earlier.

"You and Phoebe doing alright?" I asked him. "It's been a while since we all got to hang out together."

"It's also been a while since we've had some good quality guy time." Gerald grinned. "How about you and me ditch whatever responsibilities we got waiting for us. And just have guys' night tonight. My treat."

I thought about the paper I still to write and the filthy apartment that needed cleaning.

"Hell yes."


Guys night stretched well into the night. We made a silent agreement not to talk about our girlfriends. It felt great to finally relax and talk about everything else. His games and practices, my job at the museum, what we planned to do after grad. It was great.

It was about midnight before I made it back to my apartment. I put my key in the lock and braced myself for the inevitable mess I would find inside. I was nowhere near prepared.

For a minute, I seriously thought I had walked into the wrong apartment. The carpet was neatly vacuumed and not a single item was laying on the floor. Books were stacked neatly on the table which had been wiped clean. The couch cushions and pillows were straightened and neatly fluffed. Even the kitchen was immaculate with not a single crumb or dirty dish in sight.

"Helga?" I called out softly. "Babe, you home?"

The apartment was completely silent though. It was after midnight, but I've known Helga to stay up well past one a.m. Just in case, I took a quick look inside her room. As soon as I did, I felt like the world's biggest jerk. Helga was sprawled out on her bed, still wearing her skirt and blouse. A trigonometry textbook, an English Literature book, and several notebooks were still laying open next to her. The vacuum cleaner was propped up in the corner leaving no question as to who cleaned up the apartment.

Moving as quietly as I could, I crept over to the bed and started moving the books and notebooks off the bed. Helga mumbled a little in her sleep and her eyebrow creased. She settled back again when I pulled the comforter over her.

"Goodnight, Helga." I turned out her bedside light, but made no move to kiss or touch her. "See you in the morning."


A/N- Hey reviewer who said that Helga is "insufferable 24-7", maybe you should actually ready more than a sentence of this story before passing judgment on it. There have been more than one time when I show Helga's good side. I'm not even going to bother pointing them out to you. Besides, this story is about growing up and developing into an adult. This is literally everyone's first time away from home and family. Give them a chance to make mistakes and get things wrong before they get things right. You were probably a mess too when you first started.

To everyone else, thank you for reading, enjoying and giving me actually feedback. All of you guys are awesome. I'll update when I can but school is crazy. Thanks again for reading :)