Chapter 11: Pick One
The next morning came, and Arnold rolled over to shut off the alarm. It was nice not having to reach over someone else to do it. Before waking his wife, the first thing he did was feel his face to see if there was any remaining chocolate. I think she got it all off me.
Looking over at her, he hated the thought of waking her. Not to mention knowing it wouldn't be easy; like a wrestling match itself. "Hey Helga. It's time to get up!"
Seeing her wave him off, he rolled his eyes and shook her harder. "Helga! We can't be late for work!" he insisted, watching her sit up to rub her eyes.
"Alright! Keep what's left of your pants on! Sheesh!" she scowled, while getting up to stretch.
Grabbing his clothes from the closet, Arnold asked "So, are you and Mark still working on program planning?"
Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she replied "Yeah, we'll be doing that for the rest of the week. It's interesting to think about how I've been using government techniques ever since I was a kid."
"What do you mean?" Arnold asked, raising an eyebrow, while he finished dressing himself.
Already dressed and working on her hair, Helga said "Well, Mark said program planning basically boils down to bringing everyone in your group together to follow through on a goal you're trying to reach. Think about all the schemes and rituals I put together against our classmates any time I needed to teach them a lesson!"
Rolling his eyes after finishing getting dressed, Arnold walked towards her. "Or, accomplishing your main program you've been planning/scheming since you were three."
"Which is?" she asked, finally fixing her hair.
"Winning me over." he said kissing her, while remembering not to put his hand behind her head.
After letting her lips go, he could see that sensitive look in his eyes only his touch could bring to them. When she realized it she said, "Let's go eat!"
The two went to the kitchen, while Arnold already had a good idea of what she was about to grab. "Are you sure you want cereal again?"
"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" she scowled.
"I guess not? It's just that we have other things." he laughed.
"Well, what else did you want me to do? Stick my head in there?" she asked, cocking her brow at him.
Shaking his head, he replied "I'm just saying, we have microwavable pancakes, waffles, I can make eggs, toast."
"Pttss...please! Unless you can make sugar chunk waffles, I think I'm good." she scowled.
Arnold knew he wasn't going to win their usual breakfast spat, but if he wanted to be a good husband, he felt he had to at least offer.
After making himself a waffle, he sat there watching his wife finish her last loud bites of the sugary breakfast. "Well, I guess I should get going. See what else Mark has to tell me that I can relate to my childhood reputation."
Arnold stood up from the table to kiss her goodbye. "Have a good day. Maybe we can do something special tonight?"
"Maybe. We'll see what happens." she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Arnold then watched her head out the door, as he sat back down to finish his waffle.
On her way out the door, Helga thought to herself about the good time she had spent in front of the television with Arnold last night. This made her think there has to be another fun topic to discuss about our childhood interests. I told him practically every secret about myself before we were married. What interesting thing can we do tonight?
While she was pondering this, Arnold was heading outside the apartment where he saw Jason. "Hey, how are you this morning?" Arnold asked, finding it unnecessary Jason felt the need to stop by his place every morning before heading to work.
"I'm doing great! Mark told me he's been reviewing cases to prepare for anything unexpected Matt may try to pull on you and Helga." Jason said enthusiastically, as if it was his problem being faced.
Arnold began to smile at the idea of someone he barely knew caring so much about helping him. "That's great. If you two want to come over soon, we could look at everything."
"Are you free tonight?" Jason asked anxiously.
Not expecting that, Arnold replied "Uhh as far as I know."
The two began walking towards Dr. Bliss' office while Helga had just made it to City Hall. Walking the steps to her office, she still had her mind on a special event for her and Arnold to share.
"Good morning Helga, how are you?" Mark asked.
"I'm good. Been going over that programming stuff." she replied, watching him smile.
"Well good. I've been reviewing information for your conflict with your classmate." Matt informed her, as she rolled her eyes at the thought of Matt even being as close as a classmate.
"Yeah, I would have liked to help...only I don't know anything about this stuff." she admitted, lowering her head.
"You will in good time. Although I wasn't expecting it, this is actually a good example of something we could use for program planning." Mark pointed out, watching Helga cock her brow.
"How is that?" she scoffed.
"You seemed to think all your vindictive schemes in grade school were great examples of it. In a way, they were. Here, we need to plan everyone and everything we'll need to prepare to reach our goal. Our goal in this case would be, not letting Matt sue you." Mark pointed out to her, as she smiled.
She was starting to understand things, while appreciating the help being given to her.
Meanwhile, Arnold and Jason had just made it to work. Dr. Bliss greeted them, once they made it inside her office. "Good morning boys. Are you ready for today's training seminar?"
Watching them nod their heads in approval, she replied "Go ahead and head that way, they should be starting soon."
"I thought it was interesting to see last time how easily you can connect those topics to people." Arnold admitted.
"The homeless shelter taught me just how effective a person's lifestyle can be on their personality." Jason said, as they entered the room.
Taking their seats, they noticed the teacher remaining more focused on some traits than others. For instance anger. Arnold listened to how although not everyone appreciates experiencing another person's anger, it is at times necessary. It's not healthy to bottle up rage, unless that person is willing to let emotional conflicts such as anxiety and depression form.
Of course Arnold couldn't help but think about Helga. She expressed herself through rage, but it was really more to hide her insecurities than it was to unload her stress.
Back at City Hall, Mark was explaining to Helga everything their 'program plan' would require to be a good lawyer, the people involved in the accident or situation which took place, and the information needed to prove they had to right to do what they did to Matt.
"I would be happy to help you, and I think I know a few things that can help us out. We'll just need to go over everything to be fully prepared. If you're free tonight, I could come over." Mark suggested.
Helga stopped to think for a moment. I still haven't thought of anything special for Arnold and I to do. Something tells me his special plan for us was to take a stroll in the park like we've done so many times.
"Eh, why not? See you tonight then." she said, standing up.
"Great, I'll come over around five." he replied, watching her leave.
Meanwhile, Arnold was leaving the training seminar with Jason. "I love the connection I'm able to feel with the people I know after leaving these seminars. After listening to the description of each trait, it makes me rethink the reason someone I know always acted the way they do." Jason explained, while Arnold nodded his head.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. In a lot of ways his explanations are similar to the people I know. Not everyone has the same reason for acting the way they do though." Arnold admitted.
"Of course not. Not everyone goes through the same problems and struggles in life." Jason replied, holding the door for Arnold.
Before going their separate ways, Arnold said "Well, if you'd like to come over later this afternoon, you're welcome to."
Smiling, Jason said "I'll see when Mark is free!"
On Arnold's way home, he heard "Aww gee! You can't be out!"
He turned his head to see Harold pouting at the Jolly Olly man. Arnold then walked over to ask what the problem was, while the truck drove away. "Hey, what's wrong Harold?"
"Stupid Jolly Olly man was out of Mr. Fudgeys!" Harold exclaimed. Rolling his eyes, Arnold explained "Well, maybe you should take it easy. You eat those things every day don't you?"
"Yeah! So what?" Harold asked angrily, while Arnold stopped to think about his question…
Harold getting sick means throwing up. He threw up at the party. If he was at the party, he may have gone to the arcade afterwards, and been the one Mark gave the ring to…
"Uh, nevermind. I do have a question for you though." he said, rubbing his neck.
"Well hurry up, 'cause I'm hungry!" Harold exclaimed.
"Did you happen to go to the arcade after my party last weekend?" he asked, watching Harold scratch his head.
"No, I don't think so? After I threw up in your bathroom, I went home to throw up some more." he explained, while Arnold let out a deep sigh. "Alright, thanks anyways." Arnold replied, walking home disappointed.
He made it there to see Helga straightening up, although there wasn't much to fix. They didn't live with a house full of people or a zoo full of animals.
"Hey Helga, what are you doing?" he asked.
"Just straightening. Mark said he's coming over around five to look at those papers with us." she explained.
"That's good. Jason told me this morning he was planning on asking him about it." Arnold informed her, as she began to roll her eyes.
"Crimity! Those two seem more excited about this than we are...and I'm sure as heck not happy about it!" she exclaimed.
Setting his things down, Arnold went over to hug her. "So, was that all you did with him today?"
"That and relate program planning to it." she explained, feeling him squeeze her tight.
"I'm sorry we're not doing anything special tonight. We'll find something to do this week." he insisted, turning her around to face him.
"Eh, don't worry about it. Like you said, we're going to be busy this summer. Then things won't exactly die down when school starts. Then when we graduate, we…" she started thinking out loud, but was interrupted when his lips met hers. Putting his hand behind her head, he took out her clip, watching her hair fall down her face.
"Who said you could do that?" she asked, pulling away from him.
"I did!" he exclaimed, pressing his lips aggressively against her, before giving her a chance to respond. Lacing their fingers together, he pushed her against the fridge. Rubbing their parts together hard, she felt him release a deep sigh through his nose. Her eyes then flashed open when she felt his tongue slide as far down her throat as possible. Nearly choking her, her first thought was Does he even care about the fact that I can't breathe right now?!
A moment later, her eyes lowered, thinking to herself So what if I can't breathe, if I had to choose how I died, it would be in my beloved's arms.
Feeling her throat move, he slid his tongue back, releasing her lips to say "I'm sorry. I just didn't like hearing that."
Rolling her eyes, she replied "So this town's number one problem solver thought he'd solve the problem of us never seeing each other again by nearly choking me to death? Great plan football head."
Beginning to blush, he said "Maybe you could teach me some program planning. That way I can plan out my wrestling attacks next time."
"Oh shut up Arnoldo." she scoffed, trying to break free.
Squeezing her arms tight, pressing her against the fridge, he leaned his head against hers to whisper "I like this pinning move. Maybe our special activity this week can be 'practicing' everything else you listed for me last night."
Her eyes widened while her knees weakened at the sound of this suggestion. Not that it would be the first time they 'rough housed.' Still, any time Arnold tried showing his bad boy attitude, Helga's sensitive soul appeared.
"I guess that would be alright." she said, gulping at the idea of it.
Smiling at her innocent face, he replied "Let's eat something before they come over. I don't know how long they'll be here."
"Okay, but you'll have to relinquish your said to be awesome 'pinn-manship' if you plan on getting to the food." she smirked, pointing out he had her blocking the fridge.
"Very funny Helga." he sighed, letting her go.
"So, how was therapy? Did you discover I'm actually an evil triplet?" she asked, searching the fridge for something to make.
"We'll be doing seminars and maybe a few staff meetings the rest of the week. I won't be meeting with anymore patients until next week." Arnold said, watching her pull out mayo, turkey, cheese, and tomatoes.
"Well good. Dr. Bliss probably noticed the fear in your eyes when you were confronted with my evil twin last week!" Helga said wittingly, spreading the mayo across the bread.
"Uhhh Hilda and I were getting along just fine. Dr. Bliss never felt the need to interfere." Arnold said, lifting an eyebrow at her.
"Hey! You were approaching dangerous territory pushing her to open up to you the first day!" Helga scowled, slapping the turkey and cheese on the sandwich.
"But isn't that what Dr. Bliss did to you, when you were discussing me? You felt so much better didn't you?" Arnold pointed out, watching her roll her eyes.
"Oh please! The woman was pestering me! I don't know why she couldn't let go of the idea I liked you. She sounded more fixated on you than I was! Guess she got what she wanted by the end of the appointment." Helga sighed, chopping the tomatoes.
"I think you mean you got what YOU wanted." Arnold said, wrapping his arms around her waist, from behind her.
"What are you talking about hairboy?" she scowled, cocking her brow.
"Whether or not you're willing to admit it, it was hard repressing your feelings for me. You needed someone to unload them onto!" he said softly, watching her roll her eyes.
"Pttss...please! Helga G. Pataki does not need someone to relinquish her feelings onto AKA a therapist!" she scowled, handing him his sandwich.
"What about me? Don't you like having me to share your feelings with when you feel alone?" he asked hopefully, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Oh that's completely different! This is a personal, private, intimate relationship. Unless you feel like gettin' it on with Hilda, I don't see how the two situations can relate to each other?" she scoffed, sitting at the table with him.
Arnold began to blush as he replied "I know they're not exactly the same. Obviously you and I can open up to each other in ways she and I can't. I mean, for the most part. I just meant you should have someone you feel comfortable sharing your problems with when you need to."
Helga hated the idea of losing an argument, but knew she had promised to give her reputation a rest every now and then. "Uhh fine! You win! Happy? Sheesh!" she exclaimed, shoving her sandwich in her mouth.
Arnold lowered his eyes at her, knowing from his past week of training it wasn't easy for anyone to change who they are. He wanted to place his hand on hers to express his feelings, but she was busy expressing her joy by not letting go of her sandwich.
"I never intended to make this a competition." he began before she interrupted.
"Pttss...of course not!"
"I just didn't agree with your accusation that I was pushing her. Even if I was, the whole point of therapy is to get people to open up to you, isn't it?" he asked cautiously.
Taking her plate to the sink, she shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, I guess. Not everyone enjoys it though."
Arnold got up to stand beside her at the sink, leaning in, with his head against hers. Pressing their noses together, he whispered "Not at first, they don't."
When their lips were about to meet, they heard a knock at the door.
"Well, that's got to be them." Helga sighed, watching Arnold walk towards the door to answer it.
"Hey Arnold! Mark brought over the research he's been doing. I didn't know if you wanted to go over any of our psychology notes, so I brought those as well." Jason said eagerly.
Arnold gave a weak smile, opening the door for them. "Great, come on in."
Observing the apartment, they noticed Helga still standing in the kitchen. After finishing washing the plates, the turned to see Mark standing an inch away from her. "Crimity!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry Helga. I thought you heard us come in?" he said, standing back.
"Uhh that's okay." she replied, feeling embarrassed by her outburst.
After noticing the papers in his hand, she added "The computer's over there, if you're ready to start looking at everything?"
Helga lead him over there, pulling a chair up beside him. "So what are we looking at here?" she asked, crossing her arms, leaning back in her chair.
Mark turned to her, looking at his information "Well, like I said, every detail of the situation counts when it comes to these laws. Matt could sue you, just because he was physically injured. You would have to have a legitimate reason for doing what you did to him."
"I was being sexually harassed! What better reason could there be?!" she exclaimed, leaning towards him.
"Which is why these are the best two choices I came up with for you to defend yourself with." Mark replied.
Helga looked over to read Mark's first choice for Her and Arnold, which was a section of the Education of Amendments of 1972.
Federal Law
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX") is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions, programs, and activities that receive federal financial assistance. The law applies to any academic, extracurricular (student organizations and athletics), research, occupational training, and other educational programs from pre-school to graduate school that receives or benefits from federal funding. The entire institution falls under Title IX even if only one program or activity receives federal funds. Some educational institutions are not covered by Title IX, even if they do receive federal funding, such as certain religious organizations, military training schools, and university fraternities and sororities.
Title IX prohibits various forms of sex discrimination in schools, including sexual harassment, gender-based bullying, and sexual violence.
Under Title IX, schools are required to have and distribute policies against sex discrimination, and these policies which must specifically address sexual harassment. Creating such a policy lets students, parents, and employees know that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Schools are also required to adopt and publish grievance procedures for resolving complaints about sex discrimination and sexual harassment. Under Title IX, schools are also supposed to evaluate their current policies and practices to ensure that they are in compliance with the law. Lastly, schools are required to appoint at least one employee to be responsible for making sure that Title IX is followed and enforced.
Title IX requires schools to provide an effective means for promptly and appropriately responding to sexual harassment complaints. This means that once a school has notice of possible sexual harassment of any of its students, the school must promptly investigate to determine what occurred and then take immediate and appropriate steps to stop the harassment and prevent it from happening again. Schools must also address the effects of the harassment, which could mean providing counseling services for victims of harassment or providing academic support services and arranging for a student to re-take a course if the student's classroom performance suffered as a result of the harassment.
Finally, it is illegal to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a person who has exercised rights or taken action to enforce Title IX.
Looking over it, she replied "Crimity! Well, this should be a piece of cake!"
Mark gave a disappointed look as he replied "Not necessarily. The school is being referred to more as the one who would take responsibility for missing any type of sexual harassment and need to have something done about it. Meaning Arnold's threat to go to the principal that day was really more the right way to go about Matt's behavior towards you." Mark pointed out, watching Helga roll her eyes.
"I thought you said this was a good choice for defending myself?" she countered.
"If you could find a way to prove the school could have cared less about him harassing you, whether you had gone to them first or not, this could be useful. Unless you know a few ways to prove it though, I find this next act to be more useful." Mark explained, while Helga read over it.
Public Order act 1986: Section 5 (Harassment, Alarm, Distress)
A person is guilty of an offence if they
Use threatening words, behavior, or disorderly behavior
Display any writing, signs, or form of visible representation that is threatening or abusive within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused by harassment, alarm, or distress thereby.
The offence has the following statutory defences.
The defendant had no reason to believe there was anyone around likely to be alarmed or distressed by this.
The defendant was in a dwelling and had no reason to believe their actions would be seen or heard outside of it.
The conduct was reasonable.
After reading this, Helga could already list the positive and negative ways this act would be able to help her.
Meanwhile, Jason was in the kitchen with Arnold. "So, have you and Helga tried making anything from the list I showed you recently?"
Arnold began to blush. He hadn't expected Jason to actually expect them to try any of those things without his help first. "Uhh Helga made some easy mac. That's the closest we got to pasta. Otherwise, all we've been doing is eating sandwiches and anything microwavable."
Jason nodded his head, replying "Don't worry, within the next few weeks, you'll have no problem with any of it."
Arnold smiled, wondering if he should go in the living room to see how things were going with Helga and Mark.
"So, we already know Matt is guilty of the first part of this section. He verbally and physically harassed you against your will. Also, in front of the the school where plenty of kids could be offended by it." Mark explained, while Helga nodded her head hopefully.
"Here's where we may have a problem however." he continued, while Helga did her best not to roll her eyes.
"Although you could find ways to argue it's reasonable to have punched him for doing that to you, you still did it in front of several people. There's no guarantee you didn't offend anyone when you did it." he continued as Helga scowled.
"Pttss...please! It was a bunch of high schoolers. You think a week goes by without something like that happening?! Those places are known for violence and drama!" she exclaimed.
"Even if that's true, it doesn't make it legal. Also, not everyone bothered by something like that would come forward and admit it." Mark pointed out as Helga let out a deep sigh.
"So, where does that leave me?"
"Well, unless Matt can prove someone other than himself was offended by this, I don't think you have too much to worry about. Do you know of anyone who was?" Mark asked.
Helga sat there a moment, thinking back to that week. Rolling her eyes, she replied "This annoying snob who was in one of my classes came up to Arnold and I on the bus one morning to say word had gotten spread around about the fight." she began as Mark continued to listen.
"She acted like she was shook up, but I think she was really just trying to send us on a guilt trip. Other than that, no one spoke a word about it to us." Helga replied, shrugging her shoulders.
Mark sat to think about how risky this could be for a moment. "Unless Matt can get a handful of people to testify on how uncomfortable the situation made them, I don't think you have too much to worry about. If I was you, I would find some people you may be close to who could back you up in case the worst should happen."
A weak smile formed on Helga's face, knowing there was still hope for her and Arnold. Maybe Matt was all talk and he wouldn't even come after them.
"Well, we should get going. I'll see you tomorrow." Mark said, heading towards the kitchen.
Jason saw his roommate was ready to leave. "See you tomorrow Arnold! Maybe we'll be starting our staff meetings!"
"Uhh yeah, maybe?" Arnold said, scratching his head.
Watching them walk out the door, Helga elbowed Arnold "That guy's got it bad for you."
Rolling his eyes, he replied "Whatever you say Helga."
The two then headed towards the bedroom, while Arnold anxiously asked "So, did you and Mark get things figured out?"
Putting on her night shirt, Helga said "For the most part. He said it's not that I didn't have the right to hit him for harassing me, it's just that I did it in front of a bunch of people who may be scarred for life by witnessing it. Oh brother! What a bunch of crap! I'll find out their names and send them to your office." she said wittingly.
Rolling his eyes, getting into the bed, he countered "Well, there are a lot of sensitive people in the world. I think we've established you can be too at times."
Glaring at him, she smirked "I watch wrestling shows for crying out loud! What makes you think seeing a little blood get shed would send me to a therapist?!"
Pulling her in with him, he whispered "You're with one right now."
After letting out a lovesick sigh, she felt him pull her closer. Pressing their noses together, he whispered "You're my favorite patient."
Feeling her heart pound, she asked "Why is that?"
"Because after I ask you anything I want, I can DO anything I want." he smiled.
Rolling her eyes as she began to turn her head away, she smirk "Pttss...oh please you…" but wasn't able to finish.
He pressed his lips against hers firmly, with one hand behind her head, while his other hand began to slide up her nightgown. Chills formed across her body, while she felt him intertwining his smooth legs with hers.
Taking his lips off hers slowly, he said "I guess we should get some sleep."
Feeling his soft face with her hand, she said softly "Yeah, I guess."
"Good night sweetie. I love you."