I know this is outrageously short and it's probably not what you guys were wanting, but still, time progression and a bit of teaser until next time, which will be all the fun I had writing "the date" :D It's more of a throwback to the origin of the story. So look for that later this week...after I have my finals

In response to the review about "it's Legend," I wasn't sure anyone was still reading. But, if you are, then I'll try and have an update for that by next week :D Merry Christmas.

Took forever to find a quote that worked with this chapter...


We were so close! So close, we tripped at the finish line! Why? Because our little *nut*-Meg has to go all noble.

~Hercules~

Her morning classes, as usual, proved uneventful. She paid attention, somewhat, and attempted to take notes. Somehow or other the notes turned out to mostly be filled with scribbles and doodles and hearts of various shapes and sizes. It seemed very little from the actual classes had passed into her sensory register at all. Go figure.

When the bell finally rang to signal lunch, she let out a gigantic sigh accompanied by a loud, "Finally! Ugh!" She scooped up her bag and hastily jammed her notebook in it, her heart pounding. The day was dragging at such a pathetically slow rate that it was akin to a bullets speed in the Matrix. She felt she could literally hear every millisecond within the seconds ticking at a horrible slow rate. She was surprised she had managed to not go insane and gnaw on the corner of her desk in anticipation.

She slung her bag over her should, not issuing any apologies to the people she pushed out of her way as she marched into the hallway, sloppy pigtails swinging as she cleared herself a path to her locker, her boots pounding on the tile of the hallway. She made a brief stop to tape up her note to James before arriving at her own locker and hastily doing her combination, just shoving her entire bag inside, not bothering to sort her books out for later classes. She wanted to get to the lunch room as soon as possible. It wasn't like she couldn't just come back and get them later.

The lunchroom was already crowded by the time she arrived, the voices in a large mix of incomprehensible blabber that she cared nothing about. She spotted Phoebe and Gerald in the line together, Gerald loading his tray and Phoebe clutched her lunchbox and chatted with him. No matter how hard she tried, Phoebe couldn't get the disgust from her face as she watched her boyfriend load up. Helga glanced around the remaining students in line from her post by the door, feeling her stomach churn as she spotted Arnold at the back of the line talking to Sid, stifling a yawn as they slowly inched forward. Helga's stomach was suddenly fluttering like it had a school of fish playing tag inside of it, so she settled for a yahoo! from one of the machines in the cafeteria. She didn't fell like doing the antsy dance in the lane. She fished around in the pocket of her jeans, producing a few quarters, which she shoved into the machine, selecting the button with the bottle on it. She fished it out from the pit, popping the tab in her teeth, spitting it into the garbage can next to the machine.

"That's disgusting. Do you even know what could have been touching the top of that?"

Helga turned to peer over her shoulder, feeling a surge of hatred as she saw Jeanne toss her red locks over her shoulder, tapping her kitten heels against the scuffed tile.

"Well, are you going to move or what?" Jeanne whined, shifting her weight onto one leg as she sized up Helga. "Like you even need that soda anyway."

Helga felt her grip tighten on the soda can as she turned to face the girl, pressing her lips into a thin line as she stiffly held her soda. She was suddenly keenly aware she was wearing her combat boots with her faded blue jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. Plain, but slouchy. Slouchy, but certainly not making her look overweight. She gritted her teeth before saying coolly, "I guess I need it just about as much as you do."

Jeanne's eyes widened for split second before she clamped her crimson lips in a pouty expression. "Oh come on, like you actually want to start something. Just run along and let me get my soda," the girl said disdainfully, waving her hand for Helga to move out of the way.

"Come on, Jeanne, we don't have all day," called a dark haired girl from a nearby table. "Hurry it up. We're thirsty!" The girl waved with her hand, signaling Jeanne to get over to the table.

"I would if Ms. Piggytails would step out of the way," the redhead whined again. "Come on blondie," she said as she directed her attention back on Helga, arms crossed. "I just want to get some sodas."

It was taking all of Helga's self control to not just dump the soda she had all over Jeanne's head, deflating her fluffed, lose curls. Helga didn't want to cause a scene in here on the off chance that Arnold might just see her from his position in the line, but she still didn't feel she could just let the girl get away. But if she did, then it would make the party all that much sweeter. She plastered a grin on her face, cocking her head to the side. She pointed at Jeanne with her free hand, "You know what, feel free to get your sodas. I know the seats here get hard, and even someone with an ass as big as yours needs to keep up the fluff." She took a sip of her own soda, then spun on her heel, marching over to the table where Phoebe and Gerald were sitting, each working on their meals. She slid into her usual chair, sipping on her soda for a moment.

"Hey Pheebs, tall hair boy. How's it going?"

"Oh, today is going quite well. I got all my homework for the weekend done last night, so I can practice my music tonight," Phoebe said, smiling as she sipped on her juice.

"I didn't," Gerald said, contorting his face into a frown. "So I got some work to do tonight, I guess."

"You mean you guys won't be hanging out?" Helga asked. She ran her finger around the rim of the can, watching for Arnold to appear.

"No, what it means it I'll just be doing homework at Phoebe's," Gerald said, smiling as he wrapped an arm around Phoebe, who giggled.

Helga suppressed a yelp as Arnold slipped into the seat beside her, sliding his tray onto the table. The bags under his eyes seemed even darker than earlier, and he was blinking like his eyes were having tiny seizures.

"Hey Arnold," the girl said, waving her hand in front of his eyes. "Wake up, you still got half of your day left."

The boy shook his head, glancing over at her. He mustered a tiny smile before poking at his food. "I'll make it through, I'm sure. I'll be fine."

"Don't lie, Arnoldo. I'm surprised you haven't just curled in an empty classroom for a snooze." She took a sip of soda, shrugging. "I know I would."

She looked over to see him with his head down on the table, his lips parted slightly, the breath he exhaled making the jell-o on the tray next to his face wiggle. Helga sighed, shaking her head. "I knew this would happened," she muttered aloud as she leaned on her fist. "Criminy. Poor kid."

Gerald and Phoebe both nodded, the group watching his steady breathing against the jell-o. Helga looked over at her friends, raising a brow as if to ask "Well, what now?"

Gerald gave her a thumbs before reaching over and taking the hamburger from Arnold's plate, biting into it with relish.

"Why can't I sign him out? Look at the poor kid, he can't even sit up," Helga challenged, pointing at Arnold, who was curled up on the nurses cot, a contented smile on his sleeping form. "He certainly can't walk. I had to drag his unconscious self in here."

The nurse shook her head, giving Helga an apologetic stare as she jotted a few things down in the notebook she had open on the desk. "I'm sorry sweety, but I can't let you sign him on. You're not a relative and you're not on his list of people with that power. I can let him sleep through his elective, but that's the most I can do. I really shouldn't even do that, but I think you're right about the sitting up."

"No, he needs all the sleep he can get! I can't have him all tuckered out like this," Helga countered, stamping her foot.

"Look, Honey, he'll be fine. He's not going to die for lack of sleep. If anything, you should calm down and go on back to class. You can see him after school."

Helga yelped as the woman gave her a push out the door, closing it firmly behind her. Helga sighed, leaning back on the door. How were they supposed to have a nice night when the boy couldn't even stay awake?