A/N: (Hey how you all doing? Here's the next chapter to this story filled with drama! Thanks for the reviews and I'm very happy you're liking this story. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review in the end!)

Summary: Helga leaves when she barely starts fifth grade, just to return four years later when sophomore year has started in High School. There she gets to live the drama a regular teenager goes through…couples, drugs, parties, homework, dances! Everyone is back but acts in a different way, will Helga be able to survive being back in Hillwood?

Question: Who says this line? And what episode does it come out on?

"Yeah, chicks dig the purr. It could also break the date."

Answer: Gerald. Crush On Teacher. (Definitely something Gerald would say!)

Chapter 21: Staring Contest

But for now Lila was determined to get her needed fix.

The bell had rung ending nutrition and commenced the massive crowd of students to head to their third period class. It had started out as a slow Tuesday morning but it seemed as time went by the day picked up the pace. The hallway was packed with students gathering around their lockers and standing outside the classroom doors. It might've been a small neighborhood but it was surprising how crowded the school could be.

Arnold treaded up the stairs trying not to bump into anyone who was rushing to class. There were still a couple of minutes before the bell rang to begin third period. It was pretty cold in the morning so Arnold wore a black leather jacket with dark blue jeans and black sneakers. He had his blond hair brushed back and on his right wrist he had on a silver watch his grandpa had given him since fourth grade. On his left hand he was holding onto Lila's hand who was walking with him to Biology class.

Even though, they were walking smoothly through the crowd, Arnold didn't know why Lila was gripping his hand tightly. Was she afraid of losing him in the crowd? Not likely but Arnold had other things in his mind than to pay attention to Lila's hand holding. He was about to walk to his third period class where he had to encounter Helga. The girl who he argued with yesterday and he didn't have the guts to face her after yesterday's confession.

During first period he noticed that both of them avoided eye contact as much as possible. Whenever he looked at her she looked away and when she looked at him he looked away. He knew he shouldn't be embarrassed about what happened but he just felt uncomfortable around Helga. How was he supposed to act around a girl who has loved him secretly for the longest time?

Arnold couldn't handle any more stress and just this morning Lila was acting different and Arnold didn't know why this sudden change. Lila was acting distant and was fairly quiet throughout the morning and right now she was hurting Arnold's hand. He wanted to ask her if there was anything troubling her but he didn't want to add any more troubles to his life.

Right now the only thing he wanted was the courage to get through third period and fifth period later in which he had Helga again. Arnold realized he couldn't ignore Helga completely but for the meantime he didn't want to talk to her. Besides, what was he going to say to her? "Hey Helga did you do last night's homework or were you just daydreaming of me?" Arnold frowned telling himself he couldn't make fun of this situation even when he felt quite cool for having two girls in love with him.

Arnold continued to walk down the hall with Lila beside him when in the distance he heard someone shouting to wait up. He could've sworn that as soon as he heard Rhonda's voice Lila tighten her grip on his hand. Arnold stopped, pulling his hand away before Lila did any more damage to it.

"Sorry," Lila muttered not looking at him or at Rhonda who caught up to them.

Rhonda had a big smile on her face showing off her perfect white teeth and her long black hair in loose curls with a white headband. She wore a white blouse with a black vest and a black knee-length skirt with sparkly ballet flats.

Lila scanned Rhonda from head to toe feeling completely hideous standing near her. Lila had her auburn hair down with no headbands or clips to style it and she was wearing faded jeans with a green t-shirt and plain white tennis shoes.

There was absolutely no reason to feel stylish when the ticking time bomb with the truth was about to blow up any minute. Oh well, Rhonda always knew how to put girls to shame with her stylish looks. No matter whom they were.

"Lila you didn't wait for me," Rhonda noted smiling forcefully. "I told you to wait."

Lila sighed not looking at Rhonda, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you."

"Probably because of the crowd," Rhonda muttered grimacing. "Oh I have a problem."

"What's wrong?" Arnold asked grasping the strap from his backpack.

"I didn't get all the notes in English class," Rhonda declared shaking her head. "Do you guys mind if I borrow yours?"

Lila was about to answer when Arnold quickly replied, "No problem I'll give them to you inside."

"Thanks Arnold," Rhonda said smiling for real this time. "Uh…is that a new watch?"

Arnold glimpsed down at his watch and smiled then shook his head, "Nope I've had this watch since fourth grade."

"Really?" Rhonda asked looking at the watch on Arnold's wrist. "I say Arnold you could totally go for a new watch."

"No thanks I'm fine with this one," Arnold stated staring down at his watch. "It's special to me since my grandpa gave it to me."

Lila smiled at Arnold, "And you've taken good care of it."

Rhonda held back from gagging and remarked with a chuckle, "Whatever you say, doll."

"Doll?" Arnold repeated confused and surprised. "Did you just call me doll?"

Rhonda stuttered starting at Arnold then glanced at Lila who was holding back a malicious grin. Why was it a shock to Arnold when back in fourth grade Rhonda called him "doll" in a couple of occasions. Rhonda wanted to wipe Lila's smile away but held back when she reminded herself in that in a couple of hours Lila's life was going to be blown away. Rhonda wished for a distraction and quickly grinned when she found her solution.

"Oh look there's Helga," Rhonda announced watching Lila's and Arnold's reactions.

Lila turned as pale as Rhonda's blouse and Arnold turned paler than a ghost. Helga was walking from a distance staring down at the ground as she pushed her way through the many students. Rhonda sighed relieved for spotting Helga in the crowd giving her an excuse to not answer Arnold's ridiculous question.

Lila glanced back at Rhonda bumping gazes with her but turned to look at Arnold who was fixated on watching Helga. Lila glared at Helga reminding herself that she wasn't going to allow Helga nor Rhonda take Arnold away from her. After yesterday's argument with Rhonda she tried to come up with any possible solution to keep Arnold by her side and the only drawback to her solution was…she was still pondering for one.

Besides there were still a couple of hours before Rhonda fulfilled her threat and if luck was on Lila's side then in a few hours she'll have the answer she was looking for. If Arnold loved her as much as he claimed then he'll understand and help her with anything she needed.

Lila cleared her throat, "I can't comprehend why Helga refuses to hang out with us during nutrition and lunch."

Rhonda crossed her arms feeling irritated at Lila's voice. Why did she even care if Helga kicked it with the gang or not?

"We're her friends and she shouldn't be avoiding us," Lila said looking at Arnold who was more fascinated at the ground.

"Don't forget Lila, Helga was saying those bad things about you and maybe she feels embarrassed about the whole situation unless she was saying the truth?" Rhonda paused glancing at Arnold look at Lila curiously. "Then maybe you should fix it."

"She wasn't saying the truth," Lila lied glancing at Arnold shyly. "I'm oh too certain of it."

"Then you should give Helga some space," Rhonda commented frowning at Lila. "Who knows? She might need it."

"Yeah," Arnold agreed not looking at any of the two girls. "I think she needs some space too."

Lila stared at both Arnold and Rhonda confused trying to figure out their words. The only thing she knew was she wanted to make Helga look bad by saying she wasn't being grateful of the friendship and attention her friends gave her. Of course, Rhonda was going to assume Helga needed space so everyone will leave her alone and Arnold wouldn't get near her.

Except, Arnold had a complete different reason from Rhonda's wicked plan and that was because of the whole love confession thing. He only wished for Helga to get some time alone and reflect on her feelings towards him and move on with her life. All three of them looked back at Helga continuing to struggle in the hallway as she headed to the Biology classroom.

Helga Pataki woke up this morning hoping for a good day. Since yesterday's fiasco with Arnold she wanted a brand new day for a fresh start. So what better way to start the day with a quick shower and some new clothes she had sitting in the closet since time.

Helga's hair was down with two black clips on each side and she wore a light pink blouse with black pants and a black cardigan. Certainly, she hadn't dressed to impress but she needed to make this day feel good. Sadly, the day hasn't gotten into a good start and with any luck maybe everything will turn out good…later. So far, there were little things that had gotten Helga angry like failing the geometry quiz she took yesterday and having to run bleachers as a P.E. activity during second period.

Helga was feeling sore and she realized that the thing about to come was far worse than having to run bleachers and failing a quiz. She was heading to third period where she had to once again face Arnold. The boy who had broken her heart to a million pieces and claimed he was nice. Not only did she have to face that jerk but also two nasty cruel mean vicious and the list went on when it came to describe Lila and Rhonda.

Lila the one who had Arnold in her arms and Helga hated with all her heart. Rhonda the one who Helga called "Princess" and didn't hate as much but didn't like it when she defended Lila who didn't deserve it. Surely, this day couldn't get any worse but Helga was wrong when she bumped shoulders with someone getting her books knocked to the ground. She gritted her teeth turning her hands into fists feeling anger rise inside of her ready to erupt like a volcano.

Whoever she knocked into also made their books fall mixing a bunch of textbooks on the floor where the other students were just walking over them. Helga groaned frustrated feeling her eyes widen in shock when she noticed Brainy standing in front of her. She would've never imagined she crashed into Brainy and worse of all be stared at by Arnold, Lila, and Rhonda. Helga felt her heart jump into overdrive the instant she caught Arnold's gaze and this time he didn't look away. Helga didn't want to look away either wanting to win this staring contest against Arnold.

Brainy took a deep breath and mumbled, "Uh…sorry."

Helga turned to look at Brainy telling herself she lost the staring contest with Arnold. Brainy was wearing a beige sweater with jeans and his hair was spiked up in the front. It was sad to see Brainy in a nervous state but who could blame him, Helga always seemed to push him around whenever she was angry.

Helga shook her head and waved her hand dismissing the apology. There must've been a few minutes before the bell rang and Helga and Brainy needed to get to class and stop staring at each other. Reading each other's minds Helga and Brainy crouched to pick up the textbooks and at the same time hitting each other's foreheads in the process.

"Ouch!" Helga muttered touching her forehead. "I think we killed hundreds of brain cells with that hit."

Brainy looked at her embarrassed while he massaged his. Not wanting to look at the three stooges standing at the end of the hallway Helga saw Rhonda and Lila giggling at her misery. Except for Arnold who only stared at her seriously. She noticed Rhonda move her lips saying something to Lila who smiled then walked inside the classroom with Rhonda.

Yep, this day in which Helga wanted to start anew certainly wasn't going to be today. It caused her frustration to be the center of entertainment for the people who hated her. Brainy stopped rubbing his forehead and started to gather his textbooks. At least for a moment Helga stopped complaining about her life and picked up her books when she heard someone patting Brainy on the back.

"Hey there Brainy that was a nasty crash."

Helga looked up to notice Dan the boy she first met when coming into the school. Dan's black hair was slicked back and he was wearing his nerdy glasses and he had a white dress shirt with brown pants. Helga stood up with a frown on her face completely showing an opposite expression to Dan's who had a grin on his face.

"Hello Helga looks like you bumped into Brainy," Dan noted smiling at Brainy.

"No he bumped into me," Helga corrected glancing at Brainy who was avoiding her gaze.

Dan shrugged glancing at Helga, "I didn't know that you knew Brainy."

"I didn't know that you knew Brainy," Helga repeated surprised.

"He has service in the main office during first period," Dan explained chuckling.

Helga nodded looking at Brainy, "I didn't know that about you, like you don't hang out with everyone."

Brainy cleared his throat not looking at Helga, "Uh…so you don't either."

Helga laughed nervously shocked at Brainy's observation of her not kicking it with the gang. Ever since, she revealed Lila's secret to everyone but nobody believed her because Lila had everyone brainwashed, Helga spent her time at the cafeteria or the library. Besides, the Lila disaster was one thing but add the whole revealing secret crush thing to Arnold and it made things worse. Thinking of Arnold, Helga gave a quick peek down the hall to see him still standing there and staring at her talking with Brainy and Dan.

It made Helga feel satisfied that Arnold was watching her talk with two different friends. A reason is it showed she didn't need him or her other friends to interact with. Even when she barely was meeting one guy who was Dan and when the other she knew since she was little but never really talked to was Brainy. She wondered what to say to Brainy's comment about her not hanging out with the gang and it bothered her to know that Brainy was still spying on her even now when she barely had returned.

"I have my reasons," Helga replied watching Arnold go inside the classroom.

If Brainy knew she didn't hang out with everyone he must know the reasons why Helga didn't want to be around their friends. Brainy stared down at the ground handing Helga her Biology book he picked up from the floor.

"Well it was nice seeing you Helga," Dan said starting to walk away. "We all better get to class."

"Right…uh…I'm sorry Helga," Brainy muttered still not looking at her.

"Don't worry about it," Helga said patting Brainy on the shoulder making him blush. "I'll see you when I see you."

Helga walked down the hall mentally thinking that she'll probably bump into Brainy anytime soon since wherever she goes somehow he's always around. Although, recently she hasn't taken any notice to his whereabouts and now she'll remind herself to keep her eyes open. It didn't hurt to have more friends on her side mostly now when half of her friends looked at her weirdly. Now with fewer students wandering in the hallway it was much easier to walk in it.

Helga glanced over her shoulder and saw Dan walking beside Brainy talking to him as Brainy nodded vigorously. There were no more excuses, distractions, but lots of reasons keeping Helga from entering into her third period class. As much as she wanted to hate Arnold she couldn't get herself to yank him out of her heart. He may have discovered her secret and told her that nothing could happen between them because he was enthralled to Lila but it was no reason to go crazy.

Yesterday in the afternoon Phoebe didn't want to leave Helga's house until she was sure of herself that Helga wasn't going to do anything drastic. Well Helga wasn't going to do anything outrageous and the only thing she wished for is patience. Patience to withstand any boring lecture in class, patience to resist from lunging herself at Lila, and patience to hold back from strangling Arnold. Taking a deep breath and clutching her books to her chest Helga walked inside the classroom just as the bell rang.

The classroom was big but instead of desks there were tables where students who had their "groups" always sat together. Suddenly Helga felt cold sweat trickle down her neck and got the urge to run out of the classroom. There was nobody staring at her but Helga could feel all eyes on her.

She had a couple of choices where to sit but from all of those choices she considered two. One was to sit with a group of nerdy looking boys at a table near the teacher's desk or sit with group of goth-looking kids by the window. But there was no way she was sitting with Rhonda, Lila, and Arnold. Helga was about to take one step when a voice chided in her ears belonging to Rhonda who was waving her hand in the air.

"Helga come over here and sit with us!"

Helga got a sick feeling in her stomach and fought the urge to not look over at their table which was in the middle of the classroom. She had no idea that Rhonda was going to invite her to their table and all Helga wanted was to get through this class with no troubles. She took a quick glimpse at the empty seat next to Rhonda which was across from Arnold who was sitting on the other side next to Lila. This was torture and definitely today wasn't going to be a good day for Helga.

"Helga please take your seat," the teacher ordered walking to the front of the classroom.

Helga glared at the teacher Mr. Burdett who was a short man with dark brown thinning hair and wore large red spectacles. Of course, he wasn't going to understand why Helga didn't want to be near her friends but as soon as he told her to take her seat everyone in the room looked in her direction.

She didn't show any sign of the tension slowly crawling inside her and without hesitating for another second, she went to go sit next to Rhonda and across from Arnold. Helga didn't know if she was shaking but her whole being was on the verge of a panic attack. She couldn't believe she was sitting with Rhonda, Lila, and Arnold. Oh well, this class was for an hour and if she kept her mouth shut hopefully time will pass quickly.

"Gee Helga what are you scared of us?" Rhonda asked laughing silently. "We don't bite."

Helga smirked placing her books on the table without looking at anyone, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"You know you should hang out with us," Rhonda whispered glancing at the teacher who was posting the notes on the overhead. "No matter what happens we're still your friends right Arnold?"

Arnold glanced up from his Biology book which seemed much more interesting than looking at Rhonda trying to make small talk with Helga.

He cleared his throat and quickly glanced at Helga awkwardly before staring at his Biology book, "Right."

Helga felt her stomach flip at the sound of Arnold's voice and her heart flutter when their eyes locked at least for an abrupt second. Helga scolded herself for still getting goosebumps whenever she made any contact with him. She was supposed to hate him but maybe she was getting goosebumps because the room was cold with the air conditioning. Yeah, that had to be it.

"Friends have to stick together in the good times and the bad times," Rhonda remarked smiling at Helga.

Helga held back from scowling and simply replied, "Sure thing Miss Rhonda."

Helga wanted to make a sour face but didn't because Lila was looking at her and Arnold was in front of her. The only thing she wanted was nobody to talk to her and Rhonda wouldn't shut up with pointless banter. Seriously, Helga didn't care if Rhonda was being nice to her mostly when Helga had bigger things to think about. Like wondering why did Arnold have to look so hot in his black leather jacket? Helga chewed on the cap of her pen staring at Arnold's jacket when her thoughts were interrupted by another shrilling voice.

"So Helga would you consider joining us for lunch today?" Lila asked looking at Helga as she flipped through the pages of her notebook.

Okay seriously, Helga was on the edge of shouting for both girls to shut up! Why couldn't both of them be like Arnold who wasn't talking at all but seemed more thrilled in reading boring passages in his Biology book. Helga sighed quietly looking at the goth-looking kids by the window thinking she should've gone to sit with them since they weren't even looking, talking, nor paying attention to the teacher. She would've been happier there and how dare Lila interrupt her thoughts?

It might look like Helga was checking her boyfriend out but at the same time she's mentally encouraging herself to hate him. Helga was about to reply to Lila for her to go to hell but got cut off with the teacher's voice addressing the class just in time before Helga uttered something harsh.

"Okay students here are the notes for today's class and make sure to copy them correctly," Mr. Burdett paused to clasp his hands together. "Who knows? There might be a quiz on this tomorrow or the next day or the next…so make sure to go over them and if you want to look at some pictures on this topic it's on pages forty-six and forty-seven. There's pictures there showing real evidence."

Suddenly there was a sudden pause in the world surrounding Helga. It was like she was the only one able to move and nobody else existed. She stared at Mr. Burdett as he answered someone's question but Helga couldn't hear the words coming out of Mr. Burdett's mouth.

The only words that echoed through her ears were, "Pictures…evidence…pictures show evidence…quiz." Fine she didn't know why quiz was a word that echoed in her mind but the others were very important.

"It's a sign," Helga muttered getting all three faces at her table to look at her puzzled.

"What's a sign?" Rhonda asked.

Helga felt blood rush to her cheeks as she tried to avoid the stares of her classmates. For a moment it was alone time for Helga but apparently even if she imagined nobody was around, she should keep thoughts, ideas, and opinions to herself. There was absolutely no way she was going to announce her revelation of the most important task that needed to be done.

Helga looked at Rhonda and signaled to the overhead, "Uh…the notes…pictures, it's a sign of what's going to be on the quiz…yeah."

Rhonda skimmed through the pages of her Biology book and looked at the notes on the overhead slowly bobbing her head. Helga held back her laughter in watching the two annoying girls look over their notes and textbook. She stretched her legs outward bumping into Arnold's feet who looked at her surprised. Helga stared at him embarrassed but she didn't move her legs but tried to look away.

Arnold shifted in his seat and moved his feet back quickly averting his gaze from Helga's and muttered silently, "Sorry."

"You should be," Helga whispered glaring at Arnold wanting to kick him under the table.

He needed to be sorry for so many things and if Helga tried to come up with a list she'll practically take the whole class period. Helga continued to stare at Arnold's oblong shaped head replaying his sorry in her mind. He was definitely going to feel sorry after Helga completed her mission of exposing Lila for who she was.

Arnold might know about her feelings towards him and even when she knew she was very angry at him it wasn't too late to do one last favor to help him. It was time to put an end to the lie that has caused so much pain, anger, and torment to everyone. The beautiful image of Arnold finally realizing the truth was a pretty good thing to keep thinking over and over again.

Helga could just envision it…She'll slip the picture under Arnold's nose, he'll see it and turn to Lila surprised and won't care if he's in class then he'll start to stammer and sweat. He'll order her to explain and Lila will be glaring at Helga and run out of the room feeling mortified with her face turning redder than a tomato. Arnold will realize his mistake and quickly stand up from his chair and kneel before Helga and beg for forgiveness.

It was a long shot but whatever the outcome was Helga will be more than joyful to get it. Not wasting another valuable minute Helga opened up her backpack and took out her white binder and started looking through the messy papers inside. She had the picture in her hands yesterday at her desk and she remembered shoving it inside her backpack.

She flipped through the pages of her Biology textbook then flicked through the pages of her English textbook which she had next period. There was a sudden queasy feeling in Helga's stomach wondering if the picture could've fallen out during her collision with Brainy in the hallway. Or maybe the picture was inside her Geometry textbook which was safely in her locker.

Helga pushed her chair back a little and searched inside the pockets of her black pants but there was nothing except for loose change and a ten dollar bill. Helga grinned at the money but her grin quickly faded away when no picture was in sight. Helga noticed all the papers from her binder spread out on the table with Arnold looking at them confused but he didn't comment anything about it. Rhonda had her notebook opened and started to copy down Arnold's English notes very slowly without taking notice of Helga's papers making a mess.

The only one who was staring at the papers and noticing Helga on her breaking point was Lila who remarked, "Gosh Helga all your papers are disorganized."

"You're telling me," Helga said ignoring Lila's comment.

Lila cleared her throat and asked in an ingenuous voice, "Looking for something particular?"

Helga could've sworn by the tone in Lila's voice she knew exactly what Helga was looking for. Oh, Lila must be enjoying this moment watching Helga suffer as she tried to look for the picture that was going to cause lots of anger and distress. Helga gathered a couple of papers on the table and slipped the papers inside the binder's pouch then smiled forcefully at Lila.

"Nothing important," Helga replied raising her hand to get the teacher's attention.

Who was she kidding? Of course Lila's picture was important but why should Helga give off any warning. It was better to surprise everyone especially see Lila's face when the picture was in Arnold's hands. Helga glimpsed at Rhonda stop writing down in her notebook but didn't bother to raise her head to look at Lila or at Helga. Then she took a gander at Arnold bumping gazes with a stern look in his eyes. Helga averted her eyes away from him looking back at Lila who appeared to be entranced in staring at Helga while she chewed her bottom lip.

"If anyone has any questions I'll be at my desk," Mr. Burdett stated walking to the back of the room.

"Mr. Burdett?" Helga called waving her hand in the air.

The teacher walked up to Helga's table and she extra nicely asked, "Can I please go to my locker to get something?"

Mr. Burdett laughed keeping his eyes on Helga, "No."

"I said please."

"And I said no," Mr. Burdett repeated crossing his arms walking back to his desk.

Helga scoffed turning her hands into fists under the table and gritted her teeth. Teachers can be so cruel and it was definitely official this day wasn't going to turn out good for Helga.

"Why do you need to go to your locker?" Rhonda wondered tapping her pen on the table.

Helga didn't want to feel humiliated by getting her request denied and letting Rhonda and Lila get points on their victory scale. There was no way Helga was going to tell them she was going to her locker to check if the picture was there but apparently it looked like Helga was going to have to check later. Helga could just tell Arnold about the picture but by the way Arnold kept looking at her seriously she realized he wasn't in the mood to hear anything coming from her.

"I needed to get my essay for English class but…" Helga lied fighting the urge to not do air quotes on the word essay. "Looks like I'm going to have run to my locker after class, get my essay, and hand it to…go to class and hand it the teacher."

"Nadine has you for fourth period she doesn't have to turn an essay in," Rhonda pointed out raising an eyebrow at Helga.

"Extra credit," Helga said rapidly before Rhonda could give it any more thought.

Lila tapped her fingers on the table nervously and turned to Arnold, "Um…Arnold you have Spanish next right?"

Arnold looked back at Lila and stopped copying down the notes on the overhead since he was the only one doing any work in the class.

"Yeah."

"Your class is all the way where the gyms are so…" Lila paused glancing at Helga who was frowning at her. "You don't have to walk me to class."

"You're sure?"

"I'm ever so sure."

"That's very considerate of you Lila," Rhonda commented also frowning at her.

Helga gripped her pen and began twirling it around her fingers staring at Lila avoid the scowls of Rhonda and hers combined. Lila sure was a devious one making sure Arnold's path didn't cross with Helga's during their six minute break of heading to the next class. So what if Arnold's fourth period class was all the way to the gym and Helga's class was still in the main building, Lila was toast. There was still fifth period to be counted for.

"So Helga once again are you joining us for lunch?" Lila asked changing the subject.

Helga continued to twirl her pen around her fingers thinking of the right response to tell Lila to go to hell.

But Rhonda abruptly butted in, "Lila did you forget about the thing you have to do today at lunch or if not at lunch, later or do I have to remind you again?"

Lila turned pale at Rhonda's words and she slowly shook her head, "I'm certain I haven't forgotten."

Rhonda grinned halfway when Arnold asked out loud, "What thing?"

Rhonda held back from rolling her eyes and answered politely, "Oh me and Lila are planning a surprise party for Nadine, it's still a work in progress and it's no big deal."

"Oh," Arnold said nodding. "Let me know if you need any help."

"Thanks you're always lending a helping hand."

"Arnold?" Lila whispered crumbling the corner of a page in her notebook. "We need to talk so can you meet me after school?"

Arnold stared at Lila stunned and confused, "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's something important," Lila stammered still refusing to look at Arnold. "Come to my house, I can't talk about it here."

Arnold nodded tapping Lila's hand, "Okay."

"Might as well get it over with," Rhonda whispered at Lila hiding her smile from Arnold and Helga.

Lila laughed nervously getting up from her chair with her notebook and pen, "I can't really see the notes from here so I'm moving closer."

Helga didn't know if she should thank Rhonda for shooing Lila away but she didn't bother since the conversation she just heard was bothering her. Rhonda sounded strained in telling Lila in doing something later and the way Lila was talking to Arnold all scared and nervous. There was something fishy going on but Helga wasn't going to force her brain to come up with the answer. All she cared about is Arnold discovering the real truth and that's that. And maybe him breaking up with Lila and have him fall in love with Helga then that's that.

Finally wanting to get some work done Helga decided to start copying down the notes. She turned to a clean page on her notebook and gave her pen a last twirl accidentally sending it flying into Arnold's face. Immediately Arnold grimaced at Helga and stopped writing in his notebook and gave his full attention at her.

Helga turned a crimson red and quickly muttered, "Oops!"

"You did that on purpose," Arnold said keeping his gaze fixed on Helga.

"I did not," Helga protested smirking. "This is on purpose."

To make her point Helga grabbed another pen on the table and threw it at Arnold which bounced off his chest.

"See that's on purpose," Helga said signaling to the pens lying on Arnold's notebook. "Know the difference."

"Why don't you be more careful?"

"Then don't get in my way!"

Arnold leaned closer and grumbled, "I wasn't in your way."

Helga rolled her eyes and leaned forward, "You're right in front of me football head of course you're in my way."

Arnold smirked staring at Helga without blinking or looking behind her shoulder. Also joining in this staring contest without letting him win like he did in the hallway was Helga who stared right back at him. She wondered what was going in his mind as he looked into her eyes but she was more concentrated in winning this challenge. There was a sudden sting in Helga's eyes but she didn't want to give up therefore she leaned back in chair without letting go of Arnold's gaze.

Helga snapped, "What are you staring at? You want to take a picture? Here let me pose for you."

Arnold sighed looking down at his notebook making Helga feel all giddy for winning the staring contest. He reached for both pens and placed them on top of Helga's notebook. Once again time to get some work done and Helga reached for a pen when Rhonda patted her on her arm.

"So you and Brainy huh?"

Helga dropped the pen back on her notebook and gawked at Rhonda bewildered, "Excuse me?"

"Oh look at that you're blushing," Rhonda said giggling. "I saw you talking to him out in the hall."

"Yeah we bumped into each other and?" Helga said trying to keep an annoyed look on her face.

"I was looking at both of you and noticed that you two would make a lovely couple."

Okay, talk about an awkward conversation. Helga stared at Rhonda like she had crazy frizzled hair pondering if what Rhonda was saying is serious? Helga understood English but she couldn't totally understand the words Rhonda was speaking.

"You know Brainy isn't seeing anyone and if you're too shy to talk to him then maybe I can talk to him for you," Rhonda proposed rubbing her chin. "Who knows? You might get a date out of this."

Helga placed her hand over her mouth to muffle the laughter crawling inside her throat. This was Brainy the boy who was the most mysterious one in their group of friends. Helga recalled not knowing a single detail in the guy's life except for always punching him whenever he interrupted her thoughts of Arnold. Then there was the time when she with some of her friends found Brainy in the caves of Elk Island which to this day Helga still couldn't figure out why he was there? And then there was another incident when Helga was with Arnold and Gerald and they bumped into Brainy on the haunted train making Helga throw him out. And this was the guy Rhonda wanted to hook Helga up with?

"Look Rhonda you're good in fashion but let's leave the matchmaking to the experts," Helga recommended laughing anxiously.

"Why?" Rhonda persisted pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You don't like Brainy?"

"No Brainy is cool it's just that -"

"You have someone else in mind?" Rhonda said smiling smugly at Helga.

As soon as Rhonda spoke those words Helga could feel Arnold's eyes on her. She didn't dare acknowledge his presence after knowing that Arnold only had eyes for Lila and completely crushed Helga's hopes in having him as a boyfriend. Except, Helga wasn't crossing him off the list just yet there was still the pending task which will bring an end to his stupid relationship with Lila. Hopefully, there was still a tiny ray of hope for Helga's sake in getting her dreams come true.

Getting a small amount of audacity for a swift second Helga glimpsed at Arnold then looked away and responded, "Not right now."

Rhonda chuckled forcefully and touched Helga's arm, "Well if you want me to introduce you to some friends then let me know."

"How thoughtful of you," Helga commented moving her arm off the table.

Rhonda smiled and turned back to her notes and left Helga looking at Arnold stare at her seriously but then he turned back to copying down the notes for Biology. At last, Helga went back to concentrating on writing down the notes for today's class. It was still a long day and Helga figured that maybe the morning wasn't being a pleasant one but she knew it could change if she acted cunningly. There wasn't any more time to waste maybe come lunchtime the whole truth will finally be revealed.

The big moment is coming up! Who will reveal Arnold the truth? Will it be Rhonda trying to fulfill her promise? Will Lila get the enough courage to tell Arnold the truth and will she break-up with him? Or could it be Helga who still has a chance during lunchtime and fifth period? Or even worse could there be someone else who'll beat all three of them? What will happen?

Another chapter written so my job is done for now but don't worry if I can set aside my pile of homework then I can start writing the next chapter. Because the next chapter is the one we'll have been waiting for so make sure to leave your review with your comments and ideas. I'll write to you guys next time…bye!

Question: Who says this line? And what episode does it come out on?

"Yeah she's so big and clumsy she'd probably step on your feet and send you straight to the hospital."

Stay tuned for Chapter 22: The Real Truth!