Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.

A Broken Heart

Chapter 57: Drake: Friend or Foe?

With Helga now gone, both Drake and Arnold realized that they were now alone.

And neither were particularly pleased with each other, given the circumstances.

"This is your fault!..." Drake said to Arnold.

Arnold glared back.

"I didn't tell Rhonda, she must have overheard me and Helga!..." He fired back.

"You should have left well enough alone!..." Drake shot.

"You should have left Helga alone!..."Arnold shot back.

Both boys glared at each other in the eyes.

Drake was very tempted to fight right now, he even had his fists ready to fight and while normally pacifistic in nature, Arnold was beginning to feel the temptation too before he sighed in impatience.

"We don't have time for this...We need to find Helga..." Arnold said.

Drake's glare intensified a bit before groaning.

"Fine... but only because we're looking for her..."Drake said.

Both boys shared one last glare before they kept going.

"What does Helga actually see in him?..."Arnold thought.

"What kind of friend was he to Helga?..." Drake thought.

Drake was walking down the hallway, right next to Arnold. Despite the fact that his face was on the front page, he had hoped not many students read the paper.

"Just chill...I mean who reads the paper nowadays right?..."He thought, trying to convince himself more than anything.

Drake realized his hopelessness when he saw some of the students looking at him. Students who read the paper and recognized the now not-delinquent Drake.

There were whispers and murmurs.

"Look, there he is..."

"I knew he was trouble..."

"Pataki must be crazy to go to him.."

Drake felt so exposed and tense and he hated it. Arnold was still glaring at him and it didn't help.

"Drake!..."Helga called as she approached them.

"Helga!..."Both Arnold and Drake exclaimed in the same time, only to glare at each other once more.

Helga ignored this as she just went to Drake, not even looking at Arnold.

"Where did you go? I thought you were right behind me..."Helga said.

"S-Sorry..."Drake said.

"Helga...I am glad that you are alright...look...I really need to speak to you...'Arnold said, only for Drake to glare back.

Helga spoke first.

"Arnold, not now..Drake and I have to talk..."Helga said, not even turning to face his.

"But Helga..."Arnold argued.

"I think you have done enough..."Drake said.

"Now listen here, I-..."

"Just go, Arnold..."Helga said.

It wasn't a demand, it wasn't a flat out order. No, Helga was just stating that he should leave.

Arnold was the look on her face and her attitude towards him and he hated it.

"Helga..."Arnold said, sounding hurt by her attitude.

In the past, she would have felt guilty but right now, she wasn't. Right now, her main concern is Drake. Arnold hated this and as much as he wanted to speak to her, he knew that she wouldn't do so.

The football headed boy sighed sadly.

"Okay, we can talk later..."Arnold said as he walked away.

"Fat chance.."Helga thought as she turned her attention to Drake.

"Hey...are...are you okay?..."Helga asked, not to regret as she knew that was a stupid question.

Drake answered her though.

"No, I am not..."Drake confessed.

"I talked to Rhonda and she admitted it...maybe if we both talk to her, we can make her take it back..."Helga said.

"You don't get it Helga...it's too late...she can't take this back...no one can..."Drake said in misery.

He noticed once again that everyone was looking at him.

Drake got slightly defensive as the kids came by slowly. It creeped him out. It wasn't until a random student spoke up, that Drake realized his situation.

"Is it true?..."One of them asked as he showed the paper.

That student got a smack upside the head from another student.

"Of course it is, idiot! You don't just ask someone if they're a delinquent. They'll lie about it..."Squeaky Peterson said as she stayed back.

"Even Drake?..."He asked.

Helga got mad and answered for Drake.

"He is NOT a delinquet! Rhonda The Big Mouth was wrong!..."Helga argued but it did little good.

That got the students jittering up a rumor storm. It drove Drake to really put on his defenses, along with some anger.

"Why did this have to happen? It was suppose to be different here..."Drake thought, as Helga tried to confort him.

"Drake...come on..."Helga said, as she knew that she had to get him away from here.

However, friends of Drake started to gather around, including some of their friends on the soccer team. They wanted to know if everything was true.

"Is it true?..."Park asked, looking surprised.

Drake felt more shame when he saw his expression.

"Tell me it's a lie!..."Katrinka said and Drake's shame got worse.

Helga tried to help as much as she could.

"Guys, Drake isn't a delinquent, ever since he came here, he has been cool with everyone and you saw it, Rhonda was just spreading nasty rumors..."Helga shouted.

As much as she tried to convince their friends, Drake was still in deep, emotional turmoil and it was affecting his temper right now.

Iggy saw this and decided to try and approach him.

"Drake! Drake!..." Iggy called out, but people were too loud.

Iggy decided to try and get closer.

Because he was still enraged, Drake wasn't paying attention to anyone, not even Helga... only his thoughts.

"I can't believe this... Everything I've done until now is ruined... All because of... Arnold..." Drake thought, feel his temper rise at the thought of him.

He was too angry and unfocused to notice what happened next.

"Drake?..."Iggy called again as he tapped Drake's shoulder to grab his attention, but Drake was still fueled with rage.

Drake turned around and accidentally hit Iggy in the face. The sound of Iggy's glasses hitting the floor could be heard by everyone, even Helga.

"Oh no..."Helga thought.

She knew that this was an accident but the other's didn't.

"Oh no..."Drkae thought in horror as he realized what he had done,everyone around could be heard murmuring.

"Did you see that?..."

"Drake hit Iggy..."

"Aren't they friends?..."

"He really is a delinquent..."

"N-No...it was an accident! I swear!..."Drake said as he reached out to help Iggy up, but the boy backed away.

"D-Drake..."Iggy said, actually looking nervous.

Drake reached out in an attempt to dilute the situation with Iggy, but the boy backed away and ran. Drake turned his focus to the audience around him. Everyone was now looking at Drake and the dark haired boy saw something that he hoped that he would never see here.

Fear...

"Stop staring at me!..."Drake said as he started running away.

"Drake!..."Helga called out as she went after him.

He needs her, she knew that he does.

Later

She managed to find him, ironically, in a place that she was already really familiar with.

The janitor's closet.

"Drake..."Helga said as she saw the look on his face.

He didn't saw anything because he didn't need to. That look was enough to show how he was feeling right now.

"I didn't mean to hit him, it was an accident..."Drake said.

"I know..I know..."Helga said as he just looked at his feet.

He looked so vulnereable right now and Helga just wanted to help him.

"Look...Drake...you and I both know that you didn't mean to hit Iggy and you aren't that bad guy the paper described you as..."Helga started.

"Yeah but thanks to Ms. Priss, the rest of the school thinks that..."Drake said.

"They are morons and sheep who believe anything in print but we know that you aren't like that..."Helga said as she sat next to him.

"You don't get it Helga, even Rhonda can't take back what she wrote down, everyone already saw the picture and they now see me as...the old Drake..."He said, looking so vulnerable right now.

"This whole thing was suppose to be my fresh start and it's ruined..."Drake said, looking depressed.

Helga saw this and frowned. She was going to get rid of that sad look on his face and she had an idea on how to do that.

"Ugh! We have already been over this..you made a mistake and you were already punished for it, learned your lesson and moved on, forgive and forget...so just forgive yourself, forget this and move on like you did before.."Helga said.

"But-

"Drake, you are a different guy now, and I know that and your real friends know that too...Katrinka, Park and Peapod Kid just need to be told the whole story..."Helga said.

"I will tell them...'She said.

"But what if they don't believe us... everyone else doesn't..." He said.

"They all see me as who I once was..."He said.

Helga hugged him, trying to give him comfort.

"Drake..." She said in a soothing tone.

"Everyone is afraid of me now..."Drake said sadly.

"Everyone used to be afraid of me too, and some of them still are...look, Drake...you are a good guy, who has already did your time...you've changed and so have I...we just have to show everyone that you are not that kind of Drake anymore.."Helga said.

"How?..."Drake asked and Helga didn't know how to answer, but she gave him a soft smile.

"We just have to work on it, one day at a time...you said back home that everyone at your school forgave you..."She said.

"More or less..."Drake said.

"Then we can do that again...we'll work on it..."Helga said as she remained close to him.

Despite his humiliation and suffering, Drake sent her a small smile.

"How did I get someone like you to stick by a mess like me?..."Drake said, actually sounding happy right now as he held her hand.

"Just luck, I guess..."Helga shrugged as she remained with him in the Janitor's closet for the time being.

-To be continued-

Next time on A Broken Heart

Not Broken

A/N(1): Special thanks to NeoMark and BeConfuzzled Writer for their help :)

A/N(2): I dedicate this chapter to my friends, my family and my love for God :)

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