Chapter 18

After a few hours walking in dark neighborhoods holding hands and talking, Arnold walked Helga back to her car to say goodnight. They both still had a two-hour drive back to Hillwood.

The last thing she wanted was for the night to be over. She stood next to her car fiddling with her keys. Arnold, sensing her hesitation, stepped closer, until their bodies were almost touching.

"Wanna spend the whole day together tomorrow?" he asked. Helga suddenly remembered that it would be Saturday.

"The whole day?" she said, thinking of a million things she'd like to do with him.

"The whole day," he said, lacing his fingers through hers. She winced, and he looked down.

"I forgot. I'm sorry." He held her hand in his, examining her three burned fingers under the streetlight.

"It's okay. I didn't feel a thing," she lied.

Arnold, having seen her fake smile enough times, brought her hand up to his lips. "You don't have to be so brave," he said. He gently kissed each of her burned fingers, and she held her breath, willing the moment to never end.

When he'd kissed the last finger, she slid her hand around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. He didn't hesitate this time, meeting her impatient desire with his own. Her lips melted into his and the heat of their kiss drove their passions higher. She fisted her hand in his hair, and he pulled her hips into his. In his frustration at not being close enough, he pinned her against the car door and she moaned into his mouth.

When they finally parted, Arnold was left short of breath. "Are you sure you've never done this?" he asked in disbelief.

Helga laughed. "Not in real life. But I've imagined it enough times to know what I always wanted to do."

"Oh, really?" he said with a smirk.

She blushed and looked away. "Anyway, you're not too bad yourself. Must be all the practice you've gotten over the years."

"What are you talking about?"

"The other girls you dated," she said.

He suddenly looked nervous. "Oh, well...I never really did anything with any of them. They would try to kiss me, and I would try to kiss them back, but I never felt anything so it didn't go anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

He rubbed his neck. "I don't know how to explain it. The way you see kissing on movies, and the way we were just kissing, I'd never felt anything like that," he said.

She crossed her arms, skeptical. "Really?"

He sighed. "You know what Rhonda calls me behind my back, right?"

She nodded. She'd overheard Rhonda and other girls talk about him and call him The Eunuch. She'd thought it had more to do with his high moral principles than anything. "Because you're a gentleman?" she ventured.

"I mean, that's the nice way to put it." He looked uncomfortable.

She thought for a moment. He didn't seem to have any problems responding physically to her. "Maybe you just had to have a strong emotional connection with someone first."

Arnold blushed. "I feel like that must be it. I've never felt this way about anyone."

Helga sighed, and felt grateful to no longer have to hide it from him. She grinned devilishly. "But you know, I can tell Rhonda what a perv you've turned out to be, if you want."

He rolled his eyes. "No thanks." He appreciated how she always knew when to lighten the mood.

Helga remembered something and her face fell. "Oh, no. I can't spend tomorrow with you. I forgot I was going to help Phoebe shop for a dress, for the dance. But now, I guess I have to shop for one too. Are you okay with me looking like a girl?" she joked.

He admired her tall, curvy silhouette in the tight dress she wore. "Um, Helga, trust me, you look like a girl already."

She blushed, speechless. Arnold loved seeing her like this, disarmed by his compliments and gaze. "How about Sunday then?"

"Deal."

He pulled her into his arms. "I can't wait." Helga melted in the embrace, thinking there was nowhere in the world she'd rather be. He kissed her forehead then pulled back. "Drive home safe," he said.

"You too. Wouldn't want you to miss our date next week," she said.

"Never," he said. He started walking away and she unlocked her car.

"Oh, and Helga?" She turned back to him. His eyes were soft. "I love you."

She blushed. "I love you, too."

He disappeared into the darkness of the parking lot and she climbed into her car. After indulging in a rapturous, love-stricken monologue in the confines of her car, she replayed every single precious second of their evening together on the long drive home.

"Ooh, Helga, what about this one?" Phoebe asked, holding up a matronly getup her grandmother wouldn't even be caught dead in.

"Pheebs, no offense, but if this is where the bar is set, I'm pretty sure you and I are screwed," Helga said.

"I just don't want anything too revealing," she said anxiously, putting it back on the rack and moving down the aisle.

Helga was having a similar problem. It wasn't that she was worried about a revealing dress so much as finding one that was both flattering and fit who she was. Even though Arnold had seemed to like her dress the night before, it wasn't exactly a candidate for a formal dance. She didn't even own a pair of heels, and couldn't see herself standing on those death stilts all night without falling.

Then she thought of something that might work. She turned to Phoebe. "Hey, here's an idea, Pheebs: how about I pick something for you and you pick something for me?"

"Oh, Helga, I don't know if-"

"Come on! It'll be fun."

"Okay," Phoebe said hesitantly.

They picked their way along the aisles, looking at each other to gauge what color and cut the other would look best in. Helga found it took her mind off how insecure she felt picking out something if she was trying to make her friend look great and not her. By the time she reached the end of the aisle, she had four dresses draped over her arm. Her favorite was a royal blue high-neck dress that would show off her shoulders but no cleavage. It was tight enough to show off her petite figure but loose enough to still be modest.

Phoebe, however, had picked only one dress, and when she held it up, Helga found that it both shocked and delighted her.

"Yowza! Phoebe, you don't think that's too revealing?"

Phoebe covered her mouth as she laughed. "Well, it's not for me," she said. She nudged Helga. "It's for Arnold."

"Phoebe! I always knew there was a dark side in there somewhere."

As they were changing in fitting rooms beside each other, Helga leaned over the stall wall.

"Hey, Phoebe." She froze, clutching a dress over her chest. "Arnold told me that you and him reported Rhonda and Nadine to the principal."

Phoebe looked fearful and guilty. "Oh, Helga, I know you told me not to say anything but I just-"

"Thanks, Phoebe. You done good." She looked away to let her change. "Like I said before, you're a great friend because you stick by my side- and that includes when I'm not fighting for myself."

"Of course, Helga."

Helga turned her attention to putting on the dress Phoebe had picked out. She faced away from the mirror, too afraid she'd end up looking like she was playing dress-up. Once she had it on, she took a deep breath and turned back to face the mirror. She gasped.

"Are you alright, Helga?"

Instead of responding, Helga opened the dressing room door to show her friend. Phoebe came out to meet her and audibly gasped as well.

"Oh, Helga, you look-"

"Sexy? Radiant? Like a sophisticated woman?" She made as if to faint, falling onto an actual fainting couch in front of the dressing rooms.

Phoebe giggled. "Yes, all those things," she said.

"Oh, Phoebe, it's perfect. Thank you."

By the time they left the store, they'd both managed to pick out the perfect dress for each other. Helga couldn't wait to see the look on Arnold's face when he saw it before the dance.