Chapter 28

The school gym was decorated with bundles of pink balloons along the walls, and there was a stage along the back wall with a live band playing terrible covers of terrible love songs, all of which Helga secretly loved. A disco ball glittered from the ceiling, making all the sequins and fabrics around the room shine brighter.

The crowd, however, did not make her feel as welcome. Everyone who could have been there from P.S. 118 was there. Sid and Stinky stood against the wall nudging each other and pointing at Helga, snickering. At the sight of Helga with Arnold, Harold tripped over Patty's feet as they were dancing. Rhonda, who was dancing with a guy from the football team, whispered something in Nadine's ear as her date dipped her.

Helga froze, and Arnold, upon seeing all their eyes on them, understood more fully why she had dreaded coming. "Helga," he started.

She tried to keep her voice steady. "Let's find Phoebe and Gerald." She looked around, trying not to make eye contact with anyone as she did. She spied their best friends talking at a long snack table along the side wall, and began dragging Arnold toward them. Halfway there, Phoebe saw them and waved, then tugged Gerald the rest of the way over.

"Holy smokes, Helga," Gerald said, looking at her dress. "You sure pulled out all the stops."

Arnold flinched and looked over at Helga, not sure how she'd take it. Without missing a beat, however, she chimed in, "Well, someone had to compete with you losers." Her eyes panned over Gerald, who wore the same velvet dinner jacket as Arnold, only his was burgundy.

"Shall I get a picture of you two lovebirds? So you can cherish the memory of this night forever?" she said sweetly. Before they could answer, she snapped a picture with her phone. She looked at it with a satisfied expression. "Yep, that's a keeper. Don't cha think, Pheebs?"

She showed the picture to Phoebe, who covered her mouth and giggled. Arnold and Gerald stood next to each other, both with their hands on their hips and looking at the camera, unamused.

"I thought you said no one would notice," Arnold mumbled to Gerald.

"Trust me, your bromance does not go unnoticed," Helga said with a smirk.

"We look great," Gerald insisted to Arnold, ignoring her.

She looked down at the picture again and said thoughtfully, "Hey, Phoebe, you're on the yearbook committee, right?"

"Don't even think about it, Helga," Gerald warned.

"What? I thought you just said you looked great."

Gerald, not wanting to say otherwise, conceded. "Ugh, alright," he said in exasperation. "But put a filter on it first!"

"It doesn't need it," she said. He looked at her suspiciously, waiting for the cruel punchline he knew her for. "You guys really do look great," she said, smoothing Arnold's lapel with a soft look in her eyes while Phoebe nodded in agreement. "Like sophisticated spies," she added. She noticed out of the corner of her eye a baffled look cross Gerald's face, then just a hint of a satisfied smile.

When they were kids, Helga remembered her and Gerald always clashing. Between the two of them, there were far too many opinions in the room, and her torturing Arnold had irritated Gerald to no end, being the loyal friend that he was.

But somehow, whether it was something Arnold had told him or because he could see she was trying, he was looking over at her now in a way that seemed to say, Okay, I see you.

Helga showed Arnold the picture and he laughed. "You certainly know how to capture the wrong moment," he said.

She smirked. "No, that's exactly the right moment." They were so immersed in looking at her phone that they didn't notice anyone approach them.

"Gee, Arnold, looks like you drew the short straw for a date," Sid said as he walked by.

Stinky tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a laugh. "Yeah, Arnold. This must really bite for you."

A pang of hurt crossed Helga's eyes. But before Arnold could say anything, they'd disappeared into the crowd, and he was left shaking. "What is wrong with them?" he asked angrily.

"Arnold, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Helga said, trying not to show she was affected by it.

"No, no one should talk about you that way," he said. "I'm gonna go say something to them."

Helga couldn't remember seeing him angry like this before. She grabbed his sleeve. "It's not worth it. Just let it go," she said, her eyes pleading with him to stay.

Gerald, watching this exchange between them, was beginning to see what Arnold meant: Helga had changed. There was no way she would have let Sid and Stinky or anyone else get away with that when they were kids.

He put a hand on Arnold's shoulder. "She's right, man, just let it go. Our number one priority is to show these ladies a good time," he said, taking Phoebe's hand and gesturing to the dance floor full of couples swaying to the music. He looked at Helga warmly, and she gave him a grateful look in return.

Arnold relaxed a little. "Okay, yeah, you're right" he said. He turned to Helga. "Wait here for just a minute, okay? I gotta do something really quick." Before she could protest, he said with a small smile, "Trust me." She nodded and he disappeared into the crowd.

"Do you want us to wait with you?" Phoebe asked.

Helga shook her head. "Nah, you and Geraldo go do your thing," she said. She threw in a smile for good measure, keeping it in place until they had found a spot on the floor to dance and got lost in each other's eyes.

She turned back to the snack table, glad it was facing a wall so she could get her bearings. She knew that coming to the dance would give people the opportunity to say negative things about her again. However, she hadn't taken into account how they'd be about her and her feelings about Arnold, which hadn't been in question since she'd first been teased about it in preschool. What she hated most was that Arnold was being dragged through the mud, too, just for being with her tonight.

"Enjoying yourself?" a voice beside her asked coolly.

She sighed. Of course. "It's a step up from house arrest, I guess," she said, trying to strike a light tone. Rhonda poured herself some punch beside her. "Thanks," she said awkwardly, "for getting our suspension lifted I mean."

Rhonda pursed her lips and said quietly, "I didn't do it for you. I still don't buy what you said about Jake, and I still think you're a shit person for taking Arnold from Lila. But, lucky for you, she seems to be hitting it off pretty well with her date." Helga followed her eyes across the room to see Lila gazing starry-eyed up at Lorenzo, who was twirling her around the dance floor effortlessly.

"Looks like it," she said.

She had to admit, they did make a good pair. These days, Lorenzo was in FBLA and Honor Society, achieving top marks in his classes and usually getting whatever he went after. What Rhonda probably didn't know was that Lorenzo intended to go after her spot as class president next year, and with his credentials he would probably knock her off her throne easily. With Lila's humanitarian vision and his enterprising spirit, they'd make a great team. Helga found herself wishing them all the luck in the world, both as a couple and president and vice president next year.

"Anyway," Rhonda continued, "I just came over here to make it look good." She nodded to the end of the snack table, where a teacher, who'd obviously been informed of the situation between Rhonda and Helga, stood watching them closely. Rhonda said loudly, "Oh, Helga, I'm so glad we could bury the hatchet." She pulled Helga in for a hug, and Helga was too shocked to move. Rhonda whispered in her ear, "That dress does nothing to convince me you're not as easy as I thought, or that you won't dump Arnold for someone else's boyfriend next. Come Monday, I can guarantee you all the girls around school will be keeping their men just a little bit closer." She pulled back and gave her a brilliant smile, saying loudly, "I look forward to all your help next week. You're a doll! Ciao!" And with that, she waved and sashayed back into the sea of students to find her date.

Helga leaned against the table. She didn't miss the threat in Rhonda's words. She was intent on making Helga out to be an enemy to all the girls, as if Rhonda's attentions weren't enough. She knew that Rhonda didn't just casually bat gossip around among their class; she mixed half-truths and lies then perpetuated them among every clique, somehow without ever having the information traced directly back to her. She had ties to all the upperclassmen and even some of the teachers. Knowing just how easily she'd undone Helga's suspension over Mr. Lucheck, even getting a week of free labor out of her, it was clear the kind of pull she had with people.

Helga suddenly felt very naked and wished she had her military jacket with her. Maybe if she did, she could put it on and it would just swallow her whole so she wouldn't have to keep standing in this room.

She tried reminding herself that none of what Rhonda said was true - with the exception of winning Arnold's affections over Lila - so it didn't matter. She loved Arnold. She wasn't a bad person. She hadn't done anything wrong. She just wished she could look around the room and find eyes that belonged to anyone else who agreed.