(A/N: I'm sure you noticed that there was no update last month. Sorry about that, but May is a very busy month for me... so it was hard to find time. With the standard apology out of the way, let me continue with the good news! This chapter is coming in two parts because... well it is the largest I've ever wrote. I'm submitting part 1 today and probably part 2 tomorrow, so you've got that to look forward to! Also, my commissions are finally done! I'll upload em somewhere and place the links to the pictures... someplace in the chapters that they're related to... if I can? Hopefully, I'll have figured this out by the time I post part 2.)
Arnold laid awake in his bed, as he watched the sky above him. The moon was high and bright, and a few wisps of thin clouds would sometimes happen by but for the most part, it was clear out. He was filled with so much emotion that he really didn't know how to sort it all. The worry of the talk he would have to inevitably have with Helga, the when and where he would let her know of his for-sure feelings for her, as well as his upcoming birthday, and the party that was happening at the end of the month. He wanted so badly to talk to Helga about all these things, yet just couldn't seem to find a time to do it, despite her sleeping in a room just below him.
During dinner, he was excited to see her sit down and eat, however that's all that really happened. She didn't engage in any sort of conversation and when he would try and speak, someone or something would interrupt him, making him feel more and more discouraged. He had decided on talking to her after dinner as well, but before he could get himself up those stairs to her bedroom door, he noticed she had already closed it and seemed to be in no mood to talk. Not wanting to bother her with whatever was going on, Arnold dragged his feet up to his bedroom in order to plan how to proceed.
First, the talk of exposing their relationship. Arnold wanted to wait until after he sorted out his own feelings before engaging her with such a topic. He knew she would no doubt start the conversation off hostile, throwing in how she felt and why, before ultimately agreeing to his terms in order to make him happy. Helga's way about doing things usually were the same, so they were easy to predict at this point. Once he was sure how he was going to go about the talk, and so long as she wasn't already in a bad mood, he would bring it up privately in a safe environment.
Second, the confessions of his feelings. He considered using this to follow up the first talk, but decided that it would seem more like a tactic to calm her down, rather than outwardly just telling her his true feelings. Instead, he considered using whatever birthday money he might get, to take her out on a date and confess there. He imagined it being a fine, romantic sort of night and smiled. Things like this needed to be said in a proper setting and if he was unable to take her out anywhere, he would settle to doing something nice on his rooftop, like he did for Oskar and Suzie. Either way, he was excited for this to happen.
Third, his upcoming birthday. Gerald had been making such a big deal out of it, yet Arnold couldn't find himself in the spirit. Of course, he was looking forward to it, however everything that had been going on really overshadowed this potential joyous event. Knowing it wasn't very great to feel so apathetic about something everyone else was clearly excited about, Arnold decided that now would be a good time to start getting in the spirit. He considered the events his parents might be planning as well as the funky decorations that his grandparents usually used. He considered the few presents he might get, even though he had no idea what they would be. Most importantly though, he considered how it would feel to be spending it with the parents he hadn't seen since he was a baby, and his first girlfriend. Anticipation began to fill his body at this thought. Even though he never really saw his birthday to be a big deal, he knew that his parents definitely were going to feel different and that they were probably planning something big to remember.
Lastly, Halloween as well as Rhonda's party. It wasn't something completely alien to him, as she had thrown them in the past, however with certain people like Curly hyping it up, Arnold wondered if it was going to be all that grand. He considered all the party games that his classmates had mentioned, and how the whole feel of this party would be more grown up than ever before. The thought of this was stressful as Arnold wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to his youthful years, as well as they weren't even teens yet, so why would she go through all this trouble? Rhonda always made her parties as extravagant as possible, but was there a more underlying reason for this party in particular to be so big? And the fact she was having another party before that, just the girls, seemed a little weird as well. Neither party alone would have even struck the boy as unusual, but placing them back to back just seemed extreme, even for Rhonda. He grew a little concerned that maybe she had something going on, and was just covering it all up by throwing the most lavish parties possible, as this would absolutely be something she might do. Was she moving? Were her parents having a divorce? Or was there something else that might be bothering her, causing her to want to unwind in such a fashion.
Arnold let out a long yawn before realizing how tired just thinking had made him. He knew it was getting closer to bed time, but it disappointed him to know he was unable to really talk to Helga today. He snuggled down into his bed and decided that maybe tomorrow would be a better day.
The next day came and went, as well as the one after that, resulting as the same as the day before and soon, a full week had passed with the same outcome every day: Helga only giving very short responses, as well as him never being able to get her alone and in a decent mood to find out what was wrong. The boy's frustrations grew and grew but he did his best to remain on the bright side.
It was finally his birthday. For better or for worse, he was definitely going to spend some time with her and hopefully find out what exactly was bugging her so much.
Arnold jumped out of his bed and quickly got dressed. He expected to come downstairs to see his family awaiting him with big smiles, noise makers and popping streamers but the house seemed oddly quiet. He made his way to the second floor and knocked on Helga's bedroom door. He knew that it was still rather early in the morning, however still expected her to be awake.
"Hold on…" He heard her grumble from behind the door, making his excitement grow exponentially.
The moment she opened the door, however, he could see from her messy bed hair that she had probably just woken up.
"A-Arnold!" She shouted in surprise, slowly hiding her messy self from behind the door.
"Hey!" He said happily, hoping that today would finally be a good day.
Helga groped her hand over to the small alarm clock that he had lent her, and scowled before tossing it on her bed. "It's seven in the morning, Football Head!" She hissed. "What are you doing up so early? Don't normal people usually sleep in on the weekends?"
Arnold let his excitement die down a little, and he scratched the top of his head, wondering if she had forgotten what today was. "Sorry, Helga. I guess I was just too excited to sleep for too long." He watched as she rolled her eyes at him, but this only made him smile. "Can I come in?"
Looking down at her ensemble, Helga then looked back at him. "Can I at least get dressed?" She sighed. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen her this way before, but for some reason, she really didn't want him seeing her like this now. She knew full well that she did not look good in the morning.
"Sure." He managed to say before the door was slammed in front of his face.
It only took a few minutes of listening to her make unnecessary noises before her door opened again, and he saw her standing there in her usual clothes, hair, and scowl on her face. She motioned with her arms that he was allowed in, and he gladly did so.
He looked around for a second, and noticed that things had been moved around a little but otherwise it was the exact same from the last time he had been in there. "I see you're making yourself at home." He smiled, hoping to strike up some good conversation.
The term 'home' struck a chord in the girl, and she grunted. "Sure. Whatever." She shrugged.
Hearing her attitude caused Arnold to look at her with a frown. He could see that she still seemed more standoffish than she had been since moving in, and felt it was finally time to address this concern. "Is… something wrong, Helga?" He asked softly, slowly approaching her.
"No." She replied bluntly, crossing her arms in an attempt to ground herself. "Everything is just peachy. I'm on top of the world."
Despite her response, Arnold could tell that she was most definitely lying. "Come on, Helga." He said as he sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to him. "You've barely said a word to me for a while… and I want to know… well, why?" He watched as her expression changed from frustrated to surprised but she did not move. "Did I do something wrong?"
Now feeling unnerved, Helga swallowed and turned her head. "I've just had a lot on my mind. Nothing to worry your stupid Football head of yours."
"Can't we talk about it?" He insisted, wanting so badly to get up and comfort her but he knew that she would definitely push him away, since she had been basically doing that for most of the week.
"There's nothing to talk about!" She yelled. "Quit getting on my case, will ya?"
Arnold could feel all of his excitement drain from him his body and he hung his head. "…Okay."
"I mean, don't you think I would have talked to you about it by now if I wanted to? Sheesh!" She surprisingly continued on, feeling as though she couldn't contain herself. Helga turned around and saw the state she was putting him in, and immediately choked up. This wasn't what she wanted but there wasn't anything else she could really say. "A-anyway…" she began slowly. "Since you're already dressed and ready, I suppose we can go now…"
Hearing her words, caused him to pick up his head and look at her, shocked. "Go?" He asked. "Go where?"
"That's a great question, Arnoldo but unfortunately you don't get to know the answer to that." She said as she grabbed her shoes and sat down on the bed next to him. "All you get to do is follow me. Got it?"
Not sure of what to say, Arnold just stared at her for a moment. Their eyes made contact, and he noticed that although she was grumpy just a moment ago, there seemed to be a smile that lingered behind those eyes. "G-got it…"
A moment seemed to pass between them as the noises of the world filled the void they had created. Arnold waited for her to make a move, silently hoping that she would slip up and reveal something more but luck didn't seem to be on his side lately, as when she seemed to feel comfortable, she got up and headed to the door with a particularly determined look on her face.
"Don't ask any questions. Just. Follow." She demanded as she stared at him from her doorway.
"Okay, Helga." He sighed, picking himself up and doing what she wanted. Was she mad at him? Should he have tried harder to talk to her? As the days had flown by, Arnold was now regretting giving her time to come to him on her own and wishing he had just cornered her and fished whatever was bothering her out sooner.
Meanwhile, Helga's mind was cluttered with all the thoughts and possibilities of what today could look like. Over the course of a few days, Gerald, Phoebe, and herself had written down a few activity ideas depending on the price range they had to work with. Fun things they knew Arnold would enjoy, as well as places to eat before they inevitably dropped him back home to the mercy of his family and whatever they had planned.
Just as they managed to reach the front door, the two halted as Helga visibly hesitated.
"What is it?" asked Arnold, innocently with his head tilted to the side. She was so eager to leave a moment ago, so why stop now?
Helga placed a finger under her collar in an attempt to cool herself off as she looked over her shoulder to the empty hallway. "You wait right here. I'll be right back…" She said before immediately leaving the boy standing awkwardly in front of his front door. It only took a few moments before Helga had reemerged and back into her rushed state. "Okay, let's go." Helga flew open his door and walked down his stoop.
"What was that about?" He asked quietly as he closed the door behind them. Once he turned around, Helga had marched up to him and growled in his face.
"Hey! What did I tell you about asking questions?" She barked angrily, causing the boy to stumble backwards in surprise of her sudden aggressive behavior. Helga stood over him a moment, blinked at the sight of him, then slowly walked backed down and turned away from him to regain her composure.
Feeling as though enough was enough, Arnold stood back up and crossed his arms. "See? This is exactly what I mean!" He started as he walked down his stoop and stood behind her. "What's with you lately?!"
Helga gulped and closed her eyes. This was not the way she had wanted to start her day with him; however, he also had showed up far earlier than she had expected and she had had little time to actually prepare herself. "I… I don't know what you're talking about." She deflected.
"Yes, you do." Arnold grabbed ahold of her arm and spun her around to look at him.
The moment she saw the face of her beloved with mixed feelings of anger and confusion, Helga looked away nervously. She didn't know what to say. Should she just spill the beans and let the day proceed as planned? Tell him that the reason she had been avoiding him all week long was to keep everything a secret for this very day? Tell him that her poor attitude towards him lately was due to feelings of back and forth inadequacy? Today was supposed to be a day to remember, yet all she was doing was making it a day he would want to forget. "I…"
"Yes?" Arnold's voice was still laced with frustration but he could see from her reaction that maybe being so forward wasn't the approach he needed. Lessening his grip on her arm, he slowly moved his hand down to hers. "I'm sorry…" he said regretfully. "I've just been trying to talk to you all week long and now that we finally have a chance to spend some time together, you don't seem happy about it at all. Has something changed?" Arnold felt his throat growing dry as he stood his ground. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No..." Helga sighed truthfully, still averting her gaze from his.
"Then what is it, Helga?" Arnold pleaded. "Just talk to me."
The sun was beginning to beam on them and noises of people opening their windows, leaving their houses, and having conversations began to seep into their surroundings. Helga grabbed her hand away from his and looked towards her intended direction. His sad face, his sad voice, his guilt leaden words hung from her heart strings and pulled her down. "I promise that when the day is over, I'll talk to you about it." She said in nearly a whisper. "Okay?"
That was all Arnold needed to hear in order for his mood to perk back up. "Okay." He looked around and noticed that some people were eyeing them, then blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry about… snapping out in the open like this. Which way are we going?"
Helga smiled to herself as she let her own bashful face recede. "This way…" She replied with an annoyed huff as she began to walk in the direction towards Gerald's house.
As they got closer to their intended destination, it became clear to Arnold where they were headed. "We're going to Gerald's house?"
"Do you have short term memory loss or something, Football head? Didn't I already tell you not to ask questions?" Helga hissed as she looked down at her impatient companion.
"I'm sorry." He apologized again, unable to ignore his slowly increasing excitement. "It's just the only thing I can think of in this direction."
When they stopped in front of the Johanssen residence, Arnold looked up at Helga and his smile grew wider. Helga shrugged and walked up to ring the doorbell. "Guess you just have an eye for observation."
It only took a moment before they head someone rushing to the door and as it swung open, Timberly stood there all bright eyed.
"Arnold!" She squealed happily as she stared at her brother's best friend, before looking over at Helga and scowling. "Oh, and I see you brought a friend." She stated with clear annoyance.
Helga cocked her eyebrow at the little girl's obvious disgust. "Nice to meet you too." She replied sarcastically with a cross of her arms.
"Hey Timberly." Arnold smiled as he walked up the stoop and patted the 6 year old girl on the top of her head. "Is Gerald around?"
Timberly brushed his hand off of her head and backed away. "I'm not a little kid anymore, Arnold!" She whined. "You don't gotta keep treating me like one! I'm in 1st grade now!" She stopped briefly to look behind her before opening the door wider to let the two older kids in. "Yeah… he's still getting dressed, I think. Someone's been in the bathroom a long time and it's probably him."
"Styling his hair to perfection, no doubt." Helga smirked before following the two inside the strange house. "And they say girls take too long to get ready…"
The small girl eyed Helga one more time before giggling at the comment. "You think he's bad? Jamie-O is way worse!"
"That's his older brother." Arnold informed Helga with a small smile. "He's the one who helped us get that studio for the photo shoot."
"Yeah. And I'm his sister, Timberly Johanssen." She happily explained as she put her hand out to the blonde girl. "Putt 'em there!"
Helga looked curiously at the little girl's hand before finally deciding on reciprocating the hand shake. "I'm Helga…" She replied awkwardly before taking her hand back.
"I know who you are." Timberly said, placing her hands on her hips and looking Helga up and down. "You're the one who's always making fun of my Arnold." She stated sourly. "That's not very nice, you know."
"My… Arnold?" Helga questioned, looking over at her totally embarrassed, red faced boyfriend. "This I gotta hear…"
Timberly smirked. "We dated; you know!" She exclaimed as she remembered all of the nice thing's he had done for her, before scowling at Helga once more. "Arnold's the nicest guy in the whole world so you better stop picking on him and calling him names!"
Arnold placed his hand on the young girl's head once more and chuckled uncomfortably to himself, giving Helga an apologetic face. "Thanks for sticking up for me, Timberly but you don't have to worry about Helga. We're all friends, see?" He motioned to Helga and smiled, hoping she would catch his hint.
Cocking her eyebrow once more, Helga shrugged and smiled awkwardly back. "Yep. Friends."
Timberly squirmed out from under Arnold's hand and looked at the two of them and their odd expressions. "You two are weird…" She declared before walking over to the living room and flopping on the sofa. "GERALD! YOUR FRIEND'S ARE HERE!"
Arnold grabbed Helga's hand and slowly brought her over to Gerald's staircase. "You wait here, I'll go see if he's ready." He said, trying to push off the awkward feeling that Timberly so lovingly placed on him. He started to walk up the stairs before stopping and looking back down at the obviously still amused Helga. "Don't ask, okay?"
She smirked. "Ohhhh, you're not getting off the hook that easy."
Shuttering at the thought of having to explain himself later, he swallowed before turning back around and ascending the staircase.
Arnold's ears picked up the sound of running water in the bathroom but still made sure to check Gerald's room before boldly knocking. He slowly pushed open the door and peeked in to see the same messy room he always saw, except with the absence of his best friend. He wondered for a moment if he should sit and wait for him, but not wanting to catch Gerald coming freshly out of the shower or something, he decided to go forth with knocking on the bathroom door instead.
"Gerald?" He called out after a few knocks.
The water immediately stopped. "Arnold?" a few more seconds passed before the bathroom door opened up to a steamy but fully clothed Gerald with a toothbrush sticking out of the side of his mouth. "You're early, man." He mumbled before opening the door wider, in order to give his friend entrance.
"Early?" Arnold wondered aloud while he watched Gerald go back to the bathroom sink to finish up his morning routine. "Helga said something about it being early too…" He watched as Gerald brushed a few more times before spitting out his toothpaste into the sink. "Just what am I early for?"
Gerald put the tap water back on and grabbed a cup and filled it to rinse out his mouth. "You know I can't answer that, right?" He asked, with an obvious tone before sipping the water and gargling it.
Arnold sighed and rested his back up against the door frame.
Seeing his friend's frustration caused Gerald to shake his head before spitting out the water. "It would ruin the surprise!" He said as he smiled a shiny white smile. "Just follow our lead."
"Our?" Arnold asked curiously, as he raised his eyebrow. "So, you and Helga planned this together?"
Gerald hesitated for a moment before leading Arnold out of the bathroom and back into his bedroom. "Something like that. Just don't worry, okay?" He said as he grabbed his red hoodie and carefully placed it over his head, as to not to disturb the hair he had just finished styling. "You're gonna have a great day!"
Trusting his best friend's word, Arnold smiled and nodded before placing his hand out to Gerald to do their signature handshake. "Okay."
Gerald smiled and met his fist with Arnold's to mutually shake on it. "You get to have that talk with Helga yet?"
Frowning, Arnold shoved his hands in his pockets. "No… I thought for sure I could this morning but she rushed us out of the boarding house and we even ended up fighting…"
Observing the disappointment on his friend's face, Gerald shook his head again. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not a very good start to your day, huh?" He asked sympathetically before placing his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Don't worry about it too much. You've got the whole day ahead of you!"
"Thanks, Gerald." Arnold forcibly smiled.
The two walked down the stairs and saw Helga standing bored in the kitchen. "You done fancying yourself up, Tall hair boy?"
"Nice to see you too, Pataki." Gerald grinned at her before turning back to his short blond friend. "We just got one more stop before we get the day moving. Let's go."
The three of them left the Johanssen residence and eventually made their way to Phoebe's without much conversation between them.
"You two wait out here, I'll be right back." Helga insisted as she knocked on the door.
"Why can't we go in?" Gerald asked with a hint of irritation, as if she was trying to keep something about Phoebe secret from him.
Rolling her eyes, Helga turned away and instead rang the doorbell.
"One moment!" Sang a woman's voice before she eventually opened up the door. "Helga, hunny! Good morning!" Greeted Reba. "Phoebe told me that ya'll got plans today. Come on in!"
Internally thankful that Phoebe's mother hadn't noticed the boys, Helga stepped on in and quickly shut the door. "Phoebe in her room?"
"Sure is!" The red haired woman smiled. "Want me to get her for you?"
Helga shook her head. "No thanks. I'll go get her." She said as she ran up the stairs and headed for Phoebe's room.
Once she got there, she knocked on the door loudly. "Pheebs, you up?" After only waiting a couple of seconds, Helga opened the door without permission to find Phoebe still curled up on her bed. "Geez, this is what I figured…" She mumbled to herself before walking over to her small friend and poking her with her foot. "Up and at em, Pheebs. We're wasting daylight."
Phoebe rolled over and groped her hand out towards her end table, feeling for her glasses. "Helga…?"
"Who else would it be?" She replied, pushing Phoebe's glasses over to her confused hand in order to help.
Placing her glasses on her face, Phoebe blinked a few times before sitting up. "What time is it?"
"Almost 8am." Helga huffed. "Arnold and Gerald are waiting for us outside."
The sound of her boyfriend's name, caused Phoebe to wake up faster and she stood right up. "Gerald? He's here already? Outside?"
"I know you're blind but you're not deaf too, Criminy!" Helga said as she walked over to pull open one of Phoebe's curtains, to reveal the boys standing outside, chatting. "See?"
"Oh… My…" Phoebe turned to Helga. "I'm hardly decent."
Helga noticed her friends disheveled appearance and laughed. "Doi, its why I made sure that they stayed outside." She said as she flicked the cowlicked hair that Phoebe's pillow had bestowed upon her. "Take your time and get ready. They're not going anywhere." She explained as she watched her best friend take offence to Helga's playful teasing. "What? It's not that bad." She chuckled. "I'm sure your boy-toy might even find it cute."
Phoebe walked over to her closet and quickly gathered her prepared clothes. "I despise it when you refer to him that way…" She hissed before disappearing behind her folding screen to change. "I don't make fun of your affections for Arnold."
Sitting down at Phoebe's desk, Helga kicked her feet up and balanced back but didn't respond. Images of their fight flooded back into her mind, along with the painful expression he had shown her. Helga allowed the feelings of guilt to wash over her again.
Noticing that Helga hadn't responded with some sort of sarcastic retort, Phoebe glanced around her folding screen to see exactly what was wrong. "Did something happen?"
"Geez!" Helga whined out loudly. "Nothing happened!"
Pulling her shirt over her head, Phoebe frowned. "Right." She replied as she went back to putting on her fresh clothes, awaiting Helga to characteristically explode in a rant, as she was never good at keeping her emotions to herself.
"All week long he has tried to talk to me and what have I done? Ignored him and pushed him away! I'm the worst!" Helga cried out, letting the legs of the chair slam on the floor, causing a loud bang. "How can I tell him that the reason I've been blatantly avoiding him is because I've been stressing over this birthday? Wallowing in self-pity over the fact that his own family doesn't want me around when they celebrate the day of my beloved's birth?! Sure, they gave me 50 bucks to celebrate it with him privately but I can't even do that without needing you and Gerald to practically chaperone us in order to keep out of the publics watchful and accusing eyes! I'm a disgrace!" Standing up, Helga walked over to the window and watched as Arnold and Gerald laughed about something. "I'm a mess! I can't take it anymore, Phoebe! I'm going crazy! I've already gotten him upset once today and we had barely left his house! And it's his birthday?! I'd rather rip the skin off my bones and burn myself alive before I do something so stupid like that again!"
Phoebe sighed and walked out into the open, watching as her best friend threw herself against the messy bed. "Helga, please calm down before Mother comes up here to check on us." She informed as she walked over to her hysterical friend and sat down.
"He doesn't deserve to be upset on his birthday, Pheebs…" The blonde girl wanted to cry but controlled herself by muffling her face inside the wad of blankets. "Why can't I learn to control myself better? Why do I already respond to mere inconvenience with lashing out at the person I care about most?!"
"I'm beginning to suspect that the reason you kept them out of my house was more for your benefit, rather than mine…" Phoebe observed calmly. "Did you apologize to him?"
"Not… exactly." Helga let herself fall backwards out of exhaustion. "I will before the day is through, though…"
The Asian girl smiled. "Arnold is a very understanding person and he knows better than anyone, not to take your hostility personally. I know that my words won't soothe you as well as his might in this situation, however, my advice would be to put this incident behind you for now and focus on helping him enjoy the rest of his day."
Helga whined sadly but Phoebe paid her no mind.
"And as far as Gerald and myself chaperoning you…" She adjusted her glasses and watched as Helga sat back up and looked at her, eyes full of regret. "All you have to do is say the word… and I'll signal to Gerald that I would like some alone time with him. There are plenty of things on today's to-do list that could lead the both of you to catch up on some much needed… bonding time."
"Thanks Phoebe…" Helga said as she forced out a smile.
With a chuckle, Phoebe got up and began to fix her hair. "You're most welcome, Helga. Now please collect yourself while I finish getting ready. We have a nice day ahead with wonderful weather to accompany it."
Without a word, Helga stood up and made her way to the bedroom window that had a perfect view of the boys. She opened it slowly, as to not draw any attention from them, slumped down next to it and secretly began to listen in.
"So, are you excited about today, man?" Gerald asked as he slumped up against the stoop, waiting for the two girls to join them.
Arnold shrugged and looked around. "I guess so…" He thought of all of the excitement that had been building over the night before, then how it all seemed to deflate after his argument.
Giving his friend another minute to add on to his flat response, Gerald shook his head. "You have to be the only kid in existence to not be excited about his birthday." He sighed and watched Arnold as he seemingly looked around at nothing, leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "I get that you don't like over exaggerated events, but come on Arnold! Aren't you the least bit excited to spend time with your parents?" He waited again for his friend to respond, but when no answer came, his irritation began to show. "Do I have to remind you that it's your first birthday with them?! They're gonna shower you with presents and love and it will probably be the best birthday of your life! How can you not be looking forward to that?!"
"It's not that, Gerald…" Arnold slowly turned towards his friend and sat down next to him. "I am excited…"
Gerald raised his eyebrows in skepticism. "Well, it certainly doesn't look like it." He watched as Arnold crossed his arms on his knees and buried his head in them, with a groan. "Or sound like it." When his friend didn't budge, Gerald knew that he had to do a little digging and hated it. "Did you finally have that talk and it ended badly or something?"
Arnold shook his head in response but remained silent.
"Did you have another fight?" Gerald guessed, hoping that he was wrong but when Arnold nodded, he rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't wanna know what the fight was about, and you don't gotta talk about it if you don't want to but, for the sake of today, could you just try to put it behind you? It's your birthday, Arnold!" He exclaimed with enthusiasm. "And we got a whole day planned for you!"
"We?" Arnold picked his head back up in interest.
With a nod, Gerald smiled. "Yeah, man! We, as in, the three of us! Helga, Phoebe and Me"
The thought of his friends planning a whole day for him, made a smile grow on the boy's face. This also explained to him why Helga was being so secretive about it, and maybe even why she had been avoiding him for a while. "How long have you guys been planning this?" He eagerly asked, hoping for some answers.
"I dunno." Gerald scratched his chin as he thought back. "Last Tuesday or Wednesday, I think…"
Arnold gripped his fists with excitement. "That's great!"
"It is?" Gerald had become absolutely confused by his friend's reaction. "Of course, it is! It's your birthday!" He smiled, finally seeing something positive come out of this. "It's about time you finally got with the picture." He chuckled.
Arnold continued to grin at the thought of the three of them meeting in secret and discussing plans together, all for his sake. It was as if the memory of their argument was beginning to melt away, and all of his anticipation was starting to come back again. "What are the plans?"
"Ohhhh no." Gerald shook his head. "If I told you, Helga would kill me and I do not want to be on her bad side. You guys have enough going on." When he saw Arnold's grin begin to fade, Gerald gave his friend a small push and another smile. "Just let it be a surprise! It'll be a lot more fun, that way."
Arnold nodded and the two of them laughed. "Okay." He replied, now feeling better about all of this. "I wonder what my family has planned..."
"That's the spirit!" Gerald wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and smirked. "Think of that new set of rollerblades you've been wanting! Or that super high tech keyboard!" He explained as he motioned to the vastness of the world with his outstretched arm.
"It's not about the presents, Gerald." Arnold smiled, knowing full well it was always about the presents for him. "I'm just looking forward to celebrating it with my parents. To see their smiling faces and spending some quality time is really all I need. Sure, the presents are always nice but I just enjoy the time I get to spend with them."
"That's one thing I don't think we'll ever have in common." Gerald gave the boy a sour look. "It's cool having my parents around sometimes but most of the time, it's just a pain. Gerald, do this. Gerald, do that. Gerald, make sure you pick up after yourself. Gerald, watch your sister… It's just a pain." He looked over at his friend who was still smiling, despite the complaints. "I get that I'll never know what it's like to grow up without them, like you did, but eventually you'll know the pain of the nag, nag, nag, nag, nagging!"
Arnold chuckled. "Yeah. Helga has said the same thing before too." He looked up at the clear blue sky and watched as the sun beamed through some windows. "They haven't really scolded me for anything yet, and I still follow the same rules I always have. I suppose, one day I might feel the same way that you guys do but for now…" He let the wind jostle his hair around a bit, before smoothing it back to its original position. "I'm just gonna enjoy things how they are. Their hugs and stories, the funny things they do with Grandma and Grandpa, the way they react with the boarders…"
"Yeah… I feel you." Gerald gave the boy a small grin as he watched Arnold's face go into a dreamy state. "Just enjoy them while it lasts."
It wasn't too much longer until the two girls emerged from the house. Phoebe bowed and greeted them both with a smile.
"Ohaiyo Gosaimasu!" She spoke happily in her Japanese tongue.
Helga closed the door behind them and stomped down the stoop and past the boys. "Let's just get a move on while there's still daylight."
Giving her boyfriend a shy smile, Phoebe walked over to him and held his hand, earning herself a shy smile in return.
Gerald beamed over at his best friend. "You ready, Arnold? Because today is gonna be something fun!"
Arnold smiled at him, then looked over at his impatient girlfriend who was standing on the other side of the road, tapping her foot, and looking annoyed. I hope so…
After a short ride from the old city bus, the four kids stood in front of a shiny metal diner.
"Big Ned's House of Pancakes?" Arnold read aloud to the group before turning around and looking at their faces.
"That's right! First stop's gotta be breakfast!" Gerald replied happily before rubbing his stomach. "All you can eat pancakes for 5 bucks is a great deal, dontcha think?"
The girls agreed and they made their way inside. As they walked in, they were greeted by a small dinging bell that hung on top of the door, to signal the staff of their arrival.
"Just sit anyplace you like, darlings!" A large woman in a hairnet yelled from across some tables. "I'll be right over!"
Arnold smiled as his stomach was beginning to hurt since there hadn't been time to eat before Helga dragged him out of the house. "Where do you guys want to sit?"
"It's your birthday, Football head. You pick." Helga gestured to the mostly empty diner with many vacant seats.
The boy looked around thoughtfully until finally deciding on a corner window seat and led the group over to it. "How about here?"
They all took their spots in the booth and relaxed until the server made herself over to them. She handed them each a menu, as well as a special's page.
"What'll you be having to drink?" She asked pleasantly as she flipped open her note pad.
"I'll have the strongest coffee you can muster up." Helga replied dully as she slouched against the window. "Bring the sugar but hold the cream."
The group looked surprised at her order.
"Aren't you a little young to be getting a coffee, sweety?" The woman asked, with a bit of amusement.
Immediately, Helga thrusted her finger across the table and pointed it in the woman's face. "Look, lady. I already have a mother and I've been drinking it since I was nine." When she noticed how she startled the woman, as well as the people around her, she sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. "Just bring me the drink?"
With a raise of her eyebrows and a sigh, the woman wrote the girls order down on her paper. "Alright, hon. Just know it'll stunt your growth if you have too much of the stuff, and give you the jitters."
Helga turned towards the window and gazed out at the parking lot. "Thanks. I'll take note of that."
The boy's frowned at one another before placing their own orders of orange juice, while Phoebe just ordered a glass of water. Once the woman left, they all brushed off Helga's attitude to have pleasant conversation, while she continued to stare out of the window.
There I go again! Letting my frustrations get the better of me… She thought as she gazed at her own reflection that was only inches away from her nose. At least this time it wasn't at Arnold. If the woman had just simply wrote down the damn order and didn't ask questions, things wouldn't be this way but of course not. Test my patience, why don't you? As if I needed more of that in my life.
"Here ya go, sweetlings!" The woman boasted as she returned, a tray in hand with everyone's drinks. "Orange juice for you and you, a water for you and…" She stopped as she noticed that Helga wasn't paying her any mind. "And a large black coffee with sugar on the side, for the cranky one."
With a smile, Arnold took the coffee and sat it in front of Helga. "Thanks." He said for her, pleading with his eyes for her to not say anything else that might set the girl off.
The woman rewarded him with a jolly smile and opened her note pad once again. "You dears decided on what to eat?"
"We'll each be getting the all you can eat pancakes!" answered Gerald as he took everyone's menu's and handed them back to the server. "With extra butter and syrup!"
Chuckling, the woman closed her note pad and nodded. "Very good! They'll be out in a few minutes!" Then walked away humming something to herself.
Helga awoke from her self damning thoughts to the smell of the coffee that sat in front of her, then looked over at Arnold, who still had a smile on his face. She took a sip and her insides filled with the hot liquid, which soothed her.
"Feeling better?" He asked her cheerfully, before placing his hand on her leg to show that everything was okay.
She looked down at his hand, then back at the coffee. The black liquid swirled in front of her in an almost taunting way, so she took another sip. "The last thing I needed was for someone I don't know to give me advice that I didn't ask for." She explained as she ripped open a few sugar packets and dumped the contents into her morning companion.
"You know she only meant well, Helga." Phoebe mentioned with kind eyes. "Caffeine may be good to help stimulate your brain in the morning and clear the morning fog, but ingested too much too often can be harmful and even addictive."
Helga stirred her drink but didn't look up. She knew that their eyes were on her, and this wasn't the type of attention she wanted. "I just have a headache and it helps me relax." She growled, wanting nothing more than for the subject to be dropped.
"My mom is like this every morning too." Gerald chimed in as he placed his elbow on the table and rested his head against his palm. "If she doesn't have her morning cup of coffee, I swear she turns into something paranormal. Its freaky how that stuff can turn you from an inhuman demon, to a normal everyday person."
The story gave the girl a slight grin and she looked over at him before mimicking his stance. She could see that he was trying to ease the tension and was grateful for the help. "Oh yeah? Imagine what I can be like in the morning."
Gerald shivered. "No thanks. I'll take my brothers full nelson's all day before I subject myself to that."
They all had a laugh before Arnold realized something. "Oh yeah. How's your brother doing now that he's living out of the house?"
"College life seems to be treating him well." Gerald replied as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his seat. "He doesn't visit too often, and I don't blame him, but when he does come home, he seems his same old self."
"What has he decided to major in?" Phoebe wondered thoughtfully.
As the three became embroiled with the topic, Helga looked down to notice that Arnold's hand hadn't moved from her lap. With a goofy grin, she turned her head back to the window and allowed herself to finally relax. He had put their earlier fight in the past and was going out of his way to try and comfort her, even if it was with small gestures. Oh, my benevolent prince… She adored on the inside. Putting aside my scornful tongue lashing and outlandish behaviors to comfort me in my time of need. Always forgiving me for the things I don't mean to do, and looking forward to speaking with the real me, the me that loves you unconditionally, no matter the cost. Oh Arnold. May one day, I cast aside this gross misconduct I call a façade and adorn the true face that hides within, even in public. For you, and only you, my love, would I scorch my feet on the black coals of degradation and walk on the path of humility in front of all you hold dear.
She then let her mind wander to the thought of them being alone together, in the diner, and cozying up to one another. Her heart fluttered and she found her left hand leaving her warm coffee cup and finding its way to on top of his, under the table and on her leg.
Noticing the sudden warm touch, Arnold looked over at her and could see her adoring grin from the reflection of the window. Unconsciously, he grinned back.
The food arrived shortly and all four of the kids were delighted as the large stack of pancakes were placed in front of each of them. With grumbling, hungry bellies, each of them began to devour their food until only little remnants of crumbs and sticky syrup remained.
"Now THAT is what I call a breakfast!" Gerald groaned happily, as he leaned backwards to give his bulging belly some room.
"I couldn't agree more, Gerald." Phoebe smiled, feeling content as she had not over indulged as much as he had, but was still full. "This was a wonderful idea."
"Right? I saw an ad for this place in the newspaper a while back." Gerald looked over at Arnold and then at Helga. "You two ready to go to our next destination?"
"I can't wait!" Arnold exclaimed as he stood up from the booth and allowed Helga to follow. "Where to?"
The second bus ride was considerably longer than the first, and dropped the group off in front of the large baseball stadium.
Gerald reached into his pockets and pulled out four tickets, and flashed them in front of Arnolds face. "Cool, huh?" He said as he watched his best friend become excited. "They may not be front row seats, but at least we'll be close enough to actually see the game, unlike that time we got scalped tickets."
"Thanks, Gerald! This is awesome!" Arnold replied as he stared at his ticket.
They walked up to the doors and showed the worker their tickets, before he let them pass. The game wouldn't be starting for another half an hour, so each of them were allowed time to leisurely find their seats and get comfortable.
"Now all we gotta do, is sit back, relax with our full bellies and watch a good game of all American baseball!" Gerald stated as he sat down and propped his feet up on the chair in front of him.
Arnold looked fondly between his three companions. "I can't believe you guys did all of this for me."
"The day isn't over yet, Arnoldo." Helga mentioned with a soft grin. "There is still one more event after this one that you get to enjoy."
More people began to file in and soon, the whole stadium was full of avid sports fans.
"What a beautiful day we have here, folks!" The announcer's voice came through into their ears loudly. "Be sure to grab some snacks and refreshments from our snack stands because the game is about to start! All of our hotdog's are proudly provided to us by Mickey's Dog Pound! Get em' while they're hot because when they're gone, their gone!"
The fans began to cheer loudly as the players slowly entered the field and took their seats in their respective dug outs.
"Peanuts!" A man shouted as he walked up the stairs with his tray of snacks. "Peanuts! Who wants peanuts!"
A little boy jumped up and shouted "Me!" Before his dad hushed him, grabbed the bag of nuts, and paid the man.
"Not me…" Helga stated as she placed both her hands on her stomach. "I ate enough to last me for the rest of the day."
"Are you okay?" Arnold asked her, in a hushed voice.
She could see that his eyes were full of concern, so she snorted and smiled. "Oh, I'm more than okay." She turned her attention back to the game as she noticed it was beginning. "I haven't eaten like that in a while. I'm uncomfortable but…" Turning back to him, she gave him a look of reassurance, "It's a feeling I can learn to like."
The fan's cheered loudly again as the players took their positions.
Arnold looked down at her hand, which cupped the end of the arm rest. He thought of his talk with Gerald about his wants and feelings, and decided that, considering they were in a crowded public place with many people she didn't know, maybe she would be comfortable with allowing a bit affection to be outwardly shown. All I gotta do is take thing slow… just like before… He thought to himself as he eyed her hand before looking back up at her. Her sour mood had passed so maybe there was a chance.
Slowly, he relaxed his back up against the back of his seat and got himself comfortable. He glanced at her hand one more time before placing it on top of hers.
The nerves in Helga's body all immediately signaled an electric reaction as his body suddenly became in contact with hers, and she unconsciously jumped. Helga looked at him nervously at first, but when she saw his warm smile, she forced herself to push away all of her nagging anxieties and enjoy the feeling.
"Is this too much?" He asked softly as he eyed the players far down below, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.
With a fluttering heart, and a longing sigh, Helga looked out at the field as the pitcher threw a fast ball which the swinger missed. "Shut up and watch the game." She replied stubbornly, resisting the urge to swoon.
From the corner of her eye, Phoebe watched and giggled before grabbing her own boyfriend's hand and squeezing it.
Gerald slowly leaned over towards Phoebe's ear. "Is it working?" He asked quietly during the loud cheers when the ball finally made contact with the bat, allowing the player to run to first base.
"Yes." Phoebe replied. "Things are moving along nicely."
The sun shone high in the sky as it beat down on everyone in the stadium. The game had finally ended with the visitors sadly winning, and everyone very hot and bummed.
"This afternoon sun is killing me!" Helga whined as she gradually got out of her seat; slowly unsticking her bare legs from the seat's plastic upholstery. "You'd think it would give us a break since we're in flipping October now! Criminy!"
"The breeze is quite nice." Phoebe smiled, trying to add something positive even if she too was sweating.
They made their way over to the stairs and slowly descended them.
"Don't worry, Helga." Said Gerald as he walked next to her. "We'll cool off in our next stop."
At first, the girl replied with a sneer, but when she looked down at her smiling and content looking partner, her sneer turned into a small smile. "Yeah, whatever."
They walked out of the stadium and back to the bus stop.
"Another bus ride?" Arnold asked them curiously.
"Another bus ride." Gerald shrugged and placed his hands on his hips. "At least there might be air conditioning in there?"
The wind blew and gave the kids some small relief before the bus made its way to them. With a screeching halt, it allowed them passage and soon they were on their way to their last destination.