Chapter 2: What's This On The Floor?

Arnold's Kitchen

"Oh bury my not...on the lone prairie!" Pooie sang, while placing the pancakes in front of her grandson.

As Arnold stared at his plate, Phil mumbled at his wife "I'll bury you some place further than that."

The elderly man then looked to see his grandson poking at his helping of pancakes, as if something was on his mind. "Hey! What's eatin' ya short man? Certainly not those pancakes hehe." Phil laughed to himself.

Arnold then lifted his head and replied "I just had a weird dream last night…"

"It's the vicious man-eating tiger returning to finish the helpings! Where's my gun (fly swatter) Kimba?!"

Phil gave a hopeless look as he pointed over his shoulder to his wife and asked "Weirder than her?"

Disregarding the remark, Arnold began to explain "Well, in my head I was hearing voices that sounded like Helga…"

"Ooohhh! You're cranky little friend with the big pink bow and the one eyebrow! Ho boy, this ought a be good!" Phil said excitedly, while scooting closer to the table.

"Yeah, well anyway, half way through it, a crash woke me up?"

Phil began to scratch his head, as he lifted an eyebrow and asked "Crash? What kind of crash? Party crash? Car crash?"

"No grandpa. I woke up and saw Helga and Phoebe standing on my fire escape. She said she was just taking a walk…"

Phil stopped him right there to say "And you believed her? Fire escapes are for racing down, not walking up to enjoy the view of something...unless you're suicidal"

"Grandpa…"

"Oh, I'm just messing with you short man. So, what's got you all shook up about this?"

"Well, I don't know if those voices in my head were something I heard her saying, or something I was dreaming about before I actually woke up?" Arnold sighed.

"Well, DO you like her? We Shortman do tend to fall for the independent type...that is until they lose their marbles." Phil said, once again pointing to his wife.

Arnold stood from the table to head for school and replied "I don't know. Even if she does, based on what you told me about grandma, I don't think that'll make her confess in front of everyone. See you grandpa."

"Have a good day short man." Phil waved before looking back at Pookie swatting her tiger fly, almost wishing he could join his grandson.

Walk

Helga was marching down the street happier than ever with her best friend. Once again, she had dodged a bullet, no matter how embarrassing then excuse may have been.

Phoebe was tempted to say how delighted she was that they had discovered the source of her friend's problem, until she remembered Helga promising never to bring it up again.

She and Helga then had a rather quiet walk. They spent the night together, what news did they have to share? That is, until they were preparing to turn a corner...THUMP!

Helga fell to the ground after bumping into Arnold, but this time, he did not fall with her. Arnold stood, looking down at Helga, doing his best not to blush about what had happened the previous night. Helga then shook her head and screamed "Watch where you're going football head! Come on Pheebs!"

Gerald (who was standing nearby) watched the incident and said "At least it was just her who fell this time."

He then noticed his friend's rosey cheeks, as Arnold continued to watch Helga head for the school, and asked "What are you staring at man?"

Arnold shook his head after realize the daze he had fallen into and said "Huh? Oh sorry Gerald. Let's get going."

P.S. 118

Hallway

Helga looked to her best friend who was heading for class and said "I'll meet you there Pheebs. I need some books from my locker."

Although Phoebe believed her, what Helga really wanted, was a moment alone with her thoughts. Why was Arnold blushing at her? Did he have something to tell her, or was he just embarrassed by his clumsiness?

Helga looked around as she pulled out her locket from her shirt and began to pour out her feelings. She felt there wasn't anything to worry about with class being so close to starting.

Oh Arnold! What have I done? Lying day after day about my feelings, only to fill that magnificent oblong shaped head of yours with mind boggling thoughts. If only I could find the strength to admit to you the reasons behind my stalking. If only I…

Helga then dropped her shoulders and swung her fist back after hearing her stalker listening in on her feelings...yet again. The only good that ever came out of it was Helga being snapped out of her fantasy land.

As she headed for the classroom, Arnold wasn't far behind. While Helga had been lucky enough for him to miss her lovely speech, Arnold noticed a bag of empty pork rinds falling towards the floor after Helga slammed her locker.

Classroom

Arnold was the last to arrive in class. After taking his seat in front of Helga (with the empty bag of pork rinds he did a good job of hiding), he read the warning label.

When the blonde boy read sleepwalking to be a side effect, that explained a few things. It didn't explain whether he was dreaming about her before seeing her, or if she was the one reciting those sweet things about him. As Phil had said, his family tended to go for the independent type, and Helga made it clear she needed nothing from no one (thanks to her neglecting family).

As Arnold sat pondering this, he heard Mr. Simmons ask "What is it Harold?"

The husky boy glared at the teacher while asking in an upset tone "How come Arnold gets to eat in class and we don't?!"

"What are you talking about Harold?"

Harold then pointed to the empty bag of pork rinds, Arnold then realized was causing a distraction.

"No one should be eating. Arnold, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to put that away." Mr. Simmons insisted.

Oh brother what an idiot!

Helga thought to herself, until she noticed what was being put away.

The nervous girl looked at her secret love putting away the bag of pork rinds as she thought to herself…

If he reads the warning label, he'll know what I was doing there! Criminy!

Arnold had decided to forget about it for awhile, while Helga spent the rest of class sweating, wondering how she could come up with a plan to either get the bag, or convince Arnold the side effect had nothing to do with him.

Hallway

Lunch finally came, and Helga dragged Phoebe out of her seat, quicker than she ever had before.

"Whoa! Is everything alright Helga?" Phoebe asked, while tilting her glasses.

"He knows Pheebs!" Helga grabbed her friend by the sweater in desperation.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Phoebe replied, as her friend wasn't being too clear.

Helga quivered as she kept an eye out for Arnold and said "He has the bag of pork rinds I left in my locker the other day! He's going to know my mind led me to him!" Helga gasped.

Doing her best to keep her friend calm, Phoebe patted Helga on the back and said "I'm sure the circumstances aren't as dire as they appear to be. Even when people sleep walk, it's not always because of a hidden subconscious burden."

"What's that in English?" Helga asked anxiously.

"It means people don't always sleep walk because something or someone is on their mind. Just because he saw you, doesn't mean he'll automatically accuse you of liking him." Phoebe explained, in the hopes of making her friend feel better.

Helga sighed, not knowing which way this would go, as she said to her friend "Thanks Pheebs."

Helga was hesitant about entering the cafeteria. If they did, would Arnold as to speak with her, explain everything to the guys, or suspect the worst she could possibly imagine?