Sid was walking down the hallway during lunchtime. He had just finished his lunch and was on his way to his locker. Despite how big the school was, it wasn't a long walk. All he had to do was turn around a corner and he would be there.

For a teen, he was an average height, but quite muscular. As part of the football team, he had used the sport to his advantage to obtain quite a physique, which he then used to his advantage with the ladies. However, he was no heart breaker. Although willing to sleep around, he wasn't willing to mess around with anyone's emotions and he made sure he stayed away from any girl who had a boyfriend. He was willing to have fun, but like Arnold, he had a heart and wasn't going to do it at anyone else's expense. If anything, he wanted the girl to also have fun. Despite the years, he still retained his old green cap, which he still wore backwards. he now wore a black leather jacket with blue jeans. Despite his long nose, many considered him cute and his reputation as someone whom a girl can have fun, if not experiment with in bed, preceded him.

Sid had now reached the corner where his locker resided and he made the turn when,

"Offf!" Exclaimed someone who just bumped into him.

"Whoa, sorry about that...Carmen?" Sid began to say when he realized to his shock that he just bumped into Carmen.

"Oh Sid, sorry about that; I didn't see you there." She said with a smile.

However Sid just stood there, completely frozen with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. He wanted to say something, but he felt completely immobile and was at a loss of words.

"You ok?" She asked when she saw that he wasn't even moving.

"I mean, ya I am. I just umm...didn't see you there...H-H-H-How are you doing today?" Sid nervously began to say and ask, finally getting out of his love trance.

"Oh, I've been good. How about you?" She asked with a lovely smile.

"I've umm...doing out there, I mean, I've been great, really great...umm ya." Sid continued to nervously say to her. Trying to act confident, he then tried to lean against the locker, only for him to realize too late that he was too far and he instantly fell onto the floor, much to his embarrassment.

Sid immediately got up and with a confident smile, attempted to lean against the locker, this time using his hand. However, he missed and he fell again onto the floor. Carmen stood there and just watched, being rather amused at how the poor guy, known to be a ladies' man, was not looking so savvy in front of the girl he liked.

Sid then got up again and attempted to try again, but the bell then rang, signalling that class is about to start soon.

"Oh, the bell! I've gotta go Sid. It was nice talking to you. Chao." She said with a smile and went, leaving Sid still standing there, now back into a love trance.

"Bye..." He said lovingly with a big, romantic smile on his face.

She's so pretty...He thought.

Sid found himself quite inept to have a full-blown conversation with Carmen due to her exotic dark-brown eyes and thick, but lush black hair that ran right down her head, captivating him and letting him fall down a dark, but radiant and lively abyss.

Quickly getting himself out of his trance, he realized that he needed to get to class and hadn't yet gone to his locker to get his stuff!

I gotta get going! I can't be late this time. He thought as he started running to his locker to quickly get his things for his next classes. As he did so, he couldn't get Carmen out of his mind. Ever since Rodrigo first introduced him to her back at Rhonda's Halloween party, he had been infatuated with her. Yet, unlike all the other girls, he wasn't able to be himself. Quite the contrary, he tended to stumble on his words or all of a sudden become completely nervous and anxious. What was happening?!

It didn't take long for Sid to realize what it was; he liked her. Yet, it had been almost half a year and he still was nowhere near in even asking her out. He had attempted several times to talk to her, only for him to repeatedly fail, resulting in either embarrassing himself in front of her or just making things awkward.

She must think I am a total farce. He thought. Well no more! I'm going to ask her out if it's the last thing I do! But how? I tried many times to talk to her, but I can't bring myself to act normally around her. I guess...I need help. He realized. But who?

As he continued to quickly make his way towards his class, he continued in deep thought about who can help him. Then, just as he was about to open the door to his class,

I know who can help me! He realized. I'll ask her tomorrow for her help.

Feeling satisfied in finally having a possible solution to his problem, Side quickly made his way to his seat with a big smile on his face.

The next day...

Sid went to the lunchroom during lunchtime and went to their usual table spot. Upon approaching the table, he realized that he person he sought was not there. He asked his friends where she was and once he received his answer, he quickly left to go and find her.

After some minutes of walking, he finally found her, sitting next to her locker, reading a book. Wasting no time, he quickly went to go and ask her for her help.

"Hey, Helga." Sid said.

"Hey." She casually responded, not even bothering to look up and face him.

Sid realized that she was busy reading a book and for a moment, hesitated on even asking for her help, lest she'd be upset for interrupting her reading time. Nevertheless, he was determined to seek her help.

"Hey, can I speak to you about something, if you have a moment?" He asked rather nervously.

"Sure I have a moment," She said almost gladly, "after you interrupted my reading, I do now." She then retorted with a frown.

Ignoring her retorting, Sid quickly got to the point.

"Well um, you see, I like this girl, but I have been unable to speak to her properly without embarrassing myself in front of her. I'm basically asking if you can help me on giving me some pointers on how to cope with my nervousness and just act normally around her." He said nervously.

Helga instantly looked up at him with a completely surprised look. Apart from the fact that she never would have thought that anyone would ever come to her seeking any form of dating advice, she could not fathom that Sid, a well known player, would come to her asking for her help in getting a girl. It was just too good to be true.

You've got to be kidding me?! This is either some sick joke or this is just a bunch of bull! She thought.

"Forget it, Sid!" She exclaimed. "I'm not going to try and help you get inside another girl's pants."

"No, no, no, you've got it all wrong!" Sid quickly attempted to correct this misunderstanding. "I don't want to sleep with her. I really like this girl. I wanna ask her out, but every time I get near her, I get really nervous and I can never get a good sentence out. I am just asking for some pointers on how to deal with that nervousness. Scouts' honor."

"Why don't you ask Rhonda for help?" Helga asked. "She is the queen of matchmaking in this dump, so I'm sure she'll be able to help you out."

"Well, I thought about asking Rhonda, but I figured you'd be more helpful on this." He confessed.

"How so?" She asked.

"Well, Rhonda may have some great advice, but she doesn't have much experience when it comes to dating." He explained. "Sure, she went on a few dates and there was that fling she had with Patrick last year, but they were never really serious. But you do, Helga. So I'd figured you would have more to advice on the matter than Rhonda. Well that, and there's another thing..." He continued nervously.

"What other thing?" She asked suspiciously. "Spit it out already!"

"Well umm, you see uh, Arnold kind of told us when you guys were dating, you would get nervous around him, making it hard for you to act normally around him."

When Sid saw that Helga was just staring at him, not making any scowling faces at him, nor trying coming at him aggressively, he cautiously continued.

"He said it was one of the reasons why you sometimes appeared to be aggressive, especially with him. He said it was your way of just trying to control your emotions and to get a grip on yourself. So I thought that, based on your experience with that, you would have some pointers for me."

Sid then closed his eyes and cringed, preparing for the inevitable yelling and fatal blows that were about to come from Helga. However, none came. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw that Helga just stood there, sitting on the floor, giving him at the very least, a suspicious look.

Helga remained motionless as she pondered as to why Arnold would ever dispel this kind of information about her to their friends. Eventually, she figured this was Arnold's way of trying to explain to them why she often seemed to be so aggressive, especially to him and it wasn't as if it wasn't true. Their friends could not really understand her why she would sometimes all of a sudden become so mean and aggressive whenever Arnold entered the scene. Indeed, it took Helga quite a while for her to eventually relax around him and to just act normally, without letting her nervousness get the best of her. Part of the reason why it took her such a while was due to the fact that she had a hard time comprehending the fact that after all of these years and with the odds stacked against her, she finally had the man of her dreams. During that fateful summer after their return from San Lorenzo, Helga had to consistently pinch herself in order to be convinced that this wasn't a dream. It wasn't. It was real; she finally had him; he finally saw something in her to not only like, but eventually...to love as well. It took her a while to finally be convinced of that.

Another reason was that this whole dating thing was completely knew to both her and Arnold. Apart from the fact that they were both really young when they started dating, none knew what to do and their friends weren't much help. They literally had to 'go with the flow' and learn by error. This in itself was already stressful, but when you add the additional weight of Helga not wanting to wreck this golden chance of being with Arnold over the long haul, well, needless to say, the first year was nerve-wrecking for her.

Although surprised that Sid knew about this piece of information about her, Helga didn't do anything about it. He already knew, so there was no point in being angry about it. Plus, even more surprisingly, unlike Stinky and especially Harold, Sid never teased Helga about her relationship with Arnold. True, he was just as surprised as anyone when he learned that Arnold's old tormentor had strong feelings for him, he accepted it and moved on. This was greatly due to the fact that Sid and Helga never really clashed when they were younger and thus, Sid had no lasting grudges against her. Unlike his male friends, he mostly just stayed out of her way and Helga did the same. All of this made Helga able to at least tolerate him knowing something personal about her.

"Fine, I'll help you." She said almost annoyingly, as she closed her book. "Who's the unlucky girl?"

"Really?! Thank you, Helga!" Sid exclaimed happily. "It's Carmen."

"Carmen? You mean Rodrigo's friend Carmen?" Helga asked surprisingly, to which Sid nodded while still having a smile on his face.

"Why didn't you go and asked Rodrigo about this first?" She asked him.

"I tried looking for him, but I couldn't find him, and he is not answering any of my text." Side explained. "Where is he, anyways?"

"I dunno. Ain't got a clue either, bob." She casually responded as she got up from the floor.

Sid just stared at her with a completely dumbfounded look on his face.

"You don't know where your boyfriend is?" He asked shockingly.

"I don't waste my time trying to know where my boyfriend is every second of every day." She said back. "He is my boyfriend, not my lapdog. I don't need to put him on a leash."

Sid just continued to look with a completely baffled looked on his face. In his mind, he could clearly see a distinction between how Helga was with Arnold and how she is with Rodrigo. With Rodrigo, Helga seemed to be almost indifferent as to where he see. When she was dating Arnold, Sid vividly remembered how they were virtually inseparable. Being with the same group of friends, neither Sid, nor any of their friends thought it strange to see Helga tag along with them. However they did notice that after the event in San Lorenzo, Helga stuck around a bit more often than usual, especially around Arnold. Helga would often trail along right beside her beloved football head, rarely leaving his side. However, everyone thought it was simply because they were dating, so it was naturally for them to want to be together.

At times, things would get a bit annoying whenever the guys wanted to have a boys' night out, only to see Helga tagging along with them. Again, this wasn't unusual, as Helga had always preferred to spend more time with the boys than with the girls. However, when they started dating, Helga had began to hang out more with the boys then previously. This made things a bit awkward. Before, they had no problem telling Helga right in her face that they didn't want girls to hang out with them. With them now dating, it became a bit difficult to say that to her, and the times when someone did tell her that they didn't want her, Arnold would often intervene on her side.

With Rodrigo, Sid had noticed that it was a bit different. Whenever they hanged out with their friends, Helga would have no problem in sometimes leaving Rodrigo on his own, allowing her to hang out and talk to Phoebe or go off somewhere on her own. Even at school, there were times when they hanged out together, becoming all lovey-dovey and such, while at other times, Rodrigo and Helga would go off somewhere doing things separately. Sid wasn't sure if this was due to them being older and more mature, or if there was something different about Helga's relationship with Rodrigo. Actually, he wasn't even sure if her relationship with Arnold was 'normal' or if it was borderline to the point of obsession. Either way, he never pried about it and he wasn't going to start now.

"Well, it's best to include Rodrigo on this. He is Carmen's friend and I'm sure he can give some pointers on how to impress her, while I give you some pointers on how to cope with your nervousness." Helga suggested, ignoring, for the time being, his staring.

"Good idea!" Sid exclaimed, getting out of his thoughts and re-focusing on why he was there. "Thanks again Helga for helping me. I really appreciate it."

"Ya, ya, don't mentioned it." She said. "I'll talk to him during our history class and ask him to meet up after school. You got a problem with that?"

"Nope, none." Sid said with a smile.

"Good. I'll see ya at my locker after school. Don't be late. If anything changes, I'll have my people call your people." She said as she busily gathered her bags and walked towards her next class.

"I won't. Thanks again Helga!" Sid said.

At History class...

Rodrigo walked in to find Helga already there, seemingly either waiting for him or for the class to start.

"Hey, what's up?" He said as he gave her a small little peck on her cheek.

"Hey." She said back. "You free to meet up after school?"

"I think I am, ya." He said. "Why?"

"Sid came to me asking for help about something and I agreed to help him. I need you to come along because it involves a friend of yours." She explained.

"Who? and what help does Sid need?" Rodrigo asked.

"Carmen. Apparently he 'like' likes her and he doesn't want to have a one-night stand with her. He seems to really like her and he wants to ask her out, but he gets nervous and anxious around her, so he asked me for help on how to cope with that." She continued to explain.

"Sid likes Carman?! Since when?" Rodrigo asked surprisingly.

"I dunno, he just does. So you gonna help me or not?" She asked.

"Ya, I'll help. But wait, he came and asked for your help and your agreed?" He asked still surprised.

"Yes, you got a problem with that, bucko?" She retorted.

"No no. It's just really nice of you, that's all." Rodrigo said.

"What, you think I can't help my friends out?" She continued to question him.

"No, I didn't say that! I'm just glad that you are." He nervously countered.

"Ya well, don't make a big deal out of it." She said, lowering her guard down.

It is a big deal. Rodrigo thought.

"Ya, sure. Where are we going to meet up?" He asked.

"By my locker. Don't be late." She said with a serious look.

"I won't. Oh, by the way," He said.

"What is it?"

"You're cute when you want to help people, you know that?" He said flirtatiously and with a smirk.

"I-I-I-, didn't I just say not to make a big deal out of this, Latino by?!" She said, trying to sound angry, although deep down, she was trying not to blush.

Rodrigo said nothing and just grabbed her hand had kissed it. Although still reeling from the flirt, the gestured managed to calm Helga down a bit, enough for her to hold his hand and even smile a bit.

"Que linda eres." (How beautiful you are ). He said to her with a smile.

"Gracias." She softly replied back.

After school...by Helga's locker...

Once they met up, Sid quickly filled Rodrigo and Helga in. He explained to them how he had liking Carmen ever since he saw her dance with Rodrigo back at Rhonda's Halloween party. Although he initially didn't make his move because he thought her and Rodrigo were going out, once that was not so, Sid attempted to make his move, but found that every time he got close to her, he started becoming nervous, even anxious. He explained that no matter how many times he tried to approach her in various ways, his tongued would become tied and ended up stumbling his words.

Although it was clear that Sid had strong feelings for Carmen, Rodrigo was still not entirely convinced and merely looked at his friend with a serious, skeptical, if not an also suspicious look on his face.

"Really?" Rodrigo remarked. "You like Carmen?"

"Ya I do. I just need some help in controlling this nervousness and also some tips on how to get her to like me."

"I dunno, Sid." Rodrigo said skeptically. "You're a well known one-night stander and a person who goes straight for the prize. How do I know you're not just trying to get into her pants? She's my friend, you know."

"I'm not, I swear!" Sid said. "This isn't what that is about. I really like her and I want to go out with her."

"I'm not concerned if you both do decide to have a one-night stand with each other; so long as she is aware of that AND if she wants to." Rodrigo said. "I'm concerned if whether or not you are going to toy with her emotions."

"Come on Rodrigo, you know I'm not like that." Sid protested. "Yes, I've had fun girls, but all were fully aware of what they were getting into. I tell them that I'm a player, just so they know. I even said no to a few of them whom I thought my have liked me; for fear of hurting their feelings. I'm not looking to stomp on anyone's toes; I just want to have fun and I want them to also have fun. Girls should also get to enjoy the experience. But with Carmen, it's entirely different. I really like her and I wanna ask her out. If I really wanted to just have a one-night stand with her, I would have done it already, but it's been months and I haven't even been able to get close to her without looking like an idiot."

A bit too late for that. Helga thought.

"Alright, fine." Rodrigo said. "What do you want to know about her?"

"Well, everything." Sid responded. "What she likes, what she doesn't like, her favour music, what is she planning on doing later in life, what's her favourite colour, is she allergic to anything..."

"Way to narrow it down." Helga said sarcastically.

"Alright. First off," Rodrigo began to say, "despite what many people may believe, Carmen is not an easy girl. The clothes that she wears, especially during the summer, and her friendly nature gives the false impression that she comes off as easy, but she's not. She's actually quite reserved and she tends to be a bit picky. She just likes to show off."

"And how would you know that?" Helga inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"When I first met Carmen back in late September, I pursued her." Rodrigo bluntly responded.

Sid glanced at Helga, curious to see how she was going to react to this information. To his surprise, other than giving him a somewhat frowning face, which Sid couldn't tell if it was her usual facial expression or due to what Rodrigo had just said, Helga didn't do anything else and just waited for Rodrigo to continue.

"As far as I was aware, she seemed to have responded to my advances."

Again, Helga said and did nothing and just continued to glance at him, but her frowning was becoming more and more profound.

"What did you say or do to get her attention?" Sid asked.

"I didn't try to impress her with fancy clothes or any extreme dancing moves. She is more down to earth than that. Plus, I'm new to this city, so it's not like I had much material accessories to use. I just showed how smart and what a nice guy I really am. In the end, I just presented myself as a different candidate and did not sort to be stereotypical."

Sid was actually rather curious to know why Rodrigo did not continue to pursue Carmen, given that she was positively responding to his advances. However, given how Helga's facial expression had evolved to scowling at Rodrigo, he decided to not ask about it. It was irrelevant anyways.

"So, your point is to not come off as any other guy?" He asked.

"Precisely." Rodrigo responded.

"Ok, that seems fair. What does she like to do? Any particular interest?" Sid asked.

"Well, she likes to dance. That is a must; she's Latina. So you gotta learn how to dance, especially Latin music. If you don't like to dance, good luck. Other hobbies are going out with her friends. She's into romantic and action movies, but also other genres. I think she also said that she does photography for the fun of it..."

"Photography?" Sid suddenly interjected, the subject catching his interests. "That's great. I'm into photography too. Not as a profession, but I have picked up the interest in the ninth grade. I can use the subject to make conversation and make her see that we have something common."

"Ya, you can." Rodrigo said. "Let's see, what else? She's not very politically conscious, but she's not ignorant about our political system. Ya, that's about it really."

"Great, thanks Rodrigo!" Sid happily exclaimed.

"Oh, there's one more thing." Rodrigo then suddenly remembered. "I'm not sure how you managed to swoop those other girls off of their feet, but one thing that Carmen despises is when a person is not being true and honest about himself. She hates posers or people that are fake. That being said, as in every situation, just be yourself Sid. Impress her, but don't go overboard with it and tell her things about yourself that aren't true. She will hate you for it and will literally walk away. You will not be given a second chance."

"Got it, thanks." Said Sid.

"You done now?" Helga asked a bit impatiently.

"Ya pretty much. You're up Helga." Rodrigo confirmed.

"Alrighty." Helga said as she cracked her fingers and stretched her arms a bit, as if getting ready for some physical work.

"Alright Sid, here's what you gotta do about that anxiety stuff of yours." She said as she got closer to him, wrapped her arm around his shoulder and got him to start walking with her. Although surprised by her sudden intake in getting physically close to someone, Rodrigo said nothing and simply walked behind them.

"First off, you gotta do away with your fantasy about Carmen, both sexually and aesthetic wise, and start looking at her like every other miserable, pathetic human being that creeps around in this lonesome little blue planet."

"Ok..." Sid said, taken aback by Helga's nihilistic tone.

"Rodrigo's right; what he said about you being true to yourself, you also have to see the reality of how she really is." She continued. "As much as you like her and as much as she may seem special to you, she is just like every other person. Ok ya sure, she has a bigger butt than most girls her height, she has a rather natural beauty that puts Rhonda's beauty to shame, and it appears that she's got some brains, but who's counting?"

When Sid said nothing, Helga continued.

"So you just need to do away with your fantasy and infatuation with her and just see her as she really is."

"How do you think I should do that?" Sid asked.

"Just deal with it directly and confront it. The best way to do that is what you've already been doing with those other girls; talk to her. You'll see that the more you know about her, the most you will realize just how human she is. You have no problem talking to other girls, so why start with this one? You need to stop putting her up on a pedestal like I did with Arnold and just focus on the reality of things." Helga responded.

"Can you give an example?" Sid asked.

Helga went silent as she thought about an example, one that would not divulge too much information about her obsession over him, but enough for Sid to understand her point.

"Well, one way is coming to grips that Carmen is a person independent from you." Helga explained. "She has her own hopes, opinions, personality, needs and wants. I might as well tell you. One of the reasons why Arnold and I used to get into arguments during our first year together was because whenever I used to fantasize about him, I had absolute no control over it. I dictated over how Arnold 'behaved', responded and attended to my needs in my fantasy. In reality, that was not the case at all and it was a huge slap in the face. I found it the hard way that in relationships, there is a lot of compromises. Arnold most often would not succumb to how I envisage he would act or behave, which obviously infuriated me. And before you get into it, Arnold also had to deal with the realities of being in a relationship. We were both naive and he too realized that it was not all peaches and cream. It wasn't easy for both of us, especially me."

"Because I was living in my own dreams during that early stage, I would put Arnold up on a pedestal, thinking that he is a very special and wonderful person, unrealistically more so than others. Naturally being in awe of someone whom we think is greater than us makes us nervous, even anxious to be around them. If you think about it, it's kind of similar if we ever meet our boss' boss, or if we end up getting sent to the principal's office. Obviously that nervousness and anxiety that I would often feel whenever I was close to him only complicated things. I felt like that I couldn't be myself and every time I was near him, I had to constantly fight with myself on just trying to act normally. Obviously that ended frustrating things because there is only so much that you can take before you'd explode. So unless I was willing to let go of my fantasies about being in a relationship with him and just focus on actually dealing with the Real Arnold, I was putting my relationship with him at risk. Once I did put my fantasies behind me, things calmed down for me. I no longer felt nervous or anxious around him. I was finally able to just be myself and not have to fight with my emotions. I actually got to enjoy being around him."

"Wow. I...I never knew how tough it was for you." Sid remarked, completely in shock. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Helga."

"Eh, it's no biggie. You live and learn." Helga said dismissively, trying her usual way of toughing it out. "But thanks. By the way, this information is strictly confidential, got it bucko?" She continued, with a now more serious tone. "If you ever tell anyone about this, especially Harold, I will feed your rotten corpse to the dogs."

"Got it Helga. I won't tell anyone." Sid said, taking her exaggerated threat seriously. Well, at least he hoped it was exaggerated.

Rodrigo meanwhile remained silent the whole time Helga talked and just admired at how open she was coming of her feelings to her friends. Rodrigo couldn't help but smile at this big moment in her life. She had come a long way from the girl he met back in September and he was very proud of her.

"You just need to keep in mind that Carmen, like Arnold, is human and they have flaws." Helga continued. "They are not perfect, as much as we would like them to be and you need to acknowledge that to yourself. But you won't be able to do that unless you break that ice wall and talk to her! Just have a normal conversation like you do with everyone else. You'll see that just conversing with her will lessen your anxiety. This won't happen in one day. If you do get a chance to go out with her, you will see for yourself that she is just human. She maybe special to you, but she is still just like every other person. It's a paradox really. But I promise that once your see this, your nervousness and anxiety will disappear."

"That makes sense," Said Sid, excited by the logic behind all of it. "Thanks Helga! This really helps."

Rodrigo could not be more happier with how things were turning out. Helga, out of her own initiative, not only gave a helping hand to a friend, but also shared some personal information about herself. Rodrigo did not have intervene, nor in any way try to convince Helga to do anything of this. It was all on her!

Bravo, Helga. Estoy muy orgulloso de ti. (I'm so proud of you). Rodrigo thought happily.

However, Helga was still not done.

"Don't mention it. So instead of wasting your time fantasizing about her, you gotta get her to start fantasize about you. Let her spend her time being all infatuated about you instead of it being vis-versa."

"Huh?" Sid asked, looking confused.

My thought exactly. Rodrigo thought, looking equally confused.

"It's simple; you're a guy. Why are you wasting your time admiring her from afar? Take it from me; I wasted many years doing that instead of at least trying to get Arnold to like me. Instead of taking the chance, I sat by the sidelines, afraid of rejection, afraid of him saying no. Don't waste your time admiring her from afar. You gotta take your chance and hit it with everything that you've got!"

Rodrigo looked on with a bit shock. He was proud of Helga of sharing the amount of personal information that she already did, but he didn't expect her to divulge more information, much less show a lot of passion in doing so.

"That's true..." Sid said as he pondered. "But how do you expect me to do that?"

"Sid, what have we been talking about so far?" Helga stated, looking a bit agitated that Sid hadn't yet grasped it. "You make her fantasize about you by showing just how grandiose you are, doi!"

Rodrigo's smile then dropped as he started becoming worried about where Helga was going with this.

"You've done that all the time with those other girls, so you can do it with this one." Helga continued.

Huh, excuse me? Rodrigo thought, looking increasingly worried.

"Well, I guess." Sid said hesitatingly.

"The only difference is that you actually like her; that's a whole new level up there. That, and as Latino boy said, Carmen won't just easily fall for you. You gotta make yourself look more grandeur than you really are, so you need to scratch what Rodrigo said about being yourself and completely redo yourself into something else."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Rodrigo suddenly said, intervening into their conversation. "Helga, what do you think you are doing?' He asked, as he approached them.

"It's simply psychology, Latino boy." Helga said, undeterred. "In order to get someone to like you, you need to fit into their fantasy. Think of it as a puzzle, or blocks with certain shapes. A square block wouldn't be able to fit into a triangle shaped hole. It has to be a square. The same goes with our fantasies. You've studies psychoanalysis before, you should know what I'm talking about."

"I do know what you're talking about, but there is a big difference between making an impression and not being yourself in front of the person whom you like." Rodrigo said.

"Trust me, it's for his own good." Said Helga.

"Please explain to me how he not being himself in front of Carmen is for his own good." Said Rodrigo.

"He needs all the tools that he can muster. He's well known for being a player, so naturally Carmen will be a bit reserved about trusting someone who sleeps around, even if he hasn't left a trail of tears behind him."

"Ok." Rodrigo said unconvincingly. "And him acting as someone completely different then who he is, is suppose to help with that? Doesn't that lead to the same conclusion; he can't be trusted?"

"Eh, details, details." Helga responded dismissively, brushing aside this supposedly minor piece of information.

"What? Helga, you can't tell him to be someone different." Rodrigo protested. "Do you realize how much of a lost cause it will be for him if he does that? He can't possibly put up with that charade for long, let alone all this life. It's not fair to him or to Carmen."

"It will be a lost cause if he doesn't get his act together and show him the type of guy Carmen wants him to be." Helga calmly countered.

"You can't possibly be serious." Rodrigo said exasperatingly. "I'm not even sure why you are advising him of this. It's not like that ever worked for you; with Arnold or with me."

"Water and oil, Latino boy. My situation was different than him." Helga said. "It didn't require me to become someone who I wasn't. As I recall, both you and Arnold naturally came to your senses and liked me for what I am." She smirked.

"Well obviously because you learned that by changing yourself into someone you're not wasn't going to get the guy you liked. Do I need to remind you of that time back in the fourth grade at Rhonda's Masquerade party? Remember who you dressed up as?" Rodrigo said with his own smirk.

Sid said nothing and just looked on confusingly. Although fully remembering the particular party Rodrigo referred to, he was having a hard time remembering what Helga dressed up as. All he remembered from that party was Arnold spending A LOT of time with Lila, although it confused him even more because he distinctively remembered Lila dressed up as a gorilla and was often seen inside the house.

"Hey! I was young and naive back then." Helga snapped back. "You need to stop hanging out with Gerald so much. You've been getting away too much information about me."

"Actually, it was Phoebe who told me." Rodrigo said, trying not to laugh.

Helga just groaned and slapped her own face, annoyed at the fact that her own best friend would betray such an embarrassing piece of episode about her life to her own boyfriend.

"Let's stick to the subject here." Helga said. "My situation was different and in the end, even if I did try to change myself into something that I am not, I did get Arnold and later you. Sid's situation is different."

"How so?" Rodrigo asked.

"Look at the poor guy! Pun intended." Helga exclaimed as he pointed at him. "Do you really think Carmen is going to fall for that? He still wears the same old green hat that he wore since the fourth grade! It wouldn't have killed him to change his clothes up a bit. Not to mention that he is poor."

"What do you mean 'pun intended?! Wha...G...Helga!" Rodrigo exclaimed with extreme shock at Helga's blunt and complete lack of consideration for Sid's physical and economic situation. Although it was no secret that Sid came from a lower economic background when compared to the rest of his friends, Rodrigo was still astonished that Helga not only would bluntly state the fact, but also consider it as a sort of disadvantage on his part.

Even by this time, and despite Helga's rude comments of him, Sid still said nothing and just continued to look both his friends as they started bickering over how to best help him. He wasn't sure if he was simply amused by their bickering, or if he was just waiting for them to come to a consensus. Either way, he opted to stay out of it and wait for them to come to an agreement. After all, when it comes to Helga, you'd best not intervene.

Thirty minutes later...

Sid was sitting on one of the stoops that lead into the school. In order to stave off the boredom, he was busily playing a game on his phone, patiently waiting for Helga and Rodrigo, who were still arguing. By now, even the game was no longer containing his boredom and just gave a sigh as he continued to wait.

"You cannot be serious?! You are using Lacan's theory of fantasy and desire in order to support your hypocritical stance?" Rodrigo exclaimed.

"I am not being hypocritical!" Helga exclaimed back at him. "You very well know that French guy's theory on desire is centered around lack, which the person then finds in the Other; that is, in other people. Hence, your own stance about telling Sid to 'be himself' is foolhardy because to be oneself, let alone know oneself, is impossible."

"Yes, that's true, but you are essentially telling Sid to be a completely different person entirely, one where he has to succumb to the whims of Carmen's desire and fantasy. From an egoistic standpoint, you are telling him that he is not good enough. I cannot imagine what possible psychological damage that will do to him!" Rodrigo shot back.

"Are you Freudian or Lacanian?" Helga asked. "Because if you are Lacanian, then you know that the ego is nothing more than society's own implanted view of you, not the other way around. It is entirely fake."

"I am Lacanian!" Rodrigo fired back. "But that doesn't mean that other people's work like Freud or Piaget should be discarded.

"Oh gee, and you forgot little old Lev Vygotsky. Who's the hypocrite now?" Helga remarked with a smirk.

What are they talking about? Sid thought confusingly. Are they even still trying to help me or just trying to win an intellectual debate?

Just then, something came by that caught Sid's attention. Whatever it was, it flew right in front of him, above from his phone. Curiously, he glanced above and saw that it was a bird, and not just any bird, but a blue jay!

Intrigued that such a beautiful bird would land so close to him, he quietly paused his game and exited from it. He then turned on his camera app and very slowly, got up, took a few steps towards it and started taking pictures while it hopped around on the grass looking for anything to eat.

This is soo coool! Sid thought excitedly. I've never seen a blue jay up so close and so early in the year. I wonder why it's even here.

Sid slowly crept a bit more towards the bird and continued taking pictures without trying to frighten it. Luckily for him, the blue jay either didn't seem to mind him, or simply didn't notice him and just kept on scouring the green for insects.

As Sid continued taking pictures, Carmen came out from the school after one her after school activities. Halfway down the stoop, she noticed Sid taking pictures and Helga and Rodrigo arguing. Although a bit taken aback as to why these three were still doing on school property, not to mention why Rodrigo and Helga were arguing, Carmen opted out from even interfering in their 'conversation'. She was more interested in Sid and him taking pictures of the bird anyways. Intrigued that Sid had a possible passion for photography, she smiled and crept in a bit slower to get a better look.

Not having the slightest clue as to who was behind him, Carmen peeked in on his photos and smiled at the amazing amount of photos that he was taking. It wasn't just a simply touch of a button. Sid took his time to get the perfect shot of the bird's every movement. Sid even went so far as to take pictures from a certain angle that captured a background with buildings or the sky, allowing a more colour and exquisite image.

Impressed at the quality of the pictures, Carmen crept in a bit closer to take a better look. She then wondered if she should say something and potentially disrupt Sid's concentration. As a photographer herself, she knew very well how upsetting it was for her whenever she got interrupted while in the phase of taking pictures of something, and so reframed from saying anything...for now.

However, much to her luck, the blue jay then suddenly flew away. Sid, content on having taken so many pictures, got up and then attempted to review some of them.

"Nice pictures." She finally said to him.

"Huh? What? Who?" A started Sid then instantly turned around, immediately recognizing her voice.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She said with a smile.

"Huh? No, no it's ok. I wasn't expecting anyone to be behind me, hehehe." He said nervously.

Sid could instantly feel his nervousness and anxiety acting up again and once again, fell silent, unable to move, let alone talk.

"How come you're still here?" Carmen asked.

"I um, *gulp*, you see, I am umm...well, the thing is..." Sid attempted in vain to answer.

Getting even more nervous, he instantly looked around, trying to find anything that would give him an idea or a topic to talk about why he was still at school. After making a few glances throughout his environment, his eyes feel upon Rodrigo and Helga who by some miracle, were still arguing and completely out of touch with their surroundings. Seeing them instantly gave Sid an idea. Now all he had to do was try to actually talk to Carmen.

He looked back towards her who said nothing as she patiently waited for him to respond, almost as if she knew what he was feeling and was giving him a chance to calm down. That didn't make Sid feel any better. He still had trouble gaining any sense of control and felt that his fantasy of her was getting the best of him. Remembering his conversation with Helga, he attempted to move away from his fantasy and just focus on her as real person.

She is just a girl, she is just a girl, nothing more. He thought. She's...sooo beautiful and those eyes...I mean uh, no I mean yes, she is beautiful and has exotic eyes, but she's only a person, nothing more. She's not a god, she maybe different than other girls, but that doesn't make her into anything special that I would have to put her up on a pedestal. C'mon man, get a hold of yourself! You've talked to soo many girls, each of them uniquely different. Why should Carmen be that special that I can't even talk to her! I know that to me she is special, but in reality, she is not.

Slowly but surely, Sid managed to get an enough grip to for him to at last respond.

"I'm here because I was helping Helga and Rodrigo."

Carmen then looked at the two teens who incredibly, were still oblivious and were still arguing.

"Help them with what?" She asked, obviously confused.

"W-W-Well you see umm, they were having some issues and I wanted to help them out." He said, trying to sound genuine. "As you can see, I haven't yet quite succeeded." As he gestured to where they were.

"Well, what exactly did you do?" She asked.

"Well, umm I first asked what the problem was. Based on my conversation with them, they weren't seeing each other eye-to-eye on some things." He explained. "It um, turns out that they had different expectations about their relationship and I mean they were way up there, in fantasy land, not reality."

"That's strange." Carmen remarked. "I thought that since Helga had a previous boyfriend, she would have had experience and have more realistic expectations. As for Rodrigo, well he always seems to have a very calculating mind, so I'm surprised that he would let his imagination get the better of him."

"Well, you know how love works." He said as he nervously chuckled. "It makes people do strange things, even those who are already well acquainted with it. You know the old saying, 'you know you're in love when you can't fall asleep at night because reality is finally better than your dreams.'"

"I'm not familiar with that saying. Who said that?" She asked.

"Dr. Seuss." Sid responded nervously.

"And what about you?" She asked him with almost flirtatious smile. "Do you know anything about love?"

*gulp* "I ummm...not much. I mean, I don't think any of us really know what love is." He said nervously.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Love or when a person just 'like' likes another person, it's not something that you can simply put into words and I think that's the whole point. Love is only something that you can feel and because it can completely consume a person, it makes it really hard, if not just impossible to accurately describe it with just words. Sure we have songs and poetry, but often even that is not enough."

"And is that what you told them?" Carmen asked.

"T-To some extent yeah." He said nervously. "I tried to provide them with a more realistic perspective about love."

"It doesn't look like it worked." She said as she glanced at them. "How long have they been arguing?"

"About an forty minutes or so." Said Sid. However, quickly noticing that Carmen didn't seem too impressed with his 'help', he quickly added, "But um, I also told them that they needed to be honest with each other and I realized that they have been holding a lot of things back and not really umm, that ummm, what's the word when two people need to talk to each other?"

"Communicate?" She said.

"Yes, communicate! So I figured that whatever things they need to say to each other, it's sometimes best to just let it out."

"You seem to know a lot of about this." Carmen remarked with a slightly impressed smile on her face.

"Thanks, I try." He said. "So umm, how come you're still here?" He quickly asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'm part of the photography club." She explained. "We just finished processing some photos that we took a few days ago."

"Oh, you're into photography? Me too." He quickly said.

"I know. I can tell by the way you were taking pictures of that blue jay." She said with a smile.

"Oh right, ya." He said nervously. "Are you into anything in particular that you like to take?"

"Not really, just whatever I find inspirational." She said.

During his conversation with her, Sid had noticed that his nervousness and anxiety have been decreased with each passing time that he conversed with Carmen. Realizing that Helga was indeed right, he began to show his boldness.

"Well, since you saw some of my photos, would it be alright if I can look at some of the things that you took?" He asked boldly, as fact that delighted Carmen.

"Oh sure! Here, let me show you." She said excitedly and she showed him some of her photos, at least the non private ones.

"Oh wow, these are cool!" Sid exclaimed as he swiped the photos that he saw on Carmen's phone. "How did you manage to get the perfect shade in this photo?"

"It wasn't easy. I had to wait until the sun went down a bit and even after that, I had to take pictures from several different angles. This picture is probably the 10th time I took." She explained.

Sid and Carmen spent about fifteen minutes looking at photos and critiquing the angle, shade, colouring, and lightening, with Rodrigo and Helga still arguing in the background. They didn't mind them. As far as they were concerned, they were too busy with each other. To Sid, those fifteen minutes were crucial, as he felt himself be almost normal again. With that in mind, he fully took advantage of it and demonstrated to Carmen his vast knowledge of photography, much to her awe. Despite it only being a few years since his 'discovery' of photography, Sid wasted no time in consuming all the material that he could get from either the school library or online about how to take the perfect photo. Honing in on his skill, he constantly practiced during those years, taking any kind of photo, from the sunrise, to just a trashcan swirling around with the wind. Anything that he found inspiring, which usually was a lot, he took a picture of it. All this without ever enrolling in any photography course outside of school.

"Ah, I can see why the lightening is a bit off in this photo. Look here." He said as he pointed to a particular section of the photo. "There was someone walking right behind you and his shade kind of blocked the sun. So from this angle, it doesn't seem as bright as you were trying to make it."

"Oh my god, I didn't even notice it!" Carmen said surprisingly. "I was soo busy trying to take a good photo that I didn't see anyone walk past me from behind. Ugh! No wonder this photo sucks."

"Chill out. It doesn't look that bad." Sid said. "If anything, you can still pull it off and say that this somewhat somber look was intentional. Actually, it kind of gives it a kind of noir look."

"Alright, I'm impressed. You know you're photos." She admitted with a smile. "Oh shoot! It's late, I have to get going." As she started to get her things. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked him.

"Definitely." He said. "Actually, I have to get going as well. Would it be ok if I can accompany you for a walk?" He confidently asked.

"Sure, but aren't you suppose to be helping them?" Carmen asked as she gestured at Rodrigo and Helga.

"Oh they are fine." He said as he put his backpack over his shoulder. "Believe it or not, this is good for them. They need to let it all out. I was never planning on interfering. I've done all I can. Now, it's up to them. Besides, you know how Helga can be."

"Well, ok." She said with a smile, delighted that Sid was accompanying her. "So, how do you know so much about photography?" She began to ask him as they started walking.

"Back in the ninth grade. I enrolled in a photography class, thinking that it wouldn't be such a hard course. Ironically, turns out that's where I developed a passion for it..." He began to explain.

"Oh c'mon Helga!" Rodrigo exclaimed. "You can't tell me that being yourself is not radical enough!"

"It may be in some instances, but not in Sid's situation." Helga said. "This situation needs boldness and direct action. Sid cannot afford to be seen as weak and mess up!"

"What do you mean?" Rodrigo asked. "He is asking a girl out, not leading an army."

"You just don't get it, do you Latino boy?" Helga said with her arms crossed. "It is exactly like leading an army. One mistake can cost you everything. The same is when you like someone. You only have that one chance to make that crucial impression and if you mess up, you will not get another chance! Why do you think it took me so long to say anything to Arnold?"

"Because you were scared and spend more of your time being a bully to him?" He asked rhetorically.

"Fear was part of it and the bullying was a consequence of that!" She angrily retorted back. "Get your facts straight! But yes, I was scared because I didn't know how to approach Arnold and expose my most cherished secret to him without knowing that he would like me. I only had one chance to do that, lest he would reject me. It was a risk that I couldn't take. The only times I was able to tell him were when our neighourhood was at risk of being torn down and when we went to San Lorenzo to find his parents. You know the stories so I won't bother re-telling them again."

"The same goes for you, although it was a bit more complicated." She continued. "I started liking you back in October, but I wasn't willing to give up on the hope of one day getting back together with Arnold. It was only when I was finally able to let go of the past that I was finally able to see that I had a future with someone else; you, but even that wasn't enough."

"Then what drove you to tell me that you liked me?" Rodrigo asked. "How did you know that I would say yes?"

"Unlike Arnold who showed virtually no interest me, not that I blame him, you made it known to me for quite some time." She explained. "If you were trying to hide your feelings from me, it didn't work. I was able to see them through your behaviour and with the way you look at me. It wasn't difficult to see that you liked me. That's what gave me the confidence to approach you and ask you to dance with me on that day; because the evidence was clear."

"But, what if you didn't how I felt about you? What would you have done then?" Rodrigo asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." She confessed. "I definitely wouldn't have bullied you, but I don't know what or how I was going to find out if you felt the same way about me as I feel about you. It's not easy for me to show that part of me to just anyone, let alone take such a risk. There would have been that possibility where I may have...never really would have confessed my feelings for you." She continued quite sadly.

"Anyways, that's the past, I told you, you said yes, we're all good enough." She said, shrugging off the sad feeling of possibly never having confessed her feelings to Rodrigo. "That's why Sid needs to take an aggressive and bold course of action. He needs to make that first impression or else everything would come crashing down. I don't want him to get hurt."

Helga then realized that Rodrigo was no longer even paying attention to her and was looking at something past her.

"Hey! Are you listening to what I've been saying?!" She angrily asked him.

Rodrigo said nothing and just pointed at something behind her. Helga then turned around to see what got his attention all of a sudden, when she instantly saw Sid walking alongside Carmen.

"Uh, when did that happen?" She asked.

"Not a clue." Rodrigo said. "Huh. Who knew?"

"Wait a minute! You mean to tell me that we have been arguing for almost an hour for nothing?" Helga frustratingly asked.

"Ya, looks like it." He said as she shrugged his shoulders.

"Great, just great. An hour of my life wasted when I could have been home by now or at least spend a nice time with you instead of arguing." Helga said as she frowned.

"It wasn't a total loss. I think Sid put into action what you told him. I don't think he would have been able to walk with Carmen, let alone talk to her without having to talk to you first." He said.

"Pfft, I guess." Helga said as she shrugged. "C'mon, let go home." She continued.

The two teens then gathered their things and began to walk towards the bus lane.

"So, did we just have our first fight?" Rodrigo asked.

"Fight? You call that a fight?" Helga said. "That was just a warm up, bucko."

"Warm up?" Rodrigo asked in surprise. "I'd hate to see what being in a verbal fight with you would be."

"If you want to get in real fight, you'd better suit up Latino boy." She said with an almost mischievous smile.

"Actually, I'd rather not." He said. "Arguments are inevitable, but I don't want to get into any serious fights with you."

"Then just sit back and let me handle things." She said.

"Ya, I'd rather not do that either." He said.

"Well then make up your mind! You can't have both." She said.

"Why not? It's call compromise." He said.

"Ugh, that word again." Helga said annoyingly. "Fine. I guess I'll let you have some say in this relationship." She said.

"That's better. Thanks." Rodrigo said as he gave her a kiss on her cheek.

Later that evening...

...Today was a great revelation, football head. Sid likes a girl, and I don't just mean sexually. I mean he actually 'like' likes this girl. She is actually a friend of Rodrigo's; Carmen. Pretty girl, I guess. Anyways, even more surprising is that Sid came to me for advice. Oh yes, you read that right, Sid came to me, not to Rhonda for dating advice. Who knew?!

Well, needless to say I not only accepted to help him, even more surprisingly, I opened up some things about myself that I did not want Sid to go through. I don't know what became of me or what induced me to spill out certain personal things about myself. I guess it may have been because I never really had any issues with Sid. He practically stood out of my way for most of my life. That's when it dawned on me that I...never really knew him. We've practically grown up together, but never really ever sat down and talked, let alone helped one another.

Regardless, I have to admit that helping someone out felt, well...good. It felt nice helping someone out with something that they were ignorant about. I guess that's why I told him some personal things about me; I just didn't want him to make many of the same mistakes that I made when we were together. Truly, I regret many of things that I said or did when I was with you. My naivety and stubbornness can get in the way sometimes. I am trying not to let them get in the way this time with Rodrigo.

Well, how are things in the jungle for you football head? Back to concocting anymore magic potion? Hope to hear from you soon.

Your matchmaker,

Helga G. Pataki.

When Helga finished her letter, she then carefully placed it inside her binder that still had space for it. After closing it, she then put the binder into her closet, then went to her desk to do her homework for the rest of the evening.