Disclaimer: I do not own "Hey Arnold!" nor "The book of the dun cow." I'm reading that book,
myself, and it's a really good book.



I walked to the bench where Rhonda and I were sitting, before Helga and Brainy came back. Man,
I really didn't want to be her boyfriend, but it's the only way she'll not tell. I sat down, and rested
my head in my hands. This was getting weird. First, I walk into my first classroom and see a
gorgeous girl, and I fall for her. Second, that girl is none other than Helga Pataki. Third, I find out
that she has been living in the boardinghouse and in MY old room. Before I could finish thinking
about how weird everything had been today, Helga sat down next to me.

I smiled, and looked at her. "Hey Helga." I greeted. She looked at me, and also smiled. "So, did
you have fun doing whatever?" I'm sure I know what they were doing... rrrrrrrr.

"Yeah." she sighed, and looked over at Brainy. It looked like she was in a trance, so I snapped my
fingers next to her ear. She jumped and looked at me. "Thanks, I guess. Oh! I noticed that you
got a girlfriend." she said playfully. I chuckled, and looked at Rhonda. She was talking with
Nadine, and laughing about something.

"Uh, yeah. I did. Heh, heh... eh." I looked back at Helga, and she was smiling. Oh, I almost
melted. Her smile was so beautiful. Actually, I had kinda had a crush on her before I left to find
my parents, but no one knew. I barely knew myself, until she was the only one of my old friends
that I would think about after I fell in the gorge.

She sighed, and pulled her backpack off her shoulder. She set it on the ground, and pulled out a
book. "The book of the dun cow"? Sounds really interesting, ha, ha, ha. "'The book of the dun
cow.'? Is it good?" I asked, pulling it out of her hands, and turning to one of the pages towards
the back. She reached for it, but I pulled it out of her reach. "'How Chauntecleer crowed then! He
ripped his eyes from this Cockatrice he had never seen before. He heard one low, guttural laugh
below the hissing. Then he turned attention to his warriors and crowed with a will.'" I read, and
looked back up to Helga. "What on earth-?" I started, but then she grabbed the book away from
me.

"It's a fantasy, doi! Keep your hands off my book!" she snapped, and began to read, again.
Man, she REALLY changed! She never used to read, at all, as far as I know! Is there anything
ELSE I need to know about her?

"Fine, mis pushy." I said sarcastically, and slightly scooted away from her, even though I wanted
to scoot CLOSER. After I scooted away, I scooted back to where I was. She looked up at me
with an eyebrow raised.

"What's the matter Arnold? Got ants in your pants?" she asked with a chuckle. I shook my head
no, and she began to read again.

"Man, Helga, don't you think you should go do something with Brainy instead of sitting here
reading a dumb book? Yeesh! You're reminding me of Phoebe now!" I laughed, looking at her.
She looked up at me with a shocked look on her face. What?

"Arnold, I changed. And you changed as well, I see." she said, and the shocked look disappeared.
I did change, and that was because I found my parents!

"Yeah..." I said, looking down at my lap, and sighing. When I looked back up, she was engrossed
in her book, AGAIN. "I guess I'll have to read that sometime." I chuckled.

"Uh huh." she mumbled, obviously NOT paying ANY attention to ME. Oh well. Then I smelled
something. It smelled wonderful... it was her hair. It smelled like a herbal shampoo, but I couldn't
quite tell what it was.

131413141314131413141314131413141314131413141314131413141314131413141314131413

I laughed at Nadine's joke, and looked around the park. I saw some others talking and laughing,
and in Gerald and Phoebe's case, kissing. I turned my head towards where Arnold, my new
boyfriend, was. My eyes grew wide as I saw what was happening. Arnold and Helga were sitting
together. Helga was reading some stupid book, and Arnold... was sniffing her hair!? I frowned,
and began to walk over there. Oh, he may be my boyfriend just to keep me from telling about his
'little secret' but I still think that he needs to pay me more attention than her.

As I got up there, I stopped, and began to tap my foot. Arnold looked up in horror. "Arnold...
what are you doing?" I asked, coldly.

I could see that he was struggling for the words. "I... uh, was... I was... uh, um... I was reading
the book over Helga's shoulder! Yeah, I was." he answered, smiling a imitation smile. I scowled
even harder, and placed my hands on my hips.

"Arnold, you were sniffing her hair. Don't deny it. Now, let's go." I said, grabbing his hand and
dragging him towards the lake. I stopped, and spun around to where I was face-to-face with him.
"Arnold, if you are going to be MY boyfriend, you have to accept three simple rules. One, spend
mostly all your time with me. Two, kiss me a LOT. Three, NO SNIFFING OTHER GIRLS'
HAIR!!!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry Rhonda, but you know that I like-like Helga! Not you! I only accepted to be your
boyfriend to shut you up, and to make her jealous!... oops... I said too much, AGAIN." he said,
looking down. That is the ONLY reason why he accepted to be my boyfriend?

My face completely fell. "Oh... you're right. How stupid of me. I knew that, heh, heh... eh." I
sighed, and ran my fingers through my hair. "I guess I'll help you, if you don't mind kissing me in
front of Helga and Brainy, or as she calls him, 'Spike.'" I said, saying the 'Spike' part mockingly.

"You'll help me? Why?" he asked, looking back up at me. I smiled, and giggled. How silly of him!
He should know!

"You know why! Don't act dense! Wait a minute... I forgot who I was talking to for a minute
there... sorry. It's because I would gain popularity if I'm seen with you, because all the girls are
talking about wanting to be your girlfriend 'cause you look so sultry." I said, crossing my arms. I
grabbed his head, and pulled him into a kiss.

Suddenly, I heard a gasp behind me. I let go, and spun around. There stood Gerald and Phoebe
with their eyes about as big as a tree is around, and holding hands. They smiled, and Gerald did a
thumbs-up sign to Arnold. "Uh, we were just leaving!" I said, grabbing Arnold's hand, which was
incredibly dirty by the way it felt, and ran out of there. As soon as we got out, I let go of his hand,
and wiped mine off. "When was the last time you washed your hands?" I asked, and he raised n
eyebrow.

"Just a half hour ago. Why?" he asked, looking at his hands. I looked at my hand that had been in
his, and noticed that it was shiny.

"Because your hand felt... greasy." I said, wrinkling my nose. He looked at his hand, then back
up.

"Oh. That's because I wrapped my arms around you when I saw Gerald and Phoebe, and my
hands got in you hair. It's REALLY greasy." my eyes grew wide, and I felt my hair. He's right!
my hair IS greasy! I let out a small scream, but still loud, and ran to my car.

~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

I looked up from my book just in time to see Arnold tell Rhonda something, then her scream and
run away to her car. How funny! He smiled, shook his head, and began to walk towards me. one
thing I still don't believe is... he was sniffing my hair? Rhonda said he was sniffing my hair, then
took him into us couples' favorite spot in the whole park. I looked back down to my book, and
began to read again.

Then, I heard a stifled laugh. "You're still reading that book?" he asked, sitting down next to me.
I rolled my eyes, smiled, and looked up to him.

"Yes, I'm still reading 'that book'." I said, marking my place in the book, and putting it back into
the backpack. "But, I think I'm going to go somewhere with Spike." I said, standing up. Then, I
felt a hand grab my wrist. Oh... no... I'm getting that feeling... the one I haven't felt since I was
nine. The contact sent shivers up my spine. But... I love Spike, not Arnold. I never LOVED
Arnold, it was just a cry for attention, and a silly little crush. Wasn't it?

"It's occupied. Gerald and Phoebe are you-know-whating." he said, pulling me back down. I
looked at him, and into his green eyes. No Helga ol' girl, you don't feel anything for him. You...
don't. D-O-N-'-T. Got it? 'Yes.' I thought, breaking eye contact and looking down to my lap.


"Hey... Arnold? Was it true that you were sniffing my hair?" I asked, looking back up at him. He
slightly began to fidget, and looked away. But... Rhonda was right?

"No..." he trailed off, scooting his body a little away from me.

"Oh come on, Arnold. YOU can NOT hide what you are feeling easily. Trust me. Everyone knew
about your little crush on Ruth back in fourth grade!" I said, placing my hands on my hips. I
wanted to find out what he was feeling, if anything.

"Ok. I did smell your hair, but that's just because I was reading over your shoulder!" he said,
turning back around to me. Oh, good. No feelings for me. That's a relief. Oh, and that was
sarcasm. Come on! That was NOT believable. Oh well, I'll go along with it.

"Oh, ok." I said, standing up and walking over to Spike. He may not have feelings for me, but
first he scowls when Spike takes me to 'the area', and then he smells my hair. Sure looks like he
feels something for me! Oh well. At least I'm not being dense, like I was earlier. Pheh! It's kinda
funny, though. First, he is dense. Then, he comes back from being 'dead' and I'm the dense one.
Ha! Never mind.