~AIN'T THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD?~



Part 11:





Hints of a smile played at the corners of their mouths, but were quickly replaced by the red tints spreading over their cheeks. They jerked their hands away, each with a hastily muttered "Sorry..." and then pretended to suddenly take great interest in the movie.



What's WRONG with you, ya' moron?! Helga shook herself mentally, suddenly angry. Can't you have fun just hanging out and being yourself around an old friend...without making anything too complicated?

(Not if it's Arnold...) chirped her voice of reason.

Especially if it's Arnold! Criminy! Quit blushing like an embarrassed maniac over every stupid little thing. And just now--with the hands? Nothing! Another dumb accident, that's all!

(But what if it wasn't?)

Of course it was! He pulled away like he was touching a dead rat.....We BOTH pulled away.

(But you hesitated. And he hesitated even longer.)



Helga's eyes grew wide and her eyebrows shot up.





EEP!





Naturally, he couldn't hear her thoughts. But he did hear a muffled *THWUMP*, followed by an "OOF!" as she lost her balance and fell backwards off the limb.

He turned and bent down to look. "Um...Helga? Are you alright?"

She jumped to her feet and began wiping the dirt and grass from her clothes. "Me? Yep.....(heh)...Never better. Why do you ask?"

"You just fell out of a tree."

"So? What's your point?....It's a free country, y'know."

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah--but you just fell out of a tree."

"This is a public park. I'm the public, and I can fall out of any tree I want," she insisted.



Arnold sighed. Women. Why bother? "Hold still a minute," he said. Then he began to lean over, arm outstretched toward her.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" she shouted, jumping back and shoving his hand aside.

Arnold wasn't a bit fazed by her sudden change in attitude. "Knock it off, Helga," he said dryly. "You have grass in your hair. I was just trying to do you a favor, and pull some of it out."

"Oh." She stepped closer, and allowed him to brush away the little bits of green. "...I'm sorry, Arnold," she said quietly. "I don't know what came over me. Old habit, I guess."

"I understand." Funny--something about this almost reminded him of a dream he'd had once. Something about a hay-ride...but Helga hadn't been there, so that didn't make sense, did it?



His hand brushed her ear, and she shivered. I mustn't keep doing this, she thought. Not to him--and not to me... She pushed his arm away, gently this time. "Thanks, Arnold. You can stop now," she said, with a polite smile. "...Falling out of trees makes me thirsty, so...uh,...I'm going to go find a water fountain. I'll be back in a little while."

"Sure, go ahead," he said as she walked off. "I'll still be here--watching the rest of the movie."









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A/N: It's been longer than usual in between updates. Sorry.

My reason? Er...........ah..........ummm...........Look--a mongoose!!!

(runs away while reader is distracted by clever ploy)