Where to Begin Chapter 7: It Takes Two to Tango, a hey arnold fanfic

A/N: I am sorry that it has been so long since I have updated. This is partly due to sickness, homework, tests, that damn English paper, writer's block, and a period where I had no motivation to do anything. But I am back and hopefully you will like this chapter. I have also decided that I would rather stay up late and write than get my beauty sleep and only spend my days during the week on school, because let's face it, school sucks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold!

Quote: "Sometimes I get to a point when I don't give a damn about anything anymore. Sometimes I get to a point where I feel numb, and I just don't care." – Everclear, "Songs from an American Movie pt. 2." That's how I feel at the moment about school, but I only have about five weeks left, then I am free for almost three months.

Where to Begin

Chapter 7 – It Takes Two to Tango

"Swing, swing from the tangles of my heart. Been scratched by a former love. Can you help me find a way to carry on again," Helga sang softly as she wiped the counter at The Oleander. She brushed a piece of her long blonde hair out of her face and stuffed it back into the black clip that held back the rest of her hair. It had been a busy day but things were beginning to slow down as lunch hour past. She glanced at the clock. 3:44. Helga smiled. She was supposed to get of work in sixteen minutes. That would leave her with enough time to get home, change, and go to the school for her basketball game with Stinky, Gerald, and Arnold. She turned to the back counter and began to clean it, quietly humming "All That Jazz." Caught up in the music, Helga began to sing softly the words and also began to dance a little. She was moving without restraint when the door opened, which, of course, she was oblivious to.

"I didn't know you worked here."

Helga stopped instantly and slowly turned around, her cheeks burning. Jake was leaning towards her, his elbows propped on the front counter. "Uh, I was just practicing for the pageant," she said quickly as she refilled the napkin dispenser.

"Don't stop on my account," he said, smiling broadly at her. Helga felt the corners of her mouth twitch. She couldn't help but feel all giddy and happy inside when he was near her. She had not felt like that since . . .well, for a long time. "That's okay. I've had enough practice for today. Do you want anything?"

"Besides to talk to a very cute blonde, just a frozen lemonade."

Helga blushed again as she got his drink. "$4.14."

He raised his eyebrows. "Ouch. Don't you have a sexy basketball star discount?" he asked as he handed her the money.

"Yeah, but we haven't had any come in for a long time."

Jake shook his head. "You're killing me, Helga."

She shrugged. "You should see what I do to Gerald and Arnold."

He ate a spoonful of the lemonade. "Those two could use some humbling after yesterday's game."

Helga, who had been cleaning the cappuccino machine, looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that? They made the game winning play."

"So? They need to remember their place."

"What do you mean?"

"I told Arnold to pass it to me. I'm captain, a senior, and one of the best players in our conference. But no, he passed it to his junior bosom-buddy, Johansson."

"But Gerald was on fire in the fourth," she slowly continued. "If my memory serves me right, you missed all your shots and made four turnovers in the second half."

He paused, as if he was not aware he had played so poorly. "It's the principal of the thing."

Helga rolled her eyes when she turned back to the machine. What a jerk, she thought.

"But enough about him. Arnold's not exactly my favorite topic of conversation."

"Then what is?" she asked, facing him.

He leaned forward. "Movies."

"Movies?"

"Yeah, movies. As in you, me, two medium sodas, and an extra large popcorn."

Helga felt her cheeks redden, but she was too excited to care. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Only if you say yes. Otherwise this is just general conversation."

"Of course," she said. Helga could not help but think how cute he was when he was trying to protect his ego. She decided to let him sweat it out for a bit, partly because she wanted to be in control and partly because when she was looking deeply into his hazel eyes, like she was now, she forgot everything else.

"So?" he half asked, half pleaded.

"So?" she mocked.

He leaned even closer to her so that their noses were almost touching. "What do you think about it?"

She leaned closer, if that was possible. "Well, I supp—"

"Pataki!"

Helga and Jake both jumped, causing the two to bump heads. "Ow," they said simultaneously. Helga looked at Ray, the head cook. "What is it, Ray?" she snapped.

He laughed. "You better not be giving free food to lover boy over there," he said, gesturing towards the boy at the counter. Jake broke into a big grin, which widened as Helga turned forty shades of red. "I'm not giving away free food!" she shot, her voice on an edge.

"Good. I'll leave you two, non-free-food eating love birds alone." Ray went back to the kitchens, singing, "Young people in love are very seldom hungry," as he walked.

Helga made a mental note to kill him later. She turned back to Jake. "Sorry 'bout that."

"'S okay, but you never answered my question."

"Oh, right." She eyed him carefully. His eyes were pleading for her to say yes. Ohmigod, Jake Richardson is crazy about me. Me, Helga G. Pataki! She feel into one of her love struck trances.

"Helga, are you okay?"

She slapped herself and smiled at him. "Sounds great."

"Well alright. I got to go, but I'll call you later so we can smooth out the details. I'll see ya, gorgeous," he called as he went to the door.

"Bye," she said, waving slightly. He blew her a kiss before he left. Helga waited until Jake was out of sight when she squealed. Ray ran out of the kitchen towards her. "Helga? What happened?" he cried, looking her over to make sure she was all right.

"I have a date with the cutest senior at school!" she screamed. Ray just shook his head as Helga resumed dancing around the café. "Oh, I'm no one's wife, but OH I LOVE MY LIFE, and all that jazz!" she sang at the top of her lungs. He eyes caught sight of the clock. 4:20. "Oh, shit!" she cried. She throw her dish cloth at Ray.

"What now?" he asked, thankful no one was in the restaurant to hear Helga's profanity.

"I'm late," she grabbed her purse and coat from behind the counter. "See ya later!"

He stared at the sprinting teenager and was surprised she did not leave burn marks on the floor. "I don't want to be within ten feet of what ever that girls is on."

¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤

Arnold lamely shot a three from the wing. Brick. Gerald grabbed the rebound and shot a short jumper, which missed as well. "This is crap. Where is she?"

"She had to work until four. She probably got caught up in traffic or at home."

"Yeah, because traffic's a bitch at four on a Sunday, and her parents smother her so much she can't get away from them for a second." Gerald rolled his eyes. "No, she bailed for some reason." He smirked. "Maybe she was afraid to lose of the Dream Team."

Arnold grinned, but Stinky threw the ball at the other boy's head. "Yeah, right, Gerald. You two may have made the winning play against Concordia, but you still don't stand a chance against me and Helga."

Gerald glared back at Stinky. "Right, because the hick from St. Lick and Helga, Queen of the Mutants, are unstoppable. Arnold and I can beat you any time. We are on the victory train, and there are no stops for a long time."

"I hope you got something to back that mouth of yours up," a voice called from a silver Accord. Helga stepped out and stared at them. "Because I've seen everything you two got, and believe me, it ain't much." She walked towards them, and the boys were rendered momentarily speechless. Helga was still Helga, but it was hard to ignore the blonde when her better-than-Britney body was shown off by her tight white blouse and short black mini skirt, the general attire for female workers at The Oleander (It was not anything sexist. Women where supposed to wear white blouses and black skirts of any length. Helga's aunt Lydia bought her the stylish clothes, and Helga could care less as long as she did not have to buy them herself or go shopping with Miriam). Black heels finished the effect of Helga's mesmerizing legs. Gerald was the first to snap out of it and torment her. "Ooh, Helga, where have you been keeping your sexy self?"

Arnold saw her jaw twitch and her fists clinch as she walked closer to them. She stopped in front of Gerald and looked back and forth between her fists. "Who would you like today? Old Betsy has not gotten much action lately, but it's your call."

Arnold could not tell if she was serious or just joking, so he stepped in between the two. "Where have you been?" he asked.

She pulled her black pea coat (another gift from Aunt Lydia), which came just above the hem of her skirt, tighter around her as an icy breeze blew by. "I, uh, got tied up at work."

None of the boys questioned her excuse, though Gerald thought it was lame. "Great. Pataki can't get her butt out of work, so now we can't play. Thanks."

"Gerald, give Helga a break. It's not like she chose to have to stay after," Arnold said. Helga was glad that he was looking at Gerald and not her. She would not have been able to meet his gaze.

Gerald rolled his eyes. "Fine," he snapped. "I guess we'll just play next week." He stared at Helga, his eyes narrowed. "You're lucky. Arnold and I would have creamed you."

Helga shrugged. "Whatever you say, hairboy."

He glared at her for a moment, and then started walking to his car. "C'mon, Arnold. See ya, Stinky."

Stinky turned to Helga. "I'm gonna shoot a little, so I'll see you at school tomorrow."

She nodded. "I'm sorry about being late."

He smiled broadly at her. "Aw, shucks, Helga, don't worry much about it. It was really awful nice of you to spare these fellers the humiliation of us beating them again." He punched her lightly in the arm. "We'll just have to knock the stuffing out of them next week."

Helga grinned. "Deal."

"Bye, Helga," he said as he returned to shooting. Helga walked over to Arnold, who had been waiting to talk to her. "Maybe you shouldn't keep Geraldo waiting. He might burst a blood vessel or something."

Arnold looked from her to Gerald and back to her. "He's just mad because he and Phoebe had a fight."

Helga's grin disappeared. "It's nothing serious, is it?"

Arnold shook his head. "I don't think so, but he's still upset."

"HEY ARNOLD! I don't have all day!" Gerald called from his car. Arnold sighed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Helga."

"Yeah, bye," she said as he walked away. She had an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel awful. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked to her car. She would not think about it now, and the best way to do that was to go for a long drive. She put in her Finch CD and sped away.

¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤

"All right, class, as you all know, February is Black History Month, and in honor of that I am assigning a short project," Mr. Phegley said the moment after the bell rang.

The entire class groaned. Helga turned to Arnold and said, "Great. Another thing to worry about."

Arnold shrugged. "At least we don't have to listen to him for a couple days," he said, though he deeply disliked the idea of coming to U.S. History first thing on a Monday morning, something he hated anyway, only to be greeted with what would most likely be a time consuming project. He rested his chin in his hand and listened to the older man as he continued, his normally good mood quickly turning sour. Time was not something that he had a lot of these days. He stared more carefully at Mr. Phegley. Something was different about him today.

"Now, now, calm down. It's just a little project. You can work with a partner. You and your partner will give a eight to ten minute speech over a famous African American of you choice, and you will need a minimum of two visual aids."

A girled named Lyndsie raised her hand. "Do we get to pick out partners?"

"Yes, of course," Mr. Phegley said.

Marshall Phelps waved his hand from the front row. Marshall was one of those kids who deliberately sat in the seat that was front and center in the classroom and brown-nosed up to the teacher to the point when most of the other students wanted to throw up. Then again, it might help because Marshall was number two in their class rank, which was very good because there were a little more than six hundred kids in the junior class. On the other hand, Helga rarely paid attention and she was fifth. "When are the projects due?"

Mr. Phegley scratched his head, and Arnold realized what had been bothering him. On Thursday, and every other day, Mr. Phegley had been bald. Now a thick, black rug of hair was atop his head. Helga must have noticed the toupee because she was snickering beside him. The rest of the class caught on and burst into a sea of laughter. Phegley merely answered, which silenced the students. "Let's see. Tuesday of next week, I believe." He looked at his calendar. "Yes, Tuesday will do just fine."

The group of tired, angry teenagers began to protest. "You have got to be kidding! We don't have that kind of time!" Helga cried, doing her part.

"Now we will be spending the rest of class time this week in the library. Well, most of it, at least enough to get a lot of the project done, if you use your time wisely. Now, partner up so you can pick you subjects."

Arnold turned to Helga. "Partner?" She nodded. "So who do you want to do the project on?"

She smiled. "Do you even have to ask?"

Mr. Phegley began to call on people. After the usual were picked, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Jackie Robinson, and Rosa Parks, he asked Helga, "Who is your partner, Miss Pataki?"

"Arnold."

"And your subject?"

"Hank Aaron."

Arnold should have known. Aaron was one of Helga's favorite baseball players. Some of the male population groaned, obviously upset another sports man was gone. Helga just smirked at them, smiling like a cat that had just caught a mouse. The rest of the pairs picked their subjects and the class went to the library to begin their research.

West Hillwood's Library was huge. It had been large to begin with, but a few years ago an extremely wealthy man had bequeathed a large amount of money to the school after his death. He had been a publisher, so the school decided to use the money to expand the old library. It was now even bigger than the Hillwood Public Library. Arnold immediately walked to the computers to use the catalogs in the computer systems. Helga also got on a computer, but she was currently at amazon.com. "Damn. The new Ataris CD isn't coming out for a month." She clicked another box. "But the Cowboy Bebop DVDs have gone down in price."

Arnold did not even look at her. "Are you going to do any work?"

She clicked on another box. "Yeah, here are a few books. Three of them should be enough, plus information from the Internet, but we can get that at home."

He stared at her. "How did you do that? You were looking up two things at amazon.com along with books? I was just looking up the books, and I just entered in my keywords."

She shrugged. "You just have to know what to do with these things."

"I do know how to use a computer, Helga."

She finished writing down the call numbers on a sheet of paper. "Sure. Anyways, let's go." She logged off and left, leaving Arnold to slowly log off his computer. He groaned and jogged to catch up with her, earning him a few stares from the librarians and teachers.

Helga ran her hands along the bookbindings as she walked between two bookshelves. Arnold was behind her, looking more carefully than she for the books they needed. However, he did not really know what they were looking for; he was just searching the books for something relevant. "Are you sure you wrote down the right call numbers?" he asked as he pulled out a book on Otis Redding.

"Yes, I wrote down the correct call numbers," she hissed. "We're all most there."

"Where, China?"

"Yes, Arnoldo, we walked to China without even leaving the library. Isn't technology amazing these days?" she snapped sarcastically. She suddenly stopped, causing him to run into her. "Found it."

"Do you think you could warn me before you do that?" he asked. Helga ignored him and flipped a few pages. "It's good." She tossed it backwards, hitting Arnold in the head. "One down, two to go," Helga said as she moved forward.

Arnold had been looking at another book when the large book hit him. He was going to yell at her, but it was no use. She was at another shelf looking for the last book, the second in her arms. Arnold groaned. She can hold the one book but she had to throw the other at me. He picked the book up off the floor. Arnold walked to Helga and stopped behind her. She was reading I had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story, his autobiography. Arnold smiled and pulled her long ponytail.

"Ow!" she cried and whipped around to face him. "What the hell—"

"No yelling in the library."

"Why you little—"

"Your book, mademoiselle. I believe you, how shall I put this, misplaced it." He held the book she threw at him out to her.

Helga stared at him, then at the book. She grinned. "You are such a charmer, aren't you?"

"I do what I can," he said, but a noise distracted him. "Yeah, the whole thing is ever so ridiculous. I mean, did you see her?"

Arnold stiffened. That was the last person he wanted to run into, especially since he was with Helga. The voice grew louder as she neared him. Arnold began to panic, so he grabbed Helga's arm and pulled her to and then pushed her into a resource room that was filled to the brink with boxes of old newspapers, magazines, and warn paperbacks. There was just enough room for the two of them, though because of the lack of space they were pressed against each other, chest to chest. While Arnold failed to notice how close they were, since he was more worried about being hidden, Helga was raising holy hell about it. "Arnold! What the hell do you think you are doing? Why the heck did you throw me in here?"

Arnold managed to put his hand over Helga's mouth. "Be quiet! Do you want her to hear you?" he whispered loudly.

"Her who? Who are you hiding from?"

"Lila," he hissed. Arnold looked over his shoulder to see where she was.

Helga grabbed his chin and pulled his face back towards her. "Why are you hiding form Lila? I mean, she is the selfish narcissistic bitch who deliberately crushed your heart without a second thought, but you can generally tolerate her. I mean, you don't normally shove helpless girls into abandoned storage rooms to avoid her, so why the sudden change?

Arnold stared coldly at Helga. "Since when have you been helpless?"

She returned his gaze. "Since football headed boys decided to shove me into a room full of boxes!" She looked out the door, and her eyes widened. "Arnold, please let me go."

He was confused at her sudden change of expression. Before she had just been extremely annoyed but now she seemed terrified. "Helga, what's wrong?"

"Jake's over there."

Jake? Oh, great. "So?"

"So? What is he sees us? He might not think this looks like innocent hide-and-go-seek."

Arnold finally realized how they were positioned. The two were pressed against each other with only mere inches between them. His arms were around her waist, since it was the only place he had room to put them, and hers were around his. He looked down at her and was amazed at how beautiful she was up this close. Her dark brown eyes were wide and her cheeks were slightly pink. He could see faint freckles on her across her nose and her cheekbones. A few strands of blonde hair, probably from when he pulled her hair, framed her face. He felt his cheeks burn. She continued on. "My God, you look like you're forcing yourself on me by pinning me up against the boxes."

He shrugged. "Maybe it will shake up my image," he said softly as if he did not mean to say it aloud.

Helga looked thoughtful. "Maybe Jake should see us. Then maybe he'll get jealous and step it up a notch between us."

Arnold looked sternly at her. "What notch is it at?"

She blushed. "Not high, but he is going to take me out on a date," she said slowly.

Arnold's jaw dropped. He figured it would take a while before they started dating. Then again, it was Jake, and the boy was known to have done more than just talk to girls on first meetings. "When?"

"I don't know."

"So he asked you, but you didn't care enough to listen to when he's taking you?" Maybe she could see through him.

"No! He just doesn't know when yet."

"Ah, I see." Arnold rolled his eyes.

Helga glared at him and was suddenly reminded of the earlier part of their conversation. "Hey! You never answered my question. Why are you hiding from Lila?"

Arnold flinched at the mention of her name. "Uh, her voice is just really getting on my nerves."

Helga raised an eyebrow. "You were in love with that voice of hers for six years. Shouldn't you be immune to it or something? And besides, that's a crappy reason. Why are you really avoiding her?"

Arnold looked deep into her eyes and realized she would not just let this go. "Uh, Lila sort of came on to me."

Helga's jaw dropped. "What?" she cried loudly.

"Shh!" He tried to calm her down.

"When?" she whispered harshly.

"Friday at your game."

Helga looked completely disgusted. "I can't believe her! She dumped you last year like last season's Prada shoes, but now that you are on varsity and her boyfriend dumped her she is all over you!" She growled. "I'll take care of her."

"Helga, I can handle her," Arnold said as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Then again I ask you why are you hiding in a storage room?"

He dropped his hold her and stared at her. Free, Helga slipped by him and picked up the books, which she had dropped outside the room. "I'm going to check these out," she said as she walked away.

Arnold leaned against the wall. She was right; he should not hide from his problems. Then again, it was easier for her. She actually liked the guy who was chasing her. He grabbed the Otis Redding book as he made his way to the checkout desk. Helga was now talking to Jake. Arnold was leaning against the desk as he waited for someone to help him when someone pinched his butt. He jumped and looked around. His eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on a winking Lila. He turned back to the counter and banged his head on it.

"Are you okay young man?"

Arnold slowly looked up at the librarian, who was looking at him as if he needed to be in a padded cell. At this point, he would dance the Charleston as they led him away, but he would never be that lucky. "Just a little stress," he said as he pushed the book towards her. That's the understatement of the year.

"You poor thing. You know, when I am stressed out, I take a long bubble bath with candles, green tea, and my favorite romance novel. It relaxes me and takes all my stress away."

Arnold could not believe that he was listening to his forty-something librarian talk about bubble bathes. He clamped his eyes shut to try to get the disturbing images out of his head. He grabbed the book from her hands as she stared to give it to him. "Uh, thanks," he said as he quickly moved away from her.

"No problem!" she called after him. Luckily the bell rang, and he could escape. Arnold was out the door when a small arm wrapped itself around his own. Lila dropped her books on top of his and pulled him the opposite direction of his locker, which was where he needed to go. "Oh, Arnold, I was hoping I could find an ever so wonderful guy to walk me to my French class."

Arnold felt he was being led to the electric chair. "Uh, Lila, I really have to go to my locker," Arnold said as he tried desperately to pull his arm free, but he was drowned out by Lila's latest gossip. They finally made it to her class two minutes before the bell was supposed to ring. Helga was already in her seat, reading one of the Hank Aaron books. She gave him a look that clearly meant what the heck are you doing? Help me, he mouthed. Helga was about to stand up and come to his rescue when Lila kissed him on the cheek. Helga stopped. Arnold stared at Lila, stunned. The whole class was staring at them. Lila grabbed her books. "Thanks, Arnold." He stood still, just blinking at her. "You better get to class."

Arnold looked at the clock. "Crap!" he cried as he ran out the door. He had to run across the school and up stairs to get to his drawing class. "Sorry," he yelled as he nearly took out one of the secretaries. He went up the steps two at a time, suddenly grateful for the hundreds of stair laps he had run over the years for soccer, basketball, and baseball. He slid in the room just as the bell rang and as his teacher Mrs. Douglas was shutting the door. He put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

"Nice of you to join us. Please take your seat." She said and began talking about how to draw faces. When he was able to move his legs again, Arnold walked to his desk and sat down in something wet and gooey. He jumped up. A puddle of green paint was lying there from the last class. Thankfully he was beside the sink and no one was paying attention to him (or Mrs. Douglas for that matter), and he tried to clean up the best he could. He pulled of his sweatshirt and tied it around his waist to cover up the paint on his butt. He banged his head on his desk. "Can this day get any worse?"

¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤

Helga whipped sweat for her forehead. It had been another tiring day of dancing, plus basketball practice had run long so she had not had time to clean up before she came to the Omni. She watched as the tech crew, or at least the male members of the tech crew, walked into the practice studio. Arnold sat down beside her. "Hey."

She looked behind him. "Looks clean." Arnold turned bright red and glared at her. Helga laughed. She had spent the latter part of the school day and most of the ride to the theater making fun of Arnold and his colorful posterior. "You know, I think you've done that to death," he said blandly.

"Yeah, I guess. I'll just have to go back to making fun of your head."

Arnold continued to glare at her, and Helga continued to laugh at him. Mrs. Chadwick suddenly piped up, "As you all know, you will be attending a banquet in your honor after the pageant. We wanted to prepare you for it by practicing ballroom dancing with some of the tech crewmembers. Now, I know that there are only nine boys and there are twenty girls, but the assistances will also help so there will only be a few of you not practicing at a time. So, Miss Sheltie, take us away."

She started playing a tango. Helga turned to Arnold and asked, "Partner?"

"Sure."

Callie was going to ask Reese, the boy from Franklin High School, but Josh cut in. Callie looked very annoyed, but Josh looked like he was living his dream. Helga and Arnold laughed at the two. She turned to Arnold. "Well, this reminds you of something, doesn't it?"

Arnold smiled at the memory of April Fool's Day in fourth grade when he and Helga tangoed at the April Fool's Day Dance. He grabbed her tightly around the waist and pulled her close to him. "Yeah, and don't worry, you're in good hands."

Helga laughed and playfully put her hands slightly lower than his waist. Funny, it did not really bother him when Helga put her hands on his butt. "At least I can 'see' you this time."

They began dancing, but it did not go as smoothly as it had the last time.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

"Ow."

"Sorry."

"OW!"

"Sorry."

"Helga, do you think you could stop stepping on my feet?"

"I'm trying," she said as she stepped on his left foot. Arnold began spinning her slightly every time she came close to stepping on him, but she managed to do it anyways. "Sorry," she said through a fit of laughter.

"You know, generally it's the guy who steps on the girl's feet, not the other way around."

"I guess you're just the lucky one," she said as she stepped on his right foot. She was half-trying to now.

"Helga!"

"Sorry!"

"Can't you try to be dainty or something?"

"I am dainty."

"You are about as dainty as Harold Berman."

Helga deliberately stomped on his foot this time, but he anticipated it and moved his foot at the last second. Helga slipped and fell. Arnold caught her inches off the ground. He looked down at her. "Sorry."

She laughed. "It's okay. Just don't drop me. We aren't very good dancing partners, are we?"

"I guess not," he laughed as well.

"Well, that is a new way to dip someone."

Arnold and Helga looked up at Mrs. Chadwick, who was glaring at them. Arnold helped Helga up. "Arnold, you have a visitor." She stepped aside to reveal Jake.

He handed a book to Arnold. "You forgot this in the locker room." He turned to Helga. "What are you doing?"

"We're practicing ballroom dancing for a banquet, but Arnold and I can't do it without laughing and screwing the whole thing up."

"I could practice with you, if you want."

Helga's eyes lit up. "Sure, I mean, you don't mind, do you Arnold?"
He stared at her. Of course he minded, but she looked so happy. "No, go ahead. It's not like we were getting much done anyways." Jake put his arms around her, and she mouthed, thank you.

"Well, than Arnold, you can work with Miss Sawyer."

Lila walked up beside him, "Howdy, partner."

Arnold groaned and reluctantly put his arms around her. "You know, they really are a cute couple," Lila whispered.

"Who?"

"Oh, Arnold, you are ever so silly. Helga and Jake, of course. I mean, Helga's so blonde so she looks great with Jake since he's the tall, dark, and handsome type. They look amazing together, and you can tell they are crazy about each other."

Arnold looked at the two. They were talking quietly, but every now and then Helga would giggle. There was no denying how she felt about him. Helga had dated some in high school, but she had never been head-over-heels like she was with Jake. He sighed. Helga and Jake were together now, and he was just going to have to get used to it . . .no matter how much he hated it.

A/N: Happy Easter! The "The Multitalented Helga G. Pataki" is up next. I am hoping to have it done by the end of April, but we shall see. As always, later days.