A/N: I am so happy I finally got to this chapter because there is a scene in here that I have been dying to write. It was actually one of the first parts of the story I thought of. I might have even thought of it before I came up with the plot. Anyways, it's a cute Arnold and Helga moment, so I hope you enjoy the chapter. And for everyone, be patient on the whole H/A thing. All things come to those who wait (it's hard for me too, because I know how this is going to unfold and I am very impatient!!).
Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold! but I am hoping that the fact that Wendy's has Hey Arnold! toys is a sign that Nick will show the remaining episodes and the Jungle Movie, but I think I am being way too optimistic.
Where to Begin
Chapter 10 – While You were Sleeping
The buzz around West Hillwood High on that chilly Friday was not about the girls basketball team's thrashing of New Prairie High School, in which the two teams nearly got in a fist fight, and both coaches where ejected (Arnold was really regretting not going to the game and was very surprised Helga had not said anything about it the night before). No, it was about the girl's top player and the boy's co-captain.
Though it had taken two days, longer than normal for some unknown reason, most of the student body was talking about Jake and Helga, about how cute they were, or about how predictable it was. Much of the male population was depressed that Helga G. Pataki was most likely going to have a boyfriend, thus ending their chances with her, and most of the female population wanted to kill Helga for taking Jake Richardson off the market. The whole thing was too much for Arnold to handle, and his bad mood from the past two days quickly returned.
"It's about time," Gerald said to Arnold while they waited for the bell to ring to dismiss them from weigh lifting.
"What's about time?" Arnold asked as he took a drink of his bottled water. He suddenly felt very tired. He had taken out all of his frustrations in the weight room and was exhausted from it.
"Helga and Jake."
Arnold tried desperately to hide is disgust, but he had a feeling that Gerald would see through it anyways. "I guess."
"The boy has been talking about her for ages. Now he'll probably talk about her even more." Gerald shuddered. "I like Helga and all, but I don't like hearing about her all the time from yet another person," he shot a look at Arnold.
"Yeah," Arnold muttered. He was desperately wishing that Gerald would talk about something else. Arnold chugged the rest of his water, wondering if he could somehow drown himself by doing so.
"I guess now that I think about it, it makes since that they are together?"
"Why? Because they're both hot-shot basketball players?" Arnold snapped, slamming the empty bottle in the trashcan.
Gerald raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. It's just all I have heard today is about how great they look together and what a great couple they are."
"They do make a great couple."
"Oh, so now everything is based on how well people look together? What about having the same interests and personalities?"
"Uh, Arnold, Helga and Jake do have the same interests and personalities."
Arnold's eyes narrowed slightly. Gerald was beginning to worry about his friend. "Are you okay, man?"
"I'm fine," the other boy replied, not sounding fine at all. Gerald was going to pry more information out of Arnold, but he thought better of it. Arnold would just end up getting pissed at him; the boy had been very touchy lately. He knew that Arnold would eventually tell him, and Gerald just hoped that Arnold could keep his sanity until then.
¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤
Arnold's mood continued to darken when he waited for Helga by their lockers before eighth period. They always walked together. Arnold sighed after wasting time waiting, and left with two minutes until the bell rang. He did, however, run into someone else.
"Arnold! I'm so glad I ran into you!"
"Hi, Rhonda," he said blandly, still walking rather quickly.
"I was wondering if you wanted to come with Helga and me on Saturday."
"Go with you two to a salon and shopping? I don't think so. Thanks anyways."
Rhonda would not take no for an answer for some reason beyond Arnold's comprehension. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Arnold began to walk faster, hoping that Rhonda would leave and go to her class.
"Gerald and Phoebe are coming with us."
"WHAT?" Gerald had not told him this information because if he did Arnold was sure that he would remember.
"Helga asked Phoebe, and Gerald decided to come so that he and Phoebe could have some time to spend together since they have been so busy lately. And they have been a bit on the rocks," she said a matter-of-factly.
"Who told you that one?"
She shrugged. "That doesn't really matter." Arnold smirked. Naturally, Phoebe and Gerald had not told her that information directly, because it was not true. Yes, they both had been very busy lately and they had had a fight last weekend, but it was about something stupid, and Arnold had a feeling that if he asked them about it, neither would be able to recall what it was about. Once again, Rhonda had false information from the halls of West Hillwood High School. "So, are you in?" she asked.
"No."
"But Gerald's coming."
"So? Gerald and I don't do everything together."
"I think he would really appreciate if you were there. You know, another guy around."
Arnold sighed. Helga would probably end up begging him to do it later anyways, and it would mean that she would be spending time with him (well, sort of) and not with Jake because there was no way he would join this group of people. Arnold smiled slightly. Jake hated Rhonda ever since she called him a man-slut last year at a party. That had been one of Rhonda's more entertaining moments. Arnold wondered if Helga remembered it. Maybe he should bring it up and see . . .
"Hello? Arnold, are you coming?"
"Fine," he said finally. He really needed to get to class, and he had a feeling this was the only way to get rid of Rhonda.
Rhonda smiled. "Great! I'm so glad you are coming! Maybe we could work on your clothes as well," she said, trying to sound polite.
Arnold looked down at his beige sweater and jeans. "What's wrong with my clothes?"
"Uh, nothing. I'll see you later, Arnold."
Arnold went to English feeling worse then he had a few minutes ago. I can't believe I let myself get roped into this. A whole days shopping and at a salon with Rhonda and Helga since Gerald and Phoebe will probably go off by themselves. At least it would be somewhat interesting.
¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤
"Can someone please get Rei a singing coach? I am sick of listening to her sing off key."
"Well, if I wasn't so preoccupied about avoiding running into you and your two left feet maybe I could sing better!"
Helga watched the two in disgust. Though she loved Rei (who couldn't? She was five foot nothing, ninety pounds, and she could still kick anyone's ass if she felt like it), the girl spent a lot of time arguing with Lila, which was not good for anyone. They were once again working on "All that Jazz." Helga's throat was sore from singing, her legs were tired from dancing and from basketball practice, and her patience was wearing thin. Miss Sheltie and her assistances were arguing with Mrs. Chadwick because they were not getting paid enough to teach the girls to dance and to baby-sit them as well. Her eyes narrowed as the exchange continued.
"Excuse me? Someone get Rei a pair of glasses because she cannot see that I am 10 times the dancer she is."
"You only think that because you can do the splits and I can't. But that's not fair at all. I mean, it's easy for you because you have your legs spread most of the time anyways."
Lila's and everyone else's jaws dropped. "You bitch!" Lila screamed as she lunged towards Rei, who was waiting to throw a few punches. Surprisingly, Helga was the one who stopped her. "Why the hell did you do that?" Lila demanded as Helga dragged her away from Rei.
"She would have beaten the shit out of you," Helga hissed.
"Yeah, right." Helga shot her a dirty look. "Even so, you would have loved to have seen that."
"Yeah, and I would love to see you gone from this pageant, but I would hate to see Rei kicked out because of your wining ass."
Lila stared wide-eyed as Helga walked away from her. After a long moment of silence, Mrs. Chadwick gave the girls a long lecture about what an honor it was to be in the pageant and that the girls were representing their schools and needed to act like the young ladies that they were. Helga snorted at both of this. As far as she was concerned, it was not an honor to prance around on a stage in a dress and heels, and she could care less about what type of image she projected for West Hillwood. After Mrs. Chadwick finally left, Miss Sheltie put the girls in their places for the opening number, which was "Watch me Shine," by Joanna Pacitti, much to Helga's dismay. Furthermore, because their positions depended on how they were introduced at the beginning of the pageant, which was by school, Helga was placed beside Lila. Helga knew that if Miss Sheltie could, she would separate the two girls, but that was not going to happen.
She groaned a half-hour later as she continued to have trouble with the difficult steps. I already learned one frigging dance, why the hell do I have to memorize another one? she thought angrily. At least Lila was completely ignoring her. Well, she had been.
Helga growled out of frustration. "The beast has finally emerged." Lila said to the other girls. "And it's not even a full moon." A few of the girls laughed, though most were tired and sick of Lila. Helga flipped her off when Miss Sheltie looked away. Lila did not understand Helga's message and moved closer to Helga to annoy her. The blonde cursed silently, but was struck with inspiration. One of the steps called for the girls to push their elbows back as if they were pulling a bow, so Helga whipped hers back with as much force was her tired body could muster. She hit Lila squarely in the jaw, causing the girl to fly backwards. "Oops," Helga said sarcastically.
"You bitch!" Lila cried as she leapt at Helga, who merely stood with her arms crossed and a bored look on her face. She stepped aside as Lila dove for her, and the girl landed flat on her face.
"Pataki! Sawyer! Out in the hall now!" Miss Sheltie yelled, and the room filled with silence. Lila pushed herself up and followed Helga out the door. Miss Sheltie wasted no time getting to the point. "I don't know what the hell you two are trying to pull in there, but put your petty differences aside and just do this. I am tired, and so is everyone else in there. I understand that you are worn out, but that gives you no excuse to act like this. Trust me, Chadwick will not hesitate to throw you out, even if it fucks this whole thing up. You," she looked at Lila, "Stop trying to pick fights with everyone. And both of you need to stop being childish. I am here to help you, not to baby-sit you." She walked to the door. "You two can go home, I am tired of both of you, and if you still want to be in this, come back tomorrow with a hell of a lot better attitude and respect for each other and every other person here, or forget about this whole thing."
She left the two girls alone. Helga glared at Lila, and walked away. "What are you doing?" Lila snapped at her.
"Going home, idiot. What else would I be doing?"
"Why did you hit me?"
"I felt like it, Lila, and you have had that coming for a long time." Lila folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air. Helga rolled her eyes. "Can't we just call this a truce and try to be civil towards each other?" She walked towards the other girl and extended a hand. "Truce?"
Lila glared at Helga's hand, and Helga thought she was going to spit in it for a moment. "A truce? With you? You have got to be kidding. From now on, this is war, Helga."
Helga's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Then you better be ready to lose." She walked to the dressing room, leaving Lila steaming alone in the hallway. Trust me, Lila, she thought. This is one thing I refuse to lose to you.
¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤
Arnold had been waiting in Helga's car for a few minutes when she finally got in. She slammed the door shut, and Arnold wisely decided not to ask what happened. He noticed her hair was wet. "Did you take a shower?"
"Yeah. Did you want me to go to your house smelling like God knows what while we're working on the project?"
"No, I guess not." They drove in silence for a moment. "You are sure you want to do this?"
Helga looked at Arnold from the corner of her eye. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"I dunno. Wouldn't you rather go to a party or something?"
She wrinkled her nose. "No, at least not tonight. I'll be dealing with loads of superficial people tomorrow. I just want to hang out with my favorite football head. Besides, this is due on Monday, and we have hardly anything done."
Arnold sighed. Staying at home working on homework was not what he had envisioned for his Friday night, but she had a good point. He glanced back at Helga and noticed her half-closed eyes. He was suddenly very scared for their safety. "Are you sure you aren't too tired?"
Helga contemplated this. Yes, what she wanted to do the most at the moment was sleep for about a week, but she knew that that was not possible. She was glad that she could almost fully-function on four hours of sleep a night. "No, I'm fine."
Arnold was not too sure about this, but he was smart enough to know that there was no use fighting her. Helga wanted to work on their US History project, and no one was going to stop her.
They headed up to Arnold's room as soon as they arrived at the boarding house. Helga flopped down on Arnold's couch as she pulled the books out of her bag. "Where should we start?"
"Background information, I guess. I think I left the papers I printed off the Internet downstairs, though," Arnold mumbled as he dug through piles of papers and books on his desk. "I'll be right back." He walked towards the door. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Yeah, lemonade." Arnold was halfway down the steps when she called after him, "And get me something to eat. Please," she added as an afterthought. Arnold rolled his eyes and went down to the kitchen.
"Hey, Short Man, I didn't hear you come in. How's the pageant coming?" Grandpa asked behind the newspaper he was reading. Arnold noted the faint smell of herring in the air. He cringed slightly and fixed lemonade and sandwiches for Helga and himself. "Tiring."
"Well, you're a strong, youthful boy. You'll be fine," Grandpa said, his speech muffled by the sandwich in his mouth. "Hey, is that girl with the ugly eyebrow here?"
Arnold walked over to him. "Yes, she is, and don't call her that. Helga lost the unibrow ages ago, you know that."
"I know, I know. Jeez, you don't have to get all defensive. You act like you got a thing for the little blonde."
Arnold blushed. "I do not. Helga and I are just friends."
Grandpa chuckled as he got up. "Right, Arnold. Just behave up there, okay?"
Arnold glared at him. "'Night, Grandpa."
"'Night, Short Man."
Arnold walked back to his room and tapped lightly on the door so Helga would let him in, but the door remained closed. He knocked louder. Again, nothing. Arnold sighed and somehow managed to open the door without dropping anything. He waited for Helga to try to scare him or something to that extent, but he entered safely. He sat the food and papers down, and his heart skipped a beat when he looked across the room.
Helga was fast asleep on his couch. Her blonde hair was fanned on the small pillow, and the moonlight shone on her face, making her appear very angelic. He moved quietly towards Helga to wake her up, but he realized how tired she had to be with basketball practice and pageant rehearsals every night, plus homework and her job . . . and late dates with Jake. Arnold sighed and crept slowly out of the room.
He left a note on one of the empty rooms for his grandpa and wrote that Helga was staying in there. Arnold felt bad lying, but he felt it was for the best. He did not want the whole house to hear about how Arnold's female friend spent the night in his room. Then again, they might find out anyways. He shrugged and called the Pataki house, leaving a message on the machine explaining that Helga was sleeping in an extra room, but he doubted they would even worry about her not being home.
Arnold want back upstairs and decided to do at least a little work on the project, so he highlighted and book marked information. He glanced at the sandwiches and realized how hungry he was. I can't just let them go to waste, he thought. Arnold turned the light off fifteen minutes later, after he finished his dinner.
He took a quick shower and returned to his room with extra blankets for Helga, who was shivering slightly in her sleep. He placed them on her gently, and she stopped shaking. He gazed down at her, amazed at how peaceful and beautiful she looked. He smiled slightly and went to his own bed. "Good night, Sleeping Beauty," he said softly aloud as he closed his eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep.
A/N: The second part of this cute moment will be in the next chapter, "That's What Girls Do." I am off to finish watching the baseball game. I want to apologize for taking so long to update. I have just been so busy lately that I never seem to have a spare moment, and when I do I usually spend it sleeping or something like that. The only time I have been really able to write is late at night before I go to bed, and I usually only get a few sentences down before I am about to fall asleep. But I finally got the chapter done, and I hope you liked it. Another happy note, the English paper is in its final stages, my geography project is done, but I still have a geometry project to do, and finals are next week (EEK!! CHEM FINAL!!). I believe I have four to start reviewing for, but I will be updating before the end of May. Later days.