Yay!! My third chapter!! I hope you like it' this one is alot longer then the other ones. Oh, and it's also the first time I put part of any fic into someones point of view, so there might be minor mistakes with "I" instead of "she." Just to let you know. Review like crazy :)
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thu-
"Helga, please stop that," Phoebe said, looking up from her book that she had randomly pulled off a shelf. Helga hit her head one final time against the wall she was sitting against. Then she moaned and rubbed her head.
"I can't believe our luck." she moaned, then yawned.
"Where are we going to sleep?" Arnold asked curiously.
"Oh no...not another delima," Rhonda shook her head.
"We can sleep on the bean bags and pillows," Phoebe told them as if she had planned that already.
"What about blankets? The heat is all turned off and it's the middle of December," Gerald pointed out.
"We'll figure something out," Phoebe replied.
Helga shot up and gasped with realization.
"What do we do about our parents?!" she said aloud.
"We're supposed to be staying at Rhondas house tonight, remember? And her parents are out of town anyway, right?" Rhonda reminded her, glancing over at Rhonda.
"I know, but what about the rest of you guys?" She looked over to Arnold and Gerald, who were sitting a few feet from her.
"Arnold is sleeping over at my house too. But it doesn't matter anyway because my folks aren't coming home until Monday," he said.
"Curly?" Helga called him; who was still working on the books from the book shelf.
"What?" he asked, walking over the them.
"What are you going to tell you're parents?" Rhonda asked him. He shrugged.
"Whatever. They left my sister in charge, so she can be the one to worry. Anyway, my parents won't be back till Christmas break," he said casually.
"Wow, I'm not so sure that's a brilliant idea," Phoebe raised her eyebrows. Curly sat beside Rhonda; hoping they wouldn't notice that he was attempting to neglect to shelf the books back in order.
"Who cares. I don't. She's probably too busy making out with her stupid boyfriend to take any notice," Curly smirked.
"I didn't know you had an older sister," Arnold lowered an eyebrow.
"Yea, she's almost eighteen. She's a senior cheerleader at our school," he told them, trying not to sound disgusted that he was related to one of those. Gerald thought a second.
"Is she hott?" he laughed. Phoebe winced.
"Don't be stupid," Curly snapped.
"Woa, just asking," Gerald said, holding up his hands in defense.
"Well sorry if I don't look at my sister that way," Curly replied curtly. There was a few minutes of silence. Rhonda smiled.
"I know! Let's play Corn-Trap!" she declared.
"Do I want to know?" Helga mumbled.
"What's that?" Curly asked.
"It's kinda like hide-and-seek. See, the point of the game is to split up and not to make any contact with anyone else. But if you find someone, then you're supposed to stay with them, and then you try to find everyone else. Then the last person will find everyone," she explained quickly.
"Sounds great except for the fact that you're talking about a dark, four story building," Helga pointed out.
"So?" Curly grinned.
"I'm in," Gerald said. Arnold and Phoebe nodded in agreement. Helga stood up.
"Alright. I'm in, as long as Curly doesn't try anything tricky," Helga smiled, half joking.
"Okay. Ready...set...go," and with that, Curly, spun on his heel and sped off into the opposite direction; leaving everyone else to decide where they were going.
Helga continued her descend down the stairs, continuing to walk slow and careful not to trip over anything.
She was near the front doors. She could tell because she could barely make out the shape of the check-out desk and the shelfs on the other side of her.
The main section of the first floor was three stories high, and the walls had hundreds of windows.
After what seemed like a couple minutes Helga slowed her pace and began wandering carelessly through the aisles and aisles of book shelves that was filled to the max with literature.
From the corner of her eye, she saw someone dash across the aisle. She spun around, then saw nothing. Slowly, she walked to the end of the aisle.
Staring up at the balcony above her, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She let out a loud yelp of surprise.
It was Arnold. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry," he whispered.
"It's okay," she caught her breath.
"I wonder where everyone else is," he wondered aloud.
"C'mon, let's go. They're probably on the top floors," Helga motioned to the balcony. She began walking towards the stairs with Arnold following close behind her.
Her heart began pounding. She was alone with Arnold. Just her, him, and the dark, dark library.
"Wow, this place gives me the creeps," Arnold shivered.
"Yeah I know," Helga agreed. It was pretty freaky. But she was with Arnold, so she felt perfectly comfortable.
Forty-five minutes later...
They found no one.
"Maybe we should sit down; and wait until they find us," Helga suggested, sitting down in one of the randomly placed benches against a wall. Arnold sat next to her. His leg was touching hers.
"Yeah, that'll be faster," he said. Say something, Helga, say something; anything, she urged herself. Her mouth couldn't open.
After a few moments of silence, Arnold let out a small laugh.
"What is it?" Helga asked.
"Nothing, I was just remembering how mean you were in the fourth grade; and how much you've changed from then," he told her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Helga lowered her eyebrow.
"Well you just changed. That's all," he replied.
"Is that good or bad?" she asked. He grinned.
"It's good," he said.
"You changed yourself. I was a bitch in grade school," Helga laughed.
"Oh, so you regret it?" he teased.
"Like I said; I had issues back then," she replied.
"How did I change?"
"You used to care about other peoples feelings," she blurted thoughtlessly. Arnold raised his eyebrows.
"What I meant was," she started quickly. "Was that you were more of a goody goody; always going around and helping other people. I remember that one time you stopped giving advice. The fourth grade was a real mess. I think it was even worse because people took MY advice," Helga explained.
Nice save; she told herself. Arnold laughed, recalling the memory.
"I guess we all have issues," he said.
"Some more than others," she replied. There was a silence; as if neither of them knew what to say next.
HELGA POV
Perfect chance...a voice screamed suddenly into my head. No; there was no way. No way in this world. Not no way, not no how.
Perfect chance, Helga. Now is it. He doesn't have a girl friend, so there's nothing holding you back. It's perfect. It's in the dark, he can't see your face; and you're alone! This happened for a reason.
SHUT UP! I screamed to that idiotic voice inside my head. Maybe I should...what better oppurtunity? What's the worst he could do? He HAS to remember that night on the FTI building...
Arnold glanced over at me, sensing something was wrong. I simply smiled nervously and shook my head.
"Arnold..." I started, my face red already. How was I going to do this? Arnold looked over at me.
"I..." I stopped abrubtly. I should just stop while i'm ahead. But I didn't.
"Well, there's something I mean to tell you; I mean meaning to tell you...but" I started. He looked a little confused but I couldn't blame him. Then my eyes began to water.
Brilliant, huh?
And of course, my face had to be in the moonlight from those huge, glass windows.
"Hey, you're crying! What's the matter?" he asked me, narrowing his eyes in concern. Why did he have to care so much about other people's feelings? Instead of answering, I shook my head, not wanting to talk about anything anymore.
"No, I'm not," I managed just below a whisper.
"Helga..."
"I'm fine!" I practically yelled. I quickly regretted it. Arnold shifted in his seat.
"Sorry," I said alot softer. "I'm just...so frusturated." I blurted. Arnold looked surprised.
"About what?" He asked. How could he still be so full of concern after that; and after how shitty I treated him?
"About...I don't know what about! Things just keep happening and there's no way for me to control any of it!" I confessed. Now I really was crying. I hated crying in front of people. Especially guys.
"Come on Helga, there had to have been something that went on to make you say that. Is it your parents? Is that what this is about?" he asked, trying his best to make me feel better and help me. I nodded, then shook my head.
"It's..." I started, my fingers shaking terribly. "It's you," I sobbed. Arnold looked surprised and shocked at the same time.
"What? Me? What did I do?" he asked, his eyes widening. He put his arm around my shoulder; his way of comforting a friend.
That only made me angrier. Can't he see I don't want to be his friend? I've been his 'friend' since seventh grade, and I've wanted to be more then friends since preschool!
"Do you remember that one time, in fourth grade? When I...helped you and Gerald save the neighborhood; and then, I went crazy on top of that building?" I asked him, trying to control the tears that were pouring from my eyelids. Arnold thought a moment.
"Yes, I do. But I haven't given it much thought. Sure, I thought it was weird. I thought you must have been smoking something, but afterwards you, I guess, just wanted to pretty much forget the whole thing; so that's what I did," Arnold explained.
As a nervous habit, I bit down on my bottom lip so hard it almost bled. I can't take this anymore!!
"Arnold!! How dense can you be?!" I practically shouted. "I'm...I'm...I LIKE YOU ALOT!" I blurted thoughtlessly. "Are all guys this blind?!" I stood up, unable to control my emotions. Arnold stood up to calm me down.
"What?? Helga, relax and calm down! Is that what this is all about?!" Arnold sat down, trying to let it all sink in. Oh great. Now I shocked him. Now he thinks I'm a freak.
I sniffed miserably, knowing this wasn't going to be easy. What had I gotten myself into!? And PLEASE, Lord Almighty up above, please spare us both the humiliation of being found now. Just fifteen minutes. Max. Please.
Instead of anwswering, I sat there like a helpless bump on a log and continued to sob lightly.
Arnold just sat back, and took his arm from my shoulder. He leaned foward, leaning his elbows on his knees with his hands slightly folded in front of his face.
"I remember in fourth grade, you'd piss me off so bad sometimes I didn't want to go to school," he started.
What a comforting statement.
"Then there were those times when I knew you weren't all bad. And I know now, that you really weren't so bad. You were just a tough kid and you wanted everyone to know it, didn't you?" Arnold gave me a weak smile. I didnt reply. I was too humiliated to react.
"I knew you didn't mean all those things you said to me. I couldn't stay mad at you for long. Especially after you went through all that trouble...on Valentines," Arnold laughed. What?!
He knew?!
All that time and he didn't say anything?! How long did he know that that was me?!
Oh bother.
"I thought you kinda had something for me. In elementary school, the more you like someone, the more you pick on them, and make their life a living Hell," he laughed. Inside I breathed a sigh of relief. He was saying he had forgiven me along time ago.
Okay, so now what? Was he flattered? Shocked? Repulsed?
I almost fainted when he put one of his arms around me again.
"And then., believe it or not, there were few times when I thought I liked you, like you liked me, but I just shrugged it off. That was when I thought you really hated me. But I guess you don't," Arnold smiled warmly, comforting.
I gazed into his dark, warm emerald eyes. I couldn't believe what he did next. He put his other hand on my shoulder, then he slowly brought his lips to mine.
In the perfect world, I would have kissed him back, and in the perfect world, we would have just a few minutes more to be alone.
But it wasn't the perfect world.
"THERE YOU GUYS ARE!" Curly shouted playfully at the top of his lungs. We quickly pulled away from each other, frightened by their reaction and hoping they hadn't seen too much. Now my face was red, and Arnold blushed just slightly.
And of course, the whole group had to be trailing behind him.
"We looked absolutly everywhere!" Rhonda told us.
"Yeah, we thought you guys managed to escape, but then-" Phoebe stopped short, then widened her eyes.
"Helga! What's the matter? Were you crying?" she asked. Oh no. I forgot I was wearing layers of eyeliner. Now I could only imagine what I looked like; black halfway down my face underneath my eyes. I groaned, thinking quickly.
"No, Phoebe, I'm fine," I answered quickly. Thank God she didn't say anything more, and neither did anyone else.
"Well let's go now. We need to decide how or where we're going to sleep," Gerald said, turning and motioning for us to follow him.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I stood up. That was a close one, but it was worth it.
Arnold and I followed everyone a few feet behind them. I was still in a daze.
Halfway up the stairs, Arnold shyly wrappedonehand around mine.
10:07.
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