CHAPTER 4! I was going to put this chapter up on Saturday, but thanks to a very special reviewer, I am posting it today! A big thank you to Twisted Renee, who put my story on their favorite stories list( I'm not a stalker, I just enjoy reading profiles…) But anyway, that really made my day, since the last list I was on was Worst Dressed in the 7th grade (Yeah, I try to forget about that…) Okay, this chapter is mostly taking place in the hotel, we'll be moving on soon, but my sister who thinks she knows everything because she's 21 months older than me which merits how I write MY fanfic, tells me to slow down (I don't mind y'all telling me, just her) my story so, yes, whatever. Enjoy! Oh yes, and I've never properly explained this, if any of you have ever been to hey-Arnold.com (you should seriously go! Not now, finish the story first!) There's a section where it has Frequently Asked Questions. Well, someone asked where Hillwood really is. And the reply was that it resembled many different places. It went on to list New York City, Seattle, and someplace else, I forget. But it seems as though EVERYONE make it New York. So, I decided to work a little outside the box and make them live in SEATTLE! Hence the tiring train ride portion of the summary. So, don't be confused, be happy! Okay, Now enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold.
Chapter 4: One Down
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The room was immaculate. It probably wasn't even this clean before they occupied it. What time was it? 8:24? How did she manage to clean everything so early in the morning?
"You're awake.", Helga said, seated on the floor, taking this and that out of a small bag next to her. One of the items particularly upset Arnold. It was a standing vanity mirror and a palate of colors. Frankly, Arnold did not like watching girls litter their faces with makeup, particularly Helga, whom in his eyes needed no makeup. But, she went on unpacking, as if he weren't there.
"Please try no to mess up the room while I'm out. I spent half-"
"Out? Where are you going?", Arnold interrupted.
"I'm going out didn't you hear me?", Helga said, still focused on the task at hand.
"Okay…", Arnold said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he was.
"Unless of course you'd like to accompany Phoebe and I in a little shopping…", She said letting her voice trail off.
The only thing Arnold disliked more than animal tested cosmetics was shopping. For the life of him he couldn't understand why women got such a kick out of it. How spending the precious hours of life in a boutique or a store, purchasing a hundred of the same thing you already own and never use, or overpriced clothes that you could probably make yourself with two dollars worth of fabric and some thread, was enjoyable. "No, that's okay, really. Gerald and I are going to do some site seeing of our own.", he said, very matter-of-factly.
"Good then we'll both be busy.", she said, turning around and standing up. "What do you think? Is this proper attire for strolling the streets of New York?" Casual was the theme for today. She'd decided to wear a smoky gray V-neck shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans that revealed the smallest sliver of skin.
"You've looked worse."
Helga rolled her eyes at the sarcastic comment and walked towards the bathroom. "Oh yeah, Phoebe's coming over in a minute, so you might wanna put on a shirt or something."
"What happened to Rule Two? Ya know, the one about telling the other party before you bring guests into the room??!!", Arnold retorted, regretting it the moment he said it, knowing sooner rather than later that Helga would discover his breach of Rule One.
"I did tell you, just now…" Helga was at once cut off by something completely off the subject. "What happened to Rule One???!!! Ya know, the one about not using other peoples stuff without asking!!!", she screamed, coming out of the bathroom holding two identical bottles, both barely half full of green liquid.
"There's a perfectly good explanation for why…"
"There is no more conditioner!!", she said, immediately walking over grabbing a handful of his hair and taking a short whiff of it. "Smells better in my hair anyway."
"I thought it was, ya know, one of the hotel commodities. That was before I even knew you were in here.", he said, in his defense.
"Ugh", she said, retreating back into the bathroom.
Knock, Knock
"It's probably the maid, can you manage to throw on some clothes and get that?", Helga said, harshly, from the bathroom.
Arnold pulled a blue T-shirt over his head and answered the door. "Yeah?"
"Oh Arnold, I thought this was…" Phoebe began.
"It is. Helga, Phoebe's here.", he said, calling her over his shoulder.
"Hey Pheebs, come in. I'm almost ready.", Helga said from the bathroom.
Needless to say, Phoebe was a little…uneasy about the whole thing. Here we have two people, in their late teens, sharing a hotel room, one who had harbored certain "feelings" for the other, and that other who'd been showing moderate interest on that one, now together, in a rather compromising situation. She tried to shake such thoughts out of her head, but as soon as the retreated, another one found it's way in and took up occupancy. The Bed.
First of all, there was only one. One bed. Two people. One Bed. Two people.
"Can you at least attempt to make the bed? I cleaned up the whole room.", Helga said, peeking her head out of the bathroom door.
Maybe one of them slept on the floor. Or in the bathroom. Or maybe Helga came over to…borrow sugar?
"Hey, no asked you to clean up the whole room by yourself. Besides you slept in it too."
Phoebe let out a small whimper, still standing there in a state of shock. "Um, Helga. I'll meet you downstairs.", she said, more than ready to leave.
"Phoebe, what's wrong?", Helga said, catching her at the door.
Phoebe's eyes then darted from Helga to Arnold who was attempting to make a bed, to no avail, then back to Helga, right before dragging Helga into the bathroom from which she'd just emerged from.
Phoebe, what's going on? Why are you being so paranoid?", Helga asked.
(A/N: You have to read this part really fast, because otherwise it doesn't sound right. And if you don't like reading fast, find someone who does and pay them five dollars to read this part really fast! Thank you!)
"Okay, last night I saw you downstairs and I was gonna ask if you wanted to partner up with me, but I saw you and Arnold head upstairs really fast and so I didn't think much of it, but now I get it, but it's okay if you don't wanna talk about it. It's perfectly fine, I mean we could pretend nothing happened at all and-"
"Phoebe, you're talking in circles, spit it out.", Helga said, slightly baffled.
"It's okay if you don't wanna talk about…last night.", Phoebe said, now whispering.
"What about it? It's no big deal really.", Helga said, obviously not catching the drift.
Phoebe stared, worried that Helga wasn't taking the situation seriously enough. " Oh but it is a big deal. It's a very big deal."
"Phoebe, you are blowing this WAY out of proportion. Yeah, we were both a little uncomfortable at first, but we laid down a few ground rules, and everything turned out fine.", Helga said, reassuringly.
Sensing Helga's non-chalantness of the ordeal, Phoebe lightened up. "So you're okay with this?"
"Yes."
"And he's okay with this?"
"Yeah."
"And we won't have to worry about any "consequences", oh say, nine months from now?"
"You completely lost me Phoebe.", Helga said, finally catching the drift a millisecond after she said it. It was so simple. Anyone with half a brain would have suspected the same thing. "You think that.. That Arnold and I…NO!!! That's completely…NO!! NO!!!", she said.
"Well, let's recap. Last night. Meeting in the lounge. Pick Partners. I look for you, and you and Arnold are dashing up the stairs. Together. This morning. I come to YOUR hotel room. He answers. In his boxers. Hmmm, let mw think about that. Two people, a guy and a girl. In their late teens. In a hotel room. ONE BED. Yeah, that's about everything.", Phoebe said, smartly.
"Okay. I know what it looks like. But that's not what happened. I didn't pick him for a partner, it just turned out that way. And, yes, we DID share a bed, but there was no physical contact, hardly if any verbal contact. Okay? That's all.", Helga said, in a state of slight shock.
"Promise?"
"I swear."
"Good, I almost had a heart attack.", Phoebe said, leaning against the sink.
" I can't believe you'd even think that.", Helga said, nudging Phoebe's arm.
"Hey, you'd think the same thing if you were in my shoes."
Whatever. Let me get my purse, and we can go.", Helga said, exiting the bathroom sanctuary.
"Okay."
"See-ya Arnold", Helga said, walking out the door.
"Bye."
Outside the hotel, the streets bustled with cars, people on their way to work, business men, children in private school uniforms, and tourists, many like them.
"Ready?", Helga said, pulling her sunglasses up on the top of her head.
"Ready." Phoebe said, hers already perched on her head.
Another Knockity, Knock
"I'm coming", Arnold said, now fully dressed in a loose fitting T-shirt, a flannel shirt, and blue jeans. He answered the door to find Gerald.
"Hey man, what's up."
"Hey, come in.", he said, stepping aside.
"Dude, is this…yours?", Gerald asked, holding up a bottle of concealer as if it were underwear.
"No, it's…It's not mine.", Arnold said, not exactly thrilled at the prospect of telling his best friend that he was currently sharing a room with Helga.
"Well there's only two reasons why a guy would have…", Gerald began, pausing to properly read the label. "Avon Brand Day Radiance Liquid Foundation."
"Oh, and what would they be?", Arnold asked, now properly prepared for another one of Gerald's "interesting" philosophies.
"Okay, The Three Reasons why a guy would have makeup-"
"I thought you said there were only two."
"I added one just now! Stop interrupting! Okay Reason one, he's got serious vanity issues. That's definitely not you, Arnold. Two, he's got some serious acne, and that doesn't look like it to me, Arnold. And three, which may possibly be the only one that applies to you, he had a girl in here and she's using this to hide the hickies.", he said, as if he were the all knowing, all seeing Dr. Phil of Hotel Observations.
"Look, the maids. I've been finding a ton of stuff they probably left from whoever was here before me. It's no big deal.", he said, slightly aggravated.
"Look buddy, I was just playin'. Chill.", Gerald said.
Arnold took a deep breath, this wouldn't be easy. "Okay, ya know how some of the rooms got overbooked and two people got stuck in some of 'em?, Arnold asked.
"Yeah, so what?"
"Well, that's Helga's.", he said, hoping Gerald would catch on. No such luck.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah, I mean, I'd never fall for a girl like Helga, but I mean, whatever works for you. Oh and the whole "Overbooked" thing is a good excuse. Nice alibi.", he said, non-chalantly.
"GERALD!!! I'm telling the truth. And nothing happened!!"
"Yeah, well, alls I see is one hotel room, one bed, two high school kids, hormones, and a seriously jacked up bed. Looks like only one thing, my friend.", Gerald said.
"Well, nothing happened, so…drop it."
"Sure buddy, sure."
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Okay, that was chapter 4, hope ya loved it! I really have no idea how long this things gonna be, so stay tuned. That's about all, please review. Because without reviews, Pointy Objects doesn't have much to inspire her, and without inspiration, well the world, not to mention the foundation of this story, will literally come to an irrefutable and frankly…messy end. And we can't have that, now can we? No, no we can't! Sorry, I tend to over exaggerate things! BYE!