Hey guys! Well la-dee-da! You liked chapter two! So I must be doing my job right! I'm glad you like my story so much. Here's chapter three, I hope it is also up to scratch. Feel free to tell me if it isn't. That is NOT an invitation to send me reviews about my characters being a mary-sue because they sound perfect. 'Cause I'm good at making my characters not mary-sueish. But if I missed something and they ARE mary-sueish, say it NICELY! But I don't think my characters are mary-sues, because I have friends who are determined to rid the world of mary sues. Thus, they would beat me into a bloody pulp if I wrote a mary sue, unless it was to make fun of them. Anyway, I'll stop ranting and start saying sensible things so you can read the story and stuff. But don't forget to press the pretty button at the end. Thanks. Anyway, enjoy my friends.
P.S.- My muses are still being uncooperative, so please forgive my other stories. My creativeness muse is weakening, because I have part of the next chapter for 'A New Kind of Magic' written in an email to myself. But the muses for my other stories are still adamant with their demands for a sacrifice of some form of caffeine for every chapter that they help me write. I have great hopes that they will be appeased by something smaller, like a sacrifice for every three chapters or something/ I'll keep you posted, and I'll put up the next chapter for A New Kind Of Magic A.S.A.P. thanks for being so understanding.
And now for review answers.
To blondegirlshave fun: Thank you for the review. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
To Skittles731: Hey! I remember you! You reviewed some of other earlier stories! Nice to see you again! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
To acosta perez jose ramiro: I'm glad you liked my dialouge so much. Am I improving?
Disclaimer: YES! I DO OWN HEY ARNOLD AND ALL OF ITS CHARACTERS::world explodes: Oops, heh heh….
After Arnold had rented a pair of skates, he glided out to meet Helga in the center of the ice. She mockingly held out her hand to him and bowed at the waist.
"May I have this dance?" She asked sweetly.
He grinned and took her hand. She stood and her eyes widened and she gave a small yelp of surprise when he pulled her by that hand around the ice. He turned around and began skating backwards. He took hold of her other hand in the process. She smiled at him nervously
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Skating with you, of course."
"This isn't exactly what I had in mind, you know."
"I guessed that from your face. But, what were you going to do, teach me how to do jumps and spins?"
"I was considering it, yeah." She said as she fought to get better balance.
"Why would I want to learn how to figure skate?" He scoffed
"Maybe because figure skating is the reason why I beat your ass in that hockey game earlier?"
"Is that why you could skate so fast, even with all that padding?"
"Yeah."
"Well then, maybe I will take it up."
Helga laughed. To his great surprise, Arnold felt himself smiling because he had made her laugh. He realized that he was grinning like an idiot and shook his head before Helga noticed and laughed or made fun of him.
"So," He said, to make conversation. "What unnatural force of nature brought you back here?" He asked. He released her right hand and swung over to her left side. He continued to hold her left hand as they skated along.
"Hmmmm, lots of stuff." Helga said unconvincingly.
"Okay, now I know I'm not going to get a straight answer out of you."
"Maybe you're just not asking me the right questions."
"Okay. Why are you back here to our humble little corner of the world? I thought you wanted to get out and never look back."
"I did. But that was before."
"Before what?"
"Before I was adopted, of course."
"When were you adopted? Better yet, why were you put up for adoption?"
"I was put up for adoption about two months after I left town. I was adopted about six months later."
"But WHY were you put up for adoption."
There was a moment of silence where the only sound was the faint music coming from the speakers and their skates gliding on the ice. Arnold was about give up on the idea that Helga would answer when she said slowly
"I don't know if I'm ready to tell you."
This made Arnold smile slightly. So he answered
"Hey! I spilled my guts to you!"
"Yeah, but it's different."
"Different how?"
"Your gut spilling didn't change my entire opinion of who you are or were. It doesn't change my opinion of the way you act or acted, and it won't cause you to candy coat everything you say to make sure you don't bring up painful memories."
"My opinion of you won't change, Helga."
"My name is Grace now."
"Grace?"
"Yeah."
They skated in silence for a moment. The music changed to a Christmas song. Arnold listened for a moment and realized it was 'White Christmas'. He grinned.
'Wouldn't it be romantic if it started to snow right now? Wait, did I just say ROMANTIC?' Arnold shook his head vigorously.
"Arnold, are you alright?" Helga asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I' fine. So where'd you get the name grace from?"
"Helga G. Pataki, remember?"
"Your middle name is-er was Grace?"
"Yeah. I decided that Grace wouldn't go with my tough girl image, so I just used the initial."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Hey, er, Grace?"
"Yeah?"
"My opinion of you just changed."
At this, Helg-err, Grace stopped skating. When Arnold felt the jerk on his arm. He turned to see why she had stopped. She was looking at him funny, her eyes looked all shiny and-
"Hey, you're not going to CRY, are you?"
Grace smiled and rubbed her eyes furiously. As she did this, she shook her head vigorously.
"No, I'm not going to cry."
"That's good because if you did cry, I'd have to hug you. And I'm not sure if I'm ready to totally let go of that tough girl image of yours just yet. It was pounded into my head, you might say, hmmm?"
This made Grace laugh some more. They skated on in silence for a moment, neither knowing exactly what to say. Every time something came to mind for him to say, Arnold decided not to say it. It was only after they had completed three circuits of the rink that Grace smiled at Arnold and said
"Don't you just hate awkward silences?"
Arnold smiled and nodded in agreement, grateful that she had been the first to speak.
"So," She continued. "Do you still want to learn how to figure skate, or should I just shut up and leave the subject alone?"
"You're kidding, right?"
"I don't kid about figure skating, Arnold."
"Come on, I'm a GUY! Guys don't figure skate."
"Actually, yes they do. I've dated a few of them before, I'll have you know."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"You need to get out more."
"No shit, Sherlock."
They skated in silence for another moment and then Helg-er Grace said
"Remember when I told you I was pissed at the world?"
"Yeah, why?"
"It was a lie."
"How so?"
"I wasn't pissed at the world, exactly. I was pissed at my life for being out of control, and pissed at my self for letting it get that way. But instead of taking it out on something normal, like a sport or something, I withdrew and became the Helga you knew instead of the real me. I lashed out at everyone, most of all you. I'm sorry about the way I treated you, if it's any consolation."
"I'm still confused. That doesn't explain why."
Grace sighed sadly and looked down at her skates for a minute, as though they might give her an explanation. She looked up at him with a smile and said with a sigh
"You aren't going to make this easy, are you?"
"Nope, probably not."
"Okay then. But when you walk off the rink, don't blame me, okay?"
"It's a deal. Now then my dear, spill."
"Ever since I was a little girl, I have been a victim of neglect. My parents could barely remember my name, and they forgot about me a lot of the time. My sister took all of their attention away from me. She was their perfect child. Me, I was just a mistake. So, as a way of correcting that mistake, they pretended that they had never made it. Thus, they pretended I was there. Or at least, that's my take on it."
"I'm sorry."
"This might sound familiar, but I don't want your pity. It's in the past. In fifth grade, when we studied abuse in health class, I realized that I could get out, just like I always wished I could. But I figured out that no one was going to believe me because I didn't report it sooner, so I got proof to convince people of my predicament. I walked around with a tape recorder for a week, and then went to the police. I was taken to an adoption facility in another city about two weeks later. I realized that it would be all right to act like my normal self, and I did. A few months later, the Greens, who were my foster family, adopted me. Now, I'm back in town for the year because my father's company wants him to work here for a year."
"Your foster father, right?"
"Of course. My blood father is no longer allowed to speak to me or come within three hundred feet of me."
"Why are you here, then?"
"He and my mother moved out to live with Olga because she's pregnant."
"I see."
There was another awkward silence. Arnold didn't know what to say. Grace had been right. His opinion of her HAD changed. Her story now explained a lot. But now he didn't know what to say.
'What should I do now?' He wondered.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He gathered his courage, and stopped skating. Grace turned to look at him quizzically. He reached forward and pulled her into a hug. She resisted for a moment, and then returned the gesture. When they pulled apart, she smiled at him sadly, and said
"So, your opinion did change."
"In a good way, I assure you. The image of hateful, spiteful girl who lashed out for no reason has been replaced by a girl who lashed out because she was afraid to let others in too close."
Grace giggled.
"Would you believe me if I told you that it wasn't only reason why I lashed out at you in particular?"
"In my opinion, anything is possible with you now."
"Okay. You're going to laugh, but I have got to tell you. You were the first person who ever paid attention to me like that. Remember? The first day of preschool, when you told me that you liked my hair bow?"
"Yeah, I do! You were soaked!"
"I developed a massive border line obsession crush on you on that day."
Arnold stared at her.
"Really?"
"Yup. I didn't know how to tell you, so I kept it a secret. In fact, I think the only one who ever figured it out was…"
"Who?"
"Umm, Lila."
"Good for her."
"Arnold,"
"No, it's fine."
"Actually, if it makes you feel any better, the only reason why I told her is because I wanted to be Juliet in the school play."
"Why would you want that?"
At this, Grace looked down and blushed.
"So I could…could kiss you."
"Oh."
Grace suddenly looked up.
"Hey! I'll race around the rink!" And with that, she skated off. Arnold laughed and raced after her. They were neck and neck, but Grace won by about a foot. They flopped down on the ice near the entrance to the rink. Grace flopped onto her back and stared up at the sky. Between deep breaths, Arnold said with a smile
"No…fair…you…got…a…head…start!"
Grace sat up and smiled at him.
"Nah, I'm just faster." She said with a scoff.
"Yeah right."
"Get used to it Arnold. Cause with the way you're skating, it won't be changing any time soon."
"Hmph."
"Aw, don't pout. You look cuter when you do that."
"So I was cute before?"
"DUH!"
"Whoa, when did that happen?"
"I'm a girl, what do you expect?"
"Um, for you to beat me up and laugh about it?"
"That was Helga. Grace is confident, and flat out tells someone if she thinks that they are cute."
"Right. So, by the way you're talking, it sounds like you could teach me to skate faster."
"No, but I could show you how I learned to skate faster."
"How?"
"Figure skating."
"You are determined, aren't you?"
"What was your first clue?"
"Hmmm."
"Oh, come on Arnold! It wouldn't kill you to try, now would it?
"No, but the guys would never let me hear the end of it!"
"Tell them you're taking intensive skating lessons to improve your skills so you won't get your ass beat by a girl again. After they start ranting about me be a girl, mention that the training involves figure skating. Maybe they'll ignore the comment."
"Okay, okay! You've convinced me!"
"Good."
A car pulled up to the street and honked the horn. Grace looked over at it. She stood up and brushed herself off.
"My ride is here." She said. "Can we set a later date for the first lesson?"
"Sure. Err; I'm free Saturday night. How's that?"
"It's good. How about here at eight?" Grace asked over her shoulder as she skated to the entrance the rink. She walked onto the padded floor and clomped over to a bench and began to unlace her skates. When she had finished, she slipped her shoes on and tied the laces of her skates together and slung them over her right shoulder. When she was done, she looked at him.
"Is here at seven okay with you?"
When he nodded, she smiled and slung the skates over her shoulder so that one hung down her front and the other hung down her back. The she said
"See you then."
"Bye." He answered
Then, with a wave, Grace ran over to the car and got in the back seat. Arnold watched the drive out of sight. Then, he took off his skates, returned them, and got on the subway to go home.
Eh voila! Chapter three, she is done! Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'm sorry that this chapter was almost all dialogue. It was necessary for Helga's Story.
bookworym