I arrived to school the next day with many thoughts racing through my head, and the one reaching first place was thoughts about Helga. I had no idea why my mind always came back to her.

When I walked into the building, there were a lot of whispers filling the crowded hallways. It seemed like people were gossiping about something. It was rather typical in high school, so I didn't think much of it.

That was until I got a closer listening of what the subject was.

I arrived to my locker to get the needed supplies for my first class of the day. The whispers did not fade once I stepped into the more secure area. Once I got my locker open, I briefly took a pause in order to focus on what my peers were saying, regardless of whether or not it was wrong to eavesdrop.

"Did you hear that Arnold Shortman got detention yesterday?" A voice from my right uttered.

"Yeah, I totally did. I heard from Sophia who heard from Cassie! Isn't that crazy?" Another voice from the same direction replied.

I quickly turned my head to my right and I saw the figures of two brunette girls who I had recognized from my classes, but never actually had conversations with.

Many questions were rapidly flowing through my head as frustration and confusion pulsated through my veins. Frustration because I didn't want anybody to know about the time I served in detention yesterday. And confusion because I didn't know how the secret had even been spread around the school.

"Hey, Arnold." A female voice uttered from behind me.

I whirled around and it was another girl who I had recognized, but didn't actually converse with.

"Is it true that you got detention yesterday?" She asked.

I let out an exasperated yet subtle sigh at the question just posed at me.

Screw off. I thought as a response, but wasn't brave enough to actually voice it.

"Yes..." I answered instead, not feeling comfortable with lying.

"Holy shit guys, it's true!" The girl screeched as she scampered off to her friends.

"I thought he was better than this..." I overheard one of the brunette girls by my locker gossip to her friend.

In high school, I had gotten sort of a reputation. That reputation was the good, perfect guy with exceptional grades.

I didn't mean to make everyone see me this way, and I didn't even know how it happened. I mean, I always had a passion for helping others and I always cared about my grades. I was also nice to everyone, even if they weren't nice to me. But I didn't expect it to get to the point where every single soul in the damn school would know it. And I didn't expect it to get to the point where if I did one bad or imperfect thing, everyone would be mad at me or question me.

But hell, that's not even the first time something like this has happened. People in elementary school turned on me if I wasn't perfect, too.

Was there a way that I could be known as the good guy I am without being expected to be perfect?

Something else that I was dying to know was how everyone even found out about this in the first place. Most people had already left to their respective transportations to leave the school when the infamous event between Helga and me had happened.

Then I thought of something that I really didn't want to believe, but it had crossed my mind... what if Helga told everyone what happened? I was not the type to assume stuff or jump to conclusions easily, but Helga was the only one who could've known about the detention.

After I got my needed materials out of my locker, I scurried off to go talk to Helga. I wanted to ask her about what was going on, but I didn't want to accuse her either. As I made my way to her locker, I heard more whispers around the halls, and I very quietly groaned in frustration. It already was getting old even though I had only been at school for less than ten minutes.

Once I arrived to Helga's locker, she was alone and taking materials out of it. I took a deep breath before clearing my throat and speaking, preparing myself. Confrontation wasn't exactly my strong suit. Hell, I had plenty of chances to confront the girl in front of me throughout my life, and only did a few times. That included yesterday when I caught her spray painting the wall. Of course I was standing up for what was right, but I also wanted an excuse to speak to her. And today, I have another one.

"Hey, Helga." I greeted.

Helga closed her locker door shut and quickly whirled around to face me. Our proximity wasn't that far apart, but not too close either, so I could see her shiny silver hoop nose ring on the left side of her nose. It suited her quite well.

"What brings you here today, football head? You got something to criticize?" Helga teased, a soft chuckle following.

"No, nothing like that." I confirmed. "But there is something I want to talk to you about..."

"What could that be?" Helga asked.

"Did you ever tell anyone about us getting detention yesterday?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Why do you wanna know that?"

"Haven't you heard everyone talking about it?"

"No... I don't pay attention to what random people say anymore."

"How do you do that?"

"It's bullshit so I tune it out."

"Well, everyone is talking about us getting detention. Actually, everyone is just talking about me getting detention. Cause I guess it's typical for you to get it, but it isn't for me, so, they're talking about me."

"What's your point?"

"You're the only one who could've known..."

Helga's calm, nonchalant face quickly turned into one depicting irritation and borderline anger after I said those words.

"Are you accusing me, football head?" Helga berated in a tone that was shifting towards angry emotion like her face was.

"No, I'm just asking... did you tell anyone about our detention?" I reassured her, or at least made an attempt to.

"No, I didn't, football head." Helga scoffed.

"Okay..." I concluded.

I slowly turned around and awkwardly walked away from Helga's locker. My heart always beated faster than normal after confrontations, and this wasn't an exception.

"I'm not sure whether or not to believe her..." I uttered to myself under my breath.

"Excuse me?!" A dramatic and irritable voice behind me uttered. It none other than Helga's voice.

I turned around to face Helga once again and I immediately regretted voicing my thoughts out loud, even if it was rather quietly. I started to feel guilty even thinking like that at all for some reason.

"Oh, um..." I awkwardly stumbled.

"Do you not trust me or something? Do you think I told everyone about us getting detention yesterday?" Helga blurted, and it was evident that she was started to get annoyed.

I didn't understand why Helga cared if I trusted her or not. It seemed like she didn't care about what other people thought of her, yet she seemed to care in this situation, even if it was only a little bit.

"I didn't say that..." I assured her.

"Well, that's what you were thinking, weren't you?" Helga remarked in an irrirated tone.

"What? No. Why are you jumping to conclusions?" I asked somewhat frantically.

"I wouldn't spread that information around this stupid ass school! I only told Phoebe and no one else!" Helga raised her voice in indignation.

"Why are you so angry about this?" I questioned.

"Because that's what I do. I get angry. And this time, I'm angry that you accused me. Like I would want any stupid person at this school to know that I had to spend a whole afternoon with a like a football head like you." Helga berated again, vexation dripping from her voice.

I felt my fists next to my side curl up in frustration. I didn't get frustrated that easily, so I didn't understand why it didn't take that long for me to get heated.

"I didn't accuse you and you know it. I simply asked. You're blowing it out of proportion." I stated, my tone slowly becoming more and more irritated.

"Whatever. I'm still mad!" Helga scoffed and then turned around, crossing her arms.

I unclenched my fists by my side and started awkwardly fiddling my fingers as I thought of a response, still wanting to stay where I was rather than walk away.

"You're pushing me away again..." I blurted out.

"So? What do you care?" Helga asked with agitation in her tone.

"I do ca-" I started to answer, but was put to a halt by the blaring school bell indicating that everyone had only a few minutes to arrive to their respective classes.

"Get to your class. I'm assuming your goody two shoes ass doesn't wanna be late." Helga remarked.

"Right..." I said as I started to walk away, despite the conflict not being resolved. I still wasn't sure why Helga had lashed out like that. Despite that, I was hoping that there was a way the argument could be swept under the rug so we didn't have to go back to ignoring each other. Because for some reason, I always came back to her no matter how much she might irritate me.

I will figure you out, Helga G. Pataki.