(Original Authors Notes)

Notes: To BrianaLFBH: Thanks for all your kind reviews, they are greatly appreciated. Seems like your dad's computer is really f'ed up. What fics have you written? Yes, I am the "Arnold's Room" guy...and remember that later on when you read the fic, heh-heh.

To stevetheloser: Mmmm, I may have to rewrite something. Nice use of your psychic powers there buddy, because that is coming up. But hey, like the series itself, and a lot of other cartoons and live-action shows out there – and many fanfics too – they have a couple of holes in the storylines. Hopefully mine won't be like a slice of Swiss if you catch my drift.

To Professor: Quote, "Helga pines for Arnold, somehow she gets Arnold to pine for her, and in the end everyone lives happily ever after." I still can't help but love those stories. Each one has different twists and turns about how they come together. The "unrequited love" theme is what keeps me addicted to my fandom of the series and fics. I could get to Helga fall for me (she's hot, lol!)…but that's another story…just an idea, no work on it yet, I'm just too busy! I wish I was nine again! And the jealous thing has been done in "Weird Cousin". Plus I'm a Lila hater, as you will find that out later in the fic.

Finally, the story starts gettin' juicy! It's now Monday morning...

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!…or maybe I do! Maybe I'm in L.A. right now with Craig working on a secret underground project to get TJM made…or maybe not…or maybe I am! Or maybe I should just stop rambling and let you read the story!

o----o

"Hey Arnold, Hey Arnold, Hey Arnold, Hey-"

I slowly opened my eyes. I hadn't slept a wink. My eyelids were so heavy I could barely keep them open. I let out a loud yawn.

"What the heck time is it?" I asked.

"7am." Arnold replied as he was making his bed.

"Ugggghhhhh." I muttered, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

"Didn't sleep well I take it?"

"Yeah well, what can you do," I said, "I never sleep right the first night in a different place. And that goes double for this wor-…" 'Oops, another slip of the tongue.' I quickly thought. "Wo-, wooo…woah boy, my back sure is sore." I stretched, again with a lame cover up.

"Okay then…" he said with a perplexed look on his face, "I'll see you downstairs. Don't forget to make…your couch." he said with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh, hold up, you think I could take a shower?"

"Well, not if you wanna wait twenty minutes. We only have one bathroom and eight boarders, and it's the early morning rush-hour right now."

I was almost going to mention Phil's secret bathroom, but stopped my tongue before making a word of it. I lifted my shirt and sniffed under my arms, the odour wasn't that bad. "Nah, forget it." I said.

I made my "bed" and met up with Arnold downstairs. Luckily Gertrude hadn't made anything for breakfast. No offence to her, but I'd rather have a root canal than try to digest one of her meals. Instead, she had laid out a sort of breakfast bar. Pieces of toast, that were a little burnt, with our choice of peanut butters and jams. We quickly ate and left the boarding house to walk down to the bus stop. Arnold let me use an old backpack that he had for school. It had some wear and tear but was overall still in good shape. We both made it to the bus stop and after a short while the bus came and stopped in front of us. (Hence, they call it a bus stop…yes, I am poking fun at myself with the way I wrote that.)

"Here goes nothing." I said taking a deep breath.

"Don't worry Steve, it'll be fine. Just stick with me."

The bus doors opened with a hiss, and I felt a tiny chill ripple down my spine. I actually never had to deal with the fact of being the new kid. I had gone to the same elementary and high school all my life, so the concept of being the "newbie" was kind of tough. Arnold and I got on, and somewhat of an eerie silence fell over the bus. Then I heard the whispers…

"Who's the new kid?" the kid with the green hat said.

"Whoever he is, that outfit is atrocious. Sweatpants went out with the 80's." the girl with designer shoes said as she filed her nails.

I felt like a lab rat being huddled over a bunch of scientists in a cage.

"Hey Arnold, over here buddy!" the kid with the extremely tall hair said, waving his hand. We went over to where Gerald was sitting; he had saved us some seats near the back. "Who's the new guy?"

Before Arnold could put a word in, I spoke up giving him my hand to shake. "I'm Stephen, I just moved here from outta…country. And you are?" As if I didn't know.

"I'm Gerald, nice to meet you man." he said as Arnold and I took our seats.

I leaned over to Arnold, "Well, so far so good I guess. So who are all these kids?"

"Well," Arnold began pointing each kid out, "Up at the front of the bus is Rhonda and sitting with her is Nadine. Over here on the left is Sid, Harold and Stinky. Right there is Eugene and Sheena, and over here on the right is Iggy, Park, Robert and Brainy."

"We're all gonna die! If we don't keep this bus' speed over 50 miles per hour it'll explode! We're all doomed, doomed I tells ya!"

"And that kid swinging from the bus' ceiling is Curly." Gerald added.

"Someone's missing…" I said under my breath.

"Huh?" inquired Arnold.

"Oh, nothing. So, is that everyone?"

"Well, there is one more…-" he cut off in mid sentence as the bus stopped and opened its doors. A girl with a pink bow and dress promptly marched on and flashed the driver her bus pass without a second thought, with her little dark-haired assistant following close behind her.

"Outta my wait geek-bait." she said as she scowled for a seat. "Move it four eyes, I'm sittin' here!" she ordered as she practically picked up Robert and drop-kicked him out of his seat.

"Who's that?" I asked. 'The one and only…' I thought.

"Helga," Gerald replied, "Helga G. Pataki. She's the meanest son of a gun on the school grounds since…actually, she's pretty much been a terror since preschool."

"Yeah, you'd better just avoid her altogether." Arnold added.

"Why does she act like she's so peeved off at the world?"

"It's Helga, is there a comprehensive reason behind why she does anything! The girl's cranky, opinionated, loud, obnoxious, pushy, she yells at everyone…" Gerald said as he counted on his fingers.

"Gerald," Arnold protested. "Helga's just a little…rough around the edges per say. She can be…okay when the time comes. Oh, and that girl sitting with her is Phoebe."

"Oh, I see." I just shook my head in response, as I was more interested in the girl in pink. "Well, as for Helga over there, she doesn't seem so tough."

As I said that, Helga took a sudden look over at me from where she was sitting, probably wondering who I was. It was one of those quick, three-second weird moments when strangers make eye contact.

The bus then stopped again and opened its doors. A girl with a green dress came on.

"Who's she?" I asked.

"That's…mmmm, Lila." Arnold had the words 'love struck' written all over his face.

"Arnold has this thing for Lila…why, I'll never know." Gerald said.

"Lila." I whispered to myself, 'Ugh, what a little miss perfect bitch. Leading Arnold on like that…hmmm,' I wondered to myself, 'Maybe I could change things between Arnold and Lila while I'm here.' Being the Lila hater I was, I wanted to shake things up between her and Arnold. So nonchalantly, I spoke. "Huh, she doesn't look so hot."

Arnold immediately perked up from the love daze he was in. "Excuse me?"

"Oh boy," Gerald stated, "now you've done it."

"That is Lila, Lila Sawyer! She's the most perfect girl in the cosmos. Lovely, smart, sophisticated…-"

"Manufactured, stereotypical, a total faker." I added.

"What! You don't even know her!" objected Arnold.

"Oh believe me Arnold, I do."

Both Arnold and Gerald looked at me with a "what does he mean by that?" expression on their faces.

"Well, I mean…I know women that are like that. They're totally two dimensional (Rim shot!). They're pretty, and that's it. They have no personality and have the IQ of a peanut."

Arnold just glared at me, arms crossed in protest.

"Besides, no one is totally perfect Arnold, everyone has flaws."

"Nah-uh, not Lila." he replied.

"Fine," I said, wanting to drop the subject, "whatever you say Arnold."