Well journal, winter is long gone and spring is fast approaching and we all know what that means...

SOON I'LL BE 12!

Which also means...

SOON I'LL BE 13!

I'm right on the cusp of being a teenager that I can almost taste it. I just can't wait to let that angst fill me up and let it rage out against my parents. They deserve it after all these years. Maybe that sounds bad but at this point, I kind of don't care?

In other news, I can't wait to see what Arnold has planned up his sleeve for my first birthday together after the awesome present I got him for his. I hope it's something meaningful like the locket he gave me for Christmas this last year. Honestly, I don't know HOW he'll top that. But I have high hopes for him. He's a smart kid and he knows me pretty well now. He'll think of SOMETHING great, I'm just sure of it. But no matter what it is, I'm just excited to spend the day with him- that would be the greatest gift of all. Being with Arnold, BEING with him being with him, is the best gift I could have ever been given on any occasion. Birthday or no birthday, I'm just happy to call him my boyfriend.

That's right folks, I have a boyfriend on my birthday. Helga G. Pataki has a BOYFRIEND on her birthday.

What could be a better gift than that?

Here's to being a pre-teen!

Helga G. Pataki

So Arnold's been acting really weird this week. Granted, it's the week of my birthday so I'm sure he's just really excited to give me my present and all, but that's no reason to break off our time together or to make us hang out in the living room rather than his room.

My present can't be THAT big.

Then again, this IS Arnold we're talking about. For all I know, he could be throwing me a surprise party.

Oh God... I hope he isn't throwing me a surprise party. I hate surprises like that.

Anyway, it got REAL weird yesterday after school when Arnold forgot to come to my locker to walk me home after school like he usually did on days we didn't go to his place. I rushed to grab my stuff and catch up to him and Gerald- Phoebe was still at school tutoring for her after-school program thingy –and tapped Arnold on the shoulder and he turned around.

"Helga?"

"Yeah, it's me, DOI," I said with heavy acidity in my tone. "You left me hanging, what gives?"

Arnold searched for an answer while Gerald picked one for him. "Arnold and I are working on something together. Real guy stuff. You wouldn't be interested."

I frowned and folded my arms over my chest. "Oh really? You mean to say this has NOTHING to do with my birthday on Wednesday, huh?"

Gerald and Arnold shared a look before replying in unison, "No, nothing."

I smirked while shaking my head knowing better than the two of them thought and held my arms up in the air in surrender. "Alright, Hair Boy, Geraldo, I'll give. I'll just walk MYSELF home. No biggie. You go do your 'guy stuff.'" I said while using quotations and they nodded their heads while taking off in the opposite direction than me and I chuckled to myself as I headed home.

I knew what they were up to. CLEARLY they were up to finding ME the perfect birthday present, and Arnold was in need of Gerald's help. I'm not STUPID or anything. So I let them be. I let them do their precious 'guy stuff' and didn't bother to call Arnold that night or show up at the boarding house as much as I wanted to.

But today I wasn't giving in. And oddly enough, Arnold didn't make me; he invited me over right away in the morning before school started and I was excited to come over and hang out with Arnold and see Miles and Stella once again. Maybe THEY'D let the cat out of the bag about whatever Arnold was up to.

And if it was ANYONE who would spill the beans, I had a feeling it would be Miles.

I sat down next to Miles on the couch where he was watching the news and shaking his head while Arnold was doing god only knows what in his room avoiding me.

"What's up?" I asked and Miles just continued to minimally shake his head while staring at the television.

"What is this world coming to? Another shooting?" He said and I turned to look at the TV as news scrolled the headlines before he reached for the remote and shut the set off altogether. "That's it," he stated, "I am over this heartbreaking development." He turned to me with sad eyes and offered a small smile. "Please tell me you have some good news for me?"

I tried to think of anything that would cheer him up from the devastation he had just finished watching and settled on, "Well, I got an A on my writing assignment in English...?" I offered and his smile grew while he reached out to pat me on the shoulder.

"That's great, Helga! But no surprise there. You're practically a writing master at this point. When will I see a book with your name on it in the bookstores' windows?"

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders, "Probably when I start WRITING one."

"Well you should get on that, shouldn't you? I'm sure you'd make one heck of an author," Miles complimented me and I turned away to hide my blush at his praise.

"I don't know," I said thoughtfully, "I've tried to write stories before but they usually just end up nowhere. That's why I stick to poems. I'm too... Shakespearean."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Miles encouraged, "Use it to your advantage."

I raised a brow at him, "And just HOW am I supposed to do THAT?"

He shrugged his shoulders while crossing his legs. "I don't know. You're the writer. You figure that part out."

I nodded my head once before silence fell over us and I suddenly remembered what my purpose was in sitting next to Miles in the first place: figuring out what it was Arnold was up to when it came to my birthday and making sure it wasn't some surprise party.

I adjusted in my seat and cleared my throat before finally breaking the silence. "So uh... that kid of yours..." I started and Miles turned to look at me with a confused expression.

"Arnold? What about him?" He asked and I chewed on my lip before going on.

"My birthday is coming up. Tomorrow actually." I said and Miles nodded his head.

"We're aware," he said with a smile and I nodded my head slowly, taking in his words before going on with my own.

"Well I kinda thought maybe you might have some inkling as to what it is that Arnold has up his sleeve for my big day," I hinted rather boldly and Miles raised his brow before laughing and shaking his head.

"Even if we did, Stella and I, you really think I'd blow the surprise?" He asked and I pounded my fist on my leg in frustration.

"Oh c'mon, Miles! You can't even give me a hint!?" I asked loudly and he continued to laugh while shaking his head.

"Not even a hint? A clue? An indication? Nothing?" I pried but Miles kept his lips sealed and motioned so by doing a zip of his lips and crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

"You aren't getting anything out of me, Helga G. Pataki." He insisted as Arnold came bustling down the steps from his bedroom to meet us in the living room.

"Okay, I'm all ready for dinner. What are you guys talking about?" He asked anxiously and I sighed knowing my opportunity was over.

What could that stupid football-head be planning? It couldn't be anything huge because if it WAS it would have to be a whole operation and his parents would surely be in on it, so I figure it's safe to say that it isn't some big surprise party. Which is good, cause I'd throw a fit. Maybe my opinions on surprise parties would change as I get older, but for now, I just hate them. The whole idea of giving someone a heart attack all for fun just doesn't sound entertaining to me. Even if it DOES involve cake and loads of presents.

Presents.

Could Arnold be up to some elaborate gift or something? Maybe THAT'S what he's hiding. Maybe he's working on some big gift for me or something and he's trying to make it perfect... that could be it.

I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm not expecting much and that's not because I don't expect much from ARNOLD, it's because my birthday has never really been celebrated so I don't get much ANYway, sometimes not even a cake or the typical song of 'happy birthday' that most people get on their birthdays.

Yeah, yeah. It's sad. I live a sad life, blah blah blah. It's just the normal for me, I guess. Whatever Arnold is planning for me, it will be great, even if it's just a cupcake and a candle. Something is better than nothing. I just hope he knows that.

Totally ready for tomorrow,

Helga G. Pataki

Helga rose from her sleeping bag on the floor and immediately was intercepted by her mother who surprisingly was sober from her smoothies and hugged her tightly to her chest. "Happy birthday, Helga!" She exclaimed as Bob rolled over in his chair and grunted.

"Uh... Thanks?" Helga said in a confused tone after her mother let her go.

"12 years ago, I gave birth to you, honey. It was one of the greatest days of my life," Miriam told her while stroking her hair and Helga sighed while looking away from her mother.

"Somehow, I doubt that." She muttered, though her mother didn't hear her.

"You have a great day at school today, okay, honey?" Her mom advised her and Helga nodded her head while slowly backing away and then ran to her spot in the back of the beeper emporium where she liked to write and where she kept her things including her clothes and most importantly, her journal.

In one fowl swoop, she reached for her pen and journal and quickly opened it up to the fresh page and began writing as quickly as she could.

Wow, I just had one heck of a surprise from Miriam.

So since she's been free of smoothies after her get-together with Stella, she's been acting very mom-ish and being fairly responsible when it comes to me and my life. She's taken notice to my school-work, made me lunch on most days, and seen me off to school most every day of the week. Sometimes she goes off the wagon and has a smoothie or two, but for the most part, she's been pretty good and hasn't had them as often as she used to.

Anyway, that's not the point. Point is, this morning, I wake up, and she's all, "Good morning, Helga! Happy Birthday!" and I wasn't even hardly AWAKE yet so I was kind of shell-shocked and had no idea what was going on. I swear if I come home today and she's baked a cake with my name on it, I'll definitely have realized I've woken up in the twilight zone and demand a refund of my ticket.

So now that THAT'S out of the way... HAPPY FREAKIN' BIRTHDAY TO ME! I'm a whole 12 years old now. Who knew that March 25th could be so great? For most kids, it's just a simple Wednesday, but for me, it's the greatest day of the entire year. I just can't wait to see Arnold and get whatever he's been planning out of the way so life can resume it's normalcy. It's been so odd to have Arnold be so weird around me and hiding things from me and I'll be honest when I say that I don't like it one bit. I'm used to him being so up front with me about everything that it doesn't quite compute with me when he acts like this. It just kinda freaks me out. Which is normal I guess. If your boyfriend or girlfriend starts hiding things from you all of a sudden, you're bound to end up questioning everything and wonder what you've done wrong, even though I KNOW I've done nothing wrong, until they come out with whatever it is they've been planning behind your back the whole time.

I just hope I don't have to wait TOO long for whatever it is Arnold has planned. Otherwise I'll just spend all day going crazy and thinking about the worst, even though I'm sure it'll be the best.

Criminy, how will I even GET through this day?

Helga G. Pataki

Well I got through it. Somehow, by divine intervention, I got through my birthday, and then some.

Most everyone forgot, which didn't surprise me. I think only Phoebe and Arnold remembered and I'll give Tall Hair Boy half credit because I think Arnold probably reminded him to tell me 'happy birthday.'

No, not THINK, I KNOW, because Arnold went WAY out of his way to make my birthday extra special. And I can list all the reasons why.

First, there was meeting him at the corner where Phoebe and I always meet the guys. He met me with a flower freshly plucked from Vitello's Flower Shop and a smile on his face, bright and shining like his emerald eyes as they met mine the second we rounded the corner. "Happy Birthday, Helga," he told me while handing me the daisy, my favorite flower, and I smiled while holding it close to my chest and outwardly swooning.

"Arnold..." I said while sniffing the flower and looking over at him. "That's so...sweet of you," I said searching for the right word while we stood in front of our friends. "Thank you."

He looked at Gerald and then back at me with slight disappointment before taking my hand and walking with me to school, a small "you're welcome" coming out of him before we took off in the direction of PS118. I found his reaction a little odd, but I let it roll off of me like water off a duck's back and continued on our way to school, flower in hand and smiling at the kind gesture he'd made, thinking that was his big surprise.

But boy, was I wrong.

That was just the most MILD thing he did for me.

We arrived at school and entered our classroom, a selection of daisies sitting on my desk as I reached it and I turned around to look at Arnold in surprise. "Arnold... what the heck?" I asked him and he smiled wider this time with his hands behind his back.

"Surprised?" He asked and I picked up the daisies and took a giant whiff of them.

"How did you even GET these in here?" I wondered aloud, though he didn't answer and instead just whipped out a box of my favorite candies to hand to me.

"It's your birthday today," he said, "I wanted you to feel special."

I took the candies from him and stared down at the box and daisies in hand while shaking my head. "You didn't have to do all this for me, Shortman," I stated seriously and this took him aback for a moment.

"But I wanted to," he defended himself as Gerald and Phoebe shared a glance from behind him and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well thank you, Arnold. Seriously. This is more than enough for one person. Especially me."

"Oh boy," he muttered to himself before taking his seat beside me and I looked at Phoebe with confused eyes.

"What did I do?" I questioned as she shrugged her shoulders and walked to her own desk just a few feet from me at the front of the classroom; Gerald taking his in front of me without so much as a word to me.

Class began and not much else happened until recess when I reached my locker. I opened it, as usual, only this time to find a card taped to the inside of the locker door. "What the...?" I asked myself as I pulled it down and opened it up to find inside a glittery pink card and a necklace that had a heart pendant on the end of it taped to the inside of the card.

"Happy Birthday," the card read, "To my friend," but before the word 'friend' there was a carrot with the word 'girl' at the top of it so it read 'girlfriend' and I chuckled at it amused by Arnold's gesture at a romantic card. "May your day be filled with bliss," the card read in it's stamp, to which he added, "and end with a most magnificent kiss."

I grinned at the card, peeling the necklace off of the card and quickly fastened it around my neck so the pendant rested just above my collar bone. "That twerpy little sap," I mumbled to myself before heading out to recess to find him.

Without fail, he was waiting for me just outside the school doors with a small smile on his face. "I see you found my card," he said and I smiled while nodding my head.

"I did," I told him, "but you know I'm not really a jewelry girl," I went on, "even though I do love this necklace."

Arnold's face fell at my statement and he sighed while heading for the foursquare court. "C'mon," he said quietly, "I had Phoebe save you the foursquare court."

Gerald was left behind staring at me with his arms crossed and shaking his head. "Mm mm MM," he hummed and I glared at him while mimicking his body language.

"What?" I sneered and he just tsked his tongue before speaking.

"You sure have some nerve, Pataki." He said before taking off for the court leaving me by myself with more questions than answers.

"What did I do?" I threw my hands up in the air while asking nobody in particular.

Needless to say, I was glad when school was over and I could just go to Arnold's house and chill from all the school-work and classmates that drove me up a wall. And Geraldo and all his 'mm mm mm'ing's that were making me want to bang my head against a door. What was I doing that was warranting that, huh? I was just thanking Arnold for the things he'd given me! Criminy!

But no matter how I thanked him, or how many times, Arnold didn't seem to take to it. The whole ride home on the bus, Arnold seemed sad about something and while I tried to talk to him, he didn't seem very responsive.

"Thanks again for everything you did today for me, Arnold," I told him as the bus stopped in front of the boarding house and I grabbed my handful of daisies, the necklace around my neck and card and candies inside my bookbag.

"No problem," he said softly as he stood up with me and gestured for me to leave the seat first.

"Hey," I said once we got off of the bus and were safe on the pavement, "Are you okay?" I asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm fine," He said melancholy-like and I tilted my head to the side in disbelief. "Just... you go inside first, okay?"

I raised my brow at him and smirked. "Uh... why?"

"For me?" He offered and I sighed while shrugging my shoulders.

"Well alright," I said, heading up the stoop to open the door, only to be greeted by a loud burst of singing from the boarders led by none other than Miles and Stella who were holding a cake in front of them with twelve candles lining the edges all lit up for me to blow out.

"Happy Birthday to you!" They sang and I turned around to glare at Arnold.

"Arnold..." I said and he sighed while looking away from me, a heavy blush on his cheeks.

"Happy Birthday to you!" They continued as a warm feeling rushed to my OWN cheeks that I wished would go away.

"You guys can stop, really..." I tried, but they were determined to finish the song as Miles pulled me inside, Arnold following behind.

"Happy Birthday dear Helga," they sang dramatically while Miles put a hat on my head that I tried to shake off with little success, "Happy birthday to you!"

Miles knelt down on one knee in front of everyone and presented himself with jazz hands and sang boisterously, "And many moooooooooore!"

Arnold moved to stand beside me as Stella held the cake out for me to see it's delicate decorations, all around my name in elegant writing. "Make a wish," She urged and after looking around at everyone staring at me, I closed my eyes, made a wish (which I'm NOT telling you because then it won't come true, DOI), took a deep breath and then blew out the candles as hard as I could, managing to extinguish each and every one. The crowd of boarders and family burst into applause (except for Stella who was still holding the cake of course), and I chuckled at their enjoyment of the simple action of blowing out candles on a cake.

"Happy birthday, Helga," Stella and Miles said in unison as Miles stood up from the floor; Stella setting the cake down on the nearby table in the hallway so they could both envelop me in a big hug.

I hugged them back and smiled in their grasp. "Thanks guys, that means a lot."

Arnold stood beside us, a small frown on his face as he watched on and within moments, he grabbed my arm and quickly said, "Now it's my turn," and pulled me through the crowd and up the stairs to his room where he then shut the door and turned around to face a very confused me.

"What the heck was THAT all about?" I asked while staring at him as he stared back at me.

"I... I..." he stuttered while running hands through his hair before jutting them down to his sides and then taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly. "I just don't understand how you like their gift more than mine."

I looked at him puzzled and shook my head. "Is THAT what you really think?" I asked him and he looked at me with wide eyes.

"Well it is, isn't it? I mean, you told me that I didn't have to get you the daisies. You said they were too much for one person. You said you weren't a jewelry person-"

I shook my head and quickly cut him off, "No, no, no, Arnold, you're reading this all wrong-"

But he didn't want to hear me. He was ranting and I had to let him unload.

"-and I spent my entire allowance on your gifts because I just wanted to get it just right but they weren't good enough so I'll just have to give you the only thing I have left and you might hate it-"

"Arnold," I tried again, this time softly, "you don't have to give me anything else..."

But he wasn't listening, he was already searching through papers on his desk before finding the right one and holding it up to his face to read to me. "-but I have to try so here it is." He cleared his throat before reading from the paper.

"To Helga G. Pataki on her twelfth birthday:

You're turning twelve today

And there's not much more to say

Except that I'm just so glad

To know the lives we've had

Have brought us now together

There's nothing I'd like better

Than to have a life with you

I hope you know that's true

You mean so much to me

My Helga G. Pataki."

He looked up from his paper, his hands shaking, and met his eyes with mine that were tearing up at his horrible poem. Sure, it was bad, but out of all the gifts that he had given me, THIS was the one that had meant the most to me.

"Arnold... you wrote that? For me?" I asked and he nodded his head.

"I know it isn't as good as anything you'd write, but I wanted to express how much you mean to me and in a way you might understand and I thought poetry was the way but Gerald said that things were a way to a woman's heart so I went out and spent all my money trying to impress you but you-"

I walked up to him and set a finger on his lips silencing him and shaking my head. "Arnold, gifts and things aren't the way to a woman's heart. You've GOTTA stop listening to Tall Hair Boy when it comes to 'the ladies' because your first instinct was right."

He looked up at me in amazement and spoke through my finger. "It was?"

I nodded my head and let my hand down from his lips. "Yeah, Arnold. These things you got me were nice, but that poem you wrote? It showed me your true heart. And nothing beats that." I told him before taking a breath and moving my hand up to touch the pendant that resided around my neck. "But I'm keeping the necklace."

Arnold chuckled at that and looked down to his feet while handing me the piece of paper he'd been clutching. "Well you can keep this too," he said, "After all, I wrote it for you."

So I'll tape his poem right here, journal, so that I'll never forget the dearest gift I've ever gotten from Arnold Shortman.

That, and the kiss he gave me afterward which lasted a full 5 seconds which were the best 5 seconds of my entire life.

At the end of the day, it was a great birthday and I have Arnold to thank for that, Arnold and his parents, for making the day really feel special for once in my life.

But even so... it was just another day!

Long live the 12th year!

Helga G. Pataki

How did you all like this chapter? What did YOU think of Helga's birthday? Did arnold do a good job? Let me know in your REVIEW!

-Polka