Helga stood staring at herself in front of Olga's lit-up vanity mirror. She hated to admit it, but her sister had applied the make-up flawlessly to her teenage face. Naturally, she had been afraid Olga might make her look silly but somehow, even though she knew there was make-up on her face, it didn't particularly look like there had been a single drop applied. At the most, Helga thought her face looked like an airbrushed picture; the make-up simply covering her pubescent blemishes and adding a healthy glow to her face. Her lips glimmered from the sheen of the sparkled lip gloss, but it was more her own eyes that Helga was drawn to in the likes of her face.

The eye shadow was the only aspect of the make-up that looked unnatural of sorts but not in a particularly bad way. It was the way the red, white, gold and light brown had been blended that made the dark pigmented eye shadow appear to belong on Helga's eyelid. To top it all off, Olga had added a gold sparkled liquid eyeliner to her already black-lined top lid which really pulled the entire look together. It was amazing how despite the darker colors her sister had chosen, which had frankly made Helga nervous at first, the eye shadow had the illusion of making her eyes appear bigger and almost make her blue irises sparkle beneath the bright lights.

To Helga's surprise, her sister had made art of the preteens face.

As for her hair, Olga had fashioned it atop of her head in a bun of sorts with a few strands of her hair bouncing in a tight curl to mirror her face. It hadn't been exactly what Helga had expected or even envisioned per say, but much to her own surprise, it was better.

"Wow, Olga..." she murmured, "I look-"

Her sister sniffled from behind her while holding a hand up to her mouth as if it would stop the tears which were now free-falling from her eyes and onto her cheeks in a thick and heavy black mascara river. "Like such a little lady..."

At Olga's finishing of her sentence, Helga turned away from the mirror to deadpan a look toward her sister while crossing her arms. "You're crying."

"Well of course I'm crying!" Olga exclaimed before walking towards Helga to envelop her into a tight hug. "My baby sister is growing up into such a beautiful girl—no-" she pulled Helga away from her while maintaining a grip on her shoulders so she could hold her in place and make direct eye contact. "Not a girl, a woman."

"Olga-" the young blonde started only to be cut off by her sister once again.

"No! No time to doddle," Olga said while resuming her cheerful disposition and reaching up to wipe the dark tear stains away from her cheeks. "You have to get yourself into your dress before your dates show up!"

She had a point, Helga thought, before nodding her head and making her way out of the bedroom. Once at the doorway, she paused while furrowing her brows and spun around to look back into the room where Olga remained standing.

"Hey, Olga?" She asked and her sister tilted her head to one side minimally.

"Yes, baby sis?"

Helga took a deep breath in before at last allowing the words to come out with her exhale. "Thanks. For the dress, the make-up... for everything. You're a good sister."

As if on cue, Olga's eyes welled up with tears once more which only made Helga smirk. "I'm honored to be your big sister, Helga," her voice cracked as she said the words while holding a hand up to rest over the spot her heart resided. "Now go get yourself ready with Phoebe. I still have to get myself ready so I can look acceptable as one of your very first school dance's chaperons!"

With a big roll of her eyes, Helga turned around to begin exiting the room once more while broadly announcing to her sister, "Aaaaaaand now you've ruined it."

"Ruined what?" Olga called out after her once Helga was completely out of the room.

"The moment!" She hollered back before entering her own room and closing the door behind her; instantly coming face to face with Phoebe.

"Is everything alright, Helga?" Her friend asked her but Helga was too occupied looking over Phoebe's ensemble to come up with an answer.

Phoebe had donned the dress that was previously contained by the thin plastic of the local dry-cleaner's and as her best friend stood before her with concerned eyes, Helga smiled softly while inspecting the outfit.

First, Helga noticed her shoes as they were black wedged sandals which raised Phoebe's height a semi-considerate amount. Considering she was naturally a fairly short girl, it was somewhat of a shock for Helga to see her at a taller stance than she was so accustomed to. Phoebe's shoes though were hardly looked at for longer than a second as her eyes gravitated up to the dress she'd only had a peek of when Miss Heyerdahl had first entered the Pataki household.

The dress was baby blue in color and shone in the light due to the satin fabric. All over the light blue dress were gold and light pink, almost white, traditional floral patterns which were reminiscent of a paisley print but fit the original vibe Helga received in the way of oriental flair. The collar of the dress went partially up Phoebe's neck like a classy turtle-neck with both sides of the collar fastened by a small button which was covered in the same fabric the dress was made out of.

Looking up passed her clothing, Helga once again laid eyes upon the delicate make-up that her sister had coated her friend's face in. Atop her head lay her hair which was twisted up into a high bun similar to Helga's, however, straight black chunks of hair jutted out from the bun. To finish the hairdo off, two iridescent silver chopsticks crisscrossed from inside the bun to expose their ends and pull the entire look together.

Phoebe looked amazing from top to bottom and Helga couldn't help but smile a wide grin to her best friend.

"Helga?" the dressed up preteen asked in worry. "Are you okay?"

With a slight shake of her head, Helga took a deep breath before speaking at long last. "Pheebs, you look dynamite."

A red hue began to fill in Phoebe's cheeks as she looked away coyly from the compliment. "I wasn't entirely certain if this ensemble was too flashy for such an event as a school dance, but-"

"But nothing," Helga interrupted while offering a pat on the shoulder. "Gerald is about to get his socks knocked off by this look. Seriously."

Slowly, Phoebe's eyes returned up to look at Helga whose had remained on her shoulder. "You really think so, Helga?"

"Well, doi. I mean, look at you!" With a mild push, the blonde girl made her friend turn around for her while Phoebe emitted a giggle. "Tall Hair Boy is going to turn into a stuttering, speechless goon. And I am so ready to witness that."

Once she stopped spinning, Phoebe set her eyes on Helga with a small smile tugging at her lips. "You should change into your dress as well, Helga," she reminded her with a playful quality in her voice. "I'm sure that the boys will be here any minute to pick us up."

Helga's eyes shot over to the digital clock which sat on her nightstand and they soon widened at the time that looked back at her. 6:45pm.

"6:45?!" She exclaimed before beginning to rush around the room to collect the various jewelry, shoes and of course her dress. "They're going to be here practically-"

Just then, the doorbell rang out through the home which caused Helga's heart to skip a beat entirely at it's piercing note that hung in the air.

"-well, now," Helga managed to finish the sentence. Sensing her friend's severe panic at the sudden lack of time, Phoebe reached to the bed where her small silver purse lay and picked it up before attempting to calm the now anxiety ridden Helga G. Pataki.

"Don't worry," Phoebe soothed in an attempt to put her friend's mind at ease, "I'll simply go downstairs and stall them until you're ready."

"So what are you doing here telling me about it, Pheebs?! Just go down there and get to stalling them!"

"Going!" The small girl squeaked out before rushing out the door of Helga's bedroom only to close it promptly behind her. Surrounded by silence, the nervous preteen stood all alone in her room; now forced to sort out the various emotions which ran through body almost as rapidly as the blood which pumped through her veins just beneath her skin.

Quickly walking down the stairs, Phoebe watched as Miles headed the boys inside the Pataki home with Arnold following behind and Gerald after that. A storm of nerves whirled inside of the small dark-haired girl's body for fear that her first date with the boy she'd had her eye on for quite some time wouldn't be all she had planned it to be. Yet, the moment he walked through the door and made eye contact with Phoebe Heyerdahl, Gerald's jaw visibly dropped and the young girl knew she had nothing to fear at all.

"Hi Phoebe," Arnold greeted her and Phoebe glanced in his direction to offer him a greeting with great manners.

"Good evening, Arnold," she said in a meek voice before her eyes darted back to Gerald who's mouth was beginning to get dry from his agape expression. "Gerald," was all Phoebe had to say to the young man who promptly shut his mouth at the sound of his name.

Taking a moment to swallow a dry gulp, Gerald took a few steps towards his date with false confidence oozing out of him in an effort to cover up his sudden fear of inadequacy alongside Phoebe. "Mm mm MM," he hummed loudly, "Pheebs, you look finer than a fine wine."

Despite the giggle Phoebe emitted, Arnold eyed his friend. "Gerald..."

"It's an expression, man," Gerald defended himself before clearing his throat and outstretching a hand towards the young lady dressed in blue. "I mean, Miss Heyerdahl, you look absolutely ravishing tonight."

Arnold watched with a sly smile as Phoebe took her date's hand and he pulled her in to him where she giggled some more. The smile soon faded to one of confusion and mild embarrassment as Gerald did that weird purring thing he had learned what felt like ages ago from a book he'd found that had been printed in the seventies.

Part of Arnold couldn't believe Gerald was still taking pick up techniques from a book that was decades old, and yet, another part of him was just happy that his childhood best friend had finally worked up the courage to ask out his longtime crush. He felt honored to be able to accompany them on their first of what was sure to be many dates, but all the while he couldn't help but notice a familiar face missing from the crowd now forming in the doorway.

Looking up at his father who stood happily beside him, Arnold wondered aloud, "I wonder where Helga is."

As Miles shrugged his shoulders, Phoebe gave the football-headed-boy an answer. "Helga is just putting the finishing touches on her ensemble for tonight's festivities."

"Didn't she realize we would be here soon?" Arnold asked and Phoebe began to feel a twinge of anxiousness rise in her small frame.

"Yes, she did. She just..." Phoebe began her attempt to stall like her friend, who was undoubtedly worrying herself sick from the safety of her own room just upstairs, had asked her to do mere minutes earlier. With a quick clear of her throat, Phoebe manifested a vague excuse. "Well, Helga is just running... a bit behind schedule, that's all."

Arnold pursed his lips while letting out a breath through his nose before mumbling a soft, empathetic statement in regards to his girlfriend. "I hope she's doing okay up there."

Meanwhile, Helga scrambled to put her dress on from where she stood in the center of her room. Just as she pulled the zipper up to the halfway point of her back, she struggled to yank it up to where it needed to rest. Frustrated, Helga grumbled out a relatively loud and irritated sentiment. "I am not doing okay up here!"

As she continued to try and reach the zipper from both under and above it, she could feel her blood boiling to the point that she was sure her temperature had gone up at least a few degrees. "Criminy!" She exclaimed, "When did it get so dang hot in here?!"

Curling her hands into tight fists, she tried to sustain the urge to shriek a loud scream like she normally would do in this kind of situation and instead settled for a low growl. It was at that moment that Helga heard footsteps make their way up the steps and in the direction of her room, sending the angry blonde into an almost frenzy.

"Don't even think about coming in here right now, Hair Boy!" She hollered at the closed door as the footsteps grew closer. "I-I mean it!"

Despite her efforts to scare the footsteps away, Helga watched in horror as the doorknob began to turn and she instinctively tried to cover herself even though there was nothing she particularly had to hide. "Don't look, I'm not ready you numb skull!"

The door flung open to reveal none other than her older sister Olga who looked at her sister with wide eyes. "What are you still doing in here, silly? Your date is downstairs waiting for you!"

Opening one eye to look at her sister, she soon opened the other and gave her a blank look while dropping her arms limply to her sides. "Seriously, Olga? You think I don't already know that?"

Taking a step inside the room, Olga shut the door behind her to give the two siblings some privacy. "Then what's wrong, baby sister? Oh, Helga. I understand, now. You're nervous for your little school dance tonight, aren't you?"

"No," Helga spat at her smiling sister, "I'm not nervous. I just—I just," in defeat, she let out a loud sigh while allowing her body to finally relax from the tension she'd been holding in her muscles over the last few minutes. "I can't reach this stupid zipper so I can finish putting on my stupid dress for this stupid dance."

"Well why didn't you say that was all that was wrong?" Olga asked with a beaming smile. "Come here and let me zip that up for you so you can get going!"

"Um, yeah," Helga muttered before walking to Olga and turning around so she could finish zipping up the dress that suddenly felt uncomfortable to the young blonde.

"You know," Olga said before leaning over her younger sister's shoulder to say directly in her ear with a sing-song voice, "Arnold seems pretty impatient to see you..."

Helga grimaced slightly at the statement and took a deep breath in hopes that the extra oxygen to her brain might stop it from panicking like it currently was. "Yeah, well, I'm sure he's just acting like that because—because... hormones. And stuff."

It was a lame excuse, but Helga silently prayed it would work well enough not to throw up signals to her overly-interested sister. Unfortunately for her, Olga picked up on the out-of-character and poorly thought out jab in regards to her young boyfriend. After zipping up the dress, the older Pataki paused for a moment before deciding just how she would react to her sister's odd behavior.

"Helga," Olga stated in a questioning tone while lightly grabbing her younger sibling's shoulders and guiding her body to turn around and face her straight-on, "you know that you can talk to me about anything. I know we don't always get along but I'm always here to listen to your problems and-"

"Offer me advice and all that other garbage, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, Olga," Helga replied with a slightly acidic tone. "You only give me this heartwarming speech all the time, so just—just spare me the effort and anecdotes and leave me alone." With a huff, she pivoted on her foot and turned around so she could sulk over towards her bed and flop down to sit on its edge.

Olga's expression drooped as she looked on sadly to the seemingly hopeless Helga who now sat on her bed with her hands limp on her lap while keeping her eyes tight on the carpeted floor of her room. Thinking briefly about Helga's 'advice' of leaving her alone, Olga rejected such an idea and instead went to sit directly beside her on the edge of the bed.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," Helga retorted angrily, though Olga remained completely calm.

"Yes, you did," she answered immediately. "I decided that maybe I shouldn't, however."

Turning her head abruptly, Helga eyed her sister with a narrowed glare. "Why?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Olga broke eye contact with her sister to look out in the direction of nothing in particular. "I guess I thought maybe you needed me."

Helga raised her brow in slight amusement. "And just what could I possibly need you for, Olga?"

An almost unnoticeable upturn of her lips showed Olga's delight at such a question. "Whether or not you want to admit it, everyone needs the help of their big sister every now and again." The young woman turned to look back at Helga once more before saying with confidence, "Even you, Helga."

The youngest Pataki continued to glower in her elder sibling's seemingly unbreakable gaze before losing the battle and turning away from her with a sigh dedicated to her severe annoyance.

Taking a moment to bask in her own glory for winning against Helga in an intense stare-off, Olga took a deep breath in preparation of proceeding to try and get her sister to open up to her. It was never easy to wiggle her way into the preteen's deepest thoughts and feelings, however as her 'big sis' she was always up for the challenge; even though the junior of the Pataki sisters despised every attempt. Either way, it didn't stop the determined 24-year-old who was anxious to learn what exactly was preventing Helga from leaving her room in pursuit of her boyfriend who was waiting just down the stairs.

"Helga," Olga tried once again, this time in a soft voice that she hoped showed her absolute sincerity, "why don't you tell me what's wrong."

"I don't know."

"I'm sure you have a reason you don't want to tell me but-" the eldest Pataki sister tried but was soon cut off by her shouting sister.

"Maybe because I don't have a reason, Olga! Ever thought about that?! Huh?!" The snap in her tone made Olga jump but didn't throw her off her game. She knew that whatever it was that weighed on Helga's mind, it was deep inside and she hardly wanted to admit it; especially to her sister of all people. All of her years from studying children and working with them had prepared Olga for this very moment and she was sure that she could get the truth out of her stubborn sister.

"I'm almost positive you have something that's bothering you, Helga." Pushing herself up from the bed, Olga began to retreat in an effort that it might convince Helga to open up. "I won't push you to tell me what it is, though."

As she slowly walked towards the door, it was the moment that Olga reached for the doorknob that Helga Pataki finally spoke up in a voice of alarm. "Olga- wait."

Grinning to herself for knowing her sister better than herself, she dropped the look of joy from her face before turning around to face Helga once again. "Yes, baby sis?"

Stomaching the annoying nickname her sister always used on her, Helga closed her eyes momentarily only to reopen them and begin speaking. "I guess I just have this bad feeling about tonight, that's all."

"Oh?" Olga reacted as she took careful steps back in the direction of where Helga remained seated. Slowly, she returned to where she'd previously been sitting but turned her body sideways with one leg propped up on the mattress so she could look directly at her younger sister. "What kind of bad feeling?"

"I don't know," Helga grumbled before sighing loudly and focusing her attention down on her red nails which looked up at her from where they lay on the matching red fabric covering her lap. "It just seems like the passed few weeks have been really tough with Arnold and I'm afraid that I'm, I'm-"

"Losing him?" Her sister finished and Helga nodded her head in silent agreement. Taking a breath to steady herself for whatever reaction she may receive at what she planned to say next, Olga tread with caution as she spoke her next few words. "Would you like some advice from a girl who's been around the block a few times when it comes to relationships?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Helga glanced towards her sister and caught her blue eyes on the similar ones staring back at her. They shared this look for a while until Olga realized the silence was Helga's way of agreeing to hear the advice her older sister had offered.

Quietly, Olga took in a deep breath that allowed her lungs to expand fully and her chest rose dramatically with the intake of fresh air. "Honestly, Helga," she began before at last breaking her eyes from the long-held gaze, "when it comes to relationships, especially ones still in the early developmental stage, less is more."

"Less is more? Really?" Helga deadpanned as she snapped her head to turn and look at her sister full-on. "Your sage advice is just the freakin' tagline for a toilet paper commercial?"

With a small chortle, Olga laughed at the younger Pataki's musing. "You know, I hadn't made that connection when I was saying it. Very funny baby sis, but what I'm trying to say is-"

Cutting her off effectively by standing up, Helga began storming off from where her sister still remained on the bed. "Nevermind, Olga. Okay? Just nevermind!" She shouted while throwing her arms up into the air in obvious exasperation. "Clearly it was a mistake to seek your advice on such an incredibly delicate matter that only determines everything I've ever dreamed of in the way of my actual soulmate."

"Helga, wait!" Olga called out as the blonde preteen reached out for the bedroom door's shiny gold knob.

Frozen in place out of curiosity for what her sister could possibly say next, Helga waited as Olga slowly made her way to stand beside her. "What."

"Oh, sweetie-"

"Don't call me that," Helga responded immediately.

However, without missing a beat, Olga continued. "I know that this time in your life is confusing and difficult and- quite frankly -sometimes embarrassing."

"Right, because you just had the worst time in school," the troubled girl grumbled under her breath facetiously; Olga either not noticing or choosing not to respond to the sly comment.

"I remember that at my first school dance, I had made the mistake of saying yes to three different situations for dates all because I was simply too afraid of having to say no and disappoint any of them."

Helga rolled her eyes at the start of Olga's ridiculous anecdote that nobody she knew in the history of the world could probably relate to. That is except maybe the other elite human beings to which her older sister had been a club member with practically since she was still a perfect little fetus swimming around in the womb.

Despite her visible lack of interest in whatever story her sister was regaling, Olga went on with her tale as she looked out into the distance as if the memory she were recalling were being played on the wall like a movie. "Of course, there had been Bobby Deshark who was my co-class-president and had been in love with me since the first grade. Then there was Ansel Müller who was our foreign exchange student from Germany; I'd shown him around and grew quite close with him. And finally there was my group of girl friends who had all planned to go together rather than take dates."

Dropping back her head and closing her eyes in heavy irritation, Helga let out an audible groan as Olga stay stuck in her memories and insisted on finishing the story she'd started. "You see, Helga, I spent so much time trying to be involved with all three of my date options that I wasted my whole first dance experience running between the three because I wanted to have it all-"

"It all, huh?" Helga asked without much interest in the answer.

Once again, Olga ignored her sister's comment and went forth with her story. "-popularity, friends, boyfriends, I couldn't seem to choose one over the other and my obligations to everybody was too much to handle."

Figuring that the only way to escape her sister for the friends patiently waiting downstairs was to indulge her, Helga offered up a lead that Olga latched onto like a fish onto bait. With a sugary sweet voice and ersatz smile, Helga handed her sister the question she'd been waiting to hear. "And what could have possibly happened next, Olga?"

"I'll tell you what I did, I marched up to each of my dates and explained to them that I simply wouldn't be accompanying them for the remainder of the dance because I had to focus on the one thing that was most important to me- myself."

This surprised Helga and she raised her brow in mild confusion. "Wait- what?"

"That's right, Helga," the eldest Pataki daughter confirmed before elaborating. "I decided to spend time with me and after I had told everyone their delayed 'no's I pursued my personal desires and asked out Greg Hoosier who was the most popular boy in our grade and who I'd had a crush on for the passed two weeks."

"There it is," Helga muttered having been waiting for the catch that would once again make Olga's story pointless and completely unrelatable.

"And you know what Greg Hoosier said to me, baby sister?" Olga asked but didn't bother to wait for an answer. "He said, 'Olga, I'm flattered but I just cannot say yes to you tonight.'"

Helga's eyes widened at the story that had once again taken a turn she hadn't anticipated. In all her life, the young Pataki hadn't seen much of anyone turn her big sister down and she suddenly grew excited to hear the ending to a story that had once caused Olga the rejection she rightfully deserved every now and again.

Crossing her arms tightly over her chest, Helga eyed her sister and asked the question she knew her sister couldn't wait to answer once posed. "What could possibly be his reasoning behind turning down you- President of the seventh grade class and spelling bee champion, Olga Pataki?"

"I wondered the same thing for days, Helga," her sister responded as if the mere days she spent feeling rejected and unworthy of someone's love could possibly live up to the years Helga had spent in the shadows pining after her dense football-headed soulmate. "It wasn't until I worked up the courage to ask him that he explained his reasoning and he told me the same thing I told you."

"You mean the most popular kid in your grade also gave you advice he stole from a popular toilet paper slogan?" Helga replied in a monotone voice but Olga nodded her head sincerely as though her sister's sarcasm had once again been lost on her.

"Yes, Helga, he did. He told me that I had spent so much time in the passed few weeks trying to gain his affections that I had turned him away completely to the idea of dating me at all."

"Wow, Olga," the mentally-exhausted younger Pataki said after having to listen to her sister's story. "That was worthless."

"Not exactly, baby sis, because even though a few days later we went on to date and ultimately be voted in our yearbook hall of fame as cutest couple-" Helga closed her eyes for fear that if she rolled them the way she wanted to, they would roll back far enough to end up trapped inside her skull, "-the lesson he taught me was priceless."

"Cool, cool. Hey Olga, can I go now?" Helga demanded but Olga instead reached to place her hands on her sister's shoulders and squeeze them tightly.

"He taught me that you can't force someone's feelings on yourself or to stay on yourself, no matter how much of a connection you share." Olga's voice was quiet and earnest and the way her bright blue eyes bore into Helga's soul unsettled her.

In fact, as much as Helga hated to admit it, even though Olga's story had been long-winded and irritating all the way around, the purpose of the story had some merit.

"And that advice, Helga, was invaluable," her sister concluded before at last letting go of her grip on her baby sister's shoulders. "Now c'mon," she then encouraged, "let's get you downstairs so you can accompany your little friends to your first dance."

Reaching from behind her, Olga grabbed the doorknob and at last freed Helga from the sisterly captivity she'd been forced to indulge upon. Gently pushing passed her, her big sister moved to stand in front of her from the hallway. "You ready, baby sis?"

Taking a deep breath that seemed to bring a sense of unwarranted calm washing over her, Helga nodded her head and followed behind Olga who led the way down the stairs to where Arnold had been awaiting her. Just as the Pataki sisters reached the stairs, Olga stopped suddenly forcing Helga to bump into her back.

"May I present," Olga announced dramatically while blocking Helga from bypassing her, "my ba-," she paused for a moment; clearly changing the direction of her statement. With a small smile gracing her lips, she continued, "My sister, Helga Geraldine Pataki."

Taking a step to the side, she at last allowed Helga to move passed her and walk down the stairs while fighting the urge to yell at her sister for acting like all of this was some big rite-of-passage. Carefully, her golden wedged shoes which Olga had lent her for the night took steps down to where Arnold stood with a dumbfounded smile on his lips. Just beside him stood a beaming Phoebe who's hand was tightly holding onto that of Gerald's who stood just beside her. Standing behind all of them was Miles who winked in Helga's direction with a proud smile and a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Wow, Helga," Arnold breathed out, "you look great."

Absorbing his compliment, Helga at last allowed herself to look at what Arnold had chosen to wear and her brow furrowed as she attempted to return his compliment. "And you look..." her eyes fixated on the bright green of his dress shirt and she frowned, "...like Christmas."

"What?" He asked in a sort of shock at his girlfriend's surprising statement. "What do you mean I look like Christmas?"

"Well," Helga began before gesturing to herself and then to him. "Look at us- me with my red and you with your green. It looks... weird."

"I don't think so," Arnold stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Okay, well I do," Helga responded which only added to the tension slowly filling the room and threatening to suffocate anyone within a close proximity.

"Nobody said we had to match, Helga," her boyfriend reminded the now anxiety-ridden blonde girl who stood before him.

"I mean, you guys kinda do match in a way," Gerald tried to reassure his friend's girlfriend who shot him a glare he had grown accustomed to receiving.

"That's correct, Gerald," Phoebe agreed while hoping to assist him in the damage control department. "From a strictly factual observation, the colors red and green do match one another even if it is in a rather... unconventional sense."

Turning to face her best friend, Helga eyed her with a blank expression. "Pheebs, while I appreciate what you're trying to do and all, let's be honest here. We look like Christmas."

"And what's so wrong with that?" Arnold wondered aloud causing Helga to return her gaze towards him and replying in a flat voice.

"It isn't Christmas, Arnold."

A solitary clap rang out in the room where the preteens and Miles stood. Turning their collective attention towards the source of the noise, everyone's eyes set on Olga who was also clearly trying to do some damage control by way of the distraction tactic.

"What do you say we take some pictures to commemorate this historic occasion?" Olga suggested as Phoebe and Gerald nodded while Arnold and Helga simply watched one another before shrugging in unison.

"Why not," Helga verbalized before adding her carefully constructed slight to her clueless boyfriend standing in front of her. "And hey, maybe we can use it for a Christmas card or something. It will certainly be festive enough."

"Helga..." Arnold said in a tired voice that Helga smirked at as their other two friends cautiously lined up beside the bickering couple for the photograph.

"I'm just saying, okay? I mean look at your best buddy Geraldo over here." She then turned to gesture towards Gerald who stood still as stone while Arnold and Helga continued to talk despite everyone else being ready for Olga's camera. "Tall Hair Boy chose to wear a basic color with a pop of color- why couldn't you do that, huh? We could have avoided all of this-"

"If you had told me what color you were planning to wear," Arnold cut her off and finished the sentence much to her dismay. "I asked you twice what color you wanted to wear but you wouldn't tell me because you wanted it to be a surprise. I expected pink like you usually wear and green looks fine with pink."

"In what universe is that, Arnold?" Helga countered as their friends looked on awkwardly. "You really mean to tell me that you think looking like a freakin' watermelon is somehow better than being the poster children for the Yuletide season? Criminy, football-head!"

"Helga, seriously-" her boyfriend tried in a relatively calm voice but Helga couldn't bring herself to calm down at the minute issue standing between them.

"No, Arnold. You seriously," she retorted before scoffing and coming at the argument from another direction. "Fine, let's say that adding up to be one whole slice of a popular summer melon is slightly more acceptable than Christmas itself. Even in that scenario, how could you just assume I'd wear pink?"

"Pataki, have you seen yourself?" Gerald chimed in as Helga shot him an encore of her death glare. "You only ever wear pink."

"Butt out, Johanssen."

"Helga," Arnold tried once more though he was becoming more and more frustrated with his young girlfriend, "could you just-"

"Just what, Arnoldo? This isn't going the way it was supposed to for cripes sake! What could you possibly have to say now?"

"Guys..." Gerald said in a low voice while holding his arms out in hopes to stop the fight before it turned worse than it already was.

"You would know what I'm trying to say if you'd let me finish a sentence, Helga," Arnold's voice was angry and his father shared a look with the eldest Pataki daughter who had a hand up to her mouth in fear and shock.

"Why should I?" Helga responded while setting her hands which were in tight fists on her hips. "You can't put together an outfit so why should I let you put together a sentence?"

"Helga!" Phoebe squeaked out in surprise at her statement but the pair were too deep in their conversation to hear their friend's warnings to stop.

"Geez, Helga!" Arnold said louder than his usual volume which made Miles' eyes widen at his son's sudden ferocity. "I didn't know that-"

"Okay, I think that's enough," Miles interjected but it was too late.

"Didn't know what, Hair boy?" His girlfriend angrily egged him on and within seconds the boy exploded and said words he had never expected to voice to anyone- especially to Helga Pataki.

"I didn't know that I was dating Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd!"

The room fell silent as Arnold's words hung heavily in the air. Knowing immediately from Helga's sudden change in expression that what he'd said had been the wrong comment to make, he tried to take back the words he'd spoken with little success.

"Helga, I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't, I didn't mean that," he backtracked as she closed her eyes and swallowed hard in an effort to calm her now tense body.

"It's fine," Helga forced out through clenched teeth as Arnold continued to try and apologize for the comment he knew had cut her to the core. After all, he knew that Helga despised Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd which was partially why he'd chosen that comparison to begin with.

"It isn't. Really, Helga. I'm so sorry," Arnold continued to apologize while their friends and family watched silently from the wings.

"I said it's fine, Arnold," she repeated after at last opening her eyes which were welling with tears though she tried to keep them at bay. "You're absolutely right."

"I'm-I'm what, now?"

"You heard me," Helga reiterated as Phoebe and Gerald shared a look of confusion at her admittance. "This clothing thing... it's-it's stupid."

"I'll say," Gerald murmured from where he stood before Miles nudged him and shook his head in the boy's direction.

"It doesn't seem like it's stupid to you, Helga."

"But it is, really," she admitted once again. "I mean, it's just some lame dance, right? I doubt we'll even remember this by next year."

"Yeah right," Arnold replied with a small grin and Helga chuckled to herself while looking down at her feet.

"Okay fine, I'll probably remember but that's not the point." Tilting her head up so she could look at him, Helga offered the football-headed boy an upturn of her painted lips. "Point is I'm just a little freaked out about showing up like this to the dance and all that, I don't know, it's stupid."

Taking a step closer to her, Arnold reached out to take one of Helga's hands and gave it a squeeze. "It's not stupid. For what it's worth though, you really do look... amazing."

"People are gonna laugh, Arnold," Helga voiced softly but Arnold shook his head with a supportive expression on his face.

"If anything, people will be jealous."

With a roll of her eyes, Helga's small smile grew. "Sorry I turned into the one and only Princess back there."

"It's okay, Helga. I think this kind of thing is different for girls."

"Whatever," the blonde changed her tone entirely while snatching her hand away from her boyfriend as she suddenly became aware of the four sets of eyes watching the couple. "Just don't go spilling the beans about what I said, okay?" She turned around to make contact with all of the eyes looking back at her. "That goes for all of you, got it?"

Seeing all of the heads nod back at her, Helga returned her attention to Arnold and looked at him with an expression of threat laced with humor. "Got it, bucko? Or I'll make sure you regret it."

Grinning back at her, Arnold relaxed his gaze to that of the half-lidded gaze he often gave her. "Whatever you say, Helga."

With the conflict resolved, Arnold and Helga spent the remainder of their time in the Pataki household laughing and complying with Olga's insistence at various poses for her precious pictures she was sure to scrapbook at a later date. All the while, the pair held hands tightly with their fingers interlocked with one another's but for different reasons.

For Helga, she held on tightly in hopes that he wouldn't float away from her and leave her in his wake once he wised up and broke up with her like she probably deserved. She knew that her freak out had, for lack of a better term, freaked Arnold out and it would no doubt take a while to recover from such an argument. However, Helga was confident that if she held on tightly to her boyfriend's hand that he would feel her love radiate to him and all would soon be forgiven.

Arnold on the other hand held onto Helga in hopes that he would feel what he'd felt all that time ago in the San Lorenzo jungle when he'd chosen to risk it all and kiss her instead of the other way around. It wasn't that Arnold didn't care for Helga any longer as he did a great deal, no, for Arnold he simply thought about what his father had told him back at The Sunset Arms. Perhaps the couple were too young to fully grasp the concept of a relationship and work at it the way it was meant to be worked at. More than anything, Arnold feared that if their first attempt at dating went south they may never try again and something inside of the football-headed seventh grader told him that the relationship he shared with Helga Pataki was of significant importance, though he wasn't entirely sure how just yet.

Though separately, both Arnold and Helga feared that the other would be their first heartbreak and that they may never recover from such a catastrophic outcome of feelings they shared which could so easily be torn apart.

As Phoebe and Gerald chattered in the car with Miles who joked with the new couple, the father kept a close eye on his son and his young girlfriend from the rear-view mirror. Like Mr. Shortman had told Arnold, he did indeed like Helga a great deal but wondered if the duo had what it took to continue on in their journey as a couple.

No matter what would happen between the two blondes, a Pataki and a Shortman, either outcome would prove to have it's fair share of difficulties. Should they break up, the hurt would linger in their chests and they would have to remain strong as deep inside, they knew they were each other's first loves. Yet, should they stay together, the work the two would have to put in would require a strength of an entirely different kind.

Ultimately, whatever should happen, nobody had said it would be easy.

As the car approached the middle school, Miles drove up to the entrance so he could let out the group and allow them to enter the chaos that accompanied any school dance. As all four preteens exited the vehicle, they couldn't help but wonder what lie in store for them beyond the doors. With a deep breath, the two couples held tightly onto their dates' hands and at last entered the middle school confident that whatever was about to happen, good or bad, would surely impact them and their friendships for the remainder of their lives.

Well folks, chapter 30 is going to be the school dance! I hope I've hyped you all up for it successfully and that you are all prepared for the next chapter!

The goal is to update weekly but every other week is what i shoot for. I am juggling quite a bit in my life right now but i write every chance i get. Thanks for understanding and being so patient! One thing I can for sure promise is that when i do post it will ALWAYS be on a saturday so always check for a new chapter on that day OR make it easy on yourself and follow this story! a review certainly wouldn't hurt either ;)

Thanks for your awesome support and feedback!

xo

Polkahotness