"I'm truly sorry that the party didn't go as you had planned," Phoebe told Helga as she typed away incessantly on what she claimed was an important paper for school. "You and Arnold are still on good terms though, correct?"

"I mean…" Helga shifted to pull her right leg up under her so she could full sit cross-legged on Phoebe's bedroom floor. "I guess? We haven't really talked about it at all which I'm thinking probably isn't great."

"What exactly transpired that caused the night to go so awry?" Phoebe asked and Helga fixated her gaze downward to her hands in her lap while picking away at the cuticles of her nailbed.

"Just… a dumb thing," she settled on with a shake of her head. "You know boys—"

"Was it because of my recent decision to take a break from dating?" Phoebe asked bluntly and Helga's head snapped upward to look at her friend in complete shock.

"Wh-What? Where would you…why would you think—"

"Based on your reaction," Phoebe said while pausing from her paper to look over in her friend's direction "I think it's safe to assume that I am correct."

The two stared at each other for a long while, almost as long as the silence which lasted between Gerald and Arnold who were having a similar conversation from miles away in the privacy of the football-headed boy's bedroom.

"Look, Arnold," Gerald finally broke the silence. "I don't want you to feel like you gotta choose between me and Helga—"

"Gerald—"

"Let me finish, okay?" He insisted as Arnold silenced himself and sat quietly to let his friend continue. "I don't want you to and I won't make you. I just think that it would be nice to have some bro time. You know?"

"Bro time, huh?" Arnold repeated with a familiar half-smile.

"You know. Just an Arnold and Gerald thing. Like we used to do when we were kids before all the hormones and girls."

"Speaking of which," Arnold butted in, "I'm a little hurt that you never mentioned what was going on with you and Phoebe."

"Eh," Gerald shrugged it off while reaching over to grab his bottle of yahoo and take a swig from it. "It's a bummer, but I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

Gerald thought on this for a long while as he quickly replayed what had happened between the pair in the first place. After a minute or so, he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and answered his friend's question. "Phoebe claims she wants to focus on her studies, but I know her, alright?" he started, Arnold nodding his head in understanding. "I know that the real reason she called us off is because she thinks she's not good enough for me or something like that."

"Not good enough?" Arnold wondered and Gerald frowned while nodding his head.

"She won't say it, but I know she doesn't care whether people like us as a couple or not," he continued while looking away from his friend to focus down on the lip of the bottle he held. "What she's really freaked about is that people think she isn't good enough for me because I do sports and she digs school. The whole thing is stupid in my opinion, but I know girls are different."

"And did you tell her that?" Arnold pressed.

From miles away, Phoebe answered the question from miles away to her best friend who sat eagerly awaiting her reasons for the sudden break-up. "Gerald has insisted that his status at our school means nothing to him in regard to my own," she explained before sighing and shutting the top of her laptop, then sett it at her side so she could focus her attention on Helga. "However, I don't want him to feel obligated to stand up for me when, inevitably, his new crowd tells him that he could do better with a more…conventionally beautiful girl."

"Don't be stupid, Pheebs," Helga interrupted furrowing her brow. "You are beautiful, and Geraldo may be dumb, but he knows you're better than any of the other girls at our school."

"That may be true, Helga," she replied before letting out a sad sigh. "It's me who doesn't want to risk the chance, though."

"The chance that…what?"

Phoebe considered this for a moment before saying with finality, "The chance should he break my heart for the traditionally pretty, popular, and more logical option."

Helga was as shocked as Arnold when Gerald explained the reasoning that she had given him for their break-up. Shaking his oblong shaped head, Arnold sucked in a deep breath before responding to his friend's story.

"I can't believe Phoebe thinks that little of you," he stated, though Gerald was quick to halt his thinking.

"No man," he said sincerely. "She thinks that little of herself. And if she needs to take her time and realize that I'm not going to go off dating some other girl just because the school thinks I should, or our statuses make sense… then that's what it takes."

"So… you're playing the long game?" Arnold asked.

"Gerald claims he is going to play the long game," Phoebe said with the hint of a smile. "Which sounds… romantic, I'll give him that. I suppose I hope he will…"

"If I know anything about Geraldo, he will," Helga encouraged. "But don't make him wait forever, Pheebs. Take it from someone who knows that feeling. It's…. it's the worst thing in the world to sit on the sidelines and wait until you're finally chosen. Like some messed up game of dodgeball or something."

Both pairs of friends continued their conversations, though they veered off the same path they had previously been on. While Helga and Phoebe moved on to discuss Miriam's increasing physical activity goals with help from Olga as well as Gertie's latest progress, Gerald and Arnold returned to the 'bro time' that had previously been suggested.

"So," Arnold breathed out before taking a sip from his own bottle of yahoo soda, "this bro time thing you were talking about. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Well Journal, long time no see!

Currently, it is late May and the eighth grade is nearing its end.

I know, I know. "Helga, why haven't you been writing in me? What happened with Rhonda and Nadine and Arnold and Geraldo and Phoebe?"

Nothing really, THAT'S what happened.

After the big New Year DISASTER, we still had an extra week before school resumed. In that time, I met with Phoebe and talked about what her deal is with Tall Hair Boy. While SHE'S under the impression that she isn't GOOD enough for him (which is absolutely NUTS btw), he has apparently promised her that he isn't going anywhere and that he isn't interested in other people besides her.

Yeah. Cute. Adorable. WHATEVER.

So far, he's kept that promise in that he may be hanging out at other lunch tables these days, but no matter which girls seem to ask him out, I always hear that he denies them through the grapevine.

And SPEAKING of the grapevine…

Rhonda's CamGram had some not-so-surprising updates about two months ago. In fact, I'm going to go hunt the post down so I can write it verbatim in here so you can see what I mean.

Ok, here we go. It was back in February, I guess, so not all that long after the New Year. For her lame #FriendshipFriday thing, she posted two pictures and a video all at once. The first picture was that of a young Nadine and Rhonda swinging together at the playground. The next was a picture of a polaroid selfie that they'd taken a couple of years back. And the video? Well. Miss Lloyd took NO expense in taking that polaroid picture and RIPPING it RIGHT. DOWN. THE MIDDLE.

Talk about PETTY.

Anyway, the caption read:

"For today's #FriendshipFriday I thought I'd do a little #throwback to one of the OG friendships at HMS.

THIS is Nadine and Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. Best friends since the womb when our parents met in the hospital before our births. It really WAS such a beautiful friendship.

WAS.

That's right. You heard it here first, folks. Today, I, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, am DIPPING OUT of our lifelong friendship as both Nadine and I fail to see eye-to-eye on too many things as of late. Considering she doesn't have a CamGram account, I'm sure her NEW best friend addie_add_me (That's the new girl Addie's account, btw) will be happy to give her this news via HER account.

Nadine, it's been fun, but it's time for us to simply move on and let nature take its course as you may say. While you are choosing the muddy, flea-bitten path, I'm sure you'll enjoy it's…. rusticity. I on the other hand, will be continuing my quest forward to my place in the sun."

Then, she added a bunch of hashtags so the post could be found and LET ME TELL YOU, that might be her most popular post yet. I'm sure Rhonda was THRIVING in all the attention it got her.

I felt bad for Nadine, though. Obviously, she was hurt by it, but she simply switched tables with Addie and now they sit on the opposite side of the cafeteria with Eugene, Sheena, and a few other misplaced people without a real 'group' so to speak.

In other news, Geraldo and Arnold have instituted something they call 'Bro Time' which I guess is self-explanatory. Basically, every other Friday, they spend the night doing whatever it is guys do when they spend time together. From what Arnold has told me, the two have started experimenting with music since Arnold plays piano and harmonica and Gerald apparently dabbles in making beats with synthesizers or something.

I don't know. Arnold is so secretive about it which makes NO sense to me. I mean, it's just MUSIC for cripes sake.

But whatever. I'm sure at SOME point the kid will let me hear the mysterious stuff they're working on. It isn't like they have a place to play anywhere or anything. Unless they're planning to audition for that lame summer street dance thing that I keep hearing about.

That's right. This July, Hillwood is closing one of the main roads downtown and setting up a 'summer street dance' which I'm not entirely sure what will entail. Probably food trucks and a DJ or some other kind of nonsense.

Hopefully Arnold and I can go ALONE to that. Things have been so tense with Gerald and I lately. I know he still blames me for Phoebe breaking up with him, but it really isn't my fault, you know? She's her own person and she's stubborn at that, so it doesn't MATTER what we tell her—she's going to think and believe what she thinks and believes and that's that.

Anyway. There's your latest review of the exciting on-goings in the life of one Helga G. Pataki. Guess I'll write more when something interesting happens.

~Helga

"Why don't you audition for that street dance, huh?" Helga asked while she hung her torso upside-down by her knees on Arnold's bed. Her somewhat-boyfriend sat ahead of her while fiddling around on the keyboard he'd recently bought with his allowance.

"Oh, we aren't ready for anything like that, yet" he said softly while playing a few notes repeatedly as though trying to work out a melody in his head.

Feeling the blood rushing her the top of her head, Helga swung her body upright and turned around while still seated on his bed. Tucking her legs underneath her as she did so, Helga let out a defeated sigh. "What's the point of your little boy band if you aren't ever going to show anybody your music?"

Arnold smirked at her comment before dropping his hand from the keyboard and spinning around on the stool he sat at to look at her. "Boy band? Really?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Helga fought back a grin. "Your boys. You have a band. Boy-Band. Seemed logical to me."

"We're hardly a band, Helga," Arnold insisted as he spun around once more to return to the keyboard.

"Well, have you written any songs or are you two just fooling around with melodies like whatever it is you're playing right now?" Helga pressed while leaning in slightly as though her words would come across better from a few inches closer.

She watched as Arnold shrugged his shoulders while fixated below on the keys he played incessantly. "Sort of. Nothing really concrete. It isn't like we have any lyrics or anything."

"Really?" Helga wondered, suddenly intrigued by this. "You mean to tell me that Geraldo doesn't have any deep, poetic words for his deep and poetic feelings?"

"Don't make fun of him, Helga," Arnold said sadly. He then stood up from the keyboard and began walking towards the bed where she sat. "You know he's still bummed about Phoebe."

"He really needs to get over it," she stated simply as Arnold sat beside her. "I know Phoebe, alright? It's only a matter of time before she wises up and wants to get back together."

"Helga," Arnold said blankly, "you said that months ago and things still haven't changed. It's insensitive for you to say that he should just 'get over it.' I mean, did you ever get over me after our break-up?"

A long pause followed Arnold's question as Helga struggled to find a counterpoint.

After a prolonged moment, Helga huffed and stood up from the bed to wander aimlessly around the open space of Arnold's room as though she were looking for something specific on his shelves. "That was different," she muttered before immediately switching topics. "Why don't you try to write some lyrics?"

Her suggestion elicited a laugh from Arnold who leaned back to rest on the heels of his hands while he sat on the edge of his bed. "Seriously? C'mon, Helga. You know how I write."

"Huh?" She asked while looking quickly over her shoulder at him.

"I wrote you that poem," he reminded her with a tilt of his oblong head. "I think it was in the sixth grade or something."

She continued to look at him blankly while desperately trying to remember what he was talking about.

"Helga," he deadpanned with mild irritation. "It was for your birthday."

"Oh!" She exclaimed while nodding a little too much as if it would erase the embarrassment both teenagers felt in that moment. "Yeah, yeah. Doi. My birthday. Of course, I remember I was just uh… just testing you."

"Testing me," Arnold repeated with a skeptical expression dusting across his face.

"Obviously," Helga continued with the ruse. "I mean, it was just so good—"

"Okay, now," the boy laughed with a shake of his head, though Helga continued with a facetious grin spreading over her lips.

"—I mean how could I possibly forget a poem that—"

"Helga…" he scolded while standing up and beginning towards her though she merely went on while waiting for him to reach her.

"—was just so good it put greats like Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, heck, even Emily Dickinson to shame."

Finally, Arnold stood before her with a knowing smile and his arms now crossed over his chest. "Ha, ha," he stated. "Very funny."

"Good joke, huh?" Helga teased with a raise of her brow; Arnold nodding his head with a smirk.

"Great joke."

"I thought so," she maintained.

"You could really make a whole routine around it," Arnold added. "Making fun of my romantic gestures."

This intrigued Helga as her brow softened while she continued eyeing him curiously. "Gestures, as in plural, huh?"

Surprised that she would contradict something he thought to be fact, Arnold looked at her in slight disappointment. "You don't think I'm romantic?"

"No. No, no, no," the words tumbled from her mouth before she realized that she'd said the wrong word in her frenzy. "I mean yes. You're so romantic."

"Now you're just being mean," Arnold said while turning away from her—Helga reaching out on instinct to grab his arm and pull him back into her.

"Arnold," she said in a sudden serious tone. "You are." Glancing down to realize how close they suddenly were, Helga forced a dry swallow down her esophagus as her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. "Romantic, that is."

A flash of confidences, smugness perhaps, flitted over Arnold's features as he took the smallest step closer to Helga while reaching down for one of her hands. "I am?"

Trying to focus on the sensation of Arnold's hand in her own, Helga gulped once more while her eyes closed for a moment. Nodding her head, she stuttered out, "Y-yeah. Sure, you are."

Arnold reached his free hand up to brush a stray strand of hair from Helga's face. "How romantic?"

"Certainly not as romantic as me," she blurted out before her eyes widened at what she'd just said. "I mean, you probably could be. With some… some… some practice but I mean, that's kind of hard because how do you practice that? Being romantic?" Awkward laughs filled in the spaces between her rambling as Arnold gently cupped her cheek in his hand.

"I'm okay with practicing."

In one swift movement, he leaned in to close the small gap that remained between them—Helga's lips instinctively moving with his the instant they made contact with her own. A flurry of thoughts raced through her mind and she tried desperately to push them away so she could focus on the heat of Arnold's kiss rather than her frenzied feelings.

After a moment, she successfully blocked them out entirely… that is, until she made it back home and immediately opened her journal to commemorate the important day.

BREAKING NEWS, JOURNAL!

ARNOLD AND I TOTALLY MADE OUT TODAY.

Like, full blown, tongues-touching, passionate making out.

Obviously, that's all it was but JOURNAL it was MARVELOUS. Like… part of me was really scared that his parents might walk in (because we were in his room at the time), but nobody did, and we kissed for like… a good fifteen minutes.

Could it be that love is a drug?

So strong, that it confounds reason and dictates my fast beating heart as his sweet lips moved against mine.

Oh journal, how I long for his kiss—for even a singular second more

Is this what being lovesick means? I always thought that I knew EVERY FEELING that accompanied love but this… this is something TOTALLY different. I feel like… a high. As though I'm on cloud 9. NOTHING can top this feeling, I swear.

Criminy. I'm all over the place. I keep reaching up and touching my lips while remembering the way we held onto each other. One day, I'll probably read this and laugh at myself for such a relatively simple action of adoration, but for now, I will RELISH in this and sleep soundly knowing that maybe tonight, Arnold too will be thinking of me.

And that KISS.

Those kissES.

I feel butterflies in my stomach that radiate through my body. It's like I'm warm all over and even the coldest winter couldn't chill my bones.

I hope we make out again soon. Is that a thing people say? For cripes sake, I'm not even sure how making out works… it was such a 'heat of the moment' thing… is that ALWAYS how that goes? I guess I'll find out.

Either way, this is a HUGE moment in the life of Helga G. Pataki. Remember this day, dear journal, as it will forever be etched in my memory. The day Arnold and I actually, finally, TRULY made out.

And now, if you would excuse me, I'm going to bask in this beautiful feeling until I fall asleep.

~Helga

The street was laden with teenagers who intermingled with the casual adult and their drunk companion. The sun was just beginning to set over the crowd; its fiery oranges and deep pinks coloring the open roadway with natural lighting that only added to the already-established party scene. As Helga watched the slow transition in the sky mixing with that of the disco lights being emitted from the stage, she glanced to where the DJ seemed to have auto-play on and raised a brow.

"I wonder where the DJ went," she commented as Arnold looked over to confirm her observation.

"Maybe he went to the bathroom," he suggested with a shrug.

Considering Arnold's musing, Helga shook her head with a perplexed expression taking over her features. "Nah," she dismissed as they continued walking down the street—Arnold's attention now fixated on the food stands selling various fried sweets and other overly-priced foods to the masses.

"Didn't someone mention something about a live band performing?" Arnold quickly asked without so much as a turn of his head from the food stands.

Stopping dead in her tracks which forced Arnold to be hung up by the tight grip of Helga's hand in his, she gave the boy a funny look. "Don't tell me you have some kind of weird surprise planned."

"Surprise?" Arnold repeated quizzically as he took a couple steps backward to meet where Helga had planted her feet.

"You and Geraldo aren't planning to perform or something… are you?" Her stunned voice asked which was met with a hearty laugh from the football-headed boy.

"Good one, Helga," he said while the two began walking once more. "Gerald and I don't even have a name much less an actual song to play in front of the whole town."

Looking around them, Helga took in the busy surroundings before speaking again. "It isn't that many people," she muttered. Taking a deep breath, she then added, "Songs aren't that hard to write."

Amused at her statement, Arnold looked over to the girl with a smirk. "What, like you've written them before? I thought you only wrote poetry."

"I do," she answered immediately, though her thoughts began to wander. "But I can't imagine lyrics are that much harder than a poem. I mean, for cripes sake, a song is literally just a poem but with music."

"It isn't that easy," Arnold shot back. "Believe me—we've tried."

"Yeah, but you didn't have an award-winning poet at your side to help, now did you?" Helga replied with the hint of a smile.

Stopping in his own footsteps this time, Helga followed suit as the pair turned to look at one another directly.

"What?" Arnold asked with a blank expression. "You want to write a song for us to perform? In front of people?"

Helga merely shrugged her shoulders before picking up her pace and dragging Arnold along in her wake. "I don't know. If you two idiots find somewhere to perform, maybe, just maybe, I'll write you a song to do."

The suggestion sat in Arnold's mind for a moment as both blondes silently walked through the sea of bodies littering the street. After a beat, Arnold finally said, "Sure, Helga. Why not?"

Encouraged by the concept, Helga smiled to herself as she allowed ideas and words to begin flooding her subconscious. As the two walked aimlessly, Helga began constructing lyrics; her thoughts completely lost in herself that she nearly jumped at the sound of her name being called.

"Hey Helga! Arnold! Over here!"

Looking around for the source of who had hollered for them, a wild waving arm came into view. "Over here!"

Pushing their way through the thick crowd, Helga and Arnold found themselves towards the front of the stage where a collection of their classmates had congregated. While there were many faces the two recognized, they had been flagged down by none other than Sid who had spotted them from far away.

"This street dance is wicked awesome, right?" He asked them while gesturing around at all there was to see in the somewhat-chaotic environment. "I can't believe they shut down the whole street just to do this!"

Unconvinced, Helga shrugged her shoulders at Sid's blatant excitement. "I dunno," she breathed out while glancing around herself. "Just seems like a cheap knock-off of the cheese festival or the summer fair or something."

"Wilikers, Helga," Stinky chimed in from where he stood at Sid's side with Lila's hand tightly intertwined with his own. "I'm surprised you aren't having fun on a-count-a you always liked all them fair foods."

Rolling her eyes, Helga took her hand from Arnolds to reach up and cross her arms over her chest while giving the boy a less-than enthused look. "Nobody said I wasn't having fun," she stated with slight acidity. "I just think it's yet another lame excuse to capitalize on poor souls like Harold who will undoubtedly eat the food trucks dry."

Sid and Stinky exchanged a look before returning to look at Helga with sad eyes. "We don't really talk to Harold all that much anymore," Sid admitted as Stinky nodded his head in agreement.

"Why not?" Arnold inquired, though Helga already knew what the answer would be.

Shrugging his shoulders, Stinky let out a sigh. "I dunno, Helga—"

"It's because of Rhonda," Sid interrupted angrily. "She doesn't think that we're cool enough for her star quarterback boyfriend." He rolled his eyes and huffed out an irritated breath. "Not like we care. We have other friends, right, Stinky?"

"Yeah," He acknowledged though his tone lacked confidence. "'Least we still got each other."

"And Iggy," Lila finally added from where she'd been standing silently listening to the conversation unfold. "They've been meeting regularly and working on just the most wonderful songs."

"You're starting a band too?" Helga wondered with a mildly impressed expression. "Must be the thing to do these days."

"Whatever do you mean?" Lila asked, and Helga frowned while glaring in the red-haired girl's direction.

"Well, those three have a band and Arnold and Gerald have been making a band—"

"I'd hardly call it a band, Helga," he tried, though she ignored him and continued.

"—I wonder who's gonna be next. We'll have a real battle of the bands if we get any more." Pausing for a moment as if waiting for a reaction, she then asked. "You got a name or are you also running around nameless like Arnoldo here and his musical companion?"

"The Stink-O's," Stinky proudly said; Helga sustaining a laugh at his boastful nature.

"The Stink-O's," Helga repeated flatly. "Sounds like the name of some nasty cereal."

Both Sid and Stinky exchanged a look at the blonde girl's observation before a loud voice boomed through the speakers to interrupt the two boys and the rest of the crowd.

"How's everybody doing tonight?!"

A few stray claps and cheers answered the amplified voice, though he wasn't satisfied.

"I said, HOW'S EVERYBODY DOING TONIGHT?!" He hollered into the microphone.

This time, his question was answered with boisterous applause and whooping that could hardly be contained. Happy with the response, the announcer continued the schpeel he'd clearly rehearsed prior to taking the stage.

"Welcome to the first of what we hope will be many summer street dances yet to come!" He went on enthusiastically. "Tonight, we'll be showcasing some local musicians in our first ever city-wide talent show! And be sure to stick around until the end of the night as we'll also be announcing the winner of the new car giveaway, which, you can still buy raffle tickets for at any one of the many delicious food stands."

"Too bad we can't drive yet," Helga whispered to Arnold who simply rolled his eyes while donning a familiar crooked smile.

"We will also be giving away plenty of other prizes from the drawings you can sign up for at any of the local businesses nearby like Green's Meats, Vitello's and more! Stop in and sign-up as those winners will be announced at 9pm and you must be present to win!"

The man's announcements began to draw less and less attention as the crowd began talking over him—the street soon filled with mindless chatter that the man instantly picked up on.

"But enough with housekeeping," he transitioned while gauging the audience who shifted their interest his way yet again, "Let's get to some music going, whattya say?!"

Once again, he was met with eager praise in support of his decision to continue with the festivities everyone came to enjoy. Crossing her arms in heavy skepticism of what was to come, Helga eyed the stage as the announcer proceeded to introduce the first of the night's entertainment.

"Well, without further ado," he dragged out in a teasing tone "kicking our night off first is a local talent who just moved to town." The man glanced over his shoulder to the offstage area where one could assume the mysterious performer was preparing themselves to walk on the stage.

"At just 14 years old, our first performer of the night is approaching the 9th grade at Hanson Middle School this year—"

The group of teens exchanged a look of surprise at the man's words.

"Hang on," Helga said with a furrow of her brow. "Who on earth would be doing this lame thing?"

"It isn't lame, Helga," Arnold corrected his girlfriend who shrugged her shoulders in response. "Maybe it's Sheena and Eugene. They enjoy performing."

"The guy said performer as in one, Hair Boy," Helga quickly countered, though her eyes remained on the stage as the announcer continued to drag out his introduction; clearly awaiting the person to be ready for their oncoming musical debut.

"—she's fairly new in town and hopefully all of Hillwood is going to give her a warm welcome, what do you say?" The man egged the crowd on although they were clearly not enjoying his improv and were growing impatient for the music they were promised.

"It's Addie," a voice called out from an unknown area. The teens looked around themselves for the source only to find Nadine making her way towards them through the mass of bodies. "Addie's going first."

"Ha!" Helga let out a singular humorless laugh. "Figures the new girl'd be trying to make her mark at some ridiculous talent show" she muttered as Arnold gave her a disapproving look before turning to talk to Nadine.

"That's really exciting for her. I didn't know she played any kind of instrument."

Nadine's grin widened as she began to brag on her friend's behalf. "Oh, Addie is so talented. She plays guitar and writes her own songs. Seriously, she could be on the radio."

"Goodie," Helga mumbled while returning her gaze towards the stage as the girl in question finally joined the long-winded man who was clearly running out of material to stall the anxious crowd with.

"Looks like she's ready, how about all of you?" The man encouraged with a gesture towards the audience. "Performing an original song, here's Addie Reeves!"

Lackluster applause sporadically welcomed the 9th grader as the man left the stage and turned over the microphone to Addie and her guitar.

"This should be good," Helga commented with heavy sarcasm. It was obvious that she had little faith in whatever the girl was about to display. Arnold's eyes lingered on the blonde for a long while before finally shifting towards Nadine whose gaze was locked on the stage ahead.

"Hey everyone," Addie greeted the crowd while strumming a few chords on the acoustic guitar she held. "I'm sure you're all ready for some music, so I won't bore you with a long introduction." Laughing briefly, she looked down at her hands almost nervously before continuing into the microphone, "This song is called 'Get Up' and I hope you like it!"

Picking up the pace of the chords she played, upbeat music emitted from the instrument through the awaiting crowd. A few heads began to bob in mild interest before Addie leaned in to the microphone and began to sing.

"Bodies moving, and they're grooving to my song

The night has started and it won't be long

Until

It's half past midnight and the evening's through

I'll bet

You're going home and your girl is too

Will you—"

Helga's brow raised in shock, utterly surprised at the quality of what she had expected would be rudimentary and laughable.

"Get up, get up and dance

This might be your only chance

To

Get up, get up and dance

Grab your girl and get up, get up, get up and…

Dance!"

Moving to the rhythm to her own song, Addie stepped away from the microphone to focus on a brief instrumental that repeated the chorus she'd just sang. The crowd was thoroughly enjoying her song now; the group of teens all sharing a look of genuine amazement at their classmate's hidden talent.

"This is like… really, really good!" Sid exclaimed; Stinky nodding his head in agreement.

"I told you!" Nadine replied with a beaming smile. "Her songs could be on the radio or something. I keep telling her, but she never believes me."

"Maybe tonight will change her mind," Arnold said hopefully. "And she wrote this herself?"

Nodding her head emphatically, Nadine answered, "She sure did! I was there when she wrote it, too!"

Scrunching her brows together, Helga sighed. "Big whoop," she stated blankly. "So the girl can write a song. As if it's that hard to put a few words together to a melody."

"You think you could write something this good?" Sid challenged. "Boy howdy! You two could have a one-on-one competition! I'd pay to see Helga G. Pataki sing-off with the New Girl."

Helga scoffed at the imagined situation Sid had described. "As if it would be a competition," she said. "Girl wouldn't even stand a chance against my poetry."

"Poetry is different than songwriting, Helga," Arnold countered much to the teen's dismay. "I'm not saying your lyrics wouldn't be good, but there is definitely a different skillset that goes into creating a song."

Turning to give him a somewhat bemused glare, Helga said without inflection, "How do you figure?"

With Addie continuing to sing her song in the background of their conversation, Arnold took a moment to collect his thoughts before explaining his reasoning. "Well… it isn't all about imagery, you know? Lyrics gotta be catchy and not just poetic. It has to make people want to sing along and stuff."

"Pssh," Helga dismissed the football-headed boy's logic "good lyrics don't need to be so repetitive."

"I don't know, Helga," Sid interjected while his eyes remained ahead on the stage. "I'm digging this."

"You think I can't write a song as good if not better than this?" She asked defensively as Addie finished her song and applause erupted from the audience. "I'll show you how easy it is to replicate that," she shouted though her words weren't acknowledged by anyone around her.

And Helga was more than just a little irritated.

The moment she got home; the blonde took out all of her frustrations on the blank pages of her journal.

So, the street dance was… enlightening.

Addie played some lame song she wrote for this city talent show deal they put on. And it figures that the girl WON. This city OBVIOUSLY doesn't have super huge expectations. Everyone acted SO IMPRESSED by a few words she just kept REPEATING like… that isn't POETRY. That isn't CREATIVE.

It's LAZY.

ANYONE could write something as simple and thoughtless as her song just to be 'catchy.'

I mean, CRIMINY! A good song is more than a few words repeated over and over and over again. It's almost pathetic how much everyone fawned over her. You'd think expectations would be higher than whatever THAT was.

On the way home, Arnold and I got into a…discussion. I wouldn't classify it as an argument per se, only because we weren't yelling or anything. We just… disagreed, I guess.

Moral of the story is I'm going to write Arnold and Geraldo a song to perform.

Oh! You might be wondering WHERE they'll be performing my imminent award-winning original song. That new club I mentioned? Yeah, it's going to have open mic nights or something and so I challenged Arnold to perform there and then he told me that he would if I wrote them a song.

So, I guess that means Helga G. Pataki is officially transitioning from poetess to songwriter.

Like it'll be HARD.

Anyway, the club is called 'Venus' I guess, and it's opening in the fall or something. I think they said it would be the weekend before homecoming which I'm sure will be a bust. The week leading up to homecoming is ALWAYS filled with some kind of lame party that I'm almost positive everyone will go to over some open mic night at a club called 'Venus.'

Either way, I'm excited to show up Addie and prove how EASY it is to write a perceivably good song. I could do it with my eyes CLOSED I'm so sure.

It's nearing midnight, though, so I'd better be getting to bed. I was impressed to find Miriam awaiting my return when I walked in the door. Her and Olga were sitting on the couch watching some romantic comedy with a bowl of popcorn.

It was like walking into a parallel universe. I'm STILL not exactly used to this new-mom routine she's been living in since the divorce.

Don't get me wrong—I'm all for Miriam getting her act together and cutting out all the 'smoothies' it's just… strange to have the semblance of a normal household? Sure, I'm used to seeing it at the boarding house with Stella and Miles but here? In the Pataki household?

Talk about a re-adjustment period.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Three raps resounded from the wood of Helga's bedroom door and it only followed with it opening a few inches to reveal Olga's friendly face in the crack.

"Bedtime, baby sis," she encouraged with a grin. "Did you have a good time at the street dance?"

"Eh," Helga answered while looking up from her journal and tapping her pen on the pages below. "It was alright, I guess."

"Did Arnold walk you home?"

Smirking, Helga nodded her head and returned her gaze to her journal that lay open-faced on her bed. "Yes. He walked me home. Like he always does. Why?"

Shrugging her shoulders, the oldest Pataki sister answered, "He didn't come in to say hello like he usually does."

"It was like eleven o'clock, Olga" Helga stated flatly. "Kid needed to get home."

"Alright…" Olga said, unconvinced. "I hope everything is alright between you two."

"Everything's fine, okay?" She spat back with obvious annoyance. "Aren't you tired? You should be getting to bed too if I have to."

"Don't be silly, Helga. I'm much older than you."

"Yeah, you're right," the younger Pataki agreed with a smirk playing on her lips. "You're old now. I've still got my youth."

Letting out a small giggle, Olga stepped away from the door with her hand remaining on the knob. "Very funny. Get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow!"

"Big day?" She questioned while looking to her sister once more. "It's a Sunday. What could we possibly have to do on a Sunday?"

"I'm instituting 'Sunday Fun-day' for us!" she announced proudly. "We're going to bake something special every Sunday together. Family bonding!"

Rolling her eyes, Helga sighed dramatically. "Yay…"

"Don't sound so enthused, baby sis," Olga scolded. "It'll be fun. You'll see! Now off to bed—I'll see you in the morning!"

Once she'd closed the door behind her to leave Helga in solitude again, she turned her attention back to her journal.

Well, the movie must be over cause Olga just knocked on the door and DEMANDED I go to bed because we have to BOND tomorrow with Miriam.

I suppose I should be happy that she's making the effort to be part of our lives. I should be THRILLED that I have two people in my life that are attempting to redeem themselves and make the family we never had a reality.

I SHOULD be, but I'm a teenager and as everyone knows, that's part of the deal: being angsty and unenthused about everything around them which doesn't have to do with friends or school.

Anyway, I better start thinking about my song. Until next time—

~Helga

Placing her pen in the crack of the book, she closed the journal and set it on her nightstand before reaching further over to turn off the lamp and fill her room with darkness.

As she lay in the pitch black, her eyes stared up at the ceiling while words danced through her brain. She played with the rhythms and cadence of each phrase while dismissing phrase after phrase in an effort to create the perfect and wildly impressive song. It had to be perfect after she'd hyped herself up so much.

However, there wasn't a single doubt in Helga's mind that what she would write wouldn't be better than the song Addie had performed just hours ago. She hated to admit it, but it had been a catchy tune and it didn't stop rolling through her brain to annoy her into slumber.

That night, she dreamt of Venus. Her and Arnold walked into the doors of the duplex to be greeted by hoards of teenagers surrounding a small stage at the front. The pair held hands as they joined the crowd that watched excitedly ahead; waiting for the entertainment they'd come to see.

Suddenly, the lights around her dimmed and a spotlight shone brightly on the stage—three bodies greeting the audience. To her surprise, the three weren't who Helga had been expecting. Gerald, Addie, and Arnold himself greeted her ahead and she turned to her side and found that the hand she'd been holding was absent.

Music filled the small space—music that was familiar from the street dance. Addie's original song played through the speakers, but this time it was joined with piano from Arnold's fingertips and beats from Gerald's synthesizer. The crowd went wild; absolutely entranced and taken with the song they played.

Helga shouted from the audience. "Arnold!" She hollered, though no sound emitted from her mouth. She yelled and screamed, but no matter how much she strained her vocal chords, nobody could hear her.

It was as though she were invisible.

Shooting upright from her bed, Helga's eyes darted around the room that was now illuminated with sunlight spilling from the early morning's rays. Her chest heaved with deep breaths that attempted to soothe the anxious teenager.

It hadn't been a nightmare, but it had been unsettling. Helga could only hope that her dream hadn't been an omen of things to come.

Unfortunately for her, that was exactly what it would prove to be.

Hello everyone!

So, things in my personal life are exploding and because of this, I need to focus on outside commitments that are upcoming. Over the summer, I have to choreograph 2 musicals, mentor a teenager through a mentorship program, and currently I am in a play that will be opening next week. My plate is very full and I just fear that I will not be able to make all of the dates I outlined for this season.

Because of this, I have re-arranged the plot so this chapter is what ends the season. I intend to resume posting in August so stay tuned to my twitter (username: polkahotness) where I will post the new dates under the hashtag #HelgaUnbound. I'm so sorry about this inconvenience, but I PROMISE this is not a prolonged hiatus and I guarantee I'll be back before the summer is over.

With that being said, if I AM able to update this story ahead of August, I'll be sure to let you all know. As always, thank you for your support, likes, reads, and reviews of this story. I am so grateful for your responses and I look forward to continuing this story as it is just getting started! Stay tuned!

Please review and keep checking back for updates

-Polka