"Whattya working on?" Wolfgang asked from where he worked underneath the hood of his beat-up van.

"Another song," Helga replied without bothering to look up from her notebook. "I'm saving this one for Battle of the Bands in January."

Moving his attention from the engine over to Helga, he raised a blond eyebrow in her direction. "Not giving yourself a lot of time to teach the guys. January is practically next month."

"The keyword there is practically." A small smile took over Helga's lips as she lifted her head to meet Wolfgang's eyes. "It's a month and a half away, dumbass."

Rolling his eyes, he shifted his gaze back to what he had been doing underneath the hood of the van. "Because an extra two weeks is sooooo much extra time, Pataki."

Helga smiled to herself at the sound of her last name coming from Wolfgang's lips. What was once a badge of honor on the playground and had turned into the trophy of fatherly shame, the name 'Pataki' suddenly brought a sense of joy she hadn't felt before. Whenever Arnold said Helga's name, it was often in that cute little scolding way he always did. There hadn't often been much playful humor or admiration.

I mean, he had a few times, Helga told herself, though in that moment she couldn't pinpoint a single one.

She was too fixated on she started eyeballing the clothes he wore – A blue and green flannel that had been ripped at the sleeves to make a vest. The gentle late-autumn wind made the frays of the fabric dance before and she wondered how his skin could look so... warm in the cold. All he wore beneath the vest was a simple white t-shirt now covered in oil and dirt, which matched the old jeans that he wore. His boots remained untied, the laces dragging behind him like a shadow with every shift of his weight when he moved.

Absentmindedly, Helga began to bite her lip while imagining what his worn, calloused hands would feel like should they glide across her skin. Just picturing it caused the hairs on her body to rise at attention and cover her in little goosebumps that couldn't be managed by the warmth of a blanket or the coat she had on. Her throat felt dry, and she swallowed hard while trying to drag herself back into the reality of the moment.

Snap out of it already! Helga shouted from the safety of her mind. Friends don't imagine other friends scooping them up into their big, strong arms and pressing their lips against theirs in a deep, passionate –

"Helga?" Wolfgang's voice called out and she shook away the vision she had accidently indulged in.

"Hmm?" She hummed out just loud enough for him to hear.

"I asked you what your plans were on Thursday," he answered while maintaining focus on the grimy task ahead of him.

Caught completely off-guard, Helga merely stuttered out the day in question. "Th-Th-Thursday? But today is Tuesday…"

"That's sort of how the days of the week work if I remember correctly," he grunted out while tightening something with great force. Once it was secure enough to his liking, he stood up and leaned backwards as if to stretch out his lower back while saying through an almost-yawn, "You wanna go on an adventure?"

Helga's eyes widened at the prospect of spending intimate alone time with the senior hunk that had been filling her head with hormonal ideas. After a beat, she collected herself and closed her notebook while it sat on her lap. "What did you have in mind, exactly?"

Wolfgang chuckled to himself before reaching up to grab the hood and slam it down with a loud CLUNK! "Not knowing is part of what makes it an 'adventure.'"

"I uh..." her hesitation startled even her considering how desperate she felt to be around Wolfgang one-on-one. "I think the guys wanted to have rehearsal that night – "

But Wolfgang was quick to combat her excuse.

"So, we can go after your band practice." He sauntered over to her side where he promptly sat next to her and fished his crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Once he'd pulled out one of the sticks and held it between his lips, he passed the carton to Helga. "Unless you got some kinda curfew or something."

"Curfew?" She repeated, pulling one of the cigarettes out for herself. "I'm not some kid you know. I can do what I want."

Raising a brow, Wolfgang shrugged while bringing his lighter up to light the end. "I mean... what are you? Fifteen?"

Blush filled in her cheeks at his assumption. "Almost... but I'm way more mature than any of the other doofs in my grade."

"Yeah, I can tell." He sucked in a breath of smoke and let it out to fill the space around them. "Even people in my grade don't write or talk like you do. And that's from the guy who's even older than all the other kids in his class."

Helga reached over to take the lighter from Wolfgang's hand and brought it up to her own cigarette. "Why are you older than the rest of your grade? You dumb or something?" The phrase came out more bluntly than she had intended, but Wolfgang didn't seem to be offended.

"I started Kindergarten a year late," he admitted while Helga struggled with his lighter. "So, technically I should be a junior. Not like much of anyone has ever given a damn about my age."

"If you're older than the rest of your grade, what does that make you then?" The shivering girl's thumb flicked the end of the lighter several times, each attempt to light the flame thwarted by the autumn breeze. "Seventeen?"

Wolfgang watched for a long while before smiling and leaning in closely to Helga so he could cup his hand around the lighter. With her newfound shield blocking the wind, the lighter illuminated with ease. Sucking on the stick for her dose of nicotine, Helga looked over to meet the deep blue eyes of her helper.

"Almost." He spoke with his face mere inches from hers, his cigarette down by his side so the smoke wouldn't cloud the girl's face.

Staring at one another, Helga couldn't help but pick up the faint smell of the cologne he wore. It was a heavy, musky scent that reminded her of a forest. Her breathing picked up slightly, her heart beginning to race at the burst of electricity swimming through her veins.

She felt like a battery that had been overcharged, or like her phone when it had been plugged in and used at the same time for too long. Every cell in her body wanted to thrust forward and close the gap between them, but Helga was frozen in place; her eyes locked on his.

And then, after what felt like eternity but had probably only been about thirty seconds, Wolfgang leaned back and took another pull from his cigarette. "So, whattya say? Am I too old for you to go on an adventure with? I promise I'll be good..."

Oh, but do you have to? Helga swooned silently, though outwardly she forced a careless shrug while managing to say in a flirtatious voice, "And what if I can't promise that? Being good, that is."

Her heart leaped as if somersaulting inside of her chest. Every millisecond of silence as she waited for his response felt like ages and she wondered if one could die from anticipation.

Finally, it was Wolfgang's turn to shrug and say just as coyly, "I think the answer depends on how bad you're planning to be."

Oh journal!

Oh journal, oh journal, oh JOURNAL!

Could it be true that a heart can love again so soon? Surely these feelings I've been having can't be from a measly little crush. Every minute I spend with Wolfgang is somehow both equal parts terrifying and refreshing.

Like... like I've been thrusted into the deep end of a pool after spending an hour in the hot tub.

I WOULD talk to Phoebe about it... or maybe even Olga, but they would both HIGHLY disapprove, I'm sure of it. They wouldn't see what I see in him. Phoebe would act like I did at first, but she wouldn't easily forget his old bullying ways. As for Olga... well... she'd probably tell me that he's no good for me. That he'll be a bad influence and get me in trouble or something.

And maybe that's WHY I like him so much.

BeCAUSE it's wrong. BeCAUSE everyone would disapprove. BeCAUSE he's bad and it gives me some kind of thrill to be doing something most other people would be too chicken to do.

But I'm not LIKE most people.

Criminy! I'm Helga G. Pataki! I'm smarter than most other idiot girls my age and I'm a pretty damn good judge of character. I can take care of myself.

And Wolfgang is right, you know. I DO deserve to be with somebody who wants to take life full speed with me. Arnold would just slow me down. He never challenged me or took risks with me just for the hell of it.

Well, besides that whole 'saving his parents' thing we did in the fifth grade.

But that doesn't really count because that's not what I'm talking about.

I want PASSION. I want DANGER. I want all eyes on me while I make out with my boyfriend in the hallway and get in trouble but I don't listen because I'm THAT girl.

Smart, but nobody's fool. Not some naïve little ingénue who walks into college without knowing what the fuck she's doing or what she wants in a relationship.

You know what I want, journal? I want Wolfgang. I want him BADLY and I'm finally not afraid to admit it. Today while I was at his place and he was working on the van, he basically asked me out.

That's right. I have a DATE with Wolfgang Caudell.

I mean... maybe?

All he did was ask if I wanted to go on an 'adventure' with him after practice on Thursday. But even so, I'm pretty positive he was flirting with me. He was sitting really close to me and I think I almost died when he accidently touched my thigh reaching for his lighter back.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that I'm going to make my move if it feels right. I sat around and waited MY WHOLE LIFE for that stupid football-head to give me an iota of an idea that he liked me and I am NOT doing that again.

I'm Helga Geraldine Pataki.

And I'm gonna get what I want.

~Helga

Gerald sat on the cold cement stairs of the stoop outside Sunset Arms Boarding House. Mindlessly, he lightly slapped his legs with his hands to a beat that only he could hear. The added movement helped the blood flow faster underneath his skin, but it couldn't fight off the chill he felt after insisting to his dad he didn't need a jacket on the brisk November day.

Of course, he wasn't about to go home for the jacket now. If he did that, he would just get a lecture from his old man about the cold and sickness, and Arnold was probably going to be home soon.

Afterall, he had told him so once the bell had rung signaling the end of their Wednesday school day.

He didn't want to tell his friend so, but Gerald had something important to tell Arnold. Rumors surrounding it were flooding the hallways of their middle school, and while he had probably already heard the supposed news, Gerald felt that it was his duty to inform Arnold and be there for him when he found out.

That is, if he hadn't done so already.

So, nervously, he continued to slap away at the imaginary rhythm, his eyes darting around him in hopes of spotting the football-headed boy on his return from school.

"Gerald?" A familiar voice asked from behind him, and the tall-haired teen turned around to meet eyes with none other than Miles Shortman.

"Oh, hey Miles, what's shaking?" His voice wavered from chattering teeth.

Letting out a laugh, Miles plopped his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow at his son's friend. "I think that'd be you." He opened the door wider and gestured inside. "Why don't you come on in here where it's warm?"

Grateful for the invitation, Gerald pushed himself to stand and scurried inside the doorway. "Sorry for interrupting whatever you were doing. I didn't ring the bell or anything cause I didn't wanna bug you."

"No bugging here!" Miles said with a smile while closing the door. "But, you could have just walked in, you know. You're always welcome here, Gerald."

He shoved his hands deep into the front pocket of his red sweater and shrugged. "I dunno. Things have been… weird between Arnold and I lately."

"Weird?" Miles repeated, turning around to begin leading Gerald into the living room of the boarding house. "Weird how? Arnold hasn't mentioned anything."

"Arnold never mentions anything," Gerald mumbled, soon plopping himself to sit down on the couch in front of the television.

Miles considered the situation for a moment, taking in his surroundings before reaching over to turn off the tv and join his son's friend on the couch. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Helga, would it?"

Gerald huffed in irritation and leaned back to sink further into his seat. "The one and only."

Peeking behind the boy with the hope of seeing his wife standing there ready to dole out advice, Miles sighed and realized he was on his own with this one. "Well…. Stella's usually better at these whole… dating things, but I could take a crack at it – "

"It isn't even about the dating thing!" Gerald shouted in irritation at the situation rather than Miles' attempt at helping. "I feel like I'm trying so hard to keep our friendship together, you know? But it's like… he isn't the same kid from before."

"Of course, he's not," Miles said matter-of-factly. "And neither are you. Growing apart is normal at your age."

"But not for us, Miles…" his voice trailed off and his gaze wandered to stare off blankly in the distance. "We've never been out of sync like this before. It's like I don't even know him anymore."

"Did you ever think that he might feel the same way?"

The question took Gerald off-guard, and he sat up suddenly to give Miles a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he started, inhaling deeply as if it would help him organize how to say his own thoughts. "You aren't exactly the same person that you were when, say, I met you. You've changed quite a bit since the fifth grade, too."

"Not in who I am though – " Gerald tried, but Miles knew this was coming and was prepared to object immediately.

"Yes, in who you are," He argued. "And that's okay. It's what's supposed to happen."

"I'm supposed to change so much that I lose my best friend?" His words were sharp, almost acidic, and Miles knew he had to tread carefully if he was going to salvage their conversation.

"You haven't lost him, Gerald. You haven't lost yourself either. In fact, you haven't lost anything." Gerald continued to eye him curiously, and Miles knew he was either on the edge of an epiphany or a metaphorical cliff. "Things have just… changed, that's all."

"Okay…." Gerald dragged the word out, his eyes leaving Miles to look down at his own hands resting in his lap. "But I didn't want things to change."

This elicited a small laugh from the middle-aged man. "Of course, you didn't, Gerald. Nobody ever does. Especially when things feel like they're going good. Except… well… That's when things usually need to change."

"Now you've lost me."

Miles twisted his body to sit sideways on the couch so he could look at Gerald more directly. "You may not understand this now, and trust me – I always hated when adults said this kind of stuff to me at your age, but one day, everything that's happening will make sense. It'll take you where you need to be in the end."

Gerald frowned and muttered, "The journey isthe destination…"

"Exactly!" Arnold's dad exclaimed. "That's pretty profound, actually. Where did you hear that?"

The teenager smirked, memories flooding back to an adventure long ago with two fruits and a bus. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I heard it in a hippie movie once."

Just then, the front door opened, and a familiar football-head entered the home at long last. "Hey dad," he called out while taking off his jacket to hang it on the nearby coatrack. "Gerald might be coming over later, so if he—" His words halted as he spotted Gerald standing up from the couch.

"Oh," he said softly. "Hey."

Gerald raised a hand up and waved without a single flick of his wrist. "Hey Arnold."

Looking between the two boys as they stared awkwardly at one another, Miles joined them in standing. "How about you guys go on up to Arnold's room and I'll bring up some of the cookies your mom baked the other day?"

"Dad, I uh—"

"No, it's alright," Miles insisted as he turned around to head into the kitchen. "Take your time! I'll be up there soon!"

Once the pair was alone, Gerald crossed his arms over his chest. "You're dad's gonna eat all those cookies before he ever makes it up to your room, won't he?"

Arnold smirked and shook his head. "Not unless he can eat a couple dozen cookies. Mom made extra for the boarders and some new book club she's in." He turned around and began to climb the stairs leading to his room. "You coming?"

Taking his usual spot of lying on the couch in Arnold's room, he waited for his friend to close the door behind him before he started talking.

"So," he started as casually as he could muster "bus must have been pretty late today, huh?"

"The bus?" Arnold repeated while tossing his bookbag onto the bed. "No, I uh, I ended up walking today."

Sitting up, Gerald looked over as Arnold sat down to untie his shoes. "You walked. By yourself. All the way here?"

Fixated on his shoelaces, he shook his head. "No, I didn't walk alone."

A long pause followed as Gerald waited for further explanation. When he didn't get one and Arnold had successfully pulled his shoes off of his feet, he tried to pull more out. "Okaaaaay, so who did you walk with?"

"Why does it matter?" Arnold shot back defensively, and Gerald raised his hands to display a surrender-like position from where he sat.

"Hey man, I was just curious, alright?" Standing up, he wandered over to where the stereo sat, and he grabbed the stack of CDs sitting beside it to absentmindedly thumb through.

Watching his friend suspiciously, Arnold took his time awaiting another question. At Gerald's silence, he spoke up to what he figured was being hinted at. "It wasn't with Helga if that's what you were going to ask."

Gerald frowned. "No… That's not what I was going to ask at all."

Arnold stood from his bed and gestured broadly hoping he would elaborate. "Are you planning on telling me then or just looking through the CDs you already know I have?"

"Dude, why are you being like this right now?" Gerald said before setting the CDs down and turning around to shoot him a look of irritation. "Is it cause you already heard about Helga or something? Because I swear it's just some rumor, she can't possibly be going out with Wolfgang—"

"Wolfgang?"

Gerald stared at Arnold for a long minute as he slowly began to realize that he had no idea what he'd been talking about. "Oh…" he breathed out. "You haven't heard…"

"No…" he dragged out the vowel while furrowing his brows. "But… but it doesn't really matter, I guess."

"Really," Gerald countered. "It doesn't matter, huh?"

"No, Gerald, it doesn't. I have other people I can spend time with."

"Oh yeah? Like who? Cause it certainly isn't me, now is it?"

Astounded at Gerald's sudden jealousy issues, Arnold couldn't help but laugh. "Are you serious right now? Since when is it your concern who I'm spending time with?"

"That's not what I'm trying to get at, man—"

"I'm not allowed to see other people or something?"

"Arnold, that's not—" Gerald tried, but Arnold wasn't listening to anything he said.

"Because if I want to spend time with or talk to other people, get other opinions on life or vent to people like Addie—"

Gerald's face dropped. "Wait, Addie?"

Again, as if he hadn't heard him, Arnold kept talking. "Then I should be able to take a walk with them without you freaking out at me about it!"

Silence settled in the room as Gerald tried to digest the sudden change in demeanor Arnold was displaying. "Arnold… what's going on?" He asked in a calm voice. "You never act like this… especially with me—"

"Maybe I should!" Arnold replied, throwing his arms wildly in the air. "If I had maybe I wouldn't be feeling this way because I just let you get away with treating people however you wanted."

"Excuse me?" Gerald said with newfound anger. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"You've just been acting like a colossal jerk lately!" Arnold exploded in a voice that he had never used with his best friend before. "You were a jerk to Helga, so much so that she left and now you're being a jerk to me. I thought we were supposed to best friends!"

"Mm mm MM, Arnold," Gerald hummed in response while crossing his arms to hide his balled fists. "I know you aren't blaming me for your break-up with Pataki – "

"Maybe I am," his friend quickly retorted; the glint in his eye as though silently asking for their argument to continue.

Letting out an overly dramatic laugh, Gerald shook his head in disbelief. "Man, you have lost it! That relationship was doomed waaaaaaaay before I did anything."

"No, it wasn't, Gerald" Arnold snapped back. "You know what I think? I think that you were mad about Phoebe and if you couldn't be happy than I couldn't be happy either."

Humor left Gerald's face as he stared at Arnold blankly. "What." His solitary word was a statement rather than a question, but Arnold was all too happy to answer it anyway.

"Yeah!" He confirmed to himself, metaphorically digging his heels further into his position on the matter. "You just couldn't stand seeing me happy!"

"Okay, now you've lost it, Arnold. I'm your best friend, man. Since birth practically! Why wouldn't I want to see you happy?"

Pausing briefly, Arnold blinked several times to pull him back into the conversation. "I... I don't know, but – "

"But nothing, Arnold." Gerald interrupted in absolute frustration at the direction the argument had taken. "You wanna know why I was so mean to Helga? You really sure you wanna open that can of worms right now?"

Arnold swallowed hard as if preparing himself for the worst. "What are you waiting for? If you're so concerned about me, just spit it out already!"

"Because she was all over you!" Gerald cried, throwing his arms in the air. "You couldn't see it, but you guys needed space or something. You were letting her walk all over you and taking up all your time and – "

"BECAUSE I LOVED HER, GERALD!" Arnold shouted at the top of his lungs. Once the words had left his mouth, the sound of his huffing and puffing was the only audible noise between the two boys. Gaining control over himself once he'd caught his breath, Arnold's voice softened to his usual calm and collected tone. "I wanted to spend all of that time with her, it isn't like I was miserable or needed saving."

Gerald sighed and offered a half-hearted shrug of his shoulders. "I was worried, alright? It wasn't… it wasn't healthy, and I could just tell that you weren't seeing how attached you guys were. You weren't acting like you anymore and frankly, you still aren't."

Ignoring the second half of his statement, Arnold focused on the first of Gerald's apparent concerns. "So, why didn't you just talk to me about it if that's how you felt?"

"Man, I did talk to you!" He answered a little louder than he'd wanted. "I've been putting up with this nonsense since the New Year's party last year. But after the first month of 'bro time', things just went right back to how they were. Helga was pushing you over and you weren't even saying anything but you looked miserable and – "

"I wasn't miserable, Gerald," Arnold deadpanned.

"Fine, you weren't miserable, but you also weren't you! My friend wouldn't ditch me on game night to watch some movie with his not-so-girlfriend. My friend wouldn't let her almost infiltrate the only thing the two of us ever did together anymore—"

"So, you had to insult her instead of talk to me?" Arnold asked before turning around and pacing beside the edge of his bed. "I could have just talked to her. Explained that you wanted the band to be like… an us thing but I thought we could use some lyrics and—"

"And you didn't talk to me?" He shot back as if returning the arrow he'd been hit with mere moments ago. "Man, you can't get all butthurt with me for not communicating if you go and do the same thing!"

"At least I didn't hurt someone so badly that they completely changed in a matter of seconds and starting smoking and hooking up with some guy who we all know is going to ruin Helga's life!" Arnold bellowed. "I can't even talk any sense into her at this point! She won't even talk to me, Gerald!"

"I… I'm sorry," he apologized, but Arnold bulldozed over him without so much as a pause.

"So, last night, I called Addie because… because I thought that maybe if I got a girl's perspective, she could help me figure out what to do!"

Gerald watched with wide eyes as Arnold purged his soul of all the thoughts and emotions he had been bottling since the night of the breakup at Venus.

"But then, Rhonda spots us walking home together, and I'm pretty sure it's going to get back to Helga and make everything worse—"

Taking two tentative steps towards him, Gerald reached a hand out to grab his friend's shoulder, but was quickly shaken off.

"And just when I think it can't get any worse, you come here and tell me that Helga is going on some date with Wolfgang Caudell of all people?" Tiring himself out, Arnold slid down the side of his bed to sit with his back against the bedframe. "It's… it's too much to handle. I feel so… lost."

Suddenly, the words that Miles had told him earlier rang through Gerald's head. You haven't lost anything, he had told him. Things have just changed, that's all.

Judging by the ease of tension in the small, upstairs room, Gerald took a deep breath and moved to join his friend at his side by the base of the bed.

"You're not lost, man," he told him in a quiet voice. "Things have just changed, that's all."

Both boys sat quietly with the words of what they'd said hanging in the air around them. Arnold pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them to bury his face deep into the hole he'd made. Speaking into it, his voice came out muffled. "I'm sorry Gerald. I didn't mean to explode on you like that."

"Eh, it's okay," Gerald answered with a shrug, his eyes lost on a small rip in the wallpaper of the room. "You're hurting over Pataki, and I get that…. Besides, you had every right to say what you said to me."

Arnold raised his head and glanced over at Gerald curiously. "Gerald. I didn't have any right to freak out on you—"

"You kinda did, man." Gerald cut in while nodding his head. Pursing his lips for a moment, he thought through the events over the last year and let out a deep breath. "I was pretty mean to Helga. If I had a problem, I should have talked about it instead of taking my rage out on her. Even if it was her that felt like the problem."

"She wasn't the problem, Gerald—"

"Yeah, I know, okay?" He snapped back before centering himself to try and talk calmly. "I know. You probably have a point about the whole Phoebe thing too, even if I didn't see it that way."

"I was out of line to say that—" Arnold tried, but Gerald was determined not to let the football-headed boy fall on his own sword for the sake of his bloated pride.

"Just stop, man. See? That's half of the problem here," he went on in a blunt voice without an edge of anger to be found. "What I saw when you were with Helga was this… fear in you where you never stood up for yourself. You just…. Let her blame you. You let me blame you. And that's not the Arnold I know."

Arnold sat silently as his friend continued, his gaze fixated on the fibers of his jeans and how taught they looked over his kneecaps.

"But just because I saw that, I had no right to try and break you guys up… even if that's not what I was actively doing." Gerald frowned to himself. "Do you remember at the New Years Eve party when I told you that I was happy for you both?"

"Mmhm."

"Well, I did mean it, you know."

Arnold nodded his head, his eyes still locked on his knees. "I know."

"What's done is done though, alright?" Gerald pointed out. "And sure, maybe Helga is going on some date with another person, but that doesn't mean that you two won't be able to work things out someday. What is it you're always telling me? That I have to be patient?"

A small smile hinted at Arnold's lips. "I think I'm starting to understand why you always reply with how you don't want to be patient."

"Helga will be fine, you know that" Gerald reassured his friend with a light slap on the shoulder. "There's no girl out there tougher than Helga G. Pataki."

Chewing on his lip for a moment, Arnold mumbled, "It's not Helga that I'm worried about, Gerald."

"Then maybe you need to worry about yourself," he replied in earnest. "So, what's going on with you, Rhonda, and Addie now?"

"Helga!" Sid practically squealed once they'd finished the last note of their new song. "This has to win us Battle of the Bands! It's totally wicked awesome!"

"Yeah, I gotta say, it's great," Iggy agreed, setting his drumsticks to rest on one of his drums. "And we all know how much I love disagreeing with Sid, so…"

The two shot a glare at one another as Helga shrugged her shoulders and began picking up the pieces of paper from her song that had been scattered across their practice space in the small garage. "Tell me you love the song after we've performed it, okay?" She insisted. "In the meantime, you can practice the shit out of it until we meet again tomorrow night."

Sid pulled the strap for his instrument up and over his head to set it down by his side. "Where are you going? Iggy's dad is ordering us pizza and wings."

"Yeah," Stinky agreed, also setting his instrument aside "and I brought a whole mess of Yahoo sodas."

"I rented that new found footage film that everyone's been talking about," Iggy added while adjusting his glasses. "The one about bigfoot—"

"I heard they connect it to aliens off the coast of Bermuda or some shit!" Sid exclaimed, though Helga was already inching her way to the door.

"As fun as all of that sounds, I have other plans."

The three boys looked between one another as if engaging in a telepathic conversation of curiosity.

"Helga, I reckon you're not really gonna go on that date with Wolfgang, are you?" Stinky asked on behalf of everyone else in the room.

Pulling her jacket on, Helga yanked the zipper up. "And what if I am?" She countered, narrowing her eyes in his direction. "What's it to you three hooligans?"

The teenage hooligans had no answer for her. It wasn't that they disapproved, it was that they, like Arnold across town, were worried. For less noble reasons, they worried that Helga may leave the band before they could ever realize their true potential. Fear of what Wolfgang could do to their front woman's fragile genius consumed them, though the feeling itself was something they could not manifest with words or a well-spelled-out argument.

So, they remained silent as she left them to ponder the future should Wolfgang become a vital part of an already volatile relationship.

"You're not taking me to some building in the middle of nowhere so you can murder me, are you?" Helga wondered aloud from where she sat in the passenger seat of Wolfgang's van.

He laughed at her statement while keeping his eyes ahead on the road. "You really think I'd tell you if I was?"

His answer only intrigued the girl more. "Well, you won't get away with it, you know," she said firmly. "My mom might be a recovering alcoholic, but my sister would hunt your ass down and prosecute you in the blink of an eye."

"What? Your sister some kind of lawyer or something?"

"Worse," she answered while turning to look out the window with a smile. "She's determined, smart, and loves school. She'd probably just go and get yet another degree in criminology or something and before you know it, you'd be in jail for life for killing her 'dear baby sister.'"

The absurd nickname caused Wolfgang to laugh loudly. "She calls you that? Really?"

"Really, really," she repeated. "And believe it or not, it is really, really annoying."

"I bet," he replied while turning into an empty parking lot outside of a large building that appeared to have been vacant for a long number of years. "We're here."

Helga looked out her window to inspect her surroundings on the off chance that her sarcastic comment had actually been right and she was about to end up on one of the many true crime shows she watched on a regular basis.

"And where is here, exactly?" She asked through her mild regret and sheer curiosity.

"Bleeker Academy for the Arts" he answered while pulling his keys out of the ignition and opening the door. "It closed down in the eighties because of funding or something. It's been abandoned ever since. Everything is still inside, pencils, schoolbooks, the whole nine yards. Never. Been. Touched." Once he was outside of the van, he leaned his head in to quickly add, "Well, mostly," before slamming the door and waiting for his blonde friend to join him.

"Seems... pretty bleak," Helga commented to herself; a heavy sigh leaving her lungs as she exited the vehicle. "So. An abandoned school, huh? This where you take all the ladies?"

"Nah," Wolfgang admitted, leading the way to a set of double doors located on the side of the dilapidated building. "Just the ones I'm planning to murder."

"Ahh."

Carefully unweaving the chains and bolts that had been long broken by hoodlums and other misguided teens, Wolfgang had no trouble getting to the push-handles that led into the old academy. With his hands on the bars, he turned to give Helga a sly look. "You ready to take a trip into the past?"

Without waiting for her answer, he pushed the doors open to reveal a dark and musty room that had once served as a large gymnasium. "You can only get in through here," he noted. "Also, I'm pretty sure there's black mold in here or something, cause it can get hard to breathe if you stay for too long. I learned that the hard way."

"Awesome," Helga retorted, her hands finding their way deep into the pockets of her jacket. "So, you did bring me here to kill me."

"Or intrigue you," he said without missing a beat. "I brought us masks." He held out a small surgical mask that she eyed with hesitation. "Just take it, okay? Be one shitty first date if you passed out on me."

Her heart skipped inside her ribcage at the official label that had been put on their late-night excursion. Sure, she'd hoped it was a date and sure, almost the entire school had decided it too, but to hear his intentions come out of his own mouth made Helga suddenly nervous at where this adventure would lead.

Despite her newfound concerns, she took the mask from his hands and followed his lead with putting it onto her face. "Well, Wolfie, lead the way, I guess."

Nodding once, he reached over to take her hand in his and began pulling her forward.

Wolfgang hadn't lied about the denseness of the air and how it might affect her breathing, but Helga had no trouble ignoring the overpowering smells in lieu of the treasures that surrounded her. Like a living time-capsule, items from the past were strewn about the remnants of what once was a lively school. Notebooks, pens, and pencils littered the floors beside crumbling pieces of the exterior that had succumbed to years of neglect. Posters for upcoming dances and classes clung tightly to corkboards where they had been pinned eons ago with the hopes of improving attendance.

Though looters had done their job by taking most things of value that had remained, Helga saw the inherent value they'd left behind – things that couldn't be priced with dollar signs. Here that walked these halls, here in the empty rooms had been life. It was haunting to see the echoes of the past so blatantly forgotten.

"Wolfgang," she awed out upon reaching the library and media center, "this place is... it's amazing."

Shocked by her choice of words, he turned to look at her with a raised brow. "Amazing? It's a crumbling old building."

"But it's so much more than that," she argued, leaving his side to wander the open space still covered with red carpeting that squished under her every step. "Can you imagine that this, this is exactly what we'll leave behind years, and years, and years from now? All our lives, all our problems that seem so huge will be nothing more than-" she picked up a book that lay lifeless on one of the bookshelves "-objects thrown around room. It's like footprints in the snow. Someone was here. And now they're not."

"It's not like people died here, Helga," Wolfgang replied, completely missing the point of what she'd been trying to say. "It just got abandoned, that's all."

"Maybe this place did, but I'm looking at a bigger picture here." Placing the book back where she'd found it, Helga turned around to face Wolfgang. "Being here is like being in some... some cave of secrets, or something. I think about the ordinary conversations people had here without knowing that one day, you and I would be here looking at what's been left behind. It's eerie."

Under his mask, Wolfgang smiled. "You're something else, Pataki."

She crossed her arms in near defiance of the observation. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only you could find something beautiful in a dump like this," he answered sincerely. "But not beautiful like rainbows and roses or unicorns or whatever... not that stupid, glass-half-full, blind optimism that that dipstick football-head you were with spews."

"Wolfgang, I-" Helga tried, but he wasn't about to make time for her interruption.

"You're real," he continued. "When I first came here a few years back, all we did was trash some windows and drink beer we'd stolen from one of the guys' parents. You come here and... and you see fucking poetry in the cracks of the foundation. It's... I've never been with someone like that before."

The two stared at one another for a long moment, as if inspecting the other's eyes for a hint at the feelings underneath their masks which couldn't be said. The air around them grew heavier, but not from the exposed surroundings or flakes of dust that inhabited the area. As she looked into his deep blue eyes, Helga itched with anticipation. Suddenly, she was consumed with emotions she'd kept locked inside the cage of her chest for fear of them running rampant and destroying her life like they had with the football-headed boy she'd loved since childhood.

But for the first time in months, even since she'd been with Arnold, she wanted desperately to let someone in.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the sound of sirens flooded the room.

"Oh shit," Wolfgang groaned. "Of course, someone would call the cops."

"What are we supposed to do?" Helga asked in a panicked voice. "Just... stay here like sitting ducks or something? The last thing I need is for Olga to find out I had the cops called on me!"

Pulling his mask down, Wolfgang smiled a toothy grin. "You really think I'd let us get caught?" In one quick swoop, he grabbed her hand again and took off running with her at his side. "C'mon!" He hollered mid-laugh, "I know a shortcut!"

Maneuvering through the empty hallways, Helga followed Wolfgang blindly and with a faith she'd never been able to give anyone before. Surrendering her fears completely, she was soon joining him in outright laughter as they ran from whoever might be in their pursuit.

Fire swam through her veins. Her heart beat wildly in grand slams against her chest. Utter joy in the spontaneity of the evening propelled each step they took until they'd at last escaped through an open window of what was once a science lab, still filled with glass jars and other equipment seen as worthless by previous looters and thieves.

"Fuck!" Wolfgang exclaimed once they were outside and safe from their illicit adventure. "That was a close one!"

"You're telling me!" Helga responded while huffing and puffing through her mask. "I thought I was going to take the ride of shame home from the back of a cop car!"

The pair continued to laugh while catching their breath, but Helga couldn't seem to gain control of her lungs. Yanking down the mask she still wore, she tried to suck in air, but each breath she took didn't fill her chest the way she'd hoped.

And it wasn't because she was out of shape.

"Did you have fun?" Wolfgang asked suddenly, and Helga turned to face him where he stood mere inches from her.

"Yeah," she breathed out. "Surprisingly, yes. I did."

"Well... good."

Again, lost in the moment and lost in the eyes that stared down at her, Helga's inner monologue began screaming words of wisdom.

Run! Run! The voice said. What are you doing, Helga?!

This time, however, Helga responded to the voice. "Run..." she smirked out. "What are you running from?" She asked herself, to which Wolfgang eyed her quizzically.

"Huh?"

She shook her head, a new determination taking over her system. "Nothing... I uh..." She swallowed hard and tried to push out the words she wasn't sure she would have the courage to say. "I want," she started, only to fall flat. "I want... to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yeah," she went on, sheepishly. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to have fun again after... after everything. But... criminy, what is wrong with me?"

Wolfgang took a step closer to the nervous girl. "Somethings wrong?" he asked, though his tone told her that he knew what she was thinking.

Because he was thinking it too.

"It's you," she managed, her eyes deflecting downward. "You're wrong. For me. This whole thing is wrong."

"I don't think so," he countered. "You know what I think?"

Looking up to meet his eyes again, she fell into his trap. "What?"

"I think," he started, inching closer to her still, "that I'm right. That I might just be perfect for you. And you're scared."

"Ha!" she let out a nervous laugh that exuded false confidence. "Me? Scared? Of some guy? Think again, Wolfie."

"Yeah? Well, if you aren't scared, then... say what you were gonna say."

"I wasn't going to say anything – "

"I dare you."

Again, that voice in her head spoke up, loud and clear. Run! Run! Are you listening to anything I've said?!

"Kiss me," she spat out, almost regretting the words once they'd left her lips. "I mean – " but Wolfgang wasn't about to let her backtrack.

In an instant, he closed the gap between them and Helga melted into his kiss without hesitation.

Oh no, her inner voice whispered as her lips moved with his from beneath the safety of the night sky. I'm letting you in...

Hello again! This chapter came pretty easily, oddly enough, and I think it's because I am FINALLY at one of the plots I have been MOST EXCITED about writing for this story. The end of the chapter, with Helga and Wolfgang at the school, was influenced by the song 'Seed' by The Academy Is... it is one of my favorite songs off one of my favorite albums and I just imagined it while they were exploring the area and all that good stuff.

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and I hope you're enjoying the ebbs and flows of this story thus far! As I said on my twitter, I cannot begin to thank you all for the support and love I've felt from everyone since posting my last chapter. Things have been so hard, but your support really helped me recently. So many of your kind messages and reviews have been read by me countless times in the last few days as I've struggled and for that, for your support and love, I thank you endlessly.

Be sure to leave me a review! See you at the next chapter :)

-Polka