A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry for not updating for a month... again. I'm done with online school so I have more updating time. I'll try to be less slow at it now :3

"Helga?" I heard a male voice in the distance of my flashback thoughts.

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts, and I saw Arnold looking concerned.

"Are you okay? You zoned out." Arnold said.

"I know, I was there." I said jokingly. "But I'm okay." I reassured him.

"I was just making sure." Arnold said.

Arnold and I exchanged warm smiles at each other, and it made my butterflies in my stomach act up once again.

Our class went to go sit down at one of the tables, and that's when my dad came over to us.

"Hello, I am Bob, your waiter. What would you guys like to drink?" He said.

I couldn't believe that my absentee father was our waiter. How small could this world get? And what happened to his beeper job? He probably lost it because beepers aren't in anymore, and he got a new job as a waiter. But still, this was just too crazy and I felt awkward sitting in front of him. I hadn't seen him since the incident when I was thirteen.

I wanted to pretend that I didn't know him, and just treat him like a waiter whom I've never met before. I didn't want to create a scene and I didn't want people interrogating me about my father.

"Uh, yeah, I'll have an orange soda, please." I ordered just like I normally would, pretending that the waiter wasn't my estranged father.

"Phoebe, can I see you for a minute in the bathroom?" I asked.

"Sure..." Phoebe responded with a hint of confusion in her voice.

Phoebe and I left the table and headed to the bathroom. I was comfortable telling Phoebe about my dad, and I felt like I needed to tell someone.

"Okay Pheebs, so this might sound like the craziest thing ever, but... our waiter is actually my dad." I explained.

"What?! He is your dad?" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Yep, that's what I just said... and I haven't seen him in three years."

"If you don't mind me asking... what exactly happened with him?"

Here we go. I've told Phoebe about Olga getting bullied, but I hadn't told anyone about my home life. It was so rocky and difficult to talk about for me. But I suppose I could break out of my shell a bit and tell my new best friend a small portion of it.

"He neglected me, and always fought with my mom. They got divorced when I was thirteen, and he stayed here when I moved to Hillwood." I briefly explained.

"That's horrible, Helga..." Phoebe said.

"Yeah, ain't it? Not everything can be sunshine and rainbows."

"I'm just thinking out loud here, but... would you think I'm crazy if I say it might've been fate that you came across him again?"

"Yeah, I would. He's probably still the same person he was. Just because he apparently isn't a beeper salesman anymore doesn't mean he's changed."

"Beeper salesman? I haven't seen a beeper in so long."

"Yeah, he thought he could keep that store running forever."

"But really, do you think it could be fate that you saw your father?"

"I don't know, Pheebs. But if it'll really make you happy, I guess I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for talking with me."

After I let out my frustrations to Phoebe, we returned to our table. Our drinks had arrived at the table while we were in the bathroom, and I noticed there was a small piece of paper attached to my glass. I confusingly detatched the paper from the cup to read it.

Dear Helga,

Please meet me after lunch. I need to talk to you.

Sincerely, Bob.

Was this some kind of sick joke? How does he just casually send me a note after neglecting me for years? He never cared about me, what made him think he should just start caring out of the blue now?

But on the other hand, maybe Phoebe was right and I should give him a chance. Just one more chance.

Before I could finish my conflicting thoughts about my blowhard father, I felt a tap on my hand. Arnold was sitting next to me. I looked down, and his hand was touching mine. He then interlaced his fingers with mine as I started internally swooning. Our holding hands were under the table so nobody could see. I preferred it that way for now. I didn't want to openly hold hands with him in front of everybody just yet.

"Are you alright?" Arnold asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great." I said.

"Just making sure. You looked... a bit tense." Arnold told me.

I guess Arnold could notice something was bothering me. I decided that I would tell him about my dad soon, but not right at the table.

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine, Arnold." I reassured.

"I'm glad to hear it, pink bow." Arnold smiled at me.

I swooned and fangirled inside my mind again when he called me pink bow. I didn't know why, but I liked that.

"I told you I'd start calling you pink bow." Arnold told me.

"Took you a while, football head." I sarcastically shot back.

"Better late than never, pink bow." Said Arnold.

That nickname brought another grin to my face, and I didn't know why I liked it so much. I snapped out of it by shaking my head vigorously so I didn't seem like I was having fluffy daydreams at the table.

After lunch...

I decided to meet up with my dad after all. I would be lying if I said I thought it was a completely good decision. I was the kind of person to hold grudges for a long time. So I still felt anger inside of me when I looked at him, even after three years. In that span of three years, he neglected me, forced Olga to be perfect at everything, and blatantly ignored the fact that my mom had a drinking problem. Bob just didn't care about any of our well beings. But a part of me was curious of what he had to say to me. I had wondered if he wanted redemption and how he would try to get it if he did.

I met my father outside of the restaurant while everyone else was still inside.

"Hey, Helga." He said to me.

A part of me was angry at that. How could he just casually "Hey Helga" me after three years of not caring for me like he was supposed to?

But then I realized that he actually called me Helga, which is something he rarely ever did. He always called by my sister's name, Olga. Which infuriated me.

"So, you lost your beeper job?" I asked. Really? That's what I bring up first? I thought.

"Watch it, little lady. I'm your father." Bob said.

"Well you sure don't act like it." I told him, unafraid to call him out on his crap.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. When I saw that you were here with what seems to be your class, I realized I missed you and I couldn't pass up the chance to talk to you. And I'm sorry for how I treated you, Helga."

"It's not just me you hurt. You hurt Olga and mom too. You didn't care that Olga was getting bullied or that mom had an alcohol problem."

"I thought about that while you three were gone. And I regret neglecting you girls when you needed me. I'm sorry."

"I'll think about the apology. I need to get back to my class now."

I was surprised that my father had put aside his Pataki pride and actually apologized. But I wasn't the person to forgive that easily, especially when it came to stuff like this. But I at least had it in me to think about the apology for a little while.

I was glad to get back to my dorm after the pretty exhausting and strange day. I was too drained to put thought into what Bob said, so I just put it off for that day.

Phoebe had went off to hang out with Gerald, so it was just me hanging out in the dorm. That was, until I heard a knock on the door. I sighed and went over to see who it was.

I opened the dorm door, and as expected, it was Arnold.

"Come to see me again, blue cap?" I asked.

"Blue cap? That's a new one." Arnold said.

"You call me pink bow, and you wear a blue cap. So I thought it would be cool to call you blue cap."

"Pink bow and blue cap... that sounds cool."

"Come in, blue cap."

Arnold made his way into my room, and I was excited to see him again.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Even better now that you're in my presence." Arnold told me.

I let out an inaudible lovesick sigh after he said that sentence.

"Do you know the waiter from the restaurant?" Arnold abruptly pried. I was surprised, because it was so sudden and random.

"Why are you asking that?" I asked.

"You seemed a bit uneasy and awkward when you talked to him, and you aren't normally awkward when talking to people. And right when he left, you wanted to talk to Phoebe alone." Arnold explained.

"Damn, who knew you were so good at figuring out little clues?"

"So you're admitting you know him?"

"Yeah. He's my estranged father..."

"What?!"

"Yeah, you heard me. Isn't it crazy that I ran into him so quickly?"

"I understand if you don't want to share... but what happened with him?"

I didn't know what it was about Arnold. But I just felt like I could tell him anything. I wasn't usually comfortable sharing stuff with people, and I didn't imagine entering Hillwood being able to share life stuff. But I trusted and liked Arnold so much, and I felt as though I could tell him whatever.

So that's what I did. I told him everything about my father's neglect, and how the last time I saw him was when he and my mom got divorced after that giant argument. Everytime I told Arnold something about me or my life, I felt like I got closer to him.

"How could he treat you like that? That's horrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you." Arnold comforted.

"He apologized today. But I can't seem to get past the past, you know?" I said.

"You don't need to feel pressured to forgive him."

"Thanks, Arnold."

"Since you told me about your home life... I think I should tell you why I always wear a blue cap."

"There's a deep reason for that?"

"Yeah... I haven't seen my parents since I was a year old. So I haven't seen them in fifteen years. They went on a mission in San Lorenzo and never returned. Before they left, they gave me this blue hat, and I wear it to remember them.

Everyone thinks that just because you are popular, your life is perfect. But that isn't true. We just don't want to tell everyone about our lives. I'm not a perfect human being, nobody is. And nobody knows the pain that I go through with my parents being gone."

I didn't know what to say because I wasn't the best at comforting people. But I really felt for him, and I was sad to hear about what I just heard. I walked over to Arnold, and I hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around me as well, and we just stayed silent holding each other. Even though we weren't speaking, I comforted him in the best way I could, and we just connected as we were in each other arms.

Still hugging Arnold, I broke the silence by saying "I'm sorry to hear that Arnold you don't deserve to go through that. I knew you weren't perfect, but that's okay because you are perfect for me."

"Be mine, Helga. Will you be my girlfriend?" Arnold asked.

I smiled so widely before replying, "Yes."