I Believe I Scared A Few People With The Way I Ended The Previous Chapter, So I Updated and Ended It Here. Hope You Like It.

Chapter 5: That's Not How To Play

Rhonda's House

The high self esteemed girl was humming to herself as she was nearly finished decorating for the party that night. After finishing the snack table, she looked around and said "Perfect! Now I'll just go make myself look perfect."

The Boarding House

After Gerald left, Arnold walked inside and heard his grandpa shout from the kitchen "Hey there short man!"

Arnold entered the room with a sorrowful expression as he listened to his grandfather ask "Whoa, what happened to you?"

Arnold took a seat at the kitchen table. With his elbows propped up and his head in his hands, he sighed "I've got a party to go to?"

Phil raised an eyebrow at his grandson's response and replied "I don't follow? It's a party, but you're making the same face you do when you see your little cranky friend with the big pink bow and the one eyebrow?"

Arnold then looked up and said in a higher tone of voice "That's just it! She'll be there!"

Phil then took a seat, still complexed by his grandson's mood and replied "She's at everything you do isn't she? School, baseball, heck I've seen her in front of the house more times than I've seen Pookie in one of her crazy outfits...actually that's not true."

Arnold rolled his eyes as he watched Phil rub his chin to think about the comparison he had just made and replied "I know she's at all my class activities…"

Phil then interrupted and anxiously asked "So what's the problem then?!"

"Grandpa...I told you what happened between us?"

Phil continued to unintentionally snap at his grandson and replied "You said you let her off the hook didn't you? If anything she should be worried about seeing you. By the way, that was a really dumb move you made there."

Arnold got up from the table to head for his room and sighed "Thanks grandpa."

Gerald's House

Gerald got home and immediately heard himself being called into the kitchen by his father "Gerald!"

"What is it dad?"

Mr. Johanson held up the papers he had spread all over the table and said "You made us go over the limit on our electric bill last month with your cd playing. Because of that I can't allow you to play any for the entire week."

Jamie - O then came in to interrupt as he help up something he found on Gerald's bed. "Entertainment shouldn't be a problem for him dad."

"What are you talking about man?" Gerald asked his annoying older brother.

Jamie - O then waved the invitation in their father's face, hoping to make him nervous about what might happen.

"What's this about a party Gerald?"

Gerald simply shrugged his shoulders and replied "It's just something one of my classmate's is doing to celebrate saving the neighborhood."

"Hmmmm well, as long as it's not here. We're in too much debt as it is." Martin said, not thinking the way Jamie - O hoped he would.

Walk

Helga was walking home, thinking about her friend's advice. The least she could do was forget about her reputation for one night; give Arnold a chance to see the girl behind the mask. She was taking a huge risk as far as the rest of the class' opinion of her went by doing this (mainly the boys), but it was the only way to make Arnold see she was more than what she seemed.

Helga made it to her home, knowing she still had a little time left before the party began. The moment she opened the door, she heard "For crying out loud Miriam! Why is there never any food around here?!"

The depressed girl then shut the door, thinking for the first time ever, showing up early at one of Rhonda's parties wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Rhonda's House

Helga felt weird being (what she knew had to be) the first guest at a party for a classmate she wasn't too fond of. Surely that showed how much her family annoyed her.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Coming!" Rhonda eagerly shouted from the other side of the door. When she made it there, she opened it to see the reason for the party standing before her.

"Why Helga! How good of you to come!" Rhonda grinned, as Helga welcomed herself in and replied "Hey Princess."

"I'm so excited you're here…" Rhonda started as Helga began to lift an eyebrow. Since when did Rhonda care to see her? She was only ever invited to the parties that were for the entire class.

"I've prepared a special game for the group. One I think you and one other person will love!"

Helga watched Rhonda turn to put the bowl away as she took a seat on the couch and scoffed "Pttss...whatever."

The Boarding House

Arnold was leaving when he shouted to Phil "I'm going now grandpa!"

Phil was eating his roast beef sandwich in the kitchen when he replied "Okay. Bring me back some cake!"

The boy then opened the door to see his friend waiting for him. With a smile on his face, Gerald asked "So, ready to be 'set up' with Pataki? What the heck did she even mean by that? Does Pataki know about it?" Gerald began to wonder.

Arnold shrugged his shoulders thinking to himself, if Helga did know about such a thing, there wasn't much of a chance she'd show up. She was overwhelmed when he gave her the out; why would she want attention drawn towards the two of them at the party?

"If she shows up, then I doubt it."

Rhonda's House

All the guests started to arrive, not taking into consideration Helga had made it there first. Phoebe went to find her friend, while Nadine was surprised to see Arnold had shown. Perhaps he had already warned Helga about what Rhonda was up to.

Snack Table

"This sure is a right keen punch bowl! I can see my own face in the glass!" Stinky said, not considering how many people he was blocking from the table.

"Hey move it would ya! I gotta get to that plate of cookies!" Harold shouted, while shoving his classmate out of the way.

"I'm ever so certain there's enough for everyone! I've also been told we will be playing an oh so special game tonight" Lila informed them…

Flashback

Rhonda was in the kitchen when she saw Lila entering the room. "Why hello Rhonda. I'd be ever so happy to help you with anything you need me to!"

Rhonda kept an evil grin on her face as she replied "No, that's not necessary. I will definitely need you when we play the new game I've prepared for the class however."

"That sounds just oh too fun!" the sweet redhead said excitedly

End of Flashback

Window

Phoebe finally found her friend looking out the window. She approached her and quietly asked "I'm assuming you haven't made an attempt to confront him yet?"

Helga rolled her eyes, knowing Phoebe already knew the answer. "How can I Pheebs? Look at him over there in front of everyone."

"Wasn't that precisely the point of the night? To let your guard down and just be a normal person around him?" Phoebe asked.

Couch

Arnold was sitting with his best friend when he looked over to see the two girls they bumped into at practically every street corner, staring out the window.

"Hey Arnold, you okay man?" Gerald asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I was just thinking about Helga. She must not know about Rhonda's scheme since she came, and I was just wondering if I should tell her about it?"

Gerald shook his head and replied "Trust me man, that's NOT a good idea."

Arnold looked perplexed as he asked "Why not?"

"Think about it. You told me how anxious she was to go back to being a bully when you gave her the opportunity. If you warn her about this, it's just going to make her want to be an even bigger jerk to you, to prove there's not a chance in the world she likes you."

"If I don't say anything though, she's going to be just as freaked out as I was...and we were alone when it happened."

"Whatever you say Arnold."

Rhonda began entering the room with her bowl of names as she said "Okay everyone, time for the special game I've prepared!"

The group gathered around as they listened to Rhonda say "Boys pick a sheet with an odd number labeled on the outsde; girls the even. The couple with then spend 7 minutes together havng fun as they please in the closet.

"That sounds a lot like 7 minutes in heaven to me." Stinky said, whle making the comparison.

"That's because it is." Sid inforned him.

Everyone then pulled out a card and saw who their mates were. Everyone that is, except two people.

"You didn't make enough cards Princess!" Helga snapped.

"Oh dear, I guess you and Arnold will just have to be partners." she grinned.

Gerald looked at Arnold, wondering if he could handle this', while Arnold looked at Helga, feeling even worse for her. Few times had he seen her more petrified than this.

Rhonda then grinned before seeing the load of hands rising in the air and the questions pouring out of her classmates' mouths.

"What's 7 minutes in heaven?" Sid asked.

Before Rhonda could explain, Stinky butted in with his guess "Are we really going to heaven?"

"Man that'd be cool! We wouldn't have to take next week's math test!" Sid exclaimed.

Rhonda rolled her eyes as she tried to finish her instructions "No, the game…."

Once again, she was interrupted when Harold asked "There's going to be food in the closet right? The game's not going to be fun without any snacks!"

"Uhhh! No Harold!" Rhonda whined, sick of being interrupted. "You will each be entering the closet with your partner and have 7 minutes to talk with one another."

"Talk? What in the heck for?" Stinky asked.

"Yeah, what kind of party makes you do that?" Sid asked.

The boys all headed for the door. The only two remaining were Arnold and Gerald.

After seeing nearly the entire class leave, Rhonda stormed out of the room as Gerald said "Well, that was some party."

He and Phoebe then headed home together, while Helga watched her best friend walk off without her.

Arnold stood staring at what may or may not be more than his friend now. As he finally saw her head for the door, he listened to her say "Well this party's shot; I'm out of here. See ya football head."

Without thinking about how she had just confronted Arnold, she heard from behind "Hey Helga"

The blonde girl's eyes widened as she turned and stuttered "Yeaaa"

"Can I walk you home"

Helga tugged at her collar and gulped "Uhh sure. I mean, whatever floats your boat football head."

Walk

The walk started silently as Helga thought to herself…

I can't believe he's walking with me….voluntarily! Oh my beloved, so kind and nurturing.

While Helga was still partially in denial, Arnold was quietly wondering to himself what he should say. Surely she hadn't completely wiped FTI from her mind. There was only one way to find out…

"So, about FTI…" he began, as Helga let out the loudest gulp of her life.

"FTI? What the heck are you talking about? Is that even a building?"

Arnold rolled his eyes at her attempt to hide what had happened and replied "I know I must have made you feel rejected by saying you didn't mean all that stuff. I just didn't know what to do at that moment. It was a big night."

Helga remained silent as she listened to him add "Now that I know how you feel though, I'd really like to get to know you better. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you. I know you're a good person."

Helga swooned just as Arnold finished his speech in front of her house. She was speechless. Arnold didn't expect her to say anything; he knew he must have caught her off guard.

He then hugged her and said "I'll see you at school." as he waved goodbye, and Helga merrily pranced into the house. This time not caring about the commotion being made.

THE END

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