All right, as this story won the poll, this story is going to be the main focus of February. It's time I finally focused on completing this once and for all, so let's get back into this! It's been sitting in the back burner far too long and now I'm ready to get back into it! But enough of these whole 'I'm ready' speeches! Here's the next chapter of 'A Romantic Favor', and even though I realize that I'm putting this chapter up in January, this is to give you all a slight taste on what's to come! Well, anyway, enjoy!

Outside the school, at three o'clock, Arnold and Rhonda were walking along the streets together as Arnold looked around in confusion. "Where did you say we were going, Rhonda?"

"Well, to where my parents say they know this guy." Rhonda explained as they rounded another corner. "They say he's a very jazzy singer, new to town, in fact. Actually, he and his group are in town, and it's my job to tell them that they're invited to the party. Bones and the Cross-Walkers, I believe was the name of it."

"I think I heard about that band. The new band of the century, performs very well at formal parties and bar mitzvahs. I remember Sid saying they were the band of a new generation." Arnold said.

"Right. Daddy says he knows the lead band mate in his time, and figured he would be perfect for the calm, jazzier sections." The girl in the candy red shirt explained to her football headed friend. "Well, here we are."

Arnold paused as he looked up to the place where the two kids had stopped. It seemed to be a nice quiet little coffee shop that, while not too busy, seemed to be a nice little place where people would just sit down and either study for their high school tests, hang out with friends, or just listen to the jazz music that, right now, was being played live by a band.

"Well, let's not just stand there, let's go on in!" Rhonda smiled as she took Arnold's hand and started to pull him in.

"Yeah, sure!" Arnold nodded as the two kids entered inside the coffee shop.

Unknown to the two, from nearby, wearing camouflage, Curly Gammelthorpe peeked around the corner as he gave a nod. "All right, let's just act a little formal here... no need to create a ruckus..."

Before he could head in, though, he heard his phone go off. Curly raised an eyebrow as he picked up the phone. "Talk to me."

"Curly, it's Helga. I'm calling the hit off on Arnold and Rhonda. I forbid you to spy on them and doing something horrible to them!" Helga's voice said.

Curly gave a frown as he sat down, holding on to his phone and pulling out a piece of paper. "You definitely told me, Miss Pataki, that you didn't like the way Arnold and Rhonda hung around each other."

"Yeah, I know, I said that. But you see, Arnold is sort of aware that I have a liking to him, and if you're smart, you know that Rhonda knows that you have an unhealthy obsession with her." Helga said from the phone.

"Now, I wouldn't say unhealthy... sure, maybe the first time, but..." Curly said.

"Look, I got myself under contract by Arnold saying that I shouldn't disturb Arnold and Rhonda when they're dating, and if you do something to them, I know you're going to tell them that I told you to do it. You tell them I had something to do with this, I lose Arnold's trust in me! And there is NO WAY in HELL that I am risking that!" Helga sighed.

"He made up a contract?" Curly asked in surprise. "Wouldn't that be like, Sid's thing? He's usually the paranoid type."

"Let's just say that after putting it into Arnold's mind that I may like him during one critical moment, also put in a lot of things on his mind." Helga sighed. "Look, I want to be with Arnold, but not when he's onto me and could end up hating me if I did something with him. So, please, don't do anything crazy! I don't want Arnold hurt, and I certainly don't think Rhonda would appreciate you in the long run!"

Curly frowned a bit as Helga continued, "Put that into your crazy mind for just one minute! Would you prefer letting Rhonda choose who she wants to be with, or just forcing her to be with you?"

Curly paused as he sighed, "Okay, fine. I promise you, I won't do anything crazy..."

"Thank you, that's all I ask." Helga sighed as she hung up the phone.

As soon as Curly heard the phone hanging up, he gave a smirk and a laugh. "...but I won't promise not to do insane stuff... oh, am I going to be so hated in the name of Marcie after this!"

And just like that, Curly put his phone away in his pocket and casually slipped into the coffee shop as he sat down in the background, thankfully a couple tables away from Arnold and Rhonda, who were sitting together as Curly pulled out a notepad and took notes. As soon as a barista came up to him, Curly looked up at her said, "Give me one hot chocolate. whip cream, chocolate syrup. Cherry on top, if you do that."

Arnold and Rhonda, meanwhile, looked over at the band that was playing on the small makeshift stage as Arnold pointed over to the band. "Is that the guy?"

Rhonda gave a nod. "That's the one Daddy said to invite. Anyway, we just need to wait until they get on break, then we can get a move on them and ask them to come for the party. That way, we can get that aspect done!"

"Gee, Rhonda, you and your parents are really determined to make this party work as great as possible." Arnold said.

"Well, it is a formal gathering, what can I say?" Rhonda gave a giggle. "Anyway, what were you doing after school?"

Arnold looked surprised. "Oh that? Yeah, I just wanted to talk with somebody, and make sure we were cool with something. Nothing too big."

"Oh." Rhonda said as the barista came by with a couple of cups of hot chocolate that they ordered. "Thank you, ma'am."

As the barista nodded and took her leave, Arnold gave a smile as he said, "Hey, Rhonda... have you ever worried about... saboteurs?"

"Saboteurs?" Rhonda said in surprise. "Well, I always had suspicions during my last couple of dates with other boys that these dates were sabotaged, but so far, with you, I don't seem to be sabotaged by anything."

Arnold paused as he thought about it. "Well, tell you the truth, some dates I had with a couple of other girls, I never considered the possibility, but there were a couple of times where they've been sabotaged as bad dates. Well, not all of them were sabotaged, but let's just say the last girl I dated, things went wrong."

"Yeah, Lila told me about the little Cheese Fair fiasco from her end." Rhonda gave a chuckle. "But, I'm just saying, at least this is a little get-together amongst friends..."

Arnold paused as the music stopped playing. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"And now, my cool cats, for our final song before break!" The lead singer said as he started to play yet a nice, cool jazzy tune, a nice little semi-popular song from the era, but still kept a good tune.

Arnold paused as he sipped his hot chocolate, listening to the music. "You know, Rhonda, I always wondered, why have we never dated before?"

"Yeah, why haven't we?" Rhonda said in surprise as she sipped from her hot chocolate. "You're the sweetest boy I've ever known, and always classy and pretty popular when you need to be."

"And, as vain and popular as you are, you also have everyone's best interests at heart. I mean, even when you switched to contacts, you still looked out for the other kids who weren't as cool." Arnold said. "Even when you find yourself falling back to old habits, you still do your best to remember the lessons that I've given you or Patty's given you or the nerds and unpopulars..."

"I appreciate the gestures, Arnold." Rhonda gave a smile as she paused. "Maybe, and this is just me listening to the music, but do you think that maybe we might have a chance together?"

Arnold raised an eyebrow as he put his hand on the table. "Hmmm... that's a good question. Honestly, I'm not sure myself, but... I guess when it comes down to it, in the end, it all depends on if we could try and make it work..."

"An actual relationship?" Rhonda asked.

"Well..." Arnold paused. "Maybe."

By that time, the song had ended as everyone snapped their fingers in appreciation. Arnold and Rhonda cut their conversation short as Rhonda said, "Oh, I think they're done with their performance. Let's see if we can catch them before they go back to the dressing rooms!"

"Right!" Arnold said as he grabbed his hot chocolate and took one more sip before they started to get up and approach the band that had got off the stage.

Sorry for cutting this short, but I'm going to have to end the chapter here! How did you guys like it? Next time, more preparations for the party on Arnold and Rhonda's end... and Curly's conniving plans on his end! I will admit, it's nice to get back into this story after so long! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!