I'm sure most of you have been waiting for this since the beginning of this story, and most of you have been asking this for a long time, well, here it is folks! Here is 'Arnold's Valentine'! That's right, you've been waiting for this, now you're finally getting it! It's going to be yet another two-parter, but you're finally getting what you all wanted all this time! Anyway, enjoy!

Things have happened over the majority of the month. Arnold and I've been getting close, as far as I know, as good friends (I'm crossing my fingers, hoping it to be more), Tucker and Nadine have been hanging around each other a lot more than usual, and Gerald and Phoebe were adorable as per usual, hanging out with each other. As for Lila, she currently had her eyes set on Lorenzo, yet at the same time, was too shy to even do anything about it. Heh, almost like me when I see Arnold. But the two were getting close as good friends.

We already introduced Olga to Lila and the two have gotten along quite well. With Olga, though, she was still teaching our class, and doing quite well, giving us some motivational stories to keep up our grades. She was still the leader of NO PEOPLE, which we added Lila to by special request, so everything was going good. Mr. Simmons would still be by to teach us occasionally, but most of his work was focused more on the spring concert. He did let Gerald back in after learning that Gerald had reached puberty, and gave him a special 'bass' solo for Moonlight Bay, which Gerald was delighted about.

Caroline still annoys me though, normally, she would just make the occasional smug reply of 'join me and the popular girls', now she's just acting more strange around me! I don't know what it is, but it's annoying!

Not as much as Curly, though. Curly was seemingly keeping a lot quiet, but maybe too quiet. I don't know what it is about him, but he was currently on my 'keep an eye' list.

Other than that, everything's been going swimmingly. I didn't think anything would surprise me...

Until Valentine's Day rolled around...

I was settling myself in my seat in the classroom as I saw Arnold wearing a bit of a lovesick smile. I groaned. Of course he saw Ruth passing by.

But I managed to keep my composure as he walked in and took his seat. I turned my head as I took a deep breath. As usual, Arnold's crush on Ruth felt a little... sickening to my stomach.

"Helga, please tell me I won't have to worry about Ruth much longer..." I groaned.

"Oh, don't worry. Today's the day. You won't need to worry about Ruth anymore." Helga assured me in my mind.

"Oh, thank God!" I sighed in relief. "How did he finally get over his crush?"

"Found out Ruth was dumb and boring through a date he invited her to today." Helga said in my mind, simply.

"He actually went on a date with RUTH?" My eyes widened in shock.

"Well, I found out the hard way when I was disguised as Arnold's French Pen Pal, but..." Helga started, but yelped in my mind. "Oops."

"What do you mean, you disguised yourself as Arnold's French pen pal?" I asked in my mind.

"Look, it's a long story, but remember that assignment you guys did at the start of the year?" Helga asked in my mind.

"Yeah. I got this nice Italian boy who sends me chocolates every month. I think his name is Pablo... but what does that have to do with..." I blinked.

"Well, Miss Slovak returned to substitute for one class and gave us all letters from overseas, and I... kinda rigged a letter saying that she, actually me in a disguise, was coming to see him on a date." Helga explained in my mind.

I frowned. "Why would you do that?"

"I was desperate, and I panicked. The end, simple as that!" Helga sighed in my mind.

Before I can ask Helga any more questions in my mind, I saw Olga coming in. "Hello class, and happy Valentine's Day to you all. Now, instead of our usual activities for the morning, I decided that in honor of this wonderful occasion, we all make Valentine's cards for somebody special that we all care about, someone important or special to us in some way..."

I smiled as I knew Arnold came to mind. Yet in the corner of my eye, I noticed Arnold scribbling something on his notebook paper... somehow, I just knew that it was all about Ruth. Call it a gutsy feeling.

In the corner, I noticed Peapod Kid raising his hand. Olga looked over. "Yes, Joe?"

My eyes widened in shock. Wait... Joe? That's seriously his name? JOE?

"Joe?" Helga said, I could just imagine a shocked face similar to mine. "We've been calling him Peapod Kid all this time and his name is JOE?"

"Did we even ask for his name?" I asked in my mind.

"Not really. I guess we just never asked." Helga said in my mind.

I just shrugged as Olga was handing out the papers to write our valentine's on. Dang, I must have missed the question Peapod... I mean, JOE asked. Oh well, probably nothing important.

I took a deep breath as I decided to use my left hand instead of my right to write down an anonymous letter.

"Psh. Anonymous with you? Please! You like him like him, just do it!" I heard Helga say in my mind.

"Will you please stop this, Helga?" I groaned. "You're making this harder than it looks!"

I paused as I tried to do another thing... my eyes glanced towards Arnold as he seemed to be writing a Valentine's Day card... I sighed, somehow knowing it's for Ruth. "And anyway, what chance do I have? We both know he's writing Ruth a Valentine, we both know he went to the date!"

"True..." Helga said as I started writing another Valentine. "But you do have a slight advantage..."

"Oh, really, what's that?" I said, focusing on my Valentine writing.

"The Pen Pal letters. Just rig the letter and do what I did in my dimension!" Helga explained.

I just frowned as I looked up in my mind. "You want me to alter a letter sent to my crush, make it seem like she has one on him when she probably doesn't, THEN disguise myself and THEN woo Arnold while he tries cheating on me, disguised as the French pen pal, and expose him?"

"Pretty much."

I turned for a slight moment to see Arnold talking with Gerald, showing him a quick Valentine... which, of course, had Ruth near the top. I shook my head as I turned back to my Valentine.

"Forget it, Helga. I'm not that desperate!" I said in my mind. "Besides, he'll know it's me if he takes a good look!"

"He sure didn't recognize you back at that sixth grade dance... which, by the way, glad you exposed those twos' plans, I never was involved in that!" Helga chuckled in my mind. "Besides, I dressed nothing like the picture Arnold said he got of Cecile, and it all turned up well until she showed up out of nowhere. I was lucky Gerald covered for him."

"Gerald took Arnold's REAL pen pal on a date? Phoebe is going to be ticked off if she heard that." I rolled my eyes.

For a moment, I didn't hear Helga say anything... then she said in my mind, "Okay, okay, fine. Maybe you're right. I'll leave you your space. Maybe you can't be convinced to go on the date with Arnold... BUT..."

"But?" I frowned... but I no longer heard Helga. "Hey! Helga? Where are you? Come on, don't leave me hanging? But what?"

I groaned. Of course Helga left my mind... I don't know what she's up to, but it probably wasn't good.

"Oh, Rhonda, something wrong?" Olga said, coming to me. "Need any advice?"

I shook my head. "Oh no, no, everything's fine."

"Okay..." Olga smiled... before whispering to me, "I suggest writing 'Best Buddy, Maybe Best Valentine'?"

I smiled as I looked up to Olga, nodding. I did need that. I smiled as I switched my hands around and started writing. While Olga was kind enough to keep my secret, she was certainly pretty encouraging to help me get close to Arnold.

I nodded as she turned to the class. "Oh, there was something else... your latest letters from your overseas pen pals have just arrived. I'll be giving them to you all as you make your Valentines."

And so hand them out she did. Olga handed me the chocolates from the Italian boy... which, of course, I liked. They're not bad chocolates. However, despite my friendliness to the guy, I'm not really interested in him. My eyes wandered over to Arnold for a brief moment, seeing him write more in the Valentine... I noticed a crumpled Valentine next to it. His first note to Ruth must not have been good.

"Here's a letter from your French pen pal, Cecile." Olga smiled as she was about to hand the letter out to Arnold, who smiled, when the recess bell rang. Olga looked up. "Oh, whoops. Guess I'll have to hand out the rest of them after recess."

Arnold looked dejected a bit as Olga looked at him. Olga smiled a bit. "But since I already have the letter out... here you go, Arnold! Read to your heart's content."

Olga then gave Arnold the letter.

I smirked a bit. "See, Helga? Arnold already got the letter!"

"Darn it! I was really hoping! Miss Slovak stuffed the letter back in the bag last time!" Helga muttered as I got up.

"Tough luck..." I shrugged. "Besides, Olga's teaching the class here."

"Well... I still have my ways..." Helga said in my mind as I was about to walk into the recess grounds.

"I don't like how you said that..." I said, uncomfortably.

Pretty soon, I joined up with Nadine, Phoebe and Lila as I smiled, "Hey, girls!"

"Hi, Rhonda!" Lila smiled.

"So, how's the Valentine for Arnold coming along?" Nadine asked.

"Oh, okay, I guess." I sighed. "Honestly, I came up with writer's block..."

"Nothing in the brain, huh?" Phoebe said as she got the jump rope.

"Not exactly." I said as I sat down, Nadine about to go in the middle, with Lila holding the other end of the jump rope.

As Nadine started hopping up and down as Phoebe and Lila were holding the jump rope and waving it around, she said, "But I noticed Olga whispering something to you..."

"Oh, she just gave me a slight suggestion." I smiled. "I figured it would probably be good. 'Best Buddy, Maybe Best Valentine'. What do you girls think?"

"Simple, yet effective." Phoebe smiled.

"An ever so nice idea for a Valentine." Lila said.

"You've got this!" Nadine smiled.

I nodded. "Hey, thanks. I should credit Olga for that idea..."

It was then I became aware Arnold just came out into recess, looking at the pen pal letter. I sighed. No doubt he put the date invite in Ruth's book bag. "It's a shame Arnold's still on about Ruth..."

Phoebe paused, while she was waving the jump ropes. "I wonder what Arnold's pen pal letter was all about."

"Why should we care about it?" I asked as I watched Nadine do a perfect hop and dance on the rope.

"Yeah, it's just a letter." Nadine said. "Nothing special."

"Still, as his friends, we should probably check it out." Phoebe said.

"Oh, all right..." Nadine said as she got out of the rope's way, with Phoebe and Lila stopping both ropes' waves and dropping them. "Let's see what Arnold's up to..."

With that, we decided to visit Arnold, coming over to him. I smiled, "Hey, buddy!"

"Hey, girls." Arnold said as we joined him.

"So, you're very lucky to have that French pen pal." Nadine said. "You and him talking pretty well?"

"Well... I guess I should tell you girls..." Arnold looked around. "Cecile is actually a girl's name. I thought you all knew that."

"Oh..." Nadine said, looking down in embarrassment.

"We knew, trust me." Phoebe said.

"I kinda figured it out." I said as I sat down.

"And I guess I can tell you... me and Cecile are pretty good friends. We talk to each other, but not in the way you expect." Arnold said. "She and I often share little stories, and we often tell secrets to each other. She's a very respectable person..."

"Do you have her picture? Heaven knows that my pen pal doesn't send me his." I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, it's just the chocolates. I like them, but... is that it? Really?"

Arnold looked like he was sighing in relief, but kept his composure as he said, "As a matter of fact, I do... here's the picture."

Arnold pulled out a picture of the girl as we looked at it. Indeed, she was a brown haired girl with a blue suit with a red tie, a blue beret, blue skirt and black shoes.

Phoebe examined the picture and nodded. "Okay, got it."

"What's the letter say?" I asked.

Arnold paused as he opened the letter. "I'd rather not look... not with you girls..."

"Aw, come on, Arnold. We're your friends." I said.

"Don't you trust us?" Lila asked.

"Well... okay... but I'll only tell you the important details." Arnold said as he opened the letter as he started to read it silently. Arnold's eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

"What's wrong?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"Cecile is coming over TODAY... to meet me in person at the airport." Arnold said. "I don't know if that'll leave me enough time for my da-"

Arnold yelped, almost realizing what he said.

"Your what?" Nadine blinked in confusion as we tilted our heads.

"My..." Arnold was about to look around.

I kinda knew about it, so I decided to state it as fact. "Your date with Ruth."

Arnold nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's it. Date with Ruth..."

"Oh, that sucks!" Phoebe sighed. "Guess you'll have to cancel it..."

Arnold reread the letter, then paused. "Actually, maybe this won't be too bad. I can make it work. Cecile and I are just friends, after all. She'll give me the best advice on what to do! I'll go over to Gerald and tell him."

"Oh... well... that's cool." I said as we got up.

"Yeah..." Phoebe said, though she said it with a menacing tone. "Do that..."

It was a little later after the school day as I picked up my bag from my locker when I noticed something near my locker.

Strange. A pink valentine with a couple extra hearts... it looked vaguely familiar.

I shook my head as I decided to deposit it in my bookbag. Probably another love note from Curly again... lord knows he stuffed a lot of them in my desk when I'm not looking... honestly, does this guy ever give up? I'll just dispose of it later...

As soon as I went outside, I saw Phoebe, Nadine and Lila talking with each other as I came over. "Hey, girls. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much..." Nadine smiled. "Me, Lila and Phoebe were just talking about playing dress-up over at her house. You want to join?"

I paused. "Hmmm... I never knew you for wanting to play dress-up, Nadine?"

"Come on, Rhonda, I'm a girl!" Nadine said. "It's natural!"

"Cool!" I giggled as I walked with them. "Let's play dress-up!"

"Wonderful!" Phoebe smiled. "Let's go..."

Pretty soon, we were over at Phoebe's house as Lila and Nadine were settling me down on a chair.

"First off, we're going to color up your hair a little bit..." Phoebe smiled.

"Okay, cool..." I said as I felt Nadine and Lila rounding my hair up a bit... about a few minutes before I felt what seemed to be hair dye covering my hair.

"It'll settle in about a few minutes..." Phoebe said. "In the meantime, I'm going to find the perfect dresses for us to wear..."

"Okay, I'll wait..." I said as Phoebe went.

"In the meantime, we should totally do your eyelashes..." Lila smiled as she pulled out a small brush to brush up a bit of my eyelashes. "By the way, I'm ever so curious. How are you in French?"

I giggled. "You kidding? Je voudrais commander certains omelette du fromage. Omelette du fromage. Omelette du fromage. Oui, monsieur. C'est la guerre!"

"Perfect!" Lila smiled. "Just keep still."

Lila then brushed the eyelids up. "There we go!"

Phoebe later came back with some blue clothing. "Okay, Rhonda, just go into the back and try these on!"

I nodded as I examined the blue clothes. Seems to fit pretty good as I tried them on.

When I came out, Nadine, Phoebe and Lila smiled as Phoebe pulled out a blue beret. "Just put this on..."

I did so as I said, "How do I look, girls?"

"Perfect!" Lila smiled.

"Just like the picture!" Phoebe smiled.

"You're ready for Arnold now!" Nadine smirked.

"Thanks, girls, I-" I said, before what Nadine just said finally registered. "Wait... what?"

"Oh, didn't we tell you?" Phoebe said as she took out a pocket mirror. "When Arnold arrives with Cecile, we will be replacing her with you so that way you can hang out with him..."

"And I'll be able to distract Ruth when she comes!" Lila smiled. "I know you're probably jealous of Ruth..."

My eyes widened. "What are you-"

I then glared. "You want me to replace the real Cecile on a date with Arnold? I am-"

I went into my thoughts. "Helga, you had something to do with this, I know it!"

"Whatever do you mean, Princess?" Helga said in my mind, and I know she was smirking, somehow.

"What did you do after I talked to you in my mind last?" I asked.

"Not much. Just influenced Phoebe's mind with a slight little memory I had of Gerald talking with the real Cecile, making it seem like a future event... I carefully removed myself and Arnold from that memory to keep her from figuring it out, BUT... she'll think it's just some future event about to happen... and let's just say, thanks to your little comment on 'Phoebe would be ticked', I tested it out... and looks like she's acting on the initiative." Helga explained in my mind.

"YOU'RE HORRIBLE!" I yelled. "I refuse to take any part of this!"

I realized I yelled that out loud as I turned to Nadine, Phoebe and Lila.

"Sorry, Rhonda, we know what we're doing is underhanded..." Lila said.

"But I kinda have my suspicions on that girl... and I'm not willing to take a risk..." Phoebe said as she pulled out a frying pan and put it in her backpack.

"Phoebe, come on! You can't possibly be serious on this!" I said.

"Don't worry, Rhonda! If all goes to plan, Arnold will break up with Ruth. Besides, we're just giving Arnold advice to break up with Ruth. Just some harmless thing." Nadine explained.

"I'm sure he'll do it on his own!" I frowned.

"What if he falls in love with Cecile?" Phoebe said, spitting at the sight of her name, though now I know it's not Arnold she's concerned about. "You want to risk THAT?"

"I'm not following through with your plans!" I crossed my arms.

"I'm ever so sorry for doing this, Rhonda." Lila said before grabbing my arms. Phoebe took my bookbag as Nadine grabbed my legs.

"What are you doing? Let me go! I don't want to be a part of this!" I yelled in protest as Phoebe opened the door, Nadine and Lila carrying me out of the door as I was struggling to break free.

One thought was in my mind right now... HELGA WAS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!

And there is part one of episode one hundred and eight! How was it? Don't worry, this is all going to build up to a bit of a... you'll see! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks! And as usual, don't forget to check out/add to the TVTropes page!