Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!
Still want that movie. Grr.
Helga quickly eats breakfast, refusing to look at anyone or anything except her plate. She ignores any type of conversation anyone tries to start, especially Alex. "I'm done," she says the moment she stuffs the last piece of toast into her mouth and gulps it down. "It was nice meeting everyone, but I have a prior engagement to attend." Without waiting for a reply from either her parents or the guests, she puts her plate in the kitchen sink and enters the hallway. Quietly, she picks up the phone's receiver and dials a number.
"Moshimoshi," a tiny voice answers on the other end after a few rings. "Phoebe speaking."
"Pheebs? It's Helga. I need to talk to you now. Meet me at the park in ten," Helga says hurriedly in a low voice and hangs up. Sensing someone behind her, she turns and sees Alex leaning against the wall, a small smile on his face.
"Is someone avoiding me?" he says, voice as smooth as silk. He chuckles quietly at seeing Helga's expression, a mixture of shock and embarrassment.
"W-what? I'm not avoiding anyone, I think you're imagining things," Helga says, slowly inching towards the door.
"Is that so?" he asks again, not missing Helga's 'subtle' movements. She nods and gives him a tight smile. "Then why are you so eager to leave?" He begins to move in her direction as well. "Why haven't you spoken a single word to me since I got here?"
"Like I said, I've got to be somewhere else. Can't keep them waiting, now can I?" Helga is almost at the door when he says something that stops her from opening it and bolting out.
"It's no use trying to pretend nothing happened," he says, the smile replaced with a look of… sadness? Regret? Helga couldn't be sure.
She looks at him, trying to read his face. "I'm not trying to pretend," she says and opens the door. "Because nothing happened." She closes the door and practically runs to the park, hoping he won't come after her.
She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the arch at the park's entrance. She slows her pace to a walk and stops under the shade of a tree. Tired from running and from her encounter with Alex, she leans against the tree and sighs deeply.
"Helga, what's wrong?" Phoebe asks, concern written all over her face at the sight of her best friend's depressed expression. The moment I walk in here I see her like this? Not good, not good at all. "Did something happen?"
"Oh, something happened alright. It happened so quickly I couldn't even think straight! Oh, why now? Why? When things were going so well between me and Arnold. I thought today would be one of the best days of my life, but no; this just had to happen. Why did it have to happen? Life sucks," Helga keeps on rambling and pacing back and forth.
"Helga?" Phoebe says helplessly, thinking of the best way to handle this. "Helga!" she says more forcefully, so much that Helga snaps out of it and looks at her. "What are you talking about? What happened?" Phoebe lays a hand on Helga's shoulder and sits her down on a bench. "I'll try my absolute best to help."
"I don't think this can be helped," Helga says sadly, staring blankly into space. She sighs and straightens up. "Okay, here goes. I should've told you his earlier Pheebs, but I guess I just forgot."
"Listening," Phoebe says in a sing-song voice.
"We're going to London!" Bob announces as he walks through the door. Helga is on the couch, randomly flicking through channels on the TV. She looks up in interest and smiles.
"London? What for?" she asks, not without caution. Could it really just be for a vacation? I doubt it.
"Well, we have to show up at a conference—"
"Oh, no. You're not dragging me halfway across the world to listen to some stupid talk about who-knows-what for who-knows-how-long," she says and turns her head to the TV again.
"Hey, watch it little missy. Who says you're going to go to the conference? You're not old enough. So do you want to go or not?" he adds with a hint of annoyance.
"Not old enough?" Helga questions and shrugs. What could that be about? "Oh well. As long I stay away from it, I'm good. So when are we leaving?" she says with a wide smile spread across her face.
"Pack your bags, Helga. We're taking off tomorrow morning."
"Wait, you went to London?" Phoebe interrupts, seemingly surprised. "When?"
"Two years ago during the summer," Helga replies shortly, too busy trying to remember what happened to be angry that she was interrupted.
"Oh, yes. That's was the summer my family and I went back to Japan," she nods solemnly, remembering. "Continue, please."
The weather in London is still cool, despite being in the middle of summer. Helga finds it as a relief; normally the family would go to an island, or somewhere tropical. The heat would be almost excruciating. After checking in at the hotel, Bob and Miriam leave to go to that conference, whatever it's about.
"Are you sure don't want to come with us?" Miriam asks just before they step out the door. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself; you could sit around the café nearby or something."
"Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine. I won't go anywhere; the farthest I'll go is the lobby downstairs. Relax," Helga says reassuringly, eager to get them out of the hotel room. "I'll order room service when I get hungry or something."
"Hey, make sure you don't order anything expensive, or you're paying it yourself." Bob speaks up from somewhere in the corridor.
"Yeah, yeah, I won't," she says, waving her hand dismissively.
"Well, we'll be in the event hall just a few blocks away if anything happens," Miriam says and steps out.
"Bye, have fun you two!" Helga says and closes the door. Finally, I get this place all to myself. Helga does whatever any other fourteen-year-old girl would do; go crazy in a hotel room. She laughs her head off at jumping on the king-sized bed; she pampers herself with a nice, long bubble bath in the enormous bathtub; she orders delicious food via room service – careful not to choose anything too pricey – and enjoys the amazing view of Hyde Park just outside of her window. "This is the life," she says dreamily while staring out into the city of London.
Spending time in a hotel room can only humour her for so long. Starting to feel restless, Helga has an idea. It wouldn't hurt to look around the hotel a bit. Jeez, I'm starting to remind myself of Eloise at the Plaza. Liking the idea, Helga takes the room key and carefully steps out into the hallway. Looking around, she realizes how big the building is. I wonder if they have a swimming pool or an arcade. As she walks to the elevator, she glances up and sees the painted ceiling. "Wow," she breathes, impressed by the artistic detail they put into the ceiling. Not realizing where she's going, she knocks into a stranger in the hallway.
"Ouch, watch where you're going you klutz!" she says to a fair-haired boy about her age.
"Me? You were the one who wasn't looking straight! What's so great about the ceiling anyway?" he says and looks up. "Oh," he says lamely, having not noticed it before.
Helga scoffs. "Yeah, 'oh'. Well if you were so busy looking straight, why didn't you just step aside when you saw I was walking towards you?" she folds her arms and looks at him.
"I, uh…" he says, not sure how to answer. "I don't know, I guess I didn't think you'd actually knock me over."
"Knock you over? What am I, an elephant? I'm definitely smaller," she says, slightly annoyed. Who the heck is this guy?
"Don't flatter yourself," he says and scoffs.
WHAT? "Why, I oughtta—" she begins and raises her fists. "You wanna meet Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers?"
"Who?" he asks, confused. "You mean that?" he points to her raised fist. When he sees her serious expression he bursts out laughing. "You named your fist? What, do you think you're in some kind of sitcom?"
"Don't push it, Bucko," Helga says, clearly angry. "If we were back home you'd be lying on the floor with a bloody nose right now," she says, momentarily thinking of Brainy.
"Ooh, I'm so scared," he says mockingly, raising his hands to his face. "Pfft, like I'm gonna run away from some girl."
"Oh, I'm not just any girl," she says, sly smile appearing on her face. Taking a step closer until she's right in his face, she says, "I'm Helga G. Pataki."
"And I'm Alex H. Robinson, what's the big deal?" he says, rolling his eyes. Helga is stumped. Usually that scares people to their wits. Am I losing my touch? Oh, what the heck, I'm not gonna waste my time trying to scare this guy. Moving back a bit so that she's at a comfortable distance, she sighs and crosses her arms. "Alex, eh? From your accent, I'm guessing you're American too."
"Yeah, so what?" he says, wary at her sudden change of attitude.
"Nothing just thought I'd confirm it. How long have you been here?"
"A few days. You?" he starts relaxing.
"Just got here. Since you've been here longer, any ideas on what to do if you get bored?" she says. Might as well ask him.
A wide smile stretches across his face. It's almost… mischievous. Helga puts her guard up, but is interested in what this newcomer has to say.
"Well, I have my ways of entertaining myself but I'm not sure if you'd be up to it," he says, tilting his head to one side, blue eyes twinkling.
"Try me," Helga says in a challenging tone. "I'm a tough girl; I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much."
Alex nods in agreement. "Fair enough, you proved that with 'Ol Betsy there," he says and chuckles in amusement.
"Don't forget the Five Avengers," Helga adds and almost smiles herself. He's not so bad, I guess. Wait… "Are you being sarcastic?"
He bursts out laughing. "Nothing gets past you, does it?"
Helga takes a deep breath and steadies herself. Calm down, girl. Don't let him get to you. "So are you gonna let me in on it or what?" she asks, annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah I will. Come on, follow me," he says and goes to the elevator. "I'm gonna show you a side of this hotel not many people get to see." The boyish grin and sparkle in his eye make her heart leap. Don't go there, Helga. You just met the guy. Besides, Arnold's still back at home waiting for you. Or rather, you're waiting for him to realize he's actually waiting for you. She looks to Alex from the corner of her eye. He is kinda cute… but he's still not Arnold. Helga places a hand over the place where she keeps her locket of Arnold and sighs.
Alex glances at Helga and notices her sudden mood change. "Are you okay?" he asks with a furrowed brow.
"Uh, yeah I'm fine," Helga says and immediately drops her hand to her side. Only then does she notice which level they're on now. "Where are we going?" she asks, looking at the numbers above the door frame. 11…12…13…14… how far up is he taking me?
"Oh, you'll see," he says and a bell sounds. Helga looks up to see that they've stopped at level 16 of the hotel. The doors open to reveal an open space. "Welcome to the rooftop," Alex says and steps out. Helga follows suit, wondering what his plans are.
"What's so great about the rooftop?" Helga walks further out into the landing to see a spectacular view of the city and whistles in appreciation. "Other than the view, of course. I mean; this isn't 'a side of the hotel not many people get to see', right?" she says, quoting his exact words.
"I'm impressed," he says suddenly.
"By what?" she asks, confused.
"The fact that you remember exactly what I said," he says with a grin.
"Don't get excited. I remember a lot of things accurately," she says in a bored tone. Suddenly she remembers the accuracy of all of her Arnold shrines and chuckles inwardly. "So what's the great surprise?"
Alex smiles sheepishly and walks to the far side of the rooftop. "This," he says and opens a flap in the wall. Helga looks at it warily.
"Looks like a garbage chute," she says bluntly and darts her eyes to Alex. He's standing next to it with a mischievous look on his face. Helga's eyes widen as she realizes what he wants her to do. "You don't expect me to go down there, do you?" her voice goes up a notch. "There's no way," she says and starts to step backwards.
"Why, are you too chicken?" he challenges her. "True; it used to be a garbage chute but they stopped using it because of where it leads."
"And where is that, exactly?" Helga asks, crossing her arms over her chest. He smiles again and points his hand towards the gaping hole in the wall.
"Only one way to find out," he says, that sparkle in his eye returning. "Don't worry, you're not gonna fall into a garbage truck or anything. Just trust me."
The way he said it makes her consider it for a bit. What do I have to lose? "Okay, I'll do it," she sighs in defeat and Alex's grin just keeps getting wider. "You should stop that, one day that smile's gonna get stuck there," she adds as she walks towards the chute.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind that; it drives girls crazy," he says with the most annoying level of confidence.
"Pfft, not me," she scoffs, but she couldn't help but notice the increasing pace of her heartbeats. It's just because I'm going down a dark scary hole which leads to who-knows-where. No other reason. Okay, here goes. One… two…
"Just go, already!" Alex says impatiently. "Or else, I'll push you down there myself."
"Hold your horses, I'm going!" Helga rolls her eyes and takes a deep breath. Three. She closes her eyes and lets go of the sides. Darkness engulfs her as she zooms down the chute; her heart beating a million times faster as she tries to imagine where she's going to end up. Please be somewhere nice. She tries opening her eyes and sees a light up ahead. I'm almost there…
She sees herself entering a bright room; she's finally out after what seemed like ages. But she also found herself surrounded by white, soft… feathers? Confused, she looks around and sees a wide sea of feathers all around her. Where is this? Just behind her, she hears a muffled thump. Helga turns around and sees Alex emerging from the hole, feathers flying up from where he landed. He chuckles at her dumbfounded expression.
"Did you like it?" he asks, indicating the hole, then the seas of feathers they were swimming in.
"W-where are we?" Helga stutters out, still too shocked to form long sentences.
"Like I said, they stopped using it as a garbage chute because it leads here; the laundry room," he says with a look of triumph on his face. "And not many people know they turned it into a slide instead; that's why it's so special."
"Oh, Alex!" Helga hears a lady say from somewhere in the room. "It's nice to see you again! Back for another trip, or is it for business this time?"
"Business," he says. "Nice to see you again too, Mrs. Wood." He starts moving to the right. Helga follows him, hoping he's trying to get out. They soon come to a step ladder, not unlike those you see in a swimming pool. They climb out and dust themselves off.
"Who's this little lassie?" a woman – Mrs. Wood – asks, referring to Helga. "A new friend of yours, Alex?" she says with a sheepish smile.
"Yes, a new friend," he says, a slight edge to his voice. He gives her a meaningful look.
"The name's Helga," she says and offers a polite smile. Mrs. Wood smiles warmly back.
"It's nice to meet you, Helga." She turns to Alex. "You two don't get into any trouble now; remember what happened last time?" she says with an apprehensive tone. Alex blushes slightly as he recalls.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault; that guy was asking for it!" he said defensively.
"Alex…" Mrs. Wood began.
"Yes, Mrs. Wood, I'll try my best," he says obediently, then sneaks a wink at Helga. "We'll be going now; Helga hasn't seen the rest of the hotel yet."
Without another word, he grabs Helga's arm and pulls her away. "Hey!" she starts but stops when she sees the look on his face. He looks so excited; I shouldn't ruin it for him.
"Goodbye, dears!" Mrs. Wood says and shakes her head. "Ah, kids."
Alex continues to show Helga around the hotel and takes her to places she never knew people even have access to.
"How do you know so much about this place?" she asks as they sit at the in-house restaurant. Her eyes light up in delight as the waitress serves them their ice-cream.
"It's on the house," the waitress says and winks at Alex.
"And why are you so famous here? What are you, some kind of celebrity?" she can't help but stare at him in awe.
Alex laughs – it has a way of brightening the atmosphere. "I'm not a celebrity; do you think I'd hang out with you I was one?" Helga flicks a chocolate rice crispy at him. "I come here a lot. Sometimes we come for vacations but other times it's because of my dad's business. Every time though, we stay at this hotel; it's like my second home."
Helga nods, understanding. Everything makes sense now. "Sounds pretty cool," she says absentmindedly while eating her ice cream.
"You think so?" Alex says, his tone a bit sad. "I guess it is, but after awhile it's not so great. You get tired of it." Helga keeps quiet, not sure of what to say next. Maybe he's just lonely.
Helga looks out to see the sky getting darker. She looks to the clock on the wall to see it's almost ten. "Whoa, it's late," she says, panicked. "I mean; I know we're in the hotel and everything but, still." Alex looks up and nods.
"Yeah, it is pretty late." He gets up and looks at her. "Coming or not?"
Helga realizes what he meant and stands up a little too quickly, knocking over her glass. "Oops, sorry," she says and laughs nervously, a red blush creeping up her neck.
Alex chuckles. "And you call me a klutz," he says and gives her a look.
"Hey, I'm not perfect," she says, trying to cover her embarrassment. They walk to the elevator, making small talk all the way up to Helga's floor. To Helga's surprise, he steps out at the same time. "Is your room on this floor too?"
"What? Uh, no it isn't," he says and looks at her weirdly.
"Then, why are you getting off here?" she asks awkwardly, not comprehending.
"Because I'm walking you to your door?" he says almost patronizingly, as if spelling out a word to a four-year-old. "I'm trying to be a gentleman here," he says and smiles.
"Oh," Helga says dumbly. I'm so dense. Someone shoot me. They walk down the hall, Alex asking Helga random questions about her life. "Well, this is it," she says when they reach room number 602. "It was nice meeting you, Alex. I had a fun today." She turns to face him to see his sad face. "What's wrong? It's not as if this is the last goodbye or whatever. We'll see each other tomorrow, right?"
"Not really," he says sadly. "I'm leaving first thing tomorrow."
"Oh," Helga says, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Well, um…" she trails off, not knowing what to say. "We'll always have London!" she says happily. A split second after she cringes inwardly. That was cheesy. When did you become so lame, Helga?
A laugh escapes Alex's lips and he smiles at her. Helga smiles back, registering the back flips her heart is making. "Goodnight, Alex," she says, though she doesn't want to say goodbye so soon.
"Goodbye, Helga," he says. Without any warning, he leans in a gives her a peck on her cheek. Helga blushes madly and is at a loss for words. He just smiles and walks away with his head down.
Helga unlocks her door and is greeted with a scolding by her mother. But she doesn't care nor does she register what her mother is saying. She only has one thing on her mind. He kissed me. Just on the cheek, but still. He kissed me. The only other person I've kissed is Arnold. Even with that in mind, Helga smiles. But the thought of never seeing him again makes her frown again. There's no point in thinking about him now; he's out of my life for good.
"So that's why you didn't remember him when you saw him this morning," Phoebe says, thinking carefully. "Perhaps your mind was so convinced that you would never meet Alex again that it completely blocked him out."
"Thanks for the psychoanalysis, Pheebs, but that still doesn't solve anything," Helga says, drained from retelling the story.
"Well, how do you feel about him now?" Phoebe asks.
"I don't know," Helga breathes, much to Phoebe's surprise. She's not sure of her feelings for Arnold anymore? That's… new.
Hidden from the girls' view stood a person behind the tree they were sitting under. He heard the whole thing. This is gonna break Arnold's heart.
Gerald quietly walks away from the tree, making sure that neither Helga nor Phoebe knows of his presence. How am I gonna break it to him? Oh man, this isn't good.
So, thoughts? Don't worry, I'm a huge ArnoldXHelga fan, I'm just trying to make things more complicated. :)
Really long one, isn't it? I just couldn't help myself. ^.^ Thanks again to those who have read and reviewed! May the force be with you. :D