Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!
Nothing happened? Alex stares at his plate at the dining table, having returned there soon after Helga ran out the door. How could she say that? Or… was I just imagining things?
"So Alex," Fred says, bringing him back from his thoughts and to the present. "How exactly did you meet Helga?" he eyes him suspiciously, not knowing that the Patakis had stayed in the same hotel as them all those years ago. "I know I haven't spoken to Bob for a few years now." He smiles briefly to Bob and says, "Sorry about that, buddy."
He waves it off and laughs heartily. "Nah, it's fine. We're both busy men, who could help it?" he says and turns to Alex, sudden interest in his eyes. "So how did you meet Helga?" All eyes move to Alex and he gulps. I don't like how they're staring at me…
"Well," he begins, preparing himself to tell the shortened version of his side of the story. No need to tell them everything. "I met her about two years ago," feigning a tone of uncertainty, though he knows in his deep in his gut when exactly he laid his eyes on her. "At the Holiday Inn in London," he says and looks from his father to Helga's. Both of them register a look of shock, and then they turn to face each other.
"You were there?" they say in unison. The looks of disbelief on their faces make Alex laugh, though he tries to stifle it. And so begins a flurry of questions from one family to another.
"What were you doing there for?"
"What a coincidence! How is it that we never ran into each other?"
"Which floor were you staying in?"
"How long were you there for?"
After a while, Alex starts getting dizzy at number of questions bouncing back and forth at the table. "I think I'm going to go get some air," he excuses himself and leaves.
"Wait, I want to go with you!" Sally says and follows him. "Mom, I'm walking out with Alex!" Her mother nods a simple, "Mmhmm, sure honey," and continues her conversation with Miriam.
Once outside, Sally looks at her older brother and thinks carefully about what she's about to say. "That Helga," she begins, then pauses to see how her brother reacts. When he nods in encouragement, she continues. "Is she the reason why you came back so late that time? Why you were so happy when you came through the door?"
Alex is startled by her observation. I didn't think it was obvious, or that she'd remember it. He nods without saying a word, then laughs at her confused expression. "What's up?"
"Well, if you know each other, why didn't she smile at you?" Sally's accurate observation surprises him again. He feels a pang; the memory of their short encounter in the hallway coming back to him.
"I don't know," he says honestly and they continue to walk in silence. Nothing happened. Helga's words keep echoing in his mind; it's starting to drive him nuts. Did I misinterpret things? We had such a good time; she said so herself. She didn't get angry when I kissed her. Maybe she thought it was a friendly kiss. Hmm, should've gone for the lips instead.
"Hey, isn't that Helga?" Sally suddenly says and his head jerks up. In the distance he sees her walking towards them on the other side of the street. He almost shouts her name when something else catches his attention. "Who's that guy?" Sally asks, referring to a blonde boy in a blue shirt and jeans. He stops Helga and they start talking. "Is it me or does his head look…weird?" she says, at a loss for a better word.
Weird… that's an understatement. From where they're standing he could see Helga's facial features clearly. She looks happy to see him. Wait; is that a blush appearing on her face? It suddenly dawns on him. So that's the reason. Or should I say; he's the reason.
"Hey Arnold," Helga says, a warm smile appearing on her face. His heart swells at the sight of it. Control yourself, Arnold; you don't give yourself away just yet.
"Hi, Helga," he replies and clears his throat. Why does it suddenly feel so dry? Oh, man. Then he notices the tired look in her eyes. "Are you okay? You look exhausted," he asks worriedly.
Helga could feel her face getting hot. "Uh, no I'm fine. Just went for a morning run," she says and laughs nervously.
Arnold gives her an odd look. "In your jeans?" he asks suspiciously, eyeing her.
Helga realizes her mistake and blushes even more. I need to stop this, really. Think before you leap, woman! "Yeah," she says, her mind hastily thinking up an explanation. "My running shorts are in the wash and these were they only pair of pants I had so… yeah," she finishes lamely, giving him a shy smile.
"Okay," he says, clearly not buying her excuse but lets it go anyway. I should tell her. Tell her n—
"Arnold?" Helga says, looking straight at him.
"Yeah?"
"What was it you wanted to tell me yesterday?" she asks, suddenly nervous.
Arnold smiles briefly. It's like she can read my mind. "Well, you know that show we were talking about yesterday?" Helga takes a moment to recall what he's referring to.
"Oh, you mean Sheila Canton?" her face brightens in excitement. "What about it?"
"I'm going too," he replies shortly, not sure of how she would react. For a split second he panics as her face doesn't show any signs of happiness; just confusion. But his heart leaps when she breaks out into a wide smile. "Gerald's mom had tickets but she didn't want to go—"
"Really?" Helga interrupted him mid-sentence, excitement getting the better of her. She almost hugs him, but pulls back when she realizes how she must look in Arnold's eyes. Calm down, Helga. Don't act like a dimwit. "I mean uh, great! I'm sure Phoebe will be happy that Gerald's coming too," she says, trying to shift the attention to something else. Good thing she's not here, she would've killed me for saying that.
Good thing Gerald isn't here, or else he'd pass out from happiness. Arnold smiles as the image pops into his head. "It's funny though, isn't it?" he says with a dreamy look in his eyes.
"What is?" Helga asks, not sure what subject they're on now.
"Phoebe and Gerald," he says and looks at her. "It's obvious they like each other. If we can see it – clearly at that – why can't they?" Arnold wonders if his feelings for Helga are as obvious.
"Well, you know what they say; love is blind," Helga says, thinking that Arnold couldn't see her infatuation with him for more than ten years now. You're one to talk. Helga notices Arnold looking at something across the street. She follows his gaze and her insides turn cold at the sight of Alex and Sally standing right there.
Sally smiles and waves, now that she has their attention. "Sally, what are you doing?" Alex says, slightly panicked. "We shouldn't disturb them now, they look busy."
"If they were busy he wouldn't have looked this way. Relax already," she says and keeps waving.
"Do you know them?" Arnold asks, turning to Helga. His brow furrows when he sees her expression. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she says distractedly and waves timidly back. "They're um…" Helga pauses, searching for the right term. "They're family friends coming over for a visit."
"Oh, that's nice," Arnold says and starts to cross the street. Realizing what he's about to do, she puts her hand on his arm to stop him.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asks, and immediately drops her hand again.
"I'm going over to say hi," he says, and gives her an odd look. "What's wrong with that? Any friends of yours are friends of mine, right?" he adds sheepishly and grins. Ignoring her attempts at stopping him, he proceeds to walk across the street to the pair of strangers. "Hi," he says in a friendly tone and waves at both of them. "I'm Arnold."
"I'm Sally," she says cheerfully and smiles widely. "That's my brother Alex." She points to Alex, who smiles politely back.
"Hey," he says shortly and gives a small nod in acknowledgment. His eyes are focused on something behind Arnold and momentarily a look of sadness passes over his face. Arnold looks behind him to see Helga with the same expression. Something's not right here. A few moments of awkward silence ensues.
"Umm…" Arnold begins to say, trying to break the tension.
"Hey Arnold," Helga says suddenly. "I think we should go back now, my parents – and theirs – must be wondering where we are." She looks from Alex to Sally, then her gaze shifts to him. "I'll see you tonight?" she says hopefully, a trace of a smile on her lips.
Tonight? Alex looks up when he hears her utter those words. Do they... have a date?
"Yeah, definitely," Arnold says and gives her a dashing smile; one that makes Helga's heart skip a beat. "See you later. It was nice meeting you guys," he adds to Alex and Sally. He turns and walks off, trying not to look back every five seconds or so. He couldn't help but notice that his fists keep balling up at the thought of Helga going home with Alex, though he couldn't pinpoint why. What was that look they gave each other? What up with that? He sighs. At least I've gotten myself out of that awkward situation.
Once Arnold leaves, Helga starts walking back home without saying another word to either Alex or Sally.
"Who was that?" Sally asks Helga, oblivious to the previous awkward silence. "Is that your boyfriend?" The straightforwardness of her question makes Helga laugh bitterly.
"No, he isn't," she says, but still feels her chest tighten at those words. If only. "He's just a friend. What's it to you?"
"I'm just asking. You guys looked really close," she observes and looks to Alex. "Don't you think so, Alex?"
Her question catches him off guard; he was too busy replaying in his mind that Helga said Arnold isn't her boyfriend. Should I be happy about it? She's obviously not interested. But... maybe I'll give it a shot. "Uh, really? I didn't notice," he says offhandedly.
Helga looks at him from the corner of her eye. Do I like him? Like, really like him? She can't ignore the fact that he can make her insides turn to mush when he smiles. But what about Arnold?
"Arnold," Gerald calls out from the sidewalk in front of the board house. "Hey, Arnold!"
"He's not at home, young man," Phil says, opening the door. "Said something about going to see Helga this morning."
"He what?" Gerald exclaims, eyes widening. "Oh, no. No, no Arnold what are you getting yourself into…" he shakes his head, only to see Arnold walking up the sidewalk a few seconds later. "There you are, man!"
Arnold is surprised by Gerald's panicked state. "Gerald, what's going on? Why are you so jumpy?"
"Did you see Helga already?" he asks firmly, putting a hand on Arnold's shoulder.
"Yeah, I did. Why? She looked just fine," Arnold says, increasingly unnerved by how Gerald is acting.
"You didn't notice anything different about how she was acting or anything? No mention of any new people?" Gerald's last question sparks an interest.
"Now that you mention it, I did meet Sally and Alex—"
"You met Alex?" Gerald practically yells and Arnold takes a step back in surprise. "Arnold, do you know who that guy is?"
"Helga said he's a family friend—" he starts to say, but stops when he sees Gerald's expression.
Gerald shakes his head. "He's your competition, man."
"What?" Arnold doesn't believe him. "There's no way. I mean, you didn't see the look on their faces when they saw each other."
"You didn't hear what I heard Helga tell Phoebe about this dude. I think she likes him. Well, actually she's not sure but still—"
"When did you hear what? Where?" Arnold interrupts, wondering where Gerald got his information from. Gerald clears his throat uncomfortably.
"Well, about that. You see, it was an accident," he says, awkwardly. "I was taking a jog around the neighbourhood, like I do every morning. When I passed by the park I saw Phoebe walking in so I thought I'd go talk to her. You know; maybe mention that we're going to that show and everything." He pauses, not sure how to tell the next part without sounding like a stalker. "I was trying to catch up to her when I saw who she was heading to: Helga." Arnold furrowed his brow at the mention of her name. "She looked pretty messed up too, like something was really bothering her. I didn't mean to, but I got curious so…"
"So what?" Arnold asks impatiently. "You hid in a dumpster nearby to eavesdrop on them?"
"No," he says, looking at Arnold in distaste. "I wouldn't sink that low." He gives him a guilty look and shifts uncomfortably. "I actually stood behind a tree."
Arnold rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "So what did you hear?" Gerald is surprised he didn't get a lecture on morals or something from Arnold. He shrugs and continues.
"The story of how Helga met Alex when they were fourteen. At least, she was fourteen; I don't know how old that guy is."
"He looked about our age too," Arnold says suddenly, remembering Alex's face.
"Speaking of which, what does this Alex look like?" Gerald asks with suspicion. "Is he taller than you?"
Arnold gives him a look. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Girls like taller guys," he says knowingly. Arnold is silent. "Aw, no. He is taller, isn't he? Dude, you've got your work cut out for you."
"That doesn't mean anything. You said she wasn't sure, right?" Arnold says, hoping he still has a chance.
"From the way she told Phoebe about him, I don't know. You better put your game face on tonight Arnold," he tells him. "It's time for Operation Woo Helga."
"You can't think of a better name?" Arnold can help but mock.
"Hey," Gerald says and points a finger at Arnold. "Do you want my help or not?"
Arnold nods quickly. "Yeah, I do." I think I might need it.
I'm on a roll, aren't I? I can't stop writing! ^.^ Don't get your hopes up, though, I might grow tired soon. Plus, only a week left before school starts again *weeps* (and I haven't even touched my homework.) :'( So I'm thinking of ending it soon, but I don't know how or when, not with how it's playing out in my mind! :/ We'll see how it goes.
Special shout out to MKBianca : You're so awesome, I love your reviews. :D
Not forgetting the other who have R&R-ed. Thank youuuu. :)