Ok, so here is the revised chapter eight.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!
The party continued on, not much excitement after Helga's and Rhonda's near death experience with Big Patty. Other than Sid accidentally spilling punch on Harold who in return chased him around the roof threatening to pound him. It was pretty entertaining watching Harold chase him around the roof with a half-eaten sub sandwich.
Chance walked up to Arnold, who was still sitting with Helga, "Hey, Arnold, mind if I talk with you for a minute?"
"Sure." Arnold replied, as he stood up and excused himself from Helga.
They both walk a good distance away from the others, making sure to at least be out of ear shot of Helga.
Back to Helga….
As Helga sat by herself, she had a minute to think to herself being reminded of just before the confrontation with Big Patty, Arnold had said he wanted to tell her something. Maybe he forgot, she thought, I mean a lot did happen in between that time and now so it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
Meanwhile, Chance and Arnold…
Arnold followed Chance, "So, what is this about?" He asked.
Chance turned around once they got far enough away, making sure that Helga couldn't hear them then waved for Gerald to come over as well. Arnold started to look a little worried, not knowing what his two friends were up to.
"Ok so, here is the reason we decided to pull you off to the side." Chance started, then nodded at Gerald.
Arnold then looked at Gerald, "Arnold, you are my best friend so you have to understand why I am going to ask you this. Are you out of your mind?" Arnold looked at Gerald, a little shocked at his question, "What do you mean?" Arnold replied.
"Helga." Chance answered. Arnold let out a long sigh, "Yes, what about her?"
"Arnold, it is no secret that since Helga got back you have looked at her different. You like her, but as your best friend I have to ask if you are sure about what you are doing?" Gerald said, looking a bit worried.
"I know what you are thinking Gerald, you keep picturing the old Helga, the one that used to bully us all to no end….but she has change Gerald, I can see it, I can feel it." Arnold said to Gerald, in a comforting tone as he looked between Gerald and Chance. Gerald looked at Arnold, he pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, the other hand on his hip.
"Ok." Gerald finally said, "Well then I guess my next question would be, have you told her anything?"
Arnold shook his head no, "Yeah he might have been in the process of that when I interrupted him earlier." Chance said with a guilty look on his face.
"No, no, that's perfect." Gerald started gaining a look of confusion from Arnold, "Check it out, some of us are going to be hanging out on Tuesday, if you are serious about doing this man, then that would be a better time. You will have the opportunity to hang out with her again without having to ask her out just yet, giving you a chance to get to know the new Helga a little better."
"Well she already said she was going, I asked her earlier. This is why I wanted to talk to you as well." Chance informed.
"Well I was going to tell her tonight, but I like that idea. I just hope I don't blow it." Arnold said, looking over in Helga's direction.
"Don't worry man, you will have us there to help you out." Gerald said with a smile. "I do have to admit, I do like this Helga much better."
Back to Helga…..
Helga took a quick glance at her phone deciding that it was time for her to go home, it was starting to get late and she had told Bod and Miriam that she would be back before midnight.
"Hey any way I could get a ride home from someone?" She asked to the group.
Everyone shared glances between one another, each one saying that they were not planning on leaving just yet. It took a minute before someone finally spoke up, "Sure I will take you home, just let me grab my keys." She looked up to see Arnold, walking back over with Gerald and Chance behind him.
"Thanks." She said. Grabbing her things she gave Phoebe a hug, gave a quick goodbye hand bump to Gerald, and said good night to everyone.
"See you on Tuesday." Chance reminded her.
Helga returned a smile to him, and made her way over to where Arnold was now waiting. They both made their way to Arnold's car, talking a little bit to keep the awkward silence at bay. Arnold, a gentleman as always, opened the car door for Helga to get in closing it gently once she was inside.
"Ok, just tell me which way to go." Arnold said as he started the car, looking over at Helga with a smile.
…at Helga's
Helga walked up to her room after Arnold dropped her off, he even got out of the car to open the door for her. She had laughed at him a little due to him tripping on the curb, and trying to play it off with a goofy grin on his face.
Helga now in her room, laid on her bed, the thoughts of that night's events still fresh in her mind. Thinking about all that could have happened, slowly drifting off to sleep the picture of Arnold's face being the last image that ran through her mind before she fell asleep….with a smile.
….at Arnold's
The party was now over, everyone had gone home and now Arnold sat in his bed reviewing the night's events in his head. He lay there thinking about his dance with Helga, the way she felt, the way she moved with him, how it felt so right. He thought about how much she had changed, and how much he liked that change. Arnold couldn't get his mind off of Helga, he thought he might have had slight feelings for her a few years ago, but now he was sure of it.
He mentally slapped himself in the head at the thought of how many times he has come so close to telling her just how he felt since she came back to Hillwood, but something always seemed to happen keeping him from telling her. His thoughts then turned to the conversation he had, had with Chance and Gerald. He honestly was happy to have friends that worried about him, and that were willing to help him find the courage he needed to tell Helga how he felt.
Arnold laid back on his bed, staring out the skylight above his room at the stars. Letting out a long sigh, he had made his decision, he was going to tell Helga how he felt on Tuesday no excuses. He slowly closed his eyes drifting off to sleep.
….Tuesday morning
The days leading up to Tuesday went by in a flash, before Helga knew it that day was here. She sat on her bed for a while, just thinking about random stuff. Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone rang….it was Chance.
"Hello." Helga answered.
"Hey, it's Chance. You doing alright?" he asked.
"About as good as alright can be." She replied, making him laugh a little.
"Well, if it is ok with you we will come by to pick you up around 2 o'clock. Is that cool with you?" he asked.
"Yeah that is fine. Who else is there?" She asked.
"Gerald and Phoebe, of course." Chance laughed. "Me, Arnold, and you."
Helga smiled at the thought of getting to spend more time around Arnold, "Awesome. See you guys then." With that she said goodbye ending the call, and making her way over to her closet. Helga wanted to find something nice, but not too nice. She searched through her closet, trying on a couple of different pieces before settling for a nice sundress she hadn't worn in a while. It was a blush color, small white flower covering the top half, cinched at the waist. The bottom half was just the solid blush color, made of a flowing material that ended right above her knees. She grabbed a pair of tan sandals with thin braided straps that went just above her ankle. She finished it off with a touch of makeup, she loosely curled her hair, and pulled it up into a ponytail letting her bangs frame her face.
Right on time, the doorbell rang at 2 o'clock. Helga made her way downstairs to open the door, there stood Phoebe and Gerald. Chance was standing off to the side with Arnold when Helga stepped out the door.
"You ready to get going?" Phoebe asked with a sweet smile.
"Yes ma'am." Helga replied a smile now on her face.
"I hope you don't mind walking. It's a nice day so we didn't see the point in wasting it with a car ride, plus the diner isn't far from here." Gerald started. "Does that sound ok?" Phoebe asked speaking around Gerald.
"That is fine with me." She chuckled a little, "I don't see the point in wasting a nice day either. So what else do you guys have planned? Or am I going to have to keep guessing?" Phoebe just gave her a quick smile as they walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the beautiful day. They arrived shortly after at a place called "Ray's Diner", Helga didn't recognize it from when she was last in Hillwood, this must be new, she thought as they walked inside.
"I don't think this place was here when I left a few years ago." Helga said.
"Yeah it's only six months old or so but the food is amazing. You're not one of those, I can only eat a salad, kind of girls are you?" Chance asked as they walked over to a booth in the far corner of the diner.
"Heck no!" Helga laughed, "Are you kidding me? I would starve, I'll take a salad if there is a hamburger patty, cheese and two buns that go with it….with fries on the side."
Chance laughed at her answer, "That's what I'm talking about." This making the others laugh a bit too, knowing that the old Helga was never a salad kind of girl so no surprise that, that hadn't changed.
They sat at the booth, Gerald and Phoebe together on one side, and Chance walking over to grab a chair for himself, Gerald signaled for Arnold and Helga to sit across from them. Chance came back with a chair and sat at the end of the table. Each one ordered, talking and cracking plenty of jokes as they waited for their food, this of course not ending upon the arrival of the food. After paying they made their way out, and started walking a little further down the street before crossing the road.
"So, where to now?" Helga asked curiously.
"A walk in the park. It's not really a, let's go sit in a dark movie theatre, kinda day." Chance responded.
"Sounds good to me, lead the way." Arnold said as he gestured with his hands.
They walked a good ways before making it to the park, talking and joking practically the whole way. Helga and Arnold had started to walk beside one another without noticing, but this did not go unnoticed by the others as Gerald and Chance cut each other a smile.
As they approached a bench in the park just off the trail, Chance made the suggestion to take a seat. Helga nodded her head, her feet did hurt a little from her shoes so sitting down for a minute sounded great, everyone also agreeing. As she sat down, Helga bent down to unstrap her shoes for a moment, and placed her bare feet on the soft grass. Arnold sat next to her, "That looks like a good idea." He said as he took his shoes off and placed his feet on the soft grass. They both sat there talking, not really paying attention to anything around them. Not noticing that the others had put a little distance between them.
"Hey, mind if I ask you something?" Arnold suddenly spoke, breaking the short silence that had befallen them.
"Um, sure. What's on your mind?" Helga responded. Moving her gaze from the ground to Arnold as he spoke.
Over to the others…..
"You think he is going to tell her?" Chance asked Gerald.
"Tell who what?" Phoebe ask curiously.
"Well, the whole point of getting those two to come with us today was so that Arnold would finally tell Helga how he feels." Gerald said to Phoebe.
"You mean….Arnold has been wanting to tell Helga…that he..." Phoebe started, a smile starting to form on her face as she realized what was going on.
"Yep." Chance said, nodding his head in unison with Gerald.
"He better tell her, or I'm gonna kick him." Phoebe said, looking over towards Arnold and Helga.
Gerald and Chance laughed, "Did sweet Phoebe just make a threat?" Chance asked.
Phoebe just shot him a devilish grin.
Reviews for the revised chapter please and thank you! :)