Everyone changes with time. A day, a week, a month, a year... they all count. So how much can a group of rag tag 4th graders from P.S. 118 change with junior high, high school, and a whole bunch of history between those seven years? A whole lot.

Years Later

So You're Here Because...?

An Interlude of Sorts

When Helga finally reached her room, she found Arnold sitting stiffly on the black covers of her bed, looking extremely out of place in her pink and black themed room.

Helga calmly walked into her room closing the door behind her before turning the lock. She walked into her closet and put on some of her long boy shorts before she walked across the room to her bed, knowing that Arnold's eyes were following her every move. She unceremoniously flopped down her bed, messing up her piles of already crushed and wrinkled bills. She rolled over on her queen sized bed before she sat up and looked straight into Arnold's light blue eyes.

"So... you've come here for a confession–" Arnold opened his mouth to disagree but Helga would not let him. "Oh, yes you did... So start confessing, that way your tortured soul can be appeased and rest and I can get some beauty sleep and rest up for my day in the city." Helga dragged all of her money towards her and started to count her tips over again.

"Really where are you going, who are you going with?"

Helga stopped in mid count and glared at Arnold. "Look, I'm being very nice right now. I could just easily kick your ass out of my house without letting you do that sickeningly tortured soul crap to me that you're about to give me, to make yourself feel better... I'm just trying to help your guilty conscious."

Arnold tilted his head slightly. "Tortured soul crap... Guilty conscious...?"

Helga rolled her eyes. "Twenty," Helga put down a stack of bills before picking up a bunch of dollars and putting in her lap. "One... Two... Three... Yes, tortured soul blah blah blah... I feel so guilty blah blah blah. I mean that's why you're here, right? After all I am one of the few people who doesn't kiss your ass and all that shit. Ten... And if I started to feel sorry for you I could tell everyone else to, then you wouldn't feel so guilty about everything. Fifteen... Plus you're doing this so that incident from gym class doesn't make you look like a complete jackass, right? I'm waiting." Helga put down a stack and began another one. "One... Two... Three... The faster you're down with this, the faster I get to go to sleep."

Arnold stayed silent and calmly blankly stared at Helga.

"Y'know I'm right... You just don't want to look like a... Twelve... Jackass, right?"

"No."

Helga paused from counting her money again. "No? So... You're here because of what then?"

Arnold groaned in frustration and mussed his blonde hair. "I'm here because, you, Helga G. Pataki, are the one who messed up my world in the first place."

"What! You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Arnold crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

Helga threw down her money and kneeled on her bed so she look down at Arnold's face. "I can't believe this bullshit! What the hell are you talking about!"

Arnold pouted and shot an excusing glare in Helga's direction."Remember, you cursed me out."

"I wouldn't have cursed you out if you weren't acting like a jackass. Operative word, J-A-C-K-A-S-S in effing capital letters! You know what, get the fuck out of my house and never ever stand on my fucking stoop ever again you egotistical asshole!"

Arnold moved his body upwards so that he and Helga were now directly face to face. "No! I want to talk to you."

"Then act like you do, you fucking snob."

Arnold sat down studying the hands in his lap. "Well, you did curse me out."

"Then forgive me, Your Royal Jackass, for cursing out people who look down on others because they are being shitheads!"

"Look, Helga, Could you just talk to me... I don't know how I'll go back to school after seeing how fake everyone and everything surrounding me is."

Helga sighed, flopping backwards to lie on top of her money with her arms dangling off of her bed. "Look, I still think you and the other 'Golden Ones' are shitheaded, snobby, superficial, egotistical, jackasses with sticks stuck so far up your assholes' that no one would fucking dear excavating to get it out... well except for Sid he's non-snobby and non-egotistical, and not a jackass, but he's just a pervert— wait, where was I again– oh yeah... but,"

Arnold waited with baited breath to hear what Helga had to say. But after a few minutes of waiting he heard nothing. "But...?"

Helga sat up from her bed, almost like one of those zombies rising from the dead from those old horror movies. "But... because the lack of sleep and lack of coffee have finally taken effect on my brain and now I am slightly delusional and insane, therefore in perfect condition to talk to you. Don't fuck it by being a jackass... No, wait you are a natural jackass, so don't fuck it up by getting on my nerves. Oh, and I am only going talk to you for an hour and that's it."

Arnold's golden blonde eyebrows knotted confusion. "Umm, okay then. So, what do you want to talk about?"

Helga smiled and pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from underneath her pillow, before plopping a cigarette in her mouth and lighting it. "Vanilla and chocolate swirl pudding with triple chunk chocolate chip cookies."

Arnold looked at Helga, very bewildered, before he could actually muster up the strength to say 'okay,' without falling into a fit of laughs.

(Y/L)

Arnold woke up with a start and looked around at his surroundings, almost surprised to see he was sleeping on a wooden floor. Which was unusually, because his room had a carpet floor. The next thing he noticed was the fact that his room now had pink and black painted walls... and the last time he checked his walls were a dark blue. When Arnold saw a blonde and pink haired female sleeping underneath a large black blanket, and Arnold finally realized that he wasn't in his room after all. He looked around and spotted a pink alarm clock reading, three o' four AM. He had just fallen asleep an hour ago.

Arnold shifted slightly to get up and instantly Helga was sitting up in the bed.

Arnold raised an eyebrow and Helga only shrugged. "Heightened sense of hearing." Arnold got up from the floor and Helga rolled out of bed with her lighter and pack of cigarette. Wordlessly Helga unlocked the door and left her room, Arnold followed behind her.

They quietly crept down to the kitchen where Helga opened the door to the back of the house. Helga lighted another cigarette and began to puff on it. As Arnold was about to leave he looked at Helga and the cigarette held in her hand. "Y'know cigarettes are bad for your health, right?"

Helga smirked and took an extra long drag from her cigarette. "Y'know," Helga said, mimicking Arnold's baritone voice. "Having an overly large ego is bad for you, right?"

Arnold simply stood there blinking, just for a moment. "Point taken, I'll be going now."

Helga leaned against the doorframe. "Okay then, be gone."

Arnold hung back for a moment, as if he was waiting for something. "Bye."

"Be gone man! Dammit I'd hate to be the girl that hooks up with you for a one night stand."

Arnold rolled his eyes skyward before he turned around and left the house. "Fine, goodbye then."

"Adios... And don't make this a regular occurrence or I will have to shoot you out of principle and fun!"

Arnold only lifted up one hand to wave at Helga as he walked out of her backyard.

(Y/L)

Nope, I don't own Hey Arnold! And I doubt I ever will. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Alright, this was an interlude, the next chapter will be out tomorrow look for it! Thank you raine84, Amelia Badelia, Yuikey, trunksgirl85, Hun Guy, jaz7, Jaded Angel, BrendaC, Xandiira, Ahhelga, Thea, XxXCocoPuffXxX, BellaMay76, and Sanalicious for the absolutely fantastic and encouraging reviews. Almost a 100 reviews, this is absolutely crazy, hear I was just writing to get this story out of head, thinking no one would pay attention to it! As soon as I reach the 100 mark I am going to write a huge chapter... wiggles eyebrows y'know what that means... grins innocently, at as innocently as S.L.Cipher can.

PS:

Raine84, I'm basically letting the story write itself, I don't really know what's going to happen... well except for the five possible endings. But there is probably going to be a sequel so be prepared!

BellaMay76, Little "bad girl", eh? Wait til you read the next two chapter and you'll see how bad one Helga G. Pataki can get!

ShanniC, good questions. And to all of which I have answers to, believe it or not! But the will be woven into the stories. You question dealing with Helga and money will be answered in the next two chapters, stayed tuned.

Click the shiny review button, it likes to be clicked. I'm afraid it is suffering a severe withdrawal of button-pressing-review-ism. So, please save the you review buttons by pressing this one... you're doing world a favor.

S.L. Cipher (Who is just too tired to think of anything witty, annoying, rude or anything in between to write, so just deal with it!)