ok, i'm so sorry it took so long to update. thats why i usually write the story b4 i post it. that and the fact that if i want to change sumthing i can. ne way here's the next chapter. i think that theres only going 2 b two more after this. thank you everyone for their reviews. Pointy Objects told me that it was hard to read, so i tried to make it easier, but i'm not sure if i did.
b4 i 4get, i in no way shape or form own hey arnold. if i did, everyone would be married with kids by now. and arnold would have his parents back.
so now on with the story.
"It's only the third week of summer vacation and all ready I'm bored to tears, crimney!" Helga complained to Phoebe as she threw herself down on her bed. Phoebe looked up from the book she was reading in her friend's chair. She knew that it didn't take much for Helga to go stir crazy, unlike herself, who was content to read a book all day long. Knowing that it wasn't going to happen, she put the book down. "What would you like to do Helga?" She asked her. Helga gave an aggravated sigh as she got up and started to pace. "That's just it! There isn't anything to do. After that big party Rhonda had on the last day of school, I doubt that her parents are going to let her have another until it's her kid's tenth birthday. We've seen just about every movie that's out and if I have to knit another pair of booties with Olga for her baby, I'll scream." "I thought that you were excited about your sister having a baby." Phoebe asked her friend. Rolling her eyes, Helga said, "I was, until I found out that being excited included making a million pair of socks the kid is going to out grow in a month."
"What about the shopping, that couldn't have been all that difficult." Phoebe said logically. Groaning loudly, Helga threw herself down on the bed again. "Please don't remind me about that. From the way Olga was charging threw the stores, you'd think I was the one who was six months pregnant, not her. We went to seven stores. Seven! And we didn't even get everything. Phoebe, I'm telling you I had nightmares about stuffed teddy bears and baby clothes." Smiling Phoebe said, "Surely you won't still think that way Helga once all the pomp and circumstance is over and the baby is finally here." Sighing as she sat up, Helga said, "You're right Pheebs. Sorry about all this complaining, I don't know why I'm so crabby today. All I've been doing is complaining about not being able to do anything, when I didn't even ask you. Is there something that you want to do?" Helga always surprised Phoebe, even after all these years of knowing her. She knew that her friend loved and cared about her, she just didn't show it in the usual way. Still, sometimes, like now, Helga would surprise her with a random act of caring.
Shaking her head, Phoebe said, "Sorry Helga, but there isn't any activity that I can think of that I would currently want to pursue." Helga looked at the book in Phoebe's lap. "What about your book? If you want to finish it, I can go watch TV with Bob." Shaking her head again, Phoebe said, "No thank you Helga. I have already read it, and I was just refreshing my memory on the Roman empire. It is rather interesting, but I can do it when I get home." After making sure that her friend really didn't want to go back to her book, Helga rested her chin in her hand and stared off into space.
"What did we ever do when we were younger and it was summer vacation?" Helga asked more to herself than she did her friend. Thinking back, Phoebe had to admit that she couldn't really remember either. There always seemed to be one incident after another, so being bored was never a problem, even during long breaks from school. Trying to search her memory, she said, "I seem to recall that we spent an extravagant amount of time at the lot near Arnold's house. If my recollection is correct, we had a very good time there."
"Wow, I haven't thought about Gerald Field in forever. I remember when Arnold knocked me out cold with a ball. Thank God he finally learned how to play." They reminisced about Gerald Field for a few more minutes, until Helga stood and said, "You want to go over there now? See what else we can remember." After Phoebe agreed, they made their way down the stairs. Hearing them, Bob met them at the bottom.
"Are you two going out?" He asked them. Looking at Mr. Pataki, Phoebe still couldn't believe how much had changed between the man and his daughter. She could still remember how much it hurt her friend that her parents called her the wrong name half the time, and the other half had forgotten all about her. She knew that was a big reason why Helga had lashed out at everyone when they were younger, but now everything was different. Phoebe wasn't sure when it happened, or what really happened for that matter, but their relationship had completely reversed, they no longer compared her to Olga, and they were now a loving family. She had always disliked Mr. and Mrs. Pataki for the way that they treated her friend, but she saw how happy her friend was now, and she couldn't be any happy for the family.
"Yeah, Dad. We're just going down the field that we used to play in when we were younger." Nodding his head, Bob said, "Just don't stay out to late, it's supposed to get cold tonight." Leaning down, he kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Have fun." He added as Phoebe and Helga left the house. As they walked the few blacks to the field, they discussed what they could do that weekend and the gossip they had heard from their other friends. After getting to the field, they saw that a few mitts and a baseball were left there. Putting the mitts on, they tossed the ball to each. Neither one of them spoke, keeping to their own musings.
"Hey, Phoebe." Helga said breaking the silence. Tossing the ball back to her, Phoebe said, "Yes, Helga?" Catching the ball and throwing it back to her, Helga said, "How's the chocolate situation going?" Helga watched her friend think about the situation as she tossed the ball back and forth between her hands. She hadn't seen Arnold since the last day of school, and she was sure that the same went for Phoebe with Gerald. Since the conversation they had a few weeks ago, she had started to watch her friend closely when she was around Gerald. Anytime that she got around Gerald, it would always be the same; Gerald would try to start a conversation with her, Phoebe would hold her own until some girl would try to talk to Gerald, and she would get nervous, stutter out an excuse, and get away from him as fast as she could. Helga knew that even though Phoebe was one of the best people she knew, she was just to shy. At least when it came to Gerald anyway.
Tossing the ball back to her friend, Phoebe shrugged her shoulders. "The circumstances of the situation haven't altered since we discussed the issue. May I inquire about your ice cream situation?" Tossing the ball back to Phoebe, Helga had it tossed back to her before she answered. "The same as you. Even though pop rocks won't snap and crackle around ice cream any more, it's still hard keeping everything hidden I guess." Throwing the ball back to her friend, she heard Phoebe sigh as she caught it. "So many people want chocolate. It's practically impossible to get near it." Catching the ball after Phoebe threw it, Helga thought about her own situation. "It's not that too many people want ice cream, it's me not wanting to make a dork of myself when I'm around it. Since ice cream is better, more people want it, so it's even harder." She said the last as she tossed Phoebe the ball.
"I have to disagree with your statement, Helga. I believe that chocolate is the better treat. It has more appeal and looks better." Catching the ball that was tossed to her, Helga tossed it back. "You're entitled to your opinion, Pheebs, but I think that ice cream has more to offer, and it's more satisfying than chocolate." Phoebe caught the ball and threw it back, as she said, "You are correct about having your own opinion, but I beg to differ. When ice cream is compared to chocolate, it doesn't stand a chance." As Helga caught the ball, she wasn't sure if it was her own imagination, but it seemed as if Phoebe had throw the ball harder than she had before. Tossing it back with the same amount of force, Helga said, "Sorry Pheebs, but you're not right this time. Ice cream is better to have than chocolate."
"Everyone wants chocolate. Not everyone wants ice cream" Phoebe said defensively as she caught and threw the ball back to Helga. Helga was now sure that Phoebe was throwing the ball harder. She had thrown it even harder than her previous throw. Tossing it back as hard as her friend did, Helga said, "How can everyone want chocolate, when just about everyone's had chocolate?" She saw that Phoebe's face had started to turn red. "Ice cream is so plain, no one wants it for very long, that's the only reason why it is in the running with chocolate." Phoebe told her throwing the ball even harder.
Catching it, Helga shot back as she threw the ball, "Please, Phoebe. Chocolate has been passed around so many times, there's nothing else to it. Ever heard of the term, used goods?" Gasping, Phoebe said angrily, "Ice cream can't say that though. It's surprising that it's even gotten to anyone's lips before melting from heat and fright." As Helga caught the ball that Phoebe threw, she had to admit that she had quite an arm on her.
"At least everyone's lips haven't been on ice cream. I wouldn't be surprised if chocolate didn't have any taste left to it, considering how many hands and lips it's passed."
"Well, ice cream is so sugary sweet, it would give someone a toothache within minutes."
"I'd rather have a toothache, than a cold sore. Don't know who's lips been on chocolate. Chocolate probably doesn't even know." Helga shot back. every time the ball was thrown, it was thrown harder than before. Helga knew that Phoebe was wrong. Arnold was so much better than Gerald. There wasn't even any competition. She heard her friend yell back, "The only thing that can be around ice cream is strawberry syrup, and that's only because it's even sweeter than ice cream."
"Are you to arguing about ice cream and chocolate?" A voice from behind them asked. Gasping they turned to see Arnold and Gerald. Unfortunately, Helga and Phoebe turned right after Phoebe threw the ball, causing Helga not to pay attention, and the ball to go higher than Phoebe intended. The end result was Helga getting knocked in the temple of her head with the ball that Phoebe threw, which Helga was thankful it wasn't as hard as she could.
As Helga looked at the sky, she wished that the world would just open and engulf her. She couldn't believe that she argued with her best friend, and over boys no less. And then the boys in question both showed up to see and hear them argue. She thanked God that they didn't use their names. She came out of her thinking as she heard her name being called, and saw three concerned faces looking down at her.
"I'm so sorry Helga!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I didn't mean to hit you with the ball. It slipped when Arnold said something." Phoebe crouched down on one side of Helga, as Gerald went to the other, and Arnold held her head in his lap. Helga vaguely thought that she could stay there forever with no problem, as she said, "It's alright Phoebe. I have a hard head so I'm only seeing one of everyone, I can't make any promises about later though." Looking straight up, she met Arnold's concerned gaze. "You'd think that I would have learned to stay away from you if a baseball was anywhere around."
She saw that Arnold was confused, but heard Gerald laugh as she sat up. "Oh yeah. You did hit her pretty good when we were younger. She even lost her memory for a while." He said to Arnold as he helped Helga up. Helga was glad that Arnold didn't know that she faked the amnesia just to spend time with him. Looking over at Phoebe, she saw that her friend was still very worried. Touching the side of her head, she told her, "Don't worry Pheebs, I'm fine. I'll just have one heck of a bruise and a headache. Remember when you broke your leg and it was my fault? We're even now." She saw Arnold and Phoebe exchange a glance, and Phoebe go slightly red. She wondered what that meant, and she was going to make sure she found out.
"But she made you break your leg right after that." Gerald said. Rolling her eyes, she waved that away. "Who's keeping count? I'm fine. What are you two doing here?" "Well," Arnold said. "My house is right across the street. We were going to the store, then we saw you two and decided to say hello." Looking from Helga to Phoebe, he continued. "Were you two really arguing over ice cream and chocolate?" Trying not to turn red, Helga shrugged her shoulders. "It's a girl thing." Was all she said. As the four teenagers talked, Helga had to fight from rolling her eyes. Anytime Gerald tried to start a conversation with her, she would mumble or stutter a reply, making Gerald give up after awhile. She could tell from the frustrated look on Gerald's face that he felt something for her friend too. She had to do something.
Suddenly, she started to pat her pockets. "Oh no. I can't find my phone." She started to look around her, all the while knowing that her phone was in her front pocket. "Are you certain that when we departed from your house that you had it?" Phoebe asked her. "Positive." Helga said. "Remember I keep it incase something happens with Olga. I must have dropped it somewhere between my house and here." Turning to the boys, she asked, "Would you two mind helping me find my phone?"
"Sure, Helga. What color is it?" Rolling her eyes again, she said, "As if you need to ask. It's a light pink flip phone with a white stripe going across the top." After faking her search for the phone for a few minutes, she said to Phoebe, "How about me and Arnold go retrace my steps and you and Gerald search the field." Before anyone could argue with that statement, Helga dragged Arnold away from the field by his hand. Before turning the corner, she turned to Phoebe and said, "Hey Pheebs, after you're done, try to get that chocolate bar you've been wanting." Not waiting for a reply, she turned the corner and dragged Arnold down the street.
Phoebe was speechless at her friend's last statement. She had intentionally split them up this way so she would be alone with Gerald. She wasn't sure if she wanted to kill or kiss her friend. "So…" She heard Gerald say. "How about we look where you two were playing catch?" After she agree, they looked threw the grass. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Phoebe realized that most likely, Helga's phone was in her pocket where she always kept it. Sighing, she stopped searching. It was pointless to look for something that she knew wasn't there.
Hearing her sigh, Gerald looked at her. "Is something wrong?" He asked her. Shaking her head, she told him, "No, nothing's wrong, but I'm fairly certain that Helga dropped her phone on the way over here. If it was dropped here, we would have found it by now." After they stopped their search, they stood in an awkward silence as Phoebe look in every direction but him. Gerald wasn't sure if it was just him, or what, but he knew that Phoebe was always nervous when she got around him. He didn't know why, but that made it kind of hard to talk to someone you wanted to ask out on a date. "Uhh…" He said in an attempt to break the silence. "What made you decide to come to the field today? We haven't played ball here since before high school."
Finally looking at him, Phoebe said, "While we were at Helga's, we talked about what we used to do when we were younger in an effort to fight off boredom. Gerald Field was brought up, and we came here to see what else we could remember about it." Gerald was sure that that was the most she had said to him at one time since they started high school. Not wanting her to go to her revert back to her usual way, he kept the conversation going. "I remember when the adults tried to take it over. After we threw the trash bin here, they gave it back." As they talked about other things that they remembered about the time spent there, it gradually went to other subjects.
"I remember when Arnold threw a geeks only party when Rhonda barely invited anyone to the party she threw." Phoebe said. "I remember that party." Gerald said. "I remember having so much fun because I spent most of the night dancing with you." He watched her turn red and try to stammer out a reply. Knowing what was coming, he spoke before she got a chance. "I miss spending time with you. I know that when we were in middle school, we would talk all the time. Now we don't."
Phoebe looked at him for a second before she answered. "I also recall that we talked in middle school, but I believe that we no longer have the time to. You have your friends and I have mine. Even though most of them of the same people, you have your sports, and I have my academic associations. And between that and typical teenage life, it's not unusual that we don't talk as much as we used to." She watched him stare at her and blink a few times. Then he started to laugh. She didn't know what she did that was so funny, but it was precisely why she didn't talk to him much. She did something to embarrass herself in front of him. All she wanted to do was disappear and not show her face again for years.
Seeing her face of confusion and discomfort, Gerald said, "It wasn't any thing you said…Well it was but not how you think." When she just stared at him waiting to explain, he continued. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say something that didn't have at least a ten letter word in it. And you still manage to say things that can make a person's eyes cross" Slightly hurt, she said, "I didn't realize that my use of vocabulary was a problem to you." "No!" She heard Gerald say quickly. "It's not a problem at all. Actually, I like it. It shows that you're not just a pretty face and a empty head, like most girls at our school are."
Blushing at the compliment, she said, "Thank you Gerald. I also believe that you're not just a handsome face as some individuals like to believe." Phoebe was shocked that she was actually able to have a long conversation with Gerald as not to want escape. She would make sure that she thanked Helga for her phone ploy.
"Hey Phoebe," She heard Gerald say. "Yes, Gerald?" She asked. "I don't really know how to say this, so I'll just blurt it out. Would you like to go to the movies with me this weekend?" Phoebe's whole body completely froze. Gerald, one of the most popular boys in school, actually wanted to go out with her, Phoebe, one of the most geekiest girls in the school? Not that she hadn't wanted him to ask her that very question more times than she cared to admit, it still was a shock when he did. Taking her quietness as a rejection, Gerald started mumble an excuse. "It's alright if you don't want to. I understand if you have something else to do. I guess I'll see you around."
Catching his arm as he turned away, she said, "You didn't give me a chance to answer." He turned completely around and looked at her, waiting for it. "Would it be o.k. if I did something out of character instead of answering you verbally?" Gerald arched a brow at her, but nodded his head. Taking a big breathe, she stepped in front of him and leaned up as she pulled his head down to meet her lips. She felt him freeze for a moment then return the kiss. She wouldn't be able to say for the life of her how long it lasted. But she knew that it was the best experience in her life.
Pulling away from the kiss, Gerald looked down at her and said, "You know if you didn't want to go out with me, all you had to do was say so." Looking him straight in the eye, Phoebe said, "If all I wanted was to accept or reject your offer, I wouldn't have kissed you." He smiled. "Why Phoebe, is that a proposal I hear?" Shrugging he shoulder she said, "Maybe it is." Smiling even wider, he said, "Phoebe would you like to be my girlfriend?" Instead of answering him, she pulled him into another kiss.
At the front of the vacant lot, Helga watched her friend kiss her long time love. "Wow, Phoebe. I told you to get the candy bar, not devour it." She was so glad that her plan had worked. After pretending to search for her phone with Arnold, she told him to head in the opposite direction of the lot, while she backtracked to the lot. She wasn't able to hear what was being said, but from seeing her friend starting the kiss on both occasions, she could tell that Phoebe had finally gotten her chocolate.
"Helga, there you are. I've been looking all over for you." Arnold's voice sounded from behind her. "Did you find your phone?" He asked her. Pulling it from her pocket she showed it to him. "I never lost it. It was with me the whole time." She watched his face go from confusion, to annoyance. "Then why did you have us all on this wild goose-" She cut him off. "Can it football head." Stepping back from her spying, she said, "I had good reason to lie." Folding his arms over his chest, he said, "And what's the 'good reason?'" She pointed around the corner to the field. "Look."
When Arnold looked around the corner, he got a big smile on his face. "It's about time he finally did something. He's been mooning over Phoebe since the beginning of junior year." Shaking her head, Helga said, "I don't know. It looks like Phoebe finally did something." After explaining what she saw, Arnold gave a quick glance back at the new couple. "They're still at it." He said. Shaking his head and smiling again, he turned to Helga. "Since it doesn't look like they're coming up for air anytime soon, how about I walk you to you're house." Faking a curtsy, Helga fought the butterflies in her stomach as she said, "I would love that kind sir. Lead the way."
isnt that sweet? well of course i would think so b/c i wrote it. i no that phoebe is ooc, but when it cums 2 love everyone is. i no that there was a lot of things that i wanted to put about the story, but i can't think of anything right now. oh well. i hope that who ever reads this likes it. but if you dont, that's ok 2. and if anyone has any suggestions on how to make my writing better, i will gladly accept it. ok i'm done talking. please press the purplish button and tell me what you think.
kialajaray