Graduation

Chapter Four:

The Morning After

Beep-beep, beep-beep! The moment the chime rang, Helga smacked it. She smiled as the warm sunlight flowed over her whole body. She loved her dreams. She loved when Arnold was in them. Helga turned on her side and opened her eyes. Her gaze fell on the gorgeous green gown lying bunched up on the floor. The memory of last night hit her bluntly, and a certain panic filled her chest. A mistake, she kept muttering to herself….

"AHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


"Uh, hello, earth to Arnold?" Gerald said, waving his hands dramatically in front of his friend's face. Arnold snapped from his trance, looking dazed.

"What?" he said. Gerald rolled his eyes.

"Man, you are still thinking about it?" he stated. Arnold heaved a heavy sigh.

"Ha…you know what…criticize me when you make-out with a girl that used to compare you're head to a piece of equipment people kick," he retorted. Gerald chuckled.

"Yeah…that is bad," he said. Arnold scowled and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The two of them turned the street corner to the high school, where many students were already gathered outside. Gerald suddenly stopped.

"I'm gonna go now, man…" he said. He dashed through the doors of the school, leaving Arnold completely confused.

"What?" He looked up. Helga and Phoebe were approaching the school. Phoebe ran off as well, leaving Helga confused like Arnold. But when she spotted Arnold, her eyes instantly dropped to her feet. The pair met in the middle of the walkway in front of the high school.

"Hi," Arnold said breathlessly. Helga tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear self-consciously.

"Hi," she said. The two of them started walking into the school.

"Um…how 'bout that prom…that was umm…interesting," Arnold said. Helga's cheeks grew crimson. She pressed her lips together firmly to keep from commenting the way she wanted to.

"Yeah," she said.

"Yup…" Arnold rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. The two of them walked in silence down the busy hallways, each trying to think of something to say.

"You…" they both began at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

"You first," Helga said.

"Um…okay," Arnold said, "I'm sorry about that whole thing last night. I guess it was just a little…"

"Weird?" Helga finished, shoving back her disappointment fiercely. She had known this would be the outcome. Just her luck, right?

"Yeah, exactly, I mean, we're finally friends. I wouldn't want to jeopardize that for anything," she forced herself to say. Arnold nodded, though he was surprised by the odd burning in his heart with that comment.

"I agree completely," he said.

"So, it's settled, we're good, right?" Arnold breathed in slowly.


"Yeah, we're good," he finally replied. Helga smiled slightly, stuffed her fists into the pockets of her jeans, and walked away. She turned the corner quickly and ran into a random classroom. Checking to see if it was empty, she leaned up against the wall, breathing in deeply and closing her eyes.

"You will not cry, Helga G. Pataki," she said out loud as salty tears stung the corners of her eyes. She clung to the wall behind her and sunk down. One lone tear fell.

"Don't cry," she whispered.

As Arnold watched Helga walk away, a hollowness filled the pit of his stomach. Was it really supposed to be that easy? Was what he felt the night before just some idle fantasy of Helga? Or was there something else to the story, something gnawing at the very depths of his soul, screaming and telling him of his mistake? Was he supposed to just leave it as it was? Something in him told him no.

A/N: I'm sorry it's so short and that it took so long for me to write. I guess shortness is better than nothing at all.