The Pink Ribbon that He Untied
a Hey Arnold fanfic by Pyrex Shards
A/N: I am continuing this story due to popular demand. Enjoy!
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"If you ever get close to a human
And human behavior
Be ready, be ready to get confused
There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic
To human behavior
But yet so, yet so irresistible
And there's no map
to human behavior"
- Björk "Human Behavior"
Arnold sat in the bus on his way to school. It was the Monday after the dance and he felt fortunate that the bus started its route near Sunset Arms. He had a few moments of blissful peace before other classmates who shared the bus route came on. The weekend offered him no solace at the boarding house because it was hectic there. The roof of sunset arms was under repair and his room was noisy as hell. He wished the weekend would have been better. Well, absent of the noise from the machinery on the roof, there was a huge bright spot that he'd never forget.
For the first day ever in his life, he had spent a Saturday, nearly an entire day, with Helga. She'd actually dropped in unannounced, at around nine in the morning while he fought with Oscar Kokoshka over rent. It wasn't much of a fight. Helga watched, amused, while Oscar tried to come up with every single excuse in the book for why he didn't have the rent money (horse racing) and that he'd have Susie pay the rent (skirting responsibility) when she came back from a weekend (away from Oscar) with her friends in Colorado (one friend, younger man, affair).
Arnold had chores to do, but Helga helped him without complaint and without being asked. She wasn't the same old Helga from school. The one he had known since preschool. She still teased him and called him a "Football Head." But then she'd laugh as he'd frown at her and she'd place a hand on his shoulder. Then she would tell him any variant of "Criminey Arnoldo, I'm only teasing you, lighten up!"
She'd actually wore her hair out like the the night before after he cut up her ribbon. Arnold could tell that Helga enjoyed every minute of her time with him. Her smiles were infectious. It was like he was looking at an entirely different person. Helga acted like someone who had lost some sort of shackle; someone who had broken out of a prison and was enjoying freedom for the first time.
As the first few students came on the bus, he wondered if the Helga he said goodbye to Saturday night in the park, the one who apologized for beating the crap out of him then pressed her surprisingly soft lips against his bruised chin, would be the same Helga that would get on the bus after the next few stops. Would she sit by him? How would her hair look? More importantly, over the Sunday that he hadn't seen her due to a day trip that her parents forced her to go on, would her walls that he had helped her shatter be built back up.
He thought back to Friday night. They had but sixteen minutes after they walked back onto the dance floor. Within those sixteen minutes not one person in their entire class realized who it was he danced awkwardly with. Eugene and Sheena even mistook Helga for a girl named Gloria. Arnold thought back to the goofy smile that stayed plastered to her face the entire time as she silently danced with him under the disco ball and the black-lighting. He reasoned that she was living a private little dream and it made him smile. He had done something nice for Helga and she had enjoyed it instead of shoving it back into his face.
The bus stopped and the door opened to let students and other passengers board. He looked up to see a tall African-American boy among them, with some of the tallest hair he had ever seen. His grin faded as he realized there was one simple fact he forgot on the way to Helga's bus stop... Gerald got on the bus before Helga.
Gerald and Helga hated each other. This was going to be an interesting bus ride...
"Hey Arnold." Gerald said happily and they performed their secret handshake, he then stood there waiting for Arnold to scoot over in the seat. Arnold did no such thing. "What gives?"
"Not today Gerald." Arnold shook his head softly. "My girlfriend will be sitting with me."
Gerald looked at Arnold incredulously, smiling. "Oh. Since when did you get a girlfriend?"
"Friday night at the dance." He smiled.
"Anybody I know?"
The question gave Arnold pause. It was now or never with Gerald. He could hold out for only so long before Gerald found out just whom he had claimed as his girl. "Helga Pataki."
The bus started moving. Gerald immediately sat down in the empty seat behind Arnold and leaned forward. "Mind saying that again? I don't think I heard you right buddy."
Arnold turned slightly to look behind his seat at his best friend. "Helga Pataki is my girlfriend."
"That's what I thought I heard. Do you realize what you just said?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm wide awake Gerald. You heard me right."
"Why?"
"It's... Complicated."
"Try me."
Arnold looked away from Gerald for a moment. What would he say? How much should he give away to Gerald? He realized that while in this situation Gerald would at least understand, this was still Helga Pataki he was talking about. That Gerald didn't like Helga was a known fact to everyone in his class. So, best give a summary, light on details, be conservative about facts. "Well. Friday night I confronted her in the hallway of the school about why she's been a bully to me all this time. We got into a pretty bad argument and she ended up pummeling me."
"That's for sure. Your chin is a nice shade of purple right now."
"She throws a mean punch." Arnold put his finger to his chin, wincing slightly at the dull pain that still greeted him when he touched it. He remembered vividly the blurry fist that caused it. "But after we stopped fighting, we started talking. It turns out that she likes me Gerald. I know it sounds cliché, like Grandpa always told me she picked on me because she liked me. But she really does like me. She admitted it. So we talked about it. I asked her to be my girl. She agreed"
"You? Asked her? Are you sure she didn't hypnotize you?"
"Is it so hard to believe that maybe she has this other side to her? And that other side may be likable?"
Gerald shook his head, still in disbelief. "You just told me that Helga. Helga Paa, taa, kee, is your girlfriend. Are you sure your brain isn't fried?"
"We had a breakthrough Friday night. There's more to her than meets the eye."
Gerald snickered. "Or the chin." Arnold glared at his friend, and Gerald held up his hands in mock defeat. "I'm sorry Buddy. It's just that it's hard to believe because she's only been your personal bully and tormentor since forever."
"What about before that?" Arnold adjusted the leg that he was sitting on and leaned around the seat a little more. "What was she before then?"
"Just a stranger." Gerald said matter-of-factly. "You remember how she'd sit at the corner of the table, she'd never talk to anyone. And the first time anyone, you, tries to get her to open up she turns out to be a prime-cut, grade-a, USDA choice, asshole. She's been like that ever since. I dare you tell me that she only did that to you because she likes you." Gerald finished by pointing at Arnold's chin.
Arnold focused on Gerald's hand for a second, then shook his head. "Like I said, its very complicated. And after what she told me on Friday night I felt, concerned, about her wellbeing enough to take action. I asked her out because I thought it was the right thing to do."
"Helping little old ladies cross a busy intersection is a nice thing to do. Asking Helga Pataki to be your girlfriend is being gullible." Gerald crossed his arms and sat back. "I, for one, think she's playing a joke on you."
Arnold laughed. "A joke? Why would she do that?"
"Fourth Grade? April fools day?"
Arnold mouthed a few words in response, trying to think about Gerald's chain of logic in relation to his new perception about Helga. The bus stopped. His mental count of the stops told him exactly where they were. "This is her stop. Please be nice to her Gerald." Arnold pleaded. " I think you'll like the new Helga."
"Sure buddy. I'll try, but I make no guarantees. If she starts talking about the hair, then all bets are off."
Arnold smiled slightly then turned around. His face, and his bruise, brightened as Helga walked on to the bus and started approaching him. He stared intently at her. She had another ribbon tying her hair into her trademark pigtails. The bow sat atop her head, lighter pink this time but still larger than life. The ribbon she wore had a shinier, coarser fabric. Arnold didn't mind the ribbon as long as Helga sat with him. He enjoyed Saturday. He really did. He wanted to enjoy Monday as well, and the day after that, and all the other days of the week. His bully was now his girlfriend. Imagine that. The pressure would be off.
But as soon as Arnold caught Helga's eyes, she stopped in her tracks. He could actually see some fear overcome her progression through the aisle. She hesitated. Helga looked quickly around her for empty seats and then sat down in one. "On second thought," Arnold said loud enough for Gerald to hear, "sure Gerald, sit with me." Gerald moved one seat up to sit back down beside Arnold who had scooted over to the window. Arnold thought he had broken through to Helga. Seriously thought that wall was gone.
He focused on the pink ribbon sitting atop her head from several rows in front of them. Helga's shell had many facets, he realized, and it had in fact grown back into a new shape. He frowned.
"Well?" Gerald asked.
"I..." Arnold sighed. "Later... Gerald."
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"Stop it Helga." Arnold turned around.
"What?" Helga hissed at him from her seat immediately behind him.
He turned back to face the front of the classroom, frustrated, annoyed, and slightly angry. His chair moved as Helga kicked it, again, for the twenty-seventh time.
They had the same US history class together. It was a boring class. The teacher, one Mr. Shoatz, just droned on and on in his lectures. Unlike Ben Stein, the gray, balding, bespectacled Mr. Shoatz felt it necessary to put enthusiasm into his ramblings. For some unexplainable reason he'd write one sentence out on the board, and continue to press the chalk to the board as he started his excited lecturing.
Today the sentence was "City life during the great depression."
Arnold would admit to being interested in that particular moment of US history, because one of his favorite music genres, Jazz, had its roots in the same time period. If he could just concentrate enough on what their teacher was saying.
His chair lurched again and he groaned in frustration. He put a hand on his forehead.
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Arnold wasn't happy as he approached Helga. She had bullied him throughout the day like nothing changed between them. Like Friday and Saturday had never happened. His mood had deteriorated until he was livid enough to confront Helga in front of her locker after the last class. He didn't say anything as he stepped beside her and stopped. Helga, sensing a presence, shut her locker then turned around to face Arnold with her hands on her hips. She scowled at him. "What do you want hair boy?"
The boy reached out, grabbed her arm, and then started tugging. "Not here."
Helga drew in a sharp breath then threw his hand off of her arm. "Let go of the goods. Or do you want a purple cheek to go with that chin."
Arnold glared at Helga. She seemed to sense his anger as she stood there sizing him up. She simply smirked. "After you, football head."
Arnold shook his head sadly as they rounded one corner into a slightly less crowded hallway. There were a group of eighth-graders in front of them, but they were too busy talking amongst themselves to see Arnold open the door to an empty classroom and then enter it while Helga followed closely behind.
Once they were inside, Arnold shut the door and turned to scold Helga. "What the heck is going..." He expected to see her angry, he expected to see her threaten him with a fist and yell choose your words carefully, bucko. He didn't expect what actually happened. Helga, light pink ribbon, blonde pigtails, the bully image that he was accustomed to, leaned down slightly and put her hands on his cheeks to tilt his face up, then dipped her head down to kiss the bruise on his chin.
Something within Arnold's brain switched gears at her abrupt kiss. His angry thoughts vanished amid the way she carefully pressed her lips to his chin, and then rested there for a few moments. The bruise flared up, but through the dull pain he could feel the tenderness at which Helga cupped his face in her hands, the way her lips seemed to pull away the ache and replace it with a soft, living cushion of warmth.
He wondered, since Helga's lips were so close to his, if he should attempt to kiss her. It wouldn't necessarily be inappropriate because she was his girlfriend now, even though he felt it hard to believe since she had treated him like crap the entire day. But he wondered all the same. He wondered what it would be like to kiss Helga in a real, pressing, tasting, feeling, French kiss. Not like the one the Friday before where he simply brushed his lips against hers.
Kisses between them had happened before, but he had never instigated one like she had. One thought dashed the entire idea. He still had no clue how he really felt about Helga. He indeed felt more concern for Helga than he did for most people. That crush that he felt lightly teasing his heart was there again, like all the other times they got along. That same pressure on his heart seemed stronger. But, he still wasn't in love with her. He meant every single word that he had said to her in that hallway Friday night. He owed much of his own philosophy to that brief day where she was indeed his world, years ago in preschool.
It still tore him up inside that he failed her. Or had he? He didn't think so now. Not after the dance. He had never really given up on her. He had the bruises to prove it.
Even now, Arnold was trying to help her. Being her boyfriend was just another attempt. Not out of pity. No... That wasn't quite right. He had lied to her when she accused him of such. He did feel pity for Helga. Every day of his life he felt pity for her. Was it only the bully he pitied, absent of the tortured little girl that, after seeing her at the dance, he felt some undeniable feeling to protect? But what of pity? It wasn't all bad if one denied the feelings of contempt that it evoked. Oh god she was so confusing!
Helga pulled back from his face, her hands still cupping his cheeks. "I'm still sorry for the bruises Arnoldo. I can't apologize enough."
Arnold had to grin a little as he then realized what he didn't see before. He had Helga alone. They were the only two people party to this little moment between them. The Helga he saw in the classroom, kicking the back of his chair, and the girl standing before him at this moment, were almost like two distinct facets to a piece of rose quartz crystal. The side he was seeing now looked beautiful in his eyes, in contrast to the other side that anchored that crystal to the cave wall, jagged and jaded.
"I've forgiven you for the bruises. But, what happened on the bus this morning? I don't understand. I was saving a seat for you. Also, why are you still picking on me?"
Helga lowered her hands from Arnold's face. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm just not ready yet. If everyone sees us together, they might, I just can't..."
"There's nothing wrong with us sitting together on the bus." Arnold stated.
"There's everything wrong with us sitting together. It just wouldn't work. What would they think of us?"
Arnold smiled and grabbed one of her hands. He brought her hand up and laced it with his, while cupping it with his other palm. "Let them see us..." He smiled at her, into the deep blue eyes of a winged creature that he felt just needed a little nudge out of her comfortable nest in order to truly fly. "What happened to all that progress we made over the weekend."
Helga hushed her voice and leaned in "We made progress. Criminey Arnoldo. Look at me. I'm just not ready for everyone to know how I truly feel about you."
"But I want to tell other people that you're my girlfriend." Helga nearly groaned in protest but Arnold squeezed her hand. "They should know. It would help you so much."
"This is such a bad idea football head. I can't do this." She shook her head emphatically and pulled her hand away she walked towards the door and opened it. "People will laugh at us."
Arnold followed her out the door. "Let them laugh at us. We're here for each other. Neither of us is alone. If someone laughs, we'll both pity their ignorance."
Helga looked around the empty Hallway, then turned to face Arnold. "But everyone hates me. I'm not too fond of them myself either Arnoldo." She said in a hushed voice.
"Okay, let's start small then. Let's start with Gerald. Think for a minute about the way you treat him."
Helga simply lowered her head.
Arnold put a hand on her shoulder. "Do this, call him Gerald. Don't call him Geraldo. Don't call him Tall-Hair-Boy, and for the love of god don't."
"Don't what..." Gerald trailed off as he walked around the corner. His smile faded at the sight before him.
Upon seeing Gerald, Helga stiffened up in a panic, her face curled back into an angry scowl and she walked away from Arnold, letting his hand fall off of her shoulder. She then knocked the breath out of Gerald as she pushed her way through him while saying sharply "out of my way geek bait."
Gerald turned around angrily and yelled. "I don't know what kind of crap you're pulling on my best friend, Pataki, but I'm on to you!"
Helga raised her hand up in an obscene gesture as she stormed away.
Gerald looked back at Arnold. Defeated, Arnold closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "Don't flip him off." He whispered.
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Author's Corner
I wanted to have this chapter pounded out and uploaded sooner, but the words would only flow in annoyingly short writing sessions where I felt if I didn't stand up from my computer I'd start banging my head against the desk. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but did the words come? Oh noooo! Those pesky words had to stay in the back of my mind, taunting me. TAUNTING ME I TELLS YA!
Oh well. Chapter 3 is out like I said it wouldn't (^_^). Now I shall begin the week long ritual all over again with chapter 4.
I hope to have chapter 4 out before next Saturday.
Questions! Comments! Reviews! Hit me with all you have!