Hello again!
I'm glad you guys enjoyed Gerald's chapter! And I got some good feedback on it, so thank you so much!
I'm also glad, that you guys have been sticking around, because this next chapter is going to be HUGE in terms of content. (:
A lot of things are starting to happen that you have been waiting for, and the ball is starting to get rolling between Arnold & Helga. 3
As always, I hope you enjoy, and lemme know what you think!
Arnold was putting the rest of his books in his locker, Gerald waiting for him. "So, you have any plans tonight?" Gerald asked as Arnold shut his locker. "Not really," Arnold said, shaking his head. "Wanna hang out?" Gerald smiled while giving Arnold a thumbs up. "You read my mind, man." Gerald replied as Arnold smiled, following Gerald through the hall the lead to the front doors of the high school.
Arnold couldn't believe how much better he felt now that he had talked to Gerald. It was bad enough that he was fighting with Helga ever since he got back from San Lorenzo, but fighting with his best friend as well was more than he could bare. They made it to the end of the block, just a few streets over from Gerald's house when they heard someone running up behind them. "Gerald! Arnold!" Phoebe panted, resting herself against Gerald as she tried to catch her breath. "What's up, Pheb's? Are you okay?" Gerald asked, a strong look of concern taking over his face. Phoebe nodded, still trying to catch her breath before continuing. "It's just . . .I talked to Helga today, and she said . . .that she wants to talk to Arnold . . .but she wants to get it over with today." Arnold started at her, wide eyed. Now Helga wants to talk? He thought to himself, almost hesitant to believe what Phoebe was saying.
Phoebe continued to catch her breath, as Gerald looked over at Arnold. Arnold shrugged, not knowing how to reply. Of course he wanted to talk to Helga, but he knew that wasn't what it was going to be. It was going to be a full on war; Helga using her words as weapons as she hid behind the walls she built to protect herself. Or, Arnold thought to himself, she'll avoid me and try to get as far away from me as possible. Arnold sighed, tossing both of these realities back and forth in his mind. Phoebe was the first to speak again. "She said she would meet you at the park, at the bridge crossing the river . . .after school. I tried to find you as soon as she told me, but you guys had already left. I hope she is still there . . ." Arnold rubbed the back of his head, not really making eye contact with either Gerald or Phoebe.
He knew the right thing to do.
"Well, I'm gonna go talk to her. You don't mind, do you Gerald?" Gerald shook his head, a half smile creeping up on his face. "Nah man, you do what you gotta do." Arnold tried his best to smile back. Gerald held his thumb out, giving Arnold their handshake. Arnold turned around to leave as he waved, making his way to the park downtown.
Arnold put his hands in his pockets, looking up at the blue sky. He didn't know how to prepare himself. Was Helga going to be mean and defensive, or hurt and distant? He sighed, looking back down at the sidewalk. He couldn't believe how quickly things could change. While he was back in San Lorenzo he would have given anything to see Helga, to talk to her, to hold her . . .all it took was one day, an awkward yet hurtful conversation, and one huge blow-out to take all the joy out of seeing Helga.
Speaking of blow-outs, Arnold sighed as he remembered the night he and Helga continued to fight even after Gerald and Phoebe went back into the theater.
"Now look what you did, football head! You ticked off our friends to the point where they don't even wanna be with us anymore!" Helga walked over to Arnold, pointing her finger in his face.
"Helga, you're the one who is acting ridiculous! You haven't let me explain anything since I've been back! All you've done is try to run from me or scream at me, when if you would just let me explain-" Arnold tried to brush her finger away from him, but this just made Helga even angrier.
"Explain what Arnold? What are you going to tell me that I don't already know? That you straight up left me to go be with your parents, even after you knew how I felt about you, to just write me letters and then one day just forget about me?!" Arnold could see the tears forming out of the corner of her eyes. Were they about to make a break through?
"That's not what happened Helga! This is what I'm talking about! You won't even listen to what I have to say!" Arnold placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her.
"Then spit it out, football head! Go! What excuse could you have that would suddenly make me want to forgive you?" Helga let Arnold leave his hands on her shoulders, but she looked down at the ground, avoiding his gaze.
"I wrote you a letter Helga, I did. I don't have the physical letter to show you, but I did. I wrote you . . .to tell you, that . . . um-" Arnold found himself losing his words, all of his emotions getting caught in his throat again.
"That what? You hate me? You just couldn't stand to see me happy, so you were over it?" Arnold could her Helga's voice breaking, just like his heart.
How many times were they going to do this?
"To tell you I love you, Helga! That I couldn't wait to be with you when I got home to graduate! That you're the only one I wanted to wait for! Did you even give me the benefit of the doubt once while I was away? Have I ever been bad to you Helga…?"
"…Am I really supposed to believe that crap, Arnold? Of course that's what you would say, to make me believe you. Why can't you just admit you don't want me anymore? Can't you just make this easier for me?"
Arnold opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Arnold, just stop. Please. Just go . . ." Helga gently pushed his hands off her shoulders.
"Helga, why?" It was his last desperate attempt to get her to understand.
She just shook her head, wiping her eyes as she walked as fast as she could down the sidewalk, away from Arnold.
Arnold started to get lost in his thoughts, all of them starting to tangle together and weave a giant web inside of his mind. All he wanted to do was to tell Helga what he thought really happened. To look her in the face, and tell her how much he had missed her while he was away. How much he thought about her, and how torn he was between staying with his parents and coming home to be with her. He needed her to know how hurt he was when he thought that she was forgetting about him. And he needed Helga to know that he really did write her that letter, no matter how much she wanted to not believe him. And when he had the perfect opportunity to tell her how he felt, his emotions always caught in his throat. But even after his giant confession, after he had the chance to seize his opportunity to make her see, Helga still refused to believe what he had to say. Arnold knew that Helga was a very different person from him, and gaining her trust was not an easy thing to do. He knew Helga had trapped herself behind this tough and angry façade so she could keep herself from getting hurt again. Maybe if I just get her to start trusting me again slowly, I can get behind those walls again-
His thoughts were cut short as he turned a corner, running into someone so hard that they both bounced backwards from their collision. "Ouch! Oh I am ever so sorry! " Arnold rubbed his eyes, not believing who he just ran into. "Lila?!" After Lila started to recover from their collision, she smiled widely, as if she was also unable to believe the circumstance. "Oh my! Well hello Arnold, I didn't know you were back!" She flung herself to him, hugging him tightly. Arnold returned the hug but pulled away quickly. "Yeah, I just got back. Where have you been? It's really been too long." Lila smiled as Arnold looked at her. He always thought Lila was pretty, and puberty was definitely kind to her. Her long red hair was twisted into a side braid. Her skin was still pale, but her freckles accented her face, drawing his attention to her piercing green eyes.
Even still, in her increased beauty, Arnold realized he still only had feelings for Helga . . .
"Arnold? Hello? I'm ever so certain you should go to the hospital Arnold, I think I hit your head a little too hard." Arnold shook his head. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear Lila talking to him. "S-Sorry Lila, that was rude. It's just been a long time, you know? I haven't seen you in so long." Lila gave him a half lidded smile, almost making Arnold uncomfortable. "Oh, you are ever so right Arnold. It has been too long . . .like I was saying, I ended up going to a different High School in the city. My dad got a new job, so I was zoned out of Hillwood High. I still see Rhonda on the weekends, though. And I would like it ever so much if you would catch up with me sometime . . ." Arnold swallowed. "Uh, sure Lila. I would like to catch up with you sometime. I was on my way to meet someone though . . .maybe I'll see you later?" Lila nodded, sneaking in one more hug. "Sure Arnold, I'm ever so certain I'll see you around." She waved at him, and Arnold could have sworn he saw her blushing as she made her way around the corner and disappearing from view.
Arnold sighed as he processed what just happened. Really? I got nothing out of her in grade school, but I leave for six years and now she's interested? Arnold shook his head. He looked at his watch, his eyes opening wide in surprise. "It's almost been an hour since school's been out! I really hope she's still waiting for me . . ." He decided to run the rest of the way to the park; he was only a couple blocks away.
He ran through the entrance to the park, suddenly a bad feeling panging his chest. The last time he was here, Helga had ripped his heart in half. He fought through it, wanting to be more determined when he spoke to Helga this time. He kept running, the bridge starting to come into his view. As he got closer he slowed down, turning his head to look for Helga. At first he didn't see her and he felt his heart do a complete flip. Did she leave? He thought to himself as he stopped in the middle of the bridge. He almost started to assume the worst when he heard her. "Geez football head, could you have taken any longer? I don't have all day you know!" Arnold turned to the direction of her voice. She was sitting on a bench not too far away from the bridge, sitting with her legs crossed and her arms folded. Arnold took a deep breath before approaching her, Why can't I spend my time thinking about what I'm gonna say before I get here?
He sat down next to Helga on the farther end of the bench. He decided to just jump right in before his emotions or the awkwardness could take over. "Look Helga, I know you're mad and I know you're hurt. So I'm only gonna talk to you about last night. Is that okay?" Helga looked over at him, scoffing as she turned. "What do you think, hair boy? I wouldn't have bothered to come here if I wanted to talk about anything else." She snapped, her eyes still glaring at him. Arnold looked away as he crossed his arms, not really sure how to say it without just saying it. "I know you don't wanna talk to me Helga. I know you think that I'm fooled by your anger, and that you think you can push me away. But we both know you're wrong." Arnold paused, not wanting to push her too far. Helga didn't say anything. She slowly started to look over at him, relaxing her posture and bringing her arms closer to her lap. Arnold smiled softly at her, then he continued. "I'm sorry about last night, Helga. I didn't mean to get angry, or hurt you any more. I was just getting so frustrated with you not wanting to talk to me, or be around me, and then you just show up to hang out with Phoebe. I guess I was just confused." Arnold paused again, waiting to see if Helga would say anything. She didn't. "And telling you right then what I thought happened between our letters wasn't the best time . . .I was just so frustrated that you wouldn't let me talk. I'll wait until you're ready to talk about what happened with our letters. Just like I waited for you to open up to me, like I waited for you to show the kindness that I knew you've always had, and like I waited for you while I was in San Lorenzo . . ." Arnold knew he was hitting too close to home with her; he could see her eyes watering over. Yet she continued to stay quiet. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I was sorry. For anything and everything I've ever done to hurt you. And that I hope we can deal with this issue in our own time, but in the process, reconcile in some way so we can both be around our best friends without killing each other."
Helga stood up, sighing heavily. She walked over to stand in front of Arnold. "Fine Arnold. I can be cordial. I want to be friends with Phoebe just as much as you want to be friends with Geraldo. But just remember, I still don't believe your crap story about your letter . . ." She paused for a moment, obviously thinking about what Arnold had told her. "I mean . . .you really hurt me, Arnold. I just-" She shook her head. Arnold didn't dare say anything; this was the most she had spoke about their letters since Arnold had been back, finally letting down her walls for a moment.
"I just don't know what to believe Arnold, and I'm done talking about it . . . I'm only doing this for Phoebe. "Helga held out her hand, Arnold taking her hand to shake it. But even after they were done shaking, he didn't let her hand go. He stared into her eyes, his mouth starting to move before he could stop it. "Helga, I . . . thought that, that you-"
Helga broke her eye contact with him, pulling her hand away from him. "Don't think you're getting away with anything, Arnoldo! I'm only putting up with you because Phoebe is my best friend, and I'm not gonna let you take her away from me as well. Got that?" She pointed her finger at Arnold, pushing it into Arnold's chest. "And unless we're with Phoebe and Gerald, I want you to stay away from me!" Helga pulled her hand away and started to walk in the direction of her house, out of the park.
Arnold let her go, watching her turn the corner and disappear behind the wall. He finally got up and started to walk back toward the boarding house, sighing. "I thought you were the one who forgot about me Helga."
Arnold didn't know how else to make Helga believe him without the letter in front of her, but at least he was finally able to tell her the truth, that he did write her and that he didn't forget about her. He would just have to start regaining Helga's trust, even if the letter was never found.