"Stop looking at me that way football head…"

Arnold had been doing a lot of thinking in class that day, since Helga's fascade made more sense than before, and had figured out a couple of things- now looking to verify his conclusions about her.

"So it was a pet-name all this time?"

Helga looked across the table glaring at Arnold, and then looked back down at her ice cream. She insisted she wasn't hungry, but he knew her favorite ice cream (thanks to an April Fools joke). They Paid and sat down by the window shop front.

"I like it." Arnold was actually trying to have a real conversation and understand her more. Even though he now knew her secret, there was so much more he didn't know about her- but he definitely wanted to know her better now.

"Huh?" Helga had been completely cut off guard.

"I said I like it. Now that I know why you were mean to me, it just seems cute. Now that I know… its like I understand you a lot better. And I honestly think its cute Helga. Will you please talk to me? I'd rather have a conversation with you for once, instead of an argument."

Helga was blushing. She had never meant for 'Football Head' to become a pet name, but now thinking about it- it was. But that thought didn't console the blush on her face. He actually wants to have a conversation with me?... "Why would you WANT to have a conversation with me? Do you recall the way I've treated you at all?"

"Yes I do, Helga. And I just want to know why you treated me that way instead of just telling me? What made you be mean to me? Why was it so hard to just tell me you like me? I can understand you wanted to hide it, but why?" Arnold knew he might be pushing it, but his curiosity was eating at him all day. He didn't want to understand her; He NEEDED to understand her.

"Foot- Arnold…Criminey! I never even meant to be mean to you… Okay? It was an accident."

"An accident? How?"

"Do you even remember meeting me?" Helga asked timidly. It wasn't like he would remember something so simple, no matter how special it was to her.

"Yeah. You were about to cry, and it was raining. But even though you were covered in mud I thought you were pretty."

Now Helga was on cloud nine. HE REMEMBERS! OH THANK THE STARS MY FLAUXEN HAIRED ANGEL REMEMBERS! Helga cleared her throat and masked her face quickly from her look of shock, then ecstasy just seconds earlier, and settled for blushing and wishing the blush would go away while staring at her ice cream. "You remembered…" CRIMINEY! STOP SPEAKING BEFORE I TELL YOU TO!

"Of course I remember, Helga. I also remember you throwing my paint on Harold later that day. He was working on a picture and you came storming by him. You said something along the lines of 'get to painting before I make you wear it!'. After that you came up to me and we painted. Gerald came up to me, shouted something and you got mad, grabbed my paint and threw it on me, then yelled something. I don't remember what was said, but you were really upset. I was actually afraid cause a few moments ago we were friends, then we weren't. I just don't remember what Gerald said to upset you."

"Oh, you remember that too…" Helga, still looking at her ice cream, suddenly didn't want to be here, thinking about when her infamous nickname was first given. Usually most girls would love to reminisce with their crush about meeting them, but she realized just how badly she had gone about it.

"Of course. Even though I remember giving you my Gram Crackers during snack time earlier. If I remember correctly, you were nice to me up until then… Now that I think about it… you even punched Harold out of his seat…" Arnold was looking at her, pondering what had happened.

"Arnold…"

"Yeah?"

Helga pointed her thumb to the window, and Arnold's gaze followed. "They really followed us here? We can't be that big of a deal?" Arnold said, noticing their classmates across the street whispering and attempting to hide from the couple's view.

"Yeah, well apparently we are bucko. Can we leave?" Helga shifted in her seat. She meant to sound more aggravated, but she just sounded and looked uncomfortable.

"Wanna come back to my place? We can hangout and talk and nobody can bother us?" Arnold suggested, hoping she would oblige.

And to his luck, she looked happy.

'He Just Invited Me To His House! He Wants To Hangout With Me!'

"Sounds good Arnoldo…. I mean Arnold." She said, shifting.

He Smiled and held his hand out for her to take, and she took it. She wasn't aggressive when she grabbed his hand. Her hand was surprisingly soft and fragile, and he liked holding her hand. His stomach started to feel funny too, but he didn't know why. He held the door open for her, and they walked out onto the not-so crowded sidewalk with their ice cream cones in their free hands. They walked in silence, but all too knowing that their classmates were having fun spying on them.

"Maybe their date was just that horrible and he's being nice taking her home." Sid implied, hiding behind a brick wall.

Rhonda was behind a mailbox "Please! Who knows with those two at this point! They could either love or hate each other. "

"Why are they so weird?" Harold was curious as to how this even happened "Seriously! At lunch they hate each other, then he kisses her on the playground. So what in the heck happened?" Harold was normally not this attentive, but he was pretty sure it was a sign of an impending Apocalypse.

"I reckon I'm with Harold on this here, fellers. Why would Arnold kiss miss Helga out of nowhere?"

"Guys, I believe it's ever so kind that you are taking interest in Arnold and Helga's newfound interest in one another, but should we be spying like this?" Lila was also curious, although she had known as well as Phoebe about Helga's feelings for Arnold, she wasn't going to admit it to her classmates because that meant a full on investigation of what she knew, as well as dealing with what Helga might do to her.

Their classmates were busy discussing this and hiding for 2 blocks until Rhonda cut them all off.

"Oh My God… Are they going into Arnold's house?!"

"Gee Whilikers! That musta been some date!"

"Boy Howdy! Arnold is crazy!"

"Ahhh! Mommy!" Harold ran off to his house. He couldn't take it anymore. He was about to lose his mind if he stayed another second to watch this. It was madness!

Arnold and Helga stepped back to let all of the animals out, then crossed the threshold of Arnold's front door.

"That you Shortman?" Arnold's grandpa appeared from down the hall.

"Hey Grandpa. This is Helga, I know you've met her before but…" Arnold rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, since he had finished his ice cream cone, and was blushing.

Phil was more than happy to see it finally happen. 'Pookie gets her $50'

"Well Hello! Welcome to our home. So, you're Arnolds little girlfriend?"

Now it was Helga's turn to blush. She had seen Phil on many occasions that Arnold didn't know about, although they never really talked, but she was kind anyways hoping he didn't remember her.

"Hi. I'm Helga Pataki." She extended her arm out to shake hands, which Phil did.

"Well, make yourself comfy. Dinner is served at 6:30 sharp. You staying?"

"Yeah." Arnold answered for her "She can call her parents and let them know."

'My parents wont notice I'm gone. They never have.'

Arnold and Helga ascended the stairs up to Arnold's bedroom.

A dark shadow appeared at the corner of Phil's eye.

"Fork it over Chin Boy…" the voice said smugly.

"Crazy old bat…" Phil mumbled reaching in his pocket and pulling out a $50.

"AHAHAHAHA!" the voice laughed manically before moving swiftly up the stairs in a ninja like fashion.

"I'll never understand how she does it…" Phil mumbled walking into the kitchen, and stopping in his tracks. "uh oh! Pookie! Rasberries again!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" came the maniacal laugh from upstairs.

"Is that your grandma's laugh?" Helga looked over to Arnold with an eyebrow raised.

Helga and Arnold were watching tv on Arnold's bed. They were sitting up, but leaning against a shelf. They were still holding hands.

"Yeah…" Arnold again rubbed the back of his neck blushing "The people here are strange, but they're really nice. Don't worry, and if Oskar asks for anything, tell him no."

"Dually noted." Helga nodded.

The kids watched TV in silence for a few minutes, sneaking glances at each other and catching one another every few minutes.

After the show was over, Helga got up and started browsing around Arnold's room again like she had done when they first entered, only now, she had more time to look.

"Jazz?"

"Yeah, not a lot of people like it. I have some other music if you're interested."

"No, I wanna hear your music."

"Really? Okay." Arnold said pressing play on his universal remote.

The kids waited and listened for a few minutes. Helga found the song familiar, then realized it was a song she danced to in Ballet. 'No mean jabs… So good so far. Maybe this is a good time to show him I'm not bad at all…'

Slowly, Helga started to sway to the soft music, before she suddenly broke into small ballet movements, then into a full dance. She was elegant and graceful, and as Arnold sat on the bed, a love-struck smile crept onto his face. 'She is amazing… I'd love to see this side of her more often,' Arnold couldn't take his eyes off her. All these years she was just a bully to him; the rough, tough tomboy in his class. Now, she was someone else, and his stomach felt funny again. She was smart, and nice and even funny. She was cute and different.

The song ended and Helga stopped, looking at Arnold she suddenly felt embarrassed. The look on his face made her feel like she had just done the dumbest thing in front of him, and she was suddenly extremely self cautious and uncomfortable. She was blushing and looking down at the floor.

"Im sorry… I didn't mean to…" her feet began fidgeting "I… I didn't know… I thought that…"

"Helga… That was amazing!" Arnold walked up to her, giving her a hug to comfort her. He hadn't realized she stopped, or how uncomfortable he was until he snapped out of his trance.

"Really?" Helga didn't know what was wrong with her. She was so nervous and panicky.

"Yeah! I didn't know you were such an amazing dancer!"

Her confidence came back "I am pretty amazing, huh?" she wasn't cocky, she was actually genuine about the way she said it.

"Yeah…" Arnold had another dreamy look on his face, and Helga suddenly realized if she stepped forward just a little, she could kiss him. Still, it was a bit awkward.

"Uh, Arnold…?" Helga tried to snap him out of his trance.

"Oh! Sorry Helga." He stepped back blushing. "So…."

"So…"

The room was quiet again, but their thoughts were screaming at them. Arnold wanted Answers, Helga wanted to not be nervous.

"Helga…" Arnold started slowly "you know we need to talk about this…"

Helga took a deep breath "I know" she was looking off to the side. It was inevitable that she could get away from this conversation. To say she had it coming would be an understatement.

"So lets talk." Arnold held his hand out to her, and they walked back over to his bed.

This was going to be an interesting conversation…