Dinner AND a Show! Chapter 3: Setting the Table, a hey arnold fanfic

A/N:

Okay, here's chapter 3!!! I spent all yesterday writing and I've definitely got something that I like and I hope you'll all like it too! So get some cookies and a hot drink and settle in for another nearly 9000 words of Azure129 randomness (I love being on vacation—I finally get to write!!!)

Dinner AND a Show!

Chapter 3:

Setting the Table…

(Before you even ask, yes, the bad food/dinner puns as chapter titles will indeed be continuing ;) ).

"Hey, Harold!"

Following his brief and strangely intimate goodbye with Patty, Harold had left her to do whatever she was planning to do to stop Arnold and Helga from coming to blows. Now he was currently sitting on the idling bus outside of P.S. 118, a slightly confused expression on his face as he touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

"You who, Harold!" The second calling of his name came from a different voice and actually managed to catch his attention as it was coupled with two of his closest friends who had suddenly popped up from the seat in front of him waving their hands in his face.

Harold blinked with surprise as he saw Sid and Stinky's grinning faces.

"Huh? Oh…hey guys. What's up?"

The two boys glanced at each other mischievously, and then looked to Harold. "Well, I guess we should be asking you the same question, lover boy?" replied Sid with a smirk.

"Huh?!" Harold asked, feeling his heartbeat quicken and his stomach drop.

Sid and Stinky began to laugh uncontrollably. Suddenly, Stinky managed to get himself under control enough to start singing. "Harold and Patty sittin' in a tree…"

Sid joined in at this point. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!!" And with that they two boys practically fell over each other in laughter.

Harold felt himself blush. Scowling and glancing around to see if any of the other kids had overheard them (luckily there weren't too many people on the bus yet), he suddenly gripped the two boys by their shirt collars, though the threatening gesture did little to curb their hysterics. "Hey, shut up!"

Stinky and Sid managed to pull themselves from Harold's grip, still with grins a mile wide on each of their faces. Sid cleared his throat. "Oh come on, Harold—what was that back there?"

Harold felt himself blush darker and he glanced away. "I-I don't know what you're talkin' about!"

Stinky crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Harold a sly look. "Well, I reckon we're both talking about how we saw Patty KISS you before you left the school just now."

Sid chuckled again. "Yeah, boy howdy, I knew you two liked each other now and everything but I didn't realize that you LIKE-liked each other!"

Harold made a fist and glanced briefly and nervously at the few kids starting to get on the bus who were eyeing the three boys with curious stares. He noticed Arnold and Gerald among them. He turned back to his 'friends.' "I said, SHUT UP!" he hissed at them.

Sid and Stinky's faces became serious for a second but then they suddenly glanced at each other and burst into laughter again.

After a few seconds, Sid managed to get himself mildly under control again. He looked at Harold, actually brushing a tear from his eye. "Oh come on Harold, you have to admit it's a little funny that" he lowered his voice slightly, though not enough for Harold's comfort, "you're Big Patty's boyfriend now."

"Yeah," Stinky chimed in, elbowing Sid. "I bet they're even gonna start goin' out on dates and everything!"

Harold swallowed hard, recalling his and Patty's plans for dinner the day after tomorrow. He moved in closer to Stinky and Sid and yelled in as low of a voice as he could so as not to attract any more attention, "I'm NOT her boyfriend! And we're NOT dating! We're just friends and she was just sayin' goodbye and I don't know why you guys are making a big deal out of it!"

"Aw Stinky, he's blushing—you guys ARE going on a date, aren't you?!"

Sid hadn't exactly said this last sentence quietly, which caused Harold to blink and swallow hard in fear of what would happen if the rest of the elementary school caught wind of this sudden development between himself and Patty. Luckily, though, the driver had chosen just that moment to start the bus' engine and close the doors as the last of the students finally got on, which muffled Sid's question quite a bit. Harold swallowed hard and thought fast. "Aw, o-of course not! No way! You guys are just makin' me mad and it's making my face all red. Now cut it out or I'm gonna pound both of you right here and now!"

Sid and Stinky looked at each other again with uncontrollable grins. "Harold and Patty sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S—OW!" they suddenly yelled in unison.

"Hey, some of us have to deal with you two chuckleheads enough everyday between school and baseball practice. Could you at least give everyone a break on the bus? Crimeny, I feel like my ears are bleeding!"

Rubbing the backs of their necks, Sid and Stinky turned scowling toward Helga G. Pataki who had just hit them both from behind with her backpack and who was now smirking at them. Harold couldn't help but blink and raise an eyebrow at his very unexpected savior.

"Sheesh, Helga! That hurt!"

"Yeah, garsh, we were just talkin' about Harold and Patty—"

"Yeah, yeah." Helga rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. "Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we already go through the two of you making stupid jokes about Harold and Patty hanging out about two months ago?"

Sid blinked. "Well, yeah, but…" he smiled, "We just saw them kissing, and—"

"We were NOT kissing! We were just saying goodbye and—" Harold started.

"—And," Helga cut the boys off and finished for them, "You two are just acting like a bunch of jerks because you're jealous that there's no way either of you could get a girl to be your friend let alone like you enough to actually spend time with you even if you were the last two guys on the planet. Am I in the ballpark?" She raised an eyebrow at the two boys, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Sid and Stinky's mouths instantly closed and a slight blush appeared on each of their faces.

"I thought so," Helga finished, swinging her backpack back over her shoulder. "Now you idiots keep it down and cut it out before I smack you with something a heck of a lot harder than this!"

She rubbed her temples as she walked to the empty seat behind Harold's. "Like I don't have enough of a headache today already…" she mumbled under her breath with an exasperated sigh as she slid into the seat as the bus pulled forward to begin its route.

The three boys were silent for a very awkward few seconds, just looking at each other.

Finally, Sid cleared his throat and spoke up a little sheepishly. "So, uh…anyway…anyone got any plans for the weekend?" He looked from Stinky to Harold.

"Uh…I heard there's supposed to be some kind of triple feature at the movies Saturday night on account of the new Evil Twin movie comin' out next week." Stinky suggested, hesitantly.

Slowly the awkwardness was getting a little easier to manage for the boys. Sid smiled slightly. "Oh yeah, I heard that too—Evil Twin I, Evil Twin II and Evil Twin III: Country Cousin back to back but you only have to pay for one ticket." Hesitantly, he turned to Harold. "You, uh…you wanna go, Harold?"

Harold opened his mouth but then hesitated. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. "No…I'm-I'm busy Saturday."

Sid and Stinky looked at each other, and then turned back to Harold. Sid cleared his throat and blushed slightly. "Listen Harold, we're…uh…we're sorry about, you know, teasing you about Patty."

"Yeah," Stinky added. "We know that you guys are just friends."

"Yeah," Sid agreed. "So come on, we promise—no teasing. We'll even buy you a Mr. Fudgie bar each at the movies. What do you say?" He smiled sincerely.

Harold sighed, finally losing the last bit of his anger. "Thanks, guys…but I'm not mad or anything. I just promised someone I'd do something with them Saturday night so I can't go."

Without even thinking, Sid grinned and began to speak. "Heh—Is that when you're going out wi—" The deathly glare he received from Harold shut him up instantly. "Sorry." He quickly amended.

"I'm just…I've just gotta go to some stupid thing with…with my parents. We have to—to buy a present for my cousin's Bat Mitzvah on Sunday. Yeah. Remember, I told you guys about that?"

"Oh yeah," Stinky confirmed. "So I guess that means you can't do nothin' Sunday either, huh?"

"No," Harold said in a disappointed tone. He glanced up at his friends though suddenly and smiled. "But we could do something today. You guys wanna maybe go the arcade or something?"

The two boys smiled at their friend. "Sure," said Sid.

"You wanna meet up there after dinner?" asked Stinky.

"Yeah, okay. Around like 7?" Harold smiled.

Slowly the bus came to its first stop. Stinky grabbed his backpack and stood up. "Okay, I'll reckon we'll meet you there, Harold."

Suddenly, Sid grabbed his backpack as well and stood up along with Stinky. "Hey, Stinky and I were gonna watch some Pop Daddy episodes at my house now and maybe get a pizza afterwards. You wanna come with us and then we can all just go out after that?"

Harold considered for a second. Usually, he would have taken up Sid or Stinky on an offer like this in an instant. But for some reason, even though he wasn't quite angry with them anymore (thanks to Helga, randomly enough), he just wasn't in the mood to be around anybody right now; especially with all of this stuff about Patty to think about.

"That's okay, you guys go ahead. I wanna…get some of my homework done since I'm gonna be busy all weekend."

Stinky shrugged. "Okay, reckon we'll see you later, Harold."

"Yeah, see ya," added Sid.

And with that the two boys exited to the sidewalk below. The door closed and the bus pulled forward again.

Harold took a deep breath when they left, happy they hadn't pestered him for too many details concerning Saturday, and VERY happy that their teasing had stopped before the whole bus had caught on. 'If it wasn't for Helga…' He raised an eyebrow at how strange the beginning of the thought sounded to him. Slowly, he shifted to the outer edge of his seat and glanced around behind it to where he'd seen Helga sit down before.

Sure enough, she was leaning her back against the bus window and had her legs extended the length of the seat. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and her eyes were closed. Since they'd only been on the bus for about five minutes though, Harold figured she couldn't be asleep yet.

"Um, hey, Helga?" he said in a low voice trying not to attract attention.

She blinked a few times and then stretched, opening her eyes. "Hmm?" She yawned as though she actually had been about to nod off, then finally noticed Harold. She rolled her eyes. "Oh brother, what is it now?"

"Um…" Harold glanced away for a second, not really sure how to put what he wanted to say. He looked back at Helga. "Well, I just wanted to say…you know, thanks, for uh…for helping me make Sid and Stinky stop before everyone got the wrong idea about me and…you know, Patty." He glanced away again.

Helga shrugged and glanced casually to the side. "Hey, I just didn't wanna have to keep listening to those yahoos try and carry a tune until my stop came. It's not like I did it to help YOU or anything."

"Yeah…" he glanced down again. "Well, thanks anyway." And with that he went back around to his own seat. It was funny—Harold never really had much contact with Helga, but her actions suddenly reminded him of the time they had been stranded together during the fourth grade field trip to the Yahoo Chocolate Factory. He had actually gotten to know her a little on that trip, and he'd realized the interesting fact that they actually had a lot in common and that Helga could actually be a decent person. He couldn't help but almost laugh as he recalled how much fun they'd had at the wrestling match after getting back to the city. 'Maybe next time the guys all go to Wrestlmania we should ask her to come too?' Under normal circumstances he knew it would have seemed weird to let a girl tag along to something like that, but he knew Helga would actually appreciate the whole thing a lot more than most people.

"Uh, Harold?"

He blinked as the surprising sound of Helga's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see her leaning around the outside of her seat to talk to him just like he had done to her before.

"Yeah?"

She cleared her throat, trying not to make eye contact with him. "Uh, look—you-you're welcome." She cleared her throat and tried to smile as she brought up her eyes just slightly. "And uh, listen, don't worry about what those two geniuses think." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the door that Sid and Stinky had just exited by. "They just…don't get it." She shrugged and glanced down again.

Harold looked at her with a touch of confusion on his face for a second or two. Then he blinked and smiled at her. "Yeah…Thanks, Helga."

She cleared her throat and resumed her usual scowl, though her voice held little of its usual harness as she added in an almost amused tone, "Hey, I can't be yelling at you and giving you a hard time ALL the time—Even I'M accidentally helpful every now and then. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to get back to my nap before anyone else needs me to 'save the day.' Sheesh, who do I look like—Arnold?" And with that she slid back into her seat.

The bus came to its next stop and Harold just shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed his backpack and headed down the aisle and out the bus door to return to his house.

Seeing that Harold had finally gone and no longer actually feeling like sleeping, Helga sat upright and removed a small pink book and a purple pen from her backpack and began to write a bit. 'Sheesh, I can't believe I actually said that last thing to him about how Sid and Stinky just 'don't get it.' Why didn't I just pop around the seat with a smile on my face and say 'Gosh Harold, you maybe like-like someone? What a coincidence, so do I—only, in spades!!!' Helga sighed in frustration and jabbed her pen at the fresh page in her book, making random marks more than actually writing. 'I'm such an idiot.'

The truth, though, was that Helga hadn't been able to help herself coming to Harold's defense like she had just done, or trying to comfort him about the whole Patty thing a little. Her situation with Arnold had been on her mind a lot lately, especially since the confession and especially since all of the recent and (unfortunately for her secret) very public conflicts they'd been having together. And somehow seeing someone get made fun of for having a crush had just hit a little too close to home for her. Besides, Harold wasn't such a bad guy—Patty seemed to like him and she was all right. Heck, not only was she one of the few real friends Helga could claim to have, but hadn't she just invited her out to dinner as well?

Helga sighed again, though this time more due to exhaustion than anything else. To be honest, even though part of her was a little angry with Patty for interfering in her business with Arnold, she knew that it was only because of her that she'd gotten two perfectly legitimate public excuses for not pounding Arnold into the ground today, and both of those close calls had left Helga a little drained to say the least. In a way she was actually really happy that Patty had invited her to dinner tomorrow night, and even happier that it was at Chez Paris. Helga couldn't help the half grin that came to her face. 'Finally, a chance to go there WITHOUT having to worry about perpetrating some elaborate ruse for Arnold: no crazy costumes, no wacky hi-jinks, no nutty escape ideas—just sitting and eating. Heck, it's probably just the thing I need to calm my nerves after what that stupid Football Head's been putting me through this week.'

Almost automatically upon thinking of Arnold, Helga had glanced down the bus aisle in the direction of his usual seat, where he would be (no doubt) sitting and sharing some joke with Gerald, completely unaware of her surveillance as usual.

Instead, Helga's eyes went wide and blinked in surprise as they suddenly met Arnold's: He had been staring right at her with that half lidded gaze of his, smiling!

Helga took in a sharp breath and pulled herself into her seat until she was pressed against the window of the bus. She felt her heart skip a beat and the warmth in her face told her that she must be blushing slightly. "What the heck was THAT about?!" she whispered to herself. 'Why is he staring at me like that?! Oh Crimeny, if he comes over here and starts trying to talk to me, I don't know what I'm gonna—'As if in answer to her prayers, the bus stopped once more and Helga recognized her street. She grabbed her backpack. "Finally, I catch a break!"

Without so much as a glance in Arnold's direction, Helga shoved her pink book and pen into her bag and walked briskly to the door, exiting the bus.

As the bus pulled away and Helga found herself alone on her sidewalk, she couldn't help but smile in relief that she'd gotten out of having yet another near-fist fight with her beloved today. "That's it, I can't stand this anymore. What I need is an Arnold-free weekend." She began to walk down her street and toward her brownstone. "Yeah—no poetry, no shrines, no random spying. Just me and some Wrestlemania trading cards, a 12 pack of ice cold yahoo sodas, maybe a homework session with Phoebe, and a relaxing dinner at Chez Paris." She walked up her stoop, feeling very confident and actually smiling now. "Yes sir, I won't even leave the house except for going to that restaurant. This weekend is all about Helga and nothing about Arnold." And with this seemingly irrefutable sentence she finally entered her house and prepared to start her Football Head-Free weekend.

Arnold couldn't help but chuckle to himself at this quick and most likely correct observation from Helga.

He watched as Sid and Stinky's mouths instantly closed and a slight blush appeared on each of their faces.

"I thought so," he heard Helga finish, swinging her backpack back over her shoulder. "Now you idiots keep it down and cut it out before I smack you with something a heck of a lot harder than this!"

Arnold laughed slightly to himself again as she proceeded to take her seat, rubbing her forehead in a show of fatigue. No one else on the bus really seemed to be paying much attention to the conversation currently occurring between Harold, Sid, Stinky and Helga. Arnold figured that it being Friday afternoon had something to do with this, not to mention the fact that it wasn't exactly unusual to see Harold or Helga in a confrontation with other people or even each other. In addition, Arnold's particular focus on the conversation probably stemmed from the fact that he had been specifically waiting for Helga to get on the bus.

He'd actually found himself specifically waiting for, or looking for, or glancing at Helga a lot lately. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it was like he was waiting for something from her…and lately, he guessed, he'd been growing impatient for whatever that thing was. 'I just wish I could talk to her for a few minutes…then maybe I could…'

"Arnold? Arnold!"

Arnold blinked and came out of his thoughts. He turned to his best friend, Gerald, who was sitting next to him. Gerald had an eyebrow raised suspiciously and his hands on his hips. "Arnold, PLEASE tell me you are not thinking of trying to talk to Helga Pataki again!"

Arnold sighed and glanced down guiltily.

"Arnold," Gerald rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger, "Listen, I know you've got something you need to say to her or whatever…I still can't figure out what the heck that IS exactly…" Arnold, naturally, had NOT mentioned the situation between himself and Helga to anyone, which (he had to admit to himself) must have made things a little confusing for Gerald. Gerald continued. "But either way I think you need to leave her alone for a little while. I mean, Big Patty's not here to fix things and I think your luck has officially run out when it comes to Helga's mercy."

Arnold leaned back in his seat. "I know…maybe you're right, Gerald. I should probably give her a little space for now. Maybe I'll try again on Monday…"

"Man, I don't get why you are even trying at all, or what exactly it is you think you need to do all of a sudden! Why do you wanna talk to Helga, Arnold? What's the secret?"

Arnold felt a slight blush come to his cheeks as he heard the particular way in which his best friend had chosen to phrase the situation between himself and Helga. "Th-there's no secret, Gerald." He tried to smile as innocently as he could but even Arnold had to admit he'd never been good at keeping things from other people, especially his best friend.

Gerald gave him an incredulous look and crossed his arms over his chest. "Mmm hmm…"

Arnold glanced away and tried to keep his blush under control. "I'm serious…I just have to ask her something just like there's been times where I've had to ask you something or Harold something or Phoebe something or anyone else. We just...keep getting interrupted..."

Gerald rolled his eyes. "Hey, whatever, man." He stretched his arms and put them behind his head. "All I'm sayin' is maybe you should try and keep things a little less public than they've been lately. If you don't, not only is Helga going to actually hit you one of these days, but pretty soon Sid and Stinky are gonna start saying YOU have a crush too!" Noticing his best friend watching the altercation going on at the front of the bus, Gerald had also paid some attention to it as well.

Arnold felt his stomach flip and he looked at Gerald with his eyes wide. "What do you mean?!?!"

Gerald, luckily, had closed his eyes upon resting his head against his arms so he didn't see Arnold's strange reaction to the small joke. However, he had certainly heard the high-pitched and almost panicked tone of Arnold's response. As a result, he opened one eye and glanced at his best friend curiously. "Relax man, it was just a joke…you know: they're ragging on Harold about Patty because they spend time together, you keep trying to spend time together with Helga…" Gerald left the obvious logical conclusion off the end of the sentence.

"…So they might start teasing us…" Arnold finished, rubbing his temples. 'How could I be that stupid? No wonder Helga keeps panicking and trying to get away from me every time I try to talk to her at school. She's just trying to protect her secret and here I am just walking up to her in broad daylight and not even thinking about what people are going to say when they see us together like that.'

"Hey man," Gerald put a reassuring hand on his best friend's shoulder, "Don't worry about it—like I said, it was a joke. Besides, Harold and Patty actually do seem to like-like each other. But Helga hates you," Arnold tried his best not to react to the statement, "and you do NOT like Helga…"

Arnold couldn't help his breath catching in his throat at the way this last item had been said with just a hint of…not really UNcertainty so much as a lack-of-complete certainty.

"Right! Yeah, of course! Good point, Gerald!" Arnold replied just a little too enthusiastically, following it up with a nervous smile.

Gerald just eyed him for a second, seemed about to say something, but then shook his head as though thinking better of it and resumed putting his arms behind his head and resting against them with his eyes shut.

Arnold swallowed hard and took a deep breath, happy that the conversation with Gerald seemed to be over. The last thing he needed was something he said or did to tip anyone off about Helga's secret…even if they thought he was the one with the crush on her it would still somehow lead back to her getting teased, and from how passionate she'd been with her confession and how well she'd kept things under wraps all these years Arnold was fairly certain that Helga would not take something like that very well.

His mind returning to Helga, Arnold glanced in her direction again and noticed that she seemed to be leaning around Harold's seat and talking about something with him. She smiled and then scowled once (though she didn't seem angry) as she finished whatever she was saying and then sat back down in her own seat again. Arnold couldn't help but smile as he recalled the nice thing she'd just done for Harold. 'I'll bet Patty showing up today to end those fights between us kind of did the same thing for her now that I think about it—stopping the problem and making sure no one would tease her about me.'

He raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he saw Helga glance around quickly and then remove something from her backpack. Suddenly, he noticed her right hand moving a bit and realized she was writing something. For some reason he found himself smiling even more at this sight—what was she writing about, and why did she glance around like that before starting like she was so intent on keeping her action hidden? Arnold sighed to himself as he realized that this was just another example of him not being able to figure out Helga. 'She's just so—'

His thought was completely interrupted as Helga suddenly turned around and her eyes met his. Before he could even react to the sudden connection between them though she had disappeared from the edge of the seat, and he guessed that now she was sitting at the end closest to the window. A look of concern replaced his smile and Arnold could feel a slight blush coming to his face. He felt his mouth open, almost like he wanted to call Helga back, but then he quickly recalled that they were on a bus and he merely leaned back and glanced out the window near Gerald.

Suddenly, Arnold felt the bus lurch to a stop. He continued staring vacantly out of the window until the bus started to pull away again. Suddenly, he blinked in surprise as he noticed it pass by a familiar blonde figure dressed in pink whom Arnold realized must have just gotten off the bus. As his angle of view on her changed due to the bus' movement he saw with some amusement and curiosity that she appeared to be saying something to herself before commencing her walk down the street. He couldn't help a slight chuckle escaping his mouth at the sight of Helga Pataki doing yet another strange thing that he couldn't quite explain.

The sound of his laugh caused Gerald to open one of his eyes again and glance at his friend. "What's so funny, man?" he asked, yawning.

Arnold did his best to not laugh even more at the question. "Sorry, Gerald, I was just trying to figure something out. I didn't mean to wake you up."

Gerald stretched and rubbed the back of his neck. "No, don't worry about it. Our stops are gonna come up pretty soon, anyway." He yawned once more and turned to Arnold, who, he noticed, was still looking just past him and out the bus window. "So, are you gonna make one last desperate attempt to have a talk with Helga or are you officially done with this death-wish of yours until Monday?"

Arnold shook his head, smiling at the joke. "No, I think you're right Gerald—I need to give her a little space for a few days. Besides, she just got off the bus so I can't talk to her today anyway."

Gerald raised an eyebrow and turned from his friend to the bus window out which he had been looking and then back to Arnold again. "Arnold, were you watching Helga Pataki get off the bus?"

Arnold blinked and finally focused his eyes completely on Gerald. "No! I mean…I was just looking out the window and I noticed that she was on the sidewalk after the last stop." He glanced down and cleared his throat. " 'Watching Helga get off the bus'…where do you come up with these things, Gerald?"

Arnold was trying to keep his tone more humorous than nervous as he asked this rhetorical question. Gerald's raised eyebrow and skeptical expression attested to his failure in this endeavor.

"Here you go, Mom—these are the last of the dishes." Patty Smith handed her mother a small stack of freshly washed and dried dinner plates, smiling.

"Oh, thank you dear," her mother replied, taking the stack and placing them in the cupboard.

"Do you want me to get started on cleaning the oven now, or should I—"

"Oh sweetie," Mrs. Smith put an affectionate hand on her daughter's shoulder, "You're thirteen years old and it's Friday night. Why don't you relax and watch a little TV or work on your sewing or maybe invite a friend over. What about Rhonda—we haven't seen too much of her lately. Is she free?"

"Actually," Patty wrung out a wet dishcloth and wiped around the sink, "I think she's got a big fashion show or something she's doing with her parents this weekend…but I'm going to dinner with a few people tomorrow night."

"Really?" Patty's mother smiled at hearing that her daughter was indeed going to go somewhere with her friends. "Who's going?"

Patty ran some water in the sink to wash the soapsuds down the drain. "Just me and that fourth grade girl who's been helping me with my poetry report, Helga…and a friend of ours, Arnold…and Harold."

"You mean that nice boy who you eat lunch with every day?" Mrs. Smith's smile widened a bit.

Patty sighed and tried to avoid looking at her mother as she finished up with the sink. "Uh, yeah. We're all going as a group."

"Oh, Patty" her mother walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's so sweet that you've got a little boyfriend. He seems like such a nice boy too."

Patty felt herself blush. "Mom, he's not my boyfriend. We just…like spending time together. He's a good friend and that's why we're going as a group tomorrow with other friends. It's no big deal."

Mrs. Smith laughed and went back to putting the last few clean items in the cupboard. "All right, Patty…but it sounds more like a double date to me."

Patty sighed and walked over to the kitchen table, pushing her chair in. "Mom, I've gotta go do some homework and make some phone calls, okay?"

"Hey, there are my two favorite girls!" Suddenly, Mr. Smith walked into the kitchen, smiling at his wife and daughter. He turned to Patty. "So, any big plans for tonight, sweet pea?"

"No, Dad. I'm going out with some friends tomorrow but tonight I'm just going to relax in my room and try to do some work."

"She's got a date with that nice boy, Harold, and another couple."

"Mom!" Patty turned around and looked at her mother, a slight blush coming to her cheeks.

Mrs. Smith just laughed to herself.

"Oh, my little girl is growing up so fast!" said Mr. Smith, grabbing Patty in a warm hug.

Patty sighed and rolled her eyes. "Dad, it's not a date. I told Mom that we're all just going out as a group. Really."

Mr. Smith let her go, the smile still on his face. "Aw, pumpkin, you don't have to be embarrassed. Why, your mom and I went out on our first date when we weren't much older than you are. Isn't that right, dear?" He looked to Mrs. Smith.

"That's right," she confirmed. "Who knows," she looked to Patty, "maybe one day you and Harold will end up married."

Patty felt her face blush red. "Mom, it's not…" she sighed. If anyone at school had said anything like that to Patty Smith she would have know exactly how to handle it—granted, it would have probably resulted in her expulsion, but still the situation would have been taken care of. With her parents, though, of course it was different: they knew her as she really was—their sweet, kind, calm daughter, not the sixth grade bully. Thus, Patty merely cleared her throat and calmly continued, "Never mind. I…I have to make some phone calls upstairs like I said. Good night."

And with that Patty quickly escaped upstairs and away from the awkward assumptions of her parents.

"Hello. Who's this?"

Patty blinked, a little surprised by the gruff sounding voice on the other end of the phone line. "Uh, hi. This is Patty Smith. Can I talk to Helga?"

"Oh for pete's sake…" The voice sounded distant now, like the phone was removed slightly from the mouth of the speaker. "Miriam, is the girl home?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, B—I think she's been upstairs in her room." A voice that sounded even farther away.

She heard the gruff voice, which she had guessed at this point was coming from Helga's Dad, sigh in exasperation before calling out, "Hey, Olga! There's a call for you! Some girl—Patsy, or something."

Suddenly, Patty heard a click on the line and then Helga's voice. "Yeah, yeah Bob—I've got it!"

There was another click and then Helga finally began to speak to Patty. "Sorry, hello?"

"Hey, Helga. It's Patty. What's up?"

"Oh, hey, Patty. Nothing much. Sorry about my parents…they're not exactly 'dripping with tact' most of the time, if you know what I mean. Anyway, what's going on?"

Patty shifted onto her stomach. She was lying on her bed while talking to Helga. "I just wanted to let you know that I called up Chez Paris and made the dinner reservation for 7 tomorrow night, so we should all meet there around then."

"Great!" Much to Patty's surprise there was a silence for a few seconds. Then Helga continued in a much more hesitant voice. "Just…make sure everyone knows to go to Chez Paris and not Chez Pierre. They're right next to each other and they're both French restaurants, but Chez Paris is the one to the right when you're facing the fountain between them. Just so you don't end up with half the people at the wrong place."

Patty smiled and raised an eyebrow at the strange warning. "Is this something you learned from personal experience?"

She heard Helga sigh on the other end of the line. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you…about EITHER time…" This last part of the sentence sounded a lot quieter than the first part and Patty couldn't help but wonder if Helga hadn't meant for her to hear it.

Patty shrugged and smiled. "Okay Helga, I'll make sure everyone gets to the right place. Thanks."

"No problem." Helga's voice actually didn't sound tense for once. She sounded very relaxed and happy, actually.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow night then, I guess."

"Yeah. Um, listen, Patty…" Patty could detect the return of the hesitation in her voice, "I just wanted to thank you again for inviting me to this. I've been…dealing with a lot of stuff over the last few weeks and I could actually really use a night away from it all."

Patty raised an eyebrow at the strange comment. "Sure, Helga—you're my friend. It'll be nice to spend some time together without schoolwork to do."

She laughed and Helga laughed along with her. "Yeah," Helga began. "And um…" Patty heard Helga swallow hard, "Thanks again for your help with Arnold today—I kind of needed it."

Patty couldn't help the small pang of guilt that came upon her as Helga mentioned Arnold and she recalled the current matchmaking plan she was concocting with this whole restaurant thing. "Uh…sure, Helga. Anytime…" Patty felt her resolve waver, and for a second she was seriously considering admitting to Helga that Arnold was going to be her date tomorrow night.

Suddenly, both girls heard another click and the gruff voice of Big Bob Pataki came on the line again. "Olga, for cryin' out loud I'm expecting a big business call tonight! Can you get off the phone already? Yeesh!" Another click and he was gone.

Patty heard Helga sigh. "Sorry, Patty—the blowhard needs his phone lines wide open for another sale. I'll see you tomorrow at the restaurant."

"Um…Helga?"

"Yeah?"

Patty took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and made a decision. "See you tomorrow."

And with that Patty and Helga both hung up and the telephone conversation ended.

Patty took a deep breath. This matchmaking thing was a lot more stressful than romantic comedies and talk show hosts made it look.

She glanced at the small address book open on her bed and flipped through it to find Arnold's number. She quickly dialed it and after a few rings heard a warm old man's voice answer. "Hello, this is the Sunset Arms Boarding House. May I ask who you would like to speak with?"

Patty smiled. "Actually, could I talk to Arnold? This is Patty—a friend of his from school."

"Oh, of course," replied the old man with a laugh. "Just a second."

There was silence for several seconds. Patty could make out a few creaking sounds, like floorboards being walked on. Suddenly, she heard the old man speak again, though this time his voice sounded a bit distant just like Mr. Pataki's had when he had been talking with the phone away from his mouth. "Oh Arnold, there you are. Here—it's one of your many lady friends."

"Grandpa…" Patty smiled as she heard the playful way in which the old man had said the sentence and the similar tone in which Arnold had responded.

There was another second of silence and then she heard Arnold speak into the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Arnold. It's Patty. How are you?"

"I'm okay. How are you, Patty?"

She smiled. "Fine. I just wanted to let you know that the dinner at Chez Paris is at 7 tomorrow night."

"Sounds great!" came Arnold's cheerful voice.

Without thinking, Patty added, "Oh, and I heard that there's this second French restaurant right next door and that it can be kind of hard to tell them apart, but apparently it's the one on the right when you're facing the fountain between them."

There was a second or two of silence on the other end of the phone, which caused Patty to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. Finally, she heard Arnold laugh slightly to himself and clear his throat. "Sorry, Patty…yeah, I know—it can be a little confusing, but I'll definitely be at the right one."

Patty resumed her smile. "Great."

There was another pause, like Arnold was hesitating for some reason ('Just like with Helga,' Patty couldn't help but note mentally to herself with an interested grin). Patty's smile quickly fell though as she heard him slowly ask, "Patty…this might sound like a really weird question but…can I ask who you heard that from? About the two restaurants, I mean…"

Patty swallowed hard. 'If I tell him it was Helga, he'll know she's coming and if he doesn't show up, then this whole thing is going to be ruined. I don't want to lie to him though…'

Patty bit her lip and considered for a second.

"Hello? Patty? Are you still there?"

Patty took a deep breath and responded in the only safe way she could come up with on the spot. "Yeah Arnold, I'm still here. Actually…Rhonda's the one who mentioned the restaurant to me in the first place…"

"Oh…"

Patty raised an eyebrow again. Was that…a bit of disappointment in his voice? Arnold continued. "Okay. Sorry, Patty—I was just curious."

"No problem, Arnold." She took a deep breath, happy that she'd gotten past that question with him. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, Patty. 7 sharp in front of Chez Paris." Some of the normal optimism had returned to Arnold's voice, though Patty could still hear just a touch of that strange sadness underneath it.

"Okay. Good night, Arnold."

"Goodnight, Patty."

And with that Patty placed the phone down on its receiver once again and sighed very deeply in the dim light of her room. "THAT was close."

A second passed though and she almost couldn't help but laugh as she added silently to herself, 'They're not going to make this easy, are they?'

Patty lay there for a few minutes, happy that she had gotten through her phone calls to Arnold and Helga. At the same time though she was also stalling just slightly as the final call she had to make was to Harold.

Patty had been nervous enough about this whole dinner thing from the second she'd asked Harold, and her parents' good-natured razzing about it just now hadn't exactly helped boost her confidence. On top of that, her stomach was still twisting in knots as she recalled with a quick blush how, without thinking, she had actually given Harold a quick kiss on the cheek that afternoon before she'd left him to deal with Arnold and Helga.

"I can't believe I did that…Helga and Arnold better seriously work things out after tomorrow night because I can't afford to get distracted and have any more slip-ups like that." It wasn't that Patty hadn't thought about adding a small kiss like that to the goodbyes between her and Harold before (to be honest, it had been starting to feel more and more natural as the weeks had progressed in their 'friendship') but she definitely hadn't been planning to start doing it all of a sudden today! She hadn't even looked back to see what his reaction had been, or even checked around to make sure no one had been looking at them when it had happened. "I just hope none of his friends saw us—the last thing I need is the entire fourth grade on our cases." She sighed and put her hands behind her head, resting back against them as she looked out her window at the darkening night sky. "Well, I guess I better get this over with…"

With a hard swallow, Patty picked up the receiver and slowly dialed the number she knew so well.

It rang twice, then a woman answered. "Hello, Berman residence. This is Marilyn speaking."

Patty swallowed again, and tried to keep her voice sounding calm. She'd been hoping to just get Harold right away. "Uh, hey, Mrs. Berman. This is Patty Smith—Harold's friend."

"Oh, hi sweetie, how are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Oh, you're always so polite. Well, I'm just wonderful, dear."

"Great…" Patty felt really awkward, but she tried not to think about it and did her best to keep her voice level as usual. "Is Harold around?"

"Actually, Patty," Marilyn began in a slightly disappointed voice, "he's at the arcade with some of his friends. Do you want to leave a message for him, though?"

"Uh, sure…" Patty would rather have talked to Harold personally, but she wasn't about to hang up now and then have to work up the courage to make this phone call again in a few hours. "Could you just let him know that dinner tomorrow night with everyone," Patty was careful to add these last two words into the message, "is at 7 pm at Chez Paris? I just made the reservation a little while ago."

"Well sure, honey. I'll let him know." The overly happy, almost sly tone in her voice made Patty a little nervous. "And I just think it's so sweet that you kids are hitting it off so well. You know, sweetie, we really should have you over sometime with your parents so we can all really get to know each other."

Patty swallowed hard. "Uh, sure, Mrs. Berman. Not this weekend but sometime…maybe…"

"Oh, honey, call me 'Marilyn.' After all, you're practically like one of the family."

Patty laughed nervously. "Um…okay…I guess…"

"Marilyn, who's that on the phone?"

Patty recognized the sound of Harold's Dad's voice.

She heard Mrs. Berman move slightly away from the receiver. "Oh Jerry, it's Harold's little girlfriend. You know, that tall girl he's been spending all that time with after school."

Patty felt herself blush as she dragged a hand down her face in exasperation. Why were grown-ups always doing embarrassing things like this?

"Oh, right, right," Mr. Berman replied. "Hey, did you ask if she could come over one night with her parents?"

"Well, I was just mentioning that to her, Jerry. I was going to see if, instead of going out with Harold to some restaurant tomorrow night, they wanted to come over here with Patty's parents and I could make a brisket or something." Patty's eyes went wide and Mrs. Berman's voice returned in full force to the phone receiver. "Patty, sweetie, why don't you and your family to just come over here tomorrow—if you and Harold are going to be dating we have a lot to talk about."

"Actually, Mrs. Ber—Marilyn…" 'This is so weird,' "We're meeting a few people at the restaurant so we can't really change the plans. Sorry." Patty was suddenly more thankful than ever that Arnold and Helga were indeed going to be at the restaurant—even if they had the blow-out of the century tomorrow night, ANYTHING had to be better than her and Harold having a meal with their increasingly embarrassing parents.

The disappointment in Mrs. Berman's voice was evident. "Aw, are you sure, Patty, dear?"

"Yeah, sorry…thanks though. Anyway, I've gotta go and do some homework now, but say hi to Mr. Berman for me and please let Harold know that the dinner with everyone," once again she stressed those two words, "is at 7 tomorrow night."

"Okay, sweetie. But maybe we could have you over next weekend or—"

"Yeah, maybe. Well, goodnight, Marilyn!" And with that Patty hung up the phone and felt a wave of relief wash over her.

She sighed and rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes. "I knew this whole 'real date' thing was a bad idea. Even if it is a 'group thing.'"

Patty felt a grin almost come to her face as she recalled what she had said to Arnold about how she'd found out about Chez Paris in the first place. "Why do I feel like this whole thing is somehow Rhonda's fault?" She sighed again to herself, the grin leaving her face entirely. "And why do I feel like what IS her fault is going to include A LOT more things by the end of tomorrow night?"

Patty felt a twist of worry in her stomach as she considered just how difficult it was going to be to pull off a perfect or even a decent evening tomorrow night. Still, she tried to reassure herself that nothing could possibly turn out as bad as her fears were telling her it could. Sure, Arnold and Helga might be a little surprised to see each other at first…but after a round of sodas and appetizers Patty was sure that that weird connection they seemed to have would overpower any problems between them. And certainly by dessert if not sooner, whatever conflict they were having lately would be resolved, making it so Patty wouldn't have to save Arnold's neck anymore and possibly letting Helga get a little closer to Arnold like she seemed to want to even if she didn't want to admit it. As for Harold…well, Patty had been to places with Harold tons of times before, and this would be just the same. No big deal. And the time alone might even give her a chance to do a little damage control with the whole 'Torvald' situation.

Patty took a deep breath and tried to smile. "This is going to be fine. I'm just not thinking straight because of all that stuff our parents said. Besides, even if tomorrow night turns out bad somehow, it's not like anyone else is ever going to find out about it."

Patty sat up and smiled confidently to herself with this final assuring thought. She reached for a textbook on her floor, but then hesitated and went for her the small basket on her dresser containing her latest crocheting project that she'd been working on for a few weeks. Her mom was right—it was Friday night and after a long week at school (and a long day trying to assure the safety of not just one but TWO relationships) she deserved to relax a little.

A/N:
All right everyone, that's it for chapter 3. I've got a lot of fun things planned for the rest of the this story but I'm just not sure how I'm going to organize them so I'm not sure how long chapter 4 will take (be prepared for a very big and very awkward Arnold and Helga moment though at some point during the night…I've at least got that all worked out and it is going to make this a very fun meal indeed, lol.) Anyway, along with trying to organize the chapter I'm still working on Chapter 12 of TA (I've managed to write out the whole thing in the closet by the way, for those of you following that story…there's still a lot to go though before the end.) As for Changes, I have no idea when how I'm supposed to begin that story is going to come to me, so until then that's on hiatus. And as for other stuff that could potentially distract me from this story…well, I've been getting a lot of random ideas for the Jungle Movie adaptation fic I've been toying with writing for the last 3 or 4 years so I may end up starting that thing at some point too (though probably not until after TA is finally wrapped up). Okay, enough of me rambling—go back to your Holiday fun! (Oh, and please check out the sequel that I'm going to post to the Christmas fic I wrote last year, A Helga Pataki Christmas—I think it's a really cute addition to the story and it should be up soon!!!)

Take care everyone, and as always Happy Reading!!!