A/N: Mkay, so I finally had enough time on my hands to think about and write this next chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Phoebe turned around, after spotting Arnold and Gerald sitting in back of her. "Good morning, Arnold, Gerald." She smiled brightly at the both of them.

"Hey, Phoebe." Gerald winked at her, causing a light pink blush to form across her cheeks.

"Hi, Phoebe. Um…listen, can I…talk to you about something?"

"Certainly, Arnold. What is it?"

"Well…just to make sure…have you heard something from anyone about Rhonda's party?" Phoebe shook her head in confusion, which meant he had even more explaining to do. Arnold sighed, "Okay. When I was at that party…I was dared to write a fake love note to Helga. And…I thought that maybe if I wrote it and just didn't give it to her, everything would be okay. But then, Curly got it…and he made me pretend to actually love her."

Phoebe was shocked. "Arnold…!"

"I know…it was stupid of me to even go through with it in the first place. So anyway, I really had no choice then but to go out to dinner with Helga. Everything was going fine…actually, it was going pretty great. That is, until she told me that she was in love with me."

"…So, I'm assuming that's when you told her the truth?"

"Y-Yeah…well…Rhonda and Lila showed up right at that moment…and they mentioned the dare and how I should tell her. Now, she absolutely hates me and refuses to forgive me."

"Well, have you tried talking to her about it, perhaps?"

"I've tried everything. I've explained pretty much every little detail about what happened. But nothing worked. That's why…I was thinking, since you're her best friend and all—"

"Arnold, I'd be delighted to talk to her about it."

His face brightened up instantly. "Really? You'll get her to trust me again?"

"I'll try my best." Phoebe smiled again. "I'm usually quite persuasive."

"Thanks, Phoebe, you're the best." Arnold's smile faded when the bus came to a sudden stop. Normally, stopping at this bus stop wouldn't bother him. The only real fear he would ever have is that Helga would immediately start bugging him. This time, however, things were going to be different.

Arnold shifted his eyes a bit, making sure that no eye contact between the two of them was made. He didn't want to see the anger and hurt mixed in Helga's eyes…but when he looked in her direction a little too soon, he had to.



"What did I say about not looking at me, Arnold?" He was taken aback by this. On any other day, being called by his actual name instead of "Foot-Ball Head" would've been a relief to him. However, at this point, he missed it.

'This is going to be a long day,' Arnold thought to himself.

"So, Helga," Phoebe began as she stood next to her best friend at her locker, "there was something in particular that I wanted to talk with you about."

"What is it, Pheebs?"

"Well actually, Arnold wanted me to talk to you about it." The sudden slam of Helga's locker made Phoebe jump slightly.

"I know what you're going to say. And do you want to know my answer? I don't want to hear a word of it."

"Helga please, it'll only take but a minute."

"What else is there to be said, Phoebe? He's an idiot and I don't want anything to do with him ever again!"

"Don't you think you're being just a tad bit hard n him?"

Helga scoffed. "Hard on him? He's the one who was leading me on!"

"He did not think for a second that you would end up getting that note, nor did he believe that you would tell him your feelings."

"You're not going to give up, are you, Pheebs?"

"I'm not intending to." Phoebe smiled, hopefully this was going somewhere."

Helga sighed deeply. "What do you want me to do?"

"You should simply just talk to him, without any yelling or hurtful words. If you both just listen to each other, maybe things will work out."

"And who says I want things to work out?"

"I'm pretty sure you know that you do. You've been in love with him for years…you cannot possibly tell me that you really, truly hate him."

There was silence for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, Helga broke it. "You're right," she started, her voice barely audible, "it's just…I thought that my dreams were finally coming true. That he would 

really love me back and everything would be perfect. And then I embarrassed myself and got my dreams crushed. I-I don't really hate him, Phoebe. I just don't know what to do anymore."

Phoebe looked up at her friend, and pulled her into a hug. "Everything will be okay, if you just talk to him calmly. Promise?"

Helga hesitated, but at last gave in. "Promise."

"Good." Phoebe let go, and smiled. "I should get to class. I'll see you at lunch."

"See ya." Helga started walking in the opposite direction, only to become face-to-face with Rhonda."

"How lovely to see you, Helga." Rhonda smiled smugly. "How've you been since the last time I saw you?"

"None of your business, Princess." She pushed past her, but suddenly felt her hand pulling her arm.

"Isn't payback a bitch?"

"Don't touch me." Helga yanked her arm away, glaring at the girl standing in front of her.

"Just think…if you weren't such a bully to everyone, maybe this wouldn't have happened." Rhonda giggled. "Or maybe it would have. Seriously, who could ever love you?"

Helga gritted her teeth. "Shut up, Rhonda…"

"I mean, come on. How stupid can you be, actually believing that Arnold loved you?"

Rhonda had hit a nerve, and at this point, Helga couldn't take it anymore. "If you say one more word to me, Princess, I'll make sure you regret it."

"I'm not scared of you, Pataki."

That was it. As if on cue, before Helga had any idea what she was about to do, she threw her fist back, and punched Rhonda directly in the jaw. "Scared now, Rhonda?"

"Ms. Pataki." A voice called from behind her. "My office. Now."

'Ah, crap.'

A/N: So, Rhonda got what she should've seen coming to her. But now what happens? We'll see in chapter 12…which I'll begin writing as soon as possible. Hope you all enjoyed. (: