Pretty chill chapter this time. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story. It means a lot to me. 3

The weather was surely warming. Spring wasn't far off and the group was in high spirits. After a good deal of hard work on everyone's part, the fundraiser had met its goal three weeks before the deadline. Helga, Cordelia, Tyler, Phoebe, and Sam, upon realizing this after doing the figures, excitedly whooped and high-fived one another in the library (a commotion promptly shut down by the librarian.) They planned to celebrate by going out to eat that day after class. The sun warmed the air around them, and as they traipsed away from the campus, there was only one thing in the back of Helga's mind that still troubled her.

All of the girls except Phoebe had arrived and were huddled around a booth table at a family pizzeria discussing the little problem in their plans that the freshman Marie-Beth was proving to be. The first one to know had been Cordelia, whom Helga had raced to inform while she was still in the janitor's closet. Of course, she hadn't let on as to where she was at the time. As far as she knew, none of the group was in on her and Arnold's… thing they were doing. Except Sam. Helga had accidentally texted her one night instead of Arnold and swore her to secrecy, which wasn't too hard, seeing as Sam just didn't speak anyway.

She regarded the small girl across the booth from her. Sam was obliviously doing recreational math on her napkin with a pen. Helga wondered if the kid ever really knew what was going on.

They had told Phoebe to meet them at a slightly later time so that they could have this discussion. As much as she loved her friend, Phoebe would never condone the more underhanded operations the group underwent. She could never know, which made it all the more important to quiet Marie-Beth, as well as the people she had told.

Helga, though still collected, was getting a little frustrated with the situation. She massaged her temple as she spoke to Cordelia, "I thought you said you had a plan to keep her from talking about it?"

"I did. I just… maybe hadn't gotten around to it yet. The timing was tricky."

"Well, then." Helga really didn't want to have to beat up anyone over this. It lost its charm after a while. And it was bad for business.

"I can take care of it tomorrow, though, promise. I just need someone to be with me to stage some… theatrics."

"I'm busy tomorrow. Tyler, can you do it?" She wasn't lying. Once again, she was meeting up with Arnold.

The stocky tomboy, who had been taking an enormous swig of soda, slammed her cup down. "Hell yeah! Let's go scare some underclassmen. My cash flow at stake."

Always down for anything. Tyler's reckless zeal made her a pretty reliable friend.

Their operation had been pretty successful so far. For three years, the four of them sought out the kids with the best grades but worst social skills in the school to propose their little deal to. The lure of making money off of their dedication to schoolwork would make the proposal look good, while their shyness and fear would increase the odds that they wouldn't talk about it. The girls would approach only certain people to offer services to; those that were lazy enough to consider it and wealthy enough to pay. Rhonda had been a loyal customer since the beginning, but was touchy. Helga usually handled deals with her.

The client would be charged according to how high a grade they wanted to receive and the difficulty of the assignment, making midterms and finals weeks the most profitable times of the year. The commissioned kid would be given all the information they needed to make the finished assignment look like it was done by the client, as well as specs on the teacher in question and how harsh their grading style was. The entire thing would be mediated by one of the girls, and the client would never know who the contractor was, which keeps the one doing the homework safe from being outed. The girl who set up the arrangement would get to keep most of the cut, with a small percentage going to a treasury of sorts that the group kept for various purposes. The only pressure on the little geeks they worked with was having to meet the grade the client wanted in a class they likely weren't even in.

But for most of them, it was never a huge problem. Unless you were Marie-Beth. Then you would do a shitty job and blame it on someone else. Helga was still pretty pissed about that. Ever since she signed on, Helga had had a bad feeling about her. And look where they were now.

The restaurant's door chime rang. Phoebe entered and scanned the establishment for them. The group stiffened, but regained their cool before she approached the table. Helga did her best to put the situation out of her mind for the time being.

"Hi, guys! Happy fundraiser!" The booth not being big enough to seat five people, Phoebe pulled up a chair from a nearby table and sat down. "I guess I'm late! Sorry. I've just gotten out of tutoring."

Tyler shook her head in mock scorn. "Don't let it happen again, kid"

Helga flagged down a waiter so Phoebe could get a drink. "You're not late, but we did already order. Don't worry, we only got veggie toppings."

Phoebe, who had recently devoted herself to vegetarianism, looked pleased. "Oh, good!"

After the waiter took Phoebe's drink order, Cordelia cocked her head at her. "I didn't know you had a tutor. Didn't think you needed it."

"Oh. No, sorry, that was poor phrasing on my part. I stay after sometimes to tutor people in my Calculus One class."

"That makes more sense." Cord laughed inwardly.

"So!" Helga announced merrily, letting her good mood show. "Congratulations everybody! We sold over $1,200 worth of garbage food to high schoolers! That's a crazy amount of money, but I guess no one feeds these kids properly or whatever."

"And we finished early!" Phoebe added, excitedly. "Remember when we first applied for it? The Vice Principal didn't believe we'd even come close to the goal in time!"

"Cord, update us on the money." ordered Helga.

"I dropped off the first $600 a few days ago, because we really shouldn't just have that amount on us at any given time. And I could hand them the rest tomorrow. But Mr. 'Bigshot VP' Heraldine is out of town until next week. I was thinking of keeping it in the safe over the weekend so I could hand it to him directly on Monday. Just to rub it in a little."

"Your safe?"

"Yeah. The one with Daddy's shotguns." She made a gesture as if she were cocking a firearm.

"That is hilarious. Okay, I trust you. Just please be careful. 600 isn't a ton of money, but it would be a pain in the ass to replace."

Tyler eyes went wide as she suddenly remembered something. "Dude! I have to tell you! This one skinny kid who bought from us was freaking me out. Every day, precisely at ten in the morning, he would buy five bags of those cheesy potato chips. Then he would disappear. Ten minutes later, he shows up, buys another five bags. I swear he was eating all those chips hiding under the bleachers.

Cordelia nodded. "Oh yeah, that's Malnourished Nathan. He probably helped us meet half of the entire goal on his own."

Phoebe raised her brow inquiringly. "Malnourished?"

"Well, the name used to be because he was literally never fed at home, so he did all of his eating at school. Because school food was so scarce and kind of shitty, he got super thin. Now the name is just for irony. The dude's stomach is bottomless." Cordelia explained.

"That's kind of sick." Helga scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Say, Helga." Tyler twirled her silverware. "This just occurred to me: why so busy after school these days? You seem to have other plans more often than usual. You ain't getting into trouble?" She grinned slyly.

"You caught me." Helga held her palms up. "I'm part of a highly controversial team of mercenaries. We'll shoot anyone for the right price." Phoebe and Sam giggled.

"Haha, you sure you don't wanna tell? If it's a date, I know of some pretty hot places to go."

"I wish it were. Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to say. It's more of a private thing. But I can tell you that I'd rather be elsewhere."

"Then just skip, dude." Cordelia suggested.

"It's crossed my mind. I'll let you guys know if I can get out of it."

"Good."

Tyler hadn't been the first to ask about her frequent disappearances. The others had asked similar questions. And she had responded with various excuses. The entire cover was proving to be a little troublesome. But Helga had grown skilled at making sure all of her lies paralleled one another after many years of habitual fibbing.

It wasn't as if she were ashamed of her thing with Arnold. On the contrary. She was pretty proud that she had actually managed to draw his affections over the likes of Lila or other, more popular girls. Those were the sort that had caught his eye in the past, anyway. The fact remained that she just wasn't comfortable with something so personal becoming common knowledge among her peers. Not yet, anyway. Maybe sometime soon, she could open up to Phoebe. Typically, when people were aware of Helga's personal life, she felt exposed and vulnerable. Secrets just felt safer.

The waiter arrived with their order just then. His face was eerily familiar. Then it dawned on Helga that he looked remarkably like Gerald.

Tyler exclaimed upon noticing him. "Jamie-O! How you doing, man? I didn't know you worked here." They exchanged a high-five.

He set the pizza pan on the stand in the middle of the table. "Hey, girl, good to see you! Yeah, you know, this is just a little something I'm doing outside classes at the community college over here."

"Nice. Your folks makin' you do that?"

"Nah, I actually wanted to get off my ass and do something. Makes me look less like a deadbeat. Hey, Pheebs." He nudged Phoebe's shoulder. "It's been a while since you been over. You should stop by soon, we like havin' you."

Phoebe chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, y-yeah."

"You should hear Gerald talk about you. I swear, the only time I will tolerate him going on like that is when he really cares about someone like this." He shot Tyler a wink. "Good seeing you guys."

He left their table to attend to the booth next to them. Phoebe looked unsure of herself. The entire table had gone silent. Helga noticed that everyone's attention was on Pheebs.

"Guys, don't stare. It's rude." Helga broke the silence.

"Sorry." said Cordelia. "We're just worried, dude. Jamie's opinion of Gerald's behavior seems a little different than ours."

"Yeah." Tyler added. "You okay, Pheebs?"

Phoebe opened her mouth to speak. Just then, everyone's phones buzzed audibly. Helga flipped hers out and read the message aloud so that the others wouldn't have to.

I am sorry u guys rnt doing so good. :((( Mabybe gerald will stop being so insufferable if we beat him up, lol

"Thanks, Sam." Phoebe said morosely. "But that's not necessary."

As much as Helga was concerned for her friend and what appeared to be her impending break-up, she was a little glad for it taking the attention off of her plans for tomorrow evening. However, Gerald's recent rudeness wasn't to be excused by the group. Jamie-O's heart was in the right place by mentioning what he did, but they knew that it had only served to make Phoebe feel guilty and more conflicted about her situation.

They followed up the awkward tension with humorous jabs at Gerald's insensitivity. Thankfully, Phoebe's spirits lifted and they moved on to other subjects. The rest of the meal was full of the usual jokes, sarcasm, and disillusionment with society that they typically exchanged. Things seemed to be going well, for the most part.

Helga picked up the check this time. She was feeling generous.

The group separated in front of the building, swapping the customary high-fives. Cordelia lit a cigarette and claimed she was going to get a ride from someone in a few minutes. Tyler and Sam walked off together, having a very one-sided conversation. Phoebe, who had driven her car instead of walking in order to make better time, offered Helga a ride home.

"Assuming you don't have anything extracurricular going on, that is." she added.

Helga chided. "Pfft. What do you take me for?"

"But you do sometimes."

"It's true. But I like to think that I don't. The denial keeps me sane."

They climbed into her tiny gold Honda Accord. It wasn't too shabby, Helga thought. She really needed a car, and as a result of this need, every vehicle she saw was one she wouldn't mind having. And getting one herself was an actual possibility, as she had saved up enough to buy a used one. But wouldn't her own parents notice that a teen with no actual job had managed to purchase a car out of pocket without their aid? Knowing how much attention Bob and Mirriam paid her, she could see herself getting away with it somehow.

Helga pulled down the passenger sun visor. "Hey, if I bought a car, could I stash it at your house? Just so my parents don't see it."

Phoebe shifted gear and pulled out of the parking lot. "I suppose you could park it by the empty lot across the street. Are you going to buy one all by yourself?"

"I might. I'll have to figure out how to deal with the insurance, though."

"Helga, if you leave your car at my house all the time, how will you drive it to school?"

"I wouldn't. I like walking to school. But sometimes I want to go places that take a long time to walk to. And public transportation is great and all, but it doesn't take you everywhere, and you have to wait on it. I'd like to be able to cross town whenever I want. Or leave town altogether. We could go on a roadtrip or something."

"That sounds pretty great, actually. Taking a little getaway this summer sounds nice. But my car wouldn't take kindly to long drives."

"Then it's settled!" Helga slapped her hands on the dash. "I'll buy one that can. We could go be actual tourists in a different town for once, instead of being the locals who are fed up with them."

Phoebe marveled. "Oh, there are so many directions we could go. There's are places only a few hours away that I've always wanted to see! The Chinese botanical gardens in Portland, the Oregon Vortex in Gold Hill. Oh, the Redwood National Park! I've been to that one before, but I really want to see it again!"

Helga looked excitedly at her friend. "You know, Oregon has this crazy UFO festival in May. If school is out by then, we could totally check it out."

"Gosh, now I really want to go and just... explore places. We could invite a fun little group to go with us."

"Yeah. I can ask Cord and Ty if they wanna come along. Maybe even Sam, too."

"… And, you know, anyone else you might want to bring."

What? That was a peculiar thing for Phoebe to say. It was almost as if she were... hinting at something. "I... don't think a sedan will fit many more people than that, dude."

"Well, just in case you get a vehicle that can. Like an SUV."

Helga furrowed her brow at her friend. "Who else is there to bring?"

"I don't know. A significant other, maybe." Phoebe kept her eyes forward.

"I don't have a significant other."

"You might when we actually go on the trip."

"I… probably won't. There's no one here I'm really interested in."

"Then why are you seeing Arnold tomorrow night?"

Shit!

Helga panicked. Reflexively, she denied everything. Maybe there was still a chance to cover it up.

"Phoebe, what in the hell makes you think I'm seeing Arnold? We're just friends. That's it."

"First of all, you and him hit it off and begin meeting regularly during break. Then, you abruptly cut things off, as if to hide something. Normally, this would imply that it just didn't work out between the two of you. But, coupled with your consistently occupied schedule as of late, it is fair to surmise that you are still seeing him privately.

She rolled her eyes. "Or maybe I like to schedule my free time around interests outside of vapid and fleeting romances. Unlike everyone else our age. My unavailability and his brief communication with me can both occur and be unrelated. I doubt I'm dedicated enough to go to all the effort to secretly date such a drip, anyway."

"Helga, I read Gerald's text to Arnold. About the date."

Helga was shocked at her friend. She gaped. "You read through his messages?"

"N-no, not like that! I didn't deliberately search his texts. Gerald got called into the other room as he was using his phone, so he set it down still open on the table as he ran off. I happened to glance down and… well, see it."

"Okay... so we went on a date. Doesn't mean I'm still seeing him."

"As a friend, I'm telling you that I know about it and that it's okay to give up the charade. I'm not upset, and I'm not going to tell anyone else."

Helga tried to think of a snappy reply, but couldn't. She sat in stunned silence for a moment, taken aback at the finality of Phoebe's words.

"… Damn." Helga slumped in her seat and folded her arms. "Well, there you go, then. The list of people who know keeps growing."

"I'm sorry, Helga. I figured you would never tell me unless I pushed for it."

"Hm."

"I, uh... didn't actually know you were still seeing him, though."

"… What?"

"And Gerald's phone didn't actually say you had gone on a date. But all of the evidence was pointed in that direction, and I figured that if I acted as though I had already found out, you would just come out with it."

Helga stared at her. She didn't know whether to be amazed or apalled.

"Holy shit, Pheebs, I think you're becoming manipulative in my stead." She was almost proud.

"I'm really sorry. I should never have tried to force you to talk to me about it. It was disrespectful and... and underhanded and-"

"Dude, I'm not even mad."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, this is how you guys normally get stuff out of me. I'm not surprised. But you did have me fooled."

"Wow. Well, okay then. Your act was really convincing, too."

"Was it?"

"Yes. Very."

"Did I throw your suspicion into doubt at all?"

"Actually, yeah."

"That's awesome. I should really join Theatre Club."

"Helga, I know you're a very reserved person. You rarely let on details about yourself to anyone. But why hide something like this from your closest friends? We're always here for y-"

"I know you are." She cut Phoebe off, looking out of the window. "But this is my thing, you know? My own little private adventure that I'm having. And no one else has to know about it. I feel really liberated that way. When no one else knows."

"I'm... really sorry, Helga."

"Look, don't worry about it. I knew you were perceptive enough to figure it out on your own. I can't blame you for that. But I'll tell the others when I'm ready. For right now, I like things the way they are. Even if you are in on it."

"Do... do you like him?"

"I mean... sure. Yeah, I do."

"Good. That's more than I can say for mine, anyway."

Helga failed to hold in her laugh. "That's pretty bad, Phoebe."

"I guess. I was thinking of breaking it off soon."

"Darn. I was hoping we could form this weird square of best friends dating other best friends."

"That would be weird." She giggled. "Maybe we can work it out some other time."

Phoebe pulled up to Helga's door. Helga turned to talk to her friend before she left.

"I wish you a clean and painless break-up. You're welcome to come over afterwards."

"I might have to take you up on that. I'll need all the luck I can get."

"And don't worry about exposing my innermost secrets and all that." She grinned playfully. "It only shows that you care. I was honestly impressed."

"I'm really glad you aren't angry. I kind of forced it out of you earlier than you would've liked, huh?"

"Actually, I was planning on telling you pretty soon."

"Really?"

"Yep. You would've been the first to know, of course."

"Thanks, Helga. That means a lot.

"Just don't expect regular updates on the subject or anything."

Phoebe chuckled. Helga exited the vehicle and shut the door to the car, waving as it pulled away. This sort of prying on Phoebe's part wasn't uncommon. It was always a little uncomfortable, yet it was almost necessary sometimes to keep an open line of communication between the two of them. It was an odd system, but it worked well enough. Helga reasoned that it was easier for herself than informing people of things on her own initiative. All in all, it didn't bother her too much in the end. Not when the prying was done by someone she trusted this much.

She climbed the stoop to her door, entered, closed, and locked it. Though she enjoyed the company of trusted individuals, being alone at home was refreshing. She could truly let her guard down here.

Helga decided to snoop around the kitchen for some easy food. She was halfway through scanning the interior of the cupboards when her ringtone sounded, loudly echoing throughout the house.

She received phone calls so infrequently that the blaring of the hook from Gangsta's Paradise emanating from her coat pocket caused her to drop the box of cereal she had been reached for. It tumbled to the floor and the top flaps popped open, scattering colorful grains across the linoleum floor.

She huffed and stood there for a moment, debating on whether or not to actually clean it up as the grainy ringtone pounded her ear drums. When she decided that she could be bothered to sweep up the mess, she dug the phone out of the pocket and flipped it open. Arnold was calling her.

She answered it.

His voice was cheery "Hey! What's going on?"

"You've never called me before. This must be important."

"Not really. I just wanted to see what would happen if I did."

"Well, a couple things."

"Oh?"

"For instance, I've discovered that I haven't changed my ringtone since middle school."

"Oooh, that must've hurt."

"Mhmm. And I spilled my food all over the fucking kitchen because the sheer prepubescence of it sent me into shock." She grabbed a broom and dustpan and began sweeping, with her shoulder pinning the phone to her ear.

"Dear god. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, bonehead. I'm exaggerating." She giggled into the phone.

"I knew that. I meant your kitchen. Do you need help cleaning? Was it pasta?"

"Close. It was cereal. Nothing I can't handle."

"I'm so glad I called. That's pretty hilarious."

"Happy to be of service. Was there an ulterior motive to this call or not?"

"I did want to see what you wanted to do tomorrow. I get discounted movie rentals, just so you know."

She dumped the ruined cereal into the trashcan and made her way to the living room to plop onto the couch. "I dunno. We should just let it be spontaneous. I hate the way planned events feel."

"So we'll just do what we feel like doing at the time? That sounds nice."

"I know. We might not even do anything. I'd be okay just walking around town with you."

"That's pretty romantic of you, Helga."

"Don't get the wrong impression, football head. I'm not the romantic type."

"But just wanting to spend time with someone like that is pretty romantic. Well, I think so, anyway."

"Really? I figured you would find it boring. It's not exactly Dinoland. Or the arcade."

"Nah. It's cute, not boring."

Helga's cheeks warmed. "You don't think I'm romantic, do you?"

"If it makes you feel tougher, then no."

"Good. And it does."

They chatted for some time before Arnold was summoned away for dinner. Helga checked the time and was surprised to see that they had talked for over an hour and a half. She hadn't meant to talk to him that long. But now that she had, she didn't really mind.

She eventually found something in the fridge to re-heat and made plans to occupy the television until she heard her parents car pull up to the house. But during the mind-numbing evening television, her thoughts would occasionally drift back to Arnold.

God, that boy was really turning her into a softie. It wouldn't be long before she couldn't hide that she really cared for him. Though, he could probably kind of tell by now.

How strange it was to feel this way again.