Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer. -Norman Mailer

Part Two:

Some Truths About Arnold

"They left me again!" He was angry and his hat was gone.

"What happened?" She remembered asking; trying to calm him down.

He sat one of the stools in the kitchen, eyes red and rimmed with tears. "They went back to the jungle."

She remembered feeling touched that he was there, sharing his life with her but she had never seen him this way. He got up paced the kitchen. Saw the bottle of tequila, a stray left behind by Miriam before she went off to rehab. Helga remembered thinking her life was getting better (mostly because of him) and then he took a swig. He coughed but was ready to take another shot before she stopped him. "Don't."

He dumped the contents. Shame written on his face. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "Miriam drank when life sucked. Don't want you to follow in her footsteps."

"How is she?"

"63 days." They smiled at each other awkwardly. Then Helga stepped closer him and reached for the empty bottle. "How are you?"

This time, he shrugged. "My parents care more about the jungle people than they do about me."

"That's not true. They just want to help-that rubbed off on you."

"I don't think my parents knew how to be parents."

Helga chuckled. "I know the feeling."

"But your parents are trying now. My parents tried for two months. I guess they didn't love me enough."

"But I had you and now, you have me. I love you."

Helga watched him try to find the words for this and she knew…

=P=

Helga found herself sitting outside the kitchen window listening to knives, pots and pans. There was jazz coming from the radio on the shelf near the stove but most importantly, she could hear them talking and laughing.

"I had to learn. I couldn't survive on Chef Boyardee and box mac and cheese my whole life." He was saying.

"How'd you learn?"

"My grandmother, the boarders and then when it was just me…the Food Network."

"You watch the food network?"

"Rachel Ray is responsible for this dinner we're about to eat."

Rhonda laughed. "Well, I always ate at the restaurant down the block from my house. I used to have maids and cooks but my mother felt that a young girl didn't need the help."

"What about your dad?" Arnold asked.

"He usually went along with what my mom said. He doesn't know how to deal with children."

Helga heard a loud bang then some giggling. "You know," Arnold was saying. "Your kitchen is actually better for these lessons."

"I know. But yours is more…homey."

"It was homey once upon a time." Arnold whispered.

Helga shifted her position and tried to get a look inside the kitchen. It was quiet and she preferred the sounds to their silence since she couldn't read minds. When she finally got a nerve to sneak a peek, she saw them hugging. Rhonda was whispering something in his ear until he finally smiled and pulled away from her.

"You're letting our food burn! Some cook."

He grinned. "It will still taste better than anything you tried to cook tonight."

She sat back down on the pile of leaves outside the window. There was a small ache in her chest. Helga could hear the plates, juice being poured, the saxophone solo and finally the chairs scraping against the tiled floor. She wanted to be the one sharing dinner and secrets with him. She remembered sharing canned ravioli with him during the fall season some years ago.

"I know absolutely nothing about wine."

"Well then, a trip to my parents wine cellar is in order."

"Do your parents ever come back here?"

"Here? Heavens no. They would never be seen out of Manhattan anymore. I just visit them on weekends."

"How do you deal with it?"

"I just tell myself that my parents are doing this to make me happy. I wanted to stay here. Go to high school with you guys."

More silence. Then. "That's a good way to look at it."

"Arnold, we don't have to talk about the heavy stuff."

"No, it's okay. I think I'm ready."

"I think it's the wine talking."

Arnold laughed. "One glass?"

"Why would you want to talk about this with me?"

"Gerald, Phoebe, hell even Helga, they are all better candidates than me."

"Gerald and Phoebe don't really understand. Their parents are there. And Helga," He paused. "I tried really hard to get her to be more than mean to me. Then one night on a rooftop, she wasn't and I thought I could be her friend but she wanted more than I could give her."

"What happened?"

"She wanted me to save her."

Rhonda started to laugh. "That's bull…"

"She told me she loved me but she never really saw me. She only saw that I was perfect and when I let her down or didn't measure up. She took it personally. It's hard to live up to that."

"Obviously, she didn't see you at Lila's going away party."

He laughed. "I think she still wants me to be who I was in fourth grade."

"That guy was a total buttinsky."

They laughed and Rhonda continued. "Well, I'm sure that Gerald and Phoebe would agree with me when I say you are not perfect. I mean, aside from the buttinsky stuff, you are totally stubborn and impulsive."

"Are you going to go all night listing my faults?"

"I mean," Rhonda continued as if he hadn't said anything. "remember in fourth grade when your mouth got us involved in that football game? My red cashmere sweater was ruined! And that swimming contest in seventh grade! My arms ached for weeks…and of course, Lila's going away party."

"That party was amazing."

"But impulsive and how presumptuous of you to just assume I'd go along with it!"

"You love parties…especially mine."

"Is that all you think of me?"

Helga peeked at them again. The food was finished and Rhonda was pouring another glass of wine. They were smiling. "Not anymore."

"Jerk."

=P=

Helga saw Phoebe watching her when she finally looked up from her pink book. She was trying not to think of her failed relationship with Arnold, or the things he said about her a few minutes before and the things he said to her that one day in March some years ago.

"Let's go get some ice cream." She saw Helga's hesitation and added. "I'll go in there and tell him if you don't come with me."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Phoebe countered.

Helga actually hated the new Baskin Robbins that replaced Slaussen's the summer after Arnold ripped her heart out of her chest. She had a whole pink book about this- ice cream melting, building being demolished and Arnold softly telling her that he couldn't be the person she wanted him to be.

"I know what I meant to you that day in the rain but…"

All around her things were changing, Brooklyn was becoming the new "hot" spot. Trendy restaurants, revamped lofts, and corporate America was beginning to shape Brooklyn. While Williamsburg, Red Hook, and Hillwood still looked like Williamsburg, Red Hook and Hillwood, there was something different about it all. Arnold was like that too. It wasn't lost on her. But wasn't he still the same boy inside? That's what mattered!

"Did you go to Lila's going away party?"

Phoebe blushed. "I know you didn't want to go."

"Did you?"

"Yes." Firm.

Phoebe was Brooklyn too. Sometimes, the meek pushover she'd befriended. Sometimes, she barely recognized her friend. But Phoebe wanted to be a respected research biologist- you need iron balls for that job Pheebs, can't let the men run all over you.

"How was it?"

Phoebe chewed thoughtfully on the straw of her milkshake. "Nothing was stopping you from attending."

"It's not like I had a great friendship with her!"

"Stop Helga. These 'anti-social tendencies' are not benefitting you. Lila was nothing but nice to you. I think you need to see Dr. Bliss again. You know, you haven't been the same since…"

"What do you know about that?"

"He told me." Phoebe said.

"Why would he tell you…?"

"I'm your best friend Helga. He was concerned about you."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Fine," Phoebe said finishing her milkshake. "But stop following him or I will tell him and Dr. Bliss."

==P==

Author's Notes! Long Boring Ones!:

Timeline in my head: Arnold's parents come during the summer before their freshman year, leave during fall, Helga and Arnold spend time together until that March day Helga keeps talking about (which will be revealed next chapter)- Lila's going away party was during the summer after their freshman year and this story takes place- let's say the fall of sophomore year- so it's been about a year.

About Brooklyn: (and saving you guys a google search)- I remember reading that HA takes place in a mishmash of places most notably Brooklyn- in NYC. (which I'm from yay me! and watching the movie how could it not be?) So I just made Hillwood, a neighborhood in Brooklyn (the other places I mentioned Williamsburg and Red Hook are actual neighborhoods in Brooklyn). Once upon a time, Brooklyn was this place no one wanted to live in and now? Trendiest place outside of Manhattan- which kind of represents what was going to happen in the movie but this change is on a smaller, gradual scale. Man, I love talking about NYC.

Rhonda/Helga/Arnold: I've gone on long enough so I'll keep this short. Rhonda is fun to play with because Helga and Arnold's personalities are pretty much established in HA. Rhonda, like Helga, also has a tougher personality that I think would balance out Arnold's daydreamy optimistic personality. I like Rhonda mostly because she reminds me of Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl. There I said it. And yes, I do think Arnold would try to be nice to Helga after her confession but her "thing" for him would eventually be too overwhelming for him.

Thanks for the reviews, really. I've gone on long enough so I won't bore but I promise you that they (and the PMs) mean bunches to me.

Next up! Part 3 of 3: That March day. More Gerald! (I love him. Lol)