Writer's Block should be a sick myth, but alas, it is not and has affected me for months now.

But do not fret! For a I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel! haha

Here we are with the fifth chapter to my sequel "We Didn't Start the Fire" to the story, "What We Left in the Hallway" which is the sequel to the story that started it all: "Please, Take Me with You!"

SO yay!

As always, I do not own Hey Arnold! All of that is from the genius that is Craig Bartlett.

I am a mere fan :)

So lemme know what you guys think, and stay posted! The next chapter is the one I've been looking forward to! It'll be a good one!

Enjoy! and of course, R&R!

xoxo

Polkahotness

"And THEN she said, 'But Rhonda, it's vintage.' So I looked at her and I said, right in her eyes, I told her, 'Dear, if that is vintage, then I'm-"

"Does this story have a point, princess?"

The girls all turned to look at me and I frowned.

"What? I know you're all thinking it too."

"Helga, this is MY party-"

"But it really ISN'T, Rhonda. I mean... we all just wanted to get together and catch up... didn't we? This doesn't... well it sounds like Rhonda telling us everything she ever breathed on followed by a mish-mash of poorly thought-out snarky comments to me."

Her eyes narrowed in on me and I shrugged it off.

"Then what do YOU suggest we talk about, Helga? Why you STILL haven't plucked that unibrow of yours even after ALL of the advice I've given you on it?"
Phoebe, naturally and quietly, squeezed into the conversation.

"Maybe we could talk about college-"

"Oh yeah, Rhonda? Well SOME of us don't NEED to do all that artificial crap to get people to like us."

"Or maybe our classes? We could talk about that. Or-"

"Helga. I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. Because that's how nice I am."

"We could talk about our roommates..."

I turned my attention to Phoebe as she continued to try and change the subject.

"Roommates. Yes. Let's talk about roommates." My voice was coming out so soft and so smooth that everyone's eyes noticeably widened.

"But you don't have a roommate, Helga. You're always talking about how nice it is to have a room to yourself-"

"Yes. I know, Sheena. But all of YOU have roommates, don't you? And Rhonda. I wanna hear NOTHING about your big private mansion and your butlers."

Pouting slightly, she leaned back and watched as the rest of us continued to talk to one another.

"Well... I guess I will go!" Sheena squeaked and I rested against Rhonda's bed, my mind wandering as she talked.

Roommates. Really, Phoebe? What am I supposed to say? Oh Hi. I'm Helga. You remember me. I have no roommate. My boss at my job is a jackass. My internship is a joke. I can't write a single WORD since I started college, and I'm starting to like my boyfriend's ROOMMATE. Peachy.

"She's really nice. She's really into Japanese culture, which can be hard because we like different television shows, but we always work it out."

"Well that's great, Sheena. I too have a great roommate. Her name is Elise. Luckily, she isn't into partying very much, and she's very okay with Gerald when he comes to visit me."

And I'm so anxious to continue hearing about Phoebe's perfect roommate. I never even see her much anymore without Elise.

"Well I don't really like my roommate. I always videochat with Rhonda, and she is extremely rude every time." Said Nadine as she picked up a magazine nearby that she had been looking at earlier.

"She closed the computer on me once because it was too late for her. I mean, really? I'm in ITALY. Please."

"You sound like you're being ever so harsh. I'm sure she was just very tired."

"I'm sure she was just trying to be rude, Lila. You don't just shut a computer on someone. Especially when they pre-planned the time they were on their computer so she could see her best friend."

"I'm just not so sure about that."

"Then let's here about YOUR roommate, Lila." I asked, crossing my arms without much genuine interest.

"Oh... I'm not so sure you'd like to hear about my roommate."

"And why not? She embarrassing or something? She bring in bunches of guys and disturb you ALL NIGHT LONG?"

"Oh no! Not at all, Helga."

"She make parties in your room? Bring in booze and all other sort of things you don't like?"

"Never. It's not that. It's just-"

"Well what is it then?"

"Well... we just don't get a long very well. That's all. So there's nothing to tell."

"I'm sure there's SOMETHING to tell..." I muttered under my breath and looked down at my hand as I picked at the nail polish they had just put on my nails an hour ago.

"Like what?" Nadine asked, glancing up from her magazine with mild interest.

"I'm not sure... but usually Lila is chock full of stories, aren't you?"

"Oh... I'm ever so sure that isn't always the case, Helga."

I rolled my eyes, leaning in closer to Lila as she clearly tried hard to keep her ground.

"Is it?"

"Yes."

"Is it... REALLY?"

"Helga, her name is Mary-Ann. She's from a quaint town named Fiddley. She plays the accordion and rides horses in her backyard. She lives with her mother because her father passed away from an oh too tragic disease. She... she's ever so sweet, and just such a great listener-"

"Than what's wrong with her?" we all seemed to ask in unison.

"She's too perfect."

I laughed.

"You're joking."

"I'm ever so certain I don't understand how this is funny, Helga."

"Somebody more perfect than YOU? THAT'S your problem with her?"

"She just... she's so nice. And... in some ways, and I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but sometimes it gets to be-"

"Annoying?" I asked.

"Nauseating?" Nadine piped in.

"Fake?" Rhonda added (while I inwardly laughed that SHE of all people would use THAT adjective about somebody else).

"A little."

"Oh Lila... poor naïve Lila..." I mumbled, returning to my casual position as Rhonda quickly changed the subject.

"Let's talk about something FUN." she said, suddenly leaning in to our oddly shaped circle. "Let's talk about RAY."

A good majority of the girls smiled and nodded, Rhonda of course going overboard on the entire thing as she typically did whenever a new form of testosterone showed up among us.

I frowned, Phoebe's eyes slyly gravitating toward me.

"That boy has a body that doesn't stop ANYWHERE." Rhonda oozed and I rolled my eyes with a smirk.

"Is that supposed to be a good thing? You make him sound like some cartoon with an abnormally large torso." I leaned back to rest my weight on the heels of my hands.

"It means he is hot stuff. Just because you're dating Arnold, who I must say is as attractive as ever, doesn't mean you can't scan the menu-"

"I don't NEED to SCAN THE MENU, Princess. I have everything I want."

"Everything? How do you know that? Who else have you ever dated?"

I swallowed the growing lump in my throat.

"S-Stinky?"

"Pish posh. That was in elementary school. Those relationships are... well... elementary. Let's be honest; Helga G. Pataki, besides Arnold who HAVE you ever dated?"

All sets of eyes turned to look at me expectantly; waiting for my supposed quick comeback. But when my lips quivered and my shirt began to feel just a little too tight, I knew the jig was up and Rhonda Lloyd was ready to pounce for the kill.

"Not... not dated, really."

"Exactly. Than you truly don't know if Arnold has everything you ever wanted. Point made."

The girls nodded their heads, with the exception of Phoebe who stared at her lap in silence. She had only ever BEEN with Gerald, and though it was a valid point to shove in Rhonda's face, I wasn't about to put my best friend on the spot to defend her relationship which I knew was, for the most part, rock solid. Instead, I shimmied my way onto a different path.

One I hoped would shut Rhonda's snotty, know-it-all big mouth for good.

"I've liked Arnold since pre-k." I fessed up for the first time to this particular group of girls, "You've confessed to liking over a hundred boys a SCHOOL YEAR." Her eyes were narrowing in on me, but I continued. "I've been friends with PLENTY of guys throughout my life; enough guy friends to KNOW exactly what I want that is while you've merely stared, oogled and no doubt fantasized or thrown yourself at the likes of them as we have all taken notice to in the event that is Ray. I've finally got somebody who you have ADMITTED to pining after, and you have NOBODY. So it appears to me, Rhonda, that you are JEALOUS that for once, Helga G. Pataki has the ball in her court."

The room fell silent, Rhonda's eyes wide as her cheeks reddened to the exact shade that had been delicately painted on her perfectly shaped nails.

Check and mate, everyone. Nobody makes a fool of Helga G. Pataki.

A sly smile crept over Rhonda's face for a brief moment; just quickly enough for me to notice but not

prepare for what she had in mind.

"If that's true, Helga, I must say... the friendly attitude... the jokes and the apparent avoidance of said topic... It seems as though maybe, with Ray in town, Helga G. Pataki may be... tossing her ball into another court afterall..."

I stood outside Rhonda's mansion and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"Can you believe she SAID that, Pheebs?"

"Yes, Helga. I can."

I pivoted around to look at her before she could even take a step.

"You can?"

"Helga, you were provoking her. You were trying to win dominance over her like you typically do. Only this time... well... she won."

"She didn't win."

"We're standing outside of her house at one in the morning. I think she won."

I shook my head and turned around to begin walking in a general direction; unsure as to if I wanted to go to Arnold's or skip over it all and just go back to my hotel room.

"But Helga," Phoebe continued as she jogged to catch up to me with the long strides I was taking, "she didn't win in front of all the girls. You know how they are... how we've always been-"

"Yeah! Looking at me and seeing some tomboy who isn't into painting her nails, or putting goop on her face or talking about boys for hours until we pass out on the floor. Looking at me and... and seeing an outcast."

Phoebe stopped for a moment, allowing me to walk far passed her as she remain in place.

"supportive of how you've chosen to be."

I turned my head at her quiet words and let out a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment before making my way to where Phoebe stood.

"Which is?"

"Different. Not wrong, or an outcast... just different. But Helga... deep down you are just the same. Even deep in Rhonda she's the same. We're all just looking for where we fit in. And until college, all we had was each other. So maybe you felt like an outcast while we all seemed to fit together perfectly, but we never did."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that Rhonda won by finally exposing what we all knew was inside of you."

I scrunched my eyebrow together and bit my lip for a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Insecurity."

I couldn't tell Arnold what happened. Because as much as I hated to admit it, Rhonda was sort of right.

Sort of. Not at all even CLOSE to being RIGHT, but she was sort of right.

Criminy.

Sure I was insecure. I was insecure that maybe... maybe all this time I'd been focusing on Arnold when there were other people out there that could be right for me too.

That may accept me for me the way Arnold always had.

Always.

That was the thing with the kid. He never had a doubt in that weird shaped head of his that I was a good person with feelings and all that crud I never admitted to having.

But who was I to say that nobody else in this entire world would ever see that in me besides him?

And Arnold and I are so different. Really. Maybe that's why we fight so much sometimes.

I mean... he doesn't have parents.

I do.

But that is a really trivial thing. It's shallow. I mean, if you look at it from a more... well a different angle, neither of us really have parents. Him even more than me even.

So that one doesn't count.

The only thing we really differ on it seems... the thing that REALLY makes us fight... is trust.

Dr. Bliss always said I had a problem with that...

I don't trust him. Emotionally that is. Mainly because I don't understand how he can like somebody like me. So I don't believe it.

But he does.

Oh boy, that really bugs him. He's always getting mad that I don't seem to believe him... but how can I believe that he cares for me even a percentage of the amount of adoration I have for him if he won't even say he loves me?

Briiiiiiiiing, briiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

I reached for my phone that I had tossed onto the nightstand.

"Yello?"

"Hey."

What impeccable timing.

"Arnold..."

"Helga. I wanted to talk to you."

He knows. He freakin' knows. I bet it was Lila. I bet she texted him the MOMENT I left just to let him know what Rhonda said to me. To let him know my reaction. To make sure he-

"About...?"

"About the other night. I think you fell asleep and I was in the middle of saying something and I wanted you to know what I was going to tell you."

I felt my heart palpitate in my chest.

"O-Okay..."

"But I'd rather tell you in person."

"Oh." I pulled the hair band out of my hair that had been holding the blond locks in a messy bun.

"You wanna... maybe do something tomorrow night?"

"You mean tonight."

I could just imagine his eyebrows scrunching together in that cute way he had whenever something went right over his head.

"Because it's one. In the morning. So it would be tonight. Get it?"

After a moment, I could hear him chuckle quietly.

"Oh. Oh yeah... I uh... I guess so, huh?"

"Same old football-head."

I picked at my nails for a moment; chewing off a piece I had picked too far from it's home. I spit it across the room and lay back on my bed, the phone held tightly to my ear.

It was funny, how Arnold and I talked on the phone. He wasn't a talker. Not to say I really WAS, but I was a lot more of one than him. So we sat silently, our phones still on, the line still connected, but no word uttered from either end. I stared at the ceiling and pictured his face. I imagined every angle and every crease it made as his emotions changed. In all our time spent together, I must have memorized his face so perfectly, I could convince myself if was really him when it clearly wasn't. I closed my eyes and imagined him looking back at me, saying those words I'd pretended to hear on so many occasions.

"Are you still there?" I asked quietly, my eyes slowly opening.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Why aren't you talking?"

A shuffle of the phone.

"I dunno. I don't really have anything to say."

"Well why not?"

"I just... I don't talk on the phone much I guess."

I knew the answer. I just always hoped for a different one.

"I'll let you go then. Let you get some sleep before tomorrow night."

"Okay."

A pause.

"I love you."

Another pause.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

A sigh.

"Yep. Bye, Arnold."

"Bye."

A dead end.

I must have listened to that dial tone for a good twenty minutes before I finally peeled the phone from my cheek. Wiping the oils from my skin off of the phone, I placed it back on the nightstand where it usually sat and remained lying on the bed; staring up at the ceiling.

Tomorrow, Helga. You'll talk to him about it tomorrow.

And if things don't change...

I opened my eyes, and for the first time in my life, I spoke the three most optimistic words I'd ever said in my life:

"Things WILL change."

But how exactly, not even Rhonda Lloyd herself could know.