When Arnold got back into the restaurant, he refused to speak about what he and Helga talked about. All he said was "She just wanted to leave," and left it at that. He tried to ignore their sympathetic pity looks, but it was clear that the hangout was over. Plus, she was right; it was a school night and Phoebe and Gerald needed to get home and rest for the next day.

Once Gerald dropped him off at the boarding house, he was bombarded as expected.

"What's wrong, son?" Miles asked. "Didn't you have fun with your friends?" Ouch. Maybe he needed to work on wearing his emotions on his face. Was it that obvious?

"Oh, y-yeah! I had a great time. It was…nice." Arnold forced out.

"Then why so glum, Shortman?" his grandpa asked from his rocking chair.

"It's just…well…."

"Let me guess, your little friend with the one eyebrow made fun of you?"

"She doesn't have one eyebrow anymore, grandpa. But…well, yeah, kind of, but it was…the opposite. Helga didn't really seem to care that I was here."

"Hah! Girl trouble, I knew it." Phil slapped his knee. "I win!"

"Grandpa…" Arnold scolded softly. "It's just, she seems so…distant now. But she's so nice to everyone else! I just don't get it. At least when we were kids, she pretty much made fun of everyone. And she's so confusing! Earlier today she said she missed me, but then she got mad at almost everything I did."

His mom came out of the kitchen and sat down next to her son. "Well, what did you do to her, mijo?"

Arnold gulped. "Well, okay, I'll tell you, but the first thing I did to her was totally my fault…" He started listing everything Helga told him earlier; showing up at work, the group chat, ect.

"Son…" his dad started in his Dad Lecture voice. "I think you do need to give her some space."

"Your dad is right, mijo. You guys haven't spoken in a few years, and this was a lot of, well, exposure to you in a short amount of time. It sounds like Helga's patience was eroded over the course of a few hours."

"Yeah, I understand. I was just…really excited."

"Of course you were. I bet she was excited you came back, too." Stella said. "But you can't just bombard her with attention, silly."

"Also, we didn't mean we wanted to see her tonight, buddy. We know it's a school night." his dad chimed in.

"Oh, right…I guess I got carried away." Arnold blushed a bit.

"Still, she'll come around if she wants to come around. Don't worry about it." Miles gave his head a ruffle.

Arnold knew his parents were right, but he still had a nagging feeling of disappointment looming over him. Looking at the clock and deciding it was a good time to take a shower (a real shower!) and head to bed, he bid his parents and grandparents a good night.

Now that he was alone, he reflected on his day. He was eager to see his other classmates now that Gerald and Phoebe really updated him on their lives. Gerald already had a list of movies and video games that he's missed out on (saying something about this being "just like that one scene from Winter Soldier", whatever that was) that he can watch while all his friends were at school.

He really wished he could go to school with all his pals. The school year was almost over for them, it was May and they only had a month left. Hopefully he could join them next year. American high school seemed so fun in the movies. Well, it looked like torture and fun at the same time. Regardless, he couldn't wait to experience it. He did understand the possibility of not being able to return to the public school system, and having his parents continue to homeschool him, and he accepted it. He still craved all the cliches he remembered from his childhood; he wanted to go to science lab, and join clubs, and see a football game, play on the basketball team with Gerald, and take Helga to Snow Ball and Prom.

Helga.

He had to admit, she looked adorable tonight. She had quite a fashion sense now...and he didn't quite understand it (he thought a Rhonda probably didn't understand it either), but it worked for her. He remembered getting some photos in the mail from Phoebe when she went to Japan a few years ago, she took lots of photos of street fashion. A lot of them had wild clothes and crazy color schemes, but they looked good. That's who she reminded him of; her clothes and hair were a bit weird and unconventional (okay, it was still really weird to him), but she could pull it off and make it work. And she totally looked cute in that little Dino Land/Jurassic Park uniform she had to wear, but if he ever said that to her, she'd probably punch him.

And her passion? Her cakes really were breathtaking. He could tell that they were something she really cared about. There was that upsetting, knowing look that Gerald and Phoebe shared earlier that he couldn't shake, though. What was that all about? He'd have to ask about that later.

After his hot shower, he decided to get a drink of water before he went to bed. To his surprise, his grandparents were still awake downstairs.

"Excited to sleep in your old bed tonight, short man?" his grandpa asked him as he entered the kitchen.

"Oh! Yeah, it'll be nice not sleeping on...the ground, or a pile of leaves." Arnold chuckled. "But it might take some getting used to." He gathered his glass and went to the sink to pour himself a glass of water. After a few seconds, a thought popped into his head.

"Hey...Grandpa? Grandma?"

"Yes, Arnold?" his grandma answered.

"Before Helga left, she wanted me to tell you guys...thank you. I don't know what it means, but she wanted me to tell you."

He saw his grandparents shared a knowing look. "Well, thanks for letting us know, Arnold. Now, why don't you get some rest now, you had a big day..." His grandpa waved him upstairs. While he kinda wanted to ask what she meant, he actually was very tired and went up to his room to get a good night's sleep.

The next day at school wasn't any better for Helga.

"Did you hear Arnold is back in town?"

Yes.

"Yo, did you hear Arnold is back in town?"

Yes.

"Did you see Arnold yet, Helga? He's in Hillwood again!"

Yes, I have seen him.

"I can't freakin' escape the guy, Phoebe!" Helga cried as she met Phoebe at her locker in-between classes. "He's everywhere. Everywhere! Everyone's been asking about him all day long! Criminy, I feel like I'm in that one Talking Heads video or something."

Phoebe shrugged. "Our classmates are just excited, Helga." There's that word again. "I'm sure the enthusiasm will die down once the initial shock wears off. There should be no worry of any long-term effects."

"I know that, Pheebs. Just, whatever, can we talk about something else?" Helga pleaded with her best friend. "I'm tired of that football-headed jerk."

"Of course. Are you nervous about your upcoming test?"

"Oh yeah, this conversation is much less anxiety inducing." Helga joked. "But uhh…I think I'll ace it. I'm pretty confident. We're actually getting our….poetry assignment back today…" she looked away, biting her lip.

"You're more nervous about your potential poetry grade than the test, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, what kind of weird-ass poetry assignment— like, a poem for Mother's Day? What are we, four?"

"I agree it was a bizarre assignment." Phoebe said, closing her locker. "But perhaps that's why Mr. Kirkland chose it. I'm sure he realizes that not everyone has the greatest relationship with their mothers, especially during the tumultuous teenage period. A lot of parental relationships are strained, and maybe he wanted to shed light on—"

"Alright, alright, I get it, you think he's cute!" Helga interrupted.

"Helga!" Phoebe playfully shoved her best friend. "That is not the case."

"What? He can be cute and wrong at the same time. And that accent? Come on." they both giggled. "But uh, for real, I guess I get the assignment. My poem was just a little…unconventional."

"Well your situation is a little unconventional. I'm sure he understands that, and I doubt he would take marks off without giving you a chance to explain yourself…"

"Like I'd actually want to explain myself? Ugh." The bell rang. "Alright, see you later Pheebs." Helga waved at her best friend and she headed straight for her next class.

Thankfully, her AP Lit test wasn't that hard. Before the whole Arnold Situation happened, her friends and coworkers were helping her study for the whole week. None of them had AP lit, but she gave them the study guides so they could help her. It clearly paid off, she was totally prepared for the test and nothing caught her off guard.

What did catch her a bit off guard, even though she was bracing herself for it, was her poem being handed back with a red "See Me" at the top.

Okay, her poem was a bit melodramatic, but it totally sounded less scary when you imagined Beyonce reading it like in Lemonade. And yeah, she didn't have a warm and fuzzy relationship with her mom, or and off-and-on one, or even a misunderstood one. It was bad. But Helga didn't think her poem really warranted a "See Me." A C-? She could deal with a C-, but not an awkward conversation about her mother with her slightly-cute-British-bred English teacher.

Once the bell rang to signal the end of class, Helga waited until most of her classmates exited the room before approaching her teacher.

"Look, I know you want to talk to me about my poem - but it's been a rough day. Can I take a raincheck?" she asked him, hoping she could leave for the day and have time to come up with a better excuse than the truth about her mother.

This seemed to catch Mr. Kirkland off-guard.. "O-of course, if that's what you want. I just wanted to check in with you, make sure everything is alright. Your poem was…"

"Unconventional, right?" she interrupted. "Look, teach, everything's alright. I just…" she sighed. "I don't…my relationship is just…" she struggled to find the right words. "My mother isn't…"

He shook his head. "Explanations are not necessary. I'm sorry, Miss Pataki, I apologize for bringing this up, I didn't know your mother has passed—"

Helga shook her head. "She…she didn't. Like I said, it's unconventional…and complicated. But everything's alright, I'm alright! I didn't want to hand in a disingenuous poem. I took a risk. I knew you might ask me about it." She shrugged. "What can I say, I have a unique perspective about Mother's Day."

Mr. Kirkland looked puzzled and relieved at the same time. "Um, r-right, and I do appreciate the…different point of view. Y-you know, Miss Pataki, there are resources that the school provides—"

"Yes, and I will take full advantage of them if they are needed. Thank you Mr. Kirkland! See you tomorrow!" She waved at him as she made her quick exit. Ugh, that was awkward. She knew that the inquiries about her poem and about her mother from her teacher weren't over, but she was already over today. This poem business would have to be dealt with tomorrow.

"Helga, darling! Wait up!" a voice called out to her from down the hall.

Oh fuck. Helga groaned, she knew that voice. That was the I need a favor voice. Criminy, she had like, 45 seconds to get to her next class. "Can this wait, Princess? I'm going to be late because Mr. Kirkland—"

"Oh, nonsense, my dear, I'll get you a late pass. There are perks to being on the cheer squad." Rhonda winked. "Now, let's go somewhere that we can talk…" she started leading Helga to the girl's bathroom.

"So, let's cut right to the chase." Rhonda started once they were inside and she was sure that they were alone. "As I'm sure you've heard, your Arnold—"

"My Arnold? Bitch he ain't mine!" Helga snapped but Rhonda waved her off.

"Oh, you and your outbursts. Classic. Anyway, since Arnold has arrived back into our humble little town, after going off into the wild, untamed jungle for half a decade, you know, scaling mountains, hiking treacherous terrain—"

Is she still talking? Oh my god she's still talking

"—I have decided to throw a party in his honor! Exciting, is it not?" Rhonda finally finished, waiting for Helga to answer.

"Uh… I guess? What does this have to do with me?" Helga asked tentatively.

"I'm glad you asked! I would be honored if you would accompany our esteemed guest and bring him to the party. After all, you two are the closest, and have the most history, and an entrance with the both of you, oh it would be monumental, the highlight of the party—"

"Yeah that's going to be a hard pass." Helga interrupted. "I don't, uh, really… want to go…" Smooth, Helga. But she wasn't a party person in the first place, and she really didn't want to deal with an Arnold-centric party. She could deal with him being there, but him being the guest of honor? Yeah, no thanks.

Rhonda's face fell. "But, it would be so perfect!" She whined. "Oh could you just imagine? After a horrid breakup in Grade 6, two heartbroken lovers are separated for half a decade, only to be romantically reunited at none other than my party—"

"Rhonda! I said no! Cut it out!" Helga yelled. Criminy, she was losing her patience with all of her classmates today. And she didn't like how her voice kept cracking from all her yelling, either. She wasn't really used to this any more.

Choosing to pick her battles, Rhonda composed herself and let out a big, dramatic sigh. "Alright! I'll give. You don't have to accompany him to my party—"

"Alright, thanks for your permission." Helga cut in. "Are we done here?"

"—But, can I at least order one of your divine cakes for the party?" Rhonda continued, as if she were never interrupted. "Oh, I would simply die if I had to go with my parent's preferred catering company. I mean, the cakes they dare to pass off as extravagant are so gaudy, just tasteless if you ask me."

"Uh, you want a cake by Friday? Are you insane?! It's Thursday!" Helga exclaimed. "You've gotta be kidding me. How big of a cake do you even want?"

"Oh, just a standard wedding size, I guess." She shrugged. "I'd be willing to expedite it, or whatever you need to get it done on time. I live to serve, you know."

"Yeah, okay. Just…let me think for a minute." Helga bit her lip in concentration. She mulled over the possibilities for a few seconds before speaking up again.

"Alright, fine. I'll bite. I'll make you a stupid cake. But we gotta make a deal first." Rhonda began to squeal, but Helga held up her hand to stop her. "If you order it through the Dino Land Bakery, my coworkers can work on it while I'm not there, so it should get done on time. We can design it together during lunch. I don't work today, but I do work tomorrow. You'll need to go order it right after school, or have one of your nannies do it for you, I don't know." Rhonda was nodding eagerly. "But! You gotta do a little something for me."

"Oh, of course, Helga, anything! You're one of my nearest and dearest—"

"First, I don't wanna be involved in any lame-ass, like, 'first dance' or any other couple bullshit with Arnold, if I decide to even go to your party, okay?" Helga knew that Phoebe will totally drag her to Rhonda's dumb party even though she didn't want to go, so she needed to secure this little Arnold nugget right here. When Rhonda nodded, Helga continued.

"Second, you have to tell my boss how amazing I am at customer service, and you have to send them an email the day after telling them how everyone at your party loved the cake. We clear?"

Rhonda broke into a huge grin as she rushed over to hug Helga. "Oh, one hundred percent, absolutely! Oh thank you Helga, you are just an angel, a doll! Let me get you a late pass for class, and a few for just being an absolute darling."

Helga awkwardly patted Rhonda's shoulder before she pulled away. Rhonda was just a lot to deal with, even more so on a day like today. Still, she couldn't help but be excited to design a cake at lunch. Even if it had to be with Princess Wellington Lloyd.

—-

"Hey, little lion pants." Helga said as she caught up to Lila in the hallway later that morning on their way to lunch. "Rhonda actually wants to design a cake today during lunch for her party tomorrow. Mind helping me so I don't have to be stuck with her alone for half an hour?"

"Why do you always make fun of my pants, Helga? I think they're nice." Lila pouted.

Helga chuckled. "It's just 'cuz your name's Li-la. Li-la? Li-on? And, I dunno, I just think little lion pants is a cute nickname." She stuck out her tongue. "Shut up! It's hard to think of a good nickname for you." The two girls laughed.

"Alright, Helga. Anyway, of course I'll help you and Rhonda design a cake. But, gosh, isn't it a bit…well, late to be designing a cake for her party tomorrow?" Lila asked.

"You're telling me!" Helga exclaimed. "But, well, you, Marco and Mabel are working tonight, right? And then me, Dean, and Connie are working tomorrow…plus, those old broads are working during the daytime—"

"Helga!" Lila scolded. "Mind your manners."

"What? They love being called old broads." Helga shot Lila a half-grin and caused her to giggle.

"Anyway, like I was saying, I told her to like, fax the cake design to her nanny or whatever so she can go to the bakery and place the order ASAP. I think we can get it done…as long as we keep it simple." Helga stopped suddenly and looked Lila dead in the eyes.

"Lila." Helga placed both her hands on either side of Lila's face. "Lila. We have to keep this cake simple. I know nothing is ever simple with Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd, but we have to keep her on track. Nothing too intricate or too detailed, no checkerboard or rainbow interiors. I know you love baking checkerboard cakes, but we can't afford to lose any time with this one, okay? We need to keep it down to one flavor, and a few frosting colors."

"Nothin's ever simple with Rhonda…" Lila said as she looked down, only to meet Helga's eyes again. "But you're right, we gotta keep her on track." She scrunched up her face into a determined look.

Helga smiled. "Good. That's why you're here." She squished Lila's face a bit to make a fish face, and then they headed outside, where Rhonda always ate lunch.

Once they found Rhonda's table, the girls sat down. Helga explained that Lila was there to help, since she also worked at the bakery. She also got out her notebook and a pen to help design and visualize the cake.

Putting on her best Customer Service with a Smile voice, Helga started to help Rhonda design her cake. "Alright, let's start with a theme. Got any colors in mind?"

"Oh, I was thinking something jungle theme, obviously, unless that is too hard to do." Rhonda said as she flipped her hair.

Helga looked at Lila before continuing. "We could do a jungle theme, but it's actually pretty hard to pull off a cool jungle cake without it making it look like it's for a kid's birthday party. I have some pictures of jungle cakes I've done, but they're either for baby showers or like, some bratty kid's party. Plus, don't forget we're working on a time crunch here, princess. Do you have a second option we could work with?"

Rhonda held a finger to her lip thoughtfully. "Well, I do think that a classic color scheme could work. Maybe gold and maroon? Very sophisticated."

"Oh gosh, that would be just so pretty for your party, Rhonda. But maroon and gold might look too much like Harry Potter, I think that could distract from your overall theme, you know?" Lila chimed in.

"I just think red and gold is so Arnold, you know? I mean, he always has to wear a red flannel of some sort, oh you remember, don't you? That little skirt he wore in Grade 4, and then those shorts he wore, oh and that cornflower hair of his—"

It's a good thing that Helga was writing with a pen, because if it was a pencil she's pretty sure it would have been snapped in half.

"Yeah!" Helga uncomfortably exclaimed, probably a bit too loud for their close proximity. "Right! I remember! Yeah! Okay, can we get back to the cake, please? Okay?" She was trying really hard to be patient because Rhonda was now a Customer, but Rhonda is also a really annoying customer.

"Oh, of course, I apologize. We must get this done post haste! So sorry about the…distraction." she smiled.

"W-well, Rhonda, what about shapes? Motifs?" Lila interrupted, trying to get Rhonda back on track. "I'd recommend we go with a more simple theme, because of our time limit. Our time will be used more efficiently if the design is simple, and it won't be rushed. But um, we have stencils and stuff so we can do some quick, intricate designs…h-here, let me show you some examples…"

In the end, they settled on a large, thick two-tier red-to-white ombre cake with gold icing drips, chocolate and white marble flavor. Rhonda also wanted a big flower centerpiece right on top.

"Preferably roses, you know? They are just so elegant and timeless, you can't go wrong." Rhonda droned on. "But I trust you two will make it work."

"Yeah, sure, this looks good." Helga was going over their notes. "Let me finalize this sketch real quick, and I'll give it to you so your maid can head over to the bakery, or whatever." She gestured towards Lila. "Plus Lila will be working today, so she can make sure your cake is being done right. And I'll be there tomorrow. So you've got nothing to worry about, Princess."

—-

After a long and tiring day at school, Helga was relieved to finally get home. She did have quite a bit of homework to complete, and she did have to think about what she would say to Mr. Kirkland tomorrow after abruptly (and rudely) leaving their conversation about her mother and her poems (ugh), but she would rather deal with that then have to deal with her classmates' incessant rambling about Arnold.

She motioned to unlock the door, but was a bit alarmed to see that it was already opened a crack. Tentatively pushing the door open, she saw a large figure facing the stairwell and it slightly startled her.

"Oh, it's just you." she said as the figure turned around. She gave a small sigh of relief.

Big Bob looked surprised. "Is that any way to talk to your father, little lady?"

"What can I say, you gave me a little spook there, Bob." Helga said as she entered the house and shut the door. "And I didn't exactly have the greatest day at school, not that you'd notice. So sorry for the disrespect, King of Beepers. But for real, pops, what are you doing here? Did Piper get shanked or something?"

Her biting, witty remark didn't phase him.

"She's up for parole."

Out of all the reasons for her dad to be back at their house, that was the last thing she would have guessed. For the second time that week, the color drained from her face and the breath escaped from her lungs in shock.

"H….how?" she managed so squeak out. Not even five years in prison? How did that seem fair to anyone?

Bob shrugged. "Good behavior. Model inmate. Progress in AA."

"But….b-but why? She…"

Bob held up his hand. "I know, kid. I know. Life ain't fair sometimes, but you take what you can get." he sighed and pulled out something from his pocket. "I came to drop off some money, but I also came to ask you a favor."

"A favor for who?" she questioned.

"She wants you two to come to her parole hearing." He said it so nonchalantly, like he was asking to come to her mom's community theatre play.

"Her parole hearing?" Helga squawked out, gawking at him. "Are you joking?"

"She's doing a lot better. I'd take your griping about your mom before, because, between you and me, she deserved it. But I've been there with her every step of the way, ever since she's been locked up. She's changed. She lives with her guilt every damn day of her life." Bob replied solemnly.

"So what? She's supposed to feel guilty." Helga cried. "That's the deal when you get so drunk that you—"

"Hey!" Bob exclaimed, pointing a hearty finger at his youngest daughter. "She's off the sauce now. For good. No one's forgiving her for her crime - she's just paid her dues."

"Oh, 'off the sauce', okay! Okay. That's great, Bob. Of course she'd stop drinking, she's in freakin' prison. She's probably on heroin instead! Much better!"

"Hey hey hey! You can talk to me when you calm down, young lady. You're being hysterical. Now, where's Olga?"

She signed. "My guardian doesn't get home for a few hours." she said quietly. "Fine. I'll go calm down for a bit. Not because you told me to, but because I know I need it. But I'm not going to go visit her, and I'm not going to her parole hearing. I don't want to be a part of it." Helga turned around and went upstairs to her room, while Bob headed to the trophy room to wait for Olga to get home.

She resisted the strong urge to stomp upstairs and slam the door. Once she got to her room, she kicked and punched a few of her pillows, before she settled for flopping down on her bed.

Thinking that a distraction would be good for her, she checked her phone for any notifications.

Pheebs: I didn't see you at lunch today. Is everything alright?

Oh, shoot. She totally forgot to tell Phoebe that she was spending lunch with Rhonda and Lila.

Helga: yeah sorry, had cake business with lila and rhonda. guess which one wanted to order a cake the day before her stupid party? -_-

After she sent that message to Phoebe, she checked her other message.

Lila: Started on Rhonda's cake! Let me know what you think~! :)

[photo attatchment]

It was a pretty good start - luckily they had some pre-made frozen marble cakes in that size so Lila could go ahead on the decorating. Rhonda would probably freak if she knew her cake was pre-made, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

She wished she actually did have work today - then she wouldn't have seen Bob, wouldn't have to think about Arnold, or this parole garbage - she could just be alone with her cakes. That's all she wanted out of life, really. She was a simple man.

Not feeling up to talk to anyone else, she opened her Spotify app and decided to pick up where she left off this morning.

"Today was a good day…"

"Ugh, shut up Ice Cube, no it wasn't." she said as she threw her phone across the floor, onto the pile of clothes she had against the wall. She should really stop throwing her phone out of anger, one day there might not actually be a soft surface for it to land on.

thoughts i had while writing this chapter - lol i know this story is super helga centric but that's all i care about :( rhonda reminds me of holly blue agate lol. arnold's family is super hard to write ugh. also why did i put dipper and helga together when i could have put lila and helga together lmao i am a damn fool. there should be some dipper and helga interaction soon! they don't go to the same school so they don't see each other every day lol. but yeah hopefully the whole prison thing didn't catch you off guard lol

thoughts i had about TJM - holy moly it was so good but it was so SHORT? what happened to the 2 hr movie we were promised. i loved helga and gerald's friendship though. arnold would have been completely lost without them lol. they'd make an awesome monster hunting team ! i really want a season six or the patakis to happen.

another note - mr. kirkland and helga's other two coworkers (dean and marco) are all from different shows too…i wonder if anyone can guess where they are all from (:

thanks for all the support, guys!