Disclaimer: Can't touch this! *Dances like MC Hammer* The fan fiction is mine, but the characters aren't!

Helga's POV

Oh, how love is a double edged sword, can send into bliss and never ending joy and yet send into into the bottomless pits of sorrow and despair, a depression so deep only the object of affection could possibly snap one out of it...or risk a life of wallowing in misery.

How can one odd headed boy build me up and knock me down, as if I was ordinary preschool blocks in a mere ten years of meeting him? Oh...

Arnold stared at his phone, a nondescript look on his face. Worry, Anger, Disappointment ... no emotion could come to mind at that moment. Maybe it was the fact that he quietly rejected the girl so obviously into him, accusing her of having feelings for another boy all because of his irrational jealousy.

He let out a deep exhale as he plopped onto his comforter, hoping the sheets could soften the blow of his brutal mistakes. The chilly sheets did nothing more than help him face the cold hard truth of his actions...

He seriously screwed up. And it would take a lot more than a little flirting and a lot of apologies to make it up to her.

**TSLOHP**

Life sucked. Big time.

Helga trudged into school, her heart heavy as lead and her emotions dissipated from view. She knew that falling in love would have it's consequences; she didn't hide it just for fun. There was always a possibility that she would get her heart crushed sooner or later.

Rejection was a difficult, bitter pill to consume.

But after all the moments they shared, good and bad, pre-friend and present, she believed that there would be something, anything there.

Tears rolled down her cheeks faster than she could stop them and the moment the late bell rang, she ran into the closest janitor closet to avert her eyes from the curious glances of her peers. Nicer or not, she had a reputation to live up to, and unfortunately, Arnold (or Cody, for any matter) could not influence it.

**TSLOHP**

"Has anyone seen Helga today?" Mr. Turk called out, marking Helga's name with a little 'x' for absent. "She's never been absent this year."

"Well, I reckon there's always a first time for everything." Stinky drawled, sneaking out a cup of lemon pudding to eat discreetly.

"Yeah, I mean not everyone can go to school every single day without a break." Sid added. "We all need to stay home once in awhile."

Mr. Turk nodded with a small shrug, "Okay, then. Now to continue our lesson on substitution..."

Arnold drowned out the class groans and the squeaking of the marker against the whiteboard as his mind drifted to the same person missing.

She's not here because of me. She probably skipped this class because I'm in it and she didn't want to deal with me today... What am I gonna do? He inwardly groaned, tugging a section of his hair in frustration. Yet within his anger, his mind only screamed one sentence in multiple emotions.

This is all my fault.

Meanwhile, Cody had not exactly similar thoughts about the same person across the room.

Ha, he's making it easier than ever to be her knight in shining armor, Cody smirked, pretending to write down the problems on the board. Now to plan the heartfelt 'best friend' comforting words. Cody took out his phone and texted Cynthia.

'Step three is in place.'

**TSLOHP**

"Are you okay?" Cody asked, raising an eyebrow at the usually feisty girl's vulnerability. She looked up, rubbing her eyes quickly at the sight of him.

She sniffed, wiping her nose. "What do you want?"

"I was just asking to see if you were alright."

Helga scoffed in disbelief, "Of course I am."

"Sure, cause that explains why you're sitting in an empty hallway, leaning against lockers an hour after school ended crying to yourself." He nodded sarcastically. "This-" Cody gestured with his arms waving up and down the hallway, "Is perfectly normal."

Helga inwardly growled, her defensive emotional barriers back up. "Yeah, well, you never explained why you were here too, bucko, so start talking. Shouldn't you be in one of your fancy limos?"

He sighed, sitting down next to her.

"Hey hey hey!" Helga shouted, scooting away from him, "Who said you can sit next to me, bucko? We're not friends!"

"Oh, right," Cody nonchalantly picked dirt out of his fingernails, "Unlike you and that Arnold guy."

Arnold, Helga thought, his name bittersweet in every single one of her possible senses. "Right..." She whispered.

"So you two are friends?"

Helga shook her head to the point it gave her a headache.

"So you two aren't friends anymore?"

There was a long silence as Helga pondered over that sentence. She honestly didn't know what to call Arnold anymore... he knew about her feelings and did nothing...he didn't reject her feelings, but he didn't accept it either. They just pushed it to the side for the past four years...and he never did anything. Granted, she was never clear, with the 'heat of the moment' thing, but even Arnold couldn't be that dense. Then her big secret came in and Cody trying to find out Cecelia's true identity, it was all a big bomb waiting to explode.

She sighed, nearing tears once again, "I guess not."

"Why?"

That seemingly innocent question seemed to push Helga off her emotional bridge, down into the river of sorrow.

"Shit happened, OK!" She shot up like a rocket, running out the familiar double doors and as far as she could before Cody caught up to her.

"Why are you running?" He gently grasped her hand. She spun to face him, ripping her arm away from his hold.

"Why did you just touch me?" She countered, flames in her eyes along with salty rivers, "Why do you even care?"

"Is that bad?"

Helga turned, wiping her tears away. "Yes, bucko, it is."

He had no problem attempting to double cross her two personas, by pretending to be Cecelia's friend to discover what she did when she wasn't performing, and Helga by trying to be friends with her, get close to her heart so she'd spill her secrets- or secret, however, since her affections for the football headed boy were no longer concealed. Even Pheobe had seen through his facade.

He took a deep sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

"Look, just...give me a call, if you have any trouble, OK?"

When she gave no response he dropped his personal card on the sidewalk next to her sneakers and walked off into the distance.

All Helga could do was stare at the ground, at the card more precisely until it was blurred by her vision. A single tear fell from her eyes and landed onto it. As she looked around the street for any suspicious people and upon finding none, she slowly picked it up. With no more than a second glance Helga stuffed it in her pocket, and began the long walk home.

She had no idea Cody was watching her the entire time.

'She has taken the card. Step three complete.'

**TSLOHP**

"Gee, Shortman, what did you do now?" Grandpa chuckled as Arnold stepped in. His smile vanished at his grandson's bloodshot eyes and flushed, tear stained cheeks.

"Can you call me down for dinner?" He asked, his voice hoarse. Grandpa nodded without a word, watching Arnold take a zombie-like move up the stairs.

He sighed, picking up the remote to catch up on some TV. Young love...

Well, I'm getting better, right? Last time it took over two months, now it's been 47 days! Impressive, right? Right? *Receives glares that could kill* OK, maybe not. Please give any comments, concerns, etc.

And for the record, I'm not abandoning ANY of my stories...I just have to get into the groove of things.

REVIEW!...please

Oh, and happy Easter! :)