Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Roadside girl"

In the last chapter: While Arnold had hoped that the former night had been his and Helga's way of deciding on truce, it seemed like Helga didn't agree. They started the day with a big fight, which resulted in Helga almost admitting that she used to have feelings for him. David stopped her in time though. After seeing Helga's odd way of calming herself down, Arnold had to wonder what had made Helga so angry at one time that she'd even break the punching bag like David had told him.

To Helga's surprise, Arnold managed to do rather well with his duet with David. Even though Arnold still didn't know how to move around on the stage, he at least knew the lyrics by then. Both blonde people had a bit of mixed feelings though when Maria invited all of the actors to a welcome party at her place in Arnold's honor.

Author's 1st note: Still don't know what to say, but I have a small rant at the second author's note xD

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Chapter 5: "Take a wild guess"

Arnold couldn't believe he was late for his own welcome party. This is embarrassing and so mean towards Maria! She went through all the trouble. He thought as he finally reached the house. They had been practicing all day so his legs felt like they were made of that same stuff Flubber was made of. After the director had gone to attend to the wedding, they had all agreed to meet again as soon as they had finished dressing at their homes. While they hadn't put a time limit on, Arnold had a feeling that he had taken a little too long. It wasn't like he had done anything special to himself per say. He was wearing black pants, white dress shirt and a black vest and he had his hair combed back. He wasn't sure what had made him take so long. Maybe it was because he had secretly been wondering what Helga would wear and that slowed him down.

Arnold was in front of Maria's address now though and quickly rang the doorbell. About ten seconds later, Maria opened the door. His eyes widened at her outfit; it was green. As in harlequin green. It almost hurt his eyes, but he smiled and hugged her when she opened her arms for him. "Welcome, Arnold!" she told him in a happy voice and then closed the door behind him. "Thanks, Maria, and thank you for doing this. Am I really late?" he asked as he followed her through the hallway. "Oh, no, not at all. In fact we're still missing Helga and David." She told him and Arnold halted at that. "Both of them?"

"Yeah." Maria answered matter-of-factly as she grabbed two plastic cups from the table next to her and offered one of them to Arnold. It took him a couple of seconds before he got himself out of his trance and grab one of them. "Thanks." He said and lifted the cup towards his mouth absentmindedly. "Aren't you gonna ask what it is first?" she asked with a snicker and he stopped. "What did you do to it?" he asked with mock horror and she laughed. "No! I didn't do anything. I just figured you should know in case you don't like it." She told him and then pointed at the bottles on the table. "There's some different things so people can mix as they please, but the cup I gave you is with soda and strawberry vodka. I figured it was a safe choice."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. Just make sure to tell Helga about that strawberry vodka too."

"Why? Does she hate strawberries?"

"I don't think she hates them as much as the hives they give her."

"Oh, God. Then I better remember to tell her that." Maria said with a laugh and then waved at the other guests. "Hey, guys. Arnold's here."

The actors turned to look at him and then smiled and lifted their cups. "To Arnold for saving our play!" Maria said and cheered with them. "I wouldn't say that I saved it…" Arnold muttered shyly, but clinked his cup against Marias when she gestured for it. "Are you kidding?" Damon asked as he approached them. "Don't tell the director that I told you, but we were kinda dying. I mean, I think the play might have gone down the toilet if you hadn't come." He told him and Arnold smiled a little. "Well, I'm glad Helga let me join." He said. "Yeah, me too. You're way better than I had hoped. I mean, when Helga started talking about you when we first met you, I got really nervous. Speaking of which, do you guys hate each other or something?" Maria asked with a small frown.

"Oh… something like that. We… didn't get along as children and I guess we're stuck in that… hate relationship." Arnold answered and noticed that he had almost called it a hate-love-relationship. My brain must be getting fuzzy already. He thought and sighed into his drink, causing it to bubble before he drank from it. "Sounds bad. I don't get why though. You seem like a nice guy, why would anyone hate you?" Maria asked curiously and looked up into the roof as if that was supposed to give her an answer. "I asked myself the same thing back then." Arnold muttered and snickered. "Did you ever get an answer?" Damon asked, but Arnold went quiet at that. I guess I did at FTI… She hated that she liked me. He thought and shook his head in answer to Damon's question. "No. I still don't know why."

Then the doorbell rang. "Oh! That must be either Helga or David." Maria said and put her cup down. "Or both of them." Damon pointed out as she ran out into the hallway. "Don't even say that!" Maria said in dismay. Arnold quirked an eyebrow at her reaction and turned to look at Damon who smiled. "Don't tell her I told you, but she has a little bit of a crush on David. Don't take this the wrong way, but I think this welcome party is kind of an excuse for her to hang out with David outside the auditorium." He told him and then put his finger to his mouth. Arnold nodded in understanding and smiled. "How is it going for her?" he asked as he took a gulp from his drink. "Not so good. David is around Helga most of the time so she has a hard time getting his attention." Damon answered. "Do… David and Helga hang out a lot?" Arnold asked and Damon nodded. "Yeah, they're like glued to the hips, man." He answered and drink from his cup. Arnold chewed at the soft flesh inside his mouth at that answer. "Are they dating?" he heard himself ask before he could stop himself. "I don't know." Damon answered with a shrug. "Maybe. I haven't gotten around to ask."

"Hi, Helga. Hi, David!" they could hear Maria's voice say out in the hallway. "Oh, they did come together. No surprise there." Damon said and shook his head as if he was talking about a lovesick couple. Arnold chugged down the rest of his drink before turning to look at the bottles. He didn't drink often, but all of a sudden he felt like drinking tonight. He grabbed the strawberry vodka and mixed it with soda as he heard Helga's voice behind him. "You're drinking, Football Head? Somehow that's a shock." He heard her say before she appeared in his peripheral vision. When he saw what she was wearing, the bottle almost slipped from his hand.

Helga was wearing what fashion-minded people knew was called a black skinny tube cut out mini dress. To Arnold though it simply looked like a black dress that went to the middle of her thighs while some of the fabric on her sides seemed torn. The long sleeves on her arms seemed as if she had torn those to pieces as well. It looked wild and raw… like her. His eyes fell on her hair, which was big with curls in it and as he had noticed a couple of days ago, the hair did indeed reach her hips. "Cat got your tongue, Football Head?" Helga asked and he saw her wave her hand in front of him. He shook his head and blinked until he got out of his daydream. She was smirking at him, almost as if she knew why he had been staring. Her blue eyes then traveled downwards and she pointed. He looked down and saw that he was currently pouring the soda onto the table and he gasped.

Arnold could hear Helga snicker while he went to grab some tissues and dry the table. "You're just as airheaded now as when you were a child." She said as she laughed without holding herself back. With a sigh, he grabbed the tissues and went out of the living room with them. He looked around for the kitchen for a moment and when he found it, he went inside to throw the tissues out. "Airhead." He heard Helga's voice say behind him and he flinched, but refused to turn around. He could hear the sound of her shoes approaching him and he felt his knuckles go white as he his fingers tightened around the kitchen desk. Why am I so tense? He wondered before he saw her stopping next to him. She leaned forward to place her elbows on the desk and looked at him. "Shocked that I'm looking like this, huh?" she asked with a bit of a sour smile.

Arnold turned his head to look at Helga properly as she chose to look at her arms rather than him. "As a child I was so proud that I could ignore how people wanted me to dress or look… Seems like the older you get, the harder the temptation is to resist." She muttered and turned her back to the desk, leaning her elbows against it. "If you want to dress like that, why do you feel so bad about it?" he asked and leaned backwards so he could look at her again. She hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. "I guess I… I like that I don't care if people think I look good or not and yet I have started to like wearing stuff like this since I turned eighteen." She explained before hopping onto the kitchen desk. "It kinda confuses me. I mean, most girls dress like this for the sake of looking good, right? I hate that I may be put in the same category as them just because I don't wear sweatpants and hoodies all the time."

"Helga, what is so wrong with wanting to be feminine?" Arnold asked and Helga turned her head to look at him in surprise. Without thinking, he moved to stand in front of her, his hands on each side next to her thighs. "This may be just me, and since I'm a boy it may sound weird, but… it seems to me like half of the female population either tells you to be feminine, be a stereotype, be what people thinks makes a woman… while the other part tells you: don't you dare! Be strong, be masculine or else you are just bowing down to all men! It seems to me that no matter what you do, what you wear or how you act, it's wrong one way or another. So I'd say… do what you want because there'll always be people who'll tell you it's wrong either way so… just let you be satisfied with yourself at least."

Helga's eyes had been wide for a long moment while Arnold had been speaking. When he looked at her and smiled that sweet, sweet smile though, her eyes went half-lidded. Oh, God, I… I think I just remembered why I was in love with him. She thought and closed her eyes as she felt something soft on her lips. As she leaned in, the pressure on her mouth grew and she felt a pair of tentative hands touching her own. At that, she gasped and leaned back. Her eyes were wide and so were Arnold's. What… What did I just do? She wondered and then hopped off the kitchen desk, pushed Arnold to the side and then walked out of the kitchen. He stood back, dumbfounded at what had just happened. She kissed me… or did I kiss her? I… I don't know! We kissed! He thought and put his hand to his mouth. No. Don't freak out. We've kissed during the play too. It's nothing new… He thought and yet he could feel something linger on his lips that told him otherwise.

As soon as Helga had come into the living room again, she grabbed the cup with rum and coke she had left before going to talk to Arnold and chugged down the whole thing. What is wrong with me?! Basket case! Lunatic! Stupid girl! What is wrong with you?! She screamed inside her head and felt like banging it against the wall, but then a hand on her somewhat bare shoulder made her flinch and turn around. "Arnold, what just happened - - " she started until she saw that it was David who was in front of her. "Are you ok?" He asked worriedly and took the hand she had just been about to use to push him away when she thought he was Arnold. She let him hold her hand between them as she frowned. "Nothing… Arnold and I just…" she started, but then hesitated. I can't tell him. That wouldn't be fair. She thought and then faked a smile. "We just fought again."

David gave Helga a look that told her that he didn't believe her, but he smiled anyway, deciding to let her get away with it. "You two need to make truce. It'll affect the play eventually, especially since you're supposed to be in love." He told her and leaned a little down so that he was on her eye level. Her fake smiled turned real at his words and nodded. "I know it's true. I don't want it to be, but…" She muttered and then he shook her hand to make her look at him. "Hey, lighten up. We're at a party. Turn off your brain for tonight. You think too much." He told her and she gave him a slanted look. "I think too much? That's something I've never heard before." She muttered and he snickered. "Come on, Adrasteia, dance with your pimp." He said before pulling her towards the stereo. "You really love that pimp joke, don't you?" she asked disbelieving, but followed him out to the floor anyway.

Arnold walked into the living room right then and noticed Helga on the floor with David. She kisses me and then goes and dances with another guy. He thought sullenly and went to grab a plastic cup. I don't know what she's thinking… I don't even know what I'm thinking. He continued, sighed and poured some more of that sugary vodka in his cup. No more tonight. I just wanna have fun. He thought and gulped the cup down. It was Maria's voice that caught his attention again. "Hey, wanna play Truth or dare?" she asked happily and waved an empty bottle in her hand. "Truth or dare? Aren't we getting too old for that?" one of the boys asked and Maria gasped in horror. "You never get too old for that! It's fun. Besides, it's a great way to get to know each other."

They had to agree on that. Besides, what was a teenage party without some embarrassment? She's probably hoping to get dared to kiss David. Arnold thought with a snicker. They all huddled around in a circle. Maria managed to sit down next to David who had Helga on his other side. Without thinking about it, Arnold had sat down next to her as well with Damon on his other side. They were all sitting close together and Arnold could smell a hint of vanilla. He could be wrong, but he thought it might be from Helga. It could be from Damon, but he doubted it. Maria put the bottle in the middle of the circle of people and then spun it. It took a couple of rounds before falling on Helga. She groaned. "I've always been so unlucky in this game!" she said dramatically and then frowned thoughtfully. "Dare."

"Ok." Maria said and hummed thoughtfully. "We'll start out easy. Sing one of the songs from one the plays you have been in." she started and Helga gave her a disbelieving look. "That's a little too easy." She told her. "I'm not done!" Maria insisted. "It's gotta be a song that you hated." She added with a mischievous smirk and Helga hummed. David snickering interrupted the silence and then he turned his mouth towards Helga's ear to whisper in it. Arnold frowned at that until Helga gasped. "No! I had conveniently forgotten that one! Screw you!" she told him and hid her face in her hands. "If that's your reaction to it then you gotta do that one!" Maria told her and they all seemed eager to hear what song David had suggested her. She sighed as she showed her face again. "Fine, but remember that I didn't write this song nor do I agree with it." She told them and they all nodded before she sighed again.

"We love romance and candle light. You like a cold bear, we like a fine wine. You hardly talk, we can talk all night. You wanna fix it, we just wanna cry. It's a girl thing." Helga sang in a country melody. "Oh, I remember that song! It's from Girls and boys, right?" one of the girls asked and Helga nodded. "I didn't know you were in that." she continued questioningly. "I was one of the minor characters. I was basically just a background singer, but boy, do I regret that song." She told them. "Why do you hate it?" Damon asked and she quirked an eyebrow at him. "It's a country song and to makes matters worse, I don't agree with the lyrics. I'd prefer a beer at any time and I don't randomly cry throughout the whole fucking night."

"Good point." Damon admitted as Helga leaned forward to spin the bottle. Her eyes almost bulged out of her head when she saw it pointing at Arnold. "Uh. Truth, I guess." Arnold answered, but as soon as he did, one of the girls wailed mockingly. "Oh, that's not fair!" she said. "You already know so much about him! I wanna ask him something!" she insisted and Helga lifted her hands in surrender. "Be my guest. I wouldn't know what to ask either." She answered and turned her face close to his. "Since I already know everything." She said as she wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. "You do not know everything." Arnold insisted, ignoring how quickly his heart was beating at their proximity. She leaned back and shrugged innocently. "Let's see, shall we?" she asked as she waited for the girl to ask her question. "Tell us about your first kiss!" she begged and some people groaned. "What an innocent question!"

"Let's start out slowly." Maria insisted again and waited for Arnold to answer. He hesitated for a moment. My first kiss…? He thought and wondered for a moment before he felt Helga's eyes on him. "You gotta be kidding…" he heard her mutter in a low voice only he could hear and he flinched at her somewhat harsh tone. "When does it count as a first kiss?" he asked the girl. "When a girl, who is not your family member, kisses you on the mouth." She explained and he looked at Helga. "Then Helga must have been my first kiss…" he mumbled a little shyly and they all turned to look at Helga, who was holding her hand casually over her mouth and cheeks in order to hide her blush.

"No way! How?" Maria asked excitedly. "At a school play in fourth grade." Arnold answered. "Oh, then that doesn't count!" the girl who had asked the question whined. "It's gotta be a real kiss! Not one that is staged." She said with a frown and then Arnold thought again. Well… it's still Helga then. He thought and felt his eyes travel towards her and she groaned though she didn't see him. "I'm still his first kiss." She said and then looked at him. "Or is there something I don't know?" she asked and he instantly shook his head. Huh. So I really was his first kiss… Well, doi, we were nine years old, but… still. She thought and had to struggle in order not to smile.

"How old were you?" Damon asked and Arnold went shy at that. "Still in fourth grade." He replied and Damon's eyes went wide. "Man, you got more action in fourth grade than I got in ninth!" he said and patted Arnold's back proudly. Helga rolled her eyes at that, took the bottle and offered it to him. "Spin it, Football Head." She ordered and he did so. The game turned out to be quite fun. It seemed that once you reached a certain age, the questions would stay personal and the dares funny, but no one seemed particularly cruel or out for blood like how Truth and dare would usually go when you were around sixteen.

When the bottle landed on Helga, it was Damon's turn to ask her. He still had a bit of red lipstick on his mouth after one of the girls had been dared to kiss him and he still seemed to be grinning. "Truth." She said and took her cup to her mouth to drink. "Ok, Helga, tell us about your first time." He said and Helga spit out her drink instantly. She coughed awkwardly and David started to pat her back, but it seemed like that just made her feel more awkward. "F-First time doing what?" she asked dumbly and they all gave her a slanted look. All except Arnold who was horrified of what the answer would be like. "You know what he means, Helga. Now spit it out." One of the girls begged and Helga groaned. "Your question isn't specific enough. What do you wanna know?" Helga asked, obviously trying to stall. "Who was he? Had you been dating for a long time? Or was it a one-night stand?" they all asked in over each other. "That's a lot of questions. You can ask one of them." Helga insisted, praying that a particular question wouldn't be asked. "Fine." Damon said. "Who was he?"

Fuck. Helga thought as she felt her breath hitch in her throat. She could feel her grip around the cup start to tighten and the sound from the cup being squashed filled the silent room. "Helga, if you're that uncomfortable with it…" Damon started worriedly, but before he could finish his sentence, she had moved her free hand to point at David. They all looked at him in confusion and he coughed awkwardly, while Arnold felt like his world had just darkened a bit. "No way!" they all exclaimed in surprise, some slightly mortified and others excitedly. "How the hell did that happen?" they all asked in unison, almost as if they had rehearsed it. "That was one question. No more!" Helga said and gripped her cup again, making sure that her eyes didn't go anywhere near Arnold. "Oh, but, Helga!" some of the girls whined and she growled. "Enough."

David then, without hesitation, spun the bottle on Helga's behalf. It landed at one of the other boys and David questioned him. It took a few seconds before they all gave up on getting more information out of Helga and they continued the game. "Excuse me." Arnold mumbled and then stood up from the circle. Helga turned her head to watch him walk out of the room and into the bathroom. She turned her head back, pulled her knees up to her chest and put her chin on them. Unbeknownst to her, David was looking at her when she did that.

I can't breathe. Arnold thought as he locked the bathroom door and looked at himself in the mirror. He turned on the water and started splashing it on his face, trying to calm himself down. When did that happen? Did they date? Are they dating? No. Wait. It was her first time. It could have been like… 5-4 years ago. It could have been nothing special… He thought, but then shook his head. "No… the first time is never not special in one way or another and they are still friends or… whatever they are." He mumbled and put his forehead on the cold sink. Calm down… Why do I even care? He wondered and then snickered maliciously at his thoughts. Of course I care… Who am I kidding? He wondered before sliding down to the floor. I never got over her…

It took Arnold about ten minutes before he managed to get himself out of the bathroom, looking somewhat decent and not like he had just cried. I'm twenty years old. Why am I crying over a girl I never even dated? He thought with a sniff and walked into the living room. The game was apparently over because the floor was once again used for dancing and not spinning the bottle. My chest hurts… I kinda just wanna go home, but I shouldn't. He thought and then felt something small bump against his chest. When he looked down, he saw a white hand holding a red plastic cup with some liquid in it. He took it as he looked to the side only to see Helga looking forward rather than at him. They stood there in silence for a moment.

"It hurt, you know." Helga said and Arnold looked at her again. She didn't look at him, but she could feel that he was asking her what she meant. "When Phoebe told me you had started dating Lila." She clarified and readjusted herself against the wall, showing obvious discomfort with the subject. "Of all girls, Arnold, why that one?" she asked and looked at him. She didn't seem to be expecting an answer and he didn't know how to respond either. She looked at nothing in particular again before sipping her cup. "It's weird. I mean… I was in love with you as a child, but even as a sixteen year old I felt somehow possessive of you."

Arnold felt his heart leap at Helga's words. She was in love with me! I knew it! Well, she told me, but she pretended nothing happened afterwards, but… she's being so honest. Does she feel like… she owes me an explanation? He wanted to ask her, but he didn't want to risk that this sudden honesty streak from her would fade so he kept quiet. "David and I…" she started and then went quiet again for a moment. "We started dating the same day I heard you and Lila got together… I had been trying to take my frustration out on a punching bag and David was training next to me when the punching bag fell to the floor."

"You… You broke the punching bag?" Arnold asked as he remembered David's story about how Helga had done exactly that. She snickered in embarrassment and nodded. "Yeah… he asked me what was wrong, I remembered it all over again and next thing I know, the chain breaks due to my punch and the bag is on the floor." She tells him and he can't help but snicker. "Somehow… I can easily imagine that." he said, but the snicker quickly died again. "Then… what happened? Did he… comfort you?"

"Something like that, but… he simply told me that he had feelings for me so that he knew how I felt… That he knew how it hurt, so to speak… and then I just cried even more." Helga admitted as she chewed on her bottom lip. Arnold would have found the sight cute, perhaps even enticing if she didn't look so hurt while doing it. She cried… because of me? He thought and looked at the floor with an aching feeling surrounding him. "I'm sorry…" he whispered almost inaudibly, but she heard him. "I told David that I wanted to try to fall in love with him." She said, ignoring his words. Arnold looked up at her again, his eyes a little big as he waited for her to continue. "It didn't work." She told him as she turned her head and smiled. He couldn't help the smile that fell upon his face and she punched his shoulder. "How mean of you; finding pleasure in other people's pain."

"Sorry." Arnold said, but couldn't help but add: "Look who's talking though." Helga rolled her eyes and looked at the dancing people in front of them again. "For a long time though I thought I was in love with him." She continued and he looked at her again. "I wanted to be in love with him. Heaven knows I tried." She said with a pained smile as she shut her eyes and moved her head up towards the ceiling. "I hated that I couldn't… I hated that I had to hurt a guy who had… done nothing but be kind to me. The same way I hated when… when I hurt you when we were children. Though not in the same way of course."

Of course… Arnold repeated in his mind. "How long were you together?" he heard himself asking and instantly wondered why he wanted to know. Helga seemed thoughtful for a moment or perhaps hesitating. "Three… Three years." She told him and his jaw fell metaphorically to the floor. "Three years?!" he repeated in an incredulous hiss. "Perhaps a little more actually. I… don't actually remember the date of when we got together or when we broke up…" she told him and looked away. "Wait. Three years, and you started when you were sixteen. That means… it was recently. How recent?" he asked and she showed her face to him again as she smiled sorely. "At the day we found out we were both going to act in this play."

Arnold's eyes widened. That's… such a short time ago. He thought and sighed a bit. "That's on the day you two had a movie marathon, right?" he asked and she looked at him questioningly. "How did you know that?" she asked. "David told me… and he joked about you two doing other things too." He said and Helga snickered at that. "Yeah, he's a jokester." She said and coughed awkwardly. That was probably the last time they… Arnold started, but then threw the thought away, knowing that it would start to hurt if he let it linger. "I think that David hides behind his jokes." She said thoughtfully. "The same way I hide behind my - - "

"Fists? Ow!" Arnold exclaimed when Helga punched his shoulder. "What are you hiding?" he asked jokingly as he rubbed his slightly sore arm. She stuck her tongue out at him, but then smiled. "We decided not to kid ourselves anymore… I guess it was the same for you and Lila?" she asked and he shook his head. "Well, you were both in love unlike David and I…" Helga muttered, but he shook his head again. "I was never in love with Lila. I just liked her." He admitted and she quirked an eyebrow at that. "Speaking of which; I thought you gave up on that bitch?"

"She's not a bitch."

"She's a bitch in disguise. I still think that no girl can really be that sweet."

"You've always hated her."

"Take a wild guess why." Helga said and then pointed at Arnold. "Because of… me?" he asked and felt his heart leap again. "Doi." She said and crossed her arms. "It was hard enough to watch you moan over both Ruth and Summer, but Lila. She was the worst." She said with a scowl on her face. "Why?" he asked, but then wondered how she knew that he used to like Ruth. Was it that obvious? He speculated, but then Helga was talking again. "You liked Lila after getting to know her, opposite Ruth and Summer whom you just liked because they were pretty. You liked Lila for a long-ass time, at least for a fourth grader, and… and she was my complete opposite."

Arnold went quiet at that. It was true, now that he thought about it. While he had fallen for girls who sometimes didn't treat him as nicely as others did, then Helga was definitely in a category of her own in regards of the girls he had ever had feelings for. Why had he even fallen for her? She wasn't his usual type… Her sigh pulled him out of his reverie and he saw her sliding down the wall and eventually sitting on the floor. "Look at me; light of the party." She said and grinned. He snickered at her words and then she looked up at him, smiling roguishly. "You know… the acting world has a dark side."

Arnold blinked in surprise. Helga was changing the subject so suddenly. He wanted to ask her more. He wanted to know if she still had feelings for him, how strong her feelings had been or were now, but he let it go. He let her have her peace for now. He'd have plenty of time to find out about all those things later anyway. So instead, he questioned her words as he slid down next to her. "Yeah… one of the girls in this room is not here because of her dancing skills." She whispered secretly and bit her lower lip like a naughty child. Arnold's eyebrows lifted at that. "As in…?" he questioned and she nodded. "She slept with the director." She clarified and he made a sound that was a mix of a gasp and a laugh. "Who?" he asked excitedly, but it wasn't the gossip that made him interested. It was the way Helga leaned closer to him when she talked.

"Guess, Arnold. Who in this room looks like a two dollar whore?" Helga asked with a grin and while her words had been rotten and maybe unfair, he couldn't help but feel intrigued. He looked around in the room, eyeing the girls. When his eyes fell upon a girl with bleached blonde hair, rather large breasts and a dress shorter than what he could imagine her vocabulary was, he looked back at Helga questioningly. "Ding-ding-ding." She said and then giggled like a wicked child. The sound was so sweet that he couldn't help but chuckle as well as his forehead touched hers. It wasn't her giggle or her smile that kept his heart leaping at that moment though; it was the fact that she didn't pull away.

Author's 2nd note: Ok, I just want to explain a scene in this chapter. The conversation before Arnold and Helga's kiss: it's actually something that has caught my attention lately. Like Arnold says, some people tells girls to be feminine, to be beautiful and girly at all times, while others tell them to be strong, independent and not give a damn what people think about them. It's almost as if there really is no middle ground. Girls don't seem to be allowed to be weak anymore because then they aren't independent and it kinda bugs me. Why can't a person, be they male or female, be allowed to be weak sometimes and strong other times? Why must it be one way or another? I'm gonna rant for too long, but it's just something that's caught my attention lately and I wouldn't mind hearing your opinion. Have you noticed it too? How it seems like girls are supposed to be fragile and yet strong depending on who you ask?

Song:

Jesse Lee – "It's a girl thing"