41.

Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, and Helga tumbled into the Packard a while later, ready for the after party. They were chatting happily and laughing heartily. As Arnold started the car, Phoebe leaned over in the back seat and said - not so quietly - "Helga, did you ever accomplish that thing?"

Helga looked at her like she was crazy, "What are you talking about?"

"You know - the reason you wanted to go to the dance in the first place?" Phoebe couldn't have raised her eyebrows any higher.

"No! Nope! That was just a ruse to get you to the dance." Helga was red in the face and slapping Phoebe back.

"What was your reason?" Arnold said, looking through the rearview mirror trying to meet Helga's eye.

"None of your beeswax, Arnoldo!" Helga spat while Phoebe giggled wildly.

"Speaking of - I believe you owe me $150." Gerald said as he leaned close to Arnold.

"Yeah - yeah - What did I tell ya, Helga?" Arnold made eye contact with her through the mirror now.

"You're lucky I don't charge you extra for your shenanigans!" Gerald said matter-of-factly.

Arnold looked at Helga with a knowing look, making her smile and roll her eyes. Arnold then reached into his pocket and handed Gerald a prepared wad of cash.

They decided to stop through a drive through for some fries and drinks before pulling up to Rhonda's. By the time they finally arrived, the front door was ajar and several bodies could be seen swaying in the doorway. The lights were low and the music was loud.

Not many people had changed, so everyone was in their formal wear plus sneakers now or just barefoot. Some people were continuing the dance party, while others started a flip cup game. Rhonda's parents were of course not around, but it seemed they left the good liquor out for the kids' use. Either that or Rhonda was upset enough to unlock the fancy liquor cabinet.

Phoebe was texting her parents, letting them know where they were, and then popped her phone away in her clutch. Phoebe kicked off her shoes and threw her purse onto a hook at the front door as she dragged Helga to the center of the make-shift dance floor.

Arnold watched them go, laughing and dancing. And Gerald watched Arnold watching them. "So," Gerald said in Arnold's ear, making him jump.

"What?"

"You were - like -" Gerald was shifting his eyes back and forth between Arnold and Helga.

"What!" Arnold insisted.

"You two were holding hands, man!" He elbowed his friend in the ribs.

"Yeah - but - I mean." Arnold was getting flustered. "It was just - because we were nervous about you guys."

"Mmhmm, sure. You dressed to match her!"

"Look - it was nice. But so far we just hung out because of this - plan. So - "

"I'm sure it's been more than that." Arnold looked unsure. "For her too." Gerald clapped him on the back and walked off toward the bar. With one more look at Helga jumping around happily, and he followed behind Gerald.

Rhonda was clearly drunk and telling anyone who would listen about how the voting was for sure rigged and that she would be absolutely stunned if Lila showed her face tonight. She did, of course. Rhonda congratulated her in her best gracious loser cosplay, then proceeded to talk shit the rest of the night.

Harold was chugging beers alone, apparently sad that Patty had turned him down for the dance, not wanting to attend. Then he got caught spiking the punch and got another suspension. So he was chugging his problems away.

"HELGA!" He screamed as Helga went to get a drink.

"Whadyawant, Pink boy!?" She shouted back.

"Why do you look like that!" He said, his face was red and sweating.

"Like what? You gotta be more specific."

"Like- like- like a girl!" He yelled.

"Oh my god - pipe down, would ya! I AM A GIRL!" She yelled as she gave him a shove. Harold didn't like that much, but he was a little drunk to fight back.

"Pheebs and I got winner on Flip Cup!" Helga proclaimed and moved passed him. "Pheebs, come on!"

"Coming!" Squealed Phoebe and she ran over.

Gerald and Park had gotten into a heated conversation about crypto currency and a few of the popular podcasters on the subject. Arnold slipped away as soon as he could, having heard enough on this topic for a lifetime. He searched the crowd now. It was getting late, around 11:45 pm. Everyone was tipsy, if not drunk, laying and leaning on each other; lips coming close to ears, fingers brushing skin or interlacing together; the heat was high and they wouldn't run out of energy soon.

Arnold looked around and spotted Nadine entering the kitchen where he was.

"Hey!" He said, maybe a little too loudly.

"Hey, Arnold," she said dryly. "Having a good time?"

"Yeah - yeah, I am." He said. She saw the rose in his cheeks.

"You look like it," she laughed.

"Have you been having a good time with Jeremy?" He asked and leaned in a little.

"What are you talking about?" Nadine was pouring herself a ginger ale and followed by a shot of a clear liquor.

"Jeremy! You know, tall, lanky - "

"Yes, I know who he is. But why would I know how he is?"

"Well - didn't he ask you to the - he said -" Arnold stuttered.

"Oh - yeah. I mean he asked me to be his date, but I turned him down." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"But I saw you dancing -"

"I gave him a pity dance, ok?" She said this defensively, preparing for Arnold to speak on Jeremy's behalf. But instead, Arnold laughed loud. Feeling encouraged, Nadine went on. "That guy is kinda a tool. Like what is with that longboard?"

"I know! I know! Good for you. You can do so much better."

"I know." Nadine said with a smirk. And Arnold just kept on laughing.

Helga and Phoebe, meanwhile, were dominating the flip cup table.

"Ah yeah! That's right, get out of here - Peapod! You just got spanked!" Phoebe was jolly and yelling and poorly taunting all their classmates. Helga loved it. When Phoebe got like this, it was always going to be a good night. As Peapod and Sid ran away, tail between their legs, someone else approached the table.

"Hey Helga," Jeremy said with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Oh hey, you lanky motherfucker! You come to challenge the champs?" Helga said, grabbing Phoebe by the shoulders.

"Yeah, Jeremy! COME ON! You're going DOWN!" Phoebe was almost a full foot and a half shorter, so naturally she had to yell extra loud to be heard - in her brain at least.

"Pheebs, Pheebs! Eardrums!" Helga laughed and took her by the shoulders. "Maybe we should take a break?"

Phoebe looked her in the eye and said, "Good idea. Where is my boyfriend?" She yelled this last to the sky then ran back into the throng of people looking for Gerald.

"Well she is certainly spirited!" Jeremy said.

"Yeah - heheh - she's having a good night." Helga said, leaning against the porch railing. "Hey - do you have a smoke? I left mine somewhere."

"Ah man, sorry, I don't."

"Damn." Helga said and crossed her arms. Jeremy took his place beside and leaned back into the railing.

"You - uh - you look really nice tonight, Helga." He was sneaking sideways glances toward her - trying to gauge her reaction.

"Yeah, yeah. I know it's weird - like a pig in makeup right?" Helga picked up her beer from the table.

"No - no seriously. You look - " as Jeremy searched for the word, Arnold walked out onto the porch and saw the two chatting. "You look really - hot."

"Baha!" Helga burst out laughing. "I'm sorry - I just - "

"Was that the wrong thing to say?"

"Yeah - ha - I mean no. Just very - " Helga was trying to stifle it now. "It was just unexpected."

Arnold furrowed his brow and walked toward them.

Jeremy saw an opening and he turned his body toward her, leaning over her a little from his slumped position. "No seriously though. You look great and I just thought, maybe -" as his right hand was sliding across the railing toward Helga's waist. But another hand got their first.

Before Helga could register any of these moves at all, Arnold had slipped his left hand around Helga's waist and pulled her to his side, off the railing.

"Hey Jeremy," Arnold said happily, taking a sip of his drink.

Helga was just tipsy enough to not ABSOLUTELY freak out at this move. She just looked at Arnold as he squared off with Jeremy. In the maneuver Helga's arm had floated up, so she let it come to rest across Arnold's shoulders. It honestly wasn't a bad fit - some might even say they looked good together.

"Oh Hey, Arnold. Whats' up?" Jeremy immediately stood up a little straighter and eyed his hand on her side.

"Nothin, just comin over to check on my date." He said it casually - coolly. Helga almost missed it. He turned to her now and said "I hear you're the flip cup champion."

Helga stopped breathing just for a moment, not comprehending anything, but in pure bliss. She managed, "Of course I am," with a smile.

"Oh - I didn't know you guys… You guys went to the dance together?" Jeremy asked.

Helga went to respond but Arnold was quicker.

"Yeah - isn't it obvious?" He cocked his head. "We even match." Helga's eye wandered to his shirt, which was unbuttoned a few buttons below his collarbone. Now she was just staring at his chest - Jeremy completely forgotten.

"Right - yeah. I see that." Jeremy was nodding and looked at Helga who didn't have the time for Jeremy, apparently. "I need another drink - so…" And with that Jeremy walked off and Arnold watched him go.

Then, as if snapping back to reality, Arnold released Helga's waist and turned to face her. "Sorry about that- I just -" Helga was catching her breath now. "I just didn't like the way he was leering at you."

"He was - leering?" Arnold nodded. "At me? No way!"

"Yes! He was, Helga. And he just- he missed his chance didn't he?" Arnold said, looking right into her eyes, maybe a little too earnest. Because Helga blushed viciously, shook her head and went back to setting up the flip cup table.

"You- you wanna play?" Helga said, staring hard at the table.

Arnold wasn't sure if he had made a mistake or not. It's not like he said anything that wasn't true. Before he could answer, Rhonda interrupted with a perfect distraction.

"TRUTH OR DARE TIME!"

Helga didn't waste any time, she was heading inside, happy for the change of subject. But she did manage to look over her shoulder and say, "You coming, football head?"

He smirked and followed behind.

42.

"Alright everyone! You know the rules! Askers choose a victim. Victims either take the truth or the dare. If you are too pussy to fulfill the task or answer a question, you do a shot - of the nasty stuff, just to raise the stakes. But you either do the thing or you take the shot! No Take-Backs! Got it?" Rhonda was fully shouting.

"Yes, Rhonda, I do believe we understand." Lila replied sweetly.

"Oh do you?" Rhonda spat back and sat down.

The game started fast and furious. Rhonda started off with Harold: "I dare you to let someone here text Patty anything they want from your phone!"

Harold snapped right back. "Why don't you go fuck yourself Rhonda! Give me a shot!" Nadine poured him one and Rhonda grumbled about people being so rude.

The game progressed around and around. One girl showed her whole ass. One boy let Sid nut tap him - fairly hard. Eugene took Truth and was asked the dreaded virgin question. To everyone's surprise, he happily replied that he had lost his V card last summer. People couldn't get enough and as soon as possible, he was Dared to share the story of his first time. He gracefully took the shot instead.

The questioning came around to Lila who took dare in a little drunken sway.

"I dare you to kiss your crush right now!" An 11th grade girl intoned - seeming to be in the know somehow. Lila went fully red, something Arnold had never seen her do, and she slowly got to standing. Everyone was hootin and hollerin trying to guess who it was gonna be.

Helga was sitting on the floor right next to Arnold, just almost touching pinkies. As Lila walked around, Helga was panicking - that now just might be the time that Lila reveals her deep feelings for Arnold - ruining all of Helga's chances once and for all. But instead of Arnold, Lila walked up to the one kid not in formal wear that night and smacked him with a kiss. It was now Brainy's turn to blush as Lila leaned heavily into him.

After a moment, Lila pulled away and smiled at Brainy - who went absolutely goofy. They quit playing and left to the back patio, supported the whoops and laughter of the group. Rhonda rolled her eyes loudly! And insisted the game continue.

After Park attempted his best break-dance move, which was embarrassingly bad, Park said, "Arnold - Truth or Dare?"

Arnold leaned back on his hands as he said "Truth."

"Whoooo was your first kiss?" Park said with a little wiggle of his eyebrows. Helga got hot in the face instantly. She expected a pause, or a different answer- cuz he didn't remember, right? He didn't remember FTi.

But without hesitation at all, Arnold said, "Helga." He said it simply and with a small smile. Despite Arnold's casual delivery, the whole room dropped their collective jaw. Then, a silent beat while everyone processed.

Rhonda broke the silence, shaking her head - "No - no. Romeo and Juliet doesn't count, Arnold!" Everyone relaxed at this - of course that's what he meant. But -

"Oh," He said, and Helga exhaled. "Well it's still Helga."

One more beat, then -

"WHAT?" Several people yelled at once, asking questions, poking and demanding. Arnold just laughed. Helga, on the other hand, froze. She bit her nails and desperately hoped the party would just move on before she started throwing bows. Thankfully, it was Arnold's turn.

Arnold noticed Helga's face drop, which obviously made him nervous. So trying to get them all to move on, he asked "Rhonda! Truth or Dare?" Arnold had stopped chuckling, but he could feel how stiff Helga was next to him.

"Truth - " she said. "But nothing gross, Arnold."

"Ok - " He looked around the party and tried to find the thing that would distract everyone the most. "How many times have you hooked up with Curly?" He wasn't proud, but he was trying to correct his misstep.

Curly cackled.

"DISGUSTING! Absolutely not." Everyone was laughing while Curly teased her from across the room.

"Come on, Rhonda! Tell the truth!" Curly sang.

Nadine poured a shot, knowing Rhonda would plead the fifth after trying to deny it for a while. At the peak of the laughter, Rhonda took the shot, no problem. Unfortunately, Princess wasn't ready to move on just yet. "Helga " Rhonda said in a sickly drawl. "Truth or dare?"

"Criminey," Helga said under her breath. "Truth," hoping it would be hard to get worse than what just happened.

"When and where exactly was this kiss with Arnold?"

"Oh fuck off, Princess. Dare!"

"Fine - I dare you to kiss Arnold." She said with rage in her voice. It all had backfired. Rhonda was on the war path. Laughter filled the room, but Helga clenched her fists.

"Fuck you, Lloyd!" She shouted. Arnold covered her fist with his hand and she snapped her head to him.

"It's ok," he said quickly. "We don't have to do that - I'll take the shot for you if you want." A chant of kiss kiss kiss kiss had started up as Harold walked up behind the two. In that split second before Helga could respond, Harold put a heavy hand on the back of each of their heads and pushed.

Before either Helga or Arnold knew what was going on, their lips were mashed together and the room was howling! A burst of heat bloomed across Helga's chest as she instinctively tried to wriggle free. Arnold, on the other hand gasped, on impact as his weight tipped forward and he found himself leaning into Helga. She caught his weight and Helga stopped fighting.

Harold had let go of them, but the two didn't move. Everyone was hollering and whooping! Neither of them could hear anything though, Arnold could only smell Helga's shampoo. He then relaxed into what was quickly becoming a real kiss. She had soft lips - soft and kinda sweet. He inhaled again and Helga pushed back into him. Arnold was still clutching Helga's hand; he squeezed it. Then the two bodies rocked back to the center and they separated, though Arnold could have sworn he felt a small flick of her tongue as she pulled away.

Applause and shouts of Hell Yeah and Oh my God filled the air. Rhonda could be heard shouting Disgusting! Arnold felt dizzy, but in a good way, then he saw the muddled look on Helga's face. She was dazed, breathless - and then finally, angry. She shot a deadly glare at Rhonda, which made her shut her trap. It was clear that Rhonda was afraid Helga was about to pounce. Instead, Helga got to her feet and darted out the room, but not before she slammed Harold's face into the nearest wall with a loud crunch.

Arnold didn't wait - he jumped up as the front door slammed and he followed after her. He could hear Phoebe shouting "Rhonda, why do you always have to be such a bitch!?" as he left.

Helga hadn't made it very far - she was sitting on the curb across the street, just outside the halo of a streetlight. Arnold slowed, seeing he didn't have to chase her down. He closed the door and walked calmly to her. She looked annoyed more than anything - trying to get comfortable in this dress on the curb.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied. Not sheepishly, but resistant, maybe.

"You wanna get outta here?"

She looked up at him for a moment and couldn't help the flash of lighting in her stomach. "Yeah," she said.

"Where do you want to go?" He reached down a hand to help her up.

"Your place -" she said automatically. It surprised Arnold, what did that mean? Then she said, "I left my cigarettes in your room"

"You got it. Come on." He gave a low chuckle, took his keys out of his pocket, and helped Helga up from the ground.

Just then the door across the street shot open again, spilling light and noise all over the street. They turned to see Gerald carrying Phoebe fireman style and jogging from the house. Phoebe was yelling and Rhonda was yelling and people were laughing and BAM - the door slammed shut.

"I had to get her out of there before she started a riot," Gerald laughed.

"Put me down!" She beat small fists on his back. When he popped her down, Phoebe ran across the dark street to her best friend. "You ok, Helga?" She was swaying a little but she was sincere.

"Ha, you gettin in fights for me, Pheebs?" Helga said, giving her a soft punch in the arm.

"Of course! I've got your back!" She squeaked and punched back. "Seriously, though?"

"Yeah- I'm fine. Harold's an idiot and Rhonda is - well a bitch, as you said."

"Harold's nose is gushing blood!" Gerald said as he joined them. "You are deadly, Pataki." He threw an arm around Phoebe. "What are y'all gonna do?"

"We were - uh - going back to my place," Arnold said, suddenly aware of how it sounds.

"I left my smokes there." Helga added as Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other.

"Do you guys want to come?" Arnold asked, trying to fill the silence - but also hoping they said no.

"No!" Phoebe piped. "I'm hungry!" She turned toward Gerald.

"Hubie's?" Gerald said to her and she nodded enthusiastically. "We'll see ya later then." Gerald held up his fist to Arnold for the handshake. Phoebe and Helga just made furtive eye contact. Phoebe was smiling and Helga had her lips pressed together tight.

"Good Night! LOVE YOU!" Phoebe yelled as they started off in the opposite direction, leaving Arnold and Helga alone in the streetlight halo.