Hi! I saw your comments, and I'm happy you liked it, but I can't even reply to some of them. There must be some bug with this story..:) In my head, I'm starting to take a different direction a little from the original storyline, as it writes itself, so I'll see what comes out of it. But here is chapter two. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter Two

Wistful Wednesday

'So, Amy was all over me on Tuesday night, although we haven't talked much since then... But you know, there's this girl in one of my seminars who always partners up with me. I think she's really into me, dude,' said Gerald energetically while munching on his breakfast cereal.

'Mmhhmm...' Arnold mumbled into his phone, his attention still fixed on the screen, scrolling.

Gerald shot his friend a suspicious look. 'Have you managed to catch up with the coursework?'

'Uh... about that? I'm trying, yeah... It's starting to make more sense now…'

'Well, that's good...'

An awkward silence fell over them, with only the sounds of Gerald eating his cereal filling the kitchen.

'Listen, Arnold' Gerald finally broke the silence 'If the partying is too much lately, I'll stop, I promise…'

'Oh, no, not at all! I'm glad you're having a good time,' Arnold replied, trying to sound reassuring, 'you know, after the hard times…'

'Okay, then...' Gerald finished his breakfast and instantly started washing his plate. After the first few weeks of living together, they had to introduce this instant-washing-up-rule because their place had become an absolute pig hole.

'Okay, then I'm heading out…' Gerald continued to keep up the conversation the best he could. '…I'm grabbing my coat...'

'Catch you later, bye…' Arnold replied. Gerald couldn't resist peeking at Arnold's phone on his way out.

'Hey, man, why were you checking out Helga Pataki's Facebook page!?' he asked in a complete shock, causing Arnold to quickly stash his phone in his pocket.

'Oh, come on, she just popped up, and I thought I'd check it out. Sometimes you check out random people too, don't you?'

'No way! I was pretty wasted on Tuesday, but now I remember! She was here... and, uh... we even drank together! Damn!' Gerald smacked his forehead. 'So that's why you've been acting so damn weird lately?'

'Gerald, I'm not weird! I'm just busy,' he said, hands in his pockets.

'Yea, yea... I even remember you guys sitting on the couch, it just came back to me. No one dared to approach you; you were so engrossed,' he nodded smiling 'and on top of everything, I was so nice to her after all she did to you and ignored you for years! Dude, why did you even talk to her?'

'Just don't talk, okay! You acted like you were best friends,' Arnold sighed and sat down. 'And I don't know why I talked to her... I just saw her, and it felt like in the old days...'

'Oh no! Cut that out now! If it's like the old days, it's not good for you!'

'I mean, not in that way... I just felt so natural talking to her.'

Gerald rolled his eyes 'Okay, I'm being late…' and with that he walked out of the door.

Arnold was left alone with his thoughts swirling around him. Gerald's outrage might have been reasonable because this morning Arnold had a hard time thinking about anything else but Helga.

He even thought about writing to her, suggesting that they should grab a coffee together or something... But it can't be that easy, right? He truly felt like they both enjoyed each other's company. However, Helga had given no sign since then, and Arnold found it rather ridiculous asking her out after some further contemplation. Maybe her blind date with the stranger had gone well... And anyway, why would she think of Arnold? She surely had better things to do…

Arnold decided it was best to pull himself together and start working on his assignment. He had tried to perform better in seminars over the past week, as one of his professors, Mr. Williams, who was relatively young and easy-going, mentioned something about an internship position. Although there were many students in the course, so the chances of Arnold getting it were slim, he thought he should give it a shot. He actually really wanted to get it… However, sometimes he felt completely lost compared to his peers during classes. It was as if they understood their subjects perfectly, while Arnold was still trying to grasp the previous materials.

There are moments in life when you wish there was another chance to meet by accident with someone, because otherwise you won't. Sure, Arnold could pull himself together and write to her, as a man would do, and then they could have another pleasant conversation, just like they did on Tuesday. But most likely, Helga would burst into laughter upon reading his message.

However, this wasn't the time for thinking about that. He was making good progress with his tasks, and his only class for the day was in the afternoon. So, he had planned to study until then, avoiding any distractions. This was for the best…

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It was 8:45 AM on Wednesday morning, which could only mean one thing: Helga was about to be incredibly late for her 9:00 AM Psychology Basics seminar.

'Damn it!' she exclaimed as she half-checked the time on her phone screen, still groggy from sleep. But that wasn't the only unpleasant surprise; the room she found herself in was completely unfamiliar, and she had no idea how she had ended up there. She looked in frustration at the guy who had been woken up by her outburst, who was a total stranger until last night.

'…where are you rushing off to? Stay a bit longer,' the man weakly pleaded, almost falling back asleep as he turned to his other side. His long brown hair covered half of his face.

However, Helga couldn't afford to stay any longer. Being late for a seminar felt like a fate worse than death. She hurriedly made her way towards the university building in the outfit she had worn the night before at that party. As she walked, the memories from last night began to creep back into her mind with the speed of lightning strikes. Party, shots, date and… Arnold.

So, this guy was her blind date from last night, maybe named Luke, but one thing was certain: the girl was practically drunk when she arrived for their date, leading him to invite her for more drinks at a bar, getting totally wasted, chatting about nothing, then being end up in bed… That's why she didn't like dates. She was bad at them.

She ordered an espresso at the little café beneath the seminar building, hoping it would help her wake up properly. As she took the first sip, she let out a deep sigh. She was already an adult woman... Wasn't the essence of adulthood meant being put together? This morning she didn't feel put together at all. A multitude of random thoughts swirled in her head.

Why did she suddenly feel like the meeting with Arnold on Tuesday evening threw her off balance? Although Luke seemed like a good distraction for that evening, he couldn't have been too effective if Arnold's smile was playing in her mind on repeat instead.

But Helga knew she couldn't allow this to herself. Not even the thought of it! Even it had shaken her a bit, she wouldn't allow obsession to consume her again, like it did in her childhood. The mature and strong woman she had become wouldn't let memories and desires take control again.

Besides, she couldn't handle Arnold's feelings, even when they used to date in the past... At that moment she couldn't help herself remembering high school years… When Arnold had become so expressive of his emotions towards Helga, that she sometimes felt overwhelmed, as if he was suffocating her with his affection.

At that time, Helga was not fully aware of her attachment issues indeed, and she struggled with handling her emotions, especially those directed towards someone as important to her as Arnold. She couldn't manage her own insecurities and fears, which inevitably seeped into their relationships back then. After that, nothing was the same. Suddenly, images of random girls from high school, with their pimpled faces, appeared in her mind. Then came flashes of numerous pointless and exhausting arguments, a jumbled mess in her memory. Helga simply couldn't help her actions, even she didn't want to be the way she was. But no, let's not think about those bad times!

Tho, his smile was still as warm as it used to be... Helga shut her eyes tightly as she hurried towards the classroom, hoping that would help her push these thoughts out of her head. Yesterday was nothing more than just a stupid coincidence, a stupid encounter, and a stupid evening...!

Helga tried to quietly enter the classroom, hoping her being late wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, this was precisely one of those seminars where there weren't many students, and they usually engaged in discussions about specific cases. However, the stern Ms. Myers didn't ignore the girl's arrival.

'Ah, Ms. Pataki,' she turned towards the door, and Helga realized that all eyes in the classroom were now on her. 'I am happy you could finally join us. I see you have time for coffee, but not for arriving on time for my seminar,' she gestured to the paper cup in Helga's hand.

'I apologize, Professor Myers. I promise it won't happen again.' Helga said, her voice trembling. She knew it wasn't right to be late, but she didn't think it would be such a big deal. The coffee cup probably pushed the teacher over the edge.

Ms. Myers looked at her with folded arms, an unyielding gaze. 'You seemed promising, you've contributed well to the classes until now...'

'I apologize, truly.' she started to walk towards the table to take her seat, but then Ms. Myers said something she didn't expect.

'Should you wish, you may leave, go sell coffee if psychology doesn't interest you. We'll meet in next week's class!'

Helga couldn't decide whether the teacher meant to motivate her with this or if she was just being mean, but she was really getting on her nerves. She realized in the first few weeks of university, that some of the teachers were just simply mean… She had worked hard to get into this class, and one tardiness shouldn't have warranted such remarks. Did the teacher think she was some spoiled Barbie doll from the university? Helga knew she couldn't afford to fall behind, risking failing the semester. She was determined to earn a scholarship which would partly solve her financial problems, as she was currently living off the money she had earned during the summer as a bartender back in Hillwood. Her father, Bob, had mentioned something about supporting her, but she had been waiting for his support for quite some time now. Even if it wasn't financial, a little emotional support before moving out would have been nice. But at this point, Helga wasn't even sure if her father knew what major she was studying.

'Please, let me sit down, Ms. Myers!' Helga insisted forcefully.

A look of surprise flashed across the woman's bony face.

'Well, alright, if you're that eager, go ahead and sit down. But if someone is late again, I won't let them in. I'm telling this to all of you!'

With that, Helga took her seat, her face now completely flushed. The classroom fell into a dead silence, but she heard a giggle from the other end of the table. She already regretted letting herself get distracted in the first place.

In that moment, she promised herself that there would be no more stupid dates or parties. However, as the class went on, and she listened to Ms. Myers' lecture, she found herself, after a while, recalling how Arnold had touched her at the party on Tuesday night. She was beginning to feel embarrassed that even after so many years, that guy still had ANY effect on her. Years of no contact, and suddenly, a conversation was enough to get her head spinning again… Nice. At times like this, she had a tried-and-true method. After class, she grabbed her phone and decided to call her friend, Phoebe, in Australia. She opened their chat but noticed that Phoebe hadn't even responded to her previous 'What's up?' message, so she abandoned the idea. Although she noticed Amy's 'HOW WAS THE DATE!?' text with a few heart emojis.

She missed Phoebe. She was her best friend, but since she had left, they could hardly exchange a few words. She didn't know much about how Phoebe was feeling at her new school either. Or even how was she feeling in general… Even when she did write to her, Phoebe's responses seemed quite caught up.

Helga, still feeling somewhat hungover, managed to go through her day, hoping to get some rest in the evening. At lunchtime, she hurried back to her dorm room to change clothes and wash off the remnants of last night's party. When she arrived at her door, she noticed a single rose hanging on it, with a note attached. She assumed it was one of Amy's many admirers, but when she tried to take it off to go inside, she saw her name on it. It was as if her heart skipped a beat for a moment. She wasn't used to receiving flowers... She quickly brought it into her room and read the note:

"It was great meeting you yesterday! Hope you're having a good day. -A."

'Are you fcking kidding me, Bucko?!' she exclaimed angrily.

Helga couldn't believe her eyes. The bitterness of anger and secondary embarrassment began to churn inside her. After all these years of silence, Arnold had the nerve to come on to her like this with a cheap rose?! At least he could have asked how her date went before making a move. What if she had deadly fallen in love with Luke? Didn't Arnold even consider that? Unbelievable...

Not that she was so great at communication back then, but years have passed since high school. Do they really have to approach their situation with such a teenager method now? He should be glad that she even talked to him at the party yesterday... Obviously, it felt good for Helga too that they talked, and the shots did their job as well, but that was perfectly enough for them to remember the past with a slightly better feeling. Okay, maybe she thought about him a bit since yesterday. Quite a bit all morning. But Arnold used to be a huge part of her life, of course she'd think about him... But then a few days would pass, and that's it... Out of sight out of mind! She has better priorities anyway.

This rose now… It totally felt like he didn't know Helga at all.

She threw the stupid rose and note in the trash, then decided it was best not to waste any more time and go through with her day. She also wanted to start reading the mandatory readings, so she borrowed some books from the library. After dinner, she returned to her dorm room, but before she could even step inside, Amy, in her usual overly excited manner, greeted her and pulled her into their room, where they were not alone.

Random girls in full make-up, and in party outfits were sitting on her bed, who must have been Amy's classmates. One of them was wearing a skirt so short that Helga could see her butt.

'Helga, these are Patty and Luise, my classmates, and this is Helga, my roommate,' Amy introduced them, and the girls nodded in acknowledgment.

'She's cool, you'll see.' Amy stated while putting some more powder on her face in front of the small, broken mirror which was actually Helga's and was the only mirror in their room.

'Are you coming to party with us?' Luise asked straight from Helga, whose typical annoying, irritating voice matched her personality. Although Helga didn't want to judge her right away.

'Ah, I just had a party last night and…'

'So? We have parties every day!' coughed it out Luise with a hysterical laugh and slapped Patty's back like a comrade, revealing a "Fuck Love" tattoo on her wrist. But Helga decided still not to judge her based on that. Even if the last time she saw such a tattoo was in a 'Cringe Tattoos' Reddit group... She was no angel either.

'Glad you have time for that… Don't you have assignments to do?' Helga asked them.

'Oh, yes, we do! But for example, Timothy does it for me…' Luise shrugged, smiling, as if Helga knew who TiMoThY was. 'You know... In exchange for… favours.'

Helga's stomach was beginning to churn at this point. Perhaps it was time to judge her after all.

'…But anyway,' Amy enthused 'before you arrived, we were just discussing that on Friday night, our department is organizing a night hike, and we absolutely have to go together!'

'Wait, wait, wait... What do you mean, 'we'?' Helga asked. She was somewhat surprised by the statement. Amy was still passable to her as a person, but Helga didn't want to spend more time with the Fuck-Love-girl...

'Well, we're going together! How else would I mean it?'

'I don't want to go! I have enough on my plate,' Helga protested.

'Oh, come on, Helga! Don't be like that. It's Friday night, and you're a university student. When else in your life would you go on a night hike? Besides, do you want to go home? Or what? Didn't you say your dad is a jerk, and you don't really go home on weekends?'

Helga let out a tired sigh just regretting sharing anything with Amy.

'….Yea, I might have mentioned that I'm not on good terms with my family. But, I don't know, I just still don't feel like hiking.' Helga explained with a shrug.

Amy stared at her for a while, then glanced at the girls sitting on the bed. 'Okay, Helga, here comes the twist...' said Amy with a wink at the Fuck-Love-girl 'So, I told Luise about Arnold, and he is exactly like the kind of guy Luise could be interested in… And Gerald said they're also coming on this hike, so... You're the perfect link between them! Got it?'

Helga's eyes widened in surprise, and she felt a sense of unease creeping over chest. The thought of this Luise girl, with her eyelashes clumped together from mascara, hitting on Arnold made her feeling slightly dizzy. She felt so attacked and probably looked dumb standing there with her mouth hanging open. Especially after today's delivery… but maybe... maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all! So, Arnold thinks she falls head over heels for a rose? Well, alright, then let's see how he likes a shallow girl, like Luise.

'…I got it. Yes…!' she mumbled with a grin on her face 'Let's go to that evening hike!'

'Oh, Helga!' Amy hugged her enthusiastically 'Well, of course, you got it! See, girls? I told you my roommate is freaking awesome!'