HELGA

"Helga…I…we…"

"We shouldn't do this..."

"We shouldn't." I repeated the same words. The world around us was filled with nothing but a mix of tension and hesitation. An unspoken energy. The silence between us even made it difficult to breathe.

"But…do you want to?" I asked him. Then the world around us faded away as our eyes and our lips matched again. There was no point of return. An unknown fate was officially sealed.

"I love you Arnold. I always have. I always will. And I want you."

"I...I always wanted you too...it's...just..."

"Ah, criminy!"

My concentration and balance slipped as I nearly fell doing my routine of plie tendu. Just another typical morning of a thousand thoughts at once. Each of these thoughts has their own clamoring for attention and the chaos that comes with them. But of all of the chaos, there's always that main one.

That night between me and Arnold.

At this point, that whole night is tattooed in my brain but then again, it got tattooed the very next day after.

Finishing the plie tendu, it was time to get my attire for the day from the closet. Today, I'll stick to the usual wearing the whatever-the-hell-I want-it-doesn't- matter clothes. My closet actually looks normal. Maybe it's the only thing that is normal in my life. All of my clothes are folded, hung, and have arranged shoes with care instead of just throwing anything anywhere like I was in grade school. I still can't believe I made a huge shrine out of Arnold's bubblegum and stole his hat just to complete it. The bubblegum shrine was just one of the zillions of shrines I had of him.

Despite the closet, I guess I'm the basic type of a normal seventeen year old teen. I go to school counting the days until senior year. I still get acne. I look at myself in the mirror with body image issues. I have a decent amount of great friends and still have my best friend since preschool. My relationship with Bob, Miriam, and ugh…Olga developed better but it's not perfect. I understand that no family life is perfect. Besides the on and off arguments with Bob, my hobby of ballet keeps me sane. I really don't have anything to worry about.

Technically, no. There is something to worry about. But I'm going to try to not think about it every five seconds. Today will be a good day. Of course, seeing my unconscious mother passed out on the couch with an empty bottle of vodka is always the best last thing to see before heading to school. I don't think drinking straight from the bottle is an improvement from mixing the vodka with smoothies. A couple years from now, I'm sure I'd be out of the house. For good I hope.

"I'm going to school, Miriam." I told her. I never count the snoring as a noise so as usual, it was nothing but silence. At this point, it's just a simple way to acknowledge my mother, at least once a day. Silence is probably the best way me and Miriam can even bond.


ARNOLD

Trying to enjoy the Caramel Cookie Crunch flavored ice cream with Gerald, Stinky, and Sid at Slausen's. I haven't had this particular flavor in months. The taste of the creamy texture and crunch of the cookies was exactly the same taste as when Helga kissed me that night. She asked me if I wanted to do it and I said yes. I didn't hesitate for a second. Although it felt like it took me a million years to say yes. I barely paid attention to the laughter and chatter of everyone on the table.

It still gets to me when she ranted to me about her life that night. "Nobody ever noticed me. Nobody ever gave a fuck about me!" It was like her soul and heart was poured into me. I knew Helga was unnoticed and has been unacknowledged her whole life. It felt like I was the only one who understood what she was coming from despite what I've been through in my own privileged life.

"Until I met you…"

"You were the only one that ever gave me any attention. You were the only one that actually knew that I was alive. You were the only one that knew my name. You were literally...THE ONLY ONE!"

I just hugged her and told her to let it all out. I wanted to just be there for a friend who needed to be listened to. Maybe it was my natural act of kindness that led us to that kiss?

"Hey. You good, Arnold?" Gerald asked as he noticed my oblivion to whatever the guys were chattering.

"I'm cool, Gerald." shrugging off the distraction. "I'm just wondering if I'm going to have stomach problems after all of this ice cream." Technically I will be worried about the random midnight trips to the bathroom visits in the middle of the night since I'm on my second bowl.

"What do you think Arnold? I mean, what she doesn't know, it can't hurt right?"

"What you mean?"

"Motherfu…were you listening to what I was saying? I was talking about when I got wasted at Rhonda's party last weekend and I made out with some random girl who wasn't Diana. It's not cheating if the girlfriend doesn't know right?"

"Well, Sid. I mean, it's wrong in general that you kissed another girl that wasn't your girlfriend. Even if you were drunk and didn't mean it, it's still wrong."

"I never said I didn't mean it."

"Look, this will not leave this table. But the girl texted me that she forgot she had my number and she wants to meet up. She might be down for the dick. I like Diana but she didn't want to do anything after a blowjob. I'm a grown man and I have grown man needs."

"Sid, have you ever tried to talk to Diana? Because cheating on her is not the answer. Just talk to her and say you wish to take things a bit further. Communication is important in relationships."

"You'd be surprised, Arnold. Sometimes Phoebe doesn't communicate and can be a bit inconsiderate on the most random things."

"Y'all wanna know what does communicate with me? This lemon ice cream cone. It whispers to me Stinky, please enjoy my creamy and tangy tart flavor with my little graham cracker crust. Each bite is a little adventure of flavor and I think it's time for another cone."

With Stinky and Sid making their way into the front counter for another round of ice cream, it was just myself sitting at the table with Gerald. The two of us sharing a moment of silence until one of us needed to break the silence.

"Gerald, can I ask you something?"

"Of course bro."

"What I just told Sid. That cheating on his girlfriend is wrong. You think that's good advice?"

"Absolutely. Love him, but Sid's a dumbass. He's going to get caught because he won't listen to logic."

"I would say this Arnold. I have, well, kissed a couple of girls that Phoebe doesn't know about. I never thought I cheated on her because it never felt that way. I didn't grab their asses or anything but, I would have."

"So, if you had the chance, you would've cheated on Phoebe?"

"I mean…"

"Hey guys!" Stinky and Sid came running to us like they just saw a ghost.

"I just got a message and a quick reel. There's a big fight happening at Gerald Field with Wolfgang and Ludwig. We have to see this!" Sid exclaimed.

"Count me in!" Gerald yelled.

"Come on, Arnold, let's go see what's going on!"

Sigh…

"Alright then."


A/N: Welp, it's been a while…again

Back in the 2019 original story, "Caramel Cookie Crunch" was the big chapter where it was learned on how Arnold and Helga started everything. I wanted to give out a little bit of it as it was my most favorite chapter in the whole story. We'll get to that big reveal when the time comes :)

I've been developing another HA fanfiction! Which is why it's been a while since the last Affair chapter. I'm one of those types of writers who writes future chapters, hell, new stories instead of working on the current. I'm writing 2 HA fanfictions and also this original story that's been on/off for 5 years, which I'd start publishing on Wattpad sometime this year.

I plan to have the other HA fan fiction start being published by mid May.

I love this hobby :D

Stay tuned. We're going to have a great 2025 of drama :D

SHF420 (01/23/25)