Chapter Text
"I do not like her!" A 10-year-old Arnold claimed as he paced around his room.
"Mmhmm, sure." A 10-year-old Gerald countered wryly sitting on his best friend's couch watching him grow more agitated. "It seems to me you can't get Helga Pataki off your mind."
"Because she bugs me!" He defended before going back to pacing. "I mean, I don't understand why she acts the way she does! It's like she has a thing for me or something!"
"Maybe she does and I think you do too." He stated with a smirk making Arnold stop and blush.
"What on earth makes you think that, Gerald?!" Arnold asked defensively getting closer to his friend.
"Well, for one, you get very defensive whenever somebody mentions you two together, you won't stop talking about her, and I've never seen you get this agitated over a girl. There's something going on there. I mean, come on Arnold, you said yourself before you don't think she's that bad and you wouldn't mind marrying her."
"I said I had plenty of time to think about who I'm gonna marry and if it ended up being Helga, it wouldn't be the end of the world but that doesn't mean I want to marry her, Gerald! I like nice girls who aren't afraid of showing their sensitive side instead of girls who scream and yell constantly picking a fight for no reason!" He snapped with his face turning redder.
"Dang Arnold, calm down." Gerald laughed nervously motioning with his hands. His friend who was notoriously known for his cool demeanor was losing it over a girl he claimed not to like which proves to Gerald that he probably developed feelings for her especially him denying what he said about them being married; and he thought lovesick Arnold was bad when it came to his other crushes he had. "Seriously man, why are you getting so worked up over Helga? You act like you can't stand the girl sometimes."
"Well, sometimes I can't and clearly she feels the same way which is why she won't leave me alone!" He answered folding his arms.
"I've seen you two get along on several occasions; I know you have a soft spot for Pataki." He pointed out. As much as Arnold wanted to deny it, Gerald already knew.
"Well, when she's not trying to torture me somehow and does nice things, I like that." Arnold said with a small hint of a smile that quickly vanished replaced with a blush as he widened his eyes. "But that doesn't mean that I..." He paused as the realization hit him.
"What Arnold?" Gerald asked in mock curiosity seeing the gears in his head turn.
"N-nothing, it's just that...well, I maybe...kinda sorta like her a little." Arnold said twiddling his fingers averting his gaze. "But not like-!"
"Ah-ah!" He put a hand up to stop him in his tracks and got up from the couch. "You already said it, you can't take it back now! You like Helga! THE Helga G. Pataki! It's about time you admitted it! I knew it anyways with the way you two go at each other like an old married couple plus your face is as red as a cherry!" He gloated with a laugh as he jumped up and down in celebration.
"Ok, Gerald, you can be quiet now..." Arnold hid his face in his hands out of embarrassment as he felt his cheeks burn.
"Don't worry, buddy. I won't tell anybody." Gerald winked.
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Four years later as freshmen in high school, Arnold and Helga were now exes due to their relationship not surviving the new millennium. They had started dating in middle school after the trip to the jungle and things seemed to be going well for a little bit until they weren't which led to their first breakup after some months of dating. Ever since then, they have had an unstable relationship going through periods of attempting to ignore each other, bickering when they can no longer do so, secret meetings, getting back together and breaking things off again. Middle school dating was known to be a brutal process given that pre-teens don't normally maintain serious relationships and barely last, but Arnold and Helga seemed to run their course in maintaining a healthy and stable relationship. Helga initiated both breakups with the first one occurring in the second semester of spring in sixth grade and the most recent being over the summer before they entered high school.
Arnold kept trying to win her back for the remainder of sixth grade only to receive either a cold shoulder or the usual insults. It got to a point where he was being pushy and demanding to know what he did wrong in the first place which made Helga tell him to his face that he's way too desperate to fix things and that he looks pathetic begging for her back, so Arnold decided that this time, he was going to try his best to forget about Helga. This was the second time she has casually thrown their love away and he was fed up with it; this time he would succeed and put their middle school shenanigans behind him which should not be hard since P.S. 118 did not have a high school district meaning he most likely would not see Helga since people tend to split into different high schools not having a lot of the classmates they started off with.
Arnold knew Gerald and Phoebe would be attending Greenwood High School with him and assumed she would be going off to North Hillwood where Rhonda bragged about going since Helga mentioned her dad wanting to put her in a "ritzy stuck up" environment. At least that's what he thought until the first week of fall when she made quite the entrance interrupting his 1pm math class. She opened the door abruptly standing in the doorway with her hands in the pockets of her black cargo shorts and thumbs hanging out with pink nail polish; she had on a striped, pink shirt with a cropped jacket that matched her shorts and a pink beanie. It took a second for Arnold to even recognize Helga and when he did, he felt his heart sink. What was she even doing there? As if her being at the same school wasn't enough, she was also sharing a class? He looked over at Gerald who seemed to look just as confused as him. Phoebe also looked perplexed, but she was not as disturbed as Gerald or Arnold about her appearance.
"What is your name, ma'am?" Their math teacher Mr. Kasey asked.
"Helga, G. Pataki." The blonde answered before blowing a bubble in the gum she was chewing.
"Oh, you must be the transfer student I was informed about. Go find a seat." He said gesturing to the available empty chairs before going back to his lesson.
The girl chose the empty seat that was closest to the back which Arnold was pretty thankful for, not that there were any seats near him that were available. She didn't even seem to look his way which kind of stung him for some reason despite her popping out of nowhere. He knew he wasn't completely over Helga even though he tried to convince himself that he would be soon enough, it would be much harder to do now that she transferred. Why couldn't she have transferred to the other high schools nearby? Did her parents pull her out of the school and force her here? Did she get in trouble at North Hillwood? He knew the place was expensive, but he didn't think Helga's parents would have an issue paying for it so something else had to happen and he highly doubt she begged her parents to let her come to Greenwood given her complaints about this campus as well before their summer break.
Gerald noticed Arnold's face expression harden and mouthed quietly asking if he was good earning a nod response. He knew he was probably freaking out on the inside at seeing his ex suddenly march into their class; the dude still wasn't over her and barely had time to process the breakup or having enough space away from her to be okay on his own. This was the second time they have broken up too and it seemed official with them seemingly going their separate ways and Arnold calling Gerald on the phone crying about his heartbreak and how much he misses her wanting things to work so badly. He really hoped that he would not try to persuade her in taking him back or apologize for something he didn't do because that didn't go well last time. Gerald noticed that Arnold kept glancing over at her at first with the hurt evidence in his eyes which slowly changed to the squinty look he would get when he's mad. Definitely not a good sign.
Helga eventually caught Arnold's eye and had a panicked look for a brief second before sticking her tongue out at him like a petty child while he maintained his glaring squint at her. She rolled her eyes at him as she blew a giant bubblegum bubble. He began to scowl at her in response only to be reprimanded the next second by their math teacher.
"Arnold, I know we have a new girl in the class, but if you could keep your eyes up here at me while I'm teaching a lesson or at least write in your notes and pretend to pay attention to me instead of her, that would be wonderful." He called out in a dry tone.
"But Mr. Kasey, I wasn't-" Arnold began defensively before majority of the class chanted at him with an "ooooh."
"I know you teenagers have shitty attention spans, but can we get through the last ten minutes of class without making faces at each other, interrupting my lesson or making unnecessary sound effects?! Please and thank you. Now where was I before I was rudely interrupted?" Mr. Kasey looked at Arnold as he rhetorically asked the question which made him sigh in defeat. He didn't even bother to look back at Helga because he did not want to potentially see a smug expression on her face or be called out again by his asshole of a teacher; he did notice that Gerald looked over at him apologetically and Phoebe's head was down writing her notes.
After class ended, the students didn't hesitate to leave the classroom. Math was not something people wanted to sit around to discuss or work on for an entire 50 minutes of class nor was anybody particularly fond of Mr. Kasey. Arnold and Gerald walked out together, and it seems Phoebe went to chat with Helga so thankfully there was no chance of her coming towards them and invading their space.
"Damn, that guy's an asshole! He's worse than that substitute teacher we had back in fourth grade we ran off!" Gerald complained as they approached the lockers.
"I know, right?! I wasn't even doing anything! He always has to make such a big deal out of nothing! I mean, a simple "pay attention" would've sufficed!" Arnold vented.
"Sorry for the humiliation ritual, Arnold; you did not deserve that. I know you're just thrown off by your ex being here." Gerald reassured as he put a hand on his shoulder. "You ok, man?"
"Not really, but it's whatever." He shrugged rolling his eyes slightly. "I'm gonna head to my locker and I'll catch up with you."
"Arnold..." His tall friend warned most likely assuming he was going to confront Helga.
"I really am going to my locker, Gerald."
"Seriously man, I know how you are." He said hinting at the track record Arnold has in not leaving things alone especially when it comes to Helga.
"Come on, Gerald, I'm good. Really, I'm-" Before he could finish his thought process, he heard an antagonizing laugh behind him.
"Out of all the places, two major thorns in my ass! Tall hair boy and football head!" Of course it was Helga.
"Pataki, what are you doing here? I thought you were at that little ritzy private school Rhonda was bragging about." Gerald interrogated as he folded his red hoodie clad arms.
"Well, I was, but then I got in some trouble, so my parents pulled me out and put me here for punishment or some crap!" Helga explained crossing her arms.
"Sounds just like you to be honest. What did you get expelled or something?" Gerald retorted.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Geraldo!" She bit back.
"Gosh, you are so immature Helga!" Arnold spat.
"GoSh, YoU aRe SOO ImMaTuRe HeLgA!" She mocked.
"Be quiet." He responded.
"Who are you telling to be quiet?! You're not the boss of me! I can do what I want!" Helga yelled.
"You! I'm telling you to be quiet! Would you rather me say shut up?! Because you're really starting to piss me off!" He yelled back getting closer to her.
"YOU'RE pissing ME off, Arnoldo!" She got closer in his face aggressively pointing at him.
"Good! Now you know how I feel when you walked through the door like you own the place and got me in trouble!" He spat matching her energy in tone and proximity.
"I didn't get you in trouble! You got YOURSELF in trouble! You're the one who kept staring at me! You miss what you can't have?!" She gestured towards her body like she was flaunting herself just to get under his skin more.
"Oh yea, I totally miss being berated and yelled at by you! Nothing I've done has ever been good enough for you! You're a miserable-!"
"Guys!! Please! We are in the middle of the hallway, and you'll just make more heads turn! Deal with this later!" Gerald cut in stepping between the furious blondes. Normally he didn't want to interfere, but he had a reputation to protect being a freshman even if they didn't seem to care about their own. It was also just disheartening seeing them at each other's throats like this. "Arnold, go to your locker and get what you need for our next class! Helga, just go somewhere far away from Arnold and stop causing a damn ruckus!" He instructed like an exhausted dad who's had a long day at work.
"But-!" They both exclaimed simultaneously.
"No buts! Just do it!" Gerald scolded before walking off and muttering under his breath.
Arnold and Helga just glared at each other before heading to their own lockers which weren't super far from each other. This was going to be a long and challenging year for them both. They both wondered how they end up stuck with each other somehow like they just had to cross paths no matter what; they both shared mutual feelings in their ex being the last person they want to see with everything still being fresh but even more so after today. Arnold quickly grabbed his book from his locker and slammed it shut as he walked off. Great to see that his calm collected demeanor was intact after all these years, it's why Helga fell in love with him in the first place; she couldn't help but feel a little irked by his attitude towards her like it's not her fault that she was sent here against her will. She wasn't thrilled about going to that fancy school, but she didn't want to be at Greenwood either. Helga also slammed her locker shut even harder than Arnold once she got what she needed out of it.
She stomped off in a different direction thankful that Gerald and Arnold were presumably not sharing the next class with her. She muttered to herself about how ridiculous the whole situation was and how she was cursed not being able to catch a break for once in her life with her dad trying to place high expectations on her expecting her to excel in an environment filled with snobby and stuck-up people, getting nearly kicked out so her parents are forced to transfer her somewhere else, the same place that Arnold AND Gerald is out of ALL places, and her first day it is a class where the two chuckleheads are in it. Not to mention Arnold glaring at her with his squinty eyes which meant he was still sour about how things went between them and then having the nerve to blame her for him getting called out in class; the boy was usually in la-la land anyway so it's not the first time he's been told to pay attention even though the teacher was an asshole about it. Helga really hoped she wouldn't see him again for the rest of the day at least. As she was walking, she bumped into someone which nearly knocked her off balance. She was getting ready to scold the football head because it just seemed like a bad habit of his only to realize that the figure was much taller than her and looked up to see a diamond shaped face that was only slightly paler than Arnold, had light chartreuse, green eyes contrasting to Arnold's darker but vibrant jade green peepers, and neck length spiky black hair; he was wearing slightly baggy camouflage pants and a black t-shirt with a green skull and white long sleeves. She had to admit, not a bad looking guy.
"Why don't you watch where you're going dude!" Helga snapped.
"Whoa whoa whoa, you're the one who bumped into me hotshot!" He responded with a slight laugh.
"My NAME is Helga, bro face!" She quipped making him really laugh.
"Well Helga, I have a name too. It's Derek." Made sense to be honest. "You in a hurry for your next class or something?"
"Yea, chemistry." She said quickly.
"Funny because I also have chemistry. Wanna walk with me?" He asked which caught her a little off guard. The only guy who's ever offered to walk to class with her was Arnold, but he headed off to another direction and that chapter was now closed between them. Normally she'd tell people to buzz off in a heartbeat but something in her decided to give him a chance.
"Sure, whatever. Lead the way." Helga agreed. She needed a reason to get familiar with the directions anyways and did not want to pull out her school map.
"So, you must be pretty new here. I haven't seen you around the first month or so for school; September's like almost over. You transferred here, right?"
"You catch on fast." She responded sarcastically before blowing a bubble in her gum.
"Do you have a spare pack of gum? I'll be your friend if you do." Derek asked rubbing the back of his neck.
"Look Drake, we just met. I don't make friends that easily so that kind of bribery is not going to work on me." Helga said frankly.
"It's Derek, and I wasn't trying to bribe you, I just really want some gum because my mouth is dry." This guy...
"Ever heard of swallowing, Derek?" She responded pointedly.
"Damn girl, you are brutal. I see you're not somebody to mess with."
"You got that right, bucko, and I'm not your girl."
"Right, my bad, though you are somebody I'd like to get to know at least." He admitted confidently.
"What? No girlfriend or something? Are you bored?" Surely, this guy just liked chatting it up with girls and was trying to test the waters with her.
"Well, no, I am a lone wolf so no girlfriend, but honestly I like your vibe." Derek answered genuinely. "Do you not have guys trying to hit you up or something?" He teased with a chuckle.
"I'll have you know that I have had plenty of guys try and talk to me!" Helga boasted trying to figure out what he was insinuating when he asked that; it's not like there wasn't some truth to it with Brainy having followed her around, Stinky catching feelings for her at one point, and Arnie saying he liked her. She didn't even bother to mention Arnold so she could avoid talking about their rocky relationship.
"I don't doubt that though you do seem pretty scary." He laughed.
"I am NOT scary! I'm just a girl who knows what she wants and people find that intimidating!" She defended with a sense of bravado.
"Well Helga, I actually think you're funny and not that intimidating." Derek said.
"Pfft, whatever." She responded dismissively though she actually appreciated the compliment and could tell he wasn't talking out of his ass. Helga was not somebody that seemed to hit it off with people right away, so this was new to her, and it wasn't all that uncomfortable.
The guy is able to keep up with her wit at least and she could comfortably banter with him without the mention of her so-called bad attitude or being told to act nicer unlike everybody else. Gerald always had something to say and put his two cents on what he thinks of her and Arnold was either jumping down her throat about something when she tried to take a different approach or just told her that she needs to work on something. Clearly, they didn't work out so there was nothing SHE needed to work on regarding their non-existent deadbeat love life that Arnold drove her to kill; the football head has developed a temper himself and she wasn't sure if she rubbed off on him in that way or if puberty was that unkind to him that he suddenly needed a personality transplant. Helga just met Derek and was not looking to enter another relationship anytime soon, but she saw no harm in a little bonding with another cute guy who exuded the right amount of confidence that didn't seem to tip over to arrogance. Gerald was too cool for his own shoes and Arnold had such a savior complex it just got to a point where she couldn't deal with it anymore; he'll fix everybody else's problems but his own.
Meanwhile in history class, Arnold's mind was preoccupied with a girl sitting two seats away from him who was very pale, had dark brown wavyish hair with feathered bangs and cerulean, blue eyes that contrasted Helga's ice sky blue eyes; she was wearing a long-sleeve lavender blouse, tight blue jeans, and purple jelly shoes. Her name was Darla Smith, and he really hoped that one day, he'd have a chance to talk to her. This was the only class they shared together, and he's seen her walk by a couple of times but never had the chance to approach her. She was just so pretty and seemed like a nice, sweet girl; she didn't say much in class, but he's seen her chatting with her friends and heard her laugh once which was a cute infectious sound. Even the way she walked was mesmerizing with the way she held her books in her arms across her chest; her vibe was just so delicate. Darla was taller and somewhat skinny, but he didn't mind because he was kind of short for his age and many girls he's crushed on were usually taller though he couldn't help but feel a little excited that he grew to be a little taller than Helga because she always towered over him; it felt nice to be the taller one for once and was fun to use to his advantage when Helga would tease him about still being short. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't still miss her as a girlfriend, but he was going to convince himself that he can get over her especially with how things went today.
Gerald noticed Arnold looking over at Darla and sighed to himself. The man definitely had a type, but he also barely knew the chick so there was really no reason for him to be conjuring up fantasies about a future that has yet to happen then he remembered this is Arnold Shortman and it's part of his nature. Gerald remembered the same way he looked at Ruth and pined after Lila back in fourth grade and he still had that same lovey-dovey gaze though this time it seemed more like a distraction for him to get his mind off Helga; even though Arnold had a history of falling for girls hard and fast, he knew he still wasn't over her. If anything, his infatuation with Darla was a puppy love phase.
"Psst, Arnold." Gerald whispered catching his friend's attention. "Man, you were just called out in the last class for staring at a girl. You trying to repeat history?"
"I totally wasn't staring." Arnold whispered back with a slight eye roll.
"At who? Helga or Darla?" Gerald asked which earned him a look from Arnold.
"Helga's not in here, Gerald." He whispered pointedly.
"Boys, please! I can hear you whispering back there!" The teacher called out. "Save it for after class."
"Yes ma'am." They both said in unison and looked at each other when their teacher went back to lecturing.
Arnold looked over and noticed Darla looked at him briefly after being called out. He smiled sheepishly with a small blush and averted his gaze. Gerald just shook his head with a silent sigh at his friend's hopelessness. Arnold noticed and motioned with his hand to write down what he had to say. The tall man pulled out a piece of paper to fold and begin writing on it before handing it to him.
'I see the way you're looking at Darla, but you just got out of a relationship and don't even know her.' The writing in the corner said. Arnold wrote his own response underneath and passed the paper back to Gerald.
'There's no harm in wanting to get to know her. I'm not thinking about Helga or a new relationship right now anyways. She just looked at me too so that's a start.' Likely story buddy. Gerald wrote again under the response and handed the paper to Arnold.
'Just looking out man, don't want to see you get hurt again. Also, she looked at you because Mrs. Farley just called us out on whispering. Now store this in your pocket before she sees us passing notes too. We can discuss this after class in P.E.'
Later in P.E., all the freshmen were out on the field, and it was instructed for girls to walk straights and run curves while the boys ran straights and walked curves; this was a reoccurring activity once a week and not many people seemed to understand this system. The worst part is they were expected to count the laps themselves and not get confused on what to do. Why couldn't they all run the same thing or at least jog until they were tired? Some people would try to cheat by doing the opposite but would end up getting punished by having to run an extra lap. Sometimes girls and boys had separate activities depending on the day, but it was mostly coed, especially when it came to running days like this one which was not the most favored; they also had a male and a female coach watching them so it wasn't like anybody could easily get away with slacking.
Gerald and Arnold were running beside each other to continue their conversation but did the best to their ability to not let it make them fall behind or get called out by the coaches for accidently walking too much. Occasionally Helga and Darla would pass by distracting Arnold; he already knew what Darla looked like in the P.E. uniform which were green and grey tank tops and basketball shorts with the school logo on it, but when he saw Helga in the same uniform, his mind short-circuited though he made sure not to look at her very long. It's not like he could get a good look at them anyways when they were zooming by. Phoebe seemed to be keeping Helga focused so it's not like she acknowledged Arnold.
"Why do WE have to run straights this time?! I'm so exhausted!" Gerald complained as he tried to catch his breath as they were walking on the curve of the track.
"Because we ran curves last time though it is kinda ridiculous that we have to do things differently from the girls." Arnold said.
"Bet you'd like if you could walk beside Darla." The taller guy commented.
"I wouldn't mind. Have you seen how gracefully she walks?" The blonde began gushing.
"Oh boy..." Gerald sighed.
"She's so majestic Gerald. Like she'd fit perfect for a pretty damsel in distress role in a movie."
"Damsel in distress, Arnold? Really?" He couldn't believe this guy. He really saw this chick as some fairy princess.
"Or a main star actress in like a horror movie saving everyone or being the last one standing to figure out how to break the curse."
"The only curse I need broken right now is for you not to gush about some mystery chick you don't know while we are approaching the end of the curve, or I'll run away from you."
"But she's a ten, Gerald." Arnold gushed before they both had to start jogging.
"Arnold...it's clear you find this girl attractive, physically speaking." Gerald stated through his ragged breath as they were jogging.
"Yea?" He responded in a tone that was kind of obvious but waiting for his friend to say more as he jogged beside him.
"But...how many times have we had this conversation before?"
"I don't know...but this time, I'm sure it'll, be different." He said losing his breath as he was running.
"Let's get to a curve so I can get my response straight." Gerald said before they both began running faster and harder to try to reach the curve faster so they can finally slow down to a trot. "Ok...whew. So, Arnold...there is no harm in getting to know Darla, but...I don't think you want to know her on a friendly level."
"I'm not one to do anything hasty, Gerald." Arnold said earning a look of disbelief from him.
"All I'm saying is the breakup is still fresh in your mind and you should probably take some time before thinking of pursuing another girl. Things are not going to be easy with Helga lurking around on campus."
"Who's lurking around?! What are you guys even talking about?!" Oh, speak of the devil herself.
"Aren't you supposed to be running curves, Helga?" Arnold said pointedly.
"Well, I need a minute to catch my BREATH, Arnoldo! Who died and made you coach of the track anyways?!" Helga spat.
"I know those coaches over there are going to scold you if you don't start picking up the pace!" He bit back.
"How classic of you! Always putting your two cents in MY business! Why don't you finish your little conversation with tall hair boy because I know you two were talking about me!"
"It seems like you were also in my business little miss hypocrite!"
"Ugh! You're SUCH a goody goody-"
"HELGA PATAKI! IF YOU DON"T START RUNNING RIGHT THIS SECOND, YOU'LL BE EARNING AN EXTRA LAP AROUND THE TRACK!" The female coach yelled out from the opposite side of the field prompting her to start running but not before throwing her middle finger up at Arnold.
"Did she just flip the bird on me?!" Arnold looked at Gerald incredulously like he couldn't believe what just happened.
"She sure did." He responded.
"What the actual hell."
"Forget her man. She just got called out by the Coach Matthews and things seem ugly enough between you two."
"Just like that crap attitude of hers, just fricken ugly and rotten!" Arnold ranted as adrenaline took over his body and he started to run like the wind.
"Arnold! Wait! You don't have to run that fast! You killin me!" Gerald called out as he ran to catch up with his friend.
P.E. was now over and it was finally time to go home. This was the moment that Arnold was waiting for the moment he saw Helga G. Pataki enter his math class; he wanted nothing more than this day to be over with and really wished that his ex just stayed away. He stomped to his parents' car and got in the backseat with a pout. His parents noticed his demeanor and the expression on his face looking at each other cautiously knowing they should tread lightly.
"How was your day, sweetie?" Stella asked with a nervous smile. "You don't look very happy."
"I'm fine, mom, as long as I'm far away as possible from school." Arnold responded with his arms folded across his seatbelt.
"What happened, buddy?" Miles asked a little timid.
"Helga's back and she's here to stay..." He responded bitterly.
"Ohh, your ex-girlfriend?" His dad asked.
"Yea, who else would it be?" Arnold said with an attitude.
"Arnold, it's understandable that your day was not the best but that wasn't very nice to speak to your father like that." Stella said sternly.
"I'm sorry, I just don't wanna talk right now." He said honestly.
"Ok, we'll resume this conversation when you're ready." Miles responded calmly receiving a nod from his son.
With that, Stella began driving toward the boarding house. It was a silent drive home and the only thing that was exchanged were looks with Stella looking in her rearview mirror back at Arnold seeing he had a frown for most of the ride which dissolved to a look of exhaustion. Miles and Stella looked at each other sharing concern over their son's wellbeing and noticed how often he's been shutting down. When they re-entered Arnold's life, he was pretty enthusiastic about sharing the details of his day and confided in them when he went through his first breakup, but they were aware that their son is now a teenager which are typically rough years for parent-child relationships. They knew it would be harder to navigate having missed many formative years of his childhood and still feeling like they haven't had enough time with Arnold; he's made a comment in his pre-teen years about them being too involved which made them aware of how heavy the guilt they have and wanting to make up for lost time. They wanted nothing more than to make their kid happy and that he was ok, but they had to actively work on when to give him space as well especially in this stage, he's at.
When they made it to the boarding house, Arnold quickly slammed the doors to the car and stomped his way upstairs to slam the door to his room without a word. Miles and Stella looked at each other again with the same concerned look they shared in the car and looked at Phil and Gertie. The older couple also looked concerned.
"What's up with the short man?" Phil asked perplexed.
"It seems he had a rough day at school, but he didn't talk to us on the ride home." Stella answered.
"I'm sure he'll be down when dinner's ready. He can't resist a delicious meal." Miles said confidently.
"What is for dinner by the way?" Stella asked.
"I made some oatmeal and beets!" Gertie responded proudly.
"Pookie! Nobody wants to eat that slop you call food!" Phil remarked in a disgusted manner. "How about we order some Chinese takeout? I'm sure the kid would be happy."
Miles and Stella looked at each other but didn't hesitate to agree that it was a good idea. Stella dialed the number on the home phone and placed a large order that was enough for the entire boarding house to eat; she was informed that the food would take thirty minutes to be ready which would also be enough time for Arnold to have cooled off and want to talk about his day. Miles went up to his room to let him know that they were getting Chinese takeout but tested the waters knocking on the door to see if he would be open to come with him to pick it up.
"Come in." The voice called out on the other side of the door giving him the green light to open it.
"Hey Arnold, how are you feeling?" Miles asked as he approached the bed that his son was sitting on.
"Not the best still. I don't even want to come down for dinner; I know Grandma made something yucky anyways." Arnold said sticking his tongue out in disgust.
"Well, you don't have to eat Grandma's food because we just ordered Chinese takeout." He said seeing a smile appear on his son's face. "It should be ready to pick up in thirty minutes. Would you like to come with me to pick it up, son?"
"Yea, sure." He responded enthusiastically though it was mainly due to hunger.
"That's my boy." His dad smiled ruffling a tuft of Arnold's hair. "I'll see you downstairs soon."
Thirty minutes later in the car ride, Arnold finally opened up about his day being ambushed by Helga and mentioned how pretty he thinks Darla is wanting to get to know her better. Miles offered sympathy for Arnold's fresh feelings about Helga and their breakup telling him he knows it's not easy maintaining relationships as a teenager and how much it can hurt. He also seemed to understand why his son had a fascination with a new girl but told him not to let his hormones get in the way of a good connection which only earned him a whiny "daaad" and faint blush defending that he wasn't even thinking about that. Shortly, they made it to the little shop to pick up the food and headed home to eat with the rest of the family.
Meanwhile in Helga's household, she had what started off as an awkward dinner with her parents with them asking her how her day was like they actually cared. She knew they were only asking because it was her first day at Greenwood and even that in itself is surprising considering they didn't seem to give a damn about her entering pre-school and hardly ever took her to school. They probably were only asking because they wanted to make sure she wasn't fighting or "causing trouble" as people loved to remind her, she was constantly doing. The awkwardness quickly turned into explosiveness as she called them out for interrogating her when she knew they couldn't care less about her actual feelings.
"God, what more do you need to know?! I didn't get in any physical fights or anything! I don't even know WHY you put me here! Are you guys trying to ruin my life?!" Helga snapped.
"HEY! You left us no choice when the principal at North Hillwood told us you had one more offense to commit before getting expelled! You know, Olga would NEVER get expelled let alone suspended within the first month of school or at all!" Big Bob yelled.
"There you go comparing me to OLGA again! Criminy! Why have a second child if you're just going to completely disregard her and treat her like utter crap! OLGA has NEVER been neglected or constantly yelled at over minor things!"
"OLGA has never given me a REASON to yell at her! You are a disappointment!" Her father yelled which cut her deep, but she wasn't going to back down.
"Oh good! You're a disappointment of a father so it MUST run in the genes!" Helga remarked.
"Guys! Please!" Miriam tried to interject desperately.
"Go to your room, young lady!! I don't want to see you for the rest of the night! Get out of my hair!" Bob scolded making Helga get up angrily and walk away but not without mocking him.
"You NEVER want to see me anyway!" Helga retorted as she headed up the stairs.
"NOW!!" He screamed to the top of his lungs pointing to the direction of her room.
"Bob, that really wasn't necessary. Helga's just trying to adjust to her new environment." Miriam slurred.
"I will not tolerate disrespect Miriam! That's all that girl ever does! Like she doesn't have a respectful bone in her body!"
Helga slammed the door to her room and flopped down on her bed to scream into her pillow. She kicked her legs against her mattress as she let out all the rage she was feeling from all the events that took place today from having to be put in a school she didn't want to be in, seeing her arch nemesis Gerald and ex-boyfriend Arnold, him staring her down in class and letting her know how bitter he is, heading to the school after lunch instead of going from the beginning of the day because THAT makes sense when there was only a few hours left of school anyways. Her parents berating her off and on throughout the day and basically torturing her this afternoon before she stepped foot on the new campus, and not to mention Arnold scolding her on the track just to get yelled at by the witch of a female coach. Criminy, that lady was such a hard ass and it was only Helga's first day. She was not looking forward to the rest of her high school days, but alas, it seems she was meant to just be miserable and not even Arnold could make it better.
At least she had Phoebe still and met a cute guy named Derek who seemed nice enough, but she wasn't going to pour out her whole life story and soul to him having just met. He was just nice to look at and fun to banter with which is exactly what she needed to take the edge off. Despite Derek telling Helga he is a lone wolf, she can tell that he was a flirt seeing the way he interacted with other girls. He was different from Arnold with how playful and silly he was almost like a male bimbo; Helga was not usually into guys like this but maybe knowing he had an edge to him was what kept her from being completely turned off by him. Arnold was not nearly as flirty and reserved his banter specifically for her which made her feel really special when they were dating but he just became insufferable and she honestly didn't think she would see him again after eighth grade which is part of the reason why she broke up with him. There was no way she was going to be subjected to a long-distance relationship writing him letters or barely communicating on the phone and she definitely did not want him visiting her house because of her dysfunctional family and there would be constant interruptions at his house due to all the people living there. Before she could think of what to do with herself, her pink wired phone rang beside her so she decided to pick up guessing it was Phoebe.
"What is it?" Helga answered sharply.
"It's me, Phoebe." The voice on the other end confirmed.
"Ok, great because I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone else right now."
"What if it was Derek?" She asked noticing how they were acquainted with each other in chemistry class.
"I don't even have his number Phoebe! It's not even what you think!" Helga defended.
"You know you can have guy friends too Helga. I wasn't insinuating anything." Sure she wasn't.
"Right, that's exactly what he is. I don't know if I'd go as far to call him a friend though, we literally just met."
"He's a very charming guy though. I have a boyfriend though so I can't say too much about him." Phoebe commented making Helga chuckle knowing she probably found him attractive.
"He is pretty cute though, isn't he? Great eye candy for sure." Derek did seem to fit into Helga's type whenever she noticed guys that weren't Arnold which were usually rugged looking skater or alternative dudes.
"Don't tell Arnold that." Phoebe gasped dramatically in a joking manner.
"Pfft, he's not my boyfriend anymore, I don't care what he thinks. I have eyes and I don't have to keep them tied to one guy anymore now that I'm single. Say, I bet Derek looks pretty good shirtless." Helga said in a naughty tone.
"I only have eyes for Gerald Johanssen." She declared.
"I feel bad for you Phoebe, not being able to check out other guys and engage in locker room talk like plenty of teenage girls do because you're stuck on one dude."
"Well, I for one think my boyfriend is very attractive and besides, it's not like something you previously did considering you've only ever thought about Arnold and had eyes only for him. If anything, I think you're only looking at Derek and thinking about other guys now because you're trying so hard to forget about your ex." Phoebe explained knowingly.
"Oh, come on Pheebs! Isn't it natural for a teenage girl to let her mind wander a little?! I already told you, I don't care about Arnold anymore!"
"I don't doubt that you find Derek physically attractive but we both know that's not true about Arnold. It's understandable that things would be a little shaken up between you two and-"
"It's been really nice talking to you Pheebs, but I gotta go now! See you tomorrow, bye-bye!" Helga quickly said before slamming her phone down and began rubbing her face in her hands in exhaustion. How was she even going to survive high school with all this chaos that is her life?