#arnxldshxrtman

“ criminy, football head — do you have to be such a creep ?? can’t somebody just hang out on the dock without having to be bothered by some lame-o loser ? ”

helga groaned and threw up her skinny arms in frustration. scolding arnold came out so easily, what with his stupid face and stupid voice and stupid way of showing up whenever she needed him most and — UGH.

@arnxldshxrtman

“ hey, what’s all the hype about ? can’t a girl even get to the swing set without being smothered by a bunch of nerds ? sheesh ! ”

helga — in her helga-ish way — physically pushed past people and rammed shoulders to get in the middle of what everyone was crowding around. once she found the dweeb that caused such a scene, they were in for a real pounding !

“ what’s the big idea — arnold ? ”

the first thing she noticed were the tears gathering around his eyes and trickling down his face. a million things went through her mind in a second ( what happened ? is it a panic attack ? does it involve the imaginary friends ? aw jeez, what the heck am i supposed to do ?? ), but she finally settled on putting two fingers in her mouth in the shape of a whistle and blew out loudly, sending a high pitched alarm around the playground.

“ get movin’, morons ! can’t you see he needs some space ? ” she turned to asriel and patted him firmly on the shoulder - she knew he was only trying to help. muttering something like ill catch up with you later, she stomped one last time to make sure everyone would scram. when it was just the two of them, helga dropped to her knees beside him and punched him lightly on the arm.

helga smiled sincerely and looked down to the ground at her feet. he opened up to her first ? with this secret of his ? it made her weak little heart flutter — but arnold always seemed to have that effect on her.

“ that’s, uh ... ”

don’t say lame, don’t say geeky, just be nice, helga, be nice !

“ that’s so mushy, football face ! ” she punched him playfully in the arm. “ you’re such a sissy ! but .. that’s pretty cool of you to say. though it’s stuff i already know. ”

despite her words, she was still smiling.

“ y - you’re ... you’re not .. not ... you’re not a complete geekbait. ”

helga shook her head and stared down at her hands. callused and bruised. not like other girls. she sighed and tilted her gaze up to the sky.

“ normal is boring, football head. you really wanna be like everyone else ? c’mon. you’re better than that and you know it. ”

helga almost choked on her words, only realizing what she said once it was spoken out loud. she coughed and tried to backtrack. “ and b - by that i mean, i just ... you’re still a total geekbait ! you’re just not normal. ”

she blushed furiously and focused on his later question. she snorted, but it was without humor.

“ do my dad and i fight about useless garbage ? yeah, try all the time. his dumb beeper empire, the fact that ill never be like olga, if my tv or music is ‘too loud’, if i try to grab his attention while he watched the wheel ... ” helga sighed.

the girl in the pigtails took in every word, hanging onto each syllable carefully and with determination.

he sounded .. quite head over heels for this person. helga gently placed a hand over her heart where her locket rested beneath her dress, turning her skin cold. she chewed on the inside of her cheek — a habit that dr. bliss had advised against numerous times.

oh, how she longed for him to be speaking of her ! perhaps such joyous propaganda could be true, and arnold only wished to get to know her - the real her ! could such a dream, such a fantasy, ever really be true ?

in that instant, up there on the roof of the boarding house, she was suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss him. that would say everything that mere words couldn’t. and it would be so easy, too ; she’d just grab him by the shirt and pull his lips to hers.

yet ... the resolve drained from her almost as quickly as it came. a frown deepened the corners of her mouth.

“ criminy, hairboy. sounds like you’ve got it bad. i guess i always considered you a romantic, but this is just — ” she bit her tongue to keep from saying sickening.

“ this is just ... oh ! sweet, okay ? but you still sound like a total sap ! ”

“ — and then bob said, well young lady, if you’re going to have an attitude like that, you can just leave !

so, i did. what a blowhard, amiright ? ” she turned and looked at arnold, hands in her jacket pockets.