"Will you stop staring at me?" Helga snapped as she punched her pillow, fluffing it up before nuzzling into it. She was just trying to make the best of it, but he couldn't just keep his eyes away from her. Before the whole FTi incident she would have been flustered and flattered. Now she was just mad about it. Why couldn't he just go to sleep like everyone else? Curly was sprawled out on his chair with his feet in the air. Olga and Lila looked dainty and delicate as they slept, much to her annoyance. Eugene was dead to the world, his walkman plugged into a pair of headphones that were over his ears playing the music from Wicked so loud that she could hear the song Popular playing from the seat behind him. She didn't really care enough about the others. Mr. Simmons was still awake, keeping an eye on everything, but aside from him it was just her and Arnold.

Arnold frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

She perked up to glare at him, "I'm not the one staring, geek bait. Leave me alone and let me sleep."

"You've changed, Helga. I'm just worried about you." Arnold admitted warily.

Helga rolled her eyes, "Worry about yourself, hair 've been reading that dusty old book ever since we got on the plane. It's unhealthy and obsessive and weird, but I'm not shoving my nose into your business, Arnoldo. Stop being a pain in the-"

"Is everything alright?" Mr. Simmons asked from the aisle, leaning over the back of the seat to check on them.

Helga scowled at her teacher, "Everything's just peachy. I'm just trying to get some sleep, but Arnold here is making it impossible."

"Arnold, I think that some sleep would be a great idea for both you and Helga." Mr. Simmons suggested kindly.

Arnold frowned. It was hard to want to sleep when he was so close to San Lorenzo. "I'll try and get some sleep soon Mr. Simmons."

"I'm going to get some sleep now." Helga grumbled before turning back into her pillow and shutting her eyes.

Mr. Simmons smiled at Arnold and patted the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Arnold. Everything'll be alright." Arnold smiled back at Mr. Simmons. He was right. Everything was going to be fine. What could possibly go wrong?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"This is ever so exciting, Arnold!" Lila exclaimed as they piled onto the bus that would take them to the river where the boat that they were going to be on for the next two days.

Helga found herself scowling at Lila's friendliness towards Arnold. She knew it was stupid and that she needed to stop being jealous, but old habits die hard. If being with Miss Perfect was what made Arnold happy then she thought they deserved each other. This was going to be a crappy holiday. Olga was already going out of her way to be all up in Helga's space. Sure, Olga most likely meant well, but Helga just wanted to fire her sister...out of a cannon...into the sun.

"This is going to be so much fun, Helga!" Olga exclaimed as she followed her younger sister onto the bus. "We're going to get to do so much bonding this week!"

Helga rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it'll be great." because the weekend of the makeover wasn't torture enough. At least Phoebe and Gerald were having a nice time. It was little solace though. Not that she really cared. Sure, she was happy that they were happy, but she would have rather been happy. She'd get over it though. It was only a matter of time. Phoebe waved at Helga as she got on the bus. Arnold got into the seat behind Gerald and Phoebe. Helga heaved a sigh and sat next to him, scowling past him and out the window. He offered her a weak smile, but she disregarded it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold nodded off on the bus, which was probably for the best. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Eugene throwing up out the window and Helga was yelling at Harold over insulting some wrestler. It was nice that there was at least some of the old Helga in there somewhere. He was a bit disheartened when he noticed that a few people were already between him and Helga. He'd been hoping to figure out what was going on with Helga and maybe help her out with it. Still, that wasn't't his main concern. He was in San Lorenzo. He didn't want to be selfish, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The last thing he needed was Helga Pataki distracting him.

He was the last off the boat, aside from Mr. Simmons and Principal Wartz. Everyone was so excited to get on the boat. Even Rhonda was excited. Up until she saw the boat anyway. It was no yacht, but it was nicer than it could have been. There were only six rooms for them. One for Mr. Simmons and Principal Wartz, another for Olga Pataki, two for the girls, and another two for the boys. Phoebe, Sheena, and Helga were in one room, Nadine, Lila, and Rhonda were in another. Their rooms weren't as big as the boys' rooms , Sid, Stinky, Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, and Iggy were in one room. Arnold was rooming with Gerald, Harold, Curly, and was time for dinner by the time they got on the boat. They were given a nice meal of Carbonada, not that he even knew what it was. It wasn't that bad. He liked his grandma's stew better though.

Gerald asked how Arnold was liking San Lorenzo and Arnold answered, "It's a bit surreal, to be honest. I like it though."

"Are you still thinking about...you know? " Gerald asked, lowering his voice a bit. Not that anyone would notice their conversation. Harold, Sid, and Stinky were causing a ruckus so Olga and the principal were trying to keep them under control.

"I think so. Maybe. Not right now, but I still have a few days to think about it." Arnold admitted quietly.

"Well if that's what you gotta do, that's what you gotta do, man. Just let me know what you decide to do. I can't have my man going on wild and crazy adventures without me." Gerald informed Arnold with a wink.

Arnold smiled lightly. It was nice to know that at least Gerald had his back in this crazy endeavor. Shortly after they had dessert and went to bed. Arnold kind of wished that he was rooming with Sid, Stinky, and Harold rather than Brainy and Curly. At least Gerald was in the same room with him. He just hoped that Curly wouldn't do anything too insane. He wouldn't get his hopes up though. If they were lucky the night would go past pretty uneventfully.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga didn't know how Phoebe and Sheena could sleep with Nadine, Rhonda, and Lila in slumber party mode in the next room. She looked at her watch and heaved a sigh, glaring at the wall between her and Rhonda. She knew it was Rhonda because she was the loudest of the three. She hated this. She heaved a sigh and rolled out of bed, being sure to step lightly. She considered grabbing a jacket, but her oversized purple tee shirt would do just fine.

She snuck out of her room and quietly shut the door before tiptoeing up the stairs and onto the top half of the ship. She saw the captain of the boat steering the vessel along the river and Helga stuck to the shadows to avoid him and made her ways to the stern to look at the wakes they were leaving in the water. She leaned against the rail of the ship. In its own way the jungle was nice. It was pretty at least. The constant squawking birds kind of killed the quiet vibe she would have expected in the middle of the night. She probably just hated it because it reminded her of her stupid parrot. At least her monitor lizard had eaten it before it spilled her huge secret to her entire class.

With a sigh she leaned up against the railing at the stern of the boat. Something clinked against the railing and she perked up. She looked down at her chest and reached into her shirt. She ground her teeth together when she realized what had clunked against the railing. She'd thrown out everything she'd had that reminded her of Arnold. She didn't have the heart to throw the locket out. She looked at it as she leaned against the rail. She bit her lip and considered just how supid it was that she had kept the stupid locket.

Before she could talk herself out of it she pulled her arm back and hurled the locket away, vanishing under the water's surface with a splash. She supposed that she probably should have gone back to bed, but she didn't really want to. She was content to sit on the boat and wait for someone to come find her. And that was exactly what she did.

She heard footprints coming towards he and with a sigh she perked up. She dusted herself off, but she didn't bother looking away from the river. "Alright, alright, I'm going back to bed. I just wanted some air, sheesh."

There was no harsh chiding from Principal Wartz. There wasn't a stern correction from her sister. There wasn't an understandable stammer from Mr. Simmons. She wasn't alone though. She looked up and she was sure she'd shrunk about three feet. When she got her wits about her she screamed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

This was totally insane. When Arnold woke up he was gagged, but at least he wasn't blindfolded. He and the rest of his classmates had both tied their ankles and wrists together in front of them. Principal Wartz and Mr. Simmons were gagged, but their bounds were much more through. They looked like Oskar when grandma would occasionally hogtie him at dinner to keep him away from his Grandpa's dinner. Olga Pataki would be wailing hysterically if they hadn't gagged her as well. Everyone was still either unconscious or cowering against the wall. The only person who was trying to untie themselves was Helga. Phoebe kept elbowing her friend and shaking her head, but that wasn't going to do any good. Helga wanted out.

The thugs looked nervous as well. No one would have guessed why. At least not until a man with a mask on his face and a leather hat on his head stomped into the cargo hold with them.

"La Sombra, we searched through the entire boat and we couldn't find it." A skittish thug said nervously.

Arnold perked up and looked up at the man. So that was La Sombra. He was filled with rage he wasn't aware that he was capable of containing. This was the man who was responsible for him growing up without his parents.

La Sombra glared at Mr. Simmon's fifth grade class before slapping the thug across the face. "You know what we seek."

"Well...yes, sir, yes I know." the man stammered nervously.

La Sombra took the man by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close to him, glaring down at him. "I had no desire to take over a boat full of brats...get rid of them."

"Sir?" the man asked warily as La Sombra turned to leave.

"Throw them overboard, put a bullet in each of them, crush them against the rocks for all I care, just get rid of them." he growled.

This sent everyone into a panic. One thing was for sure….this trip had just gotten...interesting.

It's short, but at least it's an update. Huzzah! Leave a review and junk. 3