She couldn't believe she was doing this. She had gone out of her way to avoid him all these years. And now she was going to a fifteen year reunion, arranged by the princess herself, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. I'm a glutton for punishment, she thought to herself. Who does a fifteen year reunion, anyway. Phoebe was going to get it big time for convincing her to do this. Oh who the hell am I kidding. I would have gone anyway for the chance to see him. For almost twenty years Helga had tried to forget about Arnold but she never succeeded. She had dated, sometimes even seriously, but no one ever filled the hole in her heart that he had created. Or that she had created for him. She wasn't entirely sure which.

She had a chance once. Right after they came back from the jungle with Arnold's parents. But she had ruined it, as she had ruined everything. She just couldn't let him in. Then he had left. Moving away with his parents. He had promised to write her, and he had actually done it too. And she wrote back. In a way. She just never sent the letters. She sighed and looked forlornly at her closet. The boxes of letters were still there. One for almost every day of the years he had been gone. When he finally returned for their senior year of high school, she had avoided him at every turn, doing her best to make sure she never spoke to him. She always watched him, of course, but she couldn't bear to stand up to the consequences of her cowardice for all those years he was away. Phoebe did everything she could to convince her to talk to him, to tell her that they could rekindle what they once had when they saved his parents. But Helga knew it was over. That moment was gone forever. It lived only her memory, in her nightmares.

They had all gone off to different colleges after that. Helga fled Hillwood and never looked back. That's a lie, ol' girl, and you know it. She had looked back. A lot. Arnold had gone to a local college, while Helga had fled to upstate New York and studied literature. She wanted to write, but her best work always revolved around her feelings for Arnold. That pain, that love, had allowed her to create beautiful and tragic things. She had floated around after that, going to different places and doing different things, but nothing really satisfied her. She and Phoebe kept in touch, but it wasn't frequent, and Helga never quite made another friend like her. She simply… was. She existed. But she didn't know happiness. Not really.

And now she was going to make herself miserable again. Tonight she was going to rip open scars that, while they hadn't really healed properly, at least had been something she could ignore. She wouldn't be able to ignore things tonight though. She knew it. And it was her own fault. Because tonight she had a plan. There was one thing she was going to, even if it killed her to do it. And no one was going to stop her. She looked at the closet again. I wish I could give you every one of those letters, she thought. She shook her head and grabbed her keys off the table. Enough thinking. It was time for action.

Helga had intended to arrive fashionably late. She didn't want to beat him there. He had to be there already so she could come in, do her thing, and flee before the consequences fully hit home. Judging from the parking lot everyone was here. It was strange, Helga thought, that Rhonda would choose such a strange, hole-in-the-wall restaurant/bar for a reunion. It seemed beneath her status. Maybe Rhonda had actually grown up a bit. She is in her thirties now, Helga thought. I'm probably the only one still stuck in the past. Phoebe had told her most of the old PS 118 kids were going to be there. Helga missed them, to be sure, but she was here for one reason and one reason only. Arnold.

She walked in and saw Rhonda and Nadine sitting at a table near the door, softly chatting with one another. They both looked up and surprise was easy to read on their faces when they realized who they were looking at.

"Helga G. Pataki? I never thought in a million years you would actually show up," Rhonda said. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. She stood up and wrapped Helga in a hug. Helga, true to form, froze in surprise at the sudden display of physical affection. It took her a moment to regain her composure before she gently pushed Rhonda away. Helga had mellowed at least a bit in her "old" age.

"Easy there, princess. I'm still not big on public displays of affection," Helga said. A soft smile betrayed the fact that she actually was at least slightly happy to see the raven-haired woman.

"Well, we're glad you came," Nadine said as she stood up. Nadine simply put a hand on Helga's shoulder and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Arnold's here, you know."

Helga's eyes widened in shock. Why was Nadine telling her that? Did she know about her infatuation? How would she? She had hidden that secret for so many years. Nadine saw her expression and simply smiled before sitting back down.

"Go in and have some fun, Helga," Rhonda added before sitting back down.

"Uh, yeah, thanks…" Helga said cautiously. This was already not exactly going to plan and her confidence was rattled. She walked further into the bar and quickly saw that everyone was indeed there. She saw Phoebe and Gerald huddled in a booth talking to someone else. She didn't have to see his face to know it was Arnold. She could see everyone else from where she was and Arnold was the only one not accounted. Phoebe saw her and made eye contact with her. Helga had let Phoebe in on her plan. Actually it was probably more Phoebe's plan than Helga's. And it wasn't really all that much of plan, anyway. Helga just wanted one thing, the one thing she had wanted when she was a senior in high school and had never given herself a chance to do because she was stubborn and stupid and terrified.

A dance.

That was it. She wanted one slow dance. But she had never managed to work up the courage to ask him for one at any of the dances she had attended. Okay, to be fair, he probably hadn't even known she was there. She had always stayed at the fringes of the dance floor, hiding in shadows. She also hadn't really dressed up all that much, even at the prom. Cleaning up in those days wasn't really her thing. She preferred her baggy jeans or cargoes and her ratty old beanie to dresses and hairspray. Tonight she had made a few concessions. She wasn't exactly dressed up, per se. But she was wearing a skirt, which was more than she usually did. It showed off her long legs. Her blouse was conservative, but her hair was down and, for the first time since she graduated high school, a pink bow was prominently displayed. Not her old bow, unfortunately. She had lost that on graduation day. It had sent her into a total panic. She knew she never should had taken it off, but she didn't want everyone to see it when she threw her cap. Why did I even participate in that stupid tradition? She looked decent tonight. She never really thought she looked good but tonight she probably looked better than she had in a long time.

Phoebe smiled and got up. She hurried over to the stereo system, which appeared to be manned by Brainy. Now there was someone she hadn't thought about in ages. She smiled as she recalled how that silly boy had somehow managed to recover her locket from that river in San Lorenzo. He had loved her, in his own way. Although there was no room in her heart for the kind of love he wanted, she had felt some genuine affection for him after that day. He had probably loved her more than anyone else ever had, except Phoebe. It took some serious heart to save a token of your crush's love for another man. Phoebe whispered to him and he looked over at Helga. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Oh great. I wonder what Pheebs said to him?

Helga looked back to the booth. Gerald was still sitting there, talking to the mystery person across from him. Although it wasn't much of a mystery. Helga could see some blond hair sticking up over the back of the booth. She knew it was him. She would recognize that hair anywhere, no matter how long it had been. Arnold P. Shortman. He was only a few yards away. She took a deep breath as her heartbeat hammered in her ears. It's been fifteen years. Just ask him for one dance, and then you can leave to lick your wounds again. Her feet felt like they were covered in lead, but she forced them to move and she walked over to the booth. Gerald kept talking softly, but he looked up at Helga and smiled. He knew. He had to. He was Phoebe's husband, after all. She was sure her diminutive friend had let him in on the plan.

She approached the booth and stood to the side of it. Arnold turned and looked at her. His eyes widened in surprise, but a smile quickly spread across his face. That smile, the smile. It made her heart melt, even now. The current song was winding down and Brainy was fading it out slowly. Helga held a hand out to Arnold.

"Could I trouble you for a dance, football head?"

Arnold stood up and took her hand. "It would be my pleasure."

They moved onto the small dance platform as a new song slowly faded in. She recognized it. She cast and angry look over at Brainy and Phoebe, both of whom were grinning wickedly at her. Assholes, both of you. Helga hated the Spice Girls, but she especially hated that they had picked a song that was basically just about sex. And that's not what she wanted from Arnold. 2 Become 1 was not what she was looking for. Arnold, for his part, simply chuckled and shocked her back reality as he placed his hands on her waist. She turned back to him, surprise and a little bit of fear evident in her eyes. She was frozen. He had clearly noticed and removed his hand from her body, instead taking her own hands and placing them around his neck. He slowly began swaying with her. She relaxed, but only a fraction. Her heart was still pounding and she was sure that she was blushing badly from the heat she could feel in her cheeks.

"What made you want to dance with me?"

Helga tried to regain her composure. She shrugged. "I picked on you for years. It seems the least I could do to make it up to you."

"After all these years I'm surprised you even remember me. We haven't spoken since graduation."

Helga looked away from him, embarrassed. If he only knew how many times I've thought about him since then. "I remember some things, ya know."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Oh, you know. I remember some school projects, one involving a bird hatching. A poetry reciting parrot. A spitball here and there." She finally looked back to his face, her blue eyes staring deeply into his green ones. "I remember when we were seniors, when you came back from the jungle. I remember that first day, in pre-calc, when the teacher gave us a homework problem with at triangle and a few sides and angles then told us to solve it without using trig. I remember the next day you were the only one that actually tried it. You had a whole page of notes. I remember in English class, you said hi to me every day when I walked in. You were the only one that did. I remembered you played basketball. I went to every home game."

Arnold looked confused. "I never saw you there."

Helga snorted. "I never went into the gym. I used to watch from the hallway. I didn't want you to see me. I didn't want anyone to know that I…" She paused. That I loved you. "That I had a huge crush on you. I didn't want to get outed."

"Why-"

She interrupted him. "I remember every dance that year. Halloween, Valentine's, Homecoming, Prom. All of them. I remember standing in the shadows, watching you, trying my damnedest to work up the courage to ask you for a dance and failing every single time."

Arnold stopped moving. His expression was one of shock. The song was ending. Helga leaned up and lightly kissed his cheek. Her lips lingered there for a moment before she pulled back. His mouth was hanging open.

She smiled sweetly. "Thank you. For fulfilling the high school fantasy of a shy and bashful girl." Helga let him go and turned toward the door, walking out into the night.

The bar was silent. Brainy didn't queue up another song. Everyone was looking at either Arnold or the door Helga had just walked out of.

"Arnold?"

He remained frozen in the middle of the dance floor.

"Arnold!"

He was still in shock. What had just happened? He slowly looked down at his hands, which were hanging in mid air where Helga had been.

"HEY ARNOLD!"

He shook his head. He turned and saw Rhonda standing next to him with her hands on her hips. She was leaning forward and glaring at him. "Huh?" he managed.

"Are you an idiot? Go after her!" Rhonda yelled.

He looked back at the door.

"GO!" the room seemed to yell all at once. He finally snapped out of his trance and ran toward the door. He threw it open and looked out into the dark parking lot. He scanned it quickly and saw her quickly striding toward a beaten and muddied Jeep in the back. Her arms were wrapped around her and her head was down. He started running toward her.

"Helga! Helga wait!"

If anything, she seemed to start walking faster. He sprinted after her. He knew he had to catch her before she got in that car or he may never see her again. He caught her as she was only a few feet from the driver's door.

"Helga-"

"What, Arnold?!" she spun and looked at him, tears running down her face. He was taken aback. Had he ever seen her cry before?

"Why are you leaving?"

"Because I'm a stupid, sentimental sap that just opened every old scar on her heart for one fucking dance and I can't stand to be here right now!" she yelled.

"So you don't even want to talk about what just happened there?"

"Why would I? You don't even know the half of how I feel. How I've always felt! Just leave me alone!" Fury and pain were clear on her face

Arnold was getting angry. How dare she? How dare she assume he had no idea? "You think you're the only one that remembers things from back then?"

Her expression softened. It was only the tiniest bit, but he knew this was his only opening.

"I remember things too. I remember a confession in a crow's nest on a shitty boat in the jungle. I remember a girl that I gave my heart to after she helped me save my parents. And I remember that girl ignoring every damn letter I sent her for five damn years. I wrote you more than I wrote anyone else, including Gerald. Including my grandparents. But you ignored everything. I remember coming home and trying to talk to that girl only to have her make every effort to avoid me. It broke my heart. You think I didn't want to ask you to dance? I carried a torch for you the whole time I was in San Lorenzo. And you couldn't even bother to give me the time of day!"

He took another step closer to her. She no longer looked angry. She looked hurt. And scared. Her blue eyes were wide and locked with his. "Don't act like I did something to you. I made every attempt to keep something between us. You were the one that ran away. Why? Why did you do it?"

"I was scared," she whispered.

"Scared? Scared of what? The Helga Pataki I knew wasn't scared of anything. I watched her fight a God damned river pirate at age eleven!"

"The only thing I was ever scared of was a broken heart, Arnold."

Arnold had to admit he didn't know what to do with that comment. He stood there for a moment, silently contemplating it. Helga took the opportunity to turn back to her car.

"Helga, don't-"

"I'm not leaving. I… I have something for you. In the back seat." She opened the back door to the Jeep and pulled out a large box. It was heavy and she dropped it with a thump on the ground in front of him. Arnold looked down on it in confusion. "Open it. Please," she said softly.

He opened the flaps slowly and gasped at a box full of envelopes. He picked one up off the top. It was addressed to him, with Helga's return address in the corner. It even had a stamp on it. They all did. There must have been hundreds of letters in the box. He looked back to Helga.

"That's box number one. I have two more in the car." Helga was rubbing her elbow with her other hand. "I wrote you almost every day. I just couldn't send them. It hurt too much. I thought we finally had a chance and then you just… left. And I didn't know if you were ever going to come back."

Arnold stood up and opened the envelope he was holding. He carefully removed the letter. Judging by the date he would have been twelve. He looked back at Helga before carefully putting the letter back in the envelope and putting both back into the box. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the last thing Helga ever expected to see. She gasped as he held it out to her.

"You lost this," he said as he offered her the pink ribbon. "On graduation day. I found it, but I never found you that day. I looked and looked but you must've left as soon as we were done."

She reached out and took it gently from his hand. She felt the smooth material between her fingers and smiled. It was so familiar, even though she hadn't seen it for fifteen years and she had never gotten a new one. She had never worn a ribbon since. "You kept it?" she asked, almost to herself.

"I guess in a way I always hoped I would see you again. Then Gerald told me you'd be here tonight, so I brought it with me. I figured if you tried to avoid me again, maybe I could at least get you to talk to me if I offered it to you. If nothing else."

Helga finally looked back at Arnold, but he had cast his gaze at his own feet. She crossed the empty space between them and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. She leaned her head on his shoulder while returned her embrace. "I'm sorry, Arnold. For everything. For the hurt and all the lost time and my stupidity and… just all of it."

He reached up and stroked her hair. "It's alright. We'll be alright." They stayed like that for a moment before he looked down at her. He picked up her chin and leaned down to press his lips to hers. She let a short moan escape. It was a short kiss, but a loving one, tender and chaste.

When their lips separated again, Helga reached a hand up to his cheek and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak when she heard a soft cough. A cough that didn't come from either one of them. They both turned back toward the bar and saw the entire PS 118 crew standing among the cars in the lot. They all wore big smiles and were watching them.

Helga tore herself away from Arnold and turned her body toward her former classmates. She fixed a scowl on her face and put her hands on her hips. "What are all you losers lookin' at? Can't a girl share a tender moment with her favorite boy in peace?"

"There's the Helga we all missed!" Gerald called out. The group started to laugh and give a few whistles and cat calls.

Helga rolled her eyes. She reached down and hefted the box, throwing it back in her car. Then she turned back to Arnold. "Where's your car, head boy?"

Arnold blinked. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Damn right we are. This is as close as we're ever going to get to the prom we both apparently wanted, so you're gonna find a place to park with me and we're gonna make out, capiche?"

Arnold laughed. "Whatever you say, Helga. The car's over there." He pointed to the first row of cars closest to the building, past their classmates.

"Perfect." Helga started sweeping her hair into a pony tail and tied it up with her old ribbon. She started marching toward Arnold's car. "One side, morons," she yelled as she pushed her way past Sid and Stinky.

Arnold started following when Gerald walked up. "Where you two going?" Gerald asked.

Arnold shrugged. "Wherever we want," he replied with a smile. Gerald held out his fist and they gave their secret handshake.

"Good answer, my man."

"I'm not getting any younger over here, football head!" Helga yelled as she stood next to his car with her arms crossed.

Arnold laughed and shook his head. It had been about two decades since he and Helga had an adventure together.

They were long overdue.

A/N: This is my first piece of creative writing that's been read by anyone since I was a sophomore in High School (twenty years ago). I have an alternate universe HA chapter story that I may publish in the future.