Welcome Home, Helga Pataki

Summary: At the end of the fifth grade, Helga moved to Italy with her family. Six years have passed and she is coming back to join her fellow PS 118 peers, but six years can really change a person.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold!

Chapter Seven

The Next Week Before Band Practice…

Arnold was standing outside of the band room when he spotted Phoebe walking towards him, carrying her flute. He waved a little and she hurried of to him.

"Hey, Arnold. What are you doing here?" she asked as she looked at the door to the band hall.

"Hey Phoebe, I was hoping I could talk to you before you went to practice," he said, rubbing his neck nervously. She smiled at him and nodded, following him to an empty hallway and leaned against the lockers. "Phoebe… I know I've kind of been avoiding Helga these past couple of days and I actually wanted to ask you for your advice."

"Really? Arnold asking me for advice? That's a thought," Phoebe said, smiling and nodding her head. She would forever remember this day in her mind. Arnold had already been through so much with trying to sort out what to do. He took what Miss Emily had said to heart but every time he was near Helga, he lost his nerve and ended up looking like a stunned idiot whenever she was around. It was finally time that he manned up and went straight to a source of information on the inner workings of Helga G. Pataki and Phoebe was it.

"I know, and usually I would be adivising myself that I was being an idiot and should just do something about my problem. But, being an idiot is preventing me from solving my problem," Arnold explained and Phoebe nodded in understanding.

"What is the problem, Arnold?" she asked, looking around the hall to see that no one was around.

"It's Helga."

"I figured as much. Then I want to propose an deal," Phoebe said, standing up straight and putting her hands on her hips. Arnold looked taken aback.

"A deal?" he repeated, looking at her with a weary eye. He didn't think that Helga would have put her up to anything mean, since Phoebe couldn't really lie to save her life. But then again, Helga had a way of getting anyone to do anything she wanted if she really wanted something done.

"Yes, if I give you advice on how to solve your girl problems, you have to help me set up a date with Gerald."

"G-Gerald?" Arnold looked confused. Phoebe sighed and crossed her arms again.

"That note I gave him, he never responded. He's been avoiding me like the plague and Helga says that I should just go up to him to ask him out, but like I'm ever going to be able to do that. So you have to help me. This is a you scratch my back, I scratch yours kind of deal." Arnold found himself smirking like he normally did and nodding.

"So what kind of advice can you give me?" Arnold asked, shaking her hand in confirmation of their agreement.

"Alright, if you want to get Helga to go out with you, all you have to do is ask her."

"That's not helpful, since every time I see her, I freak out," Arnold replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Not done," Phoebe said holding up a hand, "Since that's the problem, I'll set up the date and you just show up."

"What if she doesn't come?"

"Oh please, she'll come. Helga's liked you since we were kids. She'll come if it means getting to go on a date with you. But I'm warning you now, her attitude is a big problem."

"She didn't really seem to change over the years," Arnold replied, thinking about it to himself.

"Not really. But if she starts insulting you, she means exactly the opposite of everything she says. Its just her way of protecting herself from you rejecting her," Phoebe said, almost like a therapist. Arnold had the sudden urge to lie down and pour out his struggles to her. But he digressed back to the subject on hand.

"Okay, so since you are setting me up, I will do the same for you. Gerald is like me, totally panicking about what he should say to you. So, I will set the date up and you two will go out together," Arnold said, hearing the band beginning to warm up and Phoebe grabbed her flute from the floor.

"Alright, call me when you have the details and I'll let you know too," Phoebe said and with a nod she rushed down the hall into the band hall. Arnold didn't know if this plan was really going to work but it was better than nothing at all.

Gerald was standing outside of the front entrance of the school when Arnold found him. He was reading the pink note that Phoebe had given him for what seemed like the thousandth time since he received it. He refused to let Arnold see it, but it was obviously a request for a date. Arnold was certain that it was Helga's doing, since Phoebe was far too shy to be able to do anything on her own. That's probably why Phoebe's sudden interest in Arnold's problems was so surprising.

"Hey," Arnold said, watching Gerald jump and scramble to stuff the note in his pocket. "What's that?" he asked, pretending to not have seen it.

"What's what?" Gerald asked, kicking up his skateboard and walking towards the Boarding House with Arnold.

"That thing that you were putting in your pocket," Arnold teased, and Gerald just looked at the sky.

"Nothing. It was nothing," he replied quickly and Arnold went ahead and dropped it. He was trying to think of a way to get him and Phoebe alone together where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone they knew. He remembered the rare and few dates he had been on with just girls from school and mostly it was to get cokes or going out to get fast food. This date between Phoebe and Gerald had to be something different. So Arnold thought at this and just as they were passing a jewelry store, Gerald stopped. It belonged to Miss Alexander, recently coming to Hillwood from the south.

"Want to go in?"

"Just for a second," Gerald said as he hurried into the store. Miss Alexander was standing behind the counter, polishing a pair of diamond earrings and humming to herself. She looked up when she saw the boys entered. She was a nice southern lady with long brown hair and glasses.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. Come to look at anything in particular?" she asked, smiling at them both. Gerald bee-lined straight to a display that held a beautiful ring with a droplet blue diamond in the middle. Arnold looked back at Miss Alexander.

"Good afternoon, Miss Alexander. Actually, I was wondering if you had that package for Mr. Smith yet? He wrote a letter and left it under his door the other day about it," Arnold said, looking at a diamond necklace.

"Oh, yeah," Miss Alexander said, walking through her back door and disappearing from view for a moment and then returning to the front of the store with a package.

"I am going to have it delivered tomorrow," she said as she re-entered the shop, carrying a clipboard, "So tell Mr. Smith that it will be on time."

"Thanks," Arnold replied, looking back over his shoulder at Gerald.

"How much is this ring?" Gerald asked, pointing to the ring he had been looking at. Miss Alexander set down her clipboard and walked over to see the ring. The sign had fallen among the lesser rings and she replaced it. A good fifty thousand dollars stared back at Gerald and he nearly had a heart attack. Arnold smiled and without realizing it, glanced at the clipboard to notice another order. A foreign name that Arnold did not recognize was sending a diamond necklace to Helga G. Pataki, a name he could never forget. He looked away quickly when Miss Alexander returned to his side and smiled at him.

"I think I just broke your little friend's heart," she said, looking at the now depressed Gerald.

"Probably. He's got girl problems," Arnold said, leaning against the counter to try and get another look at the clipboard but Miss Alexander picked it up and put it on the back table against the wall, out of his perview.

"Well, I have the same problems, but with men," she replied, returning to working on the earrings she was cleaning.

"Miss Alexander?" Arnold asked, watching Gerald take a quick picture of the ring with his camera phone, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Arnold, whatever you need," she replied, looking up and pushing her glasses up her nose, "What's up?"

"I have been kind of having girl problems too and I'm working on them but I just wanted your honest opinion," Arnold said, certain that more advice from girls would be helpful when dealing with Helga.

"Shoot," she replied, setting her chin on her folded hands.

"Well, there is this girl I haven't seen in years that I was convinced was just a friend, suddenly showed up and she's like gorgeous! Now I am like a stumbling idiot around her and every guy in school is drooling over her. She's probably had a million offers to go out on dates and I don't feel like I'm good enough," Arnold said, again feeling like he should be lying down for a session. It was strangely nice to be getting advice from someone else besides his family for a change. Miss Alexander mulled over what he said and smiled.

"Come back tomorrow morning before you go to school," she replied, seeing Gerald heading towards the door.

"Come on, Arnold," Gerald called and before Arnold could ask why she was being so mysterious about it, Arnold was pulled by his arm out of the shop. He followed Gerald all the way to the Boarding House and was curious as to why Miss Alexander had asked him to come back. But he had no time to think about it before he was in the confines of the Boarding House and the loud antics of his strange grandparents.

Arnold followed Miss Alexander's instructions and got up earlier in the morning that he normally did. He rode his bike to her shop and stopped in front of it, looking around to see most of the street was still asleep. Miss Alexander was standing inside and when she spotted him, she waved. Arnold hopped off of his bike and entered the store, waving back at her.

"Hey Arnold, come on in," she said when he opened the door a little and looked in to see that only half of the lights were on. He walked all of the way in and smiled at her shyly, still not sure why he was there so early.

"What's with the early meeting, Miss Alexander?" he asked, seeing that she was wrapping up something in a box.

"You wanted girl advice so I had you come when your friend wasn't here. I had a few things to finish up before I opened the store anyway," she said, showing him the box she was preparing. Arnold walked up to the counter and waited patiently for her to speak. She finished with the box and set it aside before giving a loud sigh and smiling brightly at him.

"Arnold, I wanted to tell you that there is nothing for me to tell you," she said simply and Arnold looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Sweetie, you don't need anyone else's advice but you do need to take a step back for a second. You say that this girl is someone you knew for the longest time, then she was gone. She just came back and she's beautiful. Before when you knew her you were never affected but now you are because she's pretty. Why don't you talk to her like she's the girl you used to know? Talk to her like the person she is, not the person she looks like."

Arnold stared at Miss Alexander for a long moment, thinking about what she had said. He suddenly nodded his head and headed out of the shop at a run.

"Thanks Miss Alexander! I'll talk to you later!"

"Bye Arnold. Good Luck."

- Another chapter up. Came up with it after having hit my wall. Decided that Arnold needs to take some action and so here he is. Miss Alexander is another original character that will probably never be mentioned again but helped in moving the plot along. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Thanks for reading!

Invader Hog