I'm not saying this to brag...but this would have made an interesting and silly episode. XD

You know the drill by now, peeps. Stay tuned later for part two. ;)

XXXXXXX

"Wow man, can't believe you actually survived yet another day." Gerald said to his best friend sympathetically.

"I can't take it, Gerald! Every single day it's the same old thing over and over again! 'Move it football head!', 'Hey Arnold, we're not in Scotland you geekbait!', 'Hey Arnold, you suck!' and on and on." Arnold angrily kicked a can down the sidewalk. "Why does she hate me so much? What did I do to make her pour so much intense hatred on me?"

"She hates everyone, man." Gerald said, shaking his head. "It ain't just you."

"But she picks on me the most, Gerald." Arnold sighed. "I know she's a good person, I've seen it before, and she always denies it...but she shouldn't have to be afraid to be herself. It's like her pride matters more than being herself."

"Trust me man, them Patakis are prideful people."

"I know that by now."

"So why don't you fight back, man? She deserves it."

"I can't do that, Gerald! That's not who I am."

"But you gotta do something, she's walkin' all over you!"

Arnold sighed once more, shaking his head. "There's nothing I can do, Gerald. I try being nice to her, it works for five minutes, and then she's mean again. I try ignoring her, and she persists. I try fighting back, I'M the bad guy."

"There's your solution, man!"

"Fighting back?"

"No!" Gerald shook his head and brought his arm around his best friend's shoulders. "You gotta ignore her. Completely. Like she doesn't exist. Don't even look at her, don't even say hi in the hallway. When she does something, pretend you did it."

"Isn't that kind of immature?" Arnold said skeptically. "And what if that just annoys her more?"

"That's the point, man! You get her so annoyed, so bored, she'll leave you alone 'cause she ain't getting a reaction out of you! See man, that's why bullies pick on us simple folk. To make themselves feel better and to get a reaction. When you react to the wrath of Helga G. Pataki, you only fuel the fire! So ignore her, pretend she doesn't even exist, and she'll leave you alone."

"You're sure this will work?"

"If all else fails, then my man Fuzzy Slippers can dig something good up for you to use as blackmail."

"Gerald..."

"I'm just sayin'..."

XXXXXX

"Criminy...WHY can't I just be nice to Arnold? Oh yeah, 'cause apparently he's gonna figure out my secret!" Helga groaned to herself as she made her way home. "Well it's not like being friendly means you're in love with the person...but he can't know about it! And I have a reputation to uphold. Helga G. Pataki takes lip from no one!"

She kicked a can, sighing.

Please, I'm just turning into my father. And look where that led him. No, what am I saying, I shouldn't be ashamed of who I am! ...But this isn't who I am. Arnold's right, I can still be strong and nice...no, being nice means being weak!...Oh criminy, I'm never going to get the guts to tell him how I feel. And why, anyway? I don't deserve him. Not by a long shot. Sure he's human like the rest of us, but I don't deserve him...I just don't. He needs someone who will never hesitate to show him the love he deserves. But I can't just toss him aside to some other girl, no other girl could EVER love him like I do!

Was that even true? Helga wasn't even sure. No two people loved a person the same way, in romance or in friendship, right?

Groaning in frustration, the blonde-haired girl walked up the front steps of her house, opened the door, and slammed it shut behind her and tossing her bag onto the floor.

"Olga, you mind not slamming the door? I'm trying to watch my new commercial!" Bob yelled from the living room.

"I don't know, Bob, Olga isn't here right now, so why not ask her next time?" Helga yelled back, stomping into the living room.

"Hey hey hey! Don't take that tone with me, young lady!"

"Then do me a favour and stop calling me Olga! It's HELGA!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Grab me a beer, would you?"

"Get it yourself, you blowhard." Helga went into the kitchen, got herself a bottle of Yahoo soda, and went took her bag from near the door to go upstairs to her room.

Once more, this just wasn't her day.

Entering her bedroom, she shut the door, locked it, and went to her closet. Releasing a breath, she opened the door, stepped inside, shut the door, and turned on the light bulb, as well as a small array of Christmas lights. Helga pushed back her rack of hung up clothing, revealing her shrine, the very tribute to her love. This shrine's incarnation was a simple football, with two yellow bristled paintbrushes tapped to the back of it, with green buttons for eyes, and sitting on a headless doll's body with a blue fabric draped over it.

Sitting along the figure, were jars. One jar contained strands of Arnold's hair, another contained his clipped toenails, another contained half a tuna sandwich he'd eaten, another contained his used bubblegum (that she'd saved from one of her previous shrine incarnates), and laying around the jars was a scarf he had loaned to her one winter day when it was really cold. When she'd actually gone to ask when she could give it back to him, he'd smiled and said that she could keep it since he already got a new one, and that it "looked nicer on her anyway". He'd generously given her little gifts before, and she treasured them all.

Behind the shrine figure, was a billboard stuck with photos of him, old written assignments of his he no longer needed, and little poem excerpts she'd written on pieces of scrap paper in his name.

Sitting before her shrine, in between the rows of jars on either side of it, was one of her notebooks with a blank page open and ready for a new poem. A box next to her sat her other volumes of poems to him.

Immediately she felt her troubles melt away as she surrounded herself in her sanctuary, the one place that was as close to the real thing she could get. To her love. A love she held that was bordering on obsession. Heck, it WAS obsession.

"Hey Arnold," She said softly. "My darling angel."

Taking her pen, she lay down on her stomach and wrote down a new poem that came to her head, sighing happily all the while.

Even in the darkest of days I face

You are the ray of sunshine trying to peek from the clouds

You work to come through the darkness to bring upon smiles and grace

Arnold my love, even in the worst days of my week

The days my parents see me not

The days a word to me they do not speak

You forever show acknowledgement and care

Something no other has given me

Though I treat you but undeservedly

You never fail to know I'm there

Satisfied at yet another wonderful poem she could use to express her love to him, she placed her pen down between the pages of the notebook and sat up, facing her shrine and taking out her locket, holding it to her chest.

"Oh Arnold, even if I'm the worst to you...at least you know I'm always there, and never fail to acknowledge me. Someday, someday my darling...I will show you all the love and devotion you truly deserve. I only hope you'll come to accept it..."

Tears rolled down her cheeks, as she hoped and prayed.

XXXXXX

The next day, upon arriving at school, Arnold and Gerald kept an eye out for Helga, having not spotted her yet. The plan was to be put in action, which at first Arnold had disagreed to, and still kind of did, but decided it was worth a shot.

"Okay, there she is." Gerald pointed ahead to where the said girl was at her locker. "Remember man, we're gonna walk RIGHT past her, and if she makes a pass at you, you don't say nothing! Nada."

Arnold took a deep breath, determination rising in him, trying to crush the guilt. "I'm ready, Gerald. Let's do this."

With that, the boys walked on down the hall as casual as possible.

"Wow Arnold, sure is a beautiful day, ain't it?"

"Yeah, sure, Gerald." Arnold struggled hard not to look her way.

Okay, go for it Helga, just say hi and be all-

"Oops!" Helga stuck her foot out accidentally-on-purpose, making Arnold trip over her and fall to the floor. "HA! Watch where you're going, Football Head!" Oh sure, nice going, you moron. Why don't you stick a Kick Me sign on his back while you're at it?

"Man, you okay, Arnold?" Gerald helped his best friend to stand up.

"I'm all right. Weird, did I just trip over thin air?" Arnold wondered, getting up.

Helga blinked, staring at them. "Um, hello? Are you deaf, blind, ugly and stupid? I just tripped you, hair boy!"

"Did you hear something, Gerald? I know I didn't."

"Nope, not a thing, just the sounds of the other kids. Speaking of which, let's get to class early, I sure feel like learning a lot today!"

"Gerald, you just want to see Phoebe before class starts."

The boys walked away, leaving Helga behind as if she didn't exist. The girl in question stared after them, shocked, puzzled, and...hurt.

Arnold had just ignored her as if she didn't exist. Now granted, he did ignore her actions here and there, but never to the point of this. She felt her heart sinking into her chest, and having no will to move.

I got what I truly deserved... Arnold pretending like I don't exist...