"Harold, look what I got," Sid revealed a bottle of alcohol that was half hidden in his blazer.

They were currently standing next to the food table at one of Ronda Lloyd's unforgettable high school parties. Ronda prided herself on being rich, and her frequent high school parties were a good way of reminding everyone that she was still on top. Tonight she had actually outdone herself. The backyard was decorated in twinkling lights that stretched from one end to the other. She also had a dance floor installed earlier that day and hired a live DJ. The kids on student government were actually a little nervous that they wouldn't be able to top this at prom.

Harold's eyes grew wide before he let out an excited giggle. "Yes! let's spike the punch!" he said in a whisper shout.

The two boys looked around to ensure they were in the clear before pouring the bottle into the bright red liquid. They quickly ran off snickering.

Helga sat at one of the tables, arms crossed, watching her classmates grind each other on the dance floor. She blew a tuft of hair out of her eyes before scanning the backyard, looking for Arnold. She had seen him come in with Gerald, but lost him in the crowd as he made his way around saying hello to everyone. The last few days at school with him had been uneventful. Both of them hadn't said much to each other since the phone call incident. She got a smile from him every morning on walking in, and sometimes a "Hey, Helga," to go along with it, but not much else. Things were definitely back to their normal, disappointing, stagnant state between him and her. Still, she was thankful, she'd rather have it be that way, than have him avoid her, after realizing what he had said to her.

She finally spotted him standing next to the dessert bar, talking to none other than Lila. Helga sighed, trying to control the anger and envy that bubbled up inside of her. They were smiling and laughing about something, probably something that Lila had said, since she was just so funny and perfect. At one point Lila placed her hand on his forearm, before flipping her hair over her shoulder. It was a simple move, yet flirtatious and graceful, something Helga could never do. Helga rolled her eyes in frustration before hoisting herself up and walking over to the punch, trying to distract herself from obsessing over Arnold and Lila. She poured herself a glass and drank it quickly. The liquid surprised her, stinging her tongue and throat as it went down. She stared at the bowl, recognizing the taste, before turning to look at Arnold again, who was still talking to Lila. From here, he seemed so enamored by her, which was to be expected, but then why wasn't she the one he called that night? She looked at the bowl again, wondering if she should have another. Shrugging, she poured herself another glass and gulped it down.

Gerald drove his father's car home, with Sid, Harold and Stinky in the back seat. Arnold sat next to him, doing a YouTube search of a cat playing the piano, on his phone.

Most everyone who left the party was sober, seeing as how Sid only had one bottle to pour in the drink. Harold, however, had taken a couple of glasses of it. Arnold and Gerald had to walk him back to Gerald's car and strap him in like a child. He was a bit woozy too, making Gerald nervous about the prospects of him throwing up in his dad's car. Sid supposed he should fess up to Gerald and Arnold, and admit that he supplied Harold the alcohol, but figured what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. As it was, Arnold just got done telling him and Stinky about a video of a cat playing the piano, and he was waiting pretty eagerly to watch it.

"Here it is," Arnold turned around in his seat, facing the screen of his phone towards the guys so they could see. The video was great, the cat was wearing a sweater and playing a catchy tune.

"Ahaha, this cat is so dumb!" Harold held his stomach as he laughed, slurring his speech as he talked.

All was well while they watched the talented feline, until the video froze as the phone began to buzz. The words "Helga Pataki" flashed on the screen.

All three of the guys read the name before Arnold quickly turned it back to himself, staring at the ringing phone. Gerald peeked over before returning his eyes on the road.

"Um, Arnold," Sid started, to Arnold's annoyance, "Why is Helga Pataki calling you right now?"

It was a good question. The party wound down around 1am, so it was pretty late to be getting a phone call from someone.

Gerald turned to him again and whispered, "You know if you answer it right now, these guys are gonna have a lot of questions."

The phone kept ringing, "What's the deal, Arnold?" Stinky unbuckled his seat belt to scoot closer and stare over Arnold's shoulder, "Are you and Helga hooking up, or something?" Arnold gave him a half lidded glare.

"Better do something fast, loverboy, either answer it or let it go to voicemail," Gerald said to him, quietly again.

Arnold gave a quick, nervous, glance to the backseat, before answering the call, "Hey Helga, everything ok?"

"Arnold!" She was loud. He winced and held the phone away from his ear, "Arnold, it's me, Helga G. Pataki."

"Hey, yea I kno-"

"I have a bone to pick with you!" Behind him, Sid and Stinky gave each other a confused look. "Um," Arnold quickly pushed the volume down button on the side of his phone without removing it from his ear, "sure….about what?" He heard a tapping noise followed by Helga saying "ow," under her breath.

"Helga, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Arnoldo. Just tripped a little. I happen to be wearing these 5 inch heels, that, as it turns out, are NOT the best for walking home."

"Helga, are you walking home by yourself?" It was way too late for her to be by herself. Sid and Stinky were both sitting at the edges of the seat, trying to listen. He waved a hand at them, signaling them to sit back.

"Yes! But don't worry your little football head-ed - " she paused, struggling with the right word before she spat out, "-football head about it!" She was slurring a little as she talked, still pretty loud, "I can take care of myself!"

"Ooh, I don't feel so great," Harold said quietly, getting no one's attention but Gerald's, who anxiously glanced back at him.

"Helga," Arnold lowered his voice, feeling Sid breathing on the back of his ear, trying hear the phone call, "You shouldn't be by yourself, this isn't safe."

"Well what do YOU care? As long as little Miss Lila gets home safe, well gee, I guess that's all that matters."

Arnold had no idea what she was talking about. In the midst of his confusion Gerald turned to Sid, "Sid," he whispered. Sid ignored him, concentrating on eavesdropping. "Sid!" Sid swatted a hand at him, indicating for him to be quiet so he could listen.

"Helga?" Arnold could tell she was still on the call, but she seemed to be talking to someone.

Gerald continued to try and get Sid's attention, "Sid is there a plastic bag or something in the back? Give it to Harold if he feels like he's going to throw up."

Arnold strained to hear Helga over Gerald and Sid's hand swats, "Helga?" She finally came back on, "Arnold there is a very nice man here who is going to give me a ride. So, you just go back to talking to Ms. Perfect." He wasn't sure if he heard right, Harold had starting whining "mommy" in the middle of Helga's last statement. "Wait, what?" He could have sworn he heard her say she was getting in a car with strange man, or something to that effect. "Helga, who is this guy?"

"Don't worry, I'm just going to go home with this nice gentlemen here-"

"No no no, Helga don't get in a car with a stranger!" Arnold couldn't help his voice from rising. In the back seat Sid blew a whistle, while Stinky let out a "Whilikers." A whimper was heard from Harold, but it was most likely unrelated to the current events.

"Au Revoir, Arnold," She said, in the worst French accent he'd ever heard, before she hung up.

"Helga?" He looked at his phone, only to see the picture of his grandparents that he chose as wallpaper. "Shit" Arnold said under his breath, staring at the screen. He turned to his friend and said in a hushed urgency, "Gerald, we need to go back."

Gerald looked at him like he'd grown two heads, "Say what now?" also speaking in a quiet voice.

"She's getting in a car with some strange guy, we gotta go find her."

"Why are you whispering?" Sid peaked his head between them. "Yea, we can hear you," Stinky chimed in.

Arnold ignored them, "Gerald, come on."

As if on cue, another groan was heard from Harold. Gerald shook his head at this, "Dude, I'm sorry, but we gotta get Harold home before he pukes all over my dad's leather seats."

"She could get in some sort of trouble."

Gerald gave him a guilty look, before glancing back at Harold, who might as well have been a ticking time bomb. "Awe man," He sighed, tired of moral dilemmas. "Maybe we don't need to go back. Hold on," He grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

"Now who are you calling at this hour?" Stinky scratched his head.

Gerald waited until the there was an answer, "Hey babe," Sid and Stinky's eyebrows shot up. Gerald continued coolly, "I was wondering, would you know where Helga is?"

Sid looked at Arnold, "Who is he talking to?"

"Who is babe?" Stinky asked.

Sid turned to Arnold, "Is it me, or does that sound like Phoebe?"

"Uhuh, uhuh. Ok, no, no reason." Gerald continued, in a soft affectionate voice, "No no, don't worry about a thing-"

Arnold didn't have time for this, he had been sighing in frustration the whole time. As the car came to a red light, he unlocked the door and climbed out.

Gerald's eyes darted towards him, "Arnold, what are you doing?" He barely got the words out before he saw his best friend slam the door and start running in the opposite direction.

The car's occupants were in stunned silence.

Suddenly Sid blurted out, "What is this!? Are you dating Pheobe?! Is Arnold hooking up with Helga?!"

"And here I was thinkin we were all just a bunch of single fellas," Stinky added.

Gerald sighed, watching his friend sprint up the street. The light turned green and he hit the gas pedal. "He is one bold kid," he said dryly, before returning to his phone call.

"Come on, pick up, PICK up," Arnold whispered to himself, as he ran towards Ronda's house. He had been pressing re-dial constantly and getting nothing but voicemail.

He ran up hill, taking note of the street he was approaching, when he heard loud, off key singing from a familiar voice. He quickly turned the corner and caught site of Helga, who was in the middle of putting on a full performance of Bing Crosby's Moonlight Bay for a guy he didn't know. Standing on a car that he didn't recognize.

"Arnold!" She squealed with joy when she saw him, holding her arms out to him invitingly.

The man standing next to the car was visibly annoyed. His arms were crossed and his foot was tapping impatiently. On seeing Arnold, he threw his hands up in frustration, "Oh thank god," He pointed at Helga, "Look kid, I don't want any trouble, just get your girlfriend off of my car."

"Ha! Get a load of this guy, Arnold," Helga waved her thumb in his direction, "He thinks I'm your girlfriend."

Arnold approached, out of breath and baffled, albeit relieved that she was ok, "Uh, yea sure," He said to the stranger-man before turning to Helga, "Helga?"

"WE WERE SAILING ALOOONG, ON MOONLIGHT BAAAY," Helga somehow remembered all of the hand movements that went with the song.

Mr. Stranger Man was starting to lose his patience, "Listen up, you get her down right now, or else there will be hell to pay," He stuck his index finger in Arnold's chest. Arnold nodded back obediently and profusely. "Helga," He tugged at the hem of her dress, "Hey, get down from there,"

"WE COULD HEAR THE VOICES RINNGING, THEY SEEM TO SAAAY," She clasped both hands together and popped up her leg at this. Arnold couldn't help but stifle a laugh. He heard the grumpy stranger clear his throat. "Helga get down!" Arnold tried to sound assertive. Helga paused in her singing to yell back, "No!" before continuing, "YOU HAVE STOLEN MY HEAART."

"Alright I've had enough of this, get her off my car or –" The guy started reaching into his jacket, "I'll have you know, I take the second amendment pretty seriously." Arnold felt the blood drain from his face as he wondered if the guy really had a gun, "Wait, are you serious?" His voice squeaky.

"You really want to wait and find out?" The guy said through gritted teeth, his hand still in his coat pocket.

Arnold gulped. He grabbed Helga by the legs, threw her over his shoulder and began to run.

"Please don't shoot!" he yelled back, while Helga continued to sing, "- AND GONE AWAAY. AS WE SING THIS MOONLIT SONG ON MOONLIGHT BAY."

She paused for effect, "ONNN...MOOOONNN...LIIIGHT...BAAAAAY," Giving Mr. Grumps jazz hands over Arnold's shoulder for the grand finish.

The man rolled his eyes and took a twinkie out of his pocket. Stupid kids, he shook his head and he climbed into his vacant car.