Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.

What Girls Want

Chapter 1: Girl Trouble Yet Again

It was a typical weekday afternoon in the two known as Hillwood.

Monday to be more precise.

Class had just let out and the children of P.S. 118 were eager to leave the school and engage in the typical activities that are common for their age, such as playing with friends, watching cartoons and just generally goofing off, while the more responsible students got homework and studying done.

Right now, our story is focusing on two boys, who were planning on doing the former, which includes playing a friendly game of basketball.

They are Arnold and Gerald, two of the most well known fourth graders in Mr. Simmon's class and the best of friends who were eager to enjoy the next few hours they had before having to go home for curfew, chores, home work and stuff like that.

"Man, this has got to have been the longest day ever. I thought the bell would never ring…'Gerald said as he spun his basketball in his hand.

"You can say that again. I can't believe Mr. Simmon's made us watch a film strip about the human digestive system..."Arnold said, shuddering.

Gerald turned green.

"Please, don't remind me of that. It was hard keeping my lunch down during class as it was..."Gerald said, a little green around the gills.

Once his sickness went away, he turned to his oblong headed best friend.

"Come on. Let's get to the court before the other kids start hogging it..."Gerald said as he spun his basketball once more.

"No need to tell me twice..."Arnold said, eager for a friendly game to blow off some steam.

Today had been especially tough for him, between having to patch up another fight between Rhonda and Nadine, help Sid apologize to Harold for losing his baseball and of course, dealing with a certain...troublesome force that is common in his boyhood.

He had been pretty spent today.

CRASH

Oof!

Ow!

"ARNOLD?!....Watch it, Football head!...'An annoyed voice shouted.

The football headed boy was so deep in his conversation with his best friend that he ended up bumping into someone when he turned the corner, and that someone was the troublesome force from earlier.

It was his friend/rival/bully who seem to have it out for him.

Helga G. Pataki.

"Sorry, Helga…"Arnold muttered as he got up.

He was about to offer to help her up but Helga just grumbled and got up herself, dusting herself up, before giving him that scowl she always had on her face. She still looked pretty mad and decided to vocalize it, as always.

"Football Head. CRIMINY! What are ya, blind?! This is like the ten million time! Don'cha even know how to not crash into people by now!..."Helga yelled, getting into his face.

Arnold and Gerald both shared a sort of amused look over her dramatic response.

"Got one more, Helga?..."Gerald said in amusement and Helga rolled her eyes before looking to Arnold.

"Ha, Yeah! Maybe you should get some glasses or something, Arnold!..."Helga said sarcastically to the oblong headed boy.

"Whatever you say, Helga..."Arnold said.

"Oh, good comeback...'Helga said sarcastically. "So, where are you and tall hair-boy going that has you NOT paying attention to where you are walking?...'She asked sarcastically with her hands on her hips.

Gerald, already getting annoyed, answered for his best friend.

"If you must know, we're going to go play some basketball before it gets dark…"Gerald said with his arms crossed.

Helga rolled her eyes at that, making it seem like she was too annoyed with them to care, but Arnold knew that she is just being dramatic again.

"Hmpt. Whatever...I am gone..."Helga said as she marched away from them.

Arnold looked at her with mild confusion, as he usually does and Gerald just shook his head.

"Man, what is that girl's problem?...'Gerald asked out loud once he was sure that she was out of ear shot.

Unknown to him, his blonde friend was still staring at Helga's retreating form. He just couldn't understand her most of the time.

"I wish that I knew..."Arnold said with a sigh.

Girl's confused him, that was something he couldn't deny.

And Helga G Pataki is the most confusing girl of them all.

"Seriously, why does she always have to act that way?...Arnold thought, sighing.

Ever since they met on that rainy day all those years, Helga G Pataki had been apart of his life. Whether a good part or a bad part depended on the situation. There have been times where she'd either terrorized, helped or something in between to Arnold, which only confused him more.

Helga has always been an enigma to him. She confuses him.

She professes her hate to him on a near daily basis, yet he has seen with her own eyes that she doesn't hate him as much as she claims to, and has been there to help him during some pretty big events.

And the biggest one having happen recently, when on the top of Sheks tower, when he had tried to save the neighborhood.

Arnold tried hard not to blush when he thought about certain events that happen when he and Gerald tried to save the neighborhood and got help from the most unlikely of sources.

Helga.

Yes, Helga.

Helga had given him the necesarey tips to help take Shek down and the reason she did it...is because ...she loves him.

Yeah, that's right.

Helga said she loved and Arnold didn't know how to react to that, which is kinda weird, given who it is about.

Sure, he didn't hate Helga. He could say he that he liked her as a friend but LOVE?!

Arnold was in the fourth grade, what did he know about love?!

Doesn't matter, since after it was all over, Helga admitted to Arnold's relief that she got pulled into the moment and didn't really meant what she said and they agreed that it was all in the heat of the moment.

But lately, Arnold wasn't sure

Ever since April Fools Day, and before that, Helga has been stranger lately. He sometimes wished he could understand what was going on in Helga's head, but he is not a mind reader and he had to accept that getting Helga to talk to him without being all sarcastic and hostile is about as easy teaching Abner how to fly.

Well, maybe teaching Abner would be easier to do if he was being honest..

Arnold didn't know what was going on with Helga and it's not like he'd get a straight answer from her or Phoebe, since she was loyal to Helga before anyone else.

"Helga..." Arnold said

Gerald looked to him, curious.

"You say something man?..." The tall haired boy asked

Arnold shook his head.

"It's nothing..."He said, not wanting to talk about it.

He never told his best friend what happen for the following reasons: Mostly because he respected her privacy but another part…for slight fear of what Helga would do to him if he ever mentioned those events to ANYONE.

Even if she likes him, she has made it clear that she is the last person you'd wanna provock.

So, maybe Helga, at least to some extent, had feelings for him…but it was obvious she didn't want him or anyone else to know about ot, so he wasn't going to push her into telling him. Especially since he is not totally sure to deal with it, and another, well, he is still not sure if it wasn't totally a heat of the moment thing or not.

He wasn't sure about what he felt about her liking him, and that was what confused him, given the situation and who he was referring to.

Helga was his bully, she tortured and berated him at any given chance, he was always annoyed but her but he could never bring himself to hate her, because he knew deep down she actually was a good person underneath.

He knew that underneath all of the scowling, fights and sarcastic comments, was a nice girl who was just too insecure to show that side of herself.

Arnold knew she would face down anything to protect him and he knew that she is the toughest girl he ever met in his life

But it did not make her any less confusing.

Even if she likes him, he is not sure how much of it is true and how much of it was the heat in the moment and he is not sure if he wants to find out.

But he did sort of wish that he could understand her better.

"I just wish I could understand what she is thinking..."Arnold thought, feeling frustrated again.

"HEY ARNOLD!…'Gerald shouted.

"Huh? What?...'He asked in surprise, earning a puzzled look from his best friend.

"I said, let's go…I wanna get there before the older kids hog the court…"Gerald reminded him.

"Oh, sure…"He said quickly as he walked away with his friend.

He would worry about Helga later. Right now he wanted to relax and play with his best friend to unwind.

Unknown to the oblong headed boy, the blonde haired girl in question had snuck into a nearby alley and was hiding behind some trash cans. Her eyes glanced at Arnold and felt her heart long for him so much. She wished she could tell him her feelings, of how deep her love for him is, and then kiss him and hold him in her arms forever and ever and ever.

Alas, they are not and they cannot be, not with her reputation to preserve and his wandering eye looking to Ruth and Lila and any other pretty girl who'd look his way.

Still, she is hopeful that one day, he will return her love.

"Oh, my beloved. If only you knew just how deep the depths of my passion for you were..."Helga said as she pulled out her locket to admire his beautiful visage.

Maybe then, he'd see her for who she really was and they could be together...but life is not that easy and she is still Arnold-less.

But she is still hopeful.

"One day..."...She thought to herself and felt stared at her locket with adoration.

Wheeze...Wheeze...Wheeze...

Her enamored bliss was soon replaced by annoyance as the blonde girl didn't even need to look back to know that a certain asthmatic stalker of hers was breathing down her neck again. She also didn't need to look back as she punched him, breaking his glasses and knocking him out.

Again.

Helga merely walked out of the alley and soon walked to where Arnold had gone, wanting to continue to admire him from afar

-To be continued-

Next time on What Girls Want

The Accident

A/N: I would like to give a special shout out to 61394 and Beconfuzzled Writer for their assistance here. You both rock. :)

:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)