The Kiss that Never Happened

It was Thursday at Seattle Jr. High.  It was lunchtime and the students were at

their tables talking.  Arnold and Gerald were sitting with Sid and Stinky.

Harold would be sitting with them, but he was sitting with Patty instead. Harold had missed Patty when she had moved up to Jr. High and he had stayed at P.S. 118, but now that he was in the 7^th grade and she was in the 9^th they could be together once again if only but for a year. The guys were chatting about various things, when Sid said an interesting comment.

            "Have you guys realized that Mr. Simmons hasn't brought us on a field trip

for a while now?"

            "I wonder when our next field trip will be.  You guys know Mr. Simmons

never goes very long without a field trip."

            "You're right, Arnold," said Gerald. They finished their lunches and went back to Mr. Simmons' science class.  Mr. Simmons had been moving up in grades with them ever since the fourth grade. He couldn't bear to leave his most special class and thusly, adjusted his teaching position every year to be with them.

Mr. Simmons stood up and walked to the front of the class, about to give an announcement.

            "Wouldn't it be weird if he was about to announce a field trip?"

            "Quiet, Sid," said Arnold.

"Class, I have some special news!"

"Man, this better actually be special.  I'm sick of hearing announcements

that are supposed to be special, but aren't."

"Quiet Gerald.  You never know what it'll be special or not, so listen."

"Tomorrow we are having an impromptu visit to the beach instead of doing the

normal lesson plan!  There we will have a science lesson about the various animal and plant life, their own personal habitats, and the special ecosystem that is the beach!"

"That's just plum eerie, like he read our minds or sumthin!  Maybe I'm not

the only psychic around."

Helga was in front of her shrine, scribbling her heart out into one of her pink books.  She stopped for a moment and looked at the shrine.

            "Oh, Arnold.  Why do I feel that something will happen tomorrow at the beach? Something special, with you, the one I love.  Why do I have a strong foreboding feeling in my heart of hearts?  Will tomorrow be the day?  The day I confess my love and you tell me whether you love me back or not?  Oh, please let my ears hear you say that you love me!  I don't think I could bear it if you said you did not share my emotions.  Oh woe would be a world where Arnold doesn't love me!"  She was clutching her pink book to her heart, on her knees in front of the shrine.  She stopped her tirade and placed the pink book on the stack, done writing for the moment.  She plopped onto the bed, imagining a scene at the beach.

The moonlight was dancing on the waves.  She lay on her towel, the sands

underneath still warm from the day.  She closed her eyes, soaking in the peace.  She felt a hand on hers.  She looked over.  Arnold had lain a towel down next to hers and had put his hand on hers.  He was looking at her with flirty eyes.  Helga loved that look so much, yet it tortured her.  How dare his eyes be so green?  But now he was looking at her with purposeful flirty eyes.  She gave a quiet gasp.  He spoke.

            "Helga, I have a confession."

            "Yes?" she replied eagerly.  She hoped he was going to say what she thought he was going to say.  He leaned toward her.  How she longed to meet him halfway, and press her lips against his, feel the glorious touch of his kiss!

            "Helga, I lo--"

            Brrring!  Helga bolted upright.  The phone rang again.

            "Damn!  And right at the good part!"  She was too angry to answer the phone.

            "Helga?  It's your little friend, Phoebe," Mirriam called up to her.  Helga tried to control her anger before she answered the phone.

            "Hey Pheebs.  What's up?"

            "I was bored so I just decided to call you."

            'You had to get bored now!  I was having a wonderful daydream!'  Out loud

she said,

            "So what do you want to talk about?"

            "I don't really know, what do you think tomorrow's fieldtrip will be like?"

Helga's heart skipped a beat at the thought of confessing to Arnold.  She struggled to keep her voice calm and normal.

            "It'll probably be like the rest of the throw pillow's fieldtrips.  Some learning activities he tries to make fun, some speeches on how 'everything is special in it's own environment, and all ecosystems are uniquely them,'" said Helga, imitating Mr. Simmons.

            "But Helga, all of the things we learn on our fieldtrips are valid and interesting facts, and his activities ARE fun.  I'm sure that those elements coupled with the fact that it will be at the beach, a great cultural and recreational location, will combine to create a fun and fact-filled

fieldtrip!"

            "Phoebe?"

            "Yes Helga?"

            "You read too much."

            It was Friday morning, and the students were waiting for the bus.  Mr. Simmons had gotten all of their teachers to let them come on this fieldtrip because they were his best (and favorite, but he didn't let anyone else know) class.  All of them were wearing bathing suits under their clothes.  Arnold and Gerald were talking about what they were going to do if they were allowed free time on the trip, Helga was telling Phoebe where to punch to deck a person the quickest, and, of course, Rhonda was talking to Nadine and Sheena about how her bathing suit and sunglasses were so chic and fashionable.  Mr. Simmons was running over his lesson plan

with himself when the bus came.  The kids loaded on and he did a head count. Everyone was there. They headed to the beach and got there after a fifteen-minute drive.  They got off and headed to a pavilion Mr. Simmons had reserved.  He got them calmed down and they started their first 'learning experience.'  He taught them about the animals and plants living there and they tried to get as many as they could, gathering plants and catching animals.  He taught them how they interacted in their eco-system.  Near the end of the trip, about three hours before it was time to go home, Mr. Simmons announced the final activity.

            "Now here's your test for today.  I want to see how much you remember from all of the things that we did, so I'm having a scavenger hunt.  On the list are names of various plants and animals.  You need to remember what the particular thing is, where we found it earlier, and how to properly collect or catch it.  As always in scavenger hunts, the first one's back here with all of the correct items wins.  I'm pairing you off and the groups are: Sid and Nadine, Sheena and Eugene, Rhonda and Harold, Park and Peapod Kid, Stinky and Iggy, Brainy and Curly, Phoebe and Gerald, and Arnold and Helga."

Helga's heart almost stopped as he read the final pair.  Arnold was disappointed when he heard Mr. Simmons say Gerald's name with Phoebe, and was shocked when he heard his own with Helga.  Gerald and Phoebe weren't sad or disappointed at all when their names were called together.  The teams left with their lists.

Mr. Simmons was sitting down and relaxing a little at the pavilion when the kids left, then decided to walk around the beach a little.  He knew the first kids would take at least over an hour, so he knew he had some time to himself.  He wandered around the dunes for a short while, and then he stumbled upon a part of the beach with people.  He looked at all the people

on towels and under umbrellas.  A child farther out was floundering and the lifeguard rushed to his rescue.  As the lifeguard pulled the child back to shore, Mr. Simmons noticed how cute the lifeguard was.  When the lifeguard went back to the tower, Mr. Simmons headed over to the muscular male lifeguard with the oh so tight hot pink swimming trunks, intending to flirt.

'I hope that he'll be able to like me, the way that I like him,' thought Mr. Simmons to himself. Mr. Simmons decided to take his chance (the pink trunks making him a little more confident) and approached the lifeguard.

"Wow, you really know how to swim well," Mr. Simmons stammered.

"Thanks, My name is Trevor. What's yours?"

"Robert."

"Nice to meet you Robert," said Trevor giving Mr. Simmons a delicate handshake. "I have a break soon, would you like to have a drink with me on the beach? I have a cooler of sodas over yonder." Trevor pointed to a cooler sitting about halfway up the top of the beach.

"I'd love to, but how did you know that I was….?"

"Gaydar," Trevor interrupted. "I know a lame gay pick up line anywhere."

Mr. Simmons blushed and the two of them started chatting.

        Phoebe and Gerald were hunting far up from the tide line for their second item, a type of grass.  They were on different sides of a largish dune.

            "Gerald!  I think I found it!" Phoebe shouted to him.  He scrambled up the dune and slid down the other side.  When he reached the bottom, he tripped over the self same grass and landed on Phoebe.  They lay on top of each other.  Phoebe giggled nervously then spoke.  Her breath was heavy and sweet.

        "I think you found the grass."

        Helga was overjoyed in being partnered with Arnold.  Maybe her feelings of foreboding were correct yesterday!  She forced herself to not be a jerk to him, and as soon as they were apart from the others, she spoke to him.

            "Arnold, this is a scavenger hunt, so we're gonna have to work together. Normally if we're partnered we fight, and I admit that it's usually my fault,' Arnold was shocked to hear her admit this.  "But I really want us to cooperate on this, ok?  I'm willing to be nice if you are."  Arnold was even more shocked as Helga put out her hand after her statement.

            "Helga, I'm always willing to try and be friends, on or off a scavenger hunt."  He put his hand in hers and shook it.  Her heart skipped as she felt the warm touch of his hand on hers, the comfortable pressure as they shook. Helga was about to shout, 'Well don't expect any friendship when we leave, football head!' when she stopped herself. 'Don't be a jerk!' 

They headed off to search for their items.  Later they were debating (not arguing) over which crab they thought was the first on their list.  Arnold was amazed that Helga had refrained from losing her temper or calling him any names as they calmly argued over which one it was.

When Arnold put down a valid point Helga admitted he was right, astounding Arnold.  Then as she headed towards the crab he found without sulking, Arnold was even more astounded.  They went after the crab, trying to get it like they'd seen Mr. Simmons do it.  It got near the water.

            "Don't let it reach the sea or it's gone!" 

Arnold obeyed Helga without thinking, leaping onto the crab with the net they were given for purposes just like these.  He got it just before the crab reached the sea. Unfortunately, Helga had leapt too, and she knocked Arnold off the crab and into the incoming wave.  As the wave receded, Arnold sat there, dripping.

            "Arnold!  I'm so sorry!"  She rushed over to help him up.

            "It's ok, Helga."  His clothes clung wetly to him, showing the lines of his chest.  Helga almost let go of him when she saw how hot he looked with his clothes wet.  He went above the water line and took off his flannel and shirt and started wringing them out.  Helga tried to stare at his fine chest without it actually looking like she was staring.  When he started to take of his pants, Helga's jaw dropped.

            "Arnold!  What are you doing?"

            "It's ok, I've got swim trunks on, Helga."

            "Oh, ya'.  Doi, of course you would."  Helga started blushing at her mistake.  They took a Polaroid of the crab in the net with the camera Mr. Simmons lent the students as proof they had caught it, and went after their next item.

            Phoebe and Gerald were trying to get a picture of a certain bird that was next on the list.  Gerald had climbed the tree to get the picture.  Mr. Simmons had told them not to catch the birds on the list, just take an unobtrusive picture as proof they found it.  He had found a spot in the tree

where he could get a good shot without it seeing him.  As the flash went off, the bird panicked, startling Gerald.  He lost his balance and fell off the branch, grabbing at it as he fell.  He landed hard, and Phoebe rushed to him and knelt by him to see if he was okay.  After Gerald got his wind back, he told her he felt fine.  As he levered himself up with his hands, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his palm.

            "Ow!  Shit!"

            Phoebe was shocked at Gerald's sudden outburst of vulgar language, but dismissed it and asked, "What's wrong, Gerald?  Is something sprained/broken/fractured/twisted?"

Gerald laughed at her conclusion jumping in her concern. "It's just a splinter.  It's in my palm though, must've got it when I grabbed at the branch."

            "Let me get it out."  She held his palm flat and steady and dug out the splinter as gently as she could as he grimaced in pain.  When it was out she kissed his palm.

            "What was that for?"

            "What?"

            "The kiss."

            "Oh!  Did I kiss your palm?"

            "Yes, you did.  You didn't even realize it?"

            "It's habit.  When I was younger my mom used to kiss my hurts because it made them feel better.  I started doing it too."

            "Well, it worked."  He glanced at her slyly.  She blushed.

            Trevor's break came and the tanned muscular lifeguard in his early 30's brought Mr. Simmons back to his secluded picnic area.

            "Care for a yahoo?"

            "Sure."

            "So, tell me a little about yourself."

            Mr. Simmons chatted with Trevor for a bit and he was having a blast. He explained about being a schoolteacher and how he believed everything was 'special' in its own 'special' way. Trevor talked about being a lifeguard and a body builder and a cyclist and how he too believed everything was 'special' in its own 'special' way.

            After a half hour, Mr. Simmons decided that he had better get back to waiting for the kids so he told Trevor that he had to leave.

            They exchanged phone numbers and gave each other one final handshake.

            "I had a great time Robert. You're a really special guy." Trevor then gave Mr. Simmons an unexpected kiss on the cheek.

            Mr. Simmons looked around to make sure no one saw and then stammered, "Good-bye Trevor." He walked away stunned, but smiling, and went back to waiting for the kids.

            Arnold and Helga were after their fourteenth item.  It was a type of muscle.  On one part of the beach, there was a cliff like, sharp land rise from the water.  Helga was edging along one of the terrace like shelves in the rock formation to get a picture.  She snapped it, hugging the rock face as best she could without hands.  She lost her balance and fell into the water.  Luckily, Mr. Simmons was smart enough to get waterproof cameras for the beach.  Arnold helped her out of the water.

            "Great, now it's my turn to be soaked."

            "I guess we're not having a good time with water."  He pulled some seaweed out of her hair as he helped her try and neaten up.  She started to unbutton her blouse.  Only the first three buttons of her blouse had been unbuttoned before and Arnold had seen what looked like a tank top.  As she took off her shirt and skirt now, he saw it was a bikini.  As he saw her wringing out her clothes, it occurred to Arnold that he'd never really seen what a great

figure Helga had acquired.  He tried not to stare.  At least not noticeably.

            "On to the fifteenth item!"  She marched off, leaving Arnold to follow after.

'Helga's actually kinda hot,' Arnold thought to himself as he followed her, wondering why he'd never noticed it before.  They went after the fifteenth item, a leaf of a particular, hard-to-find tree.  They were walking around trying to find it, and chatting when Arnold brought up the interesting fact.

"Have you realized that now that Harold made it public knowledge that he's going steady with Patty, an entire third of our class is now together."

Hearing this from Arnold and also thinking that her foreboding feeling had not come true Helga grew very sad and jealous.  Obviously these emotions were very clear on her face.

"You jealous of all the couples too, Helga?"

"What?  I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I think you do, Helga," he said, giving her the sly flirty eyes.  Helga was getting mad at herself for her transparency, and at Arnold for seeing it.

"No I don't!"

"Helga, seriously, I think you're jealous.  It's ok, I'm jealous too," he said continuing the flirty eyes.  The torturous look just made her angrier at her jealousy.

            "I AM NOT JEALOUS!"

            "Whatever you say Helga, but I still think you're jealous," he said, increasing the flirtiness of his eyes.

            "I SAID I'M NOT!" she said, picking up Arnold and pinning him to the tree they were looking for.  "And if you say it one more time I'll break our deal and pound you!"  Arnold started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I just think it's funny how jealous you are."

"I said I'm not!"

"You don't have to be jealous, you know."

"What?"  Arnold leaned in close to her face.

"You don't have to be jealous of the other couples."  Before she could protest that she wasn't jealous, Arnold kissed her.  In her shock she lowered him.  When he pulled away, she kissed him back fiercely, her heart soaring.  The feeling had come true. 

Arnold's mind was racing with two thoughts.  Damn, Helga can really kiss good!  And, Why did I kiss her? Helga loathed to, but pulled away.

"Oh, Arnold."

"You know what?  I think this is the tree we're looking for."

"What?"  Helga was very confused.  Why was he acting like they'd not just shared two very passionate kisses?  Arnold reached up and picked the leaf they needed for the hunt and headed off to find the next item.  Throughout the rest of the hunt, Arnold acted like the kiss never happened, while Helga tried to get him to talk about it.  Arnold was confused and in denial, and Helga was confused and hurt.

            Phoebe and Gerald were hunting for a special freshwater shrimp in a tide pool.  They were walking around the edges like Mr. Simmons had done before, looking for the almost clear-colored shrimp.  Phoebe was leaning over the pool, thinking she may have found one, when she slipped on some wet rock and fell in.  Gerald went over to help her out of the water.  He was pulling her out  when she lost her foothold and pulled him in.  He fell in the pool on

top of her.

            "Great, my turn to be clumsy."  Phoebe pushed Gerald off her and got up.

            "What do you mean your turn?  When was I clumsy?"  Gerald's shirt was clinging wetly to his torso, revealing his muscular chest and slight washboard stomach that he had worked so hard at perfecting over the summer.  Phoebe had removed her shirt and skirt and was wringing

them out, her bathing suit accenting her fine figure.

            "Remember the tree?  And the little birdie?"

            "Oh yeah.  And you kissing my palm."  He glanced at her slyly.

            "Habit."  Gerald took off his shirt and pants, too.  Phoebe slung her clothes over her shoulder, accidentally hitting Gerald.  In retaliation, Gerald slapped Phoebe in the butt with his shirt.  She gave a small shriek.

            "What was that for?"

            "You hit me with your clothes."

            "That was an accident!  And you didn't have to slap me there."

            "Why not?  It's such a perfect target."  He smirked at her.  She slapped his smirk with her skirt.  He slapped her with his shirt again.  They started chasing each other around the pool, slapping each other with their wet clothes, laughing and shouting.  Gerald grabbed her skirt as she went to hit him again, and hauled her toward him.  She tripped in her surprise and fell on him.  They stared into each other's eyes.  Phoebe leaned in to kiss him.  Just before their lips touched, a bird shrieked near them.  They started and the spell was broken.  They both blushed heavily as they crawled out of the pool, trying to avoid each other.  They stammered excuses and

Phoebe said something about trying to find the shrimp and rejoining the hunt.

            Arnold and Helga were gathering the pictures and such for the rest of the hunt in almost absolute silence.  They only spoke when they needed to. Whenever Helga spoke she felt like she was going to burst into tears at any second, though she struggled to hide it.  How could he kiss her twice, so sweetly and passionately, and then act like it had never occurred?  Whenever Arnold spoke, he sounded awkward and unsure.  Whenever he looked at Helga, or spoke to her, all he could remember was the kiss.  The warm pressure of her lips on his, their breath mingling sweetly.  Why had he kissed her anyway?  They headed back to the pavilion after they had all of the items. They tried to keep from acting weird around the others.  Though they both couldn't help but notice that Phoebe, Gerald, and Mr. Simmons all seemed like they had something to hide.

            Arnold and Gerald sat together on the bus ride home and both seemed to be glancing awkwardly at their beach partners. Gerald finally realized that Arnold wasn't going to be the one to initiate the conversation, so he spoke first.

"So, uh, did you have a good time with Helga?" Gerald asked, trying to make conversation.

At the sound of this, Arnold suddenly began blushing.

"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Phoebe who had seen Arnold blushing. Helga glanced over and saw this too and wondered the same thing but decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Eh, probably Gerald told him a dirty joke or something. You know how Arnold's such a goodie goodie, heh."

"Yeah, well, perhaps you're correct," said Phoebe.

Both pairs of best friends continued their awkward conversations until Gerald commented on something.

"Hey, Arnold, look at Simmons."

Arnold peered his head over a few bus seats and noticed that Mr. Simmons had a goofy smile on his face and he appeared to be humming something. Something slow.

"So, he's just a happy guy," said Arnold.

"Man, I have a feeling something's up with him, that's just a little too happy."

"Whatever you say Gerald," said Arnold not wanting to argue.

The weekend passed quickly. The gang did their usual activities. Arnold hung out with Gerald and Phoebe hung out with Helga like usual. By the time Monday had come, Arnold had forgotten about most of his awkwardness and was acting like his old self again, until they walked into Science class.

"Class, I have a super duper special announcement!" said Mr. Simmons more happily than usual. (Trevor had called him over the weekend and they had spent some more time together)

"See! I told you, there is something up with him!" whispered Gerald to Arnold.

"Eh, maybe, I still think he's just a happy guy."

Mr. Simmons continued, "Since we all had such a special fun time at the beach, I have a project for you all!" The class groaned. "Ok, now I want you to get together with the partner you had for the scavenger hunt and write a paper together about what you found to be the most special and interesting thing you learned! Then, I want you to take the pictures that you shot that I told you to save and make a scrapbook! If you lost your pictures, then just make your report a couple more extra special pages long! Due Wednesday!"

Most of the class groaned even louder at this because they didn't want to be stuck with the same person that Mr. Simmons had paired them up with, but Gerald and Phoebe looked Happy, Helga was just shocked, and Arnold felt all that awkwardness returning.

That afternoon, Arnold raced up to his room and started doing his other homework. He had only spoken to Helga once during lunch to set up a time to meet him at his house. She was going to be there at 6 o'clock. Arnold found himself incredibly nervous for no reason at all and was having trouble concentrating, but he finally managed to get it all done. Not a moment too soon because shortly after that, the doorbell rang. Arnold raced out the door and down the steps barely beating Grandpa to the door.

"Its ok, I got it," Arnold panted.

"Ok short man," Arnold opened the door.

 "Hey Arnold," Helga said as she stepped in.  They went up to his room.

"Okay.  The paper is supposed to be about what we found to be the most special and interesting thing we learned.  What can you think of?"

'The most special thing I learned is that you possibly like me.  Why else would you kiss me?' she thought.  Out loud she said,

"I'm not sure, let's review what we did on the trip and on the hunt."

"Ok, Helga."  Arnold started repeating all the things they had done and learned that he could remember that they'd done on the first part of the trip.  When he was about to recount the hunt, Helga took over.  She slowed down when she reached the thirteenth item.

"Then we went after the muscle and I fell into the water, then we went after the leaf."  She fixed Arnold with a piercing gaze.  "Then when we were looking for the tree, we started talking."

"Helga, please--"

"Then you accused me of being jealous, and I got mad."

"Helga, don't.  Please, let's not-"

"And then I pinned you against the tree."  Arnold was shifting in his seat uncomfortably, unable to look away from Helga's eyes or turn from her piercing gaze.

"Helga, let's just skip to the sixteenth item."

"Why?"

"Because that kiss never happened."  Each of his words wormed into Helga's heart like a large, sharp shard of ice.

"Yes it did!  You kissed me and then I kissed you.  Then you just reached up and picked the leaf like we never kissed!"

"Because we didn't."

"Yes we did, Arnold.  How can you deny that we did?"  Arnold stood up and walked across the room, back to her, facing the wall.

"Because we didn't, Helga.  We never kissed, that's how I can deny it!"  He turned around to face her.  "That kiss never took place Helga!  And I'll ask you to never mention it again!"  Arnold saw a peculiar look pass over her face.  He didn't know it, but he'd just tossed her heart into a meat grinder.

"Fine then.  But if that never happened, then the rest of the hunt never happened!  And then we have nothing to write a paper about together!"  She stormed out of his room onto the roof.

"Why would Helga be so mad about a simple kiss?  And she hates me; I thought she'd want to deny the kiss too.  Why'd she get so mad at me, I thought she'd agree."  Arnold went onto the roof to see if he could catch Helga before she was gone.  He was on the roof looking for Helga, but couldn't see her.

Then he heard some odd sounds coming from around the carrier pigeon coop. He went over and saw Helga!  She was crying and talking to something she was holding in her hands!  She wasn't speaking at the moment, she was crying too hard.  As she calmed down to start a fresh tirade, she held up the object in her hands.  It was a heart-shaped locket with a picture of him in it!

"Oh Arnold!  I thought the foreboding feeling Thursday, was that I'd be able to tell you.  But no, the feeling was foretelling two wonderful kisses.  But they lost their sweetness the second you plucked that leaf, and plucked out my heart.  Why do you torture me so?  I loved you and worshipped you, and waited for years for something like this, but you just denied it, and denied me in the same breath.  Oh, my beautiful Arnold, so kind and caring all the time, how can you be so cruel?"  At this Helga started crying again.  Arnold had never been more shocked in his life.  He didn't know what to do.  Helga loved him?  Worshipped him she had said!

'Great!  How am I supposed to fix this?  I thought that we'd both want to forget that anything happened against that tree, but by doing so, I accidentally broke Helga's heart!  How can I get rid of this problem?'

Arnold decided not to let Helga know he'd heard her.  At least, not yet.  He went back to his room, puzzled by this strange turn of events, but determined to make everything right.

Helga finished with her tears and headed home.  She just couldn't believe that Arnold didn't love her.  If he did, wouldn't he have kissed her more, or something like that?  Instead he denied everything.  How could he?  Wait! Maybe he was just denying it because he thought that she'd want to also! She was the bully who was supposed to hate him, after all.  But then, why during the fight didn't he reconcile?  When he saw that she didn't want to hide it, why did he remain so stubborn?  Helga didn't know the answers or where to find them.  She just hoped she'd be able to talk to Arnold again, and maybe learn a few things more.

        It was Tuesday, and Helga and Arnold had been avoiding each other successfully.  All Arnold was able to concentrate on that day was Helga.  He couldn't believe he'd never seen anything that suggested that she had any feelings for him except loathing.  He was still determined to fix everything though.  But how?  The only way he could think of to fix her broken heart was to lie and tell her he loved her.  But he didn't, and lying about it would make it worse.  He didn't love Helga, right?

'Then why did you kiss her?'  Every time he tried to think of a solution, a small rebellious part of him kept asking that.

'I don't know why I kissed her!  Okay?  I don't know!  It felt right at the time!'

'So maybe you DO love her.'  Arnold shoved the rebellious voice down.

Meanwhile, Helga had her own thoughts. 'I hope that argument never betrayed any of my feelings.  I don't know what I'd do if Arnold found out that I love him, especially now that I know he doesn't love me.  I never believed that Arnold didn't love me deep down, but now I know.  I don't think I ever COULD have imagined that he didn't love me.  I just hope I can talk to him, and sort some of this out.' 

The day went by quickly for them, being chased around their own heads by their thoughts.  In almost no time, it seemed, it was time for lunch.  Arnold went to eat with Gerald and Helga with Phoebe.  They found their friends at the same time.  And Gerald and Phoebe were together.

"Arnold!"

"Helga!"  Both began blushing fiercely.  "Umm, I didn't realize-"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" They stammered excuses, apologies, nonsense, and useless babblings.  Gerald and Phoebe looked oddly at their friends.

"What's wrong with you, Arnold?  Man, why are you blushing redder than a cherry?"

"Helga?  Why do you seem so nervous?"  The two embarrassed and guilty preteens stopped mumbling nonsense at the sounds of their friends' voices.  They sat down, trying to act casual and failing miserably.  They were very clumsily knocking things over, and being generally awkward.  They were both still blushing heavily.  Arnold tried to strike a casual sitting pose and fell backward.

"What is wrong with you two?  You both are acting like you've done something incredibly out of character and embarrassing together."  At Gerald's comment they both blushed harder, and started trying to hide their faces.

"What did you two do?  Come on, 'fess up."

"We didn't do anything Pheebs.  What makes you think we did?"

"A hunch," mumbled Gerald.  The four finished lunch, Arnold and Helga trying to be normal and casual.  Near the end of the lunch period, Arnold finished and left.  Helga saw this as an opportunity to speak to Arnold alone and went after him, saying she had finished, too.

"Man, I swear there's something going on with them."  Phoebe nodded at Gerald's comment. "By the way, did you do the report for our project yet?"

"Yes, it's all done, now we just need to work on the scrapbook."

"Well, since I have the pictures, why don't you come to my house this afternoon so that we can work on it?"

"Ok, Gerald, It's a date," said Phoebe without thinking.

"A date?!"

"Um, did I say date? I meant, um, date as in day, like we will get together on this date," Phoebe stammered blushing.

"Ok, I'll see ya there," Gerald squeaked.

Meanwhile, Helga had caught up to Arnold. She was sick and tired of all this awkward mumbo jumbo, and she was furious at the fact that she couldn't stop getting the fact that he didn't like her back out of her head. The bully in her began to leak out again.

"Hey, football head!"

Arnold was shocked. Helga hadn't called him football head since last year. "What," he stated plainly.

Helga needed a way to get back at Arnold for wanting to forget the kiss, for not loving her. An idea formed in her head as she forgot about everyone else existing. She only thought about Arnold, uncharacteristically stubborn and uncooperative.

"Our project is due tomorrow, and since I can't trust you to do things right considering how FORGETFUL you've been, I'm assigning you to do the scrapbook. All you need to do is take the pictures and glue them on some paper. You can do that, can't you, nothing to forget there. I'M doing the report, GOT IT!"

Arnold was still startled and confused by this outburst. Hadn't he heard Helga confessing her love to him on the roof? He finally just dismissed it and decided that he had been hearing things since Helga hadn't made any attempts to mention her feelings since then. He had been right; it was best that they just pretend the kiss never happened. "Fine Helga, whatever you say," Arnold said flatly. He walked off to his next class.

Helga didn't even falter and go crying to her locket about what she had done. She was too full of rage, and she still had a plan to work out.

That afternoon, Phoebe rang the doorbell at five minutes after four. "I got it!" Gerald called out and raced to the door. He opened the door and saw Phoebe there with scrapbook supplies.

"Who is it honey?" called Gerald's mom from the kitchen.

"Its Feeeeeeeeby!!!!" cried Timberly mockingly.

"Honey, leave them alone, they have schoolwork."

"Yeah, leave us alone or you'll be sorry," said Gerald threateningly.

"Mommy! Gerald's being mean!"

Gerald just rolled his eyes and escorted Phoebe to his room where he closed the door. "Sisters, they're so annoying!"

"I'll take your word for it, now, lets get down to business."

Phoebe and Gerald laid out all the pictures and began working on the scrapbook in mostly silence, thoughts roving through Gerald's head all the while.

'We had such a good time at the beach. All that flirting and everything, and ever since then, she's been acting a little awkward. Well, I guess I haven't been helping the situation much, but now is as good a time as any to start SOMETHING.'

"No, no, I think the picture should go here," Gerald said and placed his hand on Phoebe's moving the picture to another location on the page.

Phoebe looked up at him surprised and moved her hand on top of his. "No, no, I believe it should go here.

Gerald switched it so he had both hands on Phoebe's hand and said, "I think it looks better here!"

Phoebe retaliated by placing both her hands on top of Gerald's and said a little louder, "It is better suited to go here!"

Gerald put his face right up close to Phoebe's, their hand switched positions, and without even looking on the paper Gerald continued, "No, It definitely should go here."

Phoebe placed her hands on top of Gerald's one more time and said slowly, putting her face up to his so that their noses touched, "I think…it…should….go…" Before she could finish her sentence, Gerald kissed her, this time without interruption. Phoebe, stunned, sat there frozen for a few seconds, just letting Gerald kiss her, but once she realized what was happening, the boy of her dreams had finally kissed her, she began to kiss him back.

Gerald was overjoyed when Phoebe began kissing him back. 'She likes me! She really likes me!' he thought to himself. He reached his left hand out behind him and swept the scrapbook contents onto the floor with the sound of fluttering papers and a thud when the book hit the ground. He lay back on the bed bringing Phoebe down on top of him. Phoebe stifled a giggle through all the making out and just went along with all Gerald did willingly. She had never kissed a guy before, and she thought that it was very exhilarating. Gerald was just thinking, 'Man dis is fun!'

Timberly had been playing in her room when she heard the sound of the scrapbook falling to the ground. She decided to investigate what had happened. She walked down the hall and opened Gerald's door, not bothering to knock.

Gerald and Phoebe heard the door open and pulled apart quickly, but Timberly had already seen, and the look on her face let Gerald know.

"Shit!" slipped Gerald without thinking. Timberly's mouth just opened wider. The seven year old spoke.

"I'm telling on you! You were bad! And then you were bad again!"

"Timberly! No! If mom finds out, I'm so dead! Please don't tell!" Phoebe just sat there looking embarrassed.

"But you were kissing! Eeeeeew! And then you said a bad word! Mommy's gonna be so mad at you!"

"Wait! Here, take this!" Gerald reached in his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He reached inside and pulled out a ten-dollar bill. He knew paying off Timberly didn't come cheap. "What I said, and what you saw, it didn't happen, got it?"

"The kiss never happened, but I'm still telling mommy you said a bad word," She said, and ran out the door with Gerald's money.

"Shit," said Gerald again.

"Gerald, we need to do something about your mouth."

"Keep it shut," he said, kissing Phoebe again.

Mr. Simmons had put on his green biking shorts and white T-shirt. Trevor had invited him to go biking and have dinner that night because he was working as a lifeguard all afternoons and on weekends. At six, Trevor rang the doorbell. He was wearing a black T-shirt and oh so tight hot pink bicycle shorts with black stripes down the side.

"You look, nice," Mr. Simmons told the tanned, muscular man.

"Thanks, so do you. Well, let's get going."

Trevor started cycling and Mr. Simmons rode behind him. They rode down to the beach and cycled down the sandy shore and then back up again. Then, Mr. Simmons followed Trevor back to his house.

"[Huff], [pant], I think I'm a little out of shape," gasped Mr. Simmons as he plopped down on Trevor's black vinyl couch.

"Just take a breather right there and I'll fix dinner."

"You cook? Wow, I do too. I think it's an admirable trait for a man to cook. What are you preparing?"

"Just a little fettuccini alfredo with grilled chicken and some sparkling grape juice to drink. I'm sorry, but I'm not much for alcohol."

"Neither am I! That meal sounds positively scrumptious. Let me assist you."

"If you insist." The two of them cooked the meal and had a wonderful conversation at dinner. It was over all too soon.

"Well, I really should be going, I have to get up for school in the morning," Mr. Simmons joked.

"Yeah, Well, I had a really special time tonight," said Trevor, walking Mr. Simmons to the door.

"I had a very special time as well. I'll see you later Trev."

"Yeah, see ya later." Suddenly, Trevor unexpectedly gave Mr. Simmons a small peck on the lips and shut the door.

Mr. Simmons stood there stunned outside the door for a second, and then slowly got on his bike and rode back home, smiling all the way. 'Ok, Robert, you had a really nice night, but when you're at school, you have to act like that kiss never happened.'

The next day at school, Gerald excitedly told Arnold what had happened between him and Phoebe, "So then, I kissed her, and then she kissed me back, and then we were makin' out, and then Timberly came in, and then more kissing and more and more and more!!! Then we finally got the scrapbook done. Then we kissed to celebrate! Then I asked her out! And then she said yes! And then I kissed her!! And then I got grounded by my mom for saying the 's' word! And then Phoebe left, but not before I kissed her goodbye!" Then Gerald took a breath.

"Sounds like you had fun," said Arnold still confused from the encounter with Helga.

"What's wrong with you man!!" said Gerald still excited.

"Nothing, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Oh, look, there's Phoebe, I'll catch ya later man!  PHOEBE!!!" Gerald ran off.

Helga was still looking forward to her plan to get back at Arnold, and Finally Science class came when they would present their projects.

"Welcome! And how is my special class today!" said the overjoyed Mr. Simmons. The class groaned. "Today, your special projects are due and we will share with the class! Who wants to go first?"

Helga had wanted to be the last one to go and Arnold didn't seem to mind either, so she waited through seven boring oral reports and five scrapbooks. (Harold had lost the pictures and Curly had…eaten his… don't ask) Finally, It was Helga and Arnold's turn. Arnold presented the scrapbook since he had made it, and then it was time for Helga to read the report.

'Ok, you can do this, the kids are mature, and if they give you trouble, pound them. You have to get back at Arnold,' Helga thought as she psyched herself up.

"We believed that the most special and interesting part about the field trip was the scavenger hunt. It was really fun to put the knowledge that we had gathered earlier in the day to use." She then recounted every detail from the scavenger hunt, every item, every time they had fallen in the water, not forgetting to mention Arnold's hot body. When Arnold heard her reading, he turned all shades of red and hoped she wasn't about to say what he had feared. "And then, the fifteenth item was a leaf, and Arnold started talking about how he was jealous of all the couples in the class, don't ask me why, and it bugged me, so I pinned him against a tree, and, he kissed me! But oh no, he didn't just kiss me, he KISSED me, if ya know what I mean. I think he likes me. So, anyway, turns out the tree had the leaf we needed, so we picked the leaf…"

Arnold was still turning all shades of red, but now he was mad at Helga. "I didn't kiss you!" He shouted out. "I didn't!"

"Whatever you say Arnold, anyway, the next item was…"

Helga finished her report and went back to her seat. Arnold followed.

"Well, that was certainly special," said Mr. Simmons uncomfortably. "Ok! Tomorrow we will be starting…." He changed the subject.

"Helga, how could you do that to me?" Arnold squeaked with a lump in his throat.

"The same way you could forget about what happened you football headed freak. Excuse me, I have to take notes." She turned away from him, satisfied that she had gotten her revenge.

            Arnold was in his room, pacing the floor.  He'd gone up to his room the second he'd come home and holed up in there.  He hadn't said anything to anyone, and Grandpa was worried.  He wasn't even sure if Arnold was home.  He headed up to Arnold's room, worried about his grandson.  He knocked on the door.

            "Arnold?  You in there, Short man?"

            "Yes!  Now go away!"  Arnold's voice was slightly shrill with pent up rage and frustration.  Grandpa was incredibly shocked.

            "Are you sure, Arnold?"  Arnold plopped onto the sofa and curled up into the feral position.

            "Yes, leave, please."  He was on the verge of tears.  Grandpa walked down the stairs, even more worried about his only grandson.  Arnold started rocking back and forth, emotions warring in his football-shaped head.  On one hand, he was angry and Helga for the report.  On another he was frustrated at his unsure feelings for her.  And why had he kissed her?!  On yet another hand he was worried about what his grandparents were thinking about him.  And ashamed at how he was acting towards everyone.  He had been snapping and yelling at everyone, distancing himself, since science class.  He thought about what had started it all, and gave a humorless laugh.  It was astonishing how a few minutes on the beach had changed everything.

            'Very astonishing considering that nothing happened,' the rebellious voice mocked in his head.  He thought about the past five days.  Weren't kisses supposed to bring people closer?  Instead these two kisses had brought him away from everyone.  Arnold started sobbing quietly.  Then the thought of Helga brought his anger back.  He stood up and started pacing again.  How could she have done that to him?  And not just to him, to herself.  She would be ridiculed, too.  Then he heard her voice in his head.

'I did it the same way you could forget about what happened, you football headed freak.'  He plopped onto his bed.  She was right.  He deserved it.  He'd been acting like a complete jerk.  What was wrong with him that he wasn't acting like himself?  He started crying again.  He cried for a few hours.

Meanwhile, Grandpa had told the others how weird Arnold was acting.  Some of them went up to check on him.  They listened at the door before knocking.  They could hear him crying and grew shocked.  They couldn't ever remember a time when they'd seen or heard Arnold cry before.  They went back and told the others what they'd heard.

"Do you think Short man's in some sort of trouble?  Something he doesn't think he can come to us for?"

"Whaddaya talkin' about, Grandpa?  Like drugs?  Arnold's not like that and you know it," said Ernie.

"No!  I never meant that!  I mean somethin' else.  Something smaller!  Maybe he'll get over himself."

"I am sure Arnold can handle it!  He is big boy!  He can take care of it fine!  You worry over nothing, Grandpa."

"Hyunh's right for once," said Ernie, walking out of the room.

"What do you mean for once?!  I am always right!"  Mr. Hyunh went after Ernie, arguing like always.

Meanwhile, back with Arnold, he had calmed down a little and was no longer crying.  He was trying to sort out how he felt and devise ways to solve his problems.  He wasn't angry at Helga anymore; he'd deserved it for being an uncharacteristic jerk.  But he still wasn't sure how he felt about her.  He was too ashamed to go down and apologize for his behavior to his grandparents that night; he'd do it in the morning.  He'd try to act normal to everyone tomorrow, too.  The only thing he needed to do right then was call Helga.

            Helga was lying on her bed, thinking about Arnold.  Now she wasn't so sure how she could've done the report like that.  She tried to convince herself that he deserved it, but was having trouble.  She loved him too much to let causing him so much pain sit easy on her conscience.  The she remembered how he'd acted, so unArnold-like, and then she remembered that he didn't love her, and her conscience accepted what she did.  She was still mad at him, though the report helped a little.  The phone rang.  She picked it up, expecting Phoebe to be on the other end.

            "Helga?"  She recognized the voice and her eyes narrowed.

            "What do you want, football head?  Did you call to deny a few more things that never happened?"

            "I deserved that."  Helga was shocked.  He wasn't angry or indignant, and he sounded so pathetically forlorn.  He almost sounded like he'd been--nonsense!

            "Helga, I called to apologize.  I've been thinking about the past few days and, well, I've been acting terribly.  I never should have jumped to the conclusion that you'd want to hide the fact that we kissed,"

            "Oh, so we actually did kiss now?"  He ignored her and went on.

            "And I never should've argued with you like that.  I never should have done a lot of the things I've done over the past five days.  Probably the thing I never should have done the most was kiss you.  I don't even know why I did!"

            "Oh now Arnold, don't take back the kiss!  That was one of the few good things you've done over the past week!"

            "Why do you feel that way, Helga?"  Helga blanched.

            "Oh, umm."

            'That's it, Helga!  Perfect!  Just great!  Open mouth, insert foot.  Nice going!'

            "I have a confession to make to you, Arnold."

            "No Helga, I have a confession."  Helga's mind raced back to her daydream from Thursday.  "I know how you feel about me."  Her anticipation was turned into disbelief.

            "How did you find out?" she whispered.

            "After our argument Monday night, I went onto the roof to stop you from leaving.  I heard you crying, and then saw you talking to the locket.  And I saw the picture in the locket."

"And?"

"And, I just didn't know how to feel. It was confusing. You've always bullied me."

"Arnold, can you be any more dense?! I swear! Ok, usually when a girl picks on a guy at such a tender young age as 3-12, it means they like ya! Crimeny! Don't you watch TV?"

"Oh, really? I didn't know that. Heh, wow, guess I am pretty dense huh?"

"Hoo boy, I'm not even gonna go there."

"Listen, Helga, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about ya, but I'd like to make up for the way I've been acting."

"Ok, how are you gonna do that?"

"Would you like to go out with me on Saturday? As a friend date?"

"Well, I suppose I could let ya do that."

"Good. Pick ya up at twelve, see ya then."

"See ya."

Arnold hung up the phone and smiled, glad that he was finally becoming his old self again.

The remaining two school days passed by quickly. The kids in the science class hadn't mentioned Helga's report and Arnold and Helga were able to talk to each other without feeling too awkward. Soon, It was Saturday.

Gerald was sulking in his room. He decided to try his mom one last time. He went to the kitchen. "Mom, Please can't I go out just for today? Pleeeeeease? Mommy? I love you Mommy," he said trying his best to sound cute. His mom didn't buy it.

"No Gerald, you said a bad word, in front of Timberly, no less. I'm sorry, but you can't go out until next weekend."

"Aw, mom!" Gerald gave the puppy dog face.

"Gerald, you're 12, you need to act more responsibly."

Gerald went back to his room. 'Man, I just have to see Phoebe. I need my Phoebe!' He then got an idea. He wrote a note that said, 'Napping. Do Not Disturb.' He then placed the note on his bedside table. He then propped up a bunch of pillows and put them under the covers. He was about to sneak out the window when he felt a pang of guilt, so he scribbled another note. 'Mom, you caught me. I have snuck out to be with Phoebe. I'll be back soon, don't worry. You can ground me as much as you like when I return. Love, Gerald.' He put this one under the covers on top of the pillows and hoped he'd be back before anyone found out. He then opened the window and made his escape to Phoebe.

Arnold arrived at Helga's house at exactly noon and rang the doorbell. Helga answered the door wearing exactly the same thing she wore to the beach. She was holding a bag, which she gave to Arnold. Arnold looked in the bag and saw a pair of red swimming trunks. He examined the label and said to Helga, "How did you know my size?"

"There's a lot of stuff about you that you don't know I know. Come on, we're going to the beach!"

"The beach?!"

"Yes, the beach. Here, take my spare bike." Arnold stared in disbelief at the pink bike.

"I have to ride on THAT?"

"Yes, unless you want to walk. I thought you wanted to make it up to me and I say we are going to the beach."

"Ok, you're right. Let's go." Arnold mounted the pink bike, and they rode off.

Gerald rang the doorbell at Phoebe's house. Phoebe answered. "Gerald? I thought you were supposed to be grounded for saying, ya know."

"Well, I just HAD to see ya Phoebes. I HAD to defy the law and taste your de-licious kisses once more before I become without them for an entire week!"

"Aww, you're so sweet Gerald, but are you sure you won't get caught?"

"If I do, at least I'll get brownie points."

"Huh?"

Gerald explained about his ingenious note.

"How do you know your mom won't come looking for you if she finds you gone?"

"Cuz I told her not to worry, but I just HAVE to have one more perfect day with you. I HAVE to!"

"Ok Gerald, but where can we go so we won't be interrupted?"

"How 'bout the beach?"

"Perfect! Lets go! I can get my dad to drive us."

Gerald just grinned.

Mr. Simmons had been looking forward to the weekend so that he could go to the beach and visit Trevor. He packed a picnic lunch consisting of two shrink-wrapped plates of fettuccini Alfredo, some fruit for dessert, and a thermos full of sparkling apple juice. He dressed in his green swimming trunks and white T-shirt and got in his car for the drive to the beach.

When he arrived, he spotted Trevor sitting high in his lifeguard chair and went over to greet him. "Trevor!" he exclaimed happily.

"Robert! How special to see you! I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too Trev, How much longer is it until your break? I have a special surprise for you!"

"I get a break in a half hour. Until then, we can chat here while I do my job."

Mr. Simmons and Trevor talked about their weeks and the time flew by quickly. Just before his break came, Trevor spotted a kid caught in a slight undertow.

"Duty calls!" Trevor said getting out or the chair. He ran down the beach, his tanned muscular body looking better and better to Mr. Simmons with every step.

'Damn he's hot,' thought Mr. Simmons to himself. Trevor returned with the kid, and by then, his break had come.

"I'll go get my surprise. You can wait in our spot."

"Ok, I'll be waiting."

Mr. Simmons went to his car and opened the trunk, removing the picnic basket. He hummed a happy little tune to himself and started to carry the basket back to the spot where he and Trevor had had their first picnic and had gotten to know each other, but when he drew nearer, he saw something that made him stop humming.

Trevor was there kissing another man! A buffer, tanner man. A better-looking man.

"Trev!" Mr. Simmons exclaimed nearly dropping the picnic basket. "What in the name of specialness is going on here!?"

Trevor pulled away from the man and exclaimed, "Oh, my word! I'm so sorry Robert, I didn't know you'd come back so soon, you see, my ex-boyfriend, Christopher…"

"Boyfriend," Chris corrected.

"Ok, he came back to town last night and, well, I took him back. He said he was sorry and I missed him terribly, and just a second ago he walked up and kissed me hello. Just forget that kiss ever happened. I'm sure we can work something out."

"I'm sorry Trevor. I thought what we had was special. I guess it wasn't."

"It was special Robert, but that was before Chris came back."

"Goodbye Trevor," said Mr. Simmons sadly. He headed back to the car and thought to himself, 'Ok, Robert, you can get over this, just go back to school on Monday and act like nothing happened.'

Arnold and Helga finally made it to the beach at one o'clock. Arnold went into the restroom to change into his new swimming trunks. He came back out and greeted Helga.

"Thanks for the trunks," he said.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't want you to have to swim naked or something." Helga laughed. Arnold just turned bright red. "Come on! Lets go swimming!"

They walked down to the sand and Helga laid out a towel.  Arnold dropped his jeans and T-shirt on the towel and Helga took off her clothes and lay them on the towel as well. Arnold was once again mesmerized by Helga's body as she took his hand and they headed out to the water. Helga started running and Arnold did too. They ran hand in hand faster and faster down to the water when suddenly Helga tripped and fell down into the water bringing Arnold down on top of her. They lay there in the shallow water breathing heavily.

"Helga, are you ok?" asked Arnold still on top of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Helga looking into Arnold's eyes. "You think you could get off of me?"

"Yeah…sure…" said Arnold slowly, but instead of getting off of Helga, he began kissing her, slowly at first, but then faster with increased passion. They rolled around in the shallow waves, neither one wanting to pull away.

Phoebe's dad dropped her and Gerald off at the beach and told them to call when they wanted to be picked up.  Phoebe headed towards the water when Gerald stopped her.

"Let's do something other than swimming first."  The look in Gerald's eyes suggested quite clearly what he wanted to do.  They headed towards some trees under the boardwalk.  They stood in each other's arms.  Gerald ran his fingers though her hair.

 "Now this is what I ran away for."  He leaned in and kissed her gently, then kissed her again, harder.  Then he started kissing her all over her face, neck, and hands.  She stood there, reveling in his touch, his hot lips all over her cool flesh.  He kissed her on the mouth again, long, hard, and passionate.  He pulled away.  Phoebe cut him off before he could say it and said it herself.

  "De-licious."  They continued kissing passionately under the covers of the trees.

   Arnold and Helga had been forced to run for cover when people started filling up the beach.  They were hiding in the trees under the boardwalk. They sat down in the sand.

   "I thought you said you weren't sure about your feelings for me," said Helga, with a grin.  Arnold gave her flirty eyes.

   "Well I guess I found out."  He moved in to kiss her.  They slowly changed to a lying down position, Arnold on top of Helga, kissing her quickly and fiercely.  Helga let herself be kissed, feeling happier than ever in her life.  Arnold started kissing other places on her face and neck, and after every few stray kisses, he kissed her on the mouth again.  His hands moved off her shoulders, his slim, agile fingers playing all over her body.  Helga lay there, kissing and being kissed, loving every touch.  This was what she had been waiting for since she could remember.  She tried to memorize every touch and caress, so she could replay them in her mind whenever she wanted him.  They continued in this fashion for quite a while, hidden safely away by the sheltering trees.

        Phoebe and Gerald were still kissing passionately, when Gerald froze. "What is it, Gerald?"  Phoebe looked in the direction he was looking, the beach.  He grabbed her arm and pulled her with him as he started running through he trees.

        "I saw Timberly and some of her friends on the beach.  We have to go where there's absolutely no chance of getting caught."  They kept running through the trees, not intending to stop until they could find a place where they couldn't be seen on any side unless the person was in the trees.  Phoebe stopped Gerald with a tug on his arm.

        "Do you hear something?"

        "No, do you?"  Phoebe rolled her eyes sarcastically.

        "No, I just asked you for no reason.  Come on, I want to see what it is." Phoebe went to find the noise, Gerald following.  After a while they could both hear the noise clearly.

        "That's just the sound of two people making out.  Come on, I want to start making that noise."  Phoebe giggled.

        "No, I want to see who it is."

        "Why?"

        "I don't know.  I'm just curious for some reason as to who it is."  Phoebe headed towards the people making out, dragging Gerald after her.  They burst in on…

   "Arnold!"

   "Helga!"  The two best friends said the names at the same time.  Helga sat up, startled, Arnold tumbling off her.  They both started blushing fiercely. Gerald and Phoebe were too shocked to say anything.  Arnold and Helga knew it was useless to make excuses and just started blushing harder.  Helga gave a nervous laugh.

   "Um, Arnold, can I talk to you?"  Gerald and Arnold headed off into another part of the trees, leaving Phoebe and Helga.

   "So?"  Phoebe winked at Helga.

   "Phoebe!"  Phoebe laughed.

   "I guess you're really happy now."

   "Oh Phoebe, you have no idea.  I've never been happier!  This is all like a dream come true!  The only flaw is that I'm afraid I'm gonna wake up at any moment."

   Phoebe hugged her best friend, happy she'd gotten what she'd been wanting all her life. "If anyone deserves such happiness, it's you.  Especially after what the rest of your life has been like."

   "Thank you, Phoebe."

 Gerald and Arnold were having a much different conversation than Phoebe and Helga. "It looked like you were getting really hot and heavy there, Arnold.  I'm proud of you."  Arnold was surprised at what Gerald had said and was blushing all over again.

   "What?!"

   "Once I would have been shocked at your partner, but in that bathing suit, she looks hot, man."  Gerald gave him a friendly punch in the upper arm.

"Though I AM surprised that Helga would want to make out with you." Arnold got control of his embarrassment and managed to stop blushing.  He explained to Gerald everything that had happened since the field trip.  He told him about the kiss and them him denying it, the fight Monday night, and him hearing Helga confess.  He told him about how confused and muddled his emotions had been, and the night when he sorted them out and then called Helga.  He told him about their conversation, and then, the entire beach trip, blushing during the parts where he glossed over the making out.

"So you finally figured out that you like her like her."

"Yeah, when I think about it, I was jealous of everyone coupling up, Helga looked pretty hot, I kissed her, I felt embarrassed about what I had done and tried to forget the whole thing, and now, I'm just like what the heck, I like her, and darn it, she loves me."

"You're quoting from Rats again man,"

"Yeah, well…. Hey! Aren't you supposed to be grounded?"

"Shh, I snuck out. All the de-licious kisses that take place today; they never happened, got it?"

"Ok, I got it. Let's get back to our girlfriends!"

"Right on, man! Right on!"

 Arnold and Gerald went back to the place in the trees where their girlfriends were. Arnold grabbed Helga around the waist and pulled her down to the ground on top of him and started kissing her fiercely. Helga giggled and gladly let Arnold take her in his arms.

Gerald followed Arnold's example and did the same to Phoebe except he got on top of her and started kissing her all over. The four friends lay there happily, making out in the shade of the trees.

"Mommy, mommy! We wanna go exploring in the forest!" shouted Timberly to her mom.

"Yeah yeah, please take us! We're tired of swimming!" yelled Timberly's friend to her mom who was also there.

"Ok, just be careful," said Mrs. Johanssen.

The moms took their daughters to the bunch of trees so that they could play forest and the girls ran ahead.

"Don't stray too far!" called out the other mom. Her and Mrs. Johanssen followed behind.

The girls were pretending to be explorers and were walking through the trees. Suddenly, Timberly spotted some people and she motioned her friend to come and investigate. The girls got closer and discovered the location of where Arnold, Helga, Gerald, and Phoebe were making out. Timberly's eyes grew wide but then turned mischievous.

"Shh," she whispered to her friend putting a finger to her lips. "Wanna get my brother in big trouble?"

"Yeah! Lets do it!" the other girl whispered back.

They walked back through the trees and found their moms not far behind. "Mommy! Come see what we found!" said Timberly excitedly. The moms followed the girls back to the spot where the making out was going on and when Mrs. Johanssen saw, boy was she mad.

"Gerald Martin Johanssen!" she said very loudly and sternly. At hearing this, the two couples jerked apart and Gerald had a look of horror on his face.

"Mo-mo-mommy. Hi… I…. I…." Gerald squeaked. All four turned all shades of red.

"Gerald! What are you doing here?! I grounded you and then I find you here…doing this!" She waved her hands in their direction.

"What are YOU doing here??" Gerald stammered very confusedly.

"Timberly wanted to meet a friend at the beach so I took her here. Then her and her friend wanted to play in the trees so they found you and showed us."

"Timberly! I'm gonna…." Gerald screamed angrily.

"Gerald! Don't yell at her! You are in deep…"

'Shit,' thought Gerald though he didn't say it aloud.

"Trouble! What am I going to tell your father?"

"That this never happened?"

"Gerald, do you take me for an idiot?"

"No, that's why I left a note under the covers."

"Gerald, when we get home, you're grounded for a month. Phoebe, come on, I'll take you home. Timberly, you can stay with your friend. I need to take Gerald home.

"Thank you Mommy," Timberly said sweetly. Gerald looked like he was about to kill her.

"Bye Arnold, I'll talk to ya at school," said Gerald sadly as he and Phoebe walked away hand in hand.

"See ya," said Arnold. When Gerald had gone he said to Helga, "Boy, that kinda ruined the mood didn't it?"

"Arnold, haven't you learned after everything that we've been through? Pretend it didn't happen."

"Oh, yeah, right." Arnold grinned and then pressed his lips to Helga's. They continued to kiss passionately in the trees, on that beach where kisses that aren't supposed to happen….

Happen.

THE END