"Alright class, please listen up!" Ms. Greene called out, sounding eager to get the attention of her students. "As I said before, today is our first day of partner dancing. There will be no more trust exercises because now we are getting down to business."

Waiting for the soft whispers to die down, the teacher continued, "I, however, will not be instructing you today. I will be observing for the first fifteen minutes, and then I will be giving you all some constructive criticism. Some things you may need to work on, while other tricks may already be in your blood."

"So, is this a time for us to freestyle?" Lila inquired.

"Mostly, yes. The first song will be a nice, slow ballad. I expect to see you all dancing as best as you can to the rhythm of the song. You may find that you are dancing like a typical couple at a school prom, and that is fine. Others might find themselves taking a different avenue...perhaps a waltz, or a rumba. The point of today's lesson is not to discover the perfect dancers. It's to feel your partner-"

"Ew!" A voice cut off Ms. Greene in the middle of her sentence. "Please tell him to stop looking at me like that!"

"Curly, that is not what I meant. And Rhonda, please relax. Your dancing abilities will not evolve if you're so tense and wound up every time. Now, as I was saying...you will be feeling your partner. In other words, what kind of dancer is your partner? Are they cautious, or are they carefree? Are they unpredictable, or are their movements kind of safe? Are they set in their own ways, or do they prefer that you take the lead? These are questions that I hope you can answer by the end of class today. By learning about your partner, you both can go from zero to hero between today and the day of our final exam." She paused, taking in the expressions of the class. "Any question, comments, concerns or problems?"

Phoebe's hand shot up instantly. "How many different songs will we be dancing to, Ms. Greene?"

"Just two. One ballad, and one up-tempo. If you are trying different dance styles, feel free to switch it up whenever, as long as it fits with the current song. If you're leaning toward just having fun, well then, do just that! This will not be graded, and I only have two rules. I want you all to pay attention, and I want you all to have fun. Any other questions?"

The teacher received no response from the students. "Well then, let's dance!"

Only two minutes had passed, and Ms. Greene already felt like giving up.

"Rhonda, can you at least pretend that you're having fun?" Ms. Greene asked desperately.

"Of course, if you give me a different partner!"

"Curly, I said nothing about trying to kiss your partner! I—oh, Stinky, I know there's a big height difference between you and Lila, but you have to work with her!"

"Okey dokey, Ms. Greene!"

"Thank you. Harold and Patty, this isn't a time to just talk and-"

"Hey, Ms. Greene!" Helga interrupted, clearly aggravated, "what happened to you giving us the 'constructive criticism' after we dance?"

"I know I just..." the teacher sighed. "Fine, just...keep going."

Helga scoffed and rolled her eyes behind her teacher's back. "Sheesh, what a buzzkill."

Arnold let out a laugh as he spun the girl before him outward, and continued talking as she spun right back to her starting point, just inches away from him. "I have to say, Helga...for someone who claims to hate dancing so much, you're not bad at all."

"Well doi, the training I had was bound to teach me something."

"Something might be an understatement, Helga." Arnold lowered his eyes as a flirtatious grin crept onto his face.

'If he does that one more time...' Helga thought to herself as she felt her cheeks becoming hot. "Stop being such a weirdo, Football Head. We still have another song to get through and I'd rather not puke up my lunch. Is that okay with you?"

Arnold sighed, but still smiled at the girl nonetheless. "Sorry."

"You should be," she remarked, taken by surprise when she found that they were almost effortlessly spinning in several circles. "Learned some more techniques since the April Fool's Dance, I see?"

"I guess. Or maybe I'm just warming up to your unpredictable ways."

The pair stopped in their tracks after about five spins, both feeling just a bit lightheaded. They let out a simultaneous chuckle before Helga responded. "Trying to make me actually faint this time, Arnold-o?"

"At least then I'd have a real excuse to carry you," Arnold replied in a barely audible whisper. He instantly noticed the blush appearing on Helga's cheeks. Without even thinking, he continued speaking. "You know, I think that's really cute."

Helga almost froze in the middle of their gentle swaying at that comment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You blush so easily, but it disappears just as fast." Arnold shrugged innocently despite the fact that he knew exactly what he was getting himself into. "It's just cute, that's all."

"I wouldn't be so cute if I actually pounded you this time, now would I?" She scowled, feeling her walls coming down once again, and she had to use all of her power to regain her composure. "And don't think I wouldn't, Football Head. Just because I didn't do it yesterday doesn't mean I wouldn't do it outside of school. Ever stop and think that I just don't want to get suspended?"

"Helga..." Arnold began to cut her off, but then decided to take things another step further. He dipped her a bit rough, resulting in his face being dangerously close to hers. Feelings that he had the day before instantly came rushing back to him.

They remained in that position for more than a few seconds, simply looking into each others' eyes and not glancing away once. The song that had been playing softly behind them during the first dance began to end.

'There's no more mystery,
It is finally clear to me
You're the home
My heart searched for so long.
And it is you I have loved

It is you I have loved...

It is you I have loved all along...'

"Arnold?" Helga called his name, but she received no answer.

'Her eyes are so blue...' Arnold thought inwardly.

"Arnold..."

'She must have had a lemonade yesterday...that's what her lips tasted like...'

"Arnold!"

'Wait, why am I thinking like this? Get it out of your head, Arnold!"

"Hey, Football Head!" Helga shouted this time, finally succeeding in bringing him back to Earth.

"Oh, uh...s-sorry Helga, I was just..."

"Get your head out of the gutter, Arnold-o! I can kind of understand you looking at my eyes, they're right in front of you. My lips are bit understandable. But my-"

"I was not looking there, Helga!" Arnold was the one the begin furiously blushing this time.

Helga smirked and lifted herself up back to her original position. 'Let's see how you like the teasing, Football Head.' "Please, Arnold. It was like you couldn't get your eyes off of them."

"HELGA!"

"Here I was, trying to get your attention to tell you that that second song had started. But no, you were too preoccupied with other things!"

"Your eyes are blue."

"Well gee, thanks for letting me know, you dodo bird."

"No, I mean...it took me by surprise how blue they are. I mean, I've always known they were blue, but not that blue. I guess I was almost in a trance because of it. One minute I was just noticing them and the next minute you were shouting to get my attention. I knew you were calling me but I couldn't stop looking at them...at you. In that moment, I didn't know what I was doing...and...if my eyes traveled anywhere that they shouldn't have, I-I'm sorry."

Helga blinked once, and then twice before she was even able to gather her thoughts. She could hear her heart beat wildly against her chest and she could feel the butterflies oscillating in the pit of her stomach. After several seconds she was finally able to look at the boy in front of her. The innocent and sincere look upon his face almost made her fall limply to the floor because her knees were so weak. Logic took over her mind, though, before she said anything she would possibly regret. "Whatever, you imbecile. We already missed the first minute of the second dance, no thanks to you and your wandering eyes."

"I'm sorry," Arnold repeated, holding out his hand to her. "Let's just move on and dance."

"Wonderful job today, class!" Ms. Greene said cheerfully as the remainder of her students came back into the auditorium from getting a drink. "Just a few comments for you guys, and you'll all be free to go!"

She waited until there was silence before she continued. "Rhonda and Curly...not bad. My suggestions right now would be for you, Curly, to contain your...excitement. And Rhonda, you just need to loosen up a bit. I doubt Curly is actually trying to kiss you...perhaps he is just really in the moment of the dance."

"You don't know Curly like I do, Ms. Greene." Rhonda sighed in frustration as she saw her dance partner puckering his lips from the other side of the stage.

"Moving on. Lila and Stinky, you worked it out in the end. Stinky, just remember to focus on performing moves that will benefit a smaller partner. Gerald and Phoebe, you two were excellent. Don't be afraid to open up more, Phoebe. I feel that there's another side of you that is begging to come out."

"Noted, Ms. Greene," Phoebe politely replied, blushing when she noticed Gerald winking at her flirtatiously.

"Arnold and Helga..."

"You mean the lovers?" Harold bellowed out loud, holding his stomach in a fit of laughter.

"Very funny, you tub of lard!" Helga retorted, looking at the boy dead in the eyes. "Now shut your piehole before I kick you in the-"

"You two were incredible," Ms. Greene nonchalantly interrupted, trying her best to ignore the angry outburst. "I could see the chemistry between you guys...something that I didn't see while watching many other pairings today. I could see that the trust exercises we did went over well with the both of you. I'm expecting great things, Helga and Arnold. Please do not disappoint me."

"Oh, that's just ever-so sweet!" Lila commented, glancing in the direction of the two blondes. "Without chemistry, the dance just lacks so much passion. Good job, you guys!"

"Chemistry? Arnold and Helga G. Pataki? Man, I think the apocalypse is coming," Gerald thought out loud, shaking his head in disbelief.

Patty only smiled a bit, knowing all too well that Helga was in all of her glory for the entire fifteen minutes that they were dancing. "Well, how are we supposed to do great with our partners if there's no chemistry?"

"I have to agree with you, Patty. Chemistry is extremely important when it comes to dancing. The audience has to believe what the dancers are feeling," Phoebe replied, not knowing exactly what she was starting.

"I don't get it, Phoebe...are you tryin' to say that Helga and Arnold are good dancers because they obviously feel somethin' for each other?" Stinky asked out of curiosity.

"All I can think about is health class and...ew! Bad images..." Rhonda interjected with a shudder.

"Shut up!" Helga stood up from her spot, interrupting the conversation before their teacher had a chance to. "It's called acting, you nimrods! Of course we have to act like we feel something for each other! Otherwise we would all look like a bunch of robots moving around the stage aloofly! You guys think I wanted to dance with this stupid Football Head like that? Maybe instead of focusing so much on what you think you hear, you should take some of these stupid pointers and follow our lead!

Criminy!"

The class stared at Helga in silence as they took in everything that she had just said. Ms. Greene was not angry at her outburst; instead, she simply smiled and continued speaking calmly. "Very well said, Helga. Now, if we could all settle down and relax for just two more minutes..."

Arnold knew that his teacher was still talking, but her voice trailed off in his head when the words that Helga had just said flooded his brain. 'I don't think it was just acting, Helga...' Arnold thought to himself while sneaking a quick glance at the girl. He noticed that she had been looking his way, as well, but she looked away quickly when he turned his head to face her. 'For either of us...'

Aaaand I'm back! Summer, how I love you. I might be taking forever to update this story, and I apologize profusely. But for those of you devoted readers, just please keep in mind that I have every intention of finishing this story. Life gets in the way of regular updates, of course, but I sincerely appreciate those of you who have stuck with this story and who have put up with me and my sporadic updates!

Also, the song lyrics used in this chapter are from Dana Glover's " It Is You (I Have Loved)." I do not own that song or have anything to do with it. Listening to the Shrek soundtrack gives you a lot of ideas, though...