The Blog Project

Day Twenty-Nine: Running for Safety

"So, what are we gonna do today?"

"Avoid Rhonda at all costs," Arnold laughed as he handed Helga her phone. In the past two minutes she was gone, she'd received three text messages from Rhonda, asking where she was.

"Wow," Helga replied as she let her fingers slide across her phone.

"I think our safest bet is to stay indoors, lock all the windows and doors and not answer our phones."

Helga laughed before dropping her phone to the floor. "Alright." Arnold rose to his feet and kissed Helga quickly before grabbing his clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.

Helga immediately collapsed back onto his bed, eyes fixed on the afternoon sun hovering over head. The heat beat down through the window, a sign that summer was only a few weeks away. A smile reappeared on her face as she inhaled the wonderful scent of her boyfriend. She couldn't help but release a girly squeal.

Life was perfect.

H-A!-H-A!

Arnold rested his elbow's on Helga's exposed knees and smiled back at her. Her ripped jeans were covered in grass stains but she didn't care. Arnold laughed and wiped the dirt off her face. The two were at the park, where a game of catch turned into an innocent tackling, but mostly flirty, game of catch. Helga rested the football behind her head as she stretched out in the grass, smiling at the sky.

Staying indoors became an issue when Arnold's grandma showed up in his room for the second time dressed in her luau attire: coconut bikini top and grass skirt. Arnold shut his eyes and politely asked his grandmother to leave. She didn't leave without a fight, but eventually Arnold decided that going out would be better. They chose the park because it would be the last place Rhonda would ever come.

"Oh, no!" Arnold cried as he quickly rose to his feet. He held his hand out to Helga, never taking his eyes off the crowd of kids.

"We don't get a minute of peace, do we?" Helga laughed before grabbing Arnold's hand and running away from the group of students.

Helga was laughing too hard to run very far. She didn't know why she found this entire ordeal funny. It just sounded so. . . so unlike Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. Rhonda, Socialite Princess of Hillwood, was chasing after Helga G. Pataki for details about her new relationship with Arnold.

"Helga, why are you laughing?" Arnold asked.

"You don't find this funny?" she gasped between breaths.

"Should I?"

"I. . .I don't know. This just whole thing. . . I think I'm just in shock over everything," her laughs finally quieted down.

Arnold quickly looked behind Helga. Rhonda was walking quickly, a few fellow classmates following behind her. Arnold grabbed Helga's hand, happy that she had finally stopped laughing, and ran.

He didn't know why he wanted to get away. He assumed he was scared. He just knew that with Rhonda. . .it wouldn't be pretty. Thousands of personal questions that stuck awkward nerves. That was terrifying.

The couple had made it out of the park and were running down the streets of Hillwood, surprised that Rhonda still stayed close behind them. Arnold, thinking quickly, pulled Helga down a random alley. He quickly pressed her back to the wall, covering her body with his. He tried to keep his breath quiet.

Helga continued to fight back laughter. This day was insane.

Arnold didn't know how long he stood covering Helga. He was certain that Rhonda was gone, but he didn't feel like moving. There was a comforting silence between the two as their chests met with each even breath.

"I think we're safe," Helga whispered.

"Well, we can never be too careful," Arnold joked before surprising Helga with a kiss.

Day Thirty: Running Only Gets You So Far

Mrs. Jay had been waiting all day for her favorite English class. Even though teachers really weren't supposed to play favorites, it was hard not to. Who wouldn't love this class? It was like not loving a puppy!

Mrs. Jay quickly arranged the desks into a circle, smiling as Harold and Sid entered the classroom. The two were laughing hysterically, but they quieted down as Nadine and Sheena stepped inside.

Shortly after the girl's arrival, all of the students managed to make it in before the bell rang. Mrs. Jay was smiling brightly at her students. Although this blog project ended up becoming something she didn't expect, she was pleased with the results. She reunited a class of old friends, created new friendships, and even a new relationship.

But, sadly, all good things must come to an end.

"We have reached the last day of our project," Mrs. Jay announced sadly.

"Aw, great, that means we have to go back to Moby Dick," Harold grumbled. The class groaned.

"Yes, but you still have one more post to write. And you're welcome to continue blogging, if you really enjoy it." Mrs. Jay watched as a few girls nodded enthusiastically at this option. "But today, we will not be doing them in class."

"What? Why not?" Curly asked.

"Because I want you to be able to do them tonight, uninterrupted by friends, or work, or the class bell. I want you to take tonight's prompt very seriously. So, let's get back on track and do some Moby Dick. We last left off talking about the harpooners: Queequeg, Tashtego, Daggoo and Fedallah."

No one was paying much attention and Mrs. Jay became frustrated. "Okay, can anyone tell me what's happening?" Phoebe raised her hand. No one else moved. "That's what I thought. Guys, why aren't you paying attention?"

"I'm still mad at Arnold and Helga," Rhonda replied before turning her back to the two.

Mrs. Jay resisted the urge to slap her palm to her forehead. "What happened this weekend? Besides the obvious," Mrs. Jay smiled at Arnold and Helga. Both shared a quick smile.

Rhonda huffed, "They completely ran away from us! They've been avoiding us all day, sneaking off and hiding from our sight." After Arnold and Helga had slipped down the alley, Rhonda gave up. She still pursued them at school, knowing that there were less hiding spots. But they were good at hiding.

"I can see why. You're probably scaring them," Sid laughed.

"Well, maybe if they'd just tell us what I want to know, I'd leave them alone."

Helga snorted, "I know what you want to know. And now you'll never know."

"Ah, this is confusing me!" Harold cried.

The class laughed. Not at Harold's stupidity, but because it reminded them of a simpler time.

Rhonda wouldn't let up. "Seriously, just tell us what we want to know and we'll leave you alone."

"No," Arnold replied. He still had no idea what she wanted to know, but if Helga wasn't going to say anything, neither was he.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not your business. I don't see you guys bugging Gerald and Phoebe," Helga shot back.

Everyone turned their attention to the other couple, then looked back at Arnold and Helga.

"We don't need to know with them. We need to with you because of your relationship."

"We've been together for two days."

"I meant your past relationship, as bully and victim," Rhonda rolled her eyes. "Why has it suddenly changed?"

Helga immediately tensed. No one knew about her big FTi confession, not even Phoebe!

"We grew up," Arnold offered.

"Lie. Oh, come on, I know deep down there's something you're not telling us! Something had to have happened between you two since fourth grade that made you want to be together. We're not stupid."

"Could've fooled me," Helga laughed.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand," Mrs. Jay addressed no one. She tried to calm the class, "Let's just leave them alone, okay? If they want to tell us, they will."

"But then they'll never tell!"

"So, that's their choice."

"I'm not letting up on this, you two! I know I may look stupid, but I've heard some things."

Helga met Rhonda's sly eyes. "Like what?"

Rhonda's eyes shot to Lila.

All of the color drained from Helga's face. Of fucking course, Helga clenched her jaw. Obviously, Lila didn't see her past threat as vicious any more. The atmosphere in the room suddenly tensed from a joking questioning to a serious interrogation.

"What did you say?" Helga asked.

Lila sunk lower in her chair, "I'm really sorry, Helga. But you should't care now."

"What's she talking about?" Brainy asked Phoebe, although he had a slight idea. Phoebe shrugged, she was just as lost as everyone else.

"I still do. You swore." Helga rose to her feet.

"Swore what?" Gerald asked Eugene. Eugene shook his head.

Arnold forced Helga back into her chair. He knew she would've ripped Lila's head off. Over what, he wasn't sure, but obviously it was a big deal to Helga. He had a small idea that it had to do with her feelings for him, but he wasn't certain.

"I know I did, but it's been almost nine years. I figured it wouldn't matter now," Lila smiled.

"Well, you figured wrong!"

It clicked for Arnold then. Lila had known about Helga's feelings for him. "Helga, shh, it's okay," Arnold whispered.

Helga sunk back in her chair, glaring at Rhonda and Lila.

Mrs. Jay took advantage of the silence, "Alright, I'm not too sure what just happened, but-"

"Helga has loved Arnold since fourth grade."

Even though Rhonda thought of Helga as a friend, she found it impossible to keep that secret to herself. She couldn't believe it! Since fourth grade! Rhonda felt bad about revealing Helga's secret, but she thought they had a right to know. It was mind-blowing! And Rhonda figured Helga would've brought it up eventually.

"Oh. . .God," Arnold sunk lower in his chair, shutting his eyes. He could almost feel the heat radiating off of Helga's body from anger and embarrassment.

Everyone's jaws were on the floor, except the five who knew (Phoebe, Lila, Brainy, Arnold and Rhonda), even Mrs. Jay was surprised. She'd known about Helga's feelings, but she had no idea they went back so far.

"No way!" Curly laughed.

"Willikers! I'm thinkin' she's jokin', right?" Stinky asked Harold. Harold laughed. The other boys joined in while the girls kept quiet.

Helga felt familiar emotions of embarrassment being washed away by anger.

"Leave her alone," Arnold said. The boys continued to laugh. Arnold raised his voice, "I said shut up!"

The class went silent. Mrs. Jay ran a hand through her black hair, uncertain if she should punish her students or not. Luckily, the bell decided for her.

"See you all tomorrow! You better be excited about Moby Dick!"

H-A!-H-A!

Rhonda felt really bad. She felt so bad that she tried to think of the perfect apology.

"Helga," Rhonda grabbed her arm as she turned from her locker. She immediately retracted it as Helga faced her. "Look, I just wanted to apologize. It was a totally bitchy thing for me to do."

Helga didn't respond.

"I just. . .don't believe it, I guess. I mean you hated Arnold."

"Obviously, I didn't."

"You're a pretty good actress, Pataki."

"Thanks," Helga laughed. "If you tell anyone else, I will have to kill you. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Understood."

"That goes for Lila too."

"I'm ever so scared," Lila teased as she walked past the two girls towards the parking lot.

"I'll talk to you later," Rhonda waved. "I'm sorry," she mouthed before turning on her heel and leaving school.

"Aww, how cute! You two girls kiss and make-up?"

Helga shut her eyes and socked her fist back, feeling better that she finally let some of her anger out. Brainy laughed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I really should learn to avoid standing behind you."

"That would be best," Phoebe replied before Helga could.

"You guys ready?" Arnold asked as he appeared behind Helga. He quickly took her hand in his, smiling.

"I have to go pick up my sister," Brainy waved before heading in the opposite direction, "See you tomorrow."

"We're going to my house, right?"

"Yeah, man," Gerald replied. The two couples began walking home, whispering to their partner.

Helga smiled, "Today was pretty bad, huh?"

Arnold replied, "Well, you didn't kill anyone, so I'd say it was a good day."

"Shut up," she playfully rammed his shoulder with hers.

Once they reached Arnold's house, the four immediately went to Arnold's room, slightly eager to find out what the prompt for their final blog would be.

Phoebe quickly signed onto his computer, clearing her throat as she found the link, "Day Thirty: Critique this entire project, filling in with your personal thoughts on every day and the effects it had on your life."

"So, we have to go back an entire month?" Gerald groaned.

"I don't think she expects a day-by-day thing. More of a general, weekly effect," Phoebe offered.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's worry about this later. Let's watch TV or something. I need to relax."

"Because we all know you've had a really hard day," Gerald replied in a babying voice.

"Back off, Geraldo."

Gerald held his hands up in defeat. "Alright."

Helga smirked as she collapsed on Arnold's bed and turned on his TV. Hours quickly passed and the four friends talked, laughed and watched TV.

"Alright, I gotta go home for dinner. I'll see you tomorrow guys," Phoebe forced Gerald off the bed and down the stairs.

"Hey you," Arnold smiled as he pulled Helga even closer to him.

"Hi," Helga laughed as Arnold nuzzled her neck. "I missed you today. I only have one class with you, and that's when everyone stares."

"Well, they'll get over the shock eventually. Then we'll be free to make out in class whenever we want," Arnold laughed at the idea.

Helga laughed. "Oh, please, like anyone would let that happen!"

"They didn't stop us at prom."

"Because everyone was dumbfounded."

Arnold laughed, "True. But, oh. . .wait."

"What?"

"We're alone now."

Helga laughed and looked around, acting as if she hadn't realized. Of course she knew they were. She had been sending Phoebe telepathic messages for the past half an hour before she left. Helga had loved him since she was three, and now that she finally had him, she wanted to be alone with him. Often.

"I hadn't noticed," she teased.

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Don't get smart with me, Pataki."

"Is that a threat?"

"May-" Arnold was cut off by Helga's lips crashing into his. He was happy that they'd no longer need to carry on a conversation.

Not that he didn't like talking with Helga, no, he loved it. It was something he'd look forward too, since Helga was unpredictable and would say whatever she thought of. But he enjoyed kissing her more.

He wasn't a manwhore or anything. He just had never been kissed by someone so passionately that he'd forget to stop for air. He had also never been unaware of his thoughts when kissing someone. Kissing Helga always made him slip into a thoughtless, dizzying haze where all he would focus on was her. Her soft, supple lips. Her silky hair as he ran his fingers through it. Her body - the way it practically melted into his. He knew what he could do to her with one touch, he'd seen it in her eyes and smile, but she drove him absolutely, stark-raving mad. She was beautiful. And he could have her any time he wanted. But over the past two days, he'd learned a lot of self-control.

The sudden alarm sound made both Helga and Arnold jump apart. Helga rolled her eyes when she realized it was her cell phone. Her father never called her, so she knew it was important. She tried to catch her breath before answering the phone. Arnold held her close, letting her stay straddled over his lap as she spoke on the phone.

He was still breathless when Helga finally hung up.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," she muttered.

"Don't tell me," Arnold sighed.

"He has some client dinner and wants me to go," she groaned. Arnold kissed her forehead, smiling.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright? We'll walk to school and you can rant about how awful the dinner was."

Helga giggled as she walked to the front door. Arnold followed behind, laughing too. "Alright, Football Head."

He rested against the doorframe, smiling down at her, "Still?"

"Of course. I may be your girlfriend, but I'm still Helga G. Pataki!" Arnold smiled as the door shut. He turned up to his room, heart still beating at a quick pace. He sighed as he collapsed on his bed, ruminating on this crazy, wild, unforgettable weekend. He sat for a while, staring through the skylight at the sun setting sky, trying to figure out his exact feelings for a certain girlfriend. Why did he miss her so much? Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? Didn't he have homework to do? He did, but he couldn't bring himself to move from his spot. He wasted most of the night staring at the sky, running through thousands of moments with Helga, trying to put his puzzle of emotions together.

Later, Arnold pulled up his blog, smiling as he began typing up his last post.

Short Man Post #30, Prompt: Critique. Monday 9:34 p.m.

This project changed my life. For better and for worse. It's worse because I'm pretty sure W is still thirsting for my blood or my head smeared across concrete for attacking him and pushing him off the pier. We'll see how that goes. . .

But this project changed my life for the better because it made me realize something I never would've on my own.

Looking back at my life, I put up with a lot of teasing and torment. A lot. It was constant, happening daily from Kindergarten up until the beginning of the project. And why did I put up with it? Sure, I lost my cool once or twice, but it wasn't anything seriously awful. I never hurt her.

But why did I put up with it? Why didn't I fight back? I'm sure this would've been a different story entirely if it was a guy picking on me. . .but it wasn't. It was a girl.

A mean, sweet, angry, beautiful girl who had managed to get under my skin. She managed to be the one thing to drive me insane. She made me paranoid about turning corners and made me want to reach out and help her - despite what she said.

Throughout the years, she made me want to hide away to avoid conflict and stand up and defend myself at the same time. She brought out the jealous, angry, scared, rock star side of me. All sides of me I didn't even know existed. She showed me the vulnerable, passionate, broken, emotional side of her I'm sure she's not even seen. We bring out the best and the worst in each other. We compliment each other well. Even if she'd never admit it, we work well together, in and out of school.

This project brought me back to her - back to my memories of childhood, back to fourth grade. Back to when I realized something I would never know, until now

Arnold abruptly rose from his desk chair, pulling out his cell phone and texting Helga. She said she'd just arrived home. Arnold hurried over, not telling her he was showing up. He scaled the tree outside her window, knocking gently. Confused, she opened it, only to step back with surprise. Before she could even react with a breath Arnold had his lips on hers.

It didn't matter that he'd only been dating her for two days, he'd known her his entire life. It didn't matter if she didn't believe him, she would eventually. It didn't matter that their entire school would think he was nuts, they had no idea what happened between the two.

Nothing mattered except that moment, when he slowly pulled back and said, "I love you, Helga."