The Better Grade (Part Two)

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Helga mumbled as they walked outside of the restaurant. For as the two opened up the door to what should have been a smolderingly hot night in the middle of July, they instead were met with a sudden and unpredicted downpour, blocking their way to the car. Helga backed away from the street a bit more as the spatter from the street suddenly threw itself upon her legs.

Arnold groaned lowly under his breath, hiding his head in his hands as gave her a small glance from the side of his eye. Helga turned to him; her head dropping as she waited for him to speak whatever it was that was on his mind.

"What is it…?" She groaned, knowing that it would only be more bad news.

"…well…I left the top down- and- it doesn't exactly like to come back up…" Arnold admitted a bit sheepishly. Helga nearly whimpered as she pulled lightly at her hair. Her house was all the way across town- she didn't want to spend that in a convertible being pelted with rain droplets. Not to mention it wasn't safe for Arnold to be driving in this weather.

"What do you want to do?" Arnold finally asked, obviously thinking the same thing that she was. Helga let out a gentle breath, allowing her body to relax. There was no point in worrying about it too much right now, they'd just have to deal with the hand they were given.

"The boarding house isn't too far from here- let's just stop off at your house and wait until the storm dies down." Helga answered without too much thought. Arnold nodded in concurrence before handing her his coat jacket, gently placing a part of it over her shoulders as he headed out into the rain to start up the car.

Helga held it to herself in earnest, relishing in the heat and sweet smell that it produced. She had to hold back a small laugh at the way he mumbled under his breath, jumping into the car as he attempted to start it. The old machine whirred in protest as he hit the steering wheel, throwing the ignition this way and that to get it into motion.

Helga shook her head, taking off her heels and placing them next to his jacket on a bench in front of the restaurant. She hurried out into the street, moving her hands over her head to try and keep the rain off of her. Arnold looked up curiously as she headed toward him, she gave a gentle smile in return and motioned for him to pop the top.

Still a bit confused but not questioning what she was doing Arnold leaned down, grabbing onto the small gear underneath the ignition. Helga hurried over, placing her head underneath the hood as she scanned over the engine's parts. Arnold stood up, watching her curiously as she dug her hands into its innards, twisting and moving things around until they seemed to be to her liking.

"Well no wonder she doesn't want to start." Helga teased peeking over the hood and at the blonde haired boy.

"When was the last time you gave her a good tune up?" She asked, her face already covered in a bit oil from wiping her hands upon her cheeks. Arnold stuttered to find an answer, not really sure what to say. To him a car was just a car, he hadn't brought it into the shop for quite some time because he didn't have the money to fix it up, as far as any regular maintenance his grandmother usually handled that sort of thing.

Perhaps that should have been a red flag a while ago…

"…a while…?" Arnold finally answered, deciding it was useless to lie to her. Helga sighed heavily, throwing the top closed as she moved back across the street to grab their things. Her feet were already sore and aching from standing around in her heels, but the rain felt cool and brisk upon the swollen flesh. Although she would never admitted it there was something nice about being barefoot in a storm.

"Go ahead and switch the ignition, she should manage to get us back home, but you should learn to take better care of her." Helga lectured in a lighthearted tone. Arnold blushed some, nodding to her as he placed the key back into the ignition, turning it testily. To his surprise the car purred, stuttering into the on position.

"Wow, you're a miracle worker." Arnold gasped, rather amazed as he rubbed the car's dashboard, as if apologizing for not helping it earlier. Helga laughed jumping into the seat beside him, cradling his coat and her heels to her chest.

"Please Arnold, that's nothing." She answered, although it was obvious by the small smile on her face that she was happy with his compliment. He decided not to tease her about it as he put the car in drive and stumbled out onto the street. Helga moved her arms over her eyes, trying to block the onslaught of rain that pelted a top them, Arnold drove as slowly as he could, flinching as the wind picked up and stabbed at his bare skin with the small pieces of hail.

Thankfully the drive was short and though soaked, they were relatively unharmed and comfortable. Arnold quickly got out of the car, parking it as close as he could to the house before offering her his hand. Helga gladly took it as he pulled her out of the car and towards the house, a small smile upon both of their faces though they didn't completely understand why.

"Just so we're clear you can't deduct points for sudden weather changes." Arnold called out over the storm as he reached for his keys. Helga laughed shaking her head quickly as she leaned her body against his back, hugging him for body warmth as she shivered.

"Oh yes I can, I'm the one making the rules remember?" She reminded with a gentle laugh. Arnold clicked the door open, smirking as she rushed past him and into the heated living room. With a gentle sigh of relief she shook her body quickly like a wet dog, allowing the droplets to fall off of her and onto the floor.

"Ah! That's better." She breathed rubbing her arms quickly to warm herself up. Arnold laughed moving over to the hall as he motioned for her to follow.

"Come on, you'll catch a cold if you stay dressed like that." Arnold called out without much thought. Perhaps it was because she had decided to give him up, or the fact that he was always such a gentleman the thought of his words did not embarrass her- either way she shook out her legs once more, freeing them of droplets before moving up the stairs and to his room.

A smirk played on her lips as she realized how little had changed within it. Arnold hadn't bothered to change the somewhat childish style of his wallpaper, nor any of the furniture within it. The only new additions was a computer upon his desk and a few new collection figures upon his nightstand. It looked like his grandfather had finally given him a private bathroom, as there was a new door adjoining his room to a newly renovated part of the home. As Arnold rummaged through his drawers he pulled out a few of shirts and small pair of basketball shorts. He held it up for a moment, as if deciding something before handing one of them to Helga.

"Here, those should probably fit, let me know if you need something smaller, I'm sure Susie has something you could borrow."Arnold told her in a calm tone. Helga looked over the clothes before shaking her head softly.

"No, these will be fine. Thanks football head." Helga answered as she headed toward the bathroom. Arnold slipped off his own shirt as she opened up the door, despite herself Helga peeked behind her, taking in the gloss covered boy before slamming her head forward. Her heart skipped a few beats as she let out a low and cleansing breath. She'd forgotten how he'd had that effect on her.

Of course she'd seen a lot of naked men in her time- there was no way around that when you had the same changing room as the rest of the hockey team, but something about the way his lean body fell in such a muscular tone made her body shudder.

He didn't have a fantastic body by any means…so why…why did she always find herself so embarrassed and tense whenever he stripped off his shirt during practice, or started to change before she had managed to make her way out of the locker room? She quickly slammed the bathroom door behind her to keep from looking again as she heard his pants unbuckle.

Calm down, she told herself, he's just like any of the other boys- nothing special.

Arnold raised his head curiously as she closed the door behind her. He slipped his pants to the floor, moving a pair of pajama bottoms on over his body. He hadn't really thought much about changing in front of her like that- after all she had practically boasted about how comfortable she was being around the boys…maybe he had taken too much of a liberty though- after all she was still a girl.

He hoped that he hadn't embarrassed or made her feel uncomfortable as he slipped the other shirt he had set out over his torso. It took a bit for Helga to come back out of the bathroom, she shifted somewhat uncomfortably in the large and baggy clothes. The shorts held tight to her hips, but the shirt overtook even them, hanging softly off of her shoulders, slipping this way and that. Arnold blinked for a moment, not realizing how exactly small she had become compared to him.

"…what's that wilting little thing in the corner…?" Helga asked to break the silence as the storm outside raged. Arnold blinked, looking from her to where it was she was pointing. He laughed, moving over to the rather pathetic looking cactus that sat on his window sill. He sighed heavily, moving away the glass case so that she could see it in its entirety.

"Well THAT is the Echinocereus Poselgeri….it's supposed to be a very pretty flower, but it doesn't seem to want to bloom for me." Arnold answered with a hint of frustration. He threw up his arms, talking straight to the plant now as he leaned forward to it.

"I do everything I can, everything the book says to, but it still keeps this ugly little form…" He mumbled. Helga moved to his side, staring down upon it before gently pricking her fingers against the plant's small needles.

She let out a yelp and pulled away as her finger bled where it had pricked her. She eyed Arnold as he turned to see if she was ok.

"Nasty little thing isn't it?" Helga asked in a joking tone as she sucked the blood back into her lips. Arnold laughed a bit nervously nodding as he replaced the case.

"Well only if you try and touch it." Arnold retorted, giving her a small look as she rolled her eyes. Helga blushed a bit, still nursing her finger as he sat down upon the couch, patting beside him for her to sit.

She plopped down clumsily next to him, her eyes traveling to the glass roof as the rain poured down harshly upon them. The storm showed no signs of letting up so allowing herself a moment of selfishness she relaxed into his shoulder, her head digging into his neck as she rested her hand against his leg. Arnold watched her curiously, following her movements.

He could feel the lines between the reality of their relationship and their 'practice' play blurring as she closed her eyes in sleepiness, her chest moving in small breaths. Deciding that this was still a part of the test Arnold moved his fingers down to her hand and held onto it gently. This was technically 'Arnie' and 'Hilda's' second date, so holding her hand should be acceptable- especially if he was reading her signals correctly.

Was this what she was lecturing him about the other day? Was she testing him on what he had learned?

"So how'd I do…?" Arnold asked with a coy smile. Helga shot her eyes to him, a small inaudible laugh escaping her lips. Besides the sudden change in weather she couldn't even pretend that tonight wasn't perfect.

She let out a gentle smile before nodding into him.

Alright football head, you won this round…

With a stuttered breath she crossed her arms in stubbornness, dragging his hand with her own. At the movement he slowly started to rub at her skin, making her shiver. Fighting to get the words out she took in a deep breath.

"A minus." She finally let out. Arnold laughed before shaking his head.

"What's the minus for?" He whispered. She held up her head, her nose pointed upward.

"I don't believe in perfection." She answered simply. Arnold only laughed that silly wonderful laugh and nodded, his fingers still playing with her own. Helga nearly whimpered, letting out a soft sight of content instead. Arnold seemed to enjoy this as he continued to tease her.

"So what do I get for such a good grade..?" Arnold asked her, his voice dropping low as he nudged his head against her own. She smirked, pulling away so that his breath wouldn't tingle against her skin. What would his prize be…?

She had such a nasty habit of not planning ahead that she seemed to make up the words as she said them.

"…well…you've won two things." Arnold eyed her suspiciously as she pulled herself out of his shoulder to face him.

"For such a good grade I'll give you some important tips about-" Helga had to pause to get out the word "Lila….she has an ice performance this weekend right before prom. Surprise her there with white chocolate, not milk or dark, she's allergic to both."

After a moment Helga added-

"And yellow roses…she likes yellow roses." Helga whispered.

"And what kind of flowers do you like Helga…?" Arnold asked under his breath. The question startled her, but she tried desperately not to show it. Helga kept her eyes glued to him before sending a glance back at the witling little cactus that sat on his window sill.

"…I think that I'm starting to feel a little partial to the Echinocereus Poselgeri." Helga answered with a small smirk. Arnold let out a gentle laugh as she kept her gaze stern upon him. Moving to look at her from the corner of his eye he pushed his hair back nervously.

"And my second prize…?" He asked under his breath.

"Well…y-you're second prize…" Helga answered, her mouth struggling to make the words. "Is a goodnight kiss...I-I think 'Hilda'…would want you to kiss her right now…"

Arnold stared at her for a moment as Helga twisted uncomfortably, wishing he would just get it over with or push her away, anything but the awkward staring he was doing now. With a soft gulp Arnold only nodded, his hand gently raising to her cheek as he spoke.

"…I-…I haven't done this in a while." He whispered to her. Helga nodded, closing her eyes as she leaned herself forward.

"…that's what practice is for…right?"