About Freakin' Time
(20 years old)

Gerald Johanssen slung his arm around his girlfriend, Phoebe Heyerdahl's shoulder, and yawned a little. Around them, the campus coffee shop buzzed with activity, thousands of caffeine-addicted students lining up for their sustenance with exams fast approaching. Gerald could sympathize with each and every one of them, having pulled an all-nighter with Phoebe just a few hours ago to cram for both of their upcoming examinations.

Phoebe blinked slowly at the weight of his arm around her shoulder and glanced up at him with an understanding expression. "Perhaps, we should forgo our planned lunch date.." she suggested politely, "we could have some rest instead?"

Sighing, Gerald looked down into the empty cup of takeaway coffee sitting on the table, cursing it for not curing his overwhelming fatigue. "You sure, babe?" he asked warily, rubbing a hand against his forehead, "Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm positive, Gerald." she assured him sincerely, standing from her seat and motioning for him to follow her lead, "I believe we will both benefit academically and otherwise from a well-earned rest."

Gerald shot her a thankful smile, he was far more tired than hungry anyhow. "Thanks babe... we could go back to my dorm for a rest?" he suggested, slowly standing from his chair with a small groan considering how heavy his limbs felt.

Phoebe frowned as they began to meander their way out of the cafe, "Won't Arnold be there?" she asked, "I woud not want to disturb his study."

"Nah, Shortman is doing research in the library." Gerald assured her, taking a quick glance at his watch, "It's only ten o'clock in the morning - he's usually not back until after lunch."

Surprisingly, the news did not seem to quell Phoebe's worries, actually she looked even further concerned. "Oh dear..." she said softly, her eyes flicking up to meet his as they approached the dormitory building, "I hope he has not gone to the Rosewood wing."

Gerald raised an eyebrow at her, Arnold practically lived in the Rosewood wing of the college library and Phoebe was well aware of that. "Where else would he be?" he wondered.

Phoebe shook her head, "Nowhere else, I suppose." she said, biting her lip lightly and letting out a pained sigh, "Helga will be in Rosewood today."

"Oh shit." Gerald groaned dramatically, running a hand through his thick black hair, "If they run into each other, Arnold will come back in a mood and he'll be grumpy and horrible to live with."

Phoebe grimaced sightly, "Helga will be much the same." she agreed as Gerald lead her up the buildings grand staircase, "Only, with the addition of throwing things against our dorm wall to release her pent up violent energy."

Gerald scoffed at the mention of pent up energy, "It's about time they just screwed each other already!" he whined in a rather unmanly, and frustrated, way. "I mean, how have they failed to notice the sexual tension? I swear they get off on yelling at each other."

"I... well, I suppose that is a correct analysis." Phoebe said seriously, her face the picture of concentration as she began to dredge up memories of a recent psychological case study. "I recently discovered an article on new research in regard to relationships much like Arnold and Helga's. It is commonly known as-"

Phoebe's sentence went entirely unfinished, and her theory largely unexplained, the very moment Gerald pushed open the door to his and Arnold's dormitory. Immediately, because it was difficult not to notice, both Gerald and Phoebe's eyes widened at the sight of the two people utilizing the couch. Upon realizing they had been interrupted, Helga yelped and attempted to cover her face with her hands - which was a strange impulse considering she was completely naked. Arnold, more appropriately, grabbed frantically for a nearby blanket to cover the both of them.

Gerald gaped for a good few moments, doing his very best to process the surprise of walking in on his best friend getting it on with his girlfriends best friend. However, once the covers landed over their bodies he began shouting incredibly loudly, "Ha! It's about goddamn time!

Beside him, both still hovering in the doorway, Phoebe gave him a strong stare for his inappropriate expression, but didn't seem to know what to say herself. "I... uh... well, yes..." she finally managed to concur, "I must agree, it is certainly about time."

On the couch, neither Arnold nor Helga gave any response. In fact, they both looked fairly horrified and possibly frozen in compete shock at the reality of their situation. Helga still had her hands firmly planted on her face, not daring to open her eyes to the world and Arnold seemed rather worried.

Recalling that he was still hovering inches inside his own dormitory doorway, Gerald began to reach for the door-handle so he and Phoebe could step back and get out of there. His motions were interrupted, however, when loud footsteps sounded in the hallway and a familiar voice rang out from behind them.

"Gerald, you up to much this afternoon?" Harold's voice boomed loudly as he approached with a football tucked under his arm, "The boys were thinkn' of... uh, what you doing standing in your doorway like that?"

Helga tore her hands away from her face over on the couch, "Close the door, Gerald!" she hissed from inside the dorm room.

Out in the hallway, the sudden command only served to raise Harold's curiosity further, and he ambled over toward Phoebe and Gerald's location to peer into the room. A sly grin spread across his face as he surveyed his findings, "Hey, watdya know!" he cried out with a deep chuckle, his eyes shining with amusement. "It's about freakin' time!"

Arnold sighed deeply and Helga shot a pleading look in Phoebe's direction, silently begging her friend to close the door, already. Phoebe, coming to her senses a little once more, was just about to reach for the door-handle herself when another familiar voice sounded from the top of the stairwell.

"What's about freakin' time?" Rhonda demanded with a raised eyebrow, descending the staircase with Curly in tow. Curly resided in a dormitory on the level above Phoebe and Gerald but Rhonda didn't often spend time there, the couple tended to prefer using her townhouse a few streets away. However, being Rhonda, she always had an uncanny ability to show up whenever gossip was unfolding.

Curly, being far taller than anybody else thanks to an incredibly rapid growth spurt during high school, was able to peer into the dorm the moment he reached the last few stairs. Immediately, he smirked and let out a high-pitched whistle, "Oooh, finally getting freaky!" he cackled in delight as he grasped Rhonda by the waist, lifting her up so she could witness the event, also.

"Ohmygoshohmygosh." Rhonda squealed as she was hoisted into the air, her speech so rushed it came out sounding like one word rather than six.

Having apparently given up all hope that their friends might leave them in peace, Arnold rolled slightly to the side, wrapping his arms around Helga from behind and moving the colourful blanket even higher over their shoulders. Covered now entirely from the neck down, Helga tired once more to cover her face with her blanketed hands.

"Why are we all having a congregation?" came a voice from behind the five friends milling around the doorway. Curly startled a little and almost dropped Rhonda, safely putting her onto the ground a moment later. Meanwhile, Harold, Phoebe and Gerald all blinked in surprise and turned to look at the newest arrival.

Sid, who resided in the dormitory just two doors down with Stinky, was peering out from his doorway with a confused expression. Harold motioned toward Gerald and Phoebe's dorm in explanation, "You'll wanna come check this one out for yourself." he assured him.

Shrugging casually, Sid slipped out into the hallway and sauntered down toward his friends room. In a few short steps he was up on tip-toes to peer over Harold and Gerald's shoulders and looking over at the couch. "YES!" he shouted for reasons that everybody in the doorway, aside from Phoebe and Gerald, seemed to understand completely. "I gotta tell Stinky!" he continued exuberantly, pumping his fists and cheering, "I WON THE BET, BITCHES!"

Gerald glared as Sid scurried off down the hallway and back into his own dorm room, clearly searching for Stinky. "Hey!" Gerald grumbled sulkily, "Nobody ever included me in this bet!"

Curly shook his head and offered Gerald a pat on the back, "Be grateful." he assured him, "It's been in effect since freshman year of high school and none of us, save Sid, bet anything further than their eighteenth birthdays."

"You bet on us?" a very, very unhappy Helga growled from the couch. She looked ready to kill, and was without a doubt, itching to storm over and teach them all a lesson. In fact, the moment she was able to find her clothes, they were no doubt all dead men.

Helga's question was not directly answered, however the appearance of Stinky in the doorway, followed his his disheartened expression and the exchanging of folded notes with Sid, served to confirm it anyway. "Dang it." he said ruefully as he parted with his cash, "My money was on ya three years ago!"

Grinning at his good fortune, Sid tucked the bills into his coat pocket and shook Stinky's hand. "Nice doing business with you, my good friend." he smirked.

"Alright, are you all done now?" Arnold spoke up sternly from the couch, where Helga had resorted to slowly burying her face in the crook of his neck. Arnold, notably, seemed to be enjoying her course of action.

"I was done ages ago," Gerald protested, and then motioned to the small crowd of childhood friends in the doorway, "but I'm stuck in the middle of everybody!"

Slowly, with a few murmurs of oooh, look at Arnold getting all grumpy, the group began to step backward from the doorway and prepare to return to their prior activities. It was, apparently, not going to happen at that moment though, because everybody had noticed two more people coming up the hallway. Neither of them resided in this building, so their arrival was strange to say the least, but when it came to Brainy appearing unexpectedly it was always best not to ask.

"Well, strike me down." came the amused tone of a voice nobody had even properly become acquainted with until junior year of high school. Brainy, who stood with Lila directly beside him, chuckled at the sight he had been waiting for since preschool. The Arnold and Helga together part, that is, not the naked together part. He crossed his arms and shot them a shrewd look, "You two finally figured it out, huh?"

Lila shook her head a little and muttered, just loudly enough for those nearby to hear, "It's about fucking time."

Shocked, everybody gasped and turned to gape at her as though she had grown antlers. On the couch, Arnold tilted his head in disbelief and Helga moved from her 'hiding spot' and raised a curious eyebrow.

In response to their surprise, Lila merely shrugged and stated in her regular polite tone, "It's just that they were being ever so stupid."

Phoebe pursed her lips and gave a small nod, "I believe that is certainly the general consensus here." she agreed.

Helga groaned loudly and nuzzled her head back into its safe place in the crook of Arnold's neck once more. "If I wasn't naked..." she muttered softly, only loud enough for him to hear, "I'd set fire to the lot of them."

Running a comforting hand along her shoulder underneath the blanket, Arnold pulled back and shot her an apologetic look - mainly considering the inconvenient choice of location had been his fault. "I know." he said understandingly, "If it makes you feel any better, I think I'd let you..."

Helga slowly smiled and wrapped her arms around his body, as their classmates continued to chatter about their 'stupidity' over by the doorway. "Hmmm, yes..." she murmured happily, "Yes, that does make me feel better."