Chapter 14

Arnold's POV

Arnold tried his best to appear nonchalant but couldn't stop replaying the night before over and over in his head. That coupled with the intense hangover made him feel both nervous and nauseous. But now he was sitting across from her and her boyfriend. Maybe she was too drunk to remember. She was being unusually quiet and he could see a bruise on her forearm that definitely wasn't there last night.

"Helga, what happened to your arm?" He interrupted all the conversation around him as he said this and she just looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"She got a little drunk last night" Dallas chimed in before Helga had a chance to.

"And…?"

"She bumped into a wall as I was walking her out to the car..." Dallas chuckled as he said this.

"More like dragged…" Helga muttered under her breath.

"She was so drunk she doesn't even remember last night." Dallas rolled his eyes as he said this.

Arnold knew that wasn't the kind of bruise that you get from "bumping" into the wall. He had originally not liked Dallas because he seemed to replace him in Helga's life, then he didn't like Dallas because he was Helga's boyfriend and now he was realizing he genuinely disliked Dallas. There was something off about him, he was darkly charismatic. He knew Helga was a good judge of character so he couldn't pinpoint why the two of them were together. He kind of had the feeling that the bruise on her arm might have been caused by him. This wasn't the time or place to bring it up, but he needed to talk to her about it.

They finished up breakfast and went their separate ways. Gerald and Arnold walked toward the boarding house and chatted about the drama that ensued at the party after they left. Apparently, Rhonda had been caught hooking up with Curly in the pool. As they reached the boarding house Arnold changed the subject.

"So, Gerald, I know I've thanked you a million time already for getting me home last night."

"Dude, you were wasted! If I hadn't gotten you home I'm scared Lila would have taken the opportunity to kill you."

"Well, before I became too nauseous to function, something happened." Arnold rubbed the back of his neck and stared at his feet.

"Well...what happened?"

"Let's wait till we get upstairs" They had just entered the boarding house and boarders were all gathered in the kitchen laughing.

"Hey Arnold!" Grandpa Phil called out in a sing songy way.

"Yes grandpa?"

"Feeling a little hungover today?" He chuckled as all the boarders burst out laughing.

Arnold didn't remember even getting home last night.

"Maybe a little...in my defense I didn't know there was alcohol in the punch!"

"Relax Arnold we're just having fun with you! Gerald told us everything."

Avoiding the humiliation that came along with his first time being drunk he and Gerald retreated upstairs and into Arnold's room.

"So, what happened last night?" Gerald sat on the couch and stared at him eagerly.

"I kissed Helga." He flopped back onto the bed as he said this bracing himself for Gerald's response.

"Dude! We were just with her and her BOYFRIEND at breakfast! Are you insane?!"

"It's not like I planned for it to happen. I was intoxicated Gerald, my inhibitions were down."

"Like hell your inhibitions were down. We all know you wanted to kiss her." Gerald raised his eyebrows at him as he said this.

"Okay, okay. I messed up."

"How did it happen?"

"Well, she pulled me into one of Rhonda's guest rooms to tell me that she caught Lila having sex with Stinky -"

"Lila was having sex with Stinky?! Mmm mmm mmm"

"ANYWAY! She told me that and I honestly didn't care, but we were both so drunk that all I could do was laugh and fall back on the bed and she was there with me. I don't know. We were next to each other and then suddenly we were face to face. Then I just kissed her and I think she kissed me back? I couldn't tell. She pulled back, fell off the bed and ran out. I'm so stupid."

"How was it?"

"Embarrassing." Arnold groaned rolling over to shove his face in the pillow.

"No! How was the kiss?"

"The most amazing kiss I've ever had..." Arnold mumbled into his pillow.

"Mmmm. Man, you have gotten yourself into a situation."

"It's not so complicated though Gerald."

"What do you mean?"

"I love her. She's with Dallas. I kissed her. I'm pretty sure she only kissed back because of the shock of the moment and now she'll never talk to me about it again and she sure won't try to be my best friend again. I have royally messed up."

"They're not going to last forever Arnold, believe me. Just wait it out and when they're over believe me she'll come looking to you for a shoulder to cry on."

"I don't know. She's told me that she's done with me. Anyway, what about those bruises on her arm?"

"What about them?"

"I don't think that those were from bumping into a wall…"

"You think Dallas gave those to her?"

"Maybe…I'm going to talk to her about it. She's always been good at defending herself so if he did do that...then why would she still be with him?"

"You really should talk to her. That's not something to mess around with…"

#

After Gerald had left, Arnold texted Helga to see if she could talk but she didn't respond. He had the feeling she would probably never respond. He decided to go for a run and "casually" run by Helga's house to see if she was home. If she was home, he planned to just go talk to her. While he didn't really like the idea of making more of a fool of himself after kissing her, his only plan was to ask her more about the bruise on her arm without Dallas hovering over her. It was getting dark as he left the house and he decided to take the shortcut through the park. His mind was darting all over the place as he mulled over the past twenty-four hours in his mind. With each beat of his jazz music his mind switched between kissing Helga, the way she'd run out of the room, and Dallas. What if Dallas did give Helga that bruise? What could he do about it? Why would she even tell him?

As he approached Helga's house, he saw a car out front and people sitting on the stoop talking. As he got closer he realized it was Helga and Dallas. He had no desire to run into the two of them so he slowed down and took out his headphones. Their conversation sounded heated so Arnold did the only logical ting. He hid so he could listen to their conversation. He knew it was wrong. The little voice in the back of his head told him "it's not your place to eavesdrop on Helga and her boyfriend." But he was already here and now he couldn't come out from next to the stoop without anyone seeing him.

"Dallas, why are we still talking about this?"

"Because something isn't sitting right with me Helga. Where were you at the party before I found you?"

"I was...I was talking to Arnold." She sounded hesitant saying this. Maybe she did remember their kiss.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I caught Lila hooking up with Stinky."

"Really? Woah, why didn't you tell me?"

"I think I'm permanently scarred by what I saw…" they both burst out laughing as she said this, "but I thought Arnold should know obviously..."

"I get that. How did he take it?"

"Weirdly, he seemed ok. It was like he really didn't even care. He actually started laughing, but you know he was drunk too. So maybe it was just his way of reacting."

"Well that sucks for him."

"I guess. I never really liked Lila anyway. She's a bit of a bitch." Helga chuckled as she said this.

"I mean her and Arnold seemed nice together."

"Yeah, he's liked her FOREVER. I was happy he ended up with the person he'd been pining for for so long -"

"Helga…" Dallas said cutting Helga off.

"Yeah?"

"I really am sorry about last night. I...I didn't mean to leave a bruise. I just...I didn't know what you were doing. I overreated. I was already upset because I couldn't find you and then I found out you were drunk. I didn't know who you were with or what you were doing. I was paranoid..."

"Paranoid?"

"Paranoid? That maybe you were cheating on me. But now that I know you were with Arnold I feel a lot better."

"I would never cheat on you. Especially with Arnold. Yuck. That would never happen. He's not my type...you are." Arnold's heart dropped into his stomach.

"Well, that does make me feel a little bit better." They both laughed and then got silent. Arnold decided at this point, he would rather risk getting caught then stay there any longer. He got up slowly in hopes of not being caught, but soon realized he wouldn't be. Dallas and Helga were otherwise occupied. Arnold watched Dallas kiss Helga and it felt like someone had stabbed him in the back. He turned around and ran.

"Arnold!?" He heard Dallas call out. He stopped in his tracks.

"Woah. Didn't see you guys there." Arnold cursed inwardly and wished he had run away quicker.

"What are you doing here?"

"Late night run."

"Sorry to hear about your girl Arnold…" Dallas said empathetically.

"Huh?" Seeing them kiss had made everything else in the world seem to stop.

"Lila…"

"Oh, yeah."

"She's not worth your time dude. Clearly that girl has problems. I mean Stinky? Come on." He laughed and stood up off the stoop coming face to face with Arnold.

"It's ok. I'm over it…"

"That was quick. I mean, you've been in love with her for how long? Since we were in elementary school. You're just in denial football head. Or maybe you're worried that you need to get tested now." Helga and Dallas burst out laughing as she said this.

"I'm sorry Arnold..." They both said laughing.

"Tested?"

"You know for STD's...who knows how long you've been sharing with Stinky…"

"Ah." Arnold didn't feel like going through regaling them on the fact that he was still a virgin, probably the only virgin left in the senior class. Not that he really cared but the thought of telling the girl he was in love with and her boyfriend who she was just making out with that he was a virgin wasn't he idea of ending this day on a good note. With that Dallas's phone started to ring.

"Hey mom...yeah...ok...ok...ok...I know…" He hung up the phone as he was grabbing the keys from his pockets. "I have to go. I forgot I had a family dinner tonight." He leaned over and kissed Helga goodbye, causing Arnold to dig his fingernails into his palms to stop from outwardly rolling his eyes.

"See ya man." Dallas waved at Arnold and with that he was in his car and gone leaving Helga and Arnold alone.

Silence took over and seemed to stay forever. Arnold stared at the ground and Helga looked at where Dallas's car had been. He didn't know what to say. He knew that Dallas had apologized to Helga for what he did but that didn't make it ok. It was like apologizing just to keep her around. He came over here for a reason and regardless of his apology, he still didn't feel right about Dallas.

"You never responded to my text."

"Clearly I was busy. Plus, you already know the answer to what you asked me. I bumped into a wall while Dallas walked me out to the car last night. Case closed football head. Now if you excuse me -" She got up to go inside.

"No, I honestly don't believe you." He couldn't let her know he had been there listening to their conversation but he also wasn't going to let her walk away from him.

"It's really none of your business…" She glared at him, "just because I told you your girlfriend was cheating on you doesn't mean we're suddenly friend again."

"Ok. Well, regardless of how you feel about me. I still consider you one of my best friends and I know you didn't get those bruises from bumping into a wall. I may be dense, but I'm not dense enough to not know that Dallas did that to you."

"This is NONE of your business Arnold. I can take care of myself. Always have, always will." She seemed out of control. She looked tired and less powerful than usual. Maybe it was the hangover.

"If he did this to you, you need to tell someone. You need to get help. Even if he didn't mean to. I...I just don't get a good feeling about him. If he did that to you, what is he going to do the next time he gets mad at you?" He wanted to grab her. To pull her close and erase the past few months. He wanted to go back to how they were before whatever happened over the summer to make her hate him so much. Then she wouldn't be with Dallas and they wouldn't be standing here yelling over some stupid guy.

"I will reiterate to you because clearly you can't get it through your thick skull. I am fine. Dallas is fine. It's none of your damn business what my boyfriend and I do. So just back the hell off."

"Well, what about our kiss last night?" Arnold spat the words out before he could think them through. He began to mentally kick himself as he saw the look on her face. She turned white as a ghost and her face went slack.

"That shouldn't have happened I -"

"I only did it because I was mad a Lila." He couldn't believe the words leaving his mouth. Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he just tell her he loved her and that kiss made time stop and finally made everything click for him.

"Good...because you know...I already have a boyfriend who I'm very much in love with...and I don't need you or anyone messing that up for me." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, seeming to regain her normal air of confidence.

"Yeah. I really wouldn't want to mess things up for you and your ABUSIVE boyfriend! That's definitely what true love looks like!"

"No, of course I forgot. To you true love looks like your girlfriend screwing someone else in the janitor's closet at school. Keep it classy Arnold!"

"Screw you." As the words left his mouth, he knew he'd made a mistake. He'd never said that to anyone before. He didn't know what had come over him. He didn't know how to tell her he loved her so all the rage and frustration of Dallas and Lila and every stupid little thing that's happened between them turned into those two words. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. More word vomit poured out, "I've always tried to help you. Be there for you. I've always thought there was more to you beyond your rough exterior. We were best friends Helga and now you could care less about me. So, guess what? You've proven me wrong. I'm done trying to help you and be your friend. I'm not going to save you."

"Go. Fuck. Yourself." She said this slow and concise, spun on her heel and with that the front door slammed in his face and he was left alone with this mess he had created because he was too scared to tell her how he really felt.