Chapter 1: It's A Challenge

Everyone's interests and talents are different. You may not be exactly like everyone else. You may find you don't fit in the way other people would expect you to. This demanding certainty can make life hard to deal with at times.

P.S. 118 Hallway

One morning Arnold and Gerald were walking down the hallway to their morning class. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"So how do you think you did on the math test?" Gerald turned to ask his friend.

"I guess I did alright. Helga and I spent most of the weekend studying for it." Arnold admitted, while receiving a questioning look from his friend.

"Why don't we catch a movie tonight?"

Before Arnold could respond, the two of them noticed most of their classmates looking at a flyer on the wall.

Walking towards the group, Arnold asked "What's going on?"

"Didn't you hear? There's an arm wrestling competition coming up!" Sid exclaimed.

"Arm wrestling?" Arnold repeated, not knowing what the big deal was.

"Yeah. I reckon Harold won't be competing again. On account of Big Patty humiliating him last time." Stinky laughed.

"So what if I lost to a girl? Patty's the best arm wrestler there is! Now shut up before I pound ya!" Harold threatened, not noticing Arnold heading towards the class.

Classroom

"Did you happen to notice the flyer for the upcoming event Helga?" Phoebe asked, referring to the competition.

"Yeah. Maybe Pink boy's gained a muscle or two since then." Helga sneered, remembering the results of the last time he competed.

"Perhaps you should enter? You've always taken an interest in competitive events such as these." the intelligent girl couldn't help but point out.

Knowing she had a point, Helga was beginning to consider this. Before she could give her response, she looked over to see her boyfriend entering the room.

A cordial smile formed on her face as she watched him take his seat in front of her. Arnold set his things down as he turned around in his desk and said "Morning Helga. How was your night?"

Helga leaned her head in her hand as she began tapping her pencil against the desk, thinking back to the previous night...

Previous Night

"I finished dinner!" Olga said excitedly, calling her family to the dining room.

Helga dragged her feet into the dining room, knowing how proud Olga was to have made it made another lovely meal for the family.

"This looks amazing Olga!" Bob exclaimed, digging into the casserole his successful daughter had put together.

"Thanks daddy! Oh mommy, I finished sewing the rip in your antique quilt!" the perfect child said, bringing a smile to her mother's face.

Helga sat staring at her meal as she listen to Olga once again not only brag, but about things she was not good at (let alone had any interest in).

Classroom

Placing a hand on his girlfriend's, Arnold smiled and said "Everyone's good at different things."

After listening to the story, Phoebe began to nod in agreement and added "While it's true we all possess different talents, they're not always ones expected of us. Having little interest in popular feminine qualities doesn't make you any less of a girl."

Helga let out a deep sigh, not knowing what to say, as she turned her head to see the teacher entering the room.

"Hello class! I have a very special announcement!"

"Is it that we get to leave early?" Sid asked anxiously.

"Umm...well not exactly. I have flyers to pass out for the school's upcoming arm wrestling competition!" Mr. Simmons said excitedly passing them around.

Each row took one and passed them back, as the students read over the sheets. Arnold didn't care about the upcoming event. He wasn't the competitive type like so many other people in his class.

Helga sat in her desk staring at the flyer, knowing even if she was up for a challenge, it didn't always feel good being singled out for something unfitting. If someone was to laugh or mock her, she gladly stood up for herself, just to prove to everyone how wrong they were...and to make them sorry for messing with Helga. G. Pataki. That didn't mean she felt comfortable pretending to be someone else however.

When morning classes ended, Arnold turned to see Helga still staring at the flyer. A frown formed on his face, wondering what could be bothering her. Yes being compared to Olga was frustrating. She had never let it interfere with her interests however.

"Ready to go?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure football head." Helga said, placing the paper in her bag. Arnold took his girlfriend's hand, tossing his sheet into the garbage on their way out the door.

Cafeteria

"So, you get a good look at that flyer?" Gerald asked, moving through the line with his buddy.

"I really wasn't interested in it. It's not like I'd win anyway." Arnold pointed out, grabbing his girlfriend a dessert.

"You could still compete! You know how crazy your lady is about that kind of thing." Gerald reminded his, as the guys turned to hear…

"Alright! Let's go Stinky!"

The boys walked over to see their classmates practicing for the arm wrestling competition.

"What's going on guys?" Arnold asked, seeing the gloating look on Stinky's face.

"I just won me a match against Sid! I reckon I won't do too bad in the competition."

Arnold stood there, unsure of what to say until he heard "Why don't you try out Arnold? Come on, try to beat Stinky." Sid insisted.

Arnold then turned to look across the cafeteria, seeing his girlfriend still waiting for his return.

"Uhh that's okay. I've gotta go."

"Why? You scared?!" Sid asked, hoping to make him stay.

"I am not scared Sid."

Another Table

"What do you suppose is taking the boys so long Helga?" Phoebe wondered, not seeing them in the line.

"Beats me." the unique girl sighed, not paying her stomach any attention.

Phoebe continued looking around the room until she spotted the boys across the cafeteria.

Boy's Table

"Come on Awwnold! What are you? Chicken!" Harold teased, until finally Arnold took a seat at the table.

He didn't feel losing a match meant losing his dignity as Harold seemed to; whatever it took to make them drop it.

Stinky held out his arm, feeling this would be his most interesting challenge yet. Arnold sighed, just anxious to get back to his girlfriend.

"Unbelievable! He's doing it!" Sid exclaimed, wondering how this would turn out.

It was like watching a rematch of Harold and Patty, as the guys saw Stinky instantly fold Arnold's arm onto the table.

Arnold shrugged his shoulders ready to leave the table until they heard…

"What's going on football head?"

"Huh? Oh hey Helga. We were just…"

"Guess what Helga! Your boyfriend's worse at arm wrestling than Harold!" Stinky laughed.

Seeing the tomboyish girl rolling her eyes with her hands on her hips, Helga scoffed "You mean like you're worse at grammar than Pink boy?"

"If you're so smart, why don't you two wrestle?" Stinky suggested, hearing the other guys cheer.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

Arnold looked at his girlfriend, unsure of what to do. He didn't care if he lost to Helga. How would the results make her feel however? If she won, she would just think of that as one more reason to feel less feminine. If she lost, there was a possibility the guys would make fun of her.

"Alright fine! Ya bunch of wusses!" Helga scowled, taking a seat at the table.

Gulping as he watched her take her seat, Arnold placed his arm on the table, ready to start the match.

"One...two...three...go!" Sid shouted eagerly, watching his two friends start the match.

Arnold watched to see his arm fall to the table, after his girlfriend had easily pushed it over.

"Wow, Arnold's really bad at this." Sid couldn't help but point out, after seeing his friend lose twice, and so easily.

Helga did her best not to blush, looking away from her boyfriend. She didn't want to win anymore than she wanted to lose. Competing and doing things unexpected of her had always been a way to show people their opinions of her didn't matter. Why would any of that matter to her though if it meant hurting the one person she truly cared about?

"Let's go Helga." Arnold insisted, grabbing the food he had gotten for them.

Classroom

"I cannot believe that happened!" Rhonda declared, having witnessed her classmate's arm wrestling performance.

"Yeah. Helga should enter the competition." Nadine said, having seen how good her friend was at it.

"Nadine, the girl barely possesses any femininity as it is. Why would she want to make it anymore obvious to people?" the fashionable girl sneered, as the two of them saw the rest of their classmates entering the room.

Helga quietly took a seat in her desk, hoping no one would bring up the awkward incident that had taken place in the cafeteria. Arnold took a seat in front of her, not seeming bothered by what had happened. He hadn't wanted to enter the competition to begin with, so why would it matter to him who he lost to?

When Mr. Simmons entered the room, he said "Alright class. I have your graded math tests, ready to pass back to you!"

"Perhaps you should let Helga help you with that. I hear she has quite an arm." Rhonda grinned as the class bursts into laughter.

Arnold could hear his girlfriend growling through her grinding teeth.

"Class, please settle down. I have your papers right here."

Helga ignored the A on her test, having to live with the guilt of showing up her boyfriend, thanks to one more anti-feminine trait of hers.

When class ended, Arnold stood from his seat, not caring about what had happened at lunch. Seeing his girlfriend sadly putting away her things, he said "So, Gerald thought we could all see a movie together?"

"That sounds lovely Arnold." Phoebe butted in, while he continued to wait for Helga's response.

"Eh, why not?"

Hallway

The four friends walked down the hall together, anxious to get to the theater until they heard…

"Hey Awwnold! Are you two holding hands or trying to arm wrestle again?"

"Well you didn't exactly win first place yourself last year big boy." Gerald reminded him.

Not caring about Gerald's help, Helga marched over to Harold, grabbing him by the shirt and said "Listen you big tub of lard! We can do whatever the heck we want! Now get out of here before I kick your butt at real wrestling!"

Dropping her obnoxious classmate, Helga returned to her friends and said "Let's get out of this dump before the movie's sold out."

Avon Theater

"Criminy! The line's longer than Simmons' nutrition lectures." Helga scowled, standing outside the theater with her friends.

"No kidding. The thing will be on video by the time we make it up there." Gerald said wittily.

"So what's this thing supposed to be about anyway?" Helga wondered, not having been told what they were seeing.

"The film is entitled 'Nobody Like You.' It pertains to a lovely young woman who is excluded from all sorts of aspects of her life, due to the substantial differences people profusely see in her personality." Phoebe explained as Helga began to blush.

"Oh…"

Fifteen minutes later

"Man this movie better be worth the wait." Gerald shook his head, approaching the ticket master.

After buying the tickets for the movie that thankfully wasn't sold out, the group headed for the snack stand. Standing in line, Helga noticed a teenager walking around with a handful of ice cream nuggets.

"What do you suppose he has so many for Helga?" Phoebe wondered.

"Pttss...his mom's probably worse at cooking than Miriam." Helga sniggered, watching the teenager approach her.

"Hey there! Let's see how fast you can eat this box of ice cream nuggets!" the teenager insisted, as Helga cocked her brow at the challenge.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" the impolite boy reminded her, as he shoved the box in her face.

Getting ready to grab them, Helga heard Arnold ask "What's going on?"

She looked over to see Arnold holding some snacks and drinks, wondering who she was talking to.

Helga stood there, rubbing her arm, reconsidering the challenge she had been given. "Uhhh...nothing."

"What are you? Scared?!" he asked, shoving the box in her face, as an angry glare began to form on it.

"I'm not scared of anything you moron!" she scowled, snatching the snack from the stranger.

"Helga wait!" Phoebe insisted, seeing her friend scarf down the box.

Moments later, not only did Helga feel an intense cold stimulus (brain freeze), but she listened to the harsh laughter from the pressuring newcomer.

"Man! Your girlfriend eats like a pig!" he said, assuming Arnold had to be close to her.

Helga's eyes widened at the accusation, knowing it was just one more example of her challenging personality outweighing her feminine side.

"Mm, mm, mmm! That is truly sad." Gerald sighed, watching Helga stand frozen as the teenager's words continued ringing in her ears.

Was it really a big deal for her to act as she pleased, or did she need to ease up on the aggressiveness? Why did she have to worry about doing that for Arnold though if he already said it didn't bother him? She just wanted to act how she wanted when she wanted without having to worry about being judged for it by anyone.

Seeing the shocked look on his girlfriend's face, Arnold took her cold hand in his and said "Let's go see the movie."

The four sat in the middle row, wondering how much they would enjoy it. Phoebe had heard it was a popular film and was looking forward to it. All it took was hearing the description once for Helga to know she was hate herself even more by the time the movie ended.

Two Hours Later

"That was quite a lovely film." Phoebe insisted, standing from her seat.

"I guess it was worth the wait." Gerald admitted, standing to stretch his arms.

Arnold turned to see his girlfriend holding her head as he asked "What'd you think Helga?"

"Huh? Oh, it was okay."

Knowing she probably had a headache after the intense challenge she accepted, he helped her out of her seat and said "Come on. I'll walk you home."

Walk

After saying goodbye to their friends, Arnold asked Helga "So what's been bothering you all day?"

Cocking her brow, Helga snapped "What are you talking about football head? I'm fine."

"I don't think you are. I hope you're not letting what those guys said today get to you. It doesn't matter that you beat me."

Rolling her eyes at his voice of reason, she smirked "News flash Arnoldo! They weren't laughing at me, they were laughing at you!"

Shrugging his shoulders as they continued to walk, Arnold asked "So, what's the big deal?"

"Doesn't that bother you? Doesn't it upset you that those dweebs were all mocking you for not being able to beat me?"

"No?"

The rest of the walk was silent, while Arnold held her hand, wondering what she was so concerned about.

Once they made it to her house, Arnold looked into her sad eyes and said "You don't feel like you have to win things just to prove things to people do you?"

Helga's eyes began to widen as she looked away, trying not to blush.

Waiting for her response, Arnold began to rub her hands as he listened to her say "It's just...just…"

"What is it?"

"No one has ever believed in me before. If someone makes fun of me for not being good at something, I show them I can just to prove they're wrong. Like when everyone thought my decision for Pheebs to be hall monitor was crazy. The more unfit she showed me she was for it, the harder I made her try to prove me wrong."

"Well we all know how that turned out." he laughed.

"Oh shut up." she scorned, doing her best not to smile.

"You don't have to prove anything to anyone Helga." he said softly, placing a hand on her face. Stroking her cheek with his thumb, he watched the stars reflect in her midnight eyes. Pulling her close to kiss her, he shuttered at intense cold feeling that remained on her lips.

"Everything okay?" she asked, cocking her brow.

"Yeah. Your lips are just a little cold from all that ice cream." he blushed, hoping not to upset her.

"Pttss...what are you complaining about? You're not the one who got brain freeze."

"No, but my heart stopped when I saw you talking to him."

"Umm...he had to be at least three years older than me."

"I don't care." he smiled, pressing his lips firmly against hers, no longer caring how cold they were.