Written By Shaun Blankenship

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The kids had sat down at the curb of the street with their hockey sticks lying besides them. It's amazing how a little police caution tape can stop cars from going down any street. It still was tied up between two lampposts at the both ends of the street. Arnold knocked his roller blades up with the back wheel and break leaning on the pavement. "Hey, thanks for the "Do not enter" tape. I didn't think it would work."

Helga nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty easy. I've had that crap since fourth grade. Got it from a cop on career day."

Gerald wiped his heat off. "Yeah, I remember that. Wow, that was a long time ago."

Sid let out, "That was an effin' awesome game back there." Back in seventh grade, hearing Sid say 'wicked awesome' all the time (and 'boy howdy') became kind of annoying. Of course, Arnold clued the boy into the aggravation he was causing, and Sid started to just say "effin' awesome" instead of the "wicked" phrase he had beaten to a pulp.

Sid, Stinky, Helga, Arnold, Harold, Gerald, Robert and Park all sat at the curb in their winter jackets and gloves. Stinky finally spoke up; "Hey, why didn't we ask Eugene to play?"

Sid answered, "Because, Stinky, he'd just get hurt. We're actually doing him a favor when you think about it."

Helga kicked a pebble on the ground. "Next time, I'll waste you Arnold."

Arnold smirked. "Yeah, sure thing."

Gerald laughed out loud and slapped a hand on his knee. "Helga, you are never gonna be able to beat this boy! You never've been able to!"

Helga crossed her arms. If only you knew, Hair Boy. If you only knew that I've thrown every game since I was six to let Arnold win.

Gerald and Arnold did their little "thumb-shake" and Arnold turned to Helga. "You played good today. Good game."

Helga shook his hand annoyed. "Yeah, yeah, great game. I almost had you though."

Gerald spoke out, "Helga, 'ain't no such thing as half-way crooks'."

Everybody diverted their attention to Gerald. Park broke the silence. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. It's part of a Mobb Deep song. 'Son, they shook, 'cause ain't no such thing as half-way crooks…'"

Park sat confused. "Okay then…"

"It's a rap song, man. Just an old rap song."

The group sat there. Robert finally decided to chip into the conversation. "So what now?"

They sat there thinking. Arnold rubbed his hands together. "Well, how about…"

Helga interrupted him. "Hey, we always do what you wanna do. Let someone else have a chance!"

They sat quiet. Harold looked at his watch. "Aw, man! I'm late! I was supposed to be home by six!"

Sid laughed. "You have a curfew, man? My mom just let's me go out until I come back."

Harold punched Sid in the arm. "It's not a curfew! My favorite cartoon show is on!"

Arnold looked puzzled. "You still watch cartoons?"

"Yeah, I do! They're having a 'Shindig Buggy' marathon on Cartoon Central!"

Park scratched his head. "Wait a minute, isn't that the new cartoon by the Frederick Thomas? I don't like it as much as I did 'Ross and Co.' If only he could've kept doing that one forever…"

Sid placed a hand at Park's mouth. "We've heard it all before, Park. We don't need a recap."

Harold stood up. "Well, I gotta go, guys! See ya!" He then took off down the street, is what looked like an attempt to run. The seven kids now sat there alone.

Arnold came up with a solution. "Let's all just go home or something. I can't think of anything. Winter vacation sucks."

Helga's eyes opened wide. Has he ever said that before? I don't think I've ever heard Arnold saying anything 'sucked'. "I don't know. I don't wanna go in just yet. It's still bright tonight. I just don't want to be stuck inside all night, and it has nothing to do with you, Robert."

Robert lifted a hand. "I know, I know."

Sid, Stinky and Park then stood up. Stink gave a small wave. "Well, we'll see you fellers later, on account of it's getting' mighty borin' jawin' with ya on this curb."

Sid followed it up with; "Yeah, but me and Stinky will go over to the ends of the street and remove that police tape. See you guys." Sid walked one way to the right of Arnold and the others while Stinky and Park walked the other. Now only Gerald, Arnold, Robert and Helga sat at the curb.

Robert stood up finally. "Well, I should probably go in to. The door will be unlocked, Helga. Just let yourself in from now on. I'll work on getting you a copy of the key."

Helga talked up to him as he walked by. "You do that. Thanks."

In the distance, Arnold could see Sid taking down the police tape from the lampposts. That was probably the smartest idea ever, he thought to himself. It didn't take a lot of skill to realize you could do that, but at the moment it was the craftiest thing he had ever seen.

Gerald stood up. "I'm gonna have to agree with Stinky. It is kind of boring sitting here talking. I'm gonna go home and see what my family's up to. One more week 'til Christmas, buddy." Gerald pointed both of his index fingers like pistols at Arnold.

Arnold pointed back. "See ya, Gerald." Arnold turned to Helga. "So how have you been?"

Helga nodded. "Good. I've been… good."

"Really?"

"No, it's been terrible."

Arnold lowered his head down. "Yeah, I heard you were kicked out."

"You don't have to refresh me, football-head. I was there if you don't remember."

"Oh, yeah. You were in Robert's living room."

"Yeah." Helga kicked a tiny pebble from the curb across the slushy road to a snow bank. "That would be how it goes. That's how it always has been."

Arnold placed a hand on Helga's shoulder closest to him. Helga shivered at the feel of his hand. "It'll all work out, Helga. Don't worry about it."

She moved her shoulders to knock Arnold's hand off. She spoke calmly and mellow; "Don't touch me like that without warning me."

Arnold placed his hands by his side. "Sorry about that. It's just a habit."

"Well, you need to break that habit."

Arnold changed the subject. "You wanna do something? We got the rest of the day. My grandparents don't usually eat dinner and the other boarders usually take it on independently to feed themselves. When Grandma stopped cooking, they started buying their own dinners. None of them ever complain, though."

Helga stood up. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

***

The room was bigger than a movie theatre, and that was only the center of all of it. Arcade games littered the walls throughout the entire building. Hallways led to other smaller rooms filled with more and more games, novelty booths, and other such things. It was like an arcade times forty-seven plus a pool table. Equal it all up on your calculator, kiddies, and you get 'High Stakes Arcade Hall'.

The original arcade that they had played in as kids still stood, but when this place opened, it lost a lot of customers. The slogan of High Stakes told no lies: "You'll never play the same way again." The arcade was the only real hang out spot besides Slausen's, the coffee shop, and the little restaurant down in the neighborhood. Besides, 'Wally's Wonderful World' was a little outdated for high school students.

Helga slammed down buttons by a joystick, forcing a large Chinese man with no hair to jump kick what looked like a wolf. The game was projected on to a screen that was almost eight feet wide and seven feet tall. Whatever the game was called, Helga was starting to love it. Arnold came up behind her with a cup filled with Yahoo. "How's it going."

Helga never took her eyes off the screen. "I'm giving this computer a red-hot beat down! Hey, thanks Arnold. I really appreciate this." The Chinese man jumped in slow motion, grabbed the wolf between his legs, dropped to the ground and flipped it over breaking it's neck. Helga raised her hands up in celebration. "Yes!"

"So, you're having a good time?"

"Time of my life, Arnold." She prepped herself to the controls. …And I've never felt this way before… I swear… it's the truth… Why is it that every girl knows the words to the song from 'Dirty Dancing'?

Arnold placed his cup down on a stool next to the controls. Helga could've been sitting down while she was playing, but that wouldn't be any fun! You want pizza or something?"

Helga's new challenge was a burly German with robotic arms. "Arnold, you're starting to make this sound like a date." You wish, Helga ol' girl.

"Nah, it's just a little something to make you feel better. I called my Grandparents and they're not going to be eating dinner. I figured I might as well have dinner and if you're with me, why not share?"

The Chinese man grabbed the German by the legs and swung him around in the air, dropping him on the ground with a trembling thud. "Well, since you're paying for all of this, I might as well not look a gift horse in the mouth. Is that what the saying is, a gift horse? What is a gift horse anyway?"

"I think it's a saying from old." Arnold picked his cup back up and sipped. "What do you want on it? Pepperoni? Bacon? Mushrooms?"

"How about half and half. I don't want to ruin your night just because of my poor taste. How about just Pepperoni and Bacon on one side and whatever you want on the other."

"No mushrooms or anything?"

"What is it with you and mushrooms?" The Chinese man moved in slow motion again, ripping the arms off of the German man. "No, I'll be fine. When it comes to pizza, I'm straight up carnivorous. All the other stuff became annoying after a while."

"Okay. I'll go order it. Meet me at the table over by the racing game. The one with the booth that suspends you in the air when you play."

"That was a good one. Alright, I'll meet you there in a minute." The screen flashed 'You are the champion of DEADLY TOURNAMENT! Enter your name for the records.' Helga glazed at the screen bewildered. "Wow, I've never actually beaten anything in the arcade before."

Arnold took a sip of his drink again. "Maybe things are starting to work out for you."

Helga maneuvered the joystick and buttons until the entry read Ol' Betsy. She turned around to Arnold. "Looks like I'll be joining you a lot sooner. Let's go get that pizza."

Helga walked through the crowded arcade behind Arnold, wishing she could at least hug him to express how much she loved him right now. Keeping a secret is hard work, and psychologically it's nerve wrecking. Then she scoped a bathroom to the right of her. "Arnold, I'll be right back. I'll meet you at the table."

Arnold glanced behind him. "Okay. See ya there."

Helga rushed inside of the ladies' room. She ran inside ducking; making sure there was nobody inside of the stalls. Only one other person was inside, but the shoes visible at the bottom of the door looked oddly familiar. A familiar breathing also lingered in the room.

Helga busted the door open. "Brainy, what are you doing in a girl's bathroom?"

The heavy-breathing teen stood in fright of the yellow haired girl in front of him. Helga pulled him out of the stall. "Are you following me? Everywhere I go and want some privacy, you're there!"

Brainy's nasally breathing continued. "Uh… uh… I'm not following you."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Um… uh… hiding."

"From what?"

"Uh… uh… uh…"

"CAN YOU STOP THAT?" Helga screamed at him.

"A girl."

"What girl?"

Brainy hesitated. "I can't tell you."

Helga crossed her arms. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because."

"Is it Sheena?"

"No."

"Nadine?"

"No."

"Rhonda?"

"No."

"Lila?"

"Oh, no!"

Helga grabbed Brainy by his shirt collar. "Well, whoever she is, you're just going to have to deal with it."

Helga escorted the four-eyed boy to the door where she threw him out. Helga pounded on the door as soon as he got to his feet. "Help me! Help meeee!"

A female voice was heard from far behind him. "Brainy? Brainy! BRAINY!"

Helga turned around to see Her chasing him. He quickly bolted out of the closest emergency exit he could find.

Helga stood looking at herself in the mirror over the sink. She then pulled out her locket. "Oh, Arnold! Oh, love of my life! Soon I shall dine with you at your expense over pizza! Shall I confess tonight? Tonight of all night should make the evening close perfectly, me telling the love of my life my deepest and longest kept secret! My love, my darling, my loveable do-gooder! Oh, Arnold! Arnold!"

She placed the locket back in her pocket and sighed. "Ah, I feel much better." She made sure her hair was perfect (As she usually thought it was) and walked out of the door. She then searched for her football-headed friend.

***

"How's your pizza?" Arnold asked her.

The pie had been topped completely with pepperoni; one side had bacon and the other had mushrooms (Arnold and his friggin' mushrooms). "It's good. I've had better, but the atmosphere makes it all better."

"Yeah, I guess so." He took a bite off of the piece in front of him. "So… read any good books lately?"

Helga let out a small chuckle. It was one of those funny little moments where this corny phrase smacks you in the face. It just goes to show that you should pay attention to the ball when you're standing in left field. "Actually, yeah. High Fidelity."

"Huh. I think I saw the movie to that." He sipped off of his near by soda. "I think it had John Cusak in it and that fat guy from Orange County."

Helga nodded. "Yeah, Jack Black. That inspired me to read it. I finished that book a while ago. A long time ago, before Halloween."

"Oh, yeah, you were reading that on the first day of school."

Helga suddenly realized that she was having dinner with Arnold. That harsh reality sometimes sets in, and just punches you out of your chair. She shook her head and snapped out of it. Don't lose it, Helga. You're here casually as a friend to a friend. "Yeah. The movie was a pretty different. See the author of the book was British, so the book takes place in England and has a lot of British slang in it."

Arnold put his slice of pizza down after he had bitten it. "You know, all my life I've told to read and that reading is better than watching movies. Yet every book I've ever read is more vulgar than any R-rated movie I've ever seen! Have you ever read Ordinary People by Judith Guest?"

"No."

"Don't even bother. It's so terrible. The book swears almost every chapter, and usually pretty graphically. It's all about this kid who tried committing suicide and came back to his family after have been treated in a hospital for it. The whole book is about him seeing a shrink and his mom going crazy from it… it's so incredibly terrible. Don't ever read it."

"I didn't plan on it." Helga took a sip of her cup. "I have my reading schedule tied up already. I own about twenty books I haven't read yet."

"Ah." The silence between them started to build. "Well, what do you wanna do after this?"

"I figured I'd just go home. I don't want to waste too much of your time. Hey, don't you have a job to go to tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I do." He grabbed a napkin from a nearby dispenser.

"You know, anytime I meet you, you always have free time. I've never seen you actually having to go to work. Every time I see you it's 'Hey, Party!'"

Arnold shrugged. "I have lousy hours but it's decent pay. I helps keep my grandparents happy."

"Well, that's nice." Aww, poor Grandpa, Helga thought sarcastically. "I'm gonna need to find a job. I don't think I can live with Robert forever. I'm gonna need to find my own place and be able to afford it."

"What about college?"

"I recently applied to a few places. I know I won't get in, my grades are too low. I have I think a GPA of 2.9. That's just pathetic. The art school might let me in?"

"Pittsburgh?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. That's really the only one I wanted to go to anyway. So far, I haven't heard any word back. I mean they'll write back if I'm rejected, right?"

"Yeah, they usually do." Arnold finished his piece of pizza, leaving only the crust. Eating it would be just more filling. "Do you want to play a game or something?"

"Yeah, in a minute. Let me sit for a while."

***

Bob sat in his reclining chair, alone. Miriam lay on the kitchen table sleeping on her crossed arms. The TV glowed, watching him instead of vice versa. The regret of kicking out his only remaining daughter to live in his house now made everything seem boring and pointless. Miriam wasn't a companion. Miriam couldn't stay awake for five minutes. How could someone who sleeps all day be so tired?

He shut off the television and crawled up to his bedroom. Miriam could stay at the table. Waking her up would just start a fight.