Written By Shaun Blankenship

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"So, you comin' to the talent show?"

Arnold picked his head up from the breakfast table. "Are you going to be there? Are they finally going to go through with it?"

"It's been a rough year, but the drama teacher finally found the spot for it."

"Didn't you audition for that back in December or something?" Arnold yawned.

Gerald shook his head. "Nah, back in January. The auditorium has had all these problems with the sprinkler system or some junk like that. The fire department finally gave it the okay."

Arnold shook the tired out of his eyes and rubbed his hand across his mouth. "Maybe. When is it?"

"Since it's only a talent show and nobody outside of the school really wants to see it, it's gonna be on Friday." Gerald finally took a seat next to Arnold after having stood by his shoulder for a while. "The whole thing will get you excused from fifth and sixth hour and tickets are five bucks. You in?"

The football-headed boy slowly tapped his fingers on the table. "Well, it's only Monday. You couldn't have told me about this earlier on Friday when I had money?"

"Arnold, you're not still moping about Ruth, are you?"

Arnold ran his hands across his eyes and down his face. "No, not at all."

"Well, then what's wrong, buddy?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired."

Gerald patted on Arnold's back with his hand. "Come on, man, I can tell when something's wrong, now what's wrong?"

Arnold let out a long and heavy breath of air. "Yeah, I'm still moping about Ruth."

"Man!" Gerald backed off and turned his head away from Arnold. He swished back and slapped his hands flat on the table. "That was, what? Two months ago?"

"A little bit more. It's just…" Arnold trailed off. "It's just that… it seemed like everything was going good. Why do all of my relationships end like this? It's always jacked up like this."

"Hey, man, things'll work out," Gerald tried comforting. "And if they don't, there's always Helga. She won't put up any resistance."

Arnold gawked at his friend sarcastically. "Ha-ha, Gerald. Very, very funny."

Gerald did his best to switch the subject of Helga as fast as he could. "Did you even kiss her at all?"

Arnold thought about it for a minute. "She did kiss me."

"Was it a big, passionate, fireworks-in-the-background kiss or a dull, lame kiss?"

Arnold sunk down at the table again. "The second one."

"Arnold," Gerald started. "We need to get you a woman."

"No, I don't think you can just do things like that." Arnold lifted himself from his sunken position. "When you meet someone, it has to mean something. You can't just get together for the sake of getting together."

"Well, yeah, but what if you end up liking the girl?"

"I just think you can't go off of what someone has tried setting you up with," explained Arnold. "Once you start the relationship, you try to get along with her for the sake of not casting a bad impression. This'll continue throughout the rest of the relationship until one of you realizes that you don't actually like each other, but have been trying to get along ever since you met. It never works."

Gerald sat speechless, thinking of what his friend had just said. He finally thought of a reply; "Yeah, that's pretty true. I can't think of one girl I was set up with who I've actually liked."

"Then again, Gerald, anything with a heartbeat is fair game to you." Arnold crossed his arms. "You don't really care."

"No, that's where you're wrong." Gerald leaned forward. "See, right now I'm going out with Phoebe. This is a somewhat new development although we've been… 'close friends' for some time now. Everything else has been practice for when I do find that certain one. When I finally do meet the one, I'll have a firm understanding of everything and be able to stay committed."

"Is Phoebe the one?"

Gerald was still leaning forward, but his face was vacant of any expression. "I don't know that yet."

"Now how do you think she feels?" Arnold placed his hands in his pockets. "Right now, she doesn't know of any of this and loves you to death. If you happen to just break up with her right now, do you realize how badly you'll hurt her? Now imagine any other girl who you've broken up with in the past that you just consider as 'practice'. How do you think they felt?"

Gerald shrugged. "You're bringin' me down, man."

"Not as much as you are them." Arnold leaned back on the chair and tried to crack his back. "But on another note, yes I'll go to the talent show."

"Well, that's all I wanted to know." Gerald stood up. "Yet now, I feel so dirty."

"I'm sorry about that, Gerald." Arnold stood up and patted him on the back. "It'll be alright."

***

Helga took her seat next to Arnold in Mr. Cleredon's class two minutes before the bell was going to ring. She placed her books on the table and immediately turned to the blonde-haired boy. "How was your weekend, pigskin?"

He turned his head over from the wall to the girl. "It was great, Helga. And how about yours?"

"Hey, are you still moping abou…"

Arnold cut her off sharply, "No, I am not still moping about that."

"We need to find you…"

"No, we don't." Arnold placed his chin on the table. "I already went over this with Gerald, I don't need to watch the replay of it."

Helga felt really crummy about her actions. "Hey, I'm sorry Arnold."

Arnold sighed as he spoke, "Yeah, me too."

"What are you doing after school?"

He picked up his head and sulked at Helga. "I guess I'll just go home, collapse on my bed, and stay there until I fall asleep."

"Well…" Helga twiddled her thumbs about. "Why don't you… I don't know… wanna do something?"

"Heh," laughed Arnold morosely. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I don't know. I kind of owe you, though, for the whole… thing… with the thing…"

Arnold refreshed her memory; "High Stakes."

"That's it!" Helga snapped her fingers in excitement. "Geez, when was that?"

"Helga, is there any point to this?"

She nodded her head. "Yes there is. I have a job now; I'm making a little bit of money. I want to take you out. You need it."

Arnold placed his chin back on the desk. "I really don't want to, Helga. I'll just be wasting you time. I've wasted enough of people's time with my problems."

"Arnold, I could care less about that stuff." Helga gripped him at the shoulders and turned the boy facing her, lifting his head off of the desk. "Come on! Stop with this!"

"Helga," he muttered fiercely. "Let go of me."

She shoved him back as she let go. "You are such a pain in the neck, you know that?"

"Well, where do you want to take me?"

"I'll figure that out later. I mean, if you feel odd because it's me, just bring Gerald with you or something."

Arnold lifted his eyebrow. "Have you been planning this?"

She wobbled her head back and forth on her shoulders. "In a way yes, but in a way no. Just please, it'll help…"

"If you've been planning this, wouldn't you already have a place in mind?"

"Shut up, Arnold!" Helga pounded her fist on the desk. "Are you in or out?"

"I can bring Gerald?"

"You could bring your grandparents for all I care!" She laughed lightheartedly and sighed. "Are you in?"

"Yeah, I'm in. Do you want to tonight?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Do you?"

"How about Friday?"

"Sure," she replied. "Friday's good."

"Alright then, Helga." He stuck his hand out waiting for her to shake it. "I'll see you then."

She gripped his hand and shook his whole body. "I'll see you then!"

The bell ring and they sat staring to the front of the class. Mister Cleredon would usually make a minute-late entrance and start class. Arnold turned to Helga. "That would've worked better at the end of the hour."

Helga puckered her lips inward. "Yeah."

***

Gloria answered the ring at the door to reveal Curly bent on his knee, strumming a small acoustic guitar painted pine green. She rolled her eyes into the back of her skull as he played a slow melody.

Curly winked at the girl standing at her own doorway. "I wrote this one last night… while spying on you from the building the next door." He took a deep breath and began singing: "When I first saw you, I thought, 'Man, she's got it going for her. Yeah, she's really got it. Really, really got it…and she looks like she'd be great if I were to-"

It was then that the door slammed in his face and Curly stopped playing the guitar. He rose off of his knee and pounded on the girl's door. "Gloria! Gloria! You didn't give me a chance to play the whole thing! I still have a chorus, another verse and a bridge!"

The door opened again, showing Gloria armed with a baseball bat and ready to swing. "Curly, just leave. Just back away from my house and never come back."

Curly took a few steps back and got back on his knee with the guitar. "-See if she'd be busy tonight! Come on, Glo-ri-a! The only girl that I adore-ee-ah! I'd really, really like some more-ee-ah! So, comma-comma-come on, Glor-"

The door shut in his face again. A faint sound came from behind the door: "Leave me alone!"

Curly stood up off of his knees and stared at the door. "Fine… I guess I'll just the tape the song for you… and mail it. Good-bye, Gloria!"

She still dared not to open her door. "Get out of here!"

Curly stepped backwards off of the steps. "I'll be back here at around nine to just give you that tape. I can put those other songs about you that I think you liked on the tape. Hey, better yet, how about I burn you a CD?"

The door cracked open again and a planting pot filled with dirt flew past Curly's head. "GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I CALL THE COPS!"

Curly backed off further with his hands held up in the air. "Okay, Gloria. I'm leaving." He stepped off to the side and kept moving. "I'll be back later… around nine… with a CD for you… and a tape…"

"CURLY!"

"…Of the CD…"

"CURLY, GET OUT OF HERE!"

***