Written By Shaun Blankenship

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Arnold almost ignored Helga's call and walked over to Rhonda. "Hey, ya got any Advil or something?"

Rhonda pointed past Helga's face and towards her bathroom. "Under the sink in the blue box. You should find something to help. You took a hard hit back there, are you okay? Do you need to go home?"

Arnold just shook his head, still oblivious to Helga's presence. "No, I'll be fine. I just need something to calm my head. I wouldn't leave your party this early."

Rhonda shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Well, Peapod Kid already left. Little punk."

Arnold placed his left hand on his head and raised the thumb on his other hand towards Rhonda. "Thanks." He then started walking over towards Rhonda's bathroom.

Helga quickly followed Arnold through Rhonda's house. "Hey, Arnold!"

Arnold turned around angrily and Helga froze in fear. "What, H-Whoa, you're a witch."

Helga looked down at her costume and smirked. "Arnold, I know we had a fight a while back and I just wanted to say… (Come on, you can do it) …I'm sorry."

Arnold's eyes shifted, giving her a glance that shouted 'Is that all?' Helga bowed her head and looked up like a preschooler awaiting punishment for crayoning on the living room wall. Helga dropped both arms at his side and sighed. "You know," he started. "We can't go on throughout the whole school year ticked off at each other. I guess it was kind of immature of me to be rude and mean back to you." Arnold scratched the back of his football-shaped head. "I'm sorry too, Helga. Friends?"

Arnold extended a hand, which Helga immediately shook. "Friends. We're seniors, we can't be mad at each other for the last year that we might see each other."

Arnold grabbed at his head. "Yeah, I know. Now if you don't mind, I gotta tend to my headache. Excuse me." He turned around and continued his way for the bathroom cabinet. He shuffled things around and in a brown wicker basket he found a large white bottle of ibuprofen. He opened the child-safety cap (If children can't figure out how to open this, I'd be kind of worried, Arnold thought. It's so freakin' easy) and took out two small, brown tablets. He popped both into his mouth and gathered a handful of water from the sink to splash in his mouth.

Then he realized he just took Advil with vampire teeth in his mouth and it was a weirder experience than he thought it would be.

Arnold walked back to Helga. "So, now that we're on speaking terms, how have you been?"

The witch looked at her shoes and never took her eyes off of them when speaking; "I've been okay, I guess. I'm thinkin' about buying a car."

Arnold's eyes widened in a false sense of disbelief. His look was almost sarcastic but sincere to a point. "Well, good for you. What were you planning on getting?"

Helga looked up but had missed Arnold's facial expressions. "Yeah. Some guy on Cheffington is selling a red Baretta for five hundred. Bob said he'll pay for it if I get a job."

"You mean you don't have a job already?"

She lifted a hand flat in front of him. "I don't even wanna go over the details. Things became messy, I don't work there anymore."

Arnold dismissed it; "Okay, I won't ask."

"Well, what about you? How have you been?"

"I've been good. Nothing spectacular's happened yet. Nothing noteworthy anyway."

For a while, the two just stood there. The silence between them broke through the blaring music of the party. Around them, fellow classmates danced in costumes. Gerald was break dancing in the middle of the room around a crowd of spectators, and yet the world stopped in the area between them. For a maximum of thirty seconds, they awkwardly looked at each other. Thirty seconds never seems like much in words, but it's always longer in life.

Helga decided to break the silence. "This party sucks."

Arnold nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes, it does."

"Wanna bail? Catch a movie on TV or something?"

"Ah… let me get another glass of punch. Might as well use this party for all it's worth." They found themselves in silence once again for a little more than five seconds. "So, movie? I don't know what's on tonight."

Helga raised her hands in the air. "Are you kidding? It's Halloween! All the good ones should be on tonight."

"My house or yours?"

Helga's eyes grew wide and she finally realized what was going on. Oh… my… I can't even think of a good exclamation to fit this situation. She stood paralyzed in front of her anxious friend. Arnold waved a hand in her face; "Hello?"

"Hello?"

Helga snapped of her trance. "Huh-what? Oh, yeah. Um… how about your place?"

"Yeah, that'll work. I've got cable."

"Premium?"

"Digital."

Helga slapped a hand on Arnold's back but still remained in front of him. "Just show me the way!"

Arnold pointed a finger towards the snack cart. "Punch."

Helga dropped her hand. "Oh… alright. Well, I'll be outside. We can take my car." She paused. "I mean, my parents' car. You know. I don't have a car of my own."

Arnold moved towards the table while still talking, "I'll be out there in a minute, okay?"

Helga lifted a thumb on her right hand. "Okay." She walked the opposite way of Arnold towards the door.

It was then that Rhonda started flagging her down. "Hey, where are you going? You just got here!"

Helga turned around to the now teen princess. "Rhonda, I just don't want to stay any longer. It's a great party, really, and it's nothing personal. I just need to go."

"What, so you're just going to leave?"

Helga placed a hand on Rhonda's shoulder. "Rhonda, what I'm about to say I want you to take personally and confidentially. I have something really going for me right now and I'll only be able to take full advantage of it right now. So, please, don't ruin this for me. It really was a great party, but I have to go." Helga removed her hand and walked out of the door.

As Helga made her way down the walkway, Rhonda opened her door and shouted, "Well, what's more important than my party, huh? Come on, you have to tell me something!"

Helga lifted a hand, displaying the back of it to Rhonda. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Rhonda."

The girl at the doorway stomped her foot down and slammed the door into the night. You know, I go through so much trouble and money to throw a party and this is the thanks I get? was all she could think. Rhonda's only way of dealing with frustration was to tantrum. Venting like that can be healthy, but its consequences may be worse than your problems.

Helga sat in her car across the street waiting. She sat there for three minutes before she became skeptical. What if I'm being stood up? What if this is all a joke to get back at all I've done to him? She then thought harder. Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Why would he do that? The only reason he'd do that would be to hurt my feelings towards him and if he's oblivious to my feelings…

It was then that Arnold left with Rhonda chasing him. "Wait! I had stuff scheduled for later! The party was just beginning!"

Arnold turned slowly to his desperate party host. "Look, it was a great party from what I saw. You should have one again some time. I have to go, Rhonda. I'll see you Monday at school."

Rhonda stared out into nothingness as Arnold walked away. "But we have school tomorrow!"

"Yeah… and I'm not going to be there… I think you would've figured that since you're throwing a huge party on a Thursday. See ya, Rhonda!"

Rhonda was still nerved about the recent departures of two people. She slowly shuffled back into her doorway and closed the door. As for Arnold, he stood in the street to find out what happened to Helga. She couldn't have gone far… what kind of car is she driving?

A honk then emerged from the horn of a black town car. Arnold turned his attention towards and found his blonde-haired friend in the driver seat waving. Arnold walked over to the passenger-side door and entered the car. Immediately, he buckled his seatbelt and looked at Helga in anticipation. "So, you do know where I live, right?"

You have no idea, Arnold. "Yeah, I know where the old boarding house is. I'm surprised you haven't sold that place yet."

Arnold shrugged as Helga started the engine. "Eh, I can't get rid of it. That place is a part of me. I grew up there. That's really all I've ever known." He turned towards the windshield. "It's a part of me. I can't sell a part of my past."

Helga shifted down the lever on the side of the wheeled and put the car in drive. "Well, let's just add that to the list of things we disagree on. I think that where you've been is only to be used as a guideline for where you're going. Memories are all you can take with you no matter where you go; so what's the point of material? It's just a house."

Arnold turned back towards Helga as she worked the city streets. "It's not just my past, it's also about the boarders. I can't just evict everybody. They're like a family to me. Would you kick out your family of a home?"

"First chance I'd get."

"And that's you. Another reason why I haven't sold the house yet is because it's not really mine; it's my grandparents'. I know if I wanted to sell it, they wouldn't object, but I know they want to stay too. Once they're gone, I might sell it."

Helga sighed. "I wouldn't care what my parents wanted. Both of them are imbeciles. Why should I care about them?"

"You really shouldn't talk that way about your mom and dad. You know, without them, you wouldn't be here."

"Arnold, don't take this hurtfully. You don't understand. See, your grandparents are at least supportive and willing to get involved. I have all the makings of a psychiatrist's dream. I've lived all my life with a father who can't even remember my name most of the time. Your grandparents' eyes and memories may fade but they'll never be able to forget you." She then took a deep breath. "You never had your real parents around. When it's your parents who do this to you, it hurts more. A grandparent could treat me like dirt and I wouldn't care. When your parents show this to you, it seems like you're a mistake. Like they wish they never had you or something."

Helga's car pulled up to the intersection and stopped at the red light. It was then that she noticed that her friend was sulking back in his seat. "You okay, Arnold?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Arnold looked out his window. "I just wish you had better, Helga. You don't have anything going for you, do you?"

Helga pounded down on her gas pedal as soon as the light turn green and slowed down once she had passed it. "Arnold, this is the kind of stuff that gets you labeled as nosey, man."

"Helga, I mean it, and you made it my business by bringing it up. You claim your parents don't pay attention to you at all, even though I know somewhere, they care about you."

"I know you hate your family, but even you know that deep down, they love you. How can a parent not? The thing is that you have to realize it and make your feelings towards it known to your mom and dad."

Helga pounded on the steering wheel and growled. "Arnold, I have to tell you, you don't get it. Do you know what my dad would say if I just went out and said, 'Hey, Dad! I believe that you don't care about me! Do you really love me?' Do you know what'd he say."

"Maybe you should find out."

Helga scowled at her now annoying friend. "He'd tell me to toughen up and stop whining. He'd tell me of how everyday after school, his dad would chase him with a belt for no apparent reason and beat him until he passed out just to make sure he wouldn't even think of disobeying him at any time. He'd tell me about when he was a kid, his family lived in a trailer mobile home in the middle of the boonies where he only had two outfits to wear; how his parents hardly ever looked at him, let alone talk to him, and he how he was happy with it. He'd tell me that I was weak for not feeling 'loved', Arnold!" Helga was now breathing heavy as she turned a left around the corner.

Arnold blinked at Helga, impressed by her lengthy explanation. "But you'll never know until you actually tell him, Helga." She rolled her eyes in disgust at Arnold's suggestion. "I'm serious, Helga. You shouldn't dismiss this. You have to realize you'll never know until you follow through."

Helga raised half of her uni-brow, which would have been her right eyebrow. "Have you ever talked to my dad?"

"Uh, yeah. I worked for him for a while."

"Oh, yeah. Then you would know how stubborn and opinionated he is. He's closed-minded. I know him, Arnold, I have lived with him all my life. I know exactly what he would say, down to diction."

Arnold looked back out of his window and then to Helga. "You just passed my house."

Helga looked out of Arnold's window and slammed on the breaks to the side of the road. "Man, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, we can just turn around."

As soon as the coast was clear, Helga swung a U-turn and back towards the boarding house. She parked the car in front of it and shut off her engine. "Alright, now that we're here, can we leave this whole argument out here. I don't want to spend all night talking about my dad."

"Okay." Helga and Arnold then simultaneously exited the car. "Now we can talk about your mom."

Helga looked at Arnold and sarcastically gasped out, "Heh-heh…" She shut her door and walked to Arnold's stoop.

Arnold ran up to hit the door before she arrived to meet it. He opened it and released three dogs and a cat into the night. Helga laughed and looked at Arnold. "You know, I would've thought you had found a way to stop that by now."

Arnold smiled back at her. "I wonder how Rhonda's doing."

***

Rhonda sat in her depression, resting her head in her open palms, on her living room couch. She the started speaking to no one, "My party's a failure."

It was then (with perfect timing) that 'zit-faced' Eugene came up to her. "Hi, Rhonda. I think I swallowed an airborne screw and may need a doctor. Do you mind if I go home?"

Helga waved a hand to him. "Sure, leave! And while you're at it, why don't you just tell all of your friends' to leave too?"

Eugene stepped back a little. "Are you serious?"

"Eugene, just get out of here before I break something on your head."

Eugene walked backwards away and stepped outside the door. What Rhonda didn't see was when Eugene left, he tripped off her steps and knocked himself unconscious on a fire hydrant.

Rhonda lifted her head off of her hands and placed them dangling between her legs. "What a wonderful evening…" She trailed off as soon as she saw a familiar face walking towards her.

"Great party, Rhonda."

Rhonda immediately shot up and extended a hand to shake. "Thanks, Robert. I'm so glad you came. Where's your date?"

Robert shrugged. "Eh, she had some personal business to attend to. Family matters and housework. You know how it is."

Rhonda nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I know." No, I don't. "Well, that's a shame."

"Yeah, it is."

Both of them stood there for a while. "Big shame there, Rob."

"Yeah."

Rhonda bit her lip in confusion. You have to do something now, Rhonda! Make a move! Make a move, stupid! Rhonda clapped her hands together and rubbed them. "So, your girlfriend, what's her name?"

Robert raised his brow and answered, "Oh, Julia Appleton."

"Oh…" Appleton? What kind of a hick name is that? She sounds like something out of a Laura Ingles Wilder book! "You really like her?"

"Yeah."

Rhonda couldn't take it anymore. Her hand was shaking at her side and her teeth were quietly chattering. Sweat was forming at her forehead. Then, without thinking, Rhonda blurted out what swarmed through her cluttered head. "Robert, I love you."

Robert had just taken a sip from a cup of punch he held in his left hand, but now was spitting it out on Rhonda's carpet. "What?"

Rhonda grabbed Robert's head with both hands and forced it forward to kiss it. She shoved her lips onto his and almost molested his face. As soon as her grip loosened, Robert looked back at her with his eyes widened. Rhonda looked down at the stain on her carpet and back at Robert with her head ducked down. "I'm sorry, I got… carried away in the moment."

Robert wiped his mouth off as if signaling disgust. "Rhonda… I… I have a girlfriend! What are you doing?"

Rhonda looked at the boy's eyes. They were just as she had remembered from her elementary days, still as emotional as ever. Confused and distorted, she ran off into her room and slammed the door. She then pounded the door and cried out, "Why? Why?! WHY?!"

A voice was then heard from behind her. "Hey, do you mind?"

She turned around to find Sid and a girl in a cat costume in a far corner of the room talking too each other, occasionally sipping punch. It was then that she snapped. A fuse in her brain had sparked its last bit of energy and she exploded in anger. "GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

Sid and the girl in the feline costume jumped out and rushed towards her door. Rhonda ran out after them and to the living room of her house. She then went behind the DJ booth and unplugged his equipment. The DJ immediately turned around. "What's going on?"

Rhonda dropped the electrical cords and spoke in a deep but strangely mellowed voice. "Everybody, get out of my house."

All the party attendants looked confused at each other as if they didn't here her correctly. She then grabbed hold of a nearby ceramic lamp and smashed it onto her floor. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Everyone rushed out of Rhonda's front door as if she had just set the place on fire. The ceramic lamp laid in scattered pieces across her floor. The DJ started packing up his equipment bitterly. "I'm still getting paid, right? You're not going to cancel my check, are you?"

Rhonda did not answer him, but only stormed back into her now empty room. She collapsed her body on her bed and began to weep heavily into her pillow. Well, this will make an interesting discussion in therapy, her mind mocked at her.