Hey Arnold: It Started Out With a Kiss

Chapter 4: Project partners?

The next day...
My second day at PS 118 High. The first day was pretty crazy, I wonder what the second day has in store for me.
A LOT APPARENTLY.

I arrived at school, and right off the bat, I saw Arnold and Lila in the hallway.
But they weren't being affectionate. They were arguing in the middle of the hallway.

I hid behind a pillar, or at least tried to. I wanted to know what was going on. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but they didn't look too happy.

"You know what Lila, this isn't going to work out. We've known that for a long time but refused to say anything." I heard Arnold say to Lila.

Were they fighting because Arnold and I kissed last night?
After witnessing that argument that I wasn't supposed to witness, I went to Mr Simmons' English class.

Arnold was sitting in front of me. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to him. I mean, what are you supposed to say to the guy you kissed last night on a dare? But I still wanted to interact with him.

"Hello class! I'm going to be announcing the pairings for our new English project." Mr Simmons announced.

"I better get someone good!" Rhonda said.

"Harold and Patty, Rhonda and Curly..." Mr
Simmons started saying.

"Yay!!!" Curly shouted.

"No! Why did I get this creep?" Rhonda shrieked.

"Lila and Nadine, Arnold and Helga..." Mr Simmons listed.

Well, there's an excuse to talk to Arnold without feeling pressured.
I can't believe I was paired with Arnold for the project. I just started my second day at this school and I keep getting mixed up with Arnold.

After an uneventful English period...
"Sooo... um... Helga? When do you want to start the project?" Arnold came up to me and said.

"I don't know... today after school I guess." I said.

"Sounds good." Said Arnold.

Luchtime rolls around, and I saw Lila at a table looking sad. I figured that it had to be because of her argument with Arnold. I somehow felt responsible for their breakup. It couldn't have been a coincidence that they broke up the day after Arnold and I kissed. I realized that I had to talk to Arnold about this, because I had to know.
Why did Rhonda dare me to kiss her best friend's boyfriend? That just seems so off to me.

"I can't believe what happened last night at the party." Phoebe said.

"Me neither. But why did Rhonda even dare me to kiss him? That's what I wanna know." I said.

"I don't know Helga. Some people are just confusing." Phoebe said.

After school, I got on the bus and Arnold sat in front of me again.
"Where should we do the project, Helga?" Arnold asked.

"I don't know, is your house okay?" I said.

"Sure." Arnold said.

About ten minutes later, the bus arrived at Arnold's house, which appeared to be a boarding house.

"Hi, Grandpa." Arnold said.

"Hello, Shortman." Arnold's grandpa said. "Who's this?"

"This is Helga, my partner for an English project... and also my friend." Arnold said.

Arnold considered me a friend? That's cool. I'm glad to be his friend.

"Make me a sandwich!!" This one guy said.
"Just go to Subway and leave us alone." Arnold's grandpa said.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Oskar, one of the boarders. He's kind of annoying and lazy." Arnold said.

"Like the author?" I asked.

"Excuse me what?" Arnold said, looking confused.

"Haha, nothing." I said. "Let's go work on our project."

Arnold and I went upstairs to work on our English project for Mr. Simmons. I know it wasn't any of my business, but I had to ask Arnold if his argument and break up with Lila had anything to do with me.

"Um... Arnold?" I said.

"Yeah?" Arnold said.

"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my boundaries, but I couldn't help but see you and Lila arguing. Was it because you and I kissed last night?"

"It wasn't that alone. Lila and I broke up because our relationship wasn't working and it was dying. It was that way before you came here."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't want to talk much about it."

"Okay, we can work more on the project."

Arnold and I worked on the project for about an hour and then I went home.
For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about him.
Like I said before, he is the most attractive person I have seen. But he is also really nice and charming and I want to know more about him.
I mean it's not like I actually LIKE him or anything...

Hours later, bedtime rolled around. Two days of PS 118 completed.

For some reason, I just couldn't sleep. My eyes refused to shut, and I just stared at the pink walls with millions of thoughts running through my mind. I didn't want to admit it, but most of those thoughts were about Arnold.

I did what I always did when I couldn't sleep. I wrote in my diary.

I started writing about how I felt about PS 118 and the new environment, but quickly, my pen filled the whole page with writing about Arnold. I needed to stop thinking about him so much, and I didn't even know why I was thinking about him. I feel less dirty about it because him and Lila broke up. But why am I thinking about him like this? It was only a kiss, a dare. Right?

I tried to go to sleep again. It was late as hell, and I didn't want to walk into school as a zombie tomorrow. Writing in my diary had made me a little tired, but only the slightest bit tired. I shut my eyes, and I just waited a while before I fell asleep.