Shortaki Week 2020

Day 1: Masks

A/N: Eeeeee happy Shortaki week! This is actually my first Shortaki week and I'm so excited about it.
It was the first year of high school for the gang, and everyone was raving about the upcoming masquerade ball. Being the teens that they were, everyone was talking about who was bringing who to the dance.

Of course, Arnold and Helga were dating since sixth grade, they were bringing each other. They kept their relationship a secret at first, but by the second semester of sixth grade, everyone knew about it. There were different reactions among every peer. The most common reaction was that people were shocked about Helga and Arnold being together after years of Helga berating Arnold. But everyone got used to them dating.

However, this was Arnold and Helga's first dance together as an official couple.

The day of the highly anticipated masquerade ball arrived, and Helga was both excited and nervous. She was nervous because it was her first time going to a public event as an official couple with Arnold. She was secretly scared of having excessive attention drawn to her and her boyfriend, even though they had been together for three years. But Helga was also excited because she got to spend special time with Arnold, which she always got filled with joy about, even if she played it cool out in the open. So she tried to put her nervousness aside.

As Helga was getting ready, she took her rubber bands out of her hair and let it fall down. Her hair was quite wavy when it was down, and part of it was covering her left eye. She then put her masquerade mask on, which was silver and lacy on the top half. The bottom half was simple and a tad shiny, matching the color of her rose pink sleeveless dress that touched the ground. And to top off her look, she had her iconic pink bow on her head, as always.

Helga got to the dance floor at her high school, and Arnold was standing by the door, waiting for her. He was wearing a simple black masquerade that matched his tuxedo.

When Arnold saw Helga walk into the gym, he was speechless as his face turned a reddish pink color and let out an awkward little smile.

"You gonna say something?" Helga asked.

"You look stunning." Arnold complimented.

"Why thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Helga said.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Of course, football head." Helga answered as she held out her hand for Arnold to grab. They then walked around the gym for a place to dance as they held hands. Helga had gotten more used to PDA over the years, so she was more comfortable holding Arnold's hand in public.

Once the two found a spot to dance, they grabbed each other's hands and followed each other's rhythm, dancing. The two had not danced together since April Fools day in the fourth grade, but they were still pretty good at it.

Arnold gazed into his girlfriend's right ocean blue eye, and he noticed that her other eye was covered by her honey blonde hair.

That hairstyle looks awfully familiar... I could've swore I've seen it before... Arnold thought to himself.

Helga's hairstyle gave Arnold flashbacks to Valentine's Day when he went on a date with the French girl Cecile... and at the end of the date, it turned out not to be Cecile. But the girl who was pretending to be Cecile was sweet and kind. And looking back on it, the way Cecile talked reminded Arnold of how Helga sounded when she was speaking nicely and politely.

Arnold stopped dancing as he snapped out of his flashback.

"Why'd you stop, Arnoldo?" Helga asked.

"Okay, I'm sorry if I sound crazy, but I went on a date with my pen pal Cecile in fourth grade, only it wasn't really Cecile, it was someone else. I never figured out who, but I think I have now. Are you Cecile?" Arnold explained and asked bluntly.

That was probably too forward, damn it! I probably sounded crazy. Arnold thought.

Helga briefly smirked and then burst out into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Arnold asked, slightly paranoid.

"I just think it's funny how it took you five years to find out!" Helga said.

"Wait, you are Cecile?" Arnold asked.

"You know it."

Wow, this is a lot to process. I'll have to ask her why she pretended to be my penpal, if she's okay with that, but for now I just want to enjoy the moment. Arnold thought.

"Took you long enough to figure it out, football head." Helga said.

"Hey, give me a break, I was young before!" Arnold said.

"I was just teasing you. I love you."

"I love you too, and I wouldn't have asked for anyone else to be Cecile."

A/N: one down. And yes, they will all be this short and cheesy.