Chapter 1: We Have A Visitor
It was the middle of seventh grade and Arnold's class was having baseball practice at Gerald field one Monday afternoon. The pre-teens were busy tossing the ball around when they heard a voice from behind.
"Well, well, if it isn't the wussy seventh graders!"
Arnold turned from his position at shortstop to see Wolfgang and Edmund ready to give them a hard time.
"What is it Wolfgang?" the blonde boy sighed.
"I think it's our turn to use the lot." the evil eighth grader insisted with a vicious smile on his his.
A glare formed on Gerald's face after hearing the older boys' reason for showing up. The tranquil boy then marched over and replied "Wait a minute! This lot was full of garbage when we found it. Then we cleaned it up and turned it into Gerald field."
"Haha right! How about this. You beat us in baseball Saturday, we'll never bug you about it again?" Wolfgang glared, feeling he had nothing to worry about.
"What if we lose?" Sid wondered, imagining the worst that could happen.
"If you lose, WE get to use the lot whenever we feel like it."
A concerned look formed on Arnold's face. As great as it would be never having to worry about them again, they had lost a few games to them before.
While the blonde boy stood considering this, an angry girl approached from behind and scowled "Just get ready to get your butts kicked!"
Wolfgang grinned at Helga's threat and replied "Haha right. See you Saturday losers."
After seeing the malicious eighth grader leave the field with his slow sidekick, Phoebe approached her friend and said "Based on the substantial number of after school activities we've used this space for, I can't help but feel we were too quick to agree to his steep terms."
Helga turned to cock her brow at her friend's hesitant reaction. As she stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for some support, she listened to another member add "Yeah. What are we going to do if we lose?" Sid asked worriedly.
The pigtailed girl rolled her eyes at her concerned classmates and scowled "Criminy! What's the point of using this stinking space for sports if you're not willing to put whatever skills you morons do possess to good use?"
Starting to see her point, Arnold butted in with his supportive attitude and replied "It's not hopeless you guys. We've beaten them before. All we have to do is stick together, and support one another."
Having a hard time believing that was enough to motivate the team, Helga began marching away and leered "Whatever. See you in the funny pages."
Walk
Following his vicious friend down the street, the slow boy asked "But Wolfgang, how do you know for sure we'll beat them?"
"We're older than they are you idiot!"
"They've beaten us before though?" Edmund reminded his tough friend, finding it just as risky as the seventh graders did.
"That's because they stick together and take advice from the football headed freak they think of as their leader. I've got a way to fix that though."
"You're a genius Wolfgang!"
"Duh!"
The Boarding House
Arnold and Gerald were approaching the boarding house when the blonde boy listened to his friend say "Man Arnold. This is not looking good."
Arnold turned to his pessimistic friend and replied "There's nothing to worry about Gerald. All we have to do is stick together."
Lifting an eyebrow at his friend, the unimpressed boy sighed "Uh huh. That's all we ever have to do, and it's still not guaranteed to work."
Arnold shook his head at his friend's discouraging attitude. Normally Gerald could be counted on for support in times such as these. The idea of losing an area that was used for all their games (and that they put such a great amount of effort into fixing) was beginning to discourage him, as well as most of the class.
"Well, we've still got a week to practice. Who knows. Maybe they'll forget about it?"
Gerald glared with his hands on his hips at his friend's attempt to remain optimistic. "Whatever you say Arnold."
Walk
Helga was marching towards her house, frustrated with the discouraging act her friends had put on for the eighth graders. As she was marching around the corner, the vexed pre-teen bumped into someone...THUMP!
Rather than falling to the ground, Helga shook her head and scowled "Watch where you're going freakazoid!"
Not feeling threatened by her insult, Wolfgang crossed his arms and smiled "Where are you off to in such a hurry? To find people who actually care about helping you? Haha!"
Helga began to grit her teeth at the insult, knowing Wolfgang was using her friend's nervousness to his advantage.
"Oh put a sock in it!" she snapped, attempting to march past him.
As he began to watch her storm away, the evil eighth grader added "I'm surprised your little friend didn't stick up for you."
Helga turned to cock her brow, assuming he was talking about Arnold. Placing her hands on her hips, she scoffed "Pttss...yeah well that's football head for you. Always having to do the right thing."
"I'm not talking about football face. I'm talking about that four eyed nerd you're friends with."
Helga dropped her arms at her sides as her eyes widened. She hadn't considered Phoebe's reaction towards their friendship anymore than she had the game.
After shaking her head, a scowl returned to her face as she snapped "What's that supposed to mean?!"
The smile began to grow on Wolfgang's face, seeing his plan to mess with their minds was already having an effect.
"I would think a close friend like that would be more supportive."
Before Helga could give her opinion, Edmund began hovering over his friend's shoulder and laughed "Haha yeah. I bet they don't even care about each other."
"Shut up you idiot!"
Helga rolled her eyes after seeing her friendship was being questioned by someone who showed no appreciation for someone he considered to be his best friend.
The girl then walked away, trying to forget everything that had happened that afternoon.
Phoebe's House
The small girl entered her home to see her parents sitting at the dining room table. As she began to head for her room, her father stopped her and asked "Phoebe dearest, how was your day?"
Not feeling the need to bring up the conflict with Wolfgang, the intelligent girl replied "Quite well father. I'm going to get started on my homework."
Before watching her daughter leave the room, Reba asked "Where's Helga hunny? Don't you two normally spend time together after school?"
A nervous look formed on the Asian girl's face, not wanting to discuss the dilemma that had occurred. It wasn't unusual for Helga to over-react about minor situations. Why mention anything to her parents that could make their friendship look as though it was in trouble?
"I'm afraid she left practice early." the sweet girl replied, content with her honest, yet nondescriptive answer.
Helga's House
The agitated girl walked inside, not expecting to see anything unusual. Miriam would be past out in the kitchen, Bob would be waiting for his new cell phone commercial to appear on the TV, and Olga may or may not be out shopping.
After relinquishing a heavy sigh, Helga opened the door to see her predictions were inaccurate. Rather than seeing someone in the kitchen, she heard the phone ringing.
The blonde girl sighed as she dropped her bag by the counter and went to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hello baby sister!"
Helga rolled her eyes at the anxious greeting and scoffed "What is it?"
"I have a friend coming over for dinner tonight! Mom and I will be home with the groceries soon. Daddy might still be at work."
Helga sighed at the idea of having to not only deal with Olga, but one of her friends as well. It was annoying enough listening to her parents give all their positive attention to Olga she didn't have anyone with her to share exciting stories with.
The Boarding House
Arnold went upstairs to put his baseball gear away. He took a seat on the bed, thinking about everyone's reaction to Wolfgang's challenge. The idea of losing the lot had destroyed practically everyone's confidence.
The troubled boy laid on his bed with his arms folded behind his head, staring at the clouds floating above when he heard a knock at the door.
KNOCK KNOCK!
"Come in."
The boy then turned to see his grandfather carrying in a sweet after school snack for him to enjoy. "Hey there shortman! I brought you some prune juice and a herring sandwich."
After seeing the disgruntled look on his grandson's face, Phil chuckled at his joke and said "Just kidding. It's milk and cookies."
Arnold sat up to take the snack as he watched Phil take a seat beside him. "Thanks grandpa."
The elderly man took notice of the depressed look his grandson was carrying and asked "Hey, what's eatin' ya shortman?"
Arnold picked up a cookie he was preparing to eat and began to explain "Well, we've got a baseball game coming up this weekend."
"Hmm...doesn't surprise me. Seeing as how you're always practicing after school." Phil replied, not knowing what the problem was.
"Well, Wolfgang challenged us to take away Gerald Field."
"What the heck is that?" Phil asked, scratching his head.
"You know, the old vacant lot you and the rest of the adults helped turned into a baseball field." Arnold said, as he watched his grandfather think back to the day.
Phil's eyes then lit in surprise at the memory as he laughed "Oh yeah! Ho boy your grandma spent the night ordering us around like she was the captain of our cleaning team."
Still holding his untouched cookie in his hand, Arnold sighed at the floor and said "Yeah, well now the eighth graders are threatening to take it from us."
"I told Pookie to put a security gate around that thing!" Phil exclaimed.
After seeing his grandson continuing to mope at the floor, the elderly man placed a hand on his shoulder and said "Don't worry shortman. That class of yours may have some crazy people, but they tend to know a thing or two about teamwork."
Helga's House
The pigtailed girl was upstairs working on her math assignment when she heard the door opening downstairs. Right away, Helga could hear her giddy sister's perky voice entering the kitchen.
The somber girl had no intention of seeing what the commotion was about until she heard "Baby sister! Could you come here please?"
Helga smacked her face in frustration and scowled "Criminy!"
Moments later, she walked downstairs to see her sister unloading the groceries she was using to prepare dinner that night.
"What the heck's going on?" Helga insisted on knowing, after being interrupted from her work.
"We have a special guest coming over tonight baby sister!"
Helga cocked her brow at the news and asked "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I ran into an old college friend when I was out shopping. He's coming over for dinner tonight."
Helga rolled her eyes, knowing no night spent with Olga would ever be bearable.
Later That Evening
"Where the heck is the new cell phone commercial?!" Bob scowled, flipping through the tv channels.
As his oldest daughter was in the kitchen, finishing up the food she was preparing for dinner, the family heard a knock at the door.
Helga was sitting in the living room chair reading a wrestling magazine, with her legs hanging over the chair.
After hearing the knock, Bob turned to Helga and scoffed "Get the door, would ya Olga."
Rolling her eyes at his carelessness to learn her name, Helga stood from the chair and smirked "It's HELGA dad!"
"Right. Helga, that's what I said." Bob shook his head, not taking his eyes off the tv.
The pigtailed girl then went to answer the door. As she stood there with a hand on her hip and an unamused look on her face, she listened to the guest say "Hello. My name is Jordan. I'm here to see Olga."
Helga rolled her eyes at his eager expression and scoffed "Well whoop-di-doo for you."
Ignoring the rude remark, Jordan walked past the irritated girl to find his friend in the kitchen. "Hello Olga. How are you doing?"
Olga quickly turned around with the food she had prepared and screeched "Oh goody! You're here!"
Jordan followed the talented girl to the table, where she had a spot prepared for everyone that night. "Dinner's ready!" Olga called out.
"Finally!" Bob shouted in excitement. His successful older child was the one thing he was willing to pay more attention to than his business.
The group took a seat at the table, while Olga introduced Jordan to her family. "Everyone, this is a friend of mine from college. We ran into each other at The Corner Store today."
"What did you major in?" Bob asked, wondering if he knew a thing or two about sales.
"I was an English major. I'm currently working for the newspaper." Jordan explained.
While Olga smiled at his news, Bob became intrigued. "Paper huh? What kind of news do you people deliver?"
Helga set her head in her hand, picking at her plate. Anything anyone Olga brought home was guaranteed to be as impressive as they were successful.
"My section is currently looking for a business to advertise."
Bob's eyes lit with excitement as he said "Come by the Emporium! We'll get started on a new commercial for the store!"
A hesitant look formed on the college graduate's face as he replied "I don't work for the tv station. I'm just a publisher."
A frown appeared on the businessman as he insisted "We'll find a way to get the business noticed. Just stop by the store tomorrow!"
Helga was preparing to leave the table when she heard "What's wrong baby sister?"
The annoyed teen turned with her hands on her hips to face her sibling and scoffed "I've suddenly lost my appetite."
After watching her head upstairs, Jordan turned to Olga and asked "Do you and your sister not get along well?"
A perplexed look appeared on the college graduate as she replied "I love my baby sister. I hope nothing's bothering her."
Jordan smiled at the sweet attitude his friend possessed and replied "I have a younger brother. He and I don't always get along."
Olga frowned at the news, not liking the idea of ever having a problem with Helga. Although it was nice to know she wasn't the only one with sibling conflictions.