(I don't own Hey Arnold charcters)

"Move it or lose it, loser!" her voice carried above all the others in the hallway. People moved out of her way without being told. Some glared, some cringed, some looked at her with admiration.

Helga Pataki brought out many different feelings in many different people in her school. Even some teachers were scared of her. Her English teacher had become so dismayed with her, that she had almost quit! The girl was intelligent, extremely intelligent, and it was intimidating, as she wasn't ashamed to show it as she once had been. She had sought help in the end from one of her old teachers, Mr. Simmons. He'd shared all his "tips and tricks" to dealing with her, and it had helped a great deal, the teachers confidence coming back. In reality Mr. Simmons had pulled Helga aside and told her to play nice, because she was scaring her teachers and that wasn't going to get her far. Helga sighed in annoyance, but took his advice.

Something that had caused so much friction between her and her best friend, that they had stopped talking. Helga's goal was to graduate and get the hell out of Hillwood and far from her family. She had seethed when Phoebe had thrown her fits at her and they had screamed at each other, Helga screaming she wasn't going to hold herself back and relegate herself to some half-life just to make Phoebe feel good about herself. She needed to get those top grades to get into her University of choice in France. She needed to escape, and if Phoebe didn't like it, tough.

Phoebe had shot back, putting who she was as a person down, and telling her that that was why no guy would date her. When Helga had informed her she wasn't interested in dating anyone, Phoebe hit low, hissing "not even Arnold?"

That was when a line was crossed, and said boy stepped in, and told them both to calm down, take a breather, and go their separate ways. Helga had spun on her heel and marched away, leaving everyone who had witnessed the tiff behind, silent and stunned. Arnold had found her that afternoon sitting in Tina Park, staring across the lake. He had tried to comfort her with words but she'd pulled away and left him sitting there. He'd heard the whole thing. Arnold didn't date girls, and it was both by his choice and not. He wanted to follow in his parents footsteps, and he saw girlfriends as a distraction. Especially going by what he'd seen happen to his friends. It wasn't that he didn't like Helga. She had mellowed, and when they were together they did have fun, and there was feelings. But, like Helga, he needed those top grades. He needed scholarships.

She never spoke a word to him or anyone from the old gang again.

She became a solitary creature, studying, staying home on weekends instead of going to parties. Arnold once saw her working on her portfolio. He had looked over her shoulder and commented on how she should try drawing him. She hadn't answered. He wasn't deterred.

Then in Junior year it happened . . .

"Will Helga Pataki please come to the office, please? Helga Pataki to the office. Thankyou."

The whole class looked first at the intercom, then at Helga. Some ohhed doom and laughed. Helga rolled her eyes and walked out of the classroom, leaving her bag behind. Arnold noticed it, and when class finished and she hadn't returned he had grabbed it. And spent the rest of the day lugging it around.

"Man, why are you bothering?" Gerald had asked him. "It's not like she's going to thank you."

"I'm not doing it for the thanks," he told him. "I'll drop it off at her house after school."

Gerald just shook his head. This is why girls wanted to date Arnold. He was nice to a fault. And he had heard girls mention how nice it would be to have him for a boyfriend because he would carry their bags and was such a gentleman. When Arnold had turned down many of them though, it had turned to musings that maybe he was gay. When Gerald's team mates asked him about it, he would shake his head and tell them Arnold had a girl on his mind, and he wasn't going to stray from her. Which wasn't a lie. He saw the way Arnold and Helga geled. They were like two pieces of one pie or something. Pie . . . man I'm hungry, he thought. Most from the old gang assumed it was Lila he still held a torch for, though Gerald knew that had ended almost as soon as it had begun in the fourth grade.

After school Arnold got off the bus at Helga's stop and walked the little bit more to her house, then made his way up the steps and rang the doorbell. It took so long for someone to answer that he started to turn around, then he heard it open.

"Yes?" someone asked. Arnold turned to see a tall blonde man standing in the doorway, looking out at him. He had bright blue eyes, and neatly brushed thick blonde hair. Arnold couldn't remember his name, but knew him to be Olga's husband, and Helga's brother in law.

"Um, I'm dropping off some things Helga left behind, and some homework, too," he told him.

"Oh, she's upstairs in her room, just go up," he was told. Then first thing to strike him was how quiet the house was. Usually, in the past, the house was always noisy. Big Bob watching television, or Miriam in the kitchen, Helga's music blaring down the stairs. But today, nothing, but a quiet sobbing coming from the lounge area. Arnold looked in to see Olga sitting there, crying softly. Suddenly he felt very uncomfortable. Something bad had happened, obviously. He watched Olga's husband go over and sit next to her again, while he made his way up the stairs to Helga's room.

Helga made her way down the hallway, carrying her books. She couldn't believe how immature her classmates were. She knew she wasn't in trouble. What could she be in trouble for? She wracked her brain, trying to think of anything she could have done to get called to the Principal, but kept coming up blank. She never did anything. She came to school, sat in class, ate lunch, studied and went home to study more. When she finally reached the door to the office she took a deep breath, trying to ignore the nervousness in her stomach and the sudden need to pee. Entering, the first thing she noticed was her sister's husband, Steven, sitting there, talking to the office lady. She felt a blush. She had a little, itty bitty crush on her sister's husband. His whole demeaner reminded her of an older version of Arnold. Whenever he came around he always made a point to ask about her life. The day her friendship with Phoebe had ended, he had been over with Olga. He'd been the only one to notice and ask about her mood. She'd told him everything, and he'd given her a hug while she cried. He also knew about the crush she'd had on Arnold, and he hadn't teased her about it.

"At least it's not drugs," was all he'd said when he found out. Helga knew his family was rich and something called "old money". She wasn't sure exactly what his family had done to amass the wealth he had inherited at a young age after his parents deaths, but it was ongoing. Her father had known, and was impressed and that was all she knew.

"Steven?" she asked shocked. Steven turned to her, his face white and eyes red rimmed.

"Hey, kiddo," he said in his usual greeting. He and Olga hadn't made it to Christmas past, so he hadn't seen her in almost two years. Helga had grown boobs since then, though nothing to really boast about. Her mother called her a late bloomer, even though she had been the first of all the girls to get her period. Rhonda had once teased Helga that she was going to forever look like a boy since her period had come bringing nothing else.

"What's going on?" she asked, then looked to her right as a door opened and her sister stepped out. Her face was tear stained and blotchy. It was a curse with their pale skin. There was no way to look elegant while crying.

"Oh, baby sister!" Olga wailed, then hugged her closely and tightly to her. "Mommy and Daddy . . . they're gone!"

Helga frowned and tried to pull away.

"Yeah, but they're back later today," she said nonchalantly.

"No, baby sister, they're not coming back," Olga told her, her voice breaking and a fresh round of tears spilling forth.

"What? What are you talking about?" Helga asked, finally managing to pull herself free. She looked back at Steven who looked at her sadly. "What's going on?"

Olga took a deep, shaky breath.

"Mommy and Daddy are dead."

Arnold found Helga sitting on her bed and looking out the window. Her eyes were red rimmed, her face blotchy, but she wasn't crying. She hadn't said a word after he had knocked, and continued to just stare out the window. She only took notice of his presence when he sat on her bed. Then she looked at him.

"My parents are gone," she said, blinking. "They're not coming back. All because some drunk felt the need to get behind the wheel and drive."

It hit Arnold then, what had happened.

"I'm sorry, Helga," he said quietly, reaching out and taking her hand. She didn't pull away, so he just sat there holding it. When she started to cry again, he leaned forward and gave her a hug. She didn't even resist, just buried her face into his chest and cried.

"They weren't perfect," she sobbed. "They were far from perfect, but they were still my mom and dad and I loved them, for all I moaned about them. And we had lots of good times together."

Arnold continued to hold her and stay quiet. Helga never talked about her family, so this was some insight he wouldn't normally ever get.

"Every year dad would take me to a musical and we would sit there mocking it all. The music, the performers, the dancing, the costumes, everything. I know it sounds mean, but it was fun. We would even make fun of the people in attendance."

Arnold smiled. At least Helga and her father had found something to bond over.

"And mom and I often went on random road trips to see her mom before she died, or just because. They were always crazy misadventures, but it was always just her and me and something she never did with Olga. It was our thing, just like the musical mocking was mine and dads. Those were our things."

Arnold sat there for a while longer before he heard a knock on the door. Looking he saw Olga's husband standing there, looking in on them, an odd look on his face.

"I'm getting pizza for dinner, do you want to stay?" he asked, looking between him and Helga. Arnold felt Helga nod against his chest.

"Yeah, I just got to call my grandparents to let them know I'm staying,' he said.

"Anything in particular you like?" Arnold shook his head. "Okay, I'll come get you guys when it arrives."

Arnold and Helga were left alone again.

"Thankyou, Arnold," she whispered.

"Anytime."