Delaroux here - I unearthed my Hey Arnold! commission fic. It's got me hooked onto Hey Arnold! again. Dear Lord, I've missed that cartoon to bits.
The pairing is Helga G. Pataki and Arnold, eventually. There's some Lila Sawyer and Arnold in the beginning, but bear with it yeah. I actually DON'T have the rest of the fic done up, only this first chapter, because the person who wanted to buy this idea completely changed her plotlines, so I kind of scrapped this.
Good thing I saved it! I actually have tons planned for this story, and it's all just coming back to me. Enjoy!
No rating for now - because I'm just going to write quite a bit of fluff to kickstart the story again. But there IS quite a bit of sadness going on in the beginning, so... Good luck, have fun. (Hopefully.)
It was winter for Hillwood, but it didn't seem to dampen any spirits for the young students of PS118. They made their noise as they always did, and Arnold walked into the classroom to find it fairly occupied already. He sank into his usual seat, and Gerald grinned at him.
Lila Sawyer giggled at him and he flushed a little. They were kind-of-sort-of an item, and he was happy with the way things were. He wanted to talk to her, but she turned back to her friends after shooting him a pretty smile. He sighed and turned his attention to his friend, too.
"Have you heard about the snowball fight later on during recess?" Gerald asked excitedly. Before Arnold had time to reply, he added, "Everyone knows, man!"
Arnold shook his head with a small smile. "Not me." Gerald leaned in closer to fill him in. But at that point, their teacher walked into the room, and both boys settled, planning to discuss it later.
"Class, settle down." Mr Simmons requested. He was surprised as they all fell into order rather quickly, and turned around to erase a chalk drawing on the board as he always did.
"Today, we'll be starting the lesson with a little bit of histor-" He paused as he walked past an empty desk and turned to his best student. "Phoebe, do you know where Helga is today?" He asked, knowing they were good friends.
Phoebe looked mysteriously teary eyed. But no one could really tell if that was because of her large glasses. She adjusted them duly and ducked her head. "No." She almost whispered.
Now people could tell more clearly that something was gravely distressing Phoebe. The class was surprised by her soft reaction. The bright and cheerful girl was behaving so out of character.
Arnold coughed softly. "You okay, Phoebe?" He asked carefully.
She gently shook her head and her small hands balled into tight little fists. "No." The half-Japanese girl repeated.
Before anyone could say another world, Helga entered the classroom. She wasn't dressed in her usual pink dress over her white shirt, but in a buttoned up coat. Usually, she would shed her coat once she entered the school, since it was warm and toasty inside even in the season they were experiencing now, winter.
Her cheeks were pink from the cold, but her lips had lost their color. She panted lightly and struggled to regain her breath, almost as if she had been running all the way from home. The class whispered to one another, wondering what was going on.
"H- Helga." Mr Simmons was obviously surprised as well. "Well… it's uncommon for me to make any exceptions for late students to join the class, but since you're always on time… just this once, maybe the principal wouldn't mind." He said, trying to be stern.
Helga shook her head and looked up at her teacher. Swallowing nervously, she got right to the point.
"I'm leaving Hillwood."
Phoebe let a quiet, strained sob drain from her lips, and finally everyone understood why she was so upset as Helga walked to the middle of the class.
"I have to go. Olga, my older sister, has a job as a music instructor in Firnest, and my family decided to move there." She said quietly.
The class was uncomfortable. They had never seen Helga looking so lost, or for that matter, so vulnerable.
Arnold frowned. "Why didn't you tell us? We're your friends, Helga, and..."
"I just knew about it yesterday night." Helga explained, and even Mr Simmon's eyes widened at this revelation. "They didn't think it was a big deal… And we're kind of leaving for the airport now." She added, rubbing her arm.
It was only then the class noticed her small fuchsia-colored suitcase standing halfway in the door, preventing it from closing all the way. She startled as Phoebe sprang out of her seat and cried; running and attacking her in a tight hug. "Hey, Phoebe…!"
"Helga, I'll miss you so much!" She sobbed into her friend's shoulder, and Helga awkwardly patted her back, trying to comfort her. The gesture alone was so out of character that it made everything seem so surreal.
"I can't believe this is happening." Rhonda breathed quietly.
The class quietly concurred. Helga stood up properly, shaking Phoebe bravely with a firmness in her eyes. "Don't worry; maybe I'll be back in a few years." She whispered to her confidant, hugging her tight before she let go. Phoebe slouched back dejectedly to her seat, her wrists rubbing at her eyes under her large glasses.
"Well… I guess this is it. Sorry I was such a bully to everyone." Helga laughed, but it didn't sound happy. "I guess it's good I'm going. I'll see you all aroun-"
"We'll miss you, Helga." Arnold interrupted.
Helga looked up, startled out of her short goodbye speech. Her heart thumped loudly. Arnold. He was always so kind. The boy she had thought about all day, and all night too, since she had found out yesterday. And for years prior.
She had barely gotten any sleep trying to put him out of her mind.
Leaving was so difficult. Everything around her seemed to be anchored by her feelings for him. Everything just seemed to fall into place whenever she would catch a glimpse of his smile.
She would miss the feeling of safety she had, the security she possessed knowing that even if everyone in the world suddenly became mean, there was still Arnold, and there was no way in the world he would be unkind to her, even if she was, always, to him.
She smiled and clutched the handle of her suitcase, and nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more in reply.
Before she forgot, she dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out the one thing she had treasured most since her preschool days. The picture she had of Arnold. It was time, she knew yesterday night, to let it all go, already. She had transferred it into a small rectangular frame, as opposed to the heart-shaped one she had for ages. That, she'd left behind in their old apartment. Along with her most beloved Arnold shrine in her closet.
As she passed by Lila's desk, she pressed it onto the wooden surface, the picture facedown. "I think you'd know better what to do with something like this." She smiled unsteadily, her voice shaking.
Lila picked it up and looked at it, exhaling a small breath as she clutched it tightly. "Oh, Helga…" Her eyes filled up with sincere tears.
Helga couldn't find it within herself to say anything else. She turned to look at her classroom one last time, taking her time and memorizing every small detail she had taken for granted. The scratches she'd left on her desk. Her pictures that stained the chalkboard permanently. The post its' she'd left on the notice board.
Then she gripped the handle of her suitcase tightly and left.
"What did Helga give you?" Arnold asked Lila curiously later on.
Lila shook her head and her hand closed around the small picture frame. "That's private." She whispered, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Arnold moved to put an arm around her, trying to find a way to comfort her.
She shook her head and told him to leave her be for a while, that she was just sad to lose a classmate and that she wished Helga didn't have to go. Arnold knew that all of this had something to do with that picture, but he didn't want to press the issue. Instead, he opted to give her a little bit of space and left to find Gerald.
Lila unhooked the back of the frame and pulled the picture out, reading the words that haunted her. Helga's messy black scrawl and a tear stain decorated the back of Arnold's picture.
He's in your hands now. Take care of him. I'm sorry.
Lila let out a soft cry of pain for her misunderstood classmate. 'She's sorry… Whatever for, Helga? For love?' She thought, forcing herself to breathe. She turned the picture over and touched picture-Arnold's cheek tenderly.
Phoebe sat down beside Lila quietly, leaning her small frame against the redhead's side. "You knew about Helga's feelings for Arnold?" she asked softly.
Lila nodded gently, turning the picture over again and letting Phoebe read Helga's words.
Phoebe adjusted her spectacles and sighed softly. Hot tears rolled down the sides of her pale face and she made no move to wipe at them. "I can't believe she's gone." She thought aloud, and Lila nodded absently.
"She told me that she was sorry… That Arnold was in my hands now, and to take care of him…" Lila looked at Phoebe, her eyes filling with fresh tears once again.
Phoebe nodded; her grip surprisingly strong as she held Lila's shoulder.
"So you should."
Arnold and Gerald sat on top of a table across the courtyard from the girls. Their legs swung freely and time passed slowly. Arnold watched as he made a track in the snow whenever the toes of his winter shoes dug into the pristine white blanket.
"So…" Gerald began awkwardly. Arnold, not knowing how to respond to this, rubbed his hands together for warmth. Gerald made no more efforts to initiate conversation after this. He didn't really know how. He'd never lost a classmate before. Neither of them had.
Arnold looked up as a plane moved slowly across the sky. He noticed most of the other students in their class doing the same. After it passed, he idly wondered if Helga was on that plane. He wondered if she'd be okay, wherever she was going.
There was no snowball fight that recess.
That wasn't too hard. And for a twelve-year old writer, give me some leeway! D:
See you guys soon. (Hopefully.)