Gerald and Arnold walked in an uneasy silence next to each other in the dense jungle. Lila was just up ahead. Gerald kept sneaking peeks at his best friend of the past thirteen years hoping to get him to talk to him. However the blonde seemed deep in thought. But after fifteen minutes he finally spoke.
"How did Helga become Hellie….and when?" he asked.
Gerald sighed. He had expected that question but it also meant bringing up a lot of person stuff that he just didn't know if he was ready for. "That's a long story man." He said
"We've got time." He said his voice filled with a bitterness that left a sour taste Gerald's mouth.
"Fine! If it will make you drop this whole 'you like Helga stuff I will tell you! But you have to promise not to tell Helga I told you any of this. She would kill me." He said running a hand over his shorter, but still tall stack of hair.
Arnold nodded and looked at his friend urging him to continue.
"Well it all started back when we were two."
Gerald Johanson waited anxiously for his mother to come home. She would be bringing all of the supplies for his upcoming year in preschool. He was more excited than when Jamie-O had found out he and his friends would be in the same fourth grade class.
"Is she home yet?" he asked his brother for the thirteenth time that hour
"Not yet Gerald." His brother sighed flipping through channels
Gerald bounced on his heels and stumbled over to the window just in time to see his mother's car pull up into the driveway.
"She's home, she's home she's home!" the three year old cheered.
Then a flash of blonde caught his eyes. "Hey who's that?" he asked narrowing his eyes as a little girl about the same age shyly removed herself from his mother's backseat.
"Don't know." Jamie o said puzzled.
When their mother came in the first thing she did was send the little girl into the living room and pulled the two boys into the kitchen with her.
"Okay boys I know it seems strange but that little girl is going to be staying with us for a little while." She said quietly watching the door in case the little girl came in
"Who is she?" Gerald asked curiously
"She said her name was Helga but that's all I know." She said "I found her wandering outside all alone. She was lost so I brought her home with me so she didn't get hurt."
"Oh." He said looking at the sad look on his mom's face as well as the one spreading on Jamie-o's face.
After setting down a few ground rules Gerald was finally free to actually interact with the little girl. He shyly sat next to her.
"Hi," he said "I'm Gerald. What's your name?" he asked
"Helga." The little girl said in barely a whisper.
"Oh, that's a nice name, Hel….Hel…" he said screwing up his eyes in concentration to say her name "Is it alright If I call you Hellie?"
The girl looked up at him and he was shocked to see that she was actually a very pretty little girl. Even if she had only one eyebrow instead of two. "Yes." She whispered
Gerald smiled at her and said "Okay then you can call me something too!"
Helga, or hellie as she was now called smiled and thought for a moment "I don't know what to call you."
She thought for a moment and then finally said "I'll call you Grr-Grr."
Gerald smiled glad to see the girl opening up to him. "Okay then. " They sat in silence for a few moments jut smiling at each other before Gerald finally said "I cant tell we are going to be best friends forever."