Hello! So a few months back I posted a partially written fanfic called Hey Helga. I took it down because after reading it over I realized what a rough draft it was. This is the polished and finished version of that story.
I love all feedback and I look forward to any and all comments I might receive. :)
This story is overall light, there is some curse words here and there, but nothing much past that.
Thank you and enjoy!
P.S. I try to keep these characters as canon as I possibly can. All these characters do not belong to me, they belong to Craig Bartlett.
...
Almost five years had passed since Helga G. Pataki had moved away from Hillwood City.
When Helga's parents separated the young girl was on the verge of thirteen and she could not exactly say she was shocked. Miriam was a miserable alcoholic and her dad, "Big Bob" was distant to say the least; her family life was toxic, the separation was a messy end to a turbulent saga. Although relieved that she had a chance to live a more peaceful home life now that her parents wouldn't constantly be at each other's throat, Helga felt a desperation to cling on to the only life she had ever known.
Outside of her immediate family struggles, she finally felt hope and promise. Helga blossomed in the short time after the most eventful summer of her young life. She and her class traveled to San Lorenzo and Helga felt her world shift during that trip. She was able to help the one person she had doted over for the better part of a decade and in return it seemed he felt something back.
Something more than friendship; this made Helga shine.
Before adolescence she was mean and brooding but after the events in San Lorenzo Helga let herself open up more. She was slowly becoming openly creative, almost friendly and even slightly patient at times in which she would have usually pummeled someone.
This new Helga found herself more liked by her peers, especially Arnold. He now saw a kindred spirit in Helga that he had never felt with other girls at his school, it made him feel good watching her hard demeanor melt away and become one of his closest confidants, maybe something more. Because of her, Arnold was reunited with his parents and his life could not have been more complete. He was grateful and wanted to show Helga that as much as he could after they returned home from San Lorenzo. When she left so suddenly, Arnold was stunned. He had never known a life without her in it, regardless if whatever role she played had been big or small; at any given time, Helga was always there.
Helga's classmates heard the news about her parents separation and her move through word of mouth. It had happened so fast, most of the kids at P.S. 118 thought she was out sick, until word caught up to them. Arnold heard it first from Helga's best friend, Phoebe.
"Helga wanted me to tell you…" Phoebe let out a soft sigh.
"What is it Phoebe? Is she going to be late again to kickball?" Arnold grinned and looked over at her, but after he completed his sentence Arnold could tell it was more than that by the way Phoebe was looking at her shoes, trying to find the courage to complete her sentence. His face dropped as he watched her struggle. Phoebe herself was stung by the fact that her childhood best friend was moving so far away, and she was finding the task of relaying this to Arnold almost too much to handle.
"She's moving away. Her parents are getting a divorce." Phoebe winced. Saying it out loud was painful.
"What?"
"She wanted me to tell you not to bother going to her house, she'll be gone by the time school is out." Phoebe said this as fast as she could, she felt awful having to be the one to tell all of this to Arnold.
"I don't understand?" Arnold looked at Phoebe blankly.
"Arnold, I think… I think she just couldn't say this to you herself. You know?" Phoebe looked up at him empathetically.
Arnold looked down at Phoebe and without a word turned on his heel and began to run towards the bus stop. He didn't believe she'd be gone like that, without even telling him herself. She was one of his best friends now, if not something more; there's no way she would do this.
After a quick bus ride and a dash down several blocks, he had reached the front of Helga's house. He leaned over to catch his breath and then made his way up her stoop to knock on the door. Big Bob flung it open.
"Whaddya want!?" He looked down at Arnold. "Oh, you're one of Helga's little friends…" Bob's shoulders slumped down and his face drooped for a bit before he went stone faced again.
"She's not here!" Bob yelled and slammed the door in Arnold's face before he could even mention her.
That was it. He didn't understand how she could leave so abruptly, without even a goodbye. He was confused and even a bit angry. Nobody, not even Phoebe knew how to get in contact with her. Arnold was overwhelmed with the feelings of someone else so close to him leaving without a trace after his life was beginning to feel complete.
His hope that she would return to Hillwood diminished over time. In the first months following Helga's absence Arnold tried to team up with Phoebe and figure out where she had moved too, but they had no luck. It was one of the few times in his life where he began to realize he could not solve every problem he faced and that ate him up inside.
"How could she just leave like that, Gerald?"
"I dunno man," Arnold's best friend sighed, "she must be going through a lot though with her parents splitting and all."
"But am I that unimportant? She didn't even let me know she was moving. I had to find out from Phoebe." Arnold narrowed his eyes and slumped down on the bench he was sitting on.
"I don't think it was that," Gerald patted Arnold on the back, "I'm sure you'll hear from her soon."
"Who knows anymore, Gerald." Arnold looked at the ground while the pair sat together in silence.
...
Over a year passed and he felt that any search for her ran cold. Arnold finally decided he couldn't hold onto her any longer or he would not be able to enjoy life. So slowly and painfully he tried to forget the imprint she had made on him and move on. After a while life almost felt normal again.
With her emotions lost in the memories of her old life, Helga let her school work, her social life and new home life become corrupted. When her mom finally had it with her, Helga was failing almost every class she was in, she had been caught and suspended on several occasions for various delinquencies and arguing with Miriam was a daily ritual. During this lonely time, the only thing Helga could confide in was her journal and the letters she would write to the people she held dearest. She never planned to show anyone these letters but it helped her feel some connection with her friends, as small as it was. At first she couldn't bear the thought of anything more than these secret letters, because hearing their voice or the thought of their returned contact made Helga feel even farther from them. All she thought it would do is cement the fact that they were so far away from her. By the time she felt ready to talk with her old friends, she felt it was too late to reach out because so much time had passed. So she continued her new and empty life, letting her old life in Hillwood become nothing more than a fond memory while she spiraled more out of control.
At her wits end, Miriam decided she had no other option but to send Helga back to Hillwood City to live with her father in the home she grew up in.
"Maybe he'd be able to reign our daughter in," Miriam thought.
Helga was going to finish out the rest of high school there. It was the first moment in the last five years Helga felt optimistic for the future. Before this point, the last good memory she had was tucked away with Hillwood, her classmates, her best friend Phoebe and of course… Arnold.
