The Curious Case of Helga Pataki
Chapter 1
"Goodnight grandpa. Goodnight grandma." Arnold called out as he turned off the light.
As soon as he shut his eyes closed, he drifted immediately to dreamland.
In his dream, Arnold was a…girl. A five-year old girl with a head shaped like a football, long blonde hair and a pink dress with a matching pink bow on top of his head.
He (or she) woke up in the sound of a violin. She went downstairs to see her parents watching her big sister as she plays the instrument. She knew she has to go to school. It's her first day. She went to her mother and pulled her skirt, "Mommy, I have to go to the preschool."
"Oh right." She said, a little spaced-out. "Daddy will take you to school, honey."
"Me?" he said shockingly. "I have a cell phone empire to run. She can go by herself, right Ally?"
"It's Annie, dad. And it's raining outside." Annie protested.
"Then take an umbrella or something. Go on."
"Fine!" She said then went off.
The wind was freezing. She doesn't have an umbrella or even a jacket to protect her from the rain. She was soaking wet and scared. The streets looked very creepy, and so as the people. A car ran over a puddle of mud, splurging it all over her, leaving her muddy and smelly. She was about to cry when she felt the rain stopped pouring.
But it really didn't. She looked up and saw a blonde boy with a unibrow and a hat. He was holding an umbrella, covering them both from the rain.
"Hi. I'm Henry." He said, giving her a smile. "I like your bow. It's pink like your pants."
Suddenly, Annie felt a warm feeling inside. Despite the rain and the cold, everything around her feels right and comfy.
In school, she would watch Henry as he read a book or finger paint or play Lego with his best friend. She never mind if other kids took her pencil away or ate her food. All she cared about was Henry. But when those kids started bullying Henry too, it was a different story.
"Give me that!" Yelled the big, fat kid named Harold. He was trying to snatch away Henry's ball. When Annie saw this, she went ballistic. She took a toy block and threw it, hitting hard at the back of Harold's head.
"Who hit me?" Harold asked furiously.
"I did." Annie said, levelling her eye with Harold's.
"Why did you do that? I'm gonna pound you!" as he lunged himself to her, Annie took out her left leg, giving Harold a hard kick on the sheen.
"Aw! Aw!" Harold bounced around in pain.
The other kids watched, all wide-eyed and scared.
Suddenly, Annie found herself in a different setting. And this time, she's a fourth grader. She realized that her feelings for Henry didn't change. She would still watch him from afar, admiring his optimism and kindness, swooning over his picture in her locket.
With her tough reputation, Annie found it impossible to soften up around Henry. She thought that if she acted nice to him, everyone would be suspicious of her. She might end up revealing her deepest, darkest secret. If this happens, the whole school will laugh at her. She was also afraid of what Henry would think. But most of all, she was afraid that he might not love her back.
Putting on her worst behaviour and trying not to crack her true feelings out, she would push Henry around and call him names, blow him spit balls or sting him with rubber bands during class. She would make his day as miserable as possible, more miserable than any other kid in school.
But at the end of the day, she would soothe herself with fantasies of them together. She would write on her pink notebook her declarations of love for Henry. How she would tell him one day how much she loves him and they'll end up getting married and having lots and lots of children. Her notebook became her best friend. She even named it Philly. She could tell "her" things that she couldn't tell anyone even to her best gal pal. She felt like Philly was the only one she could trust.
Because of Annie's mean and annoying demeanour, Henry grew irritated to her. Most of the time, he would ignore her insults. But one day, he snapped. During recess period, Annie had decided to sit with him on his table. But before she could make herself comfortable, Henry does the unthinkable by embarrassing her in front of the whole school. Sick and tired of all her bullying, he told her he'd rather eat on a toilet than to eat with her on the same table at lunch. Deeply hurt with what he said, she ran to the janitor's room and stayed there for hours.
Soon, Henry realized how awful his words were so he went to look for her and apologize. He found her in her so-called "office", her eyes puffy in tears. "Look Annie," he begun. "I'm so sorry for what I said back there. You don't deserve it. No matter how mean you are to me all the time, still, you don't deserve to be treated that way." He paused for a while, waiting for Annie to speak, but she didn't.
Henry held her shoulder and turned her towards him to see her face.
"Listen to me. I know you're not that mean. You may look tough on the outside but deep down, you are this sensitive girl with a good heart." He said, soothing her. "I wish you start acting like the real Annie."
"But I'm…" Annie trailed off.
"But what?" He asked.
"I'm scared." She said, almost a whisper.
"Scared of what?"
"Not what… who."
"Then who?"
"You."
"Me?" he asked, confused. "Why?"
"Because I love you."