Do You Believe?

By Shattered Crystals (Ahhelga)

Author's Note: Yes, yes, a fic by Ahhelga, basically. But hey. This is a one-shot, and will not be continued, other that sequels. (But I highly doubt that.)

Summary: Have you looked around? Seen people's lives just by their eyes? Helga once did. She's now on the other side. But there is a problem with being perfect: nobody's perfect.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold. Neither do I own the Beach Boys, who are mentioned in this fic.

Do you believe,
In what you see?
Motionless wheel,
Nothing is real...
Wasting my time,
In the waiting line...
Do you believe,
In what you see?

--"In the Waiting Line", by Zero 7

She looked around: Faces, so many of them.

'Well…' she mused in her mind. 'I'm sure this will be interesting…'

She pushed her blonde hair in the back of her ear. It was rough, this life. All she heard were lies and sarcasm. Nothing more, nothing less. But…this day…was different.

As she looked around, time was slowing down.

'One step, two, a few more to go and I'll be through…' she thought again.

Her breaths were shallow, and probably not enough to keep her sustaining. But she knew even the slightest normality would crash the whole.

People passed, and the few who noticed barely acknowledged her. She was a simpleton in their minds: an outcast.

The thing was: she wasn't.

Everyone loved her, even when she turned the tables on them. But did they really love her? Did they think that she was that dense? That no one would really care for her?

Her eyes shifted across the room. All eyes felt like they were on her, and only her.

Could she do it?

They were all faking it…could she too?

"Helga," she heard faintly. Not much sound came in through her ears. Nothing ever did go in to her.

"Helga."

She squeezed her eyes shut, and stepped forward. She was part of the cycle, if she already wasn't.

There were ones who stared at her, like she had been some kind of freak. Those people were what she was…and is. At some point, after popularity came over her, she abandoned the ones who noticed everything.

And yet, no one noticed them.

But, those people were like family, even if she didn't know them. Yes, it was like that. Now, she was person being noticed.

No one was different. They were all the same. Be in one group, and stick with it, was the unspoken motto. Had Helga broken the rule? Had she been against it? She wanted answers.

'Will I ever recover?' she thought to herself.

A pair of eyes followed her as she walked. They bore into her head. She glanced at the eyes, and saw that it belonged to the one person who did understand her…other than him. Phoebe stared, as she did too. Helga's feet stopped for a brief second, but continued on walking.

She had been morphed.

She had observed when she wasn't "in with the crowd". She had seen the people's reactions, their feelings. No one told her what to do, or what to say when they did these things, she just observed.

There was Rhonda, total pish-posh. The classic valley girl—without the "accent"—but you saw her clearer when she hit the top. It was almost crazy. Nadine had faked dropping entomology to go with Rhonda (who had requested this), but Rhonda was too oblivious to see that she had been going to the Bug Conventions and still had a closet of creatures. Lila…oh, she had changed most of all. So changed in fact, that Helga was almost best friends with her, making Lila "cool". She even noticed her (now ex) best friend, Phoebe, a changeling. She had become even quieter, but could still see a jealous spark when Gerald had a new girlfriend.

Speaking of the guys, they have changed too. Harold, Sid, and Stinky were still the "big baddies" of the school, yet they had the rep of being the biggest animal lovers in the school. Then there was Eugene, who, after Sheena left (he seemingly liked her or so), became rather depressed. Gerald, well, he was a player. He had the "skills" and could get any girl. Lastly, there was… Arnold.

Arnold had changed most out of all (excluding Helga).

Arnold was a robot, a zombie. Even if he was popular, the head honchos made him do the things, and expected him to. He was their slave, a slave to popularity. Though, he hadn't realized it.

However, over the years, Helga, who made him this way, had understood him more and more. And he to she. It was because they both were slaves. Although, Arnold didn't know what she before had been through, which made it tough for Helga.

But, in that instant, where she had reminiscence of everything, she had felt the need, to be different again. It was all a scam, right? There really wasn't the barrier, just the line, correct? It was all a trick of the eye, no? Questions, they all come when you don't want them. It was like this all the time.

Stop thinking, thought Helga. They only make you different. They don't want to let you know what's really beyond the line; what really makes you believe.

Right?

It were times like these she wished she was there again. Back when. A scream wouldn't even catch any eye of attention from the ones looked at.

No.

Helga blinked. It was time to face the truth: there really isn't hope. No hope at all. All shells.

Lies.

Can there be a haven of prosperity, where no one is looked down upon; no one is ridiculed. There will be no "popularity", and no "losers", all "equals". No one would be considered "different", because all were "different". There would be no harm. Only smiles.

And if you walk by, and everything seems to slow down, it's not because of the hateful glares, but the recalling of memories you shared with that person you stare at. Of course, there wouldn't be a Beach Boys song playing mysteriously from somewhere, but more of a mellow theme.

It would be magical, safe, and wonderful. A perfect place. A heaven.

However, when a kid had pushed down another kid, had Helga realized that this would only be in her dreams. And there would be no safe haven; no place where all people thought of each other as an "equal". Nothing.

"Popularity is something that will be there. No one can change the thoughts of the human race. And the only way to realize this, is to see it through each other's eyes. And those people who do this, are free to wander, without doubt. Although, the people would ridicule them. It's best to do this with another. Let me be your other."

Helga felt his hot breath in her ear. She knew that this road will be nothing without a companion.

"Sure, Arnold, sure," she said, smiling softly, the first time she had done so in weeks.

Author's Note: Yeah, yeah. Not my best. Definitely not my best. I hope I did better than I expected, though (I haven't gotten around to re-reading it yet), and I hope you like it more than I did.

Shattered Crystals

(Also Known As Ahhelga)