"You've always been a tough girl,
But you feel your about to break.
You're feeling stuck, and outta luck,
Watching your dreams all slip away..."
-
A single light was on in the two-story house. The doors downstairs were chained and locked; the windows were stuck shut after a year of none use, so even in the unlikely event they were unlocked, a crowbar would be required to give the proper leverage to pry one open. Up the lushly carpeted stairs and to the right, light spilled out into the hall from a door that was slightly ajar. Inside, a blonde haired, blue eyed girl was sitting at her desk, scribbling furiously in a notebook. She absentmindedly wiped at a wisp of her hair that had fallen out of her messy bun as she reread her last sentence. Nodding to herself, she dotted the end of her sentence and signed her name at the bottom of the page with a flourish.
Helga Pataki sat back in her chair and looked at the alarm clock on her night stand. Shocked to find it was almost midnight, she packed up her AP Bio report and started on her English report on William Shakespear's play The Tempest that was due last period tomorrow. Though she finished the 300 word report quickly, and with more than 300 words, it was still one o'clock before she tumbled sleepily into bed.
----
Waking up at 4:30 in the morning was easy for some reason that day. Stumbling out of bed, Helga pulled her hair up in a ponytail, changed into a big tee-shirt and pulled on pink jogging pants. She slid on her white tennis shoes at the bottom of the stairs, not bothering to keep quiet. She was alone in the house anyway- at least, there were no other living beings in the house...
There were memories. Happy memories, though rare in the household, swam throughout the building, weaving in and out of the sadness that abounded in the Pataki residence. Ever since Olga had left, things had only gotten worse for Helga- Miriam's "smoothie" drinking had steadily increased... By the time Helga was thirteen, Miriam had given up all pretenses and no longer hid her drinking from anyone, except, perhaps, Olga. As for Bob, well, he was never around much. His job brought him across oceans and continents, to various Big Bob's Beeper emporiums around the globe. And as much as Helga disliked it when he was away (Miriam was always sloshed), she hated it even more when he was home... A year and a half ago, a few days after her 'sweet' sixteen, he caught her kissing a guy goodnight on her doorstep. He had called her a slut and pushed her down the cellar stairs. The Christmas she was fifteen, she spent a week in a hospital in Sweden after breaking her left arm 'skiing a black diamond trail in the Alps'. What the doctors couldn't figure out was how a simple fall could break her arm, bruise her rib-cage, and leave a welt across her back the size of a fist. Helga could have told them, but the painkillers they had her on could have stunned a large cow, leaving her completely loopy, dazed, and useless.
Yes, the fondest memories Helga had of her home were most likely ones where someone was leaving- Bob to Paris, Bob to Sydney, Bob to California, Bob and Miriam to Cancun... The list of departures could go on, but Helga is now unbolting the door. The locks click one at a time as she twists each one slowly. Helga hurries out onto the street, chased by memories of the not-so-distant past.
The street lights were still shining brightly- dark clouds heavy with precipitation lined the sky. Looking back at her house, Helga decides to chance the weather. She runs away from the memories- the drunk, the dealer, the beatings. But she doesn't just run from, she runs to. To love, to life, to the future. To her dreams. The dreams that have slipped through her grasp each and every time she tried to go for it- Harvard, Yale, Juliard. All gone within a breaths time. All had wanted someone smarter, more creative, more athletic. It wasn't enough she had taken AP classes her junior and senior years, played basketball and softball, starred in all the school plays, and was on the school newspaper. Just a little more was all that was needed: student council, perhaps Glee Club, or NHS?
Helga stops and kicks at a rock furiously. She watches it as it hits the house beside her with a satisfying thud. Looking at the house to see who's siding now held an indent the size of a fist, Helga suddenly had another surge of memories. She smiles at the old boardinghouse sadly. She closes her eyes and remembers.
-Flashback-
"Hey, Arnoldo, what's the big idea? I have a life, you know!" a fifteen-year-old, pre-Christmas Helga states with impatience. Arnold had called her up out-of-the-blue and asked her to come over to the boardinghouse, and, quite frankly, she was a little irritated. After the Fti incident, things were never the same between her and Arnold. He knew she liked him- the heat of the moment my ass, she thought suddenly, He just couldn't cope... SO like a man!
Helga tapped her foot impatiently as Arnold stared at her dully for a moment. "Look, Football head, I don't have all day. If you want to say something, say it. If not, can I go now?" Helga leaned back on the boardinghouse steps, and casually looked yp at the sky. "It looks like rain, and, personally, I don't want to walk home in it... Nice job, Bucko, now I do!" she added as a big fat drop of rain fell onto the tip of one of her dirty white tennis shoes.
Arnold stood in front of Helga and held out a hand. "Come on Helga. You can't walk home in this," he said as a few mor fat droplets of rain splattered onto them. "You know what it will turn into. Come inside the boardinghouse and wait it out." Seeing refusal on her face, he added, "Please Helga. I need to talk to you... It'll be quick, I promise! Then if it doesn't look like it's going to storm anymore, then you can leave... Just stay for awhile... Please."
Helga sighed and pondered for a moment. Lighting flashed, lighting up Arnold's sad face for a brief second. "Fine, Arnold. But its only because I don't like the idea of getting positively soaked." She stood up, refusing the offered hand, and brushed off the seat of her faded blue denim jeans. They rushed inside as the sky opened up and rain pored down.
"Hey there short man. Did you tell you friends that we-" started Arnold's grandpa outside the W.C.
"No, Grandpa... I'm telling Helga first. We're going up to my room. Helga is going to stay until the storm lets up." Arnold said as they head up the stairs to the attic.
The first thing Helga notices is the boxes. No... NO! You can't do this to me Arnold! She thinks as she takes everything in. "Well, Helga, I guess I need to tell you that I'm-"
"Moving... I'm not stupid, Arnold. I see the boxes." Helga tugged at the pink bow she still wore in her hair then. "Well, bucko, I suppose this means you won't be going to high school with us then. It's been nice knowing ya. Ah, look, the storms let up... I'm gonna leave now. See you around, Arnoldo." She turned to go.
"Helga, wait! I know this is bothering you more then you let on... Just let me tell you, like two more things!" Arnold had thrown out a hand to stop her, but it was kind of pointless for she was facing the door. However, she did stop.
Helga stood at the threshold, hand touching the doorknob, ready to bolt out if necessary. Drawing a deep breath she said, "I don't know what you mean, Arnold. Bother me... Why should it bother me? I mean of all the football brained things to say, this is by far the most-"
"Helga!" he exclaimed, interrupting her. "Will you just listen? There is something else I need to tell you. After the Fti incident, I-"
Helga swung around to face him. "How dare you bring that up! How DARE you! After all this... And you still have the nerve to..."
And this is where Arnold did a very foolish thing. That is, it was a very foolish thing if you were anyone but Arnold. But being Arnold, he could safely (or at least more safely then most) kiss Helga G. Pataki without being decked.
Helga was in shock. Never before had she actually believed that her love would be kissing her willingly. She had dreamt it, of course, but dreams are often very different then reality. And so when Arnold kissed her, she was so surprised that all she could do was stand there. After breaking off the kiss, he continued, "As I was saying, after the Fti incident, I realized that when things got really bad, and I mean really bad, you were always there for me, helping me in one way or another. And I started to wonder if it really was all in the heat of the moment." looking at Helga's shocked face, he asked, "I'm not wrong, am I?" Helga shook her head. "Good," he said. And when he kissed her, this time she had kissed back.
-End flashback-
Helga still stared at the vacant building. The memory of her first real and true kiss, with her first real love, was here. This house held her happiest and saddest memory, all rolled up into one bittersweet bundle. And yet the load was not unbearable- the burden of his leaving heavy, but manageable. She remembered one last thing, form the day of his departure- right before he stepped into the car, she tore of her pink ribbon and stuffed it into his hands, whispering 'to remember' into his ear, before stepping away into the crowd that had gathered to say goodbye.
Helga started to run again as the sky opened up, and the tears of heaven mingled with hers,just like the day they did when her left.
- - -
A/N. I don't know what to think of it. Started out a little angsty, then turned fluffy. Not sure if I'll do a sequel, or anything. Depends on what, you, the reader wants. But how can I tell what you want, and what I can do better, if you don't click that little blue/purple button right there? Hummm? So R&R (and no, that does not mean rest and relaxation!)
-blondegirlshavefun
Have you reviewed yet:p