Moving again, sequel to The Move.
Helga brushed her plain, lusterless blonde hair out of her eyes and stared up at the building in front of her. "Ugh, who would have that I'd be forced to take a job as some radio deejay?" Entering Regent Broadcasting, the broadcasting company named after the town she now resided in, she nodded at the man at the front desk and continued on to studio A-2, to do her daily radio broadcast, which consisted of the top ten requested songs. She put the earphones over her big ears and watched the On air sign above her head flash red. "Hey, this is Helga Pataki, trying not to bore you to death, yet again. Let's start with some Audioslave, ok?" As she pressed a key to play this, she leaned back in her chair and yawned. She was tired of all this- the constant work that this job required, the schooling she was putting in to land a better paying job at another radio station... the care her mom needed now that Bob had been killed in that freak beeper accident... the fact that Olga opted to teach kids in Alaska instead of helping her "baby sister" with things! "Oh, Olga, the perfect daughter...." Helga paused in her grumbling at the bright light by the phone that told her that someone was wanting to request a song. "Hello, this is 93.7 the hottest Alternative hits of yesterday, today and tomorrow. How can I help you?"
"I'd like to request a song, if that's ok. Some old Staind, Mudshovel."
"Sure thing," she responded, hanging up and returned to her place of relaxation to wait for the current song to end. 'Could this any worse?'
Her boss ran in then. "Pataki! We have a helper for you. You're going to be moved to an afternoon show and you and her will have a special show."
"What's her name?" Helga asked lifelessly.
"Alison Williams. And don't give her any problems. Ok?"
"Sure, boss!" she responded, false sweetly.
"Good," he grumbled. "She's going to come in now, introduce her to the listeners, ok?" As the boss left, a brown haired women in her twenties entered the room and glanced around, her green eyes looking a trifle nervous. She clutched her purse close to her before releasing it a little and cracking her knuckles before noticing Helga there.
"Uh, hi," she offered, biting her lip.
"Pull up a chair," Helga commanded, turning back to the mic as the song ceased playing. "Yeah, that was Mudshovel! Now then, my boss wanted me to introduce you to a new worker here. While she talks or whatever, I'll take requests. The mic is yours."
Ali shrugged and sat in the chair next to Helga as the blonde watched the phone lines light up instantly. "Um, hi, I'm Alison Williams. Helga and I are going to be doing a show in the afternoons and the current afternoon deejay, Mark Treckle'll be taking over the night one."
Helga pulled her chair closer to the mic and announced some news that had been relayed, "There was an accident on Broadpark Avenue, so dodge that. Now, here's some requested Ozzy Osbourne..." As she pulled her earphones off, she glanced at Ali and smiled thinly. "I see someone knows how to run a mic."
"I did take broadcasting school for awhile..."
"Good. How did you know about Treckle?"
"I listen to this station a lot. I know most of the deejays on here, including you."
"Well, you did your homework, too, eh? Well, good for you." Helga pushed her hair behind one of her big ears and glanced around. "So are we going to do the request thing or what on our show, since you know so much?"
"No... I think it's a little of that and a little of viewer discussion."
"What's that?"
"You know, where you talk with the listeners." Ali shrugged.
"Oh, a call-in thing."
"Yeah." As they sat talking, Helga played some commercials and she and Ali listened to them. It was a trip to a city that Alison had never heard of.
"Win a trip to Hillwood." Helga shook her head. "I can't believe they're giving a trip away to there. I mean, why? It's just a little city with nothing important to look at."
Ali listened to the rest of the commercial and shrugged. "They're giving it away because you go there and then can say that you witnessed the place of the Tomato ... something?" The commercial had moved fast and she had missed the last word.
"Ohh. Because it's a historical place." Helga scoffed and leaned back in her chair.
"What's your problem with Hillwood? And where is it, anyway?"
"I used to live there. It was a heck of a place... I returned there a few years ago. Everything had changed. Oh, well, it's not important." Helga returned to the microphone as Alison leaned back in her own chair and thought.
* * *
That Monday dawned a rainy, warm day. Helga stood on the balcony of the apartment her and Miriam shared, looking up at the gray, heavy sky. Her thoughts wandered every once in awhile to her job, Hillwood, the trip that Regent was giving away. Hillwood wasn't the only place on the map that this trip was going to. It would also be going to other places of importance and other historical landmarks. As she leaned against the door, she listened to Miriam moving around the apartment. Only after Bob's accident did she finally go sober, which seemed oddly silly to Helga since usually people don't go sober after someone close to them dies.
"Helga? Honey, I'm going to the store. D'ya wanna come with?"
"No, Mom!"
"Ok! Bye!"
At the sound of the door slamming, Helga left the balcony and re-entered the apartment, glancing at the clock. "9:48 a.m.," she mused, "so I have a few hours before I go to work..." She laid back on the blue couch and rested, falling in and out of sleep while dreaming about different things. It was a cacophony of things from Hillwood with people from Illinois thrown in. She sat up, gasping, when she dreamed about Arnold and the night on FTI's roof. "Shoot..." She glanced at the clock again and realized that it was 1:05 p.m. "I'm late!" she gasped, suddenly scurring off of the couch and rushing for her bedroom.
* * *
When she finally arrived, Alison had already started the show and smiled at her as she entered the room. "Oh, what do you know, here is my partner now. Hi, Helga, we were just talking about you." She grinned mischievously.
Helga groaned and sat down in the black roller chair, pulling her microphone closer and adjusting her earphones. "Yeah, I'm sure. So have you updated them on this big trip?"
"Yeah, and on the fact that you and I will be going with the winners to Hillwood."
"What?" This was news to Helga... She had to return again to Hillwood, a place that didn't even seem like home anymore... mainly because Arnold was gone?...
"Yeah.... Doesn't Regent tell you anything?" Ali moved her microphone as they went to commercial break.
"That's what I'd like to know..."
Alison grinned a little and pulled the mic back to her.
* * *
"Ok, so we're ready for this trip, right?" Ali asked, a month later. The winners, a man from nearby Washington and a woman from Morton, had been drawn from a bunch of names and now Alison and Helga, the deejays forced to go on this trip, was preparing.
"Oh, yeah," Helga mumbled, sticking her head out of the closet that she was searching in. "Criminey, if we were any more ready, we'd already be there..." She was feeling moody and released it by being sarcastic.
"Well, we aren't, so I have to go pack. See you tomorrow." Alison left and Helga collapsed on her bed, trying to mentally prepare herself for this.
"Helga, honey?"
"What, Mom?" she asked lifelessly, her face still buried in the folds of her mattress.
"Since you're going on that little trip tomorrow, I thought we should spend some time together tonight."
"Ugh.... Ok..." Helga sat up and walked into the living room, not noticing the third blonde in the room. As she sat down in her dad's old chair, she automatically adjusted the pink jumper she had on and threw a glance around the room before noticing said blonde. "Olga?!?"
"Oh, hi, Baby sister!" Olga exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired, it was a long flight!" She stood up and ran over, engulfing Helga with one of her hugs.
"What are you doing here?" Helga asked, trying to hold down the usual angry tone.
"I came to spend the week with Momma while you go on your trip! I don't want her spending too much time alone just so soon after... Daddy's... well, you know," Olga announced, patting her mascara-smeared eyes with a hankie. "I just miss Daddy so much!"
"Oh." Helga was inwardly seething. Her sister would come for a single week to spend it with Miriam but she wouldn't come long-term to actually help Helga?!
"Oh. And Helga, could you please tell Lila hello for me? It's been ever so long since I last saw my lil sis."
Helga's eyes widened. 'Ever so?! AGH!' She took a deep breath and murmured, "Ok, I will."
"Thank you, baby sister!"
Helga sighed.
* * *
The next day, Helga and Ali were waiting around in the airplane terminal, surrounded by Miriam, Olga, Alison's parents and family and friends of the winners.
"Baby sister, you be careful, ok?" Olga told Helga, who rolled her eyes and mumbled an agreeance. "Where all are you going again?"
"Hillwood..." Before she could continue, Olga interrupted.
"Hillwood?! Oh... yes... That is right. Sorry."
Fed up, Helga shut up and stared at Ali and the Williams as they stood around, Mrs. Williams fretting a little about it all.
"I don't like you going on an airplane, Alison. Don't you think it's a bad idea, Glen?"
"Yeah, whatever," her dad grumbled. That reminded Helga of her dad and she smiled a little, wondering what his reaction would have been to this trip.
'Oh... Then again, he'd probably ask me to take a bunch of beepers to try and sale or something.'
The male winner, a tale, tanned, muscular brown haired man with big black eyes walked up then, followed by the female winner, an average blonde woman with a slim body, regular curves and of course blue eyes. "Helga, it's great to meet you," the man started, smiling a little too wildly. He knew she could be a very angry person and wanted to keep on her good side.
"Yeah, hello," was her short answer, still listening for the announcement of their flight. This trip was financed by Susie Davis Travel so they didn't have to pay for anything.
"Alison, nice to meet you too," the woman spoke up.
"Oh, yeah, you too," Ali answered, smiling slightly. She brushed her hair back and looked up as the intercom buzzed with the announcement of their flight. "Let's go." She quickly hugged her parents and entered the plane, followed by Helga. The two winners took a little longer, talking excitedly to each other as they followed the two deejays. Alison and Helga got two seats next to each other and John and Patti recieved the other two seats.
Ali tapped her fingers against the finger rest as Helga looked outside and listened to the captain's voice.
"...we'll be going to Hillwood, New York, and on behalf of my colleages, I wish you a happy journey."
Helga sighed and looked out the window as take-off time neared. As the "fasten your seatbelt" sign flashed, the plane moved forward. Looking to her left, she observed that Ali already had her belt fastened and was looking around anxiously. Smiling briefly, she fastened hers and looked out the window as the airplane flew into the blue sky.
* * *
Hours later, the four disembarked and looked around at the outskirts of town, where the airport was. A rental car was waiting in the parking space in front of the door and it was nice to see as the four struggled out with their suitcases and carry-on bags.
"Suzie went all out with this, huh?" Ali asked, huffing as she dropped her case on the backseat.
"Yeah," Patti agreed, her blue eyes sparkling.
They crowded into the car, Helga in the driver's seat, since she knew the town better than anyone. "Hey, get that paper that says the address of our hotel room, ok?"
"Ok." Ali rustled through the glove department until she unearthed it and read off the address: "Sunset Arms, 3547 Westside street."
Helga nodded thoughtfully until the words hit her and she yelped, "What!? Su-Sunset Arms!"
The three others stared at her as she gripped the wheel of the car tightly.
"Uh. You ok?" Ali wondered.
"Oh yeah, just dandy," she muttered, gripping the wheel even tighter.
When they finally arrived, Ali was the one to knock at the door as Patti and John stood behind her, clutching their suitcases.
"Yes?" A tall man answered the door. "Oh, you must be the people who won the trip." He smiled a little, his green eyes lighting up and slightly unruly blonde hair floating in the slight southeast wind that had stirred up.
Ali nodded. "Yeah. I'm Ali Williams, this is Patti Staley and John Cobain. ***"
"Well, come in," he urged, "and I'm Arnold--"
Helga rushed up then, interrupting them before he could say his last name. "Ok, so, why are staying here? There are a lot of other motels, hotels around--!!" she exclaimed, before spotting Arnold and trying to catch her breath. 'Football shaped head... He's returned.... Oh boy...'
"You had to stay here because all the other hotels and motels are full. It's a special week here for everyone. This is the week that the tomato incident happened. And the neighborhood got saved once because of the incident so people always celebrate it."
Helga nodded and bit her tongue, remembering how, exactly, they saved the neighborhood.
"What happens around here to celebrate?" Ali inquired.
"We have a parade and a fair," Arnold answered, following them up the stairs.
Helga stared at the doors, silently remembering where the boarders used to live. '... Hyunh, Potts, ...'
Arnold paused outside one of the rooms and opened it up. "Here's your room," he told Ali, smiling.
"Ok, thanks," Ali grinned, entering.
After showing Patti and John to their rooms, Arnold turned to Helga. "Here's yours," he said, smiling a little brighter at her, motioning to a room closest to his old room.
She nodded and watched, breathless, as he opened the door for her and then walked on, entering his room. "Arnold..." She sighed blissfully and entered her room.
* * *
As the next day dawned, bright sunshine shined through the windows, Helga woke up to the smell of flowers-- scents she hadn't smelled in a long, longgggg time. She sat up and looked around, thoughtfully thinking about things until she remembered something Arnold said: the fair was starting today and, as the hostess in this little trip, she was supposed to go with the two winners, who she didn't know too well, and show them around. Where did her boss come up with these things, anyway? Alison seemed to like it, but then, she knew the winners better than Helga did, so of course.
Standing up, the tempermental blonde grabbed a pair of jeans and a pink top from her suitcase. After dressing, she brushed her hair out and stuck a small pink ribbon at the top, staring almost crossed-eyed at herself in the mirror. "Ergh." She walked out to the bathroom and was surprised to see everyone was still asleep and the bathroom was free. After brushing her teeth and such, she walked downstairs and wandered around, looking at different pictures and plaques that were up.
"Good morning," his voice spoke up.
She jumped and whirled around. "Arnold! Uh. Hi." She released a deep breath and smiled waveringly.
"In all the stuff that went on last night, I didn't catch your name," he said, walking towards her.
"Uh... Er.... I... My name?"
"Yeah, your name."
"Uh... Helga."
"Helga?" He raised an eyebrow. "I knew a Helga in school." He grinned a little and shook his head at this memory and then spotted the little ribbon in her hair. "... Helga wore a ribbon like that."
Helga looked up and stammered some more, patting her hair subconciously. 'He isn't suspicious?'
Arnold grinned a little and then their discussion was interrupted by Patti, whom had dressed already and was looking ready for the day.
"We're vacationing with a couple of night owls, huh?" she exclaimed, laughing, meaning John and Ali.
* * *
That day, the group went to the fair and played games and, mainly John and Patti, rode the rides, acting like a couple of kids.
Ali paused in a game of darts to notice that Helga had her eye on something other than the balloons they were supposed to pop. She grinned, realizing that she was watching Arnold. "Why don't you invite him over?" she wondered.
Helga scoffed and shook her head, keeping quiet. She didn't want Ali to know about her feelings for Arnold, which, oddly enough, had returned overnight, it seemed. She had tried to forget them... bury them... leave them in the past, but her past romances had been dull, mundane. It seemed Arnold was the only one for her and a mere glance at him was enough to prove it.
As if reading her mind, Arnold walked by then and smiled at her. "Hi, Helga, Ali."
"Hi," Ali mumbled, concentrating on the balloons, which she quickly popped with a blue dart. Helga just gulped and fumbled with her green dart.
Arnold grinned a little and stood behind Helga, watching as she stared ahead at the wall covered in multi-colored balloons. "Hey, can I try?"
"Huh, oh, sure." She handed the remainder of her darts to him and stood by Ali and watched him.
He quickly popped all three of the balloons and then turned to Helga. "It was your darts. You pick the prize."
She gulped weakly and then nodded, flustered. "Ok." After picking a large t-shirt with a wrestling emblem on it, she smiled a little. "Um, thanks, Arnold."
"You're welcome."
"Bye." She grabbed Ali by the elbow and pulled her along until they were out of Arnold's sight, lost in the crowds. "Oh, my God!"
"What was that about?" Ali wondered.
Helga gulped for air and then glared at Ali. "You will tell no one."
"No one what? That you have feelings for Arnold?"
"What!" she exclaimed and then tried to cover, "I dunno what you mean."
"Ok, well, sure. But it's pretty obvious, Helga."
"You don't know me well enough to tell me what's obvious!" she cried, attracting a lot of attention.
Ali shrugged. "Whatever," she said and then looked down, noticing the dart that was in her hand. "Oh, boy."
She sighed and ran back to the dart stand to finish her game.
* * *
The next day, Helga and Ali were supposed to take the winners on a tour of the area, showing them around the area of the Tomato War. Just before they were supposed to, however, Arnold invited Helga to go with him to the fair.
"Well?" he asked her as she gripped her keys and looked around.
"I, uh, am supposed to take John and Patti, though..."
"Oh."
"No, you don't hafta, I can do it on my own," Ali interrupted. "Go ahead."
Helga glared at her and turned to Arnold. "Well, uh, I guess we can go..."
Later, they had arrived at the fairgrounds and looked around.
"I played all the midway games to last for a lifetime. What do you say we go on some rides?"
Memories of the cheese carnival rushed through her mind and she sighed a little before agreeing. "Whatever you say, Football head." After it slipped, her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth.
"What'd you say?" he wondered, his eyes narrowing a little.
"Er, that I thought I heard there was a new ride to do with Foot...balls..." she tried to pass it off, her eyes wide.
"No, you called me Football Head. So you are the Helga I went to school with. I should've known. " He smiled a little and she released a deep breath.
"You're not... mad?"
"No, why should I be?" he asked a little densely.
"No reason."
"I haven't seen you since you moved to Illinois..."
She nodded, sighed and they moved on to a ferris wheel. As they were drawn to the top and looked around at the sights, the sun scorched on their heads and made their blonde hair feel like a frying pan until finally it started spinning again and they were soon deposited on the ground.
"Let's go on the bumper cars," Arnold urged, before noticing the distressed look on her face as she rubbed her neck and winced. "What, you don't like them? Ok, then, we don't have to go."
"Thanks. It's a long story..." she said, not sure why she would want to explain to him at all. "Why don't we try the tilt-a-whirl?" Another memory entered her mindscope and she grinned impishly for a moment.
"Sure."
* * *
The week just swirled by in a mess of vacation-like feeling, carnival fun and eating out most of the night as they enjoyed having the majority of the boarding house to themselves. When Helga asked why the house was so empty--
"Why is no one else staying here, anyway?"
"Well," Arnold explained, biting his lip, "after my grandparents died, I returned here and took care of things but no one wanted to rent a room so I had to think of something that would keep the boarding house going. I decided to make it into a hotel but it took so long to do little bits of remodeling, I had no chance to advertise and to everyone, this is still a boarding house."--
she was shocked to realize that this meant Arnold was a permanent member of the Hillwood community, despite the fact that he had left years ago to live with his parents. Wild fantasies, like when she was nine, swirled through her mind until finally the last day of the vacation came and they had to prepare to leave.
"Helga!" Arnold exclaimed, running in the night before as she folded up the large T-shirt with the "Here comes the pain"* emblem on it. "Take a break from this. The parade that marks the end of the Tomato War Rememberance Week starts in fifteen minutes."
Helga looked up in time to see Ali, John and Patti all pass by the doorway.
Impatiently, Ali ran in, grabbed Helga's arm and pulled her out. "C'mon, we're watching the parade."
Helga gasped. "Ah, no, wait! Wait! I say, wait!" She pushed free and glared at Ali. "We have to pack!"
"Oh, c'mon, Helga," Arnold urged. "For me?"
She gasped and melted, staring into his green orbs as they penetrated the darkness around her and she groaned inwardly as an, "Ok, fine," was released from her pale, non-lipsticked lips.
Arnold grinned and Ali continued pulling Helga along until finally they all crowded into the rental car and rode up different streets, until they arrived at the fairgrounds, which were pretty empty by now, all the rides taken apart and in trucks, waiting to be taken away completely.
As the sunset expanded over the horizon, the parade started, people marching by in tomato costumes, waving signs with "The tomato war" written on it in bright red print. A half an hour of standing in this humid weather soon left everyone sweaty and almost gasping for water but when the parade had finally ended, Helga looked up just to see Arnold standing behind her and he looked down at her-- yes, he was taller, she realized, by almost six inches-- and, their eyes locked, she stood up taller and her lips hit his. A rush was sent throttling through them both as they kissed longer and then broke apart, their arms still snaked around each other's waists.
"Uh, Helga?"
She shook herself and looked around, blushing. "What!"
"You're going to miss the fireworks." Arnold was staring at her as she looked disappointed and then turned back to the green, red and blue spectacle in the purplish-orange sky.
'My God, it was just a daydream... Something like that only a dream? No...' she thought, almost crying.
"Helga?" Arnold was still behind her and snapped her from her tearful thoughts. "Are you ok?"
She nodded, unable to speak because he might hear her shakey voice. 'Just dandy...' she thought again. Suddenly she felt his arms around her and, blinking, turned around. As she looked up into his eyes, she felt thoughtful again and almost fell into a daydream again but then she leaned up for real and locked her lips with his. As they kissed, he didn't struggle or fight and she finally pulled away, her eyes exploring his.
He blinked for a minute and then just looked up at the sky for a minute as another loud bang sounded from the fireworks. He was slightly confused in typical dense style as he thought about everything in the past week, and of the time they spent together before she moved.
She sniffed as silently as possible, pulled herself free from his grip and ran off, pushing through the crowd and entering the rental car.
"Helga!" Ali protested, noticing this. "We need the car, too..." but her words hit deaf ears as Helga was already long gone. Luckily, they got a ride with one of Arnold's friends, a kind of eccentric man named Curly, and arrived back at the boarding house safely. When they arrived, however, all of Helga's stuff-- and Helga-- were long gone.
* * *
The next day, the three remaining vacationers drove in Arnold's Packard to the airport and were amazed to see Helga sitting in one of the seats there.
"Helga!" Ali gasped. "What in the blue heck are you doing here!? We-- Arnold too-- were worried about you!"
Helga stood up. "It does not matter. Forget it, Ali, understand. This never happened. We were never here."
Ali groaned and walked over to the window to look at the beautiful summer day that had come out of the beautiful sun set from the night before. She stayed away from Helga until the flight was called and went over to collect her carry-on bag before walking behind John and Patti.
Helga was at the back of the line. When she was just about to reach the terminal, a hand grabbed her and held her back. She whirled around angrily and stared up, paralyzed, at Arnold, sputtering. "A-A-... Arnold! W- what are you doing here!?"
"I don't have the right to tell you bye?" he inquired.
She stammered some more until suddenly his lips caressed hers and her eyes widened. When he finally moved and she had gotten some sense of speech back, she stammered, "Th-that's your idea of bye?"
"It doesn't have to be, you know," he whispered, smiling down at her.
Her eyes widened. "But... but... it..."
"I know. We just re-met... You live in Illinois... I live in New York... But... long distant relationships work, sometimes. Let's try to make this one of those times."
Helga was still speechless when Ali ran up. "Helga, I called your sister before we left for the airport and guess what? She had been fired from her job as the teacher in Alaska when she asked for a week off because they were really understaffed or something so then she did an interview with one of the nearest schools so now she can live in Illinois and take care of Miriam. Now .... it's up to you, Helga. You do not like your job in Regentville, so.... do you want to stay there.... or live here...?"
Helga's eyes grew so large and she gasped loudly until finally she had relaxed somewhat and then, "Yes... Live here..." She stared up at Arnold as she smiled lightly, "Return to Hillwood."
Ali smiled. "Good. It just turns out that a certain radio station is opening up a new station and they want a capable deejay there. And Regent decided you were the woman for the job. Congrats on the promotion, if you wanna call it that."
Helga blinked and grabbed the letter that Ali held out to her. "Seriously!?" She thought a little bit about changing schools, transfering...
"Yeah. And now I gotta go before I miss my flight." Ali smiled and ran into the airplane as Helga looked, speechless, at Arnold.
"Well, I guess I stay." She dropped her suitcase and leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly with all her pent-up emotions from the past finally released.
Helga brushed her plain, lusterless blonde hair out of her eyes and stared up at the building in front of her. "Ugh, who would have that I'd be forced to take a job as some radio deejay?" Entering Regent Broadcasting, the broadcasting company named after the town she now resided in, she nodded at the man at the front desk and continued on to studio A-2, to do her daily radio broadcast, which consisted of the top ten requested songs. She put the earphones over her big ears and watched the On air sign above her head flash red. "Hey, this is Helga Pataki, trying not to bore you to death, yet again. Let's start with some Audioslave, ok?" As she pressed a key to play this, she leaned back in her chair and yawned. She was tired of all this- the constant work that this job required, the schooling she was putting in to land a better paying job at another radio station... the care her mom needed now that Bob had been killed in that freak beeper accident... the fact that Olga opted to teach kids in Alaska instead of helping her "baby sister" with things! "Oh, Olga, the perfect daughter...." Helga paused in her grumbling at the bright light by the phone that told her that someone was wanting to request a song. "Hello, this is 93.7 the hottest Alternative hits of yesterday, today and tomorrow. How can I help you?"
"I'd like to request a song, if that's ok. Some old Staind, Mudshovel."
"Sure thing," she responded, hanging up and returned to her place of relaxation to wait for the current song to end. 'Could this any worse?'
Her boss ran in then. "Pataki! We have a helper for you. You're going to be moved to an afternoon show and you and her will have a special show."
"What's her name?" Helga asked lifelessly.
"Alison Williams. And don't give her any problems. Ok?"
"Sure, boss!" she responded, false sweetly.
"Good," he grumbled. "She's going to come in now, introduce her to the listeners, ok?" As the boss left, a brown haired women in her twenties entered the room and glanced around, her green eyes looking a trifle nervous. She clutched her purse close to her before releasing it a little and cracking her knuckles before noticing Helga there.
"Uh, hi," she offered, biting her lip.
"Pull up a chair," Helga commanded, turning back to the mic as the song ceased playing. "Yeah, that was Mudshovel! Now then, my boss wanted me to introduce you to a new worker here. While she talks or whatever, I'll take requests. The mic is yours."
Ali shrugged and sat in the chair next to Helga as the blonde watched the phone lines light up instantly. "Um, hi, I'm Alison Williams. Helga and I are going to be doing a show in the afternoons and the current afternoon deejay, Mark Treckle'll be taking over the night one."
Helga pulled her chair closer to the mic and announced some news that had been relayed, "There was an accident on Broadpark Avenue, so dodge that. Now, here's some requested Ozzy Osbourne..." As she pulled her earphones off, she glanced at Ali and smiled thinly. "I see someone knows how to run a mic."
"I did take broadcasting school for awhile..."
"Good. How did you know about Treckle?"
"I listen to this station a lot. I know most of the deejays on here, including you."
"Well, you did your homework, too, eh? Well, good for you." Helga pushed her hair behind one of her big ears and glanced around. "So are we going to do the request thing or what on our show, since you know so much?"
"No... I think it's a little of that and a little of viewer discussion."
"What's that?"
"You know, where you talk with the listeners." Ali shrugged.
"Oh, a call-in thing."
"Yeah." As they sat talking, Helga played some commercials and she and Ali listened to them. It was a trip to a city that Alison had never heard of.
"Win a trip to Hillwood." Helga shook her head. "I can't believe they're giving a trip away to there. I mean, why? It's just a little city with nothing important to look at."
Ali listened to the rest of the commercial and shrugged. "They're giving it away because you go there and then can say that you witnessed the place of the Tomato ... something?" The commercial had moved fast and she had missed the last word.
"Ohh. Because it's a historical place." Helga scoffed and leaned back in her chair.
"What's your problem with Hillwood? And where is it, anyway?"
"I used to live there. It was a heck of a place... I returned there a few years ago. Everything had changed. Oh, well, it's not important." Helga returned to the microphone as Alison leaned back in her own chair and thought.
* * *
That Monday dawned a rainy, warm day. Helga stood on the balcony of the apartment her and Miriam shared, looking up at the gray, heavy sky. Her thoughts wandered every once in awhile to her job, Hillwood, the trip that Regent was giving away. Hillwood wasn't the only place on the map that this trip was going to. It would also be going to other places of importance and other historical landmarks. As she leaned against the door, she listened to Miriam moving around the apartment. Only after Bob's accident did she finally go sober, which seemed oddly silly to Helga since usually people don't go sober after someone close to them dies.
"Helga? Honey, I'm going to the store. D'ya wanna come with?"
"No, Mom!"
"Ok! Bye!"
At the sound of the door slamming, Helga left the balcony and re-entered the apartment, glancing at the clock. "9:48 a.m.," she mused, "so I have a few hours before I go to work..." She laid back on the blue couch and rested, falling in and out of sleep while dreaming about different things. It was a cacophony of things from Hillwood with people from Illinois thrown in. She sat up, gasping, when she dreamed about Arnold and the night on FTI's roof. "Shoot..." She glanced at the clock again and realized that it was 1:05 p.m. "I'm late!" she gasped, suddenly scurring off of the couch and rushing for her bedroom.
* * *
When she finally arrived, Alison had already started the show and smiled at her as she entered the room. "Oh, what do you know, here is my partner now. Hi, Helga, we were just talking about you." She grinned mischievously.
Helga groaned and sat down in the black roller chair, pulling her microphone closer and adjusting her earphones. "Yeah, I'm sure. So have you updated them on this big trip?"
"Yeah, and on the fact that you and I will be going with the winners to Hillwood."
"What?" This was news to Helga... She had to return again to Hillwood, a place that didn't even seem like home anymore... mainly because Arnold was gone?...
"Yeah.... Doesn't Regent tell you anything?" Ali moved her microphone as they went to commercial break.
"That's what I'd like to know..."
Alison grinned a little and pulled the mic back to her.
* * *
"Ok, so we're ready for this trip, right?" Ali asked, a month later. The winners, a man from nearby Washington and a woman from Morton, had been drawn from a bunch of names and now Alison and Helga, the deejays forced to go on this trip, was preparing.
"Oh, yeah," Helga mumbled, sticking her head out of the closet that she was searching in. "Criminey, if we were any more ready, we'd already be there..." She was feeling moody and released it by being sarcastic.
"Well, we aren't, so I have to go pack. See you tomorrow." Alison left and Helga collapsed on her bed, trying to mentally prepare herself for this.
"Helga, honey?"
"What, Mom?" she asked lifelessly, her face still buried in the folds of her mattress.
"Since you're going on that little trip tomorrow, I thought we should spend some time together tonight."
"Ugh.... Ok..." Helga sat up and walked into the living room, not noticing the third blonde in the room. As she sat down in her dad's old chair, she automatically adjusted the pink jumper she had on and threw a glance around the room before noticing said blonde. "Olga?!?"
"Oh, hi, Baby sister!" Olga exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired, it was a long flight!" She stood up and ran over, engulfing Helga with one of her hugs.
"What are you doing here?" Helga asked, trying to hold down the usual angry tone.
"I came to spend the week with Momma while you go on your trip! I don't want her spending too much time alone just so soon after... Daddy's... well, you know," Olga announced, patting her mascara-smeared eyes with a hankie. "I just miss Daddy so much!"
"Oh." Helga was inwardly seething. Her sister would come for a single week to spend it with Miriam but she wouldn't come long-term to actually help Helga?!
"Oh. And Helga, could you please tell Lila hello for me? It's been ever so long since I last saw my lil sis."
Helga's eyes widened. 'Ever so?! AGH!' She took a deep breath and murmured, "Ok, I will."
"Thank you, baby sister!"
Helga sighed.
* * *
The next day, Helga and Ali were waiting around in the airplane terminal, surrounded by Miriam, Olga, Alison's parents and family and friends of the winners.
"Baby sister, you be careful, ok?" Olga told Helga, who rolled her eyes and mumbled an agreeance. "Where all are you going again?"
"Hillwood..." Before she could continue, Olga interrupted.
"Hillwood?! Oh... yes... That is right. Sorry."
Fed up, Helga shut up and stared at Ali and the Williams as they stood around, Mrs. Williams fretting a little about it all.
"I don't like you going on an airplane, Alison. Don't you think it's a bad idea, Glen?"
"Yeah, whatever," her dad grumbled. That reminded Helga of her dad and she smiled a little, wondering what his reaction would have been to this trip.
'Oh... Then again, he'd probably ask me to take a bunch of beepers to try and sale or something.'
The male winner, a tale, tanned, muscular brown haired man with big black eyes walked up then, followed by the female winner, an average blonde woman with a slim body, regular curves and of course blue eyes. "Helga, it's great to meet you," the man started, smiling a little too wildly. He knew she could be a very angry person and wanted to keep on her good side.
"Yeah, hello," was her short answer, still listening for the announcement of their flight. This trip was financed by Susie Davis Travel so they didn't have to pay for anything.
"Alison, nice to meet you too," the woman spoke up.
"Oh, yeah, you too," Ali answered, smiling slightly. She brushed her hair back and looked up as the intercom buzzed with the announcement of their flight. "Let's go." She quickly hugged her parents and entered the plane, followed by Helga. The two winners took a little longer, talking excitedly to each other as they followed the two deejays. Alison and Helga got two seats next to each other and John and Patti recieved the other two seats.
Ali tapped her fingers against the finger rest as Helga looked outside and listened to the captain's voice.
"...we'll be going to Hillwood, New York, and on behalf of my colleages, I wish you a happy journey."
Helga sighed and looked out the window as take-off time neared. As the "fasten your seatbelt" sign flashed, the plane moved forward. Looking to her left, she observed that Ali already had her belt fastened and was looking around anxiously. Smiling briefly, she fastened hers and looked out the window as the airplane flew into the blue sky.
* * *
Hours later, the four disembarked and looked around at the outskirts of town, where the airport was. A rental car was waiting in the parking space in front of the door and it was nice to see as the four struggled out with their suitcases and carry-on bags.
"Suzie went all out with this, huh?" Ali asked, huffing as she dropped her case on the backseat.
"Yeah," Patti agreed, her blue eyes sparkling.
They crowded into the car, Helga in the driver's seat, since she knew the town better than anyone. "Hey, get that paper that says the address of our hotel room, ok?"
"Ok." Ali rustled through the glove department until she unearthed it and read off the address: "Sunset Arms, 3547 Westside street."
Helga nodded thoughtfully until the words hit her and she yelped, "What!? Su-Sunset Arms!"
The three others stared at her as she gripped the wheel of the car tightly.
"Uh. You ok?" Ali wondered.
"Oh yeah, just dandy," she muttered, gripping the wheel even tighter.
When they finally arrived, Ali was the one to knock at the door as Patti and John stood behind her, clutching their suitcases.
"Yes?" A tall man answered the door. "Oh, you must be the people who won the trip." He smiled a little, his green eyes lighting up and slightly unruly blonde hair floating in the slight southeast wind that had stirred up.
Ali nodded. "Yeah. I'm Ali Williams, this is Patti Staley and John Cobain. ***"
"Well, come in," he urged, "and I'm Arnold--"
Helga rushed up then, interrupting them before he could say his last name. "Ok, so, why are staying here? There are a lot of other motels, hotels around--!!" she exclaimed, before spotting Arnold and trying to catch her breath. 'Football shaped head... He's returned.... Oh boy...'
"You had to stay here because all the other hotels and motels are full. It's a special week here for everyone. This is the week that the tomato incident happened. And the neighborhood got saved once because of the incident so people always celebrate it."
Helga nodded and bit her tongue, remembering how, exactly, they saved the neighborhood.
"What happens around here to celebrate?" Ali inquired.
"We have a parade and a fair," Arnold answered, following them up the stairs.
Helga stared at the doors, silently remembering where the boarders used to live. '... Hyunh, Potts, ...'
Arnold paused outside one of the rooms and opened it up. "Here's your room," he told Ali, smiling.
"Ok, thanks," Ali grinned, entering.
After showing Patti and John to their rooms, Arnold turned to Helga. "Here's yours," he said, smiling a little brighter at her, motioning to a room closest to his old room.
She nodded and watched, breathless, as he opened the door for her and then walked on, entering his room. "Arnold..." She sighed blissfully and entered her room.
* * *
As the next day dawned, bright sunshine shined through the windows, Helga woke up to the smell of flowers-- scents she hadn't smelled in a long, longgggg time. She sat up and looked around, thoughtfully thinking about things until she remembered something Arnold said: the fair was starting today and, as the hostess in this little trip, she was supposed to go with the two winners, who she didn't know too well, and show them around. Where did her boss come up with these things, anyway? Alison seemed to like it, but then, she knew the winners better than Helga did, so of course.
Standing up, the tempermental blonde grabbed a pair of jeans and a pink top from her suitcase. After dressing, she brushed her hair out and stuck a small pink ribbon at the top, staring almost crossed-eyed at herself in the mirror. "Ergh." She walked out to the bathroom and was surprised to see everyone was still asleep and the bathroom was free. After brushing her teeth and such, she walked downstairs and wandered around, looking at different pictures and plaques that were up.
"Good morning," his voice spoke up.
She jumped and whirled around. "Arnold! Uh. Hi." She released a deep breath and smiled waveringly.
"In all the stuff that went on last night, I didn't catch your name," he said, walking towards her.
"Uh... Er.... I... My name?"
"Yeah, your name."
"Uh... Helga."
"Helga?" He raised an eyebrow. "I knew a Helga in school." He grinned a little and shook his head at this memory and then spotted the little ribbon in her hair. "... Helga wore a ribbon like that."
Helga looked up and stammered some more, patting her hair subconciously. 'He isn't suspicious?'
Arnold grinned a little and then their discussion was interrupted by Patti, whom had dressed already and was looking ready for the day.
"We're vacationing with a couple of night owls, huh?" she exclaimed, laughing, meaning John and Ali.
* * *
That day, the group went to the fair and played games and, mainly John and Patti, rode the rides, acting like a couple of kids.
Ali paused in a game of darts to notice that Helga had her eye on something other than the balloons they were supposed to pop. She grinned, realizing that she was watching Arnold. "Why don't you invite him over?" she wondered.
Helga scoffed and shook her head, keeping quiet. She didn't want Ali to know about her feelings for Arnold, which, oddly enough, had returned overnight, it seemed. She had tried to forget them... bury them... leave them in the past, but her past romances had been dull, mundane. It seemed Arnold was the only one for her and a mere glance at him was enough to prove it.
As if reading her mind, Arnold walked by then and smiled at her. "Hi, Helga, Ali."
"Hi," Ali mumbled, concentrating on the balloons, which she quickly popped with a blue dart. Helga just gulped and fumbled with her green dart.
Arnold grinned a little and stood behind Helga, watching as she stared ahead at the wall covered in multi-colored balloons. "Hey, can I try?"
"Huh, oh, sure." She handed the remainder of her darts to him and stood by Ali and watched him.
He quickly popped all three of the balloons and then turned to Helga. "It was your darts. You pick the prize."
She gulped weakly and then nodded, flustered. "Ok." After picking a large t-shirt with a wrestling emblem on it, she smiled a little. "Um, thanks, Arnold."
"You're welcome."
"Bye." She grabbed Ali by the elbow and pulled her along until they were out of Arnold's sight, lost in the crowds. "Oh, my God!"
"What was that about?" Ali wondered.
Helga gulped for air and then glared at Ali. "You will tell no one."
"No one what? That you have feelings for Arnold?"
"What!" she exclaimed and then tried to cover, "I dunno what you mean."
"Ok, well, sure. But it's pretty obvious, Helga."
"You don't know me well enough to tell me what's obvious!" she cried, attracting a lot of attention.
Ali shrugged. "Whatever," she said and then looked down, noticing the dart that was in her hand. "Oh, boy."
She sighed and ran back to the dart stand to finish her game.
* * *
The next day, Helga and Ali were supposed to take the winners on a tour of the area, showing them around the area of the Tomato War. Just before they were supposed to, however, Arnold invited Helga to go with him to the fair.
"Well?" he asked her as she gripped her keys and looked around.
"I, uh, am supposed to take John and Patti, though..."
"Oh."
"No, you don't hafta, I can do it on my own," Ali interrupted. "Go ahead."
Helga glared at her and turned to Arnold. "Well, uh, I guess we can go..."
Later, they had arrived at the fairgrounds and looked around.
"I played all the midway games to last for a lifetime. What do you say we go on some rides?"
Memories of the cheese carnival rushed through her mind and she sighed a little before agreeing. "Whatever you say, Football head." After it slipped, her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth.
"What'd you say?" he wondered, his eyes narrowing a little.
"Er, that I thought I heard there was a new ride to do with Foot...balls..." she tried to pass it off, her eyes wide.
"No, you called me Football Head. So you are the Helga I went to school with. I should've known. " He smiled a little and she released a deep breath.
"You're not... mad?"
"No, why should I be?" he asked a little densely.
"No reason."
"I haven't seen you since you moved to Illinois..."
She nodded, sighed and they moved on to a ferris wheel. As they were drawn to the top and looked around at the sights, the sun scorched on their heads and made their blonde hair feel like a frying pan until finally it started spinning again and they were soon deposited on the ground.
"Let's go on the bumper cars," Arnold urged, before noticing the distressed look on her face as she rubbed her neck and winced. "What, you don't like them? Ok, then, we don't have to go."
"Thanks. It's a long story..." she said, not sure why she would want to explain to him at all. "Why don't we try the tilt-a-whirl?" Another memory entered her mindscope and she grinned impishly for a moment.
"Sure."
* * *
The week just swirled by in a mess of vacation-like feeling, carnival fun and eating out most of the night as they enjoyed having the majority of the boarding house to themselves. When Helga asked why the house was so empty--
"Why is no one else staying here, anyway?"
"Well," Arnold explained, biting his lip, "after my grandparents died, I returned here and took care of things but no one wanted to rent a room so I had to think of something that would keep the boarding house going. I decided to make it into a hotel but it took so long to do little bits of remodeling, I had no chance to advertise and to everyone, this is still a boarding house."--
she was shocked to realize that this meant Arnold was a permanent member of the Hillwood community, despite the fact that he had left years ago to live with his parents. Wild fantasies, like when she was nine, swirled through her mind until finally the last day of the vacation came and they had to prepare to leave.
"Helga!" Arnold exclaimed, running in the night before as she folded up the large T-shirt with the "Here comes the pain"* emblem on it. "Take a break from this. The parade that marks the end of the Tomato War Rememberance Week starts in fifteen minutes."
Helga looked up in time to see Ali, John and Patti all pass by the doorway.
Impatiently, Ali ran in, grabbed Helga's arm and pulled her out. "C'mon, we're watching the parade."
Helga gasped. "Ah, no, wait! Wait! I say, wait!" She pushed free and glared at Ali. "We have to pack!"
"Oh, c'mon, Helga," Arnold urged. "For me?"
She gasped and melted, staring into his green orbs as they penetrated the darkness around her and she groaned inwardly as an, "Ok, fine," was released from her pale, non-lipsticked lips.
Arnold grinned and Ali continued pulling Helga along until finally they all crowded into the rental car and rode up different streets, until they arrived at the fairgrounds, which were pretty empty by now, all the rides taken apart and in trucks, waiting to be taken away completely.
As the sunset expanded over the horizon, the parade started, people marching by in tomato costumes, waving signs with "The tomato war" written on it in bright red print. A half an hour of standing in this humid weather soon left everyone sweaty and almost gasping for water but when the parade had finally ended, Helga looked up just to see Arnold standing behind her and he looked down at her-- yes, he was taller, she realized, by almost six inches-- and, their eyes locked, she stood up taller and her lips hit his. A rush was sent throttling through them both as they kissed longer and then broke apart, their arms still snaked around each other's waists.
"Uh, Helga?"
She shook herself and looked around, blushing. "What!"
"You're going to miss the fireworks." Arnold was staring at her as she looked disappointed and then turned back to the green, red and blue spectacle in the purplish-orange sky.
'My God, it was just a daydream... Something like that only a dream? No...' she thought, almost crying.
"Helga?" Arnold was still behind her and snapped her from her tearful thoughts. "Are you ok?"
She nodded, unable to speak because he might hear her shakey voice. 'Just dandy...' she thought again. Suddenly she felt his arms around her and, blinking, turned around. As she looked up into his eyes, she felt thoughtful again and almost fell into a daydream again but then she leaned up for real and locked her lips with his. As they kissed, he didn't struggle or fight and she finally pulled away, her eyes exploring his.
He blinked for a minute and then just looked up at the sky for a minute as another loud bang sounded from the fireworks. He was slightly confused in typical dense style as he thought about everything in the past week, and of the time they spent together before she moved.
She sniffed as silently as possible, pulled herself free from his grip and ran off, pushing through the crowd and entering the rental car.
"Helga!" Ali protested, noticing this. "We need the car, too..." but her words hit deaf ears as Helga was already long gone. Luckily, they got a ride with one of Arnold's friends, a kind of eccentric man named Curly, and arrived back at the boarding house safely. When they arrived, however, all of Helga's stuff-- and Helga-- were long gone.
* * *
The next day, the three remaining vacationers drove in Arnold's Packard to the airport and were amazed to see Helga sitting in one of the seats there.
"Helga!" Ali gasped. "What in the blue heck are you doing here!? We-- Arnold too-- were worried about you!"
Helga stood up. "It does not matter. Forget it, Ali, understand. This never happened. We were never here."
Ali groaned and walked over to the window to look at the beautiful summer day that had come out of the beautiful sun set from the night before. She stayed away from Helga until the flight was called and went over to collect her carry-on bag before walking behind John and Patti.
Helga was at the back of the line. When she was just about to reach the terminal, a hand grabbed her and held her back. She whirled around angrily and stared up, paralyzed, at Arnold, sputtering. "A-A-... Arnold! W- what are you doing here!?"
"I don't have the right to tell you bye?" he inquired.
She stammered some more until suddenly his lips caressed hers and her eyes widened. When he finally moved and she had gotten some sense of speech back, she stammered, "Th-that's your idea of bye?"
"It doesn't have to be, you know," he whispered, smiling down at her.
Her eyes widened. "But... but... it..."
"I know. We just re-met... You live in Illinois... I live in New York... But... long distant relationships work, sometimes. Let's try to make this one of those times."
Helga was still speechless when Ali ran up. "Helga, I called your sister before we left for the airport and guess what? She had been fired from her job as the teacher in Alaska when she asked for a week off because they were really understaffed or something so then she did an interview with one of the nearest schools so now she can live in Illinois and take care of Miriam. Now .... it's up to you, Helga. You do not like your job in Regentville, so.... do you want to stay there.... or live here...?"
Helga's eyes grew so large and she gasped loudly until finally she had relaxed somewhat and then, "Yes... Live here..." She stared up at Arnold as she smiled lightly, "Return to Hillwood."
Ali smiled. "Good. It just turns out that a certain radio station is opening up a new station and they want a capable deejay there. And Regent decided you were the woman for the job. Congrats on the promotion, if you wanna call it that."
Helga blinked and grabbed the letter that Ali held out to her. "Seriously!?" She thought a little bit about changing schools, transfering...
"Yeah. And now I gotta go before I miss my flight." Ali smiled and ran into the airplane as Helga looked, speechless, at Arnold.
"Well, I guess I stay." She dropped her suitcase and leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly with all her pent-up emotions from the past finally released.