…...
…...
Helga stormed through the empty school hallway to her classroom, threw the door open, causing a loud bang that made her homeroom teacher jump, scowled at the room then marched to her desk and sat down. Everyone shifted in their seats nervously. Helga. G Pataki was in a mood. Which meant everyone was going to cop it at some point today.
Phoebe glanced nervously over at her friend. Of late, Helga had been coming to class reasonably happy. But for one week of every month she was a monster. To. Everyone.
Especially to Arnold.
Arnold himself was sitting in his seat contemplating putting a helmet on his head, but decided against it. He knew the teacher would just tell him to take it off. He looked back at Helga, who just stared straight ahead, scowling. Then she shook her head, and started tapping her pencil. The whole room had gone quiet when Helga had walked in, and now no one dared to make a sound.
Even the teacher picked up on the tension in the room. She did her duties then sat down and watched as everyone took out their homework and quickly finished what they needed to finish. Phoebe got up and went over to Helga.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Olga."
"Oh. What did she do?"
"She woke up this morning," Helga said, grinding her teeth.
"That's ever so mean to say, Helga," Lila said, turning and frowning at Helga.
"Shut it, Pippy," Helga snapped.
Lila shook her head, and went back to her math homework. When Helga was nice, she could be really nice. But when she was a bitch, watch out.
"Helga, Lila didn't do anything," Phoebe lectured. "You should say sorry."
"No."
Just then the bell rang, and Helga was the first out of her seat and out the door. She had art, and couldn't wait to get there. They were working with clay today, and she couldn't wait to pound the heck out of it. She shoved past her classmates, including Arnold, and was gone. There were sighs all over the room, held in breaths finally being released.
…...
…...
"Heads up, toad-breath!" Wolfgang called out, throwing the football to Ludwig. Instead of sailing into his friends hands though, it hit a big guy, with a letterman jacket who turned to glare. Wolfgang swallowed hard, and started praying in his head.
Torvald.
He picked the ball up in his hands and glared at Wolfgang. Then he popped it with his bare hands and started to stalk over to him.
"Oh, shit," Wolfgang muttered, looking around him. Torvald was bigger than him by a head.
"Outta my way!" he heard a feminine voice yelling out behind him, and then felt a hand shove him forward, right into Torvald's arms.
"What do you say?" Torvald demanded.
"I'm sorry man," Wolfgang whimpered. Torvald growled and pushed him into the lockers with a bang.
"Watch your step, dog," Torvald said threateningly, then turned to push past a tall, slender blonde.
"Hey, ladies first!" she snapped at him, whacking a hand back into his chest, before continuing ahead of him.
Wolfgang hissed in a deep breath along with everyone else in the hallway.
"Jesus, Pataki, you got a death wish or something?"
…...
…...
"Ugh! Should have just gone with stale bread and shaving foam," Helga muttered, poking her lunch with a fork. "I can't wait til we can get out of this place for lunch."
"Hey, Helga," Patty said, sitting down next to her.
"Hey," she said, continuing to glare at her food.
"Heard you had a run in with Torvald this morning," she mentioned casually, taking a bite from her sandwich.
"What? When?" Helga demanded. Holy crap! Had she really? Oh, man. One problem she had realised too late about being "one of the boys" is that they will treat you just like one of them.
"Apparently you shoved him, or at least that's what's going around," Patty sighed, placing her sandwich on the paper. "I can't help you with this one, babe."
"UGH! My life sucks!" Helga yelled. Phoebe's eyes went wide all of a sudden. Patty looked behind her and paled a bit, but Helga continued her rant.
"First, Olga was bugging me, then I have to watch Legs Eleven and Football Head suck face at my locker, then the lock in the girls bathroom stall falls off trapping me in the damn thing, I've lost my History book, and now apparently I've shoved the biggest, baddest guy in school who's probably gonna squesh me like a bug, because no one seems to notice that I do, indeed, have breasts. D cups even!"
Helga heard a snort behind her, and turned to see a torso. Looking up she saw Torvald staring down at her.
"Helga Pataki?" he asked.
"Man, Helga's gonna get it now," she heard Sid say. The whole lunchroom had gone quiet.
"I want to have a word with you," he said quietly.
"Can you at least leave my face alone?" she begged.
Torvald just smiled and walked away.
"I love you guys," Helga said, reaching over the table and giving Phoebe a hug, then turning and giving Patty one too. "It's been great, and you both have been awesome friends."
Then she got up and walked out of the lunchroom. Torvald held the door open for her, and she cast one last look at her friends before the door closed.
"I'm really sorry I hit you, or shoved you, or whatever," she started groveling.
"I don't care about that," he said.
She followed him into a classroom, and resisted the urge to start crying. He leaned in close.
"I don't hit girls. Especially ones with D cups."
Helga turned red as Torvald laughed.
"Oh, god!" Helga cried. "Can my day get any worse?"
"Thought it just got better. I said I'm not gonna hit you. You didn't deliberately do it. We all have our bad days," he said.
"So what is it then?" she asked.
"I need some help with English, and everyone says you," he said, shrugging. "Even my teacher. You have a teacher of seniors recommending you. And I've heard rumors you do work at the local college."
"I don't work there," Helga said. "I study there."
"Really?" Torvald asked, awed.
Helga nodded.
"See, this is why you would be perfect. I need to get my grades up. I know I can get a scholorship, but the place I really want to get into, with the best wrestling and Football team, also takes your grades into account, and mine suck at the moment," he explained.
"What's in it for me?" she demanded.
"I'll pretend to be your boyfriend so you can make that weird headed kid jealous," he replied, shrugging.
Helga's mouth dropped open.
"What? I don't-"
"It's the worst kept secret in the school," Torvald told her, laughing. "Everyone knows, but him."
Helga put her face in her hands. How humiliating. Everyone knew of her unrequited love for Arnold.
"What are you? Five?" she demanded. "That's so juvenile!"
"Alright, alright, but you'd be helping me out as well," he said, rolling his eyes. "My cousin's wedding is coming up and my mother is starting to "worry about me", because I don't have a girlfriend. If I have a girlfriend, and a date to my cousins wedding, she'll back down."
"I'm four years younger than you," Helga pointed out.
"My dad was my mothers college professor. He had fourteen years on her," he told her.
"Had?" Helga asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He passed away," he told her. "He's the only reason I'm sticking around to graduate. My old friends and cousins. None of them are going to graduate or make anything of themselves, those that aren't already in prison," he explained. "But I want to be better than that. Which is why I need your help."
Helga chewed her lip. She doubted it would work in making Arnold jealous. The one time she had tried that, when she was nine with Stinky, it hadn't worked out. And Helga had actually grown fond of Stinky, though she'd never admit it out loud. At a party where he got wasted, he admitted she was his first heartbreak. She'd told him he was a great boyfriend, and deserved better than her. It had ended in a slap though as he went to kiss her. No one had witnessed the debacle that followed, though Arnold had demanded what had happened because he had found Stinky crying again, with a hand mark on his face.
"None of your god-damned business," she'd snapped at him. He'd shook his head and walked away.
Helga then found that she had somehow gained a reputation as a heart-breaker, Brainy and Stinky top of the list, with even Harold on it. It was, however, a great subject for Gerald and Helga to bond over, much to Phoebe's delight. Gerald and Helga always made jokes about it, and once when Arnold a scolded them for it, Gerald of all people had told him to "lighten up".
"Alright," she agreed. "Why not?"
"Great. I have Football practice after school-"
"I can meet you there," she said.
"You sure you don't mind waiting around?"
"Are you kidding? I'm getting to watch football!" she said. "Not a complaint will come out of this mouth about that."
…...
…...
"Wilikers, Helga, your in one piece!" Stinky cried out, seeing her walk into the room. Everyone stopped their conversations and turned to look.
"Yes I am," she said, taking her seat.
"What happened?" Sid asked.
"I'm helping him with some stuff," she said. "Nothing too important."
"What kind of stuff?" Arnold asked behind her.
"Stuff that doesn't concern you," she snapped. She didn't think Torvald would approve of her blabbing about it all.
The rest of the day went with people staring at her, and wondering why she wasn't dead, or at least upset. If anything her mood seemed to have improved.
After school she went to watch the football team practice, and saw Arnold sitting on the bleachers.
"Shouldn't you be practicing?" she asked.
Arnold shook his head.
"Coach is out, so we decided to skip it," he told her. "Sitting?"
She sat down next to him, tucking her skirt in.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking towards the field where the cheerleaders were practicing. Helga looked over to see Miss Legs Eleven, otherwise known as Annie Stevens, flying into the air. Annie reminded Helga of Lila, which she guessed was the other reason she didn't like the girl. Something about her niceness just never seemed sincere, but like most people, Arnold was sucked in. Helga sighed. He was such a moron. Why did she love him?
"Waiting for Torvald to finish," she said.
"Torvald?" he asked, looking shocked, then concerned, then confused. "Why are you waiting for him?"
"He has a chance to get into a really good college on a scholorship, but he needs to keep his grades up as well," Helga told him. "I'm gonna help him with the grades side of things."
"You?" Arnold asked. "This is college entrance stuff right?"
"Yeah."
"And your gonna help him?" Arnold asked incredulous.
Something about the tone of voice he used made Helga bristle. If she'd been a cat her hair would be sticking up and she'd be hissing.
"Yes, Arnold. I am. I study at the community college already, so I know what he's going to be coming up against," she told him.
"What do you study?" Arnold asked, disbelieving her. She could tell by the smile on his face that he thought he as just humouring her.
"English and Arts," she said.
"Oh, okay," he said, looking away.
Helga looked over at him. They hadn't really spoken in a while. Every now and then, but they were always in a crowd. Now that they were alone, she actually found him a bit of a dick.
"Yeah. You want the professors name and class? I got Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Starts at six, finishes at ten. Two hours each class," she told him.
"No, it's cool," he said dismissively. he smiled at her.
"You're a dick," she said, and got up and walked away.
"Whatever you say, Helga!"
Helga didn't say anything back like she usually did, just flipped him off. Arnold was surprised. Usually she said something back. He must have really upset her. He frowned. He hadn't meant to. He was just giving her a hard time.
Despite appearances, he wasn't ignorant to her feelings. He knew how she felt, still felt, and he admitted it flattered him that someone as strong as Helga had a soft spot for him. He also knew that was why he got away with as much as he did when it came to hassling her. And he often used it to his advantage at times as well. Not badly, but just to get his way every now and then. Sometimes it was all anyone could do to get Helga to yield to someone else's ideas now and then.
Instead he watched her take a seat, looking away as the wind blew her skirt up enough for him to see the colour of her panties. He smiled and could feel his cheeks warm. She had nice legs. Helga had definitely come into her own. Even Rhonda conceded that Helga looked good in anything. At a pool party Helga had worn a string bikini on a dare, and had pulled it off so well, she hadn't had to lift a finger all night. Guys were bringing her drinks and flirting with her. She laughed and flirted back, enjoying the attention from the guys. Even some of the seniors fawned over her. Helga was an athletic girl, so she was toned and shapely at the same time. Plus, with the plucking of her one eyebrow, and relenting to the use of make-up at Rhonda's insistance, she was a for-runner for most gorgeous girl in school.
But she was just too moody and unpredictable for Arnold. He never knew from one day to the next what mood she would be in, and it drove him insane trying to keep up. Eventually he just gave up, threw his hands in the air and said "fuck it!" and they barely spoke now.
Then High School started and he met Annie. She was nice, even-tempered, and he knew where he stood with her from the start. She was uncomplicated, came from a nice normal family, and it was great.
Really it was.
…
…
Helga sat brooding, watching the boys on the field. She saw out of the corner of her eye, Legs Eleven walking away from the other cheerleaders and knew she was making her way towards Arnold. She threw Helga a smile, but Helga ignored her. Annie rolled her eyes.
Eventually the boys were finishing up and Torvald waved to her. She waved back, and all the guys on the field looked her way, then started clapping Torvald on the back and smiling and laughing. Torvald waved his fist at them, but they laughed and continued to heckle him about a girl waiting for him after practice.
"Torvald, Helga? Really?" she heard a sweet musical voice call down.
Helga sighed and ignored her. God she hated girls who talked sweetly like they were little five year olds or something.
"I spose it makes sense," she heard the girl continue. "I mean, two of the most feared people in school . . ."
She blocked the girls annoying voice out and decided to check her bag to make sure everything was in there that she would need.
"Well, I gotta go change, Arnold," she heard Annie say, then watched as she bounced off. God how Helga wanted the girl to fall flat on her face and break her perfect little nose.
Arnold came down to sit next to her.
"So what are you two doing?" he asked.
"Stuff," she said vaguely, looking away from him.
"Let me guess? Your helping him out and in return he's going to pretend to be your boyfriend to make me jealous?" Arnold asked. Helga turned to him and smiled.
"If we were nine years old," she said. "But we're not."
"Whatever Helga," he said. "Just don't hurt him like you did Stinky, okay?"
"Pfft, Stinky asked for it," she said.
"No one asks to be hit, Helga," he scolded.
"They do when they grab your boob and slobber all over you in an attempt at a kiss," she snapped. "Two sides to the story, Arnold, but let's listen to the drunk cry-baby, eh?"
Arnold opened his mouth to say something when he heard Helga's name get called out. He looked over to see Torvald making his way over to them. Helga stood up, wiping her hands over the back of her skirt to get any dirt and dust off. As she bent down to pick up her bag, another gust of wind went past and blew her skirt up a bit more, giving Arnold another glance.
"You looking up her skirt or something?" Torvald's voice asked. Helga straightened up, pink, and placed her hand on the back of her skirt and whirled around to stare at him shocked.
"What?" he asked, stunned. Torvald laughed, and smiled as Arnold heard his girlfriend coming over.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Teasing your boy about coping a perve up Helga's skirt," Torvald said. Helga turned red, Arnold went white, and Annie was just stunned.
"What are you doing looking up other girls skirts?" she demanded.
"I didn't. I was looking that way, and she bent over and there was wind and -"
He stopped when he saw everyone was laughing at his bumbling attempt to defend himself, and realised they were hassling him.
"Sure, the wind made you do it," Helga said.
"Come on, Hel-girl, let's get going, leave the kids to it," he said, holding a hand out for her. Arnold and Annie both watched a bit stunned as Helga took it and Torvald helped her down. When they got to the bottom, Torvald put his arm around her shoulders and looked back at them, smirking.
"What the fuck did I just see?" Annie asked.
Arnold couldn't say anything, but he was thinking the same thing.