8 am, Monday Morning-
Arnold sat quietly at his desk, listening absent-mindedly to Mr. Harrison ramble on about WWI. The bell had rung fifteen minutes ago and Helga still hadn't shown up. According to Gerald, Phoebe had said she hadn't been home all weekend and her parents were positively livid. Arnold glanced toward her desk, hoping that she had somehow magically materialized since he last looked ten seconds ago. He couldn't help but be worried considering how, from what Gerald had said, worried Phoebe had been all weekend.
Suddenly the door banged open and Helga stumbled in, looking absolutely crazy. Her hair was worn down instead of in her usual pigtails, she wore a black tank top, shiny, leather pants, each ear had three piercings in them, where none had been before, and of course, tied in her hair was her signature pink ribbon. She sauntered in with a smug look on her face before plopping down unceremoniously in her seat, putting her feet up on her desk revealing a pair of black combat boots.
"Miss Pataki, how kind of you to join us." Mr. Harrison scowled. "Put your feet down please."
"Whiney, little bitch." Helga muttered just loud enough for a few students around her to hear, eliciting a few snickers.
"What did you say, Miss Pataki?" The teacher glared suspiciously.
"I said, 'as you wish'." She replied coyly, stretching her feet out under her desk.
Mr. Harrison continued his lecture and Phoebe immediately turned around to face her best friend.
"Helga!" She whispered urgently, "Where were you all weekend? I was so worried!"
"Relax Pheebs," Helga replied waving her hand in a 'poo-poo' motion, "I wasn't anywhere."
"Helga, you had to have been somewhere. You weren't at home, you're parents had no idea where you were, and I couldn't find you anywhere!"
"Miss Heyerdahl," Phoebe squeaked and spun around upon hearing her name. "if you would like to finish your conversation with Miss Pataki, do it in the principal's office, otherwise, may I continue?"
Phoebe blushed and nodded quietly as she sunk down in her seat.
Helga spent the majority of the class period making snide comments under her breath and throwing the occasional spit wad at Arnold's head. He turned to look at her as yet another slimy, wet wad of paper rebounded off his ear.
"What?" She hissed defensively.
Arnold rolled his eyes and turned back to the front of the room. 'When will she grow up?' He wondered bitterly.
The bell finally rang and Arnold stood to shake loose the bits of paper caught in his hair when Gerald approached him.
"Is it just me or is Helga G. Pataki more pissy than usual?" He asked after parking himself on Arnold's desk.
"I honestly haven't noticed." Arnold replied, trying to contain the bitterness to a degree. "You would think that after elementary school she would have matured a little."
"Hardly." Gerald retorted, not with-holding his obvious dislike for the girl. "This is Helga we're talking about. She'll never grow up. She'll always be a thorn in our sides, your own personal bully."
Arnold frowned slightly as they made their way to their next class. "I don't know, maybe you're right."
"So," Gerald perked up, changing the subject, "You still going to Rhonda's party next weekend?"
"I don't know. Grandpa kind of wanted my help repapering the kitchen."
"Come on man! You have to go! This is going to be the party of the year. From what I've heard Rhonda hired a DJ and is going to have the party catered by Chez Paris."
"Well, I'll try." Arnold gave in knowing he'd have to wake up inappropriately early on a Saturday to finish on time.
"Cool. See you later, man." Gerald and Arnold bumped fists before reaching their Biology class with Mrs. Darwin.
"Helga, honestly, where were you this weekend?" Phoebe demanded. "I was really worried about you."
"Relax Phoebe." Helga replied as casually as if she had been flinging another spit wad at Arnold's ridiculous looking head. "I was at... my boyfriend's apartment all weekend. He dropped me off at school this morning."
Phoebe's eyes widened in obvious surprise. "Boy-boyfriend?"
"Yeah, boyfriend." Helga closed her locker and moseyed up the hall, knowing Phoebe would match her stride.
"Helga, are we talking about...ice-cream?" She asked hopefully. Helga looked at her strangely before realizing what she was referring to.
"No, we're not talking about Ar-I mean ice-cream. His name is Reggie. He's in college."
Phoebe felt her knees suddenly go weak, but quickly regained composure and caught up to her friend. "You're dating someone in college? Why was I not aware of this?"
"It just sort of...happened. Besides, dating isn't the only thing we're doing." She replied with a smug, knowing grin.
Phoebe felt her face get hot as she tried not to think about what Helga had just implied. "Helga, how long have you known Reggie?"
Helga shrugged. "I've known of him for a few months, but we were never really introduced until Friday night."
Phoebe made some incoherent sound before fainting and hitting the floor with a loud thud. Helga continued on, neither noticing nor caring that her friend was no longer beside her.
Gerald and Arnold sat at an empty table while waiting for Phoebe, and consequently, Helga, to join them for lunch. Phoebe approached first, her face pale and a concerned look plastered to it.
"Phoebe, what's wrong?" Arnold asked matching her frown.
"Um... well..." She hesitated for a moment as she set her tray down and took her seat next to Gerald. "I'm worried about Helga."
"Yeah, that's right. She wasn't home all weekend."
"Precisely. I asked her about it after class. She informed me she had spent the weekend at her...Well... boyfriend's house."
Both Arnold and Gerald stared in shock. "Boyfriend?" Gerald finally snorted, "You're joking, right?"
"No, Gerald." Phoebe answered meekly. "I'm quite serious."
Arnold took note of the anxious look on her face before interrupting her train of thought. "There's more isn't there?"
Phoebe physically jumped at the asked question, spilling milk all over the table. "Y-yes, there is." She said nervously as the trio sopped up the milk with napkins. "They met on Friday. She knows nothing about him and I have a really bad feeling about it."
Gerald and Arnold exchanged concerned glances. If Phoebe was troubled by Helga's recklessness, then it must have been serious.
"You guys look like someone just died." Helga's voice startled the group as she sat down next to Phoebe and plowed into her questionable cafeteria food. "What are we talking about?"
"Nothing!" Phoebe squeaked. She stared at her tray for a moment before pushing it aside. Helga swiped the pudding off of it before returning to her lunch.
Arnold gave her a curious look. Helga was too busy stuffing her face to notice, but Gerald studied his friend's face for a moment. Arnold looked more than concerned, he looked... pained? Gerald couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"So, Helga." Gerald turned his attention to the once unibrowed bully, "Phoebe tells us you have a boyfriend."
Helga shot a quick glare at Phoebe before answering. "What's it to you, bucko?"
"Nothing, just thought it might be an interesting topic of conversation." Gerald replied nonchalantly, taking a sip of his Yahoo.
"Y-yes. We'd love to know more about Reggie." Phoebe reiterated, giving Gerald a strange look. "You said he's in college. What is his major?"
Helga cast a glance in Arnold's direction, who seemed to not be paying attention to the conversation and, instead, poked at some gray slop on his tray. "Reggie says he's more 'there for the experience'."
"So, he's not actually majoring in anything?" Gerald inquired with a raised brow. Helga glared at him, catching his tone.
"No, he's not. You have a problem with that, Hair Boy?"
"What about employment?" Phoebe asked, taking the heat from her own boyfriend. "Where does Reggie work?"
Helga opened her mouth to answer when a voice interrupted her. "Reggie? Who's Reggie?"
Rhonda stood staring down her nose curiously at the group with Nadine by her side.
"Helga's college boyfriend." Gerald replied, casually taking another sip. Rhonda snorted back a laugh.
"Boyfriend?" She responded incredulously. "Helga G. Pataki, the most unfeminine knuckle-dragging troglodyte I've ever met, has a boyfriend?"
Helga growled. Her fists clenched, itching to beat Rhonda's immaculate face into a bloody pulp. "Yeah, what's it to you, Toots?"
"N-nothing!" Rhonda answered defensively. "You s-should... bring him to my party next weekend." She added with a mirthful gleam in her eye.
"Yes." Phoebe added, "I would very much like to meet your, uh, boyfriend Helga."
Helga looked between the two girls then shot a glance at Arnold who quickly looked away. She smirked. "Sure, I'll bring him. Maybe I'll even get him to bring some of his friends." She tried to remain casual at the idea and took a sip of her soda to cover up an arrogant smile.
"Well, that would be just lovely! I'll see you next Saturday." Rhonda concluded with an over-dignified air. "Come along, Nadine. This is simply going to be the talk of the school."
By the end of the day the entire school was buzzing with only two topics of conversation: Rhonda's party and Helga's college boyfriend. Helga basked in the envious stares of her high school peers as she made her way to the front of the school to begin her trek home when she heard a voice calling out to her.
"Helga! Wait up!" Helga turned to see an unusual shaped head topped with messy blonde hair bobbing up and down as its owner ran towards her.
"What do you want, Football Head?" Helga scowled with a slight smirk playing on her lips. She couldn't deny the fact that having Arnold chase after her was especially gratifying. She had fantasized about it for years, though it was usually followed by a heartfelt declaration of his love as opposed to: "Can I walk you home?"
Helga shrugged. It was a start. "Whatever floats your boat, Arnoldo." They walked in silence for a moment. Helga chanced a glance out of the corner of her eye. The expression on Arnold's face puzzled her. He seemed to be battling with something. He must have finally reached a decision however, because he opened his mouth to speak again.
"So, a boyfriend huh?" Stupid! Arnold thought. I couldn't have thought up a better segue? Helga's expression remained neutral.
"Yeah, seemed to have grown one recently. What about it?" Arnold rubbed the back of his head nervously for a second before answering.
"Well... nothing I guess. You two must have been together for a while though if you, you know...stayed over." Arnold blushed a little knowing exactly what that implied. Helga, however, merely scowled in mild annoyance, not sure where her companion was going with this .
"Not that it's any of your business, Bucko, but it was kind of a...heat of the moment type of thing."
"Heat of the moment?" Arnold responded, his eyes widening with surprise. "How so?"
Helga stopped suddenly, looking contemplative for a moment. "Reggie is very...persuasive." She said quietly, almost to herself.
Arnold frowned. "Do you...know much about him?" Arnold inquired, choosing his words carefully.
Helga shrugged again and continued walking. "What's there to know?" Helga replied with an indignant smirk.
Arnold frowned again. "You mean you don't know anything about this guy?" He blurted out.
Helga glared at him. "Look, Football Face," Helga hissed jabbing a finger in his chest as she spoke. "It's really none of your concern is it? If 'walking me home' was really just some code word for giving me the third degree, then you can buzz off!"
Arnold held up his hands defensively. "You're right. It's none of my business. I..." Arnold scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Helga. I'm just worried about you." He finished looking up at her apologetically.
Helga felt her heart pound violently in her chest. Damn him! She shouted in her head. How can he still make me feel like this after all these years! Her face softened slightly.
"Forget about it." Helga sputtered out with a flushed scowl after realizing she had been staring. Arnold smiled. They walked up to Helga's stoop and Helga suddenly found immense interest in pulling at a loose thread on her top. Arnold rocked nervously on his toes for a second before releasing a quiet sigh.
"Helga?"
Helga looked up with an uncharacteristically meek look on her face. Arnold realized he had seen that face once before. In fourth grade when Helga thought she had monkeynucleosis and had told him that she thought he was 'ok'. Arnold smiled unconsciously at the memory before remembering that Helga was waiting for him to say something.
"Uh...I'm sorry for giving you a hard time about-um... your boyfriend." He coughed to cover up his nerves. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. I worry about you." He said quietly with a blush.
Helga felt her face heat up at his genuine concern and glanced away shyly before forcing a somewhat annoyed scowl on her face.
"Well, Arnoldo, I appreciate the sentiment, but quit being such a worry wart. I know what I'm doing." She replied with a huff.
Arnold sighed. "Whatever you say, Helga."
Helga pretended to pick at a bit of a hangnail while she watched Arnold walk around the corner and out of sight after which she relaxed her face and smiled shyly.
"Worried? About me?" She placed her hand over her heart as if it would leap out of her chest otherwise. She chuckled softly to herself and absentmindedly reached up to play with a lock of hair. He always managed to do that to her. Always managed to make her entire body heat up and her mind cloud over with complete euphoria. She sighed wistfully as the cool spring air caressed her cheek and gently tousled her hair.
Helga allowed her mind to wander and thought back to how she and Reggie had spent their weekend together. Her smile faded and her expression turned pensive. Had she spent that kind of weekend with Arnold she would have died from joy overload, but with Reggie it had been more of a satiation than anything else. No, she thought, not even that. Perhaps for Reggie it had been a satiation of his obvious inability to keep his dick in his pants, but for her, it was a release of all the tension she had felt.
She had been fighting with Big Bob all week long. Olga had just gone back to university out of state after a weeklong visit and Helga had now become the center of negative attention, once again being compared to her perfect older sister. Helga scowled. Then Miriam had forgotten her coat at the dry cleaners, again, as well as 'taking a nap' in the middle of making dinner and nearly burning down the house.
Helga growled bitterly. All the mushy feelings from having Arnold walk her home had dissipated and she had once again become overwhelmed with her usual bitter and grumpy attitude. She sighed angrily as she opened the front door.
"Where in the hell have you been, missy!" Bob Pataki yelled in her face the instant she closed the door behind her.
"At school, Bob." She spat his name out with venom, as per usual. Her dad crossed his arms, all of his muscles tensing as his fury heightened.
"Don't act smart, Helga! Where have you been for the last three days!"
Her dad had just called her by her name for once. Helga was astounded and stood quietly recuperating for a moment from the shock. Then her eyes narrowed. He probably only remembered because Olga the golden child would never have stayed out like that.
"Out." She replied curtly.
"Out where?"
Helga glared. "Just out."
Suddenly Bob's eyes widened. "Are those piercings in your ears?"
"What does it look like to you?" Helga answered defensively. She eyed Bob cautiously, gauging his reaction to her newfound rebellion.
Bob's face turned scarlet. It was going to be a long night.
"Out of my way, Geek Bait!" Helga screeched shoving a freshman into his locker. Arnold's head snapped up towards the source of the noise. Helga stormed angrily down the hallway, leaving students cowering in her wake.
"What's up with Pataki?" Gerald wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure." Phoebe said shakily. "But I think we'd be better off inquiring after she's calmed down."
"Hey Helga!" Arnold called.
"Fuck off!" Helga screamed in his face shoving her middle finger up against the blonde boy's nose before stomping away.
"Arnold, didn't you hear what Phoebe just said?" Gerald asked incredulously.
Arnold put a shaking hand to his chest to calm himself down. "Oh god. I thought she was going to kill me for a second there."
In her classes, even the teachers noticed something a little off about Helga's attitude and each one decided not to push their luck by asking her to the board.
At lunch Helga had finally seemed to calm down a little and Phoebe decided to breech the subject.
"Helga, I couldn't help but observe that you seem a little...tense at present. Do you want to talk about it?"
Helga's hand screeched to a halt in the process of bringing another forkful of some sort of pasta and meat sauce to her mouth causing the pasta to slide off onto her shirt instead.
Helga grabbed her napkin and scrubbed angrily at the stain, only spreading it around. "No Phoebe. I really don't." She muttered.
"Helga, did something happen after I walked you home yesterday?" Arnold asked trying to keep his attention on Helga's face instead of her slowly inching neckline from her tugging her shirt taut.
"Well that's the funny thing about yesterday, Arnoldo, there are plenty of hours left between after school and now for someone or something to piss me off." Helga growled in resignation, tossing the now crumpled napkin onto her tray.
"So what upset you?" Arnold prodded carefully, noticing that Helga's shirt had yet to right itself and was exposing a small bit of her pink bra. He blushed and looked away. Remember, you're a gentleman. He reprimanded himself.
"Nothing. Big Bob and I just got into a fight. That's all." Helga replied finally readjusting her top.
"Usually a fight with your parents wouldn't upset you this much." Phoebe said knowingly. "Was this fight different in some way?"
"You could say that."
Phoebe looked worriedly at her hands for a moment before asking: "Is that why you weren't on the bus this morning?"
Helga shrugged noncommittally.
"Is that why you practically tried to murder Arnold this morning?" Gerald interjected.
Helga froze.
"Gerald!" Arnold coughed, nearly choking on his soda.
"You know what, this conversation is over." Helga spat before picking up her tray and walking away.
The trio watched as Helga tossed the remains of her lunch into the trash and shoved open the cafeteria doors, knocking a student out cold in the process.
"That girl could use some serious humbling." Gerald said with a sigh.
Phoebe shook her head in silent agreement. She would never bad mouth Helga, but Gerald was right. At least in some respects. Helga needed to mature and realize that the whole world isn't out to get her, that she did have friends and people who care about her...and maybe, Phoebe thought as she turned to look at Arnold. His face pulled into a look of concern while his eyes remained glued in the direction Helga had gone. Yes, just maybe...
Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for the warm reception guys. I'm really excited about this story and I've made a conscious decision to not work on any other fictions until Tattered Ribbon has the final chapter up. I have a few ideas for another one, but I don't want this one to die off because I'm working on something else.
