The day continued uneventfully until snack time. Each kid lined up and got a plate with two graham crackers before selecting a place to sit. Arnold, already proving himself to be a budding Mr. Congeniality, naturally had half the class sitting near him. At his side was Gerald, who by now was tight enough with the football headed kid that the beginnings of what would come to be their secret handshake were taking form. The two of them bonded, blissfully unaware that the next table over sat Helga who continued to moon over the one person on earth who for the first time in her four years of life threw her any shred of kindness. As she sighed dreamily and lost herself in her thoughts, Harold Berman's pudgy fingers slid across the table and purloined the two untouched crackers from her plate. He waved them and laughed tauntingly before stuffing them into his greedy little maw.
"That fat little lump." Helga thought as she teared up. "It's not enough some stupid mutt steals my lunch, the lunch mommy lovingly worked to make me. Now my snack gets taken too. I'm so hungry. At least the dog who stole my lunch was genuinely starving."
At the other table, Arnold and Gerald found their conversation distracted by Harold's victorious guffaws. While Gerald shook his head, Arnold couldn't help but see Helga's lips trembling and her eyes welling with tears. He looked down at the barely touched snacks on his plate and then at the girl across from him. While graham crackers were nice and all, it wasn't like he needed them that badly. Arnold stood up knowing what had to be done.
"Want mine?"
Helga looks up; once again there was Arnold, that shining beacon of altruism offering his snack to her. Transfixed, she mutely nods as the plate leaves his fingers. He returns to his table, waving over his shoulder to Helga. Almost reflexively, that goofy grin comes back as she returns his salutations and grasps her hands to her heart.
"Oh Arnold. You kindhearted little lighthouse of sanity in this vicious ocean called life. What have I done to deserve so much as a glance from you, let alone any-?"
Harold clearly had read Helga's thoughts and much to the delight of Rhonda Sid and Stinky he began to pantomime her lovesick smile and posturing. They howled and hooted over her swooning and smirking. She started to walk away from the table, but the laughter only got louder. And God help her if she sought refuge near Arnold.
As the cacophony continued, something deep in Helga's psyche suddenly snapped that day. It wasn't enough that hell was a place called home with Bob and Miriam's neglect and Olga's chipper perfectionism. School was now shaping up to be yet another theatre for her to be mocked and ostracized like a circus freak; she came to school hungry and covered in mud, and now all the children she was to share every milestone of childhood with mocked her over the one moment of happiness she had ever felt. But none of it compared to looking up at Arnold and seeing his face turn into a mortified frown. How much did he see? How much did he suspect?
"Did it matter anymore?" She thought as her brow furrowed.
"Quit laughing geekbait, or you'll have to answer to Ol' Betsy and theā¦and the five Avengers!" Helga suddenly shouted as she pushed Harold over and stood atop the table.
The entire class immediately went dead silent.
"Old who and the Five what?" Harold asked.
"My fists, Stupid!" Helga snapped back. "That's their names!"
"What? Wait, wait, your fists have names?! Oh, you're confusing me!" Harold moaned.
Helga had no time for his stupidity. She had to cement her status as top dog and fast to boot. Harold's belly burst out of his shirt like a mound of Jell-O. After jumping on it, she proceeded to knock over Phoebe's blocks.
"I'm the boss around here! Got it?"
The class nodded, stunned that the little girl who one second ago was quietly enjoying the throes of young love was now barking out orders like an angry fascist. Most shocked of all was little Arnold. He looked down at the empty table where his plate of crackers once sat, then up at the little girl in pink stalking around the class menacingly. His belly let out a faint gurgle as he thought of how his good deed was repaid.
