Arnold's POV

"Arnold! Come down here quick!" my grandpa yelled from downstairs. I ran from my bedroom and was greeted with everybody from the boarding house surrounded by the television in the living room.

"What's going on?" I asked quietly. Oskar looked at me worryingly and glanced at the television. I watched intently.

"I'm Sally Stewart with breaking news. Hillwood is under a massive tsunami warning. Hillwood's government has detected that an earthquake is underway within a week just 10 miles away from the coast. Scientists say that the quake can cause massive waves to hit the town and cause massive flooding. Hillwood is calling for an evacuation immediately. I repeat. An evacuation is placed in effect IMMEDIATELY. Thank you."

The room fell silent as the screen went black. I looked at my grandpa who, along with everybody else in the house were shocked at the information the news anchor had explained. Just as I was about to say something, screaming could be heard from outside.

"OHHH MY GOSH! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!" someone screamed. Everybody in the house ran to the front door to see what was going on. I stood still in the living roomwith my grandpa.

"OH NOO!" another person from outside screamed. The boarders were beginning to look anxious. Mr. Hyunh turned around and ran to my grandpa.

"Phil, what are we doing to do?" he cried. "I don't have anywhere else to go!"

"Yeah! Where are we going to go?" Oskar questioned. All of the boarders stared at my grandpa as if he had the answers. I turned to my grandpa who had a look of distress on his face and sighed. More screams ringed through our ears. Crashes and honking horns filled the town of Hillwood which made everyone panic more. I looked at everyone who were anxiously waiting for my grandpa to respond and shook my head.

"Look, everyone. I don't know why you are turning to my grandpa for answers. You all are adults. You need to figure out what you are going to do on your own." I told them calmly. They all looked at me in shock. Suzie tiredly stepped up and put a hand on my shoulder.

"He's right, guys. Time to put our big boy pants on and live out on our own."

"But, we're a family." Mr. Potts added. The room was silent again. I shook my head again and left the boarding house. On any other night, this would have been a great time to get some fresh air. But after the newscast, the streets were wreaking havoc. Cars were flying down the street left and right, tires were screeching across the pavement, and people were running around chaotically stealing from local convenient stores. But I kept walking. I was staring blankly at the ground until lifted my head up seeing a flash of pink running out of the corner of my eye.

"Helga?" I whispered to myself. Without even thinking, I ran after her. "HELGA!" I shouted. But she didn't hear me. She ran faster. I was losing my breath, but I kept running for her, ignoring the people on the streets. She turned several corners. At the last corner, I stopped running to catch my breath. My heart was pounding. "H-hel-helga!" I tried to speak out. I slid down to the ground as I kept breathing in and out. Where is she going? Why is she running like this?

After a couple minutes, I got off the ground and turned the last corner. The bus station came to view. I walked up to the ticket booth and looked around. "Have you seen a tall girl with blonde hair?" I asked. The man at the booth shrugged.

"I see a lot of those around here." The man stated. I mentally scolded myself for doing this and pointed to my eyebrows. The man smiled and nodded. "The tall blonde girl with a unibrow! Yeah! She just bought a ticket to New York. The bus is leaving in 5 minutes."

"Thanks!" I waved as I ran towards the buses in the back. "HELGA!" I screamed for her. "HELGA!" No answer. She must have already been on the bus. I ran up and down the line of buses and read for the New York buses. 3 of them were back to back. "HEELLGAA!" I screamed again. I felt myself panic inside. "She can't leave. Not right now!" I breathed heavily. I stopped to catch my breath for a moment and looked up to see a girl with a hand on the window. It was Helga. Her lips mouthed out my name, but the sound was covered up by the sound of the buses moving. I stood there and blinked as I realized the bus was leaving with her. I began to run after her. Her hand was still on the window. The buses were too fast and I was left on the ground with tears rolling down my face and my heart began to ache. I felt as if the tsunami just came and drowned me. I just realized that the girl that just left on that bus…. was the girl that I loved.


Helga's POV

"Did you hear that, Mirium?" Big Bob screamed. She stumbled to the living room from the kitchen sipping on her special juice.

"What is it, Bob?" she slurred. Bob pointed to the television and glared at her.

"That news lady said that this town is evacuating! We have to shut down Big Bob's Electronics! This is a disaster! How are we going to live?" he screamed. Mirium just stood there like a stack of bricks, oblivious to the chaos that was unwinding at the moment.

I tiptoed upstairs after hearing the news and silently closed my room door. Evacuation of Hillwood? I immediately called Phoebe.

"Pheebs! What is going on?"

"Well, Helga. It appears that Hillwood is under evacuation. The tectonic plates underneath the earth's surface are shifting underneath the ocean and-"

"Can you simplify the situation, please?"

"You didn't watch the news?" she asked with concern. I scoffed.

"Big Bob is down there causing a commotion. No thank you."

"It is predicted that our town is going to be hit by a tsunami."

"Are you serious? You can't predict a tsunami, let alone an earthquake!"

"Well, with our new age technology, I wouldn't be surprised if they could detect such a thing."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I have something to tell you." Phoebe said silently. I was shaking as I felt that she was going to hit me with the worst news possible.

"What is it?" I responded. She was silent for a few seconds. And with a small sigh she finally came out with it.

"I-well, my family and I are… um… we are-"

"OUT WITH IT, PHEEBS!"

"We're leaving to Japan in a few hours." I dropped my phone and my mind went blank. How am I going to survive without her? What am I going to do? "Hello? Helga? Please say something!" she cried out from the phone. I snapped out of it and scrambled for my phone.

"What am I going to do?" I cried. Phoebe began to sniffle on the other side of the line.

"I know you don't have much money. And I know you need to get away, but you can come with us! I will lend you the money for the plane ticket and you can come live with us!"

"It's okay, Pheebs… I don't exactly want to fly out of the country," I paused. "What about you and hairboy?" I asked. Phoebe let out a nervous laugh which let me know that they weren't about to be split apart. "Let me guess. He's going with you."

"You guessed it." She said. I sighed with frustration. Now all I can think about was Arnold. What was he thinking about at this lonely hour? Was he and his family planning on fleeing to another state? "Helga?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you need to get out of there. I can transfer money to your account and give you some money to live off of until you get a place of your own. As a friend."

"I just need to get out of here, Pheebs. I think this is my only shot to get away from Big Bob and his crazy tactics."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I'm thinking the Big Apple."

"They may get hit by the tsunami too!"

"I have a better chance there than I do here."

"Well, I'll make the call to the bus station. I'll text you when everything is done. If we don't get a chance to speak before I leave," she paused. I could hear her choking on her words. My heart was going a million miles a minute. "Be careful."

"I will. Thank you, Pheebs. I owe you one. Have a safe trip."

"I'll try." And with that, we hung up. I immediately began to raid through my closet searching for my dufflebag and suitcase. I piled everything that I could in there including my journals and clothes.

"HELGA!" Bob yelled for me. I mentally sighed and closed my closet door with my belongings in there. I ran to my door and opened it where my father was standing.

"What?" I snapped. He rolled his eyes and softened his expression.

"Hillwood is under evacuation and we need to get out of here pronto. So pack up your things and be prepared to leave in the morning. Your mom and I are going to our shop to pick up our haul truck and pack everything up. Alright?" he scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward. I folded my arms and huffed.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"What else is there to say?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe where we are going?"

"You'll find out when we get there." He sighed leaving the doorway and going downstairs. I could tell he was terrified. But I don't want to find out where we're going. It's too late. I have to go. I need to run away.

I got a text message from Phoebe. "One-way ticket to New York from the bus station. Leaves in 30 minutes! Be careful!" I quickly shut my door and got the stuff from inside my closet. Without thinking, I ran to my window and paused as I heard the shallow cries from the people around the town. My heart began to pound as I watched many people running down the street trying to seek a way out. I, myself, don't know what to do, but I know I can make it. I grabbed my belongings from beside me and threw them outside my window. They hit the concrete with a big thud. I stuck one foot out of the window and stared at my bedroom door. I closed my eyes and gulped, thinking about what I'm about to do.

"So long, buckos." I whispered to myself and I jumped out of the two story building landing on all fours. I grabbed my stuff from the ground and bolted for the bus station. The wheels of my suitcase rolled behind me as I shuffled my way past the frantic people of Hillwood. Everyone seemed to be running. Running in fear, shock, away.

"HELGA!" I heard a cry for my name. Still running, I glanced behind me to see my knight in shining armor running to my rescue. Why was he running after me? Can't he see that I can't stay here? I have to go. Nobody can stop me. Not even the man I love the most. So I kept running. I ran around the last corner where the bus station was and finally lost him. I wonder how far he ran for me. I turned around and peeked around the last corner to see if Arnold was still chasing after me. I saw him less than a block away sitting on the ground trying to catch his breath. I shook my head and clenched the golden necklace around my neck that held a picture of us on graduation in it.

"Stupid football head…" I whispered to myself as I walked towards the ticket booth. Surprisingly, the lines were not long. You'd think that in a predicament such as Hillwood's that the bus station would be packed, but then again, most of the town are a bunch of imbeciles, so I guess I shouldn't be. I walked up to the glass window that a tall man was hiding behind. A bored expression spread across his face as if there was nothing to worry about. "You do realize that we are under evacuation, right?" I questioned. He lifted his left brow and smirked.

"Expect the unexpected, kid. Now what can I do ya for?"

"Uhh… I have a ticket pickup for Helga Pataki."

"Helga Pataki, let's see what we got here… Aha! Going to the Big Apple, huh? Well, that's not too far from here."

"It's far enough." I looked behind me seeing the short line of people and trying to avoid Arnold. The man nodded his head and handed me the ticket.

"Well, have a safe trip, kid. Better hurry up, bus leaves in 10." I smiled and grabbed the ticket from underneath the window and headed toward the bus with my luggage. I rushed myself into my designated bus and picked a seat next to the window. I sighed as I looked out the black stained glass. I wonder if Arnold was still coming after me.

The bus driver stood up in front of the people on the bus and talked through his mini speaker. "Alright, if I can have your attention. This bus is stopping in New York, New York and will take approximately one and a half hours to get there. There is a toilet in the back of the bus and we aren't making any pit stops. If you want to get off, this is your only chance to do so. Any questions before we take off?" Silence followed him. He nodded and proceeded to his seat. I looked outside my window once again seeing a frantic Arnold running up and down the line of buses. My heart began to pound as I knew he was too late. I was not coming off this bus. Arnold stopped in front of my bus and began to pant. I placed my hand against the cold, wet surface of the window and he slowly looked up at me.

"Arnold…" I whispered to myself. The bus driver closed the doors and began to drive off. I stared at Arnold as we were taking our leave. He began to chase after the bus with tears rolling down his face. I slid my hand off the window and clenched onto the heart-shaped locket around my neck, closing my eyes as he fell to the ground in defeat. "I'm sorry."