He woke up bright and early that morning, eager to start his first day as a Sophomore. He got ready for school, gave Abner a hug, kissed his grandparents cheeks and his parents cheeks and left for school. He decided it was a nice day out, so he would walk.

Gerald wanted to meet him at the bus stop but Arnold decided he would rather walk today. Arnold noticed someone walking in front of him. She was wearing a pink hoodie, bookbag, converses along with black leggings and a white tank-top. She stopped and turned to hit the cross walk button and he noticed half of her face was covered with makeup too.

She looked gorgeous and he thought she might look better without all that makeup on. He decided to introduce himself to her, since he hadn't noticed her over the summer.

He approached her quietly and noticed she was looking at her wrist. He listened and heard her stomach growl.

"Stupid Bob." She muttered through chocked tears as she hid her wrist under her jacket and wiped her face. Arnold had noticed the cuts on her wrist and automatically wanted to know who this girl was.

"She is beautiful and I really seen her face yet. Why would she want to cut? I need to help her."

"Excuse me miss?" Arnold said politely. She turned and He couldn't believe what, or rather who, he saw.

"Helga?" He asked

"Hi Arnold." Helga spoke quietly. Her Voice was so soft… so sad… so… Broken? Helga G Pataki sounded broken. Arnold couldn't miss that from a mile away. This cant be Helga… She's always been so strong. Suddenly He realized he was standing there gawking at her. Suddenly she turned to walk, he followed wanting to talk to her.

"Uh... How are you?" Maybe he was just imagining it.

"I'm fine." She Lied. He heard it in her voice.

"You don't sound fine." He had to know where the Helga he knew went.

"Well I am." He looked into her eyes. They were covered with makeup, but he could tell she had been crying.

"Oh. Uh… Okay." He had to think of a way to get her to talk to him… "Do you have your schedule?"

"Yeah." She handed it to him blankly.

"Wow! Helga, we have every class together." He couldn't believe his luck. Ever since they started middle school, he hadn't had a single class with her. Come to think of it, he hadn't had any classes with her over the last few years.

"Really?" He heard her voice perk up a bit. Was she happy or… nervous?

"Yeah. Could I walk you to homeroom?" He needed to talk to her more.

"You want to walk me to homeroom?" She sounded honest and sincere about it, and a bit afraid. Was she afraid of him?

"Yeah. We are friends, aren't we?" He asked. Suddenly he noticed her eyes jerk a little. Did he say something to upset her?

"Okay I guess." She said, back in her quiet tone. He noticed she was carrying books.

"Could I carry your books for you? They look heavy." He asked kindly. Hopefully she'll trust me.

"Whatever floats your boat." He heard it. His Helga was still there somewhere. He grabbed her books and they walked into the school. He opened the door being a gentleman and she was quiet.

"Hey, I need to meet up with Gerald. Could you come with me? Phoebe will be there too so you can talk to her. I'll still walk you to class."

"Ok." She said blankly. They made their way to their lockers, which happened to be right next to each other's. As Arnold waited for Gerald, He decided to put Helga's books away in her locker for her. Helga just stood there quietly looking into her locker mirror trying to fix her makeup.

"Have on enough make-up Pataki or are you just that Ugly?" Wolfgang walked by laughing at the girl.

Arnold began to get defensive and gave Wolfgang an Ugly glare, he looked over to Helga who looked like someone had just told her that her pet died "Helga… Ignore them. I think you look pretty, even without that make-up."

Helga looked up at him like she wanted to believe him "thankyou Arnold."

"Whoa… " Gerald whispered to Phoebe "What is he doing talking to Helga Pataki. That bitch needs to stay away from him."

"Excuse me Gerald… That Bitch is my best friend." Phoebe loved her boyfriend, but when it came to Helga- there was just no agreeing.

"You haven't been talking to her again have you?" He asked. He thought Helga was a bad influence on Phoebe.

"No. But even though I haven't talked to her, that doesn't change who she is to me. She's my best friend and I wish you would be nicer to her."

"Why should I be nice to someone who doesn't give a rats ass about anybody but themself?"

"Because Gerald…. Its complicated to explain." Phoebe knew about the abuse Helga suffered, and she wanted to help. But Gerald made it complicated to even talk to her since he always wanted to hangout with her. Eventually the barrier was set between their friendship. Phoebe was determined to fix things with Helga, she just needed Gerald to understand, but she didn't want to out Helga. Her hands were tied on the matter.

"OH MY GOD HELGA!" Phoebe screamed running up to Helga and hugging her. Helga winced but Nobody saw it. Go figure.

Arnold and Gerald did their signature handshake as a greeting.

"Hey Phoebe. Long time no see." Helga said hugging her friend. She truly missed Phoebe but was mad Phoebe seemed to always ignore her when she needed her.

"Can I see your schedule? I hope we have something together." Phoebe said sincerely. Helga blankly handed it to her.

"Hey babe, Me and Arnold need to talk. I'll be back in a sec okay?" Gerald said, giving Helga a death glare.

"Alright Gerald." She kissed his cheek and the boys walked away.

"Helga, we have 3 classes together." Phoebe smiled.

"That's cool." Helga said dismissively.

"Helga…" Phoebe looked at Helga and they both walked into the girls restroom. They checked every stall and locked the door.

"Okay, what now?" Helga said defensively.

"Helga, what happened last night?" Phoebe knew about everything Helga suffered and truly wanted to help, but Helga was so closed in about her life that Phoebe was lucky she could get the truth out of Helga anymore.

"What do you think Phoebe?" Helga lifted her sleeves to reveal the cuts and dark hand marks "I come home 5 minutes after midnight because I got stuck doing closing last night and Bob flips his shit that I didn't make him dinner. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a pool of my own blood, a sprained ankle, bloody clothes and dark marks." Helga was mad, hurt and upset.

"Why aren't you limping?" Phoebe noticed.

"Why do you think? I'm gritting my fucking teeth because Arnold decided to play hero and actually talk to me again while walking to school."

"Arnold really approached you? That's Great Helga! Im sorry about your ankle though. I'll help you to the nurse." Phoebe was more excited to hear that Arnold finally talked to her, she just hoped it was for all the right reasons.

"Don't bother. The nurse couldn't get ahold of my parents even if I was dying. And Arnold? Who Cares? I'm a worthless little bitchy bastard that nobody could ever love. He's wasting his time if he's trying." Helga limped over to the sink, Phoebe noticed the limp.

"Helga... You're my best friend and I love you. You are capable of being loved, don't let your idiotic father tell you otherwise." Phoebe hated Big Bob Pataki for so many things he didn't even realized he had done to his only daughter.

"Phoebe, no man on this earth could ever love me. My own father proved that." Helga said before leaving the bathroom and walking to her locker. If she talked anymore she would cry, and crying would only ruin the make-up that covered up her bruises.

"You are loved Helga…" Phoebe said before letting a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped her tear and walked out of the bathroom. Stupid Gerald for hating Helga, if only he knew…