Thursday Morning

I can't believe it... Helga thought to herself annoyingly. She rummaged through her dorm closet and picked up a pair of faded, ripped jeans. She only glanced at them for a moment before tossing them aside on the floor along with all of her other rejected clothes. I just cannot believe it! I have nothing to wear for tonight... One by one she started going through the remains of her closet muttering to herself in disgust the entire way. She picked up a familiar pink dress. "Too pink..." Toss. She grabbed another garment. "Too frilly..." Toss. "Too tight...too baggy...too everything!" She sighed in exasperation and fell on her bed in defeat. She was never very good at this girly thing of dressing to impress. Now she knew how Rhonda felt whenever she had one of her fashion meltdowns. "This cannot be happening..."She muttered into her pillow now almost sounding exactly like the princess.

Buzz...Buzz...Buzz Helga looked up from her face down position to see that her cell phone was vibrating. That's odd, she thought. Nobody ever calls me except for Ol-ga. Looking at her caller ID, ready to screen the call, she was shocked to see a name she hasn't seen in ages. She quickly answers. "Phoebs?! Is that really you calling me?"

A small giggle. "I am ever so certain it is. It would be hard for me to mistaken my own identity." A pause. "So how have you been doing, Helga?"

Helga smiled a little. "Better Phoebs. Ever since the day I left that hell hole things have been looking up for me." She was shocked. It felt so good to be talking to Phoebe again after so long. "What's up with you?"

"Everything is quite splendid. I admit, it has been almost overwhelming the amount of work that they give us. But I am highly enjoying myself." I knew it. Helga thought. Before Helga could say anything though, Phoebe continued. "Actually Helga, I do have another reason for calling you today..."

Although no one could see it, Helga raised a corner of her brow. "Ooh...?"

"It has been quite some time since you and I have spent time together and yesterday Gerald mentioned to me that you are planning of reciting some poetry." A pause. "Assuming you still are as you are with some things, I was wondering if perhaps you need some help to get ready for tonight." Another pause before she quickly added: "But if you don't, that is perfectly understandable. I know that things can easily change given enough time..."

At this point Helga was practically rejoicing on the inside. "Phoebe", she said happily, "You do realize that you are a life saver! See you are your place in twenty?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, Helga." Phoebe confirmed.

"Good! I am leaving now. I will be there in twenty minutes and not a minute later. Be prepared!" said Helga.

And with her familiar response, Phoebe replied: "Preparing!" And with that they ended their call and Helga left the chaos that was her room.

That Night

It took all day, but with Phoebe's help, Helga was ready for her debut night. She had to admit, she was nervous. It was her first time actually reciting her poetry in public and she was afraid that people would not like it. But with Phoebe by her side for moral support, she figured that there was nothing that she couldn't do. Heck, even Gerald agreed to come along though he said he was planning on going anyway; something about a big surprise for everyone. Though by the way he acted, it seemed like he was trying hard not to say something. Helga figured that it was probably some sarcastic remark about how she looked but kept his mouth shut for Phoebe's sake.

By the time they got to the "Lazy Java Beats", Helga was surprised to see how busy it was and gave Gerald a questioning look before asking. But he seemed to read her mind and answered before she could ask.

"Don't look at me, Pataki," he said simply with a shrug, "It's like this every Thursday. Folks just seem to love it." Then he gave her a sly smile and added with a hint of humor, "Why? Are you starting to get cold feet?"

She gave a small humpft and stubbornly shot back back before entering the coffee-house: "In your dreams Geraldo. This is nothing and don't you forget that!"

As the door shut behind her, Gerald shared a knowing looked before he ask with a smile: "Shall we?"

To which the Asian girl replied with a blush, "With pleasure." And they both followed after Helga.