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Turn On The Lights

Chapter Two: Every Night I See Those Flashing Lights

The bell finally rang for the last time. The dull roar of students cheering and stampeding through the halls could be heard. Helga smiled as she joined the crowd, watching the ridiculous freshman running to the buses. They ran everywhere, apparently they were always late. She ambled along, thinking to herself and ignoring all the white noise around her. The art students had fawned all over her poem. A lot of them correctly derived it's meaning, which pleased her. She was a little nervous now to get on the bus and potentially sit alone on a bus seat with the inspiration of her love poems. She hoped the anonymous stranger hadn't been too obvious. She plopped down in her usual seat, watching the front of the bus out of the corner of her eye for bright yellow hair. Just as she was getting nervous that he had realized her poem was about him and had run for it, there he was. Just as he neared her, she put up her feet defiantly.

"Helga." He sighed.

"What are the magic words?" She smirked at him from under half-lidded eyes. He sighed again, rolling his eyes this time.

"Please, oh talented and inspirational bard." He grumbled. She nodded in acceptance and dropped her legs.

"You may pass." She said solemnly, bowing her head slightly. He dropped into the seat and gave her a dirty look. She smiled in an annoying fashion right back at him.

"Your poem was really good, Helga. I can't believe you wrote that." He said.

"Aw, your faith in me is truly moving, football head." She laughed as her heart ached for a moment.

"I didn't mean it that way. You're just soo…rough sometimes."

You have no idea, Helga thought.

"Yeah well, pretty things come from ugly things all the time, Arnoldo. Check nature out sometime." She snapped at him, crossing her arms.

"Helga." He said sternly.

"Just forget it, Arnold." She sighed heavily. "Before you stick your foot any further down your throat, let's pretend like I have feelings for a second because that was just so insulting."

She jumped up from her seat just in time for the bus to stop on her corner.

"I'll see you later, Arnold." She said flippantly as she walked down the aisle.

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Helga stood before her dark blue apartment staring up at its depressing frame, the bane of her existence which she did not want to enter. She could hear the rumble of the bus as it started up again, the smell of the black exhaust belched forward filled her lungs, and she could feel the prickly tingle of Arnold's guilty gaze piercing the back of her neck. She ignored it and did not turn around or enter until she was sure the bus was out of sight. When it turned the corner and disappeared, she fell against the steps and watched the passerby.

She realized she had been a little hard on the guy. Sometimes he really didn't seem to think his words through before opening his mouth around her. Of course she knew how crazy it was for a decked in black and pink bully tomboy to spew forth passionate love poems. But it stung when the person responsible for them pointed it out. She shook her head angrily, hoping to clear her head of him and stood up to go inside. Thankfully it was much warmer and dryer inside. She immediately shed her coat and walked into the kitchen to look for a snack. Mirium was already in there, as usual. She was rushing around the kitchen whipping up…black coffee.

Helga groaned and dropped herself onto a bar stool. Mirium looked at her apologetically and took the cup into the living room. So it would seem that Big Bob was finally home from his extended business trip. Just peachy.

"Helga!" Big Bob boomed. Speak of the devil…

She got up and dragged her feet purposely the entire way. She leaned against the doorframe, not entering the room and crossing her arms. At least he had gotten her name right for once. He swung around in his armchair to meet her boring gaze. Mirium stood at his side with a pained look on her face.

"Well there you are girl! Come give your old dad a hug!" He said grinning with his huge arms held out for her. Helga stared at him for a whole minute. Did he seriously think she was going to buy this sudden appearance of sappy crap? His arms sagged slightly.

"I think I'm good. What do you want?" Helga said flatly. Bob cleared his throat and adjusted his collar.

"Helga, you like having Mirium around, right?" Bob said, still smiling that big fat cheesy smile usually reserved only for his biggest customers. The real Miriam stirred from her sleeping spot on the couch. Mirium shook her head ever so slightly.

"Uh, yeah. She's the best. Why?" Helga said.

"So what if you could keep her around and anyone else you might need for the rest of your life?" He grinned. Mirium shut her eyes sadly. Helga shifted on her two feet. She was starting to feel uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.

"Uh…" Was all she could think to say.

"Helga, I am offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity here. I want you to become my apprentice at Big Bob's Beepers and Electronics. You'll become my successor once I retire and make millions from the company. Then you can have a mansion, a pool, money, and you can fill it with people like Mirium here!"

He jumped up and rested both hands on her shoulders.

"Come on Helga. Do this for me. I need someone to carry on the company now that I'm getting along in years. And it's not like I have a son or anything to carry on the empire I worked so hard to build." He shot Miriam a nasty look on the couch as she gave a loud snort.

"You're my last option Helga. Do it, do it for me. Become my apprentice. I asked your sister but she's too busy writing a concierto or some crap. But you, you can be different from her. You can be the future of my company. Can you do this for me?"

Helga stared at him completely appalled by his offer.

"Dad, have you been listening to me at all these past couple of years? You signed off on all the classes I was taking. I want to become a writer, maybe even a journalist. I want to travel the world and get to know the people around it. How could you possibly think I would want to run an electronics business?" She plucked his fingers from her shoulders in disgust.

"I thought it was just a phase. I thought if we let you indulge it a little, it would pass. Your mother told me all that psycho-babble crap." He shrugged. Miriam held up a finger to say something but passed back out into her pillow.

"No dad, it's not just some freaking phase. I have at least twenty books upstairs, all of which you paid for, filled to the brim with poetry and stories. And you seriously thought I would pass that up for some mp3 players and laptops?" She demanded.

"But I'm guaranteeing you millions!" He shouted back.

"Not. Interested." She said through her teeth. He stood there dumbfounded, his mouth open.

"What did you just say to me?"

"Not. INTERESTED!"

SMACK!

Helga stood there, stunned, her head tilted to the side now. Her cheek was on fire. He had hit her, struck her, right in the face. Blood rushed to her screaming cheek.

"How dare you? HOW DARE YOU! You insolent little brat, you waste of space since you were born! You're going to waste your life on…on fucking books when I'm offering you the chance to make millions carrying on MY legacy?" He roared. She was frozen in place by shock. Her father had actually hit her. He'd threaten to do so many times. He'd shouted insults at her, shoved her, broken her things, and held gifts over her head. But finally, here they were. He had finally hit her.

"I've given you everything in this world and this is how you repay me? Spit in the face of my money that's made your life so comfortable with starving artist's dreams?"

Something in her snapped. No one talked to Helga G. Pataki that way.

"Yeah well, it's a hell of a lot better than selling my soul for ELECTRONICS and making my significant other so miserable around me that they have to drink themselves into oblivion just to stay sane!" She yelled back.

Miriam rose up a hand in acknowledgement.

"Oh, and can I get a side order of having a nanny raise the kid I can't even remember the name of please?" Helga spat.

"You bitch!" He swore. He moved toward her again but Helga was ready this time. She ducked to the left, grabbed an umbrella leaning against the wall, and swung it around to connect with Bob's head with a sweet CRACK. He stumbled, gripping the side of his head as he spit out a stream of obscenities. Blood dripped down his neck. He pulled his hand away from his head and stared at it. Helga froze at the sight of it. What had she done?

"Dad, I-"

He moved towards her again.

"Enough!" Mirium boomed. Suddenly she was between them, her hands up against each one. They glared daggers at each other over her head.

"Enough." She whispered. He was panting heavily. So was she, she realized.

"Get out." He growled under his breath.

"Meester Pataki." Mirium started.

"NO!" He bellowed. "Get out! Right now!"

Helga threw away the umbrella. She stalked past him and towards the front door.

"'elga!" Mirium cried. Helga looked back to see her trapped behind Bob's massive frame.

"Get out, as is." He snarled. He pulled his wallet out forcefully from his pocket and threw a fistful of twenties at her.

"Don't come back here." He said coldly. She snatched up the money, threw on her coat, and disappeared out the door.

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How dare he? Who the fuck did he think he was to just dismiss her dreams and ambitions for some stupid piss poor excuse of an offer? And then to say he'd only come to her second after Olga? That ass! And he hit her. No one hit Helga G. Pataki, not even her own father. Her blood boiled as her cheek stung in reminder. She stomped angrily in the direction of Phoebe's house. He'd be sorry. Once he calmed down, the substandard Miriam would talk some sense into him and the police would be scouring the block within the hour. Easy peasy.

She was still angry though and didn't realize how fast she must have been walking when she ended up at Phoebe's stoop in no time. She rang the doorbell and waited. She rang it again. No one answered. She knocked a couple times. She rang again. She leaned annoyingly on the bell. Still, no one answered. She called Phoebe and got her voicemail.

"You have reached the voicemail box of Phoebe Heyerdahl." Her squeaky little voice announced.

"Gerald and I are currently staying at the Little Whinging resort for the winter break. If I don't answer, please leave a detailed message and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!" She chirped. BEEP!

Helga snapped her phone shut. She had completely forgotten all about Phoebe and Gerald's anniversary getaway. She was starting to feel a little nervous. Her anger was cooling off and the cold was starting to creep into her toes and fingers. She suddenly realized she had no other friends. She couldn't think of a single warm place she could go to wait until her dad came to his senses. Phoebe knew her home situation, no one else did and she didn't feel like explaining it at the moment.

She started walking aimlessly. Walking kept her warm. So where could she go then? Green's Meat? And what, stand around? Her clothes and hair would never stop stinking like meat. The flower shop? No, then she'd had to buy something. The library? No, she might see her classmates there and they'd question her presence. The coffee shop? Why not. She got a hot chocolate there and sat by the window. She waited, perking up when a cop car drove by but they didn't stop and get out. The sun had long set.

"Alright girl, you've been nursing that cup all afternoon. You gotta go." The waiter said as he wiped down tables.

"Can't I stay? I'll buy another if that's the problem." She pleaded.

"No can do little lady. We're actually closing up. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here." He chuckled at his own joke and walked away. The lights dimmed overhead. She gulped down the last dregs of her chocolate and rose to stand outside. She buried her hands in her pockets and watched the last people on the streets scurry home. They probably wanted to get out of the cold, cuddle up under some blankets, maybe with someone special. She checked her phone for the hundredth time. It was ten o'clock at night and she didn't have a single call from either her parents or Phoebe.

Helga suddenly felt very alone standing on a cold, dark street. Bob was clearly not going to change his mind. Though she had been avoiding the idea all afternoon, Helga suddenly realized she was facing the very real possibility of sleeping on the streets of Hillwood with nothing but a coat and a pocket full of twenties.

She was frightened. She was completely alone, and it was all her own doing. Maybe if she hadn't been so mean to her childhood friends, she could be sitting in Nadine's living room or Rhonda's room eating cookies and gossiping. But no, she was a bitch and standing alone on a dark road shivering to death. Who could she go to now?

The answer came to her, so obvious now. She rushed off.