Helga put her hand to her mouth in attempt to hold back the vomit. "Oh, fuck, oh... oh fuck..." Helga shook her head, closed her eyes, and ran for the phone.
9-1-1. 9-1-1. Helga was shaking too hard to press the buttons. "Fuck!" She took in a deep breath and tried to be as calm as someone could be with their dead mother less than ten feet away. Helga slowly pressed the buttons, but started shaking again as it rang.
"Hello? What's your emergency?"
"Crimeny, how can you be so calm when Miriam is DEAD?!"
The rest of the day was a total blur. Ambulances showed up, people came around to ask what was going on, Bob came home. Ambulances left, people left, Bob left. Helga was now lying on her bed, staring at the pink wall of her room. It felt as if the bright color was mocking her grey day. She blinked slowly as she tried to sink in everything around her, all that had happened. Helga didn't know which made her feel more sick, the fact that she hadn't had anything to eat or drink but stale coffee, or the fact that deep inside she knew she didn't miss her mom. Her mom was gone and deep down Helga knew she didn't need her back, and for once she felt mortified about it. "She never really loved me," Helga's voice quivered as she thought out quietly, "but doesn't it make me just as malicious if I don't love her back?" She shut her eyes tight and wondered why she couldn't cry. "Oh, Arnold," she felt selfish for speaking of him instead of Miriam, "Where are you to save me today?" She remembered what he has said earlier about making a date with Lila. Helga groaned and pulled the blankets over her head, hoping to either suffocate or at least go to sleep.
THE NEXT DAY
"This is a perfect Saturday, Gerald, a perfect Saturday. Don't you think it's a perfect Saturday? Perfect." Arnold stared at the bright blue sky as he lay next to his best friend in Gerald Field an hour after walking Lila home from the movies.
"Soooo, I take it your date went pretty well, huh?" He laughed and studied a cloud slowly floating by. "What does that one look like to you?" Gerald pointed.
"Lila." Arnold said dreamily. Gerald looked at him and rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so give me all the dirty details, I want to know everything."
"Alright, so we went to the movie theater, and her hair was so shiny and pretty, and she smelled good. Oh, and did you know-"
"How about you skip the details and just give me the main points."
Arnold sighed. "Alright, so we watched a scary movie, but I don't remember what it was. And the whole time she held my hand." Another sigh. "Everytime a scary part came, she'd squeeze my hand and say my name, 'Arnold!' Like that. Who knew my name sounded so good when she says it?" He took a deep breath. "Isn't this a perfect Saturday?"
"Hey, Arnold? Are you going to be doing that all day? 'Cause it's starting to get on my nerves."
"Do what?"
"That 'Isn't this a perfect Saturday?' stuff and sighing all the time." Gerald laughed. "You're in deep, aren't you? Deeper than Ruth, I'd say. Man, those were some funny times. Remember the cheese festival? You sounded like a wigged out robot. 'Hi Ruth. Hi Ruth. Oh my gosh, Gerald, what's my line?! Hi Ruth.' You're hopeless, Arnold. A hopeless romantic." He put his hands under his head. "What about that cloud? What does that one look like?"
"Lila's hand, but not as smooth." Hm. Was this what love felt like? "You know, you sounding pretty bold for who you really are. What about... Pheobe?" Arnold gave him a sly look.
"I-I'm just waiting for the right moment. You know how girls are, they want everything to be special and stuff. Speaking of which, let's get back to the point. There's still one thing I gotta know." Gerald looked over at his buddy and raised his eyebrows. "Did you... you know? Kiss the girl?"
"Well... uh... you know how I am. Never kiss and tell, right?"Arnold started blushing, but the memory of Helga smooshing her lips into his at FTi flashed in Arnold's mind and he awkwardly shoved it away.
"So you diiiid kiss her! Ooooh, your first kiss, unless you're trying to tell me something else. 'You know how I am', what's that supposed to mean anyways?"
"Nothing! I just..."
"Helga."
"W-what? How... what?" He never told Gerald about that! It had just been the heat of the moment, so it practicly didn't even count, right? So, How did he-
"Across the street." Gerald interupted the narrator while giving Arnold a strange look, but shrugged it off and looked back. "Man, she looks mopey. HEY HELGA, WHEN'S THE FUNERAL?" She surpised him. He expected her to come stomping over, ready to pound him, but instead she just turned her head and looked... empty?
"Monday." She sluggedly walked on again, probably for home. She mumbled something else, like "11:15 am. Wear something nice, Olga, don't be late.", but she was too quiet and far away for him to hear it.
"Hey Arnold? You don't think..." For once, Gerald was considering apologizing to Helga G. Pataki.
"Nah, she couldn't have. Maybe she's just having a bad day?" Arnold watched her go around the corner. 'Was her birthday really that bad?' he thought, 'I mean, Pheobe said that Helga didn't like her birthdays, but something really bad must've happened for her to be like this.' He shook his head. "It's none of our business. Besides, today's too good to let down. The sky is blue, the trees are green, even the clouds are beautiful!" Arnold wasn't sure at what point he sat up, but now he layed back down again.
"A perfect Saturday?" Gerald followed.
"Yeah." Arnold closed his eyes and almost instantly fell into Lila Land.
-
Author's Note: I think this is a bit shorter than the first chapter, but I thought this was a good spot to end. Besides, for me it's currently 3 in the morning. I have to be up in six hours, and I'm sick, and I have to babysit. FUN FACT: Originally, I'd written this chapter as Arnold's date and even had a really good part with Grandpa and Grandma, but when it came to Lila, she was just ever so... perfect... and boring. I hate to say it, but I'm going to need some suggestions on how to bring her in the story without dragging the chapter on. I've also saved the date scene in a document that I'm going to call "Scraps", in which I'll keep any/all cut scenes. Sorry for the long note, but while I'm at it I want to say thanks to FOUR people who reviewed the first chapter of the first story of my first account. Seriously, I was shocked at first, and now I'm sort paranoid that they're com's or robots with clever usernames automaticly set up to make noobs feel better. Hm, conspiracy. Lastly, I put a little humor in it this time, tried to lighten it up. Let me know if it seems out of place. TS
