Chapter 3: Exposed.

Two months had passed since she found out. Helga stared at herself in the mirror, being as thin as she was, she was beginning to show a bit and went to her closet and grabbed the biggest hoodie she could find. The hoodie was Arnold's and it smelled of him. She breathed in and as she did she fell a distinct kick from her abdomen.

"Good morning Baby," She cooed at the tiny bulge. "Be nice to me today…" She put on the hoodie, and zipped it up, making the slight bulge disappear. She still hadn't told any of her friends, other than Phoebe and she swore to never tell a soul, not even to Gerald. The baby kicked in protest at being hidden, and Helga smiled to herself. She knew she would have to reveal her secret eventually, but she still didn't know what she wanted to do. Should she put the baby up for adoption? An abortion was already out of the question, it always was, she was already too attached, but she didn't know if she could give it up either. This was her baby, her and Arnold's baby, even if he didn't know about it. She thought about it all the way to school.

Her day went by uneventfully, well almost. At lunch, she sat at the table with Pheebs and the rest of their friends. Gerald looked at the plethora of food on her tray and stared at her quizzically, "Man, Helga, you sure are hungry." He stated. She shrugged him off.

"Well, Geraldo, I just happen to be going through a growth spurt at the moment." She replied, her favorite new excuse to her never ending hunger. Thank Miriam for her high metabolism, or she probably would've weighed nearly 3000 pounds.

Harold sat down with twice the amount of food on his tray as hers. "Looks to me like you're eating for two." He commented. Both Helga and Phoebe shot him dirty looks. Helga retorted, "Well, Pink Boy, in that case, then when are you due? Are you having triplets or something?"

Herald shot her a nasty look back, "Hey, I'm not fat! I have a gland problem…"

"Ha! Sure you do…" Helga scoffed and finished eating in silence.

After lunch, She and Phoebe headed off to gym class. While most of the girls in her gym class changed in the open locker room, Helga took over the only bathroom stall in the room to change. She had never been comfortable in changing in front of people, so this wasn't anything unusual for her. As she was getting back into the hoodie and zipping it up, Rhonda knocked on the door.

"Helga, hurry up, I really need to pee and take care of something…" She whined, this wasn't her first complaint in as many minutes.

"Hang on Princess, sheesh…" Helga hollered back at her grabbing her clothes and stuffing them in her gym bag. She unlocked and walked out of the stall. Rhonda shot passed her and slammed the door in her face.

"Whose bright idea was it to have gym right after lunch? I mean, Crimeny… haven't they heard of waiting at least half an hour before you exercise?" She stated as she and Phoebe walked out to the field.

The other girls in her class agreed with her as they stopped by the running track. Being a week and a half till May and it was already starting to feel like summer. Helga forgot to put on sun screen this morning.

Coach Wittenburg stood in front of the group of students and held a clipboard and whistle.

"Okay Team, Today we're going to be doing the mile." He said and was answered by a sea of groans. "I know it's going to be tough, but with a lot of hard work, I know we can do it."

"Oh no," Helga thought. Immediately she raised her hand and faked a moan of pain.

"Coach, Can I sit this one out, I'm not feeling too well," She asked, she wasn't lying. The thought of taking off the hoodie was nauseating to think about, not to mention she hated running the mile.

"I'm sorry, Pataki, no benchwarmers today. Now everyone line up at the starting line. Everyone gathered to the starting line and got ready to run. Helga moved to the back, the baby kicked sensing her distress.

"I know, baby… I know" She thought to herself. She took a few deep breaths and started jogging as the coach blew the whistle. The jogging wasn't too bad, it was easy and she unzipped the hoodie a little to let the breeze flow through the cotton.

As she made the first lap, the coach started yelling at her to go faster. "Pick up the pace Pataki, I would like to go home in a few hours. My 90 year old mother with a busted hip can go faster than you right now." Helga started to pick up the pace. It wasn't until she rounded the first corner that she knew that it was a mistake. Phoebe noticed it as well, keeping an eye on her while she ran. She watched as Helga stopped, staggered a little and collapse.

"Helga!" She yelled and ran over to her best friend. Coach picked Helga up and Phoebe followed her towards the nurse's office.

Helga woke a little bit later. She looked over and saw Phoebe sitting next to her.

"What happened, Pheebs?" Helga asked, trying to sit up. Phoebe pushed her down and offered her some water. Helga took it giving her a questioning look.

"You need to rest. You collapsed during the mile, the nurse said it was from dehydration and…" Phoebe gestured to Helga's tiny bulge, "the baby" she whispered. Helga looked down and noticed that she was no longer wearing Arnold's hoodie. It was over on the chair Phoebe was sitting in.

"Pheebs, You didn't tell, did you?" She said panicking, Phoebe shook her head.

"No I didn't. The nurse found out when she took off your hoodie to check your pulse." Phoebe answered, "You can't hide it anymore, Helga… and the nurse, she's…"

She went quiet. Helga's heart started beating rapidly, and she could hear it in her ears. "WHAT PHEEBS, WHAT IS THE NURSE DOING?!"

"She speaking with your parents right now…" Her little Asian friend whimpered. Helga's face turned white. Phoebe looked at her concern and fear blanketed her face.

"Helga?"

"Phoebe… Kill me please." Helga stated.

"huh?"

"YOU HEARD ME, DAMMIT, KILL ME!" Helga said hysterically, "Oh why did I have to collapse…"

Just then Helga heard the booming voice of Big Bob Pataki, himself.

"THE GIRL? PREGNANT? THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT MY DAUGHTER IS ONE OF THOSE SLUTS THAT GET KNOCKED UP BY SOME GUY." He bellowed. Helga quickly got up and threw back on the hoodie and zipped it up as the nurse opened the door, looking close to tears. Helga looked at her with a mirrored expression. She quickly composed herself and walked out of the office and towards her parents. Big Bob Pataki was fuming, and Miriam stood behind him. Both refused to look at her. Helga didn't really care honestly, she preferred to not be acknowledged at all, it gave her time. Time to prepare for the screaming match that was coming the second that she got home.

"Let's go, Olga" Bob said through clenched teeth. Helga grabbed her things and hurried out into the car. She thought that she had time to prepare, but the screaming started as soon as everyone was in the car.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING, OLGA?" He screamed. Helga crossed her arms and scowled out the window.

"It's Helga, BOB!" She muttered.

"I WANT YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE BY TOMORROW MORNING. YOU ARE NO LONGER A PART OF THIS FAMILY. NO PATAKI HAS EVER GOTTEN KNOCKED UP BY SOME GUY. HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? RUIN THE PATAKI NAME? OLGA NEVER DID THAT, WHY CAN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE HER?

Helga continued to stare out the window. She didn't mind that she was no longer considered a member of the family. She was never a member of that family. The car came to a halt outside her house and she got out and ran up the stairs faster than her parents even thought about getting out of the car. She started grabbing all of her clothes and throwing them in a big pink duffle bag, she grabbed some of her books. Her phone started vibrating in her pocket and she took it out to see who it was. Arnold… Helga sighed and answered hastly.

"Sorry, Football head, I'll call you back later, I'm a little busy." She said before even saying hello.

"Looking forward to it." He managed to get out before she hung up, and continued packing. Suddenly a wave of emotion overcame her and she sat on her bed and blinked away tears, as an idea hit her. She could go to San Lorenzo and be with Arnold. She didn't think that his parent's wouldn't mind. Of course, she could stay with Phoebe, but she didn't know what her parent's reactions would be.

She needed to think of a way to get to San Lorenzo and fast. She opened her phone and dialed Phoebe's number.

"How'd they take it Helga?" She asked as she answered, Helga sighed.

"Not well, Pheebs. They are kicking me out. I have to be out of the house by tomorrow morning. Can I borrow some money from you? I'll pay you back when I get the chance." Helga let out all at once.

"Why do you need money? You can stay with me, my parents wouldn't mind." Phoebe suggested. Helga was already digging out her passport out of her desk.

"I know, Pheebs, but I really think it's about time that I told Arnold and I need to do it in person. So I'm going to San Lorenzo, and talk to him about the baby in person." She explained, "So please, can I borrow some money from you and I'll pay you back when I get the chance?"

Phoebe was silent for a few minutes, she was mulling it over. Helga held her breath, but didn't realize that she had been holding it until Phoebe spoke again.

"I'm going to miss you, Helga. Don't worry about paying me back. I can always get more money. Did I mention that I got a job at the hospital here?"

"That's fantastic, Pheebs! I'm so happy for you." She knew that Phoebe had an interview at the hospital, a place where she will someday be interning at when she became a doctor, "Thank you so much! I owe you one."

"It's no problem," Phoebe said quietly.

"Oh, and could you do me another favor? Could you place book the flight for me?" Helga asked.

"Sure, do you need a ride there? Because Gerald and I have a date tonight, and the airport is on the way to the restaurant.

"Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!" Helga squealed on the phone, "you are the best friend anyone could ever have!"

"You are too, Helga." Phoebe said as she hung up. Helga put her phone down on her desk and finished packing her bags. She heard noises coming down stairs. Bob blared the TV and she heard the blender going. Her mother had fallen off the wagon yet again.

She grabbed her bags and made her way downstairs and out the door to wait for Phoebe and Gerald.