The movie ended an hour later and Arnold was putting everything away. "That was awesome," Helga exclaimed. "I can't believe those zombies fell right into the giant Venus flytrap."
"Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts," Arnold replied.
A knock was heard at the door and Arnold's father Miles stepped inside the room. "Hey Arnold," he said. He caught sight of Helga. "Hello, Helga. I didn't realize you were here too. How are you doing? It's been a while."
Helga was impressed that Miles remembered her name. Ever since Arnold's parents returned home, Helga had only been to the boarding house once in 8th grade when she had to work on the science project with him. She didn't get a chance to talk to Miles for very long because he was coming in from work just as she was leaving. She hadn't seen him around town much since he spends so much time teaching Anthropology at the university so it was nice to be recognized. "I'm hanging in there," she finally said.
"Today is Helga's birthday, Dad," Arnold said proudly.
"Oh, happy birthday Helga. That reminds me, Arnold, your grandmother needs our help downstairs to prepare for the celebration of the queen's arrival, whatever that means." Arnold gave his dad a look then pointed his head to Helga. Miles looked confused for a moment and then put the pieces together. "Oh!" He hurriedly went to Helga and knelt in front of her before kissing her hand. "Forgive my manners, your majesty."
"You're forgiven, but next time it might be off with your head."
"Uh oh," Miles said in mock alarm. "We'd better go and hurry with our mission then, Sir Arnold."
"We'll let you know when everything's ready for you," Arnold said. "Feel free to watch another movie or watch TV or whatever. Call me if you need me, your majesty." He headed downstairs with his dad.
Helga smiled. Even though she was 16 now, she wasn't too old to play pretend every once in a while. Everything was so serious growing up with Big Bob and he never really let her be a kid because he was too busy bossing her around like she was his mini assistant while Miriam slept through it all. Other than that she was invisible, especially when it came to her older sister Olga. She turned the TV on to take her mind off of things and flipped through the channels, but there was nothing good on. She looked at Arnold's movie collection and couldn't decide what she wanted to watch next so she settled on reading some comic books. After a while a knock came at the door. "Come in," she said turning around.
Arnold's mother Stella walked into the room with Helga's clothes folded neatly and a little bag. "I heard a rumor that the queen was visiting today," she said as she handed Helga her clothes. "Happy birthday, Helga."
Helga liked Stella a lot. Even though she had been on so many awesome adventures in the jungle and had been awarded for so many groundbreaking accomplishments as a botanist, she was still a very sweet, down-to-earth kind of person. The last time Helga was at the boarding house working on the science project with Arnold, Stella was very welcoming and gracious towards her making her feel right at home. Nowadays whenever Stella came to the supermarket Helga worked at she always made sure to come through Helga's line and she was honestly her best customer. Everyone else was so impatient with her and it caused Helga to go on the defensive, but Stella was always pleasant and Helga always felt better after waiting on her. "Thanks Stella," she finally said as she took a seat on Arnold's bed. "Did Arnold tell you it was my birthday?"
"Not in so many ways," Stella replied as she took a seat beside her. "Actually it's kind of a funny story. A while ago when I was cleaning I found an old list of Arnold's classmates from when you all were in elementary school with everyone's birthdays on it. I glanced at it and I remembered your birthday because that was also my mother's birthday. I guess it's been stuck with me ever since."
"Small world," Helga said to herself.
"I brought something for you." Stella opened the small bag and took out a makeup kit and some hair supplies. "I thought it'd be fun to doll you up a bit since it's your special day. You only turn 16 once after all. Do you mind?"
Normally Helga would refuse such an offer because she hated the idea of conforming just for the sake of fitting in with everyone else and she didn't want to change for anyone. But unlike the times people like Olga would treat her like a dress up doll, Helga knew that Stella had pure motives. "Sure, go ahead," Helga said.
Stella smiled as she opened her makeup kit. She started with the foundation. "So do you have any special plans to celebrate your birthday with your family later?"
Helga frowned. "Nope. Big Bob and Miriam unexpectedly went out of town and won't be back until sometime tomorrow. Olga is still teaching overseas and there's no telling when I'll see her again."
"Close your eyes for me," Stella said. Helga did as she was told and Stella started applying some eye shadow. "Why would your parents leave you home alone on your birthday?"
"They probably forgot as usual," Helga said. "I'm used to it though. I wasn't planned in the first place and as far as they're concerned March 25th is just another day on the calendar. Oh but if it's June 16th the entire world stops because that's Olga's birthday and whatever Olga wants Olga gets." Helga opened her eyes as Stella finished her eye shadow. She didn't know why she was telling Stella all of this, but somehow it felt right.
"That's too bad," Stella said sadly. "Your life matters too. You're a bright girl and it's a shame your family doesn't realize what a treasure you are. At least you get to celebrate your big day here." She took out a hairbrush and after undoing Helga's ponytail she started brushing her hair.
"Yeah, I don't know what I'd be doing right now if Arnold didn't find me in the park."
"It's nice that you have a friend like Arnold. He's really turning out to be a nice young man."
"Yeah, he's nice to everybody. He's been helping everyone with just about anything for as long as I can remember even when they don't deserve it. It's no wonder everyone loves him."
"I can see why you like him so much," Stella said knowingly.
"I love him," Helga said dreamily. Her eyes widened when she realized what she said and she quickly faced Stella fearfully. "I-I mean I love him as a friend. I-I mean w-we aren't exactly friends b-b-but…"
Stella giggled. "It's ok, Helga," she said. "You don't have to explain yourself. I had a feeling you were sweet on him despite the teasing and tough girl act." She turned Helga around and continued brushing her hair. "I remember what it was like when I had a crush on Miles."
Helga was quiet for a while. She was embarrassed about letting her secret slip out so easily and couldn't believe that Stella had figured the whole thing out. At the same time it felt nice to have someone older to confide in besides the school psychologist. "How long have you known?"
"Well I could tell soon after I first met you and even more recently I've seen the way you look at him on those rare occasions I bring Arnold to the supermarket with me."
"You're not gonna tell him what I said, are you?"
"Of course not. That's for you and Arnold to discuss, but personally I think it's really cute."
"Yeah it's real cute when I avoid him like the plague or call him names to hide my feelings for him." Helga sighed. "He'll never fall in love with a girl like me."
"Never say never," Stella said as she started putting some clips in Helga's hair. "I think if you spend some enough time together as friends he'll start to realize how wonderful you are, if he hasn't already." She took the clips out of Helga's hair and started to tie the pink ribbon back into her hair.
"You really think so?" Helga asked.
"It worked for me and Miles, although he ended up making quite a fool of himself trying to impress me." She chuckled to herself. "But if I know my son well enough, I'd say that he already sees potential." She turned Helga around to face her, messed with her hair a little more, and then put some flower barrettes in her hair. "There. Have a look in the mirror. You look beautiful." Helga stood up and walked towards the floor length mirror. She almost didn't recognize herself with the flowing hair since she always wore her hair in a ponytail and never wore makeup. Stella didn't apply too much makeup, but just enough to accentuate her natural features especially her blue eyes. She also like the way that Stella tied her pink ribbon into the top half of her hair. Stella came behind her and carefully put the crown back on her head. "Now you're a real queen," Stella said with a smile.
Helga could have cried tears of joy at that moment, but ironically she didn't want to ruin her makeup so she kept her emotions in check. No one besides Arnold had ever taken the time to do something so kind for her before and she shouldn't have been surprised that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Helga turned and gave Stella a hug. "Thanks a lot, Stella."
Stella hugged her back. "You're welcome, sweetie." She pulled away. "Why don't you go ahead and get your clothes back on and then meet us all downstairs for your big party. Everything should be set up by now. You can leave the other clothes there and we'll get them later." Stella smiled at her before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
Helga carefully changed back into her clothes being careful not to mess up the work Stella did on her. It was nice to be able to spend that time with Arnold's mother. It made her wonder what it would be like if Miriam actually took the time to be the kind of mother figure Stella was. Stella and Miles were such genuine people and she hoped that she could spend more time with them in the future. Once Helga was dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror again and carefully put the crown back on her head. She smiled and headed downstairs.