Hey you guys! Sorry it's taken a bit to update, but I finally got it! I enjoyed writing this chapter as well =) And as for what happens to Helga...well I've had that happen to me, so I sympathize with her. ^^; Hope you guys like it!
The phone blinked an early (or late, depending on your view) four a.m. when Helga managed to roll over and press the button on the front of it. She blinked in groggy surprise as she pushed herself into a sleeping position.
"I'm gonna feel this tomorrow," she muttered as she crawled from the small space in the back of the closet into her bedroom. It was slightly chilly from her window being left open, but she simply shrugged it off. Helga released a yawn as she scrambled into a standing position, leaning against the wall. She wasn't sure how long her conversation with Jace had lasted, but it had helped to calm her nerves a little as she told him about Arnold and her town.
After a few moments of thought and repeated blinking to wake her up a bit, Helga made her way out into the dark hallway and down the stairs. It was a somewhat slow and tedious process and she bumped her knee twice on furniture she didn't even know they had as she proceeded toward the living room. A slight flicker of light was dancing under the door, and she could hear heavy, regular breathing from within.
Helga contorted her face into a gruesome visage of annoyance mingled with impatience as she flung open the door and stomped into the room loudly.
"Miriam!"
She got a response of a loud snore.
Helga made her way directly in front of the couch, placing a hand on her hip as she made a defiant pose. "Miriam! MIR-I-AM!"
The woman on the couch gave a start, jerking her head up and blinking repeatedly as her mouth opened in closed. She gave a striking resemblance of a fish out of water.
"Glad to see you're up."
"Ooh, Helga, t..there you are," Miriam slurred as she rubbed her eyes. She ran her hand over the arm of the couch for a moment until she located her glasses and jammed them on.
"You always knew how to make a guest feel welcome," Helga replied sarcastically as she flopped down in Bob's chair. She crossed her legs and arms tightly. "So why am I here?"
"What time is it?"
"Why am I here?" Helga repeated.
"Well, your fathers in the hospital…"
"I know that. Still, that leaves me with the same question."
"Well, Helga, while your fathers at the hospital I need someone to watch the house so I can be there. And he should be home in the next couple days, and I'm gonna need you and Olga to help me make sure he's comfortable." Miriam gave a weak smile.
Helga shook her head, still frowning. "I have school…I can't stay very long."
"Please Helga…"
"Fine," Helga snapped, turning away from Miriam and watching some muted figures yell silently on the TV screen. "For a few days…just till Olga gets here."
Miriam smiled and ran a hand through her tangled hair and touched Helga's knee with the other. "Well how about some breakfast?"
"Are you crazy? It's four a.m."
"…Oh…"
****************
When Helga awoke again, it was about nine. She laid in bed for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling, amused by the fact this one wasn't water stained. There were no trucks roaring outside her window and no loud voices yelling. It was peaceful, strange feeling she was no longer used to.
Silently, she say up and pushed her covers off and turned to let her feet dangled an inch or so above the floor. She spotted her jeans, shirt and boots in a disorderly pile near her dresser where she had stripped them off last night. She plodded over to the dresser and pulled open one of the drawers. Inside she saw an old, holey t-shirt from her high school days. It was a faded, nasty green, but she remembered it as being extremely comfortable, so she pulled it on over her bra so she wouldn't be parading around in just her underwear.
As she made her way downstairs, the blond noted that her parents had added a small table here and there since she had left, and she blamed them for the small bruises that had graced her legs while she was sleeping. She passed the living room and found it empty, so Helga continued on into the kitchen where she found a note on the table.
Helga,
Gone to the hospital. I'll be home sometime tonight. There is food in the fridge, and some breakfast in the microwave, just turn it on. Come by if you can.
Mom
Helga raised an eyebrow in surprise, putting the note back down on the table as she made her way to the microwave and opened it. She gave an amused smirk as she noted the can of biscuits sitting in the microwave.
"Typical Miriam," she commented to herself as she pulled the can out and pulled the label off. She put two of the doughy biscuits on a plate and put them back in the microwave, turning it on for a few minutes.
The letter also mentioned food in the fridge, so she ventured to the fridge while waiting on the biscuits and opened it only to find about three lunchables and a jar of olives. There was also a coke and a gallon of milk, both of which were probably out of date…by years. She shut the door quickly with a disgusted face.
The microwave gave a ding and she grabbed a napkin and picked one the biscuits up and went back upstairs to her room. The window was still open, so she contented herself by leaning on the sill and eating her biscuit while she watched the lonely street. Then suddenly she choked on a bite of her biscuit.
"Ha, hey Helga!"
Oh God, oh God! Helga gave a small wave, her eyes wide with fear, a tight small smile showing.
Arnold waved from the street below, looking particularly handsome in a pair of faded jeans and a plaid buttoned short sleeved shirt. Helga could feel her breath speeding up. Why doesn't he just keep walking? Oh God, Im not wearing pants and this shirt is short…whyyyyyy… She tried to slip down a bit more below the window without looking too obvious. She ran a twitching hand through her tangled mass of hair, feeling self conscious.
"It's a beautiful morning!" he continued, walking from the sidewalk across the street to the one directly below her window. If gave Helga a sort of Rapunzel-like feeling. She gave a large nod in response.
"Were you still up for lunch with me today?" he inquired, cocking his head to the side.
Why don't you move, you idiot? Helga was screaming in her head. She gave another large nod, imagining her expression was probably close that of an excessively happy sociopath.
Arnold cocked her head the other way, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "You okay? Did I interrupt something?"
There was a awkward moment of silence before Helga exploded with "NOO! Of course not!" She then gave an accidental and excessively high pitched giggle, then dramatically gestured with her biscuit in hopes to draw attention away from the laugh.
She let out a yelp as the biscuits slipped from her grasp and flew down toward Arnold.
"Whoa!" Arnold laughed, sidestepping out of the biscuit's trajectory. "Sorry Helga! I didn't know you were eating." He ran a slender hand through his hair and waved with the other. "I'll call you later, okay?"
Helga gave a shaky wave as she watched him continue his walk down the sidewalk.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked as he disappeared around the corner. She fell back on the floor in embarrassment, cradling her face in her hands. "Criminey, he'll call later alright….to tell me he's realized I'm a spaz and he doesn't want to risk it."
She rolled over in despair, moaning tragically. She couldn't have made it any worse if she had tried.
The phone on her nightstand began to ring, and she sat up to glare at it. She reached out and snatched in up. "The Pataki's residence."
"Hello, is this Ms. Pataki?"
"What Ms. Pataki you looking for?"
"..Excuse me?"
"Sure, this is Ms. Pataki."
"Well, Ms. Pataki, I'd like to make you a splendid offer. For only-"
Helga slammed the phone on the receiver without so much as giving it a second glance. Oh well. She was up now, and she only had a couple of hours to make herself presentable enough to redeem her performance this morning. She ran over to her suitcase and pulled it open, moaning in despair. She knew she hadn't brought anything presentable. She had about three pairs of grungy looking baggy pants and about four dark colored baggy t shirts…Nothing that would help her look even slightly attractive.
Helga sat for a moment, then tore down the hall into Olga's room. She recoiled slightly as its décor, but continue to the closet. She pulled it open and stood for a moment. Now this was more like it. With a deep breath, she dove into the closet, floundering for her life and drowning in the floral smell.