Thank you dear reviewers: readaholiccindy, HelgaButtercup, twilightfucker, MorTay3, Anjyu, Nep2uune, CarlinJ83

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Everybody was invited to Rhonda's party, and everybody showed up, still wearing their graduation clothes, looking mature and more grown up than ever. But Mrs. Lloyd was not about to be fooled by the outward appearance of maturity and sophistication of her daughter's friends. She hid in the kitchen, occasionally peeking her head out to assess the damage thirty rowdy ex-eighth graders could inflict on her beloved house, while Mr. Lloyd, trying to be the responsible chaperone, circulated discreetly among the crowd, stopping occasionally to ask this student about their summer plans, or compliment that student on some award they won.

Arnold stood by the buffet table with Gerald and Harold. It was loaded down with so much food they couldn't even see the tablecloth.

"Some spread, huh?" Harold was practically drooling.

"Dig in, Harold," Arnold said.

"Sure thing," Gerald added. "The Lloyd's might be snobby, but they're definitely not cheap."

Harold was indignant. "Hey, they're not snobby."

Gerald raised an eyebrow and nudged Arnold, who also grinned.

"What's that all about?"

Gerald started to sing, "Someone likes Rhonda. Someone like-likes Rhonda."

"Hey, cut it out!"

"Make me."

So of course, Harold tried to make him. While the boys scuffled and yelled and abandoned any pretense of maturity, Helga stood with a little knot of girls across the room, who were watching them with a mixture of scorn and amusement...

Phoebe nudged Helga and spoke low. "We never got a chance to talk. What's been going on? Is everything okay?"

She was trying to be as discreet as possible, and Helga took her arm and was about to steer her into another room where they could talk privately. Until...

"Yeah, Helga," interjected Rhonda. "What's with you lately? You've been acting all weird and stuff."

"Actually," Lila's forehead was knotted, her eyes wide, "Is everything alright?"

Oh great, Helga gritted her teeth. As much as she longed to confide in Phoebe, there was a good chance she might cry in the telling. It wasn't that she was afraid to cry in front of her-as long as they were in private, and as long as it didn't happen too often-Phoebes was cool, she was an understanding friend. However, in public, Helga had a reputation to maintain. Lila was probably sincere and all, but she didn't want to show weakness in front of the girl Arnold like-liked. And there was no way she was going to break down and blubber in front of Rhonda.

But now all the girls were looking at her, waiting for an answer.

She thought fast, looked Rhonda in the eye and took a deep breath.

"Well it was a big week." Anxiety was making her talk loud. "You know, lots of changes for the Pataki family."

"Like what?" Rhonda looked amused. And just a little condescending.

Helga didn't like to be challenged-or condescended to. She straightened her spine and made a haughty face that could out-Lloyd the Lloyds. With appropriate solemnity and gravitas, she made her announcement.

"We're moving tomorrow."

For a moment, no one spoke. The silence felt enormous and it seemed like everyone in the room turned to stare. Then suddenly-

"What, you're moving?"

"Oh Helga," Phoebe's eyes filled with tears

"Did Helga say she was moving?"

"What's going on?"

Faster than she could register it, Helga found herself in the middle of a pushing crowd, with twenty-nine pairs of curious eyes trained on her. Her palms started to sweat, and if there were any place she could have run to, she would have been out of there so fast...

But Helga G. Pataki wasn't a girl to shrink from a challenge-besides, it had already gone this far, might as well take it on home...

"Yeah," she started slowly, as she casually dried her damp palms on her napkin. "Well you see, Big Bob got this amazing new business opportunity, so we'll be moving out of town..."

Now she had everybody hanging on her every word, and her story started to pick up momentum all on its own.

"...To a much bigger house, you see, in a fancier neighborhood. You know, the whole upward mobility thing..."

I'm going too far. Helga, shut up, shut up! The common-sense side of her tried to stop. Unfortunately, her common-sense side was not at the moment connected to her mouth.

"...Naturally, I couldn't care less about money and status..."

Here Rhonda gasped.

Okay, that one was totally worth it.

"...But you know, gotta keep the folks happy. So anyway, don't forget to write. Whew! It's getting hot in here. But enough about me, this is a party! Phoebe, go change the CD, crank up some tunes, let's get this party started. Hey!" She shouted. "Look at that...thing over...there!"

When everybody turned to look, Helga slipped out to the back yard, grinning. I can't believe they fell for the old phony distraction trick.

But outside in the cool air all alone, her grin faded, and she literally shook off her nerves with a giant full-body shudder, and then looked around for a place to hide. Behind the pachysandra was a stone bench, she remembered. It was out of view of the back double doors. She went and sat on it so she could berate herself in relative comfort.

Criminy Helga, you just can't stop running off at the mouth, can you? Any normal person would have just said 'we're moving, I'll really miss you guys'-at least that part of the story is true-but not me. No, I have to go and lie and make a complete fool of myself...

Her hand went to the collar of her dress, instinctively searching for her old comfortable talisman-her locket with Arnold's picture-when she heard a twig snap and she leapt to her feet. It was Arnold, in the flesh.

"Jeez Arnoldo, don't you know better than to sneak up on someone? If you gave me a fatal heart attack and, like, killed me or something, I'd sue you."

"Sorry Helga."

He came up next to her in the dark, casually pushing back a stray hair that had fallen over his forehead and it dawned on her-Arnold had left the party just to search for her! She blushed furiously and was grateful he couldn't see. It seemed so isolated here, alone with him, and uncomfortably intimate.

"I was surprised to hear you're moving." His voice was quiet and low.

"I, uhm"

"It's gonna be real weird without you."

"Yeah, well, it's a good opportunity for my family." That was what she said earlier, but this time it didn't sound like a boast. She turned her head and he could see her profile in the moonlight. She was biting her lip, and her eyes looked unusually bright.

"Listen, Helga, it's crowded here. Nobody will notice if we're gone. Wanna go to the boardwalk and split a Sunday? "

She blinked hard. "Yes."