Now, let's continue. BTW, Phoebe does lapse into Japanese at one point. "Hai" means yes and "kudasai" means please. Thanks for reviewing, LeDawn, Nep2uune, BettyAwesome715 and DannySamLover20.
Helga turned up for the march early. Young men and women were all there, from the ages of fifteen up. But Helga was the only white person there.
She knew what the risks were, but she didn't care. She walked right at the front with Gerald just behind her, holding up a placard that read "Do The Checkerboard". The other protesters had things like "Integration Not Segregation" and "Black and White, Unite".
They marched through the whole town, getting up to where the station aired from, chanting over and over, "Two, four, six, eight! TV's gotta integrate!"
Olga caught up to Helga halfway through the afternoon. "Baby sister! You can't run off like that!" she exclaimed. She exchanged a quick greeting with Jamie O, who was leading in spite of the fact that he was one of the younger ones at twenty-two.
"I don't think they really need you. Look at all these people." Olga persisted to Helga. "You have to come home. Besides, Mommy and I have something very important to discuss-" She gave up as Helga completely blanked her, moving to the other side of the mob.
Meanwhile, Brooke was talking on the phone to her husband, who managed the news. She didn't really communicate with him at home, but he was still her husband and Rhonda's father. "No, we are not sending a camera crew, Buckley, they're protesting this station...Why is your Channel Five crew there?...Well, of course they're all Negroes, who else would..." Brooke gasped, realizing what was going on. "I know who would. I'm calling the authorities."
That's how there was a man-made barricade waiting for the protesters. They got to it around six pm.
"Is there a reason we can't pass peacefully?" Jamie O challenged.
One of the policemen stepped forward. "I suggest you and all your little friends go back to where you belong." He turned away.
Helga stepped forward. "Hey, bucko, we're not doing anything wrong! You don't have to be so rude to us!"
"Helga." whispered Olga.
"I can handle this." Jamie O began, but Helga wasn't listening.
"Hey, we're still talking to you!" She hit the man with her placard. It wasn't that hard, but the man still called it "assault with a blunt instrument" and from then on, the police began swarming around, trying to arrest everyone.
Olga gave her little sister a push away from the policemen. "Run, baby sister!" she called, trying to do the same herself.
Meanwhile, the Heyerdahl residence had a shock when none other than Phoebe's best friend "Helga Pataki, TV personality" was reported to have viciously attacked a law enforcer.
Kyo fixed his daughter with a stern glare. "Phoebe, I'm afraid I must forbid you to see that girl again." At that exact moment, Helga appeared at the window, mouthing "Help!"
"Hai." Phoebe nodded respectfully to her father. "Yes, Dad. Excuse me, kudasai."
She ran to the side door to let Helga in. "So what actually happened?" she asked.
"I was at the march and I...kind of hit one of the policemen with my placard." Helga confessed. "It was obvious I didn't hurt him seriously – I mean, it was just cardboard – but they're after me now. I need somewhere to hide."
"We have a basement." Phoebe said. "You can live there until this blows over...if it does. I'll get you some stuff."
"Thank you, Phoebe." Helga said gratefully. "I'm glad you're my best friend."
"Phoebe Heyerdahl!"
The two girls turned guiltily. Kyo had caught them in the act, and he was furious. He locked the two girls into Phoebe's room, leaving to call the authorities so they could arrest Helga, and keep Phoebe in her room until further notice. She had an ensuite bathroom.
"I'm sorry, Pheebs." sighed Helga. "Everything I touch seems to cause misery." Even her pigtails seemed to droop.
"It's not your fault," Phoebe consoled. "You were just trying to do the right thing."
The girls sat in silence for five minutes. Finally, Helga went into the ensuite bathroom.
At that moment, there was the sound of a thump, and the Phoebe turned to her window. A very familiar boy was there.
"Gerald!" exclaimed Phoebe in a whisper. "Don't let my dad know you're here!"
"What happened?" Gerald asked.
"My dad's punishing me for helping a fugitive, especially after he'd just forbidden me to even see her." Phoebe sighed. "What are you doing here?"
Gerald's dark eyes looked deep into Phoebe's almond orbs. "I'm here to rescue the princess locked in her tower, baby." he said. Then he leant in and kissed Phoebe. At first it was gentle, but Phoebe pulled him closer and the kiss became more passionate.
"Oh, you do care." gasped Phoebe as she broke apart for air. "I was scared our skin colours would keep us apart." Although Phoebe was half-Asian, she was still counted as "white".
Over at the Pataki home, Olga was in tears, telling Miriam what had happened, when there was a knock on the door. Again, there was a familiar boy on the doorstep, and Olga recognized him immediately. "Arnold?"
"Um, hi." Arnold said awkwardly. "I just overheard on the news about the march...I find it hard to believe Helga could be as aggressive at it said. I mean, I know she's not as mean as she says..."
"I was there, and she didn't do that!" Olga exclaimed. "He didn't bleed or anything!"
"I should've been there. With her." Arnold said, looking guilty. "I'm worried about her."
"Come in." Olga invited. "Mommy and I are worried about her, too."
It didn't take long for Arnold to venture into the door marked "Helga's Room." He couldn't help singing part of a new hit song, changing it a little to keep in with the situation.
"Once I was a selfish fool who never understood,
Never looked inside myself, but on the outside, I looked good.
Then we met and you made me the man I am today
Helga, I'm in love with you, no matter what you weigh." He brushed the pillow on the bed with his hand, and found something hard underneath it, still singing.
"Cause without love, life is like the seasons with no summer
Without love, life is rock'n'roll without a drummer
Helga, I'll be yours forever cause I-" He broke off as he found the object under Helga's pillow. It was a small pink book. It made Arnold curious as to what was inside it, and the minute he opened it, his own name jumped out at him in swirly handwriting that was unmistakably Helga's:
"I can hear the bells, my parents will smile
If they even care, if Bob walks me down the aisle
I know Olga will cry, but I won't see cause Arnold and I will kiss then
Listen, cause I can hear the bells."
Arnold put down the book for a moment. "I know I love her." he thought. He'd fallen for her, starting from the day he'd first seen her dancing in detention. Over the next few weeks, no matter how many times Helga tried to push him away, he had just fallen further for her. And now, Arnold had discovered, she'd been in love with him all this time. "I must have broken her heart when I said I couldn't join her. That's why she pushed me away so harshly."
Meanwhile, Gerald was getting Phoebe and Helga out of the house, so they could take the car back to the Johanssen place. Helga was happy to be out, but her heart felt like it was tearing in two whenever she looked at her best friend and Gerald. She was pretty glad to have to hide in the car boot while her friends were in the backseat, sticking together like glue.
"Oh, Arnold..." she whispered to herself. "Why couldn't you have come with us?"
I had a lot to get through, but this seemed like an OK place to cut off. Join me next chapter!