- Behind Enemy Lines
Arnold got a lot of unwanted attention the next day, yet he understood it was hard to ignore him. Luckily, his cheek looked a lot better, and his walking was close to normal, but the beating's effects were still quite noticeable.
"Don't worry, Arnold; I know it's not nice to be in pain and have notorious injuries, but you get used after a while." Eugene, walking aside Arnold and Gerald, said to the blonde without noticing the locker ahead.
WHAM!
"I'm okay." Eugene rubbed his face while Gerald rolled his eyes and Arnold checked him.
"Are you sure?" Arnold sighed in relief when Eugene nodded. "Good… and thanks for the support."
"No problem; see you in class." Eugene said as walking away, shaking his head. "Wow, that last hit was actually a lucky one; I got my colors perception back."
"Seriously, Arnold, are you really okay? I didn't get hit and still felt it." Gerald said to his friend as the blonde opened his locker.
"Yes, Gerald, I'm fine. The nurse gave me some painkillers and I'm feeling a little better." Arnold was cut by Angelica approaching them, Gerald instinctively covering the space between his legs with his backpack.
"Hi, guys. Uh, Arnold, I just want to… apologize for, you know… performing The Nutcracker." The girl gave him an apologetic face.
"It is okay, Angelica, I know you got me by accident." Arnold smiled at her but then got a more serious look. "But I would like you and Helga stop fighting and insulting each other. I know, you may think it's not my business, but anything concerning my friends is my business."
"Fine, if you insist; don't worry, Pataki and I did agree on not beating each other's skeleton. We do enough damage with our words anyway."
"Enough damage… girl, your mouth should be catalogued as a massive destruction weapon." Gerald pointed in a good-humored way. Angelica rolled her eyes and then smirked at the Afro-American while Arnold sighed in relief.
"I'll take that as a compliment. Now, Arnold," Angelica turned back at the blond boy, "I have to do a few things today. It's fine if we finish our homework tomorrow? Afternoon, of course; I don't wake up early on Saturdays."
"Sure, no problem," Arnold nodded at her, the boy smiling due the news of her and Helga respecting each other's anatomy, meaning a more pleasant school time for them and no more accidental beatings for him if trying to stop the girls.
"Well, see you guys later." Angelica then left to join Lorenzo and Lila, who were chatting at the same corridor, the blonde still needing to copy today's homework. A few moments later, Helga, with Phoebe next to her, was the one addressing Arnold.
"Hey, Football Head, I need to talk with you; don't worry, it will be fast." Helga then turned at Phoebe. "Pheebs, take Geraldo away; this is more or less private."
Gerald was about to argue but then realized he would be alone with Phoebe, so ignored Helga's tone and accompanied the petite Asian, who blushed slightly when the boy placed a hand on her shoulder. Once they were a few feet away, Helga took a deep breath and looked back at Arnold; if he didn't know her better, the boy could almost swear her eyes were getting slightly teary, something he didn't like at all.
"Uh, well… two things; first of all, I'm curious. How is your… you know… your…" Helga couldn't get to say it despite practicing at home earlier that day.
"My injuries," Arnold finished for her, the girl getting an obvious relieved expression, "Much better than yesterday, thanks for asking."
"Good. Now, the other thing… I'm… so… so… so… oh, criminey," Helga rubbed her forehead in self-annoyance. "Look, it was your fault you got injured, but still… sorry about the punch."
"I know you didn't mean to do it, Helga; so yes, I forgive you. Besides, I heard that you and Angelica are no longer fighting; I'm glad for the two of you because I wouldn't like anyone to get hurt, plus this way my 'football head' will not receive more damage." Arnold gave her a look that was both amused and warm, Helga getting weak knees yet regaining enough control to reply.
"Well, we're not becoming best friends or something like that, Bucko, but yeah, I'll not kill her and we'll cut the pranks. But, if we go back to fighting, stay away, Hair Boy, or I'll not care if you change again from Football Head to Punching Bag." Helga snarled at him and then started walking away, yet stopped to give him a fast glance, smiling slightly at the boy. "But thanks for worrying about us."
"Well, screw Pickles; thanks for worrying about me." Helga thought while Arnold shook his head and smiled at her.
"Anytime, Helga; see you in class." Arnold then turned to close his locker while Helga felt butterflies in her stomach and called Phoebe, the Asian waving bye to Gerald as joining her and the Afro-American boy getting an extremely pleased look that rivaled the short girl's.
"So, Phoebe, ready for today's operation?" Helga whispered at her friend; Phoebe's happy face got replaced by a concerned one.
"Yes, but, Helga, I'm doubtful; what you suggest involves trespassing, confidence abuse, and messing with someone's privacy."
"I know, Pheebs, but this is the only way I can get even on Pickles without breaking our agreement. So far, we're perfectly matched, so, to get the upper hand, I need some advantage, a way to keep her at bay or under control; if not, it's just a matter of time before this little truce of ours gets broken by one of us, and only God and The Devil know what we'll do to each other."
"Fine then," Phoebe sighed. "I hate to do this, but guess I'm already too involved, and I don't want you getting hurt or expelled."
"Pheebs, you're priceless," Helga smirked at her friend as playfully passing an arm over her shoulders, the Asian grinning a little bit; as Helga's friend, it was her duty to keep her away of trouble, and, if that wasn't possible, be there to get sure she wouldn't get hurt while performing her schemes, even if it meant her getting involved as well.
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Two periods later, Angelica went to the girls' bathroom, and, when noticing nobody was around, started tapping the tiles next to the door, finding a loose one. She then removed it, finding a little sheet of paper in a hole the tile was covering.
"A map to Helga's house; excellent." Angelica grinned evilly before hiding a picture of Rhonda behind the same tile. "Don't know what's scarier; how easy Curly can be manipulated, or that he didn't care about breaking inside a girls' bathroom."
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Helga and Phoebe arrived at Angelica's place a little after the classes ended. Since they saw the Pickles girl leaving with Rhonda, Nadine and Lila, they deduced they would go to the mall and therefore wouldn't be around for a while. The house wasn't much bigger than Helga's, which made sense since the Pickles weren't planning to become permanent residents, but it was as stylish as Rhonda, and not that far away from the Lloyds' residence. Helga knocked the door, silently thankful (at least this time) for her father doing business with Angelica's parents, therefore they knew her and would let her and Phoebe in if they were at home; the blonde, however, hoped nobody was at the place so they could simply break in, but that plan died when hearing steps coming from the inside.
"Coming," Charlotte opened the door, smiling at the girls, "Oh, Helga, good afternoon; who's your friend?"
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Pickles; she's my friend Phoebe; we came to give back Angelica a book she borrowed to us." Helga, as usual, did most of the talking while Phoebe simply bowed slightly and said 'Konichiwa' to the woman.
"Oh, well, come in, and glad to meet you, Phoebe." Charlotte said as letting the girls inside. "My husband is at the construction site with your father, Helga, and Angelica is with Rhonda and some of her friends, so I'm alone doing paperwork. Want something to drink?"
Helga, as usual, made some fast thinking while Charlotte talked, looking for an excuse to be alone at Angelica's room. The blonde smiled when looking at a nearby table, with lots of papers on it, and gave Phoebe a little signal she immediately understood.
"We would appreciate it, Mrs. Pickles." Phoebe replied while giving a fast glance to the papers, smiling when looking at some ones with mathematical operations on them. "Uh, excuse my intromission, Mrs. Pickles, but I think this calculation is wrong."
"Why you say it… Phoebe, right?" Charlotte arched an eyebrow at the girl.
"Well, I don't want to meddle in your business or something likes that but I think this decimal point is misplaced." Phoebe said as pointing at the tiny mistake. Charlotte looked at the paper, wide opening her eyes when finding out she was right.
"Phoebe, dear, you just saved me a couple thousand dollars." Charlotte said as quickly correcting the operation. "You're quite smart."
"Oh, yeah, Phoebe is a genius." Helga said in a quite proud tone. "I'm sure she would be your best accountant if the state laws allowed it."
"Helga is exaggerating a little, Mrs. Pickles," Phoebe blushed while looking at the rest of the papers. "But I admit mathematic problems are quite fascinating for me, especially when applied to real life. Right here, for example, I notice this percentage needs a little adjustment."
"You think so?" Charlotte rubbed her chin while looking over the Asian girl's shoulder. Helga saw her chance and started walking towards the stairway.
"Why don't you have your fun while I put the book on Angelica's room?" Helga suggested.
"Oh… thanks, Helga; it's the second door right." Charlotte replied, not entirely paying attention to the blonde girl since focusing almost entirely on Phoebe, the petite girl saving Mrs. Pickles thousands of dollars with every suggestion and correction.
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Angelica excused herself with Rhonda and the others, telling them she had to do some of the book's assignment since she and Arnold were meeting the next day to finish it; so, after knowing Slausens', the most popular diner among local teens, and having a milkshake the blonde admitted wasn't that bad, she headed to the Patakis' place. Of course she already knew several details about Helga, thanks to Curly, but the geek admitted most of them weren't exactly secret, and Angelica needed something like that to blackmail Helga, and had to do it alone; maybe Curly was a willing accomplice, but the blonde didn't want risking being caught if his craziness got the best out of the boy.
Angelica realized there was a car outside; since she knew Mister Pataki was working that day with her dad, the girl realized the car was Helga's mother's, and judging by the broken light and a slight dent, the woman wasn't a good driver. Angelica knew that she wouldn't be able to just sneak inside the house as planned, therefore thought about a good story to tell Mrs. Pataki and then rang the doorbell.
The girl waited outside the house for a couple minutes, ringing a few more times; when nobody answered or opened, Angelica knocked the door that opened after the first impact. The blonde got a surprised look; it wasn't common to leave the main door unlocked, especially in an urban area; Angelica popped her head inside the house.
"Hello? The door is open; may I come in?" Angelica got no answer, and, taking a deep breath, entered the house, locking the door. When walking a few steps she heard some soft snoring, and followed the noise, finding Helga's mother sitting, asleep, on a living room's individual couch.
"Mrs. Pataki?" Angelica raised her voice a little bit, walking next to the sleeping woman, who didn't react even when the girl shook her a little bit. Angelica frowned and cleared her throat. "Mrs. Pataki, you just won a million dollars and a kiss from Robert Redford!"
No answer.
"Gee, stop drinking decaf," Angelica chuckled a little bit; this was easier than she thought. The girl thought about taking a picture of the woman and inventing a good story about it, but even if Angelica despised Helga, she had some rules concerning her stunts, one of them being not messing with her victims' families, so dropped that idea. The blonde gave a look around, surprised at the large shelf filled up with lots of trophies, ribbons and certificates.
"They have more awards than the Academy." Angelica thought out loud while checking the prizes, all of them belonging to a certain Olga Pataki. The girl looked at the pictures hanging from the living room's walls, most of them showing a quite pretty blonde at several ages, the most recent ones revealing her being on her twenties.
"She must be Helga's sister." Angelica thought, realizing there were no pictures of her rival. The girl left the living room, Miriam still on dreamland, and walked upstairs, finally finding a few family pictures, hanging from the walls, with Helga on them, the girl frowning or looking a little sad on all of them.
"The girl isn't photogenic."
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Helga found the room in no time, getting a half-irritated look from Fluffy, the old white feline resting on the bed.
"You're a cat or a furry bowling ball?" Helga arched her eyebrow at the cat before looking around. The room looked a little bit like Rhonda's (Helga had been there a few times in the past) but with less ornaments and not that girly. The blonde looked at a bureau, finding lots of framed pictures on the shelves, all of them portraying Angelica at different ages; Helga got a half-surprised face when realizing the girl used to have ponytails, just like her until just a few years ago. The girl shook her face and continued watching.
"She really has a themed decoration." Helga then noticed Angelica, in some of the pictures, was holding a doll that wasn't exactly in good conditions. The girl then looked at the bed, finding the same doll on the pillow.
"So, you have a favorite doll, Pickles; who could have guessed you had such a soft side?" Helga smirked, the idea of stealing the doll popping in her mind. However, decided to research a little more before doing it.
Helga moved away from the bureau and focused on Angelica's drawers and desk. She found a few more framed pictures, these ones showing not just Angelica but some other people as well; Helga noticed a picture of her rival and her parents, and another one of Angelica with an Afro-American girl and a chubby red-haired boy, both of them around her age; then, the blonde noticed a group picture that had both Angelica and the other girl along with boys and girls that were a little younger; a boy with purple spiky hair ('His parents let him dye it like that?' was the first thing Helga thought when watching him), a short kid wearing a weird hat, a boy and a girl that looked so similar they were obviously twins, an Asian girl, and a boy so geeky he could compete with Curly in that department.
"That's his regular hairdo, or his head is on fire?" Helga thought out loud when looking at this specific boy; he had a lot of messy red hair, as well as braces, big purple glasses, as many freckles as Eugene or Lila, and, judging by his size, he was the oldest boy in the picture yet still, probably, younger than Angelica by a year or two.
Helga dropped the picture and turned on Angelica's laptop, but couldn't get any information since needed a password; the blonde tried a few obvious ones like Angelica's surname, her parents' names, 'Angel' and so, without success. A little frustrated, and also in a hurry since ignoring how much longer could Phoebe keep Mrs. Pickles busy, Helga decided to go for the sure thing and grab the doll, stopping when looking at the pictures next to Angelica's bed; practically all had the geeky boy on them, with or without Pickles.
"Could it be… no, that's impossible; if someone like Pickles could have an interest on someone like this boy, Rhonda would be madly in love with Curly," Helga said to herself. The girl then noticed the cat was now resting over the doll, protecting her human's property.
"Easy, easy, Flea Bag; I just want the doll." Helga approached with great care, kneeling to see the cat eye to eye; the girl then thought about throwing a slipper or shoe at the cat to scare it away, so moved her hand under the bed, hoping to find something like that; Helga froze when finding something else.
"A photo album… duh, of course!" Helga smacked her own forehead while moving away from the bed and the angry looking feline. "If there's something Pickles wants to keep secret, she wouldn't have it where everyone can find out."
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"'Helga's Room'; thanks for the hint, Pataki." Angelica thought as finding the other blonde's room immediately thanks to the red letters painted on it. The girl entered and got a slightly surprised expression; even if she already expected Helga not having a feminine room, she thought her rival's would be quite messy instead of the almost spotless one she found.
"Well, Pataki, you're more organized than me… still, you need to improve the decoration." Angelica thought out loud; certainly, this was the first room she entered that had absolutely no pictures or ornaments of any kind, unless counting the punching bag at one corner. The only thing that reminded the blonde that a girl lived here was the bed's pink sheets.
"Okay, I don't have too much to work with. If I didn't know better, would think you want making this harder for me, Pataki." Angelica started looking around the room, frowning when realizing there wasn't a thing to look for. Then, the girl decided to look under the bed, in case Helga had something embarrassing hidden there.
"Let's see… hey, she has a snake leather belt." Angelica said while extending her hand, realizing a moment later she was wrong; no belt and no snake yet definitely a reptile.
"YIKES!" Angelica yelped in fear and surprise when Zilla hissed at her. The previous night was quite cold so Helga let her pet sleep at the bedroom, and he was still there when his owner left that morning.
Angelica walked a few steps back as Zilla approached her, the animal defending his territory against an unknown person; since the reptile was big enough to swallow a large parrot on a single bite, it was quite intimidating. Angelica thought about running out of the room but decided to hide inside the closet instead, sighing in relief when closing the door and finding a light switch.
"Either these people have the weirdest taste in pets, or they really need an exterminator." Angelica took a deep breath; luckily, the closet was large enough for her to move more or less comfortably despite the many dresses and pants hanging inside; Angelica gave them a look and then turned at the shirts and other various clothing, most of it pink.
"Oh, wait, I got it, Pataki; all your clothing used to be red but you keep washing together color and white." Angelica frowned while leaning against the back of the closet; a second later, the girl fell on her butt, the back of the closet actually being just a dark curtain covering something.
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"I took this one after pouring some sand on Finster's pants; childish yet funny. He looks quite cute doing those weird moves."
Helga read the little note next to the picture of the geeky boy whose name she now knew was Charles Finster yet was better known as Chuckie. The girl chuckled a little bit at the image; he certainly looked both dumb and cute at the same time.
All the album's pictures had Chuckie on them; again, many times he was alone or with one of the other kids, and at times Helga found a picture of him and Angelica either just the two of them or with someone else. Each picture had a little note next to it that served as a summary of the image that gave Helga the boy's name and some basic information along with a few others like Tommy and Dil, Angelica's cousins; Susie and Harold, the Afro-American girl and the chubby guy; the DeVille twins, Phil and Lil, and Kimi, the Asian girl, whose mother had married Chuckie's dad and therefore was his stepsister. Helga also realized that Angelica liked to prank and insult all of them, but weirdly enough was also strongly attached to each one, especially to Chuckie, judging by the way Angelica expressed about him. Helga looked at a picture of the boy behind a counter, serving drinks (probably a part time job, Helga guessed) and the note under it that was considerably longer than most of the others.
"I was quite angry this day; a bad grade in my last pop quiz, a twisted ankle in P.E., and a freaky lab accident that involved Harold and a test tube that ended ruining my shirt. Everybody noticed my mood and kept distance from me, I mean, except Chuckie. I can say he was a little scared when I entered the cyber-café, especially after I practically roared at him for my drink; however, as usual, he surprised me. Not just he gave me his coconut-free special for free but also was patient enough to hear my whole rant without interrupting, and after I was done and more or less cooled down, he gave me another special, smiling and even offering himself to help me study for my next test and improve my grades; when I reminded the boy I usually boss him and yell a lot when we work together, he simply shrugged and told me he was used and we also make a good team when stop arguing. I took this picture when he turned to attend another client; I still can't believe how nice can be with me despite the way I treat him. I obviously accepted his offer; I may be one year older than Chuckie but, in the academic aspect, he had always been smarter than me. Too bad couldn't take a picture of the study session; it was just like I predicted but once we finally got to work it was nice, and I really aced my next exam. Sometimes I wonder what I would do without this scaredy-cat yet lovable geek."
Helga froze after finishing her read; even if Pickles wasn't writing long poetry-filled texts, it was obvious she had deep feelings for Chuckie. According to the notes, the boy had many defects, including clumsiness, nervousness and lots of fears, but also many qualities like kindness, honesty, loyalty and a really caring nature, and, despite his looks, he wasn't exactly ugly. Helga now was doubtful; as much as she disliked and even hated her rival, could she do something to her now she knew they had more in common than they had realized?
"Okay… so, now I know she likes a boy whose name and looks resemble a killer toy's from a horror movies series; what I'm doing with that information?" Helga groaned; her out-loud thinking got interrupted by the sound of a parking car.
"Criminey! Her dad is home! Her mom is going to remember I'm here!" The girl gasped and made a quick decision; she chose a picture from the middle of the album, one with Chuckie and Angelica sitting at a bench sharing popcorn (more like, she eating from his bag); it wasn't among the first pictures or one of the most recent, so thought Pickles wouldn't notice its absence for a while.
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"Freaky…" Angelica wide-opened her eyes at the Arnold shrine in front of her. The blonde shook her head and stood up, surprised and a little bit scared. "Pataki does voodoo and Arnold is her victim?"
The girl then saw several boxes around her; when opening them, she found notebooks and loose paper sheets; when reading them Angelica's fear got replaced by shock and surprise.
"Oh, Arnold, I don't know what have your eyes; don't know what have your lips; that dominate my cravings and make me go crazy. I don't know how I can stop loving you, or how I slowly started to adore; I feel dying a thousand times when you aren't around. At night, when I go to sleep, I sometimes pray God for forgetting you, but at dawn I wake up just to continue this worship. What influence have your lips that when you talk to me I tremble, making me feeling a slave and the ruler of Universe."
"This girl is crazy in love; with double emphasis in 'crazy', but in love, no less!" Angelica re-read the sheet and then fast-read a few other ones and a couple of notebooks, all of them filled with similar writing. Sometimes she could find long texts, covering several pages, and then songs and short poems, all of them inspired by Arnold.
"If God takes my life before yours, I'll ask him to make me the angel watching your steps; because, of other arms give you the heat I couldn't, it would be so much pain that, in Heaven itself, I would die again."
"Of course; the name-calling, the spit-balls… I must be an idiot! How I didn't realize before… and how hadn't anyone realized yet? No wonder Helga hates me that much; I'm spending time with her beloved."
Angelica sat in silence, pondering about what she would do now; she was ready to expose a secret or, at least, threaten Helga with that exposing, but this was beyond the girl's expectations. This information would damage Helga's reputation, but even Angelica, who could be the picture of selfishness and trickery, knew the concept of empathy.
"Hey, Miriam, wake up! I'm hungry!"
Angelica gasped when hearing Big Bob trying to wake up his wife. The blonde had to find a way out and leave the house now; Angelica put all the notebooks and sheets back in the boxes yet conserved the 'ruler of Universe' one, not wanting to leave empty-handed. Angelica put the curtain back on its place and then opened the door a little bit, sighing in relief when realizing the lizard wasn't waiting for her. Angelica exited the closet and closed the door hurriedly, finding Zilla the other side of the room; the animal, momentarily distracted by his efforts in catching a spider, heard the girl and charged against her. The blonde dashed to the window, exiting, closing it back and left through the fire exit, Zilla giving her an angry look from the room.
"Where's Nigel Thornberry when you need him?" Angelica thought out loud as leaving the place as fast and stealthy as possible.
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Helga walked downstairs, the picture already in her backpack, the moment Charlotte finished introducing Phoebe and her husband together.
"Ah, Helga, nice to see you; your father is on his way home. Angelica will be a little late today; do you and Phoebe want joining us for dinner?" Drew addressed the blonde.
"Thanks, Mister Pickles, but Phoebe and I are in a hurry; I put the book on the bed, so Angelica will find it without problems." Helga waved bye to the adults while she and Phoebe headed to the door, Drew accompanying them.
"Thanks again for your hospitality, Mrs. Pickles. Glad to meet you, Mister Pickles." Phoebe said bye as well, Drew smiling at the girl and Charlotte thanking her again for the help. Once they were a little far away from the house, the Asian turned at Helga.
"So, you found what you wanted?"
"Actually… found more than I expected." Helga rubbed the back of her neck. "I'll have to check the… evidence I got before deciding to use it."
Phoebe noticed Helga was a little nervous; she knew her friend rarely had conscience crisis, so realized that, either she found something that would damage Angelica so much even Helga was hesitant to use it, or the little research revealed both blondes having more in common besides their mutual dislike and the ability to come up with a good insult in record time.
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Author Note.
The poems Angelica found are slightly modified and translated parts of two songs, 'Esclavo y Amo' and 'Si Dios te quita la vida'. (That's right; first was written by José Vaca Flores and the second by Luis Demetrio, and both songs were made popular by Mexican singer Javier Solis, therefore Ramiro doesn't own them.) Thanks, Phoebe. Stay tuned for next chapter.