—Second I jsut want to thank everyone who's reviewed so far...you guys really keep me going.
Starry Nights: Oh my Gods, I have to honestly say that the first time I saw your review I was completely floored. I read your story 'Just a Thought'a while ago and thought it was absolutely amazing--I was really honored when I saw you had reviewed. Plus to say that turned you into a sap...wow, I never expected that kind of reaction from that chapter. Thank You sooooo much!
DropsofJupiter:Thanks a ton for the kind review. Paragraph breaks when characters' speak are rare in any kind of fanfiction, but I definitely understand where you're coming from (it drive's me nuts too).
Everyone Else: You all seriously rock!!
Disclaimer: I definitely don't own any of the characters that you recognise. Only the plot and the OC's are mine. Everything else belongs to Mr. Bartlett and Nick
Chapter 7
An Introduction the the Past
The first thought Helga had as she awoke to the sickening blasts of her alarm clock was something vaguely similar to that which she had had the previous morning.
"I swear to God, I'll never drink again," she swore with even less resolve than yesterday as she made her way from the bed to her shower. Once in the bathroom she was directly assaulted by the recollections of the prior evening. "Ughhh,"she groaned aloud as a wave of memories washed over her. Arnold in her apartment…temporary truce…cheap burgundy…puking in the toilet while Arnold held her hair back—"Oh God, very nice Helga," she scolded herself as the hot water washed down her aching body, "Wonderful way to show him how much you've matured—having him clean you off while you gracelessly vomit all over the place—just perfect!" She finished the rest of her shower in silence and self-loathing.
It wasn't, though, until she was toweling off her thick mass of blond hair that Helga was struck with her second revelation of the morning—how had she gotten into her bed? She remembered Arnold stroking her back and then…holding her while he placed a wet washcloth on the back of her neck. She looked down towards the floor and, sure enough, there was the now dried washcloth, but that didn't explain how she got from the floor of her bathroom to being tucked snuggly into bed. "Oh, Damnit!" she moaned, slapping her hand to her forehead as the realisation hit her and she turned harshly towards her image in the fogged up mirror.
"So," she addressed herself rather acerbically, "not only did you practically throw up all over the guy, but then he had to haul you drunken ass into bed—you're a real winner Helga 'ol Girl, it's a damn wonder why all the guys aren't lining up for you."
The last part she spoke with such bitterness that even she couldn't escape the shudder her voice caused before she reached to the medicine shelf and quickly popped two pills, "Maybe now the world won't seem quite such a waste."In Charlie's office Downtown, Arnold sat, more than uncomfortably, in one of the large black leather chairs—God, he hated leather.
Helga was late. Arnold was visibly worried, starting to regret leaving her alone last night.
"Oh don't worry about Hella," piped Charlie, "She's probably just stuck in traffic Uptown—you don't know how time consuming those things can be." Arnold only smiled a bit politely before abruptly standing and walking towards the windows that looked out on the street below—where the hell was she?
After leaving her apartment the previous night…well, to be more exact, this morning, he had gone back to his place. Once inside the door he walked directly to the hall and flipped on the switch. Soft cream light flooded down on the black and white pictures lining the walls until it covered the one he had been searching for—hers. He sat on the floor, leaning against the opposite wall, just staring up at her picture for an hour or so before he finally stood up and took it down. As he crawled into bed a few minutes later and turned toward the nightstand he had been greeted by Helga's smiling face where he had propped up the photo against his lamp. To fall asleep next to an angel. He had no worries.
Now, though, was a completely different matter—he was worried to death that she had…well she could have done anything, couldn't she? His mind raced hysterically as he conjured up a thousand near fatal incidents that could cause her lateness or death—Oh god, she could be lying dead right now!
His breathing was quickly turning into hyperventilating gasps for breath. Charlie turned toward the young man who was now holding onto the windowsill for dear life."Arnold! My Gods boy, are you all right?" he asked worriedly, running over to his side and ushering him into the nearest leather chair.
"H…Hel…Helga" he finally managed through raged panting. Charlie simply huffed a sigh of relief and then sat down a little incensedly.
"Christ boy, I already told you that she is probably just stuck in traffic. The girl, while being incredibly talented and smart, is never on time for anything. She still thinks that she's Super Woman—that no matter how little time is left to do something, that she will get it done. It's fucking craziness I tell you."
Charlie's speech had calmed him a little—very little, but he was almost reaching a semi state of contentedness when the old man spoke again.
"So what is your relationship with Hella anyway—it definitely seems as though you two are…close," he hinted with a slight wiggle of his eyebrow that gave him an almost cartoon-ish appearance. Arnold only sighed, wondering silently how much leave with 'their' story Helga would want him to take. He settled, finally, on trying to skirt the issue of their relationship with a simple answer.
"We went to school together—I've known her since we were four years old." Charlie didn't look satisfied with that explanation, and urged him to continue. Shit, shit, shit. "Well there really isn't much else to tell, we kinda lost touch after graduation [which is partly true] and Saturday was the first time I had seen her."
Charlie was an old man and people, he supposed, had a tendency to assume that he was blind, deaf, and stupid. In reality he wasn't any of these things, in fact he was incredibly adept. So it comes at no wonder that he immediately saw straight though the story of the worried young man before him. He laughed silently at how Arnold probably was convinced he had snowed him over.
"Arnold," he said in a serious tone far from his usual comical one, "I'm not going to sit here and force you to tell me everything about your relationship with Helga—to be honest I don't have to hear it to know. I can see it in you eyes," he added after seeing Arnold's startled expression. "You were in love with each other," he stated a little more bluntly than usual, but this situation called for a little different approach than his usual circumspection. "And, if I've judged correctly there is something holding you both back." He sighed heavily, and suddenly Arnold thought he looked much older his 65 years. "Helga's a smart girl, like I said, but she has problems—serious ones, I can see it deep in her eyes in those rare moments that she actually lets her guard down. She's been hurt, badly and now she's afraid it seems—scared out of her senses—to ever make herself vulnerable again. Do you know what I mean?"
Arnold knew exactly what he meant, and suddenly couldn't help feeling responsible for every ounce of depression Helga was experiencing. He couldn't help but think back on that miserable day so many years ago when both their lives had been forever altered.
For May, it was unusually warm in New York. The leaves were already dotted sporadically throughout the tree in the TriCounty Forest, swaying temporantly upon their branches as the P.S. 128 Senior class set up camp. The excitement in the air was almost tangible as everyone took in the realization that in three weeks high school would be over, they would be leaving to go out into the world.
This was their last chance at real fun, their last chance to be children before the onset of adulthood took over.Helga Pataki came crawling on her hands and knees out of the girl's tent, a definite look of distaste on her face.
"I don't know what you expected Rhonda, it's a camping trip, ergo, we are going to have to camp. Did you honestly think that they told us 'camping' on the pretext of going to the Waldorf?"
"I don't know Helga! I just didn't think it was going to be this…dirty," exclaimed the next girl to exit the tent. Once up on her feet, Rhonda Lloyd-Wellington, olive-toned skin, deep brown eyes and short layered black hair, looked quite the antithesis of the petite blond girl standing next to her. Helga gave an exasperated sigh and then put her arm around Rhonda's shoulders.
"Look Princess, I don't know if your 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' explained this to you or not, but, these trees and grass and dirt, these things are called 'nature'," she enunciated with each word dripping her characteristic sarcasm as if she were speaking to a toddler. Satisfied with the loathsome look on Rhonda's face, Helga walked nonchalantly towards the boy's tent.
With Helga safely out of hearing range, Rhonda turned fiercely towards her friend Nadine, who was now crawling out of the tent.
"I swear Nadine, Helga Pataki is the biggest bitch in all of New York. I honestly don't know what Arnold sees in her.""Yeah," agreed Nadine, "But it's like she's an entirely different person when she's around Arnold, he seems to make her not as…angry as she usually is."
Helga didn't hear any of this conversation; thankfully, she was already outside of the boys tent where Gerald, Sid, Stinky, and Harold were all standing importantly around a small blaze from the fire pit.
"Look Helga, we done made a fire," Stinky proclaimed with all the self-importance of someone who had just discovered a cure for cancer. Helga rolled her eyes in a classic expression of worn nerves that everyone in their little group had become all too familiar with.
"Well, that's quite an accomplishment boys—you must feel like real mountain men now,"Stinky, missing every hint of mockery in her comment only stood a bit taller and puffed out his chest. Honestly! "Look guys," she continued wearily, "I'm looking for Arnold, do you know where he is?"
"Yeah," Harold piped up through a mouth full of ham sandwich, "I think he went off with Lila a couple of minutes ago. They were headed in the direction of the brook."
All the other idiots missed it, but Gerald saw quite clearly the way Helga's entire face blanched at the mention of Arnold and Lila.
Gerald and Arnold both had stayed the best of friends through all their lives, and like any good best friend Arnold told Gerald almost everything. Gerald had been, in fact, the first person that Arnold had told when he and Helga had first got together, and needless to say she had been a tireless subject for discussion ever since.
Arnold had regaled him with stories about her wit, and beauty, and charm among other things. But there had always been the nagging complaints about Helga's self-abusing and jealous nature. Not that Helga ever had intentionally hurt herself—it was just the way she always was putting herself down, never thinking she was good enough for him. Gerald supposed that that particular flaw had been the one that had given way to her intense jealousy. Every time Arnold even mentioned another girl, Helga…well Helga had been really weird about it. She didn't become enraged or anything (at least not yet), but she did turn incredibly despondent and melancholy. There had been times when she would just burst into tears in the middle of class or stop eating for days at a time—all until Arnold finally discovered and dispelled the ridiculous fears that she had. For some reason Helga just couldn't see what was blatantly obvious to at least Gerald: that Arnold was completely and hopelessly in love with her.
Gerald really didn't have time for much more Helga observation though before she turned around and headed off in the exact direction that Arnold and Lila had gone too only minutes before.A/N: Thanks again to everyone who read this, and sorry it took me for-frickin-ever to post this. The next chapter's already written so it shoudln't be too long before I format and post it. :)
