Chapter 9:

AFTERSCHOOL HELP

Two minutes after the last bell rang, four students entered the library of PS 118. The young red haired librarian came around the counter and greeted them with a smile.

"Hello, 4th graders! I want to start out by thanking you all for agreeing to help me with the mess I've gotten myself into. I really appreciate the help. Next, I hope you're all as smart as I think you are, because the system I'm using is kind of complicated. I understand it perfectly, but then it IS my system, so maybe it really won't make any sense to anyone else."

The kids were all staring at her.

"I'm rambling again, aren't I? That's one of my bad habits, I'm afraid. If I do it again, just feel free to yell at me. Okay? Okay! We might as well get started. Uh, let me see. Okay, the first thing I want to do is go through the books and find the ones that could use replaced or repaired. Any books with broken spines, torn pages, worn out covers, anything like that. Bring those books over here and put them on this table," she instructed.

Since the books were already off the shelves and in various piles, she assigned each student a different pile to go through. With five people working, the task was accomplished rather quickly. The pile of damaged books wasn't nearly as high as Sammy thought it would be, and in the process, she had learned a little more about each of her helpers.

Except, of course, Helga. She had kept to herself again, and had only tried talking to Phoebe. Phoebe, on the other hand, made no attempt to talk back. Apparently, she was still angry from yesterday.

After about an hour, Sammy called her assistants together.

"Well, we got more done than I thought we would. You guys are really good! At this rate, we'll have this place back together in no time. Why don't you just keep coming after school until we're done?" The kids nodded. "Great. I guess that's about it for today. You guys can go ahead and take off. Phoebe, would you stick around for a while? I need some help on the computer."

"Sure, Sammy."

"Great. I'll see the rest of you tomorrow, same time, same place. Okay?" Sammy called as the boys walked out the door.

"Okay, Sam. See ya!" Arnold called. Gerald waved. Helga, however, had stayed behind and walked over to Phoebe.

"Do you want me to wait for you, Phoebs?" she asked.

"No Helga," Phoebe responded, not looking up. Helga looked at Phoebe a moment longer, then slowly turned and walked away.

"I'm sorry, Phoebs. Why won't you forgive me?" Sammy heard Helga mutter as she walked out the door.

This fight was more serious than I thought. Phoebe must be highly ticked, and Helga can't figure out how to make it up to her. But Phoebe doesn't exactly look too thrilled to be fighting, either. Should I? Sammy wondered.

I've already stuck my neck out this far. What's a couple of inches more?

Sammy took a deep breath, held it, let it out. She walked over to Phoebe, who was standing in front of the counter.

"What sort of problems are you having with your computer, Sammy?" the small girl asked.

"Oh, the usual. It beeps, I yell, it beeps some more. I was really hoping you could help me sort out some of my files. I've got so many, it sometimes takes me forever just to find the one I need."

Sammy led the girl around the counter and started the computer. She showed Phoebe what the problems were and stared in amazement as Phoebe corrected them with just a few simple commands. Phoebe was almost done, so Sammy decided to get down to business.

"Jeez. First Helga has to help me on this thing, and now you. What ever happened to good old fashioned pencil and paper?" she commented, seeing if Phoebe would take the bait. She did. The girl had been typing furiously, but at the mention of Helga's name, her fingers stopped and hovered over the keys.

"Well, computers are a lot faster than paper. Besides, you can't get a paper cut from a keyboard." She paused. "Helga helped you?"

"Yeah, she's the one who actually got me into this thing in the first place. She did it yesterday after everyone else left."

"Oh." Phoebe started typing again. Sammy pulled a chair out of the office and sat beside her.

"You seemed pretty upset when you left yesterday," Sammy said quietly. "Are you feeling better?"

Phoebe stopped typing again and just sat there for a while. Sammy let her. Then Phoebe turned to her, and Sam saw tears in the girl's eyes.

"No. I'm not feeling better. I feel terrible, and I don't know what to do about it!" she cried. The tears were falling from her eyes, and some had smeared on her glasses.

Way to go, Sam. You've been here two days and you've already reduced two girls to tears! she thought.

"Do you want to tell me about it? You might feel better." Sammy thought for a minute and then added, "Helga did."

Phoebe turned sharply and looked at Sam. She had taken off her glasses to clean them, and without them she looked very vulnerable. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks.

"Helga?" she asked, unbelievingly. "She spoke to you? Why?"

"About you."

Phoebe stared at Sammy in shock.

"She felt really bad about what she had done to you. After she helped me on this," Sam said, pointing to the computer, "she eventually broke down and told me what happened."

"Helga broke down? You mean, she CRIED?" Sammy nodded.

"She was really upset. She told me everything about you. From the first day you met, to yesterday's fight. Everything she had ever done to you. And she was crying the whole time."

Phoebe couldn't believe what she was hearing. Could Helga care about her that much? Why didn't she ever say anything? She returned her glasses to her nose and looked at Sam.

"I don't think I've ever seen Helga cry," she said softly.

"She really cares about you, Phoebe. That fight yesterday must have opened her eyes to that fact."

"I didn't think Helga really cared about anything. She never shows any emotions like that."

"Phoebe, you seem to know a lot about Helga. Would you tell me about her? After what happened yesterday she's really peaked my interest." Sammy paused. "And I'd like to help her if I can."

Phoebe looked at Sam. She had stopped crying but the tears were still on her cheeks.

"I want to help her, too," she said quietly. Sammy smiled and gently hugged her.

"Tell me what you know and maybe we can both help her," she said as she wiped the tears from Phoebe's cheeks.

So Phoebe talked. She told Sammy everything she knew about Helga and some things she only suspected. She told about Helga's relationships with her parents and sister. About how she acts around the other kids. About her poetry (Sam acted surprised at this.) And about her feelings for Arnold.

When Phoebe finished, she sat much the same way Helga had after her story. Her head was lowered and she looked at her hands in her lap.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I think our friend Helga is quite an interesting little girl. But a little girl with problems, nonetheless. If she continues like this, she'll push everyone away from her for the rest of her life."

Phoebe looked at Sam with worried eyes. Sam laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry, Phoebs. Now she's got two friends to help her."

"How will we do that? You see how she is. She runs when people get too close."

"She can't run forever, Phoebe. We've gotta show her that we're not going anywhere and that we care about her. She wants to be loved, I can feel it. We've just got to get her to let us in," Sammy said, mostly to herself.

"Do you really think she will? She can be pretty tough sometimes."

"Let me put it this way, have you been happy since your fight?" Phoebe shook her head. "Helga's not doing so well, either. She was different today. She misses you."

"I miss her, too," Phoebe said quietly.

"Then go and talk to her. For some reason she insists she can't talk to you, don't ask me why. She'll listen if you go to her," Sammy told her gently.

Phoebe thought about this and nodded.

"Okay. I'll try to talk to her tonight. If she'll listen."

"She will. I'm sure of it," Sam said, smiling. She then looked at her watch. "Oh, jeez. You'd better get going. Your parents will think I kidnapped you! Do you want a ride?"

"No, that's okay. The walk will be good for me, and this way I can think about what I'll say to Helga. I'll stop at her house before heading home," she said and gathered her books.

"Are you sure? I could drop you off."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow, Sammy. Bye!" Phoebe walked toward the door, then stopped and turned back.

"Sammy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," she said, smiling wide.

"No problem, Phoebs," Sammy answered, smiling back. The small girl waved and ran out the door.

After Phoebe left, Sammy thought about everything the girl had told her about Helga. No wonder she became nervous when people got too close. She's never had any close relationships with ANYONE. She doesn't know how to react when people show her affection.

Well, that's all going to change soon, she thought. Phoebe is going over there right now to talk to her, that should bring her out of the funk she's in, and then maybe I can get her to talk to me some more.

Sammy straightened things up a bit, then grabbed her bag and headed home. On the way, she thought about Phoebe. No matter what Helga had done to her, Phoebe had always stood by her. The two girls had only been fighting for one day, but they were already falling apart without each other. They simply did not know what to do with themselves without their friend. Sammy wondered if they knew how special a relationship like that is. Or how rare.

Sam got home, changed clothes, and fed her cats. She fixed herself something to eat while she watched the news. Afterwards, she opened her bag and pulled out the stack of poems she had gotten from Mr. Simmons.

After all, she had promised to return them to him the next morning. And she still had quite a pile to go through. Not that she was complaining.

Sammy settled back and lost herself in the poems of Helga G. Pataki.

~End of Chapter 9~