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Helga sat at her desk looking blankly into her computer screen as she let the sound of a band play command her head. She tried to picture each musician on their instruments when they became the focus of that part, but it was hard to trace behind the lyrics. She had heard the song a few times and although not her favourite song of all time, it was her favourite of the band. It wasn't hard to find Alex's band online, but not knowing much about them or what they played made it hard for her to tell what songs would actually be to her liking. As Alex finished singing and the sound of the drums and the bass was left to bring the song to a close, Helga returned to reality. She checked to see a flickering orange box on her screen, indicating that someone wanted her attention. Flipping between programs she saw that although Helga was somewhat busy, Phoebe was still hoping for a conversation with her friend.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO TALK TO HER ON TUESDAY HELGA? Phoebe had typed.
Helga shook her head and started typing herself. YEAH SHE'S APPARENTLY PRETTY BUSY THIS WEEK, WHICH SUCKS HARD BUT I CAN BARE WITH IT
YOU KNOW I'M AROUND IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT MORE.
I KNOW BUT I STILL WORRY THAT ILL UPSET HER WITH WHAT I DID; IT'S JUST UNNERVING IS ALL.
HELGA, SHE'S NOT ABOUT TO FIRE YOU BECAUSE YOU KISSED A BOY, OR BECAUSE YOU TOLD YOUR OTHER FRIENDS TO BACK OFF FOR A WHILE.
I'M SORRY HAVE WE MET? BECAUSE I'M PRETTY SURE I'VE TOLD YOU I'M CRAZY.
AND I'M PRETTY SURE I HAVE EVIDENCE TO SAY OTHERWISE MY FRIEND.
STARTING ANOTHER TRACK. BE WARNED. MAY TAKE A WHILE TO RESPOND.
I'LL STILL BE HERE.
Helga let a small smile form, watching as the messenger program revealed a small flashing pencil icon beside Phoebe's name indicating she was typing something to her at this very moment. Hating the wait, she distracted herself by switching back to her web browser and clicking on another link to another of Alex's song. She noticed this one had fairly more hits than the other ones and clicked on it. The info on the track revealed it to be a remake of another song which Helga had already listened to that night, it began with a piano playing softly, which was something fairly different then Alex's other songs. Interested in the beat Helga let her hands move which each note, even though she had no experience with playing the instrument. Her eyes noticed the flashing box again and she turned her attention back to Phoebe.
BRB. BOYFRIEND CALLING.
"Oh joy" she murmured. Despite his kindness earlier in the week with driving her home, Helga was still reluctant to let Gerald date Phoebe. She was still worried that he was simply in it for whatever sexual advances he could take on Phoebe, who had apparently let some of his advances work. For a moment she thought back to the images of a topless Phoebe making out with Gerald on Phoebe's bed before Alex's voice finally began on the song. The lyrics were fairly touching, and it hit a sour spot in Helga's stomach. Without intending too, she put her legs up on her chair and hid her face under her crossed arms, with images in her mind of everyone forgetting about her. As the song started its second verse, she regained control of her emotions and sat back in a normal position, coming to terms with the ideas present in the song. "That blow hits a little too close to home thank you Alex" she said, turning off the song. She looked back to see Phoebe had posted again.
HELGA…
A look of confusion formed on the silent Helga's face. WHAT? She replied.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS MY PLACE TO TELL YOU, BECAUSE THIS REALLY ISN'T SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE HIS GRANDPARENTS…BUT ARNOLD...HE'S IN THE HOSPITAL…
Helga's eyes widened and her jaw actually dropped slightly. WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED? TELL ME! Helga continued to tap her hand against her desk, desperately waiting for Phoebe to reply. ANSWER ME!
I'M JUST WRITING DOWN THE INFO NOW OKAY?
IS HE HURT?
YEAH.
WHY DON'T HIS GRANDPARENTS KNOW?
CHECKING… she began, and then replied with HE DIDN'T WANT TO SCARE THEM a moment later.
SO HE TOLD GERALD?
THE HOSPITAL ASKED FOR SOMEONE TO CONTACT, ARNOLD ASKED FOR THEM TO CALL GERALD.
WHICH HOSPITAL IS HE AT? VAN DYKE OR KLEIN?
VAN DYKE. GERALD IS WITH HIM AND IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN UPSET AND MAD.
WHAT HAPPENED?!
ARNOLD WAS STABBED AT THE PARK, THE POLICE HAVEN'T SPOKEN WITH HIM YET, BUT HE SAID HE DOESN'T REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT. GERALD THINKS IT'S A GIRL BASED ON SOMETHING ARNOLD APPARENTLY WHISPERED.
Helga squeezed her knees in anger, trying to deal with the absolute fury she had storming inside of her. I HAVE A PRETTY DAMN GOOD IDEA MYSELF. Helga got off her chair and threw it across the room, screaming out in anger. Fuming mad she let out several shaky breaths before looking back at the screen.
WHO?
AN OLD FRIEND WHO I'M GOING TO GO VISIT.
HELGA! LET THE POLICE HANDLE IT.
NO! I HAVE TO BE SURE! THE LINE HAS TO BE DRAWN HERE AND NOW. THIS FAR, NO FURTHER! And with that she slammed her computer shut, putting it on standby mode and making Phoebe realize her friend was leaving.
A set of footsteps could be heard coming towards the room as Helga looked around her room for a pair of pants. Sadly she couldn't find any clean ones and grabbed a pair that she hadn't worn in a week, which for the most part appeared to look good enough. A loud slamming could be heard at her door. "What the hell is going on in there?" Bob asked from the hallway.
"Nothing Dad!" Helga replied, rolling her eyes.
"Crimney, you going to keep playing hard to get or are you going to actually talk to me?"
Helga unlocked and opened the door slightly, revealing her face to her father. "Nothing is going on okay? I'm just getting ready to go out"
Using his superior strength, Bob pushed the door out enough to see the chair on the floor. "What the heck are you doing to-"
"You're chair?" she finished for him.
"…The Chair."
"I slipped…"
"Prancing around the room again? You're not eight anymore."
"Oh gee thanks for reminding me I'm NOT allowed to be feminine in this house…it's all muscles and beer right?"
"Hey." He stopped her. "Don't you say for a damn second that I didn't let you be a girl in this house. What about all that junk we gave you, the makeup and the girly clothes and all that"
"Which was basically Olga's when she was my age…"
"And the pink cellphone?"
"You actually noticed the colour, nice going Bob-o"
"Do you have to mock me every time we talk huh? I'm pretty sure you learned about respecting people" he took a step forward. "And on top of that respecting your elders" and another "And on top of that, learning to respect your goddamn parents!"
She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, completely serious and strong. "Going to hit me daddy?"
Bob put his hand on his face and rubbed his temple, letting out a faint whistle. "Sheesh, you really think I'm the devil don't you?"
"I'm still trying to find the horns underneath that fake coloured hair"
"For someone who tries to make a statement with her look you're really going to take a shot at my hair style? Really?"
"No comment"
"Huh, looks like I found the end of your line kiddo. You're out of complaints, one liners and are finally out of words to say…now you listen and you listen good. You want to get out of this house, you tell me why I hear things being thrown around, a girl screaming and have to deal with my heart skipping a beat or two while trying to enjoy my Saturday evening…Or I'm going to keep in front of that door frame all night."
"…Tough guy with his long speech eh?"
"Yeah. I am the tough guy, and you're the little girl…My little girl"
"Fine. I'm going to an ex friend's house for the second time this week to give her a piece of my mind"
"Sounds like someone pissed you off more than I do…what'd she do? Call you a girly or something?"
"She hurt my friend"
"What that Asian girl?"
"No, just forget it…"
"You going to give her a taste of Jim Bruce and the Marauders?" he said, cracking his knuckles.
"Huh?"
"Don't ask, just some of the nicknames I gave to my fists when I deal with thieves at the emporium…you know Jim Bruce the famous actor and-"
"You're college football team."
"Yeah…hey you remember that?"
She scoffed. "I remember more then I should let's just say that…and a lot more then mom…"
"Looks like you've got more than a big mouth Olga."
"Helga. Dad. And yes, I intend to beat the shit out of that girl"
"Then we better get going before it gets any later." He walked out into the hallway and headed down the stairs.
Helga peaked her head out to the hallway and looked down to him. "We?"
"What you think I'd make a big deal out of my youngest daughter disappearing for two days then not want to make sure she doesn't disappear again? You really are dense."
She ran back into her room, grabbing a sweater. "I don't need an old man backing me up in a fight"
Bob let out a small chuckle as he put on his jacket. "No but you need someone with a car to get across town before the buses cut out for the night" he hollered.
"For real?"
"Yes now come on kid before I change my mind…"
"Yeah, yeah calm down"
Despite being in a whirlwind of emotions because of Arnold, a small faint smile formed on her face at her father's sudden kindness. She knew she couldn't expect any more than the ride, but for the time being it was more then she could've hoped for, especially considering the fact she just barely didn't have enough change for the bus. The ride was long and tense, with neither Helga nor her father saying anything. He made a few comments as he continued to listen to the football game on the radio, but nothing Helga really cared for or paid attention to. Instead her mind was busy thinking of ways she could 'slay' Terra for what she had done. This was as mad as Helga had ever been in her life, and with her wild imagination she couldn't picture anything less than Terra in extreme pain for her crimes. After a good twenty minutes of driving they appeared at the top of Terra's court and Helga could see lights on in her house, she was home.
"So I guess this is goodbye?" Helga asked.
"No, this is me wishing you good luck. I'm staying right here thank you very much. I know you're not one for it but I'd appreciate you waving your cellphone if you want me to come out"
"We'll you said it first, I'm not one to do something like that"
"If you're going to do something stupid Helga I'm not going to stop you, I'm just warning you that you'll live with it the rest of your life…so be ready for that"
"This might be stupid dad…but for everything I've been through, for everything I stand for…for me not to do this, it would destroy me each and every day…but…but thanks"
"No problem kid"
"You called me Helga; you do remember my name…"
"Did you ever stop to think that it was a nickname, and not me being completely stupid?"
"Maybe if you explained it at least ten years ago, then maybe I would've"
"Alright Olga…"
"I'll come after you next bub"
"We'll see…come on, I'm missing my game I want to see some action tonight…"
"Yeah, yeah…weirdo"
Helga pulled herself out of her father's hummer and headed down the street looking at all the houses in the neighborhood to see if anyone else was outside. She knew in her heart of hearts that she would probably drag Terra outside, not caring if it caused a scene or not. This was it, all the good times and bad between her and Terra were about to disappear in an instant of pure rage. Every single part of Helga, the poet, the lonely girl, the sexual deviant, the romantic, the girly girl and even the part of her that she showed off to everyone but Phoebe and Dr. Bliss…the angry side of her, all came together in one moment to send Terra to hell. Arriving at the door, Helga made it very clear she was around by slamming on the door with her fist. It tingled a little, but didn't exactly hurt. She checked her other hand which was no longer bandaged and moved it around a little bit, all the scabs and the fading bruises may be replaced by new ones in a moment. She was suddenly alerted by the sound of someone running closer and finally opening the door slightly. Terra showed her face, which honestly looked terrified.
"The fuck are you doing here Helga?" she asked angrily.
"What the fuck did you do!?" Helga replied, following her father's previous actions and pushing the door wide open.
"What are you talking about? I'm a little fucking busy right now and I can't deal with your 'I'm too good for you' shit!"
"Oh yeah, causing havoc in the world is really keeping you busy eh Terra?" Helga raised her clenched fist. "Let me show you havoc!"
"Are you out of your fucking mind Pataki!? I'm not going to fucking fight you! I've got a mentally disturbed Lita downstairs balling her eyes out and you want to come to my house and cause a scene!?"
"Oh yeah you're really sitting around with the girls having a sob story night! BULLSHIT TERRA. BULLSHIT!"
"She is helping me…" a soft voice let out from down the hall. The two arguing teens turned to see Lita, hiding herself under a blanket against the sidewall. Her eyes were tear filled and her whole body was shaking, this girl was having nothing short then a mental breakdown.
"I did it for you Helga…I did it for you…" she kept repeating…
Hopefully you guys enjoy. True there was no violence, but I wasn't sure how you guys would find the last chapter of violence let alone this incident. We're coming to a close very soon, hopefully you've enjoyed it. Next time I promise I will have an editor to look over my mistakes and such.
See you next week in Chapter 22: Little sister