CHAPTER 4:

Mr. Simmons walked in, everyone was seated by then, "Good morning class, today we have a special lesson today considering that the year is almost over, so we also have forms from the district to make sure what middle school you'll be attending!"

"Oh brother, again with the "special" with this guy, you would think we would use a new adjective after 2 years!"

Even if I am tired of the word "special", I don't think I've ever been that aggressive.

"Cause you're not capable of being actively aggressive, my dear football head."

I groaned to myself, I really am losing it!

"Arnold!" I heard Simmons call out, "Yes?" I asked, "Are you okay? Do you want to go to the nurse's office? You don't look too good." If only he knew how right he was!

"Yes, I'll go to the nurse." I didn't actually want to see the nurse, though. I wanted to be alone, so I could reflect on whatever was happening and figure out why it was happening. It's easier to think when nobody's staring or asking questions.

"Can't you just accept that I'm still here, talking to you?"

Was this a normal part of the grieving process, hearing the voice of the person who died? I walked slowly down a hallway, trying to remember the five stages of grief.

"It's not a stage of grief, football head! And I'm not dead!"

Rolling my eyes, I roamed around the hallways, thinking it would clear my head. However, it just did the opposite.

"Hey Arnold!"

No.

"Hey, football head? Can you hear!"

I'm not listening!

"But you just responded, paste for brains."

Drat. Well, what do you want, voice in my head? Yeah, that sounds totally normal!

"First of all, I'm not a voice! Secondly, I just wanna talk to my beloved. Is that too much to ask?"

It wouldn't be, IF YOU ACTUALLY WERE HELGA AND NOT JUST A SIGN OF ME LOSING MY MIND!

Growling, I swung the door of the boys' bathroom open, this was all so tiring! Maybe splashing water on my face could help cool me down and maybe wake me up a little.

I walked up to the sink and turned the faucet on, I only raised my head a little and I saw Helga…Helga!

I jumped back a little startled, oh no, I'm hallucinating too?! She looked sad and I noticed she had her hand on her other arm, she only did that when she was being vulnerable about something. She hung her head low. Helga-

"You can see me?"

"Y-yes!" I said out loud, "N-no! I mean-"

"Arnold."

"W-well technically I see someone but that doesn't mean it's you-"

"Arnold!"

"I mean it may look like you or might even be you but that doesn't mean that it's actually you-"

"ARNOLD!"

"Alright alright, I'm sorry! Jeez, I didn't know a voice in my head could have so much sass!"

"I'm not a voic-, oh, forget it!"

"Even if you're -actually- a ghost or something, you should know that I don't believe in ghosts." It would be comforting, I guess, if Helga's soul was still around to keep me company...but hallucinating due to grief seemed much more likely.

"You're the only person I can talk to, Arnold. I NEED to convince you that I'm not a hallucination!"

I saw her figure start to work up some waterworks, oh boy. "Why do you care if I believe you or not? I can't put you back in your body or send you to some after—"

The door opened, and Eugene entered the room. He looked around before making eye contact with me.

"Who are you talking to?" Eugene asked.

"U-uh," Oh boy. This will just be so easy to explain, wouldn't it? Yeah, I'm talking to my dead girlfriend in a mirror or mostly in my head. That's not nuts at all! "I w-was actually talking to myself! Yeah!"

"Wow, football head. What a save."

Even in death, I can sense her sarcasm. But I had to put that aside.

"You think you're a ghost?"

"Uh-" Oh jeez, now what? Voice, please help me out here!

"Oh criminy Arnoldo, I told you already, I'm not a vo-grr! Fine! Just tell him you're trying to get in character for Halloween or something!"

I grinned, "-yeah so Eugene, I'm just trying to get into character for my next Halloween costume, that's all!"

"But Halloween's in October."

"Yeah, so?"

"It's May."

My eyes widened, "W-well that's because I wanna REALLY practice!" I then leaned towards the door, "Welp, see ya!" I then bolted out, much to Eugene's surprise and confusion.

I could feel my head throbbing in pain, this is starting to get more painful by the day. I felt my eyes watering up, this was just too much! I feel like I'm going insane! This wasn't normal for people grieving, right?

I ran in the hallway, seeing Helga's reflection through every shiny locker, through every puddle. I tried escaping her reflection but I couldn't. I stopped running, panting viciously.

"A-Arnold, I'm sorry if I'm hurting you, But I need you to believe me! I'm not dead, I don't know what exactly is happening but you're the only one who can hear me!"

Maybe I should go home, I don't think I could pay attention to school anyways. It was taking longer than it usually took for me to the front office. I felt like my feet were dragging and I could hardly focus on where I was walking due to me focusing on my headache more. I felt like crying again, it's been so overwhelming today and I just want to feel okay, I just want Helga back…I love her so much!

"Et tu, Arnold."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'd like to welcome BowlingAesthetic to the co-authorship! Special thanks to celestial_lore!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!