Circle of Madness Chapter 10
I do not own Hey Arnold.
"Nadine, I need a favor."
"Helga? Is that you?"
"Yes it's me and l need your help!"
Nadine rolled her eyes on the other end.
"I'm not letting my roaches loose in any restaurants again if that's what you're trying to ask me."
"No! I just need you to listen. Come to the park."
There was silence for a couple moments on the other end and then she spoke up.
"Fine. I'll be there in 10 minutes. I just need to feed my pet tarantula."
Helga cringed at the word tarantula but still told her goodbye and hung up the phone.
"So, how did it go?" Arnold asked.
"She agreed to meet with us right here in 10 minutes. Hopefully she will help us out of this mess." Helga sighed and sat down on the bench with her chin resting upon her palm. Arnold frowned looking down at her.
10 minutes later...
Nadine had her hands in her jacket pockets approaching Arnold and Helga.
"Arnold? What are you doing here?"
"Well Helga and I both need your help with something."
"Okay. What is it?"
Helga stood up from the bench and looked down at the ground.
"We kinda...want to get back at Rhonda."
Nadine's eyes widened and she stood quietly looking between them.
"Look Nadine. We understand that Rhonda's your best friend and you always side with her but what she did was out of hand. You heard about the "photo" spreading around school of Helga and I right?" Arnold asked.
"Yes, I recall."
"Do you realize that it is a huge misunderstanding?" Helga asked this time.
"What do you mean?"
Arnold and Helga looked at each other before explaining the whole fiasco out to her. Once they finished Nadine sat with her hands covering her mouth in disbelief.
"Oh my gosh you guys I had no idea! I'm terribly sorry you have to go through this. I wish I could just convince my friend to stop spreading rumors about other people but I haven't been able to get through to her. It's just what she does."
Arnold smiled. "That's why we need your help. Helga, care to take the honors?"
"We need your help. All you need to do is tell us Rhonda's worst nightmare."
"I don't know about this...I don't think what she did was right, but she is also my best friend."
"We understand that. However you're helping her get over her current bad habit. That would only make you more of a friend." Arnold replied.
Nadine sighed and whispered. "What are you planning to do with what I tell you?"
"We're simply going to ask if she will get rid of the picture and if she doesn't then we will use what you tell us to blackmail her into telling the truth. Are you willing to help us make things right?" Helga pleaded.
"Well...okay. Gosh she's going to hate me for this."
The three of them huddled together and began to talk about the plan.
Later...Arnold and Helga were walking towards the boarding house together.
"Well. I guess now we will just have to wait until Monday for this to play out." Helga said clasping her hands together.
"Yeah, anyways. What do you want to do now Helga?"
Helga stood there looking up at the sky. "Well...you asked if I wanted to hang out with you the other day and I agreed so why don't we catch up."
Arnold nodded in agreement and walked into the boarding house with Helga. They walked all the way up to his room and shut the door.
"What do you want to talk about?" Arnold started off the conversation.
"You know football-head speaking of nightmares earlier...what is your worst one?"
The one that came to his mind was too embarrassing to reveal so he had to think of another one.
"My worst nightmare...is never getting the chance to see my parents. That's all I can say right now." Arnold said and sunk his head down with his eyes closed.
Helga could tell he missed them a lot. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for him to grow up without them.
"Enough about me." He said clearing his throat. "What was your worst nightmare Helga?"
"Are you sure you want to hear it? It's pretty crazy." Helga said and blushed.
"I told you mine. I want to hear yours."
She sighed. "Fair enough. It was the day of my father's birthday. You had your magic show and I of course was admittedly being a pain. Your last trick was to make me disappear inside of that box. I did disappear because I ran away from it out of the back and hid to make you fail. When I was running around the corner, I got hit in the head by a pole and was knocked out into a deep sleep. In my dream, I did not exist anymore. I actually disappeared. There was a parade celebrating it, and my friends did not miss me at all. Even you. My own parents were happy without me. I couldn't believe it. I was hurt until I woke up. On the bright side, when I woke up it made me appreciate everything I had in life and not take it for granted. So that's my dream. Pretty crazy huh?"
Arnold shook his head and frowned. "You did piss me off that day. But never once did I really want you to disappear. On the contrary I was afraid something happened to you and I didn't want to leave until you showed up again. You're my friend Helga. I know we don't call each other friends often but deep down it's the truth."
Helga sighed and looked out the window. "I don't mind being your friend but why would you want to be friends with someone like me? I'm annoying and mean and I make you mad all the time."
"What are you talking about? You're not annoying at all when you're being yourself. I know that you put up a front so others won't step all over you and that's perfectly fine. But we're friends and you know who I am. There is no reason to be afraid of being yourself around me. You can trust me, I promise."
Helga shut her eyes and tried to keep her composure together.
"What if I said that one of my biggest fears was being myself around you?"
"Huh?" Arnold raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"N-Nevermind. It's not important. Let's just watch some TV football head." Helga ran over to grab the remote and sat down on Arnold's bed chewing nervously at her nails.
Arnold on the other hand was curious to know what she was about to say. However, his good nature made him decide to not say anything and simply agree to watch TV with her.
Until next time friends, remember to like this story and leave positive reviews! :) Chapter 11 will be out soon.