Hi everyone! So here is a special treat; two chapters in one night! In the previous chapters, I believe I focused enough on Rodrigo's background so I want to start focusing again on his friendship with Helga. So let us see how well they do when Rodrigo inadvertently sees Helga dancing.

Dear Helga,

I hope this letter finds you well. I'm sorry for not writing to you sooner, it has been very hectic in moving everything to the new apartment, plus with helping my parents at their job and enrolling in a new school, I had very little time to write, much less to do anything else.

This new city has a great nightlife. It has a lot of cafes, restaurants, clubs, and even a well established cultural and artistic district, where many great minds come together. It's a really great city to live in and one I hope will be the last. This constant moving has been taking its toll on me, so much so, that I had to speak to my parents about this and tell them that it had to stop.

I have been unable to make friends and when I do, we had to move again. It has been emotionally exhausting for me. Yet as always, I maintain a positive attitude about this and I hope for a more permanent settlement now.

Gerald and everyone has been writing about this Rodrigo that just started school with you guys. He seems like a good person and I'm hoping I would get a chance to meet him one day. I have been told he has certain personality traits that I have and he often reminds them of me. Gerald told me what he did for Eugene. Please give him my thanks for me. Also, from what our friends have told me, you guys seem to be getting along well. I'm happy to hear that. I hope you give him a chance to be his friend and vise-versa.

I hope everything has been going well for you at school. Once, everything is settled, I'll try to write again sooner.

Yours truly,

Arnold Shortman

After reading Arnold's letter, Helga instantly crumbled it and in a fit of rage, through it to the trash can. This was the first letter that he had sent her where he did not question her or make any comment about why she has not yet written to him. If anything, he completely omitted saying anything about it. This was a knife through her heart, as she felt that he was losing hope on her, on them on ever establishing a committed communication line. Tears started falling down her eyes at the very thought of never speaking to him again, but was trying desperately not to succumb in absolute sobbing.

I am such a coward. Why must I be very weak? Why can't I just send him one lousy letter?! I've written hundreds of them that I have inside my closet. I can very easily take one out and just mail the damn thing...but I can't. I can't communicate with him and pretend like everything is ok. That's probably what he wants of me, to just move on without him, but I can't see myself doing that...I don't want to! Helga thought as she felt her heart hurting with every beat it gave, as if each beat was a stab right through it.

While still crying, she immediately reached for the crumbled letter, opened it, then gently put it another binder that contained all of Arnold's letters that he had sent her over the years.

Arnold my love, I am so sorry for not writing to you. I have been trying for years to sent you a letter, yet I neither have the strength, nor the courage to do it. Worse still, I feel lost. I have no motivation, no passion, no reason to continue on. I'm not suicidal, I just can't seem to find a way to move on; it's too painful. I'm so sorry. She thought while tears were still streaming down her cheeks.

No longer able to withstand it, she started sobbing so hard and so long that out of exhaustion, she fell asleep on her bed that night, never bothering to even come down to eat dinner.

The next day Helga was barely able to gather enough strength to get out of bed. On any day, she would have stayed home, but not today. She had a test that day for one of her class, which encompassed a big chunk of her marks. Despite her depression, she gathered all of her belongings, ate whatever little breakfast she was able to eat, got her things, then went to the bus stop.

Phoebe was not there to meet Helga this morning, as she had made previous arrangements to go with Gerald to school. It suited Helga just fine, as she had no desire to explain to Phoebe, or anyone else about why she looked so terrible.

At school, she practically avoided everyone, including Phoebe. As she was not able to avoid Rodrigo during history class, she attempted to act as normal as possible so he would be none the wiser. It worked...kind of. Rodrigo saw her and knew that she was not well. But he had decided not to ask her about it. At her last class, she took her test and finished it early. The teacher had previously stated that anyone who finished early was allowed to go home right away, much to Helga's delight.

However, her depression was getting the better of her and no longer able to cope with it, needed some leeway to express it all out of her.

I can't take this anymore! I need something to help me relax, or to allow me to get out of my system before I explode! But what? I tried everything and nothing has worked. Nothing I seem to do allows me to get this sense of...hopelessness, this sense of nihilism out of my system! I have had it with this! I want to feel normal again, I want something to look forward to instead of just letting day by day pass on by with nothing to hope for! She thought frustratingly, while pounding her fists on her locker door.

Then she thought about dancing. On the second day of school she went to ask Mrs. Peterson who was in charge of the after school dancing program, to see what kind of music they had. To her dismay, for this semester they were focusing on hip-pop and break dancing. Helga said no thank you and immediately walked out of the room.

Then a thought occurred; if she couldn't enroll in a dancing program after school, then perhaps she should just dance on her own, but where can she go without being spotted?

The theatre! Of course, no goes these except Eugene and those so-called 'actors' for their play and Eugene is the director so I'll bet I can ask him to use the stage after him. It'll be perfect! Helga thought.

She immediately ran over to the theatre room, where Eugene was just about to leave. She asked him if she can stay for a bit longer and promised to close up after she left. Eugene wondered why Helga wanted to use the theatre, but knowing her, she was never going to tell him, and after what she did for him by standing up to those 12 graders, he agreed.

"Thanks Eugene." Helga said.

"You're welcome Helga. Just please make sure you lock the doors when you leave. I don't want to get into trouble." Eugene said.

Once he left, Helga went on stage, grabbed the radio and put one of her CD's. It was a classical ballet music.

I'll start with this and then later move on with something else. She thought.

After a while, the bell rang, indicating that school was now over for today. As she predicted, no student bothered to come into the theatre, and with that she continued to perform her solo moves.

Rodrigo went to his locker to get his things, but then he had to go almost across the entire school in order to find his partner for school project for their political science class. He needed to discuss with him who should do what. After that was settled, he decided to call it a day and was about to head home; he only need to passed by the theatre. As he did so, he was stopped dead in his tracks by some salsa music.

Salsa? There's a party going on in the theatre and I wasn't invited? How rude! He thought jokingly.

He noticed that one of the doors was slightly opened. He grabbed it and went inside, hoping to find a lot of people dancing. Instead, to his shock, he saw Helga, alone and dancing away.

After some seconds passed, Rodrigo realized that Helga had not noticed him coming in. He gently closed the door behind him, then locked both doors to ensure that no one else would come in. God knows that Helga was already going to freak out when she sees Rodrigo there, much less if anyone else saw her. He then quietly walked down the ramp and when he almost reached the front, took a seat to watch her.

The music that Helga was dancing to was called 'Mataron le negro bembom', a purely salsa music. Yet what Helga was doing was to combine ballet moves with salsa dancing. To Rodrigo's astonishment, it was working out perfectly, if not beautifully.

Depending on the type of music that was being played out at that time, the moves would either be ballet move or a salsa move, or sometimes a hybrid of them, all awhile keeping to the rhythm. She kept on dancing like that with her eyes closed, never noticing that Rodrigo was there watching in awe.

Wow, she is beautiful while she dances. She is so graceful, so calm. She looks so peaceful while she dances. Yet the moves also contain a lot of energy. It is a perfect combination. That's probably why she is here, to just let whatever was bothering her out of her system. He thought.

Rodrigo then started getting a bit nervousness. He was curious to see her dancing that he had not thought about how she would react to find him in the theatre.

Man, I hope she won't freak out too much when she sees me. This was a bad move on my part, but it is too late to get out, the music is about to end. He thought.

After a few minutes, the music finally ended. Helga then opened her eyes, but because she finished with her back toward the audience seats, she did not see Rodrigo. She started walking toward the radio to turn it off. As soon as she turned off the radio to call it day…

*clap*clap*clap*

"That was beautiful Helga." Rodrigo said to her.

She instantly jerked her entire body in fright to look at him.

"Arno…I mean Rodrigo?!" Helga cried out.

Rodrigo instantly stopped clapping. Arnold? Do I look white to her? What is it up with this guy that he has such a big influence in this group and her? Ever since Gerald first mentioned him, they had not stopped talking about him. Sheesh, he cannot be that good of a good person. Rodrigo thought annoyingly.

"What are you doing here?!" Helga asked him with a raised voice, still surprised to find him here.

"Well, I was on my way out from the school when I heard music coming from here and curiously, decided to go inside and have a look." He said as he got up and started walking toward the stage.

"I'm assuming that you wanted to be alone today. If so, you might want to lock the doors next time. You are lucky that I was the only one that heard you and walked inside."

He then walked onto the stage and continued,

"Your dancing was incredible, Helga. I'm not surprised anymore on how you were able to dance the way you did with me on the day when we met." Rodrigo said.

He took a step towards her, but as he did so, Helga took a step back, clearly still being visibly nervous.

What is up with this girl? On the one hand, she will not hesitate to give you a black eye, but on the other hand, she is vulnerable. She is looking at me right now as if she is scared, as if I'm going to do something to her. He thought.

"How long have you been dancing?" Rodrigo asked her.

"I umm…took ballet classes for a number of years. I dropped out when I realized that my parents only enrolled me so I could follow in Olga's steps. I only recently started getting into certain Latin music. I just practice in my room, performing solo moves." She said.

"So you never danced with anyone?" Rodrigo asked, to which Helga simply shook her head.

Wow. She has talent. He thought.

"You are talented, Helga." He complimented her.

"Ya ya whatever Latino boy." Helga said, regaining her tough exterior.

Then Rodrigo said something unexpected.

"If you're willing, I would like to be your dancing partner." He offered.

"Why?" Helga asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, because I want to help you. You have a lot of energy and you put a lot of passion into your moves, so I want help you into allowing you to channel that energy. Plus, I'm sure I can learn a few dance moves from you." Rodrigo said with a smile.

"Pfft ya right bucko. And why would I need help? As you said, I'm already an incredible dancer." Helga said with a smirk.

"You are, but your dance moves also have limitations. You are only able to do solo moves, but you know little on how to coordinate them with another person. That takes skills and it is not something you can learn right away. I dance a lot too and I know from experience that with a partner, you can create some of the move beautiful moves, all awhile channeling all those emotions that you have bottled up inside you and allow it to be expressed to its most fullest extent."

He continued on, "And since we're friends, I thought that it would be a good idea…"

"Whoa whoa there bucko, friends? Who says we're friends? We're not friends." Helga interjected and retorted back with her arms crossed.

"Oookk..." was all Rodrigo could say, as he became perplexed.

"Look, just because I told you something personal about my life doesn't mean that we're friends." Helga interjected and retorted back with her arms crossed.

Completely confused, Rodrigo said, "Huh? I thought…", before she cut him off again.

"You thought what? That because I helped you with your 'little family problem' and told you about how my family neglects me, that all of a sudden we can be amigos? Ya right, in your dreams, Latino boy." she mockingly retorted back.

"It's real pathetic Rodrigo if you think that by virtue of our crappy lives you thought that we can be close buddies." she concluded coldly.

That hurt. Rodrigo had really thought that after conversing with her about their issues, that they had become friends. Perhaps not close friends, but still friends, or at least be on friendly terms. He thought they were finally making progress. Now, he had come to the conclusion that her tough exterior was not only immature and stupid…but also selfish on her part. She was willing go at any length to hurt him just so he can stay away from her, and all he was trying to do was help her. It had not dawned on her how her actions or words might affect others because she has been so preoccupied with her own self and feelings to even consider it. Despite his patience starting to wear thin, he nevertheless maintained himself and said,

"Well regardless, I would still like to help you Helga. I'm not asking to be your therapist. All I'm offering is to be your dance partner so you can continue to dance and learn."

"I don't need your help, Rodrigo. I don't need anyone's help. I'm perfectly capability in taking care of myself…" Helga started to say, before Rodrigo cut her off for once.

"Everyone needs help Helga! Even you!" Rodrigo cried out, startling Helga to go silent. He finally lost his patience.

I cannot believe how incredibly stubborn she is! She would rather die than accept help. Rodrigo thought.

"What is it with you that you will not accept anyone's help? I see the way you look, the way you behave and walk around the hallway. You always look so sad and so angry. Clearly, something is bothering you, yet you will not allow anyone to get close to help you. You don't even give them a chance. Your friends told me how badly you took it when Arnold left and how you shut them out of your life for months. You never answered their calls, and whenever they asked you if you were OK, you simply told them that it was not their business. I know you said you don't trust people, but your friends? The same people that you have known since you were three and yet even them; you will not accept their help? Do you honestly have that big of a problem in trusting people?"

"How do you think I managed with my problems? Clearly I had people who helped me; my friends, my parents, and yes even you. You helped me on that day by talking to me and it actually made me feel a little better, enough to get by that week. You were right; you were the last person that I wanted to talk to on that day, but you know what? I'm glad it was you. I was actually happy that out of all people, I spoke to you about my issue. That is why I want to help you, as a token of my appreciation for what you did for me."

Helga stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. But before she could say anything, Rodrigo continued,

"You know what? You're right, you don't need my help." With that, he started walking towards his backpack, grabbed it, and then started going down the stairs.

"I can't help you unless you are willing to admit to me, and especially to yourself, that you need help. Help is not a sign of weakness, Helga. All help is, is just to allow the person to get up, but you still have to do most of the work on your own." Rodrigo said. He then started walking towards the exit.

Despite what Helga had said that they were not friends, he still wanted to help her and initially he was hoping that Helga would stop him and ask for his help. However, by the time he was halfway on the ramp, his desire to help her decreased dramatically. Still reeling by what Helga said to him, he thought that perhaps it was best if he didn't help her.

This is probably a good thing. If she doesn't want my help, then fine. I can't force her. And if what she said, that we're not friends, is true, then why should I care?

However, as he approached the exit door, he heard Helga call out to him,

"Rodrigo, wait!"

20 seconds earlier…

As Helga watched Rodrigo leaving, she had conflicting thoughts about what he said.

She realized that unlike everyone else, including Arnold, Rodrigo was not willing to allow her to drag him around, waiting for her if she will ever open up to him. He was willing to help her out whenever she asked for it, but only if she asked for it. Otherwise, he will just move on. However, just like Arnold, he was giving her the option to choose. It is up to her if she will accept his help, or anyone else's help for that matter.

You messed up again Pataki, just like you always do! He is only trying to help you, just accept it. No No, you don't need his help, you were fine on your own. Ha, what a laugh, you have been miserable since Arnold left, swallow your pride and accept his help. What have you got to lose? *sigh* myself…I can't do this on my own. I tried to do it for two years and it didn't work. He's right. I tried everything else. Even dancing on my own, despite it helping, has its limits. I…need help.

"Rodrigo, wait!"

Present…

By the time Helga called to him, Rodrigo had lost any desire to help her. But since he promised her, and with his morality getting the best of him, he turned around to address her.

"Yes?" he called out.

"I need…your help." Helga confessed.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you. Say it again." Rodrigo said as he slowly started walking back toward the stage.

"I need your help!" Helga yelled.

"Louder!"

"Ugh crimeny I need your help, OK?! Now are you going to help me or not?" Helga cried out while scowling at him.

Rodrigo then walked back to the stage, climbed on it, dropped his backpack, and then started with the lesson.

As they were about to start, Rodrigo noticed her blue hat and looked at it with confusing eyes.

Getting annoyed by the constant staring,

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer." Helga said with a smirk.

"Sorry, I was just wondering about your hat. It's really special to you, but when you and I were dancing that day, I noticed that not once did it every fall from your head, even when I bent you backwards, it still remained on your head."

When Helga was in grade 9, one kid was stupidly going around and taking people's hats off. As he approached Helga, who was talking to Phoebe and did not notice him, he attempted to grab it, but because he was running so fast, he missed it, but touched it just enough that it almost came completely off from her head. Even more stupidly, he turned around and tried to take it again, but then Helga, in a fit of rage that her pink bow was almost exposed, grabbed him, through him against the locker and beat the living snout of him. He ended up getting a black eye and some bruises to his face. Since then, Helga would always attach her hat onto her head with a piece of string, invisible to everyone, to ensure it would not fall off.

"Well I don't know… it's just how my hat fits." Helga attempted to nervously explain.

"Now are you going to teach me to dance or physics?" She asked him.

"Well both, actually. Dancing is about physics and knowing how to keep your balance, as well coordinating with your partner's body, all while moving together through time." He said with a cocky smile.

"You are a real cocky person, you know that?"

"Why thank you!" he said with a smile.

"That was not a compliment, Rodrigo."

"Oh I know. I am just accepting it as one." He countered.

Despite the frustration, Helga couldn't help but let out a small laughter.

Good, she is a little relaxed. Now we can start. He thought.

They began with basic steps, back and forward, with sometimes Rodrigo spinning Helga around.

After sometime, Helga was starting to get frustrated with the slow dancing.

"Rodrigo, this is boring." Helga said while rolling her eyes.

"I know, and that is the point." Rodrigo said. "Do you know what your problem is?"

"No, what is my problem?" Helga asked rather aggressively.

"You have a lot of passion and energy inside you. You have a lot that you need to express and get it out of your system, and that's ok, but that's not your problem. You are very tense and heightened, always ready to pounce at someone, whether physically or verbally. You are not able to relax and just appreciate things slowly. You have to learn to do that, but in order to do that, you have to find your mean." Rodrigo explained.

"My what?" Helga asked.

"Your mean, your balance. Aristotle said that excesses in anything can be harmful, both to yourself and to others. One must always try to find this sense of balance between two extremes. But in order to achieve this balance there are two criterias. Firstly, you have to constantly practice in finding it. This will start out as something that you have to consciously do, but it gets easier as it slowly becomes a habit. Secondly, do it because you want to, not because you have to."

By this point, clearly exasperated, Helga stopped dancing and let Rodrigo go before exclaiming, "Rodrigo, I don't have time for this New Age crap."

"This isn't New Age or anything Astrological. It is purely philosophical and psychological in nature. You only want to dance so you can just 'let it all out', which it fine. But that is only half the battle. I'm here to take you further than that; to find a more permanent solution." Rodrigo explained, as he offered his hand to start dancing again.

"But you're right; this music is getting a little boring." Rodrigo added. He went over to the radio, changed the music, and then started dancing faster.

The second Rodrigo started dancing faster; Helga immediately started getting into trouble, as she was not familiar with the moves that Rodrigo was doing. Plus, she still was not comfortable in letting him lead her.

Rodrigo noticed this and stopped dancing.

"What just happened there?" Rodrigo asked her.

"I'm not familiar with the moves that you were doing." Helga explained.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What else was missing? You need to say it, Helga and there's no shame in it. Whatever you say here, will stay here. I'll take it to my grave." Rodrigo said.

"I'm…not comfortable in you…leading me." Helga confessed sheepishly.

"Ok. That's why we started dancing slowly, so you can get used to dancing with a partner. Otherwise it'll never work and you'll always be dancing alone, even if your moves are good."

"So let's take it slowly and we'll slowly get a little faster, OK?" Rodrigo asked, to which Helga nodded.

Rodrigo had ulterior motives for wanting to dance slowly. He was still not comfortable in dancing with Helga after that hurtful remark. He was not sure why it bothered him so, but it wouldn't leave his mind throughout the rest of their dancing lessons.

After more than 30 minutes of dancing, he was no longer able to stand dancing with her, pretending that everything was now ok between them when it was not. He abruptly ended the dancing and said,

"That's enough for today. I'll see you tomorrow, Helga." Then he went to get his stuff and start walking towards the exit, leaving Helga alone on stage and confused by his sudden departure.

"Ok? See ya" she said.

What's got his pants in a bunch? She thought with a raise eyebrow.

She cleaned up the stage then locked the doors behind her and called it a night.

The next day…

At lunchtime, Helga walked into the lunchroom and headed towards their usual hanging out. She was hoping to find Rodrigo there, but he wasn't.

"Hey. Where's Rodrigo?" She asked.

"He's at the library. He said he had a project to finish." Sid said while eating his food.

"Thanks, Sid." She said as she headed to the library.

Once she entered the library, she scanned around and found him at the far corner.

Rodrigo was so preoccupied with his project that Helga nearly startled him when she approached him and sat down beside him.

"Hey" she said.

"Hey" Rodrigo responded back.

"I know you're busy…but I was hoping if we can continue practicing today after school, if you are available? I still...need your help." She asked.

Once Rodrigo responded, she was also going to ask him why he abruptly ended their practice yesterday.

Rodrigo was not flattered with her interest in continuing to practice with him. If there was anything that Rodrigo lacked, it was that he was not a forgiving person. For Rodrigo, just as he was willing to admit any wrongdoings and attempt to fix any damage he may have done to someone, he had the same expectation.

Since her remark, he had lost all motivation to help her out. He tried all day to reason it out, knowing full well that Helga was only trying to get him away from her and she did not mean to say those things. She was scared and he knew that. However, he was not able to cease it from bothering him. He felt that every justification he gave only patronized her further, as if she was someone that Rodrigo had to protect, had to constantly forgive, if not spoil her for her transgressions. He did not want to do that, as he felt that Helga was not some child that needed protection from herself. Yet, he initially hesitated from telling her how he felt, as he was concerned that if he said something to her, she would take it the wrong way and probably never ask for his help again, let alone probably never speak to him again. But he knew that if he did not say anything to her, then she would not know how that remark really affected him and it could encourage her to continue.

She has to know. She can't just say whatever she wants to say and not expect it to have consequences. Even if it costs our friendship, I have to do it anyways. It is up to her how she should react to this. Besides, unless I get this out of my system, I can't help her out; I'm just too upset over this. He thought.

"I thought you said we were not friends?" he responded back.

"What?" she asked him with a confused face.

"Yesterday, you said that we were not friends and it was pathetic of me to assume so, so why are you acting like we are now?" He re-asked his question.

When did I ever…oh crimeny! She thought, now realizing why he abruptly left yesterday.

"Oh come on Latino boy… that was a umm…heat of the moment, a joke." Helga attempted to explain with a smile.

"Not to me it wasn't. It actually sounded like you were being serious. It also sounded like you were mocking what I was going through that week." He responded with a serious tone.

"I said was happy that I spoke to you about what I was going through because I thought you would have understood, to know the serious impact of the ones whom you thought was supposed to be there for you, failed you. I lost a good chunk of my family because of this decision. My uncles, cousins, grandmother, everyone. Even my parents. I can sometimes see it in their eyes; the contempt they have for me for having lost their family as well. You, of all people should know what that's like, Helga."

"I uhh umm.." Helga stuttered but was unable to say anything.

"And I'm sorry Helga." Rodrigo continued. "I can't help anyone who just says whatever they feel like and not take responsibilities for their actions, or in your case, words. I still care about you, Helga. I still want to help you, but unless you take responsibilities for what you say and do, instead of blaming it all on your family and living under their shadow, then I'm afraid no one can help you."

And with that, Rodrigo looked back down on this notes and started working on his project. After a short while, he felt Helga get up and leave without saying a word.

After some time, he thought,

How did Arnold do this? He must have the patience of an angel to have put up with her for so long. It has not even been two months and I'm already exasperated, if not tired by her drama and behavior. And Gerald…I honestly don't blame him anymore for not wanting to have anything to do with Helga. But that does not make things better. She still needs help and I still want to help her.

I know I should not have been so harsh, but she needed to hear it. She needed to know that enough is enough and she needs to grow up, to get out of her family's shadow and into her own light. She needs to be her own person. I just hope she understood that is what I was trying to do.

Helga left the library quietly, but with a fit of rage.

What a cry baby! I've never met anyone complain this much about what I have said. That was a serious low blow Rodrigo! Of course I understand! She thought to herself angrily.

She went to the women's washroom to cool down, trying desperately not to explode. She grabbed the sink so hard that her hands were becoming red. As she looked into the mirror, angry tears were starting to fall down her eyes.

Unable to take it anymore, she exploded and started kicking the sink, the door for one of the stools, the wall, while yelling in pure frustration. The second time she kicked the stool door, she kicked it so hard that the handle broke, knocking the door down.

How dare he say that to me! He should be grateful that someone was there to talk to him when he needed to. I don't need him to lecture me on how miserable this life is! She thought.

After 5 minutes of ranting, she finally collapsed to the side and fell down on the ground, exhausted and started to cry.

What have I done? Everyone who's tried to help me I just pushed them away. My friends, Arnold, Phoebe and now Rodrigo. I have no one left! I'm soo angry at Rodrigo right now, but I know I should only be mad at myself. I never should have said those things to him; all because of my pride! He has every right to be upset with me and not help me.

After 15 minutes, she was still lying on the floor in the bathroom, pondering about what to do next. Thankfully no one came inside to see her the state she was in. Then, the bell ran, signifying the end of lunch, but she did not move.

If I go back to how things were before and never talk to Rodrigo again, then it will be just that; the same, nothing will change. My only option left is to reconcile with Rodrigo. I have to put my pride aside; it has been getting in my way for so long, interfering in my life. I have to apologize to him. At the very least I can at least say that I did that. She thought

When Rodrigo entered history class, Helga was not there. Even when class started, she never showed up, causing Rodrigo to be concerned.

Oh no, perhaps I went too far. I hope she is OK. I have to find her after school. He thought.

Once the bell rang after their last class, Rodrigo quickly went to this locker to get things so he can find Helga.

Please be OK, please be OK. He thought worryingly.

The second he closed his locker, Helga was standing right behind it, startling him.

"Helga! Are you OK? You never showed up for history class and I got worried." Rodrigo asked her.

"Can we talk?" She asked him.

"Ya. Do you want to go to the theatre? There's no one there." Rodrigo asked, to which she nodded.

Neither of them spoke while they headed towards the theatre. Rodrigo instantly noticed her puffy face and red eyes, a clear indication that she was crying. He also noticed that her hands were bruised. Once he saw them, he instantly regretted saying those things to her. Although he was not sure why, but he had this serious urge to hug her, to comfort her and attend to her wounds. Whether he was patronizing her, or this was just a biological, masculine response to a female in distress, or just an emotional reaction from one friend to another, he didn't care its cause. He just wanted to make sure that she was OK.

When they entered the theatre, they locked all the doors, walked down the ramp and hopped on stage. They both then sat down and Rodrigo waited for her to say something. When she was still silent, he felt that he needed to say something,

"Helga, I'm so so sorry about what I said earlier…" but Helga put her hand up to indicate to him to stop talking.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." She started to say.

"You were right, about growing up, about not always being in my family's shadow. And I'm sorry for what I said to you, about us not being friends. It was a lie. And I never, ever meant to mock what you were going through on that week. I knew you were hurting and that's why I approached you, because I know what that feels like; to have to bear it alone." She continued, while tears were falling down her eyes.

When Rodrigo said nothing, she continued.

"I just miss him; Arnold I mean. It's been more than two years since he left and I still feel as if he only left yesterday. I miss him every, single, day. I have been feeling empty since he left. I have not been able to move on, to live as everyone else has been living. I have been feeling like that I'm stuck in this time warp, where I have to endure the same pain every day. I tried moving on, I tried to do fun activities, but I am unable to enjoy them. There are days when I am ok, but then there are days when I just struggle to even get out of bed."

"And I can't take it anymore. I don't want to live like this. I just want to…not feel this pain, this sense of loss anymore. I know that I can miss Arnold, but still move on and be somewhat happy at least."

It finally dawned on Rodrigo what Helga was going through, so he proceed to ask her this question,

"What does Arnold mean to you?"

"Everything. He was the only one that saw anything of value in me, anything that was worth… being loved, when no one else did, not even our friends." Helga confessed.

Two years?! Two years of having to endure this pain for this long? Not to mention that her parents neglect her. How is she still alive? What keeps her alive? I would have killed myself by now, or at least asked for help. This girl is far stronger that any person I have ever known; far stronger than I. He thought.

"Why not our friends?" Rodrigo continued to ask.

"They never liked me, even when we were kids. They always saw me as a bully, as an angry person, who was barely in worth being a girl. Not that I blame them. I am still this angry, bully person. But only Arnold was able to see past my toughness and see another side of me. Him and Phoebe." She responded back while wiping a tear away.

"And me." Rodrigo quietly added.

"What?" Helga asked.

"I can also see past your tough exterior and something beyond it; something beautiful, nice and sweet, something that is worth loving." He added.

When Helga said nothing, he continued,

"I can tell. A person that spends so much energy trying to hide behind a tough exterior must be guarding something very sensitive, something so sacred that only a privileged few are be able to see it. And you confirmed it when you sat down to asked me what was wrong on that Friday. I knew then that you have a good heart, even when you pretend not to have one." He explained with a smile.

Helga smiled back. He is just like Arnold...

Then Rodrigo extended his hand.

"Friends?" he asked.

After a short while, Helga shook his hand and said, "Friends.", finally confirming their friendship.

As he shook her hand, he noticed the bruises. Her knuckles were scarred red. His smile instantly dropped as it gave way to horror and deep sadness.

What did she do to herself? Did I do this to her? He thought.

Helga immediately took her away and while rubbing her hands together, said, "Relax Latino boy. They are not broken. After what you said back at the library, I kind of lost it...so I went to the washroom and took it out on the stool door and sink.

Still feeling guilty for setting her off like that, she continued, "As I told you before, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself." with a smile.

Rodrigo decided that despite his guilt, he would put this behind him, instead of feeling sorry for himself. He responded with his own smile to her.

Suddenly, he gently took her hand, then got up, while lifting her up on her feet.

"Alright. Are you ready to dance?" he asked her.

"Yes, but just one question. You said that I have to find this mean, or balance. How do I go about doing that?" She asked.

"Finding your mean is something that you will have to constantly practice. Even when you obtain it, life will always try to get you off your balance. There will be days when you will be severely tested and may fall off. But that is why you can always get up and find it again. The important thing is that you do something that makes you happy. Whatever it is, whether it is dancing or writing, or reading, or becoming a professor, you don't do it because it is useful to you, or because it makes other people happy, no. You do it because it brings out the best in you, it allows you to let everyone see that part of you that is so unique and beautiful about you. And the reason why it brings out the best in you, it is because it makes you happy when you do it." Rodrigo explained.

"Aristotle said that that state of mind is called eudaimonia, which in English, can be loosely translated as happiness. Does dancing make you happy?"

"Ya, I guess." Helga responded.

"Then let your happiness start here." Rodrigo said

"Ok, I guess I'll have to read this Aristotle guy sometime." Helga said.

"You should. He is one of history's greatest philosophers. Now come on, let's dance."

Later that evening...

After they said their goodbyes, Rodrigo decided to walk home that evening. Helga, after having a stressful day, decided to take the bus home.

As he continued to walk, he pondered on the today's event. He had mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, I achieved what only Phoebe and this Arnold guy were able to do; become friends with Helga Pataki, all in less than two months! But on the other hand, I cannot help but feel guilty that I managed to become friends with her, while everyone else seem to give her the cold shoulder. I know she does that to them too, but that's not the point. They have known each other for many years; how is it that were not able to close this gap between them? What did they do to Helga that made her so weary of them?

I have to find out. I have to know what happened when they were kids. Surely there is some logical explanation to this and I'm sure they will understand that things are now different and they should not allow the past to haunt them. I'll have to talk to each of them.

Here I go again, using my time to help Helga. Why am I so into her? Why am I taking my time to help her with this, especially if she did not even ask me?! What is it about her that got me so interested her? Do I romantically like her? I don't think so. I guess maybe it is because she is different and it is the 'chase' of having to gain her trust in order for her to open up. She may be tough, but behind that is this beautiful person that I honestly want everyone to see, even if Helga does not wish to show it.

Either way, I am just grateful that our friendship is now finally confirmed. I honestly couldn't be happier. We not only made a break through as friends, she also made a breakthrough as a person, and for that, I am proud of her.

Later that evening, in Helga's room...

Helga was just finishing up her letter that she was writing to Arnold...

...well this has been a very emotional rollercoaster week for me, football head. However, I am certain that things will get better. Yes my beloved football head, Helga Pataki, is being positive about the future. And I have every reason to be. Rodrigo has been very helpful in me being more positive. And to confirm what you have been hoping in your last letter, yes I am now friends with him.

Helga paused for a moment and smiled when she thought of Rodrigo. Finally, someone who seems to understands her and actually likes her. Sure he has his limits, but it is enough for her. She continued to write...

I hope this new city that you are in is indeed the last one you are moving to. When you get a chance to see the nightlife, especially its cultural district, let me know what 'great minds' you meet there. Good to hear that you finally put your foot down and told you parents to cease with the constant moving. I'm proud of you!

Your confidant,

Helga G. Pataki