The next few weeks continued on like the first day. Rodrigo was no where to be seen, nor did he answer any of their calls or text message. Even Helga at one point, seeing this was now getting ridiculous and also feeling more guilty and worried for his self-isolation, text messaged him in her usual bluntness to meet up with them. Not her surprise, he didn't respond to her either. Eventually, seeing the futility of it, everyone stopped messaging him.
Getting worried, as well as a bit desperate, one day Gerald instructed everyone to go out and find him during lunch time. It was a big school and it involved everyone to take part, except for Helga who just sat at their lunch table and ate her lunch. Yet, even with this general man hunt, Rodrigo was no where to be found. Not even his dancing friends, or Gabriella knew where he was. They attempted again to call and text message him , but he again refused to respond to them.
"Man. How hard is it to find a Latino kid with a fedora hat in this school?!" Gerald frustratingly said when he and everyone else arrived back to their lunch table.
"Still MIA?" Helga asked as she continued to eat her lunch.
"We might as well make him KIA!" Gerald annoyingly exclaimed. "He's no where around this school. I even tried to find out his morning home class, but the school secretary refused to release that information!"
"You know Gerald, I can always try and hack into the school system-" Phoebe began to speak.
"Na uh babe. Not this time." Before Gerald quickly cut her off. "We've done enough of that to last a life time."
"What what else can we do?" Park worryingly asked. "We can't find him anywhere. Our only option is to just head over to his house and talk to him."
"I thought about that." Gerald said with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But his folks made it clear that he didn't want to see anyone. I doubt it'll make any difference if we go there."
"Well we have to do something, Gerald!" Rhonda then frantically exclaimed. "It'll be October soon and we haven't seen the guy since August! He shouldn't have to go through this, not alone at least."
Everyone else muttered and nodded in agreement.
"I know, I know." Gerald said. "Let's think of something on the bus after school."
Just then,
*Rrrriiiinnngggg*
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch.
"Alright. Let's get to class." Gerald said nonchalantly as he and everyone else began to make their way to their locker or class.
Helga quickly cleaned up and caught up with Phoebe before she had a chance to catch up to Gerald.
"Hey, Pheebs." Helga softly said to her.
"Yes Helga?" Phoebe answered her.
"We need to talk about something." The blonde pigtail teen said. "It's about Rodrigo."
"What about him?" She asked.
"Not now." She said. "on the bus, after school."
Later that day…on the bus...
Once school ended for the day, everyone made their way home. After the gang met up on the bus lane, they got on board and headed back to the neighbourhood. Predictably, Rodrigo wasn't there.
"Man, this kid is like Speedy Gonzalez, or something." Gerald remarked. "How does he manage to catch an earlier bus? Does he skip class or something?"
Once everyone went in and got settled, they started talking about what to do with Rodrigo. Meanwhile, Helga and Phoebe were sitting at the back, far enough away where their friends wouldn't be able to hear their conversation.
"So Helga, what did you want to talk about?" Phoebe asked her.
"Pheebs, I've been doing a lot of thinking," Helga then softly began to say, with an almost sad tone in her voice, "and I think it's best if I don't hang out with everyone anymore."
"What?!" Phoebe yelled in utter shock.
"Ssshhh, keep it down." Helga said with a whisper. "I don't want anyone to know yet."
"Oh sorry." Phoebe said. "But I uh, Why Helga? Where are you going?" Phoebe worryingly asked her.
"No where Pheebs." Helga said. "I'm not going anywhere. I just don't think I should hang out with everyone because of Rodrigo."
"I don't understand." Phoebe said with a confused look.
Helga just sighed before she explained.
"Look Pheebs. We both know that Rodrigo is only avoiding everyone because of me. As long as I am with everyone, he won't come. It's too painful for him and it's not fair to him. He's hurting, bad. And he needs you guys right now. So it's best if I just stopping hanging out with everyone and give the guy some space."
"I see." Phoebe just calmly said.
"Helga, I understand you are doing this for Rodrigo," Phoebe said. "but have you considered the consequences of that decision? You could end up self-isolating yourself again. I have to be honest with you, as much as I feel bad for Rodrigo and I want to help him, I'm not willing to trade your well being for his. You're my best friend and I do not want see you in that state ever again."
"I appreciate your concern Pheebs," Helga said, "But, it's a risk I'm willing to take. And besides, it won't be like last time. I have Arnold now, even if he is far away, but I'm with him again. You knowm I'm a strong girl, I can take it. Rodrigo doesn't have anyone at the moment and that's why I'm doing this; to prevent him from going what I went through. I'm hoping it'll only be a temporary thing."
"Helga, I'm just not so sure," Phoebe said with some hesitation.
"What other choice is there, Pheebs?" Helga then rhetorically asked her. "We've tried everything to get in touch with him, but he won't answer our calls. He won't see us, not even to come play with us. Tall hair boy even invited him out on a weekend fun, but he still refused to meet up. This is the only way to help him."
Phoebe didn't say anything and just thought about it. She was very apprehensive about the whole thing, even if the scenario wasn't the same as last time. She really wished Rodrigo would just come hang out with him so Helga wouldn't have to push her friends, and her away again. But, her best friend was right. They had tried everything to get him out of the hole that he is digging himself in. And, Phoebe feared if they didn't do something soon, it maybe hard for him to ever get out.
"Well aright, Helga." Phoebe relented. "But on two conditions." She then sternly said to her.
"Which are?" She asked.
"Firstly, take a day to think about this." She said to her. "If you still feel the same way, then you can tell everyone. Secondly, if you are determined to see through this, I will not allow you to do this alone. Whatever it takes, I'm going to hang out with you, whether it's during lunch, after school or on the weekend. You're my best friend Helga, and I'm not going to stand by and watch you do this for yourself."
Helga said nothing and just gave Phoebe a grateful smile, thankful to have a friend like her.
"Thanks Pheebs." She said to her. "Okay, I'll take a day to think about it."
The next day...during lunch...
Rhonda was strolling along the hallway during lunchtime, trying again to look for Rodrigo. Even though the group had practically abandoned the idea of looking for him, she decided to take one last gamble and walked around the hallway in the last ditch hope to find him.
Where is he? She frustratingly thought as she continued to walk and eat her lunch.
She knew the chances of finding him were next to none, but she wanted to at least give it one more go. Her promise to Curly to keep an eye on him wasn't based on empty words. Rhonda had every intention on keeping good on her promise, if she could just find him.
After spending almost half of her lunch time recess, she was just about to give up and was making her way back to the lunch room, but not before taking the long way and go through one hallway she hadn't yet scanned, although she wasn't holding her breath.
He really wants to be left alone. She sadly thought as she walked through that particular hallway without seeing him. I can't find him anywhere.
As she continued to walk, she saw a student lying on the ground and by the looks of it, was sleeping or relaxing. She probably wouldn't have given it a second thought, except for the fedora hat that the person had on top of his face, covering it! Recognizing it, she instantly stopped walking and stared at the student lying down, scanning him and trying to see if he was actually the person she and everyone else had been trying to find. It took her a while, but she finally came to the realizing that,
I found him! She happily exclaimed.
Excited, she immediately reached for her cell and was started texting everyone to let them know. However midway, she stopped and went back to looking at him. After getting her excitement in control, she began to wonder if whether or not it was actually a good idea to have everyone come here and swarm him all of a sudden.
He doesn't even know I'm here. She thought. How would he react when he sees me, let alone everyone else?
Realizing that it was perhaps best if she spoke to him alone, she deleted her text message, put her phone away and then slowly made her way towards him..
"Uh, ahem." She gently cleared her throat to get this attention.
It did nothing. Rodrigo made no attempt to move and just continued to lie on the ground with his hat covering his face.
Rhonda then frowned a bit when Rodrigo didn't respond.
"Ahem!" She cleared her throat a louder this time, but again he didn't move.
Now getting a bit irritated, Rhonda rolled her eyes and then gently tapped him on his hip with her foot a few times. That finally got his attention, as he began to slowly move by removing his hat.
The second he did so, he was surprised to find Rhonda standing there and for a second, almost didn't recognize her, as if he hadn't seen her for years.
"Hey." She somewhat shyly said to him as she looked at him.
Rodrigo initially didn't say anything back and merely sat right up, rubbed his long back back and let out a sigh.
"How did you find me?" He asked her.
"I was just talking a walk through this hallway when I happened to see you on the floor." She said to him.
Rodrigo didn't say anything and just looked up at her with a suspicious look.
"Okay, I was trying to find you," She admitted, "but it was purely coincidentally that I just happened to walk through this hallway and you were here."
"I wasn't the only one looking for you." She continued. "Everyone has been trying to find you since school started. I must admit, when you don't want people to find you, you are really good in hiding." She said with a frown and had her arms crossed. She soon lightened up when she remembered the reason why he was avoiding everyone and why she spent so much time trying to reach out to him.
Rodrigo still remained quiet and remained seated on the floor, not even bothering to look up at her.
"How are you feeling?" She finally asked him with a more sympathetic voice.
"A bit better." He softly replied. "But still feeling terrible."
Then, there was mere silence between the two, which soon began to grow awkward, especially since Rhonda continued to just stand there, looking at him.
"How was your first day of school?" He then suddenly asked her, almost surprising her.
"It was okay." She responded. "You know, after everything we went through this summer, going back to school just seemed almost out of place."
"I get you." He said to her. "Do the others knows that I'm here?" He then asked her.
"No." She replied. "And I'm not going to say anything to them."
"Thanks." Was all he said to her with a somber tone.
"You can't keep avoiding us forever, you know." She then said to him with a more stern voice. "I know you're not ready to see...you know who, but that doesn't mean you can't hang out with the rest of us. You can at least respond back to our messages."
"I know." He admitted. "I'm not planning on doing this for the rest of the year. I'm sorry I haven't been responding to everyone. I just...need to be alone for a while."
Seeing as how her tone and attitude were really not helping, Rhonda lightened up again and just let out a sigh.
"Is it uh, okay if I sit with you?" She then suddenly asked, surprising herself she asked that.
"Sure." He said as he gestured her to sit beside her.
Rhonda cringed at the fact that she would have to sit on the dirty floor and possibly get her clothes dirty. However, not wanting to aggravate the poor guy with her fashion antics, she just quietly went beside her and sat down. However, she soon regretted her sudden question as it quickly became clear that Rodrigo was not really in a talking mood and Rhonda didn't really know what to say to him.
I really didn't think this through. She thought.
For a moment, she just sat there while awkwardly fidgeting with her hands as she tried to come up with something to say to him.
"How's uh, how's class?" She then finally asked him.
"They are fine." He just sadly responded. "How are yours?" He then asked her.
"Good." She said. "Can't complain. Well, I'm taking Grade 12 French and I realized I'm a bit too advanced for it."
"You're already bored?" He asked.
"A bit." She said. "But I need to take it. It's a prerequisite."
"Did you decide which fashion school to go to?" He asked.
"No, not yet." She answered him. "I'm going to wait until the end of this year, then I'll figure it out."
"Do you really have to go to that far away?" He then asked her, which prompted her to look at him with a surprised look.
What does he mean by that? She wondered in thought.
"Well, the schools in New York and Milan are one of the best schools" She answered him. "If I am going to make it in this industry, I should get the best education possible."
Rodrigo initially didn't say anything and just continued to sit there while staring out into space. Rhonda just looked at him with an an almost eager look as she waited to see if he was going to say something to her answer.
"I'm sure you'll knock'em dead." He then said to her.
"Thanks." She said.
Again, another round of silence was followed with neither of them saying anything else. Rhonda just looked at her hands while Rodrigo looked toward the other direction.
"Thanks for being here, Rhonda." He then said to him as he turned to face her, which prompted her to look at him.
"Anytime." She said to him with a smile.
The next day...
Helga walked into the lunchroom that day with a mission. As soon as she found them, she was going to
announce her departure from the group. Her agreement with Phoebe to think about it for a day was merely a formality. Her mind was already made up before she even spoke to her about it. She was determined to see this through in order to help Rodrigo out from the pitiful state that he was in.
To her luck, she found practically everyone at the lunch table, including Patty, Rhonda and Eugene. After exhaling, she made her way towards the table.
"Hey Helga." Gerald just casually greeted her while he looked at his cell.
However, Helga didn't answer him. Instead, she put her bag down on a chair and got everyone's attention.
"Alright, listen up everyone." She said to everyone with a clear, loud and dominating voice.
It did the trick. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at her.
"I think I know of a way to help Latino boy." She began.
"Really?" Sid asked, now highly interested. "How? What do we need to do?"
"You don't need to do anything." Helga replied. "I'll be doing all the work."
"Just what exactly are you planning on doing?" Gerald asked with a suspicious look.
"Rodrigo is avoiding everyone because of me." Helga explained. "So long as I hang out with this group, it is highly unlikely he will want to have anything to do with us. So, the solution is simple. Moving forward, I'll be staying away from this group all together." She declared. "Until Rodrigo gets back up on his feet, I won't have anything to do with anyone here."
"What?!" Gerald exclaimed in shock to the news. "Come on Helga. You don't need to get so drastic."
Everyone else muttered or nodded in agreement.
"I'm not being drastic, Gerald. It's quite reasonable." Helga countered. "You guys tried everything to get in touch with him and nothing. This is the only way to help him."
"Helga, I'm ever so certain I agree with Gerald." Lila then said. "We all want to help Rodrigo, but not by casting you or anyone else aside."
"Exactly." Gerald then intervened as he got up. "There's no point in doing this if it means pushing someone away, even if it's you. Look, we all feel bad for the guy, but just like Arnold three years ago, this was his choice. You shouldn't have to exile yourself for someone's decision. Not to mention that you could wine up back to the same hole you were in these last three years."
"I'll be fine tall-hair boy." Helga insisted. "This won't be like last time. It's...just different now. And besides, I won't be completely alone. I'll be hanging out with Phoebe from time to time."
"No Helga." Gerald firmly insisted, surprising Helga. "There's gotta be another way without excluding people."
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"What are you complaining about?" Helga annoyingly asked him. "Why am I all of a sudden everyone's concern? I'm doing you and everyone else a favor; I'm moving aside so Rodrigo can hang out with everyone again. He has been more of a friend to you this past year than I ever have."
"No argument there." Rhonda softly remarked as she continued to text on her cell.
"Are you telling me that you and everyone else would rather hang out with me than with Rodrigo? Really?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.
That made everyone hesitate in responding.
"Come on, Helga! That's not fair!" Sheena exclaimed.
"You know it's true, flower girl." Helga countered. "The only time I hanged out with all of you was just last summer and it was save the neighbourhood again. Before that, I was never around."
"Um well um…" Sid tried to counter it.
"Well Ms. Helga, ma'am you see…" Stinky also tried to save something.
Others also mumbled on trying to come up with something to counter Helga's argument, but in the end they couldn't. Deep down, most, if not all would prefer to hang out with Rodrigo than her. He was just an easier, friendlier person to deal with.
"Sheena's right, Helga. That's not fair!" Gerald then suddenly exclaimed. "We're not just going to cast you out just because Rodrigo is easier to deal with. And especially after everything we went through together this past summer, there's no way we're going to agree to this."
Everyone else just nodded in agreement.
"Be that as it way," Helga then spoke, "I didn't come here to ask for your opinion about this. This is going to happen, whether you guys like it or not."
Despite her firm stance on the issue, Helga couldn't help but feel touched by what Gerald said to her. Despite her almost three year absence from the group, they still hadn't forgotten her.
"So that's it?" Gerald annoyingly remarked to her. "We're not going to be seeing you for the rest of this year? You're going into hiding again just like the last three years?"
"Yes." She firmly said to him before then turning around and walking away.
Rhonda said nothing but looked utterly annoyed by all of this and just rolled her eyes as she continued looking at her phone.
Typical Helga. She thought. But I have to admit, she does have a big heart.
Gerald was not finding this amusing at all and out of frustration, just groaned and sat right back down.
"Phoebe, can you please talk to her and get her to change her mind?" He irritatingly asked his girlfriend.
"I'll try, Gerald." Phoebe just calmly replied. "But, you know Helga. Once she has her mind set on something, it's almost impossible to dislodge her from it."
Gerald said nothing and just groaned, frustrated with the never ending drama.
"This is just getting worse and worse." He said.
"What should we do then?" Lorenzo asked.
"Nothing." Gerald said with a sigh. "Unless we can somehow convince Helga to come back, which is highly unlikely, our only option is to try and reach out to Rodrigo. Hopefully with Helga no longer here, the guy can hang out with us again."
"Do you really think he will come here now that Helga left?" Patty asked.
"Only one way to find out." Gerald said as he took out his phone and began to text Rodrigo.
After making a few clicks here and there, he pressed sent and waited for a reply. Everyone meanwhile, as they eagerly await, continued to eat their lunch or chit chatted.
*Bing*
Finally, after waiting for a bit, a binging sound was heard from Gerald's phone, prompting everyone to look back towards him. He unlocked it to take a look at it.
"Figures." Gerald said with a disappointed look. "He's not coming."
"Really?" Nadine asked with a surprised look. "What did you tell him?"
"I asked him if he wanted to have lunch with us." Gerald replied. "I told him that Helga wasn't going to be hanging around with us anymore."
"And he still refused?" Park asked, looking equally surprised.
"Yeah. He said he was 'too busy'." Gerald said. "But, I highly doubt he is."
"Ugh, this highly annoying." Rhonda remarked with an irritated frown. "Helga is not here to make things painful and awkward for him, so why won't he hang out with us?"
"It would appear Rhonda, that Rodrigo finds anything reminding him of Helga to be too painful. This includes us." Phoebe then explained. "Reminders don't have to be particular places or objects. It could also be certain individuals or groups of people. And since everyone here is affiliated with Helga, we pose a painful reminder as to what he lost."
"Sounds about right." Gerald just casually commented.
This wasn't good news at all. Everyone thought that with Helga no longer present, it would be enough for Rodrigo to want to come and hang with them. Now based on Phoebe's observation, it soon dawned on them that it's not just Helga that an issue; it's anything or anyone that may remind him of her.
Rhonda, realizing that her comment were a bit insensitive, just slumped back on her chair and sigh with a somewhat guilty look.
"So I ask again; what do we do now?" Lorenzo asked.
Gerald initially said nothing and just placed his face on the lunch table.
I wish Arnold was here. He groaned in thought. He's the expert on dealing with stuff like this.
"Let's try again tomorrow." Gerald suggested. "And go from there."
When the next day came, Gerald tried again to get Rodrigo to hang out with them for lunch. Yet, much to his irritation, Rodrigo again refused. Seeing as how he was getting nowhere, he and Phoebe immediately went to go and find Helga.
Upon finding her next to her locker, Gerald informed her of Rodrigo's refusal to hang out with them, despite being told that she was no longer going to be present. Citing that her plan had failed, Gerald suggested she just come back to their lunch table. Helga however, ever the confident, if not stubborn person, that her plan was solid, refused and told tall-hair boy to continue trying. Gerald countered that she could still hang with them while they 'wait' for Rodrigo to relent, but oddly, or just predictably, she refused to budge from her position.
After trying this for two more days and with still no luck, Gerald and group began to feel utterly frustrated, if no also worried with this dilemma.
"Okay, this has got to stop." Gerald exclaimed to everyone as they all met up at their usual lunch table and sat down.
"We got two people who can't stand being in the same room and are now not only avoiding each other but also us. This can't go on."
"I'm afraid I agree with you, Gerald." Phoebe agreed with him. "This isn't working out at all. I hadn't anticipated Rodrigo taking a firm stance on this issue."
Everyone muttered in agreement.
"Gerald's right; we have to do something." Sid said. "I'm afraid that if we don't, this could become a permanent thing."
"So, we're back to my original question?" Lorenzo asked.
"Yes." Gerald as he then thought about a possible solution.
It didn't take him long, but after sitting there and he came up with a possible solution.
"I know!" He finally said. "If they don't want to come and hang out with us, then we'll just go to them."
"Come again?" Rhonda asked.
"It's simple." Gerald began to explain his plan. "We just split up and hang out with each of them separately. That way, none of them would feel left out."
"Hm, sounds reasonable." Rhonda agreed. "Do we hang out with the same person?"
"Nah. We shift between Rodrigo and Helga." Gerald replied.
"Isn't that a lot of work? Sid lazily asked.
"A bit, but unless someone has a better plan, this is our only option." Gerald said.
Everyone thought about it for a little while, but eventually they all came to agree with the plan, even if shifting from one person to the other was going to be a bit tedious, if not also annoying.
"Uh, only one problem with that, Gerald." Harold said. "We haven't been able to find Rodrigo. We can't hang out with him if we don't know where he is."
"Yeah, I know." Gerald agreed. "We just now have to go on another Rodrigo hunt again."
Everyone just groaned and moaned at the thought of having to go around the whole school again to find him. It's not like it worked the first time.
"Uh actually," Rhonda then began to say with some hesitation, "I may know where he is."
"Really?" Nadine asked with a surprised tone in her voice. "How do you know, Rhonda?"
"I...saw him a few days ago." Rhonda then shyly admitted. "I was walking by on one of the hallways and just by coincident, I happen to see him on the floor."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Gerald asked her with an almost annoyed tone.
"Because he didn't want me to." Rhonda calmly responded. "I didn't know if I would have made things worse for him if I told you and everyone. But, it doesn't matter now. He needs his friends and whether he likes it or not, we're going to support him."
"Anyway, I can text him and ask him where he is." Rhonda continued. "I'm hoping he'll be more open with me."
Rhonda then took out her cell phone and texted him, asking his whereabouts. After about a minute later,
*Bing*
Rhonda's cell made a beeping sound and she looked at the message she received.
"Got it." She said. "He's on the top floor eating his lunch."
"Right, let's move." Gerald said as everyone quickly got up and began to leave the lunch room.
Rodrigo was indeed on the top floor of the school building, having just finished eating his lunch and was now putting on his headphones to listen to some music while he waited for Rhonda.
It had been almost a month since school started and other than Rhonda, hadn't seen anyone else. Feeling almost proud of himself that he managed to dodge pretty much everyone for that long, interestingly, it was his only sense of comfort, since he had not been able to accomplish much this year other than challengingly trying to get to school.
Although still depressed and lacking any energy, he has been feeling a bit better lately. Slowly, he felt he was more able to do basic things, like getting up from bed, going to school, even eating with less mental effort. However, he still had no where near the energy and positive outlook that he once possessed when he first stepped into the halls of the school just last year. He still had some ways to go.
Rodrigo just sighed and closed his eyes, preferring to focus the lively energetic beat of his music than of old, hurtful memories. During these times of solitude, music had his only method of mentally releasing the burden of a heartache, anger, resentment, jealousy and all other negative emotions that he was feeling. More specifically heavy metal, live and energetic Latin music like salsa or merengue have been his consolation.
As he closed his eyes and quieted his mind and heart, he became completely oblivious to a group of male students who were marching right towards him. Even when they approached him, Rodrigo was too much in-tune with the music to notice. The male teens surrounded him and sat down. Someone then leaned forward and tapped his shoulder, finally getting his attention as he opened his eyes and was completely surprised to find Gerald, Sid, Stinky, Harold, Peapod Kid, Lorenzo, Park and Eugene sitting next to him.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked them as he took off his headphone.
"What does it look like?" Gerald then said. "We're here to support you."
"How did you guys know I was here?" He asked them.
"Rhonda told us where you were." Eugene replied.
Rodrigo frustratingly sighed at Rhonda spilling his whereabouts and began to frown.
"Don't be mad at her." Eugene then quickly added. "She's just worried about you. We all are."
Everyone just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. We haven't seen you in almost a month and we wanted to make sure you were still alive." Gerald said.
"Well, I still am." Rodrigo dispassionately replied.
Sort of. He thought.
"So, you guys don't need to worry about me. I just need to have some alone-"
"Na uh." Gerald quickly cut him off and shoot his head. "We're not going to let you do this alone anymore. You need help getting out of this and we're here give you a hand. We have your back, man."
Rodrigo said nothing and looked around to see the faces of everyone who were just smiling at him back. Seeing how worried and sincere they are in wanting to help him, Rodrigo was touched by this and began to experience a warm feeling, something that had been absent for more than a month. Seeing that his friends have his back, it made him feel that he was not alone, that he was never alone or empty. It actually prompted him to smile a bit.
"Thanks guys." A grateful Rodrigo said to everyone. "It means a lot."
However, he then noticed that only half of his friends were with him. Actually, only the guys were present.
"Where are the girls?" Rodrigo asked.
A few floors down...
Helga was by her locker, listening to some music while trying to read. Key word, 'trying'. She was having trouble concentrating and it wasn't due to the loud music. Something was bothering her. The lack of company nad sometimes annoying chit chat from her friends created this eerie feeling of solitude that she was not particularly keen on familiarizing herself again with. For her, it felt she was taking two steps back. Just when she was reintegrating herself back into the group after a long absence, she now had to grudgingly go into exile again and keep her distance, all to help someone out who did not want anything to do with her.
Quite ironic. But it was something that was causing her to feel bitter about. She didn't want to be alone anymore. In fact, although she will never admit this to anyone, she missed hanging out with her friends. Plus, she wanted to have some sort of interaction with people. She not only felt utterly alone during the years between when Arnold left and her becoming close to Rodrigo, but she also felt she was mentally decaying, becoming more and more introverted, as the isolation and lack of inter-personal relationship slowly ate at her. By the end of it all, she was a shell of the person she once was. The fiery, extroverted personality that once spread awe, fear and respect had almost completely burned out. Yet, despite it all, a small little spark remained. In the last months before and during she began dating Rodrigo, that little spark began to burst back into life, albeit a bit slowly. Yet, it was there and Helga soon felt that her old self was coming back.
Now, she had to bite the bullet and risk all of that progress to help out a person whom she deeply hurt, even if she didn't have a choice, she still hurt him. Nevertheless, she felt this was something she needed to do, even if she didn't like it. She had made sacrifices before for the people she was close to, sometimes without getting any credit, and this one was no exception.
"Arrgghh!" She growled loudly as she angrily threw her book across the hallway.
Indeed, this one was no exception. But, it was proving to be harder than she originally thought.
Helga just let out a frustrated sigh as she glanced over at the book she threw across the hallway, staring at it, as if she was trying to use her mind to lift it and retrieve it.
"Ugh, damn it." She softly grunted as she knew she had to eventually get up and get it herself, which she eventually did.
After getting it and sitting back down, she decided to just listen to some music while she waited for Phoebe. They had arranged to hang out that day after she was done eating her lunch with everyone.
As she waited, she slowly closed her eyes as she became heavily in tuned with the music, not realizing a group of female teenagers that were heading towards her. They came and surrounded her, but Helga had her music on too loudly to hear anything and the group just sat down around her. One of them who was sitting right next to her leaned forward and tapped her on the shoulder. Helga was opened her eyes and was shocked to find Phoebe, Rhonda, Patty, Lila, Sheena and Nadine. Actually, she was so surprised that she jumped a bit and glanced at everyone with wide eyes. But, the surprise was very short lived.
"What is everyone doing here?" She demanded with a frown.
"We're here to hang out with you, Helga." Phoebe replied to her as she took out one of her textbooks.
Everyone else agreed with nods and immediately either took out their textbooks or played with their cell phones.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Helga then immediately said. "You guys can't just waltz in here and invade my private space. Besides, what about Rodrigo?"
"Rodrigo's fine, Helga." Sheena said. "The boys went to hang out with him. We ladies are hanging out with you."
"And what makes you think I want to hang out with any of you?" Helga asked with a frown.
"Oh please, Helga." Rhonda then said as she rolled her eyes. "You don't need to hide it. Everyone here knows it hadn't been easy for you to be away from everyone. I'm not saying we are close, but, let's just say that things haven't really been the same without you."
"Rhonda's right, Helga." Nadine then commented. "You're plan is commendable, but we are not going pick and choose who we will hang out with. Both you and Rodrigo are our friends and after what we all went through last summer, we're not going to leave anyone behind and allow them to suffer alone."
"And just who came up with this 'brilliant' plan, pray tell?" Helga asked.
"Gerald did." Phoebe replied while doing her math homework. "He recognized that since neither you or Rodrigo are in a position to see each other, it was unanimously agreed that we will take turns hanging out with each person until both of you are comfortable to see each other."
"Tomorrow we will hang out with Rodrigo and the guys will hang out with you." Rhonda explained. "I think they said they are going to play football tomorrow. You can join them."
Helga said nothing and just looked at everyone with a weird, if not also suspicious look on her face. She wasn't sure what to make of this plan, but she had little choice in the matter. Besides, deep down, she was a bit touched by this gesture. Letting go of her frown, she just sighed as she leaned against the lockers.
"Thanks." She said to everyone.
Everyone said nothing and just smiled before returning back to their areas of interest. With a bit of a smile on her face, Helga put her headphones away, took out her textbook and began to do some of her morning class homework with Phoebe.
