An Act Of Care 5- Outcasts
Hi people! Big
thanks to everyone who has reviewed; I really mean it, thanks so much. Ok well I hope this part is all right…sorry
not much romance really, but one of 2 mysteries is solved, that being who the 3
shooters are. Oh, if ya don't know what
the 2nd mystery would be, its centered around Helga and Arnold of
course ^_^ wonder where this even will take em…=)
~:~:~:~:~:~
Arnold's POV, the next day at school~
Being in school again was quite
uncomfortable. The fear of the horrid
events happening again spread all throughout the school and every breath was
like inhaling more of the fear. But we
had to get on with it, surely, whomever did this would have justice served on a
silver platter.
Sitting in my seat, the class
rustled with noise and chatter while waiting for Mr. Simmons to come in. I was blindly listening to Gerald talk about
how he saved Phoebe and how grateful she was.
I inconspicuously turned to Helga's desk, seeing it empty dubbed my
attention to sorrow. I couldn't believe
she wasn't here, but then I cheered up, I'd be seeing her after school, and I'd
see her in school within a few days.
Things would be great…I just hope my gift didn't throw her off of any
friendly status we might be building.
It's not like I want to start a relationship with her…or anything…I
mean…what do I mean?
"Hey Arnold!" Gerald snapped. "Are you listening to me? You seem to be off in lala land." He said, a
sudden smirk coming onto his face.
"W-what? I'm sorry, I was listening…" I fibbed.
"No." he turned and pointed at the
empty desk. Helga's desk. "You were thinking about whose not
here. You know who." He told me. I forced my smile down, and shook my head
with one of those "whatever" sighs.
Gerald, he thought he knew everything.
Too bad he's right…
"Excuse me." Started Mr.
Simmons. "Class will begin now. Now, I know what happened…with…well I won't
go into. I really don't have a thing
for violence. Sadly, we're missing a
lot of innocent kids today. I'd like to
take time to acknowledge Harold, Sid, Rhonda, and Lila, whose presence is no
longer with us…" he said, and stopped to clear his throat, stifling a cry. His eyes were pained to see the empty
seats. "They were all so unique in
their own special way, let us remember and take a moment of silence for them."
He stated, and motioned for the whole class to stand up.
Sneakers squeaked on the floor,
desks moved out of place as the remains of Mr. Simmons 4th grade
class stood up quickly. I'm sure all of
us were holding in tears, and I know we all had a lot to say. Just standing here, so much was going on
inside my head. I almost felt sort of
selfish, because my thoughts weren't fixated on those who died, but much rather
Helga. The thought was ramming inside
my brain that I would not be here if Helga didn't saved me. And every time I realized this, I only felt
the urge to repay her grow more and more, as did my attention towards her grew
more…common.
The clock ticked energetically loud
among the silenced students, but I heard a small chuckle come from few seats
behind me. Who would laugh in a moment
like this? A bit afraid to turn around
and look, I edged my eyesight to the side of me, hoping to catch a glimpse of
any humor in this situation. Just
before I saw anyone my concentration split to Mr. Simmons voice declaring the
moment of silence as finished.
"Ok class," Mr. Simmons said beside
a sniffle. "You may all be seated. One last statement though. I'm not trying to preach to all of you, but
what has gone on was no accident. It
was done purposely, highly thought out.
I have one request, for any of you suffering souls. Please, if you know anything about this
massacre or possible any leads or direct information to who did this, please,
report it. Thank you. And now, onto math…"
I looked around the room, trying to
spot any noticeable culpability.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary nevertheless. Though Eugene had beads of sweat from his
carrot orange hair, and he looked awfully pale. In fact, he was jittery.
He wasn't making eye contact with anyone and his usual perky appearance
was greatly watered down by some mysterious emotion. I could have laughed, I can't believe for half a second I could
have suspected Eugene. No way he'd do
something like this. Could he?
Then Curly raised his hand, his
thick bifocals gleaming from the light almost glared out a…grin?
"Excuse me, Mr. Simmons, may I use
the restroom facility?" he asked, sounding formal and exclusive like he was
using some special privilege.
"Sure you can. Just try and hurry up, we're going to start
on long division." Mr. Simmons told him, and Curly jumped out of his seat and
strutted out of the room. Peculiar, his
actions were.
I think maybe 5 minutes past, and
he still wasn't back. The teacher
hadn't noticed, maybe he just had some important matters to take care of…
"Mr. Simmons? Can I go get a drink of water?" Brainy
blurted out. Mr. Simmons turned,
nodded, and went on teaching. It was
odd; Brainy was never really one to talk aloud during class. I mentally shrugged it off.
It looked as if Eugene wanted to
raise his hand, but he kept hesitating.
He looked agitated. I've never
seen him like this before. I couldn't
help but feel something was going on and I wasn't really aware of what exactly,
but I had to find out. A curiosity was
burning in me, so I raised my hand, asked to use the restroom, and was
off.
Before getting very far, Eugene
rapidly snuck from the room.
"Arnold!" he called, his voice
harsh.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" I asked. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing
could come out. He was too much in
shock.
"A-Arnold. I've done something terrible! And…I…I mean…I…Arnold I need advice. Desperately! I can't say why but…if you swear to do something…for someone
else…just to save your life…even though others will lose theirs…God, I know
that would be selfish, but, you don't understand! I didn't have a choice!
Oh Arnold I don't know!" Eugene was stammering, obviously going into a
strict panic as he forced himself to look me in the eye. I didn't know what he was getting at, but
whatever was bothering him…was causing him to lose it.
"Um, Eugene, just settle down. If…you really can't say what it is…well my
only advice for you is to…try and right the wrong you feel you made. Death is…well it's a tragic thing, and…wait
a sec. Is there something you know
about…the shooting?" I questioned, not trying to sound in authority. His face turned ghostly, and tears welled in
his eyes.
"I didn't mean to I didn't! They forced me! And there's nothing I can do!
Its over Arnold, they win, it's over!" He broke down crying, palms on
the tiled floor now wet with tear drops.
I bent down, putting my hand on his shoulder.
"Whatever it is, Eugene, it can't
be over. If you know something, you
gotta say it! If you're so afraid its
over, then don't let it finish. Do what
you have to Eugene. Please? It's not too late." I tried to get whatever
he knew out of him. He stood up, nearly
fumbling over.
"I…I don't know. I don't know if I can…I could try but I
don't know Arnold, I don't know!" He screamed, and ran down the hall in a mad
manner. I gulped, this curiosity
blazing in me now.
I walked, stepping casually to the
restroom. My stomach pulled inside
itself, and a wave of caution stirred in me before I opened the door. I wanted to turn back, but kept on
going. For whatever reason, I stepped
inside without making a sound. Briefly
paced my steps, barely a breath out of me, closing the door slowly behind
me. Not fully in, I cupped an ear and
strained to listen from the echoes of low toned voices.
"Where is he? He said he'd be the last to come." I heard a
rough voice, spiteful in its emotion. Then there was just a muggy breathing, it
sounded dreadfully like Brainy's.
"I knew we couldn't have trusted
him. We should have killed him when he
was reluctant in the first place!" the voice was a little louder, and
confusingly enough, I made it out to be Curly's. Could Brainy and Curly…be the ones…who…
Leaning over to far I fell flat in
front of Brainy and Curly. Shock
running through their eyes as well as a cunning smirk upon their faces. Oh no…
"Arnold. Well, pleasant to see you here.
Why don't you step into our office." He screeched, pulling me up by my
collar and slamming me against the wall.
"How long have you been listening?"
he inquired, slitting his eyes in severe expectation. I knew no lie would get me out of this now.
"W-what are we going to do with
him?" Brainy asked, glowing with a morbid excitement. Curly's hands tightened against my neck, pushing on the wall and
pressure was not even at maximum yet it hurt.
"Well, we can't let him get off
when he knows we're the ones who provided P.S. 118 with a little
excitement. Oh, we mustn't forget
Eugene too. That boy took a lot of
persuasion to agree to do it, Arnold.
You should be proud. You're
little attempts to be his friend almost paid off. Then again, my attempts to prove him wrong succeeded that." He
snickered and sighed.
"What do you mean?" I asked, anger
and hatred in my tone.
"I mean, Arnold, that Eugene didn't
want to be part of my master plan to get back at all the "cool" kids for
beating us up, picking on us, etc. No,
he was against it, but I couldn't have brought that to his attention not
suspecting he'd back off. No, I had to
be smart and think about it. I confused
him, I lied to him, and I made him join our little gang. Because if he didn't, he'd have no geek
pride, as we now call it, therefore making him an outcast among the
outcasts. I'd lose respect for him,
Arnold, and then I'd of course have to…kill him. Well he didn't like that idea, so reluctantly enough agreed. I don't know where the squirt is, but I'm
sure he's faithful. He knows I'll kill
him if he says a word. But you Arnold,
no you are so very different. Faithful
to the "cool" kids, you'd speak up." He explained.
I never knew a fourth grader could
be so…violent. Then again, he was no
everyday fourth grader. And Brainy,
well he was always so quiet…
But now I was worried for my life,
there was so much sincerity and no remorse for what he's done. Nor was Brainy at all sympathetic. I only wonder where Eugene is…he knows
then…I hope he does the right thing…
"You're crazy!" I muttered. To think some of my friends died because of
him, it was disgraceful!
"What? You dare insult me? Oh
Arnold, this is why I tried to kill you.
I almost had you're life, I almost did.
But you know what, Arnold?
Someone had to push you out of the way and play "hero of the day". Helga, oh I wasn't going to kill her just
then. You all deserve to die though!" he stated.
"And what makes you think I have a
thing against geeks? I never did!" I
yelled now, praying someone would hear me.
"So? You're friends did, and so since you were their friends, that
makes you all the more reasonable to kill!
You think I care about any of you?
I've lived my life in desolation and fright to speak for myself because
so many of you "cool" kids put me down!
I hated it, I hate you all! I am
getting my revenge and no one can stop me!" He laughed maliciously, one of his
hands releasing my shoulder and pulled a sharp knife out of his pocket.
Brainy stood laughing to himself,
looking evil in that respect. I
couldn't believe this was happening…I couldn't say anything; I gulped and tried
to keep breathing. My heart was racing
and my eyes searched the room for anywhere to look for to get a sense of
relief. But the small laughter sounded
the room and all its vision blurred with it.
I had no relief, no security. I
could taste wickedness in the air.
"Before I kill you, there was
always something that sort of…well bothered Brainy." Curly said, looking back
at Brainy.
"Y-yeah…I have a question for you,
and you better answer truthfully. I
wanna know…how do you feel about Helga?" Brainy asked suspiciously. As if there was nothing to say before, I was
utterly at loss for words. How I feel
about…Helga?
Sure, I could blame this on the
tension, the lack of decision. I could
blame this on fear because my thoughts are scrambled. But nothing could obscure the truth that behind all the fear and
tension, I was confused on how to respond.
Normally, although this at the least supports normal times, I would say
she's nothing more a friend if a friend at all. I'd answer with how she made me feel before, the hurt and
anger. But as I tried digging those
words up, I realized they were now wrong.
Buried in forgiveness and understanding, I think my hesitation and
thought reflected I felt something else…for Helga.
Of course what would my silence
matter at this point…wasn't I going to die?
Then again…I couldn't give up.
Maybe if I stalled just long enough…
"Hurry up. I'll need to kill you and make a run for it
before anyone knows we did it. I have
my parents note to leave school, forged of course. It's all set up perfectly.
So anyways, back to the question.
How do you feel about Helga?" Curly asked.
"What does it matter?" I
retorted. Brainy stared me down.
"Because I wanna know! I have…er…had a thing for Helga, and I wanna
know. Do you hate her? Like her?" he demanded.
"I…well I mean…I don't hate her…I…"
I stuttered, Curly pressed the cold blade against my neck.
"Answer a little faster, will ya?"
he continued, invoking the most fear in me.
"I…uh…I…." I wasn't sure what I was
feeling; aside from immense worry I was about to die.
"Go on. I'm sure since she saved you're life you'd want to say something
to her. We'll deliver the message for
you…Hehehe…You have to the count of 10." He smiled cynically.
I breathed less, thought harder,
and grew more confused and scared.
"1…. 2…3…." he said.
Helga, I'm sorry…I hope they don't
hurt you…I wish I had more time…
"4…. 5…."
I guess there's more I needed to
talk about with you…
"6…7…"
God…help me…I felt my heart slow in
anxiety.
"8…."
Wait please no! I need to speak to Helga…. please…just let
me gather my thoughts…
"9…."
"WAIT! TELL HELGA THAT…" –
~*~*~
To be continued…. ^_~
Hehe left ya with a cliffhanger
there eh? Sorry bout that…well please
let me know how this part is! I know it
wasn't much, but a lot was revealed huh?
Yeah well…what do ya think Arnold was about to say about Helga?? *gigglez* please review with your thoughts
on this, thanks and take care!
~*Silver Kitten*~
