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Helga's Very Special Day
Part 2 Unexpected Guests
"Now, children, children Settle down, now. Settle down, please. Children I'm waiting young people There, that's a little better." Mr. Simmons gave a tight smile at his class. Being the "nice-guy-teacher" in his department sometimes made him doubt its worth. The kids didn't always comply, often stepped over him, but there were those special times when it all came together. He had the confidence that this would be one of those times. He'd given them a simple assignment, one that he'd hoped would help open them up to him and the others. "Okay, friends. Now, I'd like you to take out those special writing assignments that I gave you for homework last night. We're all going to read them aloud to the class! Isn't that exciting?" Everyone groaned in remorse. For those who hadn't done the work, this was going to be an embarrassment. For those who had this too was to be an occasion for unease. Sensing this, Mr. Simmons picked the least abhorred of them all.
"Okay, Arnold why don't you start us off."
Arnold stood up from his chair, paper in hand, all nervous eyes on his face. "The Person I Admire Most:" He began with the title. "The person I admire the most is"
"Helga. She makes my heart fill with love. Her golden locks cascade down her slender back on special occasions. Her button nose crinkles when she's mad. Her eyes shift to the floor when she's in love. Her feelings are held deep inside of her very being, and yet she opens them up to me." Arnold turned to Helga. Helga touches her cheek as a slight blush passes her by. "Helga, I love you. I know it's hard to say, but I'm comfortable with you. Good and bad."
Helga stood from her desk, hand on her chest. "OH Arnold! My!"
OH, crap! She'd done it again. Reality and fantasy spilling over into each other's worlds. The children looked at her expectantly, mouths gaping. This was it. She had between now, and five seconds from now to think of something REALLY good, before the kids initiated an endless tormenting, that happens every so often when it becomes obvious of who likes whom.
"Helga, is everything okay?" Mr. Simmons offered in sympathy.
"It-It's just that"
Already a huge smirk seemed to be appearing on Harold and Rhonda's faces. Phoebe averted her eyes to the floor, hoping to relieve Helga's humiliation, at least a little bit. Sid and Stinky glanced at each other and snickered quietly. The rest of the class assumed a stupefied look.
"It's just that Nobody CARES whether you admire your old grandpa or not, Football head! Cer-RIMeny!" The class burst out laughing, tension appeased.
"Jeez, Helga! You sure are a funny one!" Stinky praised.
"Yeah, you got him pretty good!" Sid offered, smacking his knee.
Harold fell out of his chair, rolled around on the floor, laughing obnoxiously. Helga sighed a mental phew!', and smiled, pleased with herself. The girl knew what people wanted to hear, part of her street-smarts charm, she mused. Basking in her own glory, she took the tiniest of moments to observe her love's reaction. He held his head low, and had already taken his seat. Gerald stood by him for comfort with a hand around his pal's shoulder. She could hear him telling Arnold something, but couldn't make out his words from the rest of the class, until she was a little closer.
"Don't worry, man. Besides, you should be used to this by now. This isn't the first time." Gerald consoled.
"Gerald, you don't understand. It's not really all that simple anymore, and I can't ignore her."
"I don't get it, Arnold. What's to stop you, man?"
Arnold looked at his confidant solemnly. "Gerald I have something to confess. You see, I have this strange condition. I-I guess it's not very common but--"
Yikes, this was getting close! Arnold was certainly a naïve little boy, but Helga doubted that Gerald would so gladly credit the fraudulent data. Something had to be done before the situation got any worse. Helga acted quickly. She removed a piece of paper from her desk and crumpled it into a ball, but just before she could toss it loosely into Arnold's direction, Mr. Simmons began to pacify the class with his shushing noises that no one ever particularly paid attention to anyway.
"Class, class! Come on now. That's enough. Shh. Please class. Settle, settle." The children's laughter subsided and died down enough to continue with the readings. "Now, Helga," Her body stiffened like egg whites with the beater set on high. "Since you didn't find Arnold's paper very entertaining" Don't you DARE say it! Don't you DARE!! "Perhaps you'd like to share yours." Mr. Simmons smiled encouragingly, wanting to see what the child could muster up in a moments notice. Helga's hands trembled as she fumbled for the paper in her desk. Why did he have to pick on her like that? He KNEW the person she'd written about. He always knew.
"Helga. I'm waiting" Even Mr. Simmons desired stimulation at other peoples' expenses.
"Just wait a darn sec, will ya?!" Her search became more frantic, as the paper remained absent. If anyone were to find that paper, her life would be over.
"Helga? You lookin' fer this?" Stinky began to un-crumple the paper he'd found on the floor.
"Gimme that!!" She demanded, snatching her precious report. She scanned over the composition.
Helga G. Pataki
The Person I Admire the Most
By Anonymous
I have fallen deep into his spirit
His inexperienced reasoning is so admirable
He bestows a virtuous guidance
Unto those who claim distress
He speaks in silver tongues
Beckoning my devotion to his heart
Crimeny!! I can't read this!'
"Um The Person I Admire the Most" All eyes on Helga. She could feel her face grow hotter. "By Helga." Sweat beads forming on her brow. "Helga Pataki" Knees getting weaker. "Helga G" Vision fading. "Pataki... Helga G. Pataki" Motor skill becoming feeble. "By Helga G. Patak Patak" Vomiting sensation progressing.
"ZZZ Boring!!" Harold belted out. The class laughed.
"Helga. I think we all know who's written it by now." Mr. Simmons said. "Get on with it."
"Um The Person I Admire the Most is" She glanced around the room. "Is" Her classmates looked in anticipation. "Is" Phoebe. "Is" Lila. "Is" Gerald. "Is" ARNOLD!! The class leaned in, perplexed.
"The person I admire most is AR"
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!
"Ah! That must be the guest speaker I forgot to tell you all about." Mr. Simmons smiled coyly. The class turned around, all attention away from Helga. Now, suspicious murmurs could be heard, wondering who this new person in their class could possibly be.
Helga stood with her paper held to her side, eyes wide open, in a catatonic state. Her body was rigid and numb. She'd almost confessed in front of an entire classroom that her relationship with Arnold was based on unexpressed emotions. Who ever was on the other side of that door had to be thanked personally by her, later on. She slowly sat in her seat, catching her breath, and rubbing her arms to relax her skin, which had formed goose pimples all along her body. She tried to maintain her focus on her teacher's soothing voice to help forget what she'd just done. Breathe, Helga. Breathe. It can't get any worse. It just wont happen
"Now, class. Today's guest speaker is kindly taking a break from her studies, just to talk to our class about the intricate social issues that effect young people today. I know! I know! It seems like something too big to handle for our grade four class, but as we're nearing the end of the term, I think we can handle it. I can just feel that this is going to work out great. So, without further adieu, let me introduce our guest" Mr. Simmons held the door knob and turned the handle. "Our new friend"
She walked into the class
"O--Olga??!!!!"
"Baby sister! How are you, my little sugar-love?"
"Wh—What the heck are YOU doing here?" Helga was becoming frenzied, but Olga didn't seem to noticed and held her in an embrace.
"I know! Isn't this so exciting? We'll be working together! I love you!" Olga took her place at the front of the class. "Thank you so much for letting me stay in your class Mr. Simmons." She smiled warmly.
"My pleasure. It's so nice to have a young person deal with uh, young people issues." He smiled back at her.
"Tee hee! Okay class. Let's get started! Like Mr. Simmons has already explained, I'm here to talk to you young people about what's called Young peoples' social issues'!"
"Crimeny!" Helga buried her face in her hands. "It just got worse."
Part 2 is over baby! Thanks all for the nice reviews. It means a lot. This chapter is based on stuff that used to happen to me all the time in class. It was a challenge for me to make Helga's reaction close to her character. Oh, and to answer your question, this will not be an "Arnold has a week to fall in love" fiction. I'm just trying to keep a theme going that no one is perfect'. How will Arnold fall for Helga? Maybe he wont, but Selectivo Admirabloh never said you had to be in love with the person. I just like to see Arnold focus on his own problems. The "give me a week" thing was just so that I don't write this story forever.
c-ko