-_-_-_-
Julie Tirran slowly came awake to the soothing sounds of her alarm clock, simulating the ocean. She stretched luxuriously and smiled before opening her eyes. Ready to face the world she pulled the covers off her bed, much to the dismay of the Siamese cat which had been resting on them moments earlier. He meowed in indignation before slinking out of the room, in hopes to get the leftovers of Julie's morning munchies. Once Julie's feet were resting on the floor she stood up sleepily and put on her robe, wondering where the smell of bacon was coming from. Wait a minute, bacon? In her apartment? Suddenly she came awake in an instant and rushed out, remembering the gargantuan problem that Helga G. Pataki posed.
She raced to the kitchen and found Helga at the stove, with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. She turned around and eyed Julie with a raised eyebrow,
"I figured you'd be up eventually. Don't worry, the bacon isn't for you, I just can't stand any more of this crappy rabbit food."
Julie was slightly disturbed that there was bacon in her apartment at all and sniffed,
"I don't keep any meat in here, where did you find the bacon?"
Helga replied, "I went to Mr. Green's and bought some. Maybe you don't what Mr. Green's is, its a store full of meat. I mean, literally packed with meat. All kinds of meat, bacon, pork, lamb, sausage..."
Julie felt her stomach flip, and saw Helga looking at her with a smirk on her face.
She changed the subject, "You went out by yourself for bacon? Aren't you a little young for that?"
Helga rolled her eyes, "Please, I've been buying food for myself for years. Somebody has to...."
She trailed off realizing what she has just said, what she had just done to Bob and Miriam. She had betrayed them, she had just told Enemy Number One something she shouldn't have and immediately turned back to her bacon before she could condemn her parents any further.
Julie's eyes lit up as she registered Helga's statement, and she was visibly excited as she came over and placed a manicured hand on the girl's shoulder.
"See, Helga. You told me about your home life just now. You can see how they were neglecting you, can't you? Don't you want to tell me more? It'll make you feel better."
Helga's hackles rose and she pushed Julie's hand off of her, saying, "Don't touch me you, you homewrecker." She pushed the bacon onto a plate, along with some eggs she had cooked and walked to the table, followed by Julie, who had poured herself a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of grapefruit juice.
Julie sat watching Helga eat and spooned herself some Cheerios. An impromptu staring match began as Helga tore into a piece of bacon and crunched it noisely. Julie, not knowing exactly what to do, maintained eye contact as she swallowed some grapefruit juice. Helga responded by taking a massive portion of her eggs and shoveling them into her mouth. Julie slurped up a heaping spoonful of her soggy cereal. Their plates were empty in record time, and afterwards Julie mentally admonished herself for acting so juvenile.
She tore her eyes away from Helga's accusing ones, and stood up.
"Helga, you should go get dressed, we're going to meet your foster family. We're meeting them at the office. I'm going to take a five minute shower and while I'm getting ready you can pack your bag and get dressed."
Helga scoffed, "I am dressed, doi!"
Julie eyed Helga's ratty pair of blue jeans and faded soccer shirt.
"Don't you have anything nicer to wear for the first time you meet the family who is going to take care of you?"
Helga crossed her arms impatiently,
"This is what I'm wearing, like it or not."
Throwing her hands into the air in exasperation, Julie ran into her room to put on some clothes and talked to her charge while changing.
"Helga I'm running to a clothes store to pick up a dress for you. You need to look presentable for this family. Take your hair out of those pigtails, pack your bag and don't scowl like that when you meet your 'family'."
Julie slammed the apartment door and took the steps two at a time.
-_-_-_-
Miriam's hand was hovering slightly above the phone and she bit her lip. Finally she picked up the receiver and dialed a familiar number.
"Good morning, Mummy!"
"Hello, Olga. How did you know it was me?"
"Well, I just got caller identification installed. It tells me who is calling, its simply wonderful."
"Hmm..."
Olga paused momentarily; her mother would usually say 'thats nice' or 'really?', at least making an attempt at conversation.
"Mummy? Is something wrong?"
"Well, I have some bad news."
"What is it? What happened, did Daddy have another heart attack? Is everyone all right?"
"Olga, Child Protective Services took Helga away. They're placing her into foster care."
-_-_-_-
"But Daddy, I don't want another brother or sister! You'll love them more than you love me!"
"Dearest, we could never love anyone more than you! Isn't that right Brooke?"
"Yes, yes, sweetie thats right. But Rhonda darling, everyone in Aspen has an adopted child or at least a foster child. Charity's the thing this year, so we're going to have a foster child for a few months, its nothing permanent. Don't worry about it, okay hun?"
Rhonda Lloyd considered herself too old and mature for a temper tantrum, but at the moment she was just about ready to do anything to get her parents to recondsider.
"Mother, foster children are dangerous! And who knows what kind of house he's from. I don't want a little brother or sister hanging around, using my things. It isn't fair. You have to be kidding. Daddy, Mother's kidding, isn't she?"
Buckley sighed, wondering how to get his only daugher to understand the demands of society. Brooke intervened first.
"Sweetie, say Nadine came to school wearing a very stylish jacket, and it made your trendy outfit look a little plain. What would you do?"
"Why I'd go out to a department store, find a new and better outfit and show Nadine what's what."
Brooke smiled,
"Exaaactly. So you see, if our friends in Aspen are adopting a child, we should as well. Its our...."
"Civic duty." Buckley finished.
Rhonda pouted the rest of the way.
"We're there sweetie."
-_-_-_-
Helga was forced into a maroon corduroy jumper and a beige turtle neck. Her hair had been brushed out of its two pigtails and into a half up ponytail. The rest of her blonde hair lay curling a inch below her shoulders.
She glared at the mirror. To make up for the outfit she quickly took her hair out of the ponytail and shook it out, making her look quite wild despite her formal clothes. Julie walked out of the bathroom wearing a large robe wrapped around her body and a towel around her hair. She stopped when she saw her once neat handiwork hang in knotty clumps around Helga's face.
She allowed herself an exasperated huff and silently swore she would conquer this proud little girl.
"Helga, what happened to your hair? It looked so nice and neat before I got into the shower."
Helga smiled sweetly,
"I don't know, it must've been the wind!"
Julie's eyes narrowed as she remembered that she always kept her windows closed because of her allergies, before she smiled again.
"Well Helga, we'll have to fix that. I know! We can put your hair into a hairstyle thats windproof! Come here."
Helga grudgingly obeyed, and collapsed into the seat Julie indicated in a most unladylike fashion.
Five minutes later, Helga emerged with two tightly plaited French braids and once again beat a path to the mirror, only to gasp in horror at the stranger who peered back at her.
"What did you do to me, lady?!?"
Julie allowed herself a grin.
"Well, I noticed how much you like pigtails so I put your hair in something a little neater and more feminine. Helga, come here to the bathroom for a moment."
Helga once more complied but not before cursing under her breath.
"Helga, I'm not sure how to say this but I think you'd look a lot less intimidating to your host family if you let me uummmm well, pluck your eyebrows."
"Non, nope, nein and no. There's no way in hell that I'm letting you touch my eyebrows. I'm only ten years old, criminy! No one cares if I don't have clearly defined eyebrows, least of all me!"
Julie shut the bathroom door behind her.
"Well I do. You look sloppy. Don't you want to look pretty like all the other little girls?"
"I don't care about the other little girls, okay? My eyebrow is...my eyebrow and you can't touch it. Its harassment!"
"As of yesterday evening, when your host family called and said that they wouldn't be able to take you, you were under my custody. And I say that I'd like you to have two, FEMININE eyebrows. Is that clear?"
"Listen, "Ms. Tirran" if you want to have ANY eyebrows at all when you wake up tomorrow morning, you'd better not touch me with those tweezers."
"Helga, you are in no position to make threats. So just stay still and be quiet and it'll all be over faster than you think."
-_-_-_-
The Lloyds pulled up to the office building and surveyed it with distaste.
"Buckley, don't you think they could do something to make it look a little nicer? Isn't that what Public Works is for?"
"I assume so, dear. But they obviously don't use that program as much. With all that money they could at least afford to slap a coat of paint on it or something. Honestly."
Brooke Lloyd nodded in agreement and held the door for her daughter, who stalked by coolly, without a glance.
Rhonda had alternated between screaming and pouting during the car ride and had made herself hoarse with all the effort.
Checking in at the front desk, the Lloyds took the service elevator the floor.
They saw a brunette woman dressed in a lilac business suit standing next to a young blond girl in a jumper. They were in the middle of a heated discussion which was apparently being won by the little girl.
Buckley cleared his throat and the woman noticed them enter.
"You must be the Lloyds, welcome and this is-"
"The Lloyds??"
The small girl turned around and stared.
Rhonda locked eyes with her, and noticed that she looked vaguely familiar.
"Helga!?!"
"Rhonda?!"
-_-_-_-
Finally!
Tomorrow's my last final and then
SUMMER VACATION WHERE I CAN UPDATE THIS REGULARLY.
I offer my deepest apologies to those I kept waiting on this.
I'm truly very sorry.
My only excuse is SATs and Finals..
BUT NOW I'M
FREE AT LAST
FREE AT LAST
THANK THE LORD I AM FREE AT LAST.
-Arynnl
Julie Tirran slowly came awake to the soothing sounds of her alarm clock, simulating the ocean. She stretched luxuriously and smiled before opening her eyes. Ready to face the world she pulled the covers off her bed, much to the dismay of the Siamese cat which had been resting on them moments earlier. He meowed in indignation before slinking out of the room, in hopes to get the leftovers of Julie's morning munchies. Once Julie's feet were resting on the floor she stood up sleepily and put on her robe, wondering where the smell of bacon was coming from. Wait a minute, bacon? In her apartment? Suddenly she came awake in an instant and rushed out, remembering the gargantuan problem that Helga G. Pataki posed.
She raced to the kitchen and found Helga at the stove, with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. She turned around and eyed Julie with a raised eyebrow,
"I figured you'd be up eventually. Don't worry, the bacon isn't for you, I just can't stand any more of this crappy rabbit food."
Julie was slightly disturbed that there was bacon in her apartment at all and sniffed,
"I don't keep any meat in here, where did you find the bacon?"
Helga replied, "I went to Mr. Green's and bought some. Maybe you don't what Mr. Green's is, its a store full of meat. I mean, literally packed with meat. All kinds of meat, bacon, pork, lamb, sausage..."
Julie felt her stomach flip, and saw Helga looking at her with a smirk on her face.
She changed the subject, "You went out by yourself for bacon? Aren't you a little young for that?"
Helga rolled her eyes, "Please, I've been buying food for myself for years. Somebody has to...."
She trailed off realizing what she has just said, what she had just done to Bob and Miriam. She had betrayed them, she had just told Enemy Number One something she shouldn't have and immediately turned back to her bacon before she could condemn her parents any further.
Julie's eyes lit up as she registered Helga's statement, and she was visibly excited as she came over and placed a manicured hand on the girl's shoulder.
"See, Helga. You told me about your home life just now. You can see how they were neglecting you, can't you? Don't you want to tell me more? It'll make you feel better."
Helga's hackles rose and she pushed Julie's hand off of her, saying, "Don't touch me you, you homewrecker." She pushed the bacon onto a plate, along with some eggs she had cooked and walked to the table, followed by Julie, who had poured herself a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of grapefruit juice.
Julie sat watching Helga eat and spooned herself some Cheerios. An impromptu staring match began as Helga tore into a piece of bacon and crunched it noisely. Julie, not knowing exactly what to do, maintained eye contact as she swallowed some grapefruit juice. Helga responded by taking a massive portion of her eggs and shoveling them into her mouth. Julie slurped up a heaping spoonful of her soggy cereal. Their plates were empty in record time, and afterwards Julie mentally admonished herself for acting so juvenile.
She tore her eyes away from Helga's accusing ones, and stood up.
"Helga, you should go get dressed, we're going to meet your foster family. We're meeting them at the office. I'm going to take a five minute shower and while I'm getting ready you can pack your bag and get dressed."
Helga scoffed, "I am dressed, doi!"
Julie eyed Helga's ratty pair of blue jeans and faded soccer shirt.
"Don't you have anything nicer to wear for the first time you meet the family who is going to take care of you?"
Helga crossed her arms impatiently,
"This is what I'm wearing, like it or not."
Throwing her hands into the air in exasperation, Julie ran into her room to put on some clothes and talked to her charge while changing.
"Helga I'm running to a clothes store to pick up a dress for you. You need to look presentable for this family. Take your hair out of those pigtails, pack your bag and don't scowl like that when you meet your 'family'."
Julie slammed the apartment door and took the steps two at a time.
-_-_-_-
Miriam's hand was hovering slightly above the phone and she bit her lip. Finally she picked up the receiver and dialed a familiar number.
"Good morning, Mummy!"
"Hello, Olga. How did you know it was me?"
"Well, I just got caller identification installed. It tells me who is calling, its simply wonderful."
"Hmm..."
Olga paused momentarily; her mother would usually say 'thats nice' or 'really?', at least making an attempt at conversation.
"Mummy? Is something wrong?"
"Well, I have some bad news."
"What is it? What happened, did Daddy have another heart attack? Is everyone all right?"
"Olga, Child Protective Services took Helga away. They're placing her into foster care."
-_-_-_-
"But Daddy, I don't want another brother or sister! You'll love them more than you love me!"
"Dearest, we could never love anyone more than you! Isn't that right Brooke?"
"Yes, yes, sweetie thats right. But Rhonda darling, everyone in Aspen has an adopted child or at least a foster child. Charity's the thing this year, so we're going to have a foster child for a few months, its nothing permanent. Don't worry about it, okay hun?"
Rhonda Lloyd considered herself too old and mature for a temper tantrum, but at the moment she was just about ready to do anything to get her parents to recondsider.
"Mother, foster children are dangerous! And who knows what kind of house he's from. I don't want a little brother or sister hanging around, using my things. It isn't fair. You have to be kidding. Daddy, Mother's kidding, isn't she?"
Buckley sighed, wondering how to get his only daugher to understand the demands of society. Brooke intervened first.
"Sweetie, say Nadine came to school wearing a very stylish jacket, and it made your trendy outfit look a little plain. What would you do?"
"Why I'd go out to a department store, find a new and better outfit and show Nadine what's what."
Brooke smiled,
"Exaaactly. So you see, if our friends in Aspen are adopting a child, we should as well. Its our...."
"Civic duty." Buckley finished.
Rhonda pouted the rest of the way.
"We're there sweetie."
-_-_-_-
Helga was forced into a maroon corduroy jumper and a beige turtle neck. Her hair had been brushed out of its two pigtails and into a half up ponytail. The rest of her blonde hair lay curling a inch below her shoulders.
She glared at the mirror. To make up for the outfit she quickly took her hair out of the ponytail and shook it out, making her look quite wild despite her formal clothes. Julie walked out of the bathroom wearing a large robe wrapped around her body and a towel around her hair. She stopped when she saw her once neat handiwork hang in knotty clumps around Helga's face.
She allowed herself an exasperated huff and silently swore she would conquer this proud little girl.
"Helga, what happened to your hair? It looked so nice and neat before I got into the shower."
Helga smiled sweetly,
"I don't know, it must've been the wind!"
Julie's eyes narrowed as she remembered that she always kept her windows closed because of her allergies, before she smiled again.
"Well Helga, we'll have to fix that. I know! We can put your hair into a hairstyle thats windproof! Come here."
Helga grudgingly obeyed, and collapsed into the seat Julie indicated in a most unladylike fashion.
Five minutes later, Helga emerged with two tightly plaited French braids and once again beat a path to the mirror, only to gasp in horror at the stranger who peered back at her.
"What did you do to me, lady?!?"
Julie allowed herself a grin.
"Well, I noticed how much you like pigtails so I put your hair in something a little neater and more feminine. Helga, come here to the bathroom for a moment."
Helga once more complied but not before cursing under her breath.
"Helga, I'm not sure how to say this but I think you'd look a lot less intimidating to your host family if you let me uummmm well, pluck your eyebrows."
"Non, nope, nein and no. There's no way in hell that I'm letting you touch my eyebrows. I'm only ten years old, criminy! No one cares if I don't have clearly defined eyebrows, least of all me!"
Julie shut the bathroom door behind her.
"Well I do. You look sloppy. Don't you want to look pretty like all the other little girls?"
"I don't care about the other little girls, okay? My eyebrow is...my eyebrow and you can't touch it. Its harassment!"
"As of yesterday evening, when your host family called and said that they wouldn't be able to take you, you were under my custody. And I say that I'd like you to have two, FEMININE eyebrows. Is that clear?"
"Listen, "Ms. Tirran" if you want to have ANY eyebrows at all when you wake up tomorrow morning, you'd better not touch me with those tweezers."
"Helga, you are in no position to make threats. So just stay still and be quiet and it'll all be over faster than you think."
-_-_-_-
The Lloyds pulled up to the office building and surveyed it with distaste.
"Buckley, don't you think they could do something to make it look a little nicer? Isn't that what Public Works is for?"
"I assume so, dear. But they obviously don't use that program as much. With all that money they could at least afford to slap a coat of paint on it or something. Honestly."
Brooke Lloyd nodded in agreement and held the door for her daughter, who stalked by coolly, without a glance.
Rhonda had alternated between screaming and pouting during the car ride and had made herself hoarse with all the effort.
Checking in at the front desk, the Lloyds took the service elevator the floor.
They saw a brunette woman dressed in a lilac business suit standing next to a young blond girl in a jumper. They were in the middle of a heated discussion which was apparently being won by the little girl.
Buckley cleared his throat and the woman noticed them enter.
"You must be the Lloyds, welcome and this is-"
"The Lloyds??"
The small girl turned around and stared.
Rhonda locked eyes with her, and noticed that she looked vaguely familiar.
"Helga!?!"
"Rhonda?!"
-_-_-_-
Finally!
Tomorrow's my last final and then
SUMMER VACATION WHERE I CAN UPDATE THIS REGULARLY.
I offer my deepest apologies to those I kept waiting on this.
I'm truly very sorry.
My only excuse is SATs and Finals..
BUT NOW I'M
FREE AT LAST
FREE AT LAST
THANK THE LORD I AM FREE AT LAST.
-Arynnl