Where We're From

By Arnoldnhelga4eva

Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold or Juliard.

Okay, I didn't get as many reviews as I thought I would on the last chapter, but the story is over half way finished. Anyway, here's chapter 9. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.:D

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Chapter 9: Forgiveness

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At around one in the morning, Helga and Arnold were rudely awoken by a loud crash downstairs, followed by uncontrollable laughing. Helga sat up in bed.

'Arnold, did you hear that?' Arnold bolted upright at the second crash.

'Yeah, you stay here. I'll go check.' He jumped out of bed, and quickly put on a robe, blushing. He'd forgotten.

Quickly he ran downstairs, while Helga ran over to a drawer to put on some clothes, and heard Arnold yell downstairs.

'Jeana!?' Helga could hear laughter again. Helga ran downstairs to find Arnold standing in the kitchen, Jayme next to him, still in her clothes from last night, and Jeana sprawled out on the couch, laughing hysterically.

'What the hell!' Helga yelled. Arnold and Jayme took a step back. They knew that when Helga got mad, she wasn't just mad. She looked like she was about to kill something, but it was clear from Jeana's jovial state that she was too high to realize that.

'What the hell did you drink Jeana!?' Helga and Arnold could smell it all the way from where they were standing all right. It smelled like a thick heavy odor of beer, mixed with a wrenching stench of marijuana.

Jeana just laughed. 'Well let me see,' Jeana said slurring her words heavily, 'I can't remember. I think it was water.' She said rather dumbly. Helga had about enough of this, and she could tell Arnold was pretty pissed too.

'Well I'm going to tell you one thing! You're grounded, again, for longer! I'm taking your cell phone away, I'm taking your car away--'

'Her car got towed--'Jayme interjected.

'I know sweetie, I called Stinky up to tow it.' Jayme nodded. She wasn't surprised, it had happened before.

Helga wasn't finished with her list though. 'We're going to board up your windows, I'm driving you to and from school every day, I'm taking your freedom away, do you understand!? You lost all your freedom Jeana. This is the last time I'm going to put up with this shit before we send you away!' Helga yelled, but Jeana didn't answer. Helga was so caught up in her rage that she didn't even realize Jeana was now fast asleep on the sofa, snoring like a hog. Arnold turned to Jayme.

'What happened?' he asked her, with a much less malicious tone than Helga.

Jayme turned to her parents. 'I was out driving with Tara when my cell phone rang. I answered it and it was one of Jayme's friends, Molly. She said that Jayme had clearly had enough to do tonight, and luckily her car got towed, otherwise Jeana would have snuck out of there and driven home on her own. Molly directed me to where the party was--'

'So that's why she snuck out through her window,' Helga interrupted shaking her head. 'It's a good thing Molly called you. She's a good friend.'

Jayme nodded and continued: 'So I dropped Tara off at home, and went to Sara's house. Sara was the one throwing the party. I was surprised to see Jordan there, since he's only a sophomore,' Jeana said. Jordan was Phoebe and Gerald's son. He was a good kid, but sometimes did some pretty dumb things.

'Was he drunk too?' Helga asked.

Jayme shrugged her shoulders. 'Not really. He was a little tipsy, but maybe he was just hiding it well. Molly was pretty much the only one sober there. She was planning on driving Jeana home, but Jeana's car got towed. She had to stay sober.'

Helga shook her head as she turned toward Arnold. 'Where did we go wrong?' She asked him. She walked over to the table and slammed her fist on the table and started to cry. Arnold walked over to her and massaged her shoulders, and whispered a few calming words into her ears, until he turned to Jayme.

'Why don't you go to bed honey. I bet you've had a long night. That's the second time you've saved your sister.' Arnold said.

Jayme nodded and headed upstairs. Helga turned around and looked at her husband teary eyed.

'What are we going to do about her?' Helga sobbed into Arnold's robe. He stroked her hair, combing her long hair with his fingers. He sighed, and planted a kiss on her head.

'We'll just monitor everything she does, get her involved in activities, and for now, no parties. If we can start trusting her again, then she can go. But for now, we'll keep a close watch on her wherever she goes, and watch whatever she does.' Helga nodded and kissed his cheek. He patted her back.

'Let's go to bed.' He said, leading her upstairs, 'Jeana can sleep down here tonight. It's better than passing out at a stranger's house.' Helga nodded and followed him upstairs. What they didn't know was that Jayme had been listening the entire time.

Jayme cried herself to sleep that night. She didn't know what to do. Here she continually saved her sister's ass, and she never got anything in return. Jeana treated Jayme like a stranger in school, and people almost never would have suspected that they were sisters if their parents weren't celebrities.

So why wasn't Jayme popular?

It wasn't that she wasn't popular, she just wasn't in the 'in' crowd. Jayme was well liked, but often taken advantage of, because she always 'did the right thing,' just like her father.

'Why do I have to be like him?' she asked herself, 'why do I have to be so nice and helpful, and perfect?'

'Because it's the right thing to do.' Her conscience told her, 'It's what a good Samaritan would do, and what made her mother fall in love with her father.

She had convinced herself for tonight to be able to fall asleep, but why did she do this over and over again if her sister never thanked her, but with taunts and ignorance?

Because it's the right thing to do, and she loved her sister, even if her sister didn't show signs of the same sisterly love.

Jayme fell asleep with that thought in her head.

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Jayme looked over at her sister. She could tell Jeana was thinking the same thing. It was some kind of twin intuition. Jeana looked back at Jayme and smiled. She mouthed the words Jayme had been dying to hear forever.

Two small words.

Thank you.

Jayme smiled. Finally, after saving her sister from croup, and saving her when she was high and drunk, and so many other little things, Jeana had finally said thank you.

Jayme looked up, as Molly and Tara both approached the podium.

'Hello.' Tara said, 'I'm Tara, and this is Molly. We're friends of Jeana and Jayme, and also really close to their wonderful parents.' Tara stepped back and let Molly talk.

'After certain little incidents, Arnold and Helga worked hard to make them better, like that night when.well some of you know the story.' she said looking at Jeana and Jayme, knowing they got her hint about the night Jeana came home drunk.

'Even though they weren't my parents, they taught me a lot, and the right thing to do, especially Arnold.' Molly looked now up at Jeana, who was now smiling at her best friend. Molly smiled back and continued.

'That year, after that incident, Jeana and I made new friends, and Arnold and Helga encouraged us to enroll in activities. We decided to join theater.

'It was hard at first, not being able to go to parties and everything, but I learned a lot, thanks to Arnold and Helga. My own parents were never around, so Arnold and Helga were like my parents in a way. Often times, I would spend the night on a couch in Jeana's room because my father drank, and kicked me out of the house in a drunken rage. Arnold and Helga would always let me in. Their house was really my first home.

'I'll still pass by the house sometimes just to say hi. I can't do that anymore. I can only pass by the house, pass by my memories, and continue on my way. Now I'll pass by their graves to visit them, to tell them what is going on right now, in the world, in my life and anything else. They're like my parents--' Molly choked up, and couldn't continue. She started crying, and Tara patted her on the back. Molly got down, and went to sit by her family again. Tara took over, with tears in her eyes.

'I was also very close to Arnold and Helga. They always took extra steps to make sure I was okay. They congratulated me when I did well, and comforted me when I didn't. They supported our team at state, when we won state. Jayme, of course, being the exceptionally talented player she is got accepted to a college on a soccer scholarship, almost like her father got accepted on a football scholarship. Arnold and Helga were so proud of Jayme. I remember, I was there.

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Jayme was picking up all her equipment, after state her senior year. Once again, her team won state. She and Tara were talking about their future.you know, college, marriage, whatnots.

'I don't know Tara,' Jayme said, 'I want to go to a soccer college, but I don't want to be too far from home.' As if ironically on cue, a scout from a big soccer college approached Jayme.

'Hey,' the man said,' you're a very talented player. Let me introduce myself. My name is Xavier Schwartz, and I'm a scout from L'Frojant University.' Jayme's eyes grew wide, and she beamed so big her mouth hurt.

The guy continued: 'We want to offer you a full ride scholarship to our school.'

'What did you say?' she asked beaming. Tara smiled from beside her, as Arnold, Helga, Jeana and Sean came up behind them.

'Whose this Schmo?' Helga whispered to Jayme.

Jayme just turned around with a twinkle in her eye. 'They want me to go to their college for free! Mom, Dad! This is what I've dreamed of!' Helga and Arnold broke into huge smiles and Arnold swept Jayme up in his arms, twirling her around. He set her down, and it was Helga's turn to hug Jayme. Their tears mixed as Helga hugged her daughter, and Arnold took the man aside to ask all the details. Tara could see Jeana and Sean out of the corner of her eye and they were smiling. Jeana had changed, in a good way. She lost the bad friends, the drugs, the drinking, and she and Molly turned to new friends. She was no longer the bitch she had built herself up to be. Jeana had been crowned homecoming queen and offered a scholarship to Juliard for her exceptional acting skills.

Tara still remembered the few times Jeana had been in the plays. The first time, most people in fifth grade thought it was cool to be in the play, but as they approached high school, it became less and less cool to be in any play.

Her junior year, Jeana tried out for the musical, one-act plays, and spring play, landing lead roles in each one. There was a scout at the one-acts competition, and said he would return the next year to offer her a scholarship to their arts school. He was from Juliard, and returned this year only a week earlier, giving her a scholarship. It was a great honor.

Jeana and Jayme were brilliant, and extremely talented. With both of their parents genes, they had turned out to be exceptionally fine young ladies. Tara smiled, happy for her friend. Nobody deserved this scholarship more than Jayme. She worked so hard, and was so good. Sure, Tara was always a little jealous of Jayme's talents, but she always supported her friend.

Jayme turned toward Tara and smiled.

'I guess you'll just have to come with me,' Jayme said with that same grin on her face. Tara smiled back. Jayme was such a good friend. She could have never asked for someone so nice, and caring to be friends with. Tara broke out into a huge smile.

'I guess so.' She said and they did their secret handshake that they had made up in kindergarten. Tara went to her own parents as the man came back with Arnold to talk to Jayme about her scholarship.

As Tara walked with her parents, she saw Sean out of the corner of her eye. It was so funny. He was practicing his slap shots with an imaginary hockey stick, going through the motions to perfect his technique.

He had entered middle school this year and only as a sixth grader, was put onto the eighth grade hockey team. He was a really good hockey player. The way his hockey stick connected with the puck, and he shot it into the goal. It was almost like magic; it all happened in one fluid motion. There was something about this family. They were perfect, with very few problems now What was even more ironic was that their parents could maintain their celebrity stature, and still seem to lead a pretty normal life. Their life was like the American dream, no.it was the American dream. They lived in a country that allows them to grow freely, and work hard for what they deserve. They were the family everyone wanted to be, they were a real family.

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'Jeana, Jayme, and Sean kept that bond with their parents, up until the day they died. I myself had a very good upbringing, with a wonderful family, but their family was something else. It was strong, and built on the still growing love Arnold and Helga had for each other; for their children, even their grandchildren.

'We all headed off to college, leaving Sean at home, all by himself. In a way, he has always been like a brother to me like Jayme has been a sister to me, because I have been an only child my entire life. Anyway, we went through college, and off on our own careers. Jayme became a professional soccer player, and I became a doctor. Molly is a psychologist, and Jordan is a pilot. Jeana, well let's just say Jeana made it big.

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okay, just for the record, I have no clue if the college L'Frojant is real or not. I don't even know if that is some French word that I don't know of either. Oh well. R/R and I'll.

C ya l8ter!

Arnoldnhelga4eva