Flawed

by Miss Matched


I'm here, waiting for something new to

Break

my heart...

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Chapter 4

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The sky shone a bright, cloudless blue as Helga raced from the school building. Her appointment with Dr. Bliss made her late out of school, and the bus had drove on without her. "I can't *huff* be late *pant* to Arnold's." She panted, racing down the sidewalk and pushing random innocent bystanders out of her way. Finally, she was at the boarding house.


Putting her hands on her knees and leaning up against the old brick building, Helga caught her breath. As she did so, she thought about Dr. Bliss' interpretation of her dream. She was angry at her self at the possibility of blaming her dear, sweet...


"Have a nice jog?"


"ARNOLD?!" Helga gasped, turning to face him, "I mean, don't sneak up on me while I'm trying to catch my breath, football head."


He sighed, and looked down at the pavement. "Sorry, Helga. I'm glad you came, though. I honstly thought that Dr. Bliss would forget to tell you to come over."


Helga moved away from the wall, as she felt cornered at the moment. "Well, she didn't, doi. Why else would she carry a pad of paper around?"


Arnold shook his head, there was no use fighting the issue. "Well, I'll get the door." He ran up the stairs, and Helga followed. Gentlemanly, Arnold held the door open.


"I can open the door myself, thank you very much." Helga fumed, stomping inside.


"You're welcome." He mumbled, walking inside and shutting the door behind him. How was he ever going to survive a whole week of projects with Helga?


He mentally shook himself as he walked into the living room, where Helga was standing. He knew she could be nice... there was another side to Helga that she rarely ever showed.

"You can sit down, you know." Arnold said, motioning to the dusty old couch. "Sure, it doesn't look conformable, but looks can be deceiving."

Helga raised an eyebrow in response. "I think I'd rather the floor." She mumbled, plopping down on the well worn carpet. Silence reigned for a few minutes, with Arnold simply standing there, and Helga dragging a finger across the shaggy carpet.

"You know, it's just the two of us here." Arnold said, breaking the silence. Helga blushed and looked down.

"Yeah, so?"

"Come on, Helga. Let's make it a trues. We need this assignment to get done... and truthfully, I know you're not as angry and heard hearted as you act. Come on, take off the mask, please? For me?"


Helga pondered over this for a few moments, then looked up. "Fine fine, Arnoldo... er, Arnold. Only because I care about my grades, not because of you. Got it?"


"Whatever you say, Helga." Arnold smiled in response.


"So, what part of the 'Special' assignment is due for tomorrow?" Helga quipped, wiggling her fingers while she said "Special".


Arnold sat down on the couch, across from Helga. "Well, we just have to talk about anything we want to, then write up a few words about it for tomorrow."


"Sounds easy enough... what's the catch?"


Arnold laughed, "Well, no catch... although he said it would be awfully 'Special' if someone wrote a poem for their

paper..."


Helga rolled her eyes, "Of course he would say that..." She twiddled her thumbs for a moment, then let out a short laugh. "So, then. We need something to talk about."


Arnold thought for a moment, fiddling with a pillow that was next to him. Honestly, this whole situation was ackward. How was he supposed to make conversation with Helga? After knowing her for years, he barely knew a inkling about her. "How about..." He looked up on a wall at a row of pictures. His eyes settled on one of him and his grandpa in front of the Grand Canyon. "How about family vacations?"


"Sounds harmless enough." Helga admitted. "I guess I'll start." With that, she began retelling what was supposed to be a trip to her grandmothers house. "... And Mirium lost all her money. Left the purse on top of the car when she drove off."


"You're kidding!" Arnold was down on the floor by now, and Helga was laying on the pillow that he had been fiddling with earlier.


"Does it look like I'm kidding? Anyhow, so she borrows my money, then enters a mechanical bull riding competition!" Helga sat up at this point. "Who would have thought she woulda beat all of those professionals. So, she got the car fixed with the money from the competition. And that was my family vacation. How about yours?"


Arnold got up and walked over to the wall. Standing on his tiptoes, he reached the picture he was looking at earlier. He pulled it down, and handed it to Helga. "A few summers back, Grandpa and Grandma treated the boarders and me to a trip to the Grand Canyon. It was so beautiful..." He closed his eyes and kept talking, "The sunsets were just beautiful, like someone had climbed up to the highest point on earth and painted it." He laughed, "Okay, so I'm not the best at similes, but you get the point."


Helga laughed, "Sounds good to me. Keep goin', keep goin'."


"Well, anyhow, looking back on it, there's so much that I learned from that trip. One drop of water started to carve that canyon. I guess I just think about that when people say that they can't make a difference... because maybe if that one drop of water hadn't fallen, maybe the canyon would have never been formed." He stood up to hang the picture back up on it's nail. "Some people just stop trying to make a difference because they don't think it matters, or that they matter. But everyone can make a difference, Helga. Some people... all they know is hurt, but that doesn't mean that they can't help anyone... do you kind of get what I'm saying?"


"What are you insinuating?" Helga asked, growing angry, "Are you saying that I'm not doing enough for people? Do you think that I can't feel? Ha!"


"What?" Arnold gasped. He hadn't meant to make her angry. "No, no, I didn't mean that. I wasn't--"


"Just because you're so giving doesn't mean that you need to raise the bar for the rest of us. Some of us just aren't as pure as you, bucko. Deal with it." With that she got up and stormed out of the boarding house, leaving behind a startled Arnold.


"What did I say?"


Meanwhile outside, Helga began her walk home. "Stupid prying football head." she mumbled. She really didn't want to talk to him... it was hard to. How can you really talk to someone who won't tell you how they feel about you?


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"Oookay, class!" Mr. Simmons smiled broadly as his students filed in after lunch. "Now it's time to hand in the first part of your 'Uniquely You' projects!" Most students moaned, some were scribbling the finishing touches, and Harold was finishing his lunch. Dr. Bliss, who planned on coming in every day after lunch for the rest of this project, picked up the student's papers. When she took Arnold and Helga's, she placed them on top of the pile. Helga saw this and groaned.

"When will this woman give up?!" Helga thought to herself. Dr. Bliss handed the pile to Mr. Simmons. Smiling even wider, if that was ever humanly possible, he held up a hand.


"Now I'm going to read out two very special papers! Poems, in fact! For privacy's sake, I won't name names." He began reading off the top one.

"Tango


I kind of hoped progress was made.

So hard for me to figure out, you always seemed in the shade.

But just as I started to see the light

You thought that I was trying to fight.

And you're closed and cold again,

and I don't see how I can win.


So it's one step forward and two steps back.

Losing direction, and off the track.

My feet have been stepped on

My plans have been left un-done.

Why can't it be three steps forward and one to the side?

I wish she could see I have nothing to hide.

And no matter how hard I've tried, this I know.

All that stepping around, that's just how the tango goes."


Mr. Simmons paused for a few moments, as if absorbing what he had just read, then pulled out the piece of paper underneath. "And here is their partner's poem...

"Canyon


I'm looking up

from the bottom

of the canyon.

Looking up,

and thinking of

all that's happened.

For you see,

the rushing river flows right through here

and carved the hard slab of stone in it's path.


I'm looking up

from the bottom

of my soul.

Looking up

and wondering

who's really in control.

For you see,

My emotions can get the best of me

and carved me into who I am today.


And someday

I hope to fly above this

and see my canyon from up high, and not below.

And some day

The depth won't overwhelm me

As I see what I've become on my own.


I'm looking up

from the bottom

of the canyon of my soul.

Looking up,

and I see you.

Your hand is out for me to hold.

"Come rise above"

you say, "Just take my hand

And I'll be waiting until the day that you understand...


And someday

I'll help you fly above this.

Oh, someday you'll be free from the fortress that you made.

Yes, someday,

If you will just believe me

I will help you find a better way."


At this point, Mr. Simmons was actually wiping away tears. "Um, early recess!" He called out, and the classroom emptied quickly. "Dr. Bliss, we need to talk."



AN: Sorry for the major suckage... this chapter sucked with the power and fervor of... dunno. It just bit.