A/N: I haven't updated in a really long time. Sorry, but I have had so many projects and tests. I'm gonna be busy this week, because of finals! Ahh...life sucks! I prmoise though, over the summer I'll update more often!

The Fuzy Llama: Thanks. Yea, I don't know how I thought of it. I think I was watching some movie, and I replaced the characters of Hey Arnold with them. Lol. Weird, I know.

"Ms. Pataki, are you here? Ms Pataki? Helga! You joined summer school because you said you were interested. Now please join us. Proceed to the board and fill in one side of the Venn Diagram. Mr. Lawrence please fill in the other side and Ms. Florence- fill in the middle."

"Mrs. Trinkle, can I be excused? I'm not feeling too hot?" I asked.

"Really, because you're looking real hot!" Mr. Frank Lawrence whispered, while some of the other guys snickered. Thanks for the compliment, but I rather go to hell then get near you.

"If you leave school again then you will receive an automatic detention on the first day of school," interrupted Mrs. Trinkle. Stupid witch interrupted my thoughts.

I walked out leaving my side of the diagram empty.

I looked at the clouds as I walked home, or least the place where I live. It's not really a home. It's not a "Home Sweet Home," and won't ever be. After that awful day I never did forgive my parents. I live in the same house with them, but not too much communication goes on, and I prefer it that way. Over the seven years living here- in Pennsylvania, I have learned only one thing- independence. I always used to think I was independent, but I now I realize how much I actually depended on my old friends. I relied on people for everything like school things, support and even fun. Fun, wow, I haven't had that in many years. The person I missed the much though is my sidekick and best friend, Phoebe. I'm too embarrassed too call because I left without even saying good-bye. Besides it would only make me feel worse and what's the point. Nothing will come out of it.

Anyway here I am, in hicksville PA, strolling around forest paths in the warm month of August. Actually it's more then warm, it's burning. That will change soon though. Actually the weather will change tomorrow. Yup, tomorrow's the first day of my junior year, and for some unexplainable reason, the first day of school is always cold.

Whoa! Heat flash! It's too hot, so I began to walk in the direction of my disgustingly happy country home. I felt my newly pierced lip with my tongue. I changed myself a lot. I just didn't think that my old self with my new depressed mood. My once bright blonde hair is now a unique black, while my uni-brow has been plucked. I have glasses and contacts. I usually wear my black glasses because the whole contact thing makes me the same as all the superficial people in my school. I admit I do wear my contacts sometimes because it makes me look different. I can't forget the piercing. I got like two holes each in my ear, one in the tongue and the latest one in my lip. That's not too intense if you ask me. My wardrobe mainly consists of black, pink, red, green and orange. I have a really colorful wardrobe, but most of it is black, so when the other colors are matched with it, there's a cool look to it.

I walked inside my house into the kitchen. Pulling open the refrigerator door revealed...absolutely nothing! What happened to all the food? Jeez, it always goes empty when I'm hungry.


"Hello honey. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Things aren't going well with your father and I. We have decided to have some space." I partially listened to her as I searched through the freezer for a soda. I remember seeing Bob putting one in there in the morning. The old man was being stupid and put it in the freezer. It probably exploded, but no harm in checking.

"Umm...honey...you may want to sit down for this."

I shut the freezer door, and eyed her. It wasn't the words that finally caught my attention. It was more of her aggravating voice.

Miriam continued talking after noticing that I wasn't going to sit down. "Now I'm asking you, Helga, who would you like to stay with?" For once I had to agree with her. I did need to sit down for this. I collapsed into the nearby chair.

"You guys are splitting up? Like divorce?" I finally asked after taking her words in.

"No, not officially anyway. We just want space."

"...Well I would definitely want to stay with you. I never got along with Bob." I searched my mother's face for a smile. Nothing.

"I just wanted your insight. Olga has decided to stay with whomever you don't stay with. Anyway go pack your stuff."

"What?"

"We're leaving today."

"Why today?"

"Because I think it's best that you start school there on the first day."

"When's the first day of school there? Tomorrow? Wait, where are we going to move anyway?"

"Back to our old house. We never did sell it. You're starting school tomorrow at P.S. 118 High School. Go pack."

No sooner had we arrived after packing our stuff. Actually it was only my stuff that we brought along. Miriam told me she wanted to start a new life, but I'm insinuating that all her real possessions are either stained or filled with the smell of beer. The drive down to Hillwood felt short because of the fact I had a wonderful companion- my CD player. Ok, so maybe I didn't listen to it too much because I was busy wondering what others would think when they saw me again- that's if they recognize me. Besides, if you listen to a CD player for an for an hour, your ear wax increases by 10%, but that may be a myth. Anyway back to what everyone's gonna say. I don't care what people think about teh way I dress, but it is interesting. Especially people like Phoebe whom will probably freak at the first sight. That's ok though because I'm used to being alone.

"All right honey! We're here! I'm sure you remember teh house and most of the city. I would show you around, but I'm not too confident all myself that I know this place. I'm sure you can call that little smart girl if you need any help. The yellow pages is right next to the telephone," Miriam said with an exasperated face.

"That's ok. I remember this place." How can I forget my childhood neighborhood?"

"Well all right then...You can just start adjusting to your room. I'm thinking about go shopping for furniture tomorrow. You want to come along?"

"Mom, I have school." Jeez...this is all too familiar.

"Right...school...Well, we could go after school."

"That's ok. I'm sure whatever you pick will be just fine." Now I didn't believe that, but furniture shopping just doesn't sound too fun.

"All right...so what do you wanna wear for dinner?"

"Anything except meat." Like I told you, I never talked too much with my parents, so they didn't know I turned into a vegetarian. It's not for religious reasons, but while in 5th grade at PA, we learned about organs. My teacher brought in an actual cow heart and I threw up. There was blood swishing around as the kids passed it through the aisles. I know that meat isn't the heart, but I can't get rid of the vision of that thing when looking at meat.

"Oh. I know!" Miriam winked at me, scary...

"Really, how?"

"Everytime we had meat you would just sit there until we finished eating. Then later you would toss it out. I always made sure there was pasta in the fridge for you those days. I didn't want Bob to know because he punched a man in the face once for protesting against meat-eaters."

"So basically you were spied on me?"

"Honey, when it's my house and I'm doing the spying, it's not spying."

I chuckled silently. "I'm gonna go unpack my stuff."

A/N: First I want to say that Helga's current look is a lot like mine. Also, nothing against the people of Pennsylvania. I live there myself, just so you know I don't have some sort of extreme hatred for the state. Not much of a cliffhanger, but I didn't really want one yet. Next chapter will have action as promised, and the rating may go up for that. Review please!