Helga and Arnold were sitting at the table watching Olga and Miriam clean up the mess while Big Bob yelled at Helga. "How did this happen!" Helga was embarrassed to have her dad yelling at her in front of Arnold. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she held them back. Her dad had a right to yell at her, after all this time she DID do something wrong. "Your worthless, you know that Helga" said Bob, he looked furiously at Helga. So this is what he would say the b one /b time he remembered her name. That word ricocheted around Helga's mind. i Worthless… /i She heard in her head. That was all Helga could take. She got up and ran out the door into the street, tears streaming down her face. That was all she knew now…tears, sorrow, pain, loneliness… She heard a voice yell "Helga! WAIT!". But she ran from that voice, she ran far-far away.
Finally Helga sat down in the park. It was sprinkling. The soft, small drops of rain hit Helga's face like feathers, but they were cold, not comforting. Helga just sat there. She wasn't thinking. It hurt to much to think. "I wish I didn't have feelings!" Helga said to herself. But she knew that was impossible. Helga heard footsteps, but didn't look up. She knew who it was. It was always him. He always was the one who came to her rescue, always the one to comfort her, always the one to say "It'll be alright". And how did Helga repay him? By bulling and hurting and mocking him. "Helga?" said Arnold in a soft voice. "Yeah?" asked Helga, trying, but failing to suppress he tears. "I'm sorry, can't believe you own father would say that to you" Arnold said putting his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, but he's right, I'm not good for anything" Helga choked through her tears. Arnold looked Helga in the eye. They were very close to each other, Helga noticed, their foreheads we're close to touching. "I don't think your worthless, Helga" said Arnold. Those were the magic words; Helga started sobbing harder than ever. She leaned on Arnold, crying on his shoulder. He patted her on the back, whispering "Shhh, it'll be ok, it'll be ok" in her ear. After another few minutes of crying Helga pulled away from Arnold. Arnold smiled, which made Helga smile. "I like it when you smile Helga" he said…
