Chapter 15 – Lila's Little Secret

A/N: This chapter's kind of focused, as on Monday I promised myself I would have it up today, even though it was hardly finished then (I decided to give it a total rewrite, so it's been a long time coming). I made this promise before what happened to the place that I live yesterday, and I've been in a sort of angry/sad/shocked mood ever since, but the big guy said we shouldn't let it stop us and a promise is a promise so I won't. Onward! –Sky.

It was Monday morning, and Lila's hair dripped steadily down her back as she stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror of her vanity. She had pulled her clothes on without drying her hair first even though she knew she shouldn't, but she had been very distracted lately. She was now facing a daily battle with the ball of guilt that had taken up residence in her stomach since she had first concocted her little plan. Lila was never very good at lying or being sneaky, but she was very good at picking up on people's ways and if she was to get Arnold to stop noticing her, this would have to be the way she did it.

Getting Helga to voice the way she felt about Arnold was quite another matter, but at the moment Helga was not her concern. Lila liked Helga very much, she couldn't explain why, but then a lot of people had fallen under that spell of Helga's, much to their confusion but they would never deny it. There was just something about her you couldn't help but like when you felt it, but the problem was it was also something you would just have to miss when it was gone. This was Lila's parting gift to Helga, and though she knew she was doing it all wrong and maybe too subtly, it was all she had in her inventory.

Her hair was still wet as she braided it that morning, and she hoped that she wouldn't catch a chill from the strangely mild weather. She kissed her father on the cheek and gathered up her school books, before beginning a slow and thoughtful walk to the bus stop. Her thoughts turned to nerves as she played with the hem of her dress, dreading another day of being slightly mean. She would have tried harder and made it more obvious, but she hated doing it so much and it made her feel so bad. Of course, as soon as Helga was gone and Arnold no longer liked her liked her, she would come clean with it, but until then she would continue steadily onwards, being pointlessly mean and despising ever second.

The bus pulled up with a squeak and a hiss, and the doors clunked open. Lila got on and flashed her pass at the driver, scanning the seats for her now customary seat next to Rhonda. Rhonda had taken quite a shine to Lila since it seemed that she was on her side in this whole thing, and though Lila liked Rhonda very much she couldn't help but think she had gone crazily overboard in her attempts to upset Helga.

"Hey Lila," Rhonda said, moving over a little in her seat to give Lila more room. Lila smiled and sat down.

"Good morning Rhonda," she said sweetly, smoothing down her dress.

"So, I had this thought last night, you know, about what I could do to finally push Helga over the edge. We all know how much she hates being embarrassed in front of everyone so I thought… Lila?"

Lila blinked and stared straight at Rhonda. Her head was still miles away. The bus rolled to a stop and the doors were flung open once more. Helga and Phoebe climbed on board and took their usual seats at the back of the bus, Helga obviously avoiding Rhonda's eyes. Lila sighed. She knew that Helga wasn't her biggest fan anyway, purely because of the way Arnold felt about her, but that wasn't her fault and she wished she could spend Helga's last weeks in Hillwood trying to get on her good side.

"Are you ok Lila?" Rhonda asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Lila lied quickly. "What was your plan?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Rhonda said. If she couldn't have full attention she didn't want attention at all. The bus continued on its way, students climbing on board with the usual grumpy Monday morning expression. Lila was thankful for this though; it meant that her dark and troubled features would be lost in the crowd. The bus lurched around another corner and to Lila's surprise, Rhonda stood up.

"Hey Helga!" she shouted to the back of the bus, pulling everyone from their stupor. Helga, instead of looking startled however, looked merely annoyed. She was getting used to Rhonda's onslaught now, and instead of being embarrassing and upsetting, it was now just predictable and a little boring.

"Yes, Rho-o-onda?" she said, stifling a yawn. Rhonda wasn't fazed at all by this. If anything it stiffened her resolve.

"Hope you're ready for another round today little girl because man, do I have plans for you!" She cackled in a witch-like fashion and sat back down, everyone caught between disbelief and admiration. As the most popular girl in the class, it was everyone else's job to adore whatever Rhonda did, even if they didn't agree with it. Rhonda jabbed Lila in the ribs with her elbow, still with an insane grin on her face. "She's totally gonna lose it today Lila," she said, laughing.

"Is she?" Lila asked sweetly, a vague attempt to ask for details so she could prepare herself accordingly.

"Oh yeah, and funnily enough, it's an idea she gave to me." Rhonda closed her eyes and leant back in her chair, not saying another word until they arrived at the school. The students shuffled off the bus in a dreary fashion, all of them wishing the day was over before it had even begun. They had but a few minutes to spare before the bell rang, shepherding them all inside. Taking up her usual seat at the beck of the class, Helga immediately hid herself under the lid of her desk, pretending she had lost something in its cavernous void and protecting herself from the stares that followed her everywhere these days.

An air of excited tension became ever noticeable over the class as more and more minutes passed and yet Mr. Simmons still hadn't showed up to teach. The air soon became thick with paper aeroplanes with hastily scrawled notes on their wings, and the space in between the desks was filled with panicked students who were very poor shots trying to retrieve their papers. Arnold and Gerald chose to remains seated, calmly discussing football tactics and Rhonda was suspiciously quiet, at least from Phoebe's point of view. Phoebe nudged Helga gently and pointed at Rhonda, who was bent over her desk very secretively, and scrawling something down, stealing glances at the students around her. Helga looked from Rhonda to Phoebe and then shrugged, and Phoebe saw it as the perfect opportunity to bring something up which she had been avoiding before.

"Helga, I was, um, that is to say, would you like to, um, well, in a few weeks time I'm having a slumber party at my house and I'd love it if you could be there." Helga raised her eyebrows at her petite friend. She had slept over at Phoebe's many times in the past so why was she being so skittish in asking her this time?

"Um, sure Pheebs, but why so jumpy?" she asked her friend in a whisper, this being one of the conversations she was sure Phoebe would rather wasn't shared with the rest of the class. Helga immediately regretted asking this question however, as her best friend's eyes welled up with tears.

"Because… you see… I know this time it's the… last…time," she said between sobs, the tears not yet falling but well on the verge. Helga bit her lip. Phoebe wasn't wrong, the move to England was still on the go ahead, and Helga was surprised she hadn't paid that much thought to it.

At her desk, Rhonda gave herself a satisfied smile and placed the piece of paper in her desk. She looked around the class for Curly, and saw him standing next to the goldfish bowl, contemplating the best way to free its happily swimming inhabitants. Once again she was going to need his help and once again he was going to give it to her. She didn't need him just yet however, so she left him alone to get on with it and turned to Lila.

"Hey Lila, woken up yet?" she asked in a teasing manner. Lila blushed.

"Oh yes, most certainly now," Lila said, smiling. Looking past Rhonda she could see that Arnold's eyes were on her, almost absent-mindedly, as though he had forgotten he was doing it. She seized her chance.

"Helga!" she yelled, her country voice sounding violent against the uproar of the class. All activity ceased at once; this was most out of the ordinary. Helga raised her eyebrow questioningly at Lila.

"Um, yes?" she said, totally puzzled. The sweet country girl was shaking with nerves now as she opened her desk and reached inside. Helga watched her, transfixed just like everybody else.

"I have track practice today," Lila said in a snobby tone usually reserved for use only by Rhonda. "Clean my shoes for me. Oh, and before lunchtime," she added in an exasperated tone, as though it was a job Helga frequently did badly for her. Helga's shock was soon replaced with a familiar rage as Lila crossed the classroom and thrust a muddy bag into her hands, her face clearly flushed but everyone else was too lost in their disbelief to notice.

"Clean your shoes?" Helga repeated in a scandalised tone.

"Got a problem with that?" Lila replied cuttingly, flicking one of her braids over her shoulder. Helga was totally lost for words. Rhonda, on the other hand, was looking at Lila as though she was the best friend she never had, her grin as wide as anything. Helga tried to fight rage with reason.

"Look, I would, but I have practice today as well, during lunch. I can't. I have to clean the mud off my own shoes at recess." This wasn't a lie, Helga was on the track team and she was the fastest runner they had, but the truth about why she wouldn't clean Lila's shoes was different. It wasn't something Lila couldn't do herself; she had obviously been hanging around with the Princess far too much.

"Oh come on," Lila said slyly. "Be nice." Helga's eyes narrowed at the use of that word again, but as Gerald was watching her like a hawk there wasn't much she could do about it.

"I said no, Lila," she responded calmly, balling her hands into fists underneath her desk.

"Well," Lila said tartly, "that's not very helpful at all!" Her eyes flicked to Gerald, and Helga's followed suit.

"Oh come on Gerald! She's being unreasonable!" Helga cried, holding her hands out to Lila in a desperate fashion. Gerald looked utterly lost for words; even if he had a judgement on this whole thing he didn't have the capacity to voice it. Arnold, however, knew exactly where his speech was.

"Lila, what are you doing?" he asked her through serious eyes. Lila felt a little crushed. She didn't like Arnold looking upon her like someone he didn't very much care for. She entwined her fingers together and took a deep breath. This was what she had hoped would happen, even if she didn't like it.

"Just asking a friend a favour," she said in a mean voice, and Arnold was startled. He couldn't even begin to fathom what was making her act like this although, like Helga, he thought some of it could be put down to Rhonda's influence.

"It's not very nice of you," he said softly, in that tone he had that never failed to make the hardest man feel guilty. Lila gulped, desperately wishing she could turn around and tell everyone the truth. They were all looking at her with a sort of disgust in their eyes, and though she knew it was no less than she deserved she wished they wouldn't. She merely smirked at Arnold and turned back to Helga, holding out her muddy sneakers once more.

"I'm not cleaning them," Helga replied solidly, pointing her eyes back down at her desk. Lila took a deep breath and went and sat back down, enough damage done to her reputation for the morning. The class soon lapsed back into its state of chaos, Mr. Simmons still not putting in an appearance. It was only when Harold threw Eugene through an open window that Arnold decided he should do something, finally pulled from his thoughts of Lila and her strange behaviour.

"Where are you going man?" Gerald asked him as he went to the door.

"I'm gonna go ask Principal Wartz what's going on," he said, stepping out into the corridor. There were many 'boos' from the rowdy students, but these were quickly silenced when Eugene reappeared at the window, a steady stream of blood gushing from his nose.

"I'm ok."

Once Arnold had left, Rhonda got to her feet and cleared her throat for silence, which promptly followed. "Gerald, darling," she commenced, making Phoebe flush. "You can't tell me that Helga's refusal to clean poor Lila's shoes is not a violation of the rules. All Lila was asking was a favour." Gerald opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by Stinky.

"Lila, what are ya doing? You're being all mean and nasty to poor ol' Helga, that's not the country way at all," he said in a saddened voice. Lila didn't respond, just blushed even deeper and looked to her feet.

"This isn't about Lila, Stinky, it's about Helga. Now be quiet and let Gerald speak." Rhonda looked to Gerald once more, folding her arms across her chest. This was not, however, explanation enough for he rest of the class.

"Did you eat something funny today Lila? I hear that can cause mood swings…" Nadine mused, but still Lila wouldn't say anything. The only person she was trying to put off was Arnold, and seeing as he wasn't in the room there was no need for her to be cruel.

"Maybe Lila's looking to be the class bully once Helga leaves," Sid said pointedly, which was followed by a general murmur of agreement.

"No, it isn't like that at all," Lila said, speaking at last. The class looked to her to say more, but she closed her mouth again and with one last meaningful look at Helga, she returned to staring at her lap.

Arnold re-entered the class a moment later, Mr. Simmons following closely behind. "So sorry I'm late class, the traffic this morning was horrendous. Anyway, let's not waste anymore time. Everyone settle down and open your Math books to page eighteen."

-

Helga spent the first ten minutes of her lunch break picking at her stitches. They had been a good excuse for her to get out of practice lately but she was picking them so much they were starting to fray. With a sharp but friendly slap on the wrist from Phoebe she dropped her hand to her side and slurped her juice up noisily through its straw.

As the end of lunch approached Helga was grabbed by a predicatble need to use the toilet. Making her quick excuses to Phoebe she dashed the length of the corridor, pelted into the girl's bathroom and burst into the end stall. Much to her surprise, not to mention her horror, it was already occupied.

"Oh, man, sorry!" she apologised quickly, backing out and covering her eyes.

"It's just ever so fine," a voice said sadly. "I'm quite decent." Helga peeled her fingers apart and stared through the gap to see Lila sitting on the toilet, her legs drawn up to her chest to hide her from anyone who may be checking for feet.

"Oh," Helga said grumpily. "It's you."

"Helga wait," Lila said pleadingly, reaching out for Helga's arm but she promptly snatched it away.

"Wait around for you to give me another order?" Helga snapped. She had become quite accustomed to being mean to people when Gerald wasn't around.

"I don't mean to be like that," Lila said in a depressed tone, and Helga was forced by her conscience to hear her out. Her eyes were red-rimmed as though she had been crying for hours, and her body language was so pathetic that Helga knew she wasn't lying when she said she wasn't telling her everything.

"Ok," Helga sighed, sitting on the tiles next to Lila, slightly to Lila's disgust. "Tell me what's going on." Lila burst into noisy tears, and Helga was very much taken aback. Gingerly, she put her arm around the sobbing girls shoulders, not sure exactly how to comfort her or even if she should.

"I just thought…" Lila blubbed heavily, "…that if I could make Arnold hate me maybe you would see it as your chance to… tell him. You know, to tell him how you feel" She sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand, rather undignified behaviour for a girl like Lila. Helga ran her hand through her bangs and sighed.

"Evil plots aren't your forte, are they sweetheart?" she said in a friendly voice. Lila looked up at her and braved a smile.

"I guess not," she said with a quiet, sad laugh.

"You can't go around being all subtle one minute and full on the next. You've got to do some sort of smooth transition, or people'll be all over you like a rash," Helga said gently.

"Like you're doing with Arnold?" Lila asked, sniffing again. Helga's eye twitched.

"Hey, don't you be trying to give me romantic advice. You're the enemy," she said, forcing a laugh. She could see no problem making friends with Lila in her last few weeks, but she'd much rather not talk about Arnold.

"I'm sorry Helga, I'm just saying. I mean, Arnold's great and all but he's really very dense." Both girls laughed and got to their feet. "He needs you to tell him how much you like him, or he's never going to realise."

"Oh, I know that sister," Helga said, holding the stall door open. "But I'm chicken. Tell anyone you heard me admit that and I'll beat you into next week."

"Understood," said Lila, switching on the faucet and washing her hands. "So," she said, changing the subject quickly. "What do I do now?" Helga pondered this for a minute.

"Well, first things first, drop the mean act. It doesn't suit you. It's for professionals only, like Rhonda and me. Secondly, maybe some great big public apology to me is in order. Blame it on some bad Tofu or something. You'll cry, I'll accept, we'll hug, and all is well."

"Hug?" Lila said, throwing Helga a sideways glance.

"Metaphorically darling', I can still keep that part of my reputation while this stupid bet is running. All I'm saying is don't be something your not. It's hard to maintain, and bad for your sanity. Trust me. Plus you won't be doing Arnold's head any favours with these games you're playing. It's not your fault he loves you so just sit back and enjoy the ride. Who knows, maybe you'll wake up one day and realise how great he really is." Helga sighed and threw her paper towel in the trash can.

"I never really thought of it like that. I most certainly didn't want to mess with Arnold's emotions," Lila said slowly.

"Yeah, well keep things up he way you're going and you won't have much choice," Helga said sternly, and Lila nodded. "Hey," Helga said suddenly. "Why aren't you at track practice?"

"Oh, I don't do track," Lila replied, and she burst quickly through the bathroom door following a friendly push in the back from Helga.

-

"Did you get it?" Rhonda asked in her most dangerous voice.

"Of course my love, I won't let you down this time," Curly replied, head-butting the swinging light in the janitor's closet.

"Oh, you better not," Rhonda said, holding up the heavy jar in front of her eyes. "Ok, I can't hold this disgusting thing much longer, here you go," she said quickly, adverting her gaze and handing the jar back to Curly. With one final look at the rat pickled in formaldehyde, Curly slipped the whole mess back into his backpack and the pair left the closet twenty seconds apart.