Author - Mystic Rains
Beta Reader - Blonde Cecile
Rating - PG – 13 for a bitty sexual hint
Summery - Arnold's in an orphanage, only a shell of what he really use to be. The kids there are even making bets on if he'll be the next suicide. But when there's the person from his past who ends up in the same situation as him, will they be able to hang on together?
Disclaimer - Hey Arnold? If it was mine I'd pay Cecile for her work. But I'm not. Sorry '
Author's NoteAh damn, I'm about two days later than I wanted to get this done. I came out of a bit of a writer's block, but I think I have all of my creative juices flowing again. Like I wrote in the last chapter, everything has been corrected and made a bit neater to read. You can thank my new beta reader BC for that . Because she's done so much, all the future chappies will be written in thanks to her. If you hopefully enjoy this next part, don't be afraid to write a review.
You seem to ask me why I got a lot of things
It's just a chick thing...
You ought to let it go
You try to understand
but you don't have a clue...
That's what girls do
Keep you guessing the whole day through
Play your emotions push all your buttons it's true
That's what girls do)
No Secrets - That's What Girls Do
"And the last thing is the mess hall. It's huge and vacant now, but it can be nerve racking at times when you have a headache. It'll seem to echo and triple the amount of kids that are in here." Arnold gave an allusion of a smile as Helga gave it a once over look, obviously not impressed.
"This seems like a freaking small space for the amount of brats. Who knew we could cram this many kids into this sorta situation." Helga shrugged, and turned on her heel with a spin. Arnold had to hold back laughing for the innumerable time during her tour. Such a sharp forked tongue could hurt even the strongest of fronts, and despite trying to think of this place on a positive scale, he had to agree with Helga on several issues which many of the kids could have never dared to admit. Although she'd never know, just her rough but memorable exterior was curing a bit of the loneliness of the gloomy, clammy, and frosty prison.
"Hey! Football head, do I have to introduce you to the 'Five Avengers' to get your weird shaped head out of space?" Helga demanded at the edge of the doorway, irritable from the drab and dusty place. Her frown deepened with every second as he waved his arms back and forth, submissive.
"No no, of course not. I was just…" Arnold stuttered, "just…admiring the beauty. That's all. Uh, yeah…" he finished lamely. Helga snorted the weak attempt of the response, but didn't make a sound of rebuttal. "Anyways, what have you been doing Helga? What's the world like out of these walls?" He glanced outside the high windows, watching the heavy rainfall continue into the shadows of night.
"How should I know?" He inwardly winced as she snapped at him, knowing that instant it was a stupid question to ask. "I-I mean, how should I know how to explain it to you? It's the same as usual. Besides the group getting older, that's all. Did you know Gerald and Phoebe are going out now?"
"Really?! No Way!" Arnold jumped, beaming brightly now.
"Yeah. Everyone on the face of the earth knows that Arnoldo. They hold hands at school whenever they can. Don't you even talk to your best friend?" She asked incredulously. Helga in turn winced at her choice of words as she watched the corner of Arnold's lips gradually sink down in a sad frown. "I mean, yeah, they are together. He really missed you when you disappeared, you know. Most of the time, Phoebe was there consoling him or me. And I guess something just finally registered between them." Helga smiled lightly, in remembrance of her old friend. She hadn't seen her in a while, and Helga had to admit Phoebe was a loyal and great friend since she was young. Remembering something, she stuffed her long fingers and search thoroughly through her pink pockets, pulling out a small Polaroid.
"Here Arnold…" Helga sighed, with a light smile hidden beneath as she gazed upon the piece of paper. She let it fall into his opened palm. "You probably would like having this with you."
"Wait! Wow Helga, I can't believe you had this with you!" Arnold grinned, staring down at the picture. It contained Arnold, Phoebe, Helga, and Gerald at the annual cheese fair their last year together. Even at this point he could have told each other that Phoebe and Gerald were destined to be together, the way that Gerald was holding onto Phoebe as she clung against him upon the roller coaster "The Cheezebolt." They had a face of pure fear against them, as the glanced upon the last and highest plunge downwards. Arnold snickered lightly as he remembered how much Gerald denying he was scared after the ride was over. What was most shocking was how in the fuzzy detail of the picture you could make out how Helga was grasping onto his arm in exhilaration and what he thought (but knew would never be admitted to) as tension. They both had a youthful smile upon their faces, and Arnold suddenly felt years older than the picture he had grasped.
"Helga…" Arnold looked up, smiling lightly. She wasn't waiting for him however, but was walking away with one of the older redheads in the direction of the stairs, talking in hushed secretive tones. He shot a lopsided smile towards her back, and took a glance down once again. "Helga, you were always puzzling, but a friend to the very end. I'll pay you back…"
---------------------------------------------------
"What do you mean a girls' night out? I just got here, and aren't we supposed to keep put after dark? What do you possibly do?" Helga asked incredulously, marching up the stairs with Candy.
"Aw Helga, what happened to the girl who's adventurous and stuff?" she said grinning. "We gotta introduce you to the other girls here, and kinda, initiate you. You might be pretty young, but your still one of us. Give into the dark side…" Candy gave her a satisfied smirk, and threw her hand around Helga's shoulder.
"Well, if I'm givin' into the dark side, you better be paying for whatever we're doing O Dark Father. 'Cause they stole my money before we got here. Said, "I wouldn't be needing it," or something like that. Or should I be paying with the force?" Helga mimicked lightly, jumping up the last few steps and making lightsaber motions with her hands.
"Oh shut up and follow me," Candy smirked, guiding her into one of the hidden janitor doors. She gradually creaked the door open, before pushing Helga in quickly and following in afterwards.
Falling in an inelegant fashion, Helga coughed and sneezed the dust away, climbing back to her feet. She rubbed her eyes, washing away the tears coming to cleanse them.
"Geez Can, some sugary coating you got there. You couldn't be sweeter," Helga growled, brushing back the dust upon her pink dress. Blinking away the rest of the moisture from her eyes, she jumped back as figures began to come out from the darkness.
"Welcome to the gang Helga. Meet our side of the fun." Candy motioned the girls to come into the yellow bleeding light one by one.
"This is Jessica. Also known as Ty, considering she doesn't tie to no one. When you hear the bed squeak, good chance it'll be her work. "
An attractively freckled, red haired, dark eyed girl came out of the corner. Her hair was in braided pigtails, and for a fleeing moment Helga's eyes grew fearful of another Lila upon her. The similarities ended there though, as Ty threw her arms around Helga, and wrapped her in the tightest hug she had received in a long time. Ty gave her a sleek seductive grin, and Helga instantly backed away from her grip. Her pink lips spilled each word with an alluring tone, and Helga knew if Lila had ever found out the Helga compared her to Ty, she'd throw one of her ever-so-dainty schoolbooks at her.
"Not badly chosen Candy. Quite delicate. Not quite ripe yet, but she's coming along. I give her a couple of months, and then she'll be worth my time."
Candy simply smiled, and made a motion for the next girl to come out of the corner.
"This is Tiffany, although we call her Bookie. She's obviously the smartest one in the group, and probably the whole orphanage. She's from London."
A medium sized African America girl slid out from the corner, readjusting her thin-framed glasses. They drew attention to her strangely dark green eyes, and heart shaped face. She hugged a thick book against her chest, and smiled lightly at Helga with bright white teeth, bowing her head with politeness.
"Charmed Helga," Bookie beamed softly, making a light curtsy. She was obviously of English accent, already thick with the two words simply spoken. Although hesitantly, Helga made a light curtsy in return, and Bookie smiled even brighter and stepped backwards. She had the soft-spoken personality of her best friend of Phoebe, and suddenly hoped that back at school Phoebe was doing okay.
"Me next! Me!" A girl jumped from the shadows, and beamed hugely, exposing her bright metal braces. She had straight black hair and dark eyes, as usual Asian descents do, but all of her small body seemed to ooze of brightness and sparkles which made Helga wince.
"Okay okay, fine. Just shut up. Last, and probably least, this is Sumomo. She's from…"
"Korea! My mom and dad were Korean but I was born here and I love it here and I don't have an accent but my mommy did but she said I had a lovely accent too and when we go back they'll love hearing an American accent and…"
Ty clamped her hand around Sumomo's mouth and glared down at her.
"Great great. Now she knows us all. Let's get going before they catch us going out the back door." Ty hissed, dragging Sumomo at the door, who was waving her arm furious and with great vigor. Helga gave the slight thought of a bird caught in the cat's clutches, trying to flutter away.
"Ready Helga?" Candy smiled lightly at her, pushing the door open.
"Whatever Bucko."