A/N: Yay new fanfic :) This fanfiction is an alternate universe fic. In this storyline, Helga doesn't know any of the characters (yet) except for her family. Also she is close with Olga, and Olga is only a year older than Helga.

This fanfic's main genre is romance, but it also has elements of drama, comedy, and maybe other stuff.

Also, the title is a lyric from one of my absolute favorite songs of all time, Mr. Brightside by The Killers! This isn't a songfic tho, cause I know that ain't allowed here. Just the title is a song reference :3

Let's get started now that I've talked enough.

A new environment can go lots of different ways for different people.

Either a fresh new start or a recipe for disaster.

But it wasn't really that simple for me.

Let's start from the beginning... Because that's where a practical person would start... right?

My name is Helga Pataki.

My past has been kind of difficult.

I'm pretty nice if I do say so myself, but if you mess with me, don't expect to go down without a fight.

I used to live in Anaheim, California. I was expelled from my old school there.

I know, you're probably judging me and thinking I am a bad kid. But hear me out.

My older sister Olga, was being severely bullied.

From what I know, she was being bullied fot pretty dumb reasons.

She was bullied for being a shy intorvert who cared about schoolwork a lot. She was labeled as a "nerd". Which I found pretty dumb.

I couldn't witness Olga getting bullied anymore, so I had to kick the bully's ass.

Because you do not mess with my family and friends. You just don't.

I got into a fight with the bully, and ended up breaking her arm.

I was expelled for fighting.

So now I'm moving to Hillwood. For a fresh start.

It's not only me who needs a fresh start. Olga needs one too.

And so does my mom. She has a problem with drinking. And she is getting help here.

And what about my dad?

Well, he and my mom got divorced when I was in eigth grade. He's not really in my life anymore.

He is still in Anaheim. Even if he wanted to come with us (which he didn't) he couldn't. He's too busy with his oh so PRECIOUS beeper emporium there.

Even though nobody even uses those pathetic excuses for electronics anymore.

So how he still has that place running is beyond me.

I look out the airplane window as I finish eating my pretzels and Biscoff cookies. I could see the wavy clouds underneath me, and it was actually really cool.

I ate my last pretzel and then pulled out my pink diary and black pen from my pink jansport backpack.

Diary writing and poetry has always been something I love. I can release all of my emotions without judgement by writing in diaries. I've been keeping diaries since I was in first grade, and I am currently on my twentieth diary.

Dear Diary,

I'm on the airplane right now, on my way to Hillwood. I don't know how to feel about this. It's going to be hard to adapt to this new environment, but I'm just glad to get away from the stupid bullies who messed with my sister.

I wonder what this new town and school will have in store for me.

"Please put up your tray tables and keep your seatbelts on." The pilot announced on the loudspeaker. That meant that the plane was going to land soon.

About ten minutes later, the plane was finally landing as my ears started to feel plugged.

People were immediately standing up trying to be the first one to get off of the plane. And the people who weren't competing to get off were clapping. Like, chill out guys. We all wanna get off the plane, and we all will get off the plane.

Five minutes later, I got off the plane with Miriam and Olga. I was feeling tired after sitting in the same spot for hours.

And... we arrived at our brand new house shortly after that. It was a really nice two story, orange and blue triplex.

Goodbye Ahahiem, and hello Hillwood.

I rush to my new room and just flop on my bed. I didn't travel very much, so I wasn't used to being tired like this.

I wrote some more poems in my diary and then changed into my pajamas.

After I wrote and changed into my pajamas, I picked up this book called "Paper Towns" and started reading it for two hours because it's really interesting and I love to read.

I really want to be a writer one day.

It was late at night now, and I needed to sleep because tomorrow was my first day at PS 118 high school.

The next day...

I wake up bright and early at 6:00, well rested with the sun shining and birds chirping-

No. Screw that. People in real life don't wake up like that.

I actually woke up to the loud sound of my mom and sister waking me up, and me feeling tired and like a zombie with messy and ratty hair.

"Baby sister! It's time for our first day at PS 118 high!" Olga exclaimed.

"You don't wanna be late, honey." My mom said.

"Just five more minutes..." I said.

"You say that every morning, baby sis. We have to eat breakfast and get ready for school!" Olga said.

"Fine..." I said as I sat up.

Miriam and Olga made their way out of my room so I could get dressed.

I put on a pink tank top, some mid-tone blue jeans, and black ankle boots.

I also brushed my hair out and put on a pink bow on the top of my head.

I went downstairs and ate a bagel with cream cheese, and I did everything that people normally do to get ready for school.

"You look very nice, Helga." Olga said.

"You don't look so bad yourself." I said.

"Are you excited?" Olga asked.

"I have mixed feelings." I said.

"Me too. But I'm glad to be away from those people."

"You can say that again."

Olga and I took the bus to school. Normally, our dad would drive us, but he obviously isn't here. And our mom can't drive us because she is a recovering alcoholic and her driver's license is suspended.

So taking the bus was our only option.

I sat in my seat thinking about all the possibilities. This was a whole new environment, what did it have in store for me?

Will I fit in here?

We finally arrived at school after about half an hour. I nervously walked into the school that I had never seen in my life before.

Here I was at PS 118 High.

I looked at my schedule while walking in the halls. My first class was English. I loved English in general. Reading and writing were some of my passions.

As I looked at my schedule, I felt myself bump into someone and I fell down. Maybe looking at a paper while walking wasn't the best idea.

"Oh, sorry." I said kind of awkwardly.

"It's okay." I heard as I saw a hand in front of me.

I grabbed on the hand and stood up.

I looked up... and holy crap.

Standing in front of me was the most gorgeous boy I had ever laid eyes on.

He had golden blonde hair that perfectly suited his forest green eyes, and he had a really cute smile.

"Uh, I like your bow. Are you new here?" He asked.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"I've just never seen you here before." He said.

"Are you saying you recognize the face of every single person in this school?"

"This school isn't exactly a mansion."

"Well yes, I am new. This is my first day here."

"Welcome to PS 118, uh... new girl."

"My name is Helga."

"Welcome to PS 118, Helga. I'm Arnold."

Suddenly, this other girl walked up to Arnold.

She was really pretty, no homo, just saying. She had reddish brown hair that was in braids and she had small green bows in each one. She had blue eyes and was wearing a green sweater and a short black skirt.

"Ready to go to class Arnold?" She said.

"In a minute, Lila." Arnold said.

"Okay, see you there." The girl said.

I wonder who that girl was. Was she his girlfriend? Just his friend?

Why do I even care? I shouldn't be wondering about this.

"I'll see you around, Helga." Arnold said.

"See you." I said.

I decided to head to my first period class, English.

And what do you know, Arnold and Lila were in that class too. Such a small world.

I found an empty seat in the classroom and sat in it as I set down my binder.

"Hi." The girl next to me said.

"Hey." I said.

"Are you new here?" She asked.

She was the second person today to ask that. I guess it's just recognizable.

"Yeah, how do you know?" I asked.

"It's kinda obvious when there's a new student at PS 118." The girl told me.

"Okay then."

"I'm Phoebe."

"Helga."

"Okay class, settle down." The teacher announced.

"I'm Mr Simmons. And the only reason I say that is because I see we have a new student.

How about you introduce yourself?"

And this is the part where I have to introduce myself to the class just cause I'm new. I've never liked that thing where we have to tell the class a fact about ourselves. But I'll do it anyway.

I stood up. "I'm Helga." I said.

"What's a fact about you?" Mr Simmons asked.

"Uhhh I like to read and write I guess." I said.

"That's so great and special! This is English class, after all. Thanks, Helga." Mr Simmons said.

This teacher seemed awfully sappy. Not that there's really anything wrong with it. I just notice a lot about people. Maybe I'm judgemental.

"Okay class, it's time for bell work. For bell work, I want you to write a poem about something that caught your eye or stood out to you this morning." Mr Simmons said.

I didn't understand why the teacher wanted us to write about this. It's eight in the morning for crying out loud, what could possibly stand out to us in so little time?

Well, luckily something did catch my eye/stand out to me this morning.

So I guess I had no choice but to write about it. I mean him.

I got paranoid that Mr. Simmons would read the poems to the class, so I signed the paper as anonymous.

A new environment,

How will it go?

A disaster or a fresh start?

Only about an hour has passed,

So it's hard to tell for sure,

But I know one person has stood out to me,

I stumbled across him because of my clumsiness,

He has nice golden blonde hair,

Rare luminous forest eyes,

And an angelic smirk.

Not only that,

He seems like a nice guy.

I wonder if I'll see him again?

I can't believe I wrote this. And I just realized something. If Mr Simmons reads this, it'll be obvious that I wrote it, even if he doesn't say I wrote it.

Oh well. I already wrote the poem. And bell work is over now.

"Okay class, turn in your poems please." Mr Simmons said.

I went over to the turn in bin and I handed in my poem.

"I will decide which three poems are my favorite, and I will read them tomorrow." Mr Simmons announced.

Well, it looks like my paranoia was right. He was gonna read the poems to the class.

About half an hour later, the bell rang for second period.

"What class do you have next, Helga?" Phoebe asked.

I took a look at my schedule. "It's math." I said.

"That's my next class too." Phoebe said.

"That's cool." I said.

"Also, I saw that you were talking to Arnold. Not even half an hour spent at this school, you were talking to Arnold." Phoebe said.

"Yeah. What's the big deal?"

"He's the golden boy. The most popular guy here. And you were already talking to him on your first 30 minutes!"

"I don't like labels. Just because he has a good label doesn't mean he's some kind of greek god."

"Well that's kinda deep. What made you think that?"

"It's a long story. All I will say is that people are usually so much more than what they are labeled."

"That's very true actually. I just thought it was surprising that you were talking to him.

How do you feel about him?"

"To be honest, he's really cute and he seems nice."

The two minute bell rang for hour math class.

"We need to go to class." I said.

"Let's go." Phoebe said.

Phoebe and I really clicked. We became friends almost instantly. She seemed really sweet and supportive and I really liked talking to her. I'm glad I had someone.

Third period rolled around, and I was carrying my textbooks around the halls.

It seemed like I was being a klutz today. And I dropped one of my books.

"I'll help you with that." I heard from behind me.

And... it was Arnold again.

"You stalking me football head?" I asked.

"Football head?" He asked, confused.

"Your head kind of looks like a football." I said.

"Watch it, there, new girl.

Let me get your book for you." Arnold said as he got my book from the floor and handed it to me.

We had third period, then fourth period, and now it was time for lunch.

I sat with Phoebe at one of the tables in the cafeteria. And then this one girl just stood on one of the tables. She had black hair that was in bangs, and she was wearing an overly fancy red dress with sparkles. She also had tall black heels and a designer handbag. I don't know how she was standing on the table with those really tall heels.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!" She yelled.

I guess she could just make every single person in the lunchroom stop talking just so they could listen to her.

"That's Rhonda, the queen bee. She's popular and rich." Phoebe whispered to me.

More labels. Great.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of labels because of what happened to Olga.

"I'm having a party after school! All of you are invited!" Rhonda announced.

She's having a party and inviting everyone? It seems like that would be a really big party.

"Do you think you want to go?" Phoebe said.

"Maybe. It would a good experience as the new girl I guess." I said.

"I'm not the biggest fan of parties, but I'll go if you go." Phoebe said.

"I'll think about it.

Also, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"What's the deal with Arnold and Lila?"

"Does someone have a crush on Arnold?"

"No. I barely know him. I'm just curious."

"Well, Lila is his girlfriend."

My suspicions were right. Arnold and Lila were dating. But why should I care?

"Don't tell anyone I told you this, but their relationship is getting rocky though." Phoebe said.

"Thanks for telling me stuff about the school and the people here." I said.

"My pleasure." Said Phoebe.

I decided that I was gonna go to Rhonda's party after school. I wanted to see what would happen, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get myself out there.

Authors note: one chapter down. Sorry if the poem wasn't good. I'm not good at poetry like Helga is.

Also I slipped a Spongebob reference in this chapter. ;)

See you in the next chapter.