Chapter 3: What Do You Suppose He Meant?
The next morning Jordan was headed for the Patakis to work with Bob while Wolfgang was on his way to school. Nothing unusual was planned. At least, not that unusual…
Jordan saw his younger brother approaching the door when he said "Hold up a minute!"
Wolfgang angrily turned at the command and snapped "What?!"
Not finding anything strange about his attitude, Jordan confronted him to say "Mom and dad will be home late tonight. They need us to pick up something for dinner. Meet me at this address."
Wolfgang shoved the paper in his pocket, not caring to humor his brother by reading it. The annoyed teen then began facing the door and replied "Whatever. I'm out of here."
P.S.118
While half the class was already becoming affected by Wolfgang's manipulating words, Arnold was keeping his head up about the way the game would turn out Saturday.
"You ready for practice this afternoon?" the blonde boy said to his friend, walking down the hall with him.
Gerald turned to glare at his friend for thinking they had a shot at winning. Yes Arnold's optimism was admirable, but there was such a thing as facing the facts. "If you mean ready to lose, then yes."
Arnold watched Gerald stare hopelessly at the floor, knowing how close they were to losing the lot they had put so much effort into saving. He patted his friend on the back and said "Don't worry Gerald, we've still…"
"Well, well, well…"
The boys turned to see their rival grinning at the vexed girl in their class. Helga stepped forward, not fearing the idea of nearing the eighth grader's face and scowled "Out of my way freak!"
After watching the angry girl shove her way past him, Wolfgang stood proudly and said "You should save that attitude for the game Saturday. You'll need all the luck you can get."
Helga began clenching her fists as she watched the taunting teen walk away from her. Close behind her stood the boys in her class, as Gerald finished for Arnold "We've still got Helga."
Classroom
"I still can't believe I made it to first safely you guys! What a great day!" Eugene exclaimed, thinking back to practice.
"You were just ever so impressive Eugene." Lila smiled, happy for her classmate.
As the group thought about their upcoming game, the remainder of the students entered the room. Helga took a seat beside her friend who had already made it to class.
Ever since Wolfgang's manipulating words were released, Phoebe wasn't sure of how to confront Helga. Although her friend didn't seem bothered by the idea of having her around, one wrong decision about the game could lead to disaster.
"Hey Pheebs, how's it going?" the pigtailed girl asked, as she casually took her seat.
Phoebe cautiously looked towards her friend, wondering what the best response would be. All that had been on anyone's mind recently was the game. What good had she brought to it? "Oh umm fine Helga. How are you?"
Rolling her eyes at the thought of how the week had been, Helga smirked "Pttss...between the nerve of those eighth graders threatening us, and the lack of guts this team is showing, I'd say I've had better weeks."
Although this brought a bit of guilt to the intelligent girl, it was nice not being singled out for any lack of effort she may be showing towards the team.
While these thoughts were going through her mind, there were others in the class, imagining the worst that may happen. Sid sat in his seat, waiting to be physically attacked by who was said to be the class problem solver.
When Arnold at last entered the room, ready to take his seat, the cautious boy ducked for cover. "AHHH!"
After hearing the disrupting noise, Arnold looked to see Sid hiding beneath his desk. Being the caring boy the class knew him as, he went to see what the problem was. "Is everything alright Sid?"
The paranoid student slowly stuck his head up from the desk and said "Oh fine, just fine."
Arnold shrugged his shoulders,not knowing what the problem could be. Just like at practice the previous day, Sid was acting as though something was on his mind that he wasn't willing to share with anyone.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Stinky leaned over towards Harold and whispered "Ya reckon Arnold's planning something to hurt us?"
The husky boy shrugged his shoulders as he watched Helga stand from her seat. She was going to take advantage of any spare moment she had to prepare for practice before Simmons walked in.
"Alright people listen up! Those eighth graders mean business, and we're not going to let them get away with it! No repeats of yesterday. Which means dork, keep your eye on the ball, not the person trying to catch it!"
Sid watched Helga point an angry finger at him, feeling as though Arnold may not be the only person to fear.
While the small boy was fearing for his life, Harold was leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed, still feeling this was more Helga's fault than Arnold's.
Before anymore demands could be made, Mr. Simmons entered the room.
"Good morning class. It's another special day!"
Helga plopped down in her seat with her notebook, tapping her fingers against her plans, already waiting for the day to be over.
While anxiety and annoyance had filled her mind, Arnold began looking around the room. Half the class seemed a bit perturbed. Although it wasn't unusual to ignore Mr. Simmons' lecture, he could sense something was on their minds.
Helga sighed at the fact the day was just beginning. She continued to lean her head in her hand until she glanced up to see a note being passed back to her. Her eyes widened at the idea of being caught. While everyone knew they were dating, she didn't like to think of herself as the mushy type who performed cute love tactics throughout the day.
The anxious girl quickly snatched the note from her beloved when she felt the moment was safe. She then opened it to read…
Have you noticed anything strange lately?
Helga cocked her brow at the note. She thought the class was strange to begin with; a complete bunch of idiots.
What's that supposed to mean?
Arnold wasn't sure of how to explain it without Helga not finding it to be out of the ordinary. They had two different opinions of strange.
Sid won't talk to me, and Phoebe seems afraid of you.
Helga slightly turned to face her friend, not having considered this. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her.
Rather than passing the note back, Helga sat back in her seat, trying to think of a sign this may be true…
She ate lunch with me, she sits next to me, she went to practice with me, she still talks to me for crying out loud! What the heck is he talking about?
Arnold sat in his seat, wondering if he should have said anything. Helga wasn't one to overthink things as he was. After a few hours of pondering this, the bell for lunch came.
Cafeteria
Some of the students were waiting in the lunch line, while others were sitting at a table with ready made lunches.
A wide smile was stretched across Eugene's face, feeling optimistic about their next practice. "I can't wait for this afternoon you guys! I could get another hit! Then make it to another base safely! Oh I can't wait!"
The joyful boy sat fantasizing about the good luck he may be destined to have until he heard someone behind him.
"Well, well, if it isn't the clumsy seventh grader!"
Rather than trembling with fear, Eugene turned in his seat with a smile and said "Oh hello Wolfgang. Ready for the game Saturday? Because I can't wait!"
The vicious teen glared at the redhead's inability to find his behavior threatening and scowled "We'll see how excited you are when you get smacked with a pitch!"
Edmund laughed as he hung over his hostile friend's shoulder and said "Haha! Yeah! I bet he can't even hit the ball Wolfgang."
Annoyed by his friend's active listening, the evil eighth grader turned to shove him and said
"Would you get out of here already!"
"You're probably right, but that won't stop me from showing up! Everyone, clap your hands with me and sing! Every seed turns into a flower! Every minute turns to an hours! Sooo... never let go of hope. It's a life saving WHOA…."
Wolfgang's eyes lit as he watched the clumsy student go from excitedly singing his song to slipping on a candy wrapper. After seeing Eugene slide across the floor, he laughed hysterically and shouted "Haha! Yeah, feel free to show up dork."
Arnold and Gerald were standing in the lunch line when they saw their uncoordinated classmate slide into a lunch cart. "OW! I'm okay!"
Sheena raced over to help her friend. As she sat beside him on the floor, Sheena was beginning to feel as though Wolfgang was right about them wasting their time. Whether it was Helga's fault for challenging Wolfgang or Arnold's fault for not defending them, showing up wasn't looking like the best idea.
Arnold turned to see the hopeless look on Gerald's face, knowing what he must be thinking. "Like you said Gerald, we've still got Helga."
The tranquil boy then turned to face his friend while pointing a finger at the class klutz and sighed "Yeah, but we've also got him."
Table
Rather than using the extra time to review the practice plans, Helga was sitting quietly at the table with her friend. There she watched Phoebe quietly munch on her sandwich. Should she ask her if there was something on her mind, or offer to excuse her from practice?
Before making up her mind, the girls noticed the boys approaching the table. "Hey guys."
"Huh? Oh hey Arnold." Helga replied, starting to feel he may have been right about their friends.
Arnold pushed his tray towards his girlfriend, still having faith they could beat the eighth graders on Saturday.
As he looked around the table, he saw all his friends now possessed troubled looks (but for different reasons).
Gerald knew there was no chance of winning the game. Phoebe was waiting for the moment she let Helga down. Helga was now drawn a blank. What could she have done to make Phoebe fear her? Only one way to find out..
"So Pheebs. Wanna come over after practice?"
Phoebe found this to be a bit peculiar. Normally she was the one inviting Helga over. If Helga was going to get to the bottom of this however, she wasn't going to wait around for an invitation.
The now quiet girl set her lunch aside and replied "Oh why certainly Helga."
The Patakis
Miriam was in the kitchen making herself a smoothie while Bob and Olga were discussing the ad for Bob's business.
After pouring herself a shake, the tired lady leaned against the counter and began listening in on the new plans for her husband's store.
"So how much is this gonna cost me? I'm not sticking this ad out there just to reel in a bunch of people who expect to get their merchandise for half price." Bob warned his new associate.
Not planning to stick around after publishing one ad, Jordan replied "I assure you Mr. Pataki, we'll say only the most positive things about your merchandise to attract the highest paying customers."
P.S.118
The day was on the verge of ending, and Helga was growing anxious, but for a new reason. Practice didn't seem like the most important thing in the world to her now. Even if it did, what good did it do her if the class was too scared to give her their full attention?
"Okay everyone! Have a wonderful day! See you all tomorrow!" Mr. Simmons waved to his students.
Arnold turned in his desk to face his girlfriend and asked "You guys ready for practice?"
Rather than ordering for her best friend to follow, Helga stood to follow her boyfriend. The group slowly made their way down the hall until they were all standing outside the school with one another.
"I'm going home to get my stuff. I'll meet you on the field." Arnold told everyone.
The group all headed separate ways, while Phoebe stood alone a moment, wondering what had gotten into Helga. While she herself may have had a reason to be acting peculiar, she hadn't seen one for Helga to yet.
The Boarding House
Arnold opened the door for the flock of animals to pour past him. After letting them out, the pre-teen entered the building to switch out his school supplies for his baseball gear.
On his way back downstairs, he heard someone in the kitchen. "HE-YAW!"
Arnold stepped in the room a moment to see Pookie chopping watermelon for dinner. "Oh, hey grandma."
Bowing at the meal on the table, Pookie greeted her grandson and said "Ahhh grasshopper. Where are you off to?"
"Baseball practice. Where's grandpa?" the boy wondered, as he ducked for cover when seeing a head of watermelon heading in his direction.
"Slim's in his office. He'll need plenty of room in his stomach for the feast tonight...HE-YAW!"
"Uhh right grandma."
Helga's House
After being too distracted to eat at school, Helga felt it wouldn't hurt to grab herself a snack before practice. There she stood going through all the cabinets in the kitchen, while Miriam was snoring against the counter.
"Earth to Miriam! There's no food around here!"
*SNORE*
Moments of shaking her mother went by until Helga at last scowled "Wake up Miriam!"
The tired lady flickered her eyes and tilted her glasses. She awoke to see an angry girl standing before her, demanding to know where all the food in the house was.
"Huh? Oh sorry hunny. Your dad and sister have been working on the ad, so no one's had time to shop or cook."
Helga cocked her brow at the sorry excuse and leered "Not - Even - You?"
Miriam began to scratch her head, thinking it over a moment. "Well, I uhh…"
The vexed pre-teen didn't feel like waiting around for the sorry excuse however. With that, she grabbed her gear and headed towards the field.
Gerald Field
"Where do you suppose they are?" Lila asked, noticing a few members of the team still hadn't shown up.
"They better be here! I'm not standing here all afternoon when I could be shopping." Rhonda sneered.
"Hey look! Here they come now!" Stinky pointed, seeing Arnold and Helga approaching the field.
The pigtailed girl dropped her gear on the field just as she heard "Nice of you to show up Helga."
The group turned to see Rhonda glare at her classmate, happy to return the harsh remark on her for a change.
Not appreciating the insult, Helga tossed her glove aside and asked "What's that supposed to mean Princess?"
Rhonda stood still with her hands on her hips and sneered "Nothing I suppose. We were just expecting someone as dedicated to winning as you to be more on time."
As Helga was preparing to introduce Rhonda to Ol' Betsy, Arnold stepped in between them to break things up. "Hold on you guys. Let's save it for the game Saturday."
After glaring at her opponent, Helga scowled "Fine! You're on second again Princess, now hop to it!"
Once the two of them were broken up, Arnold began to head for his position at shortstop. Sid (who was already standing in right field) was trembling at the sight of his friend's appearance.
Arnold couldn't help but notice the fearful look on his friend's face and asked "Umm are you okay Sid?"
The anxious boy watched his caring classmate approach nearer and nearer. Before he could get to close, Sid back away and screeched "Me? Oh fine. Just fine Arnold. No problems here."
Arnold then shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what more he could do to get the truth out of Sid.
"Phew!" the nervous boy in cowboy boots wiped his brow, happy to have Arnold away from him. Now he just had to make it through practice without being hit again.
Sheena stepped up to bat, not thrilled about practice. Whether or not it was just a game, no one was looking forward to playing Wolfgang. His presence the past week hadn't exactly had a positive effect on the class' self esteem (not to mention their opinions of each other).
Helga pitched the ball towards her classmate, not expecting to be impressed. Sheena then hit the first pitch in Stinky's direction.
"Aww gee! I done missed it!"
Helga smacked her face at her classmate's inability to catch the ball, while Sheena happily made her way around the bases.
"Nice going dingus!"
Stinky turned to see an unwanted visitor hovering over him. He began backing away as the crowd watched Wolfgang continue to fantasize about victory on Saturday.
"Get ready to lose you pathetic little pip squeaks!"
Helga tossed her glove aside and marched over to their rival. While half the class would have been willing to admit defeat right then and there, she pointed a finger at the arrogant boy and scowled "Listen jerkwad! If you're not here to play then beat it!"
"Fine, I'll go. I've got somewhere to be anyway." Wolfgang laughed, as he turned away from the field.
Helga glared at their opponent, not willing to admit how much work they had cut out for themselves.
The Patakis
Wolfgang looked at the address on the sheet his brother gave him that was still in his pocket. He was soon knocking on the door, ready to get the night over with. As Jordan had said, they didn't get along too well.
Wolfgang stood in front of the door until he saw a drowsy lady answer it.
"Uhh hi."
"Hello...hello...um who are you?" Miriam yawned.
"Is Jordan here?" Wolfgang asked, without caring to explain who he was.
"Umm oh yes, yes. He's... he's right in here." Miriam said as she invited the new boy in.
Jordan turned and waved to his younger brother and said "Hey there little brother. I'll be finished here shortly."
After rolling his eyes at the sight of his older sibling, Wolfgang sighed "Whatever."
Walk
Phoebe was still holding Helga up on her offer to visit her place for a while that evening. After practice, the girls began heading for the Patakis. Phoebe didn't expect anything out of the ordinary, while Helga was anxious to get to the bottom of what she may be hiding.
"So Pheebs. What's eatin' ya?"
"Why whatever do you mean Helga?"
As sensitive as she was, Helga wasn't one to tolerate mind games. If she wanted to know something, she wasn't going to let it drag out. "Oh come off it Phoebe! Stop it!"
"Stop what?"
"I mean football head made it clear something's been on your mind you've been trying to hide from me, now spill it!"
The small Asian girl gulped at the thought of revealing her feelings. While she didn't like upsetting Helga, letting her friend down was something that let her down.
Helga took notice of the sad expression forming on her friend's face and added "You're my best friend. You should be able to tell me anything."
The intelligent girl looked up to smile at her friend who had her arm wrapped around her back. As she wiped a tear from her eye, Phoebe replied "I suppose I allowed my insecurities to get the best of me."
Helga looked up towards the sky, implying she knew a thing or two about that. "Criminy! Well, that's all water under the bridge now. Let's get inside and start plotting victory against those crummy eighth graders."
"Coming Helga!"
Helga's House
The girls opened the door to see Olga and Bob finishing up plans with Jordan for the new ad.
"Hello baby sister! Did you have fun at practice?!" Olga waved eagerly.
While Phoebe waved in response, Helga scoffed with her hands on her hips "Yeah. It was a blast. Come on Pheebs, let's go watch some TV."
"Coming Helga." the small girl chirped as she followed her friend into the living room.
Helga's usual routine would be to grab the remote and put it on Wrestling if Bob wasn't already parked on the couch watching golf. She entered the living room to see the TV was already on the channel she enjoyed with her favorite TV show playing.
The moot girl stood with her arms crossed and leered "Pttss...hey. Who's got a taste for this kind of entertainment?"
Phoebe then tapped her friend on the shoulder and watched her turn to face the malicious boy on the couch.
Helga's eyes widened as she watched Wolfgang stand from his seat. Phoebe gasped in bewilderment as she stood behind her friend "Oh dear!"
After realizing the bit of weakness that had taken over her, Helga shook her head and sneered "Hey! What do you think you're doing here!"
"Nothing. Just thought I'd take a look around while you little freaks finished practicing."
Helga cocked her brow at the response and replied "Take a look around? What's that supposed to mean?"
Before he could push the matter further, Wolfgang heard his brother calling "Alright Wolfgang, let's get going!"
The ill-tempered teen rolled his eyes as he began to follow his brother out the door. Phoebe then turned to see the worried look on her friend's face, wondering what he could have stuck his nose into while they were gone.
"What do you suppose he meant by that Helga?"
Hoping not to seem as though she cared, Helga waved her friend off and scoffed "The heck if I know Pheebs."