Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!

The Day You Will

By Moonlight

A Talk Of Truth

The rest of the week went by uneventfully. The usual silence between the two, as Arnold could only watch her and wait patiently for whatever it was that had her so anguished to pass by. His eyes followed her figure as she stood up from her seat to place the morning assignment on Mr. Leonel's desk. She whispered something to him. The man, who was very new to teaching, shifted in his seat to regain proper posture from the way he was leaned back in his office chair. Running his hands through his dark hair, her pulled the length of it back and tied it loosely, in order to comfortably use his reading glasses.

Being as observant as he was recently, Arnold caught the brief look of awe the young teacher gave Helga, before he picked up her carefully written assignment and read it to himself.

The topic for the assignment this time was a very simple "Describe your evening in a short poem." Though Arnold knew he was by no means a decent poet, or writer for that matter, he did know that Helga seemed to have a way with words. Words that had made their fourth grade teacher swoon, even. What Mr. Simmons had read to the class on several occasions, though signed by Anonymous, had been proven to be Helga's writing by the man's slip up one morning. "I'm looking forward to read yours, especially, Helga!" he had whispered to the girl, rather loudly, as he collected their papers.

Helga returned to her seat, opposite the classroom from Arnold. He watched as she sat down, and returned his gaze towards the front of the room. The man at the desk's smile began to fade into a very pronounced and concerned frown. After a brief moment, The man stood up from his seat and headed towards the back of the room where Helga sat. A solemn look on her face as she looked out the window.

"Helga, see me after class please." he said to her softly but loud enough that Arnold was able to hear it.

He wondered what it was that caused Mr Leonel to worry about the girl so suddenly. It obviously had something to do with her writing, however Arnold hadn't the slightest idea of what it could be. Phoebe had mentioned something about her having a lot to deal with, end this situation made him all the more curious as to what it was that she was going through.

Leaning forward over his desk, he extended a finger and tap to Gerald on the shoulder. Startled, Gerald turned around to face him with a what-do-you-need look on his face.

"Did Phoebe really not tell you anything about what's going on with her?" Arnold whispered.

Gerald sighed in slight annoyance at his friend before responding, "Arnold, for the last time, she hasn't told me anything about Helga. It's obviously a secret that she doesn't want to talk about, and you just have to live with it, I guess."

Arnold leaned back into his chair once more and glanced over at Helga one last time before the bell rang.

"Come on," Gerald chimed, stretching his arms and motioning towards the door, " I want to make it to the cafeteria before all the tapioca pudding is gone."

Sighing once more, the blonde boy got up and followed his friend out the door. "Wait," he started, "give me a minute, okay?"

"All right, but don't come crying to me when there's no more pudding for you." Gerald teased before hightailing it down the hallway, towards the cafeteria.

Turning back towards the classroom, Arnold noticed the door had been closed behind him. He took a few steps close, just enough to peer through the latticed window without being seen by the two figures inside. He could hear nothing, but continued to watch as Helga's expressions changed like the seasons. Her distant look was replaced by an aggravated one, and then by a look he had never before seen on her face. A look that fell somewhere between pain, hatred, and disgust. He watched as the two sat there for a long while. Helga occasionally saying something and the man nodding understandingly. When Mr. Leonel's mouth began to move, her look suddenly softened to a more mellow expression. Her eyes, still filled with sadness, became masked by her hair which now fell in front of her face by the slow lowering of her head.

Arnold took another step towards the door, hoping to hear even a slight bit of what they were saying, but could hear nothing but muffled words.

The dark haired man stood up from his desk, and Arnold kept his eyes glued to him as he walked around his desk to stand in front of the girl. He placed a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment before stepping back and walking her towards the door. Arnold caught a glimpse of a small smile upon her lips before he backed away quickly and retreated around the corner, out of sight.

Helga, reluctant to speak with her teacher, hesitated to get up from her seat. She shuffled around in her chair and pretended to dig through her backpack, trying to buy time before she had to face the guy at the front of the room. Though she didn't like to admit is, her teacher was like none she ever had before. The few times they had a one on one, he had been very cautious and kind. Very careful with his words, and seemed to always know what to say.

It kind of scared her, to be honest.

Lost in thought, mid movement, Leonel spoke from across the room. "Helga, your assignment, though enchanting as always, was very concerning." He pulled a chair from a nearby desk and positioned it in front of his own, facing him. "Please have a seat. I'd like to discuss what you wrote." He gestured to the chair and nodded.

Slowly, Helga made her way towards the front of the room. Her backpack in hand, dragging along the linoleum flooring along with her feet, who were still rethinking the idea of this conference.

Finally reaching the desk, she sat before her teacher and stared down at the glazed mahogany desktop before her. She could feel her fingers itching to move around from the nervousness, so she awkwardly scratched at her knees.

"I wish I could climb into this box."
He began reading from her paper, "I wish I could be erased.

For the emptiness inside this place,

I've had to face for too many days.

I can hear him laugh in the distance,

While she lies on the floor, feigning existence.

One too many.

To her it's all the same.
Do so much.

And not a penny to our name.

I wish I could climb into this box."

Taking a deep breath, Leonel ran a hand through his now loose hair as it fell over his shoulder. "Helga, tell me about this. It's not like what you usually write."

She frowned in response, "You BARELY know me! Why does it matter?" she scoffed.

"I have an idea of what this is, but I want to hear it all from you."

Narrowing her brow further, she leaned forward in her seat, "I'm NOT blabbing to YOU about my home life."

The man kept an understanding look on his face, "You don't have to. We can just sit here and you can have a quiet place to think. I just want you to know I will listen if you want to tell someone about your worries. If you want to take some of the load off of your shoulders."

After a few moments of silence, Helga sighed and turned to look out the window, "I do…"

He hummed questioningly.

"...I want to...I want to tell someone. I want to tell someone who I won't have to crush with the knowledge of it all." she said, hanging her head, "I don't want to tell anyone I care about…"

Leonel smiled knowingly and took a deep breath, "I understand completely. And it's really a very genuine thing to consider, Helga."

She was silent again.

"Do you want to tell me? About your mother, I mean…" he said slowly.

Helga's hands balled into fists. Her blood began to boil under her skin as she opened her mouth to let the word vomit begin, "YES. She's a drunk. She's ALWAYS been a drunk. For as long as I can remember, all she's EVER cared about was her damn "smoothies" and Olga." She spat out, her arms crossing over her chest.

He nodded, never taking his eyes off of hers, "And your father? What does he do?"

"Why should I tell you? Why did I even say anything? You know, I'm starting to regret ever even giving you that crap poem!" she said angrily as she slammed her palms against the desk, preparing herself to stand up.

"No no, Helga, relax. I just want to get to know you." he started, and she scoffed at his words. "I can see that your homelife is not...ideal."

There he goes again. Taking the time to pick his words so as not to hurt anyone. "That's an understatement." she responded, slumping back into the chair. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but the words evaded her.

"Take your time." he said cautiously.

Exhaling, she began again. "Bob is… he's not exactly a 'father' to me. Never has been. He's constantly sabotaging us with his JOB."

Leonel raised an eyebrow at her words, "How so?"

"I mean, he's SO obsessed with his BEEPER company, that he's pretty much dedicated himself to the damned thing! He knows that the beeper business is dying out, and he's been offered a contract to start selling PHONES, but he REFUSED to sign it, causing the business to run into the ground!" she exclaimed while tugging on her pigtails. "We LOST our HOUSE. On top of everything, we lost our home…"

The man's blue eyes grew wide, "Helga, are you-?"

"Homeless? Nooooo. We're living at the WONDERFUL Beeper Emporium." she finished, slumping into the chair and trying to shake off the array of mixed emotions that were flowing from her being.

Without saying a word, they sat in the dimly lit classroom for what Helga felt seemed like an eternity.

Shifting in her seat, she sat back up and looked her teacher in the eye, "Look. I don't want anyone knowing this...I haven't even told Phoebe…"

"To be honest, I might have to... However," he squared up with her, "If something serious happens to you or you feel like you're in danger, you need to tell someone. It can be me, it can be Phoebe, or another teacher- I don't care who, but you need to say something… understand?"

Slightly taken aback, she nodded slowly before lowering her head.

Leonel stood up from his desk and made his way towards her. "Helga," he said, placing a warm hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him, "You're not alone. Thank you for sharing this with me. If you need to talk more about your family, I would be happy to recommend you to a school counselor."

She shook her head slowly, "It's alright. I feel a bit better now… after this, I mean."

Standing up, Helga grabbed her backpack and followed him out the door. Once in the hallways, she turned to face him, "Thank you…"

"Anytime. Just keep your chin up, okay?" he responded before closing the door and returning to his desk.

Helga sighed and began to walk down the hallway before a voice called to her.

"Helga…" Arnold step out from around the corner and eyed her with the most concern she'd ever seen on his face. "Are you alright?"

Turning away from him, she continued to walk away.

"Helga please," he reached out to grab her arm, "I'm worried about you…"

She could feel her heart begin to melt at his touch. His words stung, but somehow softened her entire being. He's worried…? About her of all people? Helga tried to shake off the feeling begging to flow out of her, but her heart strings refused to let her move.

"Leave me alone…" she said quietly. Her voice emitting a hint of sadness.

As if in a trance, Arnold released her and watched as she walked away again. "I…"

Moonlight: Slightly longer. I need to work on beefing up my chapters. Augh.