WOW! A *long* time since I've uploaded something new! Haha, okay well here you go. Short but gets to the points. CC is greatly appreciated; I'm really looking forward to writing up a fourth chapter ^_^

62 tiles.

Yep.

62 tiles on her living room ceiling. She had counted them 14 different times, and had also been lectured by her father 14 times. Coincidence? Yeah. Sure.

"Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Big B snapped. Miriam was pacing back and forth on the carpet behind him with a martini glass in her hand. "More like when you're talking at me," Helga mumbled. She lifted her head from the back of the sofa chair. Her hair was still wet from her recent shower. It stuck to her neck and the top of her shirt was damp from her wet hair.

"Don't talk back to me! Now I want you to shape up, pronto! It's hardly the first day of school and you're already acting out with your little classmates," her father shook his finger at her. Helga stood up.

"Yeah, you got it B," she told him as she walked towards the stairs. As soon as she started walking up the steps she heard her parents whispering. The fact that they were talking ABOUT her was infuriating enough, but when she heard the name "Olga," her foot stopped in midair, just inches above the step. Actually she didn't think she even heard her sister's name; Helga could just kind of sense it. Or smell it? Then the door bell rang and her parents ran to the door.

A chill ran up her spine. She really, really wished someone had told her about this.

"It's her! It's her!" It was pathetic to Helga the way her parents fawned over her sister, and how excited they got every time she came to visit. I understand they miss their daughter but damn, do they have to go all apeshit every single time she comes?

"BONJOUR BABY SISTER!" Before Helga could make it up the stairs, she felt her sister's arms around her, kissing her hair. "You look so precious! My baby sister is growing up...oh and I see you finally did something about that unibrow!" Olga's face was just inches from Helga, causing Helga to step back a couple feet in slight discomfort.

Helga put on a forced smile, ear-to-ear. "Wow Olga. It's so great that you've come to visit. But I think I have a few things I have to take care of in my room..."

"Okay He-lga, but I'm so excited for dinner. I'm going to prepare a beef wellington and a raspberry soufflé. I also have an announc-" Olga went on.

"Yeah that's great Olga. But I really have to get started on...my project. It's due soon."

"See you in an hour baby sister!"

Yeah...right. Helga rolled her eyes, closed the door behind her, and plopped herself down onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling, more than content to be able to finally be by herself. She dozed off.

What seemed like seconds later there was a loud pounding on the door, and it startled Helga and caused her heart to pound as she quickly sat up. "Hey! Helga! Dinner's ready, get down here so we can eat!"

Helga let out a loud frustrated sigh (of course making sure her father heard.)

"Com-ing daaaad," she said in her infamous whiney voice. She ran her fingers quickly through her hair; it was matted and kinky due to falling asleep while it was still wet.

"Well good morning baby sister!" Olga grinned, taking a stab at Helga's disheveled appearance. Helga, however, was not in the mood.

"Thank God, now we can finally eat," Big Bob exclaimed as he tucked a napkin into his shirt collar.

Helga took a seat between Olga and her father, her mother sitting directly across from her. They began to talk about school, work, recipes, and of course how perfect their eldest daughter was. She had to admit though, the beef wellington was delicious. About a half hour into dinner, Olga began to tap her wine glass with a fork and stood up.

"Okay everybody. I have a wonderful announcement to make before dessert..." Olga began. She then went into detail about her six years of schooling and blah blah blah.

Helga began to feel very nervous. Last time Olga had a "wonderful announcement" she ended up humiliating Helga more than she could have ever imagined in front of the entire 4th grade class.

"...And that is why I decided to become a full time student-teacher at P.S 118 this year!" Olga blurted in one breath. Miriam let out a loud, excited squeal while Bob clapped his hands and congratulated Olga.

To stop herself from spitting her milk out all over the table, Helga quickly gagged and swallowed a mouthful of milk. A bit of milk began to trickle from her nasal cavity.

"You're doing what?!" Helga's eyes widened. She put a hand on her forehead.

"Well Helga, I've decided I want to take a short break from my schooling...so I thought, what better way? I get to help with the art of educating darling children and I get to be around my baby sister!"

"Okay great...but, what classroom are you going to be in?" Helga asked. There was just a small bit of hope in the back of her mind. It was tiny and almost nonexistent, but it was there.

"Mr. Franks 6th grade class, of course!! You're most of the reason I decided to take this job! Now, I wasn't in today because I still have paperwork to complete but I start next Monday. Aren't you excited??"

Olga had her hands on her cheeks and the enormous grin on her face made Helga want to punch something. Or someone. The room seemed as if it was spinning. Today was probably the single worst day of her entire life. Her parents continued showering Olga with praise while Helga just sat, staring at her plate.

Helga was speechless during the rest of dinner and even excused herself early, barely touching the raspberry soufflé. She could hear her sister downstairs playing Tchaikovsky on the piano. This only annoyed her more.

What a disaster.

Helga rolled over on her bed and pulled out a small locket from her bedside drawer. It had a picture of Arnold in it. She had stopped tucking her locket into her blouse; after having been almost caught with it one too many times she decided it would be much safer to just leave it at home.

"Oh Arnold, what a fool I made of myself today. Though 6th grade began with a rough start, this year is going to be different. I'm not going to let Olga get in the way of my goals. I'm going to let you into my true feelings; for it is not fair that you don't know how I truly feel about you; that I love you more than you'll ever know, despite how harsh I am at times. I need you to know that what I said that night on the F.T.I building was nothing but the truth, and I still mean every single word to this day. The truth still stands; I love you Arnold...LOVE YOU!"

And then it began to pour.