We loaded up the car the night before so, that once we got up we just had to get on the road. In theory, it sounded easy. Once morning rolled around, we all overslept, the baby was cranky, I couldn't find my left shoe and I couldn't coax Theo out from under the couch. After what seemed like hours we were all settled, Dad and Mom agreed that Theo could ride with them, and we got on the road.

Much to my surprise the ride back to Hillwood was simple and fast. Lucee was cranky and cried, a lot. And I spent most of my time trying to quiet her down, eventually giving up and putting on my headphones. We stopped at a burger place once we crossed the New Jersey line for an early lunch. I knew that it was only a matter of hours when I would be back in Hillwood and I felt my stomach tightening with worry. I put on my headphones, hoping that the music will help me sleep, but it was too uncomfortable. Eventually I settled to listen to Olga and Griffin's boring conversation, I guess that did it because when I woke up next we had just passed the gas station just out of town. But what once a small town had grown. The few miles of open space was now a suburban neighborhood. From what I remember, Hillwood only had two large buildings but now there was at least six of various heights and shapes. "Look, Helga! The town sure has changed!" Olga said in awe. "Yup." I agreed, I just hope that the old neighborhood hadn't changed this much.

After a serious of quick turns we where finally in the old neighborhood. I passed Phoebe's house then Sheena's, Eugene, Harold, Mrs. Vitellos flower shop and Green Meats. I was extremely happy that the businesses where still running and that small town feel was still there. We finally passed Arnold's house, Griffin made a u-turn and he parked next door to the boarding house. "Oh shit." I said as I saw Arnold come out of the house with a large trash bag.

Olga came around to grab Lucee out of the car. Hopefully he doesn't recognize us. That thought went down the drain as I heard him call out for Olga. I didn't even hope that Olga would deny it. "Hey Arnold, nice to see you again." I saw her make her way up to the house. Shit! How-what am I going to say. Whatever. Forcing myself out of the car,"Of course! All that baby did was cry all the way here and as soon as we get there she stops." Ignoring my weak legs I walked around to the car only to be faced with Arnold. He had grown taller, his hair was a little shaggy, his head was no longer oddly shaped. He looked good but had dark circles around his eyes. And if it wasn't such a weird situation I could have sworn that Arnold was checking me out. "Would you quit gawking at me football-head!" I blurted out, feeling the old me raising the walls back up. I had taken only three steps when Arnold called out. "Helga?" I spun around then cursed myself for turning so fast. "I thought you where d-dead." I blinked and I shifted from one leg to the other, "If I was dead would I be talking to you? Jeez how stupi—sorry, old habit." I was thankful that I had stopped myself from being his bully, you messed his life once, you know what bullying does to people. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. I'll talk to you later, ok football-head?" I quickly turned around and walked to my house. "And I changed my name to Gabbee Adams." I said before closing the front door.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Arnold now knows, he knows. He knows! What am I going to do? I slumped against the door frame. I knew that the truth was going to come out, I knew that I was going to have to explain everything but, I did not think that it was going to be as soon as I set foot in Hillville.

I closed my eyes, how could I have stopped this from happening? Ugh! "Gabs you can get off the floor." Giulia said as she walked down the stairs. I closed my eyes, "Not know." She laughed. Of course, she would laugh she doesn't have to deal with the drama that is my life. Reprimanding myself for my pity party I force myself to inspect the house. It was hot, but the AC was on and I could feel the cold air from the vents. The house was large, a giant living room, a large kitchen with outdated appliances, a cramped dining room and a really bad first floor restroom. I knew that the house was three stories high, and I wanted the top floor. I quickly inspected the second floor. It had five rooms and three restrooms. I finally found the stairway that led directly to my room and rushed upstairs. I had expected the room to be somewhat small but was surprise to see it larger than my old room. I rushed downstairs, excited about the remodel.

Tripping on the last step on the stairs I rushed to the kitchen knowing that Olga and Griffin would be there. "My lovely sister!" I sang as I ran to the kitchen. Griffin was sitting on the stool in front of the too small table, and what seemed to be the only furniture in the house, feeding Lucee her bottle. Olga was leaning against the kitchen cabinets, a goofy smile plastered on her face. "I was wondering when you where going to show up." I smiled. "I want the third floor room and I want to start arranging it and decorating it. When can we start? When? When?" I knew that I was acting like a little five year old let loose at a candy store but, I just couldn't contain myself. "When?" I said again. Olga and Griff laughed. "So?" I asked. "Well, the house does need a lot of work. Okay, we can start with the bedrooms first and then work our way down to the living room and the kitchen, how does that work?" Griffin asked Olga.

Olga seemed to deliberate for a minute. "Sounds good. We can work on the bedrooms, then mom and dad and Helga can decided on the rest." I was confused, "You guys aren't staying here?" I asked them. Olga quickly rushed towards me. "Oh we are, but not permanently. We can't live with my parents the rest of our lives and we need our privacy like any other couple." I made a face, I knew what they where trying to say and I silently thanked her for sparing me more details. "So when can we go shopping? Because we need beds." At this Olga let a loud "what" and rushed upstairs. Griffin and I heard her as she ran up the stairs and open and closed the bedroom doors, then rush back downstairs. "Griffin, where are the beds?" Griffin shrugged. "I thought that the truck was going to arrive before us."

Before Olga could freak out on him, his cell phone rang. He calmly picked it up and answered. After a few minutes of conversing and Olga pacing the kitchen, he hanged up. "So, good news and bad news. The good news is that your mom and my uncle are on there way here, the bad news is that the truck is delayed in Jersey."

"There is no point waiting at an empty house, why don't you come over and have lunch with the family?" A voice said from the kitchen.

I found myself staring up at the ceiling and squirming away from the disgusting smelling concoction that my mother was wafting to my face. "Arnold are you okay?" my mother asked. "Shortman, how many fingers am I holding?" Grandpa Phil said. I blinked a few times to take the blurriness away from my sight before I answered. "Yeah, mom I'm okay. Grandpa your holding three fingers up front and two in the back." I saw grandpa smiling before he sat on the sofa. "Arnold what happened?" dad asked making his way from the kitchen. "I-I think I just saw Helga and Olga Pataki moving next door." "What!" Stella screeched dropping the disgusting goo on the floor, making me move to the other end of the sofa. "That can not be true. Weren't the Pataki girls dead?"

Arnold shrugged, "I thought so too, but then I talked to them and Helga apologized." "Oh, you spoke to Eleanor?" Grandma Gertie said as she walked into the living room. I saw that grandma was not surprised or shocked. Taking the orange juice that she offered I nodded weakly. Now everyone seemed to be looking at her. I caught mom giving dad a worried look. "Where?" She asked me. And it seemed that Grandma was the only person that believed me. "Just outside, when I was taking the trash out. She and Olga, a man and a baby are our new neighbors."

I saw the large smile that grandma gave me. "Oh, I just knew that there was a reason Miriam wasn't telling me where they moving too. I am so glad that they moved in next door." And just like that everything fell into place. All the calls, they started right after Helga had die—disappeared.d "Grandma, you-you knew that Helga was alive?" I said in a harsh tone. Everyone looked at me in silent,shock. "Yes." She said taking a step closer to me. "I was the one that also helped them escape, I couldn't tell anybody. I lived with the secret for five years, fearful of your reaction Arnold because I knew how you were going to be beyond upset. But understand this. Things for Helga were going to get worse if she stayed and thank god for Miriam realizing it in time. Because if she hadn't I assure you that Eleanor would have died by the hands of that man! So, I did what I had to do, Arnold. And I wont apologize for helping that girl get away from that horrid excuse of a man."

Everyone in the house looked at her in shock. "Mom you knew?" Miles asked. Grandma Gertie just rolled her eyes and turned back to her grandson. "I know that you are shocked to find out the truth but, she had to keep it secret in order to live a life free from fear and she has." I cocked an eyebrow, somewhere inside understanding that his grandmother did it for Helga. After a quick internal debate, I decided that staying angry will not help me solve anything. "I'm sure that she appreciates everything that you did Grandma, but it was hard on all of us, believing that she was dead." "So does she still have the uni-brow?" Grandpa Phil asked breaking the tension. I burst out laughing but, grandpa continued. "She would have been a looker if she had just gotten rid of that brow." Stella looked in shock at the teasing that her son was partaking in, catching the look I stopped laughing. "No, she actually looks good. Beautiful actually."

Grandma Gertie and Granpa shared a look that I could not describe, but I knew that most likely it had to do with me.

Next door, a livid Olga and Helga where screaming at the phone. "She was not shocked at all to see us! She invited us to lunch, Arnold practically became a statue but his Grandma, she was not shocked at all! Why, mom?" It was the fourth time that Miriam denied knowing anything about Gertie, but Helga and Olga recognized the tone immediately. Taking away the phone from Helga's hand and putting it on speaker Olga calmly asked her mother again. "We agreed on no-contact to anyone in Hillwood. And mom I know that you broke it. How else could she know? What if the plan had not worked and we could have been in danger this whole time." She heard her mother sigh. "Okay, I'll tell you everything." Helga walked up to Olga hovering over the phone, catching every word of the explanation.

"In one of my many black outs, and I am ashamed of them—who knows what trouble I got myself in—well, I found myself in an alley not too far from the neighborhood but well enough not to recognize it. Well, one afternoon, recovering from a killer hangover I was slumped against the dumpster where Gertie found me. She cleaned me up, gave me an earful about what the hell was I doing in my life and then she made me realize that the only person that was actually suffering was my baby girl. That Helga, was my turning point. That night was the night that I promised you we would escape and we did. After that night I recycled the bottles and pretended to be drunk not to arouse suspicion in Bob, I talked daily to Gertie, meeting when we could, I did not trust the phone lines and eventually we hatched out the plan to escape. We escaped and I told her where we where, and how we where doing and kept her up to date in all of our lives, I trust her completely and I know that she will never do anything to put you girls in danger. I am sorry that I lied to you. But I needed to keep talking to her, to have some type of verification that I was doing all right with our new lives."

By the end of her rushed explanation, Griffin came to the room, "I don't know about you guys but I am getting kinda hungry." "We just ate!" Olga said as she grabbed her daughter to make the short walk next door. I quickly said goodbye to mom telling her that we were back to ok, not perfect but better.

I was shocked when the door opened and a tall, blonde man opened the door and no assortment of animals rushed out of the house. Must be the wrong house. But he quickly invited us in. "So, I'm Miles Shortman. Arnold's believed to be dead dad." Arnold knew that you guys where not dead. He always believed that his parents will come back. "Dad!" Arnold screamed from down the hall. "I never thought you were dead!" he said walking into the living room. I was glad that Arnold was back to not stuttering. After quick introduction and a quick tour of the downstairs we where led to the kitchen. Lunch consisted of spaghetti and meatballs with Caesar salad and pink lemonade. I was worried that there was going be awkwardness around the table but, the conversation flowed freely and I was so thankful for that. I was brought out of my thoughts when grandpa Phil volunteered Miles and Arnold to help unpack. Stella also volunteered to help. Everything was set out, and I thanked Gertie before leaving the house. No one asked me anything and I appreciated that they let me have a few minutes to gather my thoughts. I sat on the steps of my new house and looked around the neighborhood. Jeez, I missed this place. "We missed you too." Arnold said.

It was quiet for a few minutes before I broke the silence. "You know that the boring conversation in doors was better than this silence." I saw Arnold lips form into a smile. " I don't know what to say." I nodded, "I think its more like you don't know what to ask." Arnold eyes widened and then nodded. "I left the night before my birthday. I knew that Phoebe was going to be the most worried. I knew that out of everyone, my best friend was going to suffer the most. It sucked that I couldn't see her or talk to her, or even give her a sign that I was alive and well. And eventually I just stopped. I pretended. I pretended that Phoebe and I just drifted ways and that we both moved. It was easy to not be a bully and it was a little bit easier when I made new friends, it was easier when mom married Alan, he is my dad, my only dad. It became easier to deal with Olga and life was just easier away from him. But I did miss her, and you and everyone from the neighborhood. Even Brainy." He laughed.

"He moved to the Alps a few years ago and then moved back completely different." I raised my eyebrow. "How different?" I asked amused. "Lets just say that hes not the same pale, glass wearing guy." I laughed. "Where did you move to?" He asked after a minute of silence. "New Sindo. Its in North Carolina. A coastal city. Great place to surf." "Really?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Yeah," I said, "you are looking at New Sindo's number one amateur surfer. I got first place this summer at the Wave Fest Competition." "So? You are looking at Hillwood's MVP, three year running in basketball and football." I laughed at his outburst. Our calm atmosphere changed. "Where's your mom?" "She's in New Sindo. She and Dad are packing the last things while we settle the house here. But I talked to her earlier and there on their way. Then when they come by its going to be complete chaos. With remodeling the house, mom opening a bakery, and dad's new PEach Partnership and the store grand opening, I am so glad that I just have to babysit and walk Theo." "Who is Theo, your dog?" "Nope. He is my cat who likes to be taken out on walks. I swear that the tabby cat acts more like a dog than an actual dog. Can you believe that he once actually ate my homework?" At this Arnold laughed.

He was quiet for a second. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that your dad is opening a PEach store in Hillwood. Like an actual PEach store, the white walls and PEach tablets and PEach laptops." I nodded then realized that he probably couldn't see it. "Well, yeah. They are also opening a research lab downtown and he is overlooking everything." "But I thought you said that he was a coach and that is how your mom and you met him." "Well, yeah. But Griffin Parker, dad's nephew is the "P" in PEach and dad, Alan Adams, is the "a" in PEach. Opening the store in Hillwood and research lab are just going to show that the business can be run by family and thus returning the controlling power to Uncle Peter, who lost it when his wife died, he is also the "P". Yeah, I know that you are confused by all of this, I get confused by who is running the company and I am actually told this information first hand." He laughed, I always wanted a PEach seed." I laughed. "That is such a stupid name for an MP3 player. I am so glad that they did not name the laptop trees or something equally as ridiculous." He laughed again. We where interrupted by his mom, "Arnold, Helga there you are. Would you like some tapioca?"

"Yes, please!" I said making my way up. "Don't worry about it hon. I'll bring you some." Silence once again enveloped us and was broken when the door opened and Stella handed the small cups to us. "Thanks Mrs. Shortman." "Call me Stella. Please?" She gabe me a helpless look that I had to comply. "Okay Stella." She smiled and closed the door as she walked back in. "Helga?" Arnold asked as I took a spoon of the pudding. "Yeah?" "Um, so I called Phoebe—and no I didn't tell her you were not dead—but I told her that I couldn't meet them later at Roy's, its a diner a few blocks south of here that opened a few years ago and, well, we have dinner there every Saturday and knowing me well, they knew that something fishy was going on and they invited themselves over." I only nodded vaguely understanding what he was trying to say.

"Wait, Arnold. Who is "they" that you keep mentioning?" "Well Phoebe and Gerard, boyfriend and girlfriend."That comment alone sparked a curiosity in me, how close had Phoebe gotten to Gerard and Arnold. A smile grew on my face. "She finally got tall afro boy, huh? We always thought that I was going to end with ice cream first." "So did she, that is until you not-not die?" Arnold trailed off, confused on what to call my non-death for the past five years. Swallowing hard He knows about Ice cream too?Did they know about the poems and massive crush on football head? "So, what about later?" I finally asked. "Gerard and Phoebe are coming over to meet the new neighbor. I could come up with an excuse."

Damn it! As if confronting Arnold wasn't bad enough. Today I also get to talk to my best friend who thought I was dead for the past five years. "Awesome freaking welcome back to Hillwood." I spat out sarcastically before taking another bite out of the tapioca. Ignoring his question, I did the only thing I could, "This is really good tapioca."

Authors Note: I am so sorry that it took me FOREVER to update. Life got in the way. School started, work got busy, and I had an eye infection. Than more work and school. But enough with the excuses. I do apologize for the delay. Hope that this chapter is to your satisfaction and like always, feel free to review or comment. Xoxo N.