Chapter 2: What Should I Do?
KNOCK KNOCK! Arnold stood outside Helga's front door, waiting for someone to answer. He wondered if maybe it was a good idea to disturb her while she was trying to get some rest. Standing there with his hands behind his back, thinking to himself…
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea? Maybe I should leave and let her sleep? She may need me to help her if she needs some medicine or water or…"
His thoughts were then interrupted as the door swung open and he heard "Hello Arnold! How are you?!"
"Hi Olga. I just wanted to check on Helga." Arnold stepped back, knowing how enthusiastic she could be.
"I'm afraid she's not here." Olga replied, with a disappointed look on her face.
"Where is she? I thought she was sick?!" Arnold asked, confusingly.
"Oh yes, she came home with a terrible headache. I baked her a lemon souffle, sang her a lullaby, and read her a bedtime story!" Olga said excitedly.
Arnold raised an eyebrow knowing how irritated something like that would make Helga. "That was uhh nice of you. Do you know where she is now?"
"Hmm I'm not sure. After her lullaby, I asked if she needed help changing into her pajamas, but she ran out quickly." Olga replied, oblivious to how that must have sounded.
Arnold sighed deeply as he replied "Well, thanks anyway."
"You're so welcome! See you later!" Olga exclaimed, while Arnold slowly walked away from their porch.
As he stood in front of their house a moment, he wondered if he should go find her, or just wait until he saw her at school the next day.
I wonder where she could be? Maybe she's at Phoebe's? Should I bother her if she's not feeling well?
Before Arnold knew it, he found himself circling the park. Partly to find Helga, partly because his spinning head wouldn't allow him to go home and relax.
As he circled the park, staring at the ground, thinking about his missing classmate, he bumped into someone. THUMP!
"Oh, sorry Gerald." he said, not watching where he was going.
"Man, I'm going to get you an ADD medication." Gerald replied, shaking his head.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about…"
"Pataki...yeah, that wasn't hard to figure out. So, did you 'take care of her?'" Gerald couldn't help but joke.
After rolling his eyes at the remark, Arnold replied "I would have liked to, but she wasn't at home."
"Where was she?" his best friend asked, while lifting an eyebrow.
"I don't know. Olga said she was home for awhile this morning, and then left." Arnold explained, full of concern.
"Mm..mm..mmm! Well, you know how that family of hers loves to keep in touch with one another." Gerald said sarcastically.
Meanwhile, Arnold's predictions about WHO Helga was with her correct, but not her whereabouts.
"CRIMITY! I am going to kill her!" Helga scowled, holding a hand to her head.
"Try not to scream Helga. You're only making things worse for yourself." Phoebe replied, as she hung out at the docks with her best friend.
"Gee Pheebs, that's great advice! You haven't dealt with the lunatic rantings I have for the past near twenty four hours though!" Helga scowled, squinting her eyes.
"If I may ask, what exactly happened?" Phoebe wondered, while she and her best friend sat swinging their legs over the pier.
Helga sighed, rubbing her temples a moment before explaining, while Phoebe patiently awaited a response from her.
"Last night, when Arnold was kissing me goo...I mean, when we were saying good night to each other, Olga decided to swing the door open and scream how excited she was that I was home." Helga began while Phoebe nodded her head.
"Then after the golden child scares Arnold off with her high pitched vocal chords that could be heard in China, she drags me in to make me listen to a new piece she's written for some stupid music class her students will be taking!" she continued, while Phoebe noticed her rubbing her temples harder.
"After I storm out of there, she follows me upstairs to bang on my door every fifteen minutes and ask 'Helga, would you like to watch daddy's cell phone commercial? Helga, would you like to try my famous chocolate chip cookies? Helga, would you like to look at family pictures with us? Helga, would you like to hear about my award for teacher of the year?' CRIMITY! What the heck is wrong with her?" By that point, Helga jumped up from her seat, to throw her arms in the air.
"Well I'm sure she meant well." Phoebe replied, knowing Helga wouldn't like the answer.
"Pttss...yeah right! All she cares about is impressing Bob!" Helga scoffed with her arms crossed.
"I gather you haven't gotten any rest since then?" Phoebe asked, although the answer was obvious.
"If I had stayed at school I probably could have just slept through one of Simmons' boring nutrition lectures. I don't for the life of me know what made me think I had a chance in hell of getting any sleep going back home this morning! Sheesh!" Helga scowled, holding her head.
"I find it rather strange your sister wouldn't know to give you a moment's peace in a situation such as this after majoring in psychology." Phoebe thought out loud.
"Phoebe, this is Olga we're talking about. She feeds off attention not isolation! Sheesh!" Helga scowled, feeling her head throbbing harder.
Placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder, Phoebe asked, "Would you like to spend the night with me?"
Looking for a rock to kick, Helga sighed at the offer. "No, that's okay Pheebs. I'll just slip some Zzz-quil in her drink when she's not looking tonight." Helga smirked, while Phoebe held back her laugh.