Chapter 63
Back to School
Everything had dried up tremendously from the flood; in fact, now the sun was shining brightly, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Helga walked slowly, trying to put off the moment when she saw Arnold for as long as possible.
When she finally got to P.S.118 she saw that it was in a lot worse shape than the rest of the city. Although it wasn't exactly wet anymore, there were severe water stains, and the building looked like it might collapse at any second. No one was around, so she figured she was either really early or really late. Of course, there was always the chance that the other students hadn't survived the flood…
When she walked inside, it was like walking into a sauna. The school seemed to be one hundred degrees inside. The hallway was empty, so she took her time walking to the classroom. When she got to the door she said a silent prayer that Arnold wasn't there and went inside.
It turned out that she was early; therefore, there were only two people in the classroom. Phoebe and Lila. Phoebe, being the brainiac that she was, wanted to make sure she didn't miss a thing, and Lila…Lila just thought it would be the 'perfect' thing to do.
"Helga?" Phoebe asked, uncertain of herself.
Helga merely nodded.
"Helga!" Phoebe exclaimed, jumping out of her seat to hug her best friend.
"Hey, Pheebs," Helga said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
"Oh, Helga! I'm so happy to see you! But, but I thought you and Arnold drowned? How on earth-"
"Cool it, Pheebs, I didn't drowned. I half expected you to though."
"Oh, no, Gerald and I used Arnold's plan of escape to direct all the other kids to the roof of the school," Phoebe explained. "Everyone's fine."
"Oh…well, that's good," Helga said, expressionless.
"But wait, where's Arnold? Is he okay?"
"Yes, wherever is Arnold?" Lila said, faking concern.
"What's it to you?" Helga snapped at Lila.
"Is it too much to ask to inquire about the boy I love?"
"Love?!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"Yes, love! Oh, I just love him ever so much! I do hope he is alright so that I can tell him how deeply I feel about him!"
Phoebe cast a worried look at Helga.
"Shut up, please, just shut up," Helga thought miserably.
Lila, her business done, turned on her heel and walked back to her seat.
"Um, Helga, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Phoebe," Helga said sadly.
"It's not…Ice Cream, is it?" Phoebe asked, using a code name they had made for Arnold, so no one knew they were talking about him.
"Kinda."
Phoebe sat down in a desk at the back of the room, and Helga sat in the desk next to her. Phoebe glanced at Lila, who was now reading a book.
"Lila's not listening," Phoebe whispered. "Tell me."
Helga took a deep breath. "I've been rejected."
"Huh?"
"I've been rejected, Pheebs. I poured my soul out to him, and he didn't even care. He's still in love with Lila."
Phoebe gasped. "Oh, Helga, that's awful! I'm so sorry! I-I don't know what to say!"
"There's nothing to say, Phoebe. My sole reason for living has been taken from me."
"Helga, I-"
"Shh! People are coming in!" Helga whispered urgently, as Stinky, Rhonda, and Sheena walked into the classroom.
"Phoebe, this conversation never happened."
"Right. Forgetting!"
"Why, Helga, I didn't expect to ever see you again!" Stinky exclaimed.
"Yeah, Helga, you're supposed to be dead. What gives?"
"Well, you almost died too, Princess, so why don't you just shut up about it?" Helga snapped at Rhonda.
"Fine!" Rhonda sniffed, sticking her nose in the air.
"But how did you survive?" Sheena asked.
"Yeah, on account of Lila bein' a dang murderer and all."
"Oh, Stinky, I'm ever so sure I had no intention of pushing Helga out that window!" Lila said sweetly. "I was simply trying to prevent her from attacking Arnold when I pushed her. She must have just ever so lost her balance."
Helga glared at her. "I wasn't attacking him! I was…"
"Oh, go on! Do tell us what you were going to do. We're ever so dying to know…"