Helga sneaked into the house. She leaned against the door and sighed. Every nerve in her body seemed to be tingling, her pulse was racing, her lips felt swollen. She was pulsing and tingling elsewhere too . . .
"That you girl?" she heard her father's voice call out. She straitened her hair, and calmed her breath. Torvald had more self-control than she did, that was sure. He'd stopped things as they started to go too far.
"Yeah, dad, it's me," she answered. She walked into the lounge to see him sitting in his favourite chair, with a photo album in his lap. "Olga" was embossed on the spine in gold. She could see he had been drinking. And crying. "Are you okay dad?"
"No, no I'm not," he admitted. It was the first time Helga had ever seen weakness in her father. She walked over and gave him a hug. "I'm a failure."
"What do you mean?" Helga asked, pulling back. Her father sighed.
"It's a parents job to raise their child, to keep the child safe," he told her. "And I failed. We're supposed to die before our children. Not bury them."
"You couldn't have stopped this dad-"
"Yes i could have," he sobbed. "I raised you girls to sweep it under the rug. Get over it. Keep on going. And look? Look what happened? Olga did that, just that. If she had gone to see someone sooner they could have stopped it from going this 's my fault."
"You don't know that," Helga told him. Her father sighed and closed the book.
"She's going casket shopping tomorrow. Talking about some eco-friendly cardboard thing," Bob said, getting to his feet. He shook his head. "It's not right."
...
...
The next few weeks were all about Olga putting together her funeral and, going to a Halloween party hosted by Rhonda (which she attended with Torvald) and then getting ready for Thanksgiving. It was an uncomfortable time for Helga though. And she could see it was for her parents, too. But Olga seemed to be taking it in her stride, which was weird. This was a girl who sunk into a near catatonic depression over getting a B, albeit a fake B. And yet here she was, about to die, but you'd never know. How could she be so strong in the face of death, but so weak in the face of a letter? Helga almost laughed at it all.
In between she helped Torvald study various topics, and he gave her a shoulder to cry on, took her out, sometimes just to drive around. Helga told only Phoebe at school what was going on. Gerald had been right as well. Rumor was going around that Rhonda had an abortion because she was seen at a clinic. Everyone latched onto that and ran with it. The only people who continued to harrass Phoebe was Annie and Carrie. Even the other cheerleaders got bored with it and moved on.
It was all nothing though, as it turned out. Rhonda was doing a project on the abortion industry, so to speak. She had conducted interviews with the doctors, nurses, religious groups, and people who had gotten abortions and were willing to talk about it - though she at all times omitted names. You could sense the disappointment from some people, while others were surprised that Rhonda would do something so controversial. Everyone expected her to do something shallow and easy, like the fashion industry, or something. Even her teacher was surprised.
Rhonda was popular in school, and a rival for the cheerleaders, whose popularity had dropped since Carrie took over. She and her friends helped support Phoebe through the bullying, and Phoebe and Helga returned the favour. Rhonda never at any point defended herself against the rumors, and her friends knew what was really going on, so she wasn't bothered by the rumors. And Rhonda took great joy in the disappointment on the faces of the gossips and the ones wanting her torn down.
One night while Helga was out, her Economics teacher had seen her out with Torvald.
"Where's your stomach?" she asked her.
"My what?" she asked, not getting it.
"Helga, your pregnant, remember?" she said. "Where's your belly?"
"I thought we only needed them during school or class," Helga said.
"No, Helga, you need them on at all times," she told her.
"But people look at you weirdly," Helga complained. "And they're getting heavy."
"Then write about your experiances, Helga," her teacher told her. "And include the heaviness and everything else. That's what this is all about."
Torvald smiled, and looked away, trying not to laugh. The teacher walked away, leaving him and Helga alone again.
"Yeah, yeah," she said. "Laugh it up, but your the one people will be assuming your the baby-daddy!"
He laughed even harder. "I hadn't thought of that!"
Helga laughed as well, shaking her head. It was nice to be laughing. It was nice just being out of the house. Thanksgiving was next week, then there would be Christmas. Torvald was going to visit family for Thanksgiving, while Helga was spending it with her family here in Hillwood. She wasn't looking forward to losing him, even if it was only for a few days. She had this horrible feeling of foreboding, and she had been trying to shake it off. Something in her world was about to go wrong. She could feel it.
...
...
"I'm going to miss hanging out with you," Torvald said, kissing the top of her head.
Helga tightened her grip around his waist. He and his mother were about to leave, to drive to his cousin's house. It had started snowing three days ago. She looked up at the grey sky and sighed. What was she going to do without him? Phoebe had family over from Japan, she couldn't go to her.
"I'm going to miss you, too," she whispered back, tilting her head back. They kissed, and then let go of each other. Helga could see his mother from the corner of her eye. She looked to have a mixture of emotions going on. Helga knew she was worried about her son getting in trouble, with Helga still being classed as "underage". She pulled away and gave the woman a smile. His mother smiled back.
"You look after yourself and your family," she said, giving Helga a hug. "Spend time with your sister, or you'll regret it. I did."
Helga nodded and watched as Torvald put the suitcases in the car. Then he walked back over and gave her a hug.
"I'm a call and text away, okay?" he reminded her. Helga gave him a smile, and they kissed again. Then they were gone.
Helga sighed again, and turned to walk back home. She took her time. It was . . . intense at home. Everyone knew it would be Olga's last Thanksgiving, so they were going all out. But there was the tension of weather or not she was going to make it to Christmas. Helga had bought her a 'Sister' necklace. 'Love Helga' was engraved on it. Olga had already done her own Christmas shopping. Helga was looking forward to seeing what she had gotten everyone.
Before she knew it, she was home. She could smell Stroganoff cooking, the aroma spreading through the house.
"Oh, there you are, baby sister," Olga said smiling, and giving Helga a hug. "I'm just arranging everyone's chores for Thanksgiving dinner. We're having some guests, too."
"Oh?" Helga said, feeling her heart sink.
"Lila and her father are coming to dinner," Olga informed her, clapping her hands together. "They will probably stay the night, but I knew you wouldn't mind sharing your bed with Lila, right?"
Helga resisted the urge to make herself gag.
"Of course not," she lied, smiling. 'Anything to make her happy' Helga thought.
"I'd share my bed with her, but . . . well I . . ."
"Could die in the middle of the night?" Helga suggested. She wanted to smack herself for her choice of words.
"Well, yes," Olga admitted. "I want her to remember me eating, not lying dead next to her. I'm thinking that would be pretty traumatic."
"But unforgettable," Helga pointed out. "She'd never forget you."
Both sisters looked at each other a moment, before smiling and laughing.
"Your wicked, Helga," Olga said, coming forward and giving her a hug. "Wicked and awful!"
...
...
Thanksgiving Night
The food was done, just staying warm. When the doorbell rang, Helga opened it to find Lila and her father standing there, holding two plates of food, and Mr. Sawyer had a bottle of wine. She showed them in, and had Lila help her set the table.
"Have you said anything to anyone at school?" Helga demanded in a harsh whisper.
"No," Lila replied. "It's not my place to talk about your family's private business."
"So you know what's happening?" Helga asked, looking up at her. She saw that Lila was trying to hold back tears, and felt bad. Lila and her sister were close friends, even if Helga and Lila weren't. It was going to hit Lila just as hard, losing Olga. "I'm sorry, Lila."
"No, I understand," Lila said. "Everyone will find out eventually. And then your going to be swamped."
"I didn't need it," Helga said. "I'm still trying to get my head around it myself." Lila nodded, and placed the glasses on the table. They finished in silence.
"Are you girls finished?" Olga asked, walking in. She looked over the job the two of them had done. "Excellent. Dinner!"
Everyone came in and took their seats. Bob and one end, Mr. Sawyer at the other. Miriam sat next to Olga, and Lila and Helga sat next to each other. They all took hands and went around the table, saying what they were thankful for. It was an emotional time. There were tears. But then it came time to carve the turkey. Bowls were passed around, and chatter was going on. It was almost normal, except for Lila and her dad being there. For a while everything bad was forgotten. Even Olga looked healthier than she had been in a while today. Lila and Helga talked about the going's on at school, and swapped stories of their teachers. They shared some teachers, though not classes. Helga was surprised that she and Lila were getting along so well.
When the adults started the wine, Lila and Helga went up to her room to hang out and talk.
"So, what's Torvald like?" was the first thing from Lila's mouth.
"A teddy bear!" Helga answered. "He's not aggressive or anything."
"Except on the field," Lila pointed out.
"Yeah, that's probably why he's so harmless off it," Helga told her laughing.
"You know, Annie is going around telling people that your only dating him to make Arnold jealous," Lila told her, looking at the floor.
"I know, even Arnold said as much straight to my face," she told her. "It's not true, though, just so you know."
"Call nine one one!" Helga's mothers scream ripped through the house so suddenly, both girls jumped. They got up to go downstairs, only to see Mr. Sawyer coming up.
"No girls, not now," he said, barring them from getting to the lounge. "Go back upstairs."
"But she's-"
"Please, Helga, you don't want to see this," he begged. "Neither of you do."
Both girls looked at each other then returned to Helga's room. Mr. Sawyer stood at the doorway, keeping them from leaving. A few moment's later they heard the ambulance, and more commotion coming from downstairs. Helga suddenly pushed past him and down the stairs.
"Helga, stop!" he called out. He couldv'e saved his breath. Olga was lying on a stretcher, eyes closed, body limp.
"Olga?" she called, coming down the stairs. "Olgaaaaaa!"
...
...
Helga lay on her bed sobbing. Lila was on it with her, arm around her, also crying. Eventually Helga turned into her and they both cried. Helga's parents had left to go to the hospital. Mr. Sawyer had stayed behind to watch the girls. When Helga opened her eyes, Lila was still asleep next to her. The house was deathly silent. She got up, careful not to disturb Lila. She went downstairs to see Mr. Sawyer was asleep on the couch. There were still embers in the fireplace. She went back upstairs to check her parents room. Empty. They hadn't come home last night.
The phone ringing suddenly made her jump. She rushed to the phone to answer.
"Mom? Dad?" she asked.
"She's gone, Helga," her father rasped into the phone. "Olga's gone."