(Everyone asking about The Gift . . . she hasn't even opened it yet.)
...
...
The new high school year began at last. Phoebe was excited when she found out that Helga and Arnold had decided to try out being girlfriend and boyfriend.
"Oh, wow, double dates!" she'd squealed. "This is so awesome! Your so much more exciting than Annie was, too."
Helga made a face, and Phoebe covered her mouth with her hand.
"Let's not bring up exe's," Helga said. "Including my own."
"Deal!"
Arnold came running up behind Helga, and grabbing her around the waist swung her around. She screamed in delight and turned to smack him lightly on the chest when he put her back on the ground.
"I missed you!" he said in her ear then proceeded to kiss her neck, She laughed quietly and pulled away.
"We saw each other yesterday," she said, pulling away.
"Yeah, but I wish we could see each other all the time," he said, pulling her back in and kissing her. There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she chose to ignore it for now. She still wondered about the extent of his "feelings", and what was really behind them . . .
"Oh my God, get a room!" they heard Rhonda say. Helga made a rude gesture and continued kissing Arnold. "Ugh, it's just obscene!"
When they knew she was gone they pulled apart and laughed, then made their way inside and to their homerooms.
Helga had a look around, Phoebe at her side. Lila was already there, at the front. She looked better than when Helga had last seen her. She and Helga smiled at each other, but something about the way she smiled made Helga uncomfortable. Again, she shook the thoughts from her head. Was she becoming paranoid? Why was she convinced everyone seemed to have a vendetta?
She sighed and took her seat. Arnold wasn't in Homeroom with her, and she felt a bit of relief. Sometimes he as a little suffocating, which was weird, because she always thought it would be the other way round if they were together.
She pulled out a book and started to rad, listening to the teacher with half an ear. She wasn't really interested in what he was saying. Something about teams and stuff. Finally the bell went and Helga got up and fare-welled Phoebe and made her way to her first class.
...
...
"Food!" Helga cried out, entering the cafeteria. "I'm starving."
"Me too," Phoebe said from behind her. "Are you buying or did you bring lunch?"
"I brought it," Helga told her. "Bob just gave me some money and told me to go get what I thought we needed. I've started a herb garden in the kitchen, you know."
"Really?" Phoebe asked.
As Helga told Phoebe about her little herb garden and her ideas for trying to build an upright vegetable garden, Arnold and Gerald were making their way through the throngs.
"How's your day so far?" Gerald asked. "Mine's been awesome. I got asked out on a date today."
"A date?" Arnold asked, disbelief in his voice. "Aren't you dating Phoebe?"
"Of course, which is why I broke the poor girls heart by saying no," he told him. "Phoebe's too good to lose."
"Must be if she puts up with you," Arnold joked.
"Shut-up, what about you and Helga?" he said.
"It's going well," he said. "Her family is going through some things."
"I'll bet. My mom and dad feel for her parents," he said. "Even Jamie, Timberly and me are more thoughtful to each other and fighting less. And dad said he's seen Bob taking Miriam to a clinic downtown."
"Really? Helga hasn't told me about that," Arnold said thoughtfully.
"Maybe she doesn't know?"
Finally they reached the cafeteria and made their way to the line to wait. Helga got up and came over.
"I made enough for the four of us," she told them. "Saves you eating this rubbish."
The boys were more than happy to go eat some homemade food. Helga had asked Phoebe what Gerald liked eating, and she already knew what Arnold and Phoebe liked. She had also made her parents lunch for the day, though she wondered if they would eat it. Her father probably would, her mother probably not. She seemed to be going back to not eating.
"So how's your mom doing?" Gerald asked casually.
"Not good," she answered honestly. "Dad's talking about getting professional help. Wether he actually does or not remains to be seen."
Arnold and Gerald looked at each other, but Helga didn't notice. So she didn't know, obviously. They didn't say anything, just tucked into the lunch she had prepared. She had also done some baking, which surprised Gerald.
"Man, you can bake," he said, taking a bite of brownie.
"You should try her cooking," Arnold boasted. "It's the best food you'll ever eat."
"We should do a pot luck dinner one night," Phoebe suggested. "We could all cook something and bring it along and have a dinner party."
Everyone stopped eating and looked at her like she was crazy.
"We're not in our forties, Phoebe," Helga said suddenly laughing. "People our age don't have dinner parties. Do we?"
"Well, we should," a haughty voice said from behind them. Helga turned to see Rhonda standing there looking down on them. "We could use Arnold's birthday as an excuse to have one. Tell everyone to bring a plate."
"Uhh, who's everyone?" Arnold asked.
"Your friends, Arnold," she said, rolling her eyes.
"I didn't want to do a big thing, Rhonda," he said, looking away. "I just wanted something small."
"And it will be," she said. "Just your close friends."
Arnold sighed. In other words his teammates.
"I'll think about it," he said, taking a bite of the lettuce and tomato sandwich Helga had made. How did she make a simple tomato and lettuce sandwich taste so good?
...
...
By the time Arnold's birthday rolled round, Gerald had been named Basketball captain. None of the cheerleaders bothered to try it on with him, knowing he wouldn't respond with anything other than, "Sorry, I got a girlfriend."
Arnold continued playing soccer. He was named goalie. It was a sport where casualties caused by him were minimal. He didn't have the height on him for basketball, and had no interest in Football. Even though he played, he didn't have a huge passion for it. He enjoyed it, but if he had to drop it, he wouldn't be too upset.
Helga got her arm twisted into drama. Her English teacher was also the faculty teacher for it.
"I really think you would do well in this, Helga," he told her. "It would be a great outlet. You have so much passion and fire in you. I want the world to see it."
Helga was surprised to see that Lila was also in the drama club.
"I don't know why you'd be so shocked," Lila said quietly. Helga didn't know why either, she just was.
It did turn out to be a good outlet. Hamlet was the choice for the School Play this semester. Helga almost rolled her eyes at the cliche-ness of it all. Hamlet? Really? She saw Curly and knew he would be the main character. He always was, at least since Junior High. Curly would get completely lost in his character. He was a little insane.
He was also dating Rhonda. Who was the only person in school who could keep him under semi-control. Or at least out of the back of a police car . . . for now. Even Rhonda had admitted that she feared the day she would lose control of him.
"You sounds like your talking about a dog," Nadine said one day.
"He may as well be," Rhonda had told her. Helga had snorted. No one could understand why, and Rhonda never explained it to anyone. She didn't see the need to.
"I'll date who I want to date, love who I want to love," she had declared. "I will be told by no one what or who to do."
It was Helga's belief that Rhonda's attitude to everyone around her, was the reason she had such a big following. Some people were just drawn to her. It happened in the second year of Junior High. When she had given in to a pity date with Curly. Afterwards she changed. She continued dating him, and developed a couldn't-care-less attitude about life. At least, school life.
As the day ended and she got ready to do her driving classes her phone went off. She looked to see it was Miriam.
"Hey mom," she said.
"Somethings wrong with your father!" her mother screamed down the phone. "I think he's dying!"
And Helga's world came to a halt.