Helga and Arnold started at each other, their faces mirroring the same irritated expression. Helga turned on her heel and started swearing profusely. The combinations of words she put together were inventive if nothing like the few that Grandpa or Ernie ever uttered back at the boarding house. Arnold put up his hand and wiped the rain water from his eyes. Part of him wished he hadn't said anything at all. Helga was a handful on her best day and he didn't know how he'd be able to handle her over a long time. As always he also felt the quiet stirrings of guilt for putting his feelings before others. Even if she was a handful she didn't deserve to be in this dangerous storm alone.

She turned back to him and was opening her mouth to speak when an enormous crash of thunder shocked them both. It was so powerful the windows of the car parked next to them rattled. Arnold felt the vibration in his stomach. He looked at her and knew what he had to do.

"I don't care if you don't want to come, I'm not letting you stay out in this alone. If I have to carry you back to the boarding house kicking and screaming, you're staying with us. Your safety is more important than pride."

"I'm not a charity case, Arnold! I can take care of myself-"

"This isn't a discussion. The storm is going to be here soon and we need to get back to the boarding house."

"Who died and made you the boss? I'm Helga G. Pataki and I'm not letting you push me around."

Arnold's patience broke.

"Look Helga, I'm not doing this because I want to. I know you don't like me. Whatever I do seems to set you off, you're always throwing spitballs at me. I'm not inviting you to a slumber party. "

As soon as he said it he wished he could take it back. She looked angry not upset but those words were hurtful and he hurried to speak before she did.

"I think this is the right thing to do. Now do you want to hurry back to your house to pack a bag to bring over or do you just want to go back to my house and borrow our stuff."

Helga was hard to read. Her angry expression was fading to her usual sarcastic one. Arnold thought she might start yelling.

"I want to get stuff from my house."

Arnold wasn't expecting her to agree and didn't know what to say. She rolled her eyes at him.

"You're right. This is a bad storm and even though it means having to spend time with you, it's smarter than being alone. So if it's all right with you, Football Head, I'd like to go get a few of my things."

"Of course. Let's go now before it gets any worse."

She dropped one of her bags on the ground and took off running.

"What are you waiting for?"

He picked it up and ran after her. It was so windy they zig-zagged through the streets to use the buildings as cover. Arnold had no idea how fast it was going but if it caught either of them mid-step, it almost blew them to the ground. The rain was wild now, biting into their skin sharply. He was relieved when he saw Helga's front stoop. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as Helga unlocked her front door. Arnold was about to follow her inside when her arm shot out and blocked his path.

"Where do you think you're going, Arnold?"

"I'm not going to stay outside in this weather. Let me in!"

He saw her debate before she looked out at the lightning which was striking more often now. Her arm moved and she stalked inside.

"Fine, but no funny business. Just stay right there. I won't take long."

As he walked inside she pounded up the staircase. It was dark inside. The only light came from a neon clock with Big Bob on it wearing all his Beeper King regalia but Helga hadn't turned any lights on. He walked towards a switch on the wall and flipped it. The lights in the hall turned on and he spotted a bathroom down the hallway.

"Hey Helga, can I use your bathroom?"

"Whatever floats your boat, just don't stink up the place."

Typical Helga. Arnold grabbed the towel and wiped his face and hands dry. He wrung his hat out as best he could and placed it back on his head. As he walked out he looked around at this rare glimpse into the Pataki family. Family pictures were hung all over the walls. Most of them featured Olga in her various piano performances and graduations over the years. In each family portrait Helga could be spotted standing off to the side with a scowl on her face. In the pictures she wasn't frowning, the expression in her eyes conveyed a deep frustration. Why was she always so angry? It must be exhausting for her to be that way all the time.One recent picture of her stood out from the rest. She was wearing her soccer uniform, her entire being focused on the ball in front of her. She almost looked happy.

He wandered away from the hall and noticed that he house smelled musty and almost sweet. It was a smell he'd noticed before but couldn't place. It was a sharp odor too. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen and he was just peering in when he Helga's voice startled him.

"Sorry about the smell. Looks like Miriam forgot to clean up her smoothies again."

She had a pink backpack on and had grabbed her bag of groceries.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They exited the house and the two of them had to fight to get the front door to close against the gusting wind. It shouldn't have taken more than ten minutes to get to the boarding house but they kept running into deep puddles of water. Once they turned a corner and found a power line down; they had to take a long detour to get around it. It was nerve-wracking being outside in this type of weather. Arnold was normally calm but even he found it a little scary. He could tell by the tense expression on Helga's face she didn't like it either. There weren't many cars on the road so when one came up and beeped at them they both shouted in surprise. The window rolled down to show his grandpa wearing a big yellow slicker.

"Get in Arnold! Your little friend too! It's gettin' bad out!"

They scrambled into the dry car and soon pulled up to the safety of the boarding house.