Hey guys! Turns out I had some extra time on my hands and I can start it a little early after all! That and I was kind of bored. The story will start with a flashback of how Helga became...her secret identity. Helga will say a few words then start the flashback. Part 2 of this will come out soon, or maybe not. I don't know. Thanks to all the reviewed and voted, and tell me what you think of the name!
Helga's POV
Huh, who would have thought that a girl like Helga G. Pataki could ever become a star? Ok, maybe not as Helga G. Pataki, but Cecelia E.G. NightGale certainly can.
Yeah, I'm her, believe it or not. You better believe it. Or, depending on who you are, maybe not.
No one, not even me, knew I could sing or play guitar! And as much as it kills me to say it, This couldn't have happened without Bob. Yes, buckos, Big Bob.
You're probably wondering how this all started. Well, check the flashback! Criminy!
An Unknown Location, The Summer Before 7th Grade
Helga slammed the car door, trudging out herself and her suitcases reluctantly as she gave Big Bob an evil glare.
"I'll see you in five weeks, Olga." he said as he peeled out of the parking lot.
"It's HELGA dad!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as the car disappeared. She sighed angrily, pulling her suitcases down the dirt road towards 'Rising Stars Music Camp.'
'Making stars since 1982'. Thanks Bob, for ruining my summer. There goes all my plans for actual FUN. First visiting grandparents and having tea, now music camp, or should I say music crap, cause that's all this is. A bunch of airheads who thinks they're pretty and have voices. Criminy! Just because OL-GA went to this stupid camp doesn't mean I have to. I don't have a voice. Heck, I don't want a voice! All I want is to get as far as humanly possible away from this place, get the heck back to Hillwood, and hang out with Phoebe throwing rocks at a dumpster. Or play baseball with the losers. Or even just talk to Arnold... her heart beat faster at the thought of the football-headed boy, and a small smile came on her face.
Over the years, Helga and Arnold became closer friends, partly because Gerald and Phoebe were coming closer and started dating in 6th grade.
Helga still had feelings for Arnold, and thought he would return them after the class trip to the jungle and helping him save his parents. But she wanted to see him happy, even though it hurt her to see him fawning over other girl. She didn't spy on his dates or ruin them anymore. Or at least, not as much, since he had a girlfriend now...
Helga now wore pink T-shirts or tank tops, with slightly tattered black or blue jeans. Puberty was a little slow to her, still a little flat-chested. She rarely wore her hair in pigtails, now sporting her back-length hair in ponytails or down with pink clips holding her bangs back. Her infamous pink bow was used as a tie or a headband whenever she could remember to wear it.
Her personality had mellowed out. She let down her walls a little, but wasn't the kind of person you wanted to joke around TOO much with. She had grown up, physically and emotionally, even though her home life had a little improvement. At least Miriam didn't have as many smoothies as before and Big Bob mellowed out a little, both with Olga's help.
Believe it or not, She and Olga became closer. Not VERY close though. She didn't sugarcoat life too much anymore, and she acknowledged that some things couldn't be perfect. She was more tolerable to Helga that way.
Helga reached the end of the road. She looked around for the building she would be forced to spend the next five weeks of her summer.
Or buildings, rather.
There were five of them, all facing towards the general dirt road. All had pale yellow exteriors, with bright golden brown doors. She could only imagine how the insides would look as she looked for an office or official building to start her miserable summer.
She spotted the 'Registration Office', and wheeled her bags towards it. Helga headed over to open the door. Finding it was locked, she started knocking.
"Hello?" she called, practically banging on the door.
Soon a lady in her late 20's with with medium-length blond hair and glasses answered. "Yes?" she responded with a dull expression.
"I'm here to register for the camp." The lady guided her in. Helga sat on a pale green chair next to her desk, crossing her arms.
The interior of the office was varying shades of blue, green and yellows, with a splash of pink and red here and there. It was neat yet fully decorated, and had personal pictures and degrees gracing the walls.
"Name please?" she asked, sitting down on her chair, scrolling through the computer monitor for her name.
"Helga G. Pataki."
The lady raised her eyebrows over her glasses. "Would you happen to be the sister of Olga Pataki?"
"Unfortunately." Helga said, rolling her eyes.
"What, you don't like your sister?" she asked, innocently enough, going back to the computer.
"Are you kidding? She annoys the heck out of me!"
The lady paused. "Thank God, I thought I was the only one." She grinned.
Helga's eyes widened, her jaw slightly dropping. No one had ever openly hated her sister...till now.
"Sorry about that. She came here years ago, when I was an intern, all smiley and perky, without a care in the world. Very sugarcoated. As if her life was perfect."
"Olga's the only one who could pull that off. At least she doesn't do that too much anymore."
"She doesn't?"
"Nope. She finally took her perfect head out of the clouds and realized that there are problems in life. Took her long enough!"
The lady nodded in agreement.
A few buttons were pressed, and a piece of paper was printed out. "Here you go. I'm Ms. Franklin. If you need any help, come to me. I'll be glad to help you with whatever you need." she handed the paper to to Helga, giving her a smile.
"Thanks." Helga smiled back, taking the paper.
Helga waved to Ms. Franklin, and left. She quickly turned back.
"Where's the dorms for this joint?"
"The next building over, to the right."
"Gotcha. Thanks."
"Anytime."
Picking up her suitcases, she quickly looked for her room number on the paper, and checked out a few of her classes. The periods were divided by acts.
Could they be any cheesier?
Name: Helga G. Pataki. Room Number: B-7 Group: B
Schedule: Monday-Friday*
Breakfast: 8:30-8:55
Act I- Band, 9AM-10:15 AM
Act II- Intro to Acting; Part 1, 10:20-11:35AM
Break A, 11:40- 12:00PM
Lunch- 12-12:40 PM
Act III- Intro to Acting; Part 2, 12:45-1:35 PM
Act IV- Dance, 1:40- 2:30PM
Act V- Chorus, 2:30- 3:40PM
Free Time: 3:45- 7:00PM
Dinner: 7- 7:40PM
Free Time 2: 7:45- 10:40PM
Announcements: 10:45- 10:50 PM
Lights out: 11:00PM
*Note: The weekends are causal days for rest and relaxation.
One heck of Free Time and Breaks. At least I don't have to get up at 7 now, or on weekends. And I guess letting us stay up till 11 could be boss, if my room mates are goodie two-shoes.. Maybe this won't be THAT bad... she thought optimistically, entering the building.
Helga entered the building, it nothing like the office she entered earlier. The wall was a baby blue, with chairs and a few desks. The walls were a depressing white. Motivational posters covered the otherwise bare walls. She noticed three sets of elevators and stairs, all in different sets of the structure.
Noticing no one was at the desks, Helga rang the bell for service.
"Is anyone here?" she shouted.
A middle aged woman popped out of a door, holding her stomach as she laughed.
Seeing Helga, she put on a stern face.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, where's room B-7-"
"Take the 2nd staircase or elevator up floor 2. Room 7 should be on the right." the woman quickly said, going back to the room.
What the heck just happened?, she thought, following the woman's directions.
As she entered Room 7, she saw a girl in the corner reading some sheet music. She was playing a few notes on her flute. Her black hair was up in a ponytail, and a mocha skin tone complemented her hair. She had on black jeans, a yellow t-shirt tied at the ends, and her nails painted a pale green.
"Is this bed taken or what?" Helga said over the music.
"It's not." she answered, and went back to playing her flute.
As Helga packed her stuff, she could hear the familiar tune of a song she heard a couple of years ago...
"Are you playing 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster The People?"
"Yeah." The girl lowered her flute. "The instrumental version. I'm gonna take a guess and say you don't like that song, just like most people."
"Are you kidding? That song is awesome! The lyrics speak to you, ya know?"
"Right! But for some reason, it sounds like a mall shooting."
"I've always wondered about that though..." Helga trailed off.
"Anyways, I'm Annabelle J. Twist, but you can call me Anna. What's yours?"
"Helga G. Pataki." she extended her hand, which Anna shook.
"So, what do you guys do for fun around here?"
"Well, according to the announcements earlier, today is a free day to do whatever we want, meet new people, etcra, etcra. We can also check out some of the classes we're taking tomorrow."
"What else is there around this joint? Other than musical instruments."
"There's also a student lounge and a game room with flat-screen TV's, junk food and vending machines, but-"
"Are you kidding me? Let's blow this pop stand!"
"But-" Anna started, but was already out the door as Helga pulled her away.
^A 10 Minutes Later^
"I thought you said that this place had a student lounge and a game room!" Helga exclaimed, walking back to her cabin after finding out the lounge was closed.
"You didn't let me finish. They said it was still in the process of being repaired after an unknown fire destroyed half of the interior last year. It'll be fully fixed by next week."
"Who the heck would have done that?"
"Oh, that stupid prank? That was me."
Helga and Anna turned, seeing a girl around their age, pale skin, with mid-length black hair in a yellow tank top and blue jeans, smirking. She had a large saxophone case behind her back.
"Hey Barbara, nice to see you again. But there's no way you could have done it." Anna said.
"I did. It was part of a stupid blackmail by 'The Crew'. Almost got expelled." she said sadly.
"Who the heck's 'The Crew'?"
"Did somebody call our name?" three girls said from a distance.
They typically had cliche movie-star looks, B-cup breasts, if you could say that. The fist girl, obviously the leader, had sun-kissed hair, almost the same shade as Helga's, with hazel eyes. The second, to the left of her, had white-blond hair with green eyes, and the last had brown hair with green eyes. All wore designer clothes, labels, handbags, the usual. And looked like their hairspray seeped into their skulls.
"Who's the skirts?" Helga asked Anna and the new girl.
The Crew rolled their eyes in unison in Helga's obliviousness.
"Unbelievable..." the second in command rang out.
"So are you gonna tell us who you are or just stand their catching flies with your hair?"
The leader scoffed. "As if. Anyway, I'm Sophia, this is Anita and this is Jenna." She pointed to herself, and her sidekicks, respectively.
"Pleased to meet you again," Anna said, trying to break the tension.
"Can't say the same for you," Jenna said, looking her up and down.
Sophia looked over to Barbera.
"So Barbara, I loved the fire. Showed just how how stupid you are, just like your name." Barbara tried to lunge at her but Helga and Anna held her back.
"You blackmailed me, that's why!" she almost shouted.
"Maybe, maybe not. No one will know but you and me."
"I know." Anna stood up.
"As if you matter." Anita said, rolling her eyes.
Helga couldn't stand it anymore. "Look, skirt, I strongly suggest that you close you mouth before I close it for you." she closed a fist with her open hand.
Sophia yawned. "I don't know who you are, and I really don't care, but you better watch your fists because you can only do so much."
"What the-"
"Check the handbook before you try anything. In the mean time, stay out of my way if you don't want TOO much drama."
The Crew walked anyway, leaving Helga stunned.
"Let's get back to our dorms. We'll explain everything there." Anna said.
"What rooms are you in?" Barb asked.
"B-7."
She quickly checked her schedule. "Great, me too!" she smiled.
Anna smiled back.
! *#^&#
"So they're practically the rulers of this place?" Helga asked, sitting on her bed.
"Yup, always have been since the summer before 4th grade." Barbara said, taking out her sleepwear from her suitcase.
"It doesn't help that we have to go to school with them over in Riverview." Anna continued, pulling out an earplug from listening to music to hear.
"Yeah, they've been jerks since 1st grade. Even some of the boys are scared to put up with them."
"Well, why has no one done anything?"
"Because the teachers and everyone else in charge are too chicken to deal with them or their parents." Anna continued.
"I've taken matters into my own hands before, but it's only gotten me into trouble. I got a week suspension for throwing a punch after they tripped me several times."
"The principal said he WAS a little lenient, and to be fair, they got a 2-week detention."
"Yeah, but in all these years, that's a slap on the wrist compared to what we've had to deal with. They're practically living life scot-free!"
"Don't worry, Barb, they'll get their turn soon. Especially at The Finale."
"What's that?" Helga asked, scrolling through her phone to try to text Phoebe. Great, no service. Thanks Bob, for getting me a GREAT phone.
"A big end-of-summer concert that everyone has to perform." Barbara said, laying down on her bed.
"Either that or an essay on the history of music three pages long." Anna finished.
"Yeah, that too. Everyone has to do something to show what they learned here, a solo act."
"You can sing, dance, act, play an instrument, whatever you can to show you learned SOMETHING here."
Helga stood up in disbelief, dropping her phone. "I can't do any of that crap, nor do I want to!"
"Oh, I forgot. And this year, as a special event, we having studio managers and recording artists agents not only visiting, but judging the show. The best 10 people get a contract."
"A five-year contract, Barbara."
"Yeah, yeah, that too."
"But I can't do any of that! I don't have talent at all." Helga said, falling back into her bed.
"Well, I guess you should start on that essay then."
Three bells rang consecutively, signalling a new session.
"Come on guys, it's the dinner bell." Barbara said, rushing out with Anna in hot pursuit.
"Let's go, Helga!" she called back to her.
What am I gonna do?, Helga thought, trudging out to join them.
"That was well prepared. Those ladies know what they're going." Barb said, walking back into their room with full stomachs.
"Yup, they have to or 'The Crew' will get their parents to sue." was all Anna managed to say.
"It was ok. I've tasted better," Helga said, falling back onto her bed, barely eating anything.
"Who's showering first?" Barb asked, grabbing her towelettes and sleepwear.
"You go." Both girls said as Anna practiced her flute and Helga texted Phoebe. Finally!
Helga: Hey Pheebs, hows it going?
Phoebe: Helga? Where have u been all day?
Helga: At a stupid music camp Bob made me come 2.
Phoebe: Where?
Helga: About 20 miles away, don't know where exactly.
Phoebe: Well, how long r u going 2 b there?
Helga: 5 weeks
Phoebe: :(
Helga: I know. But don't worry, I'll survive. I'm a Pataki after all. B sides, u have Gerald there.
Phoebe: Well... :)
Helga: OK, don't get all mushy :/ Tell the gang I said Hi. But don't tell where I've gone, k?
Phoebe: Got it ;) C u later!
Helga: U 2 ;)
"Ok, I'm done!" Barb said going to her bed as the rotation continued with Anna then Helga.
"Hey Barbera?" Helga asked, laying in bed after the last bell.
"Yeah?"
"What WAS The Crew blackmailing you with?"
"Oh, nothing important."
"No it's not," Anna cut in. "It was-"
"Nothing, like I said. Helga, I'll tell you later." Barb cut her off.
Helga shrugged, knowing no one could see her.
"Hey Bella, Anna?" Helga asked, about to sleep in her comfy bed.
"Yeah?" They called in unison, about to sleep.
"Call me crazy, but I think I like this place..." she said, drifting to dreamland in the coziness of her bed.
Helga again, you bozos. Yeah, I know. Music camp, seriously? Well, it wasn't all that bad. I made a couple of friends and we have classes tomorrow. Today was ok, I guess, but how about tomorrow? Next week? Well, you're just gonna have to wait and see...
It's back to me, the author, and I hope you enjoyed this! Took me a few days to type it and even more to fine-tune it. Anyway, review, story alert, etc and the next part will be up soon.(And by soon, I mean in at least a month or two.)
Come on, you know you want too...