Helga continued to breathe deeply as she stepped inside her home and closed the door. It seemed a battlefield now, perhaps even more than usual. Her feet were carrying her forward, almost involuntarily, up the stairs. Her thoughts were protesting every step of the way. Each movement was a struggle. But still, her feet trudged onward. To her surprise, Olga's door opened. For what seemed an eternity, the two sisters stared at each other. The same set of blue eyes with the same somber expression bored into the opposite from each sister.

"Hey." Helga finally greeted blankly.

"Hello Helga." Olga answered back in the same tone.

Helga began to clutch her dress in nervousness.

"I had a long talk with Louis..." Olga sighed.

"Me too..."

"I know." Olga answered.

"Hm?" Helga looked up at her in surprise.

"I saw the two of you out my window..." She trailed.

"Oh..."

Silence came over the two sisters once more and they awkwardly stared at each other again.

"He said that the two of us should talk..." Helga finally trailed weakly. "Can we...go in my room...?"

Olga only nodded and followed Helga inside her room, closing the door behind her. Helga was about to speak when Olga interrupted her, saying something which caused her great surprise.

"Helga, I owe you an apology." Olga stated.

Helga looked up at her incredulously.

"Louis was right, as he usually is." Olga sighed. "Helga, I'm sorry. I guess in all my excitement and my desire to bond with you I left out the most important thing - actually listening to your concerns, and being there to help you."

Helga kept her arms folded, still not sure what to say.

"I guess you were right. I was being a bad sister, even if I didn't see myself that way. Don't hate me too much for it Helga, I just wanted to show you the love and attention that deep down inside, I always knew they didn't show you. I just went about it all wrong I guess." Olga sighed as she looked toward the floor.

This caused Helga to stammer as she attempted to find words.

"Don't think it isn't a lot of pressure on me too, baby sister." She sighed and looked toward her. "I really do get sick of having to perform all the time. You must think I enjoy all of it. Of course I like to be praised Helga, but too much of it can really start to become a burden - all the expectations, all the pressure. I may come across as perfect, but it doesn't mean I am."

"Then why do you soak it up?" Helga asked instinctively. "Why do you hog all the attention and revel in it?"

"Well baby sister, a lot of it is just involuntary. I don't ask for it. It just comes, and I don't want to be rude. I don't know if Louis told you this or not, but on the night of your play I really did mean to listen to you. It's just...Miss Slovak and everyone else..."

"Yeah, he told me." Helga sighed.

"The bigger reason though, Helga, is that if I do well, I can keep things at least somewhat peaceful and orderly in this house."

"What do you mean?" Helga looked up at Olga wide-eyed.

"Well..." Olga sighed. "Before you were around, when I was really little, mommy and daddy used to fight all the time. I mean really fight. They fought like you wouldn't believe, Helga. If you think they're dysfunctional now, you simply haven't seen how things were when I was a little girl."

Tears began to well up in Olga's eyes, but she wiped them off. Helga listened intently.

"I swear daddy would yell so loud that you could hear him all the way down the street, and mommy would be crying constantly. It was a lot for a little girl to have to live with."

Helga now stared up at her sister sympathetically.

"Anyway Helga, this lasted for a while, but then when I started to get As on all my spelling tests, something amazing happened: they would stop fighting, at least for a while. They were proud of me. When daddy entered me into all these spelling bees and I won those, it helped even more. So I figured, if I could just keep on doing that, if I could keep on winning everything then maybe things would get better. And in truth, they did. If I was their perfect little girl, there would be at least a semblance of peace."

"And was me being doomed to non-existence part of that peace?!" Helga asked somewhat angrily.

"I'm sorry Helga." Olga apologized again. "I know that I might have contributed to that situation. But all those years of habit are hard to shake off, and I was worried about you too. It might have been even worse for you if I didn't continue on as always. Judging by the fact that daddy and mommy aren't fighting with the intensity that they used to, it's worked. That still won't make me not feel bad though. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the way they treat you." Olga wiped some tears away.

"But...Olga...if you really do see it, why don't you do anything about it? If you see all these problems like you say, why do you always act like nothing's wrong?"

"Well baby sister, force of habit might be one reason, or sheer optimism another. Deep down I always knew it was foolish, but I hoped that if I could just keep on going, if I could keep on seeing the bright side of life, and pretend like nothing's wrong, maybe the problems would go away..."

"But...they haven't..."

"I know Helga." Olga sighed again, trying not to cry. "I know they're affecting you, and that I was too indifferent to you in action if not in thought. Louis made that abundantly clear to me and I see it now."

"If you always knew all of this then why? Why do you refuse to address any of the problems in this house? That's what I need!"

"I know it's what you need, Helga. But the truth is, I'm scared. I'm frightened beyond belief."

This surprised Helga. "You're...scared...?"

"Yes Helga. I don't think you've ever seen daddy when he's really, really angry. He's terrifying. I used to hide in the closet and cover my ears, hoping I would disappear and never have to face him. I just...I don't ever want to see that again, let alone...let alone...face it. Maybe it's irresponsible of me, maybe just continuing on as usual and pretending like the problems didn't exist was ultimately bad for you and cowardly on my part, but it at least allowed me to have some peace of mind. And I'm glad you didn't need to see any of what I saw. As for mommy...well, I've known for a long time about her own problems, and that she sees herself living through me. I didn't want to let her down any further. Still I've been letting her get away with neglecting you too." Olga now began to burst into tears. "Oh Helga, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry that I've been allowing this to continue!"

Helga sat there on her bed for a moment, stupefied, watching Olga cry. It was like the words coming out of Olga's mouth finally made her see that these problems existed.

"I...I never thought that you were facing such a hard time yourself..." Helga finally trailed. "I thought that when you thought you got that B+ last year for instance you were crying because you just..."

"I was disappointed, but I just...I think it was my unconscious way of defending myself and keeping everything calm around here..." Olga answered weakly.

"Olga, I'm sorry too." Helga finally admitted. "You see I've been in therapy for a year now, and my therapist Dr. Bliss told me that I needed to tell you how I really felt. Maybe it just came out wrong..."

"No, it came out right." Olga breathed as she wiped tears from her eyes. "My head was so far up in the clouds that I was really believing my own delusions. You and Louis knocked some sense into me. Look Helga, we haven't always been very close, but I want to be there for you. Please..."

Helga cut her sister off and embraced her in a tepid hug. Olga returned it warmly.