Hi guys, here is chapter 13. It's a long one, I wanted it to be longer but well, I didn't wanted to make you wait more !
I would like to thank Hanna Cabrodi for correcting this chapter. THANK YA HANNA!
For pictures of this fanfiction, do not hesitate to go check the deviatart of majoazocar.
Leave reviews! There is nothing I like more than this :3
Despite the fact that it was already October, the night was warm. Stars shone in the ever so dark night sky, lighting up the town like glittered beams. I found it to be a wonderful night, in spite of the screaming and yelling I could hear. Damn, those neighbors are really noisy. I would've given them a piece of my mind, but I was too damn busy trying to get some sleep.
I mean who sleeps easy when they're lying on their back next to Helga Pataki?
No, I'm joking. I'm not just lying next to her; I'm lying next to a TOPLESS Helga Pataki.
Let me explain. Yesterday was ridiculously emotional. I rushed over to Helga's place after discovering my missing 60'' TV my dad gave me. I saw her completely bruised and cut up. I couldn't take it anymore and unleashed my true feelings towards her. She took it surprisingly well. I always knew she had a beautiful soul underneath the tough exterior. I knew that deep down, it was damn near impossible for such an amazing girl to be a bully down to the core of her heart.
I turned towards her and stared at her as she slept peacefully. I grabbed my cell phone and used the screen as a flashlight. I turned it to see Helga's face. She was lying on her belly, her hair spread out on her pillow. She only donned a white bra and pink panties. Impure thoughts tried to surface my conscious mind and I blushed, fighting hard to suppress them. What on earth was I doing?
I couldn't help but smile at the view. She was so beautiful in her sleep. Her lips were pouty with just a tad of drool dripping from the corner and had strands of her golden locks on her face. She looked so peaceful. I continued to grin and softly brushed her hair away and stroked her cheek. As I did, thoughts of what happened to her began to race through my mind. I moved my hand away from her face and clenched my fist. I swear, If I EVER get my hands on the bastard that did this to her, he'll wish his mother never conceived him!
The noise stopped as I crossed my hands behind my head. Looks like the neighbors finally decided to go to bed. I sighed, and watched my phone when it wheezed. To my big surprise, it was a text from my mom.
"Hi, dear! How are you? I hope I'm not waking you. It's so sunny over here! I'll call you later on, okay? Good night."
I smiled. My parents don't call me too often. They're both pretty busy with their archaeological work. They once asked me to go with them, but I refused; San Lorenzo was far too hot and dangerous for me. I'm a city guy. I wasn't really, err, jungle-wise enough to live down there.. Plus, if I'd gone with them, I would've never met this troublesome girl.
I shut my phone off and turned towards her continuing to stare in awe of her. The silence was comfortable, with only the sound of her breathing being audible. The thoughts of what had occurred to her returned to my mind. My heart sank to my stomach. I HAVE to help her. I can't allow her to be beaten again. She could be killed! I sighed.
But she's so strong. She's been through hell and back and she's made it through everything. I began to stroke her cheek with my thumb.
"I'll help you," I muttered, "because I love you."
The only response I got from her was her breath. It was enough for me. I smiled, and curled up in the bed with her. I grabbed her hand and held onto it as if it she was the gate to my dream world.
"Damn, I'm ridiculously late," I grimaced as I ran for school with my backpack over my shoulder and a cookie in the mouth.
I didn't my homework, either. My teachers are gonna grill me. And I haven't answered Gerald's calls or messages so he's gonna ask me about yesterday for sure. I wonder if I should tell him about Helga. I mean, we were okay last time but it doesn't mean he would want to know about her. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration and entered the school. It was pretty silent, which means the bell rang and I was unquestionably late for class. I ran to my locker to get my math book and heard a cheerful voice call my name.
"Hey, Arnold!"
I turned around to see my friend Sheena with a pile of sheet in her hands.
"Hey, Sheena. What are you doing here?" I asked as I closed my locker.
She sighed glumly. "The principal called me to the office to tell me to stop hanging up posters on the walls."
"Well, you were posting too much," I kindly teased.
"But ARNOLD! Saving the whales is SO important and should be brought to everyone's attention! What if they all die out?" she angrily inquired. Not a very usual attitude on her part but her passion for wildlife preservation seems to bring out the strongest feelings in her.
"Anyways," she continued, brushing off her little rant, "what are you doing out in the hall at this hour?"
"I know, I know. I'm late for class! I'll see you later, okay?"
She nodded and I headed towards class. As I walked in, Sid turned towards me and smiled knowingly. I felt my face heat up remembering last night's events. My thoughts were immediately interrupted by my teacher.
"Oh, Mr. Shortman. How nice of you to join us," he looked at his watch, "twenty minutes after the bell. Please, take your seat."
I rolled my eyes and took my seat next to Sid. The teacher continued with his lesson without bothering to catch me up on what I missed.
"You're late AGAIN, Lover Boy," whispered Sid teasingly. "What's up?"
"Helga was in trouble… I had to help her," I explained.
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Sid inquired.
"I can't really talk about it. Let's just focus on class, I'm already in hot water with the teacher as it is," I stated, hoping he would drop the subject.
I was perfectly aware that Sid didn't care about Helga or her troubles in the least. No one in the gang did except for Gerald, Phoebe and I… Oh, and Lila, too.
Speaking of Lila, I haven't seen her since the last time we bumped into each other in the hall. I wonder if she's okay. She didn't seem to be doing so well last time I saw her.
I leaned on my right hand as I thought about her. Even though we're not dating anymore, I still find myself thinking about her every time I wake up or when I'm eating alone. We were so happy together. Lila's a great girl. I really hope she finds a good guy. She didn't deserve to have her heart broken by me…
A few hours passed and it was finally lunch time. Sid, Gerald and the rest of the guys approached my table and sat their trays down. Gerald put his arm around my shoulder.
"Hey, man. What's been up? You feelin' better? You looked a little weird yesterday."
I shrugged, unsure of what to tell him. "Uhh, Gerald. Can I talk to you in private?"
He raised his eyebrow. "Uh, sure, man. We'll be right back guys."
We walked to the men's room and I scanned the bathroom to make sure we were alone. My nervous habit of rubbing the back of my neck kicked in. Gerald furrowed his brow, knowing that something's up, specifically with Helga.
"It's Pataki, huh?"
"Yeah..." I stared down, suddenly finding the tiles of the floor interesting.
He sighed. "What'd she do now?"
"Well… How do I put this?" I thought out loud. I tried to find a way to say this in a way that'd make the situation sound less serious than it actually is.
"You remember my 60'' TV, right?" I asked. He nodded and smiled nostalgically.
"How could I forget? We've had so many guys nights watching football and basketball on the thing! What about it?"
I gulped.
''Well... It's gone.''
My nerves were at an all time high. I looked up to see Gerald's reaction. He was absolutely emotionless at first. After a few seconds, his face contorted to an expression of anger and confusion.
He panicked. "What'd you just say? Wh— How!? WHY!? A-Arnold. Don't tell me Helga—"
"NO!" I loudly interrupted before he went any further. "Well, not exactly. I was the first to think so," I explained, continuing to rub the back of my neck. "I ran back to her place demanding an explanation but when I saw her…" I sighed sadly. "I saw her crouched in the corner in pain with wounds all over her. She got beat up by some dealer she owed money to. She didn't have the money so she gave him my address."
Gerald was speechless, merely blinking incessantly with his mouth partially open. He closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation.
"Arnold, man, if I were you, I'd move out as soon as possible."
"I know. I'm still looking for an apartment," I agreed.
"And you need to stop hanging out with that girl," he said, matter-of-factly.
"Gerald!" I scowled as I angrily rolled my eyes. "I thought I made it clear what's going on between us." He sighed again.
"So what're you gonna do, LOVER BOY? Wait until you're left with absolutely nothing?"
''I'll help her out. She can't continue to live like this.'' I leaned against the sink, suddenly tired. I stared at myself in the mirror.
"I'm gonna ask my boss to take her in at the pharmacy, since she got fired from her last job."
His eyes bugged out in shock. "But WHY would you—ugh, never mind. Just forget it." He shook his head. "Do what you want, man. Just don't get in trouble.
"I'll try, my dear," I jokingly batted my eyes at him 'romantically.' He laughed.
"Oh, God, the bromance! I'm outta here!" he stated amusingly before heading out the door. I followed soon after.
It has been a long, long day. Right after school I went to the job where I talked about Helga to my boss; and as I expected, he wanted to see her as soon as possible for an interview. I finished working at 10h pm and then I began doing homework for two hours. And here I am, trying to get some sleep. But it was impossible. I turned to be on the belly and closed my eyes and my thoughts went for Helga whose I haven't spoken today. I hoped she was okay.
It's been a long day. Seriously. As soon as I got outta school, I went to talk to my boss about the job for Helga. As I expected, he wanted to see her as soon as possible for an interview. I got out of work at 10 PM and did my homework for about two hours afterward. Now I'm on my bed tossing and turning, dying to get some sleep. But I can't. I couldn't stop thinking about Helga and what'd happened. I hope she's okay.
"An interview, huh?" rhetorically asked Helga after my little speech as she took a puff of her cigarette, her gang right beside her.
"Y-yeah," I replied very uneasily.
I accompanied her to her apartment after school. I almost changed my mind but I went anyways. Her gang was there immersing themselves in alcohol and smoking enough to produce a thundercloud of cancer.
Jawbreaker and Burn were sitting near her on the couch. On the other sofa was Gino, a short brunette whose size is disproportionate to his record. On the floor were two girls, Pinky and Millow, snorting cocaine. There was also someone in the bathroom; T-Rex, if I'm not mistaken. He's a HUGE guy with what seemed like steroid-induced muscles. In the kitchen was one guy named Karl, the nicest of the bunch.
I seemed to stick out like a sore thumb, mostly because everyone else's eyes were bloodshot red except for mine. My stomach began to churn with the unpleasant aroma of cigarette smoke, drugs and alcohol mixed together.
"So, Arnaud…" chimed in a red-headed teen with freckles.
I cleared me throat. "Err, it's Arnold."
"So, Arnold, Helga tells me you're kinda in love with her!" she smirked.
My felt my cheeks turning tomato red as my eyes widened in shock. For few seconds, I got wordless.
I felt my cheeks begin to heat up which means my face will become bright red and my eyes bugged out. I was completely speechless.
''-Y-Yes.'' I succeeded to say, completely taken aback.
"So you wanna do her, right?" she daringly inquired.
I heard Helga let out a little laugh, followed by the rest of the guys. I lowered my face shyly and saw T-Rex coming back to the top of his 2 meters long. I gasped. This guy seemed everything BUT nice.
"So Helga, my boss wants you tomorrow night, if it's possible," I commented, doing my best to ignore the teasing from Helga's friends.
"He can have me all NIGHT, for all I care!" she shouted in her drug-influenced stupor, causing everyone to laugh."
"Everybody knows that you're a piece of heaven, Helga!'' said Burn, caressing her thigh seductively. I angrily clenched my fist, but Helga wasn't high enough to let him take advantage of her that way.
'' Shove it, Burn. I'm not into old guys.''
''How about your last boss ?''
To the memories of her revelation some days ago, felt myself sank into my own sadness. She should not have done that.
''Oh yeah, this one... Well, at least I had a group. Too bad I don't work there anymore."
''But Helga, it was your group wasn't it? You could continue to sing with them.'' I chimed in, proud of my response.
''Well, not anymore. I texted 'em, they already found a new singer. Those sons of bitches," she stated disdainfully.
I remained silent as I watched her smoke. I might madly in love with her and completely against cigarettes, but I loved the way she did it. I loved the way her slender fingers were wrapped around the cigarette, holding it tightly, the way she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. The expression of relaxation her face made after she inhaled the cancer invoking smoke. I took a deep breath, gazing at her every move. Her sarcastic smile, her sunny eyes. Oh, God, I've gotta stop thinking about her this way.
I felt one of the guys sitting next to me stand up and murmur something about a toilet. Helga then sat next to me. She grinned at me as she held an unused cigarette in her hand.
''Take it."
I stared at her, rather shocked that she'd offer me one of those things. "Helga, I don't smoke."
''Try one. Just one," she pleaded.
''Helga...''
"Aw, come on, Taco Head, it won't hurt you. Don't be a fag," said the girl next to Pinky.
"This thing isn't gonna make me a better person," I argued nervously.
I looked up to see everyone's gaze set on me and suddenly my nerves fly past the speed of sound. I'd never felt so uncomfortable in my own skin. These guys know about the real world; a dark world that I could never see myself in. I found myself staring at the cigaret again and relented. It's just ONE cigarette. A lot of people smokes. It couldn't hurt to try it, right?
I swallowed hard and took one of the cancer sticks from her hand. Millow passed me a lighter. I suddenly felt my heart speed up and my adrenaline soar through the roof as I was about to do something I never saw myself do. Oh, God. What was I DOING?
"Come ON, Football Head. We ain't got all DAY." Helga began to lose her patience.
I watched the lighter and then took one last breath of clean air before lighting up the cigarette. I took a deep breath. I could feel the smoke harshly wrap itself around my lungs went into an uncontrolled fit of coughs. I heard laughter all around me as I managed to open my eyes. Helga was laughing incessantly. I felt a sharp pang in my chest, stronger than the actual pain in my throat. She just liked to humiliate me and make fun of me. How I wished she could be kinder to me. I part of
I part of me really did like it, I won't deny that, but a lot of it DID hurt.
"I… I can't," I stated, still lightly coughing as Helga shoved the cigarette back to my lips.
"Yes, you can. Trust me. Just inhale deeply and let it go."
Her big blue eye gave me the comfort I needed among the crowd of strangers that surrounded me. I followed her instructions and inhaled again.
"Don't worry, Arnoldo. It's perfectly normal. We laughed but we were much worse than you," she smirked. "The first time I smoked, I inhaled a little TOO much and fell on my knee from the shock. I coughed so much, my chest hurt like hell."
The mental picture of that moment caused me to laugh, as did the rest of her gang."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's laugh at ol' Pataki!" she scowled amusingly before smiling again.
''Well, why shouldn't we? You're always making fun of us; I think it's your turn," teased Jawbreaker, finishing his bottle of beer.
"You sure you wanna do that, tough guy?" Helga threatened.
Everyone laughed as Jawbreaker jokingly pouted his lips. I looked around at the people in the room and was taken aback at the thoughts that ran through my mind. The bond these people have is like that of a family. Kinda like what it was like when my parents were still with me. I felt myself smile weakly. They looked so happy together, like a big happy family. I've never seen Helga so happy before, so at home. They might look brutal, cruel and weird but they were her friends, her family.
"Hey Helga, look at this!"
We both turned our gaze to see T-Rex with two cigarettes in his nose.
"I'm smoking with my nose!" It didn't last and he found himself in a fit of cough.
"Oh gosh!" he exclaimed.
I couldn't retain myself from laughing as Helga busted in laughter. I thought I wasn't going to be here too long but I'll stick around just a little while longer.
This cigarette's not so bad, either…
It was so sunny today. The weekend's finally here and it's the last day of fall.
I was wearing my favorite plaid shirt and Helga, in her own Helga style, wore a black tank top with a skull on it and dark blue jeans as well as her black sneakers. She was a beautiful badass.
She had a cigarette behind her ear and rubbed her eye
"Damn, I drank way too much at the club, last night," she complained.
I smiled. She met my boss at the drugstore yesterday, and went to party right after. I, however, remained at the store. Once I was home, I studied for a few hours and went to bed. Here I am, fully awake and here you go, Helga, fighting the will to sleep. Next time you won't be drinking too much, I thought to myself amusingly.
"Oh God, my head," she groaned lazily, drinking her morning coffee.
"You're beautiful when you're sleepy," I said without thinking, but with a weak blush on my cheek.
She turned her eye towards me, speechless.
"If you say so," she replied without looking at me.
Deep down, I enjoyed moments like this where she found herself speechless at my attempts at flirting. She wouldn't admit, but she became very shy every time I'd say something romantic to her. Now it's your turn to be teased, Helga Pataki!
"I can't wait to go to the party. I'm sure people will like you more when they see how you truly are!" I smiled proudly.
"Damn, I can't believe I'm going to this shitty party. It better be cool, Football Head, or Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers will show NO mercy."
I grinned uneasily and drank my coffee.
"You know, Helga, the BBQ is this afternoon. You can go back to sleep."
''I can't.'' She groaned in anger. ''I gotta go to school and sign those papers since I can't go anymore.''
My smile faded, and I lowered my face. Despite what she said, I knew she really wanted to go to school. But with all her debts, she can't go anywhere, and I can't help her, no matter how much I wanted to.
"What about me? I came all this way, you can't just leave –"
She looked up from her cup. "Who said you have to leave? You can just stay here 'till I get. I won't be long."
I just blinked. She was ready to leave me alone in her house? Damn... Either she was incredibly stupid or she trusted me… big time, which I admit, made me melt inside a little.
''Okay, I won't touch anything.''
''You better not if you care about your male parts,'' she threatened, only half joking, if experience has taught me anything.
"There's a place downtown if you're looking for a show
Where they go hardcore and there's glitter on the floor
And they
Turn me on
When they
Take it off."
I jumped at the sound of her own voice in my pocket. I pulled out my phone, blushing immensely as she lifted an understanding eyebrow.
''I gotta take the call," I said shyly, standing up before going to her stoop and answering.
"Hello?"
"Hey, son! What's up?"
I smiled eagerly as I realized who it was. "Dad!" I exclaimed joyfully. "Wow! It's been so long! How are you?"
"I'm fine. It's so hot out here! Sometimes, I really miss winter. So, how are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks," I answered politely.
"Is Lila there? Could you tell her hello for me?" he asked.
I heard some odd noise in the background. His dad should be in the jungle now.
"I, uh, broke up with her," I revealed leaning against the wall, shifting awkwardly and feeling guilty.
Dad let out a little surprised yell. ''No way! You were with her for so long! What happened?''
"Well, uh... I just think we weren't for each other... Well, I mean... I fell for someone else," I said, trying to guess which face he was making right now.
"Ohhh, well that's a little disappointing. I liked the little country girl. So who's the lucky one now?" he asked excitedly as I heard my mother in the background.
"Oh, uh... A girl from my university."
"Nice! How does she look?"
"She's blonde, has two beautiful blue eyes… uh… sexy..." I muttered, my cheek burning.
I could almost see him shaking his head with a smile.
"I hope you're happy with her, son. Your mother wants to talk to you. Talk to you soon, Arnold."
I nodded and my mother began to talk.
"Hello, sweetheart. It's been a while since we've talked, I'm really sorry, I'd like to talk to you some more but I've been so busy! How are you? " my mother asked sweetly.
I grinned and explained what I have been through for the past month.
"Wonderful, Arnold ! So you've got a little girlfriend? I'm so happy for you! You know what? In three months we'll take a week off and come back to see this Pataki girl, okay? I gotta hang up now. Take care of yourself, change your underwear everyday and—"
"Mom!" I spat in embarrassment.
She laughed. "Alright, son. I love you!"
"I love you too, mom."