"Steven and I are going away for the weekend, Helga," Olga informed Helga one night. "You won't be alone though. You remember Lila, don't you?"

Ugh! How could she forget? Miss Perfect. Miss Sweetness and Cream. How Helga despised the girl . . . and yet . . .

She would be Helga's link to the outside world! At least for a weekend. Finally, someone not related to her, or working there, to talk to and hang out with. Maybe she could find out what was happening to everyone. Including Arnold.

"I remember her, yeah," Helga said. She looked towards Steven who looked a bit concerned.

"Do you really think leaving two teenage girls alone in a big house is wise, Olga?" he asked, glancing apologetically at Helga. She shrugged. 'Please don't convince her otherwise! Even Lila is better than no one at all!'

"Oh, Lila will be no trouble," Olga assured him. "She goes to an all-girls school. She won't be bringing over boys. And besides, Colin and Cally will be here to keep an eye on them."

Helga swallowed back her disappointment. She had forgotten Lila's father had sent her to an all-girls school after some jerk had tried to take advantage of her at a party. She wasn't there, but had heard about it. Apparently she had texted her dad saying she felt weird and to pick her up, then had gone outside. One of the older boys was trying to talk her into getting into his car with him when her father arrived. Lila had been in tears and had been struggling to get away from him, and his friends. Rhonda and her crew witnessed the whole thing. And instead of aiding her, had just stood there watching. When she had heard she was pretty disgusted at them. They saw Lila in trouble and hadn't even bothered to help her.

"Well, if you're sure," Steven said, going back to his dinner. He looked over at Helga and with a faux stern face growled, "No boys."

Helga scoffed. "I don't know any boys anymore. I don't know anyone anymore. I am a rock, I am an island".

"Simon and Garfunkel, I'm impressed," Steven said, smiling at her. Helga smirked and looked away, her heart doing flip flops. Grr, why him?

Helga had been living with them for a few months. Thanksgiving was literally days away.

"Also, Lila and her father are coming for Thanksgiving," Olga announced. She looked at Steven. "Cally knows."

"You couldn't have run this past me first?" he asked, scowling. "Or at least given me warning?"

"Oh, Steven, you would have only found a reason not to have a party," Olga cried. She turned on her sad look. "We have enough room and space to host dinner parties, and yet you never want to. I also have some other guests coming, friends of mine from the club."

"What club?" Steven asked, looking miffed.

"Oh, really Steven, if you paid more attention to what was going on around here-"

Helga shut out her sister's voice and concentrated on her eating. She wondered if there would be any other young people in attendance, other than her and Lila . . . she had the feeling she shouldn't hold her breath.

. . .

Helga checked her dress again, and her hair. She had a French braid. Basic, but pretty. Her dress was a light blue, with a tight bodice (she had put on a wonder bra. Not much of an improvement, sadly) and the skirt of the dress flared a bit. Her understanding was that she and Lila were fine to have dinner, but afterwards, when the entertainment arrived, they were to go to Helga's room to occupy themselves. Helga had no idea what they were going to do, and she had been quite disappointed to find out that all she was going to experience was dinner.

Finally, she gave her reflection a pout, and made her way downstairs, just as the first guest arrived. She hoped it was Lila and her father, but it wasn't. It was a stuffy looking older couple. They greeted first Olga, with kisses, and Steven with a hand shake. They looked at Helga as she came down.

"Oh, is this the sister we've been hearing so much about?" the woman asked, moving towards her. She was wearing way to much perfume, and on closer inspection, her foundation was heavy. She clearly hadn't used lip liner, either.

"Helga, this is Mr. and Mrs. Grail," Olga said, introducing her to them.

"Hello," she said, unsure what to do next and looking towards her sister for help.

"You look very well for a girl who lost her parents not too long ago," the woman said. Helga took a step back, feeling like she had been slapped.

"Wilma, please," her husband said, stepping forward to take her by the arm. "My wife is . . . unwell."

Helga looked at him like he was crazy. Unwell? That wasn't any excuse to be so rude. Steven showed them into the next room, where the piano was, next to the dining room.

"Dementia," Olga whispered.

"Huh?"

"His wife," Olga explained. "She didn't mean any harm."

Helga blinked away her tears, and held her head high.

"Oh, Lila!" Olga suddenly squealed, and moved forward to hug the newcomer, and greet her father.

Helga looked over with curiosity. She hadn't really paid much attention to Lila after middle school. They'd all been placed in different classes, some went to different schools, and two had moved away. Such was life. But she could see why the boys had targeted Lila. She had that shy, timid look, and while not particularly pretty, she wasn't a horror to look at. She didn't wear much make up. A bit of blush and some lip gloss. Her dress was pretty conservative, but a vibrant green, reaching mid calve. Her hair was in a plait, also. And her boobs! Helga hated her just for that . . . she must be a D, at least!

"Hello, Helga," she greeted, smiling shyly.

"Hey," she grunted. "So, how've you been?"

"Good," Lila answered, then awkward silence decended between them.

"So . . ."

Lila grinned, and looked around, still looking awkward. Great, and I have a whole weekend alone with her!

. . .

Helga was impressed with the amount of food, the music, and the number of guests. She and Lila were the youngest there, and while there were a couple of young men, they were still a bit on the old side for them. They had graduated from Universities already. Lila and Helga didn't have much to say to each other, except small talk about her school. For the first time in her life though, Helga was hanging on Lila's every word. She was so hungry for news on what was happening in what she know thought of as "The Outside World".

"I can't believe you haven't heard of this band, Helga!" Lila exclaimed. "I have them on my ipod. Maybe we can listen to them later upstairs?"

"Sure, nothing much else to do," Helga said. "I don't think we'd be allowed to wander through the house in our swimsuits."

"Probably not, but I did bring mine," she told her. "I'm just going to stay from tonight. Daddy is staying only tonight, then leaving tomorrow."

"Do you know where your sleeping?" Helga asked. Lila shook her head. "We should find out. Come on, we'll ask Cally."

After dinner, they made their way into the kitchen where a flustered Cally was trying to create order from chaos.

"Cally, where is Lila sleeping?" Helga asked.

"What? Oh, the room next to yours is ready for her," Cally said, dismissing them and chasing after a waiter with a tray down.

"Guess we'll go mind our teenage business now," Helga said, grabbing Lila's hand and taking her upstairs.

"Helga!" Steven called out. "Before you go, want a dance?"

"Olga said-"

"I know what Olga said, but one dance wont matter." He looked to a young man behind him, who smiled at Lila. "I've even found your friend a dance partner."

Helga took Steven's offered hand and was pulled into a dance. It was a slow one. She was close to his body, one hand on her hip. She looked around and saw her sister through the crowd looking out and chatting to a woman next to her.

"So what are you and Lila going to get up to this weekend?" Steven asked. Helga shrugged. "Really, you can't think of one thing?"

"I spose we could have hot lesbian sex," Helga said, grinning up at him. He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow, but not smiling. He clearly didn't find that amusing. "We'll probably just go horse riding, or swimming, maybe go to the beach. There isn't much else to do."

Steven sighed. "I'm sorry, Helga."

"Don't be," Helga said. "We'll be fine."

. . .

Helga and Lila had both escaped at last, and rushed upstairs and into the room Lila was to stay in. It didn't have it's own little lounge, but it did have it's own bathroom.

"It's . . . wow!" Lila exclaimed, looking around, then flopping down on the plush bed. "It's like a hotel or something!"

"Or something," Helga agreed. Suddenly Lila sat up, and went over to her bag and pulled an envelope out.

"Don't tell anyone," she said, handing it to her.

"What is it?" Helga asked, opening it slowly.

"It's a letter from Arnold," Lila told her.

"Arnold!" Helga shouted.

"Shhhh," Lila said, putting her finger to her lips. "He suspects you haven't been getting his letters and his emails to you keep bouncing back."

"What? But he hasn't written to me or emailed me at all!" Helga said.

"Oh, he has," Lila told her. "I was there one day when he got a message from you to call you, and when he did he got told you were too busy and that they would take a message to pass onto you. But you never got it, I'm guessing?"

Helga could feel her face changing to one of hurt and confusion. Why would anyone here try to keep her from contacting Arnold? Or Arnold contacting her? What were her sister and Steven up to?

"No, I never heard back from him, and just sort of guessed that . . . that he didn't want to know me anymore."

"Well, that's not true," Lila told her.

"How do you know this?" Helga asked, bile starting to come up. Please don't be dating, please don't be dating!

"We bumped into each other at Mr. Greens Meats on day, and Arnold asked if I had heard from Olga or you," Lila explained. Helga released her breath. "Anyway, I mentioned that we were invited to a Thanksgiving party here, and he asked me if I would pass a letter onto you, because he was suspicious about whether you were getting them."

Helga's jaw clenched. How dare her sister and Steven do this? How dare they!

"Anyway, he told me how you weren't calling him back, or answering letters or emails, and he was worried about you," Lila went on. "I told him that if I saw you I would talk to you. He gave me his mobile number and told me to get you to call him from my cell phone, but I went one better."

Lila got up again and pulled out a box from her bag. "Consider it an early Christmas and birthday present."

Helga looked to see it was just a very basic cell phone. Probably only about ten dollars, but still. It was hers!

"Is it on a plan?" she asked.

"Nope," Lila said, shaking her head. "Prepay. You just need to top up when you need to."

Helga threw her arms around Lila. Finally! An ally!

"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you," Helga said, starting to cry.

"I'll give you my number as well," Lila said. "Just don't let your sister or Steven find out about it. I promised your sister I would leave my phone and laptop at home. I thought that was such a weird request. I'm a teenager. I never don't have some kind of technology on me. Which made me figure you didn't have any on you."

"Reception on cell phones is bad here, and I don't know the wi fi password," Helga confessed.

"Really?" Lila asked, shocked. Helga nodded. "What is going on here?"

Helga was beginning to wonder the same thing . . . it was almost as though they were trying to cut her off from the rest of the world.

"Anyway, if you have anything you want me to pass on to Arnold, I will," she said. "I'll drop it off on my way home or something."

. . .

Helga was still seething with her sister and Seven, but thought better of confronting them about it. Okay, Lila talked her out of it. As she pointed out, they'd know that Lila was in contact with Arnold, and if they knew that, they might cut her off from Helga too. Helga thought back to the night Olga had told her and Steven that Lila was coming to stay. Lila was right. Helga had gained a new found respect for the girl. She played the shy, quiet girl, but she was sharp as a whip and just as quick. Helga was impressed. Over the weekend they swam in the pool, walked along the beach, rode horses, played music and went online. Lila used her phone. Arnold wasn't online at the time, and it would cut off every now and then. She learned the whole story, the true story, from her about what happened.

"He'd been harrassing me for weeks," Lila told her. "But I wasn't interested. Not because I'm a lesbian or anything."

"Wouldn't be a problem if you were," Helga said, shrugging. Lila smiled at her.

"Anyway, I had a feeling something wasn't right . . ."

Lila then told her everything that had happened. Rhonda had tried to set her and the guy up. Helga didn't know the guy, though she knew of him. Anyway, Lila had thrown up, her heart was racing, she was feeling major anxiousness, and he was trying to get her into his car. Her dad pulled up and intervened, and took her home, but then to the hospital, worried about what was happening to her when she started struggling to breathe.

"They'd spiked my drink," Lila told her. "And I was having a reaction to what they gave me. I almost died because of it. That's why I never went back to school. The police were told, but nothing ever came of it."

"No surprises there," Helga said.

"No," Lila agreed. "None at all. Anyway, while I was in hospital dad arranged for me to go to Hillwood Girls, so I wouldn't need to see him or Rhonda or any of them again."

. . .

Sunday came too fast, and her father showed up to take her home. She had written a poem and letter for Lila to give to Arnold.

"It's ridiculous that you have to do this," Lila said, shaking her head. "I'll try to find an excuse to go that way either tonight or tomorrow. I don't want my dad seeing it. Just in case."

"Thank you, Lila," Helga said, hugging her.

"Anything for love."

. . .

It took all of Helga's self-control not to launch an attack on her sister and Steven when they got home. But she remembered Lila's words and kept her mouth shut. Lila was, for now, her only way to get messages to and from Arnold. She had to keep that link. The following months were the hardest. She got a Christmas Card from Lila, but nothing from Arnold, despite sending one out. She had to trust that Colin would send it, but she didn't. She was pretty sure any letters or cards she wrote were read then thrown away. It made her so mad.

Her sister threw a Eve of Christmas Eve party, and got ridiculously drunk, played the piano, and flirted with other men right in front of Steven. She could see Steven getting more and more annoyed, and it seemed her sister found it more and more amusing. Helga had left after eating. She didn't really know anyone and was bored anyway.

Helga was awoken by fighting early the next morning.

"How could you embarrass me like that!?" she heard Steven roar. "You were practically suffocating the poor man with your breasts!"

"I'm too tired to stand here arguing with you," she heard her sister say, and then she heard a door slam. She heard someone stomping down the hallway and another door slam. It was the loudest Helga had ever heard them. Usually it was just harsh whispers, just out of ear shot. But in front of people they always acted so perfect. Or they did until last night, anyway.

Steven got his revenge New Years though. They threw another party, and he vanished relatively early. Helga stayed up to see in the New Year, then went to bed. Her sister had allowed her a glass of Champaign!

On her way back to her room she heard giggling coming from the library. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the door quietly and peeked in. Her eyes went wide, and she pulled away. Steven was in there, with some woman from the party, sitting in a chair, while she rode him. Helga quietly fled to her room, slamming the door behind her. What was going on with her sister and Steven? She had started getting the feeling that things weren't right in their marriage when she first arrived. Everything she had seen, especially recently, was reinforcing that. She wanted to call Lila and talk to her, but then she didn't at the same time. While she was friendly with Lila, she didn't feel comfortable talking to her about something like this, and there was no one else to talk to. A house full of people, and Helga had never felt so alone.