Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.

A Perfect Disaster

Chapter 3: Lisa and Logan

The dinner at the Pataki household was very tense and slow for Olga's taste. Daddy and Patrick still insulted each other, mummy tried to focus on the twins and Olga only tried to keep their attention on enjoying the delicious, gourmet dinner she worked so hard on.

"More stuffing daddy?...' Olga offered, sounding as charming as she could.

"None for me, the doc says I gotta watch my cholesterol…" Bob waved away.

"I'll have some mom…" Logan asked and soon inhaled his extra portion along with his meal, although Bob looked unsatisfied.

"Honestly Olga, that's not enough for the boy…Don't tell me this is all he eats…How is he going to grow big enough to carry on the Pataki pride if he eats this little…" Bob criticized.

"No daddy, Logan eats plenty…right, sweetie?..." Olga asked her son.

"I'm good but keep it coming…" Logan said as he went back to his dinner.

"What about me? I'm as much of a Pataki as he is…" Lisa pointed out.

"You got that right, never forget it…" Bob said seriously to his granddaughter.

"Lisa and Logan, you guys are Shermans, remember…" Patrick said in annoyance.

"Was I talking to you?..." Bob spat and soon engaged into another fight with Patrick.

Olga tried hard not to groan and she felt her headache get worse. She honestly couldn't believe that her father thought that she was any less than a good mother to her kids. True, she had trouble controlling them…getting them to listen to her…and they didn't get straight A's…or Lisa wasn't interested in piano, ballet and beauty pageants and Logan was more interested with doing everything online when he wasn't doodling but that didn't mean that she was a bad mother.

"Certainly not…" Olga thought as her eyes landed on her son.

Olga might never have had a brother but she knew how Pataki men were supposed to be like, given her father and many of her cousins were like. They had been star athletes in school, winning any contest they could get in and always express interest in a career in business like her father's beeper emporium.

Logan might be a Sherman by name but he had Pataki blood in him but no one would believe that. Logan, surprisingly enough, wasn't a very good athlete outside of baseball and even then, he paled in comparison to his sister. He was mostly a B and C student, getting A's only in his math, art and computer science classes. Olga tried to help him improve on his other classes but he sometimes couldn't get higher than a B if his life depended on it. Olga didn't know what she was doing wrong with him!

She could still recall his last report card.

Flashback

3 months ago

Olga Pataki-Sherman looked completely agape when she saw what was on her son's report card. She had hired him a tutor, which costed a good chunk of her paycheck and this is what she gets.

"Logan, how can you possibly explain these grades?..." Olga said seriously as she pointed to his C+ in chemistry.

"What's the big deal mom? It's just one C?..." Logan asked, only to receive a frown from his mother.

He honestly didn't get why his mother was so upset. He only got one C, three A's and the rest B's. He worked really hard and he was doing a lot better compared to his other classmates, yet his mother was acting like he got an F or something.

"Just a C?! And B's as well?! Logan, don't you understand that grades are an extremely important part that will help shape your future…" Olga reminded.

"Mom, chemistry is a really hard class and Mr. Dabney is a total jerk, I'm lucky I even survived this semester…' Logan said.

"Do not speak ill against your teacher, maybe that attitude is affecting your performance…" Olga chided.

"What attitude? No one in my class got an A in his class this term, what do you think that means?..." Logan shouted.

"That you are your friends need to take this more seriously…Honestly Logan, when I was your age I-…" Olga was cut off by her angry son.

"Yeah, yeah…Got straight A's since third grade, I heard that story a million times…I'm sorry that I'm not a straight A student mom but not everyone is…' Logan defended.

Olga was completely dismayed that he would interrupt her like that. As a child herself, she never did such things or get such low grades.

"Just go to your room, your father and I will talk about this when he gets home, we just want what's best for your future Logan, I had gotten straight A's all my life and it is what got me my scholarship to Bennington, where I graduated top of my class…." Olga pointed out.

Logan merely glanced around his family's tiny apartment and frowned at it, not wanting to look directly at his mother.

"A lot of good that did, all things considered…" He thought but wisely kept quiet as he left for the room he shared with his twin sister.

"What is wrong with that child?..." Olga said softly as she looked at the report card.

She just didn't understand why Logan had such trouble with school, she had invested a lot of time in his education since he could walk and all it got her was just three A's, a terrible C and disgusting B's.

"What am I going to do?..." She thought in dismay as she put the report card away and waited for Patrick to get home so they could talk to their son together.

All the while, Olga wondered why her Pataki intelligence seemed to have skipped a generation this time around.

End of Flashback

Olga shook her head at that. She tried to help Logan focus more on classes but he was still getting C's here and there. She just didn't understand.

It wouldn't have been so bad, had it been that day, Helga's son Andy made the honor roll. Olga didn't mean to see it really, she had gone over to Helga's to borrow her car since her's broke down and she needed a ride. She remembered Andy running in all excited, proudly showing his mother the high marks he gotten, which had only been mostly A's and only 2 B's.

Olga couldn't explain why that stung a bit, especially since her Logan and Lisa haven't made honor roll yet, despite being older. She tried to shake away those memories and just focus on her family dinner. Eventually it came to a close and while Patrick had to go to the bathroom and Logan and Lisa chatted with their nana, Olga took the opportunity to ask her father for the loan she needed. She tried to explain that it was not what he thought. That she just needed some extra money for Logan and Lisa while Patrick got a new job and that she would pay him back soon.

Her father was silent for a while and Olga hated the look her was giving her. He only shook his head before pulling out his wallet.

"I keep telling you to dump that chump, Olga…or at least organize your priorities…I'm not made of money and I'm not always going to be around…" Her father grumbled as he wrote down the check and handed it to his eldest child.

"Daddy, I promise that I will pay you back within a month…" Olga said as she put the check safely in her purse before hugging her father in gratitude.

However, before she left, she heard him mumble this.

"I never have to lend Helga any money…"Was what he said before turning back to the television to watch The Wheel.

Olga didn't want those words to sting, so she shook them off, took her coat and said goodbye to her mother and escorted her family back home.

At the Sherman residence

"Home sweet home…" Patrick said as he flopped on the couch and flicked on the television.

"Now Logan and Lisa, you both better go study…" Olga ordered.

"Mom, we already did our homework at Auntie Helga's house…" Lisa reminded.

"Speaking of which, I should look over it and make sure that it's all right…" Olga said as she demanded the notebooks.

"We already double checked and Uncle Arnold helped too…" Logan said as he gave her his notebook.

Olga looked over the questions and answers and could safely say that they were correct. She checked math, science and chemistry and was surprised to see that they was no error yet. Reluctantly she gave the notebooks back.

"Very well…" Olga said…. "Anyway, you guys still have to study, I know that you have a math test next Friday…" Olga said seriously.

"Tomorrow mom, I wanna unwind…" Lisa yawned as she sat next to her father to watch television.

Olga merely turned off the TV.

"Hey, why did you do that?..." Patrick complained.

"Patrick, our daughter is neglecting her academic duties again…" Olga said with her arms crossed.

"You are?..." Patrick questioned.

"I'm not, I already studied this stuff at Auntie Helga's house and the test is in seven days, I'll do it tomorrow…" Lisa said in a bored tone.

"That attitude is the difference between getting A's and B's at school…" Olga said harshly.

"But mom, it's Friday and I wanna watch the baseball game, I need to watch Mickey Kaline Jr.'s and the Hillwood Black Sox techniques if I wanna go pro…" Lisa said dramatically.

"Lisa, baseball is just a hobby but school is a priority…No buts…" Olga said seriously and saw her daughter's face frown hard.

"Don't worry kiddo, I'll tape the game for ya…" Patrick offered but his daughter still looked upset.

Lisa said nothing as she just marched to her bedroom with Logan right behind her.

'Those two…" Olga muttered.

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on them…Their smart kids, they already did their homework and they got plenty of time to study for that test…" Patrick said, not even bothering to get up from the couch.

"I'm just thinking about their future…They need to excel if they ever want to make it anywhere…"Olga said in concern.

"I think you worry too much, I was mostly a C student as a kid but I still managed to get into college…" Patrick pointed out.

"I know and that's the problem…" Olga thought but wisely kept quiet, not wanting to get into a fight with him right now.

She was too busy worrying about her children, most especially Lisa. She was such a brilliant girl but she was so obsessed with sports that Olga was worried she would never reach her true potential. She honestly didn't understand why Lisa turned out like this. She hated basically everything Olga ever loved as a child, which was school, dresses, ballet and everything remotely feminine.

She remembered that she tried to put her in a beauty pageant when she was six and that turned into a disaster.

FLASHBACK

About 6 years ago.

Olga couldn't believe that this was happening to get. The Little Miss Hillwood Beauty Pageant has arrived in town and Olga was excited. She had won that pageant for 5 years in a row. She had brought the news to her little girl Lisa, expecting her to be excited for a chance to dress up all beautiful and win a crown like she was a princess.

Just like her mother before her.

"I don't wanna!..." Lisa shouted as she stomped her foot.

"But Lisa darling, beauty pageants are so much fun and you're so pretty, you can easily win…" Olga encouraged but her daughter just screamed louder.

"No! No! I don't even like wearing dresses…They're itchy…" Lisa complained.

"At least try it on…" Olga insisted.

"No! I don't wanna…" Lisa resisted.

"Now young lady, come now…" Olga said as she managed to force the dress on her very reluctant daughter.

"Oh, look at how adorable you look…" Olga said as she pulled out a mirror, showing her pretty little daughter look cute in the pink dress she bought her.

Lisa only pouted and scowled at the image.

"I hate it….' Lisa shouted as she tried to take it off.

"Now Lisa behave….I was thinking that for the talent portion of the contest, I would teach you how to play "A minute's waltz" in exactly-…" Olga looked down and saw that her daughter was no longer standing where she left her and her dress was unceremoniously left on the floor.

"Lisa!..." Olga said as she picked up the dress and went to look for her daughter.

She just didn't understand why she was acting like this. She knew her little girl could be energetic but there was a limit. She soon managed to find her daughter in her room, now dressed in her usual blue jumper.

"Lisa, you need to take this seriously…The beauty pageant is in two weeks and we need to get you ready…" Olga insisted.

"I don't wanna be in any pageant…and I don't want to wear that dress…" Lisa said frowning.

"Just give it a chance and I know you will have as much fun as I had at your age…" Olga said cheerfully as she pulled her daughter with her to get dressed once more.

End of Flashback

Olga sighed. The entire pageant had been a disaster since Lisa had been stubborn and even after being dressed and taken there, she refused to answer any questions and perform. She didn't win and after that, Olga didn't try any more pageants but she knew that for whatever reason, her daughter just wasn't a traditional girly girl.

Just how did that happen anyway?

The mother had decided to go check on her kids, to make sure that they were studying but she suddenly heard them talking from the other side of the door.

"That's enough for tonight…" Lisa said in boredom.

"I'll say, I am tired…" Logan yawned.

"I don't get why mom gets so crazy when it comes to tests…I mean Auntie Helga isn't like that…Even when Andy got that C last month, she thought he did okay…" He continued.

"Auntie Helga is cool like that…" Lisa said smiling as she thought about her aunt.

Lisa wasn't going to sugarcoat it. Her life wasn't all that great, between her dad constantly switching employment, them moving from apartment to apartment every few years and a half-crazy mother who always seems to think that there was something wrong with them. But Lisa knew that there was nothing wrong with her. Just because she wasn't a straight A student like her mother was or was interested in frilly dresses or winning every competition she entered, didn't mean that there was something wrong with that.

That was what Auntie Helga said and Lisa could always count on her to make her feel better…especially in concerns with her mother.

Ever since she was a little kid….

FLASHBACK

About 3 years ago

A 9 year old Lisa Miriam Sherman had just left her house after another spat with her mother. It was over the annual spelling bee. Lisa had told her mother constantly that she didn't want to join but she was still obsessed with making her take that stupid trophy. She had been making her read and practice every single day and it was driving her crazy. When her mother snapped at her, Lisa had the last straw.

"You have to practice if you want to win next week!..." Olga said seriously.

"Maybe I don't want to win…I never wanted to be in this thing…You did…" Lisa shouted before running out the room.

That was more or less how it went down. So now Lisa had gotten out of her place and was on her way to the only place in the city where she could easily cool down and no one would yell at her just because she didn't want to be some trophy-winning-cyborg her mother wanted her to be. She hopped on the bus and soon arrived at her destination. S

he knocked on the door and waited and soon her aunt Helga answered it.

"Hello Lisa, what are you doing here? It's late…" Helga said in concern.

"I had another fight with mom…Can I hang here?..." Lisa asked, looking defeated.

"You don't even have to ask…" Helga said as she allowed her in. She took Lisa to the living room ,where Uncle Arnold was, playing with a 6 year old Andy and a 2 year old Megan.

"Look who we have here…" Helga said as she brought her niece in.

"Hey there Lisa, what brings you here?…" Arnold said as he held Megan.

"Another family drama moment, I believe…" Helga theorized.

"The spelling bee is coming up and mom is driving me crazy, I just had to get away from the house…" Lisa sighed.

'I know that story, well you can hang here if you want but I gotta let your mom know where you are…" Helga pointed out.

"Please don't make me go back…I just need a break from the dictionary and from mom…"Lisa said as she rubbed her temples.

"I get it, since it's Saturday, I will let your mom know that you're here and I'll ask if you can spend the night but Lisa, you can't just run out and travel the city at night, it's really dangerous…" Helga warned her.

"I was careful and took a bus straight here…" Lisa pointed out.

Helga only went to make a call, informed Olga of the situation and after a pretty long argument…um…discussion, the arrangements were made.

"Okay, I'll bring her in the morning, night Olga…" Helga said before hanging up.

"Good news, you can stay the night but your heading home first thing in the morning.

"You hear that guys, sleep over!..." Lisa said excitedly to her cousins.

"Alright!..."Andy shouted while Megan giggled in excitement.

'Arnold, could you take the kids to go pick out a movie, I want to talk to Lisa alone for a moment…" Helga said to her husband who nodded.

"Sure thing, come on you guys, let's go see what's on Netflix tonight…" Arnold said as he carried his two kids away from the area, leaving Lisa alone with her aunt.

"So come on, tell Auntie Helga everything…" She offered.

"I already told you, mom is driving me crazy…Just because she was a spelling champion as a kid, and everyone is expecting me to be just like that…" Lisa said sadly.

"I get it, it was the same for me at your age, my dad drove me crazy, working me night and day just because of his sick obsession with winning and because he stupidly made a promotion involving his beepers…." Helga said cynically.

"Gramps did that? That doesn't sound like him…" Lisa said in confusion.

"He's changed in his old age, thankfully but you're not alone Lisa, I get it…" Helga said compassionately.

"I just can't stand it, not just at home but at school, everyone expects me to be a Straight A, overachiever just because mom was…" Lisa said in frustration.

"Been there too…Lisa I understand, your angry, tired and frustrated that people always expecting you to be exactly like your mother and you feel hurt when they think something is wrong with you just because you don't act like she did or win any trophies…I lived that too but you want to know what I learned…" Helga started.

"What?..." Lisa asked.

"I learned that they are jerks who don't know what they are talking about…Lisa, you don't have to be like your mother…You just have to be yourself…You're a smart kid, you have a good head on your shoulders and what matters is how you feel…Never let anyone make you think otherwise…" Helga said.

"Just because you don't get straight A's does not mean that your not smart, if anything, there a ton of kids who actually want to have a 3.0 GPA like yours….Because it IS a good and if you don't want to be in the spelling bee, no one should force you…" Helga explained.

"It's not just that…There are these kids at school, some mean girls who heard about mom, they look at her year book photo and they always say that I'm not as pretty as her and that I'm a weirdo tomboy because I play with the boys and like sports…" Lisa said, some of her insecurities out.

"First off, those girls are morons, so don't listen to them…and second, there is nothing wrong with liking sports. Lisa, you're beautiful and there is nothing wrong with being a tomboy. I was a tomboy at your age and I'm proud of it…."Helga said with her arms folded in pride.

Lisa smiled at that, as she continued to listen to her aunt.

When I was your age I played baseball, football and I loved WrestleMania. The only problem was that…at your age I wasn't as…" Helga trailed off, not sure how to put the fact that she was a bully without being careful.

"What?..." Lisa asked.

"Let's just say I wasn't the friendliest girl in town…and a lot of kids didn't like being around me since I was always so angry and lashed out…" Helga said, looking a little ashamed.

"You were? I find that hard to believe…"Lisa said.

"Well believe it, I wasn't all sunshine but you're a lot better adjusted that I was at your age, so don't feel bad. If you love playing sports, then play sports and if you like hanging out with the guys then hang out with them. It's your life and while you may be Olga's daughter, you are not Olga and you don't have to be…" She continued.

"Really?..."She asked hopefully.

"Really, because all you have to be is Lisa, and between you are me, I prefer one Lisa over two Olga's every day of the week…" Helga said, causing her niece to laugh at that.

"Thanks Auntie Helga, I needed that…" Lisa said gratefully.

"Anytime Lis…Now come on, let's go join in before Football Head hogs all the popcorn…" Helga said and Lisa giggled at hearing her Uncle's funny nickname.

The next morning Lisa went back home, now feeling much better with herself. She barely spoke to her mother during the car ride but she still felt better, especially after what her aunt said. Just because she was Olga's daughter, didn't mean that she had to become Olga as well.

And she knew that she didn't want to either. She just had to be Lisa and she was more than happy with that.

End of Flashback

Lisa sighed, that was one of many times her aunt or Uncle have comforted her or her brother. Lisa sometimes wondered if she was even in the right family. She and Auntie Helga got along great and had so much in common and Uncle Arnold was really fun too. They supported her baseball dream, didn't make too big a deal about the kind of grades she and her brother got and they always knew how to have the best fun.

Andy, Megan and Henry were really lucky to have them as parents.

Uncle Arnold was the nicest guy in the world but Auntie Helga…Lisa never had a hard time with her because she always seemed to know what was bothering Lisa and always knew how to make her feel better. It was like she truly understood her and what she struggles with just because she was born as the daughter of the "great' Olga Pataki.

"Why can't mom be more like her?..." Lisa said looking down before putting her books away.

It was getting late and she didn't want to have to deal with her mother nagging her to get to bed, so she beat her to the punch. As she and Logan went to bed, they had no idea that their mother had been on the other side of the door, listening in on their conversation.

Or that she heard the last sentence Lisa said, loud and clear.

Olga said nothing as she just stood there for a period of time. She didn't notice that tears formed in her eyes and she didn't notice how much time has passed since then. All she could notice was that stinging feeling inside her from earlier multiply.

"Oh…"She sighed as finally found mobility and left for her room, her daughter's words haunting her for the rest of the night, as she wondered what she did wrong.

-To be continued-

Next time on A Perfect Disaster

Helga

A/N: I hope you enjoyed part 3. Up next is the one we've all be waiting for Olga vs. Helga.

Also, how do you guys like Lisa and Logan. As shown here, they are pretty average, decent kids but I always figured that Olga, unintentionally, couldn't be satisfied if her kids weren't automatically carbon copies of her, getting straight A's and winning every competition they were in.

Basically, no different than her own parents before her. Sad but true.

REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:

Nairobi-Harper and Guest: It's gotten better, as shown here. Helga and her parents may not have the same toxic relationship they once had but they aren't suddenly perfectly happy. It's mostly helps that Miriam has become somber and Helga is no longer under their roof and thus, finally able to untapped her potential.

Miyasa: You're welcome.

Invader Johnny: Karma it is, as well as a slap from reality.

Metalheadrailfan: That would be a cool twist.

Ajay435: I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)