(A/N: Hello everyone! Covered a lot of things in this chapter that I'd been planning for quite some time now, so I'm pretty excited about that. Hope it doesn't seem too rushed! Many more surprises await so keep your pants on and proceed to the chapter~)
Standing at her usual spot in front of her house, Helga impatiently tapped her foot and repeatedly looked left to right; each time extending her neck out a little in hopes of being able to see further away.
"Where is she?" The girl asked in a rushed tone as she awaited her usual companion. It was very rare for Phoebe to be late to anything, much less to school and the two had made it a habit of talking together every day since Helga's move into the old beeper store. Beginning to feel a little worried, Helga repositioned her backpack and began to walk. Although there was still plenty of time to get to school, as Phoebe always liked be early just in case something happened along the way, Helga couldn't help but think something was off.
Casually, she began to walk towards her best friend's house; noticing other kids walking passed her with backpacks in hand. What could be holding her up? The blonde girl wondered as she walked. Secretly hoping that everything was okay, her stride began to pick up into a brisk walk towards her destination. Upon arrival, everything seemed ordinary. There were no ambulances or police cars in front of the house. No gathering of spectators. Nothing different at all. Cocking her eyebrow at the dull sight, Helga walked up the stoop and rang the doorbell. She crossed her arms and perked up her ears once she heard the sound of footsteps coming her way.
"Oh, Hello Helga!" Reba spoke in her usual cheery self before her face turning a little less happy. "You must be here for Phoebe…"
"Well Doi. We do have to go to school today unless today is some random holiday that no one told me about- nor any other kid I saw heading in that direction." Helga responded as she pointed in the school's direction with her thumb. "Where is she?"
Reba's face turned into something of that of a worried parent and glanced inside her house before opening the doorway fully and allowing Helga entrance. "She hasn't been feeling well this morning. A stomach bug woke her up pretty early and she's been tossing and turning since then." The adult explained as she walked Helga into the living room where she could comfortably have a seat and wait for her only child. Placing a hand on her cheek, Reba let out a tired sigh. "Apparently this has been going on for some time and the dear girl couldn't find it in her heart to tell us…"
This being the first time hearing of this, Helga's eyes went wide. "I-is she okay?"
Giving a small smile, the woman nodded. "Yes. Once she came to me this morning, I gave her something to soothe her stomach and it's been calming down. I asked her if she still wanted to go to school and of course her spirits picked up. She should be on her way downstairs any moment." The two sat in silence for a little while and listened for the girl upstairs little pitter patter on their ceiling. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you came for her, as well."
Helga let out a snort, followed by a sly smile. "Of course I wouldn't have left without her!"
The young woman's words brought a smile to Reba's face.
Before they knew it, Phoebe was rushing downstairs with her backpack tightly in hand. Once finally stepping into the seating area, the girl noticed the little amounts of sweat she had emitted from her brow and wiped it off with her sleeve. "Sorry I'm late, Helga. I got-"
"Yeah, yeah. You're not feeling well, your mom told me." Helga interrupted; standing up and heading for the door. "Get the lead out, Pheebs. At this rate we'll be late for class."
Turning to her mother with a smile in hopes of easing the woman's rightly founded worries; Phoebe nodded her head and turned around quickly to follow her friend. "Hurrying!" She squeaked out.
Helga knew that Phoebe didn't like to bring about a lot of attention on herself, especially when it came to something like this so she had decided it would be best to act as normal as possible. Once they exited the house and got about a block in, she began to remember the day prior along with its sequence of events. After mulling it over, the girl turned to her smaller companion but before she could open her mouth to speak, she noticed the look of pain on her face. "You sure you're okay, Phoebe? You don't look too good."
"Oh no, I'm fine!" Phoebe responded with a forced out smile that followed with a wince.
This caused Helga to halt and stand her ground. "Spill it." She demanded.
"Spill what?" Phoebe asked with a clearly forced chuckle. "I said I'm fine…"
"Don't you give me that I'm fine crap!" Helga said as she looked squarely into her best friends eyes. "You almost never get sick and something's gotta be wrong if you're unable to keep a straight face like this." She watched as her best friend's expression turned into something solemn before continuing, but this time with a softer voice. "Look, you always go on and tell me that I have no reason to keep things from you, right?" Helga asked; placing her hand on the small girls shoulder in concealment, "It's time to practice what you preach. What's up?"
Phoebe could feel her muscles around her midsection begin to tense up, causing her to wince again in anticipation and found herself unable to control her emotions. In a fit of frustration, the girl stomped her feet "I don't KNOW what's wrong with me, Helga!" She yelled, causing Helga to step back in surprise. "This has been happening all weekend long! At first it was fine and it passed so I thought Hey it's just a stomach bug but then it came back but worse and now it's even further worse!" She seethed through breathes of pain. "I began to look up possible causes, thinking maybe I had become gluten sensitive or lactose intolerant but no matter what I eat, this doesn't seem to change!"
Not knowing how to respond, Helga stood there and listened patiently.
"This morning I had no choice but to tell mother about it, on account of I was in so much pain I could barely leave bed but…" Phoebe's voice began to tone itself down with less force and more sadness. "I didn't want to worry her." Looking up at Helga with anxious, pleading eyes, she could see that her best friend was not giving her pity and for this she was thankful. "What should I do?"
Thinking for a moment, Helga couldn't help continue their walking as the day wasn't stopping for them and she knew her best friend wouldn't be able to live with herself being late for school. "Well first I think we should get moving, pain or no pain, or we'll be late." She said as she walked ahead, hoping her companion would follow. "Secondly… maybe you should ask the school nurse?" She suggested thoughtfully. "I know she maybe sort of an oddball but she gives pretty good advice and won't tell you parents if you ask her not to."
Phoebe nodded and picked up her own pace, bringing herself alongside Helga for the walk. "Right…" She said so faint it might as well had been a whisper.
"Either way…" Helga continued, "You gotta figure out what it is. It's not normal for a stomach bug to go on this long and affect you the way it is."
Eventually the two girls made it to school, and although having to run into the class, they made it on time before the bell rang. The class looked at them with amusement but Mr. Simmon's allowed the girls to take their seats before beginning a head count and starting his class.
"Good morning class!" The older gentleman greeted them, full of esteem and probably a large cup of coffee. He waited for the class's response back before continuing. "I have something very special to announce!" He said before turning around and grabbing a piece of chalk and writing something on the board in front of him. "It has come to the schools attention that, although we're doing our best at teaching you young minds, that there is something we've been lacking as a whole. After a long conference between us teachers and our fellow staff members, we think we've come up with a new added curriculum that will further each and every one of you." He waited for the expected groan behind him, but smiled nonetheless. After he had written the curriculums' name, he finished it off with added design to make the subject look exciting, even though he- himself wasn't too fond of the subject. Turning around to face his audience, Mr. Simmons opened his arms wide to dramatize the unveiling of his art. "We've called it Health Class!"
"What? Is it supposed to be a class that helps us get healthy?" asked Stinky from across the room as he scratched his head in confusion.
"Sort of," The teacher corrected with a grim smile. "It's a class that teaches a few things that students your age should be aware of, such as environmental factors that might influence you to do things that will undoubtedly harm your body as well as other… unfamiliar things that might be going on and changing in your body."
"Like how when I eat turkey I get bad gas?" Harold asked out in his boisterous voice.
"That was WAY too much information." Rhonda responded with a shake of her head in disgust.
"Hey! My mom says that gas is perfectly normal and it's better that it goes out instead of in!" He responded back with a scowl as to justify his outburst.
As Helga listened to the two argue over the topic, she couldn't help but notice that the bruise on the older boy's face had begun to fade, as well as his antic's remaining the same as usual. She sighed in relief and looked over her shoulder at Arnold who seemed to be paying an abnormally close attention to the teacher's topic.
Not sure how to feel, Arnold gulped at the thought of having to go through yet another talk like the one he had had with his father. He knew in school it would be put more eloquently and clearly, rather than awkward and full of embarrassment but even still… he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Suddenly he felt a pair of eyes on him and he slowly broke his contact away from the board and brought it to those eyes. Helga gave him a questioning look but he shook his head and smiled at the girl. She had no idea how he was feeling and honestly didn't need to. There was already enough going on in his mind…
"Are you going to be teaching the class?" Eugene spoke up, a little nervous himself at the topic.
Mr. Simmons smiled at the question and took in a breath of fresh air. "Wonderful question, Eugene!" He replied with a clap. "Unfortunately I will not be the maestro to this ensemble. Our own Nurse Shelley will be conducting this class."
"Oh that's wonderful!" Sheena exclaimed with joy in her heart.
"Furthermore, I have even more exciting news to share with you all!" The balding man shouted over the crowd of murmuring students before him, glad to change the topic. "I received an unexpected letter this morning from a very special friend of ours!"
"Who is it?" Sid asked.
Reaching into his back pocket, Mr. Simmons pulled out a folded letter and began to open it up and pull out the worn sheet of paper inside. "It's from Lila! And she explains that her trip to South Carolina to see her Aunt will be ending soon and she'll be joining us back in the classroom. Isn't that fantastic?! I'm sure you all miss her greatly."
Helga snorted and crossed her legs. "Hardly."
"Would you read the letter out loud, Mr. Simmons?" Arnold asked, rather interested in its contents.
Nodding, the man cleared his throat and began to read the letter to the class.
"Dear Friends,
I am writing to you in great spirits as to let you know that I will be arriving back in Hillwood ever so shortly. I cannot wait to come back and hear of your ever so exciting trip to San Lorenzo and am terribly sorry that I was not able to attend as I had to make this equally exciting trip to South Carolina to visit my sick Aunt May. My stay here has been oh so enjoyable, however as she is getting ready to leave the hospital from her illness, as are my father and I. Seeing my family has been the most joyous experience in quite a while and I'm fully prepared to share my own stories with you all.
Sincerely, Lila Sawyer"
The class clapped and Mr. Simmons gently placed the letter over on his desk. "We are expecting her arrival sometime this week!"
"Not to disrupt our cheering of little miss perfect, but when will that new class of our's start?" Helga asked, placing the actual topic front and forward once more.
"Oh… right." Mr. Simmons sighed. "It is actually going to be rotating with your P.E class every week as both focus on the body and are equally important. Every Monday and Wednesday you'll have Health class and every Tuesday and Friday will be P.E, with Thursday ending in study hall to prepare you for our weekly tests on Friday morning." The thought of the school's board of education meeting on the matter was still fresh in his mind as their original plan for the class was to be squeezed into their regular class time, thus cutting two of the classes down by 30 minutes. Mr. Simmons, along with a few other teachers, fought valiantly to change their minds and thus came up with his new idea he felt would work better.
"Are you kidding me? They're only making gym two days a week?!" Gerald stood up and placed his hands on his desk loudly. The others looked over at him with surprise but no one questioned him.
Mr. Simmons scratched his scalp and looked apologetically at the young man. "I'm afraid I'm telling the truth, Gerald."
"Man! This blows!" He said with a loud groan and plopped hit butt back in his seat. "The coach is really gonna ride us now…"
"As if he didn't already do that…" Harold mumbled under his breath as he thought of all those push up's Coach Wittenberg made them do as often as he could.
"Well I for one think this is a splendid idea." Rhonda commented as she brushed back her hair in a dramatic type pose. "P.E has never really been my thing and I absolutely HATE getting all sweaty and gross. I think they should get rid of it all together!"
Nadine looked over at her best friend with skepticism all over her face. "Really? Because you seem to enjoy sports to me. In fact, you've joined us quite a few times and clearly had fun."
Shocked at her friend's obvious attempt to end her charade, Rhonda gasped and snubbed her nose at the honest girl. "That was before I knew any better! I'm a totally changed woman now!"
"Uh huh…" Nadine responded with a shake of her head.
Before the class could continue their side conversations, Mr. Simmons quickly took the reins and began to focus them more on the actual topic of the hour: Math.
A few hours had passed and much to Phoebe's dismay, her pain continued to come and go; sometimes more severe than others but nonetheless she held her tongue and bore it all quietly as to not disturb the class. As time when on, Helga's suggestion of going to the nurse seemed more and more enjoyable.
Looking over at the clock, she could see that there was only a few more minutes left of their teachers History lesson and, at this point, couldn't honestly care less about his lecture. Quietly, she waited for him to pause, before standing up and asking him if she could be excused. At first he seemed a bit concerned as it was out of the ordinary for Phoebe to leave class early, however with her calm demeanor she was able to make light of the situation and leave without too many questions asked.
After arriving at the nurse's office, Phoebe politely let herself in and looked around for Nurse Shelley.
"Um… excuse me?" She asked out quietly, looking from side to side.
She could hear some rustling from behind an open closet door and then a few things falling. "Just one moment!" a voice responded with a little agitation. With a few more rustles and a loud pop, a bunch of supplies spilled out of the closet- as well as the nurse.
"Oh my!" Phoebe gasped before running over to the nurse who had fallen on the floor; some large white poster paper draped around the poor woman. "Are you okay?"
With a frail smile, Nurse Shelley let out a small giggle before struggling to get back on her feet. "I'm fine dear, but thank you for asking." She picked up the few medical supplies that had scattered on the floor, as well as rolling the poster paper back up and deciding that maybe it would go next to the closet instead of inside. "You see, I have picked up a few things for our new class and… have nowhere to really put them…" She started to explain to the small girl after tidying up. "My medical closet is much too full with all the supplies I need here that my teaching supplies simply fall out whenever I open the door…"
Phoebe couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the woman and began to think of a way to help her. "Maybe the janitor has some space in his closet?" She suggested but Shelley just shook her head.
"Indeed he does, however I'm afraid that if I store them in there they might go missing." Shelley admitted with a frown. "The budget in this school just gets smaller and smaller and it's a shame to admit but some people have resulted in being… a little less honest around here with things."
"I see…" Phoebe responded, now unsure of what else to suggest. There was no way the school would pay for another cabinet to be installed inside the office, and it would be absolutely unfair to ask Shelley to pay for it after she probably already paid for these supplies out of pocket. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Smiling and brushing her lab coat off, Nurse Shelley turned the attention back to Phoebe. "So what brings you here, Ms. Heyerdahl?" She asked as she motioned for Phoebe to sit up on the examining table.
After doing as she was told, Phoebe looked down at the off-white tile floor. "You see, I've been having a lot of stomach pain recently and I was hoping that maybe you know why?"
Shelley nodded and began to do a standard examination of Phoebe: checking her heart and lungs, as well as her temperature. "Everything seems normal here…" She explained before putting away her thermometer and crossing her arms in thought. "Could you possibly explain the pain you're experiencing?" She asked, "As in, is the pain dull or sharp? Aching or stabbing?"
"I suppose it's more of a dull ache… most of the time, then sporadically can become sharp and stabbing." Phoebe frowned as her response didn't seem very helpful.
"I see." Shelley said, tapping her foot still in thought. "And when do you experience your pain most often? During the morning or night? Or maybe even all day long?"
Thinking back on it, Phoebe did notice that the pain seemed to come more often than not in the middle of the night, however today it seemed to last all day. "Today it has been all day long, ma'am."
"That's quite unfortunate. I'm sorry to hear that." Shelley frowned. "And could you show me exactly where the pain is?"
Phoebe stood up and motioned to her lower abdominal area. "Mostly here below my belly button. The pain is similar to that of when I eat way too much spicy food and need to use the restroom right away… however no such urgency has happened, as well as I've not eaten anything as of recent that should cause such urgency."
"My, my…" Shelley commented as she listened to Phoebe's explanation.
The lack of information being given to her by the professional made Phoebe feel a little discouraged. "So what do you think it could be?" she asked, hoping to get something more enlightening from the woman.
Pushing up her glasses and straightening her pose, Nurse Shelley gave the girl a small smile. "I have some suspicions however, none of them are really cause for much concern. You're in the sixth grade, correct?"
The question seemed a little out of left field, however Phoebe nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Oh good!" Shelley's smile grew wider. "Then that means you'll be in our new class that I'm teaching!"
With her frustration growing, Phoebe wrinkled her forehead and failed to hold back a sigh. "Yes, it does seem that way."
Noticing the girl becoming short, Shelley cleared her throat and decided and explanation was in order. "You see Phoebe, what seems to be happening to you right now could either be one of a few things, however since you're not experiencing any inconsistencies in the bathroom… then the only other plausible option would be that you're finally reaching the start of puberty."
With shock in her eyes, Phoebe had no words. She knew well what that meant for her, but despite all that, the idea had never once popped in her head.
The older woman placed her hand on Phoebe's left leg and did her best to console the girl's troubles. "Has your parents talked to you about this yet?"
Her parents, much like herself, were very knowledgeable people and would no doubt know all about the subject as they had to have gone through that change themselves, but never once had the subject actually been brought up to her. "No, not yet…" Phoebe replied quietly, still a little in shock at this revelation.
"This is exactly the reason why the school decided to create this Health Class…" Shelley calmly explained. "There are many girls who find themselves coming to me with similar issues as your own and have absolutely no knowledge about their own bodies! It is the school's job to educate and, with more and more of you coming to me each day, boys and girls alike, it seems that fewer and fewer parents are taking on that subject in a more… private setting. We felt compelled to step up and take on this role for the sake of you children!"
The woman's voice turned from sounding sympathetic to a righteous leader as she spoke. Phoebe could feel the passion emitting from her words and strangely began to feel calm about her situation. It was a just cause, to say the least and Phoebe felt safe in her hands. "So is there anything I can do to help this pain?"
"Some girls find relief in a heating pad; some with an ice pack to the belly… but mostly only painkillers will help you, dear." Shelley replied, coming down from the high of her speech.
Knowing that pain killers at least dulled her pain, Phoebe went ahead and accepted those before thanking the older woman and heading back towards her class. While walking in the hallway, the lunch bell rang and many kids rushed out of their rooms and began knocking her around. With small whines and cries, Phoebe found herself pushed up against a wall and waited for the stampede to pass by.
"You were gone long." A familiar stern voice emerged from the loud yells of students. Phoebe looked up to see that Helga had thankfully found her. Without warning, she reached out and hugged the girl tightly. "Hey, hey! Not too tight!" Helga whined before gently pushing her off.
"Sorry. I'm just really glad I found you!" She replied happily chuckled, "Or rather, you found me."
Helga raised her eyebrow. "So what's age old disease is killing you?" She asked sarcastically before leading Phoebe down the hallway with the other rushing students.
Turning into herself, Phoebe quietly lamented her luck but was also thankful that it wasn't something actually horrible. "It seems that womanhood is finally gracing me with its presence…"
Now even further surprised at hearing those words, Helga looked ahead. "Yeah, Miriam was telling me just last night how nasty some girls can have it…"
"Your mother?" Phoebe asked; astounded.
Helga put on an irritated face and continued her powerful stride. "Yeah, she randomly wanted some female bonding last night after I called her out on wasting our food money on booze. At first I was skeptical of her motives but in the end…" Her voice trailed off and turned a little nostalgic, "It was actually kind of nice."
A giant smile adorning the small Asian girls face and she turned to her friend in delight. "That's wonderful news, Helga!" but suddenly her muscles began to tense up again and she was unable to delight in her friends continued story. Helga's words became more of a mumble rather than audible sentences'. Feeling the absolute urgency to use the bathroom, Phoebe halted her steps and clutched her stomach despite not wanting others to see her in pain.
"Phoebe?" Helga called out to her, now fully worried. "You gonna be okay?!"
"Y-yes!" Phoebe forced out, "But finding a bathroom would be optimal right now…"
Grabbing the pained girl's hand, Helga rushed them to the nearest girl's room. Wanting to give Phoebe her privacy, she waited outside to let her do whatever business it was that needed to be done.
Man… this is getting rough on poor Pheebs… Helga thought to herself as she rested her back up against the wall and crossed her legs for added comfort. I've never seen her like this…
Helga closed her eyes and waited patiently for her friend. Minutes flew by and began to feel like hours and soon, the blonde girl could feel her hungry stomach begin to whine. "Alright! Enough's enough! I'm going in there!" She shouted to herself before moving from her post and pushing the bathroom door open. "Did you fall in, or what?" She asked her friend loudly, ignoring all considerations.
After letting out a heavy sigh and getting no response, her frustration turned into genuine concern. "Phoebe?" A small whine was perceived from one of the bathroom stalls and Helga made her way towards it. She waited a moment for a possible utterance from the girl but when she found that she wasn't going to get one, she continued. "Look, I'm sorry for getting impatient… I'm just really hungry." Again she waited but got no response. "Criminy, Pheebs! Just say something!"
"It's everywhere." The meek girl replied from behind the old and rusted bathroom stall door.
"Huh? What's everywhere? What do you mean?" Helga asked confused.
"It's everywhere and I don't know what to do." Phoebe responded again, although still being cryptic.
"You gotta be more clear than that!" Helga demanded to the person behind the stall door.
"It finally happened, Helga!" Phoebe yelled back in a voice that rivaled that of her best friends. "Can you please just get what I'm saying without me having to spell it out for you!"
Letting the girls words set in, the wheels in Helga's brain began to turn and eventually the hint was finally picked up. "Ohhhhhh…."
"Yeahhhhhh…" Phoebe replied, still as agitated as before.
"Crap… Hold on Pheebs, I'll think of something." Helga said as she paced around the bathroom in thought. "I'll go to the nurse's office and get you something and then…." She stopped and continued her thought, "give me your locker combo and I'll go get you your gym clothes!"
"21, 3, 32." Phoebe clearly spoke and before she knew it, the bathroom door was flung open again and Helga was gone.
Heading to the gym first, Helga rushed to open her friend's locker. After fighting with it a few times due to human error from haste, she eventually yanked it open and retrieved the clothes. "Got em!" She happily stated before rushing out of the locker room. Thankfully no one was around to question her and she was able to escape quickly and made it around a few corners til she got to the nurses office.
Bursting through the door, Helga had startled Shelley and her small 3rd grade patient. "Sorry to bother you but could you throw me something to stop the blood or something? My friend is sorta stuck and needs help."
"Oh my!" Shelley gasped as she put down her stethoscope. "Is she okay? Do I need to bring a first aid kit?!"
"No no no! I got it!" Helga angrily replied, "Just hand me some feminine products and I'll be on my merry way!"
"Oh…" Nodding, Shelley went into a small drawer and pulled out a few feminine products as she was unsure which the girl in question preferred. "Here. I hope these help!"
Snatching them from the woman's hands, Helga dashed back out of the room and ran straight towards the bathroom. After turning a sharp corner, she suddenly collided into a solid force and fell on her behind. "Ugh!"
"I'm so sorry!" A familiar male voice responded.
Helga opened her eyes to see none other than Arnold standing in front of her with his hand out to help her up. "Of course it's you." She replied snidely.
Arnold frowned at her not so welcoming hello. "Everything okay? You seem to be in a rush and…" He looked around curiously, "I haven't seen you or Phoebe at lunch yet."
Helga collected her quest items from off the floor and stood up by herself. "Yeah well me and Phoebe are a little preoccupied at the moment. We're gonna be late. What are you even doing here?"
"I was on my way to the bathroom." Noticing the familiar clothes now draped in her hands, Arnold felt even more confused. "Are those Phoebe's gym clothes?"
"I don't have time for your 20 questions, Football head!" Helga yelled at him with a followed up groan. "I got to go!"
Stepping aside to let the rushed girl past, the boy scowled at her attitude. "Okay then."
She could see his frustration and it pained her, however instead of addressing it and explaining the situation, Helga knew what was most important right now and that was getting to her best friend in need. She rushed passed him without so much as a second glance and quickly made it to the bathroom.
"Phoebe! I got the goods!" Helga proudly presented while panting.
"Thanks, Helga." Phoebe replied with what sounded like a small sniffle. Her voice was small and quiet and full of sorrow.
Pushing the clothes and choice items underneath the door, Helga backed up and frowned. "Sorry it took me so long. Some people found it necessary to try and have idle conversation while seeing I was obviously in a rush." Helga explained as she made her way away from the stall and to the row of sinks.
"That's okay…" Phoebe replied.
"Are you feeling any better?" The concerned girl asked her best friend as she rested her hands on the sinks and stared at her own reflection.
A few awkward seconds passed by before Phoebe finally spoke up. "A little… but Helga…"
"Yeah? What is it?"
"…I don't know what to do with these things you've brought me." Phoebe replied after a few more awkward seconds.
Blinking, Helga turned to the stalls. "Oh. Right." She said, realizing that they didn't exactly come with instructions. "Well I wasn't sure which one you wanted so I just got those…" Although she had a mother and an older sister, Helga herself had never used either of those items but had vague understand of how they were used. "One is basically like a giant Band-Aid that you put on your underwear where uh… the bleeding happens and the other I think you shove up there to stop the bleeding."
"SHOVE?!" Phoebe shrieked; echoing throughout the room.
Shuttering at both her voice and the thought, Helga took in a sharp breath, "Yeah… doesn't sound too pleasant. I'd go with the first one."
Phoebe looked over the two products and hung her head. All the smarts she had wouldn't prepare her for this moment. Agreeing with Helga's choice, she undid the packing of the maxi pad and successfully applied it to her soiled undergarments. "…This is awful."
"Well no one ever said being a woman was pleasant." Helga shrugged but sympathized as much as she could.
Kicking her soiled skirt out of the way, she cleaned herself up to the best of her abilities and dressed herself in her clean gym shorts. With a heavy heart, the girl exited the stall and looked at her best friend with gratitude in her eyes. "Thanks again, Helga."
Seeing someone she loved so defeated left a dull ache in Helga's heart. "No problem, Pheebs." She said with a sympathetic smile. "Do you want to go to the nurse's office again? I can't imagine you'd actually want to continue school like this."
As much as she hated to admit it, she knew Helga was right. Phoebe slowly nodded. "I'd have to agree..."
Helga could see the inner torment that her best friend was facing and lovingly placed her arm around her friends shoulder, pulling her in. "It'll be okay. I'll go with you since I'm probably not making it to lunch at this rate anyway."
Knowing that Helga's comment wasn't meant to be as bad as it sounded, Phoebe nodded and they both exited the bathroom in route to the nurse's office once again.
The cafeteria was loud and busy, and Gerald occupied his time listening to Sid over explain a movie he had just seen on TV last night. Rolling his eyes, he turned to look at the cafeteria entrance in expectancy of his best friend. Once Arnold finally emerged, he waved to him in order to get his attention.
"What took you so long, man? I was starting to get worried." Gerald asked before sliding Arnold's chair out with his foot as a kind gesture. "The food get to you or something?"
"No… not the food." Arnold said, still unhappy about his run in with his girlfriend.
"Boy howdy, Arnold! You look like someone just kicked your pig!" Sid commented once he had finished his story and focused on the companion that had rejoined their table.
"You look mighty downtrodden, Arnold." Stinky chimed in with a friendly but concerned tone.
Arnold crossed his arms on the table and softly placed his head on top of them; smothering his face from the rest of the table. "It's nothing."
"That… certainly doesn't look like nothing." Gerald replied back, now genuinely alarmed at his friends change in attitude. "You were fine before you left. What happened?"
Harold took a large bite of his sandwich; spilling a few of its contents, and chuckled. "Awww, maybe Awnold misses his girlfrwend!" Arnold's head shot straight up and immediately made direct eye contact with his large friend, causing him to almost choke on his food. "I- I mean, uhh… uhh"
With a heavy sigh, Arnold forgave the boy internally, knowing full well that he never seemed to think before talking and that the company within the table were already aware of his engagements. "Just… try to think about what you say before you say it, okay Harold?" He softly gave advice, "Especially in open public…"
Harold cleared his throat. "Sorry."
"Now that you mention it…" Looking around, Gerald noticed that neither of their female companions had actually made it to the lunch room. "The girls don't seem to be sitting at any of the tables. Did you run into them?"
"I did run into Helga, but not Phoebe." Arnold said as he re-accounted his run in with the hostile girl. "Oddly enough, Helga was carrying her clothes so I hope nothing bad happened."
"Maybe some kid got into a really big fight and was bleeding all over the nurse's office when she got there!" Harold suggested with excitement, "And she got covered in it!"
Stinky shook his head. "Naw, I think we'd have heard about something like that by now."
"Or maybe she tripped into another student carrying paint?" Sid added before munching on a bag of potato chips.
Now anxious to find out what really happened, Gerald could feel his insides churn at the thought of the girl he held affections for becoming injured in anyway. "Well whatever happened, we gotta find out as soon as possible."
Soon the end of lunch was signaled and all the students left and hurried on to their designated classrooms. Much to Gerald's disappointment, Phoebe remained absent. Mr. Simmons soon followed behind the student and stood in front of the class, about to begin.
Feeling his heart rise into his throat, Gerald turned to look at Arnold, who simply shook his head in response. Knowing that only one person would actually know the answer, he began writing a note on a piece of paper: "What happened to Phoebe?" and tossed it to his neighbor to hand over to Helga.
Having the folded piece of paper thrown on her desk, Helga scowled at its deliverer and opened it up. Only seconds later, she scribbled her response and handed it back.
Gerald awaited his response eagerly and rushed to open it up. "None of your business, Geraldo. Now stop bothering me at pay attention to the sad little man trying to teach us or we'll both get detention." His excitement upon getting a response then turned into an aggravated frown. Why did she always have to be like that? The few moments in Gerald's life where he actually wanted Helga's help, always seemed to end the same for him: further irritation. Crumpling up the paper, the boy made a successful free-throw at the trash can that was conveniently next to the door which he sat next to.
School continued on as scheduled with their regular classes until it was finally the moment the children had all been waiting for: Health Class. Mr. Simmons began to put away all of his notes and began to clean up the front of the classroom in anticipation for the awaited teacher. Placing all of his awkwardness aside, he turned and addressed the class.
"Now everyone, please be on your best behavior for our next class." He started with a somber look on his face, "Some of the topics that will come up might make you feel a little silly, maybe even uncomfortable but just know that if you have ANY questions… do not hesitate to ask!"
All the students began to murmur amongst themselves in apprehension for this new lesson; some worried and some excited. Only a handful actually had a good idea on what the choice class would be about.
Shortly after the introduction, the homely nurse knocked on the classroom door and let herself in.
"Good afternoon, students!" She sang as she walked through the door.
"Good afternoon, Aunt Shelley!" Sheena replied, standing up and waving to her family member whom she was always filled with joy upon seeing. The other students answered accordingly in a dull tone.
She turned to their normal teacher and held out a few overflowing supplies from her hands, which he happily took from her and placed on his desk. "Are we all excited about our new class?" She asked everyone including the man in front of her.
Gulping in response, Mr. Simmons felt his awkwardness begin to creep back into his being and caused him to turn away from the woman's gaze. "I'm sure everyone here is very excited, aren't we class?"
Without hesitation, Shelley took a piece of chalk and started to write on the board.
"There will be a few things covered in our class." She explained, "But all will have similarities to one subject, which is your general health!" She then turned to the class and pointed out each of the summed up topics she had written down. "Our main topics will include general hygiene, the dangers of drugs and finally sexual education."
Harold let out a large gasp and turned to everyone then back at the woman. "Are we allowed to talk about that kind of stuff here?!"
Shelley replied with a small smile and a nod. "Of course, Harold! That's what I'm here to do!" She looked over at all of the students faces with a calm state of mind to gather all of their external responses. "Each and every one of you are growing up and will be facing many challenges along the way. Some of you might know of these challenges already, as you have older siblings but some of you don't and that's perfectly okay too. I am here to help you learn how to go about these safely and make you comfortable about yourselves. Does anyone have any questions?" The crowd went silent and Shelley continued with her lesson explanation. "Because of how important these topics are to growing young people like yourselves, we will be covering as much as we can over the rest of this year; each day learning a little about each of these topics."
"Will we have tests?" Curly asked with his hand firmly raised.
"Of course, dear!" Shelley answered, promptly placing her gaze on the odd boy. "All classes must have tests in order to see how much each individual learns."
Another hand got raised, and this time it was Rhonda's. "Do our parents know about this? I mean, it's kind of odd that the school just randomly decided to add another class."
Shelley nodded and focused her attention to the posh girl. "Yes. Once the school had decided on supporting the class, a letter went out to each of your families in regards to the lessons and gave the parents options whether to enroll you or not."
"What happens if one of isn't here…? Like, if we had to go home early before the class started? Will that count against us?" Gerald spoke up quietly, feeling a little nervous about his question.
The woman's gaze softened as she heard the young boys question and she let out a small giggle. "No, just like in any normal class it won't count against you, however it's encouraged to get as caught up as soon as possible so you don't fall behind. This may be counted as an electoral class, however passing it will still be required in order to graduate."
Waiting a few more moments to see if the students had any more questions, the woman turned around and began to write on the black board once more. With encouragement in her heart, she knew that what she was doing was for the best of the students and would absolutely not let any of them fail if she could help it.