Author's Note: Here's chapter two! I'm not too far into chapter three, but I've got the ball rolling, so I figured I'd post the second chapter. Thanks for the various reviews, favorites, and follows. It's really encouraging.

Previously: Due to her dad's reputation and business cratering, Helga finds herself having to move out. While her parents will be living in the storage rooms of Bob's failing business, she will be staying with her older sister Olga at the Sunset Arms boarding house, the home of her longtime crush, Arnold Shortman.

Previous Married... with Children Reference: Last time I mentioned that the High School is named after former President Polk, much like the high school in MWC. Mr. Cohen is a reference to TV director Gerry Cohen, who directed over half that show's episodes, and the mention of him becoming a gold prospector was a loose reference to the "Route 666" two-parter he directed, where the main characters, while on route to California, buy a (fake) gold mine and slowly go gold crazy.

Chapter Two: Moving In

Monday, August 18, 1997

One Week Before the Start of Fifth Grade

Stunned into silence by the revelation that she would be living so close to her love, she looked back at her mother, who was doing her best impression of the Cheshire Cat.

"Olga saw a posting in the local newspaper that several rooms were available, and we both didn't want you living in the Beeper Emporium, so we talked about her renting out several rooms. She's going to have one of the bigger rooms that recently became available, while you will be staying right across the hall."

Finding her voice, Helga found herself stuttering and pointing towards the building, "But, but mom, the sign right there next to the door says 'No Kids.' I can't stay here."

"The owners said it would be no problem. They've had several kids stay for short periods over the last year, plus their own grandson lives here. I believe he goes to school with you. What was his name again? Alfred? Albert?" Pretending to rack her brain, she paused for a moment. "Oh, that's right! Arnold!" Once more that grin came across her face.

In that moment, Helga knew that her mother possessed the knowledge of her ultimate secret. She knows that I love Arnold. How? When?

Articulating her thoughts into spoken questions, Helga received a response. "Honey, you're not exactly quiet when you're talking to yourself in your room. I would have to be... like I used to be... not to notice." A sad, regretful look appeared on her face, before being replaced by a scowl. "Or be an idiot like Bob."

Her mood brightened again. "Don't worry. I think it's sweet how much you like this boy. Olga mentioned you've been getting along better with him and the rest of your classmates. I really need to thank that therapist you've been seeing."

Olga might know too. Criminy, if she does I'm never going to hear the end of it. She'll probably end up blabbing it all to Arnold like she almost did with that bedwetting story. My life might as well be over.

"Does Olga know?"

"Yes."

"Why would you tell her!?"

"Helga, I didn't. She was an assistant to your teacher. She must have read your poetry assignments."

"I asked Simmons not to show her my poetry!"

"Maybe he was sick, or one night he was too busy grading something else, and he asked her to go over the poetry. Maybe it slipped his mind. He does have something like fifteen or sixteen other students to look after you know." Seeing the anxiousness on Helga's face, she reassured her. "Don't worry, she's known all this time and hasn't said anything to anyone until she asked me if I was alright letting you stay here. She was hoping that eventually you'd feel comfortable enough to confide in her."

Helga felt bad about assuming the worst of her mother and sister. She wasn't the only one who had worked hard over the last year to improve themselves.

"Sorry mom. I'm just really nervous about the idea of living so close to Arnold. I've acted like such a jerk to him in the past because I'm scared of him realizing how I feel."

Miriam took her hand and squeezed it. "It's okay to be nervous, Helga. Olga said Arnold is a really caring boy, and she thinks that if you show him that you care about others as well it can go a long way towards making him like you too. Both of us are really proud of how your attitude has improved in the last few months. Now come on, let's start moving this stuff into your new room."

Getting out of the car, they took a box from the back seat. Walking up the stoop, Miriam put down a box and knocked. After a short period of time, the door opened, and several animals ran out as an old man looked at them: Arnold's grandpa, Philip Shortman

"Why hello there Mrs. Pataki. I see you've brought your daughter."

"That's right! We're all ready to start moving her in, Mr. Shortman."

"Oh, I'll have none of that Mr. Shortman stuff! Call me Phil!"

"Okay, Phil! But if that's the case I insist you call me Miriam."

He then looked at Helga, and one could see the gears turning in his head. "Er, what's your name again?"

Confused that after all she'd been through with Arnold, including helping save this very neighborhood from Scheck's bulldozers, the fact that his grandpa still couldn't remember her name puzzled her, and she took a moment before replying "Uh, Helga."

"Oh! That's right! Helga! I knew it started with an 'h'. Sometimes when you get old like me these things slip your mind. Don't worry, I'll remember it this time. Probably." And Helga thought Arnold's grandma was supposed to be the eccentric one.

Taking the box from Miriam –"I'll help you with that young lady" – he waited for her to go grab another. Following him inside, Helga saw that things hadn't changed much since her last "visit". An opening to a dining room on the left, a hallway in front of her leading to a living room, and the stairs next to the hallway leading up to the various bedrooms and the bathroom. "Once we get these boxes upstairs how about I give you the grand tour? Arnold would be happy to do it, but he, Gerald, and the rest of their little friends are out doing something or other."

Helga thought about how she had missed another baseball practice as Miriam answered. "How about later. We've got some more boxes of Helga's stuff still at home. We're just going to get these ones up to Helga's new room and say hi to Olga, then go back for them. It might be a little bit of time before we get back. Bob wants Helga to take a look through the attic to see if there's anything important." These last words were accompanied by the rolling of her eyes.

"Okay, follow me." Going up the stairs and turning the corner, they passed a plain door as well as a few marked one through four, along with one marked "W.C." and "Knock First!" Must be the bathroom, Helga thought. As they moved along she looked down to the end of the hall, seeing the stairs that led up to her beloved's room. After passing door five Phil stopped. "You'll be staying in number six. It's one of the smaller rooms, but you can either spend time in seven with your sister or downstairs."

Pulling out a key marked six, he unlocked the door, then handed the key to Helga. "Here. Don't lose it." Fumbling in his pockets, he pulls out another key, which he also gave to Helga. "And here's the one for the front door. Not too big a deal if you lose that one. We have plenty. You might just be locked out for a few hours. Your sister should have the spare key for seven. It's one of our bigger rooms and we previously had a married couple living there, so we have several keys for it." And with that he pushed open the door to where Helga would probably be spending at least several months.

True to what he said, it was a relatively small room. The room had plain wooden walls and was lacking in decoration. For furniture there was a bed, a dresser, a lamp, and a cabinet she could hang shirts and dresses in.

As they set the boxes down on the floor, Phil started talking again. "You know, you're the second of Arnold's friends to stay in this room. Gerald rented out this room back in... I think September. Wanted to get away from his family. He thought it would be easy staying here. He didn't last a week before he went back home."

Helga groaned. Great. I'm going to have to stay in a room once occupied by the great Geraldo. Ugh. While she was getting along better with most of her classmates, especially Arnold, Gerald was somewhat of an exception. In fact, he was becoming almost as abrasive towards her as she used to be towards Arnold, and she knew it wasn't due to some secret crush. Helga suspected he thought she was up to something due to her improved behavior. Doi, Tall Hair Boy. I am up to something. It's called trying to be a better person!

Miriam's concerned voice brought Helga out of her thoughts. "You mean he moved in here alone? What if something happened?"

"He wasn't alone. He had Arnold, my wife Gertie, and me looking out for him. I can promise you that we'll do the same for your daughter. Plus, her sister is right across the hall. Speaking of the young lady, let's pay her that visit you mentioned."

After making another trip to get the rest of the boxes from the car, Phil took a few steps down the hall to the door marked seven, diagonally across from Helga's own room. Next to the door, she noticed the phone where she had once left a message, telling her greatest secret. Stupid laughing gas. Was that the first time I broke in? Wait, no. It was the second. The first was a year and a half ago when Arnold had one of her poetry books. She also noticed that the last door before the steps to Arnold's attic dwelling was marked eight, and that there was a security camera hanging from the ceiling next to it.

She wanted to delay the probably bone-crunching hug Olga would probably give her, so before Phil could knock on Olga's door, Helga spoke. "What's with the security camera?"

The old man hesitated before answering, and when he did his voice sounded slightly nervous. "Oh, we had a really private-minded fellow stay in eight for a while a year and a half back. Bought and installed a security system himself. He, uh, left it there when he moved out. Haven't had someone stay in there since. Those rooms are a little bit of a, uh, fixer upper.

"Speaking of fixing things, your daughter is quite a remarkable and kind woman, Mrs. Pataki. She noticed where the plaster was cracking in seven's main room. After asking for permission, she went out and bought the things needed to repair it as well as some paint and spent the weekend fixing and repainting the walls. I told her that was my job as the landlord, and she told just me that she was more than happy to help."

Helga would normally roll her eyes at someone praising her sister this way, but she got the sense that Phil bringing up this event was less about singing Olga's praises than it was changing the subject away from door eight and its mysterious former occupant. She decided to ask Arnold about eight later.

Once more about to knock on Olga's door, Phil was yet again interrupted by someone speaking. This time it was a woman's voice from downstairs. "Get along little doggies! Yeehaw! Go, Buck! Go, Lassie! Go, Rufus!" It was Arnold's Grandma, apparently deciding she was a ranch hand. This was followed by the sound of several dogs barking.

"Oh, dang it Pookie! Sorry, I better be going." Speaking to Helga now. "See you in a while little lady. Dinner should be about five o'clock unless Pookie does something stupid, then it might not be until six. If I'm busy when you get back, hopefully Arnold will be around to give you the tour. If not, I'm sure your sister could do it just fine." And with that he was off around the corner and down the stairs.

Sensing that she could delay the moment no longer, Helga knocked on door seven. A moment passed, the door opened, and as Helga predicted she was swept into a tight hug by her older sister.

"Oh, Baby Sister, it's so good to see you!" Letting go of her sister, Olga turned and gave her mother a less constricting hug. "You too, mom. I'm so sorry you have to move into Daddy's store. I'm just glad I could spare little sis from having to live there as well. Come in!"

The three Patakis walked into the room. It was a combination kitchen/living room, with a fridge, stove, and countertop on one side. There was also a door, opening onto a separate bedroom. The other side of the room had a couch and a television, with a table in the middle of the room. One side of Helga's brow raised as she saw a couple of game consoles sitting next to a VCR, all three hooked up to the television. Olga plays video games?! Since when!? She also noticed, next to the television, the baby picture of herself Olga had previously had in her old room. Ugh. Why does she still have that? I hate that picture...

Helga looked at her sister and spoke about the room. "Nice digs for a recent college graduate, sis. I'll have to make you watch some horror or action movies with me."

Miriam also voiced her approval of her daughter's living arrangements. "It is really nice Olga. Phil mentioned that you fixed up and painted the walls?" The walls did look freshly painted, being a nice olive green.

"Oh, yes. I noticed they could use some fixing up. The Shortmans make such nice landlords, but Phil always seems to be helping one of the other tenants out, so I asked if I could help out. He actually offered to knock a bit off this week's rent payment. I declined, of course."

"Olga, I still can't figure out how Bob and I managed to raise such a sweet and smart daughter." A frown appeared on Miriam's face. "We haven't really been great parents to you two. We put way too much pressure on you Olga. And, Helga, we should been more attentive. I should have been more attentive. I'm so sorry. And now you can't even stay in the only home you've ever known."

Seeing how distraught she was, both Helga and Olga started to reassure Miriam. Helga went first. "Mom, you've been paying a lot of attention to me these last few months. We've had a lot of good times together. That's what matters."

Olga went next. "It couldn't have been easy with how Daddy acts like such a jerk a lot of the time. Plus having to put up with everything that happened when I was in eighth grade. You two only wanted me to be my best."

Helga looked over at Olga, surprised at her strong words aimed at Bob, and curious about the mention of the eighth grade. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember any specific awards or ramblings stories from Bob about Olga's achievements from that year. He brought up her being a concert pianist at fifteen often enough and he had no "qualms" about mentioning that accursed spelling bee she had won in the third grade. Eh, I'll ask her about it later.

After the rare Pataki family bonding moment was over, Miriam spoke. "Okay. We have to go home for the rest of Helga's stuff. We'll be back in probably an hour or two."

As Helga also said goodbye to her sister, and Olga had passed to her the key for seven, a most unexpected thought popped into her head. Maybe living with Olga won't be so bad after all... jeez, I'm going to need a keychain at this rate.

Olga watched as they left. While her mom's suffering due to Bob's incompetence was upsetting, she was really happy that Helga would be living with her. Olga had been wanting a chance to truly get close to Helga all these years, and now she finally could.

Ten-year-old Arnold Shortman and his best friend, Gerald Johanssen were finishing up their conversation as they reached the stoop of the Sunset Arms. "I think practice went pretty well, man. We're going to cream Wolfgang and the other sixth graders when we play them in a few weeks."

"Sure, Gerald. I just wish Helga had been able to practice with us. This is the third baseball practice she's missed. I wish she would tell us what is going on."

"Dude, she's probably busy plotting whatever scheme it is she has in her head."

"Gerald, she is not planning some sort of 'scheme'. I told you she's been acting friendlier because she wants to. It's not some insane plot to get our guard down or something. She helped us save the neighborhood for Pete's sake" He reminded his friend as he gazed up at the nearly repaired overpass that had been blown up during said event.

"Whatever, man. It'll take more than a few months of acting better for me to believe that the girl who has been bullying us forever has turned over a new leaf. See you tomorrow?"

"Maybe. We're going to have a new boarder in room six. Grandpa mentioned helping them settle in. Shouldn't take all day though."

"Ugh, I remember when I stayed there... wait. He wants you to do what? Isn't that his job?"

"You know I like to help out. Plus, he said it's someone I know."

"Dude, that only disqualifies about half the city. Anyway, If I don't see you tomorrow, I'll see you at practice Wednesday, right?"

"Right. Goodbye, Gerald."

"Bye, Man"

They did their secret handshake and parted ways, Gerald heading home and Arnold unlocking the door and going through, avoiding the various animals that rushed out.

Once inside he noticed the hallway covered in muddy foot and paw prints, his grandpa busy scrubbing away, a bucket full of water right next to him. "What happened here, Grandpa!?"

Looking up at Arnold, Phil welcomed him. "Well, hey there, Shortman. Pookie decided to have a little rodeo or some such thing with some of the dogs."

"Do you need help cleaning up?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. Take some time for yourself before the new tenant gets here. I need you to give her the grand tour."

"Sure thing, Grandpa."

"She'll probably check in with her sister first. Just show her around afterward"

Arnold looked at his grandpa with a confused look. "What? Sister?"

His grandfather looked at him with a sly grin on his old face. "Didn't I mention, Shortman? The new tenant is Olga's sister Helga, your little friend with the pink bow and one eyebrow. Bet you didn't think I'd remember her name, huh?"

Arnold didn't hear the last part of what his grandpa said, as he was lost in thought. Helga's going to be the new tenant? Why is she moving in? I knew her dad's store wasn't doing well, but it is thatbad? I wish she had told us. That must be why she's been missing baseball practice these last few days. I can't believe it. Helga Pataki is going to be living in the same building as me.

If he had been told this fact at the start of the year, he would probably have been mortified. Helga had picked on him as long as he could remember. But about a month before the FTi incident things had started to change. One day at the end of class he realized that not a single spitball had hit the back of his head. He noticed other things too: she wasn't bossing everyone around as much, and he had even seen her share some of her food with Harold when he had misplaced his lunch money one day. She still called him and Gerald names, especially her favorite nickname for him, Football Head, but he could tell she wasn't trying to make him angry like she used to.

Looking back at his grandpa diligently scrubbing away, he told him. "I'll show her around, but until she gets back I can help with the floor. I want to help."

"Okay Shortman. Just grab the extra brush in the closet."

Arnold did so, and as he got down near his grandpa and started cleaning. As the floor got cleaner and cleaner, Arnold thought back to when he confronted Helga on the top of the FTi building, finding out that she was the mysterious Deep Voice who had been helping him and Gerald. Despite all the money her family stood to make, she had made the choice to help save her friends' homes. And now because of it she had lost own.

Why? Why would she do that? He had asked her that then, repeatedly in fact. Every time he got a different answer, each as unsatisfying and empty as the last. Finally, she looked like she was going to tell him. That look in her eyes he still can't place, and she never answered, simply ending the conversation with "Is this really the time or the place, Football Head." At that, they left, off to save the neighborhood from Scheck.

As he and his grandfather scrubbed, a single question resounded again and again in his head. What was she going to say? Neither he nor his grandpa noticed the blush that appeared on Arnold's cheeks.

Taking a break from packing, Miriam sighed as she prepared the last meal her and Bob would ever have in their now former house. They had lived here since Olga was only one or two, and now due to her husband's incompetence they were going to have to leave it. What am I going to do about you, Bob? His overall demeanor had improved sense his "near death experience," if you could call having really bad gas an NDE, but he still was obsessed with his Beeper business. It had climaxed in his disastrous decision to partner with FTi.

She had told him Scheck was no good, that Nick Vermicelli was utter scum, and that supporting the bulldozing of the neighborhood was only going to piss people off, but he had brushed her off. And as a result of that he was now selling almost everything of theirs he could to save his precious business. The only reason they still had the Continental was because she had had an hour-long argument with him that they needed at least one vehicle. That and the threat she had made...

That thought made her mind drift to her briefcase. It had several papers not relating to her job, one of which she really didn't want to have to use, but it felt more and more certain each day that she would have to. Speaking of papers, I really have to find Helga's birth certificate tonight. Where did we put it?

Helga moving out was the worst part of this whole disaster. They had grown really close in the last few months. At least Olga was happy about it. She had been yearning for a chance to be closer to Helga for years. Maybe without Bob around to sing Olga's praises maybe the distance between the youngest two members of the Pataki family could finally close.

As she thought about where that birth certificate could possibly be, a realization came to her. A realization that made her stomach drop. The attic! Helga! Dropping what she was doing, she rushed upstairs. Seeing that the stairs to the attic were closed, she turned and opened her daughter's door, and knew it was already too late.

Helga sat on her bed, an open photo album in her hands and an empty expression on her face. She looked at Miriam and managed only a single word. "Why?"

And it ends on a cliffhanger. What did Helga discover in the attic? I hope I didn't make it too obvious.