Chapter 11: No One Else Knows

Bus Ride

Helga was sitting beside Arnold with her box of books, while Harold rode in front of them (sucking on a popsicle he had bought).

"So, how'd you end up at the zoo?" Arnold asked, trying to break the silence between them.

"An older girl who says she's my sister drove me and that freak there. I can't believe she trusted him! Not only that, what kind of sibling uses a family member as an excuse to show off how perfectly they do everything? Not to mention she gives the most obnoxious hugs…"

As Helga threw her hands in the air by the end of her description, her eyes widened when realizing who she had been describing.

"Olllggaa…." she growled, remembering her family member. "That freak's been washing my hair, tucking me in, helping me with… uh things Criminy! How long is this going to go on for?!" Helga snapped.

Arnold placed a hand on the frustrated girl's shoulder, hoping to comfort her. "Well, your condition is going to require some help for a while. Everyone just wants to make sure you get the care you need."

Helga looked down to see her boyfriend (who she still didn't recognize) placing a hand on her shoulder. She cocked her brow at the friendly gesture, feeling awkward as she replied "Uhh thanks I guess?"

Arnold could see by her hesitant reply, Helga's memory of him still hadn't returned. Even with that box of books, it wasn't enough to make him remember her. What was it going to take?

Helga's House

Although Miriam had managed to make it home with the groceries the other day, it didn't solve another everyday problem. "For crying out loud Miriam! How's anyone supposed to make themselves something to eat around here, with you always passing out at the counter like that?!"

Miriam barely budged when she heard her husband shouting. The tired lady sat up to straighten her glasses as she replied "What? Oh I'm… I'm awake."

"Yeesh! Maybe it should have been YOU at the hospital! Whatever the girl's problem was, at least she was able to hide it." Bob scowled, not enjoying his wife's everyday habit.

After being woken up, Miriam decided to make herself a smoothie. This was taking place, just as Arnold was walking Helga inside. The puzzled girl began to hear her parents' usual rantings..

"Oh how could they cancel the wheel for crying out loud! No one cares about Talk Shows!"

Helga then rolled her eyes at the memory of Bob's obsession with his TV show and smirked "How will he ever survive"

Pipe down, I'm watching the wheel!

Her mind flashed back to all the times he had warned people not to interrupt him during his favorite show. As she was holding her head, taking this in, she looked over to see Miriam reaching for some ingredients on the top shelf of their kitchen cabinet.

Moments after trying to reach what was shoved in the back, a shelf was knocked down…

Miriam was trying to get her tabassco and knocked a shelf down, again!

"What's all that noise going on in there?" Bob got up to see, while Arnold watched his girlfriend march away from the commotion.

"Will those two EVER get it together?" Helga wanted to know, after regaining her memory of who she had been listening to.

Helga then opened the door to her bedroom to see Phoebe (who was still an unfamiliar face) working on her homework.

Helga picked up the work to see what she was missing out on, while Arnold began explaining to their classmate what had happened.

"I see you were correct about Helga's whereabouts."

"Yeah. I think Curly was trying to take advantage of her condition to free the animals at the zoo. Thankfully, it didn't work out." he explained.

Has her memory improved at all? The small girl couldn't help but wonder.

"Well, she knows Gerald, Curly, Harold, Olga, and from what it sounds like, her parents. I think that's about it."

A concerned look appeared on Phoebe's face, while she explained "Although it's taking longer for her memory to progress than her previous experience, this appears to be a sign of Retrograde amnesia. Because she appears to be capable of slowly reacquiring past memories of our friends and their personalities, it's a positive sign this won't last forever."

Hearing her friend's positive answer began to bring back Helga's memory of her best friend.

"Hey Pheebs, how's it going?"

Arnold's eyes flashed, feeling that came out of the blue. " What made you remember Phoebe, Helga?"

Hoping not to sound cocky, Phoebe explained "Although my tendency to have an intelligent answer for things does tend to annoy her at times, being known for it must have triggered a mnemonic device in her brain wave."

Helga then pointed to her friend with a dull look on her face and replied "What she said."

Although Arnold was growing a bit frustrated that Helga's memory of him hadn't come back, it was nice she didn't mind being around him.

Much like the last time this happened to her, she seemed quite giddy.

"So, what's this we're looking at Pheebs?" the recovering girl asked.

"We've been asked to write a poem this week on what we feel inspires us most in life." Phoebe explained, as Helga rolled her eyes.

"Oh brother, what kind of touchy feely person would find something like that to be useful in life?"

Arnold couldn't help but butt in, as he picked up one of Helga's books. "You love that sort of thing Helga. You're Mr. Simmons' favorite author."

All the days of my week

I write the name I dare not speak

The boy with the cornflower hair

My beloved, and my despair

Helga's memory then flashed back, not only to all the times she had written love poems for their assignments, but when a very clueless classmate decided to single her out.

"Why the heck does that guy always have to read mine out loud?! Doesn't he know the word anonymous not only means 'don't tell who wrote it' but IMPLIES I don't want anyone else hearing it? Sheesh!"

After seeing her memory of Mr. Simmons was coming back, Arnold and Phoebe simultaneously looked at one another, when they listened to Helga go on about the day.

"As if that wasn't bad enough, Mr. 'couldn't pass grammar if his life depended on it; decided to point the class' attention towards me when it was being read! What is wrong with these losers?"

Helga folded her arms, wondering if good grades were worth humiliating herself.

"No one's ever made fun of you for it. In fact, I think we're the only ones who know you're the one who writes these." Arnold pointed out.

Helga uncrossed her arms and looked at the blonde boy, wondering why she couldn't remember him. What was it going to take?