Chapter 1: That Was Unusual

P.S. 118 Hallway

Arnold and Gerald were standing in the hall by their lockers when Gerald asked "So, where's Pataki?"

Arnold replied with a down facial expression "She wasn't waiting outside her house for me like she normally does. Then when I decided to knock on the door, Olga told me she had already left for school. I didn't know if asking why would upset Helga, so I just decided to come myself."

Before Gerald could reply, Arnold saw him lifting an eyebrow at an unusual sight.

The polite boy then turned his head to see his girlfriend being blocked in the hallway by a few students.

Rather than shoving her way past them with her usual "One side moron; out of my way geek bait; shove over toots" tactics, Helga simply huffed (implying she was trying to pass. Then finished by muttering under her breath

I'm living in geeksville!

"Now there's something you don't see every day!" Gerald said after witnessing what could almost pass for polite in Helga's case.

Rather than racing over to her, Arnold turned to ask "Do you think something's wrong with her?"

His friend shrugged his shoulders while shutting his locker. "Something's definitely not right."

Classroom

Phoebe saw her friend taking her usual seat beside her with a desolate look on her face.

"I've spoken with Mr. Simmons about picking up your homework to bring to you."

Helga continued to lean her head in her hand, staring at her notebook as she replied. "Thanks Pheebs. This shouldn't take long."

Before they could continue their conversation on the matter, the boys walked in the room.

Although he had already seen her that morning, Gerald turned to eagerly speak with his girlfriend "Ready for class babe?"

Phoebe giggled at the response while Arnold turned to see Helga rolling her eyes at the question.

Rather than having a sassy comeback to that, or acting irritable about anything else being said in class that morning…

"This month's magazine has half of what was already shown in the previous edition! I'm writing a serious complaint letter to those people!"

"Aww man! I thought I had more than one bag of chips. Now what am I supposed to eat at lunch?"

"I saw the new vampire movie that came out! Don't worry Stinky, I won't accuse you of being one again. If I start to grow suspicious, I'll just keep this mirror I bought after the movie with me!"

Not that it wasn't nice seeing Helga in a calm mood, but Arnold knew if she wasn't showing her aggressive side, something wasn't right.

Before he had the chance to ask, Mr. Simmons walked in.

"Hello class! It's going to be another special day!"

Although it wasn't unusual to see Mr. Simmons in a perky mood, he immediately had someone following behind him with the school's television.

"Now this may seem a bit unusual, but we'll be switching things around today. Nutrition will be our first class, so we can watch a very special video about the importance of keeping a balanced diet!"

"So, if we're having that class early, that means we get to leave school early? All right!" Harold shouted.

Mr. Simmons began to rub his head, sorry to let his student down as he replied "No, not exactly Harold. It just means we'll be switching the order of the classes. It was the only way I could get the tv."

"Aww gee." the husky boy whined, while leaning back in his desk.

Once again Arnold found something to be peculiar about. Rather than hearing Helga find a way to tell Harold to keep his mouth shut, he once again heard her let out an irritating sigh.

After Mr. Simmons turned out the lights, the students listened to the film introduce itself as…

Eat Healthy - Stay Happy

Rather than paying attention in class like he normally would, Arnold began working on a note to pass back to Helga.

Are you okay, you don't seem like yourself this morning?"

A few moments had gone by however, and he hadn't felt her take the note from his hand. He assumed that meant she still had her face buried in her notebook. That is, until he decided to glance back at her…

There Helga was sitting up straight in her desk with her eyes glued to the movie, implying she was listening attentively to it.

8 Ways To Eat Right

-Count your carbs

-Eat high fiber fruits and vegetables

-Eat more fish

-Cut down on saturated fat and sugar

-Eat less salt

-Do not skip breakfast

-Drink fluids

-Get plenty of exercise

Helga sat at the desk thinking the only thing on that list she really took seriously was getting plenty of exercise (and it wasn't because she was trying to stay healthy).

Every now and then she had a piece of fruit, but it wasn't enough to balance out the rest of the junk food her diet acquired over the years.

After her sleep walking incident, the idea of reading warning labels on any new food she tried was good enough for her.

Although the movie was only an hour, Arnold decided to save his questions for Helga for when lunch arrived (which wasn't easy.)

3 Hours Later

While the girls were sitting at the table, Arnold was in line with Gerald, grabbing what he thought would make Helga happy…

A burger

A tapioca

Two chocolate milks

"So, what'd you think of the movie?" Gerald asked. Normally he wouldn't care about such a thing, but he noticed Arnold was becoming as quiet as Helga had been all morning.

"Well, I started using it as just an excuse to pass a note back to Helga. When she wouldn't take it, I looked to see that she was giving her full attention to the movie?"

Gerald lifted an eyebrow, then glanced down at the food Arnold was about to take his girlfriend. "Maybe it's just my imagination, but if that girl really is sick, maybe that's not the right thing to be taking her?"

Arnold shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what to do in the situation. Maybe it would have been a good idea to ask her what she wanted first, but surely she would have said something to him if it wasn't.

Table

The girls were sitting, waiting for the boys to return as Helga listened to Phoebe ask "So you've made the decision not to share the news with Arnold?"

Helga cocked her brow at what should have been an obvious answer and replied "Pheebs' this is embarrassing as crap! Besides, it's…"

Before the agitated girl could continue on with her reasons, the boys arrived at the table.

Arnold anxiously took a seat at the table, as he placed the tray of food beside Helga.

"Isn't this the time you normally impress us with your 'feminine' techniques?" Gerald couldn't help but tease her.

"Oh, what do you know, Geraldo!" Helga scowled, sounding upset for the first time that day.

Arnold sat puzzled as he replied "Does this mean you're not hungry?

Helga reached into her bag to pull out a bottle of water as she replied "Thanks, but I think I'm good."

Arnold looked over to Phoebe, wondering if she had an explanation. While Helga felt guilty for not remembering to warn Arnold not to get her anything, she wasn't about to reveal her reason for it.

Arnold was just about finished with the meal when he saw Helga eyeing the tapioca. The whole time he had been eating, Helga had been thinking back to the time she tried replacing Phoebe.

When Sheena became her next candidate, she tried convincing Helga health food was a much better source of binding…

It's okay Helga, I know all about your gastrointestinal problem. With your constant trips to the bathroom

Like it wasn't bad enough she said it in front of the whole cafeteria, she turned out to be right!

"Are you sure you don't want this?" Arnold asked.

Helga began to grit her teeth, unable to hold it in. Did Arnold not know her at all? "Of course I want it, football head! I just can't have it! Sheesh!"

Her friends watched her storm out of the cafeteria. Phoebe covered her mouth with concern, wondering if she would follow her. Arnold sat puzzled, while Gerald simply shook his head "Mm mm mmm!"

Knowing she would get detention (possibly even expelled) if she simply marched out the door to leave for the day, the uptight girl decided to make a trip to the nurse's office.

Nurse's Office

Hello dear! How can I help you? Although there wasn't technically anything wrong with Helga yet, she was still looking for an excuse to leave early.

"My stomach's been upset all day. I thought I could make it through the day, but I think I may need to go home and lay down?"

The nurse revealed an empathetic look as she replied "You poor dear! Take this note to your teacher, then go home and get some rest."

Helga gladly followed the nurse's instructions, not caring about what thoughts or questions were left in her friends' head.

Classroom

Lunch had ended, and the students were back in their seats. All but one that is. Arnold waited patiently for Helga to return, but when it didn't happen, he quickly addressed Mr. Simmons to ask "Mr. Simmons, you haven't heard from Helga have you?"

"Oh my yes! She was given permission from the nurse to leave, after hearing about the stomach problem she had been facing all morning." Mr. Simmons explained.

Having overheard the conversation, Gerald said to his friend "Still think taking her that food was the right way to go?"

"Gerald…" Arnold sighed, while Phoebe listened to the boys. She knew how badly Arnold wanted to know what was going on with Helga. On the other hand, Helga had made it clear how embarrassing revealing the information to anyone else would be.

Therefore, she decided to keep her promise to Helga, and hoped she would come around on her own.

Helga's House

Helga angrily stormed in, knowing the day wouldn't be going well once lunch arrived anyhow. Miriam was passed out on the counter, and Bob hadn't made it home from work yet.

Although she would normally like the idea of avoiding Olga, she had no choice but to ask her "So what time's this surgery thing again?"