This is chapter one to a fanfiction I've been writing. It's most based on Helga and her point of view but older. The whole group is in high school. If you are a 90s kid and interested in how they may have turned out, then this is a story for you!
Helga's alarm clock screamed far too early, as it always did. She opened one eye and punched snooze as quickly as she could and fell back asleep. Like most mornings she dreamed of getting up, getting ready and leaving off to school only to be rudely awoken about 5 minutes later by the same alarm. This wasn't far from being considered a routine. She finally rolled out of bed, yawned, stretched and stared around her room for a moment. Her walls were covered in band and movie posters. Her floor had various articles of clothing scattered about. Glancing around she saw her favorite jeans with the holes on the knees laying by her closet. As luck would have it she had only warn them once since the last time they were washed. She picked them up and opened her closet door. It was much different from her adolescent days, no more gloriously made love shrine or pictures of a certain boy with an oddly shaped head. Instead clothes were every where, magazines, CD cases stuffed in the top and other miscellaneous objects. In the back scooted to the side and much forgotten about was a dusty old box full of old things that she never looked at anymore. She grabbed a plain white t-shirt off a hanger and shut the door.
After grabbing some unmentionables and putting on her new outfit for a new day she found herself in the upstairs bathroom. She slid one finger over one of her eyebrows. Helga was never one for putting that much effort into her appearance but like any teenage girl she too had her insecurities. She took very good care of her eye brows. Fortunately, today nothing needed to be done. She grabbed a brush and brushed through her hair. Today she decided to leave it down but she kept a scrunchie on her wrist just in case. Around the age of 12 she decided to ditch the pigtails, for how could any tween look more grown up if they kept pigtails all the time?
She brushed her teeth, grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs. The house smelled strongly of liquor lately. Helga walked into the kitchen and found Olga sitting at the table staring at a completely melted margarita with a slightly wrinkled nose. "Becoming like mom?" Helga asked trying to be a smartass. Olga who didn't realize Helga had entered the room slightly jumped. "No baby sister, not quite." she said, grabbing the glass and standing to pour it down the sink. Olga turned to Helga and smiled a sad smile. She had dark rings under her eyes from staying with Bob so late at the hospital. The Beeper King had been laid off almost year-to-date. This caused him a heavy depression and he stopped taking care of himself. This landed him a heart attack in which he had been hospitalized for over two weeks. For some reason his health just didn't seem to be improving much. This sent Miriam into a drinking binge from which she had been sober for about three years. When Olga got wind she rushed to her old home to help around the house, much to Helgas relief. She thought this to be a very unfortunate chain reaction.
"How was your sleep, baby sister?" Olga asked, trying to make conversation. Helga brushed past her to get to the fridge. "Better than yours it looks like." Helga murmured. Olga looked at the floor her smile disappearing, " Heh.. Yeah." Helga grabbed a few things to make a sandwich for lunch and a brown paper bag. "How is the old man?" questioned Helga, occupied with her sandwich but listening. "Not.. much.. better.. Helga do you need lunch money?" Olga offered, raising an eyebrow. Helga paused, this wasn't normally an option and today waaas pizza day... "Psh, no, I love sandwiches." she replied some what with an attitude. After all, she did have her pride.
A large rumbling noise could be heard through out the house which diverted Helgas attention to the window. "Crap, it's storming and I need to go!" She ran to grab a jacket from a closet in the hallway next to the front door and back to grab her lunch and a soda. "Have a good day, baby sister!" Olga called after Helga as she ran out the door. Normally Helga would take her time on the short walk to her school but considering the circumstances today, she ran most of the way there. As she neared the school she heard the bell ringing and other students running inside. She quickened her pace so as not to be late. After running up the steps and entering a long hallway where students were grabbing things from their lockers and meeting their friends she looked at all the different cliques. Everyone seemed to know where they fit in by the end of middle school and high school wasn't much different.. just larger groups of clones. Even Helga had a specific friend group for which she felt comfortable. Though it confused almost everyone else who wasn't there, a small group of kids from P.S. 118 still had a soft spot for one another, even though sometimes their cliques clashed.
Helga walked over to a rough looking group with chains on their pants, rips in their clothes, piercings and baggy everything. "Hey guys." she said casually. Before anyone could respond the tallest guy in the group of now five slid his arm around her waist, pulled her close to him and said, "Hey gorgeous." with a cheesy smile. He had black hair, blue eyes and his lip ring gave him a kind of cute punkish smile. Helga rolled her eyes and gently pushed him away. The other three chuckled. The guy pretended to pout. "It's never going to happen, Travis." said a shorter haired blonde girl. She was skinny, had black high lights behind her neck, blue eyes and was absolutely gorgeous. Her name was Lydia, Helgas best friend. She was mean, sarcastic and witty. Sometimes, it seemed like she didn't even have a conscious. Helga admired this about her, she never felt guilty or regretted anything she ever did. She was strong and independent and never seemed to need anyone. Together, they could be a ruthless pair.
On either side of Lydia were two other guys. To her left was Bryan, a curly haired badass bass guitarist. He had green eyes and snake bite piercings. His curly brown hair often covered his eyes. He was always the first of his friends to know when bands were going to be local and could always seem to find some kind of deal for tickets. Certainly a handy friend to have around indeed. To Lydia's right was Ray. Ray was the groups token black kid and definitely a cool guy. Ray was intelligent, laid back and agile. Being one of the best skate boarders in the city he was signed by a good company and the group couldn't wait to see what new things he received. Each member of their small group seemed to have their own special talent.. such as Helgas extremely good writing skills and Travis' ability to draw. Lydia, however, enjoyed all the same things as the rest of the group in a 'jack of all trades, master of none' sort of way. Though, she could just get away with being pretty and witty.
The second bell rang loudly through the halls. It was time for first period. Helga said her "Laters" to her friends and made her way to her locker. She quickly grabbed her books and pushed through the crowd of students to get to her class. This was one of the more boring classes of the day and Helga took the time to jot down phrases and ideas she had for poems, lyrics and even short stories. As of late, inspiration was hard to come by. Helgas mind seemed to be cluttered with everything that was happening at home. It made it hard to concentrate on anything for too long. Much to Helgas dismay because writing was always a good escape for her. As the teacher talked and talked, Helga stared and stared at a blank note book page. She wanted so badly to jot something down to get her past her writers block but her pen just didn't seem to be doing anything. She kept zoning in and out thinking about different things. This happened for so long that all of a sudden.. the bell rang once again. Helgas eyes opened wide as she snapped back into reality. Everyone around her was beginning to stand up and the teacher dismissing the class and saying, " Don't forget, todays homework is due by morning." There was no way it could have already been an hour. Helga could not believe it.. this entire time she had done nothing but daydream and look at a paper. She didn't hear a word anyone had said nor had taken a single note. This wasn't the best way to start the day but she had to admit, it was definitely the quickest. She gathered her things and returned to the busy hallway.
The next class was PreCal. Helga didn't entirely like math but it wasn't her weakest subject. She tried to pay attention the best she could this time. The teacher of this class liked to call on as many students as he could in one sit in. Half way through the teacher called out the name, "Arnold" to help explain a problem. The entire class, including Helga, stared at the blonde teen. He in turn, answered the teachers questions flawlessly. Helga smiled to herself. She decided in middle school to give up her obsessive ways and drifted away from the idea of her crush. This didn't stop her from wondering what kind of person he was now though. How could she? How could she not wonder about how different and how the same that someone she used to care for so deeply had turned out? It wasn't just Arnold though. She wondered about the rest of her adolescent friends too. She saw them around and ended up interacting with them on occasions but there was never an obvious back story. Helga was an extreme skeptic and never bought in to any rumors or heresay, true or not.
There it was again, the bell. Helga had gotten lost in her head again. Thinking about her old friends and comparing them to how they used to be. "Damn.. What's with me today?" she thought out loud. Helga gathered her things and walked toward the door. Due to the lack of concentration on this particular day Helga didn't notice someone trying to exit the room at the very same time as her. They bumped into each other and Helga almost dropped her things. "Why don't you wat-" She noticed it was Arnold. "Sorry Helga." Arnold said calmly. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine, no thanks to... well never mind. I'm fine." muttered Helga. She couldn't understand why still after all this time her first instinct was to be so rude to the boy. "Okay, well, sorry again. I'll see you around Helga." Arnold said with a smile and walked off. He had gotten tall. Every day he seemed to wear blue jeans and an open button up shirt over a t-shirt. He pulled it off nicely. A part of her wanted to stop him and ask how he was or how his family was doing. The other part of her thought it was stupid to just inquire about some ones life out of the blue like that. She quickly decided against it.
The next agenda of the day was lunch. Helga quickly found her group and they headed for the lunch room. It was a huge room of long tables that sat lots of students and smaller round tables that sat a few students. Her group had been sitting at the same table since Freshman year. 3 years running, unchallenged by anyone. Helga sat at the table while her friends went to stand in a long line to get pizza. Helga stared at her brown bag and secretly wished she took the money from Olga that morning. She slowly opened her bag and pulled out her sandwich. With it, some change fell out. Helga thought this to be odd so she looked in the bag and saw a couple ones. Olga had slipped money in the bag while she ran to get her jacket. For just a few seconds Helga felt somewhat warm inside. Helga snapped out of it, stood and grabbed her soda. She went to stand in line with her friends to get the pizza that she so secretly desired. Talking with her friends the line seemed to go by much faster than she expected. They returned to the table to chow down. Travis glanced at Helga and smiled. "You know beautiful.. I was thinking about -" Lydia cut him off by saying, "I've told you how dangerous it is when you think, haven't I?" everyone else giggled. Travis rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I was thinking about seeing a movie this weekend, would you like to join me?" Helga paused for a second. "I'm not sure I can think of anyone else I'd be more uncomfortable to be alone with, Travis." "Oh Helga, you break my heart." Lydia stared at the two with a slightly annoyed look on her face. Helga had always assumed she had a thing for Travis though she never admitted to it. "Well, since Helga just brutally rejected Travis, why don't we all go to the movies?" suggested Bryan.
The group all seemed to like the idea and spent the remainder of lunch debating on which movie to see. After lunch Helga and Lydia escaped the guys and walked to Lydias locker together. Lydia still seemed annoyed. Helga finally decided to say something. " Look, I really don't want Travis in that type of way, I've never saw him as anything more than a friend." "He just needs to know when to back off. He annoys me with hitting on you all the time when you obviously don't want him to." Lydia quickly retorted. "Well I think he's joking pretty much all of the t-" Helga was interrupted by shouting behind her. Her and everyone around her turned to see what the commotion was all about. "WHY do I find YOUR number in MY boyfriends phone like every other day?" A popular cheerleader named Sanya was yelling at a shorter Asian girl with glasses whom Helga instantly recognized as Pheobe. Sanya was a tall African American girl wearing their schools black and red cheerleading outfit, long red nails to match and her medium length hair bunned up. Pheobe really didn't change in appearance too much over the years. She was still short and skinny. Her hair was a little longer and she always wore it down. Today she wore a blue sweater dress, black leggings and white suede ankle boots. "I j-just help him with homework over the phone. We've been talking about me becoming his tutor since he's having problems with some classes." Phoebe said in a small meek voice. "Bullshit! My man is smart enough! He don't need no geeky little brainy hussy teaching him shit he always knows!" Sanya shouted angrily. She stepped forward but Pheobe couldn't step back because she was already put against the lockers behind her. Phoebe just wanted to disappear. "Please, I'm telling the truth. Ask him!" she pleaded. Everyone looked around. Gerald, the schools football team quarterback was no where to be seen. "He ain't here today but if I ever catch you snooping around and calling my man again you'll pay for it. Got it bitch?" She shoved one of her long boney fingers and what seemed like sharpened finger nails into Phoebes shoulder and started to wait for a response.
At this point Helga couldn't contain herself anymore. She was filled with rage and didn't stop to ask herself why. She HAD to say or do something.. and before she even thought about it she stepped up to bat, out from the crowded circle everyone had made around the girls. "What are you doing, Helga!" Lydia asked alarmed and confused. "Hey bitch, has anyone told you it's rude to threaten people just for being smarter than you? Just because you're not smart enough to help your boyfriend out when he needs it doesn't mean you should get mad at someone who can." Some 'ooooohhhh's and gasps were heard from the crowd. Sanya slowly turned around with a very pissed off look on her face. "Have you got something to say to be bitch?" she growled. "Wow, you're dumber than I thought. I ALREADY said something to you... that's why you responded. No wonder Gerald has to go to other women for help." Helga barely got her sentence out before Sanya litterally lept up on her and the started to try to punch her face. Helga managed to catch her punches each time and force the girl off her. Helga finally got the girl pinned when a teacher yanked her away. Another teacher grabbed Sayna and they drug the girls to the main office.
The principal took a few moments before entering the room. She cleared her throat and took a seat on the other side of the large red oak desk they had been placed at. One of the supervising teachers was told to go call Sanyas parents. Sanya slouched down and sneered at the principal. "Helga I am not suspending you today because many students report to me that not only were you defending yourself in the fight but also you stood up for another student." Helga shot a smug glance at Sanya and folded her arms. "Oh that's bullshit, you didn't hear what she said to me. She was being a complete bitch. No wonder her daddy don't want to come home." This comment made Helgas mouth drop. "That's enough out of you young lady." The principal scolded. "Helga you can-" but it was too late.
Helga was so completely caught off guard by this statement it seemed she still had a surprised look on her face when she stood, grabbed Sanyas hair and slammed her head into the wooden desk. She then proceeded to punch the girl until she was pulled off by the same teacher. Sanya was dazed and bleeding from her nose and mouth. Unfortunately, Helga couldn't even enjoy her handy work because all she could think about was how ANYONE out of her small group of friends could know about her situation at home. How many people knew her business? How much did they know? What else did they know? Helga had become very private over the last few years and she only told the very select few of her friends anything. She almost felt.. betrayed. Sanya was taken to the nurses lounge.
The principal rubbed her temples as Helga was asked to take a seat again. "oh Helga..." she sighed. "Why couldn't you have just walked away." Helga didn't respond. She was too involved in her thoughts. "Two weeks suspension Helga, you should find someone to take notes for you in your classes." The principal said hoarsely. "You know if you seriously hurt her you could be in legal trouble... she seems to be fine but what if she weren't? Could you and your family afford that?" Helga still didn't respond. She just stared down at her very red knuckles. "Your sister is on her way to get you. You're dismissed to wait in the lounge." Helga stood and walked out of the small office into the lounge. The receptionist handed her a paper telling her she wasn't legally allowed on the property until her two weeks were up. Helga plopped down in a chair and waited for Olga.
Moments later Sanyas parents arrived. They checked in at the desk and went to get their daughter from the nurses office. They seemed like very upper class well dressed people. The family of three came out of the nurses office and all glared at Helga on their way out. Sanya stopped to say something but her arm was jerked by her mother who began to scold and bitch at her. Helga kept her head down and didn't return any stares. As they walked out of the door Olga shoved past them and threw her arms around Helgas neck. "Olga? What the hell!" "Oh baby sister, are you okay?" Before Helga could respond Olga stepped to the desk. "I am Helgas big sister and I am here to take her home!" Olga said strong and proudly. "Okay.. well all you need to do is sign your name to her out." The receptionist said, giving Olga a strange look. Olga signed the paper and Helga stood up shaking her head. They both headed to Olgas car and got in. "I'm surprised you drove here." Helga murmured. "Oh baby sister, it's okay. I know you're just acting out because of everything that's going on at home. Maybe you just need more attention and I'm here to provide that for you. Everything is going to be okay!" "That's.. not what.. er.." As they drove away from the school Helga realized that this may possibly be the longest two weeks of her life.