It was a normal, noisy day in the city. PS 118 had just let out, and the children scattered out of their classrooms, eager to get home and play the little games that always made them bounce with glee. However, there was one fourth grade classroom that was still in session. It wasn't often that this class had to stay after the bell, but the noisy stirring and the tension of beyond the closed door made everyone's suspicions rise.

The class was Mr. Simians class, and they were just finishing a science project that the class had been working on all day. The experiment was the simple task of dissecting frogs, which all of the fourth grade classes were required to do. Helga, however, had been fooling around with the dissecting instruments and accidentally poked a hole in her group's frog. Since it was against the rules, Herald got worried because he thought he might be in trouble. He picked up the frog to throw it in the trash but squeezed it too hard and frog juice went everywhere!

Sickened cries filled the entire classroom when Helga announced that she had gotten some of the juice into her mouth. She spat on the desk over and over again, but the sickening taste would not fade away. Mr. Simians hastily handed her a glass of water, with she practically inhaled, but still complained of tasting "frog liquid." Just then, Stinky yelled,

"Hey, now Helga's gonna turn into a boy because frogs can change hat gender they are!" The whole class started laughing hysterically at Stinky's prediction, and Helga glared at everyone and balled her fists. Mr. Simians tried to clam everyone down, the laughter was much too loud for him to speak over. Helga shoved past everyone and slammed the door on her way out.

"Lousy double-crossing, weasels of classmates.." She muttered under her breath. She spit on some flowers as she marched by, her gigantic feet making deep footprints in the mud she had chosen to walk on.

"Helga, wait up!" it was the voice of her friend Phoebe, who was running hastily to catch up with Helga. Helga didn't stop, but considerably slowed her pace to allow her friend to catch up. Phoebe ran up to her, out of breath.

"Just ignore him, Helga, it's scientifically impossible for a human to switch genders by orally being infected by the body fluids of a frog." She reassured. Helga looked at her and frowned, wishing she had pockets to stuff her hands in.

"I know that Phoebe, I'm not stupid! Everyone just makes me so *mad*!" She shouted. She remembered the laughter from her classmates, the voices....even Arnold's. Arnold had been laughing at her as well! Kind, considerate Arnold was laughing at Helga's misfortune! Not paying attention to where she was going, Helga walked right into a wall before Phoebe could stop her.

"Ow."

~That night

"Um....Helga...did you...finish your homework?"

"Yes, Miriam!" Helga yelled as she stomped upstairs after dinner. She hadn't been all that hungry, because of the incident at school, and now was heading towards the bathroom to wash her mouth out for the fifth time that day.

As she was gargling, Helga noticed some strands of hair in the sink. She inspected them, checking for the color and thickness, and soon realized that it was *her* hair. Why would her hair be falling out? She grabbed a clump of hair from the left side and pulled, and found that an entire clump of her blond hair came out easily. Helga spit the mouthwash in the sink stared at the clump of hair in disbelief. She looked at herself in the mirror. The clump of hair that was missing wasn't quite noticeable, but she decided not to brush her hair tonight before she went to bed.

After changing into her pajamas, Helga slipped into bed, snuggling up against her pillow. She smiled, thinking of Arnold, hoping that she would have peaceful dreams about him as she had for the past hundreds of nights. Before she knew it she had drifted off into a soundless slumber.

The sounds of the city stirred Helga awake, and she opened one sleepy blue eye to glare out her window at the sounds of the noisy people. The pigeons on her window sill stared back at her, then flew away quickly. With a yawn, Helga lifted her head off her pillow and sat up, glancing at her clock. 'Great. Still an hour before I have to get ready for school.' She noted to herself. She got up, planning to go downstairs and watch cartoons before it was time to get ready, but her pillow caught her glance.

Helga let out a shrill scream that echoed through the entire city at she stared at the pile of blond clumps of hair that were spilled out over her pillow.

To Be continued

Author's Notes: Um....tell me what you think.