My first hey Arnold fic so be gentle!
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CHAPTER 1: Returning to the Past
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ATTENTION: ALL FLIGHTS NOW BOARDING AT GATE 259 TO HILLWOOD, NY FROM COLUMBUS, OH ARE NOW BOARDING FOR FLIGHT DEPARTURE IN 10 MINUTES. ALL FLIGHTS NOW BOARDING AT GATE 259 TO HILLWOOD, NY FROM COLUMBUS, OH ARE NOW BOARDING FOR FLIGHT DEPARTURE IN 10 MINUTES.
Two blonde haired women stood in front of the gate as the intercom spoke the words that cued them the time to leave. Both women looked tired and emotionally distressed however one seemed younger than the other. One looked to be about 40 plus years old probably early 50's with gray hair streaking her original blonde like highlights. Her frame seemed frail and malnourished as heavy dark lines weighed under her eyes. The other woman appeared to be no more than 17 years old. Her petite frame and long blonde hair held in a ponytail stood firmly in her position as she clung onto the sports bag she was carrying on board. Like the other woman she appeared emotionally distressed and appeared to have gone through a lot of hardships through life, but you can only see it in her eyes. Her gorgeous blue eyes no longer dazzled like they did when she was young. They now looked dull and desolate with no emotion except a deep sorrow that looked to be locked in the center.
"Now Helga, remember to look for your sister when you arrive in Hillwood okay? You're going to be staying in your father's old place with your sister while he's staying in Dallas okay?" the older blonde explained.
"Mom I know what I'm going to be doing but I'm just worried about you." Helga said worriedly.
"Oh sweetie…" her mother began giving her a tight and loving hug. "I'm going to be just fine. I let you grow up in one hell hole without doing anything about it, but I'm not going to let you live in another because now I'm doing something about it!"
"But mom…."
"Ah ah ahhhh, no buts young lady. It's time for you to start a new life over like I did." Her mother spoke softly. "I'll be there when I get the chance, but now you have bigger things to think about. You're about to finish your senior year of high school and go to college! I want everything's that's best for you and it starts by you fighting those ghost you left back in Hillwood."
Helga was so moved by her mother's words. She didn't know what to say except for 3 words that she loved to say to her since her parents divorce.
"Thank you mom." She whispered to keep from crying, embracing her mother in yet another hug.
"Oh honey you're so welcome!" her mother hugged back. "I'd do anything for you, you know."
"I know mom." said Helga, pulling away from the hug.
LAST CALL FOR GATE 259 TO HILLWOOD, NY FROM COLUMBUS, OH DEPARTING IN 5 MINUTES; LAST CALL FOR GATE 259 TO HILLWOOD, NY FROM COLUMBUS, OH DEPARTING IN 5 MINUTES.
"That's my cue." Helga spoke.
"Okay sweetie, I'll call you once I think you're settled in!" her mother called to her daughter's retreating form.
Thank you Ms. Munizza, please enjoy your flight with us.
Helga retrieved her ticket and stared back at her mother's tired form. She never realized the value of a parent until her parents were divorced and got to see and feel another side of Miriam. She dreaded leaving her new family behind, it was the happiest she'd been in her whole life, but went on board the plane anyway to begin a new chapter of her life.
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She got on board and found a seat in the middle of the plane next to the window. She took her seat put on her headphones to block out the high altitude popping in her ears once they were in the air.
Glancing around the plane she saw that most people were families just coming back from a family vacation or going on some sort of business trip or vice versa. They all seemed so happy or appeared to be someone important in some else's life. Either way it was better life than what she has and what she's about to endure. She took a deep pitiful sigh and gazed out the window looking at the gray clouds, and thinking of what it was exactly that got her into this mess.
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FLASHBACK
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"I'd like to thank all of the parents who made it here today to see the success and further success of their children here at P.S. 118." Spoke a middle aged man with balding hair. He wore a casual yet sophisticated white shirt and blue vest with brown trousers (a/n: that is what he wears right?). He was young yet seemed very old for his age and he stood at the podium staring at all of the students and parents at the fourth grade graduation.
"Next year will be very exciting for most of you as you begin new studies, new trials, and new success. Your goals will…"
"Criminey! When is he ever gonna finish?" a young blonde moaned as she crossed her arms and looked at Mr. Simmons with a stern look.
She sighed realizing no one was really going to answer her, as she stared at the eager fourth graders and parents who came to watch their children receive their certificates. Her eyes swayed as they found Arnold's grandparents and a few of their boarders waving at Arnold and giving him thumbs up; while her eyes followed their movements to find her beloved in a few rows ahead. Funny…after all this time of crushing over him she never learned his last name!
Her eyes soon went along to scan the members of the attending audience for her parents. As usual they weren't there, which was no surprise to her considering they could never even get her name right. Sad, considering they were the ones who named her after all, unless by some odd twist of faith she was adopted. But knowing her parents they were probably doing their usual. Miriam in the kitchen drunk and Bob watching T.V. while complaining about business, money, and enterprises; but then perking up when ever Olga is around for them to brag on her. But looking around and seeing everyone's cheerful parents silently routing them on made her want to break down crying. Why couldn't she have the life that everyone else had? Why couldn't she be just a normal girl at school like all the others? Well…almost all the others. But still, her life wasn't any walk in the park, and she preferred not to let anyone know of her personal life, not even her best friend Phoebe, because of what might happen or what they would think. But she had gained the reputation of Helga G. Pataki, the most ruthless girl this side of town, and nobody really wanted to be bothered with her.
She looked back at Arnold and his weird shaped head, just looking at it made her smile. But that quickly turned into a frown when she noticed him staring at Lila with a goofy look on his face. He was always crushing over some girl, and from what she learned it was always over a girl who never gave him the time of day!
She smiled again when she thought back to the way she tried to be like one of the girls Arnold admired in order for him to notice her but failed miserably. Then to all the times she tried to be in the same production as him so she can have a part with him like in Romeo and Juliet. But he never noticed, and why would he? She picked on him his entire life! That thought alone made her sad but none more than the heaviness in her chest as she felt something bad was going to happen that day.
A while later everything was done and parents where meeting their children to give them their congratulations; but Helga didn't want to be around. She felt miserable enough to be surrounded by happiness when she's never had any herself. So she slowly began her retreat home without saying goodbye and without looking back.
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"Drink?"
"Wha-what?" Helga questioned snapping out of her trance to look up at a young brunette who was obviously the stewardess. (a/n: I hear they like to be known as some other title but I can't remember it just yet)
"Would you like something to drink ma'am? We also have fruit cups, donuts, and pretzels if you're interested." The young woman informed.
"Uhhh…No thank you, I'm fine." She declined as she stared back out the window seeing the once gray clouds had grown even darker and were ready to start screaming and crying in minute.
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Helga arrived at her block and heard yelling and screaming from a few houses down. Lucky for that couple everyone was busy with the graduations and business to actually be home to complain.
As she walked closer she saw things being thrown out onto the sidewalk and streets and a man throwing a cursing fit. It wasn't until walking closer that she saw that all of the fighting was coming from her house! This had never happened before no matter how dysfunctional her family was it never resulted to this!
Frantically she ran the remaining distance to her house and saw it was her mother's belonging that were being thrown out.
"Dammit Miriam, all you had to do was stay sober for one day, JUST ONE FUCKING DAY!"
"Bob I'm sorry, I'm so sorry it'll never happen again please don't throw me out!"
What was going on? She'd never heard her father swear before nor see her mother beg. What could've possibly…
"Now what the hell am I gonna get when the old man croaks, huh? A lazy ass wife?" he screamed kicking her off of him.
"Bob please…" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
He had walked over to the hallway table by then and picked up the telephone. "'Sorry' is not gonna cut it!" he yelled throwing the phone at her face.
Her mother yelped in pain and by then Helga couldn't take it anymore! What did Bob think he was doing!
"STOP IT!" Helga yelled running to her mother's aid. The woman was lying on the floor with a large bruise and a little blood trickling her face sobbing frantically at the moment and in pain.
"Miriam…" she spoke lowly, placing the woman's head partially on her lap. "Are you alright?"
Her mother didn't answer, instead she just cried even more gripping onto Helga's dress even tighter.
"You're here too huh?" Bob spoke angrily, representing himself into the scene. "Well if you want to defend her so badly then you and she can get the fuck out of my house!"
"Fine Bobby old boy we know when we're wanted!" Helga spat.
"Good! Cause it sure in the hell isn't here!" he stared at the sobbing woman one more time before walking away. "I'll send you the divorce papers in a week."
It took awhile for Helga to calm her mother down enough to actually sit up. And once they did they went straight out of the door to stay at a motel. Neither one of them wanted to bring anything with them; it would remind them to much of their past lives. So they had to start from scratch all over again.
Lucky enough, Miriam's old job was eager to hire her back at their firm, so she went to work for them while Helga spent her days relaxing in the park. Lucky for her it was summer break so she didn't have to worry about school and since no one really knew about her parents, no one knew how to contact her. She fought herself everyday as she went to reach for the phone to call somebody, anybody who would be willing to hear her problems. But each time she breaks down crying before she even reaches the phone.
It wasn't until a month later that her mom started dating a man named Joey from her office. He was a nice guy from what she could tell. He always made her mom smile and treated her and her mom to various things around the city. They felt like queens and from the looks of it her mom was falling for him harder than she thought. He was an Italian man with a family history of the mafia and known for his violent short tempers. But he never seemed to be angry around the two of them so she never worried about it. If he did then he'd just break down crying before a single hit was thrown. He loved them too much…though as for other people, let's just say they're swimming with the fishes.
A month later her parents divorce was official and later that evening after the news Joey had proposed to her mom and opted to move them away to start their lives over. Her mother eagerly accepted and Helga felt okay with it because Joey was such a great guy. In fact she was already starting to pick up Italian and started calling him Papi (pa-pee); mainly because she thought it was so cool to say. But what about her friends? School starts back up in two days and she hadn't spoken to her friends since graduation. It was pretty crazy when she thought about how in just two months time her entire life was flushed down the drain and then started back up all over again!
When school started she just stood at the fence watching everyone prepare for the New Year, new classes, new teachers, and new friends. They all seemed so happy, so content, and apparently Phoebe had started a little relationship with Gerald during her absence this summer. But Arnold…Where's Arnold! She frantically searched around to find him walking the steps with none other than Lila by his side, chatting and giggling along the way.
Her heart shattered into a million pieces at that site; to see the two of them so cozy with one another. For as long as she could remember Arnold never got with the girl he had crushes on so this was the first time she had seen on actually go through.
"I guess it's just like Mr. Simmons said…" Helga whispered sadly to herself. "A new start and new year."
With that said she silently walked away from the school she had grown to be so fond of and away from her friends to start a whole new life with her new family.
ATTENTION: ALL PASSENGERS WE WILL BE LANDING AT HILLWOOD AIRPORT IN 5 MIN. PLEASE FASTEN YOUR SAFETY BELTS AND THANK YOU FOR FLYING WITH CONTINENTAL.
Helga awoken at the sound of the stewardess voice repeating her message the second time. She hadn't noticed the fact that she had dozed off while staring out the window. For some odd reason she just lost all strength in cloudy weather.
"Probably from all those trips to Italy." She thought thinking of all the trips she took to Naples with her mom and Joey to visit her step-grandparents who soon became called grand-p and nani (na-nee). She still couldn't believe the two tied the knot! It all seemed like such a blur to her but it was probably the happiest time of her life, not to mention wicked cool to hear some of the mob stories from her grand-p.
The plane landed and Helga boarded off and saw her sister waiting patiently at the gate. She jogged up to her and instantly enveloped her sister in a warm hug. She remembered hating her sister so much while growing up, but staying and growing up with an Italian family really showed her the value of family. She had actually begun writing her sister around the sixth grade to catch up for old times and they've been bonding ever since.
They picked up Helga's luggage at baggage claim and got in Olga's car as they began their journey back to the place she knew too well.
"Oh Helga I'm so glad that you're back home! Would you believe not a thing changed since you've been gone? Well they did add a few new stores to the mall and a new ice cream parlor that everyone likes to go to hang out now. But other than that…"
Olga just kept talking on and on and on and after about 3 minutes, Helga just tuned her out. She really wasn't in the mood for talking right now, too many forgotten memories came rushing back to her. So she just sat back and watched the gloomy sky through the windshield that never seemed to move from its place but follow her no matter where they turned. Before they knew it they were already in front of their old house and a chill ran through her spine at the last memories the place held for her.
"Oh Helga you don't mind being home alone do you dear? I have to go away to Maryland for two weeks help interpret the UN's meeting." Olga explained.
"Oh no prob I'm cool with it." Helga okayed, grabbing her bags and climbing out of the car.
"Are you sure?" her sister questioned as the door shut. She rolled down the window to see her sister's retreating form.
"I can have someone fill in for me!" she shouted at her sisters retreating form so she can hear her over the howling wind.
"Arrivideci!" (a/n: Dear god I spelled that wrong, I know it!) she yelled over her shoulder, digging in her pocket for her key.
"Okay, well…you can use my car to get around if you want. Everything you need is on the table by the front door!" Olga informed giving in to her sister's status.
"I'll see you in two weeks!" she shouted and drove off through the city of gray.
Helga finally managed to open the door and dropped her bags in the front entrance.
"Well…home sweet home." She said, as she began taking an old tour through the house she used to know so well. Upon every corner she saw a spirit from the past. She saw her father in front of the T.V., her mother wasted on the kitchen table, and then her parents fight the last day she was here. It wasn't until later she found out that her mother had been drunk when Bob's parents had came to see if he was 'qualified' enough to be on his father's will to inherit his father's old company. Bob wanted to take that business and use it to expand his own but his father had strict guidelines and apparently Bob's happy home didn't fit the bill. His dad expected a woman to be just they were in the early 1900's before they had any freedom of their own and waited on their husbands hand and foot. But instead he saw…Miriam.
Helga shook away those thoughts and went back to the door to retrieve her baggage to head up to her old room. When she opened the door she saw the place had been trashed. Her clothing was both missing and had foot stomps on it, her bed was tossed, and her desk was knocked over.
Her baggage slumped to the floor from exhaustion as she glanced over her room.
"Well…looks like I'm going shopping!" she exclaimed tiredly, and walked downstairs to see an envelope on the hallway table. She opened it up to find a note and car keys attached to a key chain that said, "Morning Person Doesn't Even Begin to Describe Me". She smiled at that and opened up the note.
Dear Helga,
I'm so happy you're home! I know you must be excited to see some of your old friends again. Though I will admit the last time we talked on the phone you have developed a bit of an accent. But it's cute and just to be early I'm sorry about what daddy did to your room, I know Joey sent you with some cash for shopping though (he always seem to spoil us ), so you can go on a little shopping spree. And you can use my old Navigator to carry it all in. Well I love you baby sister and I know we'll have a good time together. Your school schedule is attached and you'll start school first thing on Monday! It's the last semester here in Hillwood so you only have about 18 weeks of school left…maybe less gosh it's been so long. Oh well! I love you Helga!
Your Sister,
Olga
Helga closed the note and smiled, tossing the keys in the air, singing "I got the Navigator."
Lightening crackled against the sky cuing the downpour of rain soon, also signaling Helga to get a move on it!
She grabbed her backpack purse in the form of a teddy bear that she treasured and grabbed the key while running out into the gray weather for her shopping trip.
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TBC
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So whatcha think? Don't worry character descriptions will be given in the next chapter.