Start of Something New

"Criminey! Where is that little…"

"Right here, Helga!" Helga G. Pataki peers from behind her maroon locker to see a smiling Lila Sawyer waiting behind it. The redhead still maintained several aspects of her appearance since grade school; her long hair was waved into two braids. She was wearing a green hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans, finished with a pair of green flats. Naturally, Lila Sawyer was still one of the prettiest girls in P.S. 121's senior class, outshining most students. Although Helga had matured and grew nicer over the years, Lila's personality remained the same as well; friendly, funny, and helpful. Maybe this was one of the reasons why Lila was the perfect girl for the role of assistant editor of P.S. 121's newspaper. She did anything Helga asked, her work was decent, and she had connections around the high school.

"Where have you been, Sawyer? I need that article before the end of the day to run for tomorrow's issue and it's almost the start of seventh period!"

"I have it right here. I'm oh so certain you have nothing to worry about, boss." Lila winked at her.

"I better not." Helga quickly scanned the article, considering it was about to be the headline story of the October issue. It was an interview conducted with the senior class president, nobody other than, Rhonda Lloyd. When elections were conducted in September, Helga helped Phoebe campaign for senior class president, but even she knew that Princess had the election locked in. Rhonda was the most prettiest and popular girl in school, and she had a ridiculous reputation for throwing the best parties. However, after she narrowly beat Phoebe in the election, she proved her worth by fulfilling her promise to make our senior year the best it can be. Although Helga would admit it, Rhonda knew politics, and she was handling her position with ease. Phoebe Heyedral, her best friend, was obviously a great candidate, but she wasn't aggressive like Rhonda was. Either way, Lila's assignment was to conduct an interview with Princess discussing plans for this year for the senior class like prom. Helga was surprised with Lila's article; she quoted Rhonda correctly and thoroughly discussed the pros and cons to each plan. Lila was improving, and Helga wasn't too happy about it.

"I must say. It's impressive, Sawyer. Well done." Helga couldn't believe what she was saying. She was complimenting Lila Sawyer's article! Lila was her mortal enemy in elementary school, and Helga G. Pataki never dished out encouragement, especially to a girl she used to hate. Helga came to learn that over the years however, that you can't hate a girl for doing nothing to you. Besides, she didn't actually have a crush on her beloved; he had a crush on her. Throughout elementary and middle school, Helga continued to harbor hate on Lila Sawyer, until she had an English class freshmen year of high school with the angel herself. Now, Helga considered Lila one of her dearest friends, and someone she could trust and boss around.

"Why thank you ever so much, Helga! It means so much that you approve." Lila giggled, reaching out and taking the article back from Helga. "Will I see you at the meeting after school? Or do you need me to take over again?"

Yesterday, Helga was unable to attend the daily newspaper meeting because she had to attend a homecoming committee meeting. Of course, Helga would never even consider spending hours throwing up decorations for a school dance, but Phoebe insisted on both of them signing up. Phoebe was consistently busy with student council, National Honor Society, and the school scholastic decathlon team, and Helga had to run the newspaper and play softball. Since it was their senior year, Phoebe was determined to have at least one school activity with her best friend before they graduated high school in the spring.

"Lila. Of course I'm coming to the meeting. Can't have the meeting without the editor in chief the day before the next issue comes out." Lila frowned at Helga's response, and Helga sighed. "But I do appreciate you covering for me."

Lila grinned. "There you go, Helga. You are doing so well. I think those meetings with Dr. Bliss and those anger management classes really have helped."

Helga forced a smile back at Lila, but was hoping that Lila wouldn't reveal out loud at school that she was seeking treatment. Once Helga entered her freshmen year in high school, she realized that she wanted to change. Although she did want to change for herself, she was also hoping the change would win over the heart of the boy she had been in love with since she was three years old. Arnold. Arnold whatever his last name was. With the support of Phoebe and Lila, Helga continued to see Dr. Bliss for regular therapy sessions and began taking an anger management class. Both truly did help Helga channel her anger and use her aggressive and strong personality into other activities like the newspaper and softball, two of her passions.

However, the change also altered the relationship she had with Arnold. She no longer called him names, bullied him, or followed him around. You could say in a way that she fell out of love with Arnold. The old Helga was in love with a boy that wasn't in love with her, so she moved on in her own way. She threw away the bubble gum shrines, packed up the diaries full of poems, and locked up the locket with Arnold's picture in it. Helga of course maintained a friendship with Arnold; she had a few classes and lunch with him, and they hung out outside of school a few times a week. But that's all they were. Friends.

At first, Helga was heartbroken; hurt that the boy she loved didn't feel the same way, especially since the FTi incident in the fourth grade. Arnold never mentioned the incident again, so she assumed that he didn't "like her like her." Of course, she continued to secretly stalk from a distance throughout the middle school years, but high school had changed Helga G. Pataki permanently. She was no longer in love with Arnold, and no longer the angry, mean girl she was in grade school. She was a high school senior at P.S. 121, editor in chief of the school newspaper, and captain of the softball team. Helga had her own life and future to worry about, without Arnold in it.

"Thanks, Sawyer, but could you keep it down a little? I don't want anyone to find out."

Lila put her hand on Helga's shoulder. "No one is going to find out. Only Phoebe and I know, and trust me, no one here is going to care especially since you've changed for the better. I promise."

"I know, I know." Helga shrugged out of Lila's touch and glanced in the mirror to check her makeup for a second. Helga's personality wasn't the only part of her that changed when she came to high school; her appearance did too. Helga continued to sport her favorite color, pink, but started wearing more girly and fashionable clothes. She waxed her uni-brow into two even eyebrows, started wearing makeup like foundation and eyeliner, and kept a clear lip-gloss in her backpack. Her long, wavy blonde hair now sat past her shoulders, bouncing as she walked, with her pink ribbon wrapped in a bow around her head. Of course, her new appearance did catch the attention of most of her classmates, including boys. Helga gained new friends and a reputation of her own as a nice, headstrong girl. With her new confidence, Helga at times seemed to forget about her past as the old Helga and fully embraced her future as the new Helga.

"Well, I guess I'll see you after school then. Seventh period's about to start." Lila turned to leave, but then turned back around. "You are coming to the sleepover at Rhonda's tonight, right?"

Every Thursday, all the girls of the elementary school gang had a sleepover at Princess's house. Even though they were all seniors in high school with different peer groups and activities, the whole gang was still as close as ever, all sharing a lunch table at lunch and hanging out together outside of school. Helga admired everyone in the gang for that, because they were all still good friends.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure Princess wouldn't let me skip it even if I wanted to. I'll see you later." Helga closed her locker and watched as Lila waved and disappeared down the hallway. Glancing at her watch, Helga began to run as she discovered there was only one minute until her seventh period began. She couldn't be tardy again, especially since if she had one more tardy, she would have to go to detention. That was one place that even Helga G. Pataki could not even face.