Outed

By Rainbow Haunting

Chapter 1

It was one sweltering Saturday in the end of May and all of the neighborhood kids were gathered in the street to play their weekend game of baseball. Helga was first at bat and gave a few test swings as she waited for Gerald to pitch the ball. Her blond hair had wilted from the heat like a thirsty sunflower, the sweat stinging her eyes as she went up to the home plate. As soon as she stepped on, Harold, who was stationed as the catcher behind her, taunted her as he usually did.

"Oooh look it's Helgaaa! You gonna hit the ball with that dumb pink bow of yours?"

Helga spat on the ground and gave him a look of utter disdain. If looks could kill, Harold would already be stone cold. "Just watch and see bucko."

She turned just as Gerald pitched the ball and with a loud wooden crack, the baseball sailed above their heads and crashed into a nearby alleyway. With a victorious smirk, Helga ran to first plate then to second as the opposing team scrambled to find the baseball. She had made it to third base and had almost made a homerun when out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark shape close in to her right. Helga tried to push herself faster to avoid it but instead she collided into it headfirst, their skulls clunking together like a pair of coconuts. She could hear a distant "And you're out!" as she laid in the dust beside the poor sap that crashed into her. With her head throbbing, Helga pushed herself up and her eyes met Arnold's.

"Need some help?" he asked with an outstretched hand. Helga felt like swooning at her crush's offer but she quickly collected herself and shoved his hand away. She adjusted the bow on her head, got up on her feet, and scowled.

"No thanks Arnoldo. I don't need your help. But I'm gonna pound whoever hit me."

She looked around her and her scowl deepened as she saw Stinky help up a dusty Sid from the ground. Helga marched up to the shorter boy and yanked him up from his collar, her face dangerously close to his.

Sid gulped and stuttered, "Sorry Helga! I didn't mean to bump into you! Honest!"

Helga clenched her teeth and shook Sid like a ragdoll. "Sorry?! You costed me my home run you little twerp! You better have a good reason for hitting me or else your gonna have to answer here to "Ol' Betsy" and "The Five Avengers"!"

She raised her fist and Sid shielded his face with a shriek. "Stop! Please, I'll tell you everything! Stinky and I were at Dino Land and we saw Mr. Simmons!"

Helga still had her fist in the air. "So? What's so weird about that?"

Sid gulped in some air and continued. "There was another guy with him!"

She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "And?"

"And they were….they were…"

Helga let out a frustrated snort and dropped Sid on the ground. "If you won't spit it out, then just forget it. I'll just have to beat you up later."

She turned around and was about to walk away when finally Sid blurted it out. "They were kissing! Mr. Simmons was kissing another guy!"

While the crowd of kids gasped and began to chatter among themselves at the revelation, Helga kept on walking as if nothing happened. "Who cares? He could be french kissing a bullfrog and I still wouldn't give a crap." She marched her way back to the home plate and crossed her arms, waiting for everyone else to start up the game again.

But to her dismay, the crowd of kids stayed put as they began to ask questions.

"Was it really a guy?" asked Harold to Sid.

Gerald shook his head. "Sid, you sure they were really kissing? Maybe that other guy was foreign or something. You know, kissing as a form of greeting sorta thing. I heard that's popular in Europe."

"No man, they were really kissing! Like a couple! And he was a guy! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Stinky nodded. "He's right. I saw the same darn thing too. Don't know what to make of it to be perfectly honest."

Rhonda raised her slender eyebrow. "You know what this means right?"

The other kids glanced around to one another and some shrugged or shook their heads.

"It means…" Rhonda's voice dropped to a low whisper. The rest of the gang leaned forward to hear her next words. "He's…gay."

There was an explosion of gasps and mummers. Eugene, who was a little late to the party due to his crutches, hobbled closer and asked, "Hey guys, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what does gay mean?"

"It means that he likes dudes, dude." Gerald's high top haircut shook as he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't think that matters though. He's our teacher and it's not like we care much about what our teachers do on their off days."

Arnold stepped up to face the crowd. "Gerald's right. We don't know if Mr. Simmons is gay but even if he is, it shouldn't matter. There's nothing wrong with our teacher dating guys."

Stinky was the first to reply. "I don't know Arnold. My uncle told me that homosexuality is unnatural."

Sid was next. "Yeah and I heard they got all kinds of diseases. What if Mr. Simmons is contagious and we all catch it?"

Harold nodded. "Yeah, what if we catch gay cooties because he'll spread it to us? I don't wanna date boys! He can't make me!"

Arnold folded his arms. The look on his face was clear: he had enough. "Guys, Mr. Simmons is not going spread gay germs. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. He was probably born that way."

"But what if you're wrong Arnold?!" Sid grabbed ahold of Arnold's shirt. "What if you're wrong and we all catch Mr. Simmons's gayness and we all become gay and girly and…gay!"

In the middle of all the commotion Rhonda was preening herself in front of her handheld mirror. "Actually Sid, maybe being gay would suit you. Then you can have some more fashion sense and get rid of those horrible beetle boots of yours."

The shorter boy frowned and gave a self-conscious glance down at his dusty white shoes. "What's wrong with my boots?"

Before Rhonda could reply, Harold raised his huge hand to interject. "Oh! I know what we can do! We can just ask Mr. Simmons if he's gay and then we'll know for sure!"

Arnold tried again to be the voice of reason. "Harold, I don't think that's a good idea. He might want to keep something like that private."

His words were quickly drowned out by the chorus of agreement to Harold's plan. Frustrated, Arnold picked up his bat and left without a word.

Gerald noticed his friend's soured mood with furrowed brows. "Hey man, don't listen to them. They'll probably forget the whole thing by tomorrow. You still wanna play baseball?"

Arnold shook his head. "No thanks Gerald. I think I'd rather go home. I'll catch up with you later."

He turned around and walked towards the boarding house, passing Helga on the way out. Still angry that her classmates made her wait, she took out her bottle- up frustration on the first person that crossed her path.

"Hey football head!"

Arnold continued to walk on ahead, still looking dejected. "Hey Helga."

Noticing the sad tone in boy's voice, Helga's tough exterior softened. She caught up to Arnold and walked beside him. "Hey uh, Arnold. If it makes any difference, I agree with you on the whole Mr. Simmons thing."

Surprised, Arnold lifted his head and took a good look at Helga. "Really? You do?"

"I know right? Finally we agree on something but yeah, I do. I don't think there's anything wrong with our teacher being gay. You can't just pick and choose the people you love. Love is blind and mysterious. Love is what gives us hope that we can find that one special person, no matter who they are."

Arnold cracked a smile and Helga felt like she could die happy then and there. "I didn't know you could be so poetic."

Her euphoria came crashing down as she scrambled to cover her tracks. Any trace of warmth in Helga's eyes had vanished and was quickly replaced with a tough as nails squint. "Uh, no. I was just being practical. I hate that kind of mushy stuff. Anyways, I gotta get going. See ya later football head."

After flicking her finger at Arnold's head, she walked as fast as she could to give some distance. Helga found herself in an alleyway, her heart pounding like it always did whenever her crush got too close to discovering who she really was. Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Helga took out a small heart-shaped locket and sighed.

"Oh golden haired boy of my dreams! How noble! How kind! You truly are a paragon among us all, fighting for justice when no one else will! How I adore you! How I love you! Oh Arnold! Arn- wait."

She could hear a distant nasally wheeze from the trashcan behind her. She stomped on over and shoved the lid open, revealing Brainy curled up among the rubbish.

Letting out another wheeze, Brainy raised his hand in hello. "Hi."

Growling, Helga gave Brainy a punch to the face, breaking his glasses for the millionth time and left with her secret tucked under her heart.