Busted

Fifteen year old Helga G. Pataki quickly made her way up to the attic. She had been having a bad day. She was finding it harder to concentrate at school. Partially because the subject matter held very little interest for her. Who cared about a bunch of dead idiots anyways? She hated History, it was so boring, if it happened in the past why should she care? Yet the main distraction came in the form of the kid with the football shaped head who plagued her thoughts.

She had loved Arnold Shortman since preschool. He was so sincere and kind. Despite the fact that she constantly harrassed and bullied him, she worshipped the very ground he stood upon. She evenhad her own personal shrine dedicated to him. One day she would tell him why she did the things she did. She would tell him how her very existance revolved around him, she lived and breathed for him.

She had once admitted the truth to him. Confessed her undying love at the tender age of nine. But, afterwards, pretended that she had made the whole thing up, caught up in the heat of the moment. Part of her wished she hadn't taken her confession back. She was never really any good with "feelings" rather than face them with courage she hid her feelings with hostility, especially to the one she loved.

She quickened her pace as she reached her destination. She needed to be alone in her special place. The only place in the world she could openly be herself and not hide behind the tough girl facade. The place she could openly talk about the love of her life without the fear of judgement.

Opening the door, she threw her bag onto the floor and stood before the shrine. She released her long golden hair from her pigtails and smiled sweetly at the idol.

"I'm glad to be back, Its been a long day, my love."

"I bet it has sweetheart."

Helga turned, her unibrow raised in absolute horror.

"D..dad? What are you doing up here?"

Big Bob Pataki stood glaring at her. His arms crossed across his chest.

"I decided to clear some crap out of the attic and I found well, I guess the real question is what the HELL are you doing up here?

Helga watched as her dad paced about in front of her. Miriam was, as usual, unconcious on the sofa. She sat next to her mother as Bob ranted about corruption or something.

"I don't want you around that kid."

Helga suddenly began to pay real attention.

"You can't be serious Bob."

"DON'T YOU BOB ME GIRL! THAT BOY IS BAD STOCK. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GET TOGETHER. YOU'D HAVE FREAKY FOOTBALL HEADED KIDS...I'M NOT HAVING CRAZY MUTANTS,NOT IN MY FAMILY LADY!"

"He's not a mutant, what do you even care anyway? You've never given a damn before BOB"

"This would never have happened with Olga." Bob mumbled, clearly irritated

"Got news for ya BOB, I'm not Olga. Just get over it and get the hell outta my face."

It was in that moment, Bob had an idea. While Helga was in Hillwood, she would do everything she could to be around that freak. He had to get her away from Hillwood. Somewhere she'd mellow and he could skip that whole "puberty thing". The girl was a late bloomer and if her hormones were going to be flying around, he wanted her far away from external influences. Quickly, he stormed out of the room and made his way to Helga's bedroom.

"What the hell do you think you're doing" The teenage girl screamed as she caught him ramming some of her possessions into a duffel bag with fury.

"What the fuck does it look like?" He glared at her, daring her to speak.

"Get out of my room!"

"I will when you're packed girl."

"Packed? What the Fuck Bob?"

"I'm not handling this shit. Hormones flying around... Out of control. That boy is the last straw. That thing upstairs proves he's corrupted you. Makin' you crazy. I'm getting you out of here before you go full blown cuckoo."

"Bob! Dad, you can't be serious."

"I am serious. I need to get you under control. If I can get you out of Hillwood, I can get you away from that kid. You'll grow out of it. Find a worthwhile guy. Someone I can pass the company to, that won't pollute the Pataki name."

"Trust me, Bob, I don't think it could be any more polluted than it is. I'm not going anywhere."

"Wanna bet. "

He finished packing her stuff, dragged her downstairs and forced her into the car.

"Bob You've gone mad. Where the fuck are we going?"

"Alaska. You can stay with your sister. She'll set you right. That'll get you away from that little freak"

"You are joking. I'm not going to Alaska, and Arnold is not a freak"

"Not this time cupcake. you are going whther you like it or not. I've had enough. I'm going to cut all ties between you and whats his face"

"You can't do this! You can't just show up. Don't you think you should ask? You're insane Bob, let me outta this car right now or so help me I'll scream"

"Scream all you want, baby girl, but I aint letting you out of this car.

Bob started the car, locking the automatic doors. Helga stared at the boarding house. Bob wasn't even going to let her say goodbye. He was really doing this, really sending her away from her beloved Arnold. She kicked and screamed, trying to forcethe doors open, but it was in vain. She flopped back onto the seat and watched the boardhouse disappear.

"Goodbye, my love"

Arnold lay on his bed and pondered about things. At the age of fifteen, there was a lot a boy could ponder about. How serious was his best friend, Gerald about Phoebe? What had Pookie been getting upto whilst he was at school. What was he hoping to acomplish in life? What the hell was the deal with his pants getting tighter whenever Helga was around. A smile crept across his face as he thought about the blonde lanky girl he looked forward to seeing, every day. When she wasn't looking at him, he was looking at her. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with his feelings, but now he was a slave to them

He had never forgotten her confession on the roof of FTI. Even though he had given her an easy "exit" from her declaration of love, he had thought of nothing else. He always knew that she was a good person deep down inside her tough exterior. As he got older he could not help but reflect back to that day. He had known for a long time how she felt about him, but he wasn't ready to dealve too far into his own feelings. But now, he couldn't help but notice the silkiness of her hair, how smooth her skin was, how bright her eyes were. She was on his mind day and night. He even dreamed about her, some of them downright erotic, causing him to wake with damp and sticky sheets. He just couldn't ignore it anymore, he was head over heels, crazy in love with Helga G Pataki.

Suddenly the screetching of car tyres brought him out of his day dreaming. He jumped out of bed and headed to the window. He recognised Big Bob's car. He couldn't help but wonder what the hurry was. Maybe his money was on fire, he mused. He shrugged his shoulders and leapt back onto his bed. Tomorrow, he decided, he'd whisk her into his arms and tell her how he really felt about her; and it was about time too.

"Oh Helga, tomorrow my love. You've waited long enough for me to tell you, tomorrow I will. I'll make you my girl, make you happy. You deserve that."

He hugged his pillow tightly and fell into yet another erotic Helga fuelled dream.

Having made it to school, Arnold couldn't help but notice how eerie it was. Everyone of his classmates was whispering. He just shrugged his shoulders and headed to Gerald's locker, where everyone usually met up. As usual, they were all there... everyone except Helga. He hoped she wasn't sick, although he would definitely love the idea of fussing over her, of her needing him.

"That's what I saw, He dragged her into the car and drove off. I was watching from my window. When he came back, it was just him. She wasn't in the car or anything." Phoebe stopped talking, realising that Arnold had joined them. He looked at them, unnerved by the silence.

"Hey guys, what's happening?"

"Dude, you gotta hear this. Phoebe says Big Bob lost it last night and drove off with Helga."

Phoebe nodded. " I saw it all from my room. Bob was pissed about something."

"What? Are you serious?"

Phoebe wasn't one for making up stories, If she said she saw it, then the chances were that she did. She usually watched Helga's window in case she needed anything.

"When did they get back?"

Phoebe left Gerald's side and squeezed Arnold's shoulder.

"Bob got back at one... Helga... well... she.. she didn't come back."

In that moment his world came crashing down around him. He was supposed to tell her how he felt, he was supposed to take her in his arms kiss away the years and make her his girl. He just couldn't believe what he had heard. He had planned the day out. He'd whisk Helga to the park and bare his soul, she'd rush into his arms and he'd kiss away all those years she had spent with her feelings unrequieted. Ice cold fear gripped him and he couldn't help but whisper his deep dark fear.

"She's gone?"