South of the Continent 1

Dear Helga,

Things have bee going pretty good! Mom and dad have been doing a lot of supervising while the workers are building the new hospital. The Green-Eyes are doing great, in fact they've been a lot more forthcoming in accepting help from others and not just from us. Elder Sanchez, remember he's the big guy of the tribe, has been considering this for a long time and took my advice. I just hope it goes through that we, and others can help them whenever they need it.

Margarita is doing great, from what she told me. She and her father went back to Venezuela for a few weeks so she could be with her Grandmother since her days are numbered. I hope things will go all right there, too.

A sigh escaped Helga as she went on reading Arnold's latest letter. She knew he must've been in heaven down there. And he just HAD to mention his current little girlfriend. Oh well, she was just glad he didn't gush about all the "twu wuv" details she would have preferred not to read about.

Anyway, so the hospital is moving along, like I said. The foundation and structures are up, but only a few walls have been put up and they're trying to work out the plumbing issues. But on a good note, WaterCan recently donated $2500.00 Canadian to help build fresh water wells around poorer areas around San Lorenzo, so that's been a really huge bonus! We're all so happy about that, I think they could just break out into song and dance!

A little smile crossed her face. That was good to hear, she was glad things were looking up in terms of fresh water supply.

We found a an abandoned tiger today. She's a cub, a little less than five months old, and had a scratch on her paw. Poor girl. She's so cute! We adopted her and we're looking after her for a while. Maybe making her a guard tiger! Haha. Anyway, we named her Helga. Yep, after you. I really wanted to do that because although she was wounded and weak, she never gave up and put up a strong fight. She's doing great now, she's sleeping, so probably by tomorrow she'll really be back on her feet.

"Football Head..." Helga muttered, wishing he could stop being so wonderful. But at the same time she wouldn't want that to happen. Even when broken up he could never stop showing her how much he truly cared about her. It made it so impossible to hate him and make it seem like he didn't care.

But that was just being immature. She was past that now, even if at times she had little inklings.

Still, she was touched that he named a beautiful yet deadly animal after her, it was actually very sweet.

And well, to be perfectly honest, I miss you like crazy, so I just had to name her Helga. I know that sounds weird and stupid and I'll bet you're either laughing at me or wishing you could hit me. But that's just what I felt was right.

I really miss you, Helga. I almost beg people to call me Football Head! I really hope to see you soon. We're still not sure when we can leave, I'm afraid. There's still so much to do, and the Green-Eyes need us a lot right now, so we can't turn our backs on them and just leave now. It probably won't be for another year or so, I'm not sure. I just hope you guys are all doing okay up there, I miss all of you.

"Then come home already." Helga sighed, and shook her head. Who am I kidding, I can't ask that of him. He's happy there, and I want him to be happy. But is it too much to ask that he visit?

Take care, Helga. I'll write to you soon.

Sincerely, your friend,

Arnold "Football Head"

P.S. I enclosed a little present for you. I hope you'll like it. I made it mostly myself.

Indeed, he had enclosed a gift for her in the box that came with his letter. Ever since he'd been gone, he sometimes sent her little gifts either on her birthday or for Christmas, and sometimes for no reason at all. Helga appreciated them all, despite that she never said so out loud, and knew that it was just his way of showing he still cared about her. It did still admittedly hurt that there was another girl there who was receiving the far better end of his caring affections. It was no wonder Gerald never let her see the letters his best friend wrote to him, they contained the gushing about his girlfriend that Helga refused to read. Sometimes they were even more than one page long. She had once accidentally ended up reading a little excerpt of one of the letters to Gerald, only a few sentences, and it had been enough to make her want to rip it to pieces.

She felt yet another uncomfortable tightening in her stomach, but Helga held herself back from crying. She'd done that years ago. Instead, she focused on the box. Upon opening it, she was pleasantly surprised to find a bracelet. It was handmade, with natural materials, as well as charms in the shape of the Green Eyed people's symbol. She smiled in spite of herself, and put it on around her wrist to wear. She wasn't a stranger to receiving little hand-made gifts from him, but she loved them all, just like her bow, which she now wore underneath a dark blue cap.

Looking at the bracelet now being proudly sported on her right wrist, Helga exhaled and went to her closet, while she no longer had an actual shrine, it was where she kept her mementos of her beloved. They were put away in a box, sitting in the back, and she would go there every now and then and look them over to remember better times, tears in her eyes all the while.

Next to that box was another box where she kept his letters and gifts he sent her. The letters he wore to her were stored away in a binder. Also in there, were letters she wrote, but never sent. It pained her not to send them, she knew he had a right to see them, but could never bring herself to. She couldn't explain it even if she wanted to. But every time she tried, she would end up yelling at poor Harvey, begging for her letter back. She hated herself for it. She hated not being able to let her beloved know she was thinking of him. But no. It was time to be difficult and stupid, for no reason she could explain. None the less, he kept writing. Why he did, she didn't know. He had every right to stop writing, or even to just say "I've had it. Either you write or I'll never write again"

But emotional blackmail wasn't his style. That much she knew. Why he still wrote, maybe she didn't know, but the fact is, he did still write. No hidden messages, no reading between the lines, no bullshit. He wrote to her. Plain and simple. As hard as it was, his letters did still make her feel better. But she wanted to hear his voice. To be in the presence of her forever saving grace. She missed him so much. It had been two years since she last saw him. He left when they were thirteen. Now she was fifteen.

A lot had changed with her. She was at least six inches taller, and still wore her favourite colour, pink, as often as she always did. Her bow was hidden under a now omnipresent dark blue cap, she was developing breasts and other womanly curves, a bit thinner than in the past, but by no means anorexic or dangerously thin. She played more sports, and although mellowed out a bit over the years, was still the same old Helga. To further help her out, she saw Dr. Bliss a couple of times a week, or if there was a time she needed to see her right away, which didn't happen often, but the option was there when she did need it. It helped a lot, since Dr. Bliss understood her and did so much to help her, she was truly thankful for her.

She'd made friends with the old P.S. 118 class, especially, surprisingly, with Lila Sawyer. Because Lila was no longer the unintentional villain in gaining Arnold's affections, the girls had gotten along better. Yes, Helga found her constant, overbearing sweetness to be incredibly annoying after about ten minutes, but luckily she helped Lila in learning to be more herself and not be so sugar-coated and not see the world through rose-coloured glasses.

Speaking of which, Lila's father Tom had gotten himself a job as an assistant manager in a small company that manufactured various kinds of plastic for whatever product needed it. So they were living a lot better and lived in a much nicer apartment a lot closer to the school, and since Lila herself had a part-time job over at a retail outlet store that Rhonda recommended she go for, things were a lot better in the Sawyer household. Lila had grown to be very beautiful, and still had boys tailing after her like drooling dogs, which she disliked, but at the same time she couldn't help but enjoy the attention. It made her feel like she was wanted, like she mattered to someone. But of course she grew to realize that using her sweetness as a defence would backfire and lead to her being taken advantage of. So while she did, she did also make an effort to find an actual boyfriend.

Gerald and Phoebe were currently dating, as they had been since the fifth grade when they finally just came out with the fact that they liked each other and wanted to be truly "official". Phoebe was in the AP classes at school, so sadly Helga didn't have many classes with her, and she also offered tutoring. Gerald had a job at a sport's store not far from his house, and in turn she didn't see either of them very much since most of their free time was devoted to each other. None the less, she did get along better with Gerald and found his laid back, cool sense of humour to be very refreshing. They still had play arguments and arm-wrestling competitions, of course, but they were fairly good friends by this point.

Rhonda was, and probably always would be, a rich girl who enjoyed luxury, makeup, clothes, boys, and the like. However, as she grew up over the years, she proved to be a lot more than people knew her to be. She was kinder, more altruistic, opted to donate money and clothes she no longer wore (after three weeks, usually) to charity, and cared very much about her friends. Nadine was still her best friend, and their relationship was a lot more like two best friends, rather than boss and a minion.

Curly was still eccentric and crazy as ever, but like Helga, he too mellowed out a lot over the years and pretty much became one of the gang. He and Helga were pretty good buddies after she took him under her wing to try to impress Rhonda properly. Slowly he was winning her heart since now they were pretty good friends. Whether or not Rhonda would fall for him was a mystery. He had done his best to make up for all the "creepy" things he'd done when they were kids, and she was slowly coming around, making him work for her forgiveness, which he was all too happy to do. Besides, seeing Dr. Bliss, under Helga's recommendation, had also paid off as well.

Eugene was still Eugene. Still a jinx. But aside from that, he grew more and more into his love for theatre and performing, including some dancing. He and Sheena, who were now dating, since he'd gotten over his fear of the opposite sex, was a constant presence in his drama work. They danced for their performances or when she was helping him out for a rehearsal. Eugene was a great actor, and an amazing dancer. It was so astounding how he was able to dance so many complicated moves without missing one step, and yet would trip and fall in the cafeteria when there was nothing to trip over and he had no laces on his shoes nor long pants. He also finally grew into a much more masculine voice, which did cause some laughter among the gang considering they remembered how he sounded very feminine when he was younger.

Harold, although still brutish and could have his moments of being quite a bully, had also grown up considerably too. He played football and occasionally some baseball with the gang, and also took up boxing as a proper way to vent out his anger and frustrations. He wasn't as afraid of showing his softer and kinder side either, and became more like a bouncer to the gang than a bully. His body was pure muscle from all the sports and working out he'd been doing. While not exceptionally bright, he did manage to squeak by, especially with some tutoring from Phoebe. He worked at Mr. Green's butcher store, which to this day he still very much enjoyed, and planned to maybe one day take it over for him. Patty Smith was his girlfriend and best girl buddy, and even sometimes helped him out at the store. She too helped him to grow more into someone who would use their strength when necessary as opposed to being a brute. The gang had all pitched in the year before and gave him a cat, as a memento of Cupcake, which made Harold very happy and nearly brought to tears. Harold loved animals, despite he didn't admit it often, and visited his uncle's alligator farm in Florida to see his once pet alligator, Stubby, who was still alive and kicking very well.

Then there was Brainy. Helga did come to truly realize that the strange, wheezing boy had feelings for her. She didn't return them, but she did want to get to know him and even be friends. Since then, and some help from Lila, Phoebe and even Sheena, Brainy was less quiet and wheezy, and more social and outgoing. He even had a silly habit of making bad puns. Silly and fun, but still bad. Brainy's name was really Brian, Brian Jehoshaphat Williams, and despite his eccentricities, he really was just a normal kid with asthma. He didn't stalk her or appear behind her for her to back punch, but he was there as a good pal. It wasn't long for Brainy to become part of the gang. And most surprisingly, he did eventually get a girlfriend. She was a student transferring from England, named Astrid Baldric. Brainy described it as falling in love with her at first sight, which most of the girls scoffed at, but Helga believed it. After all, she too faced love at first sight herself. It seemed only appropriate that Brainy would go through the same thing. Astrid was a loose canon, very fun and outgoing, sweet as candy and was just about liked by everyone. Unlike Lila, she wasn't a "Miss Perfect", but she was a generally nice and sweet girl, who actually had her own set of flaws, and had an air of sophistication to her, despite that she claimed that she wasn't so posh or anything like that. Maybe it was her Britishness. Not that it mattered to Brainy, he fell pretty hard for her, even if it had been hard for him to get over Helga, but it worked through. She was real happy for him, glad that he managed to move on and find love in another girl. It did make her feel a spark of envy, being able to move on and fall in love with someone else like that.

Sid and Stinky were still the same dynamic duo they always had been, pulling pranks and jokes on others. But at the same time they too have matured along the way and were still the best of friends. There did come a time that they fell in love with the same girl, and it resulted in a rivalry between them and they stopped being friends. But eventually they came to find the girl was far from worth it, often considered a teenage slut who used men for her own benefits. Eventually, they worked things out and became best buddies again. "Bros before hos", they now said. Stinky actually ended up coming to date Lila, which had been quite a surprise on everyone's part. Sid on the other hand, grew to be interested in Helga, and actually did attempt dating her for about two months. But of course, he realized that Helga just wasn't over Arnold, and it came to be that they were better off as friends. He did find it hard to get over a girlfriend like THAT, but, he eventually found quite a crush in Nadine, and was now testing the waters with her.

That was Helga's little problem. She did actually attempt to date other guys. It just never worked. Trying to get over her true love was impossible. Not that she didn't try, she really did try. She knew she had to, that it would be for the best, that it would solve everything. That she would be able one day see him again and find him to be a good friend and nothing more, while still holding a special place in her heart, since he was her first love. But it never happened. Helga did manage to date three guys.

Sid was one of them, and the longest, having lasted two months. He had expressed an interest in her, to which Helga had at first refused to think about, but was actually intrigued by someone who was fairly "normal" having a crush on her. So, she decided to give him a chance. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out because not only were they pretty incompatible in some cases, but also, Helga found herself comparing the young man to Arnold...and Sid always came up short. She knew it was unfair of her to do that, she never meant to, but it was hard. It almost seemed like an automatic response. They decided to remain friends, and even though things were awkward between them at first, eventually the two moved on from it all and were now pals.

Before Sid, there was another boy, his name was Michael Peters. Helga met him when she was assigned to tutor him in English when they were freshmen. She was attracted to the fact that he had spiky blonde hair and green eyes, a lot like Arnold, and he was very kind and sweet, despite being a little bit on the dumb side. None the less, she did give him a chance, and they lasted two weeks, and it ended because Michael admitted that he liked another girl. Helga, in the same predicament, understood and they parted ways pleasantly. They hadn't spoken much since then, but were still friendly with each other upon interaction.

After Sid, there was, surprisingly, Wolfgang Ackerman. It had happened the year before this point. No one seemed to understand it, and even sometimes she wondered it. Of course, it was because Helga had found out some interesting things about him. Wolfgang had a baby cousin who often spent time in the Ackerman household, and he actually really cared about him. The little guy's name was Derek Winters, and he was adorable and very bright for a little baby. Helga had actually found Wolfgang in the park with him, to which she taunted him, thinking he had impregnated a girl. This of course made Wolfgang defensive and he explained the situation, and said he would pound her, even though she was a girl, if she told anyone. She just laughed and said she wouldn't, and walked off. After that, she grew curious and often asked him how Derek was doing. Wolfgang eventually begrudgingly talked to her about the little guy, since she was the only one, aside from Edmund, who knew about him. After that, they eventually ended up getting along, especially when Helga could see he did indeed have a soft side many people overlooked, just like with Harold. Except Wolfgang was quite a cruel bully pretty much all the time. But he did end up softening a bit, and Helga eventually saw potential in him, since they were alike in some ways. So, they dated for nearly a month, but again, Helga realized they just weren't meant to be so she broke it off. Wolfgang was pretty angry about it at first, demanding she come back to him, but she punched him in the stomach and reminded him that his little cousin needed him, and that if he were some angry monster over something like this, it would alienate him. Wolfgang realized she was right, and backed off. Sometimes she would ask for little updates on Derek and the two would chat, but that was about it at this point.

So, Helga had tried to move on and date other boys. But it just never worked out, and she couldn't get over Arnold in the least. She'd tried, but it was impossible. She was fifteen years old, and not once did her love for him fade away. At all. Not even after their painful break up and his painful departure. She came to realize she would probably be in love with him the rest of her life, and would take it to her grave. She longed to see him again, so much, and wanted him back. But she knew that wouldn't happen. It was at this point she realized that they would have one chance at heaven, and then nothing more. She often hated herself for causing them to break up, she knew it was her own fault. But even that wasn't the big problem. She wondered, what next? What was going to come in her life? Would there even be one little chance...of happiness?

Please. With my luck, he and Alcoholic Beverage will be engaged by the time I see him again. Helga muttered to herself, laying back on her bed. She looked at the bracelet again wistfully, and exhaled. At least he doesn't hate me.

Getting up from her bed, she decided to get going to her appointment with Dr. Bliss. She needed some time with the understanding, wonderful woman she adored so much. To try to figure this mess out.