Helga's P.O.V
"So I heard that her piercing started to ooze green and..."
There goes Rhonda again, talking about useless stuff, I thought to myself. But I still listened. We'd all been friends way too long to stop now. I guess you could say a lot has changed since our days at P.S. 118 but some things never change.
Take Rhonda for example- she's still the same bratty materialistic girl we all know and love. She is just as obsessed with fashion as she was in 4th grade. She was wearing a small, white floral summer dress with peach maryjane flats and her hair was arranged in an artistically messy sock bun. She was still tall and thin, and when it came down to development, she was a bit more on the flat side but she was by no means flat-chested.
My internal thinking was punctuated by a joyous laughter. Ah yes, Nadine, Rhonda's best friend. Nadine had died her curly hair red, like Florence Welch, and it hung down her back in tight spiraling ringlets, held back by a yellow elastic headband. She had gotten braces when she was eleven and hoped that this would be her last year wearing those black and silver pieces of metal. She was wearing a little too much eyeliner today, as it was starting to drip in the hot weather, but she still looked pretty in her Burt's Bee's and Other Insects t-shirt she had got last year at the exhibit with Rhonda, paired with a jean skirt and classic Vans.
And of course there was Phoebe. Phoebe hadn't grown much, she now stood next to me at a solid 5 foot. She traded in her old glasses for some Buddy Holly style glasses and she was wearing a " Pop Pizza Not Pills" TMNT t-shirt that was cut at the shoulders, collar and the hem with cutoff jean shorts. Her dark hair was pulled up in a ponytail.
Which only leaves me. The only thing I have to say about me is that I grew up. My unibrow had somewhat thinned out and after 6th grade my sister, Olga, convinced me to pluck the rest. I guess you could say we were closer now. She had helped me braid my hair into a fishtail today. I was wearing a white and pink baseball T-shirt with quarter sleeves, some khaki shorts, and a pair of beat up Chucks. I don't wear makeup.
Today was the last day if summer so we decided to make it an all girls day. Well an all girls day minus one. Lila was with her boyfriend, what's-his-face. Honestly, I don't even bother rembering Lila's boyfriends names. She gets rid of them too fast. I do worry about that kid though- she's quite sensitive. Lila and I have gotten closer over the past two years and she sort of became my little sister. I try not to worry too much about her.
I say, "Guys, it's hot," I pause while they mumble in agreement, "Let's go to Slausen's."
We turn a corner and my eyes immediately slide to that old boarding house. I shake my head. I gotta forget about him, I tell myself. After all these years I thought the memory of him would fade by now. But it hasn't.
Ever since he left I set up little test for myself that I have consistently failed. First I try not to look at the boarding house at all, but as it goes I failed. Again, go figure. Maybe today will be the day I pass at least one test. Don't look at his window, don't look at his window! I'm almost there maybe I can make it! Just as I was about to pass my eyes betrayed me. Criminey! When will I ever be rid of this love curse. One day, I say to myself, one day I'll pass these darn test, on day I'll barely remember how much importance his name meant to me.
"Guess what Gerald told me. He said Arnold is coming back." Phoebe stated casually. My steps falter for a minuet and I stop dead in my tracks and look back to that old boarding house.
He's back?