Helga's P.O.V
"Tell me you and Gerald are together already." I groaned to Phoebe.
We were sitting at the counter at Slausen's eating ice cream. I was eating a banana split while Phoebe was having an ice cream sundae. Phoebe rolled her eyes at me and sighed while she shook her head.
"Helga drop it."
"Phoebe-"
"Look," Phoebe declared, "I like what's happening between Gerald and me. I like the pace it's going at and I really think rushing into it will do more harm than good."
I studied her quizzically. She was looking straight ahead with her arms stretched out with her hands flat on the counter top.
"Are you happy?" She nodded. I sighed and proceeded to apologize, "I'm sorry kid, I know I can get a little crazy when it comes to the Gerald topic but I just really want the best for you, you know?" She laughed at me.
"Oh Helga, you're such a sweetheart." Phoebe teased. I stuck my tongue out at her. We ate in silence for a few beats before she suddenly asked, "Do you like Arnold?"
Automatically I replied, "No." But I had a funny feeling in my stomach. Not like I was lying but more like I was saying I liked a food before I even tried it. Phoebe is a much better friend than I am because she left it at that. The truth is I don't know where my feeling for Arnold stand. I mean we are different people now. We've grown up some, but at the same time, I can't shake this feeling that the story of Arnold and me hasn't changed all that much.
The bell for the door chimed. In came the boys with their arms wrapped around each other, chuckling. When they spotted us Gerald disengaged himself from Arnold and walked over to Phoebe.
"I see you already ordered for me." Gerald said gleefully.
Phoebe scoffed, "You wish." Despite that Gerald stole a spoonful. "Hey!" And Phoebe and Gerald laughed while I tried not to coo and aww over them.
Arnold slipped into the seat next to me and I was painfully aware of his every movement. Phoebe and Gerald excused themselves then relocated to a more private corner by the pinball machine. And then there were two.
I swiveled my seat so that I was facing Arnold. We smiled at each other and Arnold raised his hand up to order an ice cream but I interrupted him. "Oh you can finish my ice cream if you want. I'm not that hungry and I'd hate to see good ice cream go to waste." He looked down at my hardly touched ice cream and then nodded while sliding my ice cream over to his side.
"So how was your first day?" I asked. Jeez Louise, I hated how much I sounded like a parent.
"It was good. It feels good to be back here." He looks up from my ice cream and gives my a little smirk. He asks the worker behind the counter for some water and I told him to make it two.
When we got our water, I took a sip and remarked, "I hope Lila didn't have any trouble showing you to your class."
Arnold dropped his spoon in his now empty bowl- crimeny that boy eat fast! He rubbed his hands together and cleared his throat, "Um, no we... we didn't have any trouble at all." Arnold rubbed the back of his neck. I knew it.
Lila doesn't understand that she can't flirt with every boy she meets. If I didn't know any better I would say it was just a sport for her. It's not fair to those poor guys who think they have a chance with her and I'm worried that one day one of her followers might take it too far.
"Listen ," I began, "Me and Lila are pretty close so I know-"
"You are?" Arnold asked, confused.
I was speechless for a second and when I got my voice back I answered, "Yeah."
"Since when? I thought you hated her?"
I wiped the perspiration off the glass of my water and began to draw pictures on the counter top. "We've been pretty tight since eighth grade. And, you know people change."
"Yeah... yeah, sometimes they do." Something in his voice when he said that sentence made me look up at him and the look he gave me was so deep it would make the ocean jealous. We sat there in our own bubble, waiting for the next move. I didn't want to say anything because this moment could possibly be the greatest moment of my life. I want to remember this forever so I make sure to notice everything. The way my knees are shaking, the way his eyes look in the sunlight that's streaming through the windows. The way we are sitting so close, our breathe inhabits the same space. I was so afraid that our little moment would break and shatter but it didn't. It just slowly softened its way back into reality. I slowly exhaled. Did Arnold feel that too?
"Can I take you home?" Arnold asked me. I smiled and nodded. We gathered our stuff together and said our goodbyes to Gerald and Phoebe, then we were out the door.
I had my arms crossed over my binder and my bag hanging from my shoulder and Arnold had his hands casually in his pockets with his bag hanging off his shoulder. "Do you like your classes?" questioned Arnold.
"Yeah, I mean so far so good. It's only the first day after all. What about you? How do you like your teachers?" I responded.
"They are nice so far. A lot nicer than some of my teachers in Maryland ."
I laughed. "Oh Maryland. I bet you left behind a lot of broken heart." I teased.
He rubbed his neck. "Well," he began.
"Oh!" There was no jealousy in my voice, just morbid curiosity.
"No! No, it's not like that. There were no broken hearts. Not even close."
I pondered this for a minute. "Okay, so let me get this straight," I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, "You've been gone three years and in those three years you've never had a girlfriend?"
Arnold nodded, "Yep." I laughed and shook my head. "What's so funny?" He sounded a little panicked.
"I call funny business because there is no way that you have stayed single all this time."
We arrived at the bus stop. I saw the bus two blocks down so didn't even bother to sit down. "It's the truth." Arnold told me, while he shrugged his shoulders. I just rolled my eyes in response. "Well what about you Helga?"
"What about me what?" I asked as the bus pulled in at our stop. We climbed up the stairs of the bus and payed our bus fee, then began to walked down the narrow aisle.
"How many hearts have you broken?" I tensed up at the question and at that moment the bus came back into motion and I nearly tumbled onto my face. Nearly because at the last second I was secured by Arnold's hold on my waist. "You okay?" he murmured into my ear. He was standing so close to me I could feel his chest pressed against my back. I gulped.
I took a step away from him before I lost my mind completely. "I'm fine, thank you for that. And to answer your question, no," I sat down in an empty seat and Arnold slid right in next to me. "I have not broken any hearts."
"That you know of." Arnold shot back.
"Please, stop. Boys are my least favorite topic at least when it comes to me." I looked out the window hoping to end the conversation. My love life is bleak and cliche. Whenever I start to like a boy they end up liking one of my friends (Lila). My friends (Lila again) never do anything about it though because they know how I feel about them but it still hurts. A girl can begin to think she's not good enough.
"Oh Helga, sorry I didn't know you rolled that way." Arnold joked.
"Oh shut up!" I laughed. "Crimeny, Arnold you know I didn't mean it like that."
We laughed together and it was great. Arnold made me feel great just when I was about to dive into a little self pity party.
The bus came to a halt a block away from my house and we exited. We small-talked the rest of the way to my house and when we approached my front stoop we stopped. "Thanks for walking me home." We stood there exchanging glances before I finally said, "Well, bye." I started for my door but before I could go any farther, Arnold stepped in front of me.
"Don't I get a hug?" he outstretched his arms. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around his torso and settled into his warmth. When I felt his arms wrapped around me I sighed in content.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Arnold murmured.
"Bye." I ran up my porch steps, went inside and slammed the door without looking back. Once the door was closed I put my back against the door and slid down to the floor. I think it's safe to say I have a crush on Arnold.