Helga's P.O.V.
"Helga! I made you a milkshake!" My mom called from downstairs. I made my way down the stairs, tugging on my shoes and nearly breaking my neck in the process. When I get to the kitchen I see Olga and my mother sitting at the table with wedding planning material spread out all around them.
"Oh no, don't tell you've changed the whole wedding theme and now we have to start from scratch." I tease my sister. I grab my milkshake from the counter and begin slurping it down.
"Haha very funny Helga." My sister replied without looking up from the seating chart spread.
"Be nice to your sister Helga. It's a stressful time for all of us." She takes a sip of her coffee and glances in my direction. "You're dressed." she states.
I wince and rub my head. Definitely feel a brain freeze coming on. "Excellent observation mom, you should be a detective." I say around a mouthful of milkshake.
"I don't know why I even bother with coffee," she tells my sister, "Her sarcasm is bitter enough, don't you think?" I snort and mix my straw in my milkshake. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Maybe." I say cryptically.
"Mind telling me where."
"Just a friends house to do some homework, yawn." I sigh.
"Phoebe's?"
"No my friend, Paul." I dig through the silverware drawer for a spoon to try and catch the last bit of milkshake at the bottom.
"Paul? I've never heard about him before. Is this a study date?" Her eyes narrow, whether in suspicion or confusion I'm not sure.
I slam my cup on the counter and groan. "No mother it's not a study date!"
My sister scoffs, "Oh it's totally a study date."
"Helga," my mother begins, "I think we should-"
"Sorry, can't. I'm already late, I'll see you later." I call as I rush out and away from a sure to be awkward situation. I make sure to grab my book bag and a coat before I head off to the bus station.
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I ring the buzzer to Paul's apartment floor which is located in a very nice modern building in a nice part of town. I rub my hands together to get some heat. It's finally getting cold. All of a sudden the intercom gives a faint pop and then a little boy speaks, "Hello?"
"Uh, hi. I'm uh, looking for Paul. I'm Helga and we're suppose to do homework today."
"Okay, hold on." The intercom pops again and then there is the sound the gate makes when it unlocks itself allowing me to quickly let myself in. Directly ahead is an elevator and I push the up button before surveying my surroundings. The room I'm in is empty and kind of resembles a sterile hotel waiting room or something like that. The elevator dings behind me and the doors slide open to reveal Paul.
"Helga!"
"Hi Paul." We both move forward then stop and kind of shuffle around each other awkwardly. I chuckle out an apology and he does the same and I'm standing in the threshold of the doors when they begin to close.
"Oh, watch out." He says when he pulls me into the elevator and closer to him.
I clear my throat nervously, "Hi." I say again, stupidly.
He laughs and looks down at our hands, which are still loosely linked together, before looking back at me. "You already said that."
"Oh yeah. Right." I step away and stand next to him facing the doors in silence. When they open, the same little boy who I assume talked to me on the intercom is standing in a little apron smeared in something that looks unsavory.
"Paul, mom wants to know- wants to know if-if your friend is staying for dinner." Paul looks over at me and raises an eyebrow and I give him a shrug.
"Tell her we're not sure yet. Oh, Helga do you want me to take your coat for you?"
"Oh, yes. Thank you." As I remove my jacket I say to the little boy, "Hi, I'm Helga."
"Hi, I'm Jackson."
"Am I correct in thinking that you were the one who let me in from outside?" he nods, "Well thank you Jackson. It's nice to meet you." I hold out my hand for him to take and when he does we shake before he runs off to somewhere in the apartment.
"He's cute." I say.
"You know, people say we look alike." He replies, cheekily.
I give a small smile before asking, "How old is he?"
"Six. Oh, Helga, this is my dad." a man with a book tucked under his arm strolls through the foyer and seems surprised at our presence there.
"Oh, hello." We shake hands, "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."
"Helga." I supply.
"Well nice to meet you."
"We're going to go do homework now."
"Alright kiddos, hop to it then." Paul's dad ruffles his hair to which he looks super embarrassed about.
"Dad stop! C'mon Helga." he leads me away from his dad while fixing his hair savagely.
"Nice to meet you." I call out to Paul's dad before following Paul down into a darkened hallway. He lead me through a door on the far right side of the hall which I assume is his room. It's kind of spacious for bedroom with one wall completely made from brick with a couch pushed up against it an a tall bookcase next to it. "Nice room." I say.
"Thanks." I sit down on the couch and begin to take my stuff out. Paul brings his binder over and plops down on the opposite side of the couch. "Let's do this."
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"I hate iambic pentameter." Paul groans as he comes back in the room with two cups of water.
I look up from my poetry book. "What, why? I like it."
He hands me my cup and drinks from his and shrugs. "I don't know, I just think that it's really restricting don't you?"
I rub the rim of my cup with my finger and ponder his words. "Well I don't know, I kind of like the constant rhythm. I mean maybe it is a bit restricting but I think that kind of encourages me to find different ways to say what I want to say, you know. Being more economical with my words, or whatever. Besides I really like to write sonnets so iambic pentameter is almost like a second nature to me."
"Maybe you could teach me, I definitely need it." He sets his water down on the floor by the leg of the couch.
"Mmm, I don't know." I sigh dramatically, "I mean what would I be getting in return?" I ask in mock innocent manner.
Paul shifts closer to me, "I could write a sonnet for you."
"Oh really."
"Yeah, in fact I already have it started in my head." I raise my eyebrow at him. "I'll give you a sneak peak. Roses are red, violets are blue, has anyone ever said that you are really cute."
I chock on my water laughing at his horribly cheesy poem. "Oh wow you really do need my help. That was awful! And I'm pretty sure it didn't follow iambic pentameter. In fact-" I cut off when I feel his hand move on top of mine and notice his face moving closer and closer to mine. Oh no, I think.
In a state of panic, I do the first thing that comes to mind which, unfortunately, was to throw my water in his face. We both freeze, me in horrified embarrassment, him in pure shock. "I'm sorry." I say weakly, "I just thought you needed to chill." I close my eyes against my horrible attempt to lighten the mood. "I'll go now."
I grab my stuff and make my way stiffly out of his room, picking up speed the further away I get. By the time I reach the foyer, I'm running, and I swiftly duck into the elevator before I'm caught. When the door closes I lean my head back to hit the wall behind me repeatedly while muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
My mind is buzzing on the bus ride home. It takes all that I have not burst into tears of embarrassment. I get off on the next stop even though I'm still blocks away from home. Once I get off the bus I feel sluggish and drained and I immediately regret not going all the way home. I'm in a familiar part of town but everything seems really foggy and far away. It's not until I'm right in front of the old boarding house that I realize I'm in Arnold's neighborhood. I really want to see him, if anybody could cheer me up it's him. I walk up his stoop and right when I'm about to knock on the door I hear him around the side of the house. I make my way over there and find Arnold outside his window talking on his phone.
"You don't need to go on a double date if you want to go on a date with Phoebe. Gerald, double dates are for people who are unsure of how well they'll get along with the other person, you've known her for years. Who would I even bring?" There was a small pause and I saw that as my opportunity to make my present know.
"Hey Arnold!"
"Hel-" he had started to say before spotting me. "Helga?" I smile and wave at him. "No, not you Gerald. I have to go." he hangs up on Gerald and leans his arm against the railing. "Helga, what a surprise."
"Is it okay if I come up?"
"Yeah sure, I'll be down in a second."
"Don't worry about it. I got it." I walk under the awning and climb onto some haphazard trash cans and pull the ladder to the fire escape down. Once I've managed that I shimmy my way up until I'm standing next to Arnold.
He gaps at me, "I have to admit, that was pretty impressive." I shrug and look away. "Do you want to go inside?" he asks me. I nod and we climb through his window into his bedroom. "So what brings you over friend?"
I glance around his room, stalling. It looked pretty much the same just a few minor changes here and there. I take a seat gingerly on his couch and sigh.
"Is everything okay?" Arnold takes a seat in his desk chair across the room from me.
I lean my head back and it thumps against the wall behind me. "I did something really stupid." I tell him.
"Like stupid-bad or stupid-funny?"
I screw my face up thinking about it, "Well, I guess it could be considered stupid-funny..."
"What did you do?" he inquires gently.
I pick at the sleeve of my coat. "I, well, I kinda- Remember how you said that thing between me and Paul was a study date?"
"Yeah?"
"Well you were right." I say abruptly.
Arnold tenses and clears his throat, "So, what happened there?"
"That's where my stupid-funny thing comes in?"
He looks at me expectantly and I give a sigh, "Paul might have tried to make a move on me and I may or may not have rejected his advance in a... an unconventional manner."
A grin was beginning to appear on his face, " Unconventional how?"
I squirmed under his gaze. "Can't we just leave it at that?" I pleaded.
"I'm not going to force you to say anything Helga, but I think you and I both know why you came up here."
"Alright Arnoldo. You got me, no need to go all Dr. Phil on me." I sniff and cross my legs. "When Paul tried to kiss me I threw my water in his face." I say in such a rush I'd be surprised if he was able to understand me.
He lets out a bark of laughter before gaining his composure again with only a few mild chuckles here and there. "And then what happened?"
I give him a flat look. "What do you think happened? I got out of there faster than you can say pastrami." Arnold smiled and shrugged a bit. "I feel pretty bad about," I confess, "He probably hates me now."
Arnold stands up and crosses over the room to sit next to me and puts his hands on my shoulders, turning them so I could face him. "No Helga, I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He's probably in shock. It's not everyday you get water thrown in your face." We chuckle at that.
"It was ice water too." I admitted and we laughed again. "You could be wrong, you know."
"Yeah, I could be. But if he is mad at you then he just doesn't deserve your company. He doesn't deserve you." The last sentence was so forceful compared to the others and the look in his eyes were intense. I found myself wanting to draw closer and then closer still.
My arms somehow find themselves wrapped around his neck and I'm shifting closer to him, my eyes on his. I lean the top of my head on his narrow shoulder and breath in his scent. "I knew I made the right decision coming here. You always know how to make me feel better." I feel his hands slide from my shoulder down to my waist and I have to suppress a shiver. He pulls me close and we sit there, locked in each others embrace.
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Surprise! I'm not dead just a terrible author who will surely be punished for making you wait so long for this chapter! I'm sorry guys that's it's taken this long to update I'm not even going to give an excuse. I hope you like it.