It was a bit ironic. Growing up, she was the least feminine girl in her class. In the fourth grade she hadn't been invited to Rhonda's sleep over because she wasn't girl enough. And yet, she was always covered in pink. Pink bow. Pink Sneakers. The light pink dress with an even brighter, even more pink, stripe at the bottom.
It had dawned on her recently that she was overdoing it. She was over compensating. She was trying too hard to tell the world that she was, indeed, a girl. Or maybe she was simply trying to tell one person, one very specific person, that she was a girl. However, she realized over the years of failed attempts at getting his attention, that no amount of pink would make her feel attractive and feminine if she just wasn't. No amount of pink would make him see her as a woman, if he just didn't. She went on a hunt for non pink clothes today. She bought a white sweater. Blue jeans. A new pair of navy blue converse. No pink. She would try to tone it down this year. She had decided she wouldn't even wear her pink bow to school tomorrow. New Helga. Hopefully she wouldn't remind anyone, or him in particular, of the one eyebrowed bully with the pink bow.
She walked out of the department store and into the mall, towards the food court. She was pretty sure she was done shopping today until something caught her eye. She stopped to stare at it through the window. In front of her was a manikin with a perfect body, wearing a bright pink laced bra and panty set. Helga was a junior in high school. To her dismay, her body had changed in ways that she had never expected. She was tall, toned. And unlike middle school, she found herself capable of filling a bra. No more pink, she shook her head, and turned to start walking away, stopping a few steps later. Hmm, but maybe this doesn't count. I mean.. It's not like anyone is going to see it. She turned to face the manikin again, convincing herself that she wasn't breaking her new rule by doing this, and walked into the store to make an additional purchase.
He sat directly behind her in class, trying to pay attention to the history lesson. Something about today was off, though. And yet he couldn't place his finger on it. The powerpoint presentation had 'The Civil War' written in big bold letters, followed by smaller bullets. Their teacher was reading off of the slide when Arnold realized what it was. Her bow. It wasn't there. He could see the board pretty clearly without the ribbon obstructing his view. It was...weird. Not the bad kind of weird. He supposed it was a good thing. He never realized how… distracting it was. Not to say that her bow distracted him from his history lessons. He simply saw a lot more of it than he saw the board. In fact, in some odd way it wasn't just the bow that seemed to be missing. Pink, he realized. His view was no longer being blocked by a glob of pink. He looked at the back of her head, her hair hanging on a plain, white sweater. It was interesting. It was different. He wasn't sure why, but it didn't feel right. It felt like something was missing. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts of Helga's hair accessories out of his mind, realizing that he was distracting himself by thinking about how the lack of her bow wasn't a distraction anymore. He quickly wrote down the notes, trying to listen to their history teacher's comments about the civil war.
A few bullet notes later, it happened. She shifted a bit in front of him, the neck of her sweater pulled towards her shoulder. His pen stopped mid sentence as he stared at it. A bright bra pink strap peeking out from under her sweater, hugging her shoulder. The pink contrasted heavily with the white. Arnold slowly felt his mouth go a little dry. His heart beat slightly got faster as his eyes lingered on it, tracing it down, to see the beginning of bright pink lace, which dove back under the sweater. His mind began to wander, as he began to piece together where the strap was leading..
"Arnold?" His thoughts were interrupted by his history teacher.
He cleared his throat. "Yes Mr. Lions?"
"Are we paying attention?" His teacher looked at him, looking a bit amused. He saw Helga turn around slightly in her seat to look at him. They made eye contact, before Arnold's eyes flickered toward the bra strap. Helga followed his gaze. He thought he saw her cheeks flush as she pulled the neck of her sweater up quickly, tucking the strap underneath and turning back around to face the front of the class.
His teacher cleared his throat again, snapping Arnold back.
"Uh, yes Mr. Lions, of course." Arnold said, feeling his face a little heated.
"Very well then," Mr Lions continued, "Now, Robert E Lee was extremely against the abolition of slavery…" The teacher said as he walked towards the front of the 11th grade classroom.
Arnold attempted to write notes, trying to follow along when she moved again. She tucked her hair behind her ear, causing her sweater to pull down.
So much for no more distractions, he thought, as he gave up on writing and let his eyes rest on the bright pink.