Half lidded eyes surveyed the scene before him with interest. The sun-spotted area looked so warm, and the recently cut blades looked soft, like a kitten's fur right after a bath. He closed his eyes completely, inhaling deeply the scent accompanying the newly mown grass, letting it seep into every inch of him.
He loved spring.
And with the bushy tree above him for shade on his face and the warmth of the sun on the rest of his body, Arnold threw his backpack off to the side somewhere and plopped down on the ground, very unceremoniously. Ahh... he smiled as he placed his hands beneath his head, stretching out and crossing his ankles. This is the perfect place for a nap...
Something was sitting on his chest. Something with obnoxiously pointy...things. Two of them. And they were digging into his ribs and being altogether extremely uncomfortable. He grimaced in his sleep, and cracked one eye open to discover an elbow, which was attached to a slender, slightly pale arm. Opening both eyes, he took in the whole picture, and subsequently screamed in shock.
"Helga!"
She obviously didn't know he was awake, and she jumped when she heard him. Quickly regaining her senses, she cast a glance at him before returning to her study of something to the side of him. "That's my name, Football Head."
He glared at her head, although he doubted she could see him from her position. "What are you doing?"
Rolling her eyes, she said, "What does it look like I'm doing?"
Annoyed, he snorted. "I wouldn't know, seeing as how someone has me pinned down. Wouldn't happen to know how to fix that, would you?"
Acting as if she hadn't heard him, she turned over to copy his position. Stretching out, she placed her hands beneath her head, and laid it on his stomach with her legs crossed. "So, I've been thinking, " she started, twitching one foot in the air.
He grumbled, and laid his arm on his eyes. "That's never good."
She moved again, turning to glare at him. "Hey, I'm trying to enlighten you here." She laid her head on his stomach once more. She closed her eyes and smiled.
"Well, do you think you could enlighten me while, I don't know, sitting beside me?"
"Nope," she sang.
He removed his hand from his eyes. "What? Why not?"
"Because I'm comfortable, and I don't want to. Besides, this won't take long."
Arnold groaned, and glared up at the leaves of the tree. He wondered what she could possibly want to tell him. He repositioned his arm back across his eyes, and waited. Nothing came. He waited a minute, and when still nothing came, he began to wonder if Helga had dozed off while using him as a pillow. "I thought you said this wouldn't take long." Her reply startled him.
"I decided I'm not going to tell you."
Arnold blinked, and sat up, making Helga topple to the ground beside him. "Hey! You could have given some warning, you know!"
"You're not going to tell me? You just wanted to use me as a pillow?!"
Before she said anything, she composed herself, sitting as close to him as she could get without sitting on him. He gulped. This couldn't be good.
She leaned in very close to his cheek, and his breath almost stopped. "Helga?" He cursed his voice for being traitorous and raising a bit. "What are you doing?"
"Something I've wanted to for a long time." He turned to look at her and their lips met for the briefest of minutes. It actually happened so fast Arnold wasn't even sure if it was real or not, and before he could ask any questions, she was up and walking away.
He scrambled to get up and follow her, wanting answers and for his head to stop spinning. He screamed at her to wait for him. "Helga! What was that? Where are you going? Wait up! Helga!" When he caught up to her, she was blushing profusely, but she didn't try to run away.
"No, I didn't."
"Helga, please, make sense. You didn't what?"
"I didn't just want to use you as a pillow. I wanted to kiss you."
"What?! Why?" he cried, exasperated.
Helga laughed, nervous and scared. "Why do normal people kiss people?"
"I know why normal people do it, I just want to know why you kissed me." He grimaced; that didn't come out the way he meant it to. He tried to backtrack. "I mean, not that you're not normal, or anything, it's just… normally, you don't go around kissing random guys."
She smiled a little bit. "I wouldn't exactly call you random. I've known you since pre-k. That's not random; that's practically family."
He gave her a pointed look. "You know what I mean."
She started walking away, albeit much slower this time. Arnold followed her. They walked side by side in silence for a few moments, enjoying the cool spring air.
"Helga…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Please. Tell me-"
"I just- I just wanted to, okay? Is it a crime to want to kiss you?" She stopped them; they were on a bridge in the park. She leaned on the railing and looked out over the flowing water, avoiding Arnold's questioning gaze.
"Well, no, but why? Why did you want to kiss me?" He leaned over the railing too, right beside her, confused but curious.
"Well it's certainly not because I hate you." Which technically isn't an answer, I suppose, but gosh, this is so much harder than I thought it'd be.
Arnold was floored. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Helga closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It's now or never, and I've already said too much to take it back. "What do you think I'm saying?" Great! Draw this torture out a little longer, Helga. Nice.
While Helga was berating herself, Arnold was trying to find his breath. His mind was reeling. Helga's always acted a little crazy around me, but I never thought it was because of this. He struggled to produce words. "I think you're saying that, um, you, uh, like me." He nearly choked saying the last part. This was Helga. She didn't- she couldn't like him.
Could she?
She swallowed hard. "That's right, Football Head. Er, Arnold."
She's calling me Arnold and trying to be nice and, and… not Helga-like at all. I think I need to lie down. Of course, I was lying down when this whole thing started. That one thought made Arnold smile, and laugh a little.
Helga heard him laugh, but wasn't sure whether or not it was a good sign. "I'm glad you find this situation so funny," she said dryly, finally looking at him for the first time since they'd reached the bridge.
"It's not that, it's most definitely not that. I was just thinking how I needed to lie down and how you found me, lying down, and…yeah." He grinned sheepishly at her, realizing she probably thought he was crazy.
She smiled at him. "Well, um, I guess I'd better go. You, um, you probably need some time to think, with me springing this on you and everything."
"Yeah. I'd like some time to think."
"So…bye." Ugh. I'm horrible at this. What was I thinking? I can barely talk to Arnold when I'm making fun of him, let alone when I'm confessing my deepest secret. I should really just go home.
"Bye, Helga." He watched her turn around and leave before making his way back to the tree he had been napping under. He grabbed his backpack and was ready to go home when he saw a book. He picked it up. Hmm…it's not mine. Helga must have left it here, after she kissed me. It was still a strange thought, Helga kissing him.
He walked home in silence, thoughts of Helga swirling around in his head. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, if she liked him.
He walked up the steps of boarding house and was about to open the door when he realized he still had Helga's book. He smiled.
He'd return the book to her tomorrow, and if they happened to spend the whole day talking, well, that wouldn't be so bad.
Like many of my stories, I've had the beginning of this typed up for a long time. I found it the other day while browsing through my documents, and decided to finish it.
I think Helga's a little out of character, but hopefully she's OOC in a good way, considering the situation. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it. :D