"Not again!" Helga yelled.
Her car had just broken down…again.
"But it had to just break down in front of Vitello's flower shop no less. Criminey!" Helga spoke more to herself. There was no parking permitted on this side of the street. "Calm down and focus!" She inhaled deeply and forcefully blew out. She tried turning the ignition reluctantly, knowing it wasn't going to miraculously start up. Helga got out of the car and walked over to Vitello's shop door. No sign of her. It was still early though.
Helga was kicking herself for thinking it was a good idea to drive across town for a run at 5am in the park. Luckily, she'd made it this far; just about a mile from her house. She dreaded asking Arnold for help. It wasn't because she had bullied him for so long in elementary and partly through middle school. She cringed inwardly for being such a dummy. It was more because she still loved him. She worked tirelessly to prove to herself that he was merely just a passing fancy. She knew otherwise though and it pissed her off. She was fairly certain he would never feel the same way not after all that bullying she'd done. She really could be a bitch.
Helga had walked up to the aged boarding house and up the stoop stairs. Should she knock? She couldn't very well text him feeling the weight of her cell phone on her hip. She didn't even have his number. It wasn't that she didn't want it; she just wasn't very close to him. It was easier to convince herself that no one suspected her feelings, thus making herself believe she didn't have them to begin with. She knew it sounded ludicrous, but this was her own way of dealing with it. Helga walked back down the cement stairs and sighed heavily. She'd never get over him. She knew she was screwed for life where he was concerned. She walked back to her broken-down hunk of junk and once inside, leaned forward and draped her crossed arms over the steering wheel.
Knock. Knock.
Helga stirred a bit and moved her head sideways away from the sound.
Knock. Knock.
She groaned and lifted her head off her still draped arms. Groggily she looked over to where the knocking originated on her driver's side window.
"Hey."
Helga's azure eyes nearly popped out of her skull.
It was Arnold.
She closed her eyes and shook her head and rolled down the window.
"Umm, you know this is a no parking zone, right?" He stated awkwardly.
This was the first time in a few years since the pair had actually spoken directly.
"Yeah, my car broke down earlier and I couldn't get a hold of anyone."
Damn my luck my parents had gone to see Olga in Alaska for Easter the day before yesterday. Phoebe wasn't at fault; she was with her own parents visiting her grandparents in Japan for two weeks. It's my own fault. Arg.
"I guess I fell asleep." Helga finished after a moment.
"Yeah, I could see that." Arnold smirked. "Do you need some help?" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Who would have thought this morning I'd wake up and see Helga Pataki asleep in her car down the street from the boarding house?
Arnold shook the thought from his head and waited for an answer from the blonde young woman.
Helga sat upright and thought for a moment. "Considering I don't have my A3 card on me, I'm not sure how I'd get home." She hated the fact that she had forgotten her new A3 card on her dresser.
"Let's see if pushing you back to your place with the Packard will work. It's only about a mile from what I recall. Let me grab the keys. That ok with you?" Arnold looked at her inside the old heap.
"Yeah, it's still early and a holiday on top of that so there shouldn't be much traffic if any." Helga nodded at the emerald eyed blonde smiling slightly.
Arnold concurred and jogged back in the direction of the boarding house.
A minute later Arnold jumped down the steps and got behind Helga's car after making certain the road was abandoned in their direction he told her to turn back into the lane.
He pushed the small car easily away from the curb and motioned to her that he was going to get the Packard and begin the short trip.
Helga watched for any other vehicles as Arnold eased up behind her.
"Ok, Helga old girl. Breathe." She took her foot off the brake and they began to move forward.
The twosome arrived safely at the Pataki residence with no snags. She eased the car up to the curb a few spaces away from her house and Arnold found another spot a short distance away.
Helga got out of the car and locked it. This piece of crap wasn't going anywhere until after the holiday. Arnold came into view a moment later.
"Hey, we made it unscathed." Arnold smiled.
"I really appreciate you doing this for me, Arnold-o. I would have been SOL otherwise. My herooo" She grinned up at him.
Arnold laughed. "I'm no one's hero; I'm just a good guy."
Helga stopped herself from saying something she'd regret and instead decided to thank him again.
"Thank you anyways. You should get back to the boarding house, I'm sure you've got a load of fresh hell waiting for you." She was referring to his rowdy housemates, no doubt wreaking some sort of havoc for Arnold's grandparents. She shuffled her left foot tensely on the cement sidewalk, hoping he wouldn't notice the lack of noise coming from her house. Phoebe was the only one who knew she would be alone for the week.
"Yeah, I should get going." Arnold took a pace back on the pavement and started to turn. Helga began exhaling and stopped as Arnold turned back around as if remembering something.
"Have a good Easter, Helga." Arnold said cheerily.
"Thanks, you have a good one as well." She bit her lip and plastered on a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Ever the observant young man, he mulled over asking her if something was the matter.
Would it be weird to give her my number? Should I just ask her if something is wrong? Is it any of my business?
Arnold decided to ask anyways.
"Is there something wrong?" His brilliant emerald eyes pierced hers for a moment before she tore her gaze away and focused on her phone pulling it from her hip.
"Why would you ask something like that? Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She braved a glance back up at him. He'd moved closer to her. Her eyes widened and she nearly tripped backwards on the stoop steps.
His hands reached out before he knew what was happening. Expecting to feel the hard concrete steps digging into her, she only felt warmth and a pair of strong arms enveloped around her. She was standing, upright no less.
What just happened? He caught me! Oh god and I'm in his arms!
Helga was taken aback for an instant and attempted to disengage herself from Arnold.
"You ok?" He looked down at her and loosened his grip on her, but not entirely.
"I'm just peachy. You can let go now." She said more sharply than she'd anticipated.
Why am I always such a bitch to him? I know why of course. Why can't I just be normal around him?
"Sorry." Arnold mumbled and let her go.
What was that all about? They thought simultaneously.
She picked up her phone from the ground.
"Well, if there's something you need, if you ever want to chat with someone you know where to find me." He glanced at her phone before steeping back and waving a goodbye.
Helga stood there and watched him go. She turned and sighed opening the door to an empty house.
Arnold drove back to the boarding house. He parked and sat in the old car, wondering what had happened. He didn't get to spent much time thinking before he heard a tapping on the glass. His grandfather was signaling to him to come out.
"Taking a morning spin around town short man?" Phil asked.
"Grandpa, I'm 6'2" now and I was just helping a friend get back home." Arnold said good naturedly to the elderly man.
"I know short man, that girl with the one eyebrow." Phil laughed a bit.
"Grandpa, she doesn't have one eyebrow anymore. Her car had broken down and she just needed some help." Arnold and his grandfather went inside to start the day.