"This isn't really the best idea you've had, Phoebs,"
"Helga, it's hot outside, the public pool is open and Gerald said he'd meet us here. Why are you so against going?"
Helga folded her arms tighter around her waist. "One word Phoebs, swimsuits."
The smaller teen rolled her eyes as she pulled her best friend out of the locker room and into the gated pool area. Helga spotted some of their old friends playing in the pool or sitting around in the beach chairs, wincing as Phoebe dragged her to one of the open chairs beside Sheena.
"Strip Pataki."
Phoebe pulled off her shorts and tank top to reveal a fitted blue two piece. She dropped her towel onto the chair and slipped off her flip flops. Helga still stood by the chair in her shorts and top.
"Did you forget your swimsuit?"
"It's not that…"
"Helga, are you willing to sweat when you have the opportunity to jump into the pool? What is going on?"
Helga rubbed at her arm. "Well, you see, I told Miriam I needed a new swimsuit. She told Olga who took it upon herself to buy me one. All she knew was I wanted pink."
Phoebe shrugged. "So? Is it a kid's swimsuit?"
"Not quite…"
"Helga…"
Phoebe's growl was enough to move Helga into gear. Sitting down on the chair and glancing around to make sure nobody else was looking, she pulled off her shorts and with one more look, took off her top revealing a tiny hot pink bikini. Phoebe squeaked and tossed her towel towards Helga.
"What the…did she forget you're only thirteen? That looks like something Rhonda would wear!"
Helga held her arms in front of her chest, using the towel to cover herself. "Her exact words were 'Oh baby sister, you're growing up. You need a swimsuit that shows off your assets.' Assets, Phoebs? Like these are assets I want?" she half gestured to herself by moving her arms a bit. "I wonder if they'll let me wear my shirt in the pool?"
"Then you'll have a wet shirt on the way home."
"Might be worth it."
She put the towel behind her and turned to pick up her shirt, intending to put it back on. From across the pool Harold's voice suddenly rang out loud and clear.
"Hey look! Helga has boobs!"
Helga and Phoebe froze, staring at each other in horror.
"Harold, don't be such a Neanderthal," Nadine yelled back as she walked past the two girls dressed in a turquoise two piece. "Nice swimsuit Helga. Although I'm not sure you have the confidence to pull it off."
"I can't even get up to kill him because I'm afraid it won't stay where it's supposed to. I'm gonna kill Olga."
Nadine laughed. "If you are going to wear it, you might think about investing in sunscreen. Otherwise you're going to bu…oh my God!"
"There's my baby girl and holy crap Pataki, where have you been hiding those?"
Helga growled as Phoebe whirled around to confront her still newly minted boyfriend.
"GeraldOhmyGOD! Arnold!"
Helga was frozen. Walking towards them was Gerald wearing an almost matching blue pair of swim shorts and beside him…
The last time she saw him was in San Lorenzo when they were ten. He was staying with his parents and she was climbing onto a plane to return to Hillwood. They'd been innocent; blue hats and pigtails and shy closed mouth kisses in the jungle. Now, at fourteen, he was tall and muscular, his hair was longer, he was really tan and those swim shorts were….
In a blur Helga screamed and literally threw her oversized shirt over her head and pulled her arms through the sleeves to cover the tiny pink bikini top that showed more than she was comfortable.
They were already surrounded. She sat there in shock, staring at the blonde teen, drinking the sight of him in as their old friends and classmates surrounded him and Gerald; handshakes and hugs and slaps on the back. Laughter and greetings.
She saw Lila, green bikini and the confidence to wear it, practically jump into his arms to hug him. He laughed and hugged her back. She saw him hug Nadine and Sheena and Phoebe who'd somehow gotten into the group unbeknownst to her, all the while Lila was still hanging right next to his side, laughing and talking like she'd walked into the pool with him and Gerald.
Phoebe looked back at her friend; still sitting on the deck chair, staring at the crowd and her favorite scoop of ice cream like he was something she'd forgotten she'd been craving. Tugging gently on Gerald's hand to lead him towards the chairs they'd claimed and alternately, pulling Arnold with them, she looked up at her boyfriend.
"This was your surprise?"
Gerald grinned down at her. "Yeah, isn't it great? He got in last night. He and his parents decided he should move back in with his grandparents and attend high school here. So he'll be here for the next four years. Isn't that great?"
"It certainly is a surprise," she agreed.
He tossed his town on the chair next to where Helga was still sitting staring up at them. "You okay Pataki?"
She finally blinked, snapping out of her stupor. "Yeah…heh…I just remembered. Bob wants me home. Something about the beeper store and clients over for dinner, heh…"
She grabbed her shorts and jerked them on. Gerald looked unconvinced.
"Uh huh,"
"Helga…" Phoebe started.
"I'll call you later Phoebs," Helga spoke over her, a hint of panicked hysteria in her voice. "Can't believe I forgot about that. Bob's gonna be pissed."
She shoved her feet into her flip flops and grabbed her towel, standing up.
"Helga…"
She turned and ran straight into a solid object.
"Helga!"
The object suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Oof."
"I'm so glad I you're here! I've missed you guys so much!"
Arnold released her, still holding onto her arms. She looked at him, their eyes meeting. Her mouth opened and could only emit a breathless panicked giggle before she turned and all but ran towards the locker rooms.
"At least it's not raining."
They landed in the small Hillwood airport mid-afternoon to sunny skies and warm temperatures. It seemed as if the rain marathon Ken Gumblethorpe had lamented about a couple of days before had broken.
After calling his father back to tell him that both he and Hel would be coming to Hillwood within the next couple of days, they were both scrambling to get flight tickets, car rentals, hotel room all on a couple of days' notice.
Tad was supposed to be staying with his parents but they both knew that after a couple of days of that, Tad would be begging for an escape. Helga just eliminated that need by renting out a townhouse for a month. It was cheaper than a hotel room and it gave them more privacy.
"Wanna bet it doesn't rain the entire time we're here?"
Helga picked up her bags from the turnstile. "I am not taking that bet. God know this town loves messing with me."
The two walked towards the car rental kiosk towards the front of the airport. Tad smiled brightly at the woman working the kiosk.
"Good afternoon. Reservation for Gumblethorpe?"
The entire process took very little time, although longer than probably usual due to the woman's constant flirting with Tad. Helga stood back watching in amusement as Tad maneuvered her into giving him a discount for long term use and an upgrade while keeping her at arm's length without her knowing she was being kept. She'd seen him use the same tactic on petulant actors and high maintenance actresses. He always made it look ridiculously easy.
But then, that was his style.
Fifteen minutes later, they were out in the parking lot, looking for space C-6. Helga stopped cold next to the parking space looking askance at the red convertible sports car sitting in the spot.
"Are you kidding me?"
Tad grinned. "Hey, we are two kids who are back home after making it big in the city of lights. Hell yes, I'm going to shove it in everyone's damn face."
Helga shook her head as she put her bags in the small backseat, leaving the trunk open for Tad's bags.
"Don't you think this is a little ostentatious?"
Tad slid into the driver's side and slid the key into the ignition grinning as the car roared to life.
"I don't think it's ostentatious enough."
Lunch period this year was Ronnie's favorite. It was the only period she had with all of her friends and it was scheduled right in the middle of her school day so she had a mid-point break before getting back into her classes. It was also a brief time when she could check her phone. It never failed, she always had at least one snap chat from either Anne or Allen. Usually a sunrise, or a quick walking video as they were heading to wherever they were going at that time. Anne was in the middle of working a teen thriller movie that, according to her, she was already regretting signing on for. And Allen was rehearsing for sci-fi miniseries. So the majority of his chats were pictures of spaceships or bad rubber aliens.
She pulled her phone out as she and Izzy walked the final hallway towards the cafeteria, Izzy talking about her ever going flirtation with Zeke in her Spanish Four class and Ronnie nodding in the appropriate places. Someone bumped her shoulder as they turned the corner and she was pushed to the side.
"Pay attention to where you're walking and stop talking to your imaginary boyfriend, loser." The voice sneered at her. Ronnie glanced up from her phone. Three blondes stood in her way, the one in the middle glaring at her fiercely.
Izzy reached around and snagged Ronnie's sleeve. "And if you paid attention to where you were going, Dallas, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
The blonde in the middle turned her glare to Izzy. "Watch your mouth Berman or I'll find someone to watch it for you."
Izzy snorted back laughter. "Please Dallas, your twin brother couldn't touch me, even if he wanted to. Walk away, make your snide remarks, and move on with your life."
Izzy stood three inches taller and had at least a good sixty pounds of muscle over the blonde, so with one more shove, the blonde and her friends walked off.
"Come on, we're going to miss the good pizza." Izzy said as she pulled Ronnie down the remainder of the hallway and into the cafeteria. Daphne and Lyss already had a table saved.
"Uh oh, that's not a good look." Lyss remarked as Izzy tossed her books onto the table.
"Just Dallas being a bitch again. I'm starving."
"You want the usual Ronnie?" Lyss asked. Ronnie pulled out a five and handed it to the dark haired girl.
"Thanks Lyss."
For their entire four years in high school, whenever the girls had lunch together, Ronnie had always been the unofficial table guardian. She watched the books, bags, purses, projects and in turn, someone picked up her lunch. It saved her from having to stand in the lunch line, something she absolutely hated and it saved everyone else from having to drag their junk through the line like almost all of the other students did.
Swiping on her snapchat app, she found today's message.
It was a picture of a black hole, painted on a huge backdrop. The message was at the bottom of the picture.
Ugh day. Ever wish you could escape through one of these?
The response picture was of a pool with a bit of red food coloring in it, making it look as if there was blood in it.
Had enough, had to take out the director. Need ez escape route.
Ronnie grinned and, lifting her phone, snapped a quick picture of the bustling cafeteria. She wrote a message at the bottom of the picture.
Could be worse. This could be your real life.
"Thank God for short lines," Daphne put her tray on the table and slid into her seat. She nodded towards Ronnie's phone. "What's up?"
"Nothing," She slid her phone back into her pocket. "Just checking notifications."
"You're on social media more now that you ever were last year."
"Or the year before that." Lyss added as she put her tray onto the table. She handed Ronnie a bottle of water and a salad.
"Or the year before that." Izzy continued. "I'm beginning to believe those rumors about a boyfriend Ronnie."
"No boyfriend. No time."
"So you're cyberstalking celebrities again." Lyss joked.
"It's not cyberstalking when they talk back." Ronnie retorted.
Lyss sighed, "Ronnie, a week in LA does not make you best friends with actors. Daphne doesn't go around fake tweeting the actors."
"Leave me out of this." Daphne insisted. "And in defense, once again, Anne and Allen were pretty friendly with Ronnie during that week. More so than I was with any of the other actors. So it's possible they still talk to her."
"It's just hard to defend her when she won't give us proof." Lyss gave Ronnie a look. "We love you Ronnie and you know we'll all fight anyone who talks shit about you, but seriously, you're taking this a bit too far."
"Why? Because I won't show you the snapchat conversations?" she snapped. "Number one, it's nobody's business. I don't go around showing everyone our private conversations. Number two, you know how snap chat works, I can't show you a conversation even if I wanted to, they disappear too fast. Third off, it's nobody's business."
"Ronnie, we're here. We're your friends. Why are you so obsessed with two actors in Hollywood?" Lyss insisted.
"I'm not obsessed. I can't have friends other than you three? You act like I'm making plans to suddenly drop everything and hitchhike to LA." Ronnie stood up, grabbing her back and her bottle of water. "I have a paper to write."
"Ronnie," Lyss and Daphne called out but she was already storming across the cafeteria towards the hallway. Lyss gave the other two a distraught look.
"Should I have not said anything?"
"She'll snap out of it." Izzy said, taking a bite of her chicken. "You know how she gets."
"Should I have not said anything?" Lyss repeated to Daphne imploringly. "Is she maybe telling the truth?"
Daphne shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe? Sorry, I was too busy dealing with my own issues during the trip to watch Ronnie so I really don't know."
Hillwood's lost children finally returned after all these years. Helga watched the store fronts and streets pass as Tad drove to the address of the townhouse.
Of course it was on the upper side of the city, what everyone used to call the "rich neighborhood". A place where her father always secretly and sometimes not so secretly, aspired to eventually live. The brownstone was nice, for them, but to live in the upper side, Big Bob had equated that with finally making it-being successful-powerful.
So the irony of renting a townhouse here as her parents still lived in the brownstone was not lost on Helga. In fact, she reveled in it.
As they passed neighborhoods that turned from blocks of brownstones to cul de sacs and larger houses, she wondered absently if she should have rented a car. The moment after she'd agreed to accompany Tad on this trip she knew there were people she had to see. People she hadn't seen since she left this town. She needed to…apologize to, to talk with them, to see if they were taken care of.
She could borrow the convertible, but it was under Tad's name and she was sure he would use it the majority of the time. She could walk. Take a cab to the main part of town and walk the block, walk the neighborhoods. She'd done it for years when she was younger, almost walked all over the entire city of Hillwood, she could do it again.
She hadn't told Arnold she was coming.
At the time she thought it would be a clever surprise, to show up at his front door but now that she was here.
She should have told him. What if he wasn't in town? What if he was busy with other plans? What if he didn't feel the same way anymore and was just too nice to say anything because she was an entire continent away. What would showing up at his front doorstep do?
"You're thinking too loud."
"Huh?"
Tad turned left at a light and continued driving. "I can practically see what you're thinking on your face. You didn't tell Arnold you were coming here, did you?"
"I knew it was a bad idea," She let her head fall back against the headrest with a soft thump. "I thought it would be a cute surprise, I should've known that was a bad idea. He might not be in town, he might be trying to break it off with me and just hasn't because I'm so far away, he might be…"
"Whoa!" Tad interrupted her. "How did you go from out of town to a broken relationship? Honey!" He took one of her clenched fists in his hand. "It'll be a surprise, but I can promise you he hasn't been planning on leaving you for months and just hasn't because it's easier to pretend when you're across the country."
"Quit reading my mind," she groaned, her eyes closed.
"Hel, I've heard some of your disgustingly sweet conversations. Including some of the tame ones you put on speakerphone when you think I'm not home. That man is crazy about you, he has no plans of breaking off your relationship." He grinned mischievously. "If you don't end up have breakfast at his house at least once this trip, I will be very disappointed."
She groaned again. "Tad."
"He loves you Hel. It defies logic and I have no idea how the hell you two have kept up a long distance relationship for this long, but he loves you. And he's going to be happy to see you. Surprised. But definitely happy. And…holy crap batman!"
He pulled into the driveway of an elaborate brick two story townhouse that looked like it could fit a family of nine. He looked over shocked. "What the hell? It's ginormous!"
She merely smirked. "You have your ostentatious moments and I have mine."