Hiya! Hanna Cabrodi here again! I wasn't planning on updating the story just yet BUT a little push from a friend and the creative juices got to me so I thought "hey, what the heck? Can't hurt to go for it!" So here's the latest update on the madness! IDK what else to say except to enjoy it. I'm not too crazy about my writing but if you guys wanna see more, I have no choice but to oblige! I leave you with chapter 4: Suéñame (Dream of Me)
NOTE: Juan Luis Guerra's songs have a tendency to be very metaphorical so interpret the song as you wish.
DISCLAIMER: Hey Arnold isn't mine. Burbujas de Amor belongs to Juan Luis Guerra. (No lawsuits, si'il vous plait!)
Helga bid her "talk to you later's" and "I'll Spykenger you's" to her friends and stepped off the bus when she instinctively felt she was being followed. As she lowered her gaze to the ground, she noticed the shadow of a 6'2'' young man with a distinctive football-shaped head. She stopped dead in her tracks and immediately wondered what Arnold wanted. As if that little awkward dance arrangement wasn't enough, now he's following me home? WAIT! What am I complaining for? THIS could be my chance to be nice to him, show him my softer, more affectionate and caring side!
"Helga, can I talk to you for a second?," she heard his deep but rather shaky voice ask.
"Arnoldo, don't I get enough of you during the day? You don't tutor me again until tomorrow, what could you POSSIBLY want, Football Head?" So much for that... Criminy...
She turned around and looked at a very nervous Arnold. His cheeks were slightly flushed and he wouldn't make eye contact. She inwardly swooned at his cute and shy disposition but was externally losing her patience. She began to tap her foot impatiently.
"WELL? I ain't GOT all DAY, Hair Boy!"
He looked up and stepped slightly towards her. "Listen, Helga, I kinda wanted to talk to you about what happened the other day."
I was afraid he was gonna bring that up. QUICK, HELGA! THINK!
"I-I don't know what y-you're talking about!" Yeah, nice goin', Helga, stammer like an idiot. Please, go ahead...
Arnold rolled his eyes and continued. "Helga... you know exactly what I'm talking about. I just wanna talk about it, we can't just act like it hasn't bothered us." She remained silent, her gaze facing the ground.
"I wasn't lying when I said that the Dominican Republic wouldn't be the same without you there. Sure, I'll have Gerald there but you've always been with us when we go on crazy adventures or trips. You add something to the atmosphere that others don't." Is this REALLY coming out of my mouth right now?, he asked himself.
She looked up shyly and her lips twitched ever so slightly into a small but noticeable smile. "You really mean that, Arnold?"
He smiled. "Of course. I mean, sure, you're not always the nicest person but deep down I know you're kind hearted and care for others. You're also pretty fun to be around." He sheepishly put his hand on his neck and continued to smile.
"Well, you're not so bad yourself, Football Head," she replied, her expression still rather bashful. "Now, go home, I'm sure your Grandpa has stuff for you do to. Beat it!" she commanded teasingly.
He did as told. "Great, I'll see you tomorrow." He winked. Again.
OH, no. I DIDN'T. AGAIN!? AND I didn't bring up when I did it the FIRST TIME!? What am I getting myself into!?
As he was about to turn around and bring it up, she had already scurried into her house and ran straight up the stairs.
"HAVE I LOST MY MIND!?" he inquired to himself rather loudly.
"HEY, LOWER YOUR VOICE OUT THERE, WOULD YA!?" shouted an annoyed neighbor.
Arnold dashed almost immediately towards the boarding house.
...
Helga locked her front door, ignored her mother who was knocked out in a drunken stupor while she lay on the couch with a spilled "smoothie" on the floor and high-tailed to her bedroom. She locked the door and grabbed her cell phone. Instinctively, she dialed Phoebe's number but forgot that Phoebe has fencing lessons right after school. So she texted Ashley and told her to get on Spykenger.
AshBird: K, im bout 2 log in.
Hell Girl: Thnx
The familiar "welcome" sound played on Helga's computer as she sat down and logged into her Spykenger. She video called Ashley and her red-headed friend immediately answered the call.
"What's the wacky, Miss Pataki?"
"What's the word, Ashley Bird?"
"No, seriously, what's goin' on Hellie? You've been acting weird since that tutoring session with... Ahh, that makes sense."
Helga immediately felt her face heat up and her eyes shifted around so as not to look at Ashley's piercing expression through the screen. Why did I have to Spykenger her? OY!
Ashley had known for a long time that Helga had feelings for Arnold. ONE because she'd noticed Helga's change in behavior every time he was around and TWO because she forced it out of her on a mini sleep over she'd had with her and Phoebe. Phoebe wouldn't tell her so she had to force it out of Helga by blackmail... Ahh, yes, two peas in a pod, Ashley and Helga.
"Helga! What happened at that tutoring session?"
"NOTHING!," she shouted.
"I CALL B.S.!"
"UUUUUUGH! You're such a PAIN!"
"So I've been told," Ashley answered slyly and proudly at the same time. "Now spill it, Pataki. What happened? I mean you text me in the MIDDLE of my fanfic reading to tell me you wanna talk to me and now all of a sudden you change your MIND? No. Hit it!"
"Okay, okay," she relented. "As you've already figured out, Sherlock, Arnold was the tutor Ms. Rodriguez assigned to help me 'better my Spanish,' she described while rolling her eyes. " First I had told him that I really had no certainty of wanting to go on the stupid trip and he was giving me a HISTORY lesson about how the DR's so GREAT and yack, yack yack. Eventually we got started and we worked on my 'r's' and -"
"OOOOO! Spicy! Your 'R's', HAHAHAHA!" interrupted a slightly amused Ashley.
"SHUT UP, BIRD! Do you wanna listen or NOT! I could EASILY send you back to your cookoo's nest!"
"Okay, okay! Chill, Hell Girl."
"ANYWAY, you have NO IDEA how DELICIOUS he looked speaking Spanish and teaching me how to say those God forsaken 'R's' right! It was TORTURE!"
Ashley rolled her eyes in amusement at Helga's swooning. "Helga, I've HEARD him speaking Spanish, BELIEVE ME, I know how good he is."
"YES! But it doesn't stop there! He was WATCHING my tongue movements when I tried to pronounce the words." Ashley's eyes widened. "It was harmless but I had to suppress EVERY IMPULSE in me telling me to grab him and kiss him! AND THEN, when I FINALLY get the words right, he says he has to go and all of a sudden he tells me that I should go and that the trip wouldn't be the same without me. THEN HE WINKED AT ME."
"Whoa." was the red-head's response.
"Ohhhhh, that's not all, folks. Do you remember when I got off the bus and he got off at my stop? Well, he wanted to 'clear the air' about what happened the other day and as it turns out, he stood by his stance of wanting me to be there because I add life to the atmosphere, so to speak. He said I'm fun to be around! You should've seen him, though. He was a nervous WRECK! And when he left HE WINKED AT ME! AGAIN! " She turned away in embarrassment.
Ashley laid back in her computer chair and smiled at the screen. "Well... that's a mouthful. Helga, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he kinda likes you."
Helga, upon hearing this IMMEDIATELY turned around and shouted. "NO! It's just not POSSIBLE! What could a kind-hearted and... incredible angel like Arnold want with a demon like me?"
"Oh, knock it off Helga. You're not a bad person. You're pretty inside AND out but your stupid pride won't let you let your guard down and bring down the walls so everyone else can see what I, Phoebe, and apparently, Arnold can see in you. You have GOTTA get it together. And talk to your dad, would ya? You HAVE to go on that trip!"
"Ugh, fine. I'll talk to him... Thanks, Bird. I really needed to hear that. But I still think you're crazy. There's no way Arnold could possibly -"
"OLGA! Get your butt to the trophy room, PRONTO!" shouted Big Bob Pataki, his tone not very pleased.
"Speak of the devil. I'll talk to you later, Hellie. Peace out."
"Later..."
She logged out of Spykenger shut off her computer, still contemplating what Ashley had just told her. Arnold couldn't POSSIBLY think of me that way. He's into girls like Lila Sawyer, Ruth McDougal. What could he POSSIBLY see in a bully like me?
She descended down the steps and towards the trophy room to find a very unhappy Bob Pataki getting off the phone. "Olga, what's this about a field trip to Puerto Rico?"
"It's HELGA, dad. And the trip's to the Dominican Republic... did Ms. Rodriguez call you?"
"YES! Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? Olga would've told me as soon as she found out about the trip."
Helga was beginning to fume internally at the Olga comparison. "Bob, I am NOT Olga. I didn't TELL YOU right away because I DOUBTED you giving me the permission OR the money to go on the trip."
"Hey, hey, hey. Now, you hear me, little lady. Olga had a trip for her Italian class senior year and I gave her permission AND paid for her trip. What makes you think I won't do it for you?"
She froze almost immediately. "Wait... so does this I can GO? You're gonna let me GO?"
"Yeah. You should've told me SOONER, girl! I may not be the world's best father but I'm not spawn of Satan, either!" He handed her the signed permission slip. He'd found it on the kitchen table a few days prior but never got around to bringing it up.
She uncharacteristically gave her father a hug and he slowly returned it. He may be a blowhard at times but he does care for his daughter.
...
Back at Sunset Arms, Arnold sat in his room on his laptop watching a pair dance to "Burbujas de Amor" by Juan Luis Guerra, who is slowly becoming his favorite Latin artist. He carefully observed the steps of bachata, though the song is bolero and bachata mixed together, as if it were some complex routine. In reality, it's just a basic two-step dance, two to the left, two to the right with their hips swaying to the demanding bass' beat but it's up to the partners to spice it up a little bit.
The male partner's left hand was located on his female partner's shoulder blade while his right hand held hers safely in place. The dance was rather sensuous, what with the close proximity of their bodies and their intense focus on each others' eyes. It reminded him of... the April Fools' Day tango back in 4th grade. He smiled at the memory...
He listened closely to the lyrics, denoting their metaphoric but sensual nature.
[*]Quisiera ser un pez
Para tocar mi nariz en tu pecera
Y hacer burbujas de amor por dondequiera
Oh, pasar la noche entera mojado en ti
Un pez
Para bordar de corales tu cintura
Y hacer siluetas de amor bajo la luna
Oh, saciar esta locura
Mojado en ti...
He mentally pictured him and Helga under the Dominican moonlight dancing the night away to bachatas and boleros, him wearing a white beach outfit, his hair slicked back and her in a beautiful white beach dress and a red cayenne flower tucked away in her silky blonde hair...
Within moments, something snapped in his head.
I think I'm falling for her...
TRANSLATION
I'd like to be a fish
And make my nose touch your tank
And make bubbles of love everywhere
Oh, spend the night wet in you
A fish
So I can decorate your waist with coral
And make silhouettes of love under the moon
Oh, to satisfy this madness
And be wet in you.
What'd ya think? BE HONEST! Honesty is the BEST policy! But PLEASE go easy on me! HAHAHA! Ideas or whatnots are greatly appreciated! :) GBY!
-Hanna Cabrodi :)
