This chapter literally took me all day to write! I did the best I could, it was a real struggle and want to time each chapter perfectly. I don't think the story will be long, but I'm going to continue if more and more ideas pop into my head. Again, thank you for the reviews, I love your kind words and thoughts on the story! I even love how almost all of you call Lila a bitch, lol. Please keep reviewing and telling me what you think! As a token of my gratitude to my fellow readers, I'd love if you can recommend me a story of yours I can read and review. I haven't read anything lately and want to read what you guys have to offer on the site. :) Please review and recommend me a story if you'd like! Enjoy! 3
It has been weeks since I have last spoken to Arnold. The fall weather is already kicking in. I honestly haven't felt this good in such a long time. The sad part is I still miss that Football Head. I still have the same classes with him, but avoid eye contact. And when it came to class discussions, I have to be civil and acknowledge his existence. At lunch time I would go to the library, bringing my own lunch and sneaking it in. I put a lot of focus into my school work now and write poetry in this new notebook I bought recently. I even considered applying myself to a poetry scholarship Phoebe told me about a couple of days ago. It wouldn't hurt to try, although my poetry has gotten so glum ever since I told Arnold we shouldn't speak anymore. My heart still aches for him.
My dreams also stopped bringing in the misery I have been feeling and replacing them with emptiness. I just stand there and I'm not sure what I'm looking for. All my obstacles are clear but I don't know where to go. Where to turn. It is all very confusing. I try not to think about it so much.
I dig into my lunch bag to drink some soda, but notice my bottle is empty. I groan because I'm thirsty as hell and need the sugar, but also because the only place I can buy it at is the school cafeteria. I take a deep breath and put my things away. I look at the clock and see I only have twenty minutes left before class starts. Leaving the library, I slowly walk to the end of the hall leading to the cafeteria. I feel as if I left my sanctuary behind as I enter a danger zone. I step into the cafeteria opening the doors wide. Nobody noticed but Phoebe who looks so surprised to see me walk in here after a month. Lila also looks at me, but I pay her no attention.
As I walk to the soda machine, Rhonda taps me on the shoulder and says, "Helga! It's such a surprise to see you come back in here. Everything okay?"
She has gotten almost everyone's attention and were staring at us. "What's it to ya, Lloyd? I'm just here to buy a drink", I snap at her. She takes her hand off my shoulder responding, "Well I already handed out party invites to my Halloween Costume party in a few weeks and I didn't get a chance to give you yours. You stormed out of class so quick." She hands out my invitation in front of me. I hesitate, but grab it out of her hands.
"Uh, thanks Rhonda", I tell her awkwardly.
"No need to thank me, Helga. You've been working your ass off lately and helped our group get an A+ on our project. I must say... You're a real delight, Helga. You better be there at my party this time", she tells me with a sassy, friendly tone. Has Rhonda been observing my every move? She is the queen bee of the school, but I never took her as the observant kind. That's why she has Nadine to dish out on gossip. I guess I'm not a target anymore for gossip ever since I closed myself off from Arnold and learn more about myself. Like, I didn't know I could actually get along with someone like Rhonda for a group project even though she's a pain in the ass. Brainy was also in our group, and I learned to tolerate him for once. I didn't even smack him in the face either! I mean he still has a crush on me I think since he blushed all the time we got together for our group and gave me some space. He still doesn't talk as much and he isn't so bad looking now. He actually went through with dyeing his hair blood orange, now wears a cool pair of glasses, updated his wardrobe to a British rock style of attire, but was still the nerdy kind of guy who really isn't as bad as I thought he was. Huh...
"Okay, I will, Rhonda", I smile at her. I walk away from her and head towards the soda machine.
"Oh, just one more thing, Helga. You're invited to my slumber party tonight! And I won't take 'no' for an answer", she tells me before finally heading back to her table. I laugh at the thought of me going to her slumber party. It reminds me of the time when I was 9 years old pretending to be one of her kind. It shouldn't be so bad now I guess that we're older. What the hell, I'll go.
All eyes finally were off of me except for one pair of eyes: Brainy. I look at him and he smiles at me. I keep looking until I slam into the soda machine without me realizing. I rub my cheek and give an awkward laugh at Brainy. He gives me a sorry look for letting me do that to myself. I look away from him feeling embarrassed and process to buy my soda. I grab my soda thinking if I should head back to the library and hide away from everyone as usual. Sighing, I walk towards Brainy's table and sit with him. He looks up from his tray, surprised to see me sit there with him. What the hell was I doing?
"How's it going, Brainy?", I start trying to making conversation. I know he won't say much but somehow, it didn't feel weird to be sitting with him. It's about time I make a new friend and try not to beat him up because he used to be creepy. He chats with me little, but it felt nice. I sat with him until the bell rang for class. We walk to our science class and we happen to be the last ones to walk in. The teacher was late, so we hurried to find a table together. Arnold and Lila are in the same room as us, but for some reason it didn't bother me. They sat across the room from me which I had no problem with. The thing that did bother me was I swear Arnold kept looking in my direction. It's strange when you move on from someone, they still try to find a way to be attached to you like a leech. "I just can't let you continue to suck the life out of me, Arnold. I love you, but I can't", I tell myself inside my head.
The school day is over with and here comes the weekend. I walk home with Phoebe to get our stuff ready for Rhonda's party. I leave some of my stuff with Phoebe at her place whenever I decide to crash with her, and what a perfect day to go and pick it up. The only thing I had to do was let Miriam know I wasn't coming back tonight and hanging out with some friends.
"Yeah mom, I'm going to Rhonda Lloyd's house tonight. She invited me last minute", I tell Miriam over the phone. I hear her with her tired usual self but told me to stay safe and have fun. I hang up and help Phoebe with picking out a pajama to wear. It was stupid picking out sleepwear for Rhonda's party. I went along anyway to amuse Phoebe. I owe her one.
We finish packing and leave the house walking over to Rhonda's place. Phoebe has a questionable look on her face as we continue walking. "Um, Helga, you sure you'll be okay tonight? I think Lila's going to be there and I'm just asking to be on the safe side."
"I'll be fine, Phoebe, don't worry. I've actually haven't let that Raggedy Ann wannabe get to me since I last spoke to Arnold. I'm not giving her any attention and that's just the way I like it", I respond. Lila really hasn't bothered me since then. I ignore her completely. She's not worth anything. Well, she is worth me giving her a taste of her own medicine one day. But that day will have to wait.
"Okay, Helga... Can I be honest with you about something?", she stops and asks me when we're already half way to Rhonda's house. "Helga... It's so annoying having to sit with Lila at lunch every single day because Gerald wants Arnold with him which I don't have a problem with, but she thinks we can suddenly be friends ever since you've stopped coming into the cafeteria. I miss seeing you in there and I hate that Lila thinks she's so high and mighty over you-"
"Phoebe, I want her to stay out of my way. I'm sorry I haven't been there with you through lunch time. That bitch shouldn't feel entitled to take you over as her new BFF. She has another thing coming if she thinks she can take you away from me. I know you're better than that, and... I'll do my best to come to have lunch with you. Even if it means having to put up with her and Arnold", I cut her off stating. It's surprising to hear her finally tell this to me. Have I been too selfish to even think of Phoebe? I suppose I should start cutting back some time at the library to be with her.
Phoebe with teary eyes says, "That's very kind of you, Helga. I don't think you should go too drastic with your routine. Arnold has been bugging me, too."
With a surprised look on my face, I laugh and ask, "Why? What's that Football Head doing to you?"
Phoebe did not look good when I ask that. She steps away from me, slowly, and blasts, "... He won't stop asking me about you on most days. He even tries to make it not look obvious in front of Lila, too. He's like 'Phoebe, how's Helga doing?' or 'I know Helga might not be interested, but I hope she's doing alright' and blah blah blah! If he cares sooo much about you that he has to ask me day after day, week after week, then he should just dump Lila already and go after you instead! Or get his head checked since he clearly doesn't know what his heart wants!" She pants looking embarrassed at me and I stand there with my mouth gaping open.
"Geez Phoebe, I didn't think he would get to you like this", I finally say. Poor Phoebe, having to deal with all this crap.
"I'm sorry, Helga", she apologizes to me. I hug her by the shoulder and reassure her it's all good. Phoebe's not some messenger for Arnold. And I agree, he should really get his head checked. Letting her take a moment to breathe, it seems she still had something else she either wanted to tell or ask me.
"What else do you need to hear, Phoebe?", I ask.
With a smile, looking away from me for a short second, she asks, "What was going on between you and Brainy back there? I've never seen anything like that come from you."
Her question shocked me. Did she really see me talk and hang out with Brainy? It's not like I feel anything for the guy, just guilty for the things I did to him. I mean, he isn't a bad guy. I just tell her, "Really, nothing's going on. I decided to chill with him for a bit before we had to get back to class. The annoying thing that happened was when we went back to class, I caught Arnold taking quick glances at me. What is he, jealous?" I laugh at the question because who could be jealous of another person over me? Phoebe laughs, too, but we decide not to talk about it anymore.
We start walking again already making it in front of Rhonda's house. I look at Phoebe to make sure she's fine after exploding all her feelings on me. I now knock on the door when Rhonda opens the door for us.
"Hey ladies! Do come in and make yourselves at home. Everyone else is already here so let's get this party started!", Rhonda says full of excitement. Phoebe and I slip our shoes off with the other shoes and head towards the living room. In the living room is Nadine, Sheena, Patty, and of course, Lila. They all greet us in and ask us to join.
"Hey Helga! So nice to finally see you here. Been so long since I've actually seen you in a room with us", Patty tells me with a sly smile.
"I've been pretty busy, gals. Sorry for the sudden disappearance at school", I joke with them. "So what does our host have planned for tonight?"
"So kind of you to ask, Helga. I thought since it's been such a long time you came to one of my slumber parties, why not make tonight extra special. You might not like it, but I think you should join us in our activities that you dislike so much. I mean just for tonight of course, "Rhonda teases at me. As annoying as that plan is, I decide to go along with it. It wouldn't hurt, I guess.
I surrender myself with arms up and say, "Okay, do what you will with me!" The girls laugh and cheer that I let myself join in their slumber party games. I toughed it out through Sheena painting my nails, Nadine fixing my hair into cute tiny pigtails, and the worst for last, Rhonda rubbing a home made facial cream all over my face. It smells good but I knew I couldn't eat it; some chemical was in there, too, within the avocado and lemon and whatever else was in there.
"How long do I need to keep this on?", I ask beginning to feel an itch against my cheek.
"In about another 10 minutes. In the meantime, why don't we play a little game of truth or dare?", Rhonda asks us. It is a stupid game, but the thought of daring someone do something was tempting. "I'm in", I answer. The other girls join in and agree to play. We gather in a circle deciding who should start first.
"I'll go!", shouts Nadine. Nadine scans each one of us who she should truth or dare. "Hmmm... Patty! Truth or dare?"
Patty thinks for a second and says, "Truth."
"Okay... I just recently noticed you and Harold getting a lot closer lately. Is something going on between you two?", Nadine asks with a wide smile.
Patty avoids showing any emotion but proceeds to tell the truth. "We've gotten a lot closer, yeah... I mean he's already asked me out to be his date to your Halloween party, Rhonda, so..." She smiles and looks away from us, already we cheer her on. I'm happy for her, it's good to see her this way.
"Okay, that's enough. It's my turn now and I pick Rhonda", states Patty. "Truth or dare." I knew Rhonda wouldn't pick truth, she has so much hidden that she wouldn't speak of any of it to anyone. She went for the dare.
"Alright, Rhonda... I dare you to give Helga a lap dance for exactly 1 minute", she says with a smirk on her face.
"What? I would never do such a disgusting thing like that in my life!", Rhonda shouts. I was just as disgusted as her. What the hell, Patty? I thought we were friends!
"But you have to do it, Rhonda, those are the rules of the game", Phoebe says, but it only annoyed Rhonda and me even more.
"Fine!", Rhonda groans. It didn't help she was wearing a skimpy looking night shirt and short pajama shorts with red lips for a pattern. I was sitting her in my plaid pajama pants and long sleeved sleeping shirt. She's going to rub her on my favorite pajamas I scream to myself! But it is too late, Rhonda began the dare. She looks so uncomfortable, but wow, she can freaking move. Is one of her secrets being a professional stripper? All the girls laugh and shout their "woos" at Rhonda.
"There, minute has passed! You happy now?", Rhonda snaps at Patty. Patty just laughs and waves her hand at Rhonda to continue the game. She looks around, and decides to pick me. "Helga, truth or dare?"
There is no way I will do something as degrading that Rhonda just performed, so I pick, "Truth."
It looks like Rhonda already has a question in mind she wants to ask me. Oh god, what does she plan to do?
"Helga... Do you still have a thing for Arnold?", she asks. What the hell, Rhonda! His stupid girlfriend is here and you want me to answer that! She's already looking at me and it looks like she doesn't want me to answer that, either. There's no way for me to get out of this, so I do my best to tell the truth.
"Geez Rhonda, couldn't you have picked a better question? Anyway, to answer that... No, actually. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm crammed into my books by choice and have been getting better grades ever since. I even let myself do all this silly stuff with you guys because I care about gaining a good friendship with you! I don't have time to be thinking about some guy", I answer even if the last part is a lie since Brainy has gotten in my mind for some sick reason. Hopefully nobody catches that. They stare at me and give me approving smiles. Lila on the other hand...
"That's ever so sweet to hear, Helga. It would have been weird if you did still have some feelings towards Arnold since I'm his girlfriend. But I hope we can be the best of friends knowing this", Lila tells me while facing me and holding my hands. What is Rhonda's deal asking me that stupid question? Is she purposely trying to start something because of what Patty has done, proving never to mess with her. Well, two can play at that game! Nobody messes with Helga G. Pataki.
"Yeah, Lila, I do hope we become the best of friends", I respond with such a fake, friendly tone. As soon as Lila started crawling back to her seat, I say, "Lila. Truth or dare?"
She looks at me with wide eyes and the rest of the girls stare at her. Just like Rhonda, I know she'd have something to hide and doesn't want the rest of us to know. So she says, "I'm ever so certain to pick dare, Helga." She gives me a disapproving look. However I think of the perfect dare that was better than lap dancing.
"Alright Lila, but I must warn you, this is a two-part dare, so no turning back", I say.
"Wait, we can do two-part dares?", Patty shouts. Did she have more she wanted to do to Rhonda. Either way, I shushed her so we can get back to the game.
"Well, it wouldn't be fair if I backed out of it. I accept your dare", she says with a smug look.
I look over at the bowl Rhonda mixed her facial cream in, There was still a whole lot in there counting not everyone here used it but me, Phoebe, and Nadine. "Lila. For the first part of the dare, I dare you to dunk your entire head into Rhonda's facial cream", I state while pointing at the bowl. Her face didn't look so smug now that I was making her dip her head and avocado and messing up her long, red locks. The girls wait for her to do it. She looks at them with a scared expression. She then gets up and walks towards the bowl. She hesitates to dip her head into the bowl. She looks at me one more time with eyes filled with anger. She finally dips her head in quickly making she she doesn't miss a spot. The girls all gasp and I take in this moment I've created. Is it a bit childish of me? Who cares! Here's the first step to payback.
Lila screams as she pulls her head out leaving very little of the facial cream in the bowl. "Okay, Helga! What's the second part?", she asks telling me she wants to get this over with. This is already beautiful to watch. Me and a group of my peers watching my enemy covered in face cream. The second part is for her to take a picture of herself like that and post it as her profile picture for her school email account. Should I carry on with the second part? I think there's only room for once cruel bitch, and that is Lila. I change my mind and decide I can screw with her in a different situation.
"Eh, forget about it, Lila. I won't let you go through the rest of the dare. This is good enough", I tell her. The girls are confused just as Lila is. Yeah, I made her go through with this crap, so what? That's the last thing I'm doing tonight. I look back at the clock and remember, "Oh, it's also my time to go take this cream off my face! I'll let you guys continue without me." I get up and smirk at Lila. Oh that look in her eyes just make me laugh. I'm sure she would have done something to me in return if I sat there longer.
I walk into the bathroom to use the sink. The sink is so expensive looking that I was about to dirty it washing this crud off my face. I wash it out thoroughly making sure it is all off my face. I finish up, grab one of the towels hanging on the rack, and wipe my face clean. My skin looks nicer and feels smoother. I guess this stuff actually works, I chuckle to myself. I walk out of the bathroom, into the living room to join everyone again.
The rest of the night was tiring. The girls still continued playing truth or dare until everyone did one of each. We then settled on the couch watching a scary movie while Lila went to go shower off. She'll thank me for this, that cream works like magic. After the movie finished and Lila came back, we set up blankets and cushions on the floor getting ready to sleep.
"Alright girls, get your beauty rest. Tomorrow we're going shopping for our Halloween costumes and I want all of us to look hot when my party happens", Rhonda tells us while yawning. We settle in our blankets still chatting until we grew too tired and fell asleep. Tonight was fun, I thought. It was better than the slumber party when we were 9. I had a lot of fun with these girls and messing with Lila.
I hate to say it, but I'm looking forward to the next slumber party I get invited to. If I'm lucky.