Note: Sorry that I broke my streak of posting almost daily! I changed something in the story later on, which required a slight edit to this chapter. With that and having a lot on my plate this week, it pushed the release of this little chapter back a few days! Enjoy!
Chapter 12 - I Saw You Dancing
Arnold skipped having breakfast with everyone in the morning to instead go with Mr. Simmons and Eduardo to sit with Senorita Valdez in her classroom and go over the maps and make plans for the following day. Senorita Valdez promised to get water bottles for them as well as food to eat during the trek and Eduardo took charge of getting the other supplies they would need together. Once everything was worked out, Arnold was free to rejoin his classmates, who he knew planned on playing baseball with the village kids.
Arnold showed up before the game started, looking around at everyone vaguely. He also noticed that Helga wasn't there, which he thought was strange because he knew how much she loved to play. She must have been more upset about the waterfall thing than he realized.
He made an excuse to Gerald - a vague one about checking something in their cabin - and set off to search the village for the girl, ignoring Harold's teasing comments about actually going to look for his girlfriend and the laughs Harold got for it. He wandered around, irritated with the stares and whispers from the older villagers when they saw him. He was still not prepared to cope with the whole 'being a God' thing.
He found Helga sitting on the edge of the fountain in the square, half-turned so she could splash her hand in the water. Arnold watched her for a minute before taking a deep breath so he could approach her. He called her name softly, wincing inside at how she flinched when she heard him, her head whipping around.
"Can I join you?" he asked.
She turned fully and stared for a moment, then shrugged as she looked away. He took that as a yes and sat down next to her. They were silent for a while.
"Helga," he finally said. "I…I really want to apologize for yesterday."
She refused to look at him and instead stared away toward one of the houses on the square. He sighed inwardly, though he knew apologizing to her wouldn't be easy.
"I know I shouldn't have followed you."
"You don't have to apologize," she said, surprising him.
"But I do. It was pretty rotten of me to not let you know I was there."
They fell into silence again and she kept her gaze away from him.
"What did you see?" she suddenly asked in a small voice with no trace of anger in her tone, just fear.
He wanted to be honest with her, no matter what. "I saw you dancing," he answered. "And crying."
Helga looked down at the ground, her head turned away and her shoulders sagged in dejection. He couldn't see her expression.
"Anything else?"
Arnold looked at her curiously. "Just you sitting on the edge of the pool. I think you were talking to yourself but I couldn't hear what you were saying. I could just hear your voice."
She sighed. "Ok good," she said in a tone that sounded relieved to him. Then, as an afterthought, she said quietly, "Thank you for apologizing."
To him it sounded like she was more concerned with what he heard than what he saw. Arnold really wished now that he had heard what she had said. He swore he had heard his name. "You're welcome."
"You must think I'm crazy."
He smiled, though Helga didn't see it. "No, I don't think that," he said. "I just think…I don't know…you keep what you feel too much to yourself. It looked like you were letting it out."
She thought that over for minute and nodded.
He continued. "I actually think it was nice. I liked watching you dance anyway, and I wish there was something I could do so you wouldn't be so sad."
She finally looked at him with the surprised expression that he liked. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but decided against it and she looked away again.
They fell into silence again for a while and he wondered what she was about to say.
"Also," he broke the silence. "I wanted to thank you for last night."
"For what?" she asked.
"For being there for me and standing up for me, especially after what I did."
"It was nothing."
"No!" he almost cried out. "It was everything! "
Helga didn't respond to him and was still looking away; he couldn't read what she was thinking. She stood up, still not looking at him, and said, "You don't have to thank me, Arnold."
"Yes I do! You don't know how much it meant to me that you were there for me!"
She thought for a moment and said over her shoulder. "I've always been there for you, Arnold." Then without another word, she walked off across the square and disappeared between two of the buildings, leaving him sitting on the fountain edge too confused to chase after her.
Phoebe had also been wandering around the village looking for Helga. She saw Arnold sitting at the fountain looking upset, so she crossed the square to him. "Arnold? Are you alright?"
He looked at her and nodded slowly.
"Have you seen Helga?"
"Yeah, I was just talking to her."
"Oh?"
"She went that way," he added, pointing in the direction the girl had gone. "About five minutes ago."
"Thank you!" Phoebe chimed, then turned to head that way.
"Actually Phoebe, do you have a minute?"
She turned around again, her curiosity piqued, "Sure Arnold."
"Did Helga tell you what happened yesterday?"
She thought quickly, then nodded, "Yes, she did."
"I apologized to her but I don't think it helped."
"Well, I am glad that you did. She was pretty upset."
Arnold winced, "I know. It was really wrong of me. I didn't mean to embarrass her."
"I know Arnold, and I think she does too. I am sure she will be alright with it. It was good that you apologized though."
"I feel terrible that I hurt her. That's the last thing I want to do," he said, distressed.
Phoebe thought that statement was encouraging. She had been watching Arnold closely since the Academic Bowl. Well, since the start of the school year really, and had noticed how often he now looked at Helga, usually with a little smile on his face. His actions on this trip, however, were what really worked to prove her theory that Arnold was finally returning Helga's affection, if not her love.
After a pause, Arnold added, "I also tried to thank her for standing up for me last night."
"Oh?" she asked, her thoughts interrupted.
"But she said something strange before running off."
"What did she say?"
"First she said I didn't have to thank her, but I said I had to. It meant a lot that she was there for me. Then she said that she has always been there for me and then she walked away. Do you know what she meant by that?"
Phoebe looked at him for a long time her brow furrowed into a small frown. There was actually a lot she could tell him to clarify what Helga said. She knew what her best friend had meant, but as much as she wanted to say something and hopefully move things along between Arnold and Helga, they weren't her secrets to tell, especially not to Arnold. Arnold quietly looked up at her, wondering at her expression and the reason why she took so long to answer.
"I do know what she meant, Arnold, but I am not sure that I can be the one to tell you."
He stared at her. "But…"
"That is something Helga would have to tell you. All I can say is that it is not the first time Helga has done something for you. I think if you think about supposed miracles that have happened in your life, you will find that your guardian angel was much closer to you than you knew," she said earnestly, before turning. She took a few steps, then stopped and turned to him once again. She knew she probably shouldn't have said the next thing she did - she knew Helga would be really angry with her, especially if Phoebe had read all the signs wrong, but sometimes boys need that little push and she somehow knew she wasn't reading the situation incorrectly. She looked directly into his worried eyes and gave him a half smile, "I know it can be hard to get through to her, but do not give up on her Arnold," she said, then turned and headed in the direction Helga had gone earlier, and she also left Arnold sitting on the fountain, even more confused than Helga had left him.
Phoebe didn't find Helga, though she followed where Arnold had pointed her to. She did come across the rest of the class finishing up their game with the village kids. It looked like everyone had a good time, though she was particularly focused on the tall boy who was laughing with one of the young village boys.
She watched as the group broke up, everyone going separate ways to whatever interest captured them. Gerald noticed Phoebe hanging around at the edge of the small field in which they had played and smiled at her. He waved a goodbye at his new friend and headed over to where Phoebe was.
"Hey," he said softly, smiling down at her, enjoying the flush on her cheeks and the way she smiled back up at him.
"Hello Gerald," she replied in her high pitched voice that made his heart beat faster.
"Where were you? We had a good game."
"Oh, you know that I am not that skilled at baseball," she hedged. "Besides I was looking for Helga. Have you seen her?"
He shook his head. "Naw, not since breakfast. We could have used her in the game. Though…" he started to say, then stopped, frowning.
She tilted her head as she gazed at him. "Though?"
He shrugged. "I don't know Pheebs. I think Arnold went to look for her. He said he had to go back to our cabin, but I could tell he was lying."
"He was?"
"Mm hmm. He's not good at hiding anything and he didn't go in the direction of the cabin anyway when he left the field."
"Curious…" she said quietly. The two of them started walking toward the square where meals were served as it was close to lunch time. "Why is it that you think Arnold went to look for Helga?" she asked, eager to hear what Gerald thought and if Arnold had said anything to his best friend. Unbeknownst to Helga, the girls in their cabin had already been bugging Phoebe about what was going on between Helga and Arnold. Phoebe was vague in her answers, trying to cover up for Helga without actually lying and she'd become slightly stressed about it. So far, she had been able to keep silent.
Gerald rubbed the back of his neck, then looked down at her. "I don't know Pheebs. Something is weird. Arnold's acting strange. Like he has a crush on her or something. But it's not like a crush either. It's like something more. I can't explain it very well."
Phoebe looked back up at him, unable to hide the pleased expression that stole over her features. He couldn't help but notice it.
"Phoebe," he said, narrowing his eyes, even as he stopped walking. "Is something going on between them?"
"Whatever do you mean, Gerald?"
"He's constantly talking to her. They disappeared at that waterfall for an hour and he won't tell me what happened there. He insists on sitting across from her or next to her, and I could have sworn they were holding hands after that story last night."
Phoebe looked away for a moment, then looked back up at him. "Gerald as far as I know, nothing has happened between them here." She felt safe saying that. It wasn't a lie. The confession and kiss at FTi had happened in Hillwood not 'here'. "If something has, Helga has not told me and she usually tells me everything about Ar…" she caught herself and Gerald saw her flustered blush. "She usually tells me everything," she corrected herself lamely. "Has Arnold said he likes her?"
Gerald shook his head. "No, not to me."
Then he was completely surprised with what she said next, as they started walking again to the square. They had reached the edge and saw that Mr. Simmons, Mr. Collins and Jay had arrived and were seated at a table. The only other person there was Helga, sitting alone at another table. She sat, her hands folded in her lap and her head down. That's when Phoebe asked softly in a sad tone, "Would something happening between them be such a bad thing?"
Gerald looked down at Phoebe and saw she was staring at her best friend with a look of tender compassion. He looked back at Helga and felt a sort of pity for her. He had never seen her look quite like that. He thought about Phoebe's question and then about the way all their friends were teasing Helga and Arnold. He knew something was definitely going on, but couldn't ask Phoebe about it as they had reached the table. He moved around the table to sit across from Phoebe, noticing how she lightly touched Helga's shoulder as she sat down next to her. Helga looked at Phoebe with such a sad expression that Gerald felt that stab of pity once again. He also saw how much her expression brightened now that Phoebe was there and the two girls smiled sadly at each other. Then Helga noticed Gerald was there too and put back on her scowl and her mask, but Gerald had seen briefly behind that wall and he understood a little better why Phoebe was her friend.
