Just text her.
Arnold sighs heavily, biting his bottom lip as he stares down at his phone resting against the harsh fabric of his jeans. Gerald had long since stopped replying, as he was currently out with Phoebe and probably extremely annoyed with the lack of progress from the blonde.
He runs a tired hand down his face, glancing down at the dark screen and catching a glimpse of himself as he leans forward to rest his elbows on his thighs.
His hair looks like he's just awoken from a restless night's sleep, standing straight up and going in all directions. A consequence of continuously running his fingers through his hair for the last hour and a half.
He bites his bottom lip, immediately flinching from the soft skin becoming raw and sore from being gnawed at. His emerald eyes looked duller than usual and his forehead seems to have permanent worry lines.
All in all, it looked like he had not slept for days and was on the verge of some sort of breakdown, which he guess had some accuracy to it.
Arnold groans, dropping his phone onto the glass coffee table, face down, before slumping against the couch, letting his head fall back with a satisfying thud.
Stop overthinking this. Just text her.
He couldn't help thinking that his inner voice sounded very similar to Gerald, but with an undertone of agitation, exhaustion, and wanting to strangle the blonde man.
He almost laughed, feeling his lips curl into a small smile as he shook his head, leaning forward again to glare intently at his phone.
Just do it. What if she says yes?
Before Arnold could overthink or make an excuse, he grabbed his phone, pressing the power button so the lock screen picture appeared.
He instantly smiled, brighter and bigger than was necessary. The picture was of himself and Helga at the Hillwood Cheese Festival from a year ago. They were standing next to each other, his arm wrapped tightly, almost protectively around her waist.
Their smiles were all teeth, looking too big for their faces as they animatedly pointed up to their respective cheese hats.
It was, hands down, Arnold's favorite Cheese Festival to date. If asked, his answer was always, in slight dramatic fashion, "because it's the Cheese Festival. How could one not like the various amounts of cheese and cheesy carnival games?"
But in reality, it was because he finally got Helga to ride the Tunnel of Love with him and because he almost kissed her at the end of the night.
He remembers that moment excruciatingly clearly. She was walking beside him, babbling animatedly about some carnie who she swears rigged the ping-pong game, when the sun was just starting to set.
It was casting a reddish-orange tint on everything, even her blonde hair and skin. It almost made her look like she had an ombré tint. He remembers not looking at her, laughing as he shook his head, "whatever you say, Helga" on his lips.
He looked over, his mind lapsing for a second before he froze, his mouth suddenly dry. She had her hair in a side fishtail, pink bow securely holding the end, with her cheese hat proudly on her head.
Helga had looked slightly ridiculous, but he couldn't help thinking she looked absolutely perfect in that moment. She had stopped a few feet in front of him, turning around to see why he had stopped in the first place when he felt an urge to lean forward.
So Arnold did, only to stop when he saw her surprised look, which he mistook for terror, and immediately backed off. He mumbled something about "heat of the moment" and "heat stroke" before walking silently to the car.
The car ride home was spent in silence and the two blondes spend the remainder of the evening and night in their respective rooms. The next day, he pretended it didn't happen and she followed suit.
God, he was dense. He thought back to when Gerald had said that he thought something has always been there, a bond that he didn't have with any other girl. Both in the group or in past girlfriends, and he was right.
It just took Arnold majorly messing up, toxicity between the two blondes, and thinking he almost lost her to realize that.
He shook his head, not wanting to think about that right now, as he pressed his thumb to the home button, instantly unlocking his phone.
He pressed the message icon in the dock of his home screen, immediately having it open to the draft he had started over an hour ago.
A: Hey, you free tonight?
Arnold wrinkled his nose at how forward that sounded, hitting cancel to delete the whole message before his screen went back to the main message screen.
He looked at his messages, staring at Gerald's name in bold at the very top. He read the brief previews of his last text sent to him, thinking back to their short conversation.
A: I've been staring at this screen for the last hour. I don't want to come off as too forward, but I also want to be subtle. Help.
G: I….I need more context than that, man. Even Phoebe can't help with just that information alone. And she's a genius.
A: Ha. Ha. I'm thinking of texting Helga and ask her to see the new Evil Twin movie with me tonight. But I don't know if she's seen it already or if she'll even want to or what to say. So. Once again. Help.
G: Just ask her, man. You both have had enough of these games and so have we. It's best to just ask her and take her answer at face value. She's honest. If she doesn't want to go, she'll say no-no matter how subtle you are.
A: Seriously? That's your advice? Just ask her?
G: Yup, now I'm going to go back to enjoying my date. If you're still having issues when we come back, my advice will still be the same but I'll be able to tell you face to face. Good luck man.
A: Some friend.
Arnold sighed heavily, realizing once again that Gerald had a point. He was overthinking this and ultimately making this more difficult for himself.
He started a new message, skipping the name and immediately started typing before losing his confidence.
A: Hey, are you busy?
There. Short and to the point. Helga could look at the message on her lock screen and, without opening it, decide if a reply was worth her time. She was a very outspoken individual, if she didn't want to go, she would say so.
He typed Helga's name in To: before quickly hitting the blue arrow button, the blue send line and the whoosh sound finalizing his decision.
Arnold stared at the new message, the damning word delivered appearing under his short blue message. He tried to relax, or appear relaxed by throwing his phone face down on the couch cushion beside him.
He didn't want to just sit around and wait for a reply, it could be hours or she could choose not to reply at all. He had a Anthropology research paper he should be working on or laundry he could be doing.
There was actually a long list of things he should or could be doing, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to focus on any of them.
Arnold sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he wrinkled his nose and wished he didn't feel like a middle schooler, texting a pretty girl that he like-liked her with his flip phone and braces.
He reached for the remote on the coffee table, deciding to watch some mindless TV when his phone dinged. He forced himself to count to five, thinking it could be anybody that needed or wanted his attention.
His pulse skyrocketed as he turned over his phone and looking at his lock screen notifications.
Helga Pataki: New iMessage.
He quickly and shakily held his thumb to the home button, the phone buzzing as it disliked how sweaty his skin had gotten and refused entry.
Arnold got frustrated and had to manually type in his password, making a mental note to disable his fingerprint later.
He clicked on the message icon, a red number one in the upper right corner as he opened her new message.
H: Now or today in general?
That's not a no. Good start. Don't blow this, Shortman.
Arnold took a deep breath, typing out a response.
A: This evening, night in general.
Creepy. Definitely too creeping sounding.
He deleted the message and typed something simpler.
A: In general.
Arnold hit send, the delivered message appearing before quickly being replaced by read. He didn't bother to even pretend to be watching TV.
H: I'm currently working on a South Asian research paper, but I'm going to be done for the night in the next hour or so. The rest of the night doesn't have anything planned. What's up?
How is she so casual sounding and I'm over here being a babbling mess?
A: Wanted to see if you wanted to go to the new Evil Twin 38 movie with me. Would ask Gerald, but he's currently out with Phoebe.
He wanted to add unless you've already seen it with Eugene, but he quickly decided against that and hit sent. No need to make ripples in calm water.
He watched as the delivered message appeared under his blue message but it didn't immediately turn to read.
She's probably writing or didn't hear her phone. Give her time. She doesn't always have her phone in her hand or by it like you are.
He waited five minutes, eventually turning into ten before he started getting anxious. He stated backpedaling.
A: Unless that's uncomfortable, then we can totally invite other friends. Or we don't have to go at all. Or we could….
Helga's reply interrupted his rambling text, luckily before he could hit send.
H: Sorry! Got on a roll with the paper and didn't want to lose my train of thought! That's so weird, I was gonna ask if you wanted to go see the movie-although you wouldn't be a replacement for Phoebe. How rude! ;) But yeah, I'd like that. What time were you thinking?
Was she flirting? How do I handle this? Do I flirt back? Fuck.
He deleted his message, the continuous clicking noise somewhat calming, before typing out a message that he thought was a good balance between flirty and simple.
Gerald would be proud. Maybe.
A: Not replacing, just the better option of the two, hands down. And there's showings at 7:45, 8:10, 8:45, 9:15, 9:45, 10, 10:45, 11, and 11:30. What works best for you?
Arnold held his breath as the typing bubbles popped up seconds later.
H: I'll tell Gerald you said that ;) Would 11:30 be too late? It's less likely the theater will be packed. Not in a people type of mood, today.
Arnold looked at the time at the top of his phone; 5:30. He didn't want to wait six hours before he got to see her, but she had agreed to the movie in the first place and he didn't want to push his luck and ruin that.
Or I'm going to try not to.
A: Sounds good. Meet outside the South side of the theater at 11:15?
He sighed, wondering how much of his research paper he could focus on for six hours when his phone dinged.
H: Could you actually pick me up? Don't feel like driving and it's too cold to walk. If not, I'll see if I can get Eugene to drop me off at the theater before he heads over to Tom's. I'll even buy popcorn.
Arnold bit his lip to stop his wide smiling, ignoring the pain.
A: Sure thing. But no, popcorn and drinks are my treat. I'll be there at 10:45?
Too early, you idiot. Now you just sound desperate.
He was about to write another text, correcting the time when she responded.
H: I'm at least getting drinks. Can't wait. See you then, Shortman ;)
This woman will be the death of me.
Hello Lovely People!
Quite a little cliff-hanger, hmmmm? I was debating between putting the next scene in, but I wanted to be able to elaborate more without making this chapter too full. I also like teasing and the next chapter is going to be extremely well...you'll just have to be patient.
What do you guys think about the idea of post something somewhere, on some sort of social media site, when I'm about to upload a new chapter? On both stories? Yay? Nah?
Thank you to all the new people who have liked, favorited, followed, and commented-I couldn't do this story without you!
See you soon!