Hi everyone! Hope everyone is keeping safe. Well, here is another story about Rodrigo and his arrival to PS 118 and him befriending Arnold and his friends. This story takes places a few weeks ago after my first story of this supposedly new series, 'HA! Season 6: Helga vs Rodrigo'.
It was lunch recess and a large group of kids from almost all the grades had gathered around to look at a peculiar, yet highly entertaining display. In the mist of it all, three male pre-teens were busy dancing away to the music that was being loudly broadcasted through the stereo that one of them brought. The sound was especially gratifying and insatiably hypnotic. Enticed by the strong Latin flavour that was permeating from the stereo and the three dancing pre-teens, it caused some of the kids watching to start making their own moves right there, even though there wasn't any room.
No me dejes solo con mi corazón (oh)
Que está enloquecido con esta pasión (don't leave me all alone)
Si es que me deseas nena dímelo
Porque por tu amor estoy muriendo yo (ah-ah-ah)
Ay dímelo, ven dímelo (I need to know)
Porque por tu amor estoy muriendo yo (ah-ah-ah)
Ay dímelo, ven dímelo (I need to know) (don't leave me all alone)
Porque por tu amor estoy muriendo yo
How could anyone resist such music? The beat, the sexy flow of the rhythm. It had a tendency to grip the body and instantly make it move. It sounded so complex, yet elegantly simple to move with it.
Oh, no me dejes solo con mi corazón
Que está enloquecido con esta pasión (girl, don't leave me all alone)
Si es que me deseas nena dímelo
As the salsa music continued its passionate beating, Rodrigo, Peapod Kid and Lorenzo continued to dance choreographically, as if they had rehearsed for this. They hadn't. Even the dancing session wasn't planned. It all just naturally came out. That's the thing about Salsa, but Latin music in general, it was about that spontaneous outburst of energy. And yet, it wasn't chaotic, but in line with the logic of the beat; it had a purpose. It was a perfect combination between chaos and order, between creativity and rigidity. It was an outflow to all things that constantly constrains individuals within the responsibilities of life.
Everyone was there to watch them dance, Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, Sid, Stinky, Harold, even Helga who by outward appearance, didn't seem assumed, but deep down, she was highly impressed with the way Rodrigo was moving...and she did kind of like the music.
The trio swung around, only to then immediately begin move forward, then backward, then to the side, only to then suddenly do a few hip-pop moves with their feet, despite the music containing no such element of that genre.
"Wow, he's really good." Sid remarked as he continued to watch with increasing awe.
"I'll say." Helga casually admitted. "He does have some moves. You know, for a kid."
"Gosh, how does he do it?" Stinky asked.
"Latin blood, Stinky." Gerald replied. "Kid's got that Latin blood running through his veins."
"How did he manage to convince Peapod Kid and Lorenzo to dance with him?" Arnold asked.
"Beats me." Gerald said. "I didn't even know they knew how to dance."
While everyone was looking at the trio with awe, a certain gossip queen and self-proclaimed fashionista was within the commoners' mist, watching with unusual seriousness and patience, almost was if she was waiting for something. She hadn't uttered a word throughout that whole time, not even to respond to Nadine for a few positive comments about it. She had even remained on the outer edges of the crowd. She could barely see the three dancing, but that didn't matter. She was after something else...
Ay dímelo (don't leave me all alone), ven dímelo (don't leave me all alone)
Porque por tu amor estoy muriendo yo (eh, now, don't leave me all alone)
Ay dímelo (don't leave me all alone), ven dímelo
Porque por tu amor estoy muriendo yo (tell me, baby girl, 'cause I need to know)
Finally the music ended, allowing the trio to make their a finishing move.
"WWWHOOOOO!"
"YYYAAAYYY!"
The crowd erupted in an approving roar and applause. The trio happily, but while breathing heavily, stood up and thankful for the audience, bowed down.
It seems unthinkable that a kid who only just showed up at PS 118 more than a month ago had such an influence and persona to get a large group of unrelated, even conflicting personalities, together to enjoy the steady flow of Latin music. Even his friendship with Peapod Kid and Lorenzo seem a bit unorthodox. Neither Peapod Kid nor Lorenzo were really friends, but through Rodrigo's friendship with both of them he managed to get the two to start hanging out more often.
"That was great guys." Rodrigo said to the two.
"It was more than great!" Peapod Kid excitedly exclaimed. "It was spectacular! I don't know where all of that came from."
"Me neither." Lorenzo happily commented. "I mean, I know how to dance to this music, but I never really had any strong desire to dance to it until today."
"That's what Latin music is all about." Rodrigo just said to them. "It's about freedom; freedom from thought and thinking, freedom from restriction. You don't need think about it. You just feel it. Express yourself."
The two nodded in agreement, happy with that explanation.
"Wow! You guys were great!" Arnold then said to them as he and their friends approached them.
"Ya man. You three gots some sick moves." Gerald added.
"Thanks guys." Rodrigo said to him.
"Yeah, you were okay." Helga somewhat added. "I guess."
Rodrigo didn't say anything and just smiled. Suddenly,
*RRRRiiinnnngggg*
"Ah darn it! Lunch's over." Stinky grumbled. "I guess it's back to class."
"Yeah. We'd better go now so we don't arrive late." Arnold said to everyone as they, and the crowd began to disperse and make their way inside the building, all except two.
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd remained firmly in her place and just continued to watch, with an ever growing studious look, at Rodrigo walking away and head inside the building.
"Rhonda! Rhonda!" Nadine then called out.
"I can hear you, Nadine." Rhonda said to her. "I'm standing right next to you. You don't need to yell."
"You're weren't answering me." Nadine said to her. "And we need to get back inside for class. We will need to give these invitations after school."
"That's alright." Rhonda said to her. "We still have time to give them to everyone. Can I see them?"
Nadine handed Rhonda the remaining invitations, which the gossip queen and fashionista took from her hand began to read the names on each of the invitations.
"Okay, let's see..." Rhonda began to mutter as she scanned through. "Ah, here we go. I'll take his and hand it to him personally."
"Do you really think he'll accept?" Nadine asked. "You two haven't really been speaking to each other since his whole incident with Helga."
"Oh he'll accept." Rhonda assured her. "He has no choice. C'mon, let's get to class." She directed her best friend and both began to run back inside the building to finish their afternoon lecture.
After a bit of a chaotic moment, everyone finally managed to get back to their respective classes. In fact, by the time Arnold, Gerald, Helga, Phoebe Rodrigo and everyone else arrived back, they were a few minutes early, giving them some time to move around a bit to talk to each other.
"So, you guys coming to Rhonda's party this weekend?" Gerald excitedly asked Arnold, Helga, Phoebe and Rodrigo who had gathered together to talk. "I already got my invitation. It's suppose be her first party of the year and I've heard from a reliable source that it's suppose to be one of her biggest parties yet."
"Pfft! Yeah right." Helga scoffed at the idea. "Count me out. I've got bigger things to do than go to some lame party. Her parties have never been that good anyways."
"Aw come on, Helga. It could be fun." Arnold said to her.
"Arnold, what makes you think you're going?" Helga asked. "You didn't even get an invitation, football head. What are you going to do? Crush her party?"
"No. I'm sure she hasn't yet had the chance to give me my invitation." Arnold replied back.
"That's statistically likely. I haven't gotten my invitation either." Phoebe commented. "Neither has Eugene, Sid, Stinky, or Rodrigo. However, I am positive that we should be receiving them shortly."
"Fat chance for me." Rodrigo somewhat sadly said. "She doesn't like me anymore, so I doubt I'll be on her list of attendees."
"That's not true, Rodrigo." Arnold said to him. "She doesn't hate you."
"Arnold, she hasn't spoken to me for weeks now." Rodrigo pointed out. "In fact, she's been ignoring me."
"Well, I'm sure there must be some explanation." Arnold tried to reassure him. "Maybe she's beeb busy."
"Always blindly looking on the bright side of things" Helga softly sarcastically remarked, but nevertheless romantically smiled at him.
"Arnold's got a point . You two did hit it off from day 1." Gerald added. "And despite your little entanglement with Helga, you have been becoming a pretty likable guy and if there are two things that Rhonda likes is popularity and status. So it's kind of counter intuitive if she doesn't like you."
"I guess." Rodrigo said, not entirely convinced.
Gerald wasn't exaggerating about Rodrigo becoming a popular kid. Ever since he first started school at PS 118, he had wooed almost everybody, including Rhonda, with his charm, humbleness, intelligence, style of music and dancing moves. His only obstacle was his feud with Helga, which ended up climaxing in them getting involved in a physical brawl over a misunderstanding and unfortunate series of events outside of their control. At first, he tried to ignore her, but when it became too much, he lost his patience and ended up putting his hands her, much to the shock and dismay of his new friends, especially Arnold.
After later apologizing and making amends with Helga, he initially thought he had tarnished any chance he had of making friends and thought people will exile him to the farther corners of the school for his aggression against a girl. Only, that didn't happen. Quite the contrary. The thing is, Helga G. Pataki is not just some random girl. She is a no nonsense, direct, even blunt, aggressive, girl who would not hesitate to be confrontational to anyone, with a history of bullying people around. Even after their whole 'adventure' in San Lorenzo last summer and with her now dating Arnold, people are still intimidated by her and unless you have serious good causes, it was best if you stayed out of her way.
With that, much to Rodrigo's surprise, the very fact that he not only stood up, but even got involved in a physical fight with Helga and lived to tell about it, was pretty awesome in the minds of many kids! Heck, it even elevated Rodrigo almost to the status of a hero. Although it didn't come at Helga's expense, Rodrigo nevertheless took it as a second chance to move forward and become fully integrated with the kids in PS 118. Helga personally had no qualms about Rodrigo getting the attention and praise of being one of the few, if any, person to have ever stood up to her. If anything, after what she put him through, this was her way of helping him getting back on everyone's good side.
Harold, Stinky and Sid were particularly impressed with Rodrigo, even if at first they were shocked, and immediately forgave him. After finding out that Rodrigo did for Helga and her forgiving him, Arnold and Phoebe also made their peace with Rodrigo and decided to give him a second chance, especially Arnold who was grateful for the effort he did on finding and returning her precious pink bow. Eugene, Sheena and everyone also eventually later forgave Rodrigo and decided to give him a second chance.
After that major 'welcoming' session, it seemed that everyone had decided to bury the hatchet and move on, everyone, except Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. After Rodrigo's scandalous behaviour toward Helga, the fashionista began to almost immediately shun him. She didn't explicitly say anything to him. She just began to ignore him, forgetting he was ever there. At first, Rodrigo didn't seem to notice. However, it soon became clear to him and to everyone that Rhonda had a problem with him. She would refuse to acknowledge him as they passed by in the hallway, and the few times she did greet him, it was very cold and formal.
Rodrigo didn't mind if Rhonda had no interest on being his friend. However, the fact that Rhonda was not only part of their group of friends and hence would often see her, but was also known for throwing some of the coolest parties at her house, not to mention that she was the gossip queen and could easily make up stories about him to others, Rodrigo began to see the usefulness of being on her good side. At the very least, it would have made any encounter with her less awkward. However, considering just how much she was avoiding him, he soon abandoned any plans to reestablish any kind of friendship with her. And now that she was throwing one of her biggest parties yet and inviting everyone except him, the Latino kid couldn't help but feel the sting of being left out.
"Hi guys." Nadine then suddenly approached and greeted Arnold and his small group with a smile.
"Hi Nadine." Arnold greeted her.
"Here if your invitation Arnold, for Rhonda's upcoming party." Nadine said as she offered it to him.
"Thanks, Nadine." Arnold said as he gladly accepted it.
"Here is yours, Phoebe." Nadine then gave Phoebe her invitation.
"Thank you." The half-Asian girl said with a smile.
"And here's yours, Helga." Nadine politely said to her.
"Sure, whatever." Helga remarked as she rolled your eyes.
"I trust everyone will be coming to the party?" Nadine then asked everyone, to which everyone, other than Helga, nodded.
"Great! I'll just confirm all of you on the list." Nadine said as she checkmarked their names.
"Uh, Nadine?" Rodrigo then somewhat softly said to her. "Do I get an invitation?"
"I'm sorry Rodrigo, but no." Nadine said with a sympathetic look.
"Oh." Rodrigo said quite sadly. "It's okay, Nadine. Thanks anyways."
Nadine felt a bit bad, but there was little she could do. This was Rhonda's party and her house. With nothing else to say, she just walked back to her seat.
"Well, I guess that answers the mystery of whether Rhondaloid still likes Latino boy here." Helga remarked.
"I guess so." Rodrigo said.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Arnold asked him. "I can find out why she's been avoiding you."
"No, it's okay Arnold, thanks anyways." Rodrigo said. "I don't want to force people to like me. If she doesn't want to have anything to do with me, then that's her choice and I don't want to upset her anymore than she already is."
"Look on the bright side," Helga then said, prompting almost everyone to look at her with a bit of a surprise on their faces, "You probably dodged a bullet. I mean, can you imagine that Rhonda would have put you through if you two were friends?"
"I guess." Rodrigo said.
"No I'm serious." Helga continued. "She would have probably made you her doorman, carry her pens and bag, run errands for her. She would end up treating you more as a servant than a friend. Who would want that in a friend? Look at Nadine for crying out loud."
Well gee, I wonder who else used to do that? Phoebe thought as she somewhat narrowed her eyes at Helga.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Helga." Rodrigo tried to sound positive. "Maybe it is a good thing if we don't become friends."
"And just to make you feel better," Helga continued, "We'll let you know how much fun we had and what you missed, just so you won't feel entirely left out."
"Gee, thanks." Rodrigo sarcastically remarked with some annoyance.
"There you go." Helga said as she forcefully slapped Rodrigo on his back.
"Geez, I guess your optimism does rub off on people sometimes, Football head." She said to Arnold as she elbowed him to his side.
Just then,
*Rrriiinnngggg*
The bell rang, signalling that class was now starting, which meant that Mr. Simmons was soon to arrive and begin the afternoon lecture. Everyone then began to take their seats and prepare themselves. Rodrigo, still for some odd reason feeling the sting of not being invited, slowly took his seat and tried to focus his mind on the coming lecture.
After school...
Once the bell rang, signifying the end of school, all students quickly began to make their way to their respective lockers to get their belongings and head for home.
Rodrigo was among them and had just opened his locker to get his things when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. Curiously, he turned around to look at the person who had touched him and was surprised to find out who it was.
"Good afternoon, Rodrigo." Rodrigo formerly, if not still somewhat coldly, greeted them.
"Oh, hi Rhonda." Rodrigo just casually greeted her, despite his shock. "What's up?" He asked her.
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd was one of the tallest kids in their class. Only Sheena topped her. Rodrigo himself was only just slightly taller than Arnold, making him shorter than Rhonda.
"I came to give you this." She said to him and handed him an envelope. "It's your invitation to my upcoming party this weekend."
"Really?" Rodrigo said, now even more surprised. "You...want me to come?" He asked, to which Rhonda simply nodded. "Well, thank you!" He gratefully thanked her.
"You might want to open and read it." She suggested to him while still being formal and distant. "It contains a certain piece of information that is critical for you to know."
Curious, Rodrigo complied to her suggestion and opened the invitation and began to read it.
"You are here by invited to Rhonda Wellington Lloyd's party at her..." Rodrigo muttered to himself as he read it.
Rhonda said nothing and just patiently waited for him to get the most important part the invitation contained.
"Wait, what?!" He exclaimed in his utter shock when he read it. "You want me to come as your date?!"
Despite his shock, Rhonda said nothing and just calmly nodded her head.
"But, I thought you hated me." He remarked.
"I have my reasons why I have been keeping a certain distance from you," She formally said to him. "But, you can rest assured, it is not because I hate you."
Rodrigo said nothing and just looked at both Rhonda and his invitation and thought that, something was not quite right here. In fact, he was now growing suspicious. Rhonda had practically been avoiding him since his fight with Helga, refusing to talk to him, let alone acknowledge him. Even while everyone eventually came to forgive and accept him, he had not received that same kind gesture from the gossip queen and fashionista. Quite the opposite. And now all of a sudden she invites him not only to her party, but wants him to be her date for the occasion. Rodrigo wasn't stupid. Clearly she was brewing something up and the last thing he wanted was to suffer any kind of prank.
"Thank you for the invitation, Rhonda." He began to say to her, "But I'm afraid I must respectfully decline your generous offer on-"
"I'm afraid I must insist, Rodrigo." Rhonda then interrupted him, undeterred. "If you read the invitation carefully, you will see that it is not one of those 'accept' or 'decline' invitations."
Rodrigo looked back down at the invitation to read it again.
"As part of the invite, you are to be Rhonda Lloyd's formal date for the occasion." He read, confirming that indeed the invitation was not a request, not even an invitation.
She's ordering me to be her date?! An outraged Rodrigo thought. Yeah, I'm not going.
"Thanks again, Rhonda," Rodrigo insisted, "but I must again respectfully decline your invi-"
"In case you have forgotten," Rhonda again interrupted him, "you are still banned from the 'cool kids' hierarchy and you will remain so unless you come as my date."
"Rhonda, this may come as a shock," Rodrigo sarcastically said to her, "but I don't really care if you or other people think I'm cool, a geek or a loser."
"Be that as it may," Rhonda admitted, " you can consider this as an opportunity to get back on my gracious side."
"Gracious side?" Rodrigo remarked. "I didn't do anything to you! My fight was with Helga. I thought you didn't like her."
"I don't." Rhonda formerly replied. "But your scandalous behaviour, even if every commoner in this school forgave you, cannot simply be brushed aside. Therefore, my request remains."
"Unless of course, you prefer to suffer the alternative." She said to him while she snobbishly looked at her fingernails.
Rodrigo was about to fiercely protest against this explicit threat, but then grudgingly closed his mouth. Rhonda had major influence over many of the kids in PS 118 and if she really wanted to, could cause a whole series of trouble for him. Although he didn't think she ever would, why take such a risk? Rhonda took notice of his inability to counter, but didn't comment on it.
"It's not even a request..." Rodrigo softly muttered, but Rhonda didn't hear him.
"You are to report to my house at exactly 3pm sharp. Don't be late." She directed him.
"But-" Rodrigo was again about to protest.
"Good day." Before Rhonda formally bid him farewell and walked away, leaving a confused and suspicious Rodrigo alone at his locker.
After standing there for minute in order to gather everything that had just occurred, Rodrigo got his backpack, closed his locker and headed out.
Sometime later, he met up with Arnold, Gerald, Stinky, Harold and Sid who were waiting for him outside.
"Hey man, what took you so long?" Gerald asked him.
"Sorry guys," Rodrigo apologized as he approached them, "but Rhonda stopped by to talk to me."
As soon as Rodrigo joined the group, everyone began to walk down the street to head home.
"Really?" A surprised Gerald said. "About what?"
Rodrigo just took out the invitation and gave it to Gerald for him to read. Curiously, Gerald grabbed the invitation and read it.
"Whoaa man!" A stunned Gerald exclaimed. "She not only invited you to her party, but wants you to be her date?!"
"Really?!" A stunned Sid remarked. "That's huge!"
"That's great, Rodrigo." Arnold congratulated him.
"You sure are lucky, Rod." Stinky said to him. "You get to go out with the school's most popular and beautiful girl."
"No, this is not good." A suspicious Rodrigo said to him. "This is all very fishy to me. Rhonda has been avoiding me for weeks and all of a sudden she wants me, she doesn't even ask, but wants me to be her date."
"Maybe she wants to be friends." Arnold suggested.
"I doubt it." Rodrigo said. "If that were the case, why not just ask me to be her date instead of forcing me? She practically threatened me if I didn't 'accept' her 'invitation'. I don't know she is so adamant on making me her date. For all I know she could be pulling some sort of prank."
"Why would you think that?" Gerald asked.
"I don't know." Rodrigo just shrugged. "It's just a feeling. Maybe she's feeling threatened that a lot of people like me and its drawing attention away from her."
"Well, can't argue with that bit." Gerald said.
"But maybe you should take this as an opportunity." Arnold then suggested. "Even if she were to pull a prank, which in my opinion is very unlikely, you can use this opportunity to get back on her good side."
"Yeah, you managed to make a good impression last time," Gerald added, "I'm sure you can do it again."
"Well, I suppose I could," Rodrigo somewhat agreed, "but it's not just that. I've been thinking about what Helga said about her and quite honestly, I'm not really eager to be friends with her. There's a lot of things about her that, well, let's just say I don't quite agree with."
"So then are you going to decline being her date?" Sid asked.
"I tried to," Rodrigo replied, "but she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I guess I could just not show up."
"That's probably not a good idea." Sid said to him. "You don't really ditch to Rhonda Lloyd. You'll only make it worse for yourself."
"Really?" Rodrigo asked.
"Well, let's just say that if Rhonda didn't have a grudge against you now," Gerald said, "she'll have one for sure if you don't show up to her party as her date."
"Want our advice?" Sid asked him.
"Sure." Rodrigo replied.
"Just go to the party as her date and be done with it." He said. "You haven't really done anything to her, so I agree with Arnold that this invitation is most likely not a prank. Plus, Rhonda has a lot of influence at school and there's no telling what she may do if you ditch her."
"Okay, I think Sid's exaggerating a bit," Arnold then intervened, "but he does have a point. You really haven't done anything to her. She was just outraged that you weren't the 'gentleman' that she thought you were. So, why not show her that you really are one?"
"Hm, good points." Rodrigo admitted. "Okay, fine, I guess I'll go."
Meanwhile...
While the boys continued to walk home after school, Rhonda and Nadine chose to ride the bus back home and was just passing them as it drove by them.
"Rhonda, are you sure you want to do this?" Nadine asked her.
"Positive." Rhonda said to her.
"Why though?" She asked her. "He hasn't done anything to you. His fight was with Helga and they eventually forgave each other. And besides, I thought you didn't like her."
"It's not about whether I like Helga or not." Rhonda countered. "It's about making a statement. Rodrigo can't come here and do whatever he likes. There are rules and code of conduct that everyone needs to follow and he needs to understand that. What he did to Helga was not only a scandal, but goes against civilization itself. It's barbarous for a man to ever put his hands on a girl, even if it was Helga."
"He revealed something about himself to us on that day that was, to be blunt, scary." Rhonda continued. "As much as I hate to admit it, Helga was right; Rodrigo is hiding something and it is up to us, as good citizens of this fair city and great country, to find out just who this guy really is. I mean, think about it. One minute he acts all chivalrous and charming and the next he becomes this Mr. Hyde and ends up putting his hands on a girl! Who does that?"
Nadine looked at her best friend with a suspicious, if not also dumbfounded look. Rhonda had never really been the type to be a 'good' citizen in the selfless sense, much less express concern for others. So why start now, unless her best friend has an ulterior motive...
"And how is making Rodrigo to come as your date going to help?" Nadine asked.
"It is a test." Rhonda said to her. "If he really is who he says he is, he will show it to me and everyone else at the party."
"How do you think he plans on doing that?" Nadine asked her.
"That is up to him." Rhonda replied.
"But, isn't that what he has been trying to do for the past few weeks?" Nadine asked.
"Nope. Not to me, he wasn't." Rhonda replied.
"And if he fails?" Nadine somewhat nervously asked.
"Then he will pay the price, just like everyone else has to do." Rhonda said to her. "Come this Saturday we will see once and for all know who Rodrigo Castile really is."
Hmm, why is Rhonda all of a sudden taking such a sudden interest in Rodrigo? Find out next time!