Hi everyone! So I was able to finish this chapter a lot faster than I anticipated, so I hope you enjoy it! In this chapter, I will be introducing the rest of Helga's friends, as well as how Rodrigo's introduction to them. Let's see how this plays out.
"Gooodd Morning to all the residents of the city of Hillwood! I am your morning host Kent Patterson for this morning at CTV radio channel. It is September 8th, and t is another beautiful day. The temperature will remain a strong 90F (32C), Another perfect day at the beach, where I will be passing by and interviewing anyone there about their day. And for all you kids out there who will be going to their second day of school this year, well hahaha this is just not your year..."*clank*
"Oh my god, shut up!" exclaimed Helga, as she struggled to get out of bed this morning. This is the second day in a row that she was able to sleep on time and soundly. A very rare occurrence.
I really need to change that radio channel. She thought to herself.
After doing her usual morning routine and eating some breakfast, she quickly went back upstairs, gathered her belongings and was about to go for the door, when her sister asked her, "You are up early this morning baby sister. Is everything ok?"
"Just peachy Olga. It is a nice day out so I just wanted to walk to school this morning. See ya." Helga said.
As she walked to school, her thoughts concentrated on yesterday's events. She had experienced such a thrill when she danced with Rodrigo that she is now...not desperate, but yearning to experience it again. And it was not even just about the dancing; her entire experience with Rodrigo was also...different. She was not sure if it was because she potentially met her match (non-romantically), or because she just met someone new. He had an aura of mysteriousness around him, that's for sure, but she knew there was more to it than that. With the dancing, it dawned on her that since she still not chosen an after school activity, perhaps she can enroll in dancing lessons.
Hmmm, perhaps enrolling in dancing lessons can give me that excitement or meaning that has been missing in my life for a long while. I just hope that they are not into hip-pop or that weird techno music. Ugh, they are a load of crap. She thought to herself. I'll talk to the teacher and see if it's worthwhile. Couldn't hurt to ask.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo was just leaving his house and going to catch the bus. Unlike Helga, Rodrigo was not thinking much about yesterday's event. He had other priorities right now, two of them are attempting to make new friends and choosing an after school activity. He had danced with many girls during his time and Helga was no exception. Sure, that punch to his stomach was something new, and sure her ability to dance seemed to have come out of nowhere, but other than that, it was not something that he pondered about in his mind.
He had previously met some Latino students in his school, but he had reservations about them. They behaved...immaturely. That, and unlike his compadres, he was not a stereotypical Latino. His views and thoughts were very different from those of his own community, a factor that often brought him into conflict. Besides, most of his friends in the past had been Latinos, and seeing as how he was in a new city, he wanted things to be different and meet different people.
I'll just keep an eye out for other groups. This is a big school, so it should not be that hard to make new friends. Besides, I want a challenge and befriending Latinos is too.. easy. He thought to himself.
When Helga arrived at school, she opened the doors and started walking towards her locker. As she was doing so, she began to suspect that she was being watched. At first it was only a few students, but as she further walked down the hall, it was mostly everyone.
Ah great. They are probably still reeling from yesterday's event with Rodrigo. Crimeny these kids nothing better to do than to gossip about things that is not their business. Can't they just let it go already? Who cares if I danced with him? She thought with an irritated face.
As she arrived at her locker, she saw that the rest of the gang were also there, talking to Phoebe, but no doubt also waiting for her to ask her about yesterday's event. She rolled her eyes as she approached her locker, annoyed at the interrogation that was about to take place.
Helga's relationship with the rest of gang had always been…distant, even when they were kids, except with Phoebe. It saw some improvement after their adventure in San Lorenzo and when everyone discovered what Helga did for Arnold in finding his parents. However, after Arnold left Hillwood, their relationship took a nose dive, mainly due to Helga's depression. Only within the last year was there some interaction taking place between Helga and everyone else, although Helga never really considered the group to be her own clique. She just sort of...hanged out with them. However, that is not to say that she did not care about them.
She reached her locker and before anyone had a chance to say anything, Helga spoke first nonchalantly, "Let me guess. You want to know what transpired yesterday, right?"
"Well for starters, you can perhaps explain to us when did you learn to dance like that?" Rhonda Wellington Lloyd asked her.
"The whole school is talking about it; Helga G. Pataki, dancing gracefully with so much energy and passion…it took everyone by surprise, really. We would not have believed it ourselves had it not been for Phoebe to confirm the rumors." She continued.
Helga looked at Phoebe, who was simply shying away and said sheepishly, "Sorry Helga, but they forced it out of me."
Helga simply smiled at Phoebe, acknowledging that it was OK.
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd had changed a lot since they were kids. Although still not one to pass up a good gossip and still really into the latest fashion, her interests in other areas had increased dramatically. She became a highly passionate advocate in opera, the arts and literature, the latter topic she shared with Helga. She even became involved in the restoration of ancient works of arts and ancient cities throughout the world. When ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) began to demolish many of the ancient works and monuments of Ancient Sumer and Babylon in Iraq, Rhonda had everyone in school and in their neighborhood sign a petition and personally sent it to the United Nations at New York City, condemning such actions as a crime against human civilization. With her physique, she was one of the most beautiful girls at their school, now having longer hair that went down to her shoulders, all awhile maintaining her status as one of the school's popular student.
Her parties at her mansion had become legendary. Because their school had hundreds of students, she was not able to invite everyone, which results in some students often fighting for a chance to get invited.
Even Helga had to admit that she liked this new Rhonda, although she would never admit it out loud. Although they would still sometimes clash, their relationship had warmed, with each acknowledging and respecting their strengths and admiration for one another.
"I have my ways, Princess. Other than that, there is nothing else for me say." Helga said.
This was a typical response from Helga. Asking her anything about her life or interest was like pulling teeth, almost impossible.
Rhonda was still undeterred. She simply rolled her eyes and continued to ask her, "Oh please Helga. There is no shame in you dancing, other than punching that poor kid in the stomach, that is. We are all just surprised. We did not know that you had it in you, mostly because you don't tell us anything!"
Helga simply just shrugged her shoulders. She was not sure if they were genuinely curious about her, or just wanted to use whatever piece of information as a source of gossip. Either way, her life was her own concern and no one else's.
Rhonda just slapped herself in the face and groaned in defeat. Why do I even bother? She thought.
"Well gosh Helga, we were all just impressed about the rumors running around and just wanted to talk to you about it. As Miss Rhonda said, we are just surprised." Stinky interjected, who still retained his southern accent.
"What else is there to know? We danced, I punched him, and then I left." Helga said with a smirk on her face. "Now let me get my things from locker before I am late for class." She continued with a more serious tone.
Gerald was leaning on the lockers this whole time, patiently waiting for this pointless conversation to end, as he knew Helga was never going to talk. He even protested about confronting her about it in the first place.
Realizing that the bell was going to ring soon, the gang quickly dispersed so as to reach their home class on time, ending the interrogation, much to Helga's relieve.
As Rodrigo arrived at his home class, Geography, he sat down almost at the back end of the room. Unbeknownst to him, he was not aware of the rumors that were circling around the school. Also unbeknownst to him, Harold and Sid were sitting right next to him, as they recognized him that he was the one who danced with Helga.
Harold had become more muscular, although he still retained his physical shape. He had matured a lot since he was a kid, although he was still the most immature of the bunch. He and Patty had started dating just last year and were going strong.
Sid had also grown a lot physically. Although not as muscular as Harold, he still acquired a good physique, using it to his advantage with the ladies. He still retained his famous green cap, wearing it backwards that covered his head, along with a black leather jacket. Both he and Harold, along with Gerald and Stinky had joined the footfall team.
After trying to figure who should first speak to him, Sid decided to try it out and tapped on Rodrigo's shoulder and asked him, "Pssst. Hey, are you the guy that danced with Helga?"
Curiously, Rodrigo turned around to face him and responded back, "Yes, why?"
"Hi, I'm Sid. This here is Harold. We're friends of Helga" Sid said, as he extended his hand to shake Rodrigo's.
"You are friends with Helga?" Rodrigo asked, to which Sid nodded.
"Helga has friends?" Rodrigo asked jokingly, but with a smirk on his face.
Both Sid and Harold laughed, not blaming him for not believing them.
"I know I know, it's hard to believe that, but yes we are her friends. We were not there but we heard the rumors about you and her dancing. It took us by surprise really, as she does not usually tell anything about herself. But from what we heard, you guys danced well together." Sid explained.
"Wait; there are rumors about us dancing?" Rodrigo asked.
"Uh ya." Said confirmed, with a rather confused expression. "It's all over the school. Didn't anyone tell you?"
"I am new here, so I have not yet had the chance to be acquainted with anyone."
"Oh well, welcome to Hillwood High!" Harold exclaimed as he gave a big tap on Rodrigo's back.
"Thanks" Rodrigo said, while feeling a little pain on this back.
"We have just to ask you, how did you manage to get Helga to dance with you?" Sid asked Rodrigo.
Rodrigo then explained to them the whole story about how they met and why he challenged her to dance.
"Oh wow, ya you must have impressed her." Harold said.
"If that's what you want to call it, sure. With that punch she gave me to the stomach, I do not think I made such an impression on her." Rodrigo spoke back.
"Ya she can be like that sometimes; difficult. But don't worry about her, so long as you don't stand in her way, she will leave you alone. Anyways, if you are not busy, perhaps you can come by at our table and hang out with us during lunch? I'm sure our friends would also like to meet you. You seem like a cool person to hang out with." Sid said.
Despite being flirtatious with the ladies, and sometimes letting his paranoia get the best of him, Sid was relatively a good person with a kind heart. He was impressed with how Rodrigo managed to entice Helga to dance with him, while other guys failed miserably and thought he was a cool kid to hang around with. Plus he had also calculated, quite correctly, with the way Helga behaved towards him, despite the punch she gave him, she thought that he was also OK. If Helga had an actual problem with Rodrigo, Sid would not have invited him, for Rodrigo's safety.
"Uh sure thanks, Sid. Where do you guys usually eat?" Rodrigo confirmed. Admittedly, he was rather taken aback by Sid's sudden invitation, if not suspicious. They just met. He was also not sure about having to hang out with Helga, seeing as how they were her 'friends'. Although he was impressed by her dancing performance, he did not particularly like her. He had other priorities to be concerned with, and having to deal with a difficult person as Helga was not one of them. However, not wanting to pass up an opportunity to make new friends, he took the chance and accepted it.
When lunch came around, Rodrigo met up with Sid at his locker as they had agreed, and proceed to go to the lunch room. For some reason, Rodrigo was rather nervous. He would usually get this shy when he would be introduced to a whole group of people at one time. It did not help that he may encounter Helga again. However, he tried to put such feelings aside. Once they arrived, they saw their group sitting at the far end of the lunch room. Initially Rodrigo did not see Helga, however, to his dismay, he soon saw her sitting behind the group, almost as if she was not part of it. By a stroke of luck, she had decided to have lunch with everyone on that day.
"Hey guys, look who I found at my home class!" Sid asked the group. "This is Rodrigo Castile, he is the guy who danced with Helga yesterday."
Rodrigo wondered if Sid wanted him to meet his friends because he was an OK guy, or just to show him off to his friends like a freak.
"Hey" Rodrigo said, as everyone started to look at him.
When Helga heard his name, she looked up and almost lost her balance from her chair. You have got to be kidding me? What is he doing here?! Sid, I am going to kill you! She thought to herself as she was scowling at them both.
"Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Gerald Johanssen." Sid began the introduction.
"Hey man, nice to meet you. Glad to see you came out at one piece from your adventure yesterday." Gerald said.
"Hi Gerald, thanks, so am I." Rodrigo said jokingly.
"You already know Harold." Said continued, as Harold gave him another slap on his back. "This is Sheena."
"Please to meet you, Rodrigo" Sheena said.
"The feeling is mutual." Rodrigo could instantly tell that, based on her head band covered in flowers, as well has having flowers on her shoes, that she was probably an environmental.
"Correct if I am wrong Sheena, but I can see that you happen a deep connection with nature." Rodrigo analyzed.
"Yes I am actually! In fact, I am president of the environmental group here at our school. Perhaps if you are interested, you can come to one of our meeting held every Tuesday?" Sheena asked him.
"I look forward to it. I am also concerned about the environment and I would like to do my part." Rodrigo said.
Although she was not showing it, Helga was looking at this with disgust. Show off. She thought.
"This is Phoebe Heyerdahl." Sid continued.
Phoebe Heyerdahl has not changed much during the years. She remains as one of the brightest students and her intellect has only increased with time. She usually dresses modestly, sometimes wearing a long blue dress with tang-top with flowers on it, or blue jeans, depending on the weather. She retains her glasses. physically, she the shortest person within the group, but like most girls, her body started to developed into a woman's body.
"Nice to meet you, Rodrigo." Phoebe said.
"Same here. I have actually heard about you throughout the school. Your reputation as one of this school's brightest students has preceded you. It is an honor Phoebe." Rodrigo said to him.
Phoebe simply blushed as the comment, much to Helga's chagrin.
"This is Eugene Horowitz." Sid continued on.
Eugene stopped wearing his sandals and suited to wearing white shoes. He still retained his blue pants with a white shirt that often had a bowtie around his collar. As ever, he still remained a very clumsy kid.
"Hi Rodrigo! It is a pleasure someone who has a taste in the theatrical." Eugene exclaimed.
"Thank you. I have been in a few plays before. I am assuming you are also into theatre?" Rodrigo asked him.
"Yes I am! I hope to see you on stage. Perhaps you can help some of us with your dancing?"
"I would love to help you guys out. Just let me know when and I'll be there." Rodrigo promised.
"This here is Lila Sawyer." Sid continued on.
"I'm ever so glad to meet your acquaintance Rodrigo." Lila said.
Lila still usually wears a light green outfit, and like Phoebe, would sometimes wear a dress, which is slightly shorter than Phoebe's, that often resembles her time in the farm, or jeans. As in her previous years as a kid, she still retained her beauty which often causes guys to stop dead in their tracks whenever she walked around the hallways. Her personality has not changed much as she still remains one of the easiest people to speak to and befriend, although she eventually stopped telling her usual farm jokes.
She seems really cheerful...may be too much. Rodrigo thought.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Sawyer. I look forward to getting to know you better." Rodrigo responded back.
Helga looked on with a bit of amazement and thought with a frown on her face, Leave it up to Little Miss Perfect for everyone to like her.
"This is Stinky Peterson" Sid proceeded with the introduction.
"Gosh Rod, nice to meet you. Heard about your dancing, heard you made some swell moves."
"Thanks Stinky. I am assuming from your accent, you from the American South?" Rodrigo asked him.
"Yes sir, straight from Arkansas." Stinky confirmed.
"Oh wow, you guys make some of the best lemon pudding in the South. I hope you can perhaps direct me if they make any of that pudding in this city." Rodrigo said.
"Sure no problem Rod. Always happy to help a person out." Stinky said.
Wow, this guy is really sticking it up there. Helga thought.
"And this is Rhonda Wellington Lloyd" Sid continued.
"Please to make your acquaintance Rodrigo. And I must apologize for our friend's behavior back there." Rhonda said, while pointing at Helga.
Taking one good look at Rhonda, he knew exactly what to say to her. He took her hand, gently kissed it, then said to her in French, "Votre excuses n'est il faut pas, mademoiselle. Seulement ton présence et beauté est assez pour me faire oublier des mes malchances." (No need to apologize Miss. Only your presence and beauty is enough to make me forget about my misfortunes)
"Ohh monsieur, merci!" exclaimed Rhonda, while trying to not to blush. "Enfin, quelqu'un qui est cultivé aussi" (Oh sir, thank you! Finally, someone who is also cultured.)
Too bad that little twisted freak (Curly) was not here to see this. He would have flipped. Helga thought with an evil smirk to her face.
Finally, Sid took Rodrigo to meet Helga...again.
"And I think you know Helga Pataki."
Helga just stood there, giving him a scowling face, as if she understood when he said to Rhonda that meeting Helga was a 'misfortune'. But he did not care.
Still a little upset over the punch she gave him, which he felt was uncalled for, and trying to end this awkward silence that was starting to develop between them, Rodrigo then took a bold chance and said to her in Spanish,
"Espero que arreglastes tu comportamiento" (I hope you fixed your attitude), he said to her with smirk on his face.
Helga continued to stand there, only her eyes were wide now. Is he serious? Is he still trying to best me? She thought.
Then she returned with her own smirk to him and then said in perfect Spanish, "Espero que te han arreglado tus ojos." (I hope they fixed your eyes.) but with an American accent.
This was unexpected. He had not considered that Helga would be bilingual. For a moment, he was speechless, not knowing what to say. However, he soon realized that everyone else was also starting at her, and it soon became clear that up until to that point, no one knew that she knew how to speak Spanish.
"Uh Helga? Since when do you know Spanish?" Eugene asked her.
"I got bored last summer, so I decided to learn another language, and Spanish seemed like a good fit." Helga responded back nonchalantly, while still looking back at Rodrigo with a smirk.
Rodrigo then replaced his smirk with a genuine smile, acknowledging his newfound respect for her. For the second time in two days, he had severely underestimated her. Yet it was not all a total loss, for this also provided him with further information about her personality: This was a girl who did not reveal much about her, which created this aura of mysteriousness. She would speak only when she needed to speak and nothing more. She was a straight-up shooter who was dead honest. She can be very opinionated when she needed to. Her biggest weapon was the element of surprise, which she used with deadly effect. This is a person that people should definitely think twice about messing with.
Yet, he also realized that he revealed too much about himself to her. Like Helga, he liked to maintain an aura of mysteriousness around him. It made things…interesting. But he had been so preoccupied with making a first impression that he had completely forgotten that Helga was there.
Damn it! I revealed too much! Better stay on the down-low for a while. He thought.
"Well, unless you two want to start dancing again, enough about us. Tell us where you are from Rodrigo?" Gerald asked, finally killing the silence that was starting to develop again.
"I came from Los Angeles. I just moved to Hillwood only two months ago. We thought moving here would be better for us. Things in L.A. were...not looking good for us there." Rodrigo explained.
"Oh so you were born in the U.S.?" Harold asked.
"No. My parents immigrated here a few years after I was born back home in Latin America. They struggled to get by initially, but they were able to obtain their university degrees and are now working at the same type of job that they worked back home. Happy ending, really." Rodrigo continued on.
Helga listened on while Rodrigo spoke about his origins. After a short while, just as Rodrigo tried to pull something on her, she decided to be bold too and pull something on him.
When Rodrigo finished, she got up and asked him, "So where from Latin American do you hail from? The one with the funny hates, the one with the civil wars, or the one with the cocaine problem?"
"HELGA!" Phoebe cried out, horrified by her potentially racist question.
Indeed, everyone was looking at her with a horrified expression on their face, but Helga was undeterred. Gerald was particularly irritated and was about to say something when he heard Rodrigo laughing.
"Hahahahahahaha, Oh my god Helga that was jokes!" Rodrigo cried out.
"Glad to see you are having a laugh at Helga's joke" Gerald said to him.
"Oh on the contrary Gerald, hahahaha, I do not think she was joking when she asked me that. I don't think she is racist, which is why it is sooo funny! Oh man I have to use that with my crowd. They will kill me, but it'll be soo funny, and that's the point hahahaha."
Everyone was confused by this, as they did not seem to grasp the funny side of Helga's question. They were just relieved that he was not offended.
Although they do not yet know it, Rodrigo is well known for making racist, homophobic and sexual jokes, but not because he is racist, sexist and homophobic himself. Quite the contrary, the very reason why he makes such jokes is not to make fun of those who were or still are on the receiving end of them (blacks, gays, women, queer etc.). Rather, he makes such jokes because he is making fun of the very people who actually believed or still believe that certain racial or ethnic groups, certain genders and the other sex is superior to everyone else. He makes fun of the perpetrators' own belief in such racist, sexist and homophobic slander.
"Thanks Helga, I actually needed that hahaha. But seriously, you forgot the region that is currently experiencing the refugee crisis, which is where I am from."
Then he quickly added, "I'm not a refugee. My family came in legally and we are now U.S. citizens." while smiling back at Helga.
"Glad I got a laugh out of you." She said while smiling back at him. Considering how everyone was looking at her, she was glad that Rodrigo understood the joking side of her question, although she did not expect him to actually find it funny.
This guy is something else…she thought.
"Oookkk, anyways class is about to start, so we should get going. But first, Rodrigo, you play sports?" Gerald asked him.
"Yes. I mostly play soccer, obviously, but I like to also play other sports as well." Rodrigo responded back.
"Well alright. We are going to be playing a baseball with another school in a few days. If your available, you should come." Gerald said.
"Glad to, thanks Gerald" Rodrigo said.
And with that, the group said their goodbyes, dispersed and went to their next class.
When class ended, Helga and Phoebe walked towards the bus lane. Phoebe, still upset at Helga's racial remark during lunch, said to her,
"Helga, you are incredibly lucky that Rodrigo did take any offense by your question. The region has a sad history of violence, gang wars and political instability, and I am sure that is one of the reasons why he and his family immigrated here."
"Relax Pheebs. I did not simply ask him that question without analyzing the situation and how he would react to it. I know I can be impulsive sometimes, but in this case, I carefully weighed my options. You should actually be proud of me." Helga explained.
"Well regardless, I would suggest that you be more careful. Unfortunately, not everyone would have found that remark so amusing." Phoebe warned.
"Will do Pheebs. Are you going to take the bus back home?" Helga asked her.
"Yes Helga, why?"
"It's a nice day out and I feel like taking a walk back home. So I'll see you tomorrow." Helga said and started walking away towards her.
A few minutes earlier, Rodrigo had already left school and had decided to also walk home. It was still very sunny and hot, with almost no clouds in the sky and he was in a good mood. He had met a group of new friends that seemed really nice to hang out with. The way he was introduced to them and how welcoming they were into their group, for the first time in such a long time, he felt he belonged somewhere. As an added bonus, he was also glad that things seemed to have finally relaxed between him and Helga.
Perhaps things can work out between me and her. He thought. He put on his headphone and started walking home to the beats of his music.
After almost three-quarters of the way home, Helga spotted Rodrigo in front her, happily humming, while doing some type of weird dance.
She looked on with curiosity and amusement. She noticed him mimicking the lyrics that he was hearing. Then, he started to actually sign and instantly recognized the band that he was listening to.
He likes Linkin Park? He is into that type of music as well? She thought to herself.
Her amusement then quickly disappeared as his signing increased.
Ugh! He may be a good dancer, but his singing is horrible! She thought.
Then Rodrigo stopped at the end of the road, waiting for the red light to turn green.
Helga then approached him until she was right behind him, then gently tapped him on his left shoulder.
Rodrigo got out from the trance, turned around and was surprised to find Helga right behind him.
"Hey" he said surprisingly.
"Hey. Your singing is horrible." She said bluntly.
"My signing? I was signing?" Rodrigo asked, to which Helga then nodded.
Rodrigo immediately turned red. He knew he was not a good singer and so he would only mimic the words that he heard.
"Sorry. I was so into the music that I did not notice that I was signing. Thanks for letting me know" He said.
"I'd figure I would spare you from humiliating yourself." Helga said with a smile.
"Do you live around here?" Rodrigo asked her.
"Just up this street. You?" She asked back.
"Same. Well since we are going the same direction, can I walk with you?" he asked, although he was not sure why he even was asking.
"Whatever floats your boat. Just don't try to sing again." Helga warned.
As they started walking together, Helga saw the color of his skin, it was brown, while hers was white, and she immediately thought back to what Phoebe said to her after school. While never being political, she was well aware of the rampant institutional racism that permeated through the U.S. and could not help but wonder that perhaps, she may have taken things too far with her question. Perhaps Rodrigo was offended by it and only laughed at it just out of politeness.
As guilt started to get the best of her, and to try to make some sort of conversation, she decided confirm, "I uhh… hope you were not offended by my question during lunch." she said to him timidly.
Rodrigo was surprised by her sudden concern and timidness. Despite her being white, he was not offended by her question, but had not expected her to be self conscious about it.
Hmm, there is more to this person than she lets on. He thought.
"No, I wasn't. If I was, I would have made it known to you." he confirmed back with a smile, which relaxed Helga a bit. Then he quickly added,
"I hope your butt still not sore from yesterday." with a smirk.
Helga let out a small laughter that she couldn't contain. This was the first time that Rodrigo ever heard her laugh and thought, She looks happy when she laughs. She needs to do that more often.
"No, it's not sore anymore, thanks bucko" Helga said.
After some small talk, they arrived on Rodrigo's street. They then said their goodbyes and went home.
Before going to bed that night, Helga was finishing the last paragraph to Arnold's letter….
…and so my football headed friend, another day has gone by without you. I still have not chosen any activities to do after school, but I should figure it out soon. Hope all is well on your end, if you catch my drift, hahahahaha.
On another side note, the new kid I spoke about yesterday; well, his name is Rodrigo Castile and hails from Latin America, although he did not specify where exactly. He was introduced to everyone by Sid and everyone seems to like him. I still don't know what to make of him, but…I kind of like him too.
Yours always,
Helga G. Pataki