Hi everyone! In this chapter, Rhonda is having her yearly Halloween party scare, but there is a catch: guests must bring a date with them, otherwise they cannot attend. Both Rodrigo and Helga are invited, but how do they feel about them being together?
Rodrigo and Helga continued with their dancing lessons whenever they could. With more practice, Helga was starting to grow more comfortable with Rodrigo leading her and a result, she was able to progress with faster, more complex dance moves. Sometimes Helga would want to perform some of her solo moves, while Rodrigo would do the same. Other times Helga simply just wanted to be alone for that evening. Either way, Helga started to look more and more forward to her evening dancing time and as a result, became more relaxed, with a less tendency to quickly become angry towards others. She had asked Rodrigo and Eugene to keep this their dancing lessons a secret, as she did not wish for anyone else to know. Rodrigo did not protest and respected her wish.
During lunchtime...
Helga walked into the lunch room that day to find only the girls eating their lunch. All the guys were outside playing baseball. Though slightly annoyed, she nevertheless approached them and sat on the table to eat her lunch. She no sooner sat down when Rhonda spoke to her with a smile,
"Oh Helga, here is your invitation to this year's Halloween party scare."
"Gee, thanks Princess, you shouldn't have." she said sarcastically, as she accepted the invitation card but did not bother to open it.
"You should be. Not everyone gets invited to attend my parties." Rhonda replied while looking at her with irritated eyes. She knew how Helga is, so she tried not let it get to her.
"I'm sure it will be ever so wonderful, Rhonda. Although, I do hope you will not decorate your house as scary as last time." Lila said.
"Not to worry Lila. I have a bit of a different theme this year that focuses less on the scare." Rhonda with a smile.
"Any ideas on what costume you will be wearing, Rhonda?" Phoebe asked her.
"hmm, I'm not sure yet. But I will figure it out soon. I just need to find time this weekend to shop around." Rhonda responded back.
"Hey, why don't we all go to the mall this weekend to look for some costumes?" Sheena suggested.
"What a great idea Sheena! How does Saturday sound for everyone?" Rhonda asked, which everyone nodded in agreement, except Helga.
"Well, you guys have fun. I already know what I'm going to wear for the party." she said.
"Dressing up as you does not count, Helga" Rhonda said with a stern face. "You have to wear a real costume to the party; it's a must."
Helga just rolled her eyes.
"Oh, and you must also bring a date with you. That's the new theme Helga." Rhonda added, as she also looked at everyone else.
That set Helga off, as she misinterpreted what Rhonda meant by the word, 'date'.
She quickly got up from the table and yelled her.
"Forget it Princess! I am not going to just date and bring with me some loser to your dumb Halloween party!" with a furious face and started storming out of the lunchroom.
"Helga, wait! That's not what I mean by 'date'!" Rhonda attempted to explain, but Helga was already too far to hear her, as she pushed the lunchroom doors and exited the area.
Rhonda, as everyone else, knew that Helga has not dated anyone, nor attempted to, since Arnold left. Worse still, bringing this topic up with her was very sensitive, as anyone who did was essentially indicating to Helga to move on and forget him. Sympathetic to her feelings, Rhonda was courteous enough to never mention this topic to Helga. She had attempted to explain to Helga what she meant by the word 'date', however Helga exploded before she had the opportunity to.
"Oh dear. I better go talk to her." Phoebe said.
"No, let me Phoebe. I made her upset, so let me speak with her...after I give her some time to cool down." Rhonda said with a nervous smile.
20 minutes later...
Rhonda found Helga outside the school, sitting on one of the benches, alone. Rather nervously, she approached her and gently sat down besides her, hoping she would not throttle her.
"I'm sorry Helga. I did not mean to get you upset over this." Rhonda began.
When Helga said nothing, she continued,
"I did not mean that you must bring an actual 'date'. It can be friend as well, boy or girl."
Then she dared to say,
"I know you miss him; I miss him too." She continued.
Helga turned to look at her, to which Rhonda quickly added, "Not that I'm saying that I was more hurt than you were when he left, hehehehee. I just mean that you are not alone in missing him; we all miss him."
"I know Princess." Helga finally responded back sadly.
After some silence, Rhonda said, "Well, it's up to you if you want to come. I hope you do, I'm sure you'll have fun."
"I'll think about it Princess. Thanks" Helga said.
"OK" Rhonda said with a smile. Then she got up and went back inside.
5 minutes earlier...
A minute after Rhonda left the lunchroom to look for Helga, Rodrigo went inside to eat his lunch. After playing some baseball, he was starving.
"Hi Ladies." He said to the girls there.
"Hi Rodrigo!" Lila said to him.
"Man, I'm starving... Where's Rhonda today?" Rodrigo asked.
"Oh, she went to find Helga... she was a little upset." Sheena responded.
"Oh. I hope she is OK."
"I'm sure she is. Oh Rodrigo, Rhonda wanted me to give you this." Nadine said, as she handed him his invitation to Rhonda's Halloween party scare.
"Thank you, Nadine." Rordrigo said. He opened the invitation and read it.
"Oh sweet! A Halloween party! And I must bring a date?" He asked.
"Yep. Do you have anyone in particular?" Phoebe asked.
"I might, actually" Rodrigo responded while smiling.
Rodrigo was thinking of perhaps asking Carmen, a cute, yet pretty Latina girl that was in his Business class.
I'll ask her if she available. It'll be a blast! he thought happily.
"I'm assuming you ladies are coming?" he asked them, to which they all nodded.
"Is Helga coming?"
"Ummm...oh I'm sure she will." Nadine said nervously.
Rodrigo looked at the card again and realized that the invitation strictly says that bringing a date is mandatory.
"Wait, what happens if I don't bring someone with me?" Rodrigo asked.
"Then unfortunately you can't go to the party. It is for couples only, or at least you must bring someone else with you, even if it is only a friend." Nadine responded.
Rodrigo knew then that Helga will not be coming to the party.
"Oh. So then Helga will not be coming then" Rodrigo said, but no one responded.
"Hey, here's an idea. Why don't you and Helga come together?" Sheena suggested.
"Oh yes! That's a great idea Sheena. What do you think Rodrigo?" Phoebe asked.
"Well...I was kind of hoping to ask someone else, really." Rodrigo confessed.
"Rodrigo, please? Can you ask Helga first if she can come with you? I honestly doubt she will find anyone else to go with her and I'm pretty sure she will be delighted to go with you. You guys seem to be bonding well." Phoebe protested.
"Why can't you go with her, Phoebe?" Rodrigo asked.
"Because I'm going with Gerald." Phoebe responded.
*sigh* where is Arnold when you need him? He thought.
"Alright, I'll ask her first. But if she says no, then I'm going to ask someone else." Rodrigo said.
"Wonderful! Thank you Rodrigo." Phoebe said smiling.
At History class...
before their history class started, Rodrigo waited for Helga to come in. A minute later, she walked inside and sat down on her seat.
"Hey Helga, you know about Rhonda's Halloween party?"
"What about it?" Helga asked nonchalantly.
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the party?" he asked.
Taken aback by his invitation, Helga stood quiet for a moment, then she turned to face him and asked, "You want to go with me?"
"Well sure why not?" he said.
"Like a date?" she asked.
What is it with these North American girls that think whenever a male friend asks them out, it is considered as a date? Can't a guy friend just take his female friend to a dance? We do that all the time where I am from. He thought.
"What? No, as friends." he said.
"Let me think about it" she said.
Rodrigo was somewhat surprised by her response. He had expected her to give him a simple 'yes' or 'no' right there and then. Plus he was also hoping to get an answer today to see if he can still ask Carmen.
"Alright" was all he said.
Later that evening...
Rodrigo was at home, busy finishing up his homework, when his home phone started ringing.
"Mama, contesta por favor!" (Mom, get it please!) Rodrigo called out to her.
After a short while, his mother called out to him,
"Hijo, es para ti. Una amiga que se llama, Hilda o Helga?" (Son, it's for you. a female friend by the name of, Hilda or Helga?)
Helga? Why is she calling me? he thought to himself.
He picked up the receiver and told his mom to hang up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Helga. So listen, about your offer in me going with you to Rhonda's party...ya I guess I'll go with you."
"Oh ok, cool." he said.
"You don't sound so excited." Helga asked suspiciously.
"No No, I am. I'm glad you said yes, actually." he attempted to explain.
"Ok, so I'll see ya tomorrow then."
"OK...Helga wait! Umm how did you get my home number? I never gave it out to anyone."
"Well doi, doofus! I know that now. I tried calling your cell, but you were not answering, so I ended up having to ask almost everyone to see if they had your house phone number. Obviously no one had it, and I had to come up with dumb excuses as to why I needed to call you. I ended looking it up on the phonebook. Thankfully you were listed here. Crimeny, next time give someone your home number." Helga explained.
"Oh ok. Ya, I will do that, thanks Helga." he said. Then he hang up and looked at his clock.
It's Thursday today. Why did she go through all that trouble to tell me that she was going to be my date? She could have just waited until Friday morning to let me know. What was her rush? he thought.
Meanwhile in Helga's room...
After speaking with Rodrigo, she hang up her phone, while she lied on her bed groaning.
"What's the matter, Helga?" Phoebe asked her.
"I don't know if I should go through with this Phoebe." she confessed.
"Why not?"
"I feel like...if I do this, then I'm betraying Arnold."
"But Helga, you said it yourself that Rodrigo asked you to go with him as a friend." Phoebe reminded her.
"I know. I don't know why I feel like this is a betrayal. I know Rodrigo said that this is not a date, but I can't help but feel this way. It's like every attempt I do in order to move on, the pull gets stronger." she explained.
"Well, do you feel that it is going to be a date? Do you like Rodrigo enough for it to be a date?" Phoebe asked her.
"I don't think so, but I'm not sure. He reminds me of Arnold, yet I know that he is not him. I don't get that usual sensation when I see him and I don't feel like I'm going to fall into some romantic trance that I used to whenever I saw Arnold. But he is a very intuitive person and he is wiser beyond his years and...I guess I like that? I don't know." she explained as she rubbed her eyes.
"There is also something else." she continued. "He is different and he thrives on that. He is not afraid of being different; if anything, he enjoys it. He has told me that there is a cost on being different, but for him, the benefits well exceed it. He does not do things just because he wants to; he does them in order to prove a point. I can't quite my finger on it, but I find it...enthralling; that there is someone out there who is also in some ways, not like everyone else, and he likes it that way."
"And how does him being different relate to you?" She asked.
"I've never cared what other people thought of me Pheebs, even now. You know that. But it would be nice if once in a while people were not so judgmental. Rodrigo is not like that. He does not judge me, even when he is critical of the some of the things that I say or do. Also, I seem to carry this burden that originated from my family life and I am unable to get it off my shoulders. With Rodrigo, he has had serious issues with his extended family, and it does affect him. When his grandmother visited him, he was miserable. But once she left, he was alright. Despite how his issues with his family affect him, he does not carry it around. He is able to move on. I can't seem to do that. I guess that's why I am always so angry and resentful; because everyone else is able to get on with their lives, except me."
Hmmm, I wonder. Could it be…Phoebe thought as she analyzed what Helga had just said about her feelings toward Rodrigo. However, she decided against on telling Helga what she was thinking and proceeded to stick to the topic.
"Well, just take baby steps, Helga. If you feel comfortable enough to go with him to the party, then I recommend that you do. Remember, this is not a date; this is just two friends going to a Halloween party. Personally, the way you are feeling, this as a betrayal, I think that is good news because it means you are heading in the right direction. It is naturally for you to feel that way. It just takes time and commitment to move on. Once the party ends, we can later analyze how you feel about him afterwards."
"I guess you're right, Pheebs." Helga said, as she sighed.
"So, do you have any ideas on what costume you are going to wear?" Phoebe asked.
"Not a clue." Helga responded.
Later that weekend...
Helga met Phoebe, Sheena, Nadine and Rhonda at the new complex mall that was only recently competed about a year ago. It was constructed by Modern Tech Industries (MTI), the parent company of Future Tech Industries, ironically enough.
After Arnold, Gerald and Helga saved their neighborhood and imprisoned Alphonse Perrier du von Scheck, his company floundered as a result of the scandal. In order to stay in business, it was mostly bought by MTI, who is now acting as its subsidiary company. The new complex mall was a project that MTI hoped would not only bring in some profit, but also rejuvenate FTI from its former bad press. It worked. The second it opened, people crowded the mall and were in awe of its high tech security system, modern architecture and vast stores.
After taking some time to tour around the new mall, the teens went to the nearest store that was selling Halloween costumes. They eventually had to try several stores, but slowly and surely, each girl was able to find a costume. Nadine found a sexy ladybug costume. The pants were stockings that slightly revealed the skin of her legs, along with a skimpy skirt. Sheena found a flamboyant, 1970's style costume. Phoebe decided to try something different and dressed up as a rodeo cowgirl. In a rare move, she found a pair of tight jean shorts. It was not too skimpy, but just long enough for her to be comfortable it, while not revealing too much.
Rhonda's and Helga's search for their costume took the longest, as both teens were highly picky. Eventually Rhonda was able to find a beautiful, light gray dress that resembled closely as a Cinderella dress. Despite her wealth and upper class background, Rhonda had never dressed up as a princess or queen type of theme. This is will be the first time. Now that was left, was finding Helga's costume.
"Helga sweetie, do you even have the slightest idea on what you want to dress up for Halloween?" Rhonda asked her.
"No Rhonda, I do not. And don't call me sweetie." Helga warned.
"Well, think of something. Everyone else has chosen their costumes already."
"How about I just dress up as myself, as I initially suggested?" Helga suggested with a smirk.
"Nope, that will not do." Rhonda countered while rolling her eyes.
"Hmmm, Helga, why don't you dress up as a pirate?" Phoebe offered.
"Great idea Phoebe! A pirate costume will look great with that scowling face she always shows." Rhonda said jokingly.
" Sure Princess, and while I'm at it, I can also scowl your face with my left hook!" Helga barked with an angry face.
Undeterred, Rhonda simply said back, "Well at least you sound enthusiastic about it, Helga."
Despite there being several female pirate costumes, Helga was not satisfied with either of them. She felt that they did not show enough...creativity.
After 30 minutes of further searching, Sheena saw another pirate costume and said, "Helga! come take a look at this. Is this something that interests you?"
After scanning it for some time, she said, "Well, let me try it on."
She went to the women's locker room and put it on. When she was ready, she went out to get some feedback.
"Well, how do I look, besides looking stupid?"
The girls initially said nothing, but then Rhonda was compelled to say, "Helga! It's beautiful, I love it!"
"Oh it's so lovely Helga!" Phoebe said.
"Well ladies, I think we found it." Nadine said.
On the night of the Halloween party...
Rodrigo looked at his mirror as he was trying out his pirate costume. After the girls bought their costume, Helga told Rodrigo during school what costume she bought. Rodrigo then suggested the idea to Helga if he should also buy a pirate costume in order for both of them to match. Helga did not seem enthusiastic about it, but simply said, "Sure." But then again, what does excite her these days?
Rodrigo's costume did not look like any ordinary pirate costume. It was a hybrid combination between a fully dress pirate suit with a large coat. Although it seemed like mismatch, it actually worked pretty well. Consider it as a formal's pirate costume.
When Rodrigo put on his pirate hat, feeling satisfied, he then went out to meet up with Helga, who had instructed him to meet her at Phoebe's house.
Once he arrived, he was greeted by Phoebe's parents.
"Good evening Mr. Heyerdahl." said Rodrigo, while he took off his hat.
"Good evening Rodrigo. Well, I like your costume! Please come in. The girls are almost done." said Mr. Heyerdahl.
Rodrigo comfortably sat down on the sofa and waited for the girls to come down.
After 5 minutes, Phoebe came down first. She had her cowgirl's hate with stripped pattern shit and that short pair of jeans. With her lasso on one hand, along with her red lipsticks and make up, Rodrigo was surprised at how ...well sexy, she looked.
Oh my god! Gerald is going to go nuts over her this evening! he thought.
"Phoebe you look...sexy" Rodrigo said with a low voice, ensuring that her parents would not hear him.
Phoebe blushed slightly then said, " Thank you Rodrigo. Helga will be coming down soon."
Just then, Helga stepped down and Rodrigo was completely taken aback at how gorgeous she looked.
Helga's pirate costume colour was a combination of red and pink. Similar to his costume, it was hybrid between a typical female's pirate costume from the top, with a Cinderella-like dress from the waist down. In addition, there was an opening on the right side of the dress that revealed her leg. Helga applied very little makeup; only putting on rep lipstick with some mascara on.
As she stepped downward, Rodrigo just stood there, staring at her.
*cough* Helga.
"Sorry Helga, it's just that you look...very beautiful." he finally said.
"Oh umm...thanks, Latino boy. You don't look to shabby yourself." She said.
"Well, we better get going." Rodrigo said to the girls.
Although initially Rodrigo had wished he could have gone with Carmen; after seeing Helga, he was glad that he went with her instead.
Wow, she is so beautiful! Maybe this night would not be so bad after all. He thought.
All three teens met up with everyone else at the bus stop. After a short while, the bus arrived and then took them to Rhonda's mansion.
As Rodrigo predicted, when Gerald saw Phoebe's costume, he fell into some kind of googly trance, so much so that Sid had to shake him to get him out of it.
Gerald was dressed as a vampire, in the typical fashion. Sid was dressed as a mad doctor, probably as Dr. Frankenstein. Stinky was dressed as a scary scarecrow, while Lila, who was his date for the evening, was dressed as an old, scary lady who lives on her own in the farm. She had already picked up her costume early on, which is why she never went with the rest of the girls to the mall. Eugene was dressed as Romeo, while his date was dressed as Tybalt.
After several stops, they arrived and got out. Rodrigo was amazed at Rhonda's mansion. It look almost like a palace!
From the onset, it was clear that Rhonda and the house staff went through a lot of work into decorating the house for Halloween. There was a graveyard with many tombstones, often with hands or cadavers rising from the ground. The windows were made to look like the house was old and lapidated. Once inside, there was a mist that permeated throughout the floor. The lights in some rooms flickered on and off, making it seem that someone or something was playing with the electrical cords. Once everyone made it to the party room, it was decorated in such a way that it looked both elegant, but old and scary.
By the time the party got around, it was a little past 7 p.m. On the sides of the room there these big table that held plenty of snacks and drinks for everyone. There were no alcoholic drinks, as Rhonda's parents had explicitly forbidden it.
If Rodrigo was confident in having a good time with Helga as his date from the beginning, they were quickly dashed. From the very beginning, it was made clear that Helga was not very thrilled in being at the party. Apart from never liking to dress up, she was constantly annoyed at her costume as it felt uncomfortable to move around in. To lighten her mood, Rodrigo offered to dance with Helga a few times, but most of the music were a mix of hip-pop, club beats, reggaeton, or rap music that Helga had no desire to dance to. Whatever music was played to Helga's liking, it was not a common occurrence. As a result, Helga ended up spending most of her time either at the snack tables or conversing with Phoebe, or just sat alone at a chair, watching while everyone had fun. Rodrigo would also converse with their friends, but he really wanted to dance and would often leave Helga alone while he went to the dance floor. However, guilt would eventually get the better of him, as he felt that since he asked Helga to go with him to the party, he should at least spend some time with her. Eventually, he was compelled to leave the dance floor and try to converse with her.
Would it kill her to smile at least? Sheesh! At least pretend that you are having fun. He thought annoyingly.
He tried to have fun during the time, and there were times when he was enjoying himself. However, he felt that Helga was dragging down his happy mood with her attitude. Despite him wanting to help her, he was really hoping to have fun on his first Halloween party in Hillwood and not have to think about anything else. He was her friend, not her therapist.
By the time it was 9p.m., Rodrigo was getting exasperated. He was no longer able to tolerate Helga's moody behavior. Even their friends seemed to have been avoiding her, or vise-versa. Then, Rodrigo came to her and bluntly asked her,
"Helga?"
"What?"
"Are you even having fun at the party?"
"Best time of my life Latino Boy. Does it look like I am having fun?" she barked back sarcastically, while giving him a frowning face.
"Why are you even here then if you were not going to have fun? Why did you even say yes into going with me?" He asked with a serious tone.
Helga said nothing and merely looked down, feeling guilty in realizing that Rodrigo was regretting in asking her to go with him.
Just then, a song began playing that Helga found to her liking. Not wanting to get into any arguments, he extended his hand and offered to dance with her.
"Come on, let's dance. I know you like this song." He offered.
"Ok" Helga replied back softly.
Once the song ended, Helga said that she needed to use the bathroom. She excused herself and left Rodrigo.
Feeling a bit relieved, Rodrigo then went to the table to grab a drink and some snacks. Then suddenly, Carmen approached her.
"Hola Rodrigo" she said.
"Hola." He responded back with a smile.
Carmen was wearing a skimpy police woman's uniform costume for the party. Her skirt was up so high that you could almost see her butt. She was not known for being a promiscuous girl, but she was known for being a party girl. Rodrigo did not mind. He had an open attitude about girls and their sexuality and did not judge them simply on their looks, nor if they slept around. As far as he was concerned, even the most uptight, strict girl can cheat and be immoral.
"¿Te estas diviritiendo?" (Are you having fun?) She asked him.
"Si ¿Y tu?" (Yes. And yourself?)
"No mucho. La gente aqui no saben como bailar. ¿Donde esta tu cita?" (Not much. The people here don't know how to dance. Where is your date?) She asked.
"Se fue al baño, pero no es mi cita. Somos amigos, no mas." (She went to the bathroom, but she is not my date. We're only friends.) He responded back.
Just then, the DJ switched the music to a raggaeton beat. Both Latinos looked toward the dance floor, then looked at each other again and began smiling at each other.
"¿Quieres bailer?" (Want to dance?) Rodrigo asked.
"Si." (Yes) Carmen responded.
Despite asking Helga to go with him to the party, he felt that he was not obliged to spend time only with her. They were only here as friends and nothing more. Besides, by this point, he no longer cared.
Meanwhile inside the women's bathroom…
As Helga was washing her hands, she kept rewinding Rodrigo's two questions that he had asked her: Why did she bother to come and why did she say 'yes' into going with him?
Crimeny, what am I doing here? Why did I bother coming? I hate dressing up and this dress is uncomfortable. Why did I say yes to Rodrigo to go with him? I could have easily have said no to him. And now, I am ruining his first Halloween party in Hillwood. She thought.
Oh yes, now I remember. She continued to think sarcastically. It was so I could move on and try to have fun, blah blah blah. *sigh* I am such a bore. When was the last time I had any fun, whether on my own or with anyone?
Perhaps I should just leave. Clearly I am not having any fun and I am only making it worse for Rodrigo. There is still time for him to enjoy the night…without me. She thought sadly.
No, wait. Was I even trying to have fun? Heck, no! All I was doing all night was just complain about this stupid dress and how horrible the music is. I didn't even give this night a chance. I should at least make a more serious effort. Hmm, yes I should do that. I'll make more of an effort and try to have fun. If that doesn't work, then I can at least say to myself that I tried. She thought with more confidence.
After she dried her hands, she then walked outside to find Rodrigo.
Back at the dance floor…
The second she got out, she started looking for Rodrigo, but was unable to find him. She then saw Sid and Stinky close to one of the snack tables and approached them.
"Hey, have you seen Rodrigo? I can't seem to find him." She asked.
"Ya, he went to dance with a girl just now." Sid replied back, pointing to the direction where they went.
The second she heard that, she felt her blood boil. Without saying a word, and while trying to remain cool, she walked toward the dance floor and from a distance, watched Rodrigo and Carmen dancing.
"I know that look from anywhere." Sid said worryingly to Stinky.
"Same here. Well, it was nice knowing Rod." Stinky said.
For a short while, Helga just watched them dance, with her arms crossed to her chest and frowning, getting more and more angry by the minute.
What is he doing with her? So I just go to the bathroom for one minute and he goes off to dance with this broad? pfft, typical guy!
Crimeny, I sound like a jealous girlfriend. Why am I getting so worked up about this? So what if he is dancing with her? Big deal. We're only friends and not dating, so I should have no reason to be upset. And yet, I still am...
As she watched Rodrigo dance away with Carmen, she felt this feeling rising, this anger? Was she angry at him and if so for what? He didn't do anything wrong. It couldn't be anger that she was feeling, but she was really bothered that Rodrigo was dancing with someone else. Was it…jealously?
Am I jealous? What do I have to be jealous about? We are not on a date, and I don't think I had any hopes of it being so. Plus this feeling is not a typical kind of jealousy. I know for a fact that if I saw Arnold doing this, I would have exploded already. I am not furious at Rodrigo, nor at that broad he is dancing with, but I am upset that he is dancing with her...and not with me. She thought.
She then realized that perhaps this jealous stems from the fact that, with the way he was dancing with Carmen, Rodrigo may have preferred to have asked her to be his date rather than Helga.
So am I just jealous because of the way he is dancing with her, the way he is smiling, he may have preferred not to have asked me to go with him? I think that's it. I can't blame the guy, though. I have not been particularly excited to be at this party, even with him. So it is no wonder why he feels that he is wasting his time with me.
The thought of the possibility that Rodrigo may not been having fun with her, saddened Helga. She felt that she was wasting his time and effort on her. Once again, she thought about leaving and letting him have his fun.
What should I do? Should I just leave then? Maybe I should. It is not like Rodrigo is having fun with me and I am not really excited to be here. *sigh* I think I should just do that and call it a night. She thought sadly, feeling defeated.
As she started to walk way, she suddenly stopped.
But then, if I do leave, what good will it do? It will only further prove that I am unable to move on. It would feel like I just easily quitted, and Helga G. Pataki does not quit! Plus, it is not like I have been really trying to have fun. Rodrigo is right. People can only do so much to help me, but it is up to me to do most of the work. I have to at least try to have fun. I have to make the effort for myself. I can't just mope around, waiting for some loser to just come and sweep me off my feet; that's not who I am! Rodrigo was kind enough to ask me to come here with him, so I must return the favor. But how? She thought.
After some thinking, she thought of something and smiled.
Hhmmm. I know what may work. Ugh, I don't like being on the spotlight, but I have to give it a shot.
She then walked toward the DJ to say something to him.
As the raggaeton song ended, Rodrigo and Carmen stopped dancing and began to separate their bodies from each other. Rodrigo was feeling rather happy, as he finally felt he was having fun. Just then, a new music was starting to come up, but it was different. However, before he or Carmen could resume their dancing; Rodrigo felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw Helga, smiling at them.
"Mind if I cut in?" She asked. When she turned to look at Carmen, although still smiling, she looked straight at her eyes, indicating that she was not really asking.
Carmen took the hint and with a smile, obliged.
After seeing what just happened, Rodrigo then asked, "Uh Helga, are you OK?"
Helga did not respond, but instead, gently grabbed Rodrigo by his hand and started to slowly pull him toward her.
"So you wanted to dance, bucko?" She rhetorically asked him with her usual smirk. Then, she finished pulling him with an aggressive final touch toward her. "Then let's dance."
By this point, Rodrigo was not sure on what to make of Helga's sudden change. He had seen that smile and confidence before; when they first met and he was not comfortable in seeing it again. Yet, it was different this time. It looked more..sincere. He was not going to lie to himself; he liked seeing this side of her.
Hmm. I'm starting to see what Arnold saw in her. He thought.
Smiling back, he said to her, "You got it."
The song that Helga requested was a remix called 'Enrique Iglesias Bailamos Dance Remix'. It was 3:27 minutes long.
Because of their after school practice, Helga was not shy to allow Rodrigo to lead her, while at various times, she would take charge. She closed her eyes, allow her body to 'feel' the music, readying herself to dance to the beat. Then, they began.
Their moves were a mixture of salsa, with some favorable tango. Helga would sometimes twist her legs from side to side, while her upper body remained in place, straight toward Rodrigo. They would dance for a while, before moving away from each other, only to quickly move back to closer to each other again, allowing their bodies to touch. Sometimes they even let go, performing their own solo moves, while attempting to coordinate with each other.
At one point, Rodrigo grew a bit bolder and he brought her close to him, with her facing outward, in the same direction as he was facing. He started to bent a bit to his right, while also indicating to her to do the same. He then took his left hand and lifted it, along with her hand upward, only to slowly let go and slide it down her arm, down to her side. Initially Helga was taken aback by this, but she trusted him enough to allow him to continue. His left hand continued its downward slide until it reached her thigh and was still going down toward her leg. Then, Helga used her freed left hand to grab it, pull it upward again, then turned to face him and started dancing again, while giving him a little smirk for pulling such a bold move. Rodrigo only smiled back.
Then as the finishing touch, she slide down, with her falling to the floor, in an almost leg split-ballet style finishing move. The crowd furiously cheered at the dancing couple. Even Carmen was impressed and started to cheer. Their friends remained completely silent, still in awe at how Rodrigo and Helga just danced.
After a few seconds, Rodrigo started to slowly lift her back up. Still in a trance, Helga did not notice how everyone was looking at her, giving her this sense of approval and envy that she never experienced before. But then, once she got out of her trance, she started to panic. She started feeling cluster phobic, started to be overwhelmed by the amount of attention people were giving her. She was also feeling uncomfortable at just how physically close she was to Rodrigo. As soon as she was lifted back up on her feet, she took the opportunity and quickly dashed outside of the dancing floor, passing their friends without saying a word and went straight to the balcony, leaving Rodrigo alone and confused by her sudden departure.
Is she OK? Was this too much for her? He thought. He walked towards their friends who were still gazing at him.
"Rodrigo, that was…incredible." Rhonda said, which everyone nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, Rhonda. But let me see if Helga is OK. I think this was a little too much for her." Rodrigo said as he started walking to toward the balcony.
Helga was reeling from their dance. Never had she felt this thrill, this sense of awe and envy that she saw in everyone. But most of all, never had she willingly exposed that much of herself to so many people at one time. She didn't know how to handle it; it was too much for her. She liked it, but she was also overwhelmed by it. It made her happy to dance and to be…admired? She had no intention of being a popular person. All she wants is to be herself, regardless of what other people thought about her. But, she wasn't excited about the attention itself. Rather, it was more of the admiration of what she was doing that was making her happy. It is as if, everyone else was also happy for her.
Rodrigo went into the balcony and slowly approached Helga, who was looking outward.
"Hey Helga, are you OK?" He asked.
Helga instantly turned around and nervously responded, "Ya, just fine Latino boy, thanks hehehe. I was just feeling a little…overwhelmed by everyone starting at me and decided to just get some air."
"Well, you were incredible. Take your time, I'll be inside with our friends." He said.
"No no, I'm OK now, thanks. It's getting a little chilly, anyways." Helga protested.
She felt better, but she was still anxious about the way she was feeling. Nevertheless, she walked with Rodrigo back inside the mansion, knowing that her friends will hound her with questions.
Oh great. I get to be interrogated by everyone about this, like I'm not already stressed out about it. She thought as she rolled her eyes.
Yet thankfully, as they approached their friends, they just simply complimented on her performance.
"Way to go Pataki. I didn't know you had it in you." Gerald genuinely said with a smile.
"Thanks Gerald." Helga replied back.
"You were ever so spectacular, Helga!" Lila said next.
"Thanks Lila."
Everyone else then gave their compliments, but none bothered to ask her how and when she became a dancer, much to Helga's relieve.
The rest of the evening was followed by more dancing as people started to enjoy the party again. Helga, feeling more relaxed, actually began to enjoy it…somewhat. But at least she now had a different attitude than previously. Rodrigo was also starting to enjoy his night with Helga. The rest of the evening went by so well that both teens felt comfortable enough to dance to a slow, romantic song; a fact which just almost two hours prior, would have been unthinkable.
Helga's relaxation and comfortability in being with Rodrigo was not lost to Gerald. If anything, he couldn't help but be a little envious. Rodrigo was able to accomplish in two months what he and everyone else, except for Phoebe, had failed to do for years.
Hm, well this guy does have some skills. I gotta find out how he did it. He thought.
By the time the party ended, it was 12a.m. and everyone started to leave. The whole gang was barely able to catch the last bus back to their neighbourhood. After everyone got off, Rodrigo decided to walk with Helga back to her house, despite her protest.
"I can walk by myself, you know. I know these streets like the back of my hand." She continued to protest.
"Oh I know. I'm actually more concerned of those people who may have the guts to mug you, because I know that if they do, they will not live to even get arrested. I just want to make sure you get home and not go to prison tonight; call it a peace of mind." He joked with a smile.
He is so sly…but sweet. She thought.
"And besides, I'm a little curious to know which house is yours." Rodrigo continued.
"Why? So you can stalk me?" She asked with a suspicious smirk.
"Maybe hahaha. You took the time to find my house phone number, so I think it's only fair that I take the time to know where you live." He hinted.
Is that really what I did? I went out of my way to find his house phone number, when I could have just waited to see him the next day? She thought, but made no hint that she was worrying about it.
She simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "Whatever floats your boat."
After some walking, they finally approached her house.
"Ah, nice house Helga."
"It looks like nice from the outside, yes." Helga hinted, reminding him of her neglectful home life.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry."
"Eh, don't worry about it. I'll live." She said.
"I'll see you on Monday then." She continued. She then went up her house stool to get into her house when Rodrigo said to her,
"Buenas Noches, mi linda pirata." (Good night, my lovely pirate lady.)
"Oh, don't get all mushy on me Rodrigo." She barked at him. "But umm…buenas noches señor." She added with a more soft tone and with a smile.
After she went in and closed her door, Rodrigo then started walking home. After a short while, he felt his call vibrate. As he took out his phone to read it, he realized that it was from Helga.
Helga: Text me when you get home.
Rodrigo: Will do.
Once he arrived home, he texted her to confirm that he arrived home safely. He took out his costume, put on his pajamas, climbed onto bed and quickly fell asleep. He was exhausted, but it was well worth it.
The next day…
On that Sunday afternoon, Helga was just finishing writing her latest letter to Arnold.
Well football head, I can admit that I had fun at Rhonda's Halloween party this year. Yes, you heard that right, Arnoldo; I had fun. Rodrigo has helped me with that notion, which I am hoping will become more long-term down the road. But, I still plan on retaining my pessimistic moments and no one is going to change that.
She stopped for a moment, and then continued writing…
But it is not just Rodrigo. Everyone has been also giving a helping hand. By George, I think they may finally have understood me a little better!
Well, as it is a nice Sunday afternoon today, I am motivated to go for a little walk to the park. I hope the weather is not extreme for you football head. And I hope you don't use our football shaped head to scare the little ones this Halloween.
Keeping it real and scary,
Helga G. Pataki