It was a spring evening on a typical weekday. Rodrigo was at home having dinner with his family. It was nothing unusual. Despite being in his teens with his various interests occupying him, Rodrigo always tried to still dine with his parents whenever he could. He enjoyed these moments; taking the time to converse with this parents about their day or about certain events happening in the country or around the world. Every time he sat down with them and talked, he felt a bit closer to them as he got to know a bit more about them. They in turn felt the same. Despite being highly educated, they were never shy to admit that there was always something to learn, both from those younger than them and the modern times with different viewpoints and outlook on life.

On this particular day, the Castiles were just dining relatively quietly, enjoying their meal and each other's company when Rodrigo father, Alfonso, suddenly said,

"¿Rodrigo, como va todo con Helga?" (Rodrigo, how are things with Helga?)

"Todo va bien, papa." Rodrigo responded. "Las cosas siguen adelante, mejor que yo anticipe." (Everything is going well, dad. Things are moving forward, better than I anticipated)

"¿Me imagino que las cosas se están poniendo serio?" (I imagine things are getting serious?) Alfonso asked.

"Pues, creo que si." Rodrigo responded. "Aun no hemos hablado de un futuro. Por ahora, estamos enfocados en el presente. Todavía todo esto es nuevo y no nos queremos apurar las cosas." ( I think so. We haven't yet talked about the future. For now, we are just focusing on the present. Everything is still new to us and we don't want to rush things.)

"Bueno, me alegro de eso," Alfonso said. "porque tu mama y yo queremos a conocer tu novia. Ustedes han estado juntos por unos meses ya, y como tú ya tuviste la oportunidad a conocer la familia de Helga, creo ya es tiempo que ella conoce a tu familia, no?" (Well, I'm glad to hear that because your mom and I would like to meet Helga. You two have been together for some months now and you even had the opportunity to meet her family, so I think it's time that she meets your family, no?)

"Si papa." (Yes papa.) Rodrigo said a bit nervously. "Pero, no piensas que todavía es un poco temprano en traer mi novia a nuestra casa?" (But, don't you think it's a bit too early to bring my girlfriend over to our house?)

"No, no creo," Alfonso responded. "especialmente si tus padres están ofreciendo la invitación. Además, no es como somos totalmente extraños. Yo ya me presente a ella cuando vino a la casa unos meses antes. Falta solamente que ella conoce a tu mama." (No, I don't think so, especially if your parents are inviting her. Besides, it's not like we are total strangers. I already introduced myself to her a few months back. Only your mother needs to be introduced to her.)

"Pues si, pero tan temprano? Ni paso cuatro meses." (Well ya, but so soon? It hasn't even been four months yet.) Rodrigo said, protesting a bit.

"Oh, no te preocupes, Rodrigo. No es nada formal. Solamente queremos cenar y hablar con ella, eso es todo. No es nada más extraño que con las otras ocasiones cuando tus amigos se quedaron a cenar." (Oh, don't worry Rodrigo. It's nothing formal. We only want to dine and talk to her, that's it. It's not any different than the times when your friends stayed over for dinner). Alfonso assured his son.

However, Alfonso then gave Rodrigo a suspicious look.

"¿Por qué protestas?" (Why are you protesting?) He asked Rodrigo. "¿Está embarazada?" (Is she pregnant?) He asked with a worried tone.

"¡Papa! Que...como...estás loco?! No!" (Dad! What...how... are you crazy?! No!) A horrified Rodrigo exclaimed.

"Ok, ok, pregunte, no más. ¿Entonces, porque no invitas a Helga a venir en nuestra casa este sábado que viene?" Alfonso offered. (Ok, ok, I was only asking. Well, why don't you invite Helga to come over this Saturday coming?)

Rodrigo said nothing, as he was now deep in thought about his parents wanting to meet Helga. There was just a lot of things on his mind about this inevitable encounter and Rodrigo couldn't help but feel a bit..angsty about it.

"Rodrigo? Hijo!" Alfonso exclaimed.

"Huh? Que? Si papa?" Rodrigo finally responded and snapped out of his thoughts.

"¿Oíste lo que dije?" (Did you hear what I just said?) His father asked.

"Si, si. Le preguntare mañana." (Ok. I'll ask her tomorrow.) The son responded.

Thought, I'm still not really sure about this...He thought.

The next day...at lunchtime...

Rodrigo walked towards Helga's locker, who was already there waiting for him. Phoebe had already left to see Gerald and so the blonde girl was alone. Rodrigo actually made it on time, as he didn't want Helga to linger there for too long and end up upsetting her. That's the last thing that he needed before he tells her the news.

"Hey." Rodrigo said as he approached.

"Good, you're on time." She said.

Rodrigo leaned in and gave Helga a small kiss on her lips before than making their way towards the lunchroom. While walking, Rodrigo proceeded to tell her about his parents' invitation.

"So uh, I've got some news." He said.

"What is it?" She asked.

"My parents want to meet you." He said.

Helga instantly stopped walking and gave Rodrigo a stunned look.

"What did you say?" She asked.

"I said, my parents would like to meet you." He said again. "They want to know if you are free to come over this Saturday evening."

"Crimeny, what is it with parents in wanting to meet their kids' significant other so soon?" Helga said annoyingly as she started walking again.

"My point exactly, but they felt that since I already met your family, they figured they should also meet you. I protested, but it's also inevitable."

"I guess..."Helga said rather softly.

"So, you free to come over this Saturday evening?"

"Ya, I guess I am. What time?" She said.

"6pm works for you?" He asked.

"Ya, it does. Just so you know, I'm planning on actually being there at 6pm." She said.

"Don't worry. My parents only run on Latino time with other Latinos." Rodrigo said with a bit of a chuckle.

The two teens then continued walking silently, both being in deep thought about Rodrigo's parents' invitation to meet Helga and both were...quite nervous.

"If you can describe your parents in two words, what would they be?" She suddenly asked.

"Loving, but strict." He responded.

"That's three words doofus." She said.

"You know what I mean." He countered. " My parents never hesitated to show me all the love and attention that I sought. However, just as equally, they are also strict and did not hesitate to ground me if it called for it. They can be a bit formal and old fashion over some things."

"Oh joy." Helga said sarcastically.

"I was always taught to respect your elders and address them as 'sir' or 'madam', as well proper etiquette." Rodrigo continued. "I couldn't really do some things without their permission or at least notify them first. Even when I wanted to invite my friends over, I had to ask their permission first."

"Sounds like they are a bit of control freaks." She remarked.

"A lot people thought so, but they just wanted to make sure that I grew up with morals and good manners, as well ensure that I was safe. They told me that themselves, even telling me that it is exhausting in trying to teach me all of this, but they were willing to go through with that just so I can have fun, be respectful and safe."

"That sounds...nice actually." Helga said a bit sadly, remembering her own upbringing in comparison with his. "They must really love you." She commented

"Yeah, they do." Rodrigo said nonchalantly, trying not to make that a big deal, even though it was for Helga.

"Just how strict are they?" She asked.

"Well, one time I invited a friend over and when my dad came to the room, my friend addressed him informally by his first name. My dad didn't take that kindly and scoffed at my friend for not respecting his elders and gave him a lecture to always address him properly, in front of me. My friend never wanted to go inside my house again after that."

"Ugh great." She remarked.

Rodrigo's and Helga's nervousness were not unfounded. Both understood the dilemma that Helga now found herself in with Rodrigo's parents and things didn't seem to stack well into her favour. Essentially, Helga's untraditional, unlady-like and highly independent personality may conflict with Rodrigo's parents' strict and formal nature. Helga was not at all comfortable on how formal Rodrigo's family were. Apart from the fact that she was never used to it, she didn't fit as the formal type. She also viewed such behaviour as being seriously uptight and by her point of view, unnecessary.

Rodrigo for his part knew this full well, but was really hesitating if he should tell Helga at all if she could perhaps...lessen that assertive and independent side of her personality. Apart from the fact that he didn't want to indicate that his parents would not approve of the real Helga, he didn't want to force her to become someone she wasn't. He knew that if he did that, he might as well break up with her right then and now, as Helga would never change herself unless she decided to. Plus, it would be just one big lie for everyone.

"Alright, I'll level with you, Latino boy." Helga suddenly said. "I'll 'try' to act a bit lady-like this Saturday, just so I can impress them."

"Um well...thanks Helga. I appreciate that." He said.

"You better." She said to him firmly. "And I'm not wearing a dress for the occasion."

"Don't worry. You won't have to." Rodrigo responded. "It's not that of a formal meeting."

As the two teens continued to walk, both pondered over another factor that was bothering both of them, and it was a crucial one. Arnold's parents have always been very accepting of Helga and her personality. Despite her tough exterior and cynical remarks, they usually allowed her to be herself, with little of any disapproving remark or gestures. This made Helga feel comfortable at the Sunset Arms, considering it one of the few sanctuaries where she can go and be herself, while not feeing bound by societal pressures to act otherwise. However, Helga and Rodrigo also knew that there was perhaps an ulterior motive as to why Miles and Stella were always so accommodating, even going beyond their limits, although how much did it influence them, they were not so sure. Miles and Stella both owed Helga an eternal gratitude for playing the key role, literally, in unlocking the cure that awoke them from the sleeping sickness, thereby reuniting them with Arnold. Her role not only revealed to Arnold and his parents, Helga's good and caring nature, it also gave Helga an advantage over other potential daughter-in-laws, ensuring that she would be on her potential parent-in-laws' good side. Although tempted on several occasions to take advantage of her 'elevated' disposition, Helga reframed from ever doing so at their expense. Unlike her parents, she came to view them as worthy of her attention, respect and even...love, coming to see Miles and Stella as eventual parental substitutes.

On the flip side, Rodrigo's parents had no such gratitude, nor any obligation to go to any serious lengths to accommodate her. There was no leverage that Helga could use to ease her way into his family's good side. She knew that in this case, Helga had to earn their respect and approval, which therein laid the problem. She had no idea on how she was going to achieve that. Well, not yet anyways.

Rodrigo was also fully aware of this and had a more realistic view on how this was going to turn out. Apart from Helga's tough exterior and assertive personality, there was also her unstable family life. Rodrigo was not sure how his parents would take it. Rodrigo was well aware that bringing someone like Helga to meet your parents could cause them to be concerned for their son, as any parent would. Although he had told his parents that Helga has gone through some tough times and even gave some detail on how bad she took it when Arnold left, he never went into serious details about her personal life, for fear that Helga would either kill him or his parents would completely disapprove of her. Because of these, he wasn't expecting his parents to be as accepting as Arnold's parents were, not by a long shot. He figured that if Helga can somehow pull this off and just get his parents to approve of her, he would be more than happy with just that. He wasn't expecting them to like her, nor was he expecting them to be close to her. He just wanted them to get along sufficiently enough for them to give him the thumbs up. Although it saddened him a bit that Helga would not really be as closer as she was with Arnold's parents, the approval was all he really wanted...no, needed.

There was also something else in mind. Regardless of how things will turn out between Helga and his own parents, Rodrigo wanted to ensure that Helga would not lose the close and emotional bond that she had developed with Arnold's grandparents, parents and the Sunset residents. They were the only people that ever demonstrated any concern and care toward Helga and Rodrigo did not want her to lose them. As far as he was concerned, they would always be her family.

There was a lot of take in for both teens and as much as they both tried to convince themselves that they were simply over thinking this, deep down both knew that there was a lot at stake. Nevertheless, despite their reservations, they braced for the inevitable. But first, they were now going to sit down and eat. Can't think on an empty stomach.

Saturday evening...

Helga made her way down the street that led to Rodrigo's house. Although it seemed like a typical walk, Helga felt she was walking into an abyss, a dark hole from which she herself didn't think she could ever get out. Ok, that may have been a little dramatic, but Helga was feeling rather uncomfortable. There was just so many questions, so many ifs and buts that could come out from this and she had very little control over them. Most of all, she was uncomfortable about how meeting Rodrigo's parents meant to her; their relationship was still moving forward, which meant that things were now getting serious.

Slowly but surely, Helga was feeling the pressure of having to slowly let go of a life with Arnold and now begin to embrace a new life with Rodrigo and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Frankly, she felt conflicted.

On the one hand, I feel happy that things are going well between us. She thought with a bit of a smile. I mean, I want things to move forward. Of that, I'm sure. It's just that...in order to do that, I have to push aside any possible fantasy of me and Arnold...having a life together. It's now over and done with...

Helga stopped walking and looked down onto the ground with her usual stern face as she thought about that; there's now no possibility of her ever being with Arnold. It's over, it'd done...

Helga still had a hard time admitting this and despite it all, she felt herself still resisting to this apparent revelation. The thought of her completely losing all hope of her ever getting together her, even in her fantasy, was slowly being taken away from her by the grim facts of reality...and she wasn't taking it well. Like always, she felt anger starting to circulate, confounding her mood.

No, no! I can't think about this right now! She thought. I'm on my way to meeting Rodrigo's parents. I can't go there while feeling all angry and irritated like this. Crimeny, what would they think of me?!

Helga immediately pushed such thoughts that soured her mood aside and just focused on the task at hand; to impress Rodrigo's parents. This is what she needed to do and she would not deviate it from it; this was too important for her to mess up.

Finally, after some more walking, Helga made it to Rodrigo's house. Bracing for the inevitable, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Well, here goes nothing. She thought.

The door swung opened. It was too late to back out now.

"Hi Helga." Rodrigo said.

"Hey Latino boy, you looking sharp today." She said with a smile.

"Oh thanks." He said as he moved aside to allow her to come in. "You look really beautiful." He said rather nervously.

"Thanks." She said.

Helga wore a nicely thin pink sweater, the necklace that Rodrigo have given her, with blue jeans and her usual shoes. Much to Rodrigo's surprise, she also wore two earrings, a feature that Olga insisted that she should wear, much to Helga's chagrin, but no make-up.

"You saying that I'm not beautiful the rest of the times?" She asked with a suspicious look.

"You're always beautiful, Helga. You are just more beautiful today than other times." He responded confidently.

"Good save." She said.

Just then, Rodrigo's parents came and Rodrigo instantly became nervous. He knew that he had no control over this. It was all up to Helga, which didn't help his situation.

"Helga, pleasure to see you again." Alfonso said with a smile and extended his hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you again as well, Mr. Castile." She said nervously and with a smile that she tried to make it look as genuine as possible and shook his hand.

"This my wife, Elisa." He introduced her.

"Hello Helga. It is great to finally meet you." She said with a smile and also extended her.

"The...pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Castile." Helga said through her teeth as she shook her hand.

Both Alfonso and Elisa were in their very late 40's but still looked rather young. Alfonso had dark black hair, like Rodrigo, but with a moustache. Elisa also had black hair, but was very long and went down to her upper back. It was thick and wavy, but not curly. Both had the same skin colour as Rodrigo. Both adults were a bit taller than the two teens and could be mistaken for young adults or even teens themselves, a fact that both adults took as compliments. Helga could easily tell where Rodrigo got his good looks; from both his parents. Elisa especially looked beautiful. With almost no wrinkles, she looked like still had a lot of energy and charisma, although she was soft spoken, but had the confidence that indicated to everyone that she was no pushover.

Alfonso was more quiet, if not introverted. He rarely spoke unless spoken to, or if the need arose. Yet, when he did speak, his words were often of extreme wisdom and clarity, a fact that prompted many of his colleagues and strangers to glance at him with awe. Yet, he never let his ego get the better of him and would never shy away from admitting his mistakes or if he simply didn't know something.

Rodrigo meanwhile became more nervous with each passing second. As the introductions were going on, he started to breath heavily and fidgeted with his hands.

"Please come in." Alfonso said as he gestured with his hand towards his house.

Helga said nothing and just smiled as she started walking inside.

Man, I could really use a drink right now. She jokingly thought.

Alfonso led them to the dining room where a whole meal was prepared for them. As expected, it was a traditional Latin American meal, with dishes coming from the diverse array of cuisine throughout the continent, making it impossible for Helga to figure out which country Rodrigo and his family originated from.

"Please help yourselves and take a seat." Alfonso said. "We just have to take out the last dishes."

Alfonso and Elisa then went back to the kitchen, leaving the two teens momentarily alone. Meanwhile Rodrigo was continuing to act around nervously, fidgeting his hands and breathing heavily.

"Will you stop acting so nervous?" She suddenly and sternly whispered to him.

"Sorry Helga, I can't help it." Rodrigo whispered back.

"Well, help it. Geez, you're making me nervous than I already am!" She whispered back to him.

Just then, the two adults came back with a dish and a bottle of wine, prompting Helga to immediately put her smile back on her face.

"Wow um...this all looks so great and delicious." She nervously said to them.

"Why thank you, dear." Elisa said with a smile.

Despite her nervousness, Helga wasn't lying when she said that. The second she entered the house, she could instantly smell the aroma of fine food readied for them to devour. Her mouth had immediately began to water before she even started walking towards the dining room.

"Well, please dig in." Alfonso said as they both sat down.

Helga nervously looked at her plate and saw that there were various utensils on both sides of her plate. She instantly realized that the dinner was going to be a bit more formal than she was told. Wanting to make an impression, she took a deep breath and courteously grabbed a fork and knife and began to etiquettely eat.

While eating, the parents soon started making conversation and Helga participated as formally and courteously as possible. She ensured that her passionate side was kept in check and carefully orchestrating her words, ensuring that every word was politely, and almost poetically, spoken. While Rodrigo noticed this change, his parents apparently did not and continued on with the conversation, much to his relief. Whatever she was doing, it seemed to be working. Then, after some more minutes, the real test began...

"So Helga, Rodrigo has told us that you have an eye for the arts and social sciences?" Elisa asked.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say the arts, really." Helga said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm mostly just into poetry. Sometimes painting. Nothing biggie. But I am interesting in involving myself in the social science, specifically in sociology or psychology."

"Any ideas on what particular field you would be interested?" Alfonso asked.

"Any field in either of the social sciences that would allow me to utilize poetry and arts." She instantly responded. "Over the years I've used poetry to...deal with some issues and it allowed me find things about myself. So I just put two and two together and figured that if the arts can help me, I can use it to help others."

"That's very noble of you, Helga." Elisa said rather impressively.

"Indeed, a mighty and worthy cause." Alfonso said

"Pfft, tell that to the government and its support for this 'noble' cause." Helga said, almost dismissively, while she rolled her eyes. "I'll be lucky if I ever manage to hold down a job with those qualifications and it'll probably be a dead-end job." She continued, not yet noticing the raised eyebrow look that Rodrigo's parents were giving her. Rodrigo said nothing and just nervously gulped and...prayed.

"I mean umm, thank you Mr. Mrs Castile, hehehe." Helga quickly rephrased her sentence nervously, fully remembering just whom she was talking to. "It'll take some work, but I'm positive that I'll achieve success in this field, hehehe."

Nice going Helga! She thought to herself. You only started talking to them for about a minute and already they must think you're a cynical, poverty-stricken bum.

Rodrigo's parents continued to look at her with both suspicion and confusion at Helga's sudden change in tone and attitude, but both decided to let it go...for now.

"I assume that you have certain poets whom you admire?" Alfonso asked.

"Yup. Maya Angelou, Edgar Allan Poe, Pablo Neruda, Oscar Wilde, Sappho, Elizabeth Browning and a few other ones somewhere." She responded. "And that's only poets. Don't even get me started with writers."

"Well, that's really impressive Helga." Elisa commented.

"And what about any poets that you don't like?" Alfonso asked curiously.

"William McGonagall..." Helga said softly but angrily. "I swear if there was ever a person that deserved the title of 'worst poet ever', it would be that Scotsman! What person within their right mind would ever write a phase as hideous as, 'the hen it is a useful beast, and struts about the yard also; It sometimes lays an egg or two, or three or four or more or so'." She continued mockingly. "It doesn't rhythm! The man had no scanning ability, let alone a good vocabulary to utilize. An absolute fraud, I tell you!" She exclaimed angrily, making everyone just stare at her with a surprising look on their faces.

"I mean um, I am highly critical of people who make a mockery out of an old and highly respectable profession." She completely re-phrased herself courteously and then nervously continued eating her dinner.

By now it was becoming clear to both parents that something was a bit off with Helga. They realized that her attempts to be highly courteous and 'lady-like' was not really what it seemed. It was either fake, or at the very least, was used as a cover-up to hide something else about her, something that she did not wish for them to see.

Alfonso was especially in deep thought about that, as he glanced at the two pigtail blonde girl that sat beside his son. He wasn't thrilled that Helga was going to great lengths to hide something about herself that will sooner or later be known them. No person can keep up with that charade for long. It made him feel not only awkward but also guilty, as he felt that she was not comfortable in his own house and as the host, that fell on him. Yet, he already knew why she was doing it; she wanted to get their approval. That much was obvious. What was really interesting him was how to get her to relax and be more comfortable in order to be herself. He wasn't going to just tell her to do that. No, he knew that she needed proof from them that they can be trusted in order for her to be herself. They needed to earn her trust. Luckily for Alfonso, he had personal experience in dealing with people like Helga and after some thought, knew just how to go about doing that.

"'Highly critical' is a bit too formal to do justice with what McGonagall tried to do. You don't need to hide your distaste of him. He really sucked." Alfonso said with a smile, prompting everyone to look him with a bit of a surprising look.

"I mean seriously, you would think that any poet, or any artist for that matter, would learn from past works of art and even take in consideration what some of his critics said of his work." He continued with a bit of a chuckle. "But that nimrod just did whatever his little heart desired, not taking into account in putting any structural sense into his work."

"Exactly!" Helga exclaimed happily. "Finally, someone who understand me!"

Both Elisa and especially Rodrigo said nothing and just started at Alfonso with wide eyes, shocked at what they were seeing.

"Rodrigo here thinks that I'm being too critical of him." Helga continued, oblivious to the shocking look Elisa and Rodrigo were giving Alfonso. "He thinks that I'm not taking into account a possible 'mental condition' that he may have had."

"Well, there was a book written about him by Norman Watson that said that McGonagall may have had some form of autism." Rodrigo explained, briefly recuperating his confidence. "I agree that his poems are terrible, but considering his behaviour and inability to take any advice to improve his poems, you don't need to go to overkill if the guy really is…"

"That still doesn't excuse him for making such deplorable poems!" Helga sharply exclaimed, interrupting him. "Other people have mental illnesses and they still managed to succeed. He was autistic, not retarded. He should have in some ways or form listened to at least one of those critics or recommendations from other poets. If he can't deal the criticisms, then he shouldn't be in the business. Besides, it's not like he minds my critique anyways."

"You ma'am, are one harsh critic." Alfonso said with a smile. "I wouldn't want to be in your reviews."

"Oh er, umm…thanks?" Helga said rather nervously and confusingly, not really sure what to make of Alfonso's comment.

"You should be. It was a compliment." He said, taking notice of her confusion. "You're harsh, but direct and honest. Any artist reading your reviews about their work should appreciate your straightforwardness. You give clear indication of where their strengths' lie, as well as their weakness. If they wish to improve on anything, they should heed to your opinion."

"See?" Helga said to Rodrigo with a triumphant smile. "Your dad agrees with my criticism."

"Ever considered in writing reviews about other people's work?" Elisa asked.

"I have. I'm currently enrolled at our school's poetry club and they've asked me to write some reviews and/or give opinions about some of our member's work." Helga responded.

"And how has that been working out for you?" Alfonso asked.

"So far, good." Helga responded. "Surprisingly, people there appreciate my straightforward reviews, so much so that the President there decided to name me as the chief critic for any poems that gets circulated within our club, or if any of them wish to get it published at the school's newspaper and want someone to edit their work."

"Congratulations! That's wonderful dear!" Elisa said with a smile. "You should be proud."

"Thanks Mrs. Castile." Helga said.

"Indeed. A toast to the school's new chief editor and critic." Alfonso said as he raised his glass to do a toast.

"Salud!" Everyone said.

As the evening continued on, Rodrigo slowly came to the realization that his nervousness was unfound. Helga had seemed to impress his folks, as it was becoming apparent that they were taking a liking to her. Alfonso especially was becoming very fond of Helga. Admiring her blunt and direct approach to being honest, Alfonso became much more relaxed, dropping any formalities and soon began to converse with Helga almost as if they were buddies. Alfonso would not even hesitate to use certain slang from both his times and the two teens' times, surprising them that he even knew them. Elisa was also impressed with Helga's strong and direct personality and became relaxed and just enjoyed her company. Yet even with that, Rodrigo still felt a bit unnerved, feeling that any moment his parents would see something about Helga that they did not like.

Moreover, he felt uneased at just how informal and relaxed his father had become throughout the evening. Out of all the years that he had known him, which was practically his whole life, he had never seen his dad like this, not even with his few friends. Even Elisa noticed the sudden change in him and although it wasn't such an extreme change, it was nevertheless noticeable. Alfonso was not ignorant of Rodrigo's stare and as the evening wore on, he realized he needed to say something.

"Rodrigo, hijo, you've been awfully quiet lately." Alfonso commented. "Everything alright?"

"Yea dad, everything is good." Rodrigo responded. "It's just that, I've never seen you this...informal before."

"It's true." Alfonso said with a bit of a chuckle as he looked at Helga. "Even before Rodrigo was born, I've always been a stoic type of person. Very serious, who usually didn't smile, let alone laugh."

"Well that's kind of a downer." Helga said. "How come?" She asked.

"I just didn't have a reason to smile, or tell jokes." He said. "I don't smile just because people expect you to. I do it because something actually makes me want to smile, or tell jokes."

"I hear you loud and clear on that." Helga said. "People always assumed that I'm a very serious, cold blonde girl roaming around school who never even cracks a smile. Heck, even Rodrigo here thought that...when he first met me, at least. I take it nothing really made you change?"

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Alfonso said. "There was one event that made me a bit more...relaxed."

"Which is...?" Helga asked.

"It was when I met my wife." He said. "Actually, you remind me a lot of her; back when I first met her."

"Really? How so?" Helga asked, being rather intrigued about it.

"It was about twenty-two years ago. We are at this local bar party, but we went there separately with our friends. We didn't know each other until that night. So after a while of some dancing and drinking, I was walking around the bar when I first saw Elisa. She was wearing this beautiful white dress and given the heat on that night, it was sleeveless and was a bit short, but not too much. Anyways, the first time I saw her, I was blown away. I just starting at her for a little while, being a bit mesmerized by her beauty."

"Oh stop it Alfonso." Elisa suddenly interjected, trying not blushing. "Don't exaggerate please."

"No, no, I'm telling the truth." Alfonso said. "I was actually so captivated that I was unable to even approach her. The reason? I was too shy, almost scared really, even though she wasn't really doing anything. I don't think she even saw me."

"Oh ya, I hear ya on that one." Helga said as she took a sip from her glass. "I'm rather surprised you even confessed to that."

"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong in admitting that you were shy or scared to approach someone you liked. It's happened even to the most confident, extroverted people." Alfonso said. "So why not just admit it to everyone and to yourself. There's no reason in hiding it."

Helga said nothing and almost slumped a bit down in shame, remembering the huge fear she had if Arnold ever found out her love for him. Despite how aggressive, confident, outspoken she was, she was almost never able to gather enough strength to admit to him her feelings for him. She just barely managed to do it twice, much to her own surprise and predictably, both times Arnold shied away from it. It was only after going through a treacherous course of trying to get the corazon, risking her life for him, that Arnold finally saw the type of person that she really was and what her confession actually meant to him.

"So I just stood there like an idiot, just staring at her." Alfonso continued. "Her friends were out dancing and for some reason she was standing at the side on her own. With her friends out of the way, I knew it was the perfect time to approach her and ask her to dance, but I was unable to. Then, a man approached her and asked her to dance with him. Naturally I was furious with myself because I thought I lost my chance, but I saw that she politely refused to dance with him. However, the man would not take no for an answer and insisted that they should dance. Again Elisa said no. Although I couldn't hear what she actually said to him, I could tell that it was a rather serious warning, given her facial expression. What did you say to that guy, Elisa?"

"After the second time, I told him that I wasn't interested and to get lost." She said triumphantly while sipping on some wine.

Helga just smiled at Elisa, a bit impressed that she would have the tenacity to say something like that.

"After that, she began to walk away." Alfonso continued. "Incredibly, the guy still refused to take 'no' for an answer and grabbed her by her arm in order to get her to stop. Did he grab you forcefully?"

"No." Elisa responded.

"What did you do?" Helga asked.

"Not like to being touched, unless I say so, I just turned around and punched him in the face and warned him that the next time he touches me, he will lose a piece of his manhood." Elisa said confidently.

"Ha!" Helga exclaimed happily as she applauded. "Good for you Elis...I mean Mrs. Castile. Much respect! I actually pity the poor sucker for ever trying to have his way with you like that. The nerve of him."

"Thank you, dear." Elisa said with a smile.

"Like you Helga, I was rather impressed by that. I knew that this was a woman that was highly independent and confident. Well that was all well and good, but the guy was obviously furious and starting stomping towards her, ready to start a brawl with her. I didn't what came over me, but I instinctively ran up to them and just in the nick of time, approached Elisa and posed as her boyfriend."

"Oh no you did not!" Helga said with a surprising tone in her voice. "Did that actually work?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Alfonso said. "I just said to my 'girlfriend' that I was sorry for coming late to the party, I just had some work finish at the office. I then waited to see if she would take the hint and play along. After a few seconds, she realized what happened and saw that the guy would have done something to her if I had not intervened and began to play along, much to my relief. I thought she was going to punch me as well. Thankfully, the guy finally admitted defeated and reluctantly walked away."

"Well I'll be." Helga said looking at Rodrigo's parents with an impressed and surprising look. "Mrs. Castile, you sly dog you."

"No, No that wasn't the end of it." Alfonso said. "Elisa wasn't really thrilled that I came in to 'save her' and began to chastise me for it. She told me that caught on to my ploy and said that I only came to her 'rescue' because I wanted to talk to her."

"Well, I didn't really know what to say to her. I wasn't really expecting her to be upset with me, so I just did the mostly logical thing; I told her that she was right."

"Really?" Helga asked.

"Yup. I told her that I knew that she had everything under control and there was no need for me to 'save her', so I just used her little scuffle as an opportunity to talk to her. Naturally that caught her off guard a bit because she wasn't expecting me to be so upfront with her. I told her that I would have approached her sooner, had I not been so shy, thereby preventing the guy from ever approaching her. I told her that in order to amend my failures, I asked her if I could have this dance with her. Again, to my surprise, she said no, but then said that I can buy her a drink instead. That drink turned out to be one long conversation. We didn't leave that party until 2 a.m. but I managed to convince her to see me the next day, which we did and the rest is history."

Rodrigo had already learned about the story of how they met years before, yet it still surprised him at just how different his mom was when she was younger with how she was now that she is older. Indeed, Elisa by now had largely abandoned her tough personality and had become more calm, sweet. However, she still had a quite a temper, as Rodrigo fully remembered the times when he upset his mother.

"So just how much has Mrs. Castile got you to be more relaxed and less stiff?" Helga asked.

"He would tell you not by much, I know that he changed considerably." Elisa quickly responded. "When he first met him, he was very stiff, formal and inflexible with sudden change. But over the years, he slowly began to relax a bit, enjoyed more of the sudden and unpredictability of life and just...enjoy. He still has his own strict rules, etiquette and code of conduct, but when compared to how he was before, it's a big a difference."

"But that change is mutual." Alfonso then intervened. "Elisa used to be a lot more...assertive and outspoken than how she is now. Back then, it was impossible to argue with her, mostly because she was often right, but also because she almost always wanted to have the final say."

"We had two extreme personalities, you'd might say." Alfonso said. "But as time went on, we continued working on it and slowly but surely, our personalities, instead of conflicting, became more...compatible with each other."

"And we are still learning." Elisa continued on. "So don't you two think that this tug and pull session will ever end. It doesn't, but it does get easier."

Rodrigo said nothing and just silently acknowledged his parents' wisdom. Helga was able to easily relate to their experience, but reframed from saying anything about it since she was not thinking at all about her relationship with Rodrigo.

Helga stayed at the Castiles house for a little while longer, but eventually it became time for her to leave. She thanked them for their invitation and hospitality and thanked them again for the hundredths time for the wonderful food. Rodrigo's parents wondered by Helga was so thankful for the dinner, but they just thought she enjoyed it. Unbeknownst to everyone, Helga's family never got around to preparing a meal on that day. With Miriam still attending her AA meetings and running errands all day and Olga and Bob working, no one had bothered to even warn Helga that there was no food for her. With her mom haven't yet gone grocery shopping, there was almost nothing in the house for Helga to cook or make. She had to scramble whatever was available and use her creativity to make a small sandwich for lunch. It was just another reminder of how much of a ghost she felt with her family. She was thankful that out of all the days that her family forget to feed her yet again, it was on the same day when she was going to meet Rodrigo's parents for dinner.

At least they had the courtesy to make a good meal for me. She thought.

Rodrigo opted to walk Helga home. As the two teens left, Rodrigo now had the chance to speak to Helga about how she felt about his family.

"So what'd you think?" He asked.

"I actually had a fun time." Helga said. "Man, I thought it was going to be like pulling your teeth out, but they turned out to be cool people to hang out with. And they are not as strict as you made it seem."

"Oh they are. They just didn't show it tonight." Rodrigo said.

"Well whatever the case, it seems that I made an impression on your parents." She said. "See, what did I tell ya? And you were nervous for no reason." She continued as she gave him a gentle punch to his shoulder.

"Ya, you're right. I got anxious over nothing." He said.

"You did." She said happily. "Well, big success tonight Latino boy. It looks like things will be smooth sailing from here on in."

Next weekend..

It was almost mid-afternoon and Rodrigo was at home, relaxing and watching TV. He had finished talking to Helga that morning, who then had to go and do chores and run errands. Gerald had earlier stated they can meet up later that evening and hang out, but nothing was yet confirmed. Given how late it was getting, Rodrigo didn't think anything was going to happen, which suited him just fine. He preferred to spend his Saturday at home, crouched on the sofa, watching his various documentaries that he always enjoyed watching.

*Ding-dong**Ding-dong*

The doorbell suddenly run. Rodrigo rolled his eyes and with a groan, slowly got up to answer the door.

Whoever it is, it'd better be important! Rodrigo thought to himself annoyingly.

He opened the door and was surprised to see the person who was standing right in front of him.

"Hey Latino boy. What's shaking?" Helga said with a confident smile.

"Hey Helga." Rodrigo said, completely surprised by her visit. "I thought you had chores to do."

"I did. Finished them early." She said.

"Well, what are you doing here?" He suddenly asked, still taken aback that Helga suddenly showed up at his house, just out of the blue.

"What, I can't see my boyfriend whenever I want to?" She remarked, looking a bit offended. "Do I have to an appointment?"

"No, no. It's not that." Rodrigo quickly responded. "It's just that you surprised me, that's all."

"Ya, I tend to do that every so often." She said. "So you gonna let me in, or is your other girlfriend still here?"

"She's still here, but I wouldn't mind if you also joined us." Rodrigo joked with a smirk and let Helga in.

"Ugh." Was all Helga said with a somewhat disgusted look on her face and walked in.

Although surprised by her sudden visit, Rodrigo was a bit concerned as to why Helga just suddenly showed up like this.

It's not like her to do this. He thought. Normally, she would call or text if she wanted to meet up. Did something happen?

"So, what you been doing all day?" Helga asked, throwing Rodrigo off from his thoughts.

"Nothing much. Just watching TV, mostly documentaries."

"Ah, I see. The boring stuff." She said.

"It's not boring! It's highly educational and...ugh, never mind." Rodrigo said. "Wanna watch a movie or do you wanna go for a walk?"

"Nah, let's just watch a movie for now. I already had my walk when I came here." She said, as she sat down on the couch and slumped down a bit, relaxing and waiting for Rodrigo.

Despite still being a bit concerned about her sudden visit, as the day wore down, he pushed such worrying thoughts aside and just focused on spending time with his girlfriend.

She probably just wanted to see me. He thought. There's nothing wrong with that. It's actually cute.

Rodrigo and Helga practically spent that entire Saturday together. While watching a movie, Rodrigo's parents came home and were almost as surprised as Rodrigo was when they saw Helga in their house, although in their case, they were happy to see her and even invited her to have dinner with them, which Helga accepted. After their movie, everyone then sat down to have dinner. Just like the previous time, Alfonso and Elisa dropped any formalities and enjoyed Helga's company, even throwing a few jokes here and there. Once Dinner was done, Rodrigo offered to take Helga out for some ice cream, which she didn't refuse, although she told him that he would have to pay this time, as she didn't bring any money with her. Rodrigo didn't mind and when The Jolly Olly man, who still drove his ice cream truck around the neighbourhood, rode by Rodrigo's house, he quickly went up to get some ice cream for them both. After they had their fill, the couple went up to his room and talked for a bit, but then settled on just watching another movie or two. By the time they finished, it was now past 9 p.m.

*yawn* Rodrigo yawned and stretched his arms and legs. "I don't know why but I'm beat."

"Ya, same here and we didn't do anything all day." Helga softly said, as she was lying on the floor, with her head on top of his legs.

"Ya, that's probably why." Rodrigo commented. "Being lazy is work, hahaha. Well, let's call it a day, it's getting late. Come, I'll walk you home."

"What, already?" Helga suddenly exclaimed as she jolted from the floor and instantly sat up right. "You know what? Yes, let's go for that walk, to the park. It's good for the heart."

"What? The park, at this hour?" He asked with a confused look.

"Ya, why not? I don't recall you having a problem going to the park on Christmas, at night, in the cold, with the snow falling down." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I don't have a problem going to the park this late, but..." Rodrigo began to say.

"Actually, who needs to go for that walk? I mean the flowers, the pollens and insects flying about, pfft. It's an allergic reaction waiting to happen." Helga suddenly interjected, albeit with some nervousness in her throat. "Let's play a game. I'm sure you must have some board games in here."

"Ookk..." He said with a suspicious look.

"What? I have boogers on my nose?" She asked.

"Helga, do you not want to go home?" He bluntly asked.

"Rodrigo, do you want to spend time with me?" She bluntly re-phrased his question back to him.

"I do, which is what I did, almost the whole day. And we have tomorrow to spend more time together."

"Why wait until tomorrow when I'm already here?" She exclaimed with a nervous smile.

By this point, Rodrigo was now suspecting that Helga, for some reason, did not want to go to home. However, he did not know how to get Helga to talk to him about it without coming off as inconsiderate or indicating to her that he did not want to spend time with her. He was tired and wanted to go to bed, but not wanting to aggravate her, he grudgingly settled to humour her.

"Ok sure, let's play game and hang out for a bit more." He said and then went to find a board game for them to play.

One hour later...

"Booya! Wow you really suck at this game." Helga remarked happily as she took away Rodrigo's last chips, much to his relief.

It was now past 10 p.m. and Rodrigo was now very tired, cranky and his patience wearing thin. He only played this game with her just to amuse her, but now that she won, it was now time for her to leave or she will have to explain to him what's been going on.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll get you next time." Rodrigo said with a smirk. "Well, good game, but I'm beat Helga. Let's call it a night. You're lucky I'm still going to walk you home."

"What, already? Boy, being lazy really exhausts you." She remarked. "The night's still young, why go to bed so early on a Saturday night?"

"Helga," Rodrigo said with a serious and annoyed tone, "it's late and I'm very tired." He said as he rubbed his eyes. "Let's call it a night, please?"

Helga was now becoming increasingly nervous. She knew that Rodrigo was reaching the end of his ropes and she was now at a crossroad where she would either have to tell him what happened or just go home. She couldn't go back home...not tonight at least.

"I promise we'll see each other again tomorrow." He pleaded, not really noticing Helga's nervous and dismayed look. "Let me take you home."

"Rodrigo...I can't go home." She finally confessed.

"What do you mean you 'can't go home'?" Rodrigo asked, not fully registering the seriousness of Helga's statement.

"I mean I can't go home. I...I don't feel safe." She said nervously.

"What? What happened?" Rodrigo asked worryingly, finally noticing the gravity of the situation.

Helga just rubbed her eyes and groaned, always hating on how having to always expel some piece of information about her home life.

"Ok, Bob is up to one of his usual rants again." She began to explain. "Sales at his business have been low for the past few months and Bob has been in a seriously grumpy mood, yelling at practically everyone and scoffing at them. Earlier today, I got into another argument with him. He ranted about how I didn't properly dust Olga's trophy displays, which I very well did, despite hating on having to do it! Anyways, that set me off and no longer taking his crummy attitude, I yelled back at him."

"Did he...hit you?" Rodrigo asked.

"No." Helga sighed softly. "That's one of the few things about Bob. Despite his short temper, he never laid a finger on me or Olga. But what we said to each other today was...not good. Anyways, long story short, I didn't want to deal with him so I just left. I didn't want to go back to my room and deal with it alone because...of what happened last time in November when I tried to do just that."

Rodrigo could not believe the turn of events. It was only last month when he went to her house to meet her family that her father revealed a softer side of him, stating that deep down, he really did care for Helga. But now with this news, it just seemed that everything went 180 degrees back to how things were, as if nothing had changed. Rodrigo couldn't help but feel bitterly disappointed in that he had some slight, albeit irrational, hope that things would eventually improve, at least with him coming into the picture.

"Normally in these situations, I would just go over to Phoebe's house," Helga continued, "but she's busy with Gerald tonight, sooo that's why I came to see you today."

Rodrigo then realized that Helga was indirectly asking him if she could sleep at his house for the night. He didn't need any time to think it over.

"Helga, you can stay here for tonight." He said.

"Thanks Latino boy." She said softly and with a small smile. "Do you think your folks wouldn't mind?"

Right after Helga blurted that question out, Rodrigo realized that he just overstepped his boundaries. He made an offer that was beyond his control to uphold. He still needed to ask his parent's permission, specifically his father.

"Um, I'm sure they would be ok with it, but let me just speak to them about it. Wait here." He said and with that, he walked out of his room and he closed the door, not wanting Helga to hear what his parents might say about this.

This was not a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Rodrigo knew that if he asked his parents, they would want to know the reason why his girlfriend would need to sleep over and that's what was worrying him. Rodrigo knew that lying to his parents was just not an option. There would be real and serious consequences not just for him, but also for Helga, if he lied for them and if they found out, but he also wanted to safeguard Helga's privacy and not divulge information that would jeopardize her trust in him. Either way, he would be risking something.

Rodrigo walked down the stairs and went into the living room, where both his parents were sitting and comfortably watching TV.

"Mama, papa?" Rodrigo nervously called out.

"Hola, hijo." Alfonso replied. "¿Helga ya se fue? No escuche la puerta abrir y cerrar." (Did Helga already leave? I didn't hear the door open and close.) He asked.

"No, Helga todavía está aquí." Rodrigo responded. "Y es de eso que necesito a preguntarles algo." (No, Helga is still here and that's why I need to ask you guys something.)

"¿De qué, hijo?" (About what, son?) Elisa asked.

Rodrigo now had his parents devoted attention. Nervously, he gathered up his strength and proceeded to ask them.

"¿Helga, se puede quedar aquí por la noche?" (Can Helga stay here for the night?) Rodrigo asked.

"¿Estas preguntando si ella puede dormir aquí?" (Are you asking if she can sleep here?) Alfonso tried to clarify.

"Si." Rodrigo asked, trying not to make it a big deal.

"¿Porque?" (Why?) Alfonso asked. "Si ella no se siente cómodo en caminar a su casa, no te preocupes. Yo lo puedo llevar en nuestro carro." (If she doesn't feel comfortable in walking home, don't worry son. I'll drive her home.)

"No es eso, papa." Rodrigo said. "Ella...no se siente cómodo en dormir en su casa esta noche." (It's not that. She...doesn't feel comfortable in sleeping in her own house tonight.)

"Ok." Alfonso said curiously, if not worryingly. "¿Que paso en su casa?" (Ok. What happened in her house?)

"Ella tuvo una mala discusión con su padre, tan mal que ella no se siente cómodo en pasar la noche en su casa, sola. No es que su padre la pega. Es que, ella no tiene una buena relación con el." He explained. (She got into a bad argument with her dad, so bad that she doesn't feel comfortable in spending the night in her house, alone. It's not that her dad hits her. It's just that she doesn't have a good relationship with him.)

By now Rodrigo's parents were alarmed and in shocked by this news. Alfonso almost instantly got up and asked,

"¿Rodrigo, esto ha ocurrido antes; ella pasando la noche afuera de su propia casa por la situación allí?" (Rodrigo, has this occurred before; her spending the night away from her home because of the situation there?)

"Si, papa." Rodrigo bluntly said. He made his decision.

Alfonso was now concerned about all of this and was now alarmed at the type of girl that Helga is, as well as the kind of family that she had. As much as he wanted to inquiry more about it, this wasn't the right moment. There was still the matter of allowing Helga to sleep over that night.

"Ok Rodrigo. Ella se puede quedar esta noche." Alfonso said. "Pero, bajo el condición que mañana, hablaremos mas de esto." (Ok Rodrigo. She can stay for tonight. But, under the condition that tomorrow, we discuss more about this)

"Ok. Gracias papa." Rodrigo said and went back upstairs to tell Helga.

Shortly after, Alfonso went upstairs to prepare the guest bedroom for Helga to sleep in. He went to the linen closet, got out some bed sheets and a cover and went into the guest bedroom to ready it. While he was busy getting the bed ready, Alfonso was in deep thought about all of this. Although never the type of person to not help out someone in need, this case was very different; it involved his son and he was worried about what kind of future he would have with Helga. Alfonso was so much wrapped up with his own thoughts that he almost didn't hear a knock on the bedroom door.

"Mr. Castile?" Helga called out softly.

"Oh Helga. You can come in; the bed's almost ready." He said, as he took a quick glance at her and then turned his head around to finish the bed.

Helga could tell as she went inside that there was some sort of tension in him. Clearly he wasn't happy about this arrangement and Helga was now starting to regret on even asking Rodrigo if she could stay here.

"Uh, thank you for letting me stay her for the night, Mr. Castile." She nervously said with a smile, hoping he wasn't too upset.

"Not to worry Helga." Alfonso responded rather dryly, not even bothering to turn around to look at her.

Helga instantly dropped her nervously smile as she felt her heart sank at Alfonso' response, as she now realized that she had now just sabotaged her good relationship that she was working on with Rodrigo's parents.

I shouldn't have come here. She thought to herself sadly.

Helga thought about just going back home and face Bob instead of becoming a burden to Rodrigo and his family, but it was too late by this point. She would only aggravate the situation if she left now, and so opted to stay and take it.

Just then, Alfonso was done and was about to leave the room when he turned around and said softly, but a bit stern tone,

"Have a good night, Helga." And gently closed the door, leaving Helga in her room alone, consumed with guilt and anxiety over what he must now think of her.

To be continued...