Chapter 3:Dissect Arnold...I mean, a fetal pig
Fall, 2006
"Thanks for the ride, Arnold," I said as he pulled into a parking spot.
"Sure," he replied.
He had been acting weird all morning, or at least I thought so. He offered me a ride to school and bought me a coffee, very random acts of kindness. He was being really friendly, when all of a sudden his mood just completely changed. He barely talked at all after we went into the coffee shop, and I wondered why but didn't say anything about it.
"Okay, well..." I started getting out of the car, while Arnold just stared down at the steering wheel. "I'm gonna go to class now. You probably should too..." When I still got no response from him, I closed the door and started walking into the school.
"Helga!" I turned around, and saw Arnold a few feet away from me. "Do you think...would you want to come to school with me from now on? I mean, so you wouldn't have to wake up so early." He stood there, waiting for me to answer him.
I thought about it for a second, then shook my head slowly. "It's out of the way for you-"
"No, it's not. I drive by your house every morning on my way to school. All I have to do is stop, its not that hard." He smiled at me, then looked down at the ground.
"Well, if you're okay with it, then so am I," I answered. "Thanks, Arnold."
He looked back up at me and smiled again. "Come on, let's go to class now before we're late," he said, stepping around me and holding the door open.
I stared at him dumbly for a minute, then shook my head, almost to clear it. I walked past him and sighed deeply. It was at that exact moment that I knew...I had never stopped loving Arnold.
I spent my whole first class anxiously awaiting the next one - biology, one of three classes I had with Arnold. Ever since my recent discovery...well, I couldn't really call it that. Actually, I couldn't really say that at all. I had known all along that I still loved him, I had just tried to ignore it. Which, I guess, sort of helped me to make friends and stuff, but whatever. Now, I was floating on Cloud Nine, like I used to in elementary school. I walked to my locker, moved some stuff around, and went to biology. Now that I thought about it, biology was probably my favorite class that year, because Arnold was my lab partner. So anyway, I waltzed into the classroom and sat down, just waiting for Arnold to walk in.
The door opened.
I looked up hopefully, but was disappointed to see Brainy enter the room.
Brainy...I hadn't talked to him in awhile. Actually, I never talked to him, really. Let's put it this way - I haven't punched him in awhile, and I mean that in the best way possible.
"Hey," I greeted as he walked by.
He stopped in his tracks and stared at me, then said "hey" really quietly.
"How have you been?" I asked him.
"Okay," he answered, "you?"
"Same..." I told him. At that second Arnold walked into the room. "Things are looking up," I said, trying not to let on the reason why.
Brainy looked at me, then at Arnold, then back at me and smiled. "See you around, Helga."
I smiled back at him, and he walked away just as Arnold took his seat next to me. "Hey," he said, sounding a little out of breath.
"Hey," I replied, looking at him questioningly. He noticed, and said, "I just came from P.E. We had to run two miles today."
"Oh," I answered, trying not to sound like I was hanging on his every word.
But then Mr. Turner started talking about our next lab project, and I needed to focus.
Turns out it was one of those labs where, ya know, you think it's at the end of the week or something but it's not - it's today. So I was stuck hanging on Arnold's every word for the entire class period while we dissected a fetal pig. And I mean, come on, it can't get any more romantic than that, baby.