Chapter Seven
Kickin' It
Mornings. They always seem to come so suddenly and so unexpectedly. Helga hated mornings. She always felt like she'd never gotten enough sleep the night before, even if she had been sleeping for two days straight.
Helga had forgotten to shut her blinds the night before and the bright morning sun peeked in through her window, or rather flooded through her window so it looked more like she was on the face of the sun rather then basking in the rays of it. The golden light filled her room completely much to Helga's dislike.
"Ugh..." she moaned, having the sun bite at her eyes, trying to wake her. With much protest, Helga shoved her head under her pillow, but it was to no avail. Sure it kept the sun out, but Helga was already wide awake.
(Note to self: Commence with the diabolical sun plan...ASAP.)
Helga let out another groan as she sat up in her bed. Sleep still blurred her vision as she tried to focus in on her alarm clock. Her eyes bulged out suddenly.
"One-thirty?!" Helga screeched picking up the alarm clock to hold it closer, confirming her suspicions, but quickly dropping it as she scrambled out of bed. She had little over an hour to get ready for a party that would decide her fate probably for the rest of her high school existence. "God damn that sun..." she muttered, quickly rummaging through her closet for something to wear over her swimsuit. She decided on a pair of very short jean shorts that had rips in a few places and a tight black tanktop that read SOCIAL DISTORTION. "Always misleading me..."
Helga continued to grumble about the sun's stupid ways until she found a towel that was semi-clean and ran full-out into the bathroom, but not before yelling downstairs.
"Thank you, my loving family for waking me up!"
What a way to start the day...
As Helga washed her short blonde hair in the shower she realized that she was going to be swimming in an icky, vermin-infested lake.
(What the hell am I taking a shower for?)
Helga decided that she probably wasn't going to swim anyway. She'd just try to mix and mingle with her old crowd. Her old crowd... The pit in Helga's stomach was beginning to feel very uneasy as she realized that this afternoon she would have to talk to Phoebe. In a matter of hours no less! She knew she couldn't avoid it. Helga had Brainy and Gerald prodding her to do it.There's no way should could get out of it.
Helga sighed as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her big green towel around her. "I hope she's still the Phoebe I remember," Helga said to herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror. A sullen, blonde-haired teenage girl stared back.
Helga was now dressed in her shorts and tanktop with her swimsuit underneath as she ran downstairs to get something to eat. After fixing her hair, putting on her make-up since she wouldn't be swimming, spraying deodorant and perfume, and slipping on a pair of pink flip-flops, it was now 2:15 PM. Helga had time to spare.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked into the kitchen but nearly choked as she saw Brainy sitting at the kitchen table, sipping casually on a soda cup from Taco Bell and talking to Miriam. Brainy spotted Helga right away and waved her over.
"Well good afternoon, Sunshine," he said a bit sarcastically, taking a drink of his soda afterwards. Miriam looked surprisingly pleasant that day. Could she possibly be sober? Helga hadn't seen a day such as this in awhile.
"Well hello, Helga!" she greeted her daughter, pulling the unsuspecting girl into a tight embrace. "I see you got enough sleep last night."
"Ugh...yeah..." Helga muttered, still eyeing Brainy, obviously waiting for an explanation. He didn't seem to be obliging. The slow grin spread across his face instead. He was certainly one to tease.
"Your mom and I were just having a talk about her garden out back. I offered to pull weeds and do some yardwork for her tomorrow," Brainy said, which was as much of an explanation as Helga was going to get apparantly. His shaggy brown-blonde hair was hidden under a camo green fisher's hat and he was decked out in red trunks, a Hawaiian t-shirt and black flip-flops. Helga was surprised to see that the boy could actually tan! He was quite dark. Helga had always remembered Brainy as being horribly pasty and white.
She now to the initiative to raise her heavily penciled eyebrow. "Wow...I had no clue you had a garden, Mom." Helga looked a bit intrigued at the thought. "I barely remember us having a backyard come to think of it."
For some reason, this caused Brainy and Miriam to burst out laughing. Helga wasn't aware that she was being funny, but she joined in anyway, laughing as well. It felt good. Helga seldom laughed that much.
"I suppose...you kids should be...running along now," Miriam finally managed to gasp, after the laughter died down.
"What happened to picking me up at three?" Helga inquired, crossing her arms and looking over at Brainy accusingly as though he had been an hour late rather than early.
The grin never faltered of course. "I thought we'd stop somewhere before the party..." he explained...or as good as explained since it was said with that same mysterious voice.
Helga rolled her eyes. "Gah you're annoying me, Brainiac! Let's go already!" She grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet as Miriam stood up as well.
"All right...you two have fun. Helga, I have to take your father to the doctor to check his blood pressure. It's been getting a little high lately. After that we're going to a show...." She furrowed her brow a bit. "Some monster truck thing he wants to see."
Helga looked abashed. "I wanted to see that!" But Brainy was already opening the front door and shoving her through, much to Helga's protest. Helga just had time to grab her small pink wallet off the hall table before they were outside on the doorstep.
Memories of last night flooded through Helga suddenly and she for some reason felt a little self-conscious. Brainy didn't seem to notice however and he hopped down the stairs and presented his car to her.
Could you call it a car? It was an old OLD Buick that was grey; Helga couldn't tell if that was the actual colour or if the original colour had just peeled away. It was rusted around the tires and didn't seem to have a fender.
Brainy opened the passenger door. "Your chariot, m'lady." He gestured for her to take a seat inside.
"Are you nuts?!" Helga exclaimed, taking a step back while he grinned his head off. "Seriously, you must be off your rocker if you think I'm getting in that hunk of junk." A smirk danced on Helga's lips as she stood looking from him back to the car, her hands crossed over her chest and her hip jutting out slightly.
Brainy sighed. "I thought it would come to this so..." In a flash (how did he always manage that?) Brainy was in front of Helga and without a moment's hesitation, he'd hoisted her up over his shoulder.
"Hey you jerk!" she squealed, but she was laughing nontheless. "Put me down!" Helga beat her fists on his back, while he laughed as well, spinning her around. "Ah! You're gonna make me puke!"
Brainy then brought Helga down a little bit so she was in his arms and he walked over to the Buick, ever-so-carefully placing her inside as though she were made of glass.
Helga looked confused, but she was smiling. "Yep. You're nuts," she confirmed."
"Nuts with love for you, my dear!" He sang and he slid over the hood of the car and hopped into the driver seat.
Helga giggled as she put her seatbelt on.
(I bet he's a perfectly safe driver...) she thought once her seatbelt was fastened, but no sooner had this thought entered her head that he peeled out and was doing fifty in seconds.
"Jesus Christ!" Helga yelled, grabbing onto the dashboard. She was still smiling though.
Brainy laughed, taking his hat off and placing it on Helga's head. As they drove onto Main St. Helga began wondering where he was was going to take her before the party began. She was thinking someplace to eat, but she wasn't very hungry and he'd obviously already gone to Taco Bell. Where then? Helga couldn't be sure, or even begin to guess. Brainy had been full of surprises so far.
After driving for awhile, the music blaring full blast, Brainy finally turned left onto a lone road. A familiar lone road.
(Oh no. Oh no. He's not....he can't be....) Helga suddenly looked very fearful and her stomach jumped up to her throat. Partly because she was scared of where they were headed, and partly because Brainy had driven over a pothole doing forty.
Though Helga was already certain, she couldn't help but ask as she turned the music down. "Brainy, where are we going?" Her question was quiet and timid. Not at all like a question Helga would pose.
"I think you already know," Brainy answered simply as though he had been reading her thoughts all along. The windows were rolled down because of the rising temperature and the wind blew his sandy hair, cascading it around his impassive face. Brainy's left arm rested casually on the door as his other hand steered. He didn't turn to look at Helga, he just kept looking straight ahead, and Helga turned her eyes that way to, already knowing what to expect.
The big oak trees. The tall wraught-iron fence. The nicely-kept, t.v. green grass. The sign above read:
Tenneson Wood Cemetery
Helga felt as though she were about to pass out, and almost did except Brainy finally came to a stop and steadied her. Helga looked into his dark eyes, which looked very large at the moment.
"It'll be OK," he whispered and Helga nodded.
Ooo.....what could be lurking over the horizon? More to come! ^_^
Mornings. They always seem to come so suddenly and so unexpectedly. Helga hated mornings. She always felt like she'd never gotten enough sleep the night before, even if she had been sleeping for two days straight.
Helga had forgotten to shut her blinds the night before and the bright morning sun peeked in through her window, or rather flooded through her window so it looked more like she was on the face of the sun rather then basking in the rays of it. The golden light filled her room completely much to Helga's dislike.
"Ugh..." she moaned, having the sun bite at her eyes, trying to wake her. With much protest, Helga shoved her head under her pillow, but it was to no avail. Sure it kept the sun out, but Helga was already wide awake.
(Note to self: Commence with the diabolical sun plan...ASAP.)
Helga let out another groan as she sat up in her bed. Sleep still blurred her vision as she tried to focus in on her alarm clock. Her eyes bulged out suddenly.
"One-thirty?!" Helga screeched picking up the alarm clock to hold it closer, confirming her suspicions, but quickly dropping it as she scrambled out of bed. She had little over an hour to get ready for a party that would decide her fate probably for the rest of her high school existence. "God damn that sun..." she muttered, quickly rummaging through her closet for something to wear over her swimsuit. She decided on a pair of very short jean shorts that had rips in a few places and a tight black tanktop that read SOCIAL DISTORTION. "Always misleading me..."
Helga continued to grumble about the sun's stupid ways until she found a towel that was semi-clean and ran full-out into the bathroom, but not before yelling downstairs.
"Thank you, my loving family for waking me up!"
What a way to start the day...
As Helga washed her short blonde hair in the shower she realized that she was going to be swimming in an icky, vermin-infested lake.
(What the hell am I taking a shower for?)
Helga decided that she probably wasn't going to swim anyway. She'd just try to mix and mingle with her old crowd. Her old crowd... The pit in Helga's stomach was beginning to feel very uneasy as she realized that this afternoon she would have to talk to Phoebe. In a matter of hours no less! She knew she couldn't avoid it. Helga had Brainy and Gerald prodding her to do it.There's no way should could get out of it.
Helga sighed as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her big green towel around her. "I hope she's still the Phoebe I remember," Helga said to herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror. A sullen, blonde-haired teenage girl stared back.
Helga was now dressed in her shorts and tanktop with her swimsuit underneath as she ran downstairs to get something to eat. After fixing her hair, putting on her make-up since she wouldn't be swimming, spraying deodorant and perfume, and slipping on a pair of pink flip-flops, it was now 2:15 PM. Helga had time to spare.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked into the kitchen but nearly choked as she saw Brainy sitting at the kitchen table, sipping casually on a soda cup from Taco Bell and talking to Miriam. Brainy spotted Helga right away and waved her over.
"Well good afternoon, Sunshine," he said a bit sarcastically, taking a drink of his soda afterwards. Miriam looked surprisingly pleasant that day. Could she possibly be sober? Helga hadn't seen a day such as this in awhile.
"Well hello, Helga!" she greeted her daughter, pulling the unsuspecting girl into a tight embrace. "I see you got enough sleep last night."
"Ugh...yeah..." Helga muttered, still eyeing Brainy, obviously waiting for an explanation. He didn't seem to be obliging. The slow grin spread across his face instead. He was certainly one to tease.
"Your mom and I were just having a talk about her garden out back. I offered to pull weeds and do some yardwork for her tomorrow," Brainy said, which was as much of an explanation as Helga was going to get apparantly. His shaggy brown-blonde hair was hidden under a camo green fisher's hat and he was decked out in red trunks, a Hawaiian t-shirt and black flip-flops. Helga was surprised to see that the boy could actually tan! He was quite dark. Helga had always remembered Brainy as being horribly pasty and white.
She now to the initiative to raise her heavily penciled eyebrow. "Wow...I had no clue you had a garden, Mom." Helga looked a bit intrigued at the thought. "I barely remember us having a backyard come to think of it."
For some reason, this caused Brainy and Miriam to burst out laughing. Helga wasn't aware that she was being funny, but she joined in anyway, laughing as well. It felt good. Helga seldom laughed that much.
"I suppose...you kids should be...running along now," Miriam finally managed to gasp, after the laughter died down.
"What happened to picking me up at three?" Helga inquired, crossing her arms and looking over at Brainy accusingly as though he had been an hour late rather than early.
The grin never faltered of course. "I thought we'd stop somewhere before the party..." he explained...or as good as explained since it was said with that same mysterious voice.
Helga rolled her eyes. "Gah you're annoying me, Brainiac! Let's go already!" She grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet as Miriam stood up as well.
"All right...you two have fun. Helga, I have to take your father to the doctor to check his blood pressure. It's been getting a little high lately. After that we're going to a show...." She furrowed her brow a bit. "Some monster truck thing he wants to see."
Helga looked abashed. "I wanted to see that!" But Brainy was already opening the front door and shoving her through, much to Helga's protest. Helga just had time to grab her small pink wallet off the hall table before they were outside on the doorstep.
Memories of last night flooded through Helga suddenly and she for some reason felt a little self-conscious. Brainy didn't seem to notice however and he hopped down the stairs and presented his car to her.
Could you call it a car? It was an old OLD Buick that was grey; Helga couldn't tell if that was the actual colour or if the original colour had just peeled away. It was rusted around the tires and didn't seem to have a fender.
Brainy opened the passenger door. "Your chariot, m'lady." He gestured for her to take a seat inside.
"Are you nuts?!" Helga exclaimed, taking a step back while he grinned his head off. "Seriously, you must be off your rocker if you think I'm getting in that hunk of junk." A smirk danced on Helga's lips as she stood looking from him back to the car, her hands crossed over her chest and her hip jutting out slightly.
Brainy sighed. "I thought it would come to this so..." In a flash (how did he always manage that?) Brainy was in front of Helga and without a moment's hesitation, he'd hoisted her up over his shoulder.
"Hey you jerk!" she squealed, but she was laughing nontheless. "Put me down!" Helga beat her fists on his back, while he laughed as well, spinning her around. "Ah! You're gonna make me puke!"
Brainy then brought Helga down a little bit so she was in his arms and he walked over to the Buick, ever-so-carefully placing her inside as though she were made of glass.
Helga looked confused, but she was smiling. "Yep. You're nuts," she confirmed."
"Nuts with love for you, my dear!" He sang and he slid over the hood of the car and hopped into the driver seat.
Helga giggled as she put her seatbelt on.
(I bet he's a perfectly safe driver...) she thought once her seatbelt was fastened, but no sooner had this thought entered her head that he peeled out and was doing fifty in seconds.
"Jesus Christ!" Helga yelled, grabbing onto the dashboard. She was still smiling though.
Brainy laughed, taking his hat off and placing it on Helga's head. As they drove onto Main St. Helga began wondering where he was was going to take her before the party began. She was thinking someplace to eat, but she wasn't very hungry and he'd obviously already gone to Taco Bell. Where then? Helga couldn't be sure, or even begin to guess. Brainy had been full of surprises so far.
After driving for awhile, the music blaring full blast, Brainy finally turned left onto a lone road. A familiar lone road.
(Oh no. Oh no. He's not....he can't be....) Helga suddenly looked very fearful and her stomach jumped up to her throat. Partly because she was scared of where they were headed, and partly because Brainy had driven over a pothole doing forty.
Though Helga was already certain, she couldn't help but ask as she turned the music down. "Brainy, where are we going?" Her question was quiet and timid. Not at all like a question Helga would pose.
"I think you already know," Brainy answered simply as though he had been reading her thoughts all along. The windows were rolled down because of the rising temperature and the wind blew his sandy hair, cascading it around his impassive face. Brainy's left arm rested casually on the door as his other hand steered. He didn't turn to look at Helga, he just kept looking straight ahead, and Helga turned her eyes that way to, already knowing what to expect.
The big oak trees. The tall wraught-iron fence. The nicely-kept, t.v. green grass. The sign above read:
Tenneson Wood Cemetery
Helga felt as though she were about to pass out, and almost did except Brainy finally came to a stop and steadied her. Helga looked into his dark eyes, which looked very large at the moment.
"It'll be OK," he whispered and Helga nodded.
Ooo.....what could be lurking over the horizon? More to come! ^_^