So please excuse the last chapter you read- i've been updating on mobile and apparently it hasn't updated a SINGLE CHAPTER except for one which was out of order from the story. i didn't realize you'd all been waiting so long for a new chapter! I thought I'd posted all of them. That's the last time I"M using mobile to update my story!
Anyway, sorry about all that. please disregard the last chapter (which has now been deleted) and instead we are in summer right now and shall go forth from there. hope i didn't confuse anyone!
Please review!
Ahh, summer. Sweet, sweet summer- the time of year all kids dream of and wait for the entire year long. I must say, it's been a good one so far, but I will admit, I'd been hoping to see more of Arnold than I have been. I have to give him credit though, he's been trying, but he's just been so busy with his parents lately. They've been doing all the things with him that they've longed to do all year while school was in session like go to the botanical gardens and the zoo and all the other places they've wanted to go with him that it leaves little time for him to hang out with me.
That sounds so greedy.
I should be happy for him. I should be ecstatic for him and his first summer with his parents since last. His first FULL summer with them.
Don't get me wrong, we still talk and stuff and I get to share in family dinner most weeks still. It was at his last family dinner that his family came up with the idea that we share in a rather... unexpected experience.
"Helga," Miles asked in between bites, "You ever gone camping?"
I shrugged my shoulders and prepared a bite of food. "Like once. Bob wanted to use a bunch of his stupid products so we went out in his camper and ran into football-head here and got lost and it was a whole thing," I explained and Arnold nodded his head.
"We used a bunch of tools that Grandpa taught us to find our way back to camp," he finished explaining for me and both Stella and Miles nodded their heads.
They shared a look before Stella dropped the bomb. "Well we were thinking, what better way to share in summer than to go camping? As a family?"
I glanced over at Arnold before speaking. "Like... me too?"
Miles chuckled and nodded his head. "Well you're practically part of the family, aren't you? So of course you're invited. What do you say?"
Naturally, I said yes, even though I hated camping the last time I went. But I figured this time will be different what with going with Stella and Miles- people who ACTUALLY know what they're doing. I mean, they've lived in the JUNGLE for cripes sake. I'm pretty sure they can handle a little camping.
We're planning to go this weekend and Arnold is pretty excited. I guess I am too but I'm more just grateful to spend the extra time with him. I'm so nervous about our future schedules for middle school and never being able to see him. I'm still working on my master plan about how to get on his team or whatever but I haven't been able to figure anything out yet. Maybe Phoebe will have some ideas.
Here's to camping in the wild!
Helga G. Pataki
Phoebe had a genius idea!
About my master plan that is.
I just got off the phone with her and she said that I should speak to the school counselor who, contrary to MY belief, isn't really like Dr. Bliss, and is in charge of scheduling and can fix me up with Arnold's team.
NOW I just have to think of the right excuse to get me on his team... maybe I should wait a day or two and say I hate a teacher or something... wait it out and feel out the situation. There has to be SOMETHING I can do to get on his stupid team.
Then again, there is the off-chance that I do get to get on his team anyway. I'm still hoping for that but let's be honest, my luck isn't all that great and schemes are all I'm really good at so I have to be prepared.
Scheming and Calculating,
Helga G. Pataki
Well, today is the day. Today is the day that we go a-camping in the big ole nature-fest that is the woods.
I'm all packed and ready, though to be honest, I had to borrow a lot of stuff from the Shortmans because I didn't really have camping gear. Not REAL camping gear that is. So anyway, I'm all set to go and I'm bringing you along in hopes that maybe the nature will inspire me to write some bomb poetry or something while I'm out. Also, so I can let you in on all the fun or craziness or shenanigans we get into while we're out on our two day adventure.
They'll be along any minute to pick me up so I'd better get going.
You'll be hearing from me soon!
Helga G. Pataki
I'm sitting around a campfire right now. It's really serene and beautiful. I always loved looking at fire and the way the colors mix around one another like paint on canvas. If you look close enough, you can see all the different varieties of oranges and yellows and even the hot blues and hotter whites that flicker about above the coals and lumber.
Even now, I hear the peaceful sound of nature around me, the sound of the world moving on in it's own rhythm with the birds nesting in for the night and the crickets coming out to play with the fireflies that dance about the night sky. It's a irenic scene unlike any other, and I love it. I absolutely love it.
It's been a very full day of hiking and getting ready for this moment of quiet that I'm enjoying right now. I feel like the day has dragged on into two full days already and it's only been a few hours in the great span of things.
It all started when the Shortmans picked me up from the emporium around 10 o'clock this morning and we rode off in search for their perfect spot in the woods and parked the car. I figured we'd just go to some camping spot, but they wanted to hike to a spot that Grandpa had told them about, so we took off for it with backpacks on full of gear and water jugs in hand. I felt like we were preparing to be out in the woods for a week but in reality we were just going for a couple of days. It's crazy to think how many things we had just in preparation for our little camping trip.
Anyway, we trekked through the terrain which was surprisingly rougher than I had imagined. Nothing compared to the crazy hike that we had gone through in San Lorenzo, but it certainly wasn't any fun. We talked the whole way, which made the walk not as tasking, but while we were walking and talking, I opened my mouth and swallowed a fly, a full on FLY and coughed and coughed trying to get that sucker out of my esophagus as it struggled inside of me.
Miles immediately turned around from where he was walking ahead of me and walked towards me to slap me on the back, "Are you alright? What happened?" He asked and I coughed some more while bending over and holding myself by my thighs.
"F-f-fly," I mustered while then pointing to my throat. "Fly!" I shouted as I swallowed the beast feeling like the little old lady who swallowed a fly and shuddered at what I'd just consumed.
"Oh boy, you swallowed a fly, huh?" Miles said while giving me one more pat on the back and looking at me.
"Definitely not a good start to our travels," I said with a small smile and Miles smiled back at me while squeezing my shoulder.
"Well it's a long day yet, and we've got plenty more things planned to make up or your breakfast," He said with a chuckle and I rolled my eyes.
"Hilarious," I commented as we continued on our walk up the giant hill to get to our 'perfect spot.'
"Wow," Stella said as she set her backpack down on the ground and stretched out her back. "Check out this view," She said while catching her breath as Arnold stood beside her and looked out at the lake that was directly ahead of us.
"It's beautiful." Arnold commented while setting down his water jug and smiling while walking down the trail a bit to get a closer look at the lake.
"So this is the perfect spot Phil was talking about, huh?" I asked as Miles and I approached and I threw my backpack on the ground and tossed the water jug beside it while leaning far back to give my back a break from all the carrying it'd been doing.
"Guess so," Miles said, "Dad claims it has the best view of the lake at sunset in the whole camping site. Just have to get to it first."
"And some of the rarest flowers," Stella added with a smile and I nodded my head.
"Cool," I commented before placing my hands on my hips, "So what do we do first? Flowers, or hunt around for sticks and stuff? I don't really know how this 'full camping experience' works."
"Well first we have to set up camp," Arnold said while turning around to look at his parents. "Right?" he asked as they nodded their heads.
"Camp is right. We have to have that all ready to go so we have somewhere to sleep tonight when we're exhausted after today." Miles then clapped his hands and set his hands on his hips. "So let's set up some tents! You all ready? We've brought two, one for the ladies and one for us men who's ready to get this party started?!"
And thus began the tent fiasco. Miles inducted some friendly competition between the two of our groups in who could put up their tent first and it induced adrenaline into my system though my body couldn't seem to work with it. I tried and tried to put up the poles of that old dang tent but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to put the right pieces together, even WITH Stella's instruction. It was like my hands were lost with my brain and I couldn't succeed and of COURSE, the boys won.
Not that they bragged though.
Nah, they were kind about it and only rubbed it in our faces for a little while until we decided to explore the surroundings a little more with Stella in the lead.
"I can't wait to see what these woods have in store for us," She commented as we wandered through the thick underbrush of the trees and long grass that was our new home for the next two days. "We haven't done a lot of traveling in woods, have we Miles?"
Miles shook his head as he pushed some branches away from his face and held them there for me to walk through the opening, "No sweets, we really haven't. It's mostly been jungle after jungle for us, hasn't it?"
"Too many jungles if you ask me," She commented as we continued to make our way through the deep wood.
"Do you miss the jungle?" Arnold asked as he followed in his parents' footsteps.
Stella shrugged her shoulders while turning to look back at Miles with an understanding sort of look on her face. "Not really. Our time there is over and it's time to explore new places. Places like this."
"Hillwood?" I asked rather plainly.
Miles spoke up then with a smile on his face, "You may have grown up here but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of places left to explore."
I rolled my eyes, "Somehow, I highly doubt that," I stated but Miles disagreed with me.
"Remember that I grew up here too, you know," he reminded me, "and while I may have been gone for 10 years, there's still plenty left to find about this old city."
"Like what? Name one thing," I challenged with a narrow of my eyes and he narrowed his own eyes back at me before listing one.
"How about where we are right now, Miss Pataki?" He said and I raised my brow. "You haven't explored these woods before, now have you? You're in a new territory right now, aren't you?" He asked and I sighed, knowing he was right and I couldn't even fight it.
Arnold smirked from where he walked behind his mother and he turned around to look at me. "Looks like my dad got you, Helga." He said and I stuck my tongue out at him as he laughed.
"Fine, fine, you win this round daddio," I called him and he laughed out loud at the nickname as he stopped behind his wife who was squatting down to look at a plant in her path.
"Hey! I'll take it," He said with a wink and I couldn't help but grin.
This was the kind of family I'd always wanted to be a part of. This kind of joking, laughing, kidding around group of weirdos who just understood me in a way that most other people didn't. It was with the Shortmans that I felt most comfortable and the more I spent time with them, the more I realized this simple fact- the fact that they had BECOME my family in a way my own family never could and probably never would. How sad is that?
Anyway, we spent most of the day wandering around the woods looking and tracking flowers and learning a lot about the different species of plantlife that lived in our own backyard. It was actually way more interesting than it sounds and if Stella taught a class about it in school, I'd totally take it because she managed to make it fun AND educational which is hard to do. But being around her and Miles made it feel adventurous and exciting even though we were really just walking around and glancing at plants which actually, as I'm writing it, sounds super boring and dull.
We laughed, and talked about this and that, school and all the things that had happened in between them being gone and returning, our classmates that they had briefly met over their time being back and everything in between. It was educational for everyone I guess. And before we knew it, we were back at our campsite just as the sun was beginning to set and what a sight it was.
"Boy, would you look at that sunset," Miles commented as we stood in the center of our little campground and stared out at the sky as it lit up above the waters of the lake ahead of us just where the trees split to let out to the small beach-like area.
The sky was a mixture of pinks and oranges, the hues swirling into one another as if someone had painted it themselves in the open canvas in front of us; the sun shimmering just above the water where it's reflection stood staring back up at it from below. I wished I had a camera to take a picture of the pure beauty that I was staring at, but even then, I knew that nothing could capture the purity that I was looking at, not truly.
"Wow," I murmured as I watched on at the gorgeous sight to behold, "Phil was right... this really IS the perfect spot."
Clouds framed the sunset perfectly like little cotton balls floating mid-air in the mixture of colors that surrounded the setting sun. I stared at the image for a long while, silence hovering over the four of us as we all took in the stunning picture that nature had made for us, and for us alone it felt. For a while, it felt as though all my troubles and the world itself had melted away and all that was left were us and this sunset; the breeze of the hot air swirling around me as if to whisper something in my ear- a secret to be kept between me and mother nature itself.
And then the moment was gone.
"Ready to get a fire going?" Miles asked us abruptly, pulling me from my daydreams and the sunset ahead of us, "I'm starved. How about some grub? We brought plenty!"
So then began dinner, family dinner but on location in our camp site with our sticks to roast hot dogs over the open fire that took WAY too long to start but Miles really sucks at starting fires. We couldn't stop laughing at him trying to start it and as hard as he tried, he couldn't get it going which only prompted us to laugh more at him as he grew frustrated and eventually handed off his tools to Stella who lit the fire with ease. It was really quite enjoyable.
Dinner was fun, we told stories and listened intently as Miles and Stella reminisced about their adventures firsthand from before Arnold was even born; Arnold's eyes wide the entire time as he heard these stories for the first time from his parents' own mouths. I found myself staring at Arnold and watching his every movement intently, fascinated with each facial expression he portrayed and every laugh that echoed from his lips at his parents' stories. He was so happy. I had never seen the kid more happy than in this moment as we sat around the campfire telling simple stories. And his happiness only made me all the more happier myself. It was like the circle of happiness or something. Cue that song from the Lion King.
Anyway, so now that brings us to where I sit around the fire after everyone has long gone to bed and I'm still up. The sky threatens rain though Miles doubts it actually will, but I have a bet going against him that it will pour. I know my clouds.
Oh crud, Arnold's up. He just walked out of his tent. He's looking at me. Maybe I should stop writing. No, I'll keep writing. Pretend I don't notice him. Maybe he's just up to go to the bathroom. La la la blah blah blah I'm writing to distract myself from Arnold. Nope. Nope. He's coming this way. I'd better go. I'll be back.
It's probably been like an hour or two. It's hard to tell because it's so dark outside and I don't have a clock or anything to tell me what the actual time is but Arnold and I have been talking for a long while now. Not about much in particular, mostly about the day, but I'll give you a few highlights in a second.
This kid. THIS KID. What is it about him that makes me so doe-eyed and honest and willing to be myself? What is it about him that makes me go all jello at the knees and feel all funny inside like there's a million bees buzzing under my very skin? It's like every time I'm even AROUND the guy I go all nuts-o and lose myself completely to his charm and utter self. Like tonight for instance. All I was doing was minding my own business around the campfire writing in my journal like a normal person and HERE he comes out of his tent to TALK to me and me ALONE. So then this SWITCH in my mind flips and all of a sudden my palms get all sweaty and I'm sweating in places I've never sweated before and my mouth is dry and I can't stop fidgeting because I don't want to go into full on Helga G. Pataki mode.
The whole thing is RIDICULOUS.
So I make small-talk with the football-head, right? Talk about the weather, talk about the day, talk about anything but whatever it is that he's clearly come out here to talk about, of course. But sooner or later I run out of things and it all comes out; everything comes out that he wants to talk about, that is.
"So how are you enjoying the camping trip so far?" He asks me and I shrug my shoulders while setting my journal closed on my lap.
"Fine I guess. I mean, it's been fun, really fun, you know. Interesting. Educational?" I struggle with adjectives to describe my time with him and his family and he chuckles as he sits on the log in front of me across the crackling fire.
"Well which one is it?" He asked and I shrugged my shoulders while looking at my feet and inwardly beating myself up at the stupid answer I'd given him.
"All of them...?" I finally said and he nodded his head.
"Well I'm glad, then," he responded, "because I wanted to talk to you about it and stuff."
I raised my brow at him as the fire cracked a few times at the silence I let fall between us for a brief moment. "And stuff? What do you mean?"
"I guess... I guess I just, well," he was struggling with whatever it was he wanted to tell me and I leaned in slightly to listen as he spoke, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't feel uncomfortable with us."
I smirked and leaned back after he finished his sentence. "Why would I feel uncomfortable?" I asked and he shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. Because... we're... you know."
"I DON'T know," I said rather harshly, "Why, Arnold?" I pressed and he looked down at his lap.
"Because... we aren't your family. But we want to be."
This took me off-guard and he immediately began talking again. "We WANT you to be, keep that in mind. If we didn't, then you wouldn't be here."
I nodded my head slowly, trying to piece together the words he'd spoken to me, but they didn't make sense to me. "So I should be uncomfortable here with you guys?" I asked and Arnold shook his head at me.
"No, no, I don't want you to be uncomfortable, that's the point. I want you to feel as comfortable as you possibly can around us and around me. You do, don't you?" He wondered and I felt the clamminess of my hands intensify as he asked the question and I nodded my head.
"I feel comfortable. Especially around you. You make things feel... at ease... inside my brain. If that makes sense." I muttered and he smiled while nodding his head.
"I'm glad," he said softly while standing up to move and sit beside me on my log. After a minute or so, he spoke again, this time anxiously. "Are you nervous about going into middle school?"
I scoffed while shaking my head. "You have no idea, Hair Boy," I muttered back at him.
"Try me," he pressed and I glanced over at him before taking a deep breath and revealing my innermost fears at long last, even though I had a plan to remedy them if all went wrong.
"I guess I'm just scared we won't have classes together," I admitted, "and that we won't see each other or anything and that we'll... we'll..." I couldn't finish the statement but Arnold was smart enough to figure it out for me.
"We'll not be together?" He said as more of a question than a finishing of my sentence and I nodded my head sheepishly not wanting to admit that the thought had crossed my mind.
"Well," he started, "I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it," he said calmly. "But if we're strong enough, and if you care about me as much as you say that you do and if you trust me, then we'll be fine. Do you trust me, Helga?"
It was a loaded question, whether he knew it or not. Did I trust him? Did I trust Arnold not to break my heart by leaving me when we had just gotten started? Did I trust him not to hurt my fragile heart when I was giving him all of me, my very soul and very core of my being? Did I? Did I trust him?
I turned to look into those deep green eyes I'd pined over since the day I'd met them and nodded my head. "Yeah," I breathed out, "I trust you."
"Then we'll be okay," he said with a warm smile. "And besides, we're only 12. There's a long way yet to go."
But didn't he know that that was what I was worried about most? The long haul, the future, the if's and the when's, those were the things that kept me up at night. But I'd have to leave them be, because he leaned over and gently pecked my lips with his before standing up and wandering to his tent. "I'll see you in the morning, Helga," he said kindly before unzipping the tent and disappearing to leave me and you, dear journal, be by ourselves among the flames of the fire once again.
And with that, I will leave you be for the night, journal. I have a lot to think about tonight and I'm pretty sure I hear thunder which means if I get to hear that sweet pitter patter on the top of our tent, I win the bet between Miles and me and I get bragging rights in the morning. Ha to him and his big ole chin!
Ready for day two,
Helga G. Pataki