Journal, riddle me this: why is it that every girl expects some big proposal-type-deal when it comes to school dances? Besides the complete idiocy that is surrounding me with big and bold 'will you go to the school dance with me' posters, performances and other nonsense, I see it all over my social media too. And the social media ones are almost more ridiculous than the ones I've had the displeasure of seeing in-person.
The other thing I don't get about my school going gaga over the upcoming dance is one simple thing I feel should be somewhat obvious: WE'RE IN THE SEVENTH GRADE FOR CRIPES SAKE! I mean SERIOUSLY, when it comes to most dance inquiries, the people are in high school and it's usually for the freakin' PROM, not some dinky middle school dance that couples probably won't even dance together at and/or remember ten years from now.
Ultimately though, there is one significant problem when it comes to these school dance proposals and it isn't what you might be expecting so you have to SWEAR you won't tell my little secret.
You see, the truth is... even I'M not immune to the allure of a dramatic and over-the-top school dance proposal. And it SICKENS me.
That's right: you heard it here first, I WANT A SCHOOL DANCE PROPOSAL! And not just some lame, walking in the hallway and Arnold turns to me and simply asks the question, no. I'm looking for a big, grandiose, extravagant poster, flower petals, perhaps even a choreographed dance routine. I want live music, poetry, and flowers followed by long declarations of his complete and utter adoration for one Helga G. Pataki.
On the other hand... this is ARNOLD I'm talking about here and as kind and thoughtful as he is, I'm just not exactly sure I'll be getting all of those things in terms of him asking me to the school dance. Nah, I expect maybe one or two of those things, especially after he went to all that trouble for my birthday last year which I gotta admit was pretty great.
But this has to top all of that! Or at least, I WANT it to top all of that. I want him to show the whole school (Lila obviously included) that I'm the one he wants to be with and it's me who he is desperately and irrevocably in love with.
Of course, then there's this other part of me that doesn't want him to draw attention to me for some reason and I can't exactly put my finger on it. Maybe it's because I truly think the idea of such a huge event for a simple little question that hardly lacks importance in comparison to say, a marriage proposal, is pretty stupid. Maybe it's because deep down, I know I don't need Arnold to go out of his way to tell everyone else he cares about me. After all, he should only have to tell me and that should be enough... right?
Then WHY does it seem to not be enough, Journal? WHY?!
Am I craving attention for the sheer fact of wanting others to envy me, like let's say... Lila or even the self-appointed school royalty herself, Princess 'I'm better than everyone' Rhonda? Am I sincerely that starved for such public antics which in turn, reward me with the approval of others? Perhaps I am simply wanting Lila to see that Arnold wants me over her and THAT'S where all of this desire for such a performance from him in my honor is coming from.
Or worse yet, am I actually just afraid that he really DOESN'T feel the same way about me like I feel about him? Even I can't lie to myself and say things have been completely perfect between the two of us the passed few weeks. I could say it started when I saw Arnold and Lila at his locker, but even THEN I'd be only lying to myself. I have to admit the truth, if not to anybody at least to myself from the comforts of you, Journal. Things haven't been great with Arnold since well before that- it feels like there's been a disconnect between us all the way back from when Lila read that love-sick poem in front of our English class for fishbowl.
Ever since then I feel him constantly questioning himself on whether or not he truly wants to be with me. Sure, I don't know for a FACT he's having those thoughts, but the vibes he gives off certainly feel like he isn't sure anymore about us; at least he isn't as sure as he was when we first came back from San Lorenzo that is.
Maybe I'm making it all up. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and freaking myself out for no reason; it isn't like I haven't done that before.
It's like... one part of me is telling me to worry and do everything I humanly can to make sure he doesn't break up with me- even if that means going to extremes to prevent him from doing so. On the flip side however, there's this OTHER part of me telling me to just calm down and ride the wave that is our relationship. This part seems to know that relationships go through things but that doesn't make them doomed.
But then, deep down inside of my brain, there's this super tiny third part that whispers to me other things. Just barely and only every once in a while, I hear this third part tell me that if I continue on this road of anxiety and fear, Arnold surely WILL break up with me. Yet in addition to that, if I simply do nothing and coast on our relationship without putting in any effort, I'll lose him just the same. Somehow, it tells me that I have to balance each side of the scale that is what the other two larger parts are screaming at me.
Honestly though? As much as I think the third part is right... I just don't know how to do that. I don't know how to relax and balance my fears with being calm and enjoying the relationship for however long it ends up lasting. I feel like I have to hold on SO TIGHTLY to Arnold or he'll just float up into the sky and be out of my grasp for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I ALSO feel like if I continue to hold onto him so tightly, I'll squeeze him to death and then I'll be without him ANYWAY.
I wonder if this is some weird kind of preteen/teenager thing that's making me feel so conflicted or if it's really something that's just wrong with ME. Maybe I should see Dr. Bliss again... of course, I couldn't tell my PARENTS I wanted to see her more since they'd have to pay for the sessions seeing as I'm done with P.S. 118's program when it came to therapy and all that.
Nah, I don't need therapy. I can handle this. I'm Helga G. Pataki and I am strong and smart and while full of emotions that contradict each other, I can figure all of this out somehow.
In the meantime, I'll just wait for Arnold to deliver his sure-to-be epic school dance proposal and I'll bathe in the envious tears of those who will undoubtedly see it. Don't worry though, I'll make sure I document every second of it when it happens for future-Helga to look back on and smile fondly while her kids sleep in the next room and Arnold is beside me to reminisce as well.
Ahh, my future life is sure to be bliss,
Helga G. Pataki
It's officially t-minus 4 days to the dance.
I know, I know. I haven't been exactly writing in you recently but mainly because nothing that exciting or interesting has been happening. Honestly, the only 'exciting' thing that has happened are all of the school dance requests from eager prepubescent boys to excited girls just waiting to be asked next. Every day there's been at least one and on SOME days there's been as many as 7 that I counted which popped up during lunch like popcorn kernels filling the microwave bag.
Me, however? I was one of the old maids of the bag who still had yet to explode into a delicious piece of popcorn. Yes, you read that right, Arnold still hasn't asked me to accompany him to the dance.
I'm aware that in my last entry I wrote of all the things I dreamed Arnold might do to ask me to the dance. At this point though, while they're all still valid and would be super enviable/romantic gestures, I'd honestly just settle for him asking me outright- even WITHOUT all of the presents, decorations and live orchestra playing music for the perfectly performed dance I'd imagined.
But frankly, the school dance hasn't even been MENTIONED between the two of us and it's making me pretty nervous. Granted, I should just take the first step and ask HIM; you know, shake things up and just give him a big ol' proposal myself. I mean, it's the 21st century after all, right? I should be able to and FEEL able to make the first move but...
Well I'm TIRED of making the first move, okay? I feel like I've made practically every move since the beginning of TIME with that kid! Every kiss (prior to San Lorenzo) was my move and I told him all my feelings TWICE which means I made the first moves there too. I'm just sick of doing it. Shouldn't I be on the receiving end every once in a while? Shouldn't I be the one to get surprised and gushed to about how much I'm cared for and loved? I mean CRIMINY! It shouldn't be this hard to get your BOYFRIEND to ask you to a stinkin' dance!
To add insult to injury, even my best friend has been asked to the dance- and with tons of showmanship and thought behind it too! That's why I've decided to write in you after all of this time. I just HAD to let out my frustrations after the stunt Tall Hair Boy pulled today for Phoebe in the cafeteria.
The whole thing came out of nowhere now that I think about it. We were all just sitting and waiting to be released for next period from lunch when Geraldo left to 'go to the bathroom.' Yeah right. Anyway, he comes back wearing this ugly brown trenchcoat-thing that was WAY too big for him and toting an old-school stereo he had to have taken from his dad. Seriously. It wasn't even like a boombox with a CD player attacked, it was a stereo for cassettes only that had to have been from the 80's or something.
So Geraldo saunters over to our table where most eyes are gravitating at this point and he sets the stereo down on the linoleum while making eye-contact with Phoebe who has the grin of the century plastered on her face. "This," he said before reaching down to the stereo so he could push in the cassette tape, "is for you and for every time I look into those sweet, sweet eyes of yours."
Pressing play on the stereo, he picked up the bulky silver box that was emitting music I recognized as "In Your Eyes," a song I knew Olga was fond of and played often when she still lived at home.
That's when it hit me. Gerald was reenacting that scene from that 'Say Anything' movie Olga watched on 'RomCom Thursdays.' RomCom Thursdays was (a form of TORTURE) an activity she actively made me participate in with her and Miriam the first Thursday of every month until she went off to college.
He stood before her with the stereo up in the air above his impossibly-tall hair. After the first chorus, he set the stereo down on the table we were seated at and reached for Phoebe's hand to pull her up to stand next to him. That's when this kid, this... IDIOT, started SINGING the words to her as she stared up at him in complete awe while a dark red pigment began to fill in her cheeks.
After the song ended, people chattered to one another and some even erupted into APPLAUSE at what he'd done. Through the loud sounds of clapping, cheering and other miscellaneous talking, Gerald reached for both of her hands and told her the following which I remember verbatim.
"Pheebs, since San Lorenzo you've made my life so much better than I could have ever imagined. You're smart, clever and funny and girl- I'd be HONORED if you'd make me the hippest dude at the dance by coming with me."
Obviously she nodded her head immediately and replied in her usual squeaky voice with, "Of course, Gerald. I'd LOVE to accompany you to the dance." They then hugged while Gerald reached behind Phoebe as they embraced to do his weird handshake thing him and Arnold are always doing. The one where they wiggle their thumbs at each other? Yeah, I don't know but the POINT IS, out of ALL the proposals at the school in the last few weeks (and some that I'd seen online from other people's schools) it was the BEST one YET.
I've been furious ever since, not necessarily because I'm mad at Phoebe or even Gerald. I've been angry because Arnold hasn't done anything remotely CLOSE to what Gerald did for Phoebe. I'm JEALOUS in a way that I've never been jealous before.
It was ME who everyone was supposed to be jealous of, not the other way around! It was ME who was supposed to have the cutest proposal for the stupid dance because Arnold and I are arguably the best couple in this lame school. But nooooooo. NOW the entire school is talking about Gerald and Phoebe and their perfect and super cute relationship all because of some cheesy, tacky display of affection.
This was NOT how it was supposed to be. For all I know, Arnold hasn't asked me because I'm completely and utterly RIGHT about Lila having asked him already. For all I know, Arnold is planning to go to the dance with HER and effectively break my heart either prior or at the dance itself. For all I know, Arnold Shortman is going to make a FOOL of me and there's practically nothing I can do besides ask him what the heck he's doing.
But what if he's waiting till the last second to ask me? That could honestly always happen but I feel like I've given him PLENTY of time to ask me or do something about it and he still hasn't so maybe it's time I take action.
Now that I write it all out, I'm getting more heated about it than I was in the first place if I'm being honest with myself. I'm so livid that I might do something drastic. I might go off of my rocker. I might...
I might call Arnold.
That's it. That's what I'll do. I'm going to call Arnold and confront him once and for all about this not-asking-me-to-the-dance nonsense.
Here I go, I'm really doing it,
Helga G. Pataki
Slamming her journal shut, Helga set it to her side where she sat cross-legged on her bed. With a deep breath, she pushed herself to the edge of the bed and stood up so she could make her way down the stairs in search of the landline phone they still had for reasons Helga was unsure of.
Of course landlines were hardly necessary in this day and age, but she lacked an updated cell phone that properly fit with the current times. The only mobile phone that Helga had ever owned was the one her father had originally given her years ago when the technology first came to light and he'd only given it to her for pure experimental purposes. Naturally it didn't take long for Helga to break it after it fell out of her pocket one of the many times she had climbed Arnold's fire escape unsolicited prior to them getting together.
Unfortunately for Helga, even though her father now owned a store chock full of such devices varying in all different models, no matter how many times she begged Bob to give her a new cell phone, he always refused, claiming that even with a discount it simply wasn't worth it. Instead, she was stuck with using the beige, bulky and clunky phone the Pataki household had possessed for what seemed like ages.
She stared down at the phone as she carried it gingerly back up to her room. Once hidden behind the closed door of her bedroom, she took a sharp breath before doing what she knew she had to do. Carefully, she typed in the number she knew by heart and listened with bated breath for her beloved to pick up his end of the phone. After a few dial-tones, a familiar voice answered her which sent shivers up her spine at the sound of her name passing through his lips, through the phone line, and into Helga's own ear.
"Hey Helga," Arnold greeted her in a somewhat chipper tone.
"Ar-Arnold," Helga responded and quickly sat down on her mussed up bedding which was draped over her twin-sized bed. With a shake of her head and as if surprised at who she was talking to, Helga blurted out the only question she could think of in order to jump-start the conversation. "How-how did you know it was me?"
Her boyfriend breathed out a chuckle while adjusting the phone in his hand. "Caller ID," he stated simply.
"Right, right, Caller ID. DOI, of course it was caller ID..." she almost scolded herself at her stupidity for asking such an obvious question and slapped her free palm up to hit her forehead in aggravation mixed with utter embarrassment.
"So... what's up, Helga?" the football-headed boy urged her on.
What's up, it was such a loaded question that the young blonde girl felt she should have known the answer to and yet, still couldn't explain. How exactly was she? Stressed? Anxious? Hurt or betrayed? There were simply too many answers for Arnold's question. All the while as these possibilities roamed her brain, she knew that she had to remain calm as she hadn't even reached her most-difficult topic to discuss yet- not even close.
Despite her various answers, she offered a rather bland and vague one instead. "Oh, you know, not that much." With a small smile, she hatched up a plan to organically approach the topic she was looking to bring up by what appeared to be a casual-random-happenstance. With a clearing of her throat, Helga tacked on an additional sentence to her previous reply. "Just been listening to Olga brag about her perfect life to my parents."
"Olga's home?" He questioned in sincere curiosity as Helga scoffed him off. In a huff, Helga moved to lay back on her bed entirely with the bulky beige phone gripped tightly in her sweaty hand.
"I know, lucky me, right?" Helga said with a facetious tone before switching hands with the phone. As she shook her newly freed hand in the air with the hope it would relieve her hand of the uncomfortable feeling of general dampness, she tried to sound casual as she complained about her sibling to Arnold who had heard her routine plenty of times before. "She claims that she's up here to spend a few weeks with 'mommy and daddy' for the holidays, but I know Olga. She's obviously up here because I idiotically mentioned the school dance to her the other day. Girl was so excited about it that I'm pretty convinced her true motives were to oogle over me like some proud parent and force me into pictures I obviously don't want to participate in."
"Helga..." Arnold scolded in his flat tone but Helga shot back up to a seated position on her bed while narrowing her eyes and nothing in particular.
"What?" Helga spat into the phone back to Arnold who jerked the phone away from his ear at her volume. "She's clearly attempting to embarrass me. For all I know, she volunteered to be a chaperon at the dance the same way she did for San Lorenzo so she could wiggle her way further into my already complicated life."
"So what you mean to say is that you figured out she signed up to chaperon the dance, huh Helga? Did she tell you that or did someone at school tell you?" Arnold's voice was a deadpan and Helga's eyes widened at his assumption.
"Wait... wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT," she demanded while holding up a hand as if he could see her trying to process all he'd said to her through the receiver "She did what, now?"
Arnold gulped realizing he'd been the one to break the news to her and slowly worked up the courage to repeat himself. "Olga signed up to chaperon the school dance, Helga. I-I saw her name written on a list of chaperons that Eugene was carrying around with him."
"Eugene... how did you, what did he—what?" The words were sharp and disjointed as Helga tried to question what she'd just been informed about.
Despite her obvious reaction to the news, Arnold remained dense to the actual question Helga had tried to pose to him. "You know Eugene after all. He tripped in the hallway like usual while holding his trapper-keeper filled with random papers which all had to do with the planning for the school dance. Of course, when he slipped the papers went flying and when I went to help him pick up the things he'd thrown during his fall, I saw her name on the page."
Ignoring her suddenly dry mouth, Helga forced her true question out of her mouth the moment Arnold finished talking. "How do you know it was the list for the school dance chaperons?"
"It said 'school dance chaperons' at the top."
"Oh," Helga breathed out.
"He'd put a bunch of emoji stickers all over the page, too," Arnold continued as if the information was pertinent to the story he'd just told.
A dramatic sigh escaped Helga's mouth and she moved to lean back on the bed as she shook off the information about Olga and delivered the line she had called to bring up in the first place. "Honestly it doesn't matter anyway. It isn't like I'll be there for her to embarrass, so..."
Helga's voice trailed off and Arnold waited a beat before asking for clarification. "What do you mean you won't be there? You won't-you won't be at the dance? Why not?" He was almost panicked at Helga's admission which she was only too obliged to explain further.
"Isn't it obvious, Hair Boy?" She asked without looking for an answer in return. "Nobody asked me to the dance, doi."
"But you- Helga, you're going with... well, you know-" Arnold tried to say but Helga cut him off in haste.
"No, Arnoldo," the nickname was drenched in acidity as Helga slowly let the words slither off of her tongue. "I don't know."
"I thought we were together though..." His words displayed his utter confusion at the concept Helga had offered him, but she could care less. She wanted Arnold to know how he'd made her feel by not asking her to the dance outright. She wanted him to feel her despair at his lack of proposal.
"Yeah, well, I thought we were too but after what you've done, or rather, haven't done, I'm just not so sure anymore." Confidence oozed from her statement. She was sure of what she wanted from Arnold and she wasn't afraid to show her dissatisfaction with what she'd expected from him.
"And what is it exactly that haven't I done, Helga? What?"
Helga jolted slightly at his sudden change in voice as he verbally pushed back at her in what was now approaching an argument. "You... the school dance," She whispered out before swallowing a dry lump of air and trying once more in the voice she'd began with. "You were supposed to ask me to go with you like everyone else has, you dingus! I mean, for cripes sake, look at what Gerald did for Phoebe! You couldn't have asked your tall haired friend to do some big, romantic gesture to me too?"
"We're already dating, Helga," Arnold tried to explain. "Why would I ask you out again when we're already together?"
"Because you-you... you're just SUPPOSED to, football-head!" She practically shouted while throwing her free arm up into the air in exasperation.
"I'm supposed to, huh? So that's it, I'm just supposed to." His question which resembled more of a statement hadn't been meant to be answered, though Helga did so anyway.
"Yeah, bucko! You're supposed to, okay? I'm supposed to sit and wait while you think up a theatrical and creative display to ask me out to the dance with. After you ask me, I act all surprised like I'd never seen it coming and give you a tearful 'yes' while we hug which spurns everyone on to applaud in pure envy." The description of the dance proposal she'd dreamed of spilled out of her mouth and Arnold stared dumbfounded at one of the walls in his room.
"Wow," Arnold said in disbelief. "And I do this because...?"
"Because once everybody sees this proposal, they'll all know that we are going to the dance together and that we are an official, serious couple," she answered, and even though she knew that each word she spoke she was only serving to anger Arnold, Helga couldn't bring herself to stop.
"There it is, that's it, isn't it?" her young boyfriend questioned her with an air of accusation masked in his tone. "You still think Lila asked me to take her to the dance and that I'm going with her secretly somehow, don't you?"
This took Helga by surprise as she thought she'd hidden her theories from him pretty well. "Arnold, I-"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested in Lila, Helga? How many times? Because I feel like I am constantly telling you that there isn't anything between us in that way." Arnold felt exhausted at having to consistently assure Helga of his feelings towards her, but even more than that, he felt hurt- hurt because it was becoming clear to Arnold that she didn't believe him. The way he saw it, no matter what he did or said was ever enough for her. It was as if his reassuring didn't help at all and never seemed to bring her the solace she was so desperately looking for in regards to her fears for their relationship.
"But your conversation," Helga tried again with caution, "with Lila. At the locker..."
Arnold sighed while bringing his free hand up to hold up his forehead by his fingers and shook his head in frustration. "I've already told you that she never asked me to the dance. She asked me... something else."
With a roll of her eyes, Helga went into full on attack-mode at his lack of answer for her. "I am sick and tired of you avoiding this topic with me, Arnold!" Her anger was hot and she could feel her blood boiling as it cycled through the veins under her skin. "We're in a relationship, Arnold!"
"Exactly! We're in a relationship! Which means-" he tried, but Helga wouldn't let him continue and instead finished the sentence for him.
"You have to tell me everything!" She hollered into the mouthpiece of the receiver which traveled instantly into the ears of the boy with the oddly-shaped-head.
Arnold pointed his index finger out in front of him as if Helga was right there in his bedroom for him to address. "No, Helga! It means that you have to trust me. You have to trust me the way that I trust you. That's the only thing we're supposed to do, Helga; it's to trust each other!"
"But I do trust you, Arnold- it's that Lila Sawyer I don't trust..." Her defense was thin as she began to run out of excuses for her possessive behavior as of late.
"Fine, Helga. I'm not asking you to trust Lila, okay?" Arnold's voice had calmed but it still held the strict and serious tone he'd spoken with previously. "However, the person I am asking you to trust, is me. You have to trust that if what Lila and I were talking about had anything in the slightest to do with you, I would tell you immediately. Especially if she had asked me out, by any means, believe me, you would be the first to know."
"Oh, but would you, Arnoldo?" Helga asked suspiciously and with a raised eyebrow that her boyfriend couldn't see. "If she did ask you out, wouldn't you want to make sure that I didn't find out about the two of you canoodling behind my back?"
"Nobody was... canoodling, Helga. There was no canoodling."
"Regardless!" She yelled to silence him, "I would imagine you would want to keep your secret so you could date her simultaneously as me."
"And why now would I want to do that?" Arnold posed and Helga took the bait to offer up her own theory.
"Because...because..." She fought the words which had been buried for so long and were prying at her lips to escape from inside of her. Despite her efforts, the words burst through anyway in an explosion of emotion she'd hoped she would never have to express to Arnold. "Because I'm Helga, Arnold! Helga G. Pataki! And Helga G. Pataki isn't some-some girly girl who does her makeup every day or wears the latest fashion trend. I don't dress myself up like some show-pony and because I don't do that, I'll never be the girl you're looking for."
Silence fell between the pair as Helga awaited some kind of response from the opposite line. At the lack of acknowledgment and for fear Arnold had hung up completely, she took a deep breath only to slowly let it out before speaking softly once more.
"I just know one day you're going to wake up and see me for all that I am: a broken, damaged, flawed and terribly scarred individual in a dented, beaten up box." Helga gently set her free hand palm-side down on her lap while holding tightly to the phone in her other hand as if it was her own personal anchor to the reality in which she lived. "I'm no little miss perfect like Lila is."
"Lila isn't perfect, Helga," Arnold told her tenderly. "In fact, nobody is perfect; it's just not possible to even be perfect. And besides, I wouldn't want to go to the dance with Lila. I want to go with you."
Flopping backwards to lay back down on her back, Helga scoffed. "Right, well, I would know that if you had asked me to the dance like you were supposed to."
A frown covered Arnold's face as he began to defend himself. "The reason I didn't ask you to the dance, Helga, is because you specifically told me that you thought elaborate school dance proposals were tacky and just, and I quote, 'showcases of extreme brainwash that was continuously encouraged by our social-media-obsessed society,' end quote."
Heat rose up Helga's neck to settle in her cheeks as they turned a shade of bright red at the sound of her words being thrown through the phone and back into her metaphorical face. "And it is!" She agreed while hoping she could turn this around so it didn't appear to be entirely her fault that Arnold never asked her to the dance publicly. "But just because it is doesn't mean that I didn't want one!"
"How was I supposed to know that?" Arnold exclaimed into the phone. "It isn't like there's some 'how to be the perfect boyfriend' book out there that outlines all of these secret rules I'm supposed to know and actively follow."
"It's an unspoken code, Hair Boy," a voice of conviction emanating from the young girl. "You're supposed to know me. Knowing me means that you know even when I say I don't want something, I actually do secretly want it. Got it?"
A relaxed chuckle came from Arnold's end of the conversation. "Whatever you say, Helga."
As they finished their conversation without a hitch and said goodbye for the night, Helga felt a sense of relief wash over her. Almost instantaneously, the dread had been melted away and for the first time in what felt like ages, the preteen felt safe enough to relax.
Reaching for her journal, she flipped it open to the empty page in which she'd left on and with a smile on her face, she began to jot down her thoughts in a follow-up entry.
Well, Journal, I won. That's right, I beat Lila in getting Arnold once and for all. How, one may wonder? Easy. I called Arnold and confronted him about not asking me to the dance. I guess he had it in his weird-shaped-head that I didn't WANT a big school dance proposal because we were already dating or something.
What a buffoon.
Anyway, I told him what I had been expecting and while we fought a little bit, I feel pretty confident that Arnold won't be accepting Lila's invitation to the dance.
I know, I know. Even though Arnold CLAIMS she never asked him to the dance, I think she did anyway and he's being his goody-two-shoes self and trying to spare her from the imminent beat-down she'd surely get had I found out the REAL truth.
Sure, it seems a little far fetched, but that's what that twerp is KNOWN for: keeping the peace. I can't fault him for trying to protect Lila while ultimately trying to make sure I don't get hurt.
Either way, I'm not expecting a big proposal now seeing as I told him not to worry about it this school dance but that NEXT time, I'd better have my socks knocked off by his proposal. Honestly, I'm just really glad that he still wants to go with me.
I'm more glad that Lila didn't win, though. Not like she ever really stood a chance, I mean, Arnold is CRAZY about me.
...Right?
Helga G. Pataki
After signing her name, she closed the book and tossed it to her side before softly shutting her eyes while laying on her bed. Wind seeped in from the crack of her window and she listened to it howl an ominous tune that wafted into her eardrums. Like a lullaby, the wind's moans guided Helga into a deep sleep where she imagined every detail of the upcoming dance in rigorous detail.
She pictured Arnold all dressed up with a beaming smile on his face as she walked down her steps in the dress she'd made Olga buy exactly for this occasion. It was red- a welcome change from her usual pink color scheme in hopes that it would make her appear more mature and refined. The dress came to rest at just-above Helga's knees; the flow-y chiffon material cut in a zig-zag fashion so the various points that made up the hem of the dress danced to and fro with her every step. She imagined Olga fawning over the couple and taking far too many pictures. Of course Helga would be irritated at the time, but she knew that one day she would look back on them and smile to herself before proudly showing them off to her and Arnold's future children.
As she flew through the dreamworld she had painted for herself, she went on to piece together the vivid ideas she had for the upcoming dance. There was Arnold and her arriving to greet their fellow classmates followed by listening to Eugene and Sheena probably butcher 'My Heart Will Go On' over the karaoke system set up in the foyer. They'd wander into the gymnasium and see countless other teenagers and preteens alike dance with one another before ultimately deciding to go to the inflatable-suit sumo wrestling being held in the next room. Helga would win of course, though she'd go easy on Arnold seeing as he isn't exactly the fighting type. After their match, the pair would hear some romantic song play over the speakers and Arnold would pull Helga close to him so they could sway back and forth in harmony.
All of this, of course, with Lila Sawyer watching in the background; an envious glare solidified onto her face the entire time.
When the dance ends, as all good things must eventually do, Helga imagined the two dancing to the music within their heads as everyone left the gymnasium. The DJ would have to come up and tell them the dance was over and they'd blush as they looked to each other in embarrassment. Having been so affected by their true love, the DJ would offer to play another dance just for them.
While unrealistic, Helga didn't push away the scenario and allowed it to fill her every sense as if it were in fact happening at that very moment. She felt Arnold's hands on her waist and his shoulders underneath her hands. For just an instance, she felt Arnold's entire presence and in that brief moment of time, it was like she truly was flying, completely weightless.
Deeper sleep soon took over as her imagination finally fell into unconsciousness; her wildest dreams picturing one last thing behind her lids- their goodnight kiss. The moment their lips touched, the image dissipated into darkness and as she slept, she felt nothing but pure bliss.
Bliss because the dance was only days away.
Bliss because their night was sure to be filled with romance and incomparable joy.
Bliss because it wouldn't be long before Arnold and Helga's lips touched once more- the fire of a thousand suns burning wildly from the passion that would fuel their soon-to-be kiss.
But most importantly, she felt bliss because she knew she had defeated the enemy she'd created for herself years ago: The one and only Lila Sawyer.
It would be a night to remember for the young couple, just one of which she hoped would be many the two would share with one another. The blossoming girl was sure of it.
She was absolutely sure of it, in fact, or her name wasn't Helga G. Pataki.
Hope you all are excited for the dance! I know I am! I've detailed it pretty good and I'm excited to write it because It think it will be the best chapter so far! Anyway, please drop me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter/any predictions or musings you may have.
Thanks again for reading and continuing to read! I appreciate YOU!
xo
Polkahotness