Saturday. For a while he did nothing with Saturdays. It was time to listen to music. Maybe hang with Gerald but Gerald worked on Saturdays often so he was alone. Now he was in the passenger's seat of her car. Gerald and Phoebe were in the back. Giving each other eyes. Arnold had his hand out the window feeling the air hit his hand. He always liked that feeling. Helga glanced over. She was driving. She thought he looked like he was a kid. It was kinda cute. They came to a stop so the feeling subsided and he put his hand in the car. "We should be there on your next right." Gerald said from the back of the car.
Helga turned right and they could all see the pool. They all had their bathing suits on. Gerald was wearing red shorts with flames on them. That also reminded Helga of childhood. Arnold was wearing a shirt and shorts, Phoebe was wearing a pink bathing suit, Helga was wearing a blue one but she was wearing a big shirt which covered most of her body. They arrived. She found a parking spot and they got out of the car. There were a few people at the pool but not many. Gerald looked around. "I think we got lucky."
Phoebe smiled. "Seems so."
Helga counted silently. "There are five people."
Arnold nodded. "Nice." They opened the chain link gate and went inside. Arnold hauled the towels from the trunk into the pool area. Helga pulled off the shirt and put it on an open chair. Arnold placed the towels down next to that chair.
Gerald went to the deep end and backed up. He ran and jumped in. Water flew from the surface. He nearly touched the bottom of the pool. He swam to the top. He emerged and looked at the girls. "Hop on in."
The lifeguard though had something to say. "No jumping. You do that again and you and your friends are kicked out."
Gerald rolled his eyes out of view of her and then turned to face her. "Ok, ma'am. No more jumping." Gerald turned towards his friends again. "Walk in."
Arnold looked at Helga's legs. He could see the old cuts. White lines in her creamy colored legs. He felt a little bad for looking. He followed Helga and Phoebe to the stairs into the pool. They walked in. Arnold could feel the warmth of the pool, he had once tried to swim in the ocean, it did not work to put it simply. It was much too cold to swim in. In the shallow end a mother was playing with her child. Arnold smiled. They went to the deep end but Helga didn't follow. Arnold looked back at her. "What's up?"
"I don't know how to swim."
"Huh."
Phoebe sighed. "She never learned unfortunately." Then she turned her attention back to Gerald.
Arnold wracked his brain, he didn't want to leave Helga alone; they were supposed to be enjoying some time together. He also wanted to swim in the deep end. Whatever he could have some fun in the shallow end. He squeezed his nostrils closed and dunked down in the water. Helga followed suit. They came up. Both heads of hair were soaked. She threw her hair back. Some water hit Arnold in the face because of it. He splashed her. She growled. She splashed back. They had a little battle. Eventually they both settled down and just enjoyed the feeling of the water. They went to the side of the pool, underneath the lip. Helga clinged to the side and started to move over to the deep end. "Are you sure you should be doing that?"
"I'm going to be fine." She stuck her tongue out. She kept going till she was at the deepest point. She removed her legs from the side of the pool, still hanging on with her hands. Arnold swam in the deep end. He joined her on the side though.
"I'm just going to stay nearby to be safe."
"Always, the scaredy cat."
"That's me." Arnold held onto the lip.
"Arnold…" She looked at him. "Why do you still have that shirt on?"
"I don't know." He dipped his mouth underwater but still listened to her.
"Take it the hell off. I'm sure you look fine."
"Fine." He lifted the shirt over his head and put it on the side of the pool. He put his hands back on the lip.
"You look good, Arnold."
"Riley looked better. That kid was in the gym."
"You know I wanna go to the gym."
"Why don't you?"
"I gotta keep up with other bills. I don't think I can really afford a gym membership. I do yoga though."
"I could go to the gym but I'm too lazy."
"I'm here for a long time I think. I need to exercise. Gotta have these bones dense as fuck. Maybe you should do some yoga with me?"
"Are there classes?"
"Yeah I go to one on the weekends and some mornings before work. Though you gotta be up early for that."
"I'm an early riser so I think I can swing that."
"You'll be flexible soon enough."
"Why would I want that?"
"You could pull out some tricks for your next boyfriend."
Arnold flushed. "Oh my god, Helga, shut up."
"Doesn't sound that bad does it though?"
"I guess not."
"Class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can pick you up. Be ready at seven."
"K." For a while they chilled. Gerald and Phoebe went to the shallow end and Gerald held her. It was all romantic. Arnold climbed out and laid down on the chair. Helga got out too and took the seat next to him. He looked at her. She was fit. She didn't even really need the exercise. He looked at her cleavage and then quickly looked away. Of course Helga noticed it but she wasn't going to tease him about at least not now. She laid down on the seat.
There was shade from the roofing above them. She put on her sunglasses and relaxed. "You know any songs?"
"Huh?" Arnold looked at her again.
"Do you know any songs you could sing?"
"We're in public."
"I wanna hear a song."
"For real?"
"Yes."
Arnold thought about what songs he knew. "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. I'm just a poor boy…" He trailed off. "Is that enough singing? Everyone's staring."
"Eh it was alright. Good pick." She looked at him. He didn't look bad. He was thin, he didn't have a six pack or anything, but he was pretty. She had woken from a rather intense dream that involved him this morning. She was feeling kinda bothered as she sat there looking at him. She looked away. "It's a good day."
"Hot. Perfect weather." Arnold closed his eyes. He did his meditation.
"Guru?"
"Yes?"
"Give me some direction."
"Alright. Inhale… stop. Exhale."
His voice was so nice. He could be a radio host or something. She loved hearing it. She followed his instruction for the next few minutes till she could do it by herself. She closed her eyes. He looked at her. Her body. He felt embarrassed even though he hadn't been caught so he looked away. At Gerald and Phoebe. They were kissing in the pool. Helga sat up. "I'm going to go back in."
"OK." He watched her leave. Really watched her. God he was bad. He felt something hard forming. He put his knees up to hide. He was supposed to be a good Christian boy but he couldn't get his mind off his dear friend. She had interrupted his meditation this morning too. Something was forming in him, he wasn't sure if it was so pure. She was cute. She was a good person. They got along. It wasn't like he was the only one. She had checked him out plenty of times. Though he wasn't sure if for her it went beyond physical attraction. He didn't just want a physical relationship. He wanted someone. In their entirety. He wanted love. It certainly didn't go that far yet. Whatever. He just had to let it play out and see where it went. He relaxed for a while. He wanted to go back in. He got into the deep end and swam around. Gerald was going back and forth in the water too.
Eventually he and Gerald got out of the pool and took their spot on the two chairs. They sat in silence for a while, watching the girls. They were both chilling in the shallow end. Gerald looked at Arnold. "You got something for Helga?"
"Huh?"
"You can't keep your eyes off her, Shortman."
"I mean I think of her a lot, but she's just you know. my only real coworker."
"Oh don't kid me. I know what it looks like. I think you like her."
"Well… maybe I do."
"This is good. Keep your mind off Riley."
"I still miss him."
"Well, if things work out you have someone new."
"Maybe, but as it stands, we're just good friends and I like that. A new friend is a special thing you don't want to fuck up."
"Yeah, but wouldn't it be nice if it was something more?"
"I'm not going to force it."
"I wouldn't ask you to do that. Just you know. Ask her out on a date maybe?"
"We already hang out a lot."
"Well if you set it up as a date that can change the whole mood."
"I'll think about it."
"I want to go."
"Yeah, I'm done swimming I think."
Gerald got up from his seat and went over to the side of the pool. "You want to go? Me and Arnold are ready."
Helga looked at Phoebe. Phoebe answered. "Yeah, we're ready."
They got out of the pool, spent a little bit drying off, and left the pool. Helga buckled up. The rest did the same. "Anything else we want to do?"
Phoebe smiled. "Slausen's."
"Of course." Helga rolled her eyes. "It's always ice cream with this kid."
"What can I say? What do you two think?"
Gerald shrugged. "I'm down."
Arnold nodded. "I can go for some ice cream."
"Got it. Navigating to Slausen's." She backed up out of the parking lot. They drove across town to Slausen's it looked packed. They were kids out the door. "You gotta be kidding me."
"Is there somewhere else we can get ice cream?"
"There's Paulie Walnut's place."
"That guy's a fucking nut!"
Helga shrugged. "He makes good ice cream better than Slausen's." Helga started to drive. It was not far from Slausen's. Though it never got as big of a crowd. "I'm getting the Italian Ice."
Gerald huffed. "His ice cream isn't sugary enough."
"That's why it's good, Gerald. Some of us have to watch our diet." Helga laid down the law.
"I get it, I get it. My body WIPES out calories."
Phoebe looked at her boyfriend. "It's not always going to be like that."
"Well it might."
"It's just not likely, baby."
Gerald blushed. He whispered. "Don't call me baby in front of our friends."
She gave a thumbs up. They went inside and ordered their cool snacks. Arnold got two scoops of vanilla ice cream, Gerald got three scoops of cookie dough, Phoebe got one scoop of chocolate, and finally Helga got her Italian Ice. They sat down at a table. Helga sitting with Arnold on a bench. Phoebe sitting with Gerald. They ate. Paulie walked up to the table. "How's ya enjoying the ice cream, kids?"
"It's good, Mr. Walnuts."
"I've been working on refining the recipe for years. It's not say sugary as that other crap they serve kids. America needs to cut down on the sugar."
Helga was nodding. "The Italian ice is really good."
"I made it myself." Paulie was proud of himself. "Enjoy it, everybody." He walked into the back of the shop.
Arnold looked at Helga. "Helga, I had an idea for sometime when he hung out."
"Lay it on me, Football head."
He whispered into her ear. "Karaoke?"
"You want to sing for me some more?"
"Sure."
Gerald lifted an eyebrow. "Karaoke?"
"The football head wants to sing. How can I stop him?" She shook her head ruefully.
"Maybe we can make it a double date?"
"Well…" Phoebe tapped her finger on the table. "How about we let them do it by themselves?"
"Sure, Honey." Gerald put a spoonful of cookie dough in his mouth.
They finished up their ice cream and Helga started to drive each of them home. Arnold was the last one to get off. He didn't get out of the vehicle immediately. He opened his arms up. She rolled her eyes but did the same and they hugged. It lasted for ten seconds. They parted and Arnold went upstairs. He laid in his bed for a while. He saw her face when he closed his eyes. Maybe this would be a fun… date.
