Chapter 2
As Saturday morning rolled around Phoebe and Helga reached the Pataki home after a long day of work. Helga and the girls were always left to lock up the store at midnight, even on school nights. Helga never minded the later shifts, sure she came home tired, but her check at the end of the week made up for it. She also liked the fact that she was one of the few employees that knew the security code to lock the store. Phoebe was sleeping over to help Helga search for a costume for the party that night. They didn't have time to run to a store, so they had to make do with whatever they found in her closet. So far the only thing they could find was a pair of bunny ears from when she was younger.
"I am not going to Arnold's as a rabbit," Helga protested.
"You don't have many other options."
Helga stared at the ears in her hand. Well it was better than nothing. "I can't believe I'm going to do this."
"I'm very proud of you for conquering your fears Helga."
"We should get to sleep, we have to be there at eight if we wanna go to the party. What did he assign you?"
Phoebe sighed, "sales, as always. Lila got cleaning."
"And I'm stuck with inventory. Fuck my life."
"But is it worth it?"
Helga thought back to that day when Arnold came into the store to invite them to the party. He always had a way of making her insides melt by the sound of his voice. Not to mention that sexy smile he gave her almost brought her fainting. "It really is Pheebs. Even if I don't get to see him, just being there is special to me. I mean he might not like me the way I do, but a girl can still dream, right?"
Phoebe frowned in disappointment. "Why must you always say that? Why is it so impossible for Arnold to see something special in you?"
"Look at me Phoebe, I am a wreck. Out of all the girls in the world, why would Arnold pick me? Trust me, I screwed that into my head a long time ago."
"I can't believe you would say that. Arnold is much better than that and you know it?"
"Do I? Do I really Pheebs? I told him in the fti building that I loved him, and nothing. Why would he change now?"
"Why won't you change? Why did you fall for Arnold again?"
"Because he was the only one that was nice to me."
"Because he was the only one that was nice to you. Do you really think being mean to him will help your case?"
"I'm going to sleep. It's getting late."
Helga didn't wait for Phoebe's response, she went to her bed and tried her best to go to sleep. It wasn't easy for her, all she could was think about Arnold. What if she did have a chance to talk to him? Would she be as mean as she it to him now? She knew that there were going to be many people at the party, but just the thought of being under the same roof as Arnold was exhilarating.
Inventory was anything but fun. Helga was three hours into her shift and she was already tired. Bob told her that after she was done with inventory she could move on to sales, at least she could relax there. So far she found out that the store carried way too many phones. She found a couple of phones she would like to buy, but she could think about that later. As soon as she was done out back, she changed into her sales floor uniform and headed up front. Lila and Phoebe were already out by the counters, there was no customers at the time. At least her shift would be over at four, after that she would run home with Phoebe to get ready.
"What will you be going as Lila?" Phoebe asked.
"Well I found a fairy costume that is ever so adorable. You?"
"A doctor." The bell rang then, and Patty walked in ready to work. "Good afternoon Patty."
"Hi Phoebe."
"Will you be going to Arnold's party Patty?" Lili asked.
"I don't think so Lila, Mr Pataki needed people to work later, so I decided to do it. I don't care much for parties anyway."
"Well our shift is almost over," Phoebe mentioned. "It would have been great if you went Patty."
"IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE IN FIVE MINUTES YOU ARE FIRED MCGOWAN!"
The girls froze, Bob was on the phone with Stephen McGowan, and by the sound of it, it was not good. Helga ran to his office to see what was going on. Papers were scattered everywhere, and his phone was thrown across the room.
"Dad what's wrong?"
"That idiot McGowan is trying to pull a fast one on me. That dumb ass thinks he can just not come to work when ever he wants! And then God forbid you ask Jefferson to come in tonight! Those inconsiderate bastards! I can understand Wayland not coming in, he's got stomach flu, but McGowan! And to top it all off I have my meeting tonight and I have no one to lock up."
Helga gasped, she had no idea today was his meeting. Bob had been talking about the KAA inc for months now. Tonight he was to close their deal, making him a lot more money. All Helga wanted to do was punch Stephen and John Jefferson.
"I can always try to reschedule, I can't leave Smith here alone."
Helga knew she would hate herself for what she was about to do, but sometimes your dad is much more important than anyone else. "No, Dad go."
"What?"
"Go to the meeting, I'll lock up the joint. You need that deal."
"But what about your party?"
It shocked Helga, Bob actually sounded concerned about it. "Don't worry about it, I don't have to go. Just go."
"Alright Helga, you know the pass code, be sure to lock up at midnight. Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure."
It was getting late, Phoebe and Lila where long gone to Arnold's party. When Helga broke the news to them they were all stunned. Helga tried to put on a brave face for Patty but it wasn't working. It was nine thirty now, and she was standing behind the counter wishing that she was at the party. Only a few more hours till midnight.
"You are an incredible person Helga," Patty's voice echoed in the empty store.
"What?"
"You're here working when you should be off stealing Arnold's heart."
Helga's eyes widened. "What? I don't want Arnold's heart. That's crazy talk. What kind of crap are you saying!?"
Patty rose an eyebrow. "How stupid do you think I am? You go gaga over him every time you see him."
"I can't believe you know. Well it doesn't matter, I'm stuck here."
They were quiet for a few minutes until Patty finally broke the silence. "Look do you really want to go to that party?"
"Doi."
"Then go."
"What?"
Patty came over to her now. "Look I can help you, but you need to promise me you won't be mean to Arnold?"
"Patty there's nothing you can do. The party started and my costume is at home."
"Come with me."
Helga followed out back where they had their lockers. Patty opened hers quickly and pulled out a black bag. "I made on this for my intro to fashion course." Out of the bag she pulled out a long silver satin dress. "What do you think?"
"A princess?"
"Better than nothing."
"Patty, I can't just leave you here, I have to lock up."
"Look, take the dress. Go out and be nice to Arnold. Then come back by midnight to lock up. Your dad will never know you left."
Helga took the dress from Patty's hands, it was beautiful. "Why are you doing this for me?"
"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for Arnold." Helga looked confused. "You obviously love the boy, he deserves to know."
"Thank you Patty."
"Just get in the dress, I'll run down to the dollar store across the street to see if they have a crown for you or something."
Helga did as Patty said and slipped into the dress. It felt soft against her skin and fit her perfectly. Helga had had her hair in two braid that day, so they left her hair nice and wavy. She pulled her hair back into a messy high bun to make it look a bit better than it was. Five minutes later Patty was back with a silver tiara, and a white mask.
"I can't believe you're doing this for me."
"Like I said this is for Arnold."
"I wish you could come with me."
"Don't sweat it, just go, but remember be back by midnight."
Helga turned to the door, but before she left she gave Patty a tight hug. No one had ever one something like that to Helga, and to her surprise it was Patty who did. Helga was never great friends with her, they were just coworkers, but Patty somehow still did this. Even if she did say she was doing it for Arnold, deep inside Helga knew she was helping her too.
Out in the parking lot Helga got into her car quickly. It was a little harder to drive in the dress, but anything was worth being at Arnold's. "You're actually going," Helga told herself. "You're going to the party. I can't believe it."
Helga briefly looked at herself in her rearview mirror, she looked nothing like herself, but she was fine with that because she looked great. Sure she was dressed as a princess, but Helga couldn't doubt she looked beautiful.
As she approached the boarding house, she found a parking spot a block away. From the distance she could hear music booming from the house. It was kind off intimidating for Helga to walk in, but still she did it. She saw many of her classmates in there wearing different kinds of costumes. She noticed Rhonda Lloyd wearing a slutty cat costume perfect for her. As she looked around more she noticed there were plenty of slutty cats running around. A few girls stared at her as she walked by, probably amazed by Patty's beautiful dress.
Phoebe and Lila were no where to be found, so Helga had no idea what to do. Helga walked around the house a couple of times trying to find them, but nothing. Great what are you going to do now Helga? She saw some other friends of hers, but she didn't want to talk to them, she just wanted to find Phoebe. Being all alone among so many people Helga felt completely naked.
"I love your dress," a girl in a slutty cat costume said as Helga walked by her. Helga didn't say anything back, she just smiled.
After a few minutes of solitude Helga gave up and took out her cellphone from her satchel. She tried calling Phoebe but she had no bars at all. Helga decided to try going upstairs to see if she could get some bars up there. There was no one upstairs, not even the boarders. She found the stairs to Arnold's room and sat on the bottom of them. She dialed Phoebe's number just to find it turned off.
"Criminy! Why the hell is your phone turned off?" Helga yelled in her voice message. "I am freaking out dammit! Call me asap got it?" She hung up the phone frantically and shoved it in her bag. "At least I'm all alone up here," she told herself.
"Not quite," Arnold's voice called above her.
He was standing at the top of the stairs to his room ironically wearing silver prince costume. Helga couldn't help herself from smiling at him, he looked absolutely adorable. "Guess you want me to find another hiding spot."
"No, I think you can stay."
"Why aren't you at your own party?"
He smiled at the ground. "I kinda wanted the same thing as you. I'm not too fond of the prince costume, my mom made me wear it."
"Well you look dashing," Helga said in a british accent. "You should really go down with your guests, it's a pretty nice party."
"Then why are you up here?"
"I was kinda tired of the slutty cats."
He smiled at her. "I'm Arnold, and not a slutty cat."
Helga was surprised, her costume was so good, Arnold didn't even recognize her. "Hi Arnold, I am also not a slutty cat."
"Yeah, I can see that. I think I counted about twelve down stairs."
"I counted fifteen. You would think they would get a bit more creative."
"This coming from the girl in the princess costume?"
"I had no other choice for your information."
"Do you want to come up and hang out? I don't know if I'm better company than who ever you were yelling at on the phone, but I am the birthday boy."
Helga stood up quickly and walked up the stairs. "I guess I'll take you up on that offer."
"Do I get to know your name?"
"You can just call me Cinderella."
Up in his room everything was just the way it was the last time Helga was up there years ago. Everything was neat and organized perfectly. He motioned her to his couch to sit on. She did facing him in delight.
"So Cinderella, I'm guessing you go to Hillwood High? There's so many people here that I don't know, I hope I don't offend," Arnold said.
"Yeah, I'm kinda oblivious there, and everywhere else. No big deal."
"I doubt that, you seem really nice."
She chuckled. "Yeah, right. I may look like an angel, but I'm far from that Arnold. I've had a lot of shit go on in life."
"I know what you mean, my parents disappeared in the jungle for almost ten years."
"Yeah, I basically lived without parents for my entire life, they're so stupid when it comes to parenting. It's like I don't even exist to them. You're lucky. At least your parents are nice enough to throw you a big party."
"I never really wanted this party, but they insisted."
"Why wouldn't you want a party?" Helga asked.
"I don't know. I'm turning eighteen, and I haven't even seen my family yet, they're all somewhere in the mob of teens. Like I said I don't even know half the people they invited."
"It's the thought that counts, they really put some effort into this party."
"Yeah...So I have to ask, who were you talking to on the phone, you sounded pissed, boyfriend?"
Helga smiled. "Ha, yeah right, it was just my friend. Guys don't look at my that way."
Arnold rose an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, I've had a crush on this guy for as long as I could remember, and he just doesn't feel the same way."
"He sounds like an idiot."
Tell me about. "What about you? You got some special lady?" She asked even though she really didn't want to know the answer to that question.
"There's this girl, I don't know how I feel about her. She told me she loved me." Helga's mouth dropped. "Yeah, it was so unexpected, she was such a bitch to me when we were kids, she still kinda acts that way too. I don't know, she's still mean to me, but I don't know if she still likes me. She didn't even show up to the party, and I personally invited her."
"Do you want her to like you?" She asked anxiously.
"I honestly don't know. Sometimes I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be with her, but then she goes and calls me football-head or picks on me."
"Wow, we do have more in common than I thought Arnold."
"So if this guy hasn't shown any affection toward you, why haven't you moved on?"
"Why haven't you?"
"Touche." The laughed together like they had know each other their whole lives. Helga wished she could find the courage to take off her mask and tell him it was her, but she couldn't. "Maybe I just haven't found the right girl to get Helga off my mind." Arnold's eyes grew larger when he realized what he said.
"Helga Pataki?" she asked pretending to be surprised. "I didn't know she had a heart."
"I didn't either, but she does."
"You're okay Arnold."
"You're pretty okay too, Cinderella. You want me to get you a slice of cake form the kitchen before it's all gone?"
"I'd love that."
"I'll right back." Arnold left the room leaving Helga in glee.
A few minutes after he left her phone was buzzing with Phoebe's number on the screen. "What?"
"Helga! What's wrong?" Phoebe sweet voice said.
"Nothing, I'm fine now. Bye." She hung up then not waiting for reply. As she clicked the end button she noticed it was already eleven. While she had her phone out she set an alarm for eleven forty-five.
"You're in Arnold's room. You're talking to him, like a person! I'M IN ARNOLD'S ROOM!" Helga was too excited that she couldn't hold it in. She really was having a conversation with Arnold, and she was being nice. Best of all he was talking about Helga, and he had some feelings toward her. Nothing could be more perfect than this.
After a few more minutes Arnold was back carrying a giant slice of cake on a plate with two forks. "I tried to carry two plate, but that didn't really work out. I hope you don't mind."
"Eh don't worry about it." Helga picked up one of the forks from Arnold's hand and tasted the cake. It was red velvet with cream cheese frosting, delicious. What she did notice that there were a couple of strawberries on the top of the cake, so she pushed them aside quickly.
"Not a fan of strawberries?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah, we never really got along, but I love the cake. Isn't red velvet kinda girly?"
"Tell me about it, my mom picked it out. You know you look really familiar."
Helga looked down at the cake, she had no idea what to say. She could come out and say, I'm Helga Pataki, and yes Arnold I still love you. Kiss me you love God! Or she could have a great night with Arnold and never have that again. She decided to go with option 2. "You might have seem me around school."
"Are you sure you're not in a class with me? I just know I've seen you before. You gotta tell me your name."
Helga looked back up, she pulled her hair behind her ear and thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she told him. "My name? It's -"
"Cecile."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, I just thought...forget it."
"You still remember that?" Helga asked him. She didn't think Arnold still remembered the night Helga had impersonated his french penpal Cecile, even she had forgotten. "That was nine years ago Arnold."
"So it is you, I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again."
"This was not how I thought the night would go. You know what, I should go." Helga jumped out of the couch frantically. Before she could go anywhere Arnold pulled her back by the arm.
"Please don't go, we need to talk. I've been thinking about you since that night, wondering who you are and if I would ever see you again."
"You don't want to know, trust me."
"I might not want to know, but I need to know."
Helga sat there for a minute trying not to cry. As much as she wanted to tell him the truth, she just couldn't find it in herself to say it. "Do you know what it's like to live your entire life wondering? To dream about a life where you don't have this facade following you all the time? Sometimes I tell myself that my life is fine, but I know that it's not. If you knew who I was, I don't think you would ever talk to me again."
"I was nine when I met you, and I didn't know what to think, but now I know that I need to know who you are. Look I don't want to pressure you, but please tell me I get to see you again, and not nine years later."
Helga sighed, "I wish I could promise you that Arnold, but I can't. This wasn't what was suppose to happen. I was suppose to come to your party and be invisible."
Arnold reached his hand across the couch to touch Helga's. It felt warm against Helga's chilly fingers. "Maybe this was suppose to happen."
"Arnold I am far from what you deserve in a girl."
"Or maybe I'm just nowhere close to what you deserve."
Helga looked up at Arnold. He looked at her with deep adoration that Helga couldn't stand, because he was falling not for her, but for Cecile. And as he looked deep into her blue eyes they yelled at him, "I'M HELGA PATAKI! PLEASE ARNOLD IT'S ME!" Yet Arnold just couldn't read them close enough.
"What are you thinking about?" Arnold asked her after she looked into his eyes without saying a word.
"I'm not Cecile, I am nothing like that girl you wrote letters to. I am a closet poet, a drama queen, and a total bitch, and I'm just not the girl you want. You want Cecile, the sweet, polite french girl."
"Look I didn't think about Cecile for a second until I actually sat down for dinner with you." He clutched Helga's hand now. "You were nothing like the girl I wrote letters to. You were daring, funny, and spontaneous. Now that I'm here with you, I don't want the girl in the letters, I never wanted her. I want to get to know you, Cinderella, not Cecile."
Before Helga could say a word, her phone began ringing with her ringtone killing the moment. The song was one of her favorites, but right now it was not too enjoyable. On the screen Phoebe's name popped up. "What?" Helga asked her quickly.
"Helga, is everything okay? Lila and I returned to the store, but Patty informed us you went to the party. Are you alright, we didn't see you there. It's getting late."
"Listen I'm fine okay, just dandy. I need to go." With that she hung up.
"She is the sunlight?" Arnold asked after Helga hung up.
It took a moment for her to realize he was talking about her ringtone. "Yeah, you like the song?"
"I haven't met too many people that like that song. So same person one the phone?"
"Yeah, I guess I'm not too big of a girl to take care of myself."
Time went by and Arnold and his Cinderella had been talking non stop. First about music, then school, then family. The more he talked to her, the more he felt like he knew her his entire life. He wished she could just tell him who she was, but time after time she refused. At first Arnold didn't know if he wanted to know who she was, what if he really couldn't handle it? She was just so amazing, and beautiful.
"What are you thinking about?" Cecile asked him once he stopped talking.
"About you."
"Is that a good thing?"
He smiled softly at her. Everything she said blew him away, not because of her confidence, but by her humbleness about her own beauty and personality. "Of course it's a good thing. You're incredible."
"Incredible? I guess I could live with that." Arnold smiled even more now, everything she did ignited these uncontrollable smiles that both hurt him, and made him feel alive. "Why do you keep smiling like that? What are you really thinking?"
"You don't want to know."
"Yes I do!"
"Fine," he brought his head up to her. "I'm thinking that I really, really want to kiss you right now."
A small smile appeared on her face. "I think we can arrange that."
Arnold did hesitate, before he knew it his lips were inches away from hers. Soon they were lightly brushing hers.
Just then her phone rang. She jumped in fright and looked at it. "Oh shit! I have to go!" She quickly put on her bag and stood rom the couch. "I had a great time Arnold, I'll see you when I see you."
"Wait!"
"I'm sorry I can't. I have to go."
Arnold noticed a small piece of paper with many number on it fell out of her bag. He turned to the door to give it to her, but she was gone.
I really hope you guys liked this. Please give me some feedback. xoxoKaren