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The J.A.M. aka: lol it was intentional.
The next day…
Helga was with Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald at the bus stop. They had just met up when the bus came and stopped to allow them and the rest of the students get in. While her friends were busy conversing, Helga was quiet and nervous. She was constantly looking around, as if she was looking for someone.
"You alright, Helga?" Arnold asked her when he noticed her being unsettled.
"Huh?" She confusingly asked when she heard him. "Oh uh, yeah I am." She nervously tried to come up with something. "I was just...er, moving my head around because of my neck. Yeah, I must have not slept well because it began to hurt as soon as I woke up. I'll be fine, no biggie." She innocently smiled.
As soon as the bus came to a stop and opened its door, all the kids began to proceed to get in, including Arnold and Helga.
"Well okay." He said to her. "I hope your neck feels better soon."
Relieved that Arnold bought it, she began to look around again.
No sign of Rodrigo. She thought to herself. Good. That means I can take a break from trying to be-
"Morning Helga!" She instantly heard a familiar voice greet
"Rodrigo!" Helga startlingly exclaimed. "I mean uh, don't come up from behind me and scare me like that!" She yelled at him. "Jeez!"
"Sorry Helga." Rodrigo apologized.
Helga was not happy seeing him. But she had to remind herself that even though she was on a break, she still needed to be friendly with him in order to continue with her plan later on.
"Don't worry about it." She grumbled. "Just make sure you don't do it again." She warned him.
"Duly noted." He said as the two got on the bus and paid their fares. "Hey, are you free for another round of Hand Ball this lunch recess?"
Helga was not surprised Rodrigo would ask her to hang out with him again. But fearing she was getting too close, she was determined to create some distance between them, even if it meant jeopardizing all the ground she gained with him since she started this enterprise.
"Oh gee," Helga said, "I'd love to, but I'm busy this lunch recess with Football Head. Turns out he cleared his schedule today, just to hang out with me."
"Well that's nice of him." Rodrigo remarked. "No worries. How about after school?" He asked.
"Can't after school." Helga flat out declined. "I gotta get home and help with my dad with something." she lied.
"Oh, okay." Rodrigo said, sounding a bit disappointed. "No worries. Some other time then." He said just as the bus began to move, prompting him to go to the back and find his seat.
Satisfied that he bought it, Helga went and sat down beside Arnold. She didn't completely lie about hanging out with Arnold later that day. Although they hadn't agreed to meet up, she had noticed that recently less and less kids were coming to him for his help and thus, hoped she would be able to have lunch together.
A few days away from him and I'll be back to continue with my 'Get Football Head back to my area of influence' Operation. She thought.
During lunch…
It was now lunch and Helga was already in line awaiting for her turn to receive her meal. One by one, each kid was given something that hardly resembled a proper meal. The taste was also questionable. No matter. Helga was eager to get hers and spend her lunch with Arnold. All she needed to get was some Tapioca pudding.
"So sorry Honey." The lunch lady said to Helga when it was her turn. "But we are all out of Tapioca pudding.
"You have got to be kidding me." Helga annoyingly grumbled. "Ugh, this is what I get for coming here late."
Highly annoyed on not getting her share of some pudding, Helga nevertheless made her way to the lunch table to tried to look on the positive side.
"At least I still get to spend my lunchtime with-" Helga stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what she was witnessing.
Arnold had left their lunch table and went to the side in order to talk to a few students who no doubt came to him asking for some of that good old Football Head wisdom. It wasn't a big crowd, but it was nevertheless enough to indicate to Helga that he was going to be busy for quite a while.
"Gggrrrrr!" Helga angrily growled on seeing she wouldn't be spending lunch time with Arnold. She got so angry that she was even bending her tray, threatening to break it in two.
Helga then quietly made her way to the lunch table, put her tray down and went over to Arnold.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat and tapped on his shoulder.
"Oh, hey Helga." Arnold greeted her. "Back so soon?" He asked.
"Of course I came back." Helga said, trying to not to lose her cool. "I just went to get my lunch so we can eat together, but once again you just had to run off to help these imbeciles!"
"Oh, you wanted to have lunch with me today?" Arnold asked. "I didn't know."
"What do you mean you didn't know?!" Helga angrily exclaimed. "Didn't you hear what I said to Rodrigo back at the bus? I was practically right next to you."
"No I didn't." Arnold replied. "I saw you talking to him, but I didn't hear what you said to him. I thought you were going to be busy with him today, so I scheduled some time to help out a few of these kids."
"Oh jeez!" Helga angrily exclaimed as she rubbed her face with her hand.
"It's okay, Helga." Arnold quickly said. "I can help them some other time. We'll have lunch together."
"Don't bother." She said as she grabbed her lunch. "They are already here waiting for you. No sense in making them come back later. I'll just go and eat somewhere else."
Arnold wanted to insist, but Helga didn't give him a chance to respond. She quickly grabbed her tray and left. Once she was away from him, she looked around for Gerald and Phoebe. She soon spotted them at another table. Helga was about to go over there and 'crash' their party, but she stopped herself when she saw how much they were enjoying each other's company.
With an envious look, Helga then saw how attentive, even affectionate Gerald was toward Phoebe. He not only gave her his full attention, but he showed a genuine interest on hearing what Phoebe had to say. Phoebe in turn happily conversed with Gerald as what sounded like compliments. Helga could at any point sit beside them and interrupt their little honeymoon session. But, not today. Happy for them, but sadden for her own predicament, she didn't have the heart to do it. Today was theirs. They deserved it.
With a sad and deeply disappointed look, Helga turned around to see where else she could sit and with whom. She looked at the table where Stinky, Sid and Harold were sitting but almost immediately decided against it. Although they weren't doing anything obnoxious, Helga had never gotten along with Harold and it was only a matter of time before one of them would say or do anything that would annoy the heck out of her. Individually they were okay. But together, their maturity would deteriorate to the point of pure stupidity.
She then looked toward where Rhonda, Nadine and Lila were sitting but also decided against going there. Apart from the fact that she never hanged out with them, she also considered the trio to be annoying, especially Rhonda. Plus, she had nothing to talk them about. Their subject of interest were way too different and Helga was in no mood to hear about the latest fashion trend or gossip.
Helga continued to look around the room, but soon realized she there wasn't anyone whom she would have lunch with. Disappointed once again, she just sadly sighed at the reality of having to eat alone. Previously that would not have bothered her. However, ever since she and Arnold began dating, she and Phoebe began to spend more and more time with both Arnold and Gerald. Although initially indifferent, the routine soon grew on her. It was no longer just her and Phoebe, or just her. She was now part of a group of friends, something she had never experienced before. For the first time, she felt she belonged somewhere. Although this started for barely two months, she eagerly grew accustomed to it. Without it, she instantly felt her that old companion;solitude creeping in.
Feeling lonely and really hungry, Helga was about to give up and sit down to eat when out of the corner of her eye she spotted Rodrigo. Surprisingly, he was sitting and eating alone, but happily enjoying his lunch. Probably because he also had a book with him that he glanced at after taking a bite as an occupation.
Helga was about to decide against going over there, but something began to pull her into having lunch with him. She tried to resist, but the force was too strong. She didn't know what was enticing her to go over there. Perhaps it was the loneliness she was not eager to experience again, or perhaps she wanted to spend some time with Rodrigo because deep down, she was starting to like him, even though she wouldn't yet admit it to herself.
"Hm, no." Helga grunted as she tried to go in the opposite direction, but was again pulled toward him.
But eventually, her desire to not eat alone getting the best of her, Helga sighed and relented. She turned around and headed toward him.
"Hey." She softly greeted him, prompting him to look up. ""Got room for one more?" She nervously asked him.
Rodrigo was surprised to see her and wondered why she was here. He was about to ask but then stopped himself when he saw a level of sadness and vulnerability in her face. The only thing that stopped it from completely showing was the hope that he would say yes. Realizing that for whatever the reason Arnold was again too 'busy' and Helga didn't seem to be in no mood to explain her circumstances, he refrained from asking.
"For sure." He happily responded and offered her to sit beside him.
Relieved, Helga let out a soft smile and sat down beside him. Grateful and without saying a word, she instantly began go eat.
"Oh, here." Rodrigo then said as he handed her his Tapioca pudding.
"Don't you want it?" Helga mumbled as she chewed her food.
"Nah, not really." He replied. "I don't like it, but I think you do. So, you can have it."
"Well, thanks." She gratefully said and took the pudding.
Rodrigo continued to eat as well, but from the shadow, he smiled. He lied about the Tapioca pudding. He did like it, but saw that Helga didn't have one and so wanting to cheer her up, gave her his.
As the two pre-teens ate, someone from across the room glanced at them with suspicion and growing concern. Although still occupied, Arnold couldn't help but eye Helga as she made her way to Rodrigo and eat with him. Despite being able to be available to eat together, she had declined the offered, which unsettled him and made him wonder what it all meant...
Later that same day…
As soon as the bell rang and all the students were making their way to the bus or head straight home, Arnold ran through the hallway, trying to catch up to someone and avoid being spotted by a few kids who were looking for him. He left in such a hurry that he was still putting his coat on. As soon as he left the building,
"Helga!" Arnold called out to her when he saw her walking toward the bus.
Helga heard him and stopped to glance at him.
"Hey." He said as caught up with her. "Are you okay?" He asked her.
"Yeah. Why?" She asked him.
"Well, because you were upset about lunch." He replied. "I'm really sorry Helga, but I really didn't hear at the bus this morning. Had I did, I would have not scheduled any time with-"
"It's okay, Football Head." Helga then interrupted. She then looked behind her where the bus was. Seeing that the kids were all getting in, she knew that it was about to leave anytime soon. Not that she wanted to go home, but she also didn't want to waste anymore time at school. However, there was something she needed to talk to Arnold first. She turned back around to face him.
"Look Arnold." She calmly began. "I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've been going about this all wrong. For weeks I have been trying to get you to stop help people without ever thinking what it could do to you; all for my sake. I hadn't realized that to get you stop helping people is like getting you to stop being who you are. That's selfish of me. I shouldn't be trying to do that. It's what makes you you and it's what I lo- I mean really really like about you."
"Really?" Arnold asked, to which Helga just nodded.
Arnold glanced at her with an astounded look on his face. Helga had never spoken like this before and the look on her face told him that she was been sincere with him.
"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is," Helga continued. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for forcing you to choose between our relationship and being you. You shouldn't have to."
To be honest, Arnold was a bit glad to hear her say that. But something about that apology brought a chilling, unpleasant sensation down his spine.
"It's okay, Helga." He said. "But you don't have to apologize for wanting to spend time with-"
"No, I had to." She insisted. "It wasn't fair to you, or to me. Even though I said it was about our relationship, deep down, I was making it about me. But, I think I found a solution."
"You did?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah." Helga said. "See, part of the reason why I was being so clingy is because I have no one to hang out with. Phoebe has been busy with Gerald and I didn't want to be that awkward 'third wheel'. I realized today that the problem is that I'm just bored. But ever since I started hanging out with Latino boy, I found a way to entertain myself."
"What?" Arnold asked, getting concerned about where this was going.
Helga responded. "Yeah, he isn't half bad to be around with. He gives me a good run for my money, I'll tell ya that. So I figured, I can spend my boring days hanging out with him so you can continue to being Football Headman!" She then dramatically exclaimed "Hillwood's greatest wise, problem-solver!"
Arnold didn't want to discourage her from having a new friend, but he found this really unsettling and suspicious.
"Well, that's a nice idea," He carefully said, "But I also don't want to take time away from us. You were right about our relationship. It's still in its infancy and we need to strengthen it."
"Yeah but I then asked myself; what's the rush?" Helga then said. "I mean, we're both still young. We got plenty of time to figure things out. I was wrong to try and rush it. In the mean time, we can just have fun doing the things that we like to do. Believe me, a little fresh air will do me some good."
"Yes, but Helga-" Arnold tried to insist.
"No buts, Arnoldo." But Helga again gently cut him off, albeit with some firmness in her voice. "This is how it needs to go down. Not just for the sake of our relationship, but for my sanity."
Helga meant everything she said to him. She spent the second half of school thinking hard about it, so much so that she completely ignored the lectures Mr. Simmons was giving. After hanging out with Rodrigo during lunch, she came to realize that he was warming up to her and that it was pointless to continue resisting, let alone continue to use him as her pawn. The guilt was inevitably killing her. Although she didn't yet 'officially' call him a friend, that's pretty much what he was becoming. And, there was nothing wrong with that.
Helga was just surprised at how easily and quickly she and Rodrigo bonded. Sure they had a lot of things in common, but she hadn't expected for him to be so relaxed and not intimidated by her personality. Even more surprising was how he didn't really annoy her, at least most of the time. That was a big bonus to her and it's more than she can say about some of her peers.
What's more, she realized that because she and Arnold were not in the same level in their relationship, she was pushing themselves too hard, trying desperately to close that gap which would have resulted in more friction. Perhaps that was why Arnold was not so into their relationship. He wasn't just working on it in his own pace, but was maybe feeling overwhelmed by Helga and thus, wanted to spend time doing what he liked to do; helping others. So perhaps a little break was in order.
As for her plan to win back Arnold…
It's still in the works. She thought to herself. Only now I can just enjoy Rodrigo's company and not have to work. It's a complete win-win scenario. I gain a new fri – I mean I get to hang out with someone decent while still striking back at Arnold for abandoning me like that. And it's not like Rodrigo will ever find out about this. It's perfect!
Arnold meanwhile was not at all thrilled to have heard this and wanted to fiercely protest. He began to feel this sense of panic within himself, as if someone was attempting to take something away from him that he valued so much. He wanted to prevent that from happening, but the last thing Helga said prevented him from saying anything to her to get her to change her mind.
Although he was happy that Helga was making a new friend, this was not how he expected it to go down. He felt this was happening at his expense, at the expense of their relationship and it was making him really concerned. But seeing that Helga had made her decision, he knew that protesting or arguing with her would only lead further arguing. And besides, what if Helga was right and this is good for her? He wanted what's best for her, right?
"Well, okay." Arnold replied with a slight sad tone. "If you think it'll help."
"Trust me, it will." She confidently said as she turned around to head to the bus.
"Ah dang it!" She exclaimed. "The bus left."
"We can walk home together." Arnold offered. "Can we at least do that?" He emotionally pleaded.
Helga noticed Arnold's emotional plea and was a bit surprised by it. To her delight, she realized her plan was working and wondered if perhaps she should now stop while she was ahead.
Nah. Not enough punishment. She thought. I need to make sure he really gets it and doesn't go back to turning his back on me.
But she did make one exception.
"Sure, what the hey?" She casually remarked and began to walk home, with a grateful Arnold following suit.
A few days later…
It was a Saturday night and Helga and Rodrigo were heading home. They had agreed to meet up for the weekend to 'paint the town red' as it were. Helga was hesitant on going out, only because she had very little money left. Rodrigo insisted, but what drove her to accept it was because she didn't want to spend another night at 'home'. Her situation there was deteriorating. Her father was becoming ever more delusional with his business, while Miriam spent whatever little money they had left on her 'smoothies'. Frustrated with this never ending cycle, she agreed to hang out. At this rate, it was better having to spend whatever little money she had to try and have a bit of fun rather than deal with the reality of things.
Unfortunately, like the weather, their night out deteriorated rapidly.
"Just forget it, Rodrigo!" Helga angrily yelled at him as she continued to make her way home.
"Why are you acting like this, Helga?" A confused and frustrated Rodrigo asked her. "I only offered to pay for your meal. Why are you taking offense to that?"
"I don't need your charity, okay!" She bellowed out. "I'm not some homeless kid that you can give money to out of pity!"
"Hey! That wasn't my intention alright?!" Rodrigo yelled back.
"Hey! Don't you snap at me!" Helga yelled back as she turned around to face him.
"Why? That's what you've been doing all night to me!" Rodrigo angrily yelled back. "From the moment we met up, you've been in such a grumpy mood. You snapped at me at every moment you could and when I offered to pay for your meal, you just berated at me for no reason!"
"I did have a reason for berating you!" Helga yelled back. "For assuming that I needed your money!"
"First off," Rodrigo said, "I didn't give you any money. I simply asked you if needed some. Secondly, the reason why I even asked you is because I saw you had no money left. You wanted to go to the arcade, but only ended up playing one game, leaving me to play on my own while you just watched."
"So?" She said. "I just wanted to watch you play. Is that a crime? A-A-And besides, I used up all my money when we went to the movies."
Rodrigo however, didn't believe her.
"Helga," He pointed out, "you only bought your ticket. You didn't buy any snacks. And as for you wanting to watch, I would believe you, if your facial expression didn't betray what you were really feeling; you wanted to play but were too proud and stubborn to even ask for a turn."
"I don't need to ask anyone for anything!" Helga then suddenly angrily yelled and even got right next to Rodrigo's face. "And I certainly don't need to ask anything from someone as snobby as you!"
Not wanting to continue with their argument, Helga then turned around to face the opposite direction with her arms crossed and frowned.
Rodrigo was a surprised, actually baffled by that last remark. He didn't know what she meant by that at all. He doesn't go around displaying any of his material possessions, because he had none, safe for his hat and clothes, which were pretty standard. And he only offered her money because he clearly saw that she wanted to play and eat.
Although highly annoyed that their Saturday night got ruined, Rodrigo took a deep breath and attempted to investigate.
"Helga," He calmly said to her as he approached her, "what's going on?"
"Nothing." Helga just firmly retorted and refused to even look at him.
Rodrigo however didn't give up.
"Look, I know something is bothering you." He said. "And if you don't try to talk about it, it's going to eat you up inside. I'm not asking you to tell me anything personal, but just to confide in me so I can help you to let it all out."
Rodrigo then waited for Helga to respond, but she remained steadfast and refused to say anything, let alone move. Rodrigo waited for a little bit more to see if she was going to change to her mind. However, after about a minute, he realized that she was not going to talk. Seeing this, he took it as his cue that perhaps Helga wanted to left alone, and rather disappointingly, turned around to head home.
Helga saw him walking away from the corner of her eye, but still refused to budge. But on seeing that he was actually leaving, she began to fear that she might lose him. She knew he had no idea of her situation, but nevertheless took his offering as a gateway for her to take her frustration out on him. The guilt she was feeling troubled her, so to cope with that, she took it out on him even more by putting the blame on him. Needless to say, that only escalated the tension between the two and unless she did something, it could result in a falling out. But what could she do?
"I didn't like you offering your money," She finally spoke, prompting Rodrigo to instantly stop and face her, "because it reminds me of my home situation."
"What situation?" Rodrigo asked.
Helga just sighed.
"It's best if I just show you." She softly said as she gestured to him to follow her. Rodrigo obliged and went with her down the street that led to where she was staying.
As they walked, neither of them spoke to each other. Helga in particular did not even make an attempt to glance at him and just continued to walk whilst facing forward. Rodrigo likewise didn't look at her, preferring instead to just wait and see what Helga had to show him. But needless to say, he was getting a bad feeling about it…
Sure enough, the two came to what looked like a plaza. Only it had just one big store, with a big parking lot. Rodrigo looked in front and saw the big billboard of what looked like a king. He instantly cringed when he saw the big, unnerving, almost Joker-like smile the person in the billboard was making. It looked so intimidating that it was frightening him.
What's even worse was the state of the place. Although the store was standing firm, the parking was becoming increasingly cluttered with garbage, boxes and other materials there were lying around. Clearly the plaza was not being maintained and it only increased Rodrigo's worry.
The Latino Kid hoped that they were just passing by, but much to his surprise, Helga then stopped when they got right in front of the entrance. Without even saying a word, nor without showing any emotion on her face, she turned around to face him.
"Why are we here, Helga?" Rodrigo asked when it became evident that this is what she wanted to show him.
"This is where I live." She said with an emotionalless tone in her voice as she pointed to the store.
Rodrigo got confused for a moment. This was clearly a commercial store, not a residential building, so he didn't understand what Helga meant. He took a moment to scout around, trying to what what she was pointing at. But as he more looked around, the more reality began to sink in.
"Here?" Rodrigo asked. "But, this is a store."
"Yes." Was all she said as she patiently waited for it to hit him.
"You...live here?" A stunned Rodrigo asked, now getting it.
Helga just silently nodded.
Then it finally hit him.
"Why? What happened?" He asked.
"A lot of things happened." She explained. "But it mostly has to do with my dad." As she pointed to the billboard.
"That's your father?" He asked, surprised.
"Not by choice." She replied with a clear sense of disappointment in her tone. "He used to run what he called 'his beeper empire' business. He was kind of a big deal back in the day. A lot of people and businesses called him to supply them with some of the latest beepers gadgets."
"I see." Rodrigo said. "Just one question. What's a beeper?"
"That's exactly my point!" Helga angrily exclaimed as she went over to a box next to the building, grabbed something from inside it and went back.
"This is a beeper!" She yelled as she put the beeper right in Rodrigo's face. "A stupid outdated, useless piece of gadget that no one wants! It's actually called a pager, but he calls it a beeper. It's a one-way communication device where a sender calls the pager and the receiver gets the person's phone number or a message. That's all it can do! Just send a message and that's it. You can't do anything else with it. You can't call anyone, send a message back, get directions or even connect to the internet!" She angrily yelled as she threw the beeper across the parking and hit the wall, breaking it into several pieces.
"Those things were useful!" She continued to yelled. "Back in the stone age! But my dad is too stubborn to get with the times. He keeps lingering on this sickening fantasy that smart phones are just a 'phase' and it'll die off soon. Because of that, his business has been failing and we have resorted to living here and eating scraps just to get by!"
Helga could hardly contain her anger and frustration any longer. Having to come 'home' every day, only to witness further degradation of her family's fortune with no hope in sight added to her growing anger and despair.
Helga took a bit a breather from talking. Rodrigo meanwhile went back to where the broken beeper was and grabbed it from the ground. He had never seen this old piece of technology before and thus was curious to see it first hand. However, based on what Helga described about it, he instantly recognized that inability of her father being able to sell such an outdated tech to anyone.
"So he's has been trying to sell beepers all of this time?" He asked her. "Even when it's obvious that no one wants it?"
"Doi!" She exclaimed.
Rodrigo couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't understand how an adult could not only be so stubborn, but even so immature as to dissuade himself from accepting the changes taking place around him. Not to mention severely affecting your family in the process.
If he's really this big-shot business guy Helga claims he is, Rodrigo thought. He would have no trouble seeing smart phone as a new opportunity for his business.
He figured there had to be something more to this story and wanted to ask Helga if she, Arnold or anyone for that matter had tried to talk to him about it. However, he refrained from asking such a question, figuring that several people would have already attempted to do that but to no avail.
"How long have you been leaving here?" Rodrigo instead asked.
"Before last spring." Helga replied as she crossed her armed.
"What?!" A shocked Rodrigo exclaimed. "He's been refusing to change his inventory for almost half a year?! I don't get it. Why does he cling on to these outdated contraptions?"
"Beats me." She said. "If you find an answer, please let me know. Or better yet, tell him!"
Rodrigo then thought carefully about how he was going to word his next question.
"How bad has it been?" He asked her. "Leaving here." He specified.
"Try sleeping in a cold, cement filled cleaning closet." She just remarked.
That part completely shocked Rodrigo and threw whatever little respect he had left for her father right out the window.
"What does your mom have to say about all of this?" He asked, trying to cling on to some last hope that a solution could be found. "Surely she must have said something."
"Pft, please!" She just scoffed at the question. "Like Miriam would ever have the backbone to stand up for herself."
Rodrigo didn't particularly know what Helga meant by that, but the way she spoke about her mother brought a highly disturbing, cold sensation go down his spine.
Helga meanwhile got quiet and just looked down on the ground with a bitter, angry look on her face. Rodrigo also stayed quiet as he absorbed everything he just heard. After a bit of a while, he gently approached her, put his hand on her back,
"I'm really sorry you're going through this, Helga." He sympathetically said to her.
Helga however, was not having none of it and pushed his hand aside.
"Hey, I didn't tell you all of this because I wanted your pity." She just scoffed at him. "I only did it to show you why your money offering hit a nerve."
"How else do you want me to feel about what you're going through, Helga?" Rodrigo said with a frown.
"There's nothing wrong with feeling bad about someone's situation. That's not weakness, but a strength. It shows that you're my friend and I care."
That got Helga's attention.
"What did you say?" She asked.
"I said that feeling pity about someone just hows that someone cares about you." He repeated himself.
"No, after that." She said.
"I said that you're my friend and that I care." He repeated himself.
"We're...friends?" A stunned Helga could only ask again to clarify.
"Why not?" He just casually said. "We've been hanging out for a while now so I figured that somewhere down the road, we became friends. I mean, I don't think you would have wasted your time hanging out with me if you didn't think of me as one." He chuckled.
"I...guess not." She agreed.
Helga could say nothing else and just continued to glance at Rodrigo with a surprised look on their face. Although she had already come to accept him as some sort of a platonic companion; that's all he was to her. She wasn't yet entirely comfortable in labeling him as a friend, mostly because she was still having a hard time accepting that someone would ever bother to hang out with her, much less consider her as their friend. But now that the friendship was entirely out, much so acknowledged by him, left her feeling stunned, a position she detested because she made her uneasy.
"Well, um," She tried to say something. "Thanks. For listening I mean." She quickly added.
"No problem." He said with a friendly smile. "And yes, I promise to keep this a secret. No one will ever hear this from me." He quickly added.
"Good." She quickly reverberated back to her own self. "You better!"
"Does anyone else know?" He asked.
"Just Arnold and Phoebe." She responded. "Gerald doesn't know."
That last bit surprised Rodrigo. He knew that Gerald and Helga didn't initially get along, and it wasn't after their 'adventure' in San Lorenzo when they began to make an effort to be more friendly with each other. Plus, considering that he was Arnold's best friend and Phoebe's boyfriend, he figured Helga would have trusted him to tell him. But apparently that wasn't the case. If he had to be honest, he was flattered that Helga trusted some like him, an outsider with such personal information. Hence, he didn't dare question her about it.
"I see." Was all he responded. "Look, I know you don't want me to make you feel anymore uncomfortable, but, and I'm sure Arnold and Phoebe probably already offered, but, if you ever do need a place to stay for the night, you can always stay at my place." He offered.
"Thanks." She said with a serious look on her face, although deep down she was grateful for the offer.
"Anyway," She than said. "I gotta head in. Not that my parents will care where I was, but I don't want them to start getting worried. Believe it or not, they tend to do that."
"I believe it." Rodrigo said. "Good night, Helga."
"Night Latino boy." She said and headed straight for the door. Rodrigo watched her for a bit, but he soon eventually turned around and began to head home.
Helga approached the door and opened it, but before she stepped in, she took one last look at Rodrigo as he was leaving. This wasn't at all how it was suppose to turn out. This was suppose to be about her and Arnold and their relationship, not on trying to deal with her lack of friends. Up until she started hanging out with Rodrigo, it wasn't even an issue, or at least she tried to not let it be. But on now seeing him as an end and not a means, she felt more guilty than ever for bringing him into this. But on seeing the potential in having someone like him as a friend, and after having accepted that she really had few friends and gaining her trust, ever the opportunist, she jumped at the chance. There was just no choice. It wasn't just logical, but more importantly, it was emotional.
Helga sighed and hoped she did the right thing in giving him a chance. I mean so far it seemed to be bearing fruit, but she had no idea what the future might hold for them and that's when another concern began to quickly grip her.
What if he finds out that I was using him at the beginning? She worriedly thought to herself. How would he find out, though? I didn't tell anybody and no one is the wiser. So unless I tell him, which isn't going to happen, he will never know. That's it. I just have to keep my mouth shut and take this little secret to my grave. Not even Phoebe will know.
With that matter quickly settled, Helga turned around and went inside her 'home', but with a new sense of confidence about herself and her future. Perhaps with Rodrigo now by her side, things will get a bit better.
