HI everyone! OK, so this story is another setting of Rodrigo Castile de la Serna and his association with Arnold, Helga, Gerald, Phoebe and everyone else. This story is from a completely different setting and universe and does not relate to my previous stories about them.
This story was inspired by two particular Hey Arnold! Episodes; Ms. Perfect and Helga vs. Patty, as well as some of the stories I have written about Rodrigo and Helga.
I'm didn't want to bother with another long a** summary, so here is the jist of it: Rodrigo Castile has recently moved to Hillwood and is just starting school at P.S. 118. Helga meanwhile struggles with trying to finally turn over a new leaf and drop her stern and aggressive stance. But, she is finding it difficult to really let go that part of herself and reveal her softer side, especially when Rodrigo starts to befriend everyone.
Rodrigo Castile is largerly the same person as in my previous stories. Except, he is now in the sixth grade and is a bit more reserved. I had previously stated in my other stories that Rodrigo is a bit introverted, but given that he was a major character in those stories, it was hard trying to demonstrate that. Enjoy!
It was a Monday morning and all the kids hurried to their class before the bell rang. After spending a fun weekend, most kids groaned and moaned on having to quite literally crawl back to school. For most kids, it just seemed like any other day, nothing new, nothing special.
For Arnold and his friends, the rigid and seemingly mundane schedule of school, homework and assignments seemed like a rather welcoming gesture, especially if one considered the events and adventure, if one can call it that, that they had to endure last summer. And it wasn't just the fact of having to escape the dangerous perils of the Central American jungle, nor was it having to escape the prison of a notorious, obsessed river pirate that very nearly ended the lives of three preteens.
After that fateful summer, things were never the end. Entire relationships had been changed and the group now struggled to adjust to it. Arnold had finally found his parents and was now busy trying to cope with spending time with them, as well as helping them reintegrate back into society after a decade's long absence. Helga had finally confessed her feelings to Arnold and to her absolute delight and beating heart, Arnold finally returned her feelings and shared their first kiss at the Green-Eyed people's city. Gerald and Phoebe also shared their first kiss and had began dating shortly there after.
"Come on, football head hurry up!" Helga exclaimed. "I don't want to be late for class again because you are being too slow."
"I'm coming, Helga." Arnold replied as he closed his locker and ran to catch up. "I just needed to get my book."
With all of the changes, none had a greater impact than on Arnold and Helga. It had only been a few months since they started the sixth grade and even longer since their return from San Lorenzo. The newly couple, new and naive of this new venture, had been tracking carefully, slowly exploring the pathways of their new found relationship which thus far, had been a bit bumpy to say the least. Despite the time having gone past, they still felt they had a lot to learn about being a couple, especially Helga. Yet, both were determined to make it work. In the eyes of both teens, there really wasn't any need to take things too fast.
Arnold especially was keen on not pushing Helga too far into this, since she was still struggling on adjusting with all the changes that had happened. It had only been just recent since Helga finally felt comfortable enough to make their relationship public. Although, she still scoffed away from being too intimate with Arnold in public. Yet even after making their relationship known and not facing any mocking or ridicule, Helga still maintained her guard up, ready to pounce on anyone who would dare come forward and make fun of something that she considered to be precious and joyful.
If the stress of being in a relationship wasn't enough, Helga was still coping on how she was now being viewed by her peers. Ever since her 'feud' with Arnold had 'formerly' ended and both were seen to be 'civil', Helga began to notice how their friends began to view her less and less with fear and intimidation. Although they still maintained their distance, it was becoming clear to Helga that the way she once ruled the hallways with an iron fist was slowly rusting away and she was not sure how she felt about it. She was still very hesitant on revealing her soft, if not vulnerable side, especially to certain individuals whom she knew will end up mocking her. But, she'll take it one step at a time.
"Fascinating." She sarcastically remarked as she glanced at the book Arnold almost forgot. "Another wonderful day in the world of mathematics. I can't wait to take my first nap of the day."
"Where's Gerald and Phoebe?" Arnold asked as he looked around for them. "I thought they were supposed to meet us at the classroom entrance."
"Eh, probably making out at the back of the building somewhere." Helga just shrugged.
Arnold initially just gave Helga a weird look, but then began to chuckle.
"I wouldn't be surprised." He said.
Despite the joke, Helga felt a bit envious about Phoebe's and Gerald's relationship. The way those two do things makes being in a relationship a walk in the park, at least when compared to her relationship with Arnold. They have yet to have their first real fight or argument and have no issues being intimate in public. Helga just sighrf at those thoughts and hoped to one day be able to do away with all the antics and ups and downs in their relationship and just be a bit more...stable. Nevertheless, she was happy for them both. At least one of them was doing great.
Just as the couple got close to their classroom entrance,
"Hey Arnold!" a voice called to him, prompting Arnold and Helga to turn around and look behind them.
"Finally you two showed up." Gerald said as he and Phoebe approached them.
"We would have been gotten here earlier if Arnoldo over here wasn't taking his sweet time." Helga retorted a bit.
"Where did you guys go?" Arnold asked.
"We were looking for you guys." Gerald said. "We thought you got lost of something."
Helga just stood there as they gave them a suspicious look.
"How nice of you to be concerned about us." She sarcastically remarked. "Looks like the only ones who got lost were the both of you, given how nervous you both look right now." She continued with a smirk.
Gerald and Phoebe said nothing and tensed up, only for them to then start blushing. Arnold looked at the couple with stunned, if not almost frightening look. He thought Helga was joking when she said they were at the back of the building, but it just turned out that there was some serious truth to it. What exactly they did, he preferred not to know.
"Um... well, we were going to look for you-" Gerald began to nervously respond.
"But we got a bit sidetracked, you see..." only for Phoebe to interject and attempt to come up with something.
"No need to explain to me, Pheebs." Helga said to her with her continued smirk. "I already know."
"Well, since we are all here," Helga then quickly continued, "let's get inside before the teach puts us all in detention." She said. "I don't know about you three, but I got a life outside of this dump."
Helga wasted no time as she and everyone else quickly entered the classroom before the bell rang. Indeed, all the other students quickly went inside their respective classrooms, with the last student or teacher closing the doors, revealing a hallway suddenly devoid of noise and life.
Well, almost. Only one preteen was still in the hallway, calmly walking towards a particular classroom, ready to for his first day at P.S. 118.
While Arnold, Helga, Phoebe and Gerald went to their respective seats, the rest of their friends were busy either talking to one another, or making loud and obnoxious ruckus. No sooner when the last student went inside did their teacher, Mr. Simmons, closed the door to his classroom to begin his morning lecture.
"Alright class, settle down, please." Mr. Simmons said as he tried, almost in vain, to settle his students. "Please, settle down! I have an announcement to make!"
That prompted many of the students, especially a certain trio of male preteens to finally settle into their seats and quiet down. Everyone then attentively glanced at Mr. Simmons, except Helga, who was busy writing something on her notebook.
"Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and got a chance to relax." Mr. Simmons began with his usual cheerful mood. "This week, we will be focusing a bit on our fractions and decimals, so I hope you all brought your math books today and prepared yourselves for another exciting around of mathematics!" He excitedly exclaimed.
Everyone else, either didn't bother to answer or just groaned.
"But first," He continued, "to this morning's announcement: We have a new student coming today."
That got everyone's attention, with many of them sitting straight up.
"News flash, Simmons." Helga said to her teacher while slumping down on her desk. "You already introduced us to a new student two years ago; Little Miss Perfect over there."
"I'm aware of that, Helga." Mr. Simmons said with a somewhat dry tone, "but this is another student that will be joining us this year!" He then continued with his excitement returning.
"Now, he is running a little late," the teacher continued as he looked at his watch, "and I have been told he is new to Hillwood, so I do hope you all give him a big and warm welcome when he arrives."
Just then,
*Knock**knock*
"Oh, that must be him." Mr. Simmons said, who appeared to be more excited than his students as he went over to the door and opened it.
"Mr. Simmons?" The new student asked him.
"Yes, that's me." Mr. Simmons said with a kind smile. "Please, come in."
Everyone then glanced over at the door as the student who will be joining them entered their classroom.
"Everyone, please meet Rodrigo Castile." Mr. Simmons introduced Rodrigo to everyone.
Rodrigo quite nervously remained silent and with just a shy smile, waved at everyone.
Arnold and his classmates didn't really know what to make of him. By the looks of things, he didn't seem to be all that impressive. He was a bit short, about the same height as Arnold, if not just a wee bit taller. He had long black, thick hair, his skin was tanny brown, with dark-brown eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a hoodie at the back with blue jeans. He seemed to be rather shy, if not reserved. Although, that could be due to being the new kid on the block. Frankly, the only thing intriguing, at least with this his appearance, was his black fedora hat that he was wearing.
Everyone remained silent and just continued to give a blank stare at the new kid that was going to be part of their class for the rest of the year. Only Arnold and Gerald gave the new student a smile back.
"Now class," Mr. Simmons continued to speak again, "I know all of you are curious to know a bit about him,"
"Hm, not really." Helga muttered while she doodled on her notebook.
"but given how we are bit stretched for time and we do have a lot of ground to cover, please hold off on the questions until lunch time." The teacher continued. "Rodrigo, you can take a seat at the front, next to Helga." He then pointed at the empty desk.
Rodrigo looked at the desk and then looked at the only girl who was beside it, who was busy doodling something and not paying any attention at all to what was happening and figured she must be Helga. As instructed, he then walked towards his new desk and sat down. For a moment, he continued to look at Helga, waiting to see if she was going to say anything. But, when it became clear that she had no interest on even saying hi to him, Rodrigo then sat down and looked straight at Mr. Simmons.
A few hours later…
The bell rang, signaling the start of lunch time.
"OK class!" Mr. Simmons said as everyone started getting up, packing and getting ready to leave. "Enjoy a well deserved lunch and break!" He exclaimed amist the noises that the students were creating. "I will see you all within an hour!"
Rodrigo also began to pack up and began to get up in order to ask Mr. Simmons where the lunch room was, when he suddenly felt someone tapping on his shoulders. Curiously, he turned around to find a blonde, football headed preteen behind him.
"Hi, Rodrigo." Arnold greeted him with a warm smile. "My name is Arnold. It's nice to meet you. Welcome to P.S. 118." As he then extended his hand.
A bit taken aback at Arnold's kindness and warm greeting, he hesitated on shaking the blonde preteen's hand.
"Hi, Arnold." Rodrigo nervously said to him. "Nice to meet you too."
"Hi! My name's Gerald." Gerald then approached him and introduced himself. "Nice to see you, Rodrigo." He then extended his hand.
Rodrigo, now even more taken aback, again shook Gerald's hand, albeit with some hesitation.
"Nice to meet you too, Gerald." He said.
"Have you had the time to get to know this place?" Gerald asked him.
"Not really." Rodrigo shyly responded. "I came kind of late this morning, so I hadn't had a chance to tour around."
"Well, if you'd like," Arnold then said to him, "we'd be more than happy to show you around after lunch."
"Sure, thanks." Rodrigo responded, now getting a little more comfortable.
"Hey!" Someone then shouted, prompting the three male teens to look towards the door.
"Are you two losers going to head to the lunchroom or what?" Helga snapped at them. "I don't want to be the last one to line up and not get those chocolate puddings for dessert."
Rodrigo said nothing and just looked, at the fierce female blonde preteen that was standing by the door, looking a bit intrigued.
Who is she? He wondered.
"It's OK Helga, you guys go on ahead." Arnold said to her and Phoebe. "We're going to show Rodrigo around a bit after lunch, so we'll see you later."
Helga said nothing and just shrugged her shoulders.
"Suit yourself." She remarked. "Come on, Pheebs." She said as she turned around and headed towards the lunchroom.
"Coming." Phoebe replied back in her usual high-pitch voice and followed her.
Rodrigo was about to ask Arnold who this Helga and her Asian friend were, but he had other priorities at the moment.
"So, where's the lunchroom?" The Latino kid asked them.
"Right this way." Gerald said as he gestured him to walk first.
After making their way to the lunchroom and eating, the three male teens then went on a small tour around the school, giving Rodrigo some knowledge as to where the gym, bathrooms and drinking fountain were. After that, they quickly made their way to the school yard, where the rest of their friends were.
"There you see?" Gerald said as the three of them walked out of the building and patted Rodrigo on the back. "It's not hard to know you're way around once you get your barrings."
"I guess not." Rodrigo admitted, now feeling more comfortable. "What do you guys do after lunch?" He asked them.
"We mostly just hang out with our friends." Gerald answered him.
"We're on our way to meet up with them. Did you want to join us?" Arnold offered with a smile.
"Sure." Rodrigo replied, even cracking a smile as he was excited at the prospect of making friends.
The trio went over to where Stinky, Sid, Harold and Eugene were.
"Hey guys!" Gerald greeted everyone when they approached them. "Everyone, meet Rodrigo Castile."
"Oh hey, the new kid!" Sid exclaimed as he got up from the bench. "Hi Rodrigo! The name's Sid." He said as he extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Sid." Rodrigo said as he shook his hand.
"Hi there, Rod!" Stinky then said with a smile and his usual southern accent. "My name's Stinky!"
"Hi Stinky." Rodrigo said with a smile.
"Hi Rodrigo." Eugene then stepped forward and shook his hand. "I'm Eugene. Welcome to P.S. 118."
"Hi Eugene and thanks." He said back, but then he looked at Harold.
"Hey Rodrigo." Harold mumbled as he stuff himself with more food.
"Hi." As all Rodrigo said, a bit surprised at how much the taller kid was eating.
Didn't he already eat his lunch? He asked in thought.
"So Rodrigo, what do you like to do for fun?" Sid asked.
"Well I like sports." Rodrigo replied. "Soccer is usual the sport I'd go for, but I don't mind playing baseball or basketball from time to time."
"I'm not surprised." Sid said as he chuckled, given his Hispanic roots.
"I also like to read a lot." Rodrigo continued.
"Oh really? What kind of books?" Arnold asked.
"About everything, really. From the textbooks that we have to read in class, to novels, history, religion, war, politics, science, math, some social theories, etc. Basically, anything I can get my hands on." Rodrigo replied.
"Hmm hmm hmm mmm. Man, looks like we got ourselves another bookworm." Gerald jokingly remarked.
"Yeah I guess." Rodrigo just shrugged with a smile. "Whose the other bookworm?" He then asked.
"My lady, Phoebe Heyerdahl." Gerald said. "You probably saw her standing next to Helga by the classroom door earlier today."
"The Asian one?" Rodrigo asked.
"Yup, that's her." He said. "Although, she's half Japanese and Kentuckian."
"No kidding!" Rodrigo exclaimed, surprised at Phoebe's racially mixed heritage.
"Nope. She is one of a kind. She's somewhere with Helga, but you'll be seeing her soon. She's really nice and I'm sure she will like someone like you who has the same depth in knowledge and analytical thinking as she does." Gerald said.
"Well, thanks. I would like to meet her." Rodrigo said, intrigued on hearing someone has the same level of interest to read and learn.
"But, don't get any ideas though." Gerald then said with a bit of a serious tone and frown.
"Don't worry. I won't." Rodrigo promised with a smile.
Just then,
"Oh, is that so ever the new student?" The male preteens then heard someone and turned around to look who was approaching them.
"Hi, Lila." Arnold greeted her. "Yes, this is Rodrigo. Rodrigo, this is Lila Sawyer."
"Hi Rodrigo. I'm ever so pleased to meet you." Lila greeted Rodrigo with a warm smile and extended her hand.
Rodrigo for a few seconds just stood there, completely smittened by Lila's beauty and sweet nature.
Wow, she's beautiful! He thought.
However, he then quickly snapped out of it and greeted her.
"Hi Lila. It's nice to meet you as well." Rodrigo gently shook her hand with a smile of his own.
"How are you liking our school so far?" She kindly asked him.
"It's...better than I thought it would be." He replied, subtly hinting that it was now better because she was there.
Lila may have gotten the hint because she ended up giggling.
Just then, the rest of their friends began to make their way toward the group.
"Oh, is this Rodrigo?" Nadine said as she, Sheena and Rhonda approached them. "Hi! I'm Nadine." She said as she extended her hand.
"Hi Nadine." Rodrigo greeted her.
While everyone was gathering around the new kid, Helga and Phoebe were by the swings.
"Oh Helga, I think Arnold and Gerald are back with Rodrigo." Phoebe said.
"Yeah, so?" Helga dryly asked.
"So I believe we should greet him as well and make him feel welcome." Phoebe replied back.
Helga merely looked toward the crowd that had gathered around Rodrigo with a disinterested facial expression. While having no interest on welcoming a complete stranger into their mist, she didn't really have anything else better to do, especially since Arnold was busy rolling the rep carpet for the new kid.
"Alright," she said with a sigh as she got off the swing. "might as well." As she and Phoebe made their way to 'greet' him.
"Hi Rodrigo. My name is Sheena." Sheena greeted him with a smile.
"Hi Sheena." Rodrigo said with a smile.
"Hello Rodrigo." Rhonda then stepped forward and began to formerly address him in a manner that clearly showed her superiority. "I am Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, proud member of the Lloyd family household. You may have heard my family name."
"Actually no, I haven't." Rodrigo replied while looking at Rhonda with investigative eyes.
"Don't worry, you will." She condescendingly responded. "As such, it is my duty and privilege to welcome you to our fair and humble school."
Rodrigo said nothing and just looked at Rhonda with bewildered look. But in truth, he had her all figured out. Even though he only met her for a few seconds, that's all the time he needed to get to know her, and he meant that in a negative way. He could plainly see that Rhonda was superficial and self-centered, personality traits that he really disliked. However, Rodrigo had always reminded himself to always give people the benefit of the doubt and to give them a chance to open up. Prior experience has taught him that if given the opportunity, they can reveal a great deal more about themselves that neither he nor anyone else thought was possible and he felt Rhonda, or anyone else should be no exception. Besides, he was new to the school and the last thing he wanted was to make enemies.
As he continued to look at Rhonda, it was clear that she possessed a certain amount of influence in their grade. How much power or influence she actually had, he didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted to strategically get on her good side and he thought he knew just how to do it.
Just then, Phoebe and Helga arrived at the scene, just as Rhonda was talking to Rodrigo.
With a smile on his face, Rodrigo got closer to her, gently grabbed her hand and with grateful tone of voice, began to speak,
"Enchante mademoiselle." Rodrigo then spoke in French as he kissed her hand. "Merci pour votre aimable accueil, mais seulement ta beauté est assez pour m'assurer que je viendrai jouir mes temps dans ce école." (Delighted to meet you, mademoiselle. Thank you for your kind welcome, but only your beauty was enough to assure me that I will come to enjoy my time in this school.)
"I uh...what?" Rhonda stuttered, stunned by Rodrigo's sudden chivalrous gesture and inability to understand what Rodrigo had just said.
Rhonda wasn't the only one who was surprised by Rodrigo's sudden gesture. Everyone else also looked on with astonishment. Everyone, except Helga, who just made a wretching sound upon seeing the new kid gloat over Rhonda. They took him to be shy and reserved, so for him to do something so bold and sudden like that took everyone by surprise.
"What did he just say?" Stinky confusingly asked.
"What was Spanish?" Sid asked.
"I don't think so." Phoebe answered him. "I believe that was French."
"You know French, Rodrigo?" Gerald asked him.
"Yup." Rodrigo responded.
For Rhonda, the fact that someone was able to speak French, a highly cultural and influential language, was enough to impress her. Although she had no idea what he just said to her, the mere chivalrous gesture was enough to cause Rhonda to blush hard.
"Oh well, umm...merci." Rhonda shyly and nervously tried to answer him. That was the only French word she knew. That and 'bonjour'.
"Just how many languages can you speak?" Gerald asked him.
"Just three." Rodrigo answered him. "English, Spanish and French."
"Only three?" Gerald sarcastically said with a raised eyebrow, as if speaking three languages was no big deal.
Everyone couldn't help but be a bit impressed with his intelligence, and also the fact that he quickly managed to impress Rhonda, which no doubt for them meant that Rodrigo could quickly be elevated as one of the cool kids. Helga however, looked on, unimpressed with this latest spectacle to win the hearts and minds over her classmates.
"I don't know what's more pathetic," she muttered as she rolled her eyes, "him gloating all over Princess, or the fact that she blushed even though she had no idea what he said."
"Oh hey babe." Gerald then said to Phoebe when he saw her. Rodrigo heard him and on figuring that Phoebe had just arrived, turned around to face them.
"Rodrigo, this is my one and only gal, Phoebe." Gerald introduced him
"Pleasure to meet you, Rodrigo." Phoebe greeted him as she shook his hand. "Welcome to our school."
"The pleasure is all mine." Rodrigo responded with a smile, now growing ever more comfortable, if not more confident with his surroundings. "I have been told you are the intellectual prowess of this school."
"Oh well, I am a bit of a bookworm." Phoebe shyly responded.
"Not to worry." Rodrigo assured her. "I'm glad to meet you."
Arnold then stepped forward as he prepared to introduce Rodrigo to Helga.
"And Rodrigo," he then said to him as he gestured to where Helga was, "I would like for you to meet-"
"Helga G. Pataki, ya ya nice to meet you." Helga then interrupted him and introduced herself as she stepped forward and got closer to him.
"Well, nice to meet you-" Rodrigo began to say to her and even extended his hand to shakes hers, but Helga merely swiped it aside and interrupted him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She dismissively said to him. "First thing you need to know around here is that I ask all the questions, got it bucko?"
"OK, sure." Rodrigo said, taken a bit aback by her sudden aggression.
"OK, first question: Who do you work for?" She demanded.
"No one. I guess myself." Rodrigo shrugged.
"Where do you hail from?" She bluntly asked him another question.
"I came from Los Angeles." Rodrigo responded. "My family and I just moved here during the summer."
"Well that explains a lot." She softly muttered. Rodrigo heard her remark, but didn't say anything. "So I take it you were born there?" She then asked him.
"No." He responded. "My parents came to the US when I was very small and settled in L.A. I originally came from Latin America."
"Ah I see." she said. "So which Latin American country do you come from? The one with the civil war, the one with the drug problems or the one with the funny hats?"
Before Rodrigo could respond, he heard two people call her name.
"Helga!" Both Arnold and Phoebe exclaimed at her, shocked beyond belief for making such an inconsiderate, if not racist question.
"What? It's a legitimate question." She said back, unfazed by their disapproving frowns.
But before either of them to say anything else, they heard someone chuckling.
"Hahahahaha, that's really funny, Helga." Rodrigo said as he laughed.
Everyone, including Helga, went dead silent and just stared at him with bewildered, if not confused faces as Rodrigo continued to chuckle.
"Um, did I miss something?" Gerald asked, to which Arnold merely shrugged his shoulders. His guess was as good as his.
Everyone, including Helga, had expected Rodrigo take her question the wrong way, even if she may have meant it as sort of a 'realistic joke'. It had always been one of her key traits; to upset or frustrate people, apart from also inspiring fear. However, this was the first time that someone was actually taking the complete opposite and laughing about it. For Helga especially, this confused her and rendered her motionless, not really sure what to really say or do, which only served to arouse her suspicion of him.
"Hey!" She then suddenly shouted with a frown, prompting Rodrigo to stop laughing. "What's so funny? Are you making fun of me?" She angrily demanded, even going so far as to hold up her fist close to his face.
"No, no, of course not." Rodrigo replied with a friendly smile, still unfazed by her tough stance. "I wasn't laughing at you. I just found the funny side to your question, that's all."
Helga merely just looked at him with raised eyebrow, still suspicious of him.
"Alright buster, what's your angel?" She demanded of him.
"No angel." Rodrigo calmly replied. "I'm just here to make friends."
"So you do have an angel?" She then said.
"Well, I guess do." He casually responded.
"Alright Helga," Arnold then stepped forward and addressed her, "I think you have interrogated him long enough. This is only his first day."
Helga was about to say something, but Rodrigo stepped in first.
"No, no, it's alright." Rodrigo said with a smile and a small chuckle. "I don't mind at all. I like her." He said.
*GASPS* Loud gasps were heard throughout the crowd.
For the second time, this new piece of news completely stunned everyone, including Helga and Arnold and for a few brief seconds, rendered everyone to just look at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws.
"OK, now I really think I am missing something here." Gerald remarked.
"Hey, back off, Latino boy." Helga then suddenly retorted at him. "I'm already spoken for." As she pointed to Arnold.
"I don't mind like 'like'." Rodrigo clarified. "Just like."
"Excuse me?" Rhonda then interjected. "Pardon me, but I fail to see just what is it about Helga that you find so appealing."
Although not taking kindly to Rhonda's question, Helga nevertheless remained quiet and waited for Rodrigo to answer, as she was curious to hear his reasons.
"Well, I just think she is interesting." Rodrigo began to explain. "She's funny, assertive and, well, I think she is a direct, no nonsense kind of girl. She seems to know what she wants and how get it. I guess I'm just sort of impressed by that."
Again, everyone remained virtually silent at what Rodrigo had just said about her. In all the years they had known Helga, not one person had ever come forward to say anything positive about her after meeting her. Arnold was the only one that managed to see many of her traits from a positive outlook, although that did take some time and also, it was Arnold after all. Because of that, Phoebe and Arnold were particularly astonished at Rodrigo, if not even a bit impressed by him in this ability to see that past her tough, aggressive stance, there was indeed something genuinely positive about her.
"Interesting? Funny? Impressed by her?" Sid softly muttered. "Not the words I would have used to describe Helga."
"Yup, it's official." Curly remarked. "This new kid definitely has a screw loose."
Helga was especially stunned and just looked at Rodrigo with a shock, blank stare. But, after over hearing from the other preteens' remarks or utterance, she soon snapped out of it and moved forward with her interrogation.
"Alright well," She then said, trying to get back on topic and move the attention away from her, "pfft, wish I can say the same thing about you." She then retorted with a laugh, reverting back to her usual defense mechanism of being mean in order to keep anyone out.
"And what's the deal with that hat?" She then asked him. "Why do you have something that even I know dates back to the stone age-"
Rodrigo then suddenly, and quite firmly, reached out and grabbed onto Helga's arm when she attempted to reach for his hat, stunning the blond preteen and stopping her dead in her tracks.
*GASPS* Everyone then gasped in both amazement and horror.
For the third time in less than hour, Rodrigo managed to surprise his new peers yet again. Only this time, this one sent shock waves throughout the crowd. Everyone knew that Helga was never fond of anyone touching her unless she gave them permission, which was never. Only Arnold had that privilege, yet even he had to track carefully or even ask her if he can touch her. So, for someone to actually reach for her arm and grab it, the person was essentially writing his own death warrant. Although Rodrigo could be forgiven for not really knowing this, it was anybody's guess how Helga was going to react to this, although few were holding their breath that Rodrigo was going to come out of this unscathed.
Even Arnold knew the full repercussions of this and, concerned for him, wondered if he should immediately intervene before Helga did something to him.
Helga meanwhile, remained completely motionless and gave Rodrigo a seriously stunned, if not also mortified look who in turn looked right back at her with a neutral, if not a now bit serious facial expression. For her, this was unheard of. Never had she met anyone who would have the nerve, the drive, the craziness to put his hands on her and expect to walk away!
For a few seconds, there was a deadly silence as everyone waited to see what Helga will do. Finally,
"Hey! You said you can touch me, Latino boy!" She angrily yelled at him as she yanked her arm away from his grasp.
"Who said you can touch my hat?" He asked back with a serious tone, again much to everyone's surprise.
"This hat means a lot of me and I don't allow just anyone to touch it." He explained. "It holds very special memories for me"
"What sort of memories?" Arnold asked.
"My grandfather used to have a hat just like this one." Rodrigo began to explain. "I always wanted to be just like him, so one day, I went to a store and bought a hat that looked exactly like his, only smaller. He passed away a few years ago, so this hat is my only reminder of him." He continued on, now a bit sad as he recounted the memories.
"Oh. I can understand that." Arnold sympathetically said.
Everyone was also touched by his story and could forgive him for not wanting Helga to touch it. Helga meanwhile, although also feeling sympathetic and understanding, now nervously attempted to come up with something to hide away the guilt and uneasiness.
"Yeah well, that still doesn't give you the right to touch me!" She then snapped at him.
"You're right." Rodrigo agreed. "Tell you what," He then said, trying to ease the tension between them, "I'll let you touch my hat." As he took it off from his head, "You can even wear if you'd like, if,"
"If what?" She asked him a bit suspiciously.
"If you allow me to touch your pink bow." He said with a smirk.
Everyone looked at Rodrigo with a weird look upon hearing his request. For most people, that was a really strange request for a boy to be asking a girl. But to Phoebe and Arnold, it was made them jolt and tense up again for the fourth time! Both of them knew the significance of that pink bow. Arnold was only recently been made aware of it when Helga told him at some point in time how much that pink bow meant to her. Hence, none didn't think it was a coincidence for Rodrigo to make such a request, unless he knew that bow meant something to her. And if that was the case, why would he entice her like that?
"Forget it!" Helga angrily yelled back at him. "No one, and I mean no one touches my pink bow!"
"Well then, I guess you can't touch my hat then." Rodrigo just calmly said to her, as he put his hat back on top of his head.
Helga was not stupid at what Rodrigo's request meant. She also came to realize that he knew something about her that most people wouldn't have ever known, nor given a second thought. In truth, that made her really uneasy and more suspicious of him. She realized that behind that smile, shyness and reservedness, there was something else entirely about him, something..., cunning, if not manipulative...
"Pfft, whatever." She just said with arms crossed, trying not to reveal to him her growing uneasiness.
"So you never answered one of my questions." She then said, wanting to remove the tense moment and get back on topic.
"Which is?" He asked.
"Which country were you born in, doi!" She replied.
Rodrigo opened his mouth and was about to answer her when suddenly,
*Rrrrinnnnggg*
The bell started ringing, signaling the end of recess.
"Oh well, there goes our free time." Gerald then said with a sigh. "Com one, babe. Let's get going."
"Oh sure, Gerald." Phoebe said as she and everyone else started making their way back inside the school to continue on with the second half of that day's lecture.
Helga gave Rodrigo a quick suspicious glance before then finally turning around and followed Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald back inside, leaving Rodrigo behind for a moment, trying to register everything that had happened between him and this blonde preteen.
Sheeh! What an intense moment. He thought, much to his relief that the bell finally ended her interrogation of him.
Once he came to, he also started walking back inside to end his first day at P.S. 118.
Later the same day...at the end of school...
It was the end of school and all the kids prepared to head home for the day. Rodrigo was at his locker, gathering his things to head home. He only needed to get his textbooks that he will need for tonight's homework and then he'll be off. For him, today's first day went pretty well. He felt he was warmly received by everyone in his class, especially Arnold and Gerald, two kids he was impressed by. As for Helga, well, he was still debating about that. He meant what he said that he liked her, but at the same time, he instantly knew she would be a tough nut to crack. Again, this was a trait that he highly valued; a person not easily swayed by people. But at the same time, it can be sometimes difficult to work with them. Nevertheless, Rodrigo was adamant on making sure he got along with everyone.
No sooner when he closed his locker door when he suddenly heard someone call out his name.
"Hi Rodrigo." Arnold said with a smile as he came by with Gerald.
"Hey guys." Rodrigo said.
"We were heading home for today and wondered if you wanted to come with." Gerald offered.
"Oh, sure." The Latino kid said with a smile. "Where do you guys live?"
"We live between 33rd and 39th Street, not far from here." Arnold answered him.
"Oh, that's around where I live." Rodrigo said.
"Great! Let's go." Gerald said as the trio then headed out.
As they continued to make their way toward the exit, Phoebe and Helga were there waiting for them.
"Hi babe, ready to head home?" Gerald asked Phoebe.
"Yes, I am Gerald." She said as she happily greeted her boyfriend. "Oh, hi Rodrigo."
"Hi Phoebe." Rodrigo responded to her with a smile. "Hi Helga." He then greeted her with the same smile.
"What's he doing here?" Helga just flat out asked without even greeting him.
"Well since it was his first day, I asked Rodrigo if he wanted to walk home with us." Arnold explained. "Turns out he lives within our neighbourhood."
Helga said nothing and just looked at Arnold for a few seconds then shrugging her shoulders and turned around to head out. The rest of the preteens also then headed out.
"So, how was your first day, Rodrigo?" Phoebe asked him.
"It was great." Rodrigo happily said. "Everyone here is really nice and I felt I was warmly received by everyone."
"I'm glad." Phoebe said with a smile. "I'm sure you will have a great time at our school."
"I think so too." Rodrigo agreed.
Helga merely gave Rodrigo a quick glance before then reverting her eyes back to the front and continued walking.
"So what do you guys do for fun?" Rodrigo asked everyone.
"Oh, lots of stuff." Arnold answered him. "Around our neighbourhood there is a baseball field that we use. There is also a nice park that we sometimes go to play soccer or football, or just fly our kites."
"Not mention the arcade games." Gerald then interjected.
"Arcade games?" Rodrigo asked. "you guys have them in the neighbourhood?
"You bet ya!" Gerald exclaimed. "You play?"
"A bit." Rodrigo shyly said. "We didn't really have arcade games close by our house in L.A., so I never really had a chance to play a lot."
"Well, I'm sure you will be visiting the arcade games a bit more often now." Gerald said. "Especially whenever we go there. We'll let you know the next time we go there."
"Thanks, Gerald." Rodrigo said with a smile.
The five preteens continued to make their way back home and talked a bit more. Helga meanwhile remained virtually silent, but listened attentively to what they spoke about, especially what Rodrigo said about himself. Eventually, they reached a corner where the group now had to go their separate ways.
"Well, this has been most fun," Helga began to sarcastically say, "but unlike the rest of you stooges, Phoebe and I have homework to finish and I don't want to spend my Monday night doing them. C'mon, Pheebs, let's get to your house and get this over this. Later football head."
"Coming!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Bye Gerald." She sweetly said to him as she gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Bye Arnold, bye Rodrigo."
"Bye Helga." Arnold said as he waved them goodbye. "Bye Phoebe."
"Bye ladies." Rodrigo said to them as they departed.
As soon as the girls left, the trio then headed to the other direction. After they were clearly away from them,
"Hey Rodrigo," Arnold then began to talk, "I hope Helga wasn't being a bit too...direct with you earlier today. I know she may seem to be mean, but she means well and was only talking to you in her own unique way."
Rodrigo looked at Arnold with a confused face. With the way he was talking to him, it sounded as if he was apologizing to him for her behaviour. If that was the case, he wasn't sure why he had to do that for her.
"It's OK, Arnold." Rodrigo assured him. "She wasn't being too direct with me. Actually, she kind of impressed me. She is a tough girl and I like that about her. I think she is cool." He continued with a smile, which made Arnold feel a bit better.
"Glad to hear he thinks that way about her." Gerald softly muttered.
Hearing someone else other than Phoebe say that about Helga made Arnold be that more impressed with Rodrigo, as it clearly showed him just how mature he was. Although he grew a bit concerned about their tense moment during lunch, especially since he recognized that Rodrigo did entice Helga a bit by that request, he felt it must have been due to the frustration of Helga's incessive interrogation and didn't think much of it. It was Helga after all and she does have that tendency to bring that out in people. As far as Arnold was concerned, Rodrigo seemed to be a really nice, patient kid and wanted to give him every opportunity to warmly welcome him into their their city, school and group.
"Thanks, Rodrigo for understanding." Arnold then said to him. "Hey, Gerald and I were heading over to my house to finish our homework. Did you want to come with?" He then offered.
"Sure, that'd be great!" Rodrigo happily accepted.
"Hope you're not too picky with food." Gerald then said. "Arnold's grandma tends to be really...creative when preparing a dish."
"That's OK." Rodrigo said. "I'm not at all picky with food."
"Great!" Arnold exclaimed as the three males preteens quickly made their way to the boarding house.