Fire eye'd boy give em' all the slip
Fire eye'd boy give em' all the slip
If you're gonna' come you better make it quick
Fire eye'd boy, give em' all the slip
Fire Eye'd Boy, by Broken Social Scene
Arnold had never in his entire life been so afraid of getting on the bus.
He stood and looked at the door for what seemed like an hour until the driver--fat and surly--said, "Hurry up kid, I got a schedule." Arnold gulped and boarded, slowly, taking every minute of his time.
Helga sat near the back, with Pheobe. Gerald cleared Arnold's usual spot but Arnold didn't notice: heart pounding, blood rushing everywhere but his head. Helga watched him walk the entire way down the aisle until he was at her seat and said, "Pheobe, can I talk to Helga a moment?" Pheobe caught the vibe and slid over to Gerald's seat with a little smile. Gerald's mouth swung open and he stared.
The bus started to move. Helga averted her gaze and started studiously out the window, concentrating on everything but Arnold. She felt his eyes on her and gritted her teeth: why doesn't he just say it and get it over with?
Then she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye and looked over and his hand was outstretched in between them, palm up: an offering. She looked at it and then at him and he was blushing and she wanted to jump and grab the stars and pull them all down and shove it in the face of everyone who'd doubted her.
She clasped his hand with her own and the bus went silent.
And then it erupted in whispers behind hands, giggles, snickers. Arnold heard Gerald say, "Man, what he is doin'?" and Pheobe whispered something like, "Way to go, Helga!"
They looked at each other. Arnold saw tears and he looked away.
"Well," he said. Somewhere near the head of the bus Rhonda gasped, just noticing what was happening. Lila smiled to herself. Pheobe did a thumbs up sign to Helga and Gerald continued shaking his head, unbelieving. So out of left field. What just happened?
Helga leaned over and looked as though to kiss him, but then she drew back and Arnold squeezed her hand. Sid and Harold couldn't stop laughing. Most of the girls were giggling themselves.
But they didn't notice.
"Well," Helga said, after an ocean of silence. Her voice was shaky. Fear? Happiness?
"Here we go."
And there they went.
Author's Note: The song is from the album Broken Social Scene. Their latest, I believe.
One more chapter to go and then an epilogue. Please read and review, I'd appreciate it!