HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Hanna Cabrodi here!
After MONTHS of not updating Romance Languages, I am BACK in business! The semester is practically over with just one test to go and I FINALLY had the time and attention span to reconnect with my first and only (for now) multi-chaptered story! It's a particularly short chapter but anything is better than about 5 months of nothing!
Ladies and gentlemen, I leave you with Chapter 9: Desvelame (take away my sleep.)
God bless you and thank you for your patience! (I hope you were patient haha!)
[1] "Ay, esa rubia me tiene mal…" sighed a smitten Andres as he lay down on his bed.
He found himself unable to get Helga out of his mind. Most girls would succumb to his charm on sight but Helga… She wasn't like the other girls. She had backbone; she didn't easily give in to a guy, no matter what he looks or acts like. Playing hard to get, he believed was her attitude. Other than her eye pleasing physique, he found this feisty characteristic INSANELY attractive. Sure, she did kinda cave at the end but she didn't give in as quickly as other girls did.
"Usually girls fall at my feet… pero ella… that girl is something else." Andres found himself grinning blissfully at the thought of the blonde American student. Somehow, he was going to win her over. But there was just ONE problem. TWO, in fact. Andres sat up straight and looked pensively outside his window where the night sky was bejeweled with shining stars and haloed by the full moon.
"My tia's gonna be on me like dirt on a hobo while I'm teaching those two. She already TOLD me she doesn't wanna see me pull any funny business. [2] Pero ese tipo…" His face displayed disgust at the thought of HIM. "Aaaaaaarnold," he pronounced with his slightly thick accent, almost DISGUSTED at every letter of the guy's name. "El cabeza de balón. Ay, me cae MAL, el cero a la izquierda ese. MAL!"
Andres wasn't blind. The romantic chemistry and tension between Arnold and Helga was CRYSTAL clear. He observed Arnold grabbing Helga's hand as he approached them while eyeing Helga at the same time with subtlety.
"It's like a dog marking his territory. [3] Ese estúpido. ¿¡Quien se cree!?" He scoffed. "He's a pathetic little American high schooler. I'm a professional dancer and a DAMN good looking one, too! [4] Yo la consigo, tu vera'," he proclaimed cockily. "I mean look at me! I'm friggin' GORGEOUS! NO WAY is a Cabeza de Balón gonna beat a Latin lover like myself…"
…
Gerald was fast asleep but his best friend was having trouble getting shut eye, especially after today's events. Arnold sat upright on his full size hotel bed fuming with his head tilted back against the wooden headboard.
How could Helga be so naïve?
"This is crazy. She's so much smarter than this. How can she just let that idiot woo her and crack like that?" he pondered jealously.
"I don't like that ANDRES guy one bit," he thought, his internal voice saying the man's name disdainfully. "Who does he think he is? Just because he's a good dancer doesn't make him a better man than me! Stupid Dominican twinkle toes. I can't –" Arnold stopped his mental rant briefly. Who WAS this guy he was becoming?
Arnold Shortman's not the jealous type… or wasn't. The idea of Andres Herrera putting his hands on Helga's waist and his lips making his way towards hers made his blood BOIL. Arnold understood that his feelings for Helga have evolved into something strong but this jealousy… this RAGE that's been building up in him at the thought of the dancer taking away the girl he cares about was beginning to arouse a green eyed monster - So to speak.
…
Down the hall, Helga, too, was having trouble sleeping. She looked over at Ashley who was snoring in her peaceful sleep. She'd never been so conflicted. It was ABSURD that she could let herself become a little flustered when thinking about a guy who wasn't Arnold. How could this happen?
"I've been in love with Arnold for almost my entire lifespan. All of a sudden this… gorgeous, dimpled, brown eyed man with a sexy accent – gahh—flirts with me and I BLUSH!?" Helga mentally grilled herself for beginning to swoon over Andres.
She knew that things with Arnold were going in the direction her 9 year old self only DREAMED of and that Andres Herrera could potentially get in the way of what fate could possibly have in store for her. Helga DREAMED of the moment when Arnold's jealousy would come alive and would want to fight for her but now she's pushing him away?
She sat up straight on her bed, grabbed her pillow and let out a muffled growl. She then fell back onto her bed and sighed.
"What the hell am I DOING!? I LOVE Arnold… He's… He's everything I've always wanted." She smiled as thoughts of the oblong headed boy flooded her mind. "He ALWAYS puts other people first. His smile beams with purity. And those eyes. Those green pools of life I see myself drowning in blissfully." Helga reached for her locket. She smiled at the half lidded gaze that seemed to pierce its way into her soul. She traced her ivory fingers across the stored photograph.
"Oh, Arnold. What am I doing? It is YOU whom I have so desperately longed for since the innocent age of 3. It is YOU who I want to greet as I reach the altar on my wedding day. It is YOU who I want to hold my wrinkled hand as we walk in a park with our grandchildren. How can I possibly allow a shallow dance instructor to destroy the love that I have for you, my darling. Ohhh!" Her blissful expression dropped as the thought of Andres tapped its way into her mind.
"But my love, why is it that my heart rate seems to pick up when I think about this man? I don't KNOW him. But I know YOU… I must fight this feeling with every bit of strength I have!"
TRANSLATIONS
[1] That blondie's got me messed up. (In a good sense!)
[2] But THIS dude... Aaaaaaaaarnold... I don't like that loser ONE BIT.
[3] That IDIOT. Who does he think he is!? (You'd never say "that STUPID" in English so idiot would be the appropriate translation lol!)
[4] I'll win her over, you'll see! (that last part was written in Dominican ebonics!)
Okay so be honest, what'd you think? I'm sure the chapter wasn't the spicy stuff you were expecting and for that I gravely apologize. It'll get better, I PROMISE! Just stay put! A lot of stuff is going on so I won't be FULLY updating on a regular basis (as if I HAD been, lately, ANYWAY lol.)
Thank you SO MUCH to the loyal readers who've enjoyed my story thus far.
God willing, I'll be able to update on a regular basis again!
Much love and God bless you!
-Hanna Cabrodi :)