Chapter 56
The Wonder of You
"Hey, you kids don't mind if I turn on the radio, do ya?" Jack said suddenly, interrupting Arnold's thoughts.
"What?! Oh…yeah, go ahead."
"I don't care," Helga said dreamily, trying to get back to reality. She had been staring at Arnold for the past hour and was still trying to snap out of her dreamlike state.
Arnold turned at the sound of her voice. "Oh, no. Not again," he thought. "Right when I had gotten her out of my head."
Helga looked him in the eye but then turned away, blushing. Arnold turned away quickly and stared at the ceiling, trying once again not to think about her.
Jack flipped a switch, and the voice of Elvis Presley filled the helicopter.
When no one else can understand me
When everything I do is wrong
"Oh, no, not a love song," Arnold thought in dismay. "That's the last thing I need now."
You give me hope and constellation
You give me strength to carry on
"Oh, good, a love song!" Helga thought happily. "This is just what I need."
And you're always there
To lend a hand
You help in everything I do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you
"Don't think about Helga, don't think about Helga," Arnold chanted to himself. "This is pointless. How can I stop thinking about her if I'm thinking about not thinking about her? And I wish this song would end! It's too close to what's going on. Helga does help me in just about everything. But so what? That's just because she loves me. It doesn't mean that I love her back."
And when you smile the world is brighter
You touch my hand and I'm a king
Your kiss to me is worth a fortune
Your love for me is everything
Helga glanced at Arnold. He was staring at the ceiling and didn't notice.
"I've got to do something," she thought. "I can't just sit next to him with a love song playing doing nothing! If it wasn't for those stupid pilots I'd…well, they are here. But I should do something. I love him, and he loves me. I shouldn't have to hide anything anymore. But I can't let people know my secret! Not now anyway. Not even these two complete strangers that I'll probably never see again. Maybe I can do something that they won't notice…"
She slowly lifted her hand and placed it on top of Arnold's. Then she stared intently at the floor, afraid of what his reaction might be.
I guess I'll never know
The reason why
You love me as you do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you
A wonderful, tingling sensation ran through Arnold's body the second their hands touched. He felt his face grow hot but continued to stare at the ceiling, pretending he didn't care.
"Why should I care, anyway? I don't!" he thought.
I guess I'll never know
The reason why
You love me as you do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you
Helga nervously laced her fingers through his and held his hand. She was shocked at how bold she was, for this situation anyway.
"I don't want to scare him any more than I already have," she thought. "I mean, sure, he loves me, but I still scared him. I guess I would be scared too if I were in his shoes. Especially after my whole confession thing. I can't believe I said all that! And I actually kissed him…criminy! What did I do that for? It's not like I didn't get enough kissing for one day. Three times! Man, I never thought this would happen. And the best part is, two of the times he kissed me! This is the best day of my life!"
"I can't believe she's holding my hand," Arnold thought in amazement. "I should really take my hand away. It's no good to her for me to let her keep going on like this. I'm just going to have to break her heart in the end. She knows that, doesn't she? She doesn't actually think that we could ever be together, does she? After all the things she's said and done to me, even if they were to cover up her secret, she still did them, and I can't forgive her for that. She knows that…doesn't she?" But try as he might, he couldn't find the strength to take his hand away. He couldn't tell her just yet. He didn't have the heart to. Not yet…