Things coming along here. Been a bit busy, but oh well. Thanks for the great reviews guys!
"Hey Lila, how's it going?" I asked casually, draping myself in what I hoped was a suave manner on Lila's locker. She shot me one of those pearly white smiles, brushing some of her auburn hair from her face.
"Oh, hello Arnold," she replied cheerfully, hugging her books to her chest. Her fingers, slender and pale, were sliding up and down the sides as she waited for me to speak.
I coughed, continuing on. "How have things been?" Was that the best I could do, really? I wanted to punch myself.
"I've been doing ever so well," she said carefully, still waiting patiently for me to get to my point.
"Look, I know things didn't end on the best terms for us," I blurted, "But I thought we could give it another chance. I really care about you, and I think we could go horseback riding. Or we could go to that new restaurant around the corner and eat the food while on the horses! It'd be great, we could-"
"Wrong move, bucko!"
I screamed in terror, stumbling backwards and throwing my hands up in front of my eyes to shield me. Suddenly where Lila's beautiful face had been was Helga's, jeering at me. Following quickly, the rest of Lila's body morphed into Helga as well, who was growing and laughing at me. "You're doing it wrong!" she cried. "You'll never win her back like that anyway! It's a waste of time!"
I bolted upright in bed, breathing heavily. The sweat was making my sheet stick to my chest, and I ripped it away from me. Fumbling and blurry eyed, I reached around for my alarm clock to the check the time. I groaned. Oh great, I was running late. This was definitely not a good sign.
I skid into the kitchen, wresting one arm into my shirt as I shoved a piece of toast into my mouth with my free hand. "Mornin' grandma," I called, scooting around her where she was making stacks of flapjacks.
"You're in a hurry, Captain," she noted, pressing a glass of juice into my hand, which I drained quickly.
"Late," I replied, coughing on it slightly. I jerked on my other sleeve.
"Tell Eleanor hello," she called after me as I skidded out the back door and jumped into my truck. I turned the key in the ignition.
"Come on, please. Please come on," I begged as she made a few pitiful sputtering noises before going silent. "Oh come on!" I cried, slamming my hand on the steering wheel before gathering all my books and tripping out of the door. If I went fast enough I could just make it to the bus stop, if I was lucky.
I ran like my life depended on it. I was never late, ever. I rarely ever missed school either. I turned the corner just in time to see the bus slam its doors and pull off. I stopped dead, panting. "This sucks," I moaned, leaning back on the lamp post beside me. This was a sign. Definitely a sign.
"This is new," I heard Helga comment from behind me. I turned my head to see her taking her sweet time coming down the sidewalk, casually munching on a breakfast burrito. She looked content and in no way in a hurry.
"My alarm, I missed it," I explained, brushing my sweaty hair off my forehead.
"Chill. Class doesn't start for another twenty minutes, Arnoldo. You'll be there in plenty of time," she assured me, tossing her paper in a nearby garbage can. She wiped her hands on the jacket she had tied around her waist.
"I know," I moaned, frustrated. "But I like to make sure I have time."
"Time to what, pee? Seriously. I'm actually running early today, and I'm never more than a minute late to class. Don't give yourself an ulcer," she sighed, rolling her eyes. She motioned for me to follow, so I adjusted my books and caught pace with her.
"Are you sure today is the day to start talking to Li- I mean the girl," I inquired, recalling my dream as we walked. "I think the day is trying to tell me something."
She gave me a sidelong glance before shaking her head. "It seems to me you're just being a chicken about the whole thing." She rummaged in her pocket, pulling out a stick of gum. "You'll….you'll be fine. You're just striking up some conversation today. If you can't talk to the girl, how can you expect to go on a date with her?"
She had a point. If I wanted to Lila to give me another chance, I needed to just bite the bullet and deal with it. Maybe the point of the morning was to show me that nothing could get any worse than it already had so far. "You're right," I said with renewed fervor. "I just need to look on the bright side."
Shaking her head, she shoved her hands in her pockets. "You're supposed to be looking for details about her today, not bright sides."
"Same thing."
"You need to work on paying attention. Half the time you're oblivious. You miss almost everything that isn't spelled out for you."
"I do not!" I protested as I turned to look at her, frowning. "I pay attention. I see details." I could hear the other students chatter as we arrive at the front of the school. We'd made it just in time. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Not the ones that really matter," she said quietly, running up the steps of the school ahead of me. I intended to catch her once I got it the doors, but she was nowhere in sight. Girls were so weird. With a shrug, I decided it was best to start studying Lila.
But that turned our harder said than done. Every time I tried to get Lila's attention throughout the day, she was whisked off by one of her friends. I was often left with my hand raised mid-wave, only to have it fall heavily back to my side. It wasn't until lunch that I was able to catch up with her finally, just as she was going to sit down. She never ate the food from the line, preferring to pack her own at home.
"Hi Lila," I breathed, hesitantly slipping into a free chair at the table. I felt relief flood over me as she smiled at me. I pushed my tray away from me so I wouldn't be tempted to play with the food.
"Hi Arnold."
"How're…things?" I shuffled my feet under the table, trying to get comfortable.
"Things are going ever so well. How are you? It's been ever so long since we last talked," she replied, smoothing her checkered napkin across the table in front of her. She slowly laid out her sandwich, fruit, and the drink in an orderly manner.
"Things have been great," I said instinctively. Wait, no, I lied. I wanted to tell her I missed her, and I thought about her all the time. I was terrible. She interfered with my school work. "I just wanted to see how you've been. See if you want to, you know, hang out?" I rubbed my hand across the back of my neck, smiling.
"Oh Arnold," she replied, giving me a pitying look. "I thought we agreed-"
"I know, I know," I interrupted, giving a force laugh. "I just meant we should keep up. Talk or something. Be friendly."
"Oh…Oh, okay," she replied, looking thoughtfully. Her expression brightened as she nodded. "Okay. I'd like that oh so much."
"Great!" I smiled even wider. "I'll just…talk to you later. Gerald," I babbled, pushing myself up and making my where to where Gerald was looking at me, eyes narrowed.
"What was that?" he started in as I placed my tray on the table.
"What was what?" I asked innocently. I ripped open a salt packet and sprinkled it over my food, playing it cool.
"You know exactly what. Man, what're you doing?" he brandished his fork at me menacingly.
I acted like I didn't know what he meant, taking a large bite of chicken. I hadn't worked out what to exactly tell Gerald yet anyway. "I was just talking to Lila. Innocent conversation." I shrugged.
"Innocent?" he repeated with disbelief. "Hanging out with Helga, talking to Lila," he puzzled out slowly, scratching his head. "You're up to something. We're supposed to be best friends here. Man, spill."
"Really, nothing," I muttered uncomfortably, filling my mouth with food so I wouldn't have to answer questions. This was going to be a lot of trouble.
"Trust me, I'll find out. I have my ways," he replied sipping on his soda. I felt the skin on the back of my neck tingle. I knew from experience that he was true to his word.
As the school day wound to an end, I once more managed to catch Lila by her locker. I had completely forgotten Helga's lesson. Look for her interests. I dared a quick glance in her locker as she opened it. It was neat an orderly, as it always was. No giveaway details. Shoot.
"Arnold," she said with a smile when she saw me, slowly pushing the door shut. I gave a silent cheer as I spotted a drawing of a kitten on her binder. That was a start. I'd need to write that in my composition book.
"Lila," I replied, grinning. "Just wondering if you'd like me to walk you home?" I inquired casually, leaning back on my heels.
"I'm riding with Rhonda today, but you're welcome to carry my books," she replied, holding them out for me.
"Oh yeah, sure," I muttered, quickly taking them and holding them under my arm as we walked through the hallway. "Soot had kittens," I tossed out hopefully, suddenly remembering how fond Lila had been of the silky gray cat we had. I wanted to mentally kick myself as I remembered Helga's earlier comment. She was right; I really hadn't paid that any attention at the time.
"Did she?" the girl next to me gushed, clasping her hands in front of her. "I bet they're absolutely adorable. How many?"
"She had three. Two little gray ones and a solid black one. She just had them over the weekend, but you can come see them anytime you want."
"I'll see when I have some time," she replied vaguely, reaching out to reclaim her books as we arrived as Rhonda's convertible. I could see Rhonda wasn't far behind us, and I wasn't in much of a mood to be caught in conversation with her today. I bid Lila goodbye, quickly running to catch the bus, pondering the day's events all the way home.
It was about seven thirty when I hesitantly rang Helga's doorbell. I guess I should have called or something, but I couldn't quite muster up the effort to go through the trouble of calling her just to snap at me to stay home. I actually really wanted to know how her auditions went, plus I wanted someone to tell about the events of the day and it couldn't be Gerald.
No one answered, so I was just reaching up to ring the doorbell again when I heard footsteps. She was always sneaking up on me it seemed. I dropped my hand and turned to smile at her. "Hi Helga."
"What're you doing here?" she asked incredulous. I felt my eyes grow wide as I took in her appearance. If I hadn't been standing on Helga's doorstop watching her stand at the bottom, I would never have made the connection these two separate women were the same person. The Helga of this morning had been wearing baggy jeans and a loose t-shirt with a jacket tied around her waist, hair in its usually sloppy ponytail. This Helga was dressed in unusually short pink shorts, showcasing extremely long and toned legs I'd never imaged on her. A white leotard peeped out from under the cropped jean jacket she was wearing. Her hair was actually in a neat bun, as though she'd taken time to brush it for once. It was hard to snap my mouth shut once I realized I was staring.
"What're you doing here?" she repeated, pulling a key from the zippered pocket on the bag over her shoulder. She pushed open the door, scooting around me and heading up the stairs. She didn't slam the door in my face, so I took it as an invitation to go in. I quickly slipped in, closing the door behind me.
"I just wanted to know how your audition went," I called after her, taking the stairs two at a time. I peered around the door frame of her room, watching as she slung the bag over in the corner; pulling an elastic from her hair and shaking it lose. I dared a glance around, a little surprised at the white and pink color scheme.
"They went fine," she said carefully, not bothering to look at me as she brushed out her hair in the mirror. She sat down on the stool at the vanity, slipping off her converse and pushing them away. I edged a little farther in, not wanting to impose, but still curious.
"And by fine, you mean?" I edged a bit closer to lean against her vanity, crossing my arms as I turned my attention back to her.
"I think I did well," she admitted with a small grin. She raised her eyebrows as she looked at me. "I've never gotten a lead role before, so I'm actually really nervous."
She looked more vulnerable than I'd ever seen her in that moment. "I'm sure you were great. Fantastic, in fact. When will you know the results?"
"Tomorrow," she said, grinning even wider. She turned her body so she was fully facing me now. "Now you want to tell me what you're really here about?"
I gave her an overly enthusiastic grin. "I was hoping you could, uh, go ahead and give me lesson two?"
She rolled her eyes, picking at her teeth in the mirror. "We aren't doing anything until I get some food in my system."
I don't know why I expected anything less.