This chapter took me forever to write, despite it's shortness. I'm sorry if it's not up to interesting standards, but I wanted to get some depth in their relationship a bit more!
Enjoy!
I made it up the stairs, showing off my fabulous balancing skills as I held my schoolbooks in one arm while my other balanced a plate with a slice of chocolate cake and a glass of milk on it. Years of practice let me push the door open with my foot as swiftly turning the knob with the hand that had been securing the books. I pressed them to my side, not allowing them to hit the floor. All those instances of being too lazy to make double trips had culminated in this moment. I pushed the door open wide, making my way to my desk so I could sit both my books and plate down. I fished my Math problems out of my book first, making sure they were not to be forgotten this time around. I popped a piece of cake in my mouth as I settled in to get to work.
I'd spent most of supper worrying over whether or not Helga had gotten my gift. She'd never texted or called me, so I had to keep reminding myself not to worry about it. That proved a lot easier said than done, every few minutes my mind imagining events that could lead to the gifts being snatched from her stoop by a delinquent or homeless person. I'd barely managed to eat anything, but I couldn't pass up grandma's cake. I set in to my work, hoping it would prove a much better distraction.
I was just finishing up my English and my cake, debating whether or not it would be worth it to go back to get another slice, when my door burst open with the force of a tornado. I spun in my chair, fork hanging at a precarious angle from my mouth, my pencil still poised in my hand. Standing in my door way was none other than Helga Pataki, and she looked ready to pounce. You think I'd be surprised, but I wasn't.
"Can I help you?" I managed in a surprisingly calm voice, removing the fork from my mouth.
"What the hell do you call this?" she snarled, brandishing the book and chocolates at me. Her eyes flitted over my face briefly before locking onto my eyes. I swallowed loudly.
"I, uh, gifts?"
"Who said you could buy me gifts? Who said you could be nice to me?" she wailed somewhat piteously, stamping her foot on the floor like a twelve year old. I couldn't help but grin.
"Isn't that the point of gifts?" I replied, raising my eyebrows. I was still sitting in my chair, unsure of whether or not I should get up. I had never been in a situation like this before. Lila had always accepted any gifts I got her with a courteous little "Thank You, that was ever so sweet."
I was caught off guard, barely registering her movement as she swiftly crossed my room to envelope me in a bone crushing hug. It lasted no more than an instant, just long enough for her to mutter a swift thanks before pulling away, a peculiar expression on her face.
"Are you alright?" I stammered, trying to recall a time I had felt this confused before in my life.
"I- no one gets me gifts," she admitted, shifting her weight between her feet as she stared at the floor. "I mean, not just because or anything like that."
I nodded, clamping my mouth shut when I realized I was just sitting down gaping. "Don't worry about it, it wasn't a big deal," I assured her. "You…you wanna sit down or something?" I jumped up from my chair, moving to push my pile of dirty clothes off the couch. "I was gonna wash those later," I muttered.
She just nodded, sitting down stiffly with her gifts hugged to her chest. "I noticed you opened the chocolate."
"Oh, I gave some to a little girl on the bus," I explained, rubbing the back of my neck. "I hoped you wouldn't mind."
"You would," she said, her lips twitching into a smile.
"I would what?"
"Give chocolate to little girls on the bus. Heartbreaker!"
"No, I was just-!"
"I was joking!" she interrupted, laughing. After a moment of shuffling her feet on the carpet, she stood up. "I guess I should get going. Thanks again…ya know, for the gifts."
"You don't want to stay?" I found myself blurting, and I clamped my mouth shut as she peered at me curiously.
"You want me to teach you my next lesson? Sure, I guess I could," she trailed as she deposited her things on the couch. Quickly she retrieved the notepad from the floor, picking up one of the markers resting near it and printing "Lesson two" in bold letters. She had once again moved to prop it in my chair, starting to make bullet points.
"No, I think I've got lesson two," I said with a laugh as I crossed to where she was standing. I leaned down to pluck the marker from her fingers.
"Excuse me, who's the teacher-" she pulled her arm back, "here…" Her voice dropped off suddenly as she spun around to face me, her eyes growing wide. My lean and her turn had left her nowhere to go but a few inches from my face. My hand was still locked on the marker, and childish instinct kept me holding to it despite the look on her face, which was desperately uncomfortable.
"You have really pretty eyes. I've never really looked at them before." I'd meant it as nothing more than a compliment, but Helga immediately released the marker to retreat a few steps away from. "Did I do something?"
"Just go sit on the couch," she ordered, pointing as she skirted around me to retrieve another marker. I didn't, however, instead turning to peer at her curiously. I didn't understand why I had gotten the reaction I did.
"Did…did I do something wrong?" I repeated slowly, furrowing my brows together as tried to puzzle it out.
"Couch!" she said a bit gruffly, gesturing for me to move. "I can't teach you if you don't sit." She avoided my gaze as she made her way around me to reclaim her position in front of the writing pad.
"Helga, you misunderstood," I said, trying to give a light laugh that I hoped would lighten the tension that seemed to be hanging like a cloud in the room. It came out a bit more forced than expected, so I settled for rubbing my hands against my pants legs to keep them from just fidgeting at my sides. "I just meant, ya know, we could chill. Just hang out or something?"
This did get her attention, and she shifted her head to quirk and eyebrow at me. "Just 'hanging out' wasn't part of the deal," she reminded me in rough tone. "That's why you have friends. I'm here to teach you."
"But earlier you said we were friend!" I reminded her, trying to keep any trace of exasperation out of my voice. She gave more mixed signals than a broken traffic light.
"I meant- well we are," she flustered a bit, furiously writing on the notepad.
"Then why do you need some ulterior motive or something to even talk to me!" I retorted, gesturing at the gifts on my couch, then to the notepad. "It's been like this for, heck, over eight years now!" I dropped my hands, breathing heavily. I hadn't intended to steer the conversation in that direction, but it just went. Usually I would have immediately apologized, but this time I kept my mouth shut.
I watched as she slowly capped the marker, her expression tight. "Who said I needed some ulterior motive?"
"You know you do! You've never just talked to me just to talk. You were always teasing me, and then you just ignored me completely!"
"Don't think you can get away with playing innocent," Helga replied in a measure voice, glaring at me. "You never just wanted to talk either. You always wanted to be as far away from me as you could. So I really don't see why this conversation is relevant. We never 'just' talked before, and there is no reason to start something like that now." She shrugged, but I could see the heat in her cheeks as she kept her focus on the notepad.
"Why are you trying to make this complicated?" I moaned, finally relenting and sitting down on the couch. I covered my face with my hands, leaning back to lie on my back. I heard her snort.
"No, trying to build a friendship out of this is what makes it complicated," I heard her say. "You're reading into this too much."
"I don't understand," I said, shaking my head as I sat up, peering at her. "I don't see why this has to be some big deal." My head was starting to buzz with the small hum of a headache. This wasn't what I thought would happen.
""You think that once you get your girl, or whatever, that you'll still have time for me? That you'd still want to have anything to do with me? Don't kid yourself; things will go back to the way they were before we started this deal. So I'd like it if we could just end this with a clean break." She had stopped her writing, which I noticed was nothing more than random words that didn't relate in anyway at all. I took a breath to try and calm my mind, furrowing my brow as I slowly started to click all the pieces together. After a moment, I felt myself smile.
"So that's what this whole thing is about? You're afraid I'll just forget about you?" I shook my head, feeling a laugh coming. I tried to suppress it as she shot me a dark look, but I couldn't. Her face just made it all the more funny to me. "Helga!" I managed in a half laugh, half apologetic moan as she gathered up her things and started toward the door with a pout on her face. I lunged out, grabbing her wrist to stop her. I was sure this was an infringement on lesson two, but I was sure all lessons had an exception.
"Let go of me," she snarled, trying to jerk away.
"No, I'm not," I replied, finally managing to reign in my laugh. "Helga, I wouldn't do that to you. You have to trust me. Please."
I held my breath as she turned her steely gaze on me. Her eyes searched over my face intently, and I caught just a slight change in her expression. It was slight, but it immediately softened her face – I wondered how many times I had missed it before. "I don't do well with getting attachment," she finally sighed, looking up at me through her heavy lashes.
"That's what makes friendships great, though. Much better than keeping this up on just an acquaintance type thing." I grinned hopefully.
"I- look Arnold, I'm just not sure this will work out for me."
"So let's do this on test run basis? We can resume lessons starting tomorrow or something?" I offered, releasing her arm as I shrugged.
"I don't think so," she replied, shaking her head. "We'll just keep it in the same as we have been. We just meet for lessons, and nothing more." She didn't wait for a response before heading out the door, leaving me standing extremely confused. I was also feeling a bit more disappointed than I felt I should be, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why.