Okay guys, next piece is up! Thanks so much for the positive reviews, and keep suggesting lessons!
Monday morning seemed to take ages to arrive, which was saying something considering Monday's always seemed to sneak up too quickly. I hadn't had any more lessons last week after my somewhat argument with Helga, which meant my feeble attempts to try and talk to Lila were full of more of my fumbles and embarrassing words. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to revert back to friendship with a girl I couldn't look at it without wanting to touch. I knew I was supposed to start back from square one, but I wasn't sure how too. I'd established square one in fourth grade, and even then it had not been the likely start of our now relationship. I'd carried her books for her once more, and I'd managed to not pepper every few sentences with suggestions of hanging out. That was the highlight of my week.
But spending time at school with Lila had meant no time for Helga, which seemed to suit her just fine, considering she seemed to go even farther out of her way to avoid me when we were in public. It was like she wasn't even the same girl. Which was a strange, though, considering once I'd never though she could be anything else but cold and rough. But today was a holiday, and she'd passed me a note on Friday before the bell saying she'd be coming over around lunchtime. If you could call slamming a ripped piece of paper onto my books as I was clearing my desk really passing me a note. She hadn't even waited for me to read or agree, but I figured she knew I wouldn't argue against it.
"That's right, I'll meet you at about two, alright? Yeah, Helga's stopping by," I sighed into the phone as I tried to make my bed with one hand. Gerald groaned heavily on his end. "Look, I don't know what for either. She didn't really say, so I don't know how long it'll take. I'll call you when she leaves. We'll have plenty of time to catch the double feature. Later." I clicked the phone shut, plugging it back into the charger on the shelf above my pillow. The time was 11:30, and I'd officially finished all my chores. I'd maybe a slacked a bit over the weekend, so I'd been up for a few hours or so washing clothes and cleaning my room. Of course this had nothing to do with Helga coming over; I just preferred having my room clean and neat on occasion. Like today.
I moved to collect all the shirts I had laid on my couch, waiting patiently on their on their hangers. I really had a lot of plaid, now that I thought about it. I shrugged, picking them up and moving them to my closet. I heard my door slam open, and I didn't even both to look over. She had a signature way of opening doors, that's for sure.
"Hey look, you cleared a space for my butt!"
"Good to see you too, Helga," I laughed, closing my closet doors before directing my attention to her. Once again, I choked a bit on the air at the sight of her lounging on my couch. She even dressed different when she wasn't going to school. It was amazing to think that a pair of worn denim shorts, loose hair and a tank-top could turn her into a head-turner like that. I blinked rapidly, clearing my thoughts as she stretched her legs out in front of her. I was thankful when she shook a fast food bag in face, giving me somewhere else to direct my vision.
"You want some or not?"
"Oh yeah, sure," I stumbled, sitting down a safe distance from her as she pulled out French fries and passed them over to me. I grabbed a few and popped them into my mouth, trying not to stare much as she rubbed her salty fingers over her shorts. In a fluid motion, she made her way over to the notepad, once again setting it up in position.
"First off today, we're going to officially set up a schedule for lessons. We don't need to meet up in a haphazard manner like last week."
"What was wrong with last week?" I asked through the food in mouth, holding out my hand to try and cover my mouth slightly.
"It was unproductive. We met about three times, and I only officially taught one lesson. You have six weeks until the banquet. With luck, you should be able to get your date before then. Okay?"
"Uh, okay then. So when are we-?"
"I'm free on Wednesdays and Fridays. So if we meet right after school both days, you can have two lessons a week. Plus we'll still have time for our own stuff." She wrote down the days in her curly script.
"Only twice a week?" I asked, eyes wide. It didn't seem like we'd accomplish much at all in the time frame.
"Yeah. That's at least twelve more lessons for you to do. That should be plenty," she said in a matter of fact tone, placing her hand on her hip. "And that doesn't even include today."
"Oh. Well, okay, I guess you're right," I agreed a bit lamely, shrugging. When the prospect of two months had been laid out, it had seemed like much more than all of fifteen lessons. But then again, I hadn't accounted for Helga really having a life outside of school, so that had been my own oversight. Of course she probably had other friends and commitments that didn't involve me. I mean, I was sure I'd be spending more time with Lila once I actually starting implementing more of the lessons.
"Of course I'm right," she said a bit smugly, skipping down a few lines to write "Lesson 3: Complimenting."
I felt my lips twitch involuntarily. I felt this must be a response to the events of our last meeting. I kept my mouth shut, however, and flipped open my composition book to hastily add 'compliments' to my bulleted list.
"So today is going to be when it's appropriate to compliment the person of your affection. Also, on when not to compliment," she added a bit crisply, turning to look at me. I merely raised my eyebrows, not sure what the look she was giving me was supposed to mean. "All girls like compliments. But if a girl doesn't feel your compliment is sincere, or your compliment follows an awkward situation, you may find yourself in a bad position," she explained as she made a few notes. There was no way I was just reading into this too deeply; this was definitely some sort of retaliation for earlier. I leaned back into the couch, pursing my lips as I wrote the lesson heading into my composition book. So I told her she had pretty excessive people just weren't accustomed to that sort of thing. I guess I could see how Helga could be one of them.
"Look, I'm sorry if I offended you the other day," I apologized, dropping the book down into my lap.
"Huh?" she said airily, turning to look at me with an air of cluelessness about her. I would have bought it if not for her excessive blinking, which made it look like she had something her in eye.
"About making you feel awkward with my compliment last time," I explained, playing along with the act.
"Oh, I had forgotten," she said with a shrug, turning back to the board to finish writing her heading.
"Isn't that what the point of this lesson is about?" I blurted, gesturing to her even though she couldn't have been paying me any less attention.
"You're making the mistake of assuming the lessons have anything to do with us," she said a bit frostily. "We discussed this last time."
"Whatever you say, Helga," I muttered, just deciding to let it go .If she was going to insist on blocking me at every turn, I wasn't going to fight her anymore.
"So the first part of your lesson on complimenting is the when! When is it okay to do it, and what do you have to remember when you do it?" she began, suddenly switching into her teacher voice. I figured I might as well switch solely into my student mode, so I balanced my composition book in the crook of my arm with my pen poised at ready. "Any compliment you say has to come straight from the heart, so sincerity is key." She made a bullet point, writing sincerity next to it. I copied in silence as she continued on, "For example, don't tell a girl what she wants to hear just because you think she'll like it."
"Wait, what?"
"Let me clarify. Everyone knows that Stinky's nose is practically a ski slope for midgets, so I wouldn't go up and tell him his nose is tiny in a complimentary tone just because it'd make him feel better." I didn't want to laugh, so I bit down on my lip desperately to keep it in. "Pick something that's accurate. Clarified enough?"
"You can proceed," I managed through my snickers.
"Also, try not to make your compliment sound rehearsed or cheesy. This is only cute if the girl already likes you." She continued to write on the pad, and my head was already full with only two bullets written down. What was classified as cheesy? What if I froze when I got up to Lila? Would Lila get creeped out like Helga had? I still didn't even know what had gone wrong in that situation! "So when is it okay to compliment? It depends on what point in the relationship you are. In the first steps, spread them out so as not to come on to strong. The closer you relationship is, the more compliments you can give. Is this getting through to you?" She looked over her shoulder at me.
"I think so," I confirmed, focusing my attention to write a note in my book. "You look beautiful with your hair down, by the way"
I heard her mutter something, but I couldn't quite make it out. "So saying something like that to her is okay? Was that right?" I asked, looking up to see if she'd given me a yes or a no. Instead I found her with a flushed face, which she quickly turned away from me.
"You mean for your girl. Yeah, it's a good one." She moved on to the next heading on the notepad, her back to me once again.
"Okay, I think I can do that then," I said, sighing in relief.
"When not to compliment!" she said as she underlined her next bulleted point. "When the situation feels tense or awkward. Complements are not ice breakers. And my second bullet, when it can be misconstrued." She added a bit of extra lines under this second one.
"So I take it the second one is the most important of those?" I asked curiously.
"They're about equal," she said with a biting tone, and I suddenly got the impression the rest of this lessons and its practice were going to be a piece of work."
By the time two rolled around, I was rushing down the sidewalk with my phone pressed to my ear. "I'm sorry Gerald! I promise I'll be there! Just get my ticket, and I'll pay you for it when I get there! I know, I know – I'll owe you one. Later." I pressed the end button, shoving it down into my pocket as I weaved around the people on the sidewalk. I muttered apologies as I tripped and stumbled along, knowing I had less than five minutes to get to the theatre. Gerald and I had planned the Evil Twin double feature day for over a week now. It was a super discounted price today, and no way was I going to miss it.
"Hello Arnold!"
I skidded to a halt at the voice, knowing it was just my luck that Lila would be at this exact spot at this exact moment in time. I sighed inwardly, torn at what to do.
"Hi Lila."
"You were running ever so fast. I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to keep you. I would feel ever so bad if I made you late," she said, giving me one of her perfect smiles.
"It's alright, I'm just late to catch a double feature with Gerald," I explained, running my fingers through my head. I could feel my leg start to twitch impatiently as I stood.
"Go meet you friend. I'm ever so fond of a guy who keeps his dates."
I felt my knees turn weak, but I grinned in response. "That's definitely me." I glanced down at my watch. But not today. Definitely not today. "I've got to go," I apologized.
"I'll talk to you later."
"I'll wait for it!"
I was out of breath by the time I got to the theatre, and I exhaled in relief as I met Gerald at the door.
"I was about to think you ditched me," he said a bit sulkily as he passed me my ticket.
"Never. I'm not the ditching type," I assured him, handing my ticket to the girl checking them. She ripped it, directing us to the back left.
"I know, I was just saying you had me worried," he said, cracking me a smile as we made our way to the back of the theatre.
"Sorry, after Helga left I sort of fell asleep on the couch while working on some homework." And by homework, I mean drafting possible compliments and practicing them. But what kind of homework didn't need to be brought into this conversation.
We filed into our seats, settling in for hours of mind numbing horror films.
"Dude, that was epic! When he flipped the bus? Ah, genius," Gerald was saying as we dumped our popcorn and drink containers into the garbage.
"I know! Or when the girl got impaled on the fence?" I replied eagerly, shaking my head. "These movies never cease to top themselves."
"I totally agree. You wanna stop for ice cream or something?"
"Naah, no thanks. It's getting a bit late, plus I'm full from all those snacks," I said with a shrug, waving as we parted our ways on the sidewalk. I was surprised when I felt my phone start to buzz in my pocket, and even more surprised to find it to be Helga. "Helga?"
"Sarah's Sweet Shoppe, now!" she demanded, her voice cracking slightly.
"I –ah, okay. I'm on my way," I replied, flabbergasted. It took me a minute to register than she had hung up, and it was a simple task to go left at the next corner instead of staying straight. I shoved my hands in my pocket, picking up the pace as I turned the corner and continued on. A few stores more and I was standing outside of Sarah's. I could see Helga sitting in a booth in the back, so I quickly picked through the evening crowd at the door, making my way to the booth and sliding in. "Something up?"
"Is something up?!" she snapped, her brows furrowed as she nursed a large chocolate milkshake. "No, I just called you for no reason."
"So what's the matter?" I asked cautiously, fiddling with my hands in my lap. This was so out of character for her, I had no idea where to even go.
"What's the matter? What's the matter?! Phoebe is out some stupid dinner with her parents and couldn't meet me, and I couldn't stay a minute longer in that stupid house. And I didn't have any other stupid choice to call. I don't have friends."
"So we're friends," I prodded once more, knowing I was pushing it again.
"I just didn't know who else to call! I didn't want to be alone," she protested, looking down at the table.
"And that's usually when you call a friend," I said, leaving forward on my elbows.
"I don't want to be friends with you!" she finally snapped hotly, slamming her fist down on the table. Her milkshake splattered slightly on the table, but she ignored it.
"Then why did you call me?" I said calmly, still resting on my elbows.
"I didn't have anyone else," she muttered, her mood fluctuating once again.
"Oh come on Helga, I'm not the only person in your class."
"So maybe sometimes you're a good listener," she admitted, turning her head so her hair covered her face. "And I like to talk to you."
I smiled, leaning back in the seat. "So then talk to me about what happened, and why you called."