Whoo, another one done. It's a bit of filler, but I had three specific things that this chapter establishes that will be brought up later. Have no fear!Once again, thanks to beta Jeni27! Yay! She had some good suggestions for this one.
You alright, Shortman?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I said with a hint of bitterness as I stood on the stoop of the boarding house, a dripping mass of mud and grass clippings. The rain pattered around me lazily, and I turned to peer at the dripping brown trail of dirt I'd left on my trek back home. A crash of thunder resounded, and the rain went from its lazy crawl to a full on downpour. I frowned, my shoulders slumping under the weight of it all. "I'll be in in just a minute, Grandpa," I sighed heavily. I was grateful that he didn't press me anymore on the subject.
"I'll have Pookie make you something warm," he said before leaving the door open and heading toward the kitchen.
I sighed again for good measure, holding my arms out to my sides, throwing my head back as I yelled against the rain, "Do you think this is funny? Did I do something wrong? I…why is everything so complicated!?" It felt good to have a bit of self-pity. I slid down to sit on the concrete, fighting with the laces of my shoes. I managed to finally get them undone, a bit disgusted to see there was no longer any trace of white left on my socks. Typical, wasn't it? I sighed, standing back up and looping my fingers in my shoes as I carried them in the boarding house. I shut the door behind me, leaving a squelching wet trail as I made my way to my room. Luckily most of the mud had washed off on the steps, but I still felt dirty. I jerked the stairs to my room down, half expecting the entire roof to just collapse on my head at this point. Put me out of my misery. I sifted through the clothes that were on the floor, settling for my gym shorts and a muscle shirt before heading down the stairs to the bathroom. I shirked my clothes once inside, hanging the soaking wet things on the shower curtain rod. They were already wet, so it didn't really matter. I let the water get as hot as I could stand it before stepping in. I felt relief as the warm water washed over me. I watched the dirty water disappearing down the drain, which made me feel like I was making progress. I scrubbed the dirt from my arms and legs, having to shampoo my hair twice to get all the remnants out of it. If anything, I could now say I was well exfoliated. My skin was a dull red color, both from the heat and scrubbing.
I spent a bit longer just enjoying the relaxing feeling of my shower. By the time I got downstairs to the kitchen, Grandma was placing a steaming bowl on the table. I smiled appreciatively. "You made me macaroni," I said with gratitude. I plopped down in the chair heavily, watching as she followed my example.
"Had a rough day?" she said in one of her rare serious tones. I simply nodded in reply, leaning on my fist as I stirred my noodles.
"Maybe you should talk about it?" she suggested. I shrugged, not really sure what good it would do. I remembered the day in vivid detail already.
It had started with me alarm blaring loudly, shattering my dreams with a violent crack. I jerked into a sitting position, groggily rubbing my eyes with my palms as I kicked back the covers with my feet. I'd gotten to bed somewhere around midnight, but no big deal. I'd get through the day; I could take a nap when I got back home or something. Or so I thought.
A pile of clothes I'd brought up from the laundry room the night before was laying on my couch, so I sifted through it, pulling out my jeans and a shirt. I had a stroke of good luck to find the bathroom empty, so I was able to get in a quick shower and finish up my routine without having to wait outside for ten or so minutes for someone to finish. I had a flash of hope that today would turn out to be a much better than yesterday had been. If I started off in a good mood, the day had to follow, right? I had smiled at the thought, heading down to breakfast.
My previous thought pattern proved to be seriously wrong, sadly. That was made clear when first period rolled around. The day before, Helga had reminded me about giving Lila the book. I'd made sure to put the book in my backpack for this occasion, so I pulled it out when I saw Lila glide into the room. She looked as beautiful as always, her auburn hair free flowing today. She was wearing a high-waisted green skirt that showed off her figure, and I had to shake my head to break my stare. I picked the book up, feeling like I was walking to guillotine as I made my way to the desk. Okay, I could do this. Just give a smile and use my casual, cool guy mannerisms to present her with the book. No problem.
Except I am not a cool guy.
"Good morning Arnold," she said with a smile as she slid into her desk. "How are you?"
"I'm great," I squeaked, clearing my throat a bit. I held up the book, giving a shy smile. "I bought thisbook at the bookstore in case you needed it. I was picking up some copies for the guys and I thought, Hey! What if He- I mean you. I meant you. What if Lila needed a book? Not that I think you're one of the guys! I mean, obviously you're a girl. A very lovely girl in fact and….and I'm just going to go sit down now." There is nothing more embarrassing than word vomit. I placed the book on her desk, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks as I could see her lips twitch as though she were trying not to laugh at me. I hung my head, covering my face with my hands as I slunk back to my desk. That had not gone how I expected it to.
I dared a glance back to find Lila making a movement to stand up, but thankfully Mrs. Hartford chose that moment to begin her lesson. I was grateful, since this saved me from having to face Lila after that embarrassing incident.
"Good morning, class!" she began, holding up a stack of papers. A realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh no…. "I hope you all remembered the test today. It's going to cover the last three chapters we went over. As always, do your best and turn your paper into me when you're done!"
I turned to look at Gerald in desperation. He looked at me, confused.
"What?" he whispered, peering around to make sure Mrs. Hartford was still passing papers out across the room.
"I forgot the test!" I groaned, my foot starting to tap nervously on the floor. I hadn't even looked at the review sheet since last week. I'd been so preoccupied the day before with the rumors; I must have missed the reminder.
"Oh, man," he said sympathetically. "You'll be fine. You're smart, and you remember all the formulas, right?"
"No talking boys!"
We clamped our mouths shut as she placed the papers on our desks. The numbers on mine immediately began to swim in patterns I didn't recognize, making me dizzy. I picked up my pencil, and took a deep breath. I could do this.
At least I thought I could. When I finally turned my paper in, I felt like I was turning in a death sentence. I felt like I had done that badly. "Thank you Arnold," she said quietly, setting my paper in the stack on her desk. I'd have to wait until lunch to see my grade, though. She'd assigned us all random code names at the beginning of the semester so she could print out our grades and hang the sheet in the hallway. That way, we would only know our grade. The rest would be random numbers and names.
My luck didn't improve when science rolled around. I dropped two of the three beakers my group was working with, succeeding in making a large mess as well as cutting Nadine's leg. She'd assured me it was a small cut, no big deal. Despite her assurance, I still felt terrible about it.
I was late to Mr. Simmons's class, having had to stay behind to clean up the mess. At least my teacher gave me a pass to excuse my lateness. It was a small thing, but at least it kept me from detention.Gerald tried to give me an encouraging smile as I slid in the door, making my way to my desk with my head down. My focus was halfhearted as I pulled out my binder.
I was surprised when the girl next to me slid a folded piece of paper on my desk. I looked at her in confusion, but she shook her head and pointed behind her. I turned to see Helga with intense focus on the whiteboard. I rolled my eyes as I undid her complicated folding.
"So I heard you made a fool of yourself this morning. I wasn't aware I had to teach you how to talk to girls as well."
I frowned, scrawling furiously, "I can talk to girls just fine. I just got a tongue tied. It's Lila. I can't help it." I peered up to make sure Mr. Simmons was preoccupied with the board before placing the note on the girl's desk. She passed it back casually, scribbling notes with her free hand as she did so.
I was working on copying down my own notes when the piece of paper was plopped on my desk again. "How do you expect to get to her to go on a date with you if you can't even talk to her? Speaking of 'date', I found a stupid dress for the stupid banquet. I'd rather eat paste." She'd drawn a crude stickfigure gagging to prove her point. I grinned.
"I bet it looks great. I don't have to wear a tux, do I? Can I just wear khakis or something? I'm broke." I drew a sad face before folding it back up and gave it to the girl to pass back.
"Why don't you two just text like normal people?" she grumbled as she tossed Helga's reply back at me. I muttered an apology before looking back at Helga, who raised an eyebrow. I pulled my phone out of my pocket just enough for her to see it, shrugging. She nodded in reply.
"So what, you guys are passing notes now?" Gerald's teasing whisper caused me to jump, startled. Harold seemed to overhear this remark, and I didn't scramble fast enough to get the note before he snatched it from my desk.
"Give it back!" I pleaded in a whisper, darting a glance at Mr. Simmons.
"Sure. I think you look good in Khakis!" he read aloud in a high pitched, mocking voice. "Aww, Arnold 'n Helga!" There was a smattering of giggles around the classroom, and Mr. Simmons had to pause in writing his notes to ask everyone to calm down.
"Now class! Class! There's no need to laugh about! Arnold, Helga, please stop passing notes." I dared a glance back at Helga to find her with almost the same reaction I had. Flushed cheeks, but with an angry look on her face as she sank down in the desk. I figured it was as good an escape as any, so I followed suit. I was just ready for the day to be over.
I was thankful when the lunch bell rang. Nothing bad could happen at lunch. Or so I thought.
"You want to stop by and check our test grades?" Gerald asked, loading an extra slice of pizza onto his tray. I frowned, grabbing a sleeve of French fries.
"Ugh. Sure, I guess. I'm really not looking forward to that."
"I'm sure you did fine!"
"Yeah," I said sarcastically, paying the cashier. I turned to look back at him over my shoulder as I headed to our usual table. "When pigs fl-whoa!" I hadn't expected anyone to walk in front of me – no one does I guess- and I found my food had suddenly migrated to the front of my shirt. "Really?" I sighed.
"Oh Arnold! I'm ever so sorry! Here, let me help you," Lila apologized frantically.I looked up to find a look of panic on her pretty face and only a tiny stain of sauce on her shirt. I winced. "That was my fault!" She took my tray and quickly put it on the table, trying to salvage what little food I had left. "Come on. I'm oh so sure if we go wipe your shirt of now, the stains won't stay." I blushed as she took my hand and pulled me out into the hallway where the restrooms were. I waited as she darted into the girls bathroom, emerging a moment later with a wad of damp paper towels. She began to blot at the pizza sauce on my shirt, her lips pursed. "I just feel oh so terrible about this."
"Don't worry," I assured her. "Accidents happen." Boy,do they happen.
"Oh, I know. I was just ever so eager to talk to you, and I guess I wasn't as cautious. I'm ever so sorry," she explained, moving on to another stain.
"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked stupidly, blinking rapidly.
"Yes. I wanted to thank you ever so much for thinking of me this morning, but I already have a copy of the prompt book. I was going to ask if you would be alright with giving it to someone else. It was ever so thoughtful of you, and I thought it'd be a nice gesture to pass it on. Eugene dropped his down the grate this morning. I'm sure he'd be ever so appreciative."
"Oh," I replied, slightly deflated. "Sure, I don't mind. You can give it to him if you want, tell him it's your gift."
"Oh no!" she replied, eyes wide. "I could never do that. It was your book, and I don't want him to think I got it when it was you. I'd feel ever so guilty about it."
"Don't feel guilty," I said with a forced laugh. "That book just needs a home." Third times the charm. Helga, Lila, Eugene.
"Well if you're sure. So," she said quietly, pausing her dabbing to shuffle her feet. "I hear you and Helga are a thing now?"
"No, no no!" I retorted, maybe a bit too eagerly. She stepped back in surprise as I waved my hands. "We're just friends, honestly." I took a deep breath. "I kind of like someone else."
"Oh," she replied, her cheeks tinting a light shade of pink. "Well, I think your shirt should come clean just fine. Thanks ever so much for the book." She turned and made her way back to the lunchroom, and I sighed heavily, leaning against the wall.
"Stupid, stupid," I muttered.
"That wall never did anything to you."
I rolled my head to the side, frowning. "Oh really funny Helga."
"Just trying to lighten the mood," she snapped, taking a large bite from the stick of jerky she was holding. "Gosh. Leave it to little miss sunshine to rain on your parade. Ironic." She shrugged, pushing past me and continuing on down the hall. Whatever.
The rain started just as lunch was ending. We could see it spattering lazily on the glass in Mr. Simmons class. I shook my head, figuring it seemed like a day for rain.
"Oh Arnold, thanks so much for the book!" I jerked my head around to see Eugene perched beside my desk, the copy I'd given to Lila now held tightly in his hands. "Lila told me you had an extra copy, so I'm really grateful you'd give it to me!"
"No problem," I assured him, shrugging. "No big deal."
"Thanks Arnold. You're a good friend!" I leaned back in my seat as he continued on past me. Yay for Eugene. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, so I pulled it out discreetly. Mr. Simmons was just starting to give us our assignment for the rest of the period. We had to turn in the prompts we were doing at the end of class. He'd approve all our choices, but he was giving us time to flip the book and plan out which ones we wanted to do. Everyone was writing away in their books, so I was free to look at my phone.
"You look like someone pissed in your cornflakes."
The message was so random I couldn't help but chuckle. "What prompt are you doing?"
"The one about the fairy tale. I have a hankering for some prince and princess type things."
"Can I read it when you get done?"
"Only if you do the same prompt and I can read it."
"…..I make no promises it'll be decent, but I'll write it just for you."
"I'll hold you to it."
I shook my head, flipping to the prompt she had suggested. I shook my head, but pulled out my composition book and set to work. I was a really bad writer.
The rest of the day was filled with various other mishaps, such as tripping over Sid's boots in history, having my locker jam on me, plus my accidental run in with Wolfgang. To make a long story short, I ended up in a mud puddle full of lawn mower clippings with barely a shred of my dignity intact. I was lucky enough my books didn't get dunked with me.
And that catches us up until now. I cleared away my plates into the sink, feeling an intense case of the blahs. Blahblahblahblah. I thanked Grandma for my meal and headed up to my room again. I was surprised my phone had barely gotten wet in the sudden downpour, and I was even more surprised to find I had a text from Helga.
"I got a free ticket to the show. I don't remember if I told you about it. You do want me to hold it for you, right?"
"Of course!"
A beat later, then "Awesome. I'll reserve it for you on Thursday."
"You don't have practice today?" I replied, my fingers skimming over the letters on my keypad.
"Naah. Teacher has a stomach virus, so we got the day off."
I paused. "You want to hang out maybe?" I held my breath, waiting for a reply.
"Hang out how?"
"I don't know, movie or something? Video games?"
"...Shouldn't that be stuff you ask Lila to do?"
I frowned. "Good point. I'll ask her instead."
"Well you two lovebirds have fun sucking face. I've got stuff to do."
I blinked, surprised at the sudden change of tone in her messages. Okay then. I'd just ask Lila.
That idea proved to be for naught because she didn't have a car and the rain was too bad for her to try and walk. I offered to pick her, but she politely declined. She said she really needed to work on her projects, and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to focus. She suggested doing something over the weekend maybe, and I agreed.
After that let-down, I decided to text Gerald. He agreed to play some multiplayer with me as long as the weather didn't cause a lag.After the day I had, a little virtual fighting wouldn't be so bad.