I'm Not Perfect
Chapter 10
Author's Note: One f-bomb in this chapter. You have been warned. :p
The temperature had dropped dramatically in the last hour. The cool wind felt like a life-saver after the….well, it wasn't just the heat.
Oh, my love, alone at last, on such a calm night, under the stars and moon, with the wind blowing your little tufts of sweaty golden hair away from your sweet face…dare I hope….dare I?...
Arnold took another sip of punch. He grimaced. "Too sweet."
She jolted, as if snapped out of deep thought. "Huh?"
"This punch. It's too sweet." He set his cup down on a concrete bench behind them.
"Oh." She looked at the cup in her hand, as if remembering it was still there, and set her cup down next to his.
He looked up at the sky. "Hey, look! It's so clear, you can see all seven stars of Cassiopeia! Wow, you could never see that from my house!"
She titled up her head. "Oh yeah, I see! There's the top, and…"
"Yeah, and look, you can almost…yeah, do you see the dragon? There's the tip of his head, see, two stars, then….if you look…the tail, over there in the third last star…."
Oh Arnold, here we are, counting the stars, finding the constellations….have I not dreamed about this very thing for months, years, decades? The way you study the sky with your chin tucked into your hand, the way you bite your lip and stick out your tongue as you search for an especially dim star. Oh….
He looked at her suddenly. "Do you know what I think about at times like this?"
"Hm?" She looked at him, enthralled, still smiling, still lost in her world.
He shuffled his foot. "Well, I know it sounds kind of weird, but….I think of my parents. You know, wherever they are, or if they're here, but even if not, maybe they can look at this, and maybe they're seeing the same stars that I am, maybe they're finding the dragon's tail too. Grandpa used to say, 'Whenever you miss someone, look up, and remember that we all look at the same sky.'" He paused and slowly smiled. "That makes me happy."
She relaxed. "Yeah." She bit her lip, not wanting to say anything stupid or, God forbid, nasty. "Um…you know…" she began awkwardly, "wherever they are, maybe they're thinking the same thing too. Like, you know, thinking of….their son, looking up at the sky too…and, well, maybe it makes them happy?"
He smiled. "Yeah. Maybe." He took her hand again, sending ohmygosh electric tingles up her body, and they were silent for a minute, staring up at the sky together.
He paused. "Hey, Helga?"
"Yeah?"
"Well…I just wanted to thank you for coming with me tonight. I know this isn't really your thing, and, to be honest, it really isn't mine, either. When I asked you to come with me, I wasn't sure what to expect. But now that we're here, I'm really glad that I asked you. I'm having a great time. And being with you…you know, like this…I guess I just forgot how easy it is to be with you. To talk with you, I mean, about things."
She felt her face melt into a smile, and turned away to hide it. Oh, but why must I hide my smile from you always, my dear, why? "Um….well, you know, I, I'm having a great time with you too, I mean, obviously."
His face lit up. "You are?"
"Yeah, well, sure." She kicked a pebble. "I guess, maybe, I…like you, you know, a little, or maybe…you could say…a lot."
He started. Why did this sound familiar?
"I don't hate you as much I thought, okay? I guess maybe I, I, kind of, like you a little. Heck, I, I, guess I might even kind of say that I like you a lot."
"You do? You did this for me?"
"That's right, Hair Boy! I mean, Criminy, what else are you supposed to do when someone you-"
No.
"No," Helga said.
He jumped. How did she know what he was thinking?
"Oh no, no, no, shit," she said, but her gaze was directed away from his, toward the entrance of the gym, where two figures were walking toward them. One was tall, with long hair…about down to his chin. The other….
"Hey guys," one of them said. That voice, that voice would forever be burned in his mind.
Hey man, it's cool, it's cool. We were just…
"No," he said, stumbling, backing up, physically pressing his back against Helga, shielding her. He looked around wildly, but the four of them were the only ones out here. He thought of yelling for help. Would anyone hear them over the music?
In one single motion, Helga jumped forward, pulled an object out of the front of her dress (the front of her dress?), and unsheathed a knife (a knife?!).
"TAKE ONE STEP CLOSER AND I WILL CASTRATE YOU, YOU FUCKING PERVERT!" she screamed.
Justin jumped away from Alex. Alex threw up his hands. "All right. All right! Look, I'm staying right here. I'm not moving."
Arnold slowly stepped forward. Helga was breathing hard, her body heaving, clutching the knife tightly with both hands.
Alex slowly lowered his hands. "The truth is…I came here to apologize."
Helga's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"What?" Arnold said.
"I said I came here to apologize. What I did to you wasn't cool. The truth is, okay, yeah, I guess I got kind of pissed when you rejected me. I just….I thought you wanted it, okay? You went down to that room by yourself, and we were flirting earlier…."
"I definitely was not flirting with you, asshole," Helga snapped.
"Whatever, fine, I get it. But I thought you were. I thought you wanted me to follow you. Then…I guess things just got a little out of control, okay?"
Arnold clenched his fists. "A little?"
Alex glared at him. "Look, they got out of control, all right? I'll admit it. I went too far."
"You went too far." Helga repeated. She clenched the knife tighter. "I'll tell you right now what you're going to do, Alex. One, you're going to turn around with your little friend, get in your car, and leave this dance. Then, you will never, ever come within ten feet of me, ever again. If you see me in the halls at school, you will turn around and walk the other way. If the entire cafeteria is full and the only seat free is the seat next to me, you will eat standing up. You will never so much as lay eyes on me ever again. Got it?"
Silence. The wind blew. Arnold never took his eyes off Alex. Helga clutched the knife so tightly that her hands started to shake.
Alex smiled. "Understood. Come on, Justin."
The two men walked away, their bodies dissolving in darkness as they made their way toward the parking lot.
Helga blew out a sigh. Slowly, she refolded the knife and pushed it back into the front of her dress. She buried her face in her hands.
Arnold put his hand on her shoulder. "Helga, I am so, so sorry. This is all my fault. I….I already knew Alex was out of jail. I knew that he might be at the dance tonight."
Helga looked up.
"I….I didn't know if I should tell you, but, I should have, Helga. I'm so sorry…"
"Arnold," she said gently, "I already knew."
His jaw dropped. "You did?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I mean, we get calls at home every time there's a change in the case. They called us to let us know he was out of jail."
He slowly sank down onto the bench. "So…you knew he might be here…and you still came?"
"Of course."
Arnold shook his head. "But…I don't get it. Why?"
"Arnold, I'm not gonna let some stupid jerk control where I do and don't go. Besides, I made good and sure that if he ever comes near me, he'll lose some fingers. Or, you know, his…you get the idea."
"So…." Arnold said slowly, "You always carry that knife."
"Yep. Ever since your birthday. A knife and mace in my…." She patted her chest.
Arnold blushed and looked away.
She raised her eyebrow. "What? You thought I was this well-endowed naturally?"
"Uhhh…I….I…."
She grinned. "Hey, Football Head, you're looking a little flushed. Here, have some punch." She handed him his cup. Grateful for the distraction, he took a long swallow. She picked up her own cup and chugged the remainder of her punch.
"Hey Arnold!" Gerald and Phoebe emerged from the building. "Come on, man! They're about to announce the Homecoming Kings and Queens!"
Helga raised her eyebrow. "Well, this should be interesting." She stood up. "Come on, Hair Boy. Don't forget your punch. It's very hot in the gym."
"Er, right." He took her hand—it had become a habit by now—and they walked back into the gym.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Before we announce the Homecoming Kings and Queens from every grade, I just wanted to take the time to remind each and every one of you that you are all winners. No matter what the outcome today, you all would have made great Kings and Queens."
Helga rolled her eyes. "Yeesh, what a fruitcake." The teacher standing up there—Mr. Somethingorotherski, who taught sophomore English—reminded her of a teacher they'd had in the fourth grade.
Meanwhile, Gerald and Phoebe smiled at each other. Not only were they glowing from their not-so-short first kiss (all right, kisses), but they knew something about the Homecoming Kings and Queens that their friends didn't.
"From the senior class….Kayla Rodgers and Martin Shrove!"
Applause roared as two well-dressed teenagers stepped into a spotlight in the middle of the dance floor, which had been cleared specially for this occasion.
"Man," Helga mumbled to Arnold, "She looks like a frosted cupcake. You know, all pink and fluffy."
Arnold laughed, despite himself. "That's not…very nice," he whispered.
"From the junior class….Ida Powers and Winston Gaffski!"
Phoebe watched Arnold and Helga giggling together. "Do you think they suspect?" she asked Gerald.
He smiled. "Oh, no…I think they have absolutely, positively no idea."
"From the sophomore class…Maria Lopez and Johnny Trace!"
"Hey, I think I had a date with her once," Arnold whispered to Helga. "When I was, like, nine."
For some reason, this sent them into another fit of laughter.
"And lastly….from the freshman class….Helga Pataki and Arnold Short!"