For those that have been reading my previous stories, it's been pretty obvious that this story was bound to be written, lol. But how will Rodrigo react to this? Let's find out!
This is part of an AU series. To make things easier, I will write down all the stories that are part of this series at the beginning of the first chapter of a new story, just so everyone can follow the story line. Enjoy!
1. HA! Season 6: Helga vs Rodrigo
2. HA! Season 6: Los Tres Caballeros
3. HA! Season 6: Salsa vs Jazz
4. HA! Season 6: Deconstructing Arnold II
5. HA! Season 6: Feeling Left Out
6. HA! Season 6: Feeling Replaced
7. HA! Season 6: The P.S. 118 Revolution
Sus ojos son caramelos
Su piel color canela
Tiene cuerpo de sirena
Sé que la voy a encontrar
Sus ojos son caramelos
Rodrigo was standing in the middle of a hallway, happily singing with his phone on the ground blasting some Latino music.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
He wasn't just singing. He was also dancing, moving side to side to the sound of the beat. And he wasn't alone. A group of kids stood around him and glanced at him. Some were just silently listening, while others were repeating the lyrics. Some were even dancing to the side.
Rodrigo was aware of their presence and happily continued. He wasn't a professional singer by any means. Nor did he have a talented voice. But he was able to let out decent tunes and tones from his mouth, enough to get by.
Yo te llevaré a un lugar donde solos tú y yo
Podamos ser felices, sanar las cicatrices
Yo te llevaré a un lugar donde solos tú y yo
Podamos ser felices, yo mire tu belleza diciéndoles
Unlike other times, Rodrigo created this little scene with intention. He wasn't there dancing for his own benefit. He was attempting to get back on the school's good side, with mixed results. While some kids did stop to glance as his 'performance', it wasn't the usual big crowd he managed to attract on previous occasions. This one was smaller, but it was a good start and at least for once he could see happy faces instead of the usual glares and frowns he had been receiving since the Terror, or worse, them just ignoring him all together.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
Rodrigo finally concluded his performance and stopped. A few of the kids clapped, but that was all he got before they eventually began to disperse.
Rodrigo simply thanked them and waved at them as they left him. Eventually, he was left alone standing. He looked to both sides and despite there being students in that same hallway, they were paying no attention to him. Almost as quickly, he was made to feel that he didn't exist. Sighing at feeling the sense of loneliness returning, he got his things before heading to class.
With a bit of sadness, Rodrigo walked down the hallway feeling alone. As he continued to walk, he wondered what else could he do to get the ball rolling to get his peers to stop glaring at him and allow for things to get back together.
Maybe staying here was a bad idea. He thought. It doesn't seem people want anything to do with me. Maybe I should just transfer to another school in the next semester, get a fresh start.
Rodrigo burned that thought very quickly. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of moving. He liked it here and didn't want to move. Besides, he thought that was a coward move. After all, he knew this was going to happen and instead of stopping, he chose to move forward with the Terror.
Putting those negative thoughts aside, Rodrigo quickly made his way to class.
In class...
"Class, Cl-Class!" Mr. Simmons attempted to calm down the rattle of noise and energy that were coming out from his classroom of kids.
With the whole 'Revolution' and 'Terror' now finally in the past, things quickly returned to normal for all the kids who attended P.S. 118.
"Everyone, please!" Mr. Simmons exclaimed. "Settle down now!" He said, finally getting everyone's attention and all the students began to quiet down and take their seat.
Rodrigo had been the only student sitting on his desk the entire time, quietly reading away as he waited. With many still feeling embittered for what he did, he remained a social outcast, even in his own class. Interestingly though, no one dared taunted or even picked on him. He was pretty much left alone.
"Thank you." Mr. Simmons thanked everyone with a smile, signaling to Rodrigo to put his book away and focus on that morning lecture.
"Well now, today I have a very special assignment." The teacher eagerly announced. "We are going to have...a...group assignment! Isn't that wonderful?" He excitedly asked the class.
No one bothered to answer him and just stared at him with dispassionate or bored eyes.
"Now I know what you may be thinking," Mr. Simmons said, "But I assure you, this is going to be no ordinary assignment."
"Pfft! Yeah right." Helga quietly remarked as she played with her pencil and slouched on her desk.
"Each of you are going to partner with one person in this class." Mr. Simmons began to explain. "And you will have one week to finish it. Now here is the best part. Curly, the drums if you please." He said.
With a great big smile, Curly began to smack his desk with two pencils to make a drumming sound.
"Each group will get to choose what topic to do their assignment on!" Mr. Simmons announced.
Again, no one got excited and the class remained quiet and dispassionate, but Mr. Simmons was undeterred.
"Now each group will need to come up with their own creative way of presenting their findings to the rest of the class. Yes, each group will need to do a presentation."
"UGGHH!" The whole class groaned and moaned.
"Mr. Simmons." Phoebe then spoke with her raised hand. "Do we need to also submit a report?"
"Great question Phoebe! And no, you do not." Mr. Simmons responded. "You will just need to make sure that what you present is accurate and factual."
"Do we get to choose our partners?" Sid asked.
"Sorry Sid, but not this time." Mr. Simmons responded. "What I did is I randomly partnered each and every one of you up with someone. I have the list with me right here."
He grabbed a piece of paper and prepared himself to read it.
"Phoebe and Sheena. Helga and Arnold."
Helga smiled when she heard she was paired up with her beloved, but she dare not show it to him.
"Nadine and Brainy. Lila and Gerald." Mr. Simmons continued to read on.
"Let's see…" He muttered as he tried to make out the next names.
"Oh. Rodrigo and Rhonda."
"Huh?" Rodrigo said with a surprising, yet disappointing look.
Everyone heard their names and drew their attention at both Rhonda and Rodrigo. Rodrigo felt everyone staring at him and cringed down on his desk. The class also glanced at Rhonda who seemed completely obviously, or was just used to everyone staring at her.
Oh man, seriously? I got paired up with Rhonda? Just my luck. Rodrigo frustratingly groaned in thought.
Rhonda had never particularly been Rodrigo's favourite person. He didn't hate her. He just thought they were too different to ever be friends. He realized that almost immediately when they first met. Truthfully, he wasn't impressed by her, despite her fame. There were some things about her that he quite frankly did not like; mainly her gossiping and superficial nature. Although he would be cordially, even joked around with her a few times, he never made any effort to seek her out, other than that time when he asked her to support him in overthrowing Wolfgang.
Now that he had been paired with her, he not only had to endure her inceasive gossiping, but he realized that it would be he who will bear the brunt on completing this assignment. That last thought made him all the more bothered.
"Alright class!" Mr. Simmons said as he finally completed reading the list. "I'm going to give you some time now to get together with your partner to discuss on what topic to do your assignment on. So hop to it and pair up!"
The whole class began to move as each kid made their way to their respective partner. Rodrigo, procrastinating, groaned as he took his time to get up.
Let's just get this over with. He said to himself in thought.
He turned around to approach Rhonda and not to his surprise, he found her still sitting on her desk, busily on her phone. Rodrigo rolled his eyes, but nevertheless made his way to her.
"Hi Rhonda." Rodrigo greeted her as politely as he could. "Looks like we are-"
"Just a second." Rhonda then interrupted him as she continued to text on her phone.
Rodrigo obliged and waited for her to finish. A few seconds passed, then a few more, then a few more...
"Rhonda, you know we only have a few-" Rodrigo attempted to get her attention.
"Hold on." Rhonda again interrupted him as she continued to quickly text away, never even bothering to look up at him.
Annoyed, Rodrigo no longer tried to hide it and frowned as he impatiently waited for Rhonda to finish, but the Gossip queen simply continued to text away without saying any word to him.
More time passed and Rhonda did not let up, even now seemingly oblivious of Rodrigo's presence. Rodrigo grew increasingly impatient the longer he waited. Then when he saw how others were busily discussing on what topic to choose, with some even having already chosen one, he lost it.
"Rhonda!" He angrily shouted at her.
"And I'm done." She finally said, even putting her phone away. "Sorry, what were you saying?" She asked, which only served to frustrate Rodrigo even more
"I said," He tried to speak with a calm voice. "What topic do you have in mind to do this assignment on?"
"Oh that." She said, rubbing it off like it was not a big deal. "That's easy; fashion!" She said as she pulled out some fashion magazines in front of Rodrigo. The Latino kid however was not at all pleased with that response.
"Yeah, about that." He said as he slowly and politely pushed the magazines aside. "I'm not particularly a fashion guy."
"I noticed." She snobbishly said, which annoyed him, but tried to ignore it.
"So I was thinking if we can choose another topic." He continued. "Something that we both feel comfortable doing."
"Like what?" She asked him.
"Um, well…" He tried to come up with something. "What about insects?"
"Uh, ew." Rhonda remarked with a disgusted face. "I only tolerate them for Nadine's sake. That does not mean I have any love for nature's most disgusted creatures."
"They are not disgusting!" Nadine shouted from across the room, but both pre-teens ignored her.
"Okay, well about what something to do with chemistry?" He asked.
"Ugh, so boring." She exclaimed as she slouched on her desk. "It's a great topic put me to sleep!"
"Okay. What about Astronomy?" He asked. "Perhaps we can talk about the Solar System."
Rhonda did not even respond and simply yawned.
"Okay, well what do you want to do then?" He annoyingly asked her.
"I already told you." She said as she took out one of her fashion magazines. "The latest fashion trend. I happen to be an expert on the subject and it would do us well to do our assignment on this."
"It's the only thing you're an expert on." He quietly remarked.
"What was that?" She asked.
"Nothing." He quickly said and then got back to the topic at hand. "This is a partner assignment and we are supposed to be doing this thing together. Doing fashion will only leave you to do everything. I wouldn't have the slightest idea."
"Then I'll teach you." Rhonda offered as she sat on top of her desk. "I'll be my pleasure to give you a complete do over cuz honestly, it looks like you need it."
I'd rather get guillotined. He thought to himself.
"Thanks for the offer, Rhonda." He said. "But I like just the way I look. And I would prefer to choose a different topic."
"Suit yourself." She said as went back to her seat and took out her phone. "Let me know when you think of something." She said as she began to play around with her phone.
Rodrigo just frowned.
This is going to be a long week. He thought to himself.
Later that day…
As all the kids walked about, Rodrigo made his way through the hallways to find his 'partner'. No sooner when lunch started did Rhonda simply get up and quickly disappeared, much to Rodrigo's annoyance who now had to find her.
"I swear, if I didn't know any better," Rodrigo complained as he made his way through. "She is doing this on purpose, just to get attention."
After some attempt, he finally located Rhonda who was talking with Nadine and Lila. Rodrigo approached them.
"Afternoon ladies." Rodrigo politely greeted them.
Nadine and Lila turned to face him, but were not at all pleased to see him. They frowned, lifted their nose up, turned back around and left.
"I guess they are still mad at me?" Rodrigo asked, feeling somewhat sad.
"Yup." Rhonda responded. "Any luck on how you are going set things right with everyone?" She asked him.
"Not yet." He said, but then curiously asked, "Why are you talking to me?"
"We're partners for an assignment." Rhonda responded. "It would a bit inconvenient to do it if I don't talk to you."
"Oh." Was all Rodrigo said, feeling a bit disappointed with that answer.
"Hey! Here's an idea!" Rhonda then exclaimed. "How about we do our assignment on how you will be weaseling your way back into this school's good side?"
"...Not funny, Rhonda." Rodrigo said with a hard frown. "Just drop it."
"I wasn't trying to be." She said. "But fine, we can drop it. You got any other ideas on what to do our assignment on?"
"No." He responded. "That's why I was looking for you; I wanted to set up sometime for us to meet up to at least figure out a topic. Are you fee today after school?"
Rhonda thought about it.
"Hm, well. I have an appointment at my spa, but I suppose I can reschedule it. Sure, I'm free."
"Great." A relieved Rodrigo said. "I'll meet you at your locker after school."
Later after school…
As agreed, both pre-teens met up after school. To help out, they opted to walk home – well at least toward Rodrigo's house – as they discussed on what topic to choose. Rodrigo calculated that from the school to his house, it was more than enough time. He figured they would not only choose a topic, but would even be able to divide responsibilities. But...as time passed and they continued to walk and debate, by the time they reached Tina Park,
"For the last time Rodrigo," Rhonda annoyingly said as they walked through the park. "We are not going to do our assignment on light! Ugh, and I thought chemistry was boring!"
"Rhonda," Rodrigo, now also aggravated, said, "I have mentioned every topic that I can think of and you shut down all of them! You didn't even let me fully explain each of them!"
"I did too!" She quickly countered. "I just happened to know what you were going to say and disagree on all points." As she then took out her phone and played with it, much to Rodrigo's annoyance.
"Can you please put your phone away, at least until we find a topic?" He snapped at her. "What is it with you and that phone?"
"Don't you snap at me!" Rhonda snapped back. "And for your information, I did offer a topic, but YOU flat out rejected it." She then went back to texting on her phone.
"Ugh!" Rodrigo grunted in frustration as he kicked some snow on the ground. As he did so, a flower suddenly stood upright, something which caught his attention.
"Oh wow." He remarked as he knelt down.
"What?" She asked, but continued to focus on her phone.
"I thought all the flower have died already." He said. "Look at this. This one is not only still alive, but it has all of its pedals."
Rhonda finally looked away from her phone and took a peak down.
"Barely." She remarked. "But, it is a bit interesting how it is still managing to survive, despite the snow and cold." She admitted.
"Yeah." Rodrigo agreed and continued to glance at it, until an idea popped into his head.
"Hey! Why don't we do our assignment on this particular flower?"
"A flower?" An unconvinced Rhonda asked.
"Sure!" Rodrigo began to explain. "Flowers are great specimens. They come in all shapes, sizes, colour and even smell. Did you know there are flowers that release an odour that smells like something rotting?"
"Ew!" Rhonda exclaimed as she stuck her tongue out in disgust. "That's disgusting! That flower must clearly have a defect."
"Well, you're in luck because this flower has a nice odour." Rodrigo said. "So, what do you think?"
"Hmm, I don't know." Rhonda responded while still texting. "I don't see the appeal. I like flowers when they are in vases during exquisite dinner sessions."
"There's a lot of appeal." Rodrigo countered. "They are crucial for many insects who depend on their nectar for food. Bees and Butterflies are two prime examples."
"Meh." Was all Rhonda said as she focused on her phone.
"Bees make honey." Rodrigo remarked.
"I don't like honey." Rhonda counted. "Unless it goes into my tea."
"Well, did you know that flowers absorb sunlight from their leaves in order to make a sugar like substance called glucose?" Rodrigo asked. "It's called Photosynthesis."
"Sounds complicated." Rhonda said with an unconvinced tone.
"Well, each flower has its own unique colour and design." Rodrigo insisted. "If you look closely, you can see their exquisite artistic designs."
That got Rhonda's attention and stopped texting to glance at Rodrigo and the flower. Rodrigo noticed this and pressed on.
"Looks this flower is purely violet. It's hard to imagine now, but in the summer, you can see a whole variety of flowers with so many colours across the field. Picture it; a green blanket partially covered by many colours. Blue, yellow, red, violet, even patterned flowers all around!"
"Wow, I do see that!" Rhonda genuinely said as she imagined the park being completely green again, but covered in a blanket of flowers with various colours. She immediately dazzled into her artistic fantasy as her mind outlined various possibilities."
"Hey! Here's an idea." Rhonda then exclaimed. "We do our assignment on this flower like you said."
"Great!" Rodrigo excitedly said.
"But we divide the work." Rhonda continued. "You focus on the science and facts of this flower, specifically on its anatomy while I focus on its artistic side."
She then took her phone and took a few pictures of the flower.
"How are you doing to do that?" Rodrigo asked.
"Leave that to me. Trust me." Rhonda said. "Remember; I am an expert in revealing the beautiness of things."
"Well I'd better get started." She said as she put her phone away. "This is going to be so exciting! I'll call you later to coordinate and work on the details. See ya!" As she then turned around and quickly ran back to her home to get started.
"Wait-" Rodrigo tried to stop her, but it was too late, she was already running back toward the exit.
"Okay." He said to himself, feeling a bit confused and worried on what exactly Rhonda was planning.
"I sure hope she knows what she is doing." He said.
One week later…
"And as you can see, the anatomy of the flower can be seen by Rhonda's display." Rodrigo presented his report to the rest of the class at school.
The class was somewhat intrigued by the display and to Rhonda's credit, her display fully revealed, down to the last detail, the flower's entire anatomy. It was essentially a sowed model. She used threads made of wool with various colours that were an exact match to the real flower's colour. As its stem was green, Rhonda's flower model had a stem that was the exact colour, along with its leaves, pedals and even its organs. She had sewed it onto a plastic background that she had cut into the shape of the flower in order to get it the model to stand up. Rodrigo for his part, focused on researching the flower, its body parts and organs and what each entailed. He would sent pictures of each body part to Rhonda for her to do the model.
Although Rodrigo asked to see her model, Rhonda refused to show him, not even sending him any pictures, until their assignment's due date. Rodrigo was skeptical. Even though he had previously heard from Nadine and others of the Gossip queen's sewing abilities, he still grew increasingly worried. But given how confident Rhonda was in doing this part of the assignment, he reluctantly gave in.
His fears and worries were unfounded. On the day Rhonda brought her flower model, Rodrigo was shocked at what he saw. Not only was it an exact replica of the flower he found at the park, but a side of it showed its organs and other bodily functions, exactly the same as he saw in the pictures he sent her. All the colours, shape and designs were there. Rhonda left no part out. And although he had no prior experience in sewing, the way the model was sewed together revealed to him that it must have been completed by someone with a lot of knowledge and skill.
He barely had any time to examine it when class began and he was forced to sit on his desk.
While Rodrigo spoke, Rhonda proudly held the model up high for everyone to see and pointed to each body part whenever Rodrigo mentioned it.
"Aw! Thank you, Rodrigo and Rodrigo!" An excited Mr. Simmons said as he clapped when Rodrigo concluded their report. "That was a lovely presentation and I am particularly in awe of the sewing part. For a well presented report, I will be giving you both an A."
Both Rodrigo and Rhonda smiled at the compliment and grade before heading back to their seat.
Some time later…
Once the morning classes ended and lunch began, all the kids made their way out, safe for Rodrigo who chose to remain to examine the flower model more closely.
"Well, what do you think?" Rhonda then asked from behind.
"Rhonda, this piece is incredible!" He responded. "It looks so real."
"Oh I know." She said. "I spend almost a whole day trying to find the wool strings that had the exact colours."
"And you did all this in a week?" He asked.
"Half a week." Rhonda responded. "I spent the first half just finding the materials and thinking how I was going to sew it all together. And I did it all by hand."
"Wow!" An impressed Rodrigo said. "You really do have a gift." He said to her as he put the model back on the table.
"Oh well," A bashful Rhonda said, "Thank you."
"I'm sorry I doubted you." He apologized as the two then began to head out.
The two then began to head out and walked to the lunchroom.
"It's okay." Rhonda said. "I find a lot of people underestimate me. But it makes it all the more fun when I show them what I'm capable of and see the look in their eyes. I love it."
"Well, you sure stunned me." Rodrigo admitted with a giggle. "I mean, I have heard about how well you can sew, but I had to see it for myself to really appreciate the work."
"You weren't so bad yourself." Rhonda returned the compliment. "I learned quite a bit from you. I had no idea how many different body parts makes up a flower. I mostly thought they were just pretty, but boy a lot of work is put into creating one; and all from a simple seed!"
"Thanks." Rodrigo thanked her. "It took a while to get all the information and put it together into a report. There was just a lot of information, but I couldn't put it all into our assignment, so I only included the most important things."
"Well, you did a great job in explaining it that even a simpleton would understand." She said.
"Thanks, Rhonda. That means a lot." Rodrigo thanked her.
"You know what?" Rhonda said, "Since we got such a great mark, we should celebrate. How about it? My treat." She offered.
That surprised Rodrigo and made him stop walking.
"Really?" He asked to which Rhonda just smiled and nodded.
"Well – that sounds great!" He excitedly said.
Indeed, he was really surprised by this. Other than for a few kids, everyone had been either avoiding or even ignoring him, for good reason. Even kids from his own classroom refused to talk to him. So it came as a surprised that Rhonda, out of everyone, was not only talking to him, but even invited him to hang out with him. Feeling grateful, he did not want to pass up this opportunity.
"Where would you like to go?" He asked.
"Oh nothing fancy." Rhonda said. "We can just grab something to eat at a local restaurant."
"Sounds good to me." He said with a smile. "But I would like to pay for this occasion."
"Oh no." Rhonda shook her head. "I am inviting you as my guest and as such, it is my obligation and pleasure to pay. Well technically it'll be my parents paying, but details, details."
Rodrigo was going to insist, but he didn't want to push his luck and so relented. Besides, he had a feeling that the type of restaurants Rhonda usually attended were of the high-class type – way out of his pay grade.
"Okay sure." He said.
"Great." She said. "How about this coming Friday night, let's say...6pm?" She asked.
"I'm free." He answered. "What should I wear?"
"Oh I don't know," She said, but then made a flirtatious smile, leaned closer to Rodrigo and with a flirtatious tone, "How about something…hot?" As she slightly played with the string on his sweater.
The second Rodrigo looked into her eyes and heard those words, his heart almost skipped a beat before instantly stopping for a brief second. The hair on his arms and on the back of his heck rose up, his eyes diluted and for some reason, he felt this urgent need to flee…
"I uh-what?" Was all he could utter, but Rhonda simply continued to flirtatiously smile at him before turning around and left.
Rodrigo said nothing and watched Rhonda leave with horrifying eyes.
"Oh and Rodrigo." Rhonda then said to him as she turned around.
Rodrigo had to summon all of his energy to respond.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Don't be late." She aid to him with a serious voice before turning once again to leave.
Rodrigo heard her but said nothing. The sudden shock of what he had just seen was making his legs buckle under the pressure and he got worried that he might actually collapse or even faint. His heart resumed beating, but it was now beating way faster then before and his was breathing heavily.
"Oh man." He said to himself. "This isn't good. I uh, I need to find help."
Meanwhile…sometime later...
Arnold was at his locker putting some things away before he was to head outside to play with his friends when,
"Hey Arnold." He heard a familiar voice behind him. As he turned, he saw Rodrigo standing, looking noticeably distressed.
"Hey Rodrigo." He greeted him. "What's up?"
"Do you have a second?" Rodrigo asked him. "I uh, need a little help with something."
Arnold was a bit surprised that Rodrigo was coming to him for help. This was the first time of him doing so, but he tried not to make a big deal out of it.
"Sure, what's up?" He asked.
"Well," Rodrigo nervously began, "It's about Rhonda. You've known her for a long time, right?"
"Yes, I have." Arnold responded. "I'm not very close to her like I am with some people, but I know her fairly well."
"Right." Rodrigo said. "Would you know if she is the kind of girl that if she wants something, or someone, she will take it?" He asked.
"I would say so, yeah." Arnold answered. "What is this about?" He asked.
"Okay." Rodrigo relented. "This is what happened. You know that Rhonda and I got partnered up for that assignment, right? Well, we finished it and got an A for it."
"Yeah, I remember. Congratulations." Arnold congratulated him with a smile.
"Thanks." Said Rodrigo. "Well, Rhonda wanted to celebrate and invited me to hang out with her this Friday evening."
"That's great, Rodrigo!" Arnold said. "I'm happy to hear that Rhonda is reaching out and wanting to hang out with you."
"Yeah, thanks." Rodrigo nervously said. "I'm grateful for the second chance. Except, there is one small problem."
"Which is?" Arnold asked.
"Well," Rodrigo nervously explained. "When I asked her what I should wear for the occasion, she um...flirted with me."
"Flirted with you?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah." He responded. "It wasn't a friendly flirt, but a full-blown flirt. The type of flirt that tells you the person like 'likes' you."
"Oh, I see." Now Arnold fully understood the situation. "And how do you feel about that? Do you also like 'like' her?"
Rodrigo took a deep breathe before shaking his head.
"No." He said. "To be honest, I'm not particularly fond of her. I don't hate her or anything. I just think we are two different people."
"Did you say anything to her after?" Arnold asked.
Rodrigo sighed before he responded.
"Look Arnold, I never liked doing what I did to people, especially my friends. It was never something that I enjoyed doing. Quite the opposite in fact. I'm not going to have another debate with you over this, but the point is that I feel terrible for what I did and like I promised, I want to make it up to people. With Rhonda, she not only threw her support in helping me overthrow Wolfgang, but got caught in the cross-fire. And I feel bad for what happened to her. So I figured this is my golden opportunity to make amends and try to get back on her good side."
"I see." Said Arnold. "Fair enough. Getting back to your problem; are you sure that this was a full-blown flirt?" He asked.
"Positive." Rodrigo responded. "Couldn't have missed it."
"Did you accept Rhonda's invitation?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah, I did." Rodrigo responded. "I said 'yes' before the flirting happened."
"Okay well, let me ask you this," Arnold asked, "Has she ever done this before?"
"No, she never once showed me that she likes me." Rodrigo responded. "Not even during this assignment. She was acting her usual self. Actually come to think of it, she barely paid much attention to me, except whenever I spoke to her. She was always on her phone. Which makes this all the more confusing. She never did this before, so why is she now flirting with me? I'm not 100% sure what this means. I don't doubt what the flirt means, but it just came out of nowhere, you know? Did she only now started to like 'like' me, or perhaps, it meant to be only a friendly flirt, but it accidentally came out too strong? I have no experience with this, so I thought with you being with Helga and all, you might know."
"I see." Said Arnold as he thought about it for a second.
Although granted Arnold does have more experience with girls than Rodrigo, that did not mean he was an expert on the subject. He only just recently came to terms that Helga's bullying behaviour against him in the past was nothing more than an attempt to get his attention because she had strong feelings for him. It was just her way of showing it.
With Rodrigo's situation, it was indeed confusing. Unlike Rhonda, Helga had been making it very clear since pre-school that she had feelings for him. Arnold just didn't put two-and-two together. He just thought she hated him. But Rhonda only now just came out to Rodrigo showing that she like 'likes' him. Assuming Rodrigo was correct, this was the first time this happened. Arnold may have been no expert, but he thought the assignment would have been a great opportunity for Rhonda to spend some time with Rodrigo and give off hints of her intentions throughout. Except, she didn't until the last minute. Did she really like him? If so, why now? After Rodrigo's behaviour, this seemed like a very strange time for her to start liking him. After all, he did imprison her. Or did that flirt came out as too strong? Or, did Rodrigo misinterpret it?
"What do you think this means?" Rodrigo asked him. "And what should I do?"
"To be honest," Arnold then spoke, "I'm not sure what it means. But if you are worried about Rhonda liking you, then perhaps you should just cancel your date with her."
"I thought about that," Rodrigo said, "But as I said, I'm just not sure if she 100% like 'likes' me. What if I cancel, but it turns out that she only wanted to be friends? Not only would I look like a fool, I may also end up hurting her feelings. Not to mention that I already accepted her invite, and with Friday only a few days away, I don't have time to make up some valid excuse to cancel."
"But if you go through with the date and it turns out she like 'likes' you," Arnold then countered, "You would have given her false hope and will end up hurting her even more."
"Yeah, I thought about that too." He said. "Ugh! I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I would end up hurting her regardless of what I do."
Arnold looking at him with a puzzling look.
"Is there something else you are not telling me?" He asked. "Because you seem really concerned about Rhonda's feelings. Didn't you say you are not very fond of her?"
Rodrigo sighed.
"I just...I just don't want to hurt her." He said. "Whether if she wants to be friends with me or likes me, I'll end up hurting her. But especially if she likes 'like' me. I don't know what a broken heart feelings feels like, but I've seen that it can be very painful. I already put her through enough. I don't want to hurt her even more, especially from a broken heart."
Arnold was surprised on hearing Rodrigo say that and it only served to further confuse him about him. On the one hand, this was the same kid that unleashed a wave of terror and fear, causing untold misery without remorse. But now he was worried about hurting the feelings of one person whom he is not even really close to.
Arnold understood his predicament, but he nevertheless wanted to play it safe and get Rodrigo to cancel the date, but that was easier said than done. He knew Rhonda was not the type of person that took a 'no' for an answer. Actually, that response would sometime get her to show her not-so-good side. In truth, he was a bit worried what Rhonda might do to Rodrigo if he cancels on her.
"Okay," Arnold spoke, "So your second option is this: Since you are not 100% sure if the flirt means she like 'likes' you, and you don't want to want to hurt her, then maybe just go to the date this Friday night. The way I see it, you accepted to go out with her only as friends because she never before showed any hints that she like 'likes' you. Even that flirt happened only after you accepted. So, you couldn't have known. I'd say plead ignorance, go out and have fun, but as friends. Keep your distance and make no attempt to show her that you are interested in her other than as friends."
"Okay." Rodrigo said.
"Keep an eye out on what she does or says." Arnold continued. "If nothing happens, then you have nothing to worry about and can continue your time with her. But if she does try to flirt with you again, or does something that shows that she like 'likes' you, then you will need to be honest with her and tell her the truth that you don't have the same feelings. Yes, you will hurt her feelings, but it is better to be honest about it rather than lie and lead her on. That will be even worse."
"Yeah, I definitely don't want to do that." Rodrigo said with a sigh. "I was hoping to avoid having to break her heart, but I guess there's no other way."
"There isn't." Arnold said. "You would either need to tell her the truth on Friday or now. It's up to you."
Rodrigo just sighed.
"Thanks, Arnold."
"Good luck, Rodrigo." Arnold said as he placed his hand on his shoulder for support. "Let me know if you need any more help."
Sigh, decisions, decision, decisions! What is Rodrigo to do? We'll find out how he does in the next chapter!