Chapter 21

Over the next three days, Helen felt more comfortable at school and made new friends alongside Grace. She was also very excited about the dance. At first she had been a little skeptical about going, but now that she had some friends, she was looking forward to it. The only problem was that she didn't have a dress and she still had to talk to Steve about it.

It was Friday morning and Helen had just finished getting ready for school. She walked downstairs to the kitchen where Steve was standing, stirring a knob of butter into his coffee.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, yes, you could say that."

Steve noticed that his daughter seemed different somehow, as if something was troubling her. "Spit it out."

"What?"

"I can tell there's something wrong, so tell me."

"Well... it's just... um, about the dance, I need... um, a dress."

"And that's why you're so nervous? We can handle that."

Catherine had just walked into the kitchen, which was very convenient for Steve.

"Good morning, you two."

Catherine walked to the coffee pot, where her cup was already standing, and on the way she gave Steve a quick kiss, as she did almost every morning.

"Catherine, I have something to tell you."

Helen looked almost as eager as Catherine.

"Okay, go ahead."

"You're off this afternoon."

"And why is the boss giving me the day off all of a sudden?"

"You will pick up Helen from school later and take her to the mall. The young lady needs a dress and I don't think I'll be much help."

"Well, you can't be good at everything. I'm happy to do it."

Then Catherine turned to Helen, who was standing next to Steve.

"I promise we'll find a good one."

Helen was relieved, as she had felt a little uncomfortable approaching Steve about something like this. After breakfast, the three of them headed out together. First they dropped Helen off at school, then Steve and Catherine went to HQ.

Catherine wanted to leave at a quarter to two to be at Helen's school on time.

"Well, sailor, I should go now."

"Okay, but one thing."

"I'm listening."

"Don't buy her anything too revealing."

"Are you sure? You didn't mind my slightly more revealing dress at the Army-Navy Ball back then."

"Cath, I'm serious."

"I know. I just like to tease you."

With that, Catherine left the headquarters and went to her car.

It took her ten minutes to get to Helen's school. A few minutes later, the students were streaming out of the building and Helen approached Catherine with a cheerful face.

The two of them set off and rummaged through various shops until they found the right dress. Afterwards, Catherine took Helen out for ice cream, so they didn't get home until about 6:00pm. Steve was already waiting for them, as no more cases had come in today, he had sent the team home at 5pm.

"So, you two, did you find the right one?"

But the way Helen was smiling, Steve could have saved himself the trouble of asking, and his daughter's answer confirmed his suspicion. "Yes, it's perfect."

"I'm glad to hear that. Can I take a look?"

"No, not until tomorrow when the ball is held. Until then, it will remain a surprise."

"All right, then. Take it to your room and wash your hands afterwards. You're just in time, I've made dinner and it should be ready in ten minutes."

Helen took the shopping bag and went upstairs. Catherine had just noticed Steve's curious look and she could already guess why he wanted to see the dress.

"Steve, don't worry about it. I've already made sure she gets a proper dress and she's already avoided the revealing ones. You just have to trust her."

"I know. I'm trying, but after everything that has happened, I just want to protect her."

"That's good, but I think she's got a lot from you, so she can take good care of herself. Believe me, you shouldn't worry until she has her first boyfriend."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? If so, you're not doing a very good job."

Catherine just smiled at Steve and he knew that she was just teasing him a little to show him that he should relax.

The two of them went into the kitchen and a short time later all three of them were sitting down to dinner together.

The next day, Helen was all excited after her morning swim with Steve. She couldn't wait to go to the ball. Steve kept Helen quite busy, however, as a poker night with the entire team and close friends was to be held at their house that evening, and a few things needed to be prepared.

Around 6pm, Helen was getting ready for the ball, with Catherine helping her. Half an hour later, Steve was waiting at the front door to leave and was surprised to see Helen coming down the stairs. His daughter was wearing a dark blue dress that came to her knees in the front and lengthened to her ankles in the back. The fabric was simple, but overall the dress looked very nice as it had patterns in the fabric from above the hips. The sleeves of the dress were similar to a T-shirt. Helen had curled her hair slightly and to complete the outfit, she wore black shoes with a little embellishment and a rather small heel.

"Wow." was all Steve could manage at first.

"I guess you like it."

"Yes, you look beautiful."

"Thank you. So, can we go now?"

"Of course we can. Why don't you get in the car? I'll be right there."

So Helen got into the Silverado while Steve turned to Catherine, who had come down the stairs behind Helen.

"She looks kind of grown up in that dress."

"Well, it won't be long until she ist grown up. I guess you'll have to get used to the fact that she's not a little girl anymore."

"You're probably right. Well, I'd better go before she gets impatient and drives alone."

Steve got into the Silverado and drove off.

They arrived 20 minutes later and Steve said goodbye to Helen. "Have fun at the ball. Have a nice evening and call me if you want me to pick you up, okay?"

"Got it. And you, don't get ripped off at poker."

"Got it. Oh, one more thing. Please don't drink alcohol if anyone offers it to you."

"Seriously, Dad? I'm not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myself. First, I would never accept drinks from strangers, and second, I certainly don't drink alcohol voluntarily. I think it's poison for the body. Besides, it's just a school dance."

"Okay, then I don't really have anything to worry about. But please take care of yourself anyway. You never know what kind of people will be at a party like this."

"Dad, you're overreacting. Grace just told me what Danny is like as a father. You'll be worse soon. I'll tell you one last time, I can take care of myself, so stop giving me advice and just relax!"

With that, Helen had already gotten out of the car and disappeared into the crowd outside the building where the ball was being held.

Steve drove off, thinking about Helen's words all the way. The fact that she had suddenly become a bit loud was probably just due to her age, but the fact that she had said that he was even worse than Danny had somehow hurt him. After all, he had always been the one to tell Danny to trust Grace. But now that he had a daughter of his own, that advice was not so easy to follow. He was just worried about her, even if it was just for a school dance. So Steve decided to apologize to Helen after the dance and talk to her about why he said the things he did.

When Steve got home, almost everyone else was already there. Even Danny was there, he must have dropped Grace off at the dance just before Steve.

10 minutes later Kamekona and Flipper arrived. Now the poker night could begin...

Everyone had a great time at the ball. There was a large hall with beautiful lighting, music playing all the time, and three long tables with food and drinks on them, right next to the large entrance door. Time flew by and Helen and Grace didn't even realize they had been here for an hour. They danced the night away and Helen felt very comfortable.

After another dance, Helen went to the tables to get a drink. As she did so, she noticed a boy staring at her from the side. This made her feel uncomfortable, so she went out the front door into the hallway and walked a little to the left. At first she thought she had imagined the boy, but a short time later he came through the door with a second boy into the hallway and towards her. Helen didn't want to be a coward, so she just stopped, even though the boys were right in front of her.

"Who have we here? You're the new girl, right?"

"That's none of your business."

"Actually, the new ones are usually some poor people who either flew in from another school or fled to Hawaii from another country. But you're not one of them, are you? You look much too beautiful for that."

Now Helen felt really uncomfortable and wanted to get out of here right away.

"I won't tell you again. It's none of your business! Now please leave me alone!"

Helen was just about to walk past them back to the ballroom when one of the boys pushed her back with his hand.

"But where to so quickly, dear? We're going to spend some time together."

"That's enough!" Helen had had enough, she lashed out and punched the boy who had spoken to her hard in the face, causing him to stagger back and hold his nose.

"You're crazy! You must have broken my nose!"

"I hope so, and now get out of here before I punch your friend too!"

The boys looked at each other and then quickly left the entire building. Helen went to the restrooms in the building to wash off the little bit of blood she got on her hand. She could just wash it off, but there would still be a slight hematoma. She would just have to explain that to Steve and admit that he was probably right about his fears. Helen was torn from her thoughts when suddenly shots rang out. She immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed Steve's number.

"Hey, what's going on? Do you want me to pick you up already?"

"Dad, you have to..."

Suddenly the call ended. Helen's cell phone was out of range. Great, she thought. How was she going to call for help?

Steve was confused when the call suddenly ended. Somehow he had a bad feeling. He was sure that Helen's voice had sounded worried. So Steve apologized to the others and went outside, where he tried to reach his daughter several times. But each time it went straight to voicemail. Then Catherine joined him outside.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. Helen just called me and before she could tell me what was going on, the call was cut off. Now it goes straight to voicemail every time I try to reach her."

"Okay, maybe the signal is just down."

"It could be, but her voice sounded very worried, almost panicked. Something's not right."

"You're going there now, right?"

"Yes, I just have to."

"Okay, but if something is wrong, don't do anything risky, just call us and we'll solve the problem together."

"I will."

Steve quickly went back into the house, told Danny about his suspicions and the two of them drove off...

Helen thought about how she could get help without a cell phone and finally remembered the windows facing the street. She cautiously crossed the hallway to the stairwell and up to the next floor, thinking she would be safer there than on the first floor.

There she ran to the windows, pulled her lipstick out of her purse, opened a window and wrote on it as large as she could: "Call 911 - Hostage Situation - Help".

Helen then closed the window so that the writing could be seen from outside. Now she could only hope that someone would walk by and read it...

I'am so sorry for not updating for so long. I had family issues and needed to learn for university... So, I'm really sorry, but the stressful time should be over now, I'll try to upload more chapters in the next weeks, if there are still some people out there, who want to read this story. So, please let me know, if you want me to translate and upload the remaining chapters :)