Helga immediately starts pacing. Why is he late? I was so stupid forever thinking that a boy could ever like me. God. Why do I always have to be so mean to everybody? I guess I had this coming. Helga thinks to herself. Five more minutes go by and then ten and fifteen. Finally Phoebe stands up and fixes her clock. Helga opens the curtains but she sees no strange cars parked in the street or the driveway. Getting sick of waiting, she grabs her bag and storms to the front door. She swings it open to find Blythe standing in front of it with a bouquet of flowers. "You're late." Helga says irately.
"On the contrary, I have been waiting her for ten minutes. I was right on time. I just like seeing you when you're angry." He smiles. "I parked a couple of houses over and I walked here."
He hands Helga the pink and red roses. She snatches them out of his hand and walks down the stoop closing the door behind her. As she strides over to the car Blythe grabs her arm. When he does this, however, Helga's hand shifts a bit and ends up rubbing against a thorn.
"What is wrong with you? Why would you get roses with the thorns still on them?" Helga yells. She calls him a few names but of course he just responds with a smile.
"Because, they reminded me of you, beautiful at first glance but still badass enough to show people that they shouldn't be messed with."
"Did you just call roses 'badass.'" Helga asks.
"Yeah, roses are the most badass flower of all time. Surely someone has not been reading Home and Garden magazines enough." Blythe says without a hint of sarcasm.
Helga smirks and tries to keep walking, but it just makes Blythe hold on to her arm even harder. "Hang on. Your face?"
"Do you like it?"
"No. I don't." Blythe responds. Helga is immediately taken aback. How dare he say that after all that she's done to look that good? "Helga. Why would you change your appearance?"
"I wanted to look nice for you. Excuse me for wanting to look pretty."
"You look pretty without makeup and with your hair in those pigtails. You look pretty with a scowl on your face when you're yelling at someone. You look pretty when you're looking like you. This isn't you. I didn't want to go out with you because you're a Barbie doll or a fake supermodel. Trust me I know some of those. I wanted to go out with you because you can be beautiful without all of the add-ons. Not a lot of girls can say that about themselves."
"You don't even like my hair…or my dress." Although Helga was sad, her voice shed a painful anger
"Okay well your hair is awesome and that dress is hot. I just don't want you being who you're not."
"I thought you were supposed to get pretty for a date." Helga scowls.
"Yes, but this isn't a date… remember?" Blythe smiles, making Helga rethink everything.
For the first time in a long time Helga is speechless. He takes her hand and leads her to the car. Her scowl is present and Blythe cannot help but to stare and smile. He truly thought that she looked beautiful. He could not tell her that she looked better than normal. He did not want her to think that she had to change herself to be liked. She was fine before.
When they reach the car, Helga is pleasantly surprised that it is a normal teenagers' car and nothing too big or fancy. He gives her a black cloth and tells her to either wear it or keep her eyes closed. She mentions not trusting him but he stops the car until she agrees to wear the blind fold. She puts it on reluctantly and he starts to drive faster than he was. As the minutes ticked on, Helga almost starts getting tired. She almost falls asleep until he opens her door and takes the blindfold off. She takes her shoes off (heels and grass do not exactly mix) and steps out. She sees him with a basket and realizes that her rich date has taken her on a picnic.
"I was expecting something a lot more fancier and money oriented." She says.
"Oh well Chauncey is over there setting up with the catering crew. Brought a couple of maids too. They're gonna be sweeping the sand out of the sand box for us." He laughs.
"Criminy. Why of all things who you choose a picnic on a day like today? It's too cold out here. We're gonna freeze." Helga said wanting to be angry. She wanted to be angry with him because he was a stuck up spoiled rich kid, but there was just that oh so special something about him (as Lila would say).
The two of them start walking to the mystery location. Helga's feet tingle with every step into the smooth green grass circling her toes. Every once in a while she steps in a bit of snow and cringes. At the end of the park there is a small abandoned house. It looks almost like a log cabin. Strange, Helga never noticed it before. Blythe stops walking and unfolds a blue green blanket. On the porch of cabin there is a swing. He gestures for her to sit down before he does. As Blythe sits down next to her he points to the sky. The sun is beginning to light up a sunset of orange and pink. Helga tilts her head a bit to see it. She mentions the cold and he offers her his sweat shirt. She rips it from his hands and throws it over her head. It's a little big but it is definitely warm.
"So are you hungry?" He asks her. She nods her head. He walks inside the cabin and brings out a tray of food.
"Where the heck did that come from?" Helga says as she looks at the unopened basket of food right next to the porch swing.
"I told you. Chauncey and the others are catering for this."
"I thought you were kidding."
"Nooo." Blythe says laughing yet again. "I was kidding when I said the maids would clean out the sandbox. Although I could make that work if you want."
She shakes her head. There is a part of Helga that feels guilty about going out with Blythe when a part of her will always like Arnold.
Remembering the blanket, Blythe lays it across their laps. He goes inside and brings out two mugs filled to the brim with steaming hot chocolate. "I bought this little house a while ago. It gives me space away from all of the richness and stuck-upness of the mansion, although yes, I do have a butler and a maid. I don't come here often so for the most part they run the place together. I don't actually know what they do half the time."
"Why here?" Helga says as she looks around the park.
"It's far away from people. The mansion is extremely busy and no one can bother me here."
After about fifteen minutes the sun sets. The sky turns a dark blue filled with billions of stars. They spend about an hour counting the constellations. Blythe tells a few jokes which actually makes Helga laugh. It is not long before she finds herself actually having a good time.
"You know Helga, I have never met a girl like you."
"Well yeah, I ain't no dime a dozen."
"And you're not fake either. I hate fake girls."
"Well I hate snobby rich kids." Helga says. Blythe's face shows a scared expression which is why Helga replies with: "Which is why I'm glad you're not one."
Blythe smiles and then stands up. He takes the blanket and starts to fold it. "Well this has been quite enjoyable." He says. "I had a great time with you tonight."
"It's only nine o' clock." Helga says, clearly annoyed. "Why are we leaving so early?"
"…To save more excitement for next time."
"And what makes you think that there is going to be a next time."
"My daddy's rich. He bought me a time machine. I know there will be a next time." He says. Helga cannot help but to smile. She knows that she desperately wishes for there to be a next time as well.
The two of them pack up their things. She notices the picnic basket and remembers that it was never opened. She reaches out for it but Blythe takes it first. He shakes his head and grins his stupid grin.
"Why would you bring that thing if there wasn't anything in it? I mean criminy, what was the point?" Helga yells.
"It was a surprise. Here it's a trickily wrapped present." Blythe says. As Helga pulls out many different objects Blythe explains why they're there. "There is nothing mysterious or special about them. Just some new bows, since I know you like to wear them. A couple new notebooks are in there because you like poetry. There is a flyer or two in there because there are poetry and writing contests where you could win serious cash. There is also a business card in there from one of my dad's friends. He owns a publishing company. If what you're friend Phoebe tells me is true, you're pretty good at writing. You would be a shoe in for getting something published. I don't know. I just thought you would like it."
"Wow. I love it. No one's ever done anything like this for me."
"I know. I wanted you to see me as special as I see you."
"You are just full of surprises."
"Well that was the last one of the night. There will be more next time. I promise." He says.
"Ya know. I think that sounds great." She responds.
The two of them walk back to the car and drive home. When he drops Helga off, she waves and runs up her stairs. Olga immediately knocks on her door to ask about her project. Helga claims that she is too exhausted to talk and promises to tell her sister all about it in the morning. Instead of falling asleep however, Helga stays awake for a couple more hours in order to write more in her diaries. For the first time she learned how to write, Helga writes a poem that is not about Arnold.
I will probably update this chapter shortly with more details. Until then, I hope you all still enjoy it. :) Thank you for reading. 3