The pink sketchbook and the blue umbrella.
Chapter 15: Princess
Hello. I know, It's been years. And I still have a second chapter that goes along with the first, when it comes to Phoebe and Gerald. Thai is kinda out of order, But after looking at the comments, I just knew I couldn't wait any longer with this one. Hope you like it.
Helga's POV.
"Come on Eileen, oh I swear well he means. At this moment, you mean everything!"
The song played from the speakers of my cheap 6 year old flower themed boom box.
As I danced around in my room with a paint brush in one hand.
"With you in that dress, my thoughts, I confess, verge on dirty. Ah, come on Eileen!"
I swung my body over to face my canvas connected to an easel that Ms. Clark let me borrow.
I dipped my brush in a brighter shade of yellow and decided to give Arnold's hair some highlights.
Hehe.
I continued making brush strokes.
Then I took a step back and held my chin.
I had him at a side angle, looking down.
He just looks so cute in that position.
It's safe to say this song and the act of painting got me in a pretty giddy mood.
…I almost felt like singing.
But once I noticed I hadn't done the best shading I stepped back in to correct myself.
Almost done, and…
KNOCK! KNOCK!
I flinched, causing my wrist to spaz out across his face.
I growled.
"What!" I scream at the door.
"Helga?"
My eyes widened.
It's ARNOLD.
"shit-" I whisper as I immediately grab my canvas and throw it in the closet.
"Uhh, give me a second!"
"Okay, …one!" I hear him say from behind the door.
I frantically rush to hide all the other paintings and sketches scattered across my room.
Arnold's POV.
As I stand at her bedroom door with my hands behind my back, I begin to grow impatient.
"What's taking so long?"
"Just wait!"
"Why?" I whine.
"I'm uh… naked!"
I immediately blink.
Blood rushes to my cheeks.
"O-oh," I utter, scratching the back of my head.
"S-sorry, haha."
Why am I so dumb?
Of course she's probably changing, this is her bedroom you idiot.
Helga's POV.
Then as soon as everything seemed clear I took a breath, shut off the boom box, and walked to unlock my door.
"Ready for the movie?" He asks as soon as I open the door.
"What are you doing here? I told you I was gonna meet you there."
"I know, but I figured It'd be more fun to walk together," he says as he walks himself into my room.
"It's 7, the movie starts in like 2 hours."
"What, are you busy?"
"N-No… but you really should have called before coming over…"
Arnold's POV.
"Wow," I whispered while walking around Helga's room.
"So this is your room."
A string of colorful Christmas lights covered the walls.
While interesting collages from magazines and newspapers occupied a couple areas.
But the thing I found most interesting was this huge basket of paints just sitting in a corner.
Followed by a few jars holding different sized paint brushes sitting on her desk.
But… no paintings.
"Yup," I heard her reply.
"This is my room."
I smile at her.
I wanted to say that the glow of the lights made her look like an angel.
…But I couldn't get the words to come out of my mouth.
Helga's POV.
He sure does look like an angel under these lights.
Not like I'm gonna tell him that.
We should probably get going before he gets too comfortable.
"…Wanna head to slausens?" I ask him.
"Oh, uhh right now?" He replied.
"Tsk. Duh right now weirdo," I say while pushing his chest with my fingers.
My fingers.
That are covered in paint-
"Oh shoot, haha" I bring my hand almost all the way to my mouth and giggle.
"What?" He asks while I stare at his shirt.
He looks down to see my fingerprints just hangin out on his chest.
I hear him gasp.
"Whoops," I utter, holding in more laughter.
He looks back up at me with the look of revenge written on his face.
Alarms go off in my brain as I sense him getting ready to get me back.
"Arnold…" I say with my hands up.
"Helga…" he says, taking a few steps closer.
"It was an accident!"
"Oh was it now?"
"Oh come on, forgive me arnold. Aren't you a forgiver?" I say with puppy dog eyes.
He stops. Looks back at his shirt and sighs.
"...haha, It's okay Helga. I forgive you." He says as he stares into my eyes.
Awe. That was so sweet.
"Wow," I say, as we lock eyes.
"...You're such a pushover,"
"Hey!" He says, offended.
I smile and quickly boop his nose with my painted fingers.
"That's it!"
"Ahh!" I scream as soon as he starts chasing me.
We begin circling around the room.
But as soon as his eyes spotted my basket of paints I knew I was in trouble.
He started to head towards it.
"Don't! You dare!" I yell pointing my finger at him.
But my eyes roll as he bends over to open up a green pastel container.
Ugh.
I miss the days he'd actually listen to me when I yelled.
…And next thing I knew he was coming at me with my acrylics.
He smeared it on my arm.
While I smushed it all over his face.
We continued fighting.
And 'painting' each other.
I screamed and cried as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.
"Arnold!" I whined as I struggled to break free from his grip.
Next thing I knew I was being pulled up into the air.
I flung my legs around as I yelled, "PUT ME DOWN!"
After a few seconds of him swinging me around he finally let me go.
I fixed my shirt and growled at him.
He folded his arms as he looked down at me.
"Looks like you're not as strong as you used to be," he said with his eyebrow raised.
I glared at him as my blush grew.
"Oh, shut up."
We stood there.
He smiled.
As I tried not to.
But I somehow always gave in.
"Hey, you got a t- shirt or something I can borrow?" He suddenly asked me.
My eyes widened as he walked over to my closet.
Luckily I beat him to it.
I stood in front of him with my arms spread apart.
Arnold's POV.
"No, don't go in there!" She screamed.
"…why not?" I questioned.
"Because I said so, besides it's all girly stuff, you wouldn't even wear it-"
"I'm sure you have a t-shirt, Helga," I chuckled, reaching for the knob.
But she continues to block the door.
"I'm serious, football-A-Arnold."
I stare at her as she fumbles over what to call me.
"You can't go in."
My mind begins wandering.
What could possibly be in this closet that she doesn't want me to know about?
Suddenly, I hear someone come in from downstairs.
"Shit," Helga whispers as we hear the front door slam shut.
"What? What is it? Mph-" I ask before Helga shoves her hand over my mouth.
"Shhh! It's my dad."
I removed her hand.
"So?" I whisper as I watch Helga rush over to her window.
"I'm not allowed to have boys over," she says as she lifts up the window.
I raised my eyebrow in confusion.
"But… you're mom seemed fine about letting me in."
"Yeah well, my mom doesn't exactly make the rules around here," she said while repositioning a ladder from out the window.
I blink.
"Wha… What does that mean?"
I watched her turn around and stare at me.
She pointed at the ladder.
Is she serious right now?
"Helga, is this really necessary-"
"GIRL! Get down here!"
I immediately blink at the loud voice echoing from the bottom of the stairs.
At this point Helga's giving me a death stare and pulling on my arm towards the window.
"okay, okay," I whisper as I climb over the windowsill.
My heart was beating quickly.
As I make the first steps down my hands start to shake.
I can't imagine having a dad that yelled that way.
Helga's pov.
After making sure Arnold climbed out of the window, I turned to the bedroom door.
I went to the door and turned the lock.
And as I did, I immediately heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Helga!"
I don't respond.
And after a few seconds his footsteps stopped at the door.
"I know you're in there girl!"
I stand in front of the door trying my best to keep my breath quiet.
But immediately flinch as soon as I hear him jamming into the door knob.
I cringe as his mumbling and groaning makes its way through the door as he continues trying to get it open.
He's drunk.
"If you don't answer the goddamn door I'm gonna break it down myself!"
I watch the door as it starts rattling and shaking from his kicks.
"Bob, please no more. S-She's only 17-" I hear my mom in the background.
"Shut your FUCKING mouth, you bitch!"
My eye begins to twitch as I stare off into nothing.
"Bob, let go of me!" I heard her cry.
Fumbling and loud thumps followed by the cries of my mom seeped their way through the cracks of my door.
I couldn't take it.
I run and slam my palms against the wood of the door.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER- Bob, stop!"
My mom's cries grew louder.
"PLEASE-"
As soon as I threw my hand on the doorknob, I was suddenly dragged away from the door by the waist.
The only form of comfort had my shoulders in his hands as he turned me towards his direction.
"Hey- it's okay-"
I grab a hold of him.
And soon as I do I finally feel the tears streaming down my face.
A startling thump breaks me away from the hug as I continue to hear the yelling and crying.
It became hard to breathe as I looked around my room searching for a solution.
Arnold grabs my cheek and turns me back to his face.
"Hey- look at me! Hey, it's okay- It's all gonna be okay- You're okay-" He quickly says while grabbing the back of my head and moving my stray hairs out of the way.
"No-no I can't do this Arnold-"
"Helga. Right now I need you to listen to me," He said as he guided me to the window.
"I need you to climb the ladder for me. I'll be right behind you."
Arnolds pov.
I slowly shut the door of my bedroom with a cup of tea in one hand, and turned to look at the girl I've known my whole life.
And of course I always believed there was more to her.
But not once did I consider that her life was this bad.
I looked down at the tea bag that was floating in the water.
I feel so stupid. It all makes so much sense now. Her outlook on life, her aggressive attitude towards others, and her fear of getting too close to somebody.
I sighed as I watched her stare outside my window.
She's hurt.
She's been hurt.
Probably her whole life.
And I didn't even know.
I should've known.
"Helga."
"What," she answers with her back to me.
"Let's talk."
"I don't feel like talking-"
"Helga."
She slowly turned her head up towards me.
I had never captured her eyes to look so vulnerable before.
I walked over and sat down next to her.
"Now's not the time to shut me out," I say as I hand her the tea.
She moves the stray strands of hair from her ponytail behind her ear, and takes a small sip.
Our eyes meet.
"How long has this been going on, helga?"
Her stare lingers.
Causing me to frown with worry.
Something inside me has this urge to protect her. To never let her out of my sight.
She starts to let her eyes fall towards the ground.
I watch as her stray hairs fall back from behind her ear, and over her beautiful face.
"…I'm never going to know how to help if you don't talk to me-"
Suddenly she jerks her head up.
"Oh shut up! Just leave me alone, football head!" She screams causing my eyes to blink.
"Hey-"
She shakes her head and throws her hand onto her forehead, the immediately back to the floor, to get ready to push herself up and away from this conversation.
"No, this is stupid-"
"Hey!" My fingers grab a hold of her chin.
But she still refuses to look at me.
"Helga, look at me," I say in a stern voice.
She sighs as her eyes find mine again.
A tear rolls down her cheek, and I immediately wipe it away.
"I know, I know, I'm a football head," I say with a softer tone of voice.
Helga's POV
"No- you're not… I…" I take my hands and bury my face in them. "You're not… I'm sorry, you're not a football head-"
"-Hey," I looked up at him.
"For you, I'd be your football head any day." he whispers with a smile.
I smile back. "No… Arnold, you deserve so much more than that. I'm really sorry that I slipped up, but please don't volunteer to be a punching bag."
He begins to play with his fingers before rubbing the back of his neck.
"Helga, don't get me wrong, I don't want to be a punching bag, but… It's been like 3 months since you've cut out the name calling, and I really appreciate it. But uhh, I uh, kinda have a confession to make."
"What do you mean?"
His grin grows bigger as he looks to the side.
"I uh- I guess I realised… I kinda like the name football head. It feels like it has a new meaning to it. Now that I know you don't… Y'know, hate me."
I stood there in shock.
"You… like the name?"
"..Maybe?" he looks up at me with embarrassment.
I wipe my eyes, and let out a small giggle.
"Okay." I say with a smile.
"Maybe paste for brains and Arnoldo don't need to make a comeback though…"
"Hahaha.. Tehaha… It's a deal," I say as I tuck my loose hair behind my ear.
"But uh… I finally came up with a nickname for you."
I blink. Arnold's never given me a nickname before. I braced myself for his chance to get back at me after all these years. But whatever he's says, I'll accept it.
"Strong girl."
I look up at him.
"...what?"
"That's the nickname."
"What's the nickname?"
"Strong girl."
I blush.
"But… you could've chosen anything."
He stares at me with a kind smile.
"Seriously," I say,
"Loudmouth, tyrant, miss anger problems, unibrow, don't hold back. Lay it on me Arnold."
He looked at me with confusion.
"But I don't wanna call you any of those things."
"Why not?"
He grabs my hand and holds it.
"Because, I don't want to. I want to call you 'strong girl'."
My heart melted.
"But-"
"Shhh."
I listened to him, and became quiet.
"Drink your tea, and breathe. Be my strong girl."
My cheeks blush a shade of pink.
I hide my eyes from his sight.
I do as I'm told, and take the mug of tea and take a few sips.
…His strong girl?
"Helga, I know now, some things about your homelife that I didn't before. And It's not normal, what happened tonight. Now look… I'm aware you might be mad when I tell you this, but I have to be honest with you. I spoke with my Grandparents, and we called 911."
I sigh as I put my mug down onto the window sill.
I look up at Arnold.
"I know, I didn't tell you yet. But Helga, I had to. Your safety is most important to me. You can yell at me, all you want, but I'm not going to apologize."
"I'm not gonna yell at you…" I sigh once more.
"Helga, please don't go back home. Just stay the night. We have rooms open for you to choose from. I will give you lots of fluffy blankets and I'll make you dinner, and I already looked and we have your favorite tv show, "mr. pawkinz" on VHS. So you won't be bored. And I'll even give you my word and leave you alone for the rest of the night-"
"Don't leave me alone."
Arnolds POV
I blink.
"...Don't leave you alone?"
She looked at me as if I was… something special.
"Please."
"Okay. Yeah, no worries I won't leave you alone. We can watch "mr. pawkinz" together. We can hangout. We can do whatever you want."
"Can I sleep in your room?"
I blush.
Uh…
"Of course. You want me to stay in one of our other rooms instead?"
"No." She says while shaking her head.
"Okay. I'll grab a sleeping bag, and you can take my bed."
I watch her as she smiles.
"Okay."
…My entire life, I've always thought of myself as a nuisance to her. But… she wants me to… stay? Sometimes this friendship seems unreal.
Helga POV
After watching a few episodes of my favorite childhood show, I begin to yawn and stretch out my hands. Arnold notices me and takes my empty dinner plate from my lap.
"How ya doin, strong girl?" He says to me.
I look away and hide my smile.
…Why does that make me feel so good inside?
"I'm fine. Just tired," I reply, still looking at the ground, embarrassed at receiving this new nickname.
"Well, why don't you get ready for bed? I left a pink toothbrush in the bathroom for you, and there's also a pink towel in case you shower. I'll go clean the dishes then I'll come right back up for bed."
Even I have to admit… my heart was swooning. I giggled at the trouble he went to just to find things for me in my favorite color.
Bob keeps trying to enter my mind. But Arnold's sweetness is making it really hard to think about quite literally anything else. So I found it easy to let Bob float away and out of my mind.
Sometimes… I wish those rumors about me and Arnold were true.
After showering and brushing my teeth, I walk into Arnold's room to find his clothes laid out for me. An oversized T shirt, and soft boy shorts. I know they were for me because there was a tiny piece of paper on top.
"For Helga, (the strong girl)"
I giggled and rolled my eyes. He's really excited about this new name isn't he?
To be fair, I've called him names fairly frequently. So it's only fair that I let him call me one. But why does his choice of nicknaming have to be so cute and sweet? I don't deserve it.
I get changed and find myself dancing to no music and twirling around in his bedroom. I look in the mirror as I sway. I'm a bit confused. I don't know if Bob is arrested or not. I don't know where Miriam even is. But for some reason, I'm twirling around in a blue shirt and I feel like a princess. I've never felt like this.
Suddenly, as I'm in the middle of a twirl I hear Arnold's footsteps coming up the stairs. I stumble out of my twirl in embarrassment and head over to his bed.
The door opens and there he is.
The boy who apparently likes being called football head.
Oh, Arnold.
He walks over to me, as I get comfortable under the covers.
And I watched him set down a glass of water for me on the bedside table.
"Goodnight, Helga," he says to me, as he turns on the lamp near me.
I look at him.
"Good night, football head," I say in a soft tone.
I watch as he blushes, and tries to hide his smile. He walks away and over to his desk.
I wonder what he's doing.
He opens a drawer and pulls out… my book.
I watch as he sits in his chair and flips through the pages of my sketches.
I find my hands absentmindedly pulling the covers over my face. This is so embarrassing and so flattering at the same time. How often does he do this? I lift the covers to take another glance. He has his cheek resting on his hand and a cute smile glued to his face.
I wonder what he would think or say if he… knew it was mine.
After 5 minutes pass by, he finally puts my sketchbook away.
I roll over to my side and pretend like I hadn't been watching him.
Arnolds POV
After looking at my sketchbook, I put it back into the drawer, and headed over to my sleeping bag. I pass by Helga who seems to be drifting off to sleep. I smile, and manage myself into the covers of the sleeping bag. I don't know how long she needs to stay at my house but I'm willing to sleep on the ground forever if it's what it takes to make her happy.
"Arnold?"
I blink as I hear Helga's voice. I turn to see her sitting up in my bed, looking at me.
"Yes, Helga?"
"Come here."
I immediately stand up and walk over to my bed.
"What's up?"
She stares at me.
Maybe she's uncomfortable but she is too afraid to tell me.
I'll try and guess what it is she might be needing.
"Is it too cold?"
"No."
I look over to see her water cup empty.
"Ohh, don't worry Helga, I'll get you some more water," I say, as I reach for her cup.
Suddenly, her hand is on my arm.
I freeze.
"Will you lay down with me?"
"...will I… you want… me to lay down… with you?" I utter as I look at her.
"Yeah."
6 months ago, she threw a can of soda at me for coming into her place of work.
And now she wants… me to lay down with her? She's probably in shock over everything that happened tonight. I understand.
"Sure." I crawl into my bed. And for not one second did I forget that Helga was right there next to me.
Some time had passed. The room was dark. And the moonlight shined through the window. I couldn't sleep. I was just too aware of her presence.
She's probably asleep by now.
Maybe I should just go back over to my sleeping bag-
I hear helga, re adjusting. She turns, and all of a sudden, the next thing I know, her head is on my chest. For a moment, I can't breathe. Her hand is resting on my chest as well.
Okay.
That's fine.
This is fine.
I'm fine.
Just breathe Arnold.
I let out a breath.
And immediately she pulls me in tighter.
I hear Helga sigh like a princess as she drifts off more and more to sleep.
I didn't sleep a wink that night.