Work Text
Friday, June 1st, 2012
3:34pm. Seattle University.
Arnold’s POV
Today was the day. I was officially done with junior year at the college that I attended. I couldn’t believe I was going to be a senior at college in just a few months. It’s so hard to believe, but I was also very excited as well. But what I was excited for was to get home back to Hillwood and see everyone at the Board House.I had already gotten everything in boxes, and had asked a few of my friends I had met in this building to help me move some of my stuff down into the u-haul trailer I had rented a couple days ago. I was excited to see my parents again. Even though I only saw them a couple months ago for spring break, you know how it is with us.What I think I’m the most excited for, of course, was to see Helga again. But only this time I get to see her in a different state. She’s graduating from Community College next week, and I had promised her I’d be there. It was a perfect schedule for me anyway. And even if it wasn’t, I would find the most efficient way I could just to see her graduate.I had my headphones plugged into the MP3 player that Helga had gotten me for my 16th birthday. Of course, it’s different now in 2012 then it was back in 2006. You have an actual cell phone now, with music apps. But I still like going old school, and I’m pretty sure Helga does too. After all, she’s always used her MP3 player for as long as I can remember.As I listen to the album 1984 by Van Halen, I’m packing up the last of my clothes in a couple of my suitcases, waiting for my friends to come back up so I can say goodbye to them. I also think about texting Helga, but she doesn’t have a cell phone. But she does have a home phone in her dorm room, but I don’t know if she’s there right now or not. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was busy with finals. She always hated that stuff.As I’m not paying attention to my surroundings at all, I drop a folded shirt out of my hands as I feel a couple pats on the back by none other than someone familiar. I picked up the shirt off the floor, taking my headphones off, to see Iggy standing right in front of me, and another one of my friends I had met here named Josh.“Welp, that’s the last of your boxes. I had to get Josh to help me with some because a few of them were fucking heavy. What did you pack in them?” He wiped the sweat off his forehead, about to jokingly rub it on me, until I walked backwards, laughing.“A couple of those boxes were filled with books that I’ve bought myself, and that Helga got for me as gifts.”“I swear I thought you had a rock collection or something.” He said as I continued to pack the rest of my clothes from the closet. From the corner of my eye, I saw Josh walk in and pat Iggy on the back this time, harder than he did to me. He’ll probably have a red hand mark on his back later.“I think Iggy here just needs to gain more muscle.” Josh said, lifting one of Iggy’s arms for proof. “I mean look at this. You gotta eat more than just veggies, dude.”“Dude I’m literally vegan. I can’t just change that all of a sudden.” He explained, pulling his arm back.“Yeah but you could at least go to the gym and do some arm workouts, you know? Help grow your biceps out.”“I’m good, but thanks for the suggestion.”“Oh, but have you seen Arnold? Look at his biceps!” I looked at Josh when I heard my name. I wasn’t really paying attention, so I just kind of stood there stupid like, holding one of my Metallica t-shirts.“Show Iggy your biceps.”I rolled my eyes, lifting my sleeve to show both of the guys how big they actually were, and when I rolled my sleeve back down, I apparently left Iggy in shock. Leaving Josh to laugh at how “funny” Iggy’s expression was.“Dude, when did your biceps get that large!?”“I run early in the morning before classes start, and I do the same with the gym, but only on weekends.” I explain quite shortly, gathering the rest of my clothes together.“Well, dude. I better get going, gotta go see my fam as well!” Josh announced, placing his arm around me a bit too tightly, saying his goodbyes. “See y’all in September!” He said as we waved goodbye to him.Once he was gone, Iggy immediately shut the door, and I already knew what type of question he was about to ask me. Luckily my answer was already prepared.“Okay. Why are you friends with him again? He doesn’t seem like the type you’d hang around with all the time.”After folding my last shirt and placing it neatly with everything else, I zipped up my suitcase and placed it by the door with another suitcase. I then sit on the bed, getting my locket out of my pocket and open up the picture of Helga and I from when we were sophomores in high school.“Because I owe him. Last January Helga and I had this huge fight about each other's trust in each other. And I kind of understood why, but I don’t know why she was acting the way she was acting. Anyway, after I hung up on her, I ran out that night just to get some fresh air. But I ended up going by the gym instead, and was gonna try and blow off some steam, until Josh saw me working way too hard. Told me I could pull a muscle with the way I was working. I told him about my situation, and he gave me some really good tips. And after I called Helga back, I told her what he told me, and ever since then, our long distance has been turning out better than we thought.”Iggy sat next to me on the bed and took a glance at the picture I still held. I don’t think he’s ever been in a relationship with anyone, as far as I know. I don’t think he wants a relationship actually. I mean, it’s understandable. Sometimes it can be too much for a certain person. But not for me. I love Helga with all my heart, and would do anything for that woman.“You really love her, don’t you?” He asked softly.I took another good look at the details of my locket photo before placing it back in my pocket. Once I stood up and started walking over to my suitcases, I stopped and finally answered, “Yeah,” then turned around with a faint red coming upon my face as I faced Iggy, “I really do.”Iggy immediately stood up and got the door for me as I grabbed my suitcases and headed over to my car to place the last of my stuff in my trunk. I then hop in just to start the car, getting the ac turned on and quickly hopping out and checking on Iggy.“You got all your stuff together?” I ask him, seeing as he’s double checking everything is his u-haul trailer and his car.“Yep! All good.” He said, walking back towards me.“Welp, hopefully I’ll see you sometime again in the summer.”“You probably will. It’s Hillwood. It’s not like it’s New York City.”We both chuckled at his comment, and I couldn’t help but give him a quick hug, patting him on the back, but not too hard like Josh did. He did the same thing to me, and then gave one final wave goodbye. Even though we’d probably be following each other for a little bit on the road, we both know that we probably won’t see each other much during the summer.
4:21pm. Hillwood, Washington.
I stopped at a Chick-Fil-A on the way back, even though it’s only about a 20 minute drive from the University to Hillwood, I was starving. I was so busy packing and thinking about other things that I hadn’t eaten anything today. Plus a chicken sandwich sounded pretty good in my opinion.When I turned right on my street, I finally saw it. That beautiful red building that everyone knew as The Sunset Arms Boarding House. But of course that was the building I had always called my home. With my room always being up in the attic, I remember when Grandma and Grandpa redesigned the whole attic just for me, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for the things they put in there for me.Grandpa had passed away just last year, and I had to take off a day of school for his funeral. I was so sad that day that for the past few weeks that’s about all I felt, and it got bad to the point where Helga had to visit me. I told her she didn’t have to, but she insisted, and she wasn’t going to turn back, no matter what her school said. She just told them that she was taking off for a couple of days, with no explanation.I miss them both so much. I wish I could see them again.When I got out of my car, I just stood there for a couple minutes, admiring the beauty of the Boarding House. All those memories that have been made here with adults, kids, and animals. It’s completely different now then when it was back in 1999. But I cherish the memories I’ve made with people back then till now. Now here I am, 21 years old, about to say hello to my folks and the boarders. And I seriously couldn’t wait anymore.I shut my car door, grabbing my backpack and starting heading inside. I could smell someone cooking, but I knew it wasn’t either of my parents. I could tell when my parents were cooking something, and it definitely wasn’t…omelets?“Hello?” I said, and I heard running from upstairs, then stomping at that point. Then yelling and pushing. Now that sounded more normal then when I only heard a frying pan sizzling on the stove eye with silence in the background.“ARNOLD? ARNOLD!” The boarders yelled. Came flying down the stairs was the usual: Mom, Dad, Oskar, Ernie, and Mr. Hyunh. As you may have heard, Suzie divorced Oskar, but somehow he’s still living here. I’m kind of surprised mom or dad hasn’t kicked him out yet, or grandpa when he was still alive.Then came Miriam, Olga, and Hailey. Olga still lives here but was going to move out very soon, by the end of summer actually, and get a full time job at a hair cuttery and another part time job somewhere. She hasn’t figured it out yet. Hailey had just finished her first year of college at Pacific University in Oregon. I always knew she was a smart person. Her main focus was on history, and she wanted to do a history major there.At this point I was getting a group hug. Not that I didn’t mind, but this was a bit much for me. “Uh, guys? Would it be okay if you could let go?” I chuckled nervously as everyone started backing up.“Sorry, Arnold. Just super excited to see you again!” Mom told me, Dad putting an arm around her and nodding his head in agreement.I couldn’t help but smile at them and hug them immediately. It felt good to see them again, and it felt even better knowing that I would see them almost every day for the next three months.I backed up as they both put a hand on my shoulders, getting another good look at me. “Wow, Arnold. You’ve grown up so much. I mean, a senior in college? I remember you being a senior in high school!”I chuckled, “I know! I still have my high school pictures framed and in my backpack.”“Oh! Speaking of which! Oskar and I will help you with your stuff. You told me on the phone you had a u-haul trailer, right?”“Oh, yeah. You don’t have to help dad if you-"“Nonsense. I’m always happy to help out my son!” He said as he told Oskar to follow along with him. I smiled big and went to start collecting boxes myself and putting them in my childhood bedroom.
5:58pm.
I couldn’t believe I was back in my old childhood room again. I had already gotten pretty much everything unpacked. My sheets neatly on my bed, my tv set up like it was before, my record player in its usual place, all my books on my bookshelf, my computer all set up on my desk, and all my clothes in the closet and drawers.I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling while my record player played the album Hypnotize by System of a Down. One of Helga’s favorite albums ever. Helga. That’s all that’s been on my mind lately. Her. That smile of hers, her hugs, her kisses, our talks, everything about her is just so amazing. And I miss her. A lot more than usual. I can’t even see her until next week.All of a sudden I hear a knock on my door, and I quickly grab my remote for my record player and hit the button to lift the needle from the record. When the music stopped playing, I yelled, “Come in!”, and it was my parents that came in to check up on me.“Hey son. Everything all good up here? Are you hungry or anything? Matthew made breakfast dinner. Omelets! They were actually quite good; I’ll have to complement him later.” Dad said as he chuckled to himself. I couldn’t help but laugh at that too.My mom then sat down on the edge of my bed as I still laid there, staring at the ceiling. She was always good at reading people's facial expressions and emotions, and I think she could tell there was something up. Especially since I didn’t really answer dad’s question.“Is something the matter, Arnold?” She asked me softly. A gentle mom's voice. Her voice always soothed me when I went through hard times as a tennager. “It seems like there’s something on your mind. Something distracting you from other life things.”She couldn’t be more right. There was something on my mind, and for once it wasn’t just Helga, it was something else. I had been thinking about it before finals had started back in May. Actually, way before that. And I had promised Helga I would tell her everything, but this was one thing I couldn’t tell her.I sighed before sitting upright so that I could face my parents more properly. This was very important, and I really needed to get this off my chest. Plus I can’t really wait much longer to not tell them.“Yeah, there is actually.” My heart started beating really quickly. As soon as I start to say what’s on my mind to them, they’ll figure out quickly what I’m about to say before I even say it. Well, my mom might more so than my dad, but still.“Everything ok, son?” My dad says, placing his hand on my shoulder for comfort.My hands grip tightly on my bed sheets. My heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest. I’ve never been so nervous before, and I’ve given this so much thought too. I even had a plan for this. And I don’t want to just blurt this out either. I need to be strong. I need to tell them. I want to tell them.I sighed once again, untightening the grip on my sheets. Instead, I just started fidgeting with my thumbs, not making eye contact with either of my parents. They waited patiently for my answer, not pushing me or anything. They were always super patient with things, especially in moments like these.“So…I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. And I’ve been doing careful and thorough research about this as well. I love Helga so much. I’ve known her practically my whole life, and we’ve been dating since 2005. So, I’ve come to a very important decision that…I want to ask Helga to marry me.” My heart suddenly comes out of my chest after pounding so hard.My parents look at me flabbergasted. I’m not really surprised, I’m more nervous about what they’re going to tell me though. That’s when I suddenly feel my moms hands placed on my shoulders, which made me finally make eye contact with them, to see huge smiles on their faces as their eyes gleamed with joy.“ARNOLD!” They both yell as they hug me. I suddenly start to smile as well, hugging the both of them back, laughing. I don’t know why I was laughing. It’s not even funny really, this is a serious thing I want to go through with. I think I was laughing because they knew that I wanted to be with this girl for the rest of my life, and they were happy for me.“Oh my goodness, sweetie. I was expecting you to say something like this sooner.” Mom said, wiping a tear from her eye.“Wait, really?”“Well of course! Helga lived in your room throughout your two’s high school years. You dated all through high school, you guys went to all four dances and both proms together, you two went on weekend road trips, dates, and whatever else y’all did together!”That last bit made me blush a bit, practically knowing what she was saying.“My point is, we both know how you two are with each other. You guys are like two peas in a pod. Unable to detach yourselves from each. Even when you two were long distant, which you still kind of are, you two would sacrifice yourselves to make phone calls every night and catch up on what went on about your day. We know you’d do anything for Helga, and it’s no surprise that you want to marry her. We’re just so happy for you, Arnold.”I smiled big, a couple tears rolling down my cheeks, and I couldn’t help but lean in and give them both another hug. This one lasted a bit longer than the last one, but it was really nice.After they both let go, my dad mentioned, “So, do you have a plan for all this already?”“You know it. Never have an idea without having a plan! After Helga’s graduation next week, when we go out for dinner, I’m gonna give her a graduation gift of two plane tickets to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And on the last full day of our vacation, I’m gonna ask her to walk with me on the shoreline, get down on one knee, and ask her to marry me.”“That's amazing, son. Do you have your engagement ring picked out for her yet?” My mom then asked me.“Not yet. I’m going by the ring shop here tomorrow. And if I can’t find anything good there, I’ll go to the one in Seattle.” I explained.“Good idea, Arnold. Again, we’re very proud of you for doing something like this. I knew this day would come eventually. Just think: Our son, getting married.” Dad said, and we all chuckled at his comment.“Well, just let us know if you’re getting hungry. We’ll bring you up a couple of omelets.” Mom told me, kissing me on the forehead before following dad out my bedroom door.”“I will, thanks mom.” I said before they shut my door.I laid back down on my bed, grabbing the remote to play Hypnotize once again. The needle was on the song Holy Mountains. Such a good song. Then again all the songs from that album were amazing.I started staring at the ceiling once again, thinking of Helga. Which immediately made me blush, especially at the thought of everything we’ve done together. That’s when I looked over at my bookshelf, and I was in the mood to start a new book that Helga had gotten for me, since I couldn’t go to the store till tomorrow.I grabbed the book Needful Things by Stephen King. Helga had told me that it came out the year after I was born, and even in October. That’s not really the reason she got it for me, but because she found it intriguing. She loves Stephen King, he was one of her favorite authors. Other than heavy metal, she was very much into horror.I opened the book and started to read the first page, listening to Hypnotize, while thinking of my absolutely beautiful girlfriend.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Saturday, June 2nd, 2012
8:57am. The Sunset Arms Boarding House.
I was up half the night thinking about today.At that point I was up until about 2am, and I just could not fall asleep whatsoever. I was thinking mainly about Helga, but I was also thinking about what she would say and how she would react when I proposed to her. Would she be like all the other girls? Crying to their boyfriend’s proposing them and being super happy? Or would she have a different kind of reaction?That’s when I started becoming anxious about the whole thing.I’ve also come to the conclusion that before I ask Helga, that I need permission from Mrs. Pataki. Sorry, Mrs. Anderson , and most likely Olga too. Hailey and Matthew I’m not too sure about. I’m sure they’ll be there to listen as well, and they’ll give their own opinions and regards.My main problem is that I have no idea if I should get Bob’s permission or not.There’s a couple problems with getting his permission. A) I don’t exactly have time to get a flight to California and ask him. That would also be a waste of money. B) Yes, I have the option of calling him, but I’m not just gonna randomly ask Helga or Olga for their father’s number. After what happened back in 2007, they haven’t spoken to him since then. And C) In Helga’s own words: He hates me.But I’m going to ask Miriam what I should and shouldn’t do. It’s the smartest idea I got right now. I also don’t really want to mess anything up, and I don’t want anyone to hate me for this either. I’m mainly meaning Helga, but our relationship is stronger than Hell. There’s no way things will ever change between us.I’m in the kitchen making myself scrambled eggs, bacon, and some toast with a little butter spread on top. It was something to distract me a bit before going to see Miriam.“Good morning, Arnold!”Speak of the devil.“Arnold! How are you this morning?” Olga then asks as she walks in with Hailey. Olga was wearing a yellow sundress with little dandelions printed on them. With her hair grown out, she put it up in a small ponytail, leaving the rest of it down. Hailey was wearing just a white tank top with black jean shorts and her white high top converse. Both simple outfits for today.“I’m alright. Had a bit of trouble sleeping last night.” I replied, taking a bite of my eggs.“First night back in your old room. That must be difficult!” That’s just the type of thing Olga would say too. God, it’s been too long. When was the last time I was around the Patakis without Helga being with me?“Do you mind if I take some of the scrambled eggs and bacon for myself, Arnold? I can make the toast myself.” Miriam politely asked.“Oh, yeah that’s alright! I made way too much without realizing.” I chuckled to myself.“Oh I’ve done that before. One time I cooked for the whole family—this was way back when you and Helga were in the fourth grade, by the way—and I had made so much pot roast that we ate it for leftovers for a whole week!” Olga explained. For some reason I completely forgot she could cook.I just laughed nervously at her comment. Between Olga now getting up and getting breakfast, and Miriam taking bites like every five seconds, I could tell that neither of them knew that I was feeling nervous about asking permission.“Everything okay, Arnold? You seem a little stressed.”But Hailey was always very observant, just like Helga. She taught her well.I looked up quickly, now seeing how both Miriam and Olga were looking at me with a bit of concern in them. Of course, they’ve treated me like I’m already part of the family before. I got invited to their place for dinner one time in the eighth grade. Miriam was the sweetest towards me, Olga was amazing, considering I’m an only child, Helga and I hung out the entire time, but Bob… he kept giving me weird and dirty looks that practically said “Get the fuck away from my daughter”. Either that or “Get the fuck out of my house”.“Uhm, well I am tired. But I’m also a bit nervous.” I said finally.Olga came and sat down with her plate of food, still giving me a concerned look on her face. “What’s going on, Arnold?”I swallowed hard. I wanted to see how this would play out, but at the same time I didn’t. How would they react? This is Helga’s mother and sisters we’re talking about! They love and care for Helga as much as I do. They know how we are with each other, and they know me well, so maybe this will play out good.“Well, there is something I’ve wanted to tell you guys.” I smiled, a hint of red coming upon my face. Thankfully Miriam and Olga didn’t see that, but I think Hailey did. By the surprised look on her face, I could already tell she knew what I was about to say.“Of course. Is everything alright, Arnold?” Miriam asked, taking a bite of her bacon. I could see Hailey rolling her eyes a bit and smiling when she saw that Miriam still didn’t get it. I couldn’t help but smile to myself, which made my nerves go away a bit.“Yeah, everything’s great actually.”
Come on, you got this.
“So… I’ve been having this certain thought lately. For a while now, actually. And I’ve been doing a ton of research on it since before my finals back in May. I love Helga more than almost anything in this world. I care for her deeply and would do absolutely anything for her. So that’s why I’d like to ask the both, sorry, three of you…”
You got this…
“Will you please give me permission to marry your daughter, Mrs. Anderson?”
Smooth.
Miriam looked at me surprisingly, Hailey smirked at me with her arms folded, and Olga looked like she was about to explode with excitement. When I looked back at Miriam, I saw tears in her eyes, and I immediately was concerned.“Miriam? Are you alright?” I asked her softly.“Arnold…” she quietly said, grabbing a tissue and dabbing her eyes. When she put that down, she immediately pulled me in for a hug, and at first I was confused. But I kind of just went with it because she was being really sweet.“Of course you may have permission to marry Helga.” She whispered, and I could then feel the tears form up in my eyes. I don’t know why tears were coming, but they were, and I just accepted them at this point.When Miriam and I broke apart from the hug, I saw Hailey’s eyes well up while Olga was bawling her eyes out with joy.“What about you two? Are you guys okay with me marrying Helga?”“OH ABSOLUTELY, ARNOLD!” Olga yelled, still sobbing.Hailey smiled warmly at me and nodded. As she grew older she became more quiet. No one really knows why, not even Helga. I mean, they still talk a lot, and I think she’s the only one Hailey talks to most these days. But what she’s going through with is her deal, and no one else's. And we just have to accept it.Now it came to the bigger question for them. Again, you got this… “Thank you so much. All three of you. Now, this question is more for you and Olga.” I said that more towards Miriam, and both of them looked at me with curious eyes, even Hailey.“Do I need Bob’s permission as well?”Both of them stayed silent for a good minute. Olga’s insane bawling was now just a silent non-facial expression moment. And when I was about to speak, trying to make sure Olga was okay, concerning like she looked a lot like Helga back in the fourth grade, she finally spoke up.“No. I don’t want you talking to him. For you and Helga’s safety, do not call him nor visit him in California. He slapped her five years ago, I don’t want that happening a third time. Helga’s happy now, we all know this. I want her to keep remaining happy. So do not get his permission.”She sounded so serious, unlike a few minutes ago. She really hated her father that much. I mean, I completely understand from the way Helga told it, and from the way Olga’s now telling it. It must have been traumatizing for both of them. It always made me wonder would could possess Bob to do such a thing in the first place.“Uhm, okay. Thanks, Olga.”“No problem. NOW!”That made me jump. “Who are you inviting and what are you gonna wear??” I knew that question would come around sooner or later, and I just simply laughed.
10:45am, town of Hillwood.
“I’m so glad you’re with me, Gerald. I wanted to talk to you about something before we got to the place.”Gerald thankfully got out of school the week before I did. He went to Columbia University in New York City. He said it took a lot of work getting into that college, but when he sent in his report on why he wanted to go to that college, the professors were highly impressed with his report, what he wanted to major in, and his photography skills (this being related to what he wanted to major in). He got a plane ticket right before his University was out for summer and got home to Hillwood a few days before me. So I called him and asked if he could hang out today.We were on our way to the jewelry store where I was about to go ring shopping for a perfect engagement ring for Helga. But of course, Gerald doesn’t know yet. And before I tell him anything, I kind of want him to figure it out on his own, but at the same time I just wanted to blurt my announcement to him.“Yeah, of course man! You’re even treating me to lunch later. How could I say no to that?” We both were silent for a couple seconds before laughing at his joke. “Nah, I’m messing with you! I was so happy you called me that you were back in town for the summer. Not that I don’t like spending time with the fam, but you know how it is with them. And no one that I knew was back home yet. Not even Phoebe. She’s still got at least another week until she’s out.”Phoebe, of course, is at Harvard University in Massachusetts. That was actually somewhere I considered going to. I had above a perfect GPA, but I also knew I needed to have other options as well. So I just chose to stick somewhere I could be close to home. Plus Helga and I needed to be somewhere within driving distance so we wouldn’t be paying for 10 plane tickets each month just to see each other.“Well, ya got me till then.” I smiled, nudging his arm with my elbow.“Wouldn’t wanna spend this day with any other guy than you, Arnold.” We did our little hand shake we’ve done since we were in preschool and proceeded to walk to the store.After a little while of catching up, I see that we’re about to get to the store. All we needed to do was cross the street, but I kept us on the other side of the store the entire time on purpose. That I could either let him guess, or I can just tell him.“Okay, we’re not here yet, but we’re close. But before we go in, I’m gonna talk with you about something.” I saw a bench and already felt like I needed to sit down with my legs wobbly as my nerves already kicked in for some reason. I guess the older I got, the more nervous I got? That didn’t seem normal, especially since I was never really a nervous person as a kid.“Yeah, man. I’ve been dying to hear the news. Did something happen at your college? Did you get, like, a special degree or scholarship or something and now work for NASA?” He jokingly asked me.“No, that’s Phoebe’s job.” We both laughed at that one.“Alright, so if that’s not it, then what’s this big news ya got?” He sounded more serious, but also curious. Might as well just come out with it then.“Okay. So…I’ve been thinking about this decision for a while. I’ve done some intense research on it, and I’ve had this thought in me for a long time. Actually, since our junior year of high school. But anyway, the reason we’re out today is because…I’m going to find an engagement ring for Helga because I want to ask her to marry me.”Gerald looked flabbergasted, and his facial expression made me want to laugh so hard. But I also couldn’t tell exactly what he was feeling until he said, “Arnold, my man…THAT IS THE BEST NEWS EVER!”My smile grew huge. I figured that now that Gerald knew about me proposing, that he knew what I would ask him next.“Of course, I would never imagine marrying Pataki, BUT YOU! You two are stuck together no matter what. I remember the moment you fell in love with that girl. I mean, I literally saw the hearts in your eyes for her. It’s like you got shot with one of those Valentine’s Day arrows by those tiny angels.”I laughed at his last comment. But the funny thing is, it really did feel like. But instead of it lasting only a day like it does in movies and TV shows, it's lasted for almost seven years now.We finally got up and crossed the street to get to the jewelry store. That’s when Gerald started talking, and before he was even able to say his full sentence, I interrupted him by saying, “Yes, Gerald, I picked you to be my best man.”“I KNEW IT! YOU’RE TRULY THE MAN, ARNOLD!” We did our little handshake again before walking inside and seeing all the gleaming jewelry from the sun’s reflection. Once the cashier heard the little bell from the door opening, she turned to us quickly.“Hello, gentleman. Anything I can help you two with today?” She asked.“Hi there! I was wondering if you have a section for engagement rings that I could possibly take a look in?” I asked her.“Of course! Just keep going straight down that hall, then take a right and you’ll see a whole area full of all types of rings.” She pointed in the direction to where there were a bunch of necklaces.“Thank you! Have a nice day!” I told her, Gerald holding up his hand a a gesture of saying goodbye. The lady just smiled at us and helped the next customer who just walked in.When we took a right, we saw all these huge glass cases of what seemed like every type of ring in the world. The sun’s beams coming through the window, also hitting the glass of the cases and the jewels shining so brightly, but so beautifully.When Gerald and I took a glance around, we kept trying to find the section of where the engagement rings were located. Until Gerald found the small area with a small sign reading “Engagement Rings”, and called me over to look.“Hello, boys!” A woman behind the counter said, but her voice sounded a little familiar in a way. A bit country, but soft like.That was until Gerald said, “No. Fucking. Way.”It was then I had to look up, and there she was. Her hair, making her a pure red head. Only instead of braids, it’s now in a ponytail, wearing a sundress that was a lot like Olga’s this morning. Freckles all upon her face. It was none other than Lila Sawyer.“Lila?” I asked, more towards myself.“Well isn’t this a surprise. Arnold and Gerald in the engagement ring section.” She smiled, like how she did back in the fourth grade. It was like she was suddenly back to her old self, ever since our high school graduation day when we went to McDonald’s.“Wow. It’s amazing to see you again, Lila. How have you been? And how did you end up working at a place like this?” I was kind of curious why she was still here in Hillwood. Did she go to another college close to this job? Or did she not go to college at all? That seemed kind of abnormal for her.“I decided to take a year off from school and make some money before I go off to learn more things. I’m also doing this because I haven’t exactly decided what I want to major in yet. There’s so many choices out there, but I can’t seem to choose one. You know?” She explained.“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon. For me, I majored in history since that was my best, and favorite, subject in high school. It’s so interesting to learn about the 1800’s and how things went back then. No technology to guide you through, wars and other things related. Maybe you can consider history as well.”“Mm. Maybe.” I saw her smile coming in slowly, but I also saw her cheeks going red too. It made me a bit concerned if she still liked me like that or not. I didn’t want her to anymore. I had told her a million times I didn’t like her like that anymore. Plus, I’m here to pick out a ring for Helga. To marry her.“So, what are you guys doing here anyway? Just browsing?”“Jeez, Sawyer. I thought you were smarter than that.” Gerald spoke this time, chuckling to himself. He then placed his arm around me, starting to give me a noogie. “This guy here is gonna propose to Ms. Helga Pataki.”She looked up to the both of us, but mostly me, surprised. I was now able to see the full red across her cheeks. She then looked a bit upset, but started to smile again. Wider this time. But her smile was a soft smile. A smile of love. A look of love. I could tell she still liked me, and that was never a good sign.Finally, she started walking to a door next to a couple shelves, and told us, “Wait here, I’ve got the perfect engagement ring.”Gerald let go of me, now looking confused. “Okay, that was not the reaction I was expecting. But did her facial expression look different when she talked to you than when she talked to me? Or is it just me?”“Yeah, you’re right Gerald. I think she still likes me…”“Oh god, not this again. I thought you and Helga delt with that before graduation.”“We did, and she the more distant she became with me, the more she lost feelings. But she never said she fully lost feelings.”“Well you know how it is with some people. Whenever they see their old crush, all the memories and nostalgia comes running back to them like a marathon. It’s just in their blood. And what’s happening with Lila, it’s probably just distant memories, and that she needs to remind herself that you will never be available.”Gerald was always a wise man when it came to putting the right words together. And I had to believe him, because I knew he was always right about those things. Lila might still like me, but maybe only the slightest bit, and that might just be because we haven’t seen each other in a while. It’s understandable, and I’m sure other people feel the same way.When I was about to thank Gerald for what he said, Lila comes back in the room with the most beautiful engagement ring. “Helga’s birthday is in March, right?”I nodded.“Well I looked it up just a few minutes ago, and her birthstone is Aquamarine. So, I picked out a beautiful aquamarine engagement ring just for her. This is a real gemstone, so it’s going to be a bit more expensive.”I swallowed nervously. “Like, how expensive?”She showed me the price of the ring, which read $2,580. My eyes went wide, and I thought to myself, I could just get her another pretty ring, but this has to be perfect. She has to have this one. I need to buy this one. “Is there any way I could get like a discount for it or anything?”She looked down at the ring, knowing how important this was for me. About to propose to the love of my life, and I could tell she was remembering all the bad decisions she had made when it came to Helga and I. But I could defiantly tell in her eyes that she wanted to do something to help.“Okay, so I don’t normally tell anyone this, but we are having a 25% off sale right now. And the reason it’s not listed anywhere is because my boss is a very sneaky person, and wants people to find out their selves. So I’m not supposed to really say anything, but I really wanna help you out. Also because I still feel bad for all the shit that went down between the three of us. So hopefully this can make up for it…” she explained, her voice in a whisper the entire time.Gerald rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what happened in high school since he saw one half of it, and getting told the other half from Helga and me. But he proceeded to wait patiently, hoping I would take the deal.“If you’re wondering what the price comes out to, it’s $1,935. It’s still close to $2,000, but this was the least I could do. I can’t bump the price any lower-”“No, no! This is perfect! Thank you so much, Lila! You’re truly a huge help!” Of course I didn’t see what happened because I was busy taking out my credit card, but Gerald saw that Lila had blushed at what I said. But we both know it was only because of what Gerald had explained.Once I paid, Lila placed the ring carefully in it’s designed box, and finally handed it to me. “I really hope Helga likes it. I do, in my opinion.”“Yeah, we all know Helga isn’t a jewelry person, but I bet she’ll like the ring. It’s not often I get to see her feminine side, but she should show it more often. She’s pretty like that.” I explained, holding the box as I blushed at the thought of Helga.“Okay, lover’s boy! Let’s get going. We gotta talk about the amazing, fancy tux I’m going to be wearing as your best man!” We both laughed as we started to walk out, until I stopped and turned to Lila. Who was rearranging some of the rings in the glass cases.“Hey, Lila?”She looked up, but didn’t say anything.“Thanks again. For what you did. I owe you.” I smiled at her, which made her blush again and look away. But she eventually replied to me in a very faint voice, and Gerald and I just kept laughing and talking on the way out, talking about what we were gonna have for lunch.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
10:57pm. Treasure Valley Community College.
Helga’s POV
“Idaho will be nice, they said. It won’t get that hot in the summer, THEY SAID.”Yep, welcome to Idaho. As most of you probably know, I like summer, but not when it’s so freaking hot that it feels like you’re going to melt your ass off. It’s almost 11 o’ clock at night, and it’s still, like, 85 degrees out. It got to over 100, and when it’s really hot out, it makes me pissed off for no reason. Well, I’m pretty sure others are like that too, but I definitely am. I unfortunately got my anger issues from my dad. And the older I got, the more I started to realize that.But the good thing is that I’m finally graduating from this stupid place tomorrow. And mom, Olga, Hailey, Arnold, and the other boarders are all coming to see. Phoebe and Geraldo too. I love my family and everyone else, but of course, I’m mainly excited to see my beloved.Oh, Arnold. How much I want to kiss your adoring face and hug you like I never have before. To see you at this very moment before tomorrow is a dream come true. But unfortunately, I literally can’t see you till tomorrow.My graduation doesn’t start till 5 tomorrow. Just like high school graduation, except I won’t be getting a heartwarming speech from my beloved. But what I didn’t realize was that everyone that’s coming from Hillwood has to drive about 8 hours from there to Caldwell—the place where TVCC is located. Mom told me they were all leaving around 6:30ish so that they could get here a couple hours early before it started.Phoebe told me that she’ll try to be able to make it, and said that she’ll most likely be able to leave Harvard a week early because she passed all her finals, but she wasn’t 100% sure. She was probably still there only because she had to pack up her things for whoever else was gonna move in her dorm room next year.But in other words: I can’t tell you how excited I am to see Arnold.Okay, yeah last time I saw him in person was only a couple months ago, since our spring breaks were the same weeks surprisingly. But that was two months ago. You know how excited I am to see him? I mean, I’ve been in love with the boy for 18 years. And oh my god I cannot believe it’s almost been that long. Wow… 18 years. I never really thought that much on how long I’ve been in love with him. That and in three days we’ll be together for officially 7 years. Knowing him practically my whole life has to be some kind of miracle. Like God just spawned him out of nowhere and told me, “Here’s the love of your life”.As I got the last few posters off my wall and the last of my books on my shelf, I sat down on my bed and took a sip of my Mountain Dew, readjusting my backwards cap. Today I wore a white AC/DC shirt with jean shorts going to my knees, my nike airs, and my cap. I would probably go by the 7 eleven that’s across the street and get me a snack.I still had my MP3 player that I’ve had with me since I was 14. Still works like a charm, honestly. I had a bunch of things I listened to there: Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, the good bands. I even got into this one artist named Yngwie Malmsteen. I listened to his album Odyssey, and it was so freaking cool. I’ll have to introduce Arnold to that one.I’ve also gotten into some music that wasn’t metal. There’s this one band called Arctic Monkeys. Their music is really cool too. It’s the kind of music you can listen to at night or in the morning without getting a headache from it. There’s another band called Gorillaz. Some of their albums came out when I was in high school, but that doesn’t have to do with the fact that their music is also really good. I started listening to Radiohead too. Their songs are just as good as Gorillaz and Arctic Monkeys. And another band called The Smiths. Their songs are super relaxing, and this one called There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is one of my favorites.But other than that, you’ll mostly catch me listening to Korn, Van Halen, Lamb of God, and so forth.I was starting to get a bit hungry, so I got up and grabbed my keys to head out. But before I walked out the door, I looked over at my phone and thought to myself, What if he wants something, too? So I walked over and sat back down on my bed and took a huge sip of my Mountain Dew while the phone was ringing.“Hello?”Oh my god I keep forgetting how deep his voice is. Sexy.“Good evening, kind sir. I’m your local servant from Idaho, and I’ve come to inform you that this is your last chance to get together with me and break up with that blonde girl back in Washington. So, what will it be?”“Hm, well, gee I don’t know. I know we’ve been talking for a while now, and you seem like a kind girl, but I love that woman that’s practically been there my whole life. So I’m gonna have to choose the woman in Washington.”“Even after all we’ve done together in Idaho?”“I’m afraid so…”We sat in silence for a few seconds before we both started bursting out with laughter. I started this joke with him since Christmas of 2010. Of course I wouldn’t do it every night, because I knew if I did then we’d get bored of it after a while. So I just do it every once in a while, and it’s still funny.“Hi, beautiful.” His voice became soft all of a sudden, like he was practically sitting right next to me. I wasn’t even on the phone with him for 2 minutes and I was already blushing.“Woah, getting straight with the nicknames already? Careful, Arnoldo, I may not make it until tomorrow to see you.”His chuckle was also soft, and I then blushed just a bit more. “I can’t help it. I miss you.”I could practically see his soft smile in my mind. He was probably laying in bed, reading a book, and just smiling the entire time as he listened to my voice.“I-I miss you too.” I said, smiling as my eyes went lovestruck for him. “A-anyway! I have a question. I’m going to 7 Eleven, you want a snack or anything?”“Yeah, sure. Can you get me some cheetos?”“Great minds think alike, Football Head. I want cheetos too.”“That’s funny. Last time I heard you said barbecue chips were in, and cheetos were out. I remember because you said that last time we went to a 7 Eleven.”“Well things change, Arnoldo. I can have cheetos if I feel like having cheetos.”He chuckled once more, making my smile slightly bigger. “Okay, Helga. I’ll remember that the next time you want barbecue chips.”“And if you don’t remember, I’ll be sure not to remind you.” I was going to explode if I heard his amazing laugh again. And after doing that and laughing on the phone, I then told him, “Okay, I’m gonna go and get our snacks.”“Wait, you were being serious?”“Why wouldn’t I be? I got done packing a few minutes ago and I’m getting a bit hungry for a snack. So I figured I’d ask if you wanted something.” I smiled warmly, not like he could see it, but whatever.He chuckled once more before my heart officially came pounding out of my chest. “W-wow, thank you, Helga. That’s so sweet of you. I’ll be sure to eat them once I get them tomorrow.”I blushed, not knowing exactly what to say. So I had to tell him that I was gonna go before midnight so that it wasn’t too late, and that people wouldn’t think why I was going out somewhere after midnight.“No problem, Helga. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said softly.“See you tomorrow…I love you, Arnold.” I smiled big, but softly.“I love you too, Beautiful. Goodnight.”We then hung up.And I then screamed into my pillow. My heart literally could not take it. If I was this way on the phone, think of how I’ll be when I see him in person tomorrow. Get it together, Helga ol’ girl, you can survive till tomorrow to see him. I had to remember that Arnold wasn’t the only one coming over. I had family and friends as well, so I couldn’t just get all over Arnold. So I just grabbed my keys, my wallet, and my MPP3 player and headed over to 7 Eleven. Getting mine and Arnold’s cheetos, and a monster for tomorrow, because boy was I gonna need it.High School graduation was one thing, this is completely different.
Friday, June 8th, 2012
8:14am, outside TVCC.
I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night.I was feeling a little stressed for some reason after leaving 7 Eleven last night, so I ended up buying another Mountain Dew to go with my cheetos because I knew it was too late to drink the monster I had bought. So I ate and drank those while reading my book Needful Things by Stephen King. I had finally started getting sleepy around 3 in the morning, and then I was woken up at 8 this morning by my mother telling me that they were on their way. She also apologized for calling (in a way) early and late. Early as in 8am, and late as in they literally left around 6:30am; she told me she didn’t wanna wake me that early for my big day. But then Phoebe calls me, like, five minutes later telling me that she was able to make it.It takes her 25 minutes to get from Harvard to the airport nearest to her. But the good thing was that it took around the same time from Boston to TVCC on a plane as it did when Arnold and the rest of them were driving from Hillwood to here. So that made things a little easier.The good thing was that the Caldwell Executive Airport was only about 10 minutes from here, and Phoebe’s flight was at 7am. So she’ll get here before anyone else, which gives me time to get ready for the day and pick her up before everyone else makes it to TVCC. They’re also staying at the Best Western Plus Caldwell Inn & Suites Hotel that I paid for them to stay a couple nights in, also appreciating their offers by helping me with packing my boxes to Arnold’s rented u-haul.The only problem is that I have no idea where I’m going to live afterward.I was thinking I could live with Arnold in his dorm room, but now he’s going back to the Boarding House and living there until his senior year of college. I could live with him in his dorm room, but he’ll most likely have roommates, plus the teachers or staff there will eventually find I’m not a student there. So that option is off the list. Maybe I could keep living in Idaho–I had to stop myself from that idea. Remember how I said how hot it gets here?Maybe I’ll just live in the Boarding House and look for a job in Hillwood until then. Unless Arnold thinks of another idea, I’m gonna have to go with my idea for now.I finally sat up, stretching and trying to feel more comfortable since I just found out I slept on my neck wrong. I wasn’t too surprised. I always sleep in a weird position when I’m not sleeping with Arnold.
Arnold.
I finally got to see him today. I had to make sure I looked my best in front of him…and everyone else I guess. Which meant I had a lot to focus on today.I almost immediately jumped out of bed and did a few more stretches and changed into my training bra and some comfy shorts while slipping on my Nike airs. I put my hair up in a ponytail before grabbing my MP3 player and my headphones, putting on Lamb of God’s album As The Palaces Burn. I needed some motivational heavy metal music for today. I figured I’d listen to two albums while I went on a run today: The one I’m listening to now and Yngwie Malmsteen’s album Odyssey. I figured that’ll give me a good hour and a half.Once I started playing my music I immediately began running on the sidewalks I know best around TVCC and the other buildings around it. About half through it, I stopped at a park and got myself a drink at the water fountain since I left my wallet at home and didn’t have money on me. Don’t worry, I have my dorm key on me. I’m not careless like that.But after that hour and a half I went to go get a bottle of cold water in the cafeteria of TVCC, then went back to my dorm room and picked out my outfit for today before graduation: grey Rolling Stones shirt with black guy shorts and red converse. And for my outfit for graduation…it hasn’t come yet.I need to go pick it up at the JC Penny’s that’s about 15 minutes from here. If Phoebe isn’t here by now, I’ll go before I have to pick her up. If she does get here by then, we’ll have to go quickly. I needed to get to the auditorium by 3:30. Everyone needed to have their gowns and caps on and ready and in their seats by 4:30. That way guests will arrive before 5pm, and then it’ll start.So for the next part of my already stressful day, I started drinking that monster I bought last night.
2:45pm. Caldwell Executive Airport.
“PHOEBE!”She was finally here. My best friend ever to exist in my life. Phoebe Heyerdahl. She’s been there for me pretty much since preschool back in 1993. I mean, so had Arnold, but we all know what it was like for us back in elementary school. But that’s when I needed her in my time of need the most anyway. She knew my deepest, darkest secret that I wouldn’t tell a single soul. The entire fourth grade! Now our whole friend group knew Arnold and I were dating, and it honestly felt kind of good that they knew. That I was able to share that with my friends.“Hi Helga!” Phoebe yelled, waving her arm side to side as she pulled her suitcase along with her. I was so happy when Phoebe said she was able to get here. She was one of the only people I wanted to invite to my graduation. Plus Gerald was coming, and I knew how much Phoebe wanted to see Gerald, so it was perfect.She let go of her luggage and immediately hugged me once she got as close to me as possible. I couldn’t help but hug her back, missing her a whole lot more than I thought I did. Since we had different spring break dates set, we haven’t seen each other since Christmas break. But that was also the last time the five of us were together.Us four and Hailey I mean. I always include her in because she’s been hanging out with us since mom and Matthew first got together. So it would be wrong to exclude her, even though I wanted her to hang with us. Now she’s a freshman in college. I can’t believe that.When Phoebe let go from the hug, she got a good look at me. She placed her hands on my shoulders, saying, “Yep, still the Helga Pataki I know and love.”I couldn’t help but chuckle. Everyone knows I’ve been wearing stuff like this since middle school. “Absolutely. No way could I ever wear something like you or one of my sisters wear.” And I try to say that in the nicest and understandable way possible.Luckily, Phoebe chuckled instead of looking offended. “Well this blue dress I got at Goodwill for a good price, and I thought it’d be nice to wear to your graduation!” She said with excitement, and I couldn’t help but smile.“It looks great on you, Pheebs.” I say with a soft tone of voice. Speaking of graduation, Helga probably needed to get her dress soon. She looked at the nearest clock on the wall, the time reading 2:48pm. They needed to get going so she could get to JC Penny’s, get to Phoebe’s hotel room, and head back to TVCC. This was gonna be a lot.“Is it time to get going, Helga?” Phoebe asked curiously. She was always very observant, most likely seeing me look at the clock.“Yeah. I gotta get back by 3:30, and I still need to get my outfit at JC Penny’s. So you’ll come with me, then I’ll drop you off at your hotel room, which means you’ll be there to greet everyone when they come and get settled.”As we walked out of the airport, placing Phoebe’s suitcase in the trunk, I started heading out to JC Penny’s, giving Phoebe more information about the hotel.“There should be five rooms: Room one for Mr. Kokoshka, Mr. Hyunh, and Mr. Potts. Room two for Matthew and Miriam. Room three for Hailey and Olga. Room four for you and Gerald. And room five for Arnold and I.” I explained.I turned over for a split second, seeing how Phoebe looked a bit concerned. When I turned on my blinker to turn right, Phoebe started asking me, “This is awfully nice, Helga, but how much did all this cost you?”“Don’t worry about it, Phoebes. You deserve a nicer place to stay than my dorm room. I wasn’t gonna do that to you.” I took another right turn as I was now on the interstate.“Well, I can’t think of a way to thank you enough, Helga. You paid for five hotel rooms for two nights. I know that’s got to be a lot of money.”“It’s fine, Phoebe. I’ve been saving up since last summer. Arnold and I had the go ahead with this plan, and now it’s being used one year later. I have plenty more money in my card, so I promise you, there’s nothing to worry about.” I smiled at her, and she replied with a slightly worrying smile, but also knowing how hard I worked to get this far.After another 15 minutes, we finally made it to JC Penny’s, which meant letting Phoebe have the first glance of my graduation outfit. I was actually pretty excited to show her. No, it is not a dress. We all know I haven’t worn a dress since sixth grade, and it wasn’t going to start happening again.I parked and Phoebe and I immediately went in. We had to hurry, the time was already 3:08 and I still had to drop Phoebe off at the hotel. We sped walk up to the pick up counter, and it was like Phoebe knew I was in a hurry. She immediately started walking at my speed. She was still the same as before and I loved it.“Hello. How can I help you?” The guy at the counter said, eyeing me up and down. Ew, it’s like he didn’t know that I could see what he was doing.“Hi, I need to pick up an outfit for Helga Pataki.”“No problem, babe. Be back in a sec.”When he walked off, I leaned down to whisper to Phoebe, who was still more than a few inches shorter than me. “Babe? I don’t think so.”“And that outfit and hair is just not it.” She whispered back, and we started laughing, both knowing that he’ll probably never get with someone in his life looking like a complete buffoon.He came back after a minute and had my beautiful graduation outfit. “Here you go. You have a nice day, babe.” He said in a not so sexy voice, winking at me.“Look buddy, I have a boyfriend, and I’ve been with him for almost seven years. So unless you want a punch from ol’ Betsy here, you better back off before I also call your manager telling them that you’re flirting with a well paid customer. Got it, Bucko?”He backed up, lifting his hands in front of him. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. Have a nice day.”“Thanks. You too.” I said with a smirk, still holding up my fist.We sped walk back to the car and the current time was 3:12pm. I was starting to get stressed out a bit, I didn’t want to be late for this. “Criminy, I don’t have time to drop you off. We have about 15 minutes until I need to be there! It will literally take 15 minutes to get from here to TVCC.”“How about I drive you back to TVCC, and I can take your car to the hotel, if you’re okay with it of course.” Phoebe suggested.“Are you sure, Phoebes?”“Helga, you already paid for five rooms and two nights, the least I can do is help you out in your time of need, and right now that’s giving you a ride to your college for your graduation day!”My eyes gleamed with joy for the second time today, and I couldn’t thank Phoebe enough for doing this for me. So we switched seats quickly and Phoebe drove me back to TVCC. For being cautious on the road, she was also going as fast as she could—as she kept near the speed limit—just so I could get there in time.I told her the last few pieces of information she needed to get for the hotel. Once she gets to the desk, she’ll just tell them that she’s in room 204 that Helga Pataki has paid two nights for, she’ll get the room key, and then she’ll just wait until Gerald calls her and meets them in the lobby. Once we made it I checked the clock and it was 3:27pm. We only hit one red light the entire way, which made this a whole lot easier, and less stressful.Before opening my door, I turn to Phoebe and tell her, “You’re the best, Phoebe. Thank you again.”I shut the door and she rolled down the window, replying, “No, thank you, Helga,” and drove off to the hotel.I turned around and took a good look at TVCC. The memories I made here with other people, the memories Arnold and I have made here when he came to visit. I had mixed feelings on this place at first, but Arnold and Phoebe were the ones that actually talked me into going here. They just never mentioned how stupidly hot it'd get here.
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
12:34pm, The Sunset Arms Boarding House.
I sat at Arnold’s computer chair for almost an hour, waiting nervously for the one community college that I applied to that Arnold and Phoebe talked me into. My knee kept bouncing up and down, my heart was racing, and I kept refreshing my email tab, seeing if the email from Treasure Valley Community College had come in, but not since the 10 thousand times I’ve refreshed the tab.
“Hey…” I felt his hand placed on my shoulder for comfort, but it didn’t really work. It was nice that he noticed though. How could anyone not notice my anxiety inside me right now? “Everything’s going to be okay. If you don’t get into this college, you’ve applied to another one in Idaho and a couple ones in Oregon. I know this one seemed like your favorite choice, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” He explained.
I looked back at the computer screen, refreshing the tab one more time before replying to his comment. “I know. I’m just nervous is all. All the anxiety building up, not knowing if I’ll get in or not.”
“Oh yeah, I totally get it. I was nervous I wasn’t going to get into Seattle University, but look at me now. I’m becoming a sophomore in college. College emails are scary to read sometimes, but you have to make sure you’re prepared for what you’re about to read.”
I refreshed the tab again, and I finally saw it. Three emails from three different Community Colleges: Treasure Valley, College of Eastern Idaho, and Blue Mountain Community College in Oregon. My heart was suddenly beating faster, more anxiety growing inside me.
“Arnold, what if I get rejected from all three of them?”
“You’re not going to get rejected from all three of them, Helga. You’re really smart, smarter than most people think. You have a 4.0 GPA, and even the principal at the high school was surprised you were only going to a community college instead of a 4-year or a university.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. That’s not the worst though I’ve had about getting rejected from college. Sometimes I thought to myself that I wasn’t smart enough to even get into a community college. But then I think of half our friend group back in the classes I shared with them throughout the years, and realizing how much smarter I actually was.
“Oh my! Helga, did your emails come through finally?” Phoebe said, coming in through Arnold’s door.
“Yep, this is the moment of truth, Phoebes.” I said, my breath a bit shaky.
I clicked on the first email from College of Eastern Idaho.
“Dear Miss Helga Pataki,
We are happy to congratulate you on getting into the Community College of Eastern Idaho! We hope to see you in one of our famous and neatly decorated dorm rooms September 5th. Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Community College of Eastern Idaho
“Oh my god! I made it to that one!” I yelled, though that was my last choice if I didn’t get into the one I really wanted to get into.
“That’s amazing, Helga!” Arnold said, kissing me on the forehead, and I couldn’t help but feel lovestruck for him.
When I finally opened the second email, it had also told me congratulations and stuff like that, and told me that I had gotten into Blue Mountain, though I didn’t really want that one either. It seemed like a good college, I didn’t want to go to one that was close to my dad.
“Okay, you guys. Moment of truth.” I said to the both of them, looking at the unread email from Treasure Valley. I’ve been waiting for this email for almost six weeks. It’s felt nerve racking.
Miss Helga Pataki,
We are happy to congratulate you on getting into our wonderful college known as Treasure Valley Community College! This place is filled with many majors and dorms of your choosing and we hope to see you move into one of our beautiful dorm rooms starting September 3rd, getting yourself situated before our first day of school starting September 6th. Have an amazing day!
Sincerely,
TVCC
“ARNOLD! PHOEBE! I MADE IT! I ACTUALLY MADE IT!” I jumped out of the chair and hugged both of them with joy. This college was my top choice, and I was just happy and relieved that I had actually gotten in.
Phoebe hugged me back as Arnold kissed me congratulations. This had to be one of the most exhilarating days I’ve ever had.
And that’s how I’m at TVCC in Caldwell, Idaho today.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Friday, June 8th, 2012
3:57pm, Best Western Plus Caldwell Inn & Suites.
Arnold’s POV
We made it to the hotel a little earlier than we thought, but that was fine because we had to get to TVCC by 4:30 anyway. Which means I had to get dressed in my suit and brush my teeth quickly. But luckily Phoebe was already at the hotel waiting for us there since her flight came in early. Helga had called me and let me know.
Helga.
I was very excited to see her, more excited that she was going to graduate community college today. I bet she was way more excited, only because I knew how much she hated school all together.I was also very excited to see what she was gonna wear under her gown. She didn’t tell me what she would wear today, she wouldn’t tell me. She said it was a surprise, and that I would most likely like it. I told her that I liked any outfit she wore, and that she looked good in all of them anyway. That made her blush, and made me laugh.That was until I felt a flick on my arm that woke me up from my daydreaming. I looked over and saw Gerald point out the window, explaining, “Hey, loversboy, look alive! We’re finally here!”I then turn my head to see, maybe not the biggest hotel I’ve ever seen, but a nice one at that. I read that they had two beds in each room, a mini fridge, a nice bathroom, and tv and guide manuals like any other hotel. But for Idaho, it’s really nice. It even has an indoor pool, so we might have to check it out Saturday. Personally, I was excited to stay there, and I’d have to thank Helga later for paying for all this. I had no idea she paid for everybody’s room until Phoebe said something. I guess she wanted to keep it as a surprise, and didn’t tell me so I wouldn’t worry about it. That sounds like something she’d do.I had decided to pay her back by not only paying for her food at Texas Roadhouse, but to give her her other present, which would be the plane tickets I got for us to go to Myrtle Beach for a whole week, and the Monday before we leave, as I mentioned before, I’m going to propose to her.We’re leaving on Tuesday, which lets ourselves have an extra day to get everything we need to get together. Our flight doesn’t leave till around 6am, so when we get back to the Boarding House this coming Sunday, we’ll get to at least relax a bit before getting everything ready on Monday.When dad finally found a parking space for the hotel, we had gathered all our things, waiting for the girls to get here. We had to take two cars of course. The guys went to Grandpa's packard, which is now dad’s. And the women took mom’s car. The good thing about the packard was that it was able to fit seven people, and we thankfully, and somehow, all fit in there.When we got everything out of the car, the girls showed up and we helped them out. Then we finally met Phoebe in the lobby at the hotel, she was waiting there just like she said she would.Gerald ran up to her and hugged her, holding her tightly as they spun around joyfully. He then gave her a lovesick look, leaned in slowly and kissed her, indicating how much he missed her. I couldn’t help but smile at the two. They did make an amazing couple. And it made me realize how much I miss Helga. Also making me more excited to see her later.“Phoebe!” Hailey yelled, running up to hug her. Then I walked up to her, giving her a friendly kind of hug, telling her how much I missed her, and that it was really good seeing her again. All that was missing from our friend group was Helga. She pretty much was always the one filling in the whole of our friend group.I truly think we were all excited to see her, even Gerald. Him and Helga may haven’t gotten along at times, but I know deep down they really care for each other. Well, I know they both care for me and Phoebe a lot, I don’t know how much they actually care for each other if I’m being completely honest.“It really is good seeing you, Phoebe. I bet it was nice seeing Helga too.” I mention.“Oh absolutely. Though I had never seen her so stressed out before. Then again, my flight came around the time she was supposed to get her graduation outfit and head back to TVCC. But overall, I think she was both happy and excited about today.”“Of course she is. That Helga G. Pataki has been excited to graduate school since the fourth grade.” Gerald mentioned, and we all started laughing at his comment. Helga always complained about school to us, sometimes more than she would complain about her family.When we finished talking for a few more minutes, Phoebe went over to the front desk and asked for the other five room keys, and handed each of them to us. Her and Gerald must’ve been excited that they were getting a room together, but Helga was probably more excited that we were sharing a room together. I say that like we haven’t shared my room for the past four years of high school…When we all got our room keys, we went over to the elevator and went on the second floor where we were staying. Rooms 201-206 is what Helga had paid for. So when I tell you that I had to hear Oskar complain the entire time about sharing a room with Mr. Potts and Mr. Hyunh, it was not the most fun thing in the world. They were all so loud that I couldn’t hear Gerald when we were having our own conversations, so I was listening to music on my MP3 player most of the time.Phoebe told all of us to get ready quickly and to meet her down at the lobby at 4:15 so we could leave at 4:10. It only took about 5 minutes to get to TVCC from the hotel, but who knows how much traffic there would be.Which meant I only had about 15 minutes to get ready.Once I got inside, I saw that Helga’s stuff was already in here. Phoebe must've put it in here for her, because she had mentioned over the phone that she already had a couple things with her, but that they’d go by her dorm and collect her stuff tomorrow.At that point, I had to stop thinking about Helga for at least five minutes while I got myself ready. So I played my favorite album from Metallica, Ride the Lightning, and quickly brushed my teeth while air guitaring.Once I finished, I grabbed my tux out of the closet and started getting changed immediately. Getting everything on right then and there, I grabbed my tie, went in front of the mirror, and started tying. I only remembered how to tie and tie because Gerald showed me when he got everyone a tie one Christmas year, even after what I told him about not getting everyone the same thing of what he likes.I checked the time, and it was 4:07. So I grabbed my wallet, locket, and my essential camera (I’ve been taking photography ever since high school, by the way) and quickly headed out the door to meet the others.
4:26pm, Treasure Valley Community College
We made it after some traffic like Phoebe mentioned, but still managed to make it a little early. I can’t say I haven’t been here before. I came here in my Sophomore year of college and stayed with Helga for my spring break, only because we had different spring break schedules that year, and she then came to my dorm for her spring break.TVCC is actually a really nice place. Almost made me not want to leave because of that reason. Key word: Almost. I didn’t want to leave because I quickly got used to being with Helga again, and it was kind of hard saying goodbye to her and leaving her again.The same thing happened a week later when she stayed with me. I had gotten quickly used to her around my dorm room that the night she left, my bed just felt so empty without her. Like it didn’t feel normal without her laying with me.Helga knew we were going out to eat, but she told us to surprise her about where we chose to go, and I know she’ll be happy with going to Texas Roadhouse. That was one of her favorite restaurants, and I was going to pay for her food. I didn’t mind, and she could have whatever she wanted. This was her day, after all.When we went and sat down, we saw more people than we thought we’d see. The guys were all sitting next to each other, with the exception of dad sitting next to mom, who was sitting next to Miriam, then Matthew, then Olga, then Hailey. I sat next to her and Gerald, and he sat next to Phoebe. It was kind of how I imagined it to be. All the guys fighting over Oskar not paying for his food, mom and dad trying to calm them down. Miriam and Matthew flirting, Olga and Hailey excited to see their sister getting her diploma, and Gerald and Phoebe also flirting with each other.I got up and told them I was going to take a small walk, and they told me to be back quickly. My hands shoved in my pocket, deeply thinking about finally seeing Helga again. After the many calls we had from going long distant, that won’t be the case anymore. I had a plan and I was going to make the best of it. I had plenty of money from having two jobs over the past two years. And even though it’s stressed me out between those and school work, it’s all going to pay off.As I went into more deep thought, listening to music with only one headphone, I accidentally bump into a student already wearing their gown and cap, and he ends up falling on the ground.“Oh my gosh, are you alright? I’m so sorry,” I tell him, holding my hand out to help him up. “I was distracted by my thoughts, and I wasn’t paying attention.”“Oh that’s quite alright, mate.” He says in a British accent, the one particular accent I quite enjoyed. I gave him another apologetic look and was about to start walking away, until he started walking towards me a little closer, getting a good look at me.“Uhm, what are you-”“Wait a bloody minute…you’re that football headed boy that Helga mentioned. Uhm, what’s your name…Arnold! Right?”“You know Helga?” I couldn’t help but slightly smile a bit at the mention of her name.“I certainly do. She and I took the same photography major and became quite good friends. Oh, pardon me, where are my manners? My name is Oliver! It’s nice to finally meet you!” He took out his hand as I shook it firmly.“Arnold Shortman. It’s really cool to meet one of Helga’s friends here. I think she’s mentioned you before.”“That’s nice to know I was mentioned. You know, I figured I should tell you this now rather than later. But I sort of had a crush on her.”Excuse me? Why did he even tell me this?“You don’t say?” My smile faded, and my tone of voice sounded more mad, jealous.“Yes, but that was back in 2010! That was before I knew she was dating anyone. I definitely don’t like her like that anymore! I swear!”I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. When it came to something like this, I wasn’t just going to tell them ‘Oh yeah of course I believe that you don’t like my girlfriend anymore’, you never know what the other person is really thinking.“Whatever you say, man.” I finally told him.“I swear it’s true, mate. I would never steal your girlfriend like that at all.” He shook his head no as we waved both his hands.“Okay, Oliver.” I say as I continue walking in the same direction as before.I shouldn’t even be that surprised. By the time high school came, people started looking into Helga more, seeing her soft side, and people started liking her as a person. But also having crushes on her. I tend to get jealous every time. And I shouldn’t be, because Helga’s only liked me pretty much her entire life, but the thought of her dating another guy, I don’t know, it feels wrong.The thoughts keep swirling in my mind and it’s making me think worse things. What if Helga says she’s not ready for marriage yet? After all we've been through together throughout almost our entire lives, after what’s happened during high school, after she asked me out back on June 10th of 2005, after our kiss in San Lorenzo, and our kiss during the time with the FTI, what if she decides to throw it all away and breaks up with me?Helga? Break up with me? I know how obsessed she is with me. But it’s like I said, you never know what the other person is really thinking. And that includes Helga Pataki. Sure we’ve had deep talks before, but she’s also been through so many bad things to points where she won’t talk to anyone. Back in the sixth grade, I remembered how much she was going through, and I knew she had it bad. It was so horrible that she explained every little detail to me, and her therapist of course, but me. It was nice to hear her open up, and of course it wasn’t so nice to hear about the stuff she was going through and what she kept thinking of, but I was able to help her in her time of need.At that moment I was so caught up in my terrible thoughts that I didn’t even feel the couple tears rolling down my cheeks. But as I kept walking, looking down at my feet the entire time, I did realize that I almost ran into another person without looking again. But thankfully I saw their feet in front of me as well.But this time I didn’t even look up to see who it was, I kept my hands in my pocket, apologized for almost running into them, and started to walk off again. That was, until the person grabbed me by the arm, lifted my chin up to make eye contact with me, and at that moment I immediately started to regret almost walking off.They wiped the tear away from my cheek, looking at me straight in the eyes, knowing that something was up.“It’s amazing to see you, Football Head. But is everything okay?” Helga asked a bit worryingly, and I still couldn’t believe my eyes.She wasn’t in her cap and gown yet, but her graduation outfit was absolutely breathtaking. She was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up only a little past her elbows, a couple buttons unbuttoned from her neck to her chest. She had it tucked into some loose black pants with pockets. It was also the first time I saw her wear high heels as well, and the first time in a long time that I’ve seen her hair down. It’s grown out quite a bit, it went down a little past her shoulders.My eyes gleamed in the sunlight, I looked at her up and down, still mesmerized by her outfit. She was so beautiful, and between that, missing her these past couple months, and the negative thoughts, I wanted to kiss her so badly and never break apart from it. So I did mostly what my heart told me to do.I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in for a slow and steady kiss. I could immediately feel her kissing me back, one of her hands placed on my cheek, and the other on the back of my head playing with my hair. She slowly moved her fingers around while playing with it, it tickled a bit, but it was also a nice feeling I missed.When we finally broke apart after a minute, I opened my eyes slowly and looked at her with lovestruck eyes. My heart was beating so quickly, my face felt warmer than it did a couple minutes ago, her touch was so soft, I missed every little thing about this.“Better now that I finally get to see you,” I finally replied to her question. My hands were a bit shaking, but I didn’t care. She continued to wipe a tear off my cheek, while I still had no idea it was there to begin with.She smiled warmly, but I could also see in her eyes that she was still worried. I don’t blame her, I looked like shit when she looked at me.“I couldn’t be more happy to see you, Arnold.” She said, leaning down a bit to kiss me on the cheek. And I just went full on lovesick mode at that point.I pulled her closer and went in for a hug, letting my chin rest on her shoulder, arms tight enough to where it won’t squeeze her, but not loose to easily slip out either. She hugged me back and tried to get me to talk, but if I’m being honest, I just wanted to feel her embrace. Her warmth. Her. “Arnold, you know I love your affection, but what’s going on?” She asked worryingly, letting go of me and placing her hand on my cheek. “Please tell me, Arnold.” She told me softly.I looked at her for a few more seconds before looking down at the ground again. At that moment I knew how worried she was right now, and I didn’t want her to be this way before she graduated, so right now the best thing to do was to talk to her about what’s been going on in my head.We walked over and sat on a nearby bench. I took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. She interlocked her left hand with my right, and I started explaining everything to her.
5:04pm.
Helga’s POV
“Good evening ladies and Gentleman! Today, not only you sitting in the crowd are going to make an amazing memory, but these students here will make the memory of their community college graduation! And will continue to keep the memories of not only what they’ve learned, but the memories they’ve made with friends here these past 2 years. So, without further ado, let us let these three wonderful students read their speeches about what they’ll miss most about TVCC.”Oh good lord, this is gonna take a while, so let me tell you what just happened in the past two hours.When Phoebe dropped me off around 3:30, I got yelled at by the CEO of TVCC, telling me how I was almost late, even though I got here a few minutes before 3:30. Luckily I didn’t yell at her back somehow, but anger was definitely boiling up inside of me. And I can tell it’s been getting worse. Sometimes I’ll get mad at the smallest things. I hate how that’s on my dad’s side of the family.After the CEO yelled at me, I went to the bathroom to change into my outfit, and it actually didn’t look bad on me. It wasn’t a dress, and I didn’t look entirely like a guy. Not that I’d be afraid of the judgement I’d get, I would either yell at them or ignore them if I got judgement from said person. But I saw it and I thought it looked nice, and I also thought that Arnold would like it too. I mean he likes all my outfits, but this one I knew he would go insane for. I think in a way he did, but after what he told me earlier, the only thing I felt was worry at that point.I’m gonna do something nice for him after dinner. I don’t know what it’s gonna be yet, but after we get stuff out of my dorm room tomorrow I might take him out on a date. I’ve showed him Caldwell before, but not a whole lot of it since I was busy with school work and wanted to stay in my dorm most of the time. He went out on his own before, but came back and stayed because he wanted to see it with me. I thought it was cute when he said that.I won’t let my beloved let his negative thoughts take over him. And it’s normally not like him to be this way unless he’s overthinking everything all at once, which makes him stress out. And right now it’s one of those times. So I pretty much do whatever I can to help him out most. If it’s that bad that I have to take him to Dr. Bliss, then I’ll do so.Overall, Arnold was the only I’ve seen so far, so I probably won’t see the rest of everybody till after graduation is done. I’m sitting on, like, the tenth row of a million chairs and sitting next to two random people I don’t know, so that’s always fun. These speeches are literally taking forever, and I can’t even listen to music because they said I couldn’t bring any accessories with me. Which is kind of stupid, and I don’t even know why I listened to them.All the kids were finally done with their stupid speeches, and I paid no bit of attention to them whatsoever.“Let’s give a round of applause to our student speakers everyone!”Ugh, all that clapping was gonna give me a headache.“Now, let us hand out these diplomas to these wonderful, smart young adults.”I guess you could call me that. I like to think of myself as just a masculine girl who wears guys clothes half the time and has a perfect boyfriend.After a few minutes, the guy finally got to the P’s for last names. Good, I was starting to get impatient and just grab the diploma for myself.“Next up, Helga Geraldine Pataki.” The CEO called.I heard my mom and sisters screaming at me with tears in their eyes and yelling “We love you, Helga!” Gerald and Phoebe were whistling with excitement, the boarders just clapped regularly, looking at Miriam and my sisters weirdly, and Arnold had also had tears in his eyes, but he looked so happy to see me on stage finally getting my diploma. I was so happy to finally be getting it. I was happy that Arnold looked happy. For once, I’ve felt as happy as I was when I lived with Arnold in the boarding house during high school.I grabbed my diploma from my photography professor, and she whispered in my ear how proud of me she was. I held it right in front of me, standing next to her so we could take my picture. I don’t know why they want this, it’s not like they’ll remember me suddenly in 10 years or something.I walked down the stairs and started heading back to my seat. That was when I heard someone saying “Sorry. Excuse me!” and running towards me. I started backing up a little until I saw that it was Arnold, still having tears in his eyes, but opening up his arms like he wanted another hug.I couldn’t help but smile, now starting to run towards him. I didn’t care what the older adults said about this, I didn’t care if they yelled at me. All I cared about was seeing my boyfriend smiling and happy.My cap fell off my head, but I didn’t care. I could hardly run in my heels, but I didn’t care. People were starting to stare at me, but I really didn’t care. All I cared about was making it into my Arnold’s arms and hugging him so tightly that I’d never let go of him.I finally caught up close enough to him where he was able to catch me as he twirled me around a couple times. He stopped and held me, looking into my eyes. My smile was still plastered on my face, my eyes soft, a laugh about to escape my lips.“Hey, Football Head, you gonna put me down?” I chuckled.He didn’t respond for a few seconds, but a smirk started to form on his face. “Hmmm, I don’t think so.”I scoffed jokingly. “How come?”“Well, maybe I just want to stay like this for a minute or two.” His eyes moved down to my lips, then back up to my eyes.I could feel my face heat up, his warmth against my skin. I couldn’t help but place my hands on his cheeks, leaning down slowly to where both our pairs of lips were inches away from touching. But before we kissed, he whispered to me, “I’m so proud of you, Helga. I love you so much.”I then leaned in more quickly, kissing him as if I hadn’t kissed him in over a decade, and everyone in the crowd, family, friends and students, started cheering for us. And the smile remained on me as we continued kissing.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
6:01pm, TVCC.
Helga’s POV
I then leaned in more quickly, kissing him as if I hadn’t kissed him in over a decade, and everyone in the crowd, family, friends and students, started cheering for us. And the smile remained on me as we continued kissing.
That was, until I heard Olga screaming my name over and over again as she ran towards me, the sound of her voice getting louder by the second. I, unfortunately, broke apart from Arnold’s lips and looked behind me. I also managed to catch a glimpse of him looking lovesick at me. I missed that so much.
“BABYYYYYYYY SISTERRRRRRRR!!!” She continued screaming. Hailey followed right behind her, trying to catch Olga before she could hug me tightly, but Olga was way faster than Hailey. Olga used to do track in high school, and did it in college as well, and Hailey followed her footsteps, but Olga was
fast.
Sometimes I wonder how she can ever run without getting tired for a long amount of time.
Just then I felt Arnold put me down, knowing exactly what would happen between Olga and I. He’s always observed Olga’s sisterly affection for me, and laughed every time I’d get frustrated at it. And I was confused for maybe 1 second on why he suddenly put down, until I saw the smirk on his face.
“Arnold…what are you-”
He just started laughing as his smirk stayed on his face.
“NO! Arnold!” I yelled, but Olga had eventually made it to where I was, picked me up from behind, and spun me around like Arnold did. Only this time, it almost made me sick.
Olga spun me around non-stop until Hailey had to stop her. Once again, her over-excitement had gotten the best of her, and made me run over to a trash can that gave Olga a
clear
message not to do that ever again. Though she probably didn’t see me, and if she did, she probably didn’t get the memo. But that doesn’t mean I’ll tell her myself later.
“Oh my goodness, Helga! Are you okay?” She suddenly asked worryingly.
“Peachy.”
I say sarcastically.
“I’m sorry, baby sister. I’m just so excited that you're now officially done with school. And you can go out in the world and do whatever you want!”
She was right about that. And if I do move back in at the boarding house, then I’ll have to find another job in Hillwood and quit the one place I was working at here. But it wasn’t like I didn’t have enough money to buy an apartment at least, I would just like to make more money before moving out.
In all words: Arnold and I will have to talk about this kind of thing soon.
“Yeah. See the world…” I finally said.
“Don’t make her overthink now, Olga!” Gerald said as he and Phoebe were walking towards me, holding hands. It was really nice to see them together again. I know how much Phoebe had missed Gerald, and they really did make a good couple.
“Phoebe! Hi!” I yelled, running towards her to give her a hug.
I embraced her like I would with Arnold. Even though I only saw her earlier today, sometimes it still felt like I haven’t seen her in a long period of time. Like when two people are walking the opposite direction of the sidewalk, and one stops and notices the other, and then they both recognize each other, and tell each other how they haven’t seen them in years. It truly was one of the best reunions I’ve ever heard of and read about.
Once she let go of me, we both kept our hands on each other's shoulders, smiling widely at one another. “Oh congratulations, Helga! I’m so happy for you!” She told me.
This made me wonder how much we’ll see each other when she finishes college as well. Will we still be as close as we are now? How much will she be able to contact me? If I called her because of an emergency, would she be able to pick up? All the what if’s start spiraling in my brain, and I couldn’t help but let go of a little hope that was always inside me.
Until I realized that I hadn’t spoken in a minute, I finally replied with, “Yeah, I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with school shit anymore.” Everyone laughed at my comment. But the only reason I wasn’t laughing was because I kept thinking of the things between Phoebe and I, and what Arnold told me earlier, which was now building up stress.
But the stress immediately went down when Arnold came over and interlocked my hand with his, and I immediately smiled when he did. He was about the only person who was ever able to put my stress level all the way down to zero.
“So, you ready to go eat?” Arnold asked, looking more excited than usual, but my mind was so full of other things that I didn’t really think much of it.
“Boy am I? I’m starving!” I said, immediately starting to walk to my car and dragging Arnold along with me.
When Arnold and I finally got all the way to my car, I dug into my pockets looking for my keys, and started to get nervous when I couldn’t find them. That was, until I remembered that Phoebe had them.
“Oh my god.” I said to myself, starting to walk
back
where I came from, leaving Arnold behind.
“What are you doing?” He called out.
“Phoebe has my keys, I’m going to get them!”
It was then that Phoebe was right in front of me, holding my keys in front of my face, smirking. I just quickly snatched them from her and thanked her as she giggled to herself. I had asked Phoebe to bring my car here because I wanted Arnold to drive me to the restaurant we were going to, which I still had no idea where we were going, knowing I told him to surprise me.
Miles, Matthew, Ernie, Oskar, Mr. Hyunh , and Gerald were taking the Packard. While mom, Stella, Olga, Hailey, and Phoebe were taking Stella’s car. And like I said, Arnold was driving me. Another main reason I asked Phoebe to get my car here was because there would only be one seat left in the Packard, and Stella’s car only had five seats, which were all filled.
Arnold then put in Slayer’s album Christ Illusion, aka one of my favorite albums
ever,
in my CD player, and he knew how much I loved that album.
“Christ Illusion? Gee, Football Head, this day
must
be special.” I joked with him, elbowing his arms playfully.
“Of course, this is
your
special day after all. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make you happy.” He smiled, leaning in and giving me a quick kiss before starting the car.
I sat there flabbergasted, blushing. What was with him today? One minute he’s stressed out, the next he’s super affectionate. Not that I don’t like when he’s affectionate, but it was just a quick sudden change in emotion.
“Gosh, Arnold. Don’t get all sappy on me now.” I said, almost stuttering.
He continued to smirk, seeming as though he had a trick up his sleeve. Knowing him, he probably did. And knowing myself, I was kind of excited to see what that trick was.
6:36pm. Te-
“
TEXAS ROADHOUSE
? WAS THIS YOUR IDEA, ARNOLD!?”
I couldn’t help but yell. This was probably one of my most favorite restaurants in the world. It was also an amazing memory, given that we took Arnold out for his 16th birthday there, and it was also one of our most memorable dates there.
Arnold smirked, nodding his head as I was just jumping in joy from what I was going to eat once I got inside that amazing restaurant.
Arnold had always told me that my smile was contagious to him, and for once I actually noticed it. I was smiling the entire time because of the excitement inside me, and when I turned to him, his smirk suddenly became a soft smile that I always loved.
I then went and quickly kissed him, telling him, “You’re the best, Arnold.” and started walking inside, not even waiting on anyone. I looked in the corner of my eye and saw him smiling warmly, eyes soft. One of Arnold’s emotions that I was fond of the most.
Gerald then came walking up to him, patting him on the back. “You are one lovesick puppy, Arnold.”
“Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one.”
“You would’ve agreed with that same statement seven years ago as well.”
He chuckled, knowing how absolutely true that was. “I’m just excited to give her my present. I know she’ll like it. She’s been wanting just us two to go on an actual vacation for a while.” I smiled as Gerald handed me the gift. I had to give Gerald Helga’s present so she wouldn’t see me with it, and find out what it was.
“Yeah, but I bet I know what you’re
really
excited for.” He said, smirking, elbowing my arm jokingly.
I knew exactly what he was talking about too. The subject that’s been on my mind since after spring break. When I kept thinking about Helga leaving my dorm, I also kept thinking about what it’d be like to be with her forever. And that feeling, and thought, was absolutely amazing. Living with her, cooking for her, cooking
with
her, being able to sleep with her every night again, except knowing that I’m forever with her now. My heart knew this, and now that I had the engagement ring, all that’s left is to give her the gift, and we’re off to Myrtle Beach, spending everyday just the two of us, and then asking her to be my-
“Arnold! Hey Arnold!” Gerald said, snapping me out of my daydream.
“O-oh, sorry Gerald. I’ve just had that specific subject a lot on my mind lately.”
“Ohhh yeah. I’ve definitely noticed. Now can we go inside and eat? I’m starving.”
Gerald proved his point by his stomach growling at the perfect time, almost like it knew when to do that, and the two of them just kept laughing until they got inside the restaurant. The guys then found the table where I was already sitting, already prepared with the thirteen chairs for each person, ready to have a hot, steamy meal in front of them, along with the best bread and butter ever to be made.
Of course, Oskar, Ernie, and Mr. Hyunh all sat next to each other. Matthew sat next to Mr. Hyunh, and then came Miriam, Hailey, Olga, and me. Miles sat next to Oskar, knowing that he’ll probably be a pain in the ass towards Miles, he was generous enough to even sit next to Oskar. Anyway, Stella sat next to her husband, then it was Phoebe, then Gerald, then Arnold, who sat next to me. I was surprised to see that he didn’t sit with his parents, but he told me that he asked if it was fine to sit with them and they told him that they were perfectly okay with it.
We all looked at our menus, and Oskar was literally naming every single piece of food off the menu, telling us he wanted all of that. And that wasn’t even half of the first page of it.
“Okay I will take the All-American Cheeseburger with the Bacon Cheeseburger
and
the Smokehouse Burger-”
“Kokoshka, you bum! You can’t order every single thing off the menu! And you do realize we aren’t paying for you, right? Everyone is paying for their individual meals!” Ernie yelled.
“But why can’t I get everything off the menu? And how come I have to pay for myself and not the little blonde girl sitting next to Arnold?”
“You can only get one meal, Oskar.” Miles then said. “And Arnold is paying for Helga’s meal because he
wants to.
And because this day is about her.”
“But it isn’t the girl's birthday or anything!”
“No but it
is
her graduation day, Oskar. We’re here because Helga has graduated from community college, so you need to stop acting like you are now, and start being grateful that you’re here today with us and Helga. Understand?” Stella said, and it seemed to surprise Oskar for once.
“...Fine, I will do it for Blondey.” Oskar said, looking at his menu, still reciting every piece of food on the menu.
“Wow, I’m surprised you were able to get through to him.” Miles told his wife.
“I
am
a mother, after all.” She told him, and kissed Miles quickly on the lips, and the two kept continuing to look at the menu together.
I kept looking on the menu for my absolute favorite meal that I loved getting here. While I was looking though, Arnold leaned in, laying his chin on my shoulder, and interlocking my left hand under the table. Oh my beloved is more adorable than anything in this world!
“What are you going to order?” He said in a low voice, but loud enough so I could hear him.
“Guess.” I said with a smirk to see if he would remember.
“Easy: The 8 ounce sirloin steak with the sides of a baked potato–loaded with all the good toppings–and the grilled shrimp. Along with a salad and a Dr. Pepper. You’re favorite, of course.”
“Well, gee, Football Head. Didn’t think you’d remember that. We haven’t been here since our last date here.”
“Of course I do! I remember you saying how good everything was for about 20 minutes after we left.” He smiled, not meaning that to sound mean in any way, and it didn’t really sound mean the way he was telling it.
“Oh yeah, that’s right! And you got the…” I snapped my fingers before saying, “the New York Strip sirloin!”
“Yeah, you remembered!” He smiled so cutely I felt like I had to take my eyes away from him for a second.
“Y-yeah! I did!” I stuttered, feeling the heat coming upon my face. God he was like an adorable little puppy. Be still my beating heart!
Everybody else figured out what they wanted to order. As for Oskar, he finally decided what he wanted after about 20 minutes, which drove me nuts because of how slow he could possibly be. And after all that stupid time he wasted, he just decided to get a stupid bacon cheeseburger.
After about half an hour, all our food was finally brought out to us, and my plate looked absolutely amazing. Especially since I’ve hardly eaten today. And that’s not because of my old eating disorder, it was only because I was trying to save room for every fattening thing—other than the salad–I was about to devour here. I think I even saw Oskar over there having second thoughts about his burger. I just ignored him at this point.
I ate everything so quickly that I didn’t even realize that it only took about 15 minutes until I actually finished my meal. Yes, even the baked potato with its skin. Everyone around me was still eating, except Arnold and Gerald who were already finished with their New York Strip sirloin steaks. I swear those two are like two peas in a pod.
After another 20 minutes goes by, everyone is done eating, except Oskar who refuses to eat the burger
he
decided to get and that
he
ordered. He kept on fighting with Miles, Ernie and Mr. Hyunh about it, and all their fighting was driving me insane. So I got up and did the only thing I could do.
I walked over to Oskar, grabbed his plate of food, and asked him, “Do you want the stupid burger or not?”
“Wait a minute, what are you going to do with it?” He asked curiously.
“Just answer the question, Mr. Kokoshka.”
“Fine. No, I don’t want the stupid burger.”
I nodded in affirment and walked over to the nearest trash can, dumping out his plate of his cheeseburger, and came back to him with an empty plate as I sat back down next to Arnold and Olga.
He looked very confused when he saw his plate empty, and gave me a concerned look. “Hey, Blondy! Where’s my burger!?”
“You said you didn’t want it. So I threw it away for you.”
Ernie started to laugh his ass off as he saw the look on Oskar’s face, and once again, they started fighting. Mr. Hyunh and Miles try to break them up as Stella tells Oskar not to act the way he is. So typical of the five of them, and at the same time, I kind of missed this. I remember when they acted like this back in high school. They’d do this almost every night at the dinner table, and it would drive me nuts! Now it’s just leaving me nostalgic.
Out of nowhere, I felt a couple light taps on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Arnold standing up as he held out his hand to me. I didn’t know what exactly he was doing, but I took his hand anyway and followed him outside. And when I wasn’t even looking, Arnold turned to Gerald and gave him a thumbs up, smiling excitedly.
He walked me through the front doors and out to my car. I was very confused because he hadn’t even paid for our food yet, and I thought he was going to drive off without paying. But that’s not like Arnold, so I have no idea what he’s doing.
“Sorry I had to drag us away from everyone. I wanted it to be a little more quiet.” Arnold started saying, and that gave me enough information that he wasn’t about to dine and dash.
“I was just confused on why you
did
drag us out here. You aren’t dine and dashing are you?” I had to at least joke about that with him, considering I did the same back in fourth grade.
He chuckled, remembering when I did it. “No, Helga. I’m not going to dine and dash.”
“Because I can help you! I’ve become a master at it since the one and only time I did it!”
“When we were 9 years old?” He asked, but with a playful smirk.
“Yes, exactly. When we were 9 years old. I can still remember good and well what I did 12 years ago, Arnoldo.” I said with a playful smirk also growing upon my face, pointing my finger to his chest.
I then saw his eyes go soft all of a sudden, and his smirk becoming a warm smile. Whatever he wanted to tell me must be important. He wouldn’t just randomly drag us out here if he wanted it to be more quiet around us. All of our deep conversations and big moments between us happened in quiet spaces just like this, and now I was not only curious, but excited of what he was about to tell me.
“Well, if you’re going to start smiling like that towards me, then this
must
be important.” I told him, folding my arms across my chest as he started chuckling.
“Yeah, this is kind of important, in a way.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck as he started to blush a bit.
He then leaned over me and opened up the glove department, revealing a small blue box with a white ribbon wrapped around it. The box was a bit sparkly under the evening sunset, which made this moment feel a bit better in a way.
“Here’s my graduation gift to you, Helga. I couldn’t be more proud of the work you’ve accomplished to get this far in life.” His smile remained, while my face was surprised, a bit of blush starting to form because of what he said.
“Oh, Arnold. You didn’t have to get me anything.” I smiled, gripping onto the small box as if I’ll lose it forever.
“I know I didn’t have to,” he started, then reaching for my hand and interlocking it, caressing his thumb against it. “I
wanted
to.”
When I tell you there is no possible way there could be any other boy out there as sweet as Arnold, I mean it. The guy was affectionate, always there for me, knows when I’m feeling upset, always put me before him, and so many more I could use for how much I was truly in love with him. He may also be a little quiet and dense sometimes, but he was more than perfect enough for me.
“Well, gee. Thanks, Arnold.” I smiled warmly, unraveling the white ribbon carefully so I could keep it for later.
When I opened the box, I couldn’t even believe what was inside. My face was full of surprise, looking at the objects that I have been longing to do with Arnold forever in a day.
“Plane tickets to Myrtle Beach!?”
He nodded his head with his warm smile still plastered onto his face.
I was so excited that I couldn’t help put the box down very quickly and kiss him passionately on the lips. I could feel him kiss back immediately as he placed his hands on my cheeks, while my arms wrapped around his neck. I feel like we were in high school again and were about to make out in the car in the parking lot.
When I broke apart from his lips, I could see the lovesickness in his eyes once more. One of the things I loved about him the most. I loved everything about this boy. I was right to set my heart on him when I was 3 years old.
“You’re amazing, Arnold.” I told him softly.
“I know you’ve been wanting to go on vacation just the two of us for a while. So I saved up money and bought us those plane tickets and a hotel room for six nights and we’ll do just about anything you want to do.” He mentioned.
“Anything
I
want, huh? Well we’ve gotta let you pick out what you wanna do for at least half the time, Arnoldo.” I smirked, leaning in closer to him again. I could see the blush coming upon his face again. Too cute.
“Butttt, I have to owe it to you
somehow.”
I continued, “Oh, I know. You. Me. On a date tomorrow. We’ll go out and I can show you around the city tomorrow after we get my dorm cleaned out since we have to be there early. I already have a list of things planned for us to do. So what do you say?”
His smile grew bigger, which made me blush this time. Looks like we were both full of surprises tonight.
He leaned in and gave me another kiss, one that just felt sweet all the way. And we both knew I could never resist this man’s kisses.
“I love the idea, Helga. I’ll definitely go on a date with you tomorrow.”
“Good, because it’s all for you anyway.”
He gave me a confused look, and that’s when I remembered that I didn’t tell him exactly why I made this date for him. “Wait, what do you mean?”
“Well when I ran into you earlier today, you seemed really upset and stressed. And from what you’ve told me, you need and deserve this. I’m not going to let you go into a depression state, especially since we’re going out of town on Tuesday. So we better make the best of this date tomorrow.” I smiled warmly.
He smiled as well, but his mood quickly changed after what I had just mentioned to him. I leaned in, placing my hand on his cheek, my voice getting lower as I told him, “Hey, it’s okay, Arnold. If you ever want to talk more about it tomorrow, I’d be more than happy to listen and help out. Ok?”
I saw his eyes look down at my lips, then back
up
to my eyes. His expression full of lovestruck, him biting his lip at the slightest to where it made him think I couldn’t see it, but oh I can definitely see it. I could feel his face heating up as well. I didn’t know his emotions were so sensitive like this.
He finally smiled warmly, whispering to me, “Yeah, okay, Helga. Thank you so much.”
“It’s no trouble, Arnold. I’m gonna make this the best you’ll ever have. So much better than our other ones.”
“Even our Texas Roadhouse one?” He smirked.
“Well, as good as our Texas Roadhouse one.”
He chuckled, and his soft chuckle always made everything better in life. “Alright, Helga. I’m very excited for tomorrow then.”
“Trust me, Football Head. It’ll be like a date you’ve never had before!"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
12:38am. Best Western Plus Caldwell Inn & Suites.
I couldn’t seem to fall asleep.We came back to the hotel at a pretty decent time, but for some reason I just wasn’t tired. I guess it was really what was on my mind the reason I couldn’t fall asleep. When Arnold and I got home, we were both pretty excited about what would be coming in the future for us. To celebrate, we made out for who knows how long, but after a while we put on a movie, and Arnold must’ve been really tired that he fell asleep in almost an instant.But while my beloved was cuddled up against me, head laying on my chest, arms almost tightly wrapped around me, I couldn’t stop thinking about what he told me earlier today. It just kept playing in my mind over and over again, and I didn’t like that it did… Earlier today, 4:33pm, Treasure Valley Community College
We walked over and sat on a nearby bench. Arnold took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. I interlocked my left hand with his right, and he started explaining everything to me.
“So, I ran into a college friend of yours. I remembered one time on the phone that you weren’t planning on making too many friends here, but when I ran into him I was kind of excited because I really liked that you made at least a few friends here. Anyway, it was a British guy named Oliver.”
Oh my fucking god.
“He recognized me only because of my head shape—like everyone does. But we talked only for a couple minutes about you before he mentioned that he said he liked you. I don’t know why, but I got this huge jealous feeling inside me, and the words he said just kept playing in my head over and over again. He told me he didn’t like you like that afterward, but I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. So I walked away. But afterwards, I just kept thinking bad thoughts.”
“Yeah, Oliver was definitely lying to you. Remember when I told you that some guy was trying to hit on me like six months ago? That was him, and he just continued doing it until I called one of the CEO on him. She said that if he didn’t stop what he was doing, he would be banned from TVCC. Luckily it stopped his nonsense, but not his liking towards me.”
“I’m glad about that. But I just hated what I thought about after what he said.”
“Do you want to tell me? You don’t have to right now if you don’t want to.”
“But don’t you have to be in your seat by now? The ceremony’s about to start, isn’t it?”
“Fuck them, Arnold. This is more important to me right now than anything else.”
He smiled warmly, but it then immediately faded when he looked down at the ground again. “I remembered back in high school, people would look at you differently then they would with just a friendly look. I would get jealous of that too. I didn’t want to, believe me that’s not the kind of person I am, and you know that! I just couldn’t help the feeling growing inside me. I felt horrible for even feeling that way. But I think the thing I was overthinking the most was a huge question I didn’t even want to think about: What if you just gave up everything we’ve been through together and broke up with me?
“Now I know what you’re thinking, I’m never going to break up with you, Arnold. But you don’t know what could be going on inside your own head sometimes. And I have to remember the whole reason you liked me in the first place, but what if you just fell for another guy? Dumped me after all we’ve been through together since we were 3? I remember all the times we’ve done stuff together in elementary school, what you did against the FTI, what happened in San Lorenzo, and what we’ve accomplished together in high school. And if I’m being completely honest…I’m afraid of losing you, Helga. “I’d hate the fact of losing you to anything that happens in life! Whether you moved away suddenly or broke up with me, I know I would have an aching feeling in my heart because I care about you that much. I’d miss you too much. You’re one of the most important people in my life that I cannot lose. Because if I did lose you in any way possible, I honestly don’t know what’d I do with myself. And I don’t want anything bad happening to you either. If you somehow got yourself kil–”
I had to kiss him to stop himself from overthinking so much. These thoughts were the most hardcore overthinking thoughts I had ever heard him talk about before. Normally he can handle these on his own, but this? He hasn’t needed this kind of help since he found out he had PTSD.
My hand was still interlocked with his, while my other was on his cheek. I felt him kissing me back, knowing how much he wanted that kiss. I could always tell the differences between happy and sad kisses. Yes it sounds weird but you have to understand how obsessed I was with man. I made shrines and wrote poetry about him for pity’s sake!
When I finally broke apart from his lips, I looked into his eyes. For once they weren’t as lovestruck as they normally were. In fact, his whole face wasn’t as lovestruck. He still looked down, still looked like he was overthinking everything in life. Like he was going to have some kind of panic attack or something.
“Arnold. I want you to listen to me very carefully. If you know me well enough, I will never ever break up with you. You are way too kind and sweet towards me to even break up with. I've been obsessed with you since preschool, almost 20 years now. I still am. I still even write poetry about you, actually. I have every photograph we’ve ever taken together saved somewhere where no one can get to. I have every memory of us together going on dates, hanging out with our friends, and even birthdays and holidays. I have every single gift you’ve ever given me. I love you more than anyone will ever know, even you. And if Oliver comes up to us again, I will literally punch him in the nose.”
He chuckled. My beloved chuckled. That’s the first time I’ve heard him laugh since our phone call last night. “We may not like the guy all that much, but I don’t think punching him in the nose is a good idea.”
“Why not? I’ve got a good punch! I did it to Brainy for, like, eight years.”
“Yeah but you quit most of your violence when we started eighth grade, remember?”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t have muscle memory.”
He laughed once more. I’m glad I was able to cheer him up in a way. Though that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to suddenly stop thinking about what he told me. This was serious, and it could possibly end up with me taking a trip with him to Dr. Bliss.
It was then that we heard the announcement over the huge speakers. “Attention all students of TVCC, if you are not yet seated in your assigned chair, please head over there immediately. Attention all guesses, if you yet have a place to sit down, and/or if there are no more chairs to sit at, you will have no other choice but to stand to watch the ceremony take place. That is all. Thank you!”
I started to stand up as I held my hand out to Arnold so that he’d stand up as well, which he took my offer. We both had to go in different directions, and if the CEO told me I was late for seating checks, I honestly wouldn’t care at that point.
“You’re going to be okay, right?” I asked him just to make sure.
He laughed softly before answering. “I’ll be okay, Helga. But thanks anyways.”
I smiled at him, still holding his hand, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Alright, then. I’ll see you soon.” I told him as I walked off, and in the corner of my eye, I saw that lovestruck look on his face again, and I felt so much better seeing him like that.
Saturday, June 9th, 2012
9:27am. Helga’s dorm room.
I had to get every piece of my shit out of here by 10am.Excuse me for the curse words that I will later be saying. But just so you know, I didn’t fall asleep till about 2:30 last night because of everything just going on in my head. So I read my book for the next two hours until I was actually able to fall asleep. Then the garbage truck came here around 5am and woke me up. Arnold was more of a heavy sleeper than I was, so he got a good night's rest while I only got about 2 and half hours of sleep in general. Needless to say, I could not fall back asleep afterward, so I just watched TV until around 7:30, and went out for a morning run.Between Olga’s happy mood swings in the morning and Phoebe and Gerald’s lovey dovey shit on each other, I was about to just walk away from everyone and call it a day. But no, I still had a few more things to collect, and then get people’s help moving it down to Arnold’s rented u-haul.“Oh my goodness, Helga! I can’t believe you’re actually done with school now! I remember when you were only in the fourth grade, causing chaos with your little friends and me being one of the student teachers!”Oh yeah. How could I forget that ever happened? “Yeah, don’t remind me of that.” I felt just as I did when I was in fourth grade.“Oh but why not? We had such wonderful memories of when I was a student teacher back then!”“Some of the memories weren’t exactly joyful, Olga. You embarrassed me in front of the whole class with a lot of stories of when I was 7!”“But you were so adorable when you were 7 years old!”“Sure, Olga. Whatever you want to think.”She suddenly dropped the box, looking at me worryingly. “What’s with you this morning, Helga? It just seems like you don’t like me talking about how you’re finished with school now. You’re almost acting like you don’t want to leave.”“It’s not that, Olga. It’s just that now that I actually finished school, I need to think about what I want to do with my life. I need to figure out where to live while Arnold still has his last year of college to get through. I need to think about these things instead of just telling myself, Oh I finished school now. I can do whatever the fuck I want!” “Stop talking like that, Helga. I get that you’re frustrated, but I can help you with this sort of thing! I found my dream job I’ve been searching for, and I’m about to move out of the Boarding House to live in this beautiful apartment I found a while ago and already bought.”“That’s the thing, Olga! You’re 33 and you still haven’t moved out yet! It’s like you’re practically still living with mom and Matthew!”“And what’s wrong with that? They both said that I can be allowed to live with them for as long as I like, as long as I had a job and that I was helping out with paying the rent.”“Yeah but you don’t want to see me living in the Boarding House until I’m around your age, do you? I mean, criminy, Olga, sometimes I feel like I’m more of a success in life than you are!”“There is no reason to talk to me like that, Helga! Sure you may be looking for those things, but you don’t actually have them yet, do you? I don’t even understand why we’re fighting about this! Everything was fine until you had to start something! I was just trying to be as supportive as I could! Is that so much to ask?”I had to stop myself before I said anything else that could hurt her in any way. It was true that when I was tired I would get super frustrated and angry, but Olga didn’t deserve this kind of behavior from me. Not after what we’ve been through during my childhood. After ignoring her for almost the first 10 years of my life, she deserved a better explanation than this.I set the tape down on the box, and just kind of flopped on my sheetless bed. Taking a deep breath in and out, I finally answered her question. “No, it’s not, Olga. Both you and I know that. I’m in a shit mood because I didn’t get enough sleep last night. But I also find it frustrating how much I need to look into just to try and be successful in life.”She looked at me worryingly again, now walking over and sitting next to me. She placed her hand on my shoulder, softly saying, “Yeah. I know how it is. Believe me, I felt the same way when I graduated college.”I looked up at her surprisingly. “You did?”“Sure I did. Lots of young adults go through that in life, especially us Pataki’s. Mom told me she went through the same crisis, and Dad sort of did, but only because he already knew what he wanted to do with his life. And many people from both sides of our family went through the same thing. And you never know, Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, and all your other friends that went to college might be thinking and going through the same thing. It’s common, Helga. And you know that there's people here to help you figure it out.”She always made the best points when she could, and this was definitely one of them. I was having one of my stupid moments where I felt like I’d fall apart without someone's help. But I’m Helga G. Pataki, and I needed no one's help anytime, anywhere!I finally looked at her sympathetically. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying, Olga. Thank you. And I’m sorry for my behavior towards you; you don’t deserve it, you never did.”“That’s okay, Baby Sister. I completely understand now. And if you ever need my help on anything, just tell me and I’ll try my very best.” She then pulled me into a hug, as did I, and laid my head on her shoulder, not replying to her with words, but with silence.Out of nowhere, the door swings open, revealing Hailey, Arnold, Gerald, and Phoebe. The couple holding hands, and giggling and flirting with each other. Arnold, on the other hand, looked annoyed by their giggling and flirting with each other. But once he saw me, his face immediately brightened up.He walked over to me and sat next to me and laid his on my shoulder, giving out a tired sigh. “Are those last few boxes ready to be taken down?”“Just about. They need to be taped and then they’ll be ready to go.”“No worries, I can get it then.” He said happily, and started to get up, until I grabbed him and pulled him back towards me.“No, no. You deserve a break, Arnoldo. You just stay and relax.” I told him. And then I yelled, “Olga, get up! We’re gonna take these boxes down for these guys. Let them rest for a bit. You with me?”She beamed me a smile so big that when it reflected in the sun, you could possibly get blinded by her pearly white teeth. “Of course I’ll help you, baby sister!” She said, jumping up as fast as she could.“Cool, now I just want to wait on Hailey and then we can get moving.” And as soon as I say that, she walks in the dorm room, back from the bathroom.“Hailey! Just in time. You wanna help Olga and I move the last few boxes?”“Yeah, I’ll help.” She smiled warmly. She always had the warmest smiles like Arnold. The two of them were very similar to each other personality wise, which is why I got along with her so well the first time I met her.Once we got the last of the boxes finally tapped up, we headed out the door to get this over quickly so that I could finally have my date with Arnold.
10:15am. City of Caldwell.
“Alright, Arnoldo. Are you ready to have the best date you could possibly have with me?”“Helga, I’ve been on many incredible dates with you, and I’m sure this one will be another great one to have memories of.”“Well, if you say so, Hair Boy, then let’s get started!” I say as I grab his hand and head over to our car and drive to our first location.First I took him out to the Caldwell Public Library. He’s been telling me ever since college started for him that he’s been into the books that I’ve recommended to him. Especially Stephen King. So I let him look around and see what kind of books he seemed interested in, and told him to write it down and give it to me when he was about ready to go. He had a pretty good selection.The reason I told him to write it down was so that I can take him to our next location for our date: Barnes and Noble.Luckily I had enough money saved for a lot of things that were going to be happening around this time. Working two jobs may have been a pain in the ass, but it was so worth it, and it was mostly for Arnold as well. Buying him things that I know he wants, and that I would get for him without him knowing or without him asking, is the best thing ever to happen. And for him to be doing the same thing, is an absolute miracle.Arnold had about eight books picked out, which I wasn’t too bothered about, actually. Half of the books he had on his list were books I recommended him to read, and when he read the summaries, he seemed super interested. The other half was a couple different genres I wasn’t too big on, but he seemed interested in those as well. Plus I didn’t mind buying him those if he wanted to. He deserved it after all.He helped me carry some of his books to the front desk and the lady was surprised to see how many I was actually about to buy.“My goodness. Eight books? Big readers aren’t you two?” She asked.“I definitely am. Trying to get him into more books.” I smirked, pointing at Arnold, who just softly chuckled.“Lovely! What’s your favorite genre?”“Well, if I really had to pick, I think between romance and horror.” I said with no hesitation.“Wow, Helga. Two completely different genres there.” Arnold said, stating the obvious.“Yeah, but I’ve been into romance since preschool. You definitely know that, if you know what I mean.” I said, hitting my elbow playfully against his arm. “And then I found Stephen King in the eighth grade, and I’ve loved his books since then.” I explained.“I should buy you some more Stephen King books. He’s got like a gazillion of them, doesn’t he?”“Mmm, you could say that.” Both of us shared a laugh as the woman was done bagging the books up, setting it on the front counter. We then grabbed the bag and said our thanks and finally left the store.When we got to the car, I already started it and went on to our next location, and I knew that Arnold was going to love this one. Thankfully the car I had was pretty powerful; the 2007 Mercury Milan. It was a good size and easy to drive. I’ve only had to get it fixed maybe once or twice, and it still works like a charm. And of course I didn’t get the car till my 18th birthday, but still.I saw Arnold looking through his books, and I couldn’t help but plaster a smile on my face. He was so cute when he was invested in something, and it made me want to do so much more for him. I love him so much.Our next location that we were heading to was the Caldwell’s Indian Creek Museum. Arnold mentioned that he was super into history, which is why he majored in it, and that it was his favorite subject because of the wars and everything else that happened. Be aware that Arnold has no idea where I’m taking him each time, so to me, this is very fun just to see his reaction to each place we’re going to.When we got to the place, Arnold’s face lit up as he read where we were. He told me that he's looked up this place when he came to stay with me that one week during spring break, and that it seemed to pique his interest, so I took him here for that and his love of history. As I said before, I’d do anything for this boy.“I can’t believe you remembered this place!”“Doi. Why would I forget about something you talked about? All our conversations practically never leave my head.” And I say that in the most in-between joking way and serious way possible.Thankfully he chuckled to himself, leaning in and kissing my cheek. “Thanks, Helga.” He said as he smiled warmly, now walking out of the car and leaving me absolutely flabbergasted.When we walked inside we paid for our tickets, and the person at the booth led us to our tour guide, where there were a few others waiting there as well. Talking was going on in the background by other tour guides, some of the voices came from the videos they showed at the beginning and end of the tours.When our person finally came, she introduced herself and showed us the same video that was playing for another group a few minutes ago. Basically telling us the rules of what to do and not to do, what to have and what not to have, and where you can and can’t take pictures at. I had a polaroid camera on me, but I wasn’t going to use it if I couldn’t.We saw a lot of things around the building. Some creepy things, some historical. There was an old dentist room, lots of baby dolls, stuff about women not being able to vote before the 19th Amendment, except for certain states. But once the 19th Amendment was ratified, then all women were allowed to vote. There were also really cool mannequins and other things that Arnold seemed super interested in.Our tour was done after about 45 minutes of interesting facts from our tour guide. Some people asked some really good questions, and she had good answers for all of them. Not only was her knowledge impressive, but she was super nice to all of us. I give her a 10/10.I looked at the time and the clock had already read 12:55pm. Arnold was probably hungry by now, and God knows I was too. I asked him where he wanted to eat, and he said a fast food restaurant was fine with him; nowhere fancy since we went to Texas Roadhouse last night. So when he chose Arby’s, I couldn’t have been more happy.I really didn’t care how long these drives were, though I’ll have to stop somewhere and get gas, that didn’t stop me from buying things for Arnold and taking him to wherever he wanted to go. As long as I have plenty of money, which I definitely do, then we’ll be all good. I’m not making Arnold pay for anything unless he wants to. This day is about him after all.It was about a 10 minute drive, which wasn’t too bad honestly. With the stuff I had planned for this day, I say we should be finished by after dark. I don’t really know what time exactly, but I definitely had more things planned for us afterward. I also had an idea for what we’d be doing for the last event for our date, and I was very excited about that.We went through the drive-thru and Arnold ordered two ranch chicken wraps and a Dr. Pepper, while I ordered the spicy chicken sandwich and a Dr. Pepper for me too. And both of us ordered a large curly fry and some Arby’s sauce for us to share. And I had personally decided to eat in the car because last time I came here with one of my friends, it wasn’t exactly the cleanest place ever.We got our food a few minutes later hot and fresh, and I parked in the parking lot so that we could enjoy our meal, and so I wouldn’t have to drive while eating.We both talked as we ate and listened to Ozzy Osburne’s Diary of a Madman CD in my car. Honestly, this couldn’t have been a more perfect day so far.“So, Hair Boy. You liking our date so far?” I said as I shoved a perfect curly fry in my mouth.He took a quick bite of his wrap after answering, “Are you kidding me? This date has been amazing so far, Helga! This town is better than I thought it’d be. And that museum was so interesting, I couldn’t help but ask so many questions.” He smiled, his exciting smile was showing and I couldn’t help but smile myself.“Well get ready, Football Head. There’s more places we’re going to after we’re done eating.” I said, taking a huge bite out of my chicken sandwich, given how hungry I was.“Really? Gee, Helga. You really had all of this planned out beforehand, didn’t you?”“I’ve had all this planned out since before I asked you on the date yesterday. Ever since our talk I wanted to do something special for you since we haven’t spent much time together because of finals and stuff. And I figured before we head back home tomorrow, let me do this for you.” I said as I smiled warmly.Arnold blushed, not knowing how to respond. But after a minute of trying to put his words together, he finally said, “You’re amazing, you know? One minute we’re in the fourth grade, we’re sitting in class and throwing spitballs at me and calling me names. Well, you still do that, but that’s not the point. But the next minute I’m here for your college graduation and now I’m on a date with you. I never thought it’d ever be this way, and I’m so happy that it is this way between us.”Now I couldn’t help but blush, and I even looked away from him because of how fucking sweet he is. And he was right in a way, who knows who I’d be with or where I would be if I’d never got together with him. What if things had stayed the way they were since fourth grade? Where would both of us be at this moment right now? I didn’t even answer that because it didn’t matter, what matters is that I’m now with my beloved, and nothing could tear us apart.“Arnold, stop getting all sappy on me.” I say, still smiling.He couldn’t help but laugh, which made me smile even more.After another 5 minutes, we finished our meals, which finally led me to get the car going to our next location: Caldwell Bowl. A bowling alley that a couple of my friends and I went to, and had a really good time. Of course, this and our next place we’re heading to, both of us will be very competitive.I drove about 15 minutes before we finally got there around 1:30. When we got inside we immediately went to the front desk and told the guy at the counter our shoe sizes, and he told us that we’d be using lane seventeen. So we walked over and picked out our bowling balls and put our names so it could add up our points.“You ready, Arnoldo?” I asked with a smirk on my face.“Ready to kick your butt? Always!”“Oh I believe it’ll be quite the opposite, Hair Boy!”I let Arnold bowl first, knocking down about 7 pins first. And on his second bowl, he had gotten the last 3 pins, already getting a spare. So when he looked at me with a smirk on his face, I just stuck my tongue out at him playfully. Luckily I had also gotten a spare, and we continued to get more competitive each round.There were times where we didn’t make all the pins, some were spares, and around the 4th frame Arnold had already made a strike, which meant he was now beating me. I would honestly be happy for Arnold if he won, but as I said, I’m very competitive.As more time went by, we’ve both made a few strikes, more spares, and some of our bowls were absolute shit to the point where we’d laugh at each other for it. I had a 7/10 split and Arnold just laughed his ass off, and then he got one too. So I did the exact same, but we continued to get competitive with each other. It was honestly really fun, until we got to the 10th frame.Now this was a challenge. Because as everyone knows, unless you make a spare or two strikes, you get three bowls this frame. Which is my favorite thing about bowling. And the great thing about right now, is that I just made all three strikes, and now I was ahead of Arnold.“HA! Beat that, Hair Boy!”Now Arnold only needed two strikes to beat me since he made more strikes and spares than me before, so I am praying he makes a spare on this.His first bowl, he steadied himself, and made a strike. Shit. Okay, I’m not gonna distract him any, just hope that he doesn’t make another strike. His second bowl, steadied himself once more, and made another stupid strike. Well god dammit he beat me. Then bowled his third time and only made 8 pins, but that didn’t matter really.“I did beat that, Helga.” He said, smirking at me.I sat down, untying my bowling shoes as I told him jokingly, “I’ll remember this, Arnold. Whenever you ask me to buy you something, I’m just gonna tell you No because you beat me in bowling. ”He just shrugged his shoulders, while smirking, as he went and took off his shoes as well.We then headed back to the counter and returned our shoes, and when I looked at the clock, seeing the time as 2:35pm, I knew it was time to drive Arnold to our next location: Jeremy’s Downtown Arcade.This was the other competitive location I mentioned earlier. I was going to beat Arnold at the one game we both loved playing, and just loved in general, Mario Kart. We’ve been playing that game since we were freshman in high school, and boy did that hold great memories.Of course we’d play other games too. I was going to try to win Arnold something from the claw machine. I know that if there's air hockey there that we will definitely play that as well. And others that we’ve played before that I know we’ll definitely be competitive for.The drive was about 15 minutes long, so we got there around 2:55. And Arnold’s face beamed up once again, knowing how much we loved playing video games together.We got inside and got our dollars traded for quarters, keeping some of our one dollar bills as well just in case. We started exploring around to see what we wanted to do first, then found a Mortal Kombat game machine.We put in our quarters and began choosing our own characters, then fighting to the death with each other. We made a bet that if we beat the other person 3 out of 5 times, then they have to win something from the claw machine. And boy was I up for the challenge. I chose Scorpion, while Arnold chose Reptile.Luckily, I kicked his butt all three times.“HA! That’s for you beating me at bowling!” I said, pointing my finger on his chest. “That’s okay, because after I get your prize from the claw machine, I’m gonna kick your butt at air hockey!” He said as he pointed to the machine.“Holy shit, I didn’t even see that! But you’re on, Arnoldo.”Arnold and I went to the claw machine, and there was a cute stuffed animal dog that I was attached to, and surprisingly, it only took Arnold a few tries to get it for me.When I looked at him, I couldn’t help but kiss him on the cheek, thanking him as well.Afterwards we went to the hockey machine, and it kept score of all our points. This one we found out it would only go up to 10 for some dumb reason, and we couldn’t figure out a way to change it, but it was fine. We played like five rounds anyway. Only because I forgot how good Arnold was at air hockey. I gotta remember that he and Gerald went to the arcade all the time when we were in fourth grade. So when we played our final round, he beat me like he said he would.“Told you I’d kick your butt.” He said as he smirked at me.“Alright, alright, you won. But can you beat me at Mario Kart?” I said, pointing at the game as a smirk also appeared on my face.“Oh, you’re on, Pataki!”We immediately went straight over to Mario Kart, knowing how competitive we both were when it came to racing each other. We played a few games of it—12 rounds—and then 5 more rounds of just us two racing, seeing who would get 3 out of 5 wins against each other again. This time, I kicked his butt once again.We stayed there for little over an hour, seeing that the clock read 4:15pm. So it was time to take him to the next place that I know he will absolutely love. Remember when he saw Salley’s Comet? Well, ever since then, he’s loved looking at the stars and seeing how beautiful the night sky is, because that’s just how Arnold is. So right now, I’m driving us to Whittenberger Planetarium, which was about another 15 minute drive.I’m my way there I had to stop for gas, knowing that next time I should’ve just planned out what was close to TVCC and each other, and then planned out what was close to each other on the other side of town. Oh well.Arnold has no idea where we’re going yet, we still have about five minutes until we get there. But I was almost empty by this point, and I did not want my car running out of gas in the middle of the highway.Once I finally got a full tank of gas, we made our last 5 minutes of a trip to the planetarium. There was no outdoor sign telling us what it was exactly, so when Arnold saw that it was just a plain building with no signs, he was a little confused.“Helga, where exactly are we?” He asked curiously.“You’ll see,” I said smiling.Once we got inside we went to the lady at the counter, and I told her all the information, the 60 minute time and paid her the cost of it, which was $140. Which I find a little ridiculous, but we got free accessories at least.The show started at 5, so we got here just in time. We found two empty seats and took them before anyone else could. The time was around 4:50pm, so we still had a little bit till it started, but it made me laugh on how Arnold was still confused about where we were.“Helga, can you please tell me where we are?”This just kept getting funnier. “You’ll see, Arnold. Just relax.” I told him as I smiled, letting my hand slide to Arnold’s to interlock it.Once the clock read 5:00pm, there was immediately an announcer through the speakers all around us.“Good evening, everybody! I hope you’re all ready for our exciting, wonderful, and mesmerizing program here at the Whittenberger Planetarium.”“Wait, planetarium? Helga, are you serious?” He whispered excitingly, his smile getting bigger. And as I nodded my head,the red on my face got more red by the second.He squeezed my hand a little bit, letting me know how thankful he was that I took him here. I knew he felt this way, I could read him like a book.The program talked about science stuff like earth science and astronomy, social studies stuff like history, navigation, and cultural topics, and English stuff like storytelling and mythology. It was all actually really interesting, and the stars and galaxy were absolutely amazing, and Arnold seemed truly amazed with all of it. After we had left, Arnold kept going on and on about how much he loved it and how much it reminded him of Salley’s Comet.We got out of there a little after 6pm, and I took Arnold out to another fast food restaurant because he told me he wanted something, and this time he let me choose since he chose last time, and he was definitely sure of that. So I chose Five Guys because that was probably one of my favorite fast food restaurants ever.Another 15 minute drive, how wonderful. Anyway, we finally got there and both got bacon cheeseburgers with a small fry. The fry cups are bigger than you think they are. Trust me, I’ve been at a Five Guys before and ordered a large fry, and the thing was fucking huge. Filled to the top, and there were still a lot of extra fries in the bag. How they do their fries actually concerns me if they know the sizes or not.We ate inside the restaurant this time, laughing and talking mainly about our past and our friends and how we used to be during high school. The shit we used to do during school and outside of school. Remembering what we did on the last day of school before graduation. All our high school memories meant the world to us, and the picture of the whole class Gerald got Arnold on his birthday, which he still had framed and carefully taken care of.After about 45 minutes of being in the restaurant, we went over to get some ice cream since that was what Arnold wanted. The clock read 7:20, and it was still a little bit of daylight out, but if it could get to around by the time we get ice cream and go to our last location, that’d be perfect.The ice cream place we were going to was about another 15 minute drive, but that’s alright, because the last place I want to take Arnold after ice cream is about five minutes away, so it all works out well.When we got to the ice cream place Arnold had ordered Rocky Road, and I ordered Cookies and Cream. Both our favorites. It’s funny because I’ve always seen Arnold as a Rocky Road person. It just kind of makes sense.Once we got our ice cream we immediately went back to the car and I kindly asked Arnold to hold mine since I couldn’t exactly eat it and drive at the same time. But since now there was hardly any traffic, it took less than 5 minutes to get to our final destination for the night: Indian Creek Park.This park has a beautiful riverside, with a small bridge so you could see a great view of both sides of the park. Really green grass with lots of bushes and trees. Perfect place to have our deep talks since I heard from one of my friends that most people enjoy coming to the park during the evening.Surprisingly there weren't many people here tonight, which made it even better. I would prefer if people didn’t hear Arnold’s and my conversations. It’s not like our conversations were anything like you think it is, or their super private or anything. We just like having our conversations away from strangers.“Welcome, Arnold. To Indian Creek Park!” I said to him as he took a lick of his ice cream.He gave it a good look around, seeing the many sites and beauty’s of the park. It really was a nice park in my opinion. I liked it when I first came here when I was having hard times in life.“Wow, Helga. This is absolutely beautiful. How did you find this?”“I was clearing my head out one time during my first year of college and stumbled upon this place.” I smiled, grabbing his hand and taking him over to the bridge.We both sat down, our legs hanging off as one of our hands held onto the bars of the bridge. The sun setting as the sky was an orange-pinkish color, partly cloudy out as well. This truly was the perfect evening.“Alright, Football Head. If you had to rate this date, between a 1 and a 10, what would you give it?”“Well it’s definitely way bigger than a 10. Today was absolutely amazing, Helga. I can’t believe you’d do all this for me.”“Believe it, Hair Boy. You were going through something and I had to do something about it.”“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry I acted that way towards you. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel bad for me or anything. I really could’ve taken care of the problem myself, but I really do appreciate your help.”“Arnold, you’ve got to stop making this a big deal!” I started, letting go of the bar to hold his free hand. “You were going through something, and I’m glad you told me about this. I wouldn’t have been able to help you if I didn’t know what’s wrong. You’ve told me the same thing a while ago. I can’t exactly remember when, but the point is that it’s important to open up, especially in a relationship.”His eyes sparkled from the setting sun in the west. The way his cornflour hair was even brighter than its normal color, it was absolutely beautiful. Everything about him was absolutely beautiful.“Besides, I enjoyed today way too much. You make everything in my life better just by being there with and for me. You’re truly amazing, Arnold. And I couldn’t love you more.”He literally almost dropped his ice cream when he went in for a hug. His arms underneath mine, making me almost drop mine as well. His head was about to lean against my chest before coming in for a passionate kiss. Now this was the only Ice Cream I truly cared for. I took my free hand and placed it on his cheek, my face started to heat up as the blush started to form across my cheeks. Oh my beloved, let’s stay like this forever!Unfortunately that didn’t happen as he broke apart from my lips a second after I thought that. He looked at me with lovesick eyes, his smile warm, the blush also across his cheeks. He was so damn perfect, I swear at this point I wanted to marry him.“I love you too, Helga. So much. So much that you don’t even know how much. And I’m glad I make you feel that way, Helga. You truly are amazing to be around, and I’m glad to have you in my life.”“Arnold, I can’t tell whether I want you to keep going or not, but you’re about to make me faint of happiness.”He chuckled to himself.“No seriously. My heart is literally about to pump out of my chest!” I made a little pew noise as a demonstration.He chuckled once more, I swear I would never get over his adorable laugh. “Sometimes I forget how funny you are, Helga.” He said, still chuckling to himself.I don’t know what I was about to do, but I was gonna do something . This boy was killing me over here! My inner nine year old self wouldn’t be able to handle something like this.I couldn’t help it. When I finished my ice cream I leaned in close to him, my lips inches away from his. I looked at them, up at his beautiful eyes, and back down at his lips. My hands sliding to his hands, interlocking both, knowing Arnold finished his ice cream a minute ago. The heat on my face was intense, and I bet Arnold’s was the same way. I had to get him to shut up—in a good way—before I did something I didn’t want to do in public.“H-Helga?” He said out of surprise.“Quiet, Arnold. You hear that?” I asked in a whisper.When both of us heard absolutely nothing, I tightened my grip at his hands just the slightest. “Absolute silence. Perfect.” Once I said that, I leaned slowly and gave him another passionate kiss on the lips.I could immediately feel him kiss me back. My breath was a little unsteady, but I was able to manage it as best as I could. And when I heard and felt Arnold moan into the kiss, I knew it was time for a good make out session.
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hi guys!! theres a few things i want to say:first of all, thank you all so much for the support of this fanfic of their college life. but unfortunately, i think i might be deleting this fic. the more i thought about it, the more i could've made a lot of changes in this, and there were things that i had found out after making these 6 chapters that seem so out of character for arnold, helga, and the rest that were written in here. i would have made the changes if i found out sooner, but there's no way i'm going to be able to rewrite all that in time before i have to do my midterm exams for school.second of all, im so sorry i haven't been posting much lately. i've been getting back into just reading books/fics instead of actually writing fics. i got into this one novel that had about 270 pages and finished it in a week lol, but then i got into reading hey arnold fanfics, and so far have read 5 fics in a week, and i have to say that there were three that i absolutely loved: Five Kisses, Salted Nut Rolls, and And Yet I Love Him. SO FUCKING GOOD. i put the links at the end of this in case you guys want to read them.third of all, between trying to get my grades back up, reading, band things, other life stuff that's going to be happening soon, and my writers block, i just haven't been wanting to write, either that or i really haven't had the time to do so. so again, im really sorry about this guys, but i do have an idea tho!what i am planning on doing is adding a few extra chapters to my first hey arnold fic, He Fell Harder, from the ideas that i've originally was going to put in The Question. i've been wanting to write more about helga and arnold's high school life anyway, and i'll be keeping Rhonda's Party the way it is. most likely making a either a one-shot of The Question, or only making it a few chapters long only because of how much it might have in there (and depending on how much i get into it lol) instead of writing a whole story (like He Fell Harder) about it. bc the more i think about it, the more most of the writing isn't really necessary. seeing what the name of the fic is, i think we all know what's going to happen, and the anticipation for people is just going to make them not want to read it the longer it goes. so just writing a one-shot (or a few chapters) of it, i think will make it a lot better and it'll get to the point faster with good detail in the story at the same time.also thank you guys so much for over 5,000 hits on He Fell Harder. that's the fanfic i enjoyed writing most actually. seeing you guys' love for it inspires me to keep working harder on these hey arnold stories, so i couldn't have done it without you! :D anyway, this fic will get deleted soon, so thank you for reading it! i appreciate all the love for it! see yall again soon! btw, here are the links:https://archiveofourown.org/works/112121/chapters/155862https://archiveofourown.org/works/111872?view_full_work=truehttps://archiveofourown.org/works/49168324/chapters/124058845