Chapter 14: I Promise

                                    

                                          
"Is this true, Helga?" Arnold asked.
                          
"Yes..." I admitted.
                          
"Why didn't you tell me?" Arnold asked.
                          
"I wanted to tell you so many times... and I tried to. But Summer beat me to it. I'm sorry." I said.
                          
"Helga, who are you talking to in there?" I heard behind my door before it swung open without warning, Inga barging into my room.
                          
"Helga, why is there a boy at the window? You are grounded, no having people over." Inga said.
                          
"Just give us a few minutes-" I started to say.
                          
"You can talk when you're ungrounded. Right now, I need you to stay here and think about what you've done." Inga told me.
                          
"Um... why are you grounded, Helga?" Arnold asked.
                          
"I'll explain later." I said.
                          
"Okay..." Arnold said as he closed my window and walked away from it.
                          
"Helga... I hope you know that I only want what's best for you. I did rebellious things when I was your age and I didn't get disciplined for them. And I'm giving you a chance to think about things. I know you're trying to be a better person... and I can tell from your book that the guy who just showed up is helping with that." Inga explained.
                          
"Thanks, I guess. I'll try not to do anything too crazy again." I said.
                          
"I'll leave you alone now." Inga said.
                          
For the rest of my grounding, I thought about everything. I was so nervous for when I got to go back to school. My talk with Arnold at the window was interrupted by Inga, so I was left with so many unanswered questions for days. Was Arnold mad at me or not? Was he going to act mad at me when I returned? Or would he understand? I nervously paced around my room, thinking about how he would react in several days. I thought about how much I loved him and how much I wanted him in my life forever. I was also nervous that I would most likely see Summer at school for the first time in almost a year. What would she do to me? What would she do to Olga? There were a lot of unanswered questions.
                          
Six days later...
                          
Today was my first day of being ungrounded. I was going back to PS 118 after my week long break. And it was also the day when I was going to get my questions answered after all the nervous anticipation.
                          
I walked over to my locker to get my English textbook, and that's when I heard footsteps towards my direction.
                          
"Hey Helga..." Arnold said.
                          
"Hi, football head." I said.
                          
"You wanna blow off first period to talk?" Arnold asked.
                          
"What has gotten into you?" I asked.
                          
"The golden boy isn't so golden it seems like."
                          
"You don't have to be golden all the time."
                          
"I guess I don't. But I really just wanna skip class because I can't wait any longer to say what I have to say."
                          
"Yeah, I have been dying with anticipation myself. My nanny wouldn't let us finish our conversation."
                          
Arnold suddenly grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers together. He then started walking with me as our hands met. This was a good sign. If he was upset with me, he wouldn't be holding my hand, right?
                          
We walked together to the janitor's closet, and I was assuming Arnold wanted a more private place to talk.
                          
"We aren't supposed to be here, are we?" I asked as we arrived.