Yup, it had been a great summer. Not only for the good times though, but physically as well. Gerald and I had decided we wanted to start working out, so at the beginning of the summer, Gerald had gotten a home gym for his birthday, and we had used it every day. I gave my stomach a little pat and inspected it in the mirror. Every single ounce of baby fat that I had was now gone, and it was perfectly flat.
My arms and legs were pretty well toned too, and I began flexing to get a good look at them. I also turned around and checked out my butt, which I must admit was looking pretty good too. Lastly, I checked out my face. Still completely zit-free and my beard was coming in nicely. Well, it wasn�t really a beard. It was more like a few blond hairs that were barely visible, but I was quite proud of them.
I went to my closet and looked for something to wear. Going clothing shopping with Rhonda and Gerald had been a lot of fun, and my closet was brimming with new fashionable attire. I chose a pair of baggy jean shorts and put them on with a belt. (Gerald said they were supposed to be low fitting, but I decided I�d rather not have my boxers poking out for the world to see.) I grabbed this black T-shirt that I had gotten and put it on. It was kind of tight, but Gerald had again said that it was supposed to be and upon inspection, I decided it showed off my physique quite nicely. That done, I put on my flannel and checked myself out one final time. It just didn�t look right. Perplexed, I took off the flannel and all was spiffy again. My flannel was such an important part of my look, I didn�t want to go without it, so I simply tied it around my waist, and that completed the ensemble nicely. My black flip-flops were the final touch. My hat remained quiet on the bedpost because the high school dress code didn�t allow hats. I only wondered how poor Sid would feel.
I went over to the dresser and reached for my hair gel. I had decided that my long hair was too much of a hassle, and had gotten it cut earlier in the summer. At first it didn�t look quite right, but then Rhonda told me about hair gel, and I�ve worn it spiky ever since. Helga seemed to like the new �do, so now I�m hoping all the other girls do as well.
I spiked my hair, put on some cologne, gathered my backpack, and psyched myself up for the first day of high school. 10th grade was going to be sweet, and there would be a very different Arnold wandering the campus.
I groaned as I awoke to the familiar booming of Bob�s voice.
�Helga, get your butt outta bed, it�s the first day of school!� Knowing it was the only way to pull myself from the warm comfort of bed, I rolled out and plopped onto the floor. I untangled myself from the sheets that I had taken down with me and pulled myself up.
I walked into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror before I got in the shower. Not a pretty picture. I had pillow marks on my face, my eyes were still asleep looking, and my hair was a total mess. I took off my nightshirt and got in. I just stood there for a couple minutes letting the hot water wake me up before I actually did any shower related activities. When I was done I put on a towel, wrung out my hair, and then ran down the hall before Bob saw me. I toweled off in my room then went into my closet to get dressed.
The back wall of my closet was bare, but the empty spot no longer bothered me. When I had told Arnold about how I felt I had taken my shrine down. I still loved Arnold, though he didn�t love me. I was very surprised at how little it hurt when I learned that he had no feelings for me. The first couple of shrine-less years it was weird not seeing it when I pulled aside my clothes. But I matured past needing one and it no longer bothered me.
The little pinks books were still in a box at the back though, and I occasionally jotted something down. A little pale blue book among the pinks ones stood out like a sore thumb. The little blue book wasn�t full, but I was done writing in it. That one was from a few years back, the summer before Jr. High started. That was the summer Miriam and Bob divorced.
I still don�t know how Mom got the ability to demand a divorce from Bob, but she got it. They had gotten a divorce and seeing how Bob was the only one with a job and a house at the time, he got me in the beginning. I remembered with terrible clarity the lawyers, the fights, the documents and contracts. How I hated those lawyers, dividing up and sectioning everything, slicing and dicing our lives to pieces with no more emotion than if they were splitting a pizza. Bob got that and Miriam got that was bad enough, but then they started discussing me as if I were no more than a piece of furniture to also be split and divided! I was furious when I learned that I was going to be �given� to �Big Bob the Beeper King.�
Miriam had gotten a third of Bob�s money and tricked the lawyers into making him pay alimony. They both knew Miriam was perfectly capable of working for herself, but Miriam put on her best show of stupidity, lethargy, and helplessness she had ever pulled and got a very large alimony to help her until she got a job. Bob tried his hardest to fight her since he remembered very clearly what had happened when he had thrown out his back and Miriam had taken over the �beeper empire� for him while he recovered, but she still won.
She had gotten a good business executive job and a nice sized apartment not far from where Bob lived about a month and a half after the divorce was settled and I happily got to live with Miriam. Now she had child support to replace the alimony. She was completely different now and was no longer the lethargic, stupefied zombie she used to be. She also tried very hard from becoming a workaholic. But since I�m living with Miriam why am I with Bob right now you may ask.
Bob had visitation rights for practically the whole summer and I was staying there a little longer this summer because Miriam had a business trip to make. She�d be back in a few days and I could go home.