Hello there, this is the first chapter of my first ever fanfic. This story is dedicated to a few people-
Camille and Shon, for inadvertently getting me back into the HA! Fandom.
Tara, for her fantabulous Photoshop skills.
And especially Marcos, for giving me the motivation to get off my lazy butt and write this, although I actually did write this while sitting on my lazy butt. Guess that's what you'd call ironic…
Anyway, I don't own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters. Craig Bartlett does. So there.
The first thing Arnold felt as he opened his eyes was the skin-searing heat of a bright summer's day. Fortunately, the sting of looking directly into the sun distracted him from it momentarily. Disoriented, he tried to gain his bearings. Where am I? He thought to himself dimly. How did I get here? The second question remained unanswered, but after rubbing the sunspots out of his eyes, he discovered that he had fallen asleep at the municipal pool on a nearby beach chair.
"Hey, Arnold!"
Arnold turned his head to spot the distinctly chipper female voice that had called him, and saw Lila Sawyer sitting at the edge of the deep end, soaking her feet in the conspicuously empty pool. In fact, besides Lila, there was nobody around for as far as Arnold could see. The years had been extremely kind to Ms. Sawyer, he mused. She had grown her hair out and removed her braids around the eighth grade, so her hair was now a brilliant cascade of red that fell gracefully down to the small of her back. Her small green bikini accentuated her well-toned yet slender curves. After staring at her for several awkward seconds, Arnold dove into the water which was thankfully cold, as it helped alleviate both the uncomfortable heat and the decidedly comfortable sensation he'd experienced from getting an eyeful of half-naked Lila. He swam a few meters toward where Lila was waiting at the edge of the pool.
"Hi Lila," Arnold said, inwardly swearing at himself for concentrating more on ogling his crush than coming up with a response, "Hot enough for ya?"
Smooth. Real smooth.
Lila giggled a bit, to Arnold's great relief.
"So, are you just going to stand there, or can I get a ride around the pool?"
It was a miracle that Arnold managed to prevent himself from grinning until his face split. "Sure thing." he replied, holding out his arms, "hop on." In one fluid motion, Lila lifted herself over the surface of the pool and straight into Arnold's arms, dangling her long dancer's legs over the surface of the water. "You've practiced that." Arnold remarked, with what he hoped was a charming smirk.
"Not really, I'm just flexible," she replied with a seductive purr in her voice, "If you play your cards right, you may find out just how flexible I can be."
Arnold was taken aback at Lila's frankness. Something was clearly out of the ordinary here, but he was torn between determining the cause of Lila's flirtations or simply enjoying them while they lasted. After a brief consultation between his upper and lower extremities, he chose the latter, and made good on his promise of carrying Lila around the pool, giving her the grand tour of the local landmarks, including the stray Band-Aid by the deep end and the loose change some kids had placed in the filter.
"And that's pretty much it. Did I forget anything?"
"Yeah," Lila replied, lifting her right hand and gently tracing the line of Arnold's jaw with her fingertips. "You forgot to let me thank you properly."
Arnold needed no further invitation. He lowered Lila gently until her head rested just above the water, her toes skimming the pool's surface. He looked into her bright green eyes and felt his heart melt as he took a deep breath, leaned in gently, and planted his lips on Lila's, giving her a passionate but chaste kiss that lasted for what felt like an eternity.
Arnold pulled away with a bewildered look on his face. He hadn't felt a thing. The warm kiss that he knew he had just experienced simply wasn't registering with his sense of touch. He looked back at Lila, who was gazing back at him with a sad, contrite expression.
"I'm sorry, Arnold."
"Sorry for what?"
"I'm so sorry." Lila lifted her right hand from the cool water and placed it on Arnold's burning cheek, then pulled it back and slapped him with the force of a small freight train.
Arnold bolted upright in his bed in a cold sweat. Great, thought Arnold. Another dream. That makes three times this week. I'll give myself points for originality, though, it's never been at the pool before. Carnivals, restaurants, concerts, even a few rodeos, but never at a pool. He looked out his skylight to see the first light snowflakes of winter falling on the city. I couldn't even get the season right, he thought bitterly. He glanced at the clock: four in the morning.
Taking a deep breath, Arnold let out his frustration with a long sigh. He'd never been able to sleep after a Lila dream before, and tonight didn't feel like an exception. At least she apologized this time, he thought with a weary smile. Arnold gently lowered his head back onto his pillow, and felt a single tear sting his eye and roll down the cheek that Lila had placed her hand on moments before.
A/N: Whether you like it so far or not, I'd love to hear from you! Please review!