Chapter 4:

Arnold could honestly say that he was really happy. Things were going really well with Lila and he liked her a lot. He was slowly but surely getting over Helga. He thought about her every now and then, and maybe deep down he still loved her more than Lila, but he ignored those feelings. It was about time he moved on and so far it was working.

There was a baseball game that Saturday, the first of the season. He'd always loved sports. Being out on the field was exhilarating to him and today he was ready to kick ass.

"Good luck," Lila said before the game started. The two stood right next to the field and she adjusted his baseball cap affectionately.

He pressed his forehead to hers. "Thanks baby."

She took his face in her hands and gave him a long kiss. "I love you Arnold."

"I love you too."

"Hey Arnold! Come on!" Gerald exclaimed waving him over to the field.

She gave him one last kiss and he walked over to the field with a permanent smile plastered onto his face. It was all the encouragement he needed.

"Could you be any more head over heels?" Gerald said elbowing him in the ribs.

Arnold tried to shake himself out of his trance. "She's amazing."

"Hey, I'm just glad you're happy now. It's better than seeing moping around all the time like you were last year."

The game finally started. When he was up at the plate he made eye contact with Lila up in the bleachers. She blew him a kiss. It made him smile even wider. He also noticed Helga sitting a few rows down. Her hair was in two messy ponytails, her old converse sneakers were untied, and she was eating a snow cone. It was blue raspberry, her favorite. Looking at her made his heart beat fast. He shook the thoughts out of his head. He was supposed to be over her, why did she make him feel this way?

He missed the first throw.

"Come on Arnold!" his team shouted from behind him.

Alright, no more thinking about Helga and Lila. It was time to get his head in the game.

He missed the next throw.

What the hell was wrong with him?

The pitcher threw the final ball. He hit it as hard as he could. It flew at lightning speed over the field. He took off running. He passed first. The ball was still soaring. He made it past second. Everyone was cheering for him. The ball hit the ground. The outfield was scrambling to grab it. He made it to third. They threw the ball to home. He took a chance and started to run to fourth. Almost there. He slid. Dust blew up around him. He touched fourth base just before the ball was caught.

Everyone was cheering.

"Arnold! Arnold! Arnold!"

He walked off the field with a sense of triumph. He had made the first homerun of the game. Things could only go uphill from there.

It was now halftime. The cheerleaders were dancing on the field. Arnold and his team went off to get water and talk to their friends.

"Hey Arnold, isn't that your girl talking to a senior?" Sid said pointing to the bleachers.

"What?" Sure enough Lila was standing very close to one of the hottest senior guys, Lars. She giggled and tossed her hair flirtatiously. What the hell was going on? He forced himself to not get angry, this didn't necessarily mean anything. He walked over calmly yet defensively only to hear Lila giggle again.

"Hey baby," he said coming up behind her. He put his arm around her and put his finger through her belt loop, glaring at Lars for a good measure.

"Oh hey Arnold," she said innocently. "I was just telling Lars what an ever so fantastic baseball player you are...right Lars?"

"Yeah, totally," Lars said adjusting his sunglasses. "See ya later Lila."

Arnold watched him walk off unsure what to think about that interaction. He then looked at Lila suspiciously. "You're friends with him?"

"He was an old flame," she said nonchalantly. "Don't look at me like that, I can't have other guy friends?"

"I never said that."

"Good, because I know you talk to Helga all the time."

"I haven't spoken to Helga in weeks."

She crossed her arms. "I'm sure."

"Lila, I'm over Helga, you know that." He ran his fingers across her freckled cheek. "She doesn't mean anything to me anymore."

She smiled. "I know. You'd better be. Helga's a loser anyway. You deserve so much better." She leaned in and gave him a kiss.

He held her and kissed her back although he didn't agree that Helga was a loser. She was really cool and fun when she wanted to be. But that didn't matter, all that mattered was Lila.

The game resumed and P.S. 119 won by a landslide. After changing his clothes in the locker room, he came back out to find Lila and instead he ran into Helga.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

He stepped to the side to go around her although she had the same idea and moved in the same direction. Both went the other way, then back to the other side.

"Do you mind if I…?"

"Yeah…"

After a few more rounds of going back and forth, he finally put his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her aside. They stood there for a moment, their eyes locked on one another. She wore no makeup, her jeans were ripped in the knees, and loose strands of hair hung around her face. Everything about her was so effortless. He realized his hands were still on her shoulders and he quickly let go of her. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Good game. That was a great homerun."

"Thanks," he said with a small smile. No matter how many times he said to himself he was over her, she still got to him this way.

Suddenly Lila was by his side. "What do we have here? Flirting with my man, huh Helga?"

Helga crossed her arms. "You wish."

"Really Helga, why don't you go find another guy to hang around? Oh yeah, that's right, no one wants to date you."

Helga clenched her fist. "You know what Lila…?

"Lila…" Arnold began. Sure he wasn't with Helga anymore but he wasn't going to let his new girlfriend insult her.

"What?!" Lila said to him.

"Let's just go home. Come on." He gave Helga an apologetic look and then led Lila away from her.