Chapter 12: The Kiss

Ring…

'Who could that be?' Arnold asked himself. He just cleared his confusions out regarding his feelings between Lila and Helga, thanks to his grandpa. Now, he was trying to find a way to settle this once and for all.

"Hello." He grabbed the phone and had his eyes widened once he heard the familiar voice. "Arnold…" He wasn't expecting it especially on this very night. "…this is Lila."

"Li-la?"

"Hi Arnold. I'm ever so happy to hear your voice again. It's been a while since our last talk. How are you?" she sounded so cheery.

Meanwhile, Arnold didn't answer right away. He didn't even know how to start. He was dumbfounded.

"Arnold?" she asked again.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? If not I'll just call later."

"No. I'm fine. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I just called…"

"Hold on for a sec." Arnold punched a key to answer the incoming call. "Hello."

"How's it goin' football head?" this makes Arnold's nervousness grew even more.

'Oh man, why now?' he asked himself.

"Arnold? This is Helga. Hello…"

"Hey Helga." He said, trying to hide the tension in his voice.

But Helga sensed it anyway. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, a little worried.

Again, Arnold didn't answer at once. He didn't know what to say.

"Arnold? Are you still there?" she asked again, sounding more worried.

"Helga, listen. Lila's on the other line so I'll just call you back, okay?"

Helga's mood changed suddenly as she heard Lila's name. 'So that's why. Miss goody-two-shoes is on the other line.' She thought sadly. "Fine."

"Thanks. Bye." Then he hung up. He punched the proper key to go back to Lila. "Lila?"

"Still here Arnold."

"Good. What was it that you were saying?"

"Nothing really. I just called to tell you that I miss you, ever so much." Her voice showed an obvious sincerity.

Arnold's heart sank. Those words only made what he feels right now a pound heavier. Before she called, he was trying to figure out a way on how he would break up with her without having to hurt her so much. Now, she was telling him how much she missed him, which made him more remorse.

"Do you miss me too, Arnold?" she asked.

"Yeah…of course I do." For him, that's just the right thing to say. He doesn't wanna lie to her but he doesn't wanna hurt her either.

"I know. I wonder if we could go out sometime, just you and me, like what we used to do. What do you say?"

Lila's offer brightened up everything around Arnold. The solution to his problem actually came directly from the mouth of his problem.

"Sure. As a matter of fact, there's something I wanna tell you." his tone didn't really show a sign of excitement, but instead it was serious and weak. He doesn't wanna sound like excited about their date considering his real purpose of seeing her.

But Lila seemed oblivious to his manner and became even more cheery than ever. "Really? Gosh Arnold, I'm ever so excited about it. Let's meet in our usual meeting place, okay?"

'What? Of all places.' he was confounded. Lila just made things even more complicated for Arnold.

"Arnold? You're quiet again. Do you still remember where that is?"

"Of course I do."

"Good. So I'll meet you there at 3p.m. tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" He said, almost shouting because of sheer panic. He wasn't ready yet.

"Yes. The pageant is on the night after tomorrow so we'll be busy preparing during the day. I really wanna see you before our big musical and you know what tomorrow is, right?"

'Look Mr. Brightside, this is all or nothing. Just take it.' He told himself. "Okay. Anyway, we will have our general rehearsal on that day too."

"That's ever so wonderful. I can't wait. See you there. Goodnight!" she hung up.

"Bye." He said, almost in a sigh in the dial tone.

The whole night, Arnold kept himself busy rehearsing how he's gonna tell Lila everything. He would want to do this as gentle and as smooth as possible so she'd never get hurt so bad. He recalled how she became so depress the first time he dumped her and he doesn't want that to happen again.

Due to these preparations, he forgot to call back Helga, who had been staring at the phone for like an hour, waiting for her beloved football head to call.

"What's taking him so long? Aren't they finished talking yet?" She considered calling him but before she grab on the receiver, she changed her mind. "No. He said he's gonna call me back. I'm sure he will so I'll just wait, even if it kills me." She held on to his promise, which wasn't fulfilled, until she fell asleep. On the next morning, Miriam could say that Helga woke up on the wrong side of her bed.

At exactly 3:00 p.m., Arnold was already in the park. He was seating on a bench near the fountain, their usual meeting place. He remembered that this was where he and Lila became sweethearts. All their good memories have mostly spent here. This place was too memorable for Lila and perhaps became even more memorable after today.

It was Sunday so the park was slightly jam-packed. Good thing their location wasn't really that exposed. Shortly after he arrived, Lila showed up. With the looks of her face, he could see how happy she is to see him again.

"Arnold, it's ever so wonderful to be here again with you." She snuggled him tightly to make up for her long absence. This just put another load on Arnold's shoulder. But then, he readied himself for all the possibilities that he would come across during and after this break-up.

"You said you have something to tell me. Well, here I am."

'Okay, this is it. The moment of truth.' Arnold looked around for a while then fixed his eyes to Lila. He took her right hand and squeezed it gently. Then, he took a deep breath as he released the words out.

"Lila, let's break-up." He said, nice and gentle. He examined Lila's face and he could see the sudden change of the girl's expression.

Meanwhile, Lila was blown away by Arnold's unexpected offer. She looked at him, as if waiting for him to take his words back and say that it was just a joke. But he didn't. She could feel her spirits subsiding. She could feel her heart breaking into pieces.

"Why Arnold? What have I done? Is it because I became too busy lately and never had enough time for you." She asked, tears started to stream down her face.

"No, it wasn't your fault."

"Then why?" she asked, indignantly.

Arnold wanted to straighten things up quickly. He couldn't contain to see her crying for so long. She's still somewhat special.

"Lila, listen to me. I know this sound dumb but I just had this realization about how I really feel for you."

"What is it?"

Arnold didn't exactly know how to express it. He never imagined that this would be three times more difficult than he expected. But he let it out anyway before he lost his nerve.

"I realized that I don't really love you as much as I thought I do. And I love someone else. I know how much it would hurt you but I wanna remain honest to you and to myself." He spoke everything with full of sympathy to Lila. He knew how deep these words would pierce her heart. He doesn't wanna hurt her but he doesn't wanna lie to her as well.

"Why did you pursue me if you love someone else?" she questioned.

"Because I thought I love you…"

"Now you realized you don't?" she cut-in.

"Yes." He nodded softly.

"That you're in love with another girl?"

"Yes."

"Well, you should have never done that if you weren't sure of your feelings!" she said, raising her voice. "Now that I learned to love you back, you're here breaking my heart!"

"I'm so sorry." He couldn't face her. He could feel the heat of her rage rising. "I also happen to recognized it just now. I didn't even know that I've been holding this up for so long. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Lila didn't speak for a while. She just let all her tears poured out. She wanted to cry them out until she had nothing left. Arnold broke her heart again. And the worst thing he had ever said was that he's in love with someone else.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me but please don't let this destroy you. Don't cry for me because I don't deserve it. You deserve someone better. I'm sure there's someone out there who's really meant for you." He was trying to soothe Lila from all the pain he had caused her.

Lila stared at him and brooded over what he had said. She could see that this wasn't easy for him either and that he was sincere to all his apologies. She believed that he didn't really mean to hurt her. He just wanted to be honest. As she contemplated things out, she realized that she should be somehow thankful that he had told her early. It would even more painful if he chose to hide the truth.

"Who's the girl?" she asked, finding her voice again. She doesn't seem so angry anymore. This relieved Arnold. She finally understood everything.

"Helga."

"I knew it." Then she remembered the time Helga admitted to her that she love Arnold. It was when Helga asked her to back-out as Juliet for their stage play "Romeo and Juliet" in the 4th grade.

"You knew?" Arnold asked, astounded.

Lila didn't answer Arnold's confusion but instead, she gave him a little piece of advice. "Arnold, be sure that you're true to your feelings for Helga or you might break another heart again."

"Does this mean you're not that mad anymore?"

"If I stay mad at you, will it make any difference? You're right. I shouldn't waste my tears to someone who doesn't deserve them."

"Thanks Lila." He smiled. "Do you think we could still be friends?"

"Sure. But I don't think we'll still be that close."

Arnold just kept smiling. 'All's well that ends well.' He thought happily.

"I'm sure you know what today is, right?" she asked, out of the blue. That's when Arnold remembered that it was their 1st year anniversary. He was saddened by that realization. He broke Lila's heart on this fateful day, in this special place.

"This is where we had our first kiss, remember?" she asked again. Arnold just nodded.

"So, can I might as well have my one last kiss?" she asked softly.

For all the pain and heartache she suffered from him today, maybe to kiss her for the last time was the least that he could do. So, Arnold leaned over on Lila until his lips pressed hers. As they kissed, they didn't notice that a pair of blue eyes welled in tears was watching them.

Finally, Helga succeeded in winning Arnold's heart! That's good news, right?