CHAPTER 14: THE RESURRECTION, PART 3

A choice to work in the medical field is never an easy one; one must be willing to put aside all desire for fame and profit aside to reach for one simple goal: To save the lives of those who need saving. It is not an easy job, requiring self-sacrifice and countless hours of work for the goal of bettering those in need, and very few can step into this field of work easily and overlook profit.

One of these selfless beings is Dr. Peyton Harvey Scott. Spending a good number of his prime years in school to achieve an understanding of the human psyche and how to heal any fractures within it. His past achievements have not been anything outstanding in comparison to others; while managing to help many patients who seemed so lost, so desperately hopeless within their own problems, never before now has he had any patient truly worthy of much work and attention.

This patient is Thaddeus 'Curly' Gammelthorpe, better known to the world as the country's first supervillain: 'The Freak'. The fact that he is not a sane person is common knowledge enough to the world, as anyone would think of someone who committed the atrocities he did, but the question of how he was not sane was a question yet to be answered.

For the past year, Dr. Scott has spent his career trying to find the secret to what led Curly to become the Freak, in which, he could find the way to cure that illness in his mind. Many have tried and failed to find a solution to whatever illness may plague the Freak, but Dr. Scott has made a pledge to succeed where the others have failed.

Over this past year, he has had almost no idea what to even guess what his patient was. After conducting hours of research with the footage he had found of his patient, he had finally found some clues to that answer. Taking his clipboard and pen, the good doctor took a seat beside his patient, ready to begin his next session.

Unlike most sessions, involving nothing more than the doctor and his patient, this session had a new factor that allowed a deeper study. This time, the inanimate Curly had a polygraph attached, with wiring and sensors attached to his fingers and forehead; the only places on his body capable of reading any reaction.

"So, now, what, doc? You finally gonna electrocute me? I finally drive you over the edge?" The Freak asked.

"Not at all. For our session, I wanted to try something new to see if we could get some more mileage out of our talks. This here is polygraph, I'm sure you've probably seen it in movies or TV shows." Dr. Scott said.

"Oh, and here I was, starting to think I was becoming a bad influence on you. So, what am I accused of stealing?"

"It's nothing like that. All I want you to do is to just talk to me like you normally do, just pretend that this thing isn't even here."

"Hmm... Well, not like I have a choice in the matter, do I? Go ahead."

"Okay, then."

Turning to his side, Dr. Scott turned on a video camera, beginning the recording of their session. Taking to his clipboard again, the good doctor readied himself for the first question to the test.

"Okay, now, I'm going to ask you a few basic questions, just only things like your name and information about yourself. This is to calibrate the machine." Dr. Scott said.

"Fine." The Freak said.

"Is your name 'Thaddeus Gammelthorpe'?"

"...No."

"Is your name 'Curly'?"

"No."

Realizing that he was not getting a good test out of the polygraph, Dr. Scott instead asked differently of his patient.

"Is your name... 'The Freak'?" Dr. Scott said.

"Yes." The Freak said.

"Do you live in the United States?"

"Yes."

"Does 1 + 1 equal 43?"

"No."

"Does 1 + 1 equal 2?"

"Yes."

"How many days are in a week?"

"7."

"What color is your hair?"

"Black."

Getting the correct answers to his questions for calibration, Dr. Scott noted all questions and answers, preparing himself for the next part of the session.

"Okay, now. From childhood you suffered abuse from your parental figures, is that right?" Dr. Scott asked.

"Yes." The Freak said.

"Is it true that you were beaten, molested, burned, and cut by your parental figures?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that you killed them both in revenge?"

"Yes."

"Is this event what led you to adopt the persona of 'The Freak'?"

"It was the day I was born."

Despite the eccentric answer, the polygraph still read that he was telling the truth, leading the good doctor to continue.

"On the day that you decided to kill your parents, how did the event play out?" Dr. Scott asked.

Upon hearing the question, the Freak's mouth curled up into a smile and his eye gazed off into an unseen distance; his mind looking back on this memory with fondness and nostalgia. More than delighted to indulge himself within this part of his life once again, the Freak gladly shared his story with the doctor.

"After I got another beating from my father, I lost a lot of blood and passed out on the floor. When I got up, I blew out my nose, cleaned all the blood and snot out of me, and then took a shower. Well, of course, before that, I cut this message on my chest, as you can see it here. I took a scalding-hot shower, let this wound cauterize, and I put on some new clothes and makeup. After I got those down, I got my dad's gun and killed them both." The Freak said.

"Did either of them say anything to you before you killed them?" Dr. Scott asked.

"My mom didn't; I shot her right in the head. My dad, on the other hand, shared this little exchange with me:

"'You little bastard, how dare you? HOW DARE YOU?!' He said.

"''How dare I'? A better question is, 'why haven't I sooner'? I feel so much more relieved now that she's finally dead. And when I pull this trigger again, ending your miserable life as well, I'll feel even better.' I said.

"'You killed my wife, you little shit! We should've bashed your head harder as a baby! Not just enough to make you stop crying like back then, enough to make your damn ears pour out blood!' He said.

"'Maybe you should've. Perhaps then you'd be alive now.' I said.

"'You son of a bitch! You are filth! I HAVE NO DAMN SON!' He said.

"'You never did.' I said.

"Then, I shot him and burned the house down."

For a moment, there was only silence between Dr. Scott and the Freak. Anyone hearing such a harsh and violent tale being shared with them would need a break from just their own thoughts following that story, but, even for someone used to this tale like Dr. Scott, he is never so easy to hear this tale.

What troubles him most now is not the tale itself, however, though it is never easy to hear. No, now what troubles him is the implications of the story itself. Despite the fact that he knows for a fact that every word of what the Freak said is untrue, the polygraph says that he is telling the truth.

With this realization settling into his mind, he continues to sit in silence; not even yet turning off his camera or notice the reactions of the Freak himself.

"So, give it to me straight, doc, am I crazy, or what?" The Freak joked.

"Uh... We'll continue this another time, Curly. Time's up for now." Dr. Scott said.

"Aw, and I was just starting to have fun. Well, call me up sometime, we'll do lunch. I always enjoy our little chats."

"Heh, right, Curly. I'll... I'll see you again soon. I have a few more tests to run."

Taking the camera and putting it in his pocket, Dr. Scott left the room in a very quiet motion; not wanting to draw any more attention towards himself. His strange and quiet demeanor went not only noticed by the Freak, but also by some of the other asylum workers; throwing some looks towards him as they took away the polygraph and other equipment.

What the doctor knows about the Freak gives him an uneasy feeling in his stomach, and even less certainty on how to see about curing his patient. No one else knows this fact that remains in his head, and what kind of implications it could mean for the patient.

For now, all he can focus on is making his exit, worrying about his work towards curing him later.

Elsewhere, another citizen of Hillwood makes his way across the town for his own purposes. This citizen is known to only some number of people as Arnold Shortman, but better known by night at nationwide as the caped crusader for justice known as 'The Green Eye'.

Walking down the streets of Hillwood, not many would think twice about some of the others that stroll these roads as well, all being but strangers to one another. To a Spirit Master such as Arnold, he can hear every thought and desire in their minds, and they play out like a symphony for his ears alone.

Through the heart of a middle-aged man selling hot dogs at his stand, he feels a love for cooking, and a joy felt with feeding any hungry soul seeking a good bite to eat.

Through the heart of a young college woman, he feels her growing desire for knowledge and learning, pushing herself for a career to help bring a positive change to the world.

Through the heart of a man in his 30s, he feels a sense of stress press at his mind regarding his job, but also a love of his wife and children that allows him to accept that stress and push him to do better for his family.

Although the thoughts and desires of others are still at the forefront of his concerns, wishing nothing but the best for his fellow citizens of Hillwood, there is only one soul he wishes to talk to and help heal today: Lila Sawyer. Not having seen the young woman in years now, Arnold has grown all the more curious about what kind of person she could be now; having lived a different life than him now.

What concerns him most, however, is the cloudy reading that he had received when trying to read deeper into her heart. Where most others he can read like an open book, Lila is not so clear to read; her thoughts like a dark cloud blocking the light of day. He does not understand why her thoughts are outside of his reach, but he swears that he will find some way to read them himself.

The first step in achieving that goal has led to him entering the coffee shop known as Big Al's Cafe, preparing himself for a friendly share of coffee together and catch up on many past years. Upon entering the establishment, Arnold was immediately greeted with Lila waving towards the football head, urging him to come sit by her.

With a wave back, Arnold did just that, taking a seat across from her at a small table an making himself comfortable. Still, when face-to-face with the young woman, Arnold could still sense that dark cloud within her heart, an unclear reading of emotions and thoughts with no clear meaning, and still could not make sense of it.

"Hi." Arnold said.

"Hey Arnold. I didn't know what you liked, so I got you a cappuccino. That okay?" Lila asked.

"Sure, that's fine. Thanks again."

"Oh, it's alright, Arnold. It's oh-so-delightful to see you again. How've you been the past few years? You said you were in San Lorenzo, what was that like?"

Preparing himself to open up about an uncomfortable time in his life once again, Arnold took a sip of his cappuccino, letting the caffeine work its way to his brain and laxate his thoughts to be spoken out loud.

"Well, it was a long story. I've been to San Lorenzo twice; once from the field trip, and a second time later after that. The first trip you might remember from what you heard: We got trapped by a pirate named La Sombra, and we managed to stop him and save the Green Eyes, and my parents, too. The second time..." Arnold trailed.

Still needing one last moment to prepare himself for sharing this story again, Arnold took in a deep breath, letting it out to compose himself.

"A few months after I got my parents home, my grandma started to succumb to her Alzheimer's. I went to see her once I heard the news, even though nobody wanted to let me go. When I got there, my grandpa was there, too, and he gave himself some kind of suicide serum to go with her. He said that he stole it from the Nazis back in World War 2, but he also said he spanked Hitler himself, so, that part was probably questionable. It doesn't really matter, because, whatever it was, it worked. I laid down with them as they died, and stayed with them until the end." Arnold said.

"Oh, my goodness, I'm sorry, Arnold, I-" Lila began to say.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. But, after that, I... I left back for San Lorenzo, and I lived among the Green Eyes for about 5 years before I came back home."

"You left home and your parents? Even after all that work to get them back?"

"I was just a kid back then, Lila, I wasn't thinking clearly at that moment in time. Without my grandparents, things here didn't feel like home, so I left back to San Lorenzo to try to find a home again."

"But why San Lorenzo back with the Green Eyes?"

"I was born in San Lorenzo and the Green Eyes have been waiting for me to come back ever since. That makes them the only other home and family I have. In any case, I... I managed to work everything over with their help, and I managed to bring myself to come back home. Ever since, I've just been sort of... taking it easy here at home. I just needed to enjoy myself for a while a little bit, I guess. Oh, and, as you know, Helga and I are engaged, so, there's that."

"And are you two happy together?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, it was sort of a surprise that you two actually got together. I always thought that she hated you or something."

"Oh, yeah, well, it was kind of a surprise for me, too. She showed me that she had a locket of me all this time, and... Actually, that's not the truth. I wasn't that surprised at all. Somehow, I feel like I knew it somewhere that she liked me, but I never knew that it went as far as it did."

"What do you mean, 'as far as it did'?"

"She made entire shrines, poems, and art pieces all dedicated to me. Most the statues were made out of things like... No, no, I won't tell you that part, you probably don't want to know how far that went."

Arnold gave out a light chuckle at some of the disgusting creations Helga had created, using items like his chewed gum, unfinished food, and unwashed articles of clothing, but sparing Lila of the gruesome details of the pieces. Although she might not have been told what such items were used in her creative process, enough of the implications were let into Lila's mind to allow her to laugh as well.

"But, on the bright side, she's really gotten into some of her art. She's gotten a lot better at sculpting and writing; she makes a lot of appearances at some local poetry slams and sculpture contests. I'm really proud of how far she's come." Arnold said.

"Oh, I'm delighted to hear that. It's good to have someone so blessed to have such talent like that." Lila said.

"Yeah, I guess so. Well, enough about me, how've you been doing? I remember you moved back to Pleasantville before we all went to San Lorenzo, how'd everything go while you were down there?"

On the surface, Lila Sawyer's reaction to the question seemed relatively normal; showing no real change in her appearance or speech. Within that dark cloud of her heart, however, there was something akin to a sense of discomfort and trouble with the question, brought upon by the answer, soon to be given.

"Well, like I said, the economy started to downhill, so we had to move back to Pleasantville so he could find a new job after he got laid off. It wasn't too easy to find another job after that, but he managed, then we made our way from there. It wasn't easy, but we stuck together after that for the better and the worse. He really does love me and he took such good care of me." Lila said.

Still reading into Lila's emotions as she shared her story, Arnold read various mixed emotions that did not seem to belong together, much less match up with this speech. Within the emotions, he felt a touch of pain, a dash of love, and a base of guilt, but all of it seemingly buried down; barely able to be read even by him.

"So, while he spent a lot of time at work, I spent a lot of my time in church. I had started to become a little too worldly after spending so much time in Hillwood, and I needed to get back to the Lord's word. I spent each week reading the whole Bible start to finish, making sure I knew it all by heart. I started acting as an assistant to the pastor, ran some youth sermons, and even filled in for him a few times. He thought I was ready to spread the word of god here, to Hillwood, so I came back to start building the church. I'll be delivering most of the sermons." Lila said.

"Wow. Okay. That sounds great. Is the church almost finished?" Arnold said.

"It is. We've just got some of the minor things to work with, mainly the water and electricity, but it's all been settled well."

Giving a sign of agreement with her share of information, Arnold gave a nod, happy to hear that her project has had no problems or issues. However, despite these shared moments of good news, there still laid the uncertainty regarding Lila's state of mind from his reading of her both yesterday and now, leading him to inquire further about her past.

"Lila, listen, I wanted to talk to you a little about when we last met." Arnold said.

"Oh, is it how I came off regarding god? I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be like that, but I really do want to see people follow the word of god. I've been without god for a good part of my life, and I was in a very bad place during that time. It is not a part of my life I intend to revisit. But I suppose that's not too easy a concept to understand."

"More than you know, believe it or not. Like I said, that period in San Lorenzo helped change my life for the better after that. And, the time before that... That's not a place I'd like to revisit, either."

As Arnold finished his sentence, their conversation found itself coming to a pause with the sounds of a louder voice overlapping their thoughts. This voice came from the coffee shop's television, with the guest on this particular television programme making his voice heard well.

The programme was a news report by local reporter Lisa Bartholomew, with a special guest of a pastor being interviewed. As the programme began, not only had Arnold and Lila turned to listen into this broadcast, but the other patrons had focused their attention as well; all eyes and ears open to this interview.

"And here with me now is Baptist pastor Theodore Wyatt to talk about his new book 'Graven Image: A Biblical View on the Phenomenon of Superheroes Today'; commenting on the Hillwood Effect that has come into effect on the nation as well as the rest of the world. Good morning, Pastor Wyatt, how are you doing today?" Lisa Bartholomew asked.

"Well, Mrs. Bartholomew, I'm having just a fine day ahead of myself, thank you very much. I'm hoping you're having much of the same?" Pastor Wyatt asked.

"Oh, yes, I am, thank you. So, I brought you on to talk about your new book, 'Graven Image'. Tell me, why this title?"

"The title comes from the second of the ten commandments: 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth'."

"So, that would be the commandment against idolatry, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. God did want us to make sure he retains our worship; that's why he spent the first two commandments making that clear."

"Of course. So, in your book, you compare the rise of superheroes and supervillains and the Hillwood Effect as signs of idol worship, saying that this is a way for people to be strayed from god. Would you please elaborate that point?"

"Well, when all these costumed self-proclaimed superheroes like the Green Eye started appearing out of nowhere, and all these monsters calling themselves 'supervillans' coming along with them, I honestly wasn't sure what to think about them. I noticed a lot of my congregation started to take an interest in them, a lot praising some of the crimes they've stopped, and even some of the youth wearing T-shirts and playing with toys based on them. So, naturally, I just assumed that if my congregation was alright with it, then maybe I should be. But I wasn't. I didn't know what it was at first, so I took back to prayer and the bible for many weeks to follow, hoping that the Lord would give me an answer. When I did, god opened his wisdom to me and finally gave me the answer I was looking for."

"And that answer was that superheroes and supervillains are some sort of new form of idolatry? Hence the toys and merchandise?"

"The toys and sales are only part of it, even if it is a big part; the world always keeps its focus on profit and self-gains, rather than the gains of the spirit. No, the true power that these 'superheroes' have lies in their influence."

"Their 'influence'?"

"Yes. Think about it, how many people do you going off and gossiping and worshiping these heroes rather than worship the Lord?"

"Respectfully, you did just tell me that many of the fans of these superheroes are part of your own church congregation, and, presumably, that would mean that many other churchgoers would also keep their faith while remaining fans of the heroes, would it not?"

"But how many of those churchgoers would spend their time on talking about these heroes or going and dressing up like them, endangering themselves on the streets? One of these heroes, this one they're calling Ace Savvy, is only a 12-year old boy. Can you possibly think of any parent being okay with their 12-year old boy endangering themselves like that?"

"Well, Ace Savvy is also the same person who revealed and stopped the Silver Sentinel Scandal; a conspiracy that would have brought serious damage to the city of Royal Woods. I can't argue against endangering children with serious situations like that, even if he does has some superhuman abilities, but denying any positive change he caused would be not only disingenuous an argument, but disrespectful to him, don't you think? And, besides, Ace Savvy is a more extreme example of the Hillwood Effect. Not many actually take up a costume and try any sort of superhero antics, and most of the ones that do usually give up in the first few weeks or so. That's not my numbers, those are the numbers being put forward by the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice."

"It isn't just about how many of these people dress themselves up and go and hurt themselves, it's the people that look up to these dangerous men as idols, hence the title. These costumed people glorify lawlessness and recklessness; using senseless violence to solve problems that they themselves created. In doing so, this fantasy they create for themselves starts to draw forth a cult of followers; all encouraging this behavior and promoting more and more chaos to this country."

"Now, hold on, going back to the numbers again, crime has actually shown much lower numbers in terms of quantity of crime. Even when accounting to most of these supervillains, most of their crimes are fundamentally no different than your average armed robber. The only real difference with these people is their choice of weapon."

"Nonetheless, we have government-regulated, tax-paid, god-fearing policemen for the job of fighting these threats to our citizens. If there were some sort of vigilante loose on the streets before this whole Hillwood Effect, certainly no one would promote one person taking the law into his own hands, and certainly they would be calling for him to be stopped. With these so-called 'heroes' acting on their own, without any sort of higher power to answer to short of the Lord Almighty, how can they be trusted to do the right thing? Who watches the watchmen?"

"Hold on, now, you do make a decent point about accountability, but we've still yet to address the main topic on how these heroes somehow promote idol worship with their existence and turn others away from churches. Now, I'm a christian myself, but, these are people who literally put their lives on the line to help other people and to dedicate their lives to helping others. Not just with crime specifically; many of them spend time volunteering at soup kitchens or at homeless shelters, trying to do good in their communities. If I were to be making any sort of argument about superheroes and the church, I'd be heralding them as examples for the church to follow; self-sacrificing, helping the needy, putting others' needs before their own. Doesn't that sound christ-like to you, Pastor Wyatt?"

"Ah, see, now, that's where they get you. The church isn't following the word of god and Jesus any longer, now it's about these heroes. And, besides, I wouldn't go so far as to call these people Christ-like; Christ was all about non-violence, turning the other cheek, not retaliation and revenge and violence. Those are the ways of Satan; he feeds on anger and violence. Speaking of which, it's not just the heroes who get their worship. It's also these villains, too. This one, what's his name, Freakshow?"

"The Freak, Pastor Wyatt. 'Freakshow' would be the head of the Circus Gothica. No relation."

"Right. But take a look at some of his own followers. This... 'man' murdered a little girl, burned half of Hillwood to the ground, and even shot his own parents dead. Last I checked, there are at least 2,000 different social media pages dedicated to him across different formats, each with followers in the hundreds of thousands. How can anyone look towards that man and give him any sort of praise? I tell you what these people are, they're devil-worshipers, every single one of them. It's the reason why Hillwood's going to hell anyways. You know what they should do? They shouldn't name it 'Hillwood' anymore, they should just start calling it 'Hellwood', because that's all that town is; a breeding ground for sinners and evil men. It's a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, I tell you-"

"Alright, alright, Pastor, I think you've made your point. Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we've got for today, it was a pleasure having you, sir-"

"Of course, likewise."

"Right, and you can find Pastor Theodore Wyatt's book 'Graven Image' at most bookstores today. I'm Lisa Bartholomew, here's Tom with the weather."

As the intense interview came to a close, most of its final implications made the most impressions upon the patrons and Hillwoodians; all primarily snickering at the outlandish implications regarding the city being some sort of breeding ground for evil. Some of the finer points, however, did place themselves in each subconscious, ready to be thought over and contemplated later on, whether those who listened in have a say of their own or not.

The two we focus on now, back to Arnold and Lila, do have some of their own answers, and each with their own nuances to them.

"Yeesh. He was starting to scare me a little at the end." Arnold said.

"Sadly, he's not the only one who thinks that way about Hillwood. A lot of other pastors are saying that Hillwood is beyond saving, and they city will fall soon." Lila said.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but, whatever it is, I'm certain it isn't a good thing. Not for the city or anyone in it."

"Sorry if this comes off a little blunt, but, I'm curious now: If you believe that this city's so bad now, too, why did you come here to set up a church and all?"

"Oh, I certainly don't thing that the city's anywhere near as bad as what the other pastors say. Sure, the city's much more worldly than heavenly, but we won't get any change just by sitting around and complaining about it. I came here because I wanted to be that positive change for people; try to help them find the light again."

"Do you really think you can make that big a difference just by one church?"

"It's worth a try. 'Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.' Galatians 6:9."

"Wow. You certainly did memorize the whole thing, didn't you?"

"I did. The word of god is my sword and shield. But, as for those superheroes, what do you think about all them?"

"Well, what do you think about them?"

Not sure how to answer Arnold's question exactly, Lila stopped for a moment in her speech, letting her mind contemplate the many ways to phrase her thoughts before she spoke them.

"Really... I think they're misguided people, but they do mean well. What about you?" Lila asked.

"Me? I just think they're trying to help. If they happen to keep me and Helga safe, then, they're okay with me."

Then, Arnold stopped in his own words, thinking over another implication of the interview as he witnessed it. His thoughts were many and fast, stirring 'round his head and rousing many ideas and implications that he did not contemplate before, but they certainly kept his mind moving.

What his thoughts were focusing their attention on was a fact known to Arnold and Arnold alone; no one else to pry in his head or read his thoughts as they came and went. Lila was one of those blind to the thoughts that moved through his head, but, unlike the others who had no investment with him, she sought to pry for those thoughts, inquiring what sort of words could be in his mind.

"Hey Arnold?" Lila asked.

"Hmm?" Arnold asked.

"You went blank for just a second."

"Oh, did I? Sorry, you know how much I would always daydream."

"And what were you daydreaming about?"

"Eh, I wouldn't call this one a daydream, per se... I was thinking over what that pastor said about the Freak."

"Oh, goodness, him? You really shouldn't think about that awful man."

"Lila, he's not just some 'awful man'. He's Curly. You remember him."

"Of course I do, but... You saw the things he did. I just can't bear to think about the horrible things he's done; the people he's killed, what he's started across the country."

"I don't like to think about it, either, but, at the end of the day, Curly's still my friend. I don't give up on my friends, and I certainly don't give up on people who need help."

"So, you choose to be the better man than him by helping him?"

"No, it's not about who's better and who's not. That doesn't get anybody anywhere. We should all try to help each other, and never let anybody else suffer. Curly is a man in pain, and he did a lot of horrible things because of how he was treated. Have you ever seen what happens to a dog when it gets abused and attacked by its owners? It turns angry and vicious. It doesn't trust anybody. All it knows how to do is attack. But deep in there, there's still a dog that wants and needs love. The problem is knowing how to reach it. I know Curly has good in his heart deep down, just as I know there's good in you and everyone else, and there's nothing he can do that would change my mind about that. To do any less than try to help him would be immoral."

Impressed with Arnold's miniature speech, Lila reached her hands across the table to grasp his; not consciously aware of the effort, but not particularly caring enough to stop the motion. Hearing of a man capable of compassion as deep as his heart could reach, her already growing opinion of Arnold began to grow stronger, reaching something by way of preference.

"That's... That's very compassionate, Arnold. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were still a man of god." Lila said.

"Well, I still remember a few of the important verses about loving your neighbor. I guess I took those to heart the most as a kid." Arnold said.

While the grasp of Lila's hands went unnoticed at first by the football head, the sudden realization of warmth in his own hands led him to notice Lila's hands over his. Such an action would usually be reserved for a more intimate position between lovers, but, for two people still technically on a date as friends, this could mean something different. As such, Lila snapped her own hands away, feeling remorse over the simple mistake.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Arnold, I didn't... I didn't mean to do that." Lila said.

"It's, it's fine, it doesn't mean anything." Arnold said.

"No, it's not, you have Helga, and I..."

"Lila. It's okay. Nothing'll happen, we're still just friends here."

Once again, the inner emotions of Lila Sawyer still remained untouched and unread by Arnold Shortman; still unable to see through that thick haze clouding her own heart and emotions. Without a good bead on her own emotions and past, there was no certainty that she would or wouldn't try anything here and try to test his fidelity. Nonetheless, he still put enough trust in her to do the right thing.

Within the heart and mind of Lila, however, there are two conflicts:

On one hand, perhaps he was right and this date simply meant nothing at all but a friendly sharing of coffee with friends. After all, anyone can share a similar date with platonic friends; nothing about this act is inherently romantic or sexual at all.

On the other hand, this could be a very good chance for it to be. Remembering Billie's advice from the day before, being reminded to keep her options open at any time, there was still a chance for herself to be thrown in this affair (no pun intended), even if there was an engagement in the way.

For now, her decision is to simply continue with caution. She tells herself that this is simply a 'wait-and-see' situation, not having any real bearings yet. Deep down, of course, she absolutely hopes for one to appear, perhaps having a second chance at Arnold once again, and for good.

"Right. Still just friends." Lila said.