Two Strikes and An Out
Chapter Two
Author name – x8The-Mask8x
Author email – Green1418@aol.com
Category – Angst/Romance/General
Spoilers - All Shows
Rating – PG, fluff with unneeded name-calling.
Long Summary – Set in their 7th and 8th years, Arnold finally hooks up with Ruth, only to realize (yet again) that she isn't everything he thought she was. Trying to find where his feelings really lie, Arnold makes an odd bond with someone you'd never expect!
Short summary – Confusion rises as Arnold tries to sort out his relationships. Baseball is a sordid therapy and Gerald thinks he's Prince!
Disclaimer - This story is based on characters and situations created, produced, and owned by Snee-Oosh Inc. and Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom, and no support or endorsement of this fanfiction is expressed or implied by Viacom, Nickelodeon, or anyone involved with the production of the show.
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Last Time
(Arnold gets up and heads back upstairs - Gerald is still singing Let's Go Crazy and is doing something similar to the Mambo on Arnold's desk)
Gerald (jumping off the desk and landing next to Arnold on the couch): Aww, come on, Arnold, the whole Ruth-thing can't be all-bad. You know what you need? You need to sing - it's times like these when a classic makes everything all right. It's times like these where the only song that'll do is... 'When Doves Cry.'
Arnold (looking irritated): Gerald, I don't want to sing. I need to do something... I'm going to go down to the lot and hit the ball around.
Gerald: Alright - mah man - but you don't know what you're missing.
Arnold's Voice: Thankfully, I didn't have to know. (Arnold grabs his bat and his ball and heads out of the room, down the stairs, and out into the street)
**************************************************************************************Chapter Two
(Arnold is in Gerald's Field, hitting the ball from the pitcher's mound into the backstop)
Arnold's Voice: I was confused… about Ruth, why Gerald was acting like Prince. Things like this aren't supposed to plague a seventh grader! Sure, playing ball was a kind of sordid therapy, pumping adrenaline did wonders for the human mind – but what I didn't expect was to meet someone I could confide in without prejudice or harassment, without having to listen to Prince's Greatest Hits in stereo...
(Arnold's ball flies over the backstop and lands against the wall)
Girl's Voice: Ouch! Hey, could you watch it?
Arnold (walking over to the sight at which his ball fell): Nadine? What are you doing on the ground?
Nadine: Oh, hey Arnold. I'm looking for a bug.
(Arnold gets on his knees next to Nadine's crouching figure)
Arnold's Voice: Nadine wasn't what anyone would consider 'pretty.' She had a gritty dark complexion with stringy straw-colored hair. She was as tall as I was with an angular face and dark brown eyes. You could tell she spent most of her waking hours outdoors, her T-shirt and shorts held deep grass stains and embedded dirt. She was just one of the guys, she did have a pet tarantula.
Arnold: A bug?
Nadine (holding a magnifying glass under her shadow): Yeah, it's a really rare cockroach… it sends off an inverted pheromone triggering asthmatic-reactions in humans. I plan on breeding it with a typical house roach to see the percentage of their offspring that will have that characteristic.
(Arnold makes a quizzical looking face before shrugging and looking at the ground through Nadine's magnifying glass)
Nadine (sheepishly): I'm kind of a nature-freak.
Arnold: What your doing sounds cool, sort of scientific. I like science.
Nadine (a nervous smile): Oh, really? I wouldn't figure you for a science-guy.
Arnold (also nervous smile): Yeah, I like applied science – technology and electronics. My science project this year is on how much electromagnetic radiation electronic equipment sends out.
Nadine (looking impressed): That sounds really interesting, Arnold. I'm surprised. Oh!
(Arnold had moved and a faint squashing noise was heard. He lifted his hand and looked away, crushed cockroach body parts falling from his open palm)
Arnold: I-I, that wasn't it was it?
Nadine (observing with a magnifying glass, then sighing heavily): Yes – that was it. Oh well, I'll just have to hurry and start a new science project.
Arnold (looking very apologetic): I'm so sorry, I didn't – I should've been – I'll help you pick out a new science project!
Nadine (waving a dismissive hand): Don't worry about it, Arnold, you weren't paying attention. Accidents happen.
(Nadine stands up and dusts off her knees, Arnold wipes the remains of the cockroach on his shorts before grabbing his bat and propping it against his shoulder)
Arnold: Listen, I feel horrible – I didn't know that it was your science project. It's my duty as the fall-guy to help you find a new one.
Nadine (looking at Arnold with a confused look): It's not really a big deal, Arnold. I know how busy you must be – ya' know, being popular. I wouldn't expect you to sacrifice your schedule to help me.
Arnold: It's not a problem, I can come over tonight if it's good for you –
Nadine: But Arnold, tonight is Halloween, remember?
Arnold's Voice: It had completely slipped my mind that it was Halloween. I hadn't gotten a costume, I hadn't gotten out my lucky pillow-case, I hadn't done anything at all that day but brood.
Arnold (looking dumbstruck): Oh, man, it is! Why don't you come trick or treating with Gerald and me? We could talk about the science project then.
Nadine (looking slightly disappointed): Well, I'd like to but Rhonda's having a Halloween Party. How about you and Gerald stop by? Maybe by then we'll have come up with a few ideas?
Arnold (smiling): That sounds great, listen, I really am sorry about the bug.
Nadine (half-laughing): Don't worry about it, but I guess I should get home and get cleaned up. Rhonda wants me to help set up for the party.
(Nadine walks past Arnold and stops at the sidewalk)
Nadine: Thanks, Arnold, for offering to help. See you later!
(Nadine takes a left and disappears from sight. Arnold picks up his baseball and heads back to the Sunset Arms, feelings immensely better than he had before)
Arnold's Voice: Maybe I was just in need of a good conversation. Maybe I was deprived of friendly companionship. Maybe I was just tired of Gerald's singing. The fact was, after Nadine left me behind the backstop at Gerald's Field, I had completely forgotten about my problem with. She'd kept me preoccupied with an actual interesting subject – science. Nadine had intrigued me with her brilliant science project and there was just some unusual look of defeat in her eyes when I'd accidentally crushed the roach. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I didn't like the look of sadness that ran through her face and I suddenly felt this odd urge to make it go away… to never see it again.
(Arnold, stopping short of the stairs into his attic bedroom, pauses to think of the look on Nadine's face when she'd seen the squashed bug. Shuddering slightly, he pulled the cord and mounted the step. Gerald was nowhere in sight and Arnold let out a breath of relief…)
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