(Original Authors Notes)

Notes: Always remember to R&R if you please! Now that I have written a fic like this, I now know how much I rely on your input so I can improve the story. REMEMBER, if you have any suggestions on how to make this fic longer, tell me now! This gap between chapters 11-12 is perfect for sticking in another idea to extend it for another chapter or two, but I have none! If you like the story and have an idea, no matter how crazy, mail me.

To Demile: Hey, thanks for all your caught up reviews, they mean a lot! Quote "Did you ever find someone to draw you Hey Arnold! style?" No, sadly I didn't. Why? You wanna try? Are you good at art and whatnot, or know someone who is? I would be entirely grateful if someone were to spend all that time on lil' 'ol me. You hate Lila too I see…then I think you'll like this chapter, in my opinion. Quote "And you basically just told Arnold you were looking at porn." Yes, but remember, I wasn't! It was a lie so he wouldn't come over to the screen. Wait; maybe that was a bad move! Arnold is a young boy with young boy hormones, LOL!

To everyone: Hmm, chapter 10 really didn't seem to go over well with some readers. Maybe I don't know the characters like I should know them. I dunno, I feel I have a different take and opinion on the series, which is usually more negative, but whatever. If it was Harold or Rhonda harassing Helga, it may have fit better – but maybe because it's a new, different character doing it, which is me, it didn't work.

Well, I have to say I was inspired by Willy D's baseball chapter in his incredible "What Is And What Should Never Be" fic (that I REALLY want him to update soon!) to write my own "fun times" chapter. Tell me if it makes the grade. This is the longest chapter of the story so far; six pages in a Word document – seven with all my "notes".

o----o

"Another school day, another batch of homework." I said to Arnold as we walked out of Simmons' class. The day was finally over.

"Tell me about it. Math, spelling and English. For a person who drives a motorcycle with pink flower stickers all over it, he sure can dish it out." he said as we made our way out the doors to the outside of the school."

As we waited for Gerald, Arnold asked, "What do you wanna do?"

"Other than kill Simmons for all the homework, I dunno. I really haven't taken the time to relax and do stuff around here."

"Well, there's the arcade, the mall, the blowing alley, the cinema, Tina Park. They opened up a new skateboard park just a couple blocks from here."

"No thanks Arnold, I'd rather not break my neck today."

Then Gerald came bursting through the doors running towards us.

"What is it Gerald?" asked a concerned Arnold.

"Big news, Arnold. The fourth grade class over at PS 119 has challenged us to the ultimate baseball game to end all baseball games. My man Fuzzy Slippers told me everything, and I heard that class over there has taken the gold three years in a row in the youth league baseball teams. We are talking some serious competition!"

"Is there anything really at stake here?" I asked.

"Just the pride of PS 118 is all!" Gerald said wide-eyed as he gripped his hands on my shoulders. "They told us to meet them at Geraldfield at 5pm."

"Sounds like a challenge. You in Steve? We need all the players we can get for this match."

"Sure Arnold, but I must warn you I kinda suck at all sports…except bowling and mini golfing."

"You call those sports?" Gerald commented.

"Hey, no problem, it's just a friendly game Steve."

"Tell that to the champions over at PS 119." added Gerald.

o----o

It was one of those perfect summer days. Not too hot, not too cold, just perfect for an evening game of baseball. It was one of those really long summer days, where at 5pm the sun was still far away up in the sky (You guys know what I mean right?). It was just perfect. All the fourth graders from PS 118, and I mean everyone you could imagine, were there getting ready for the game. Gerald was tidying up the field while some were standing around talking, others stretching and exercising to get ready. I sat on the bleachers among other school kids. I said I would go in as an extra; as baseball…or any other sport involving any physical endurance and strength, I really blew at. Like I heard from a Simpsons episode once, "It's more fun to watch stuff, than to do stuff."

"It's 5:05 Gerald, are these guys gonna be here or what!" Helga yelled over at Gerald.

"Don't worry unibrow, they'll be here, don't you worry." And as if on cue, a bunch of kids in a rather large herd came over the horizon, casting long shadows as they marched. They all had very serious looks on their faces, almost like an army of robots.

'Oh shit, this oughta get ugly.' I thought.

All the kids were different sizes and builds, like mirrored clones of the PS 118 gang. Sort of like in the "Arnold Visits Arnie" episode but not as much so. A tall kid with a unibrow came over to Gerald.

"You ready to get this thing underway?"

"Let's do this thing!" Gerald exclaimed.

"Let's play ball!" Helga yelled from the catcher's mound.

"Play ball!" everyone cheered.

As the game started to get underway, that atmosphere of fun and excitement came over the place. I looked around, and it seemed everything was in slow motion. The fans cheering, people running the bases, the ball flying throughout the air. It just felt good to be with people, and you wish the moment could last forever…I knew I should of brought a camera, it was a Kodak moment in every sense of the word.

So the game went on and soon we were in the third inning. I was still in the bleachers, cheering on. Helga was sitting a row below me, now out of the game because everyone was trying to be rotated in. Arnold got up to bat, everyone went nuts.

"Oh, my love, hit it out of the park." she sighed.

'Pssh. You're telling me nobody else heard that but me?' I thought. One thing I always noticed in cartoons; a person could speak out a secret of some sort, and someone could be right beside them and not hear it.

Arnold had a confronting half-lidded look on his face. He stood in his awkward batting stance and awaited the pitch. One pitch and BAM! – Arnold hit a homer that brought in three runs and brought the score up to 5-3 for PS 118. After Arnold had run the bases he was greeted by Lila.

"Oh Arnold, that was just an ever so great home run!"

"Thanks Lila, it's no big deal."

"Big deal? Arnold, we're winning now because of you. I must say I really admire your baseball skills."

"Well, thanks Lila." Arnold was starting to blush.

Both Helga and I at the same time bitterly said, "Ugh, give me a break." Then she looked up at me and I looked down at her. I was almost going to look away and cross my arms like we were sworn enemies but then she asked…

"Wait, why'd you say that?"

Like taking a page out of Helga's vocabulary, I replied, "Not that I'm getting all chummy with you, bucko, but that Lila chick is about as exciting as the gum on the bottom on my shoe."

Helga laughed a bit at that comment. "Really? I had no idea you despised her as much as I did."

"C'mon Helga…I mean, she has no personality. Like a drone of Barbie-corporate America, all dolled up and pretty looking and girly-girly. And you hear the way they talk…"

"Yeah, hearing them carry on a conversation is as exciting as watching grass grow."

We both laughed, sharing in a moment of somewhat companionship.

Then Helga said, almost giving in that I knew about her secret, "I don't know what Arnold could ever see in that girl. She's such a…"

"Boring, prissy skirt wearing, sugar sweet talking bimbo for leading him on like a dog on a leash?" I added. "Arnold in my opinion is a stupidly blind, no-good-love-sick-fool, all bent out of shape because of that counterfeit, stuck-up twit Ms Perfect. I agree with you on this one Helga, Lila sucks. She just does and that's all there is to it. But that's all I'm agreeing on with you Helga, I'm not your friend or anything here." I said just make sure she knew we were on the same page.

Helga as well, quickly snapped her wall of defence back up. "Yeah well, same to you buddy."

o----o

And the war raged on. Both teams were not willing to give in or be intimidated by the other. All kids were giving 110 percent, except Eugene who somehow hit himself in the face with the bat and had to be sent home. Everyone was dirty and sweaty…having the time of their young lives. I looked on with eyes of somewhat regret. I knew I was young again here, but I would give anything to be young in my world again. And on that note, to live in a place like this – where as cheesy as it sounds, a place 'where everybody knows your name.' I never had friends like these, nor a baseball field like this to flaunter away my youth on exuberating baseball games. I somehow wished I could stay here forever, I wanted to…but knew it just couldn't be. It was a very bittersweet feeling.

It was now getting really late, about 9pm. It wasn't totally dark out yet, you could see the remains of the sun as its rays shone across the city creating an orange landscape full of dark shadows. Some kids had left, which put me in a predicament, because I was hoping I wouldn't have to play. I know I was being hard on myself, but I just really sucked at sports. Then Arnold came running over to me.

"Steve, we need you in man. The score it tied at 12-12 and we need a hitter."

"But Arnold, I totally blow at sports."

"Look Steve, you can do it. Just focus on the ball, think positive thoughts and you'll be fine."

"But…"

Arnold wouldn't have it. "No buts, go out there and show 'em what you're made of!"

"You know you're too optimistic for your own good." I said to him jokingly as I got up to bat.

"It hasn't steered me wrong yet." he replied.

So there I was at bat. Typical dramatic cartoon set-up: bottom of the ninth, score tied, bases loaded, two outs. Being the couch potato I was, I knew that 50 percent of the time the person smacked it out of the park, being cheered on by his peers. But that still left the other 50 percent that would leave me strike out, and get mocked and shunned by everyone. I had to swallow the growing lump in my throat.

"C'mon Steve, you can do it!" Arnold yelled.

I would have given anything to get out of the spot I was in. But what could I do? I planted my feet, spit and grabbed my crotch.

In the background I heard Sid state, "Who does this guy think he is, Roberto Alomar?"

The pitcher, a muscle-built guy with short brown hair gave me a low browed lidded look and let the first ball fire. I almost wanted to run at the speed it was coming at. I swung…

"Strike one!"

"Crap." I said. The crowd was going insane.

The second pitch came, a curve ball, and I took another swing…

"Strike two!"

"Double crap." I said.

People in the stands started chanting my name, I had every chance to make this moment my own. I quickly thought 'God, if there is one where I am, please make this happen for me.'

I got ready for the final ball. Two strikes, one more and I would be run out of town with pitchforks and torches. A silence hush fell over the crowd as they leaned in with anticipation. I was sweating like no tomorrow, it was hard for me to keep a good grip on the bat. "Stephen! Stephen! Stephen!" was all that echoed through my brain. The pitcher got ready to throw, I dug my feet into the ground and gave him the dirtiest look you ever did see. He brought his arm back, kicked up his leg, and fired…

I closed my eyes and swung the bat the hardest I ever swung anything before. I used all the muscle I could muster and…

CRACK!

The ball slammed into the wooden bat with such a tremendous force it took all my strength to put that force back out into the ball to send it flying. The baseball shot off like a rocket, out of Geraldfield and over a couple blocks. In the distance you could hear a car screech and crash.

"Run you dolt!"

"Oh yeah!" Helga reminded me. I took my run around the bases, all the while having the Queen song "We Are The Champions" going through my head. I almost couldn't reach the home base because people were crowding all around me. They picked me up on their shoulders, I never felt so accepted in all my life. I would miss it, this moment. The other team slowly walked away in defeat, our team razzed them on. The streetlights were now starting to come on. But nobody cared.

"C'mon everyone, we're going to Slausen's, I'm buying!" That twenty bucks Helga gave earlier me came in handy.

Everyone was excited as we walked down the street into the setting sun. What a great end to a summer's day.

o----o

Later on Arnold, Gerald and I were walking to the boarding house, our faces dirty with milkshakes and ice cream.

"Man, that was one heck of a game guys. It will truly go down in Geraldfield history."

"Definitely Gerald, and our star hitter Steve here will be remembered forever."

"Ah guys, it was nothing…I guess in this world…I mean country…I dunno, home team advantage I guess." I said as we were at the stoop of the boarding house. Just then Phil pulled up along side of the house, with the Packard's front end all mashed in.

"Grandpa, what happened, are you alright?" asked Arnold.

He got out of the car, slightly ticked off. "Yeah, I'm fine. I had to go out and get some more groceries because that sneak Oskar raided the fridge again. So I'm driving down to the store and out of nowhere this baseball comes flying at me! I swerved out of its way and slammed into a milk truck…which was sort of ironic because milk was on my list. So what did you boys do today?

"Ahh, we, uh…" Arnold stuttered.

"Played checkers sir," I said, "a nice full contact sport of checkers."

"Full contact, eh? Mmmm, I've never heard of it…yet I still remember playing it," he said as he rubbed his chin. "Oh well, it's getting late, you boys have to wash up and get ready for bed."

"Okay Grandpa, see you tomorrow Gerald."

"See ya man." They did their handshake. "Awesome work today Steve."

"Twern't nothing," I said, "have a good night."

Later on Arnold and I got ready for bed. It had been a long day; it was almost 11pm by the time we got to bed. I'd usually go to bed later, but my young body was really whacked out. Phil offered to drive us to school tomorrow morning so we could sleep in for a bit. I felt so superior, so popular, so accepted…and yet at the same time, so alone, so concerned, so worried – that lurking, remaining feeling came back again, that brought all my emotions to a halt: that I didn't belong here. The more important question now was…what was my purpose here?

'Why was I sent here?' I pondered this as I went to sleep on the couch, also wondering what tomorrow would have in store for me.