Author's Note: I don't own any of this.

I present to you, my readers, my first fanfic. It's a relatively short bit that I wrote mainly focusing Clover and Arnold. I put a good amount of thought, work, and time into this, so I would really appreciate any comments you have to offer. Please, if you read, utilize that nifty little box down there and send me a review! Thanks for reading this; enjoy!

~Chapter 3~

"Woaaaaah!"

The three teenage spies tumbled out of WOOHP into a bush. Immediately they discovered, much to their dismay, that this bush has prickles all over. Each girl silently cursed their horrible boss.

"There he is, Clover!" Alex encouraged. The boy was currently exiting the front door of the school and walking down the path, heading toward them.

"Nooooooo," she moaned in reply.

Sam gave her a cordial push, forcing her fellow spy out into the open. Clover glared back at her two "friends," who smiled and waved cheerfully.

'Some friends,' she thought to herself. Her hands immediately flew to her head, fixing her hair. As Arnold walked past, he stared straight ahead, intentionally avoiding her. She breathed a heavy sigh and then followed him at a safe distance for a short while. When Sam and Alex were no longer within an earshot, she smirked, knowing they would be straining to hear the conversation. Unfortunately, laughter erupted in Clover's ear, and she realized that they were utilizing their listening devices. 'Haha, very funny,' she said under her breath. Finally she ran up to Arnold. "Hey, Arnold! Wait up!"

The geek turned around upon hearing a girl calling out his name. "Oh, wait, it's you." He turned his back to her coldly and continued to walk along. With more girlish snickering ringing in her hear, Clover steamed.

"Arnold."

He whirled around again and stood face to face with his tormentor. . . Tormentor of both his daily life and his dreams. Today, this girl had hurt him more deeply than anyone had before, and yet. . . The heart wants what the heart wants, and his was beating faster. "Yes, Clover?" Arnold said airily.

"I, um. . . I. . . " she stammered. "I'm. . . sorry. I got really mad earlier and said some things that I never should've said. I'm sorry, Arnold; will you forgive me?"

He wavered for a few seconds, causing a million things to run through Clover's mind. "I suppose so," he managed at last.

The girl sighed, relieved. There. It was done. So why didn't she feel any better? There was a lengthy pause as each highschooler stared at the ground before them. The boy turned around again and began to walk on. She had to say something.

"Arnold. How about. . . how would you like to go see a movie tonight?" She listened to Sam and Alex gasp and chuckle, not believing what they were hearing.

"A movie? With me?" He was surprised.

"Yes, you."

"Will Sam and Alex be there also?"

"If you want."

He paused for consideration. Clover's heart skipped a beat. Was she, one of the most popular girls at Bev High, about to be rejected by one of the lowliest geeks at Bev High?

"I suppose that sounds enjoyable. How about I pick you three up at seven o' clock?

"Deal," came the reply.

Wistfully Clover stared into the bathroom mirror, vainly gazing at herself. It had taken her a full hour to decide what to wear tonight. Because it was only Arnold, she didn't feel the need to go to the Groove and actually spend money on new clothes; she had a closet-full and then some. The problem was that she didn't know how fancy she should dress. She decided on a light teal sheer dress that cut off at the knees, with a camisole underneath and a simple belt to complete the look. After applying makeup for another hour, she spent the next fifteen minutes deciding how to wear her hair. Was her regular coif too laid back? This was a date, right? He was picking her up. The boy would probably insist on paying for her ticket, as well.

No, it wasn't a date. He was also picking up Sam and Alex.

But if they weren't going?

Darn them. If they weren't going too, then it would be an official date.

Wouldn't it?

'Why am I spending this much time on this?' she pondered. Clover became angry at herself. She'd been on fifty dates this year. 'This is only Arnold, after all.' She pulled her short golden hair up into a ponytail and looked at it with a scowl. The doorbell rang.

"Clover," called Alex, who was in her room behind a locked door. Sam was also nowhere to be seen. Clover sighed as she went to open the door.

"Hello, Clover," the boy at the door said smoothly. "You look. . . nice."

Clover blinked. Arnold wasn't geeky-looking today. He wore khakis, a navy sport coat, and a partially-buttoned light blue button down. She had never seen him look so. . . classy.

"Wow, Arnold," she said, feeling almost dizzy. This was unreal. "You look totally different."

"Thank you," he replied with a tinge of cold resentment. It was still awkward. Clover picked up that he was still unsure of what was going on, exactly. 'I actually hurt him,' she thought softly to herself. She shunned herself for being so rude earlier. Still, if the young man was insecure as usual, he didn't look it. In fact, Clover could feel the cool confidence radiating off of him. The feeling wasn't foreign to her, considering some of the boys she'd dated, but she'd never felt anything like this from geeky old Arnold. She had to admit: It was pretty sexy.

"Greetings, Samantha."

"Hi Arnold," Sam said as she walked up, startling a daydreaming Clover. "You look great. Clover, you too. I didn't know this was formal. . ." Sam was wearing white capris and a lime green top. Alex walked up in a t-shirt and jeans. Grungy! Clover's eyes widened with panic. Maybe she had overdressed.

"It isn't," she stated plainly. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go change real quic—"

"You can't," Arnold blurted quickly. Suspicious, the three spies threw him a curious look. "We're late for the movie," he half-lied.

"Yeah," Alex concurred dimly.

The girls locked up their villa, and all four piled into Arnold's car. The young man opened the passenger door and made a sweeping gesture with his arm toward Clover, who smiled at him and climbed in.

After the movie was over, Arnold dropped the spies off at their villa. The two in the backseat couldn't keep quiet about the film; Sam was arguing plot holes while Alex insisted that everything, especially the male protagonist, was just fine. Arnold and Clover partially listened to the feud, but for the most part, they kept quiet, lost in their own world.

When they arrived at the trio's home, Arnold escorted them to the front door. At Clover's hesitation to enter, Sam and Alex exchanged mischievous grins with her before reluctantly leaving the two alone outside. Well-mannered and content, Arnold remained on the porch with the intent to depart after seeing all three girls safely in.

"Arnold," the blonde began, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I need to study for that Chemistry test," he answered truthfully.

"So do I," Clover half-lied. "I'm sure Sam does as well. Alex is in Biology this year. . . their test isn't until next week, right?"

"I think so."

"Maybe. . . maybe we should study together?" she suggested.

Arnold scratched his head. "I think I will be going to the library tomorrow to check out a few books on the periodic table. Would you, Sam, and Alex like to join?"

Clover paused to process this. "Yes" was the immediate answer. However, she tried to play it cool. "I'll ask them. If they don't want to, maybe I'll just meet you there."

"Sounds good."

"See you there."

To Clover's disappointment, Sam and Alex happily agreed to the unofficial study date with Arnold. The four of them had a wonderful time, and as a team Arnold and Sam were actually able to teach Clover and Alex several math and science concepts that they were struggling with.

The next couple of weeks found these four highschoolers spending more and more time together-most shockingly, all of them stopped dating. Outside of spy missions and their house, the three girls weren't a trio anymore; now, they had added a new member to their group. The quartet frequented the movie theater, the Groove, the library, restaurants, parks, and other such places. However, deep down, Clover particularly enjoyed their hangouts when either Sam or Alex couldn't participate, although she would always act disappointed. On the rare occasion when both couldn't make it, Clover wouldn't just act it, she honestly wouldn't be happy. Even though part of her longed to be alone with Arnold, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

And so it was, until one Wednesday night when Arnold called to suggest that the foursome go see Steel Man. Alex had already volunteered at the local animal shelter for the night-shift. Playing her usual pouty mood, Clover pretended to be bummed, turning her focus on Sam.

"I really don't want to go see that one," the redhead stated carefully.

"Oh come on, Sammy, you know you want to," Clover pleaded. "What's not to like about the guy? I mean, could he be any more money? He's got the brains, he's majorly cute, and his car is the bomb."

"Action films really aren't my thing, Clover; I'm sorry."

Clover's head dropped in sorrow. "It's okay. Maybe Arnold and I will go tomorrow night when Alex is available."

"Why don't you guys just go tonight? You don't need Alex or me to go see a movie, you've got Arnold."

"But I don't want to go with Arnold, I want to go with you guys!"

"Clover, you and I both know that's not true. You're just making us babysit you two, right?" At this, Clover blushed, and Sam smirked, knowing that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Weeeeeeell," Clover began, but tapered off mid-sentence.

Sam rested her arms on Clover's shoulders, stared into her friend's icy blue eyes, and smiled warmly. "Go on, Clover."

It took a few seconds for this to translate to Clover's expression. Slowly her embarrassed blush turned into a radiant smile. Sam winked and then walked away, leaving Clover alone in the living room with a decision in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

After that night, the change in the relationship between Clover and Arnold became all too evident to the rest of the world-especially to Clover's best friends, Sam and Alex. It was a drastic change, one that would be irreversible. The disappointment that Clover had once possessed when her friends couldn't hang out with Arnold and her was replaced with disappointment when her friends could join. Soon, the foursome was spending less and less time together and more time in pairs. The one-eighty turn left Sam and Alex dazed and confused for the next few months.