A/N: This will be my first HA! fanfiction so hopefully you all enjoy! I've always wondered why this pairing was written so little about, so I decided to take a different approach.

Reviews and everything greatly appreciated!

Anyway, I don't own Hey Arnold obviously.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

"Hey Arnold!" Arnold turned back quickly to find the owner of the voice. Much to his surprise, he had run into his best friend since elementary school, Gerald, on the way to the school bus stop. It was his first day back in Hillwood, and he was both excited and uneasy to be back in his native city. It had been four years since he left at the end of fifth grade, leaving behind a life that he had learned to adore and cherish. Four whole years... he thought to himself. It was a frightening notion really, he was almost certain that everyone and everything he once knew had changed. But of course that was inevitable, time is constant and stops for no one, and Arnold was no exception.

He walked slowly towards his best friend who interestingly enough resembled his past self, just older and slightly more mature. He was still flashing off that gigantic afro of his which never seemed to go out of style... to Gerald anyway. His clothes changed however, now a days he was wearing a plain white tee with a pair of regular fitted jeans and a pair of black and white vans. But other than that, he was still same old Gerald he was familiar with.

Glad to see his old buddy, Arnold promptly responded back. "Gerald! I haven't seen you in forever!" upon getting closer, they did the same old hand shake they did since elementary school. "Where you been man?! Honestly all you told me was that your were spontaneously moving one day and then poof, that was it you were gone." Gerald interjected, curious to where his best friend had briefly disappeared too.

"Umm, Los Angeles, hey there's our ride." The boy pointed towards the yellow bus that was pulling up next to them.

Cautiously, they walked in checking for anything out of the ordinary, they were after all fresh meat. Being freshmen, they were both excited yet nervous, having heard stories of the upper classmen doing horrendous things to their younger counterparts. Gerald was particularly worried about entering high school and he went on and on about how they were going to be oppressed individuals forced to kneel under the imposed monarchy of high school. Too Arnold he sounded, well, over dramatic, like they were about to be imprisoned by a totalitarian government or something. Of course he made valid points about how they would be viewed as inferior, but hey that's high school, nothing they could do about that. But being the logical person he was, Arnold didn't believe in most it anyway. "Dude, just relax, I'm sure they're just made up stories made to scare the incoming freshmen."

Gerald smirked, this didn't surprise him one bit "Man Arnold, you've always been so optimistic. How was Los Angeles by the way?"

Arnold shrugged, Los Angeles wasn't the most pleasant experience he'd ever endured. It was pretty fast paced down there, too fast paced for the usually relaxed boy's liking. Sure, he was used to living in the big city, but the place was so radically different from what he was used to it was hard to adapt. He didn't regret leaving the place one bit in all honesty. "Eh, it was alright. I mean it just wasn't meant for me."

His friend with the giant afro gasped. "What do you mean man?! I mean the Los Angeles has Hollywood, gets a lot of music earlier than the rest of the country, and so many other wonderful things! What do you mean not meant for you?" Gerald found this unbelievable for whatever reason. He'd love to move to Los Angeles.

The blonde haired boy sighed, "well... it just wasn't. I don't know, it's cool and all, but the people there aren't as welcoming as they are here. Over there their too busy with their own lives, no one stops to say hello or asks how's your day. Hell they just ignore each other there. I mean I know people here can get pretty bad, but in Los Angeles it's like dog eat dog, it's ridiculous." His dark friend nodded, guess Arnold was still the same after all these years; laid back, optimistic, and caring.

They were seated near the front of the bus, anxious to be the first to get off the minute they arrived at school. Arnold scanned the bus, somewhat recognizing the people around him, although he kept to the confinements of his seat away from any wandering eyes. It's not like he was intentionally ignoring them, he just didn't want to have to fathom the embarrassment of saying hi to the totally wrong person. It was only after a few minutes did the people in the bus start recognizing who the boy was.

"Arnold! Is that you?!" A familiar yet oddly deeper southern voice called out. He twisted his head to the back of the bus, spotting both Sid and Stinky. The two of them had grown significantly since Arnold last saw them, having underwent puberty and a variety of other changes. Stinky was much more taller, his body towering out of his seat, and Sid, well, just older really and slightly taller. Both of them were staring at him in disbelief, "Dude, I didn't know you were moving were moving back." Sid stated, while Stinky nodded in agreement. Arnold opened his mouth ready to answer back, but was interrupted when Sid struck a sudden conversation with Gerald. "Ready for the first day of high school man? I heard they already got the trash cans ready for us..." he turned his attention to Arnold, his eyes full of sincere fear. No doubt this is where Gerald got his conspiracy theories from, and there's no telling how much fear mongering the paranoid teen spread to all the other incoming freshmen.

Arnold casually shook his head. But he noticed that there was one person missing from Stinky and Sid's group, "Where's Harold, don't you guys usually hang out with him?" The two smirked, "Yeah, but he got there earlier before us..." and then literally out of no where Sid's face went from one of amusement to one of utter seriousness in a fraction of a second. "Good thing he did though, he got there earlier so he can find a hiding place from the onslaught of upper classmen. See, we're the stupid one's really, they know a freshmen when they see one, and us coming out of this bus just makes it easier for them to spot." Gerald remained silent in total agreement with Sid. Arnold rolled his eyes, quickly diverting his vision back to the seat in front of him. "Whatever you say man."

Arnold gazed around the interior vehicle once more, wondering if there were any more occupants inside that he knew since elementary. That question was soon answered when he heard someone fall off their seat just in front of them, hitting their face smack dab on the metal floor. "I'm ok!" The boy yelled out, everyone on board either shaking their heads or chuckling in secrecy. The person in question was Eugene, and it had appeared to Arnold that sadly he was still plagued with misfortunes even in high school. He got back up on his feet, turning his head towards Arnold's direction. "Oh hey Arnold, long time no see, yeah I know, still have bad luck, I'm used to it."

"Good to see you too." Arnold replied back, producing a half pity, half genuine smile. The bus stopped one final time before arriving at school, taking in a mass of students. He recognized some of them, but for the most part many of the student's who entered he was unfamiliar with. But amidst the crowd, a familiar voice shouted out. "Hey guys! Look football head is back!" the crowd of girls diverted their attention to the person the blonde girl was calling out. He still didn't get it, the shape of his head was totally normal, but it had appeared that Helga refused to give up the pet name. Old habits die hard he supposed. "It's nice to see to you too Helga" he answered back blandly, his facial expression pointing out that he was slightly annoyed. The group of girls walked down the bus aisle greeting him as they searched for seats; among them Phoebe, Rhonda, and Nadine, all who appeared to still have the same ties they had in elementary school. In matter of fact, everyone he'd countered seemed to have kept in touch with each other.

Strange enough as Phoebe passed, she smiled at Gerald. "remember our anniversary this weekend!" She whispered in his direction. "Sure thing babe" he responded back.

Arnold nearly gasped, wait what? "Dude, are you two like finally going out?" Gerald smiled, his aura full of confidence, "yep, since the 7th grade, you've missed a lot since you left man and that was just one of them." Well then, apparently he had a lot of catching up to do if that was the case.

"Hey Arnold" a timid yet sweet sounding voice broke out from the side of him. He felt a soft hand gently touch his shoulder, causing him to lift his head up to look at the unknown girl. He was stunned at the sight, the girl in question had amazingly gentle light green eyes, which coincided with her dark reddish-brown hair. Her astounding smile nearly made him die inside, it was so genuine... so perfect.

"Lila?"

She chuckled, "Yeah, who else do you think it is?" her warm smile continued, god if she was pretty back then, she was absolutely gorgeous now. He was totally captivated by Lila, and not just by her face either. He scanned her figure from head to toe, careful not to stare awkwardly at any of her bodily features for too long. She wasn't too tall, but at the same time wasn't too short, and her body appeared to be forming into a well defined and curved shape; her transformation into an adult women still ongoing. Arnold would make the argument that she was almost model worthy, especially for a girl her age. No telling how she'd look later in high school or once she reached college.

"Lila!" Rhonda called out, patting her hand on the seat she'd reserved for her farm girl companion. She twisted her head back, answering back to her friend, "Coming!" Lila turned back to Arnold, her face lit up with happiness. Then much to his dismay, she lifted her hand off his shoulder, which instantly turned cold with her warm touch now gone. "Hey I'm glad to see your back, I'll talk to you when I see you round school yeah?" Arnold nodded, attempting to muster up what he thought was a charming smirk, "Yeah, I'll see you then."

"Ok, bye Arnold." She walked down the aisle towards her friends, who were busy chatting about some non-interpretable nonsense. He sighed. Jesus, Lila had gotten incredibly attractive, well, more attractive he should say. Her image was seared into his mind, and it wouldn't go away anytime soon, that much he knew. The funny thing is that when any other girl would greet him in the same fashion, he'd shrug it off, almost uninterested in the attention he was receiving. But Lila was different, there was something about that girl he couldn't quite put his finger on. Arnold brushed off the thought, he was just glad that she still acknowledged him after all these years, even going so far as to affectionately touching his shoulder to show how sincere her greeting was.

"Yo Arnold... Arnold, Earth to Arnold, come in Arnold!" Gerald was spontaneously waving his hand in front of his friend, who only now just broke out of his trance after minutes of deep thought. "Oh, what's up man?"

Gerald smirked. "don't think for a second that you can hide what's going on."

"I don't know what you're talking about man." he protested back.

"I say you should go for Lila man." Oh god, was it that obvious? Arnold looked around, hoping no one else just saw his encounter with the girl.

"Relax man, no one saw, I gotcha back anyway." Gerald assured.

Well, there was no point in trying to keep a secret from him now. It was blatantly obvious that Arnold was still attracted to his elementary crush. "Whatever, just keep it on the down low please bro, besides I just think she's cute anyway." His best friend rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever lover boy. Anyway we're here at school."

Gerald pointed at a sign that was engraved with "Hillwood High School" in stone.

To Arnold, entering high school represented more than just moving up the educational system, it represented a new start, a new start that he hoped wouldn't be tampered with. As the bus stopped, he found himself submerged deep within his own consciousness. For whatever reason Lila still weighed heavily on his mind, but he couldn't quite figure out why. He had minor crushes on other girls before, but usually those wore off in a matter of months.

But Lila was the exception.

Trying to dismiss the thoughts, he got up from the bus seat with his friend Gerald. High school awaited, and so did his future.