CHAPTER 3: AFTER SCHOOL
Rhonda had a hard time paying attention after recess was over and sitting through Mr. Simmons' class for the rest of the day. She could not get over the fact that Curly Gammelthorpe was her partner for the project, thus making her very pathetic. During the math lesson...
"Rhonda," said Mr. Simmons, "Do you know what the square root of 361 is?"
"It's...uh..." said Rhonda. "Uhh...it's...uhh...13?"
"Sorry, Rhonda," said Mr. Simmons, "but 13 is not the answer. Do you know the answer, Gerald?"
"That's easy!" said Gerald. "The answer is 19!"
But Rhonda wasn't the only one that was distracted from Mr. Simmons' lessons. In the English class...
"Okay," said Mr. Simmons, "Curly: would you care to read Page 12 of our book."
Curly was too busy looking at a photo of Rhonda that he kept inside of his desk.
"Ohh...babycakes..." Curly said to himself. "Heh heh heh!"
Sheena raised her hand. "I'll read, Mr. Simmons," she said. Sheena opened her book and began reading it.
Eventually, school was over. Rhonda quickly got her stuff ready to go home and she ran out of the school before Curly could find her. Nadine saw Rhonda and ran after her, catching up to her after a while.
"Rhonda," said Nadine, "why are you running away? Is this about Curly?"
"DUH!" said Rhonda. "Curly knows where I live! I have to go to my house as fast as I can!"
"But you'll have to work with him sooner or later," said Nadine.
"Nadine C. Papillon," said Rhonda, "do you know who I am dealing with?"
"You're acting crazy," said Nadine. "Besides, the bus will get you home faster."
"So," said Rhonda. She caw Curly getting on the bus. "Curly's on there!"
"I'm going home now," said Nadine. "Good luck." She walked away.
Rhonda started leaving. Helga, who was on the bus, saw Rhonda running away from the bus.
"See you later, Princess!" Helga laughed evilly.
While Helga was laughing, Harold walked up to her. He had a smirk on his face.
"Hey look," he said. "it's my partner Helga! She's all cranky, AH HAH HAH!"
"Quiet, Harold!" Helga said angrily. "And we're going to my house. Better stay away from Miriam and her blender. And you better be there by 5 o'clock or else..."
"Okay, Helga," Harold said evilly, "I'll be a good partner. You can count on it, unibrow girl!"
Helga sat down furiously as the bus started moving and drove away from P.S. 118.
Rhonda ran home quickly, and was sweaty and out of breath when she got to her house. She walked up the steps to her house and was greeted by her father.
"Rhonda," said Mr. Lloyd, "You're all sweaty. Did you miss the bus or something?"
"No, Daddy," chuckled Rhonda. "I didn't deliberately miss the bus. I decided to jog home to get a little exercise. If I did..."
"Come inside," said Mr. Lloyd. "Do you have any homework to do?"
"Yes," said Rhonda. "There's a math assignment I have to do. I'm going to do it right now!"
"Okay," said Mr. Lloyd. "Your mother and I will be in the yard in case you need us." Rhonda went inside her house, closed the door behind her, and went upstairs to her room. She closed the door and threw herself on the bed. She cried for five minutes before realizing that she had to do her homework so her parents wouldn't ask. So she did her homework. After her homework was done, she was slightly relieved.
"Well," Rhonda said to herself, "at least Helga Pataki didn't see me cry. She's seen it before."
Now, let's cut to a little after 5 o'clock at Helga's house. Helga's mother, Miriam, was in the kitchen, sleeping on the kitchen counter due to drinking one too many "smoothies". Helga's father, Big Bob Pataki, was out ordering some Chinese take-out. Helga herself was near the front door, looking at the clock.
"Where's Harold?" she asked herself. "He better not be late."
Ten minutes later, Helga was nearly falling asleep. Then, she heard a knock on the door.
"Must be Big Bob," said Helga. She walked over to the door and opened it. "Dad, did you get the..." But it wasn't Big Bob at the door. It was Harold. He was holding his backpack. Helga was not surprised.
"Hey, Helga!" said Harold.
"Finally, Pink Boy!" said Helga. "Let's go upstairs. What garbage did you pick for the project?"
"I picked something that's extra special!" said Harold with a big smirk. "I'll show you when we get to your room!"
"Okay, Harold," said Helga, "But it better be good!"
Next, Helga and Harold went upstairs to Helga's room. When they were in her room, Helga closed the door and sat down on her bed. Harold started walking towards Helga's closet.
"Don't you dare go in my closet, you big whale!" shouted Helga. "Or you'll be talking to Old Betsy and The Five Avengers!"
"By the way, Helga," said Harold. "You got to choose your room, but I got to choose the project! How about Fish Reproduction?"
"Great," said Helga, "An entire project about fish sex. That's all I wanted to do for the project that Mr. Simmons gave us!"
"Really?" asked Harold.
"NO!" yelled Helga. "I am not going to do my project about fish reproduction with a lard boy like you!"
Cut to about five minutes later, in a room that Helga's father kept books in...
"I can't believe I am doing my project on fish reproduction," said Helga. She was reading a book entitled Ichthyology for Dummies.
"Come on," said Harold, "it's funny!"
Meanwhile, Big Bob arrived home with the Chinese take-out. Miriam, who had awoken from her "nap", called Helga for dinner.
"We're having Chinese take-out tonight," said Helga. "Care to have some?"
"YEAH!" shouted Harold.
While the two went downstairs, Helga said, "Wonder how Miss Rhonda Lloyd is doing?"
And we'll see how she's doing next chapter...