Author's Notes:
Just want to thank the new reviews guys! It means a lot that there's a good amount of positive feedback and of course legitimate criticism. Anything to improve how this story is told! But happy that you're all following eagerly chapter per chapter.
Here's chapter 8!
Chapter VIII
Sunday morning...
Rhonda woke up just as the sun rose. For the first time since their humbling days in the Sunset Arms, she managed to get good sleep. She felt no aches on her sides nor tension on her shoulders. She figured that while sleeping on her deluxe double mattress makes a big difference, it can't take all the credit for her waking up on the right side of the bed. 'Being with Patty really did wonders,' Rhonda thought to herself as she made her way to her private bathroom to wash up. She opted for a long and hot shower and, as she got comfortable with the temperature, took the time to reflect on the past few days. Steam began to build up, allowing her to get lost in her thoughts.
'Going broke. Getting sneezed on by Mr. Hyunh. Arnold offering to share his allowance for lunch. Scouring for bottles in the dumpster. Begging to be rich again. Arnold telling me I was pathetic. Sewing up the boarding house's shower curtain. Collecting Mr. Potts' produce. Sitting with Arnold on the bus on the way to school. Finding out I'm was rich again. Giving Arnold the tip...'
Rhonda took deep breaths.
'Being lectured by my mother. Staring out into the club's scenic view. Getting cornered by CJ. Accepting that I've been making all the wrong choices. Breaking down in front of my parents. Begging Arnold to stop hurting my feelings...'
Even deeper breaths this time.
'Getting lost. Finding my way to Patty. Tea party and knitting socks. Waking up to to today...'
She took one last breath. She remembered what she needed to do...but first, time to get some soap.
After drying up from her bath, the young 4th grader put on a simpler outfit. Normally her parents would be just ready to leave for their Sunday morning tennis games in the private courts some miles away. She put on a crimson pair of tapered sweatpants and a long sleeved plain white shirt. Since spring still wasn't quite around the corner, Rhonda made sure to put on thick socks to keep herself from getting too chilly. She then opened her bedroom door to check if there was anything to get from the kitchen table or fridge.
"Good morning princess!" Brooke and Buckley, in sync, greeted their daughter. As Rhonda expected, her parents were just getting some bananas and protein bars to bring for their tennis runs.
"Now Rhonda, your father and I will just go on our usual Sunday morning schedule. We'll be back by lunchtime, so if you have plans make sure to be back here by 12 sharp. Got that? Good!" Rhonda's mother informed her.
"Want us to pick up anything on the way for you sweetheart?" Buckley added, hoping Rhonda doesn't pick up on him testing her character development so to speak.
"Oh nothing daddy. I've got everything I'll need at home..."Rhonda replied, not picking up on her father's ulterior motive.
"Good girl." With that, her parents kissed and hugged her goodbye.
8:30 AM...
Rhonda had herself some hash browns, corned beef brisket and an omelette. She then washed it all down with some fresh orange juice. Normally Rhonda would have gone for something lighter, but she needed some extra energy if she was gonna visit Nadine before lunch time. She didn't feel like using the bus, as she has learned to appreciate the therapeutic value behind long walks. Just as she was tying her tennis sneakers, she heard the doorbell ring.
She opened it and, conveniently enough, it was Nadine. 'So much for having a heavy breakfast,' Rhonda told herself.
"Hey Rhonda, I heard you were home earlier than originally scheduled. Did something go wrong in Aspen?" Nadine inquired.
"Well, no...and yes," Rhonda answered. She was not prepared to run into her best friend at this time. She had hoped that the walk to Nadine's would allow her to plan out what to say and how to say it. She's not getting that benefit this time around.
"Uhm Rhonda...that doesn't really make any sense..," Nadine replied as she rolled her eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Rhonda.
"Look, Nadine...a lot happened in Aspen that I'm not comfortable talking about right now." Rhonda said to Nadine in an almost hush-hush manner.
Nadine, despite being Rhonda's official bestie, did not understand why Rhonda would suddenly find no urge to talk about her experiences from her recent family vacation.
"Ok...so anyway-"
Before Nadine could finish her thought, Rhonda put her hand on the bug girl's shoulder. Nadine looked at her best friend's hand, lingering on her shoulder, then looked into her best friend's face, giving a sad smile. It was as if Rhonda did something wrong to her.
"Nadine. I'm sorry...," Rhonda began.
"What do you mean Rhonda? I just saw you today, what would you be sorry about?" Nadine answered with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sorry that, lately I've been neglecting you. I was so caught up in my own world and being an airhead, and when my family's wealth vanished, my first instinct was to keep it a secret from everyone else...when my first instinct should have been to tell you and ask for support..." Rhonda continued.
Nadine couldn't believe what she was hearing. Rhonda Lloyd...THE Rhonda Wellington Lloyd of PS 118... the school's notorious gossip and pompous rich girl...her best friend...showing unsolicited empathy? Somehow knowing that she was upset by how she's been feeling overlooked more so than usual? Nadine knew that the Rhonda that came back from Aspen is not the Rhonda who went to Aspen.
"Gee Rhonda...well I'm not gonna lie. I was real upset that you didn't bother keeping me in the loop. I mean, the last thing you told me before you started pretending to be rich was that I needed a rotation for shoes. I'd been going thru some self-esteem problems again, you know, with how i'm always just in the background as the bug girl?..." Nadine stopped herself.
She was so used to bringing up her own issues, her own insecurities, but getting no sympathy or care from most people. Unfortunately for the past few weeks, she'd felt even more invisible because her best friend seemed to care less about what was on her own mind and what was going on in her life. She anticipated Rhonda to cut her off.
Rhonda wanted to be her best friend. She told Nadine, "go on, you have my full attention."
Nadine gave the sad smile to Rhonda, realizing that she was being seen by her best friend again after a long while. "Well so, I was just upset with you cause, you never gave me time to say what I felt and what was, well, bugging me...but to hear you apologize without me asking you to? This means a lot. I'm happy I got my best friend back this morning!"
Nadine wrapped her best friend in a tarantula-like embrace, as she knew full well that Rhonda was aware (i) that it's a sign that Nadine is truly appreciative of someone, and (ii) that tarantulas freak Rhonda out so much.
"I'm glad to be back...and improved too." Rhonda said as she pulled away from Nadine.
"What else has been well, bugging you, Nadine? I'm sure I've missed out on so much even before going poor. Tell me everything!" Rhonda excitedly told Nadine, motioning her to come inside the house.
And Nadine would have indulged, had she not remembered exactly why she was there in the first place.
"Oh we don't have time Rhonda! We need you to play football in the park in about 20 minutes! Lila backed out because she found out that there's still some physicality involved in touch football!"
Rhonda, wanting to be there for her best friend, was eager to sub in. But...
"Sure but...will Arnold be there?"
Nadine, remembering how ever since the football head helped them reconcile and mend their friendship just in time for their trio class project, always noticed that Rhonda would either have a keen eye on Arnold or would speak rather fondly of him. She figured that maybe time in the boarding house helped Rhonda develop something more than just a "harmless" fascination with him.
"Well...yeah. He and Helga are opposing team captains. Why?" Nadine replied with a playful smirk. Said smirk quickly faded when she realized that her answer bothered Rhonda.
"Oh...is that gonna be a problem?" Nadine said, as she grabbed Rhonda's hand to assure her that everything's fine.
"...I'll tell you on the way to the park. I need to burn off the calories anyway."
At the park...
"Arnold, you sure you'll be alright if Nadine does come back with Rhonda?" Gerald asked, concerned for his best friend. Though he's tried his best to appease the anger brewing inside Arnold since the "tipping incident" (as it came to be known), it's clear as day that none of his attempts have worked.
"Don't worry Gerald. If Rhonda does show up, then I just won't pick her. And I'll just keep my distance. We'll be fine," Arnold's practicality easily spoke for himself.
"You sure though? You know how unstoppable the two of you are in football," Gerald said as he nudged Arnold's shoulder.
The boy wasn't lying either. While everyone knew that Arnold's first choice in selecting players from the 4th grade will always be Gerald, a lot have noticed that Rhonda is essentially his ace in the hole. In fact, by analyzing Phoebe's win-loss records on every football game between 4th graders, the Arnold-Rhonda pairing is undefeated. Helga at one point even noticed this and decided to test the theory. Despite managing to secure Gerald, Harold, and Stinky for her team, Arnold managed to set Rhonda up for 5 of their 7 touchdowns and somehow pull off the victory.
Arnold also knew that despite Rhonda's disposition, she was the consummate team player in the grid iron. It was as if she had a knack for the game. Wide receiver, running back, tight end, you name it - the girl will excel in it. And Arnold knew, that as good and reliable Gerald is in a game winning possession, Rhonda never failed to catch any and all of Arnold's passes. For those who actually paid attention to their games, Arnold's and Rhonda's chemistry - as teammates - was superior.
But it didn't matter to Arnold. He would rather lose to Helga's team than play with Rhonda Lloyd.
"I'm positive Gerald. We can win without her..." Arnold coldly answered.
After a few minutes, Arnold saw Nadine and, regrettably, Rhonda. Funnily enough, he noticed that the spoiled princess was wearing a different outfit today. He figured he'll find out soon enough why, along with a 5-minute spiel on how her Aspen trip went.
"Oh look, it's Rhondaaaaa...gonna tell us poor people how your Aspen vacation went?" Harold teased, already in the mood to rile himself up for the game.
"Nothing to talk about. Let's play!" Rhonda responded, to the surprise of everyone in the field.
"Uh, let's play?" Rhonda repeated herself. She felt as if she may have been speaking some foreign language, because judging from all the confused faces looking back at her, they don't speak English.
"Wow princess, that's new. Hope you left the rest of your snobby self in that country club!" Helga chimed in, always loving to take jabs at Rhonda.
Rhonda couldn't explain the sudden irritation she felt. While it's rarely ever a pleasant experience to interact with Helga, something about what Helga said or how she said it this time, really irked her. But she kept it to herself.
"Anyway, time to pick teams. I won the coin flip so I'll pick first..."
Helga, already aware that taking Rhonda early from Arnold would basically guarantee her team a win. But, noticing how Arnold's mood changed once he got a glimpse of Rhonda, she decided to do a little gamble this time.
"GERALD. Get your butt over here, you're my first pick hair boy." Helga yelled for Gerald to stand next to her.
"Ok...Harold, I'll need some size," countered Arnold. He was admittedly caught a little off-guard that Helga picked Gerald first but it's nothing she's done before. And he was guessing that, since she may have noticed how uninterested he was with his secret weapon today, she would pick Rhonda next.
"I'll take that over lard boy..." Harold begrudgingly said, making his way over to his team captain.
After a while, team Helga shaped up to include Miss Pataki herself, Gerald, Nadine, Stinky, Sid, Robert, Katrinka and, to the surprise of many, the Campfire Lass. Meanwhile, team Arnold had the football head, Harold, Sheena, Eugene, Park, Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, and Mary, formerly known as one of many Big Patty victims. While Rhonda figured that she would't be picked immediately given her poor showing before her Aspen trip, she didn't think she'd sink to the bottom of the barrel. She felt that her old self would have demanded to be picked midway thru the draft, but she didn't have the energy for such petty things anymore. As long as she isn't picked last...
"Brainy! You're my last pick, since i know how 'sneaky' you can be." Helga proclaimed, while giving a wink to Rhonda, who was in shock.
"You're joking Helga...I'm the last pick?" Rhonda yelled in disbelief. Helga already had the perfect response in mind.
"No princess RhondaLloyd, Brainy's the last pick. You're the runt of the litter, doi!" Helga answered as she cackled her way to the team.
Before Rhonda could bother processing how irate she was with Helga's normal taunts, she turned around and glanced at her default team captain. Arnold, noticing his former friend trying to keep her gaze focused on him, turned away indifferently and told everyone to "pick their right spots" and just follow his game plan.
"Teams, please step on to the field in 3 minutes...," exclaimed Phoebe.
'This is gonna be a long game, isn't it?' Rhonda thought.