Here's the next episode, which is going a little later in the season, but figured it was relevant here... and it's '24 Hours To Live' from Rhonda's perspective! Frankly, how this works is if there's episodes not focusing on Rhonda, I'll probably have them take place over the summer, focusing on Rhonda's different aspects of her character OR if there are episodes focusing on different characters, I'll see what I can do to involve Rhonda in them... but until then, hope you like these episodes! Anyway, enjoy!
The next day, on Sunday, early at six in the morning, after the girls and I got dressed and packed everything up, I looked over at our little slumber party get-up and smiled. I loved this night, and hoped to do it again sometime.
At the same time, though, I'm just thinking about laughing at what we did to the boys. Sure, it may not have been much, but by now, they must have been laughed at by their parents... eh, they've probably washed up the make-up by now... besides, every Sunday is our traditional baseball game. Sure, it's hard to play baseball in the middle of the roads, because a car would pass through about every three or four minutes, but we worked with what we had. Besides, it's nice to just get up and hope we can dominate the boys at their own game.
I was never one for sports or baseball, but I went along with it because a couple of my friends who happened to be girls were interested in sports... besides, I wasn't too bad at baseball. Of course, if it's not for some teammates...
"Arnold, you're going into that trance again!" I called over to my fellow teammate, who snapped out of it.
"Huh?" Arnold blinked as he snapped out of it.
"You're up to bat, Arnold! Get with the program." I called over as I settled in my position as umpire. "Some people..."
Of course, the boys haven't once brought up us humiliating them... which is probably for the better, since after what happened, they wouldn't want to talk about the shenanigans... they're most likely still mad at Curly for doing this to them.
As Arnold went up to bat, of course, Harold just had to be smug. "Ooo, look who's up! It's Ah-nold."
I just groaned. Sure, Harold can be the bully at times, but a lot of taunting... well, that'll just get him nowhere. Nevertheless, though, Harold was right. He wasn't exactly a good baseball player. He loved the sport, but he can't hit the ball, and the few times he does hit it... well, he would often bean one of us with the ball... usually me... but I couldn't stay mad at him, though. At least he's trying.
"Thought you'd come to play a little baseball, huh, Ah-nold?" Harold mocked.
"Come on, will you?" I muttered under my breath.
Harold then nodded as he threw a fast ball. I caught it as Arnold swung and missed. "Strike One!"
"Boy, what a good swing, Ah-nold!" Harold mocked as I threw the ball back. "What powerful arms."
I sighed. Must Harold ALWAYS do this to all the baseball players? Now I'm actually praying Arnold gets that hit, just to show him up!
Harold seemed to mutter under his breath something I didn't catch, but seemed to concentrate as he threw the ball again. Arnold swung and missed again as I caught it. "Strike Two!"
As I threw the ball back, Harold taunted, "Oh, good one! Who taught you to bat anyway? Your loony grandma?"
Arnold glared as he tightened his bat even more. Oooo, now he was mad. Now I'm REALLY praying Arnold gets that hit, even if I was on the other team, I actually prayed Arnold would get that hit. I heard Arnold say, in a dark voice, "Just throw it."
Arnold nodded as Harold threw the ball... Arnold smirked as he hit the ball... right into Harold's head as he went down.
Everyone gasped as they all gathered around him. Arnold's eyes widened as he gulped, "Uh... whoops?"
I decided to join in the crowd to see if Harold was okay. He may have his ups and downs at times, but Arnold is right, nobody can help but feel bad for Harold. I walked over as I asked, "Harold, you okay?"
"Good night, mommy..." Harold dizzily said as he opened his eyes.
Okay, I almost chuckled at that one... but I sighed. "Anybody got the water?"
"I'm on it." Phoebe said as she started to pick up a small bottle and a large jug full of water as she came by. Phoebe was very careful as she put some water from the jug in the water bottle... and then afterwards, she took the jug and poured water all over Harold's head, the splash waking him up.
"Wh-what happened?" Harold asked.
"Arnold beaned you with that thar baseball." Stinky said.
"Who?" Harold said, still dazed.
"Arnold. You know, football headed kid? Green shirt?" I started. "The one you call 'Ah-nold' all the time?"
Harold paused as everyone turned to Arnold, who threw the bat away sheepishly. "W-well, it was just a lucky swing."
Harold was not having any of it though as he got up, looking like he was about to pummel Arnold. Uh-oh, this wasn't good. Whenever Harold had that murderous glare on his face, it would usually mean you don't freaking mess with Harold. EVEN the others were egging on for Harold and Arnold to fight. Well, all but me, Phoebe and Nadine. We looked at each other and nodded as Nadine and I stepped between the two.
"Just a minute, just a minute." I started as all the kids stopped. "Sure, Arnold may have beaned you, but he did it on accident. When he hits the ball, he beans people, you have to at least see that coming."
"Please consider, Harold. Arnold didn't mean it. Can't you let it go for a day?" Nadine smiled.
I nodded to my peace-loving friend. We may like to see a few brawls as much as the next people, but if it was between some people we like or not tolerate, we had to stand up for them. Arnold can always do that for us, so it's time we repay him.
Harold paused as he started to think... then he smiled. "You know, you're right."
"Of course we are." I nodded.
"I could make him think about what he did, at least..." Harold continued.
"Exactly." Nadine nodded.
Harold then turned to Arnold, "Okay, Arnold, here's the deal. Tomorrow morning, at seven-thirty, before school! It'll be clobbering time!"
"See, now isn't this mor- wait. What?" I said, eyes widening as I turned to Nadine.
"You two were right. I'll let it go for today, but tomorrow I can get him then!" Harold laughed.
"I think you missed the point of our little..." Nadine started.
"Then it's settled." Harold smirked as everyone was now chanting 'Fight' even more.
Me and Nadine looked at each other. Where in our little speech did we say it was okay for Harold to fight Arnold tomorrow?
"But wait..." Harold paused. "Tomorrow... what if he leaves town?"
"How could he leave town?" I asked. "He lives in this neighborhood, and besides, we have a school day tomorrow."
"Good point..." Harold paused. "But just to be safe... since you two gave me the idea, I want you to make sure he DOESN'T forget!" Harold frowned at the two of us. "Got it?"
I heard Arnold audibly gulp... trust me, I would be too. How did this go wrong?
"Again, I really want to apologize for what just happened." I tried to explain to Arnold as me, him, Nadine, Phoebe and Gerald were walking together.
"It's no big deal. You were just trying to help... you just somehow worded your speech wrong." Arnold shrugged.
"Arnold, you're smart. Please tell me you at least have a way out of this." Nadine said.
"Give me time and I'll think about what to do." Arnold sighed. "But somehow, I doubt it. Take a good look at me, guys, because this may be the last time you see me. Next time you'll see me... I'll probably be dead."
"Don't say that." Phoebe said. "The worst Harold will probably give you is a pummeling."
"Besides, just because Harold says he's gonna kill you, doesn't mean he's going to actually do it." Gerald shrugged.
"He sounded like he meant it." Arnold said, looking down.
"Yeah, but you know him." I shrugged. "He's all talk, some brains..."
"And he has a short-term memory." Gerald smirked. "Can't even remember what he had for breakfast. So, how will he remember that he's going to kill you tomorrow?"
Out in the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Stinky and Sid peeking their heads out.
"Uh, guys?" I whispered as I pointed over to some garbage cans. They turned to see two heads retracting back. "I think Harold will probably remember..."
"They must have been sent to keep an eye on us..." Nadine said.
"Oh gee, has it been... one hour already?" I said, acting a little bit.
"Gee, it must be. I guess Arnold has 23 hours left before..." Nadine started before she did the little motion on the finger with her neck.
"Really?" Arnold sighed.
"Sorry, it's the only way we can get them off our backs..." I sighed as I turned to see Stinky and Sid leave. "Guess this is going to be harder than we thought..."
"The boys must still remember the little 'incident' from last night..." Phoebe said as she glared at Gerald and Arnold.
"We already said we were sorry. What more do you want?" Gerald frowned as he handed Arnold a list.
Arnold paused as he looked at the list. "What's this? 'CD player, roller blades, hockey stick'?"
"Gerald, really?" Phoebe sighed.
"That's just a list of your stuff that I kinda had my eye on." Gerald sheepishly admitted.
"Gerald, for shame!" I frowned... then paused. "Hey, if you do die, can I have your bookshelf full of books?"
Everyone looked at me and frowned as I gulped, "Uh, just because those books would look great in my room... not because I don't like Arnold's chances of survival being at a minimum, if that's what you're implying!"
"Sure..." Nadine and Phoebe said sarcastically.
"Okay, how about this... in case Stinky and Sid are following me, I'll give you a call and tell you the time, okay?" I said, pulling out my phone. "We got your number."
"All right, that sounds fair." Arnold said.
"For goodness sakes, I hope you have a plan before tomorrow morning." I said before the girls and I decided to part ways with the boys. "Well, we better get going on another Sunday. We'll see you tomorrow, Arnold."
Arnold and Gerald waved their good-byes as the me, Phoebe, Nadine and the boys decided to part ways.
"Come on, girls. We better at least get a good Sunday in before school starts." I told them.
"Right." Phoebe and Nadine said as we decided to hang out.
"But keep wary of Stinky and Sid. They could be following us." I said, holding out my cell.
"Right." The girls nodded.
I sighed. This was not going to be easy...
At about eleven o'clock, we were at the library, doing a little research on a paper we were studying once more. Even after the incident at the aquarium (the suspects have not been caught, though suspected to have skipped town), we still had to do our small assignment.
I was in the process of doing some note taking from an encyclopedia I was reading when Phoebe nudged me. "Stinky and Sid just came in..."
I nodded as I grabbed my cell and looked at my watch. From the corner of my eye, I saw Stinky and Sid sitting down across the table from us, each reading a book. I nodded as I said out loud, but not too loud, "Hey, Arnold. Everything going okay?"
"Fine, I suppose. Just got home." Arnold's voice sighed.
"Sorry Arnold, they're following me, and won't go away. Anyway..." I said, almost out loud enough for the boys to hear. "You have twenty hours, twenty-eight minutes and fourteen seconds before you die." Then I whispered, "Okay, that's it."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Stinky and Sid leaving as Arnold's voice said, "All right, I'll see you. Grandpa's just coming out of the bathroom, he'll probably help me out with my problem."
I nodded, "All right. Good-bye."
As I hung up the phone, I sighed in relief as I turned to Phoebe and Nadine. "How about some lunch? I'm getting hungry."
"Sounds good." Phoebe and Nadine nodded.
At around one-thirty, after we got done with lunch, Nadine, Phoebe and I were walking along the small lights of the city, just taking in some of the air in there. Nadine looked over her shoulder and nudged me. "They're here."
I looked behind me and noticed Stinky and Sid, now dressed up in black leather jackets and sunglasses, blending in with the crowd as they were trying to hear me. I sighed as I took my phone and dialed it.
"Hello, Arnold?" I asked as soon as the phone was picked up.
"Hello?" An old female voice started. Guess I got Arnold's grandma.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. Gertie." I said. "Is Arnold around?"
"Oh, Kimba?" Arnold's grandmother's voice replied. I couldn't help but chuckle. She must be having another one of those episodes... despite her craziness, Arnold's grandmother can actually be pretty fun. "He's not available right now."
"Well, can you take a message then?" I asked. Arnold not wanting to talk must have meant he didn't get an idea from his grandparents.
"Uh-huh." Arnold's grandmother's voice said.
"Okay, just tell him that he has..." I then said, out loud, "Eighteen hours, forty two-minutes, and fifty-five seconds until he dies."
Arnold's grandmother's voice repeated the words as if she was writing them down, "Was that dry or fry, dear?"
"It's die, die." I assured her.
"Oh, die, that's right." Arnold's grandmother said.
I looked at the corner of my eye... Stinky and Sid STILL weren't leaving. "Uh, make sure you underline the word 'die' three times, okay?"
"Three times? All right." Arnold's grandmother's voice said. "Thank you for calling."
"No problem." I said as I hung up. I looked behind me, and thank goodness, they're gone.
"Maybe we should just get home." Nadine said.
"I agree." I sighed. "With the way Stinky and Sid are following me, they're making sure I don't forget!"
After I said my good-byes to Nadine and Phoebe, I walked into my house about to relax in my room...
"Hey, honey, some friends of yours came by and wanted to talk to you." I heard my mom call.
"Coming, mother." I said as I started to walk into the kitchen. Odd. Nadine and Phoebe just left about a few minutes ago, so, who would...
Of course. Stinky and Sid were here in my house talking with my mom.
"Yep, we're just here to ask for a couple of math problems." Sid said to my mom.
My mom smiled. "Okay, honey, I'll leave you to help these two."
She then hugged me, "You are my perfect little girl, yes you are..."
"Mom, please. Don't embarrass me." I muttered.
"OF course, dear. I'll leave you to it." My mother said as she walked out of the room.
As soon as I was alone with Stinky and Sid, I sighed as I pulled out my phone. "I'm calling him, I'm calling him."
"Just checking." Sid said.
"Sorry, Rhonda. But you brought yourself into the mess." Stinky shrugged. "You may as well at least be a constant reminder."
I waited for the phone to be picked up, before I heard the pick-up. "Hello, Arnold?"
"Hey, Rhonda." I heard Arnold sigh.
"Arnold, just to let you know, you have..." I checked my watch. "Seventeen hours, fifty-two minutes and three seconds until you die. Again, sorry for the call."
"No problem." Arnold sighed. "See you later."
As I heard the click of the phone, I turned to the two people that were sitting in front of me. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you guys?"
"Sorry, Rhonda. Just want to make sure you're doing your job." Sid said.
"Besides, we got to make a killin' for the fight tomorrow, and we don't want to waste an opportunity." Stinky said.
I groaned. "I should have known you two wanted to make a profit out of this..."
"Again, really sorry, but if we see a scam, we have to set this up." Sid said as he and Stinky got up. "We'll check back up on you again."
Stinky and Sid then left as I groaned. This was not going to be a good day, I can tell...
About six o'clock, I was just getting out of the shower as I put the towel around myself. I was just about to reach for my toothbrush when I noticed that in my mirror reflection, I saw from out of the window, two shadowy figures that looked like Stinky and Sid. I screamed a bit as I started to back up. I frowned as I turned towards the window.
"Are you kidding me?" I groaned as I looked out the window. "You couldn't wait until I was dressed?"
"Well, if you don't want to call, we can." Sid smirked.
"No, no, I'll do it, I'll do it." I groaned as I picked up my cell phone from my pants pocket and started to call the number. After I heard the phone being picked up, I sighed, "Sorry to do this again, Arnold."
"It's fine." Arnold's voice said.
"Okay, now you have thirteen hours, twenty-four minutes and thirteen seconds until you die." I sighed. "Again, sorry to call you."
"It's fine, Rhonda. Really." Arnold's voice said as he hung up.
As soon as I heard the click, I glared at the two. "What are you staring at?"
Before I could hear a smart response from the two, I closed the curtain.
At around nine o'clock, I was just about to lie down in bed... when I saw two familiar creeps lurking near my bedroom window.
I groaned as I walked out the window and looked out. "Don't you two have ANYTHING better to do? Shouldn't you be at home right now?"
"Last time we give you a call. Afterwards, we'll take care of the work." Sid said.
"Fine..." I sighed as I started dialing my phone. "But you're paying for all these calls I'm making to Arnold on my family plan!"
I waited for the phone to ring as I heard it pick up. "Okay, Arnold, I'm giving you one last warning, and that's it. No more calls, Stinky and Sid said they would stop hounding me..."
"And they're probably going to continue supporting the fight in some way?" Arnold's voice asked.
"Afraid so." I sighed as I looked at the watch. "You now have... seven hours, twenty-two minutes and forty-nine seconds until you die. All right, that's about it. Good night, Arnold."
"Night, Rhonda." I heard Arnold sigh as the click was heard.
I turned towards the window to berate the boys, but they had already gone... I sighed. Maybe I can get some sleep...
Dream Sequence
I was sighing a little bit, relaxing near a pool as I noticed my hand was latched to the one I loved.
"Hello, darling." I giggled as I snuggled near Arnold's chest. "You were such a hero, defending yourself against Harold..."
"I sure was, wasn't I?" Arnold's voice soothed me.
I sighed. "You know, I'm glad you thought of your plan to get rid of Harold... how did you do it, Arnold? How did you do it?"
"You know me, cutie. I'm just full of surprises..." Arnold gave a lovesick smirk that made me hug him tighter.
I sighed deeply. "I just want to hold you in my arms even longer... now that you're safe... now that you're safe..."
It felt like a really, REALLY good dream... unfortunately, good dreams were not meant to last.
End Dream Sequence
Was it morning already? I groaned as I heard my alarm clock blaring. I turned on the radio as I heard the announcement, "This one goes out to Arnold, who is going to die in one hour, eighteen minutes and twenty-four seconds..."
I groaned. Did Stinky and Sid have to publicize this so much? Well, it was no use. May as well join my girls and see what will happen.
As soon as me, Nadine and Phoebe arrived at the school, a large chunk of kids were already there, supporting the fight between Harold and Arnold, about to come soon. Honestly, I was a little nervous... and Stinky and Sid were milking this fight for what its' worth!
"I just hope Arnold has a plan..." I sighed as Nadine and Phoebe started to hug me a bit.
"There he is!" Stinky said as we all turned to see Arnold and Gerald walking up. I took note of the boom box Arnold held in his hands. Arnold seemed to have a look of determination on his face. I hope this meant he had a plan.
"So, Ah-nold, you decided to show up." Harold smirked as Arnold came up to the bully. "Now why don't you make it easy on yourself and hold still while I pound that football head of yours flat?"
"Before you do, there's something you should know, Harold." Arnold started as he put the boom box down.
"What?" Harold frowned.
"I'm crazy. And you should never hit a crazy person." Arnold simply stated.
I just stared in disbelief. Really? This was Arnold's plan? Just admit he's crazy? Since when has Arnold done anything crazy?
Apparently, everyone had the same reaction I did, except they started laughing as Harold chuckled, "Ah-nold's crazy! If you're so crazy, prove it!"
"Okay." Arnold said as he used his foot and started playing a song as he started lip syncing the words.
...I... don't really know how to describe what I saw. I guess you can say that Arnold was doing some crazy dance moves and hitting himself with objects that made him look crazy. Was somebody filming it? I hope somebody was filming this moment. If anybody can describe to me what I saw, go ahead... but if anybody caught that video of him doing those moves, I'm sure they'll understand what was happening.
Well, long story short, after that little crazy dance number, we all just stared in disbelief... before Harold said, "Wow... you really are crazy..."
I watched Harold, awaiting his next words... which I honestly didn't expect him to say.
"You want to join our club?"
Everyone started to cheer as I sighed in relief. Looks like a fight was averted...
"But how did you know the crazy act was going to stop him?" I asked Arnold before we got settled into class.
"I spent some time thinking in my sleep last night, and thought back to the bat thing, and thought 'Hey, if I swing the bat around, I would be a bit of a crazy person'. But I knew swinging a bat wouldn't be appropriate to bring to a fight, so I figured the power of music would help." Arnold explained.
"Wow." I said. "To be honest, I never would have thought of that."
"Just be glad the worst is over." Arnold said as he sat down... before feeling a spitball hitting him. He sighed as his eyes glanced over to Harold, who gave a smile with the straw. "Well... for the most part."
I nodded as I decided to gather my books, getting ready for class. I could tell today was going to be a good day...
And there is the seventh episode! How do you like it? Yeah, I decided not to write up the whole song here, if you want to see the song, check it out, it's probably up on YouTube somewhere. Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!