Here's the next episode of this series, which is 'Gerald Comes Over'... well, flashback-esque, anyway! Anyway, enjoy!

It was an eventful evening, but we made it through the night okay. It wasn't until the next morning as we were getting on the bus. As I was following Nadine up the bus.

"Oh Rhonda!"

I groaned, but kept a smile. I looked towards a few people sitting towards the front seats as some popular boys and girls smiled, one of them patting an empty seat. "We have a warm seat all ready for you!"

I sighed. "Thanks, but I'd rather sit with my friends!"

"Come on, Rhonda, you're a Lloyd! A rich girl!" The girl, Caroline, spoke. "And you're one of the coolest kids we know!"

"Cool? Yes. But I would prefer sitting with my friends then sit alone at the front." I said before going along my way.

Caroline frowned. "It'll be warm if you need it."

I rolled my eyes as I joined Nadine and Phoebe. Nadine looked over at me and said, "You know, Rhonda, you don't have to sit with us..."

"You're right. I don't have to... but I want to." I explained as I turned to my two friends. "What kind of friend would I be if I excluded you both out of this affair?"

The two smiled at me as they hugged me tightly. "Thanks, Rhonda."

I smiled a bit at the two. "You're welcome."

A little later, at lunch, I decided to eat with Arnold and Gerald. Nadine and Phoebe were eating on their own because they had a few things to talk about. It was good I was with Arnold and Gerald, because there was one question on the back of my mind that was bugging me, so I decided to ask.

"Say, Gerald, mind if ask you something?" I asked Gerald.

"Oh, sure, Rhonda. What is it?" Gerald asked in confusion.

"You said about a month or so ago, you went over to Arnold's place and stayed the night over there, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I did." Gerald nodded as Arnold joined in the conversation.

"It was a great night between us." Arnold explained. "I always went over to Gerald's house..."

"He slept over a bunch of times." Gerald rolled his eyes. "And I never once actually spent a night at his house. Usually the times we DO come over, we go STRAIGHT to his room."

"What's wrong with Arnold's room?" I asked.

"Well, nothing." Gerald rolled his eyes. "It's just there are other boarders there..."

"Well, from what Arnold has told us about them, they were pretty eccentric." I shrugged. "And from what we've seen of them the limited times we WERE at his house, well, Arnold, you weren't kidding."

"I will admit, I was a little uncomfortable at first when I had Gerald come over." Arnold said. "But eventually, it turned out to be not so bad."

"Sure, the family argued a lot, and some of them delayed their rent to pay, BUT in the end, we all came together." Arnold explained. "And we both learned that families were families, no matter how quirky they are."

"Yeah. Arnold likes my parents and siblings, despite all the times we go through..." Gerald said. "And I like all the boarding house residents of Arnold's that were there. They may have their differences, but from what I've seen, they're still happy... and that is good enough for us."

"Why do you ask?" Gerald asked.

"Well, Gerald, when you were there, did you notice anything... peculiar about Arnold's boarding house? Like... maybe an extra room or something that somebody once occupied?"

"Mr. Smith's?" Gerald said. "You were there, Rhonda. He left as soon as he said the mission was accomplished."

"Not that. Another boarding house resident. Did you notice ANYBODY else in the boarding house besides the four boarders, and Arnold's grandparents?" I asked.

"Well..." Gerald paused to think as Arnold raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you ask, Rhonda?" Arnold asked.

"Just curious. Like, what order of the rooms did you have to collect rent from to give to Arnold's grandfather? Just list them." I asked.

Gerald paused. "Well, there was Mr. Purdy, but he was only there for at least a month. From what I know, he moved out the day after."

"I think he may have been a chicken farmer..." Arnold paused. "That, or he stole chickens for a living. Mr. Purdy was pretty weird. Is that who you were talking about?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Then we have Ernie Potts." Gerald said.

"Yeah, the demolitions expert of your boarding house." I smiled. "I'd be pretty scared if I were holding a lit stick of dynamite."

"Well, he had a big collection of bricks from the places he demolished." Gerald said. "It was a huge collection."

"...Who else?" I asked.

"Next, we went Mr. Smith's room... we just got an IOU, so nothing too big." Gerald explained. "Then we went to Mr. Hyunh's room."

"We did a few minor chores for him, but he didn't have the rent." Arnold said.

"Arnold. We fixed a leaky pipe. We retiled the kitchen floor... SEVENTEEN TIMES! We even hung new wallpaper up. I don't see how any of those were minor." Gerald frowned.

I laughed a little bit as I said, "Anything else?"

"Last stop was the Kokoshkas, and you can guess how that went." Arnold said.

"Every person in the boarding house started arguing until dinner was called for?" I guessed.

"Yep." Arnold nodded. "Well, that was all of them..."

"But wasn't there another boarding house resident?" I asked. "I mean, you listed off great people, but there's one person left out..."

"No, pretty sure that was the order." Gerald said.

I paused. "I guess... well, thanks for letting me sit with you guys."

"No problem." Arnold said as the bell started to ring.

"Well?" Nadine and Phoebe asked as I joined them at the library after school.

"Like with Tucker, the memories of Lana Vail got wiped." I said. "It was like they don't know she exists..."

"It's a strange world, isn't it?" Phoebe said as we got out some books.

"This is serious. Either we find more information on Lana or find and save Tucker... and fast." I said. "If somebody else disappeared from view... who knows what'll happen?"

"I hope we don't disappear..." Nadine said, afraid. "I would hate to disappear and your memories of me being wiped."

"Nadine, I assure you, you're not going anywhere. You and Phoebe both. You're my best friends, and I'm determined to protect you girls!" I said, hugging them both.

Nadine and Phoebe gave small smiles as they both said, "You're a great friend, Rhonda."

I smiled at the two in my arms. Truly, we were the best team!

And there is the eighteenth episode! How do you like it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!