And here we go, the near end to an arc, with the third grade about to finish, with three more episodes to finish off the era of third grade! First of all, I'm going to start off with 'Longest Monday'! Anyway, enjoy!

The final day of school. I never thought this day would come, but it did! Pretty soon, summer vacation was about to begin. Of course, I noticed everyone around me was nervous, not because it was almost time for school to get out for summer vacation, but it was mainly because... well, how do I put this?

When the third graders move up to the fourth grade, the fourth graders, who now move up to being fifth graders, have this... tradition they do on the last day of school. Basically, the fourth graders turned fifth graders give the third graders turned fourth graders a hard time. I mean, I know a few fourth graders turned fifth graders who already give us a hard time... people... like Wolfgang.

Wolfgang is basically the leader of his little fourth grade... well, now fifth grade... cult. He isn't really one of those people that... we get along with. Oh no, the relationship between the cult and our third grade... well, soon to be fourth grade... class got a little deeper. Basically, we were more... a rivalry, if you will. And it's not just the first time they do this, but a tradition for fourth graders is that when they go to the fifth grade, they would pick on the third graders turned fourth graders and stuff them in a trash can, then roll it down a hill. Hence known as 'Trash Can Day'.

So, whilst I did like the fact that our last day of school meant 'summer vacation fun'... it also meant a dreary day, unless we could escape it. And it doesn't seem like it would be...

In the cafeteria, me, Nadine, Phoebe, Arnold, Gerald, Stinky, Sid, and Harold were just finishing the explanations of this day to Eugene who had never heard of this day before (and who can blame him? I barely even knew about this day until Phoebe told me about it on one of our weekend outings).

"Gee, that doesn't sound too good." Eugene said as the lunch bell rang.

"Of course it doesn't." I shuddered. "I know I wouldn't want to be dumped in a trash can. A Lloyd never gets herself dirty, unless forced. And I'd have a hard time explaining this to Mom!"

Arnold paused in thought as he said, "You know... it doesn't have to end this way!"

"It doesn't?" Eugene asked.

"No. All we need to do is stick together and we'll be fine." Arnold explained as we went into the hallways of the classroom. "After all, these big, scary fourth-soon-to-be-fifth graders? How bad can they be?"

"Arnold, have you forgotten about the times they challenged us?" I coughed.

"She's right, Arnold." Nadine nodded. "The fifth graders have challenged us to other things we couldn't win at... there was the paddleball competition, the dunk tank approach..."

"And my memory is still fresh in terms of..." My eyes widened a little bit to do a dramatic effect. "...The Death Glare."

"And if I recall, the fourth-soon-to-be-fifth graders cheated in that one." Phoebe said.

"Anyway, guess where we ended up once we lost." I frowned.

"Glued to our seats on a nearby park bench." Arnold frowned.

"I was lucky I knew a few people that got us out of there!" I said. "The point is, those fourth-soon-to-be-fifth graders are smarter than they look."

"She's right, man." Gerald said. "I just don't know HOW we can get out of this."

"Here's a thought." Arnold smiled. "We can all escape to my house until the day is done. Now, in between my house and the school is Mrs. Vitello's flower shop. So, if we make it through the lot and back through her store, then we can cut through the flower shop, make a dash on the streets, and head up the fire escape, then it's just a few rooftops over to the room of my house."

"But we STILL have to make it to the flower shop. And that's eight blocks away, man!" Gerald explained.

"Well..." Eugene paused. "I heard Park has a secret fortress a couple blocks away from the school. We could all hide out there."

Arnold smiled. "That's perfect! It's about halfway to Mrs. Vitello's. We'll just wait out there until the coast is clear."

We all nodded as we were about to be separated. As soon as it was just between me, Nadine and Phoebe, I sighed. "This isn't going to work. Those fourth-soon-to-be-fifth graders have some type of tracking device on us. We'll never escape."

"As much as I hate to say it, we agree." Phoebe said. "But let's face it, there's no other alternative..."

I paused to think. "Hmmm... maybe somebody who IS once a fifth grader... about to be a sixth grader... could help us..."

"But who?" Nadine asked.

I snapped my fingers, getting an idea.

"So, this is basically why we needed to see you. You did this 'Trash Can Day' thing last year, both as the opposition AND the defenseless." I said as I was seen talking to Connie and Maria. "Is there a way you can escape it?"

Connie and Maria paused as they whispered to each other before turning back to me, Nadine and Phoebe. Connie then said, "Nope. It's impossible. You can't escape fate."

"But surely you know of some routes..." Nadine said.

"Well..." Maria paused as the two girls started to whisper. Connie and Maria then turned to us. "There is... one way. Me and Connie tried this in our final day of third grade, and it worked without a hitch. It was so successful, we told no one about it when we did it last year."

"You two DO know a way out, then?" I asked.

"How do we know it's not a trap?" Phoebe said nervously.

"Oh, Elsa, you can trust us." Connie smiled.

"Phoebe, actually." Phoebe sighed.

"Anyway, just wait until the third grade room is cleared out, and once that's done, hide in the darkest corner. Once you hear the commotion, just climb out the window and run over to your favorite hang-out space, preferably where there's a lot of people. The new fifth graders will be too distracted chasing a majority of new fourth graders, they'll be too busy to even notice they're missing a few." Maria explained.

"Does it really work?" I asked in curiosity.

"Give it a shot. If it works, you'll thank us." Connie said.

"All right. Thanks, Connie, Maria. We'll take your advice." I said as we left.

Nadine raised an eyebrow as she asked me, "Do you really think we can pull it off?"

"Trust me, Nadine. If we can pull this off, we'll be the first trio of third graders to escape the wrath of Trash Can Day!" I smiled. "Plus, if we can get over to a hangout space in time, we can compare our report card grades!"

"This sounds great!" Phoebe gave a smile. "But what hangout should we go to?"

I paused to think. "Well... I'm sure we'll think of something when the bell rings three..."

Sure enough, as we were handed our report cards and we got the last minute 'Good job to every student' speech from Miss Slovak, we waited and waited until we heard the bell ring. Arnold peeked out as he whispered to everyone, "Okay, remember the plan!"

Everyone nodded as they all started to sneak out... except for me, Nadine and Phoebe. As soon as Miss Slovak left the classroom, Phoebe looked over to us as she said, "I kinda feel bad we have to leave the others out to dry like that..."

"What can we do, though?" I said. "If we told anybody else OUR plan, the fifth graders will figure it out."

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" Harold was heard screaming as all the third graders-now-fourth graders were heard panicking.

"And that's our cue!" Nadine said as she opened the window. "Come on!"

Phoebe and I nodded as we jumped out the window and started to run with Nadine. Nadine said, "So, Rhonda, you got any plans on where to go?"

"I haven't really thought about it..." I said, gulping as I ran a corner...and bumped into someone.

I yelped as I put my arms up, Nadine and Phoebe jumping to the side, in worry. "Okay, make it quick!"

"Uh, okay. What do you want quick?"

I opened my eyes as I recognized that voice... and sure enough, that headache came back. Olga was rubbing her head as she picked up a few things she dropped.

"Oh, Olga!" I sighed in relief. "Sorry, I just thought you were a fourth grad- er, well, I guess they're officially fifth graders now since we're moving up a grade."

"I'm clearly way too old for fifth grade, silly!" Olga smiled as I picked up my things, Nadine and Phoebe peeked out as I nodded. "But why would a fifth grader be after you?"

"You were never born in this era, but they had this tradition here in PS 118 where on the last day of school, the fifth graders, moving up from fourth grade, have this tradition of dumping fourth graders, who move up from third grade, into trash cans before Trash Pick-Up tomorrow." I explained.

"What?" Olga said in surprise. "That's horrible. We never have that type of tomfoolery back in PS 118."

"The sad part is, it went on for three years straight." Phoebe said.

"And the authorities DON'T PUT A STOP TO IT?" Olga glared. "This isn't right!"

"I know how you feel." Nadine sighed. "We all hate it, but we have to succumb to it..."

Olga gave a small frown as she turned to us. "Well, don't you girls worry. When your school starts up again, I'll meet up with your principal and talk about what they can do to prevent these incidents!"

"Can you do that?" I asked as Nadine and Phoebe looked up with hope.

Olga nodded as she smiled. "Indeed, I will. Anyway, where are you girls going to in such a rush?"

"Well... somewhere to hide until the fifth graders stop with Trash Can Day... usually, if they can't find any stragglers at six o'clock, they give up their search." I explained.

Olga paused, and smiled. "I know JUST the place you girls could hang out until six... the library! They have courtesy rules there. I can even escort you there to make sure those fifth grade bullies can't get you."

Me, Nadine and Phoebe gave a slight smile at that idea as I said, "Thanks, Olga!"

"No problem, Rhonda." Olga smiled as I picked up my things. "Anything to help my new acquaintance and her friends."

The girls and I cheered as we followed Olga. All in all, I'm glad we ran into Olga... she was just so nice. Always, always nice. How I so wanted to be her...

There's the thirtieth episode! How do you like it? Yeah, I realized this one is short, but let's face it, you all know how this episode went. Plus, I wanted to segway to the next episode, so the next episode occurs while the rest of this episode is happening... if you get my drift. Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!