'Tour De Pond' is the next episode in line, hope you guys enjoy!

Nadine, Phoebe and I caught up to Arnold and Gerald as Stinky and Sid were explaining about their boat. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Stinky and Sid were just talking about their boat..." Arnold explained.

"Yeah, but I think it's pointless to enter sin-" Stinky started before he looked up. "Well gee, are those new glasses?"

"Thanks for noticing." I smiled. "I feel they're the latest trend in terms of popularity!"

Phoebe and Nadine rolled their eyes as I heard Phoebe whisper, "Yep, she's definitely back to normal."

"Short-sightedness is a slight part of these new glasses, but I can work around this." I said. "But enough about how awesome my new glasses are! Tell me about the boat. Why do you think your boat can't beat the others? Afraid of a little competition?"

"Well, there's that..." Sid said. "And Rex Smythe-Higgens is entering, and he always wins the Tour De Pond every year for the last four years."

My eyes widened in shock as they narrowed. "Higgens..."

"Who's Rex Smythe-Higgens?" Gerald asked.

"He's the meanest, snottiest kid in the racing circuit." Stinky explained.

"Also referred to as another one of the rich kids... not as rich as I am, but still rich enough..." I explained. "And here he is now..."

Sure enough, Rex Smythe-Higgens III, a kid with black hair around our age wearing a blue suit and glasses, and a blue sailor hat came down as he coughed. "Out of the way, simpletons. Rex Smythe-Higgens has arrived, ready to sail now. Clear the pond."

"Man, what does this guy think, he owns the park?" Gerald frowned.

"Technically, yes." I nodded. "Well, his family owns it, anyway..."

Rex's ears perked as he turned with a glare. "Lloyd... didn't expect to see you turn up here..."

"Likewise, Higgens..." I glared at him.

"I see you got yourself a new pair of glasses..." Rex said.

"Yeah, but they're not as fashionable as yours..." I said. "I see you're still a little stuck-up..."

"So what if I am?" Rex said as we glared.

We had a little bit of a staring contest as we glared... then we gladly shook hands. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise." Rex nodded. "Anyway, unless you're thinking of entering the tournament, I suggest you leave the premises, immediate, no?"

"Oh, don't you worry..." I started.

"Maybe we ARE going to enter this race!" Arnold said.

"Oh?" Rex raised an eyebrow towards him. "What do you plan to race with? That little head of yours?"

I just shook my head as Arnold glared. "Oh, we have a boat!"

"We do?" Gerald asked in confusion, wondering what the heck was going on.

"A great boat!" Arnold said as Gerald tried to put in a word, but Arnold continued, "And it'll beat your little dinghy any day! What do you say to that?"

I rolled my eyes towards Rex and oh boy, he looked a little ticked. But then he took a deep breath and said, "That is highly unlikely. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have got to get some practice in."

As Rex left, I turned to Arnold and asked, "You really going to enter this race?"

"Why not?" Arnold shrugged.

"Arnold, we don't have a boat!" Gerald pointed out.

"Not yet... but we'll be able to build one pretty quickly." Arnold said. "Come on, Gerald, we're going to get started."

As Arnold and Gerald left and Stinky and Sid departed their ways, Phoebe checked her watch as she said, "That reminds me, the glue on our ship probably dried by now..."

"Oh, let's go back and see it!" Nadine smiled as we decided to go back to Phoebe's house.

Back at Phoebe's house, I placed the boat on a nearby tank of water as we saw it float around. I smiled. "Perfect."

"So, how do you know Rex Higgens?" Nadine asked, out of curiosity.

"Rex Smythe-Higgens, they're both last names." I said.

"Sorry. How do you know Rex SMYTHE-Higgens?" Nadine asked.

"Well, it's a long story, but I sort of met him in one of the last parties I attended with my parents." I explained. "Some people say he's actually a mean kid with his obsession on money, but once you get to know him, he's actually pretty mature. He knows about my life and you guys and I know about what he does for a living and what he does in the Tour De Pond."

"Oh, so you have some secrets?" Phoebe smirked. "Spill."

"Phoebe... a girl never reveals anybody's personal secrets..." I said, huffing, then smiled. "But if you insist... the Smythe-Higgens family has won the boat race in every Tour De Pond... surprisingly they always go up against a Shortman..."

Phoebe and Nadine raised an eyebrow as Nadine said, "Funny, isn't Shortman Arnold's last name?"

I paused. "Hmmm... probably a coincidence, but let's not bother with it. Point being is that Rex Smythe-Higgens I..."

"The first?" Nadine asked.

"Yeah, Rex's grandfather. Anyway, Rex Smythe-Higgens I won the races through demeaning means... he drilled holes into the fastest boats just so he would win..." I told him.

"But wasn't that cheating?" Phoebe asked.

"It was allowed back then, but nowadays, it's not really allowed so much the one year a Higgens DIDN'T participate." I said as I took the boat off the tank.

"Aren't you worried Rex Smythe-Higgens III will try to cheat?" Nadine asked.

"Not really. Rex told me he's not like his grandfather. Yes, he may be a bit snotty and mean, but he knows that cheating isn't the best way to go." I said as I put the boat back on the table under a towel. "Well, regardless of how we do, though, it's all in the fun of it, right?"

"Yeah..." Nadine and Phoebe shrugged.

"Come on, let's finish up our boat and we can enter it in the contest." I smiled as I put in a little motor.

"I'm glad you convinced me to work on this as partners." Nadine said as she and Phoebe gleamed a little.

"What, like I leave you two out of it? Besides, thank Phoebe for the idea." I said, patting her on the head. "This is going to be fun!"

And thus, with a little more adjustments, we had our boat up and ready as I used the remote and drove it around a little near a small pool.

I smiled. "I think we're ready."

By the time the Tour De Pond came around, most people had already heard about my glasses and they told me how pretty I was with them. Not that I blame them, of course, the glasses are so in! Anyway, the day of the tournament came as my friends and I were busy setting up the boat. I had Nadine's butterfly net on myself to be well prepared.

"Okay..." Nadine said. "I'm in charge of the remote, and in case the remote fails and we can't get the boat out, Rhonda, do you think you can wade in the water and use my net to get the boat out?"

"No problem, Nadine." I said, posing with the net.

I looked around at the competition. Seems all the kids were there... at least, the kids that were competing... I noticed Rex talking with Arnold and Gerald as Arnold's grandfather was with him, their boat being that of a simple pirate ship, like ours, minus the cannons. Rex's boat was that of a huge cruise ship. I couldn't hear all of Rex and Arnold's conversation, but I could tell Arnold was a little nervous. I decided to turn back our focus on our ship. "Yeah, this is going to be fun. The only thing that could ruin our boat race would be a hurricane."

"What are the chances of a hurricane hitting this place?" Nadine asked.

"A million to one, actually." Phoebe said. "Though a small storm would be ten to one."

"At least all three of us are going to be together..." Rhonda said.

"Actually... you two are." Phoebe said as she was starting to leave.

"Wait, what?" Nadine asked. "Where are you going?"

"Well, here's the thing. When I was going over to sign us up, I decided to sign up to be a judge." Phoebe said. "I only signed you two up as a team because... well, they don't really allow more than two on a team to do a boat. But hey, I'm still judging."

"Oh, that's a shame." I said as I whisper to Phoebe. "Declare every boat illegal except ours and we're in!"

Phoebe frowned. "As much as I would like to help you, I'm not helping you cheat, Rhonda."

"Fine. Worth a shot." I said as I turned to Nadine as Phoebe went over to the judging area. "Shall we get ourselves ready?"

Nadine nodded.

We positioned ourselves on the starting line as most of the kids seemed eager to race. I looked at some of the competition and... really? Curly's going to be racing? What did he know about racing boats? He'd most likely drive in circles!

"Okay, racers..." I heard Phoebe's voice call out from the microphones. "Only the first three teams that crosses the finish line this round will compete in our finals. May the best boat win!"

We heard the bell as Nadine pushed a button as we watched every boat go... except for Rex's boat. I frowned a bit as I noticed Rex's confident looks. He seemed to be up to something. I got near Rex and whispered, "Okay, I know the rich confidential look, and you seem to have a plan. Between rich people... spill."

"Just wait and see, Lloyd." Rex smirked as he pushed a button... which... okay, this has got to be illegal! Some flames were ejected through the pipe and started to run circles through the others' boats.

"I thought you weren't a cheater." I told Rex.

"I'm not. The rules say nothing about adding a jet propeller to your boat." Rex said.

I paused. "Well played, Higgens... well played. But what do the rules say about running around other people in circles?"

"Hey, I can easily do this..." Rex smirked.

"Yeah, well, while you were doing that, the blonde haired kid with the football head's boat just past your little whirlpool trick." I said as I pointed over to Arnold's boat escaping the whirlpool and crossing under the bridge. "What do you say to that?"

"What?" Rex said as he turned to see Arnold controlling his boat as he was now on the bridge. Rex rushed over as he controlled his boat to stop the whirlpool. I whistled to Nadine as Nadine started controlling her boat as we were getting near the bridge, where Arnold and Rex were fighting over controls on what to do to get out. I whistled as I motioned to Nadine to continue control of the boat as I heard Sid and Phoebe's witty commentary.

"And it seems the Gibraltor and the Hydroplaner 4000 are stuck together!" Phoebe said.

"Yeah, and while these two are fighting, the Pirate Cruiser is quietly slipping under the radar, and not even the drivers are noticing this!" Sid said.

I turned to the two to see if they heard that, but they didn't. Good. I like Arnold, but he was getting a little competitive... and with Rex being on the case, they would be too distracted to see me and Nadine pass them. This was too easy!

I whistled as our boat easily passed by the stuck boats, crossing the finish line easily as Rex and Arnold's boat crossed at the same time.

"Okay, and our final competitors will be Nadine, Arnold and Rex!" Sid announced. "We will take a few minutes break before we continue our race."

I turned to see Rex and Arnold still glaring at each other as I took my boat using Nadine's butterfly net as Nadine took the remote with her. "Great job, Nadine. We're really pulling it off..."

"You really think we can do this?" Nadine asked.

"Sure..." I said as Arnold and Gerald left with their boat... I suddenly noticed Arnold's remote laying around. I picked it up. "I better save this so it doesn't get stepped on or something."

"Good idea." Nadine said as we decided to follow Arnold and Gerald.

"Hey Arnold!" I called over to Arnold as I gave him the remote. "Here, you dropped this."

"Oh! Thanks, Rhonda!" Arnold said.

"Anytime!" I said. "Well, see you in the finals."

I whistled a bit as Nadine said to me, "You really think we can do this?"

"With Rex and Arnold squaring off against each other? Definitely! While they'll be busy focusing on them, they won't notice us just... passing by!" I smirked. "This is going to be a good win!"

Nadine, Arnold, Gerald and I set down our boats as Rex set down his. I looked in the corner of my eye as I noticed Rex's grandfather just muttering in the corner, just groaning. Seemed upset about something, but I didn't know what it was. Oh well, not my issue.

I turned towards Nadine as we heard Sid commentating, "Well, Phoebe, we're back with the final race!"

"That's correct, Sid, and what a race it promises to be!" We heard Phoebe commentating. "Arnold and Gerald return from a surprise tie from second place with four time winner, Rex Smythe-Higgens. Our other finalists are Rhonda and Nadine, who have pulled a surprise victory the first round. Will they once again pull an upset, or will this be a one time thing? Racers, get on your marks..."

We heard the bell ring as Arnold and Nadine pushed the buttons on the remotes to start the boats from going. I noticed that Rex had taken the jet propeller from his boat and replaced with a little fast, but not too fast engine. Seems he wants to play a little fair this time as he drove the ship towards the racers as Arnold and Rex seemed to be focused on each other. I hummed a little bit as I relaxed with Nadine. "Say, Nadine, you know that scene in Stuart Little?"

"The one with the boat race?" Nadine asked. "Oh yeah, I remember. Stuart Little got on the boat to help his family and adopted brother win the race by any means, even when faced with the different obstacles."

"Yeah... Stuart Little was a really good movie. We should watch that again after the race is over." I smiled.

"Agreed." Nadine said as we suddenly felt a little wind. "Seems we have some powerful winds..."

"Don't worry about it. Just keep focused." I said as Nadine pushed a button to pass Arnold and Rex's boat.

Rex decided to push a button, but he frowned. "What is up with this thing?"

Arnold tried to press a button too, but he noticed his boat was stopping. "I think the batteries just died."

"Aw, man!" Gerald said. "I knew we shouldn't have done all those practice sessions every day. We just had to run out of battery power."

"Don't worry, boys!" I heard Arnold's grandfather say as he put a finger up to the wind. "Always have a back up plan!"

We then heard Phoebe say, "It seems the Gibraltor is currently using a secondary source. Not illegal so it stays in. Meanwhile, the Pirate Cruiser is once again quietly slipping by... and the Hydroplaner 4000..."

The boat that Phoebe mentioned just exploded a bit as it was sinking. Sid then said, "Has just sunk... so Rex Smythe-Higgens is pretty much out of the race at this point."

"Aw, man..." Rex sighed as he shrugged. "Oh well."

"It seems to be getting close..." Phoebe said as we watched intently. "And..."

We watched as both Arnold's boat and mine were neck and neck, but near the end, Nadine pushed a little lever as our boat...

"And the winner is, by a nose... THE PIRATE CRUISER!" Phoebe cheered as everyone did some cheering.

"YES!" I smiled as I turned to Nadine... who seemed worried. "What's wrong, we won!"

"...The lever is stuck, I can't get it out." Nadine said.

"What?" I said as I turned towards the boats... to see both Arnold's boat and my boat crashing into the edge and sinking.

"Oh man!" Sid said. "Nadine and Rhonda may have won, but along with Arnold and Gerald's boat, they have crashed..."

Phoebe glared as she turned off the mike and muttered under her breath. I didn't know what she said, but I had a good idea that it was, "And I worked REALLY hard on that thing, too!"

"Sorry you guys lost..." I said to Arnold and Rex as Arnold's grandfather and Rex's grandfather were having a bit of a turf.

"Well, let's be honest. Even if that didn't happen, my grandfather would have found a way to cheat somehow, so..." Rex said. "You two played fairly, and I respect that."

"Hard to believe your grandfathers are fighting like children, though." I said, pointing towards the two fighting in the water.

"What can you do about it?" Rex said as he turned to Arnold. "As for you, Arnold, you played fair and square, I respect that, a nice game, old bean."

"Same to you, Rex." Arnold said as they shook hands.

I smiled as I turned to Nadine and Phoebe, Phoebe was still looking at her ruined boat that Nadine had fished out of the water. "My boat is ruined..."

"It's okay, Phoebe, it's only a boat race. We can build a new pirate ship, if you like." I said.

"Are you kidding? After the time it took to build a pirate ship, I don't think I want to spend that much time trying again." Phoebe said. "Besides, I'm glad you two won."

"Yeah, it's hard to believe we won, too." Nadine said as she was carrying the small trophy. "Though winning a trophy doesn't seem to be that big when you hold it..."

"No..." I shrugged as I smiled at the little bit of cash we had. "But winning about a hundred dollars is. How should we split it? 40-20-20-20?" I asked.

"What's the forty for?" Phoebe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For my parents... they'll expect me to carry more, so they'll probably add it to my bank account." I said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Nadine said. "Hey, Phoebe, we're going to go back to my house to watch Stuart Little. Want to come?"

"Sure!" Phoebe smiled. "I could use a little entertainment."

And thus, me, Nadine and Phoebe decided to have a little movie afternoon for the rest of the day as we hung out.

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