Okay, here we go with 'Gerald's Secret'! Enjoy!

Arnold and I soon arrived at Gerald's as we saw Nadine and Phoebe talking with him. I smiled as I waved over. "Hey girls, hi, Gerald!"

"Hey, Rhonda!" Nadine smiled as Gerald came down.

"So I just heard Mighty Pete ain't coming down after all." Gerald smiled. "Thank goodness for that."

"Yeah..." I nodded. "Hey, me and Arnold are going to bike around the area today."

For some reason, I noticed Gerald seemed a bit nervous. Arnold and the other girls did too as Gerald said, "Uh, biking?"

"Yeah, we were wondering if you'd like to come with us." Arnold said.

"I wouldn't mind coming along." Nadine smiled.

"I haven't been out biking in quite a while." Phoebe nodded. "We can get home and we'll meet you over in the park!"

We all turned to Gerald as he smiled nervously. "Uh... well, I'd love to come with you guys, but uh... I left my bike at home!"

"We're at your house right there." Nadine said blankly as she pointed behind Gerald.

"Oh, uh... I meant, uh..." Gerald stammered a bit. "I have to stay home to paint my living room."

"Gerald, me and you painted your living room about a couple weeks ago." Arnold said.

"Then I guess it's time for a second coat." Gerald said as he was inching towards his house.

"Why are you inching towards your house like you were a suspicious person?" I pointed out.

"Oh, uh, that's how I..." Gerald started as Phoebe had a sudden realization.

"Gerald, you don't know how to ride a bike, do you?" Phoebe asked.

Gerald's eyes widened for a moment, before he laughed. "Now, what gave you tha-"

"Gerald." We all said.

Gerald sighed. "All right, I suppose I should tell you, but can we talk inside?"

Inside Gerald's house, we were sitting around his table as Gerald looked around the others. "Okay, now this is to be between all of us. You can't blab this to anybody... nobody should tell ANYONE about what I'm about to tell you. Not Eugene, not Harold, not even your parents or grandparents."

Gerald then glared at me. "That means you, Rhonda."

I gasped in a dramatic fashion. "Gerald, you think I'm just going to blab secrets to just anybody?"

"Well, actually..." Nadine started.

"Don't answer that." I said, covering Nadine's mouth.

Gerald sighed. "All right... here's my secret..."

Gerald then looked down. "What Phoebe says is correct. I don't know how to ride a bike."

"Knew it." Phoebe nodded.

"Aw, Gerald, didn't your dad teach you?" Arnold asked.

"Oh, he tried. He really did. He was always offering to try again... but it's no use..." Gerald sighed.

"Why not?" Nadine asked.

"Well, it's a long story." Gerald sighed.

"We got time." Phoebe smiled.

Gerald nodded. "Okay... it all began at about a young age, I believe at the time Timberly was just born... anyway, we were still living in our apartment on Hillcrash Street. I've been riding for a couple of weeks when it happened."

"What happened?" I asked, curiously.

"Well, there was this big hill at the end of the street, and I just couldn't leave it alone. Now, I still don't remember EXACTLY what happened, but for some reason, the bike started to move on its own, and in a moment, I saw my life flash before my eyes. In retrospect, it was pretty cool. But what was not cool was that I completely forgot everything I knew about riding bikes. I remember jumping before my bike crashed into a pile of dirt... and that's it. Ever since then, I just... never learned." Gerald explained.

"Oh, come on, Gerald. Riding a bike is easy. You can learn how to do it no time!" Arnold said.

"No, I can't. I can't even practice! If anybody even sees me, I'll be laughed out of my own grade!" Gerald said.

"Gerald, there is nothing wrong with learning how to ride a bike when you're our age." I said.

"Yeah, a lot of adults went through life without riding bikes, and some learned in their twenties or thirties for the exercise." Phoebe explained.

"Heck, I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I got into third grade!" I said. "I'm sure we can help you learn how."

Nadine snapped her fingers as Phoebe smiled, saying, "I think we have an idea. Gerald, come over to Nadine's house and me and her can teach you... the way!"

Gerald blinked. "I... I don't know if I can..."

"Come on Gerald." Arnold said. "You've got to learn sometime."

Gerald paused. "Well... I guess, but..."

"Don't worry..." Nadine smiled. "Come with us, and we can teach you!"

"Nadine, this is why we don't come to your house as much as we do." I groaned as I took off the little red Santa hat that her parents put on me. Phoebe, Arnold and Gerald were muttering as they were taking off the sleigh bells they had on.

"Come on, can my parents and I help it that we love Christmas so much?" Nadine smiled as she took a small bike out of the garage.

"Our problem isn't that we don't like Christmas. The problem is that whenever you and your parents don't go all hippie on us whenever we visit, they always have Christmas decorations set up!" I said.

"Nadine, we know you and your parents love Christmas a lot, but it's still summer!" Phoebe pointed out.

"Let's get back to the bike thing..." Gerald said. "So, what do I do?"

"Just get on this one..." Nadine smiled as she handed him a pink tricycle with flowers.

Gerald's eyes widened. "You expect me to ride in that thing!"

"Oh no... you wouldn't be caught dead riding that." Nadine smiled.

"Oh, what a relief..." Gerald sighed.

"...not without training wheels!" Nadine smiled as she attached the training wheels to the small girl tricycle. "Here you go!"

"Nadine!" Gerald glared.

"Don't worry, nobody is going to catch you! We're in an empty backyard. Nobody'll notice." Phoebe said as she calmed Gerald down.

"Just do this one baby step at a time." Arnold smiled as Gerald sat down on the tricycle. "Trust your instincts."

We watched as Gerald took a deep breath. I nodded. "That's right, Gerald. Just think of a happy thought, and let your feet do the pedaling. That's what Nadine and Phoebe told me when I was trying out for a biking lesson."

Nadine and Phoebe nodded as we watched Gerald cycle around for a bit. He opened his eyes and smiled. "You know, despite this being a girly bike... riding around on it doesn't feel... too bad. A little breezy, but I think I'm starting to feel... confident."

"There you go, Gerald!" I smiled as Gerald stopped the bike.

"I don't know why I got scared the first time I rode the bike... maybe I just didn't think I was ready..." Gerald said... as he smirked. "Well... I'm ready now."

"Well, just do a little cycling with the training wheels first, before we know for sure if you're ready." Nadine offered.

"It'll be quick and painless..." Arnold said. "Just give it a try."

"All right, but I think I want to do it without the training wheels." Gerald said as he cycled around some more for a few minutes.

After the few minutes were up, Nadine nodded. "Okay, we're going to take off the training wheels... and you have to practice... balance."

Gerald nodded as he took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Nadine nodded as she took off the training wheels as Phoebe held down Gerald. Phoebe nodded. "Okay, Gerald, I'm going to let you go now. Once I do, breathe and relax. Try to keep your balance."

Gerald nodded as Phoebe let go, Arnold and I watched as Gerald felt nervous and shaky as he was about ready to fall, but Gerald calmed himself as he held himself up pretty good. Gerald smiled. "This isn't half bad."

"It usually takes me at least two tries to get myself in balance in training." I said. "Not bad for your first attempt."

"Okay, that was the tricycle. Now, let's try a regular bike." Nadine said as she went into the garage and pulled out a nice blue bike as she gave it to Gerald. "Climb on it and we'll see how your balance is."

Gerald nodded as he got on the bike, and once again, his balance was good. "I don't feel... so bad. I don't feel sick."

"Okay, that's good." Phoebe nodded. "Now, the next lesson... can you steer?"

And so, we helped Gerald practice with some bikes all day. We helped him with his steering, his braking and his speed. Sure, some of it was met with mediocre success, but Gerald felt a little more confident now.

"Thanks fellas!" Gerald smiled to us. "I feel a little better riding a bike now."

"That's great!" I smiled. "There's still a little time. We can bike up towards the hill and bike down."

Gerald yelped as he started to back away. "No, no, that's okay. I think just biking around the street from down below is good."

"What's wrong with going up and down the hill on our bikes?" Nadine asked.

"N-nothing!" Gerald frowned. "Look, we can bike, but maybe we can do it at the-"

Phoebe had another sudden realization as she asked, "It's not the bike, is it?"

"Huh?" Gerald paused.

"You forgot everything you knew about bike riding the minute you toppled down the hill in the street, right? It's not insecurity on bike-riding... you're insecure about high places." Phoebe said.

"Uh..." Arnold and I said in confusion.

"We don't speak your tech language, Phoebe." Nadine said.

Phoebe sighed. "Gerald is afraid of heights."

Gerald's eyes widened as Arnold, Nadine and I said, "Oh!"

Gerald frowned. "Okay, so what if I am? It's not a big deal!"

"Gerald, it is a big deal." Phoebe sighed. "If you got stuck in a high place, what then? You'd have to inch yourself down on your own."

"I..." Gerald said as Phoebe went over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Gerald... if you really want to attain your bike riding skills... you have to conquer your fear of heights." Phoebe explained.

Gerald paused... and gulped a bit. "A-all right, Phoebe. I'll try..."

"Don't try. Do!" Phoebe glared.

"Yes, ma'am." Gerald said.

Pretty soon, we arrived at the top of the hill of Hillcrash Street as Gerald looked down. "The crash that began it all..."

"Gerald... just think happy thoughts, okay?" Nadine said.

"We have faith in you, Gerald." Phoebe said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Be brave, little Gerald." I said.

"You can do it. I know you can." Arnold said in confidence.

Gerald smiled. "You're all bold kids, fellas."

Gerald nodded. "Okay... here I go."

Gerald took a deep breath... and started cycling down as he went down the hill as we watched him go down. We then got on our bikes and started to follow as we heard Gerald screaming in delight. We then joined him as Phoebe asked, "How did it feel?"

Gerald laughed. "It felt great! Man, I never felt so alive in my life!"

Phoebe giggled. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"Does this mean you're not going to be afraid of heights anymore?" Nadine asked.

"Well, I'm still a little afraid of heights, but I'll know what to do when I need to get down on a bike." Gerald said. "So, you guys want to keep biking down this hill?"

We all nodded as we said, "Okay!"

And so, me, Nadine, Phoebe, Arnold and Gerald biked down the hill a few times for about a couple of hours, while having a lot of fun. It felt great, just hanging out with the others, and I think Phoebe felt proud that she contributed in helping Gerald learn how to ride a bike. That same proudness she felt when she taught me how to ride a bike.

Life just felt good.

That's the fifty-sixth episode! How do you like it? Yeah, the bikathon part I had to drop, since most of the episodes in the summer were mostly contest filled for some reason, and I wanted a break from all the contest winning episodes, so I figured a little easy episode will do us all good! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!