"Why does everything have to happen to me? It's not fair!" She muffled into her pillow while kicking her legs behind her.
Well, she should've expected this to happen at least once since they got here. Usually the girl in front of her wouldn't complain about something like this. But she had been really clingy in the past month. This worried her because her friend was so well spoken. She was independent and strong. So why would she be this upset over a small problem? It hurt Nadine to see her best friend go back and forth like this. It didn't make sense. Sitting cross-legged on the next bed, she sat there in confusion. She tugged at her teal shirt out of habit.
It was also frustrating as she looked at the other girls' expressions. Olga had come in a few minutes ago and actually looked teary-eyed a little bit as she sat at the end of Rhonda's bed. Wasn't she the one to be calm in this kind of situation and explain that Rhonda couldn't switch rooms? Nadine wanted to room with Rhonda since they were best friends, but Principal Wartz said that couldn't happen. Sure she was a little sad about it too, but she didn't want to get caught. Even if Olga was the girls' primary chaperone, even she wouldn't break the rules to please her friend.
And all of her other friends were just as upset as she was. Phoebe was sitting on the same bed as her, but was working on unpacking some of her short blue t-shirts and black shorts. She kept fumbling with her things as Rhonda's cries would go from louder to softer and back again. Meanwhile Lila was right next to the girl, rubbing her shoulder to make her calm down. Nadine appreciated her for that. Lila was always one to help the other girls feel better. Turning her head to right, she could see Sheena lean against the wall in front of the beds completely saddened by it. She never liked arguments, let alone Rhonda's crying. She walked up and sat next to Nadine. She was also tugging a burgundy shirt that was tied around her waist.
"It's not that bad, Rhonda. I'm glad to be rooming with you." That made Nadine smile a bit. At least the feeling wasn't mutual. Sheena would be willing to room with any of the girls.
Rhonda lifted her head, with tear marks on her cheeks. "Oh, who cares Sheena? Oh my..." she sat up on her hands shaking. She kept staring down at her pillow as if she was staring at a beetle, well differently than how Nadine would of course.
"What's wrong?" asked Olga worriedly. She scooted closer to her.
The black haired girl completely sat up and almost bumped into the blonde. "The dirt on this pillow! It's disgusting! Ugh," she moaned, "I hate being here already!" She pulled her legs closer to herself and wrapped her arms around them, hiding her face from everyone. Nadine looked at the cushion, but it was just as clean as the rest of the bedding in the room. She arched an eyebrow. "Rhonda, the pillow isn't dirty," Nadine said, "I think you're overreacting." And she hated to admit that, but she's always had to be blunt when it comes to telling her best friend with these things.
She lifted her head and glared at her. "What? Nadine, why I never..." But the dread-locked girl wasn't intimidated. Rhonda's said this to her so much that it almost became her habit when they were at a disagreement.
Phoebe quietly coughed, forgetting about her clothes for the moment. Looking at the distressed girl, she gestured to all of them around the room after changing her position. "Even I must concur. I mean, we've all played football and baseball including you Rhonda." That was true. Rhonda's never been outraged by the dirt on Gerald Field. They've played against the fifth graders all of the time. The only downside for Rhonda is that the only truly clean place right now is this hotel room considering the vast amounts of nature outside. And besides, they were right next to the beach with festivals and parties going on. So why wasn't she happy about that?
Nadine yawned, suddenly feeling tired. Maybe Rhonda was overworked and exhausted like the rest of them. That was probably making it worse…
"Well, yeah, but what if there are bugs or wild animals come into the room? We are on the first floor after all. And look!" She scurried off of the bed and stumbled toward the window at the back of the room. Nadine reached out her arm, moved off of the bed and stood next to her. Rhonda fumbled with what seemed to be a latch and pulled it to the side. And from where she stood, the tanned girl could hear the ocean waves despite being far away enough.
Her friend waved her arms. "You see, the window is a door! Any animal can crawl in here and ruin my clothes!"
And even though Rhonda couldn't see it, Nadine sure could. It was almost funny looking at the other girls' faces as they either sweat dropped or dropped their heads completely at her statement. Of course she wasn't surprised again. She recalled all of the phone calls and visits to Rhonda's home to help her pick "fashionably appropriate" clothes for the past couple of weeks. Of course she wasn't wearing "weather appropriate" clothing at all.
She was wearing a red sweater in Central America on a sunny day.
Nadine put a hand on her shoulder. "Is that the problem? You don't want to ruin your clothes?" Her friend nodded, red eyes and all.
Pushing her slightly, she guided Rhonda over to the middle bed. Glancing at Phoebe she asked, "Is it alright if we sit here?" The girl smiled. "Well most certainly." Pulling her stuff toward the headboard, Nadine and her best friend sat down. She offered her a small grin, hoping that it would help. "Rhonda, can I tell you something?" Staring at the tiled floor, she sniffled. "Yes, go ahead."
Nadine cleared her throat. "You know that we all care about you, regardless of what you wear," playing a bit with the girl's sleeve with a chuckle, "and we are your friends. And no matter whether you're clean or dirty we're going to have fun while we're here. Besides, I am a bit confused." Rhonda looked up at her. "What do you mean? I thought we established the problem." She nodded, letting go of her sweater. "Yes. But you have not talked about going to the market later today to go shopping. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
If her saying this didn't make Rhonda happy, then nothing could end this problem. Nadine absentmindedly pulled on the tip of one of her dreadlocks.
Lila walked over and sat on the floor smiling. "It sounds ever so fun. And I was hoping you would show me what would look good on me while we're there too." After that, there were many other similar comments from the girls. And it seemed to be working too, because Nadine could see Rhonda smile for the first time since they landed in San Lorenzo. "Ok, ok. I see your point everyone!" She laughed. Calming down a bit to catch her breath she continued. "I guess I can buy clothes from here that I wouldn't mind if they got dirty because chances are they've been in dirt."
And once again, another sweat drop. "Well," Nadine thought to herself, "At least we got her to stop crying and be happy again." Sometimes, she wondered what she would do without the black haired girl next to her. And hopefully this good attitude of hers will last at least for a little while.
Rhonda turned to Olga. "Um, I do not to burst anyone's bubble or anything. But I was wondering if I can still room with Nadine and Lila?" At this, Nadine turned to Phoebe and Sheena who were both kind of deflated at the question. She lightly smacked her friend's arm. "Ow! What was that for Nadine?" she shouted while rubbing the sore spot. The girl rolled her eyes and pulled her in her direction by the same arm. She whispered, "Rhonda! That was mean! At least show Sheena and Phoebe that you care!" Nadine pushed her away.
She looked at Rhonda as she looked around the room to all of the girls, who had all gathered around them at this point except Olga who was sitting on the bed closest to the door. Did she want them to solve the problem for themselves?
Eventually Rhonda sighed. "Ok, I'm sorry girls. It's just that, well," she continued to rub her arm, "Everything between packing for this trip and Curly's schemes have been driving me crazy lately. And no offense to Sheena and Phoebe, but you guys know that I'm closer to Nadine and Lila here. They are like sisters to me," which this made Nadine smile, "and kind of like how you Phoebe and Helga are for whatever reason." Then Rhonda arched an eyebrow as she seemed to double check the room. "Hey wait a minute."
"What's wrong Rhonda? Are you ok?" asked Phoebe, who was sitting behind her. Rhonda nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. But where is Helga at? I would have expected her to make some sort of entrance by now with some snide comment about all of this." She gestured to the entire room. Olga spoke up for the first time in a while. "Oh yes. Well I'm sure my baby sister is just unpacking. She did tell me to come check on you girls."
"Ok…," Nadine thought, "Is Rhonda going anywhere with this?"
"Oh well that's nice," Lila replied, "She was rather tired and probably fell asleep." And just as soon as she said that, Nadine yawned once again and stood up. "In speaking of sleep, I think we all need some before we go out shopping later." But Rhonda pulled her down.
"Wait!" Nadine inwardly groaned. Her friend sounded desperate again to have something. But at least she kept her mouth shut. There was no point in asking what's wrong when Rhonda will say what she wants anyway.
"If you go back to your room Nadine, will you ask Helga if she and I can switch rooms? Please?"
Wow, she really wanted to room with her and Lila didn't she? Well Nadine couldn't say that she did not want the same thing and maybe Lila felt the same way. She sighed, almost tempted to say yes just so that Rhonda will let it go. After all, it wasn't likely that Helga would say yes because that would meant pleasing her friend. Sometimes those two got along, like with the sleepover last year, but a lot of the time that didn't happen.
"No, she can't do that Rhonda," Olga brought up, "I'm afraid it's against the rules." She walked over and stood where Sheena was moments ago while playing with her hands. Rhonda stood up waving her arms this way and that. She almost looked like a younger kid being deprived of a cookie. "But come on Olga! I get to have Nadine and Lila and Helga will get Phoebe! It's a win-win!"
Nadine was surprised because that was a good point. Over the years, her friend typically forgot how the other side, in this case Helga, would feel about any situation. It reminded her of when she decided to throw a party for only the "cool" kids. Rhonda didn't think about how it would hurt the others' feelings until Nadine herself told her up front and left her at the house by herself.
She could see Olga biting her lip and rubbing her right arm. "Well, I don't know. You'd have to talk to Helga about this Rhonda." Wait a minute. What? Nadine could have sworn she did a double-take. "Why is she considering breaking the rules? She just said that it was not allowed. And why are the other girls not doing anything? Wait…" Looking at them, they all shared nervous glances. "They didn't want to get involved any more than they already have."
They probably trusted her to handle this. And honestly, she didn't blame them. Sometimes she felt the same way, but she loved being Rhonda's best friend despite her faults. Everyone had their own.
But she didn't have enough time to think before she saw Rhonda's back disappearing to the hotel room door. "Ok then. I will!" She tried to show some dignity, but the girl could tell her friend was desperate to get what she wanted again. "This is not going to end well if those two start yelling at each other."
Getting up once again, she ran and grabbed onto her shoulder. "Wait Rhonda!" They almost tripped had Nadine bumped into her harder than she did. Having to blink a couple of times, Rhonda turned around with a stumble. Surprisingly calm she asked, "What is it?" Letting go of her, Nadine sighed as she had to point out the obvious again. It would save the trouble of dealing with two stubborn girls. "Well since I'm in that room, I might as well take my bags and I'll ask her for you. I promise. Because honestly, Rhonda, you and I both know another argument would happen and we are all pretty tired."
And that, well, was the truth. She hoped that Rhonda would understand her point. There was a silence for a moment as Nadine could feel the girls' eyes on the both of them. At this point, even she could tell that she was starting to feel desperate herself just to end these problems. There wasn't much more she could take. They've all had a long few days and now they could rest on comfortable beds and have fun later.
Luckily, Rhonda smiled and gave a light hug which made Nadine happy. "Ok then. Thank you Nadine for your kind offer. I see your point." They let go as they made it back to the other girls. Rhonda walked over to one of the dressers where she had set her biggest suitcase and turned to the other girls. Meanwhile, Nadine grabbed a red messenger bag that had pretty much everything that she needed. As she left the room, she could overhear a bit of the conversation.
"And besides, my face needs to be cleaned up. Would the rest of you girls like to help me pick out an outfit? This one is getting kind of hot." At this, Nadine shook her head and rolled her eyes with a smile.
"That's because you wore a sweater on a hot day, Rhonda. Every day is going to be hot while we're here." said Sheena.
Nadine was actually kind of glad that she went to her room when she did. It wasn't even a minute down the hall, but she knew the girls were forced to bear with Rhonda's decision on what to wear for the rest of the day – which could take forever. As long as she wasn't involved with picking out an outfit at least once it was worth it. Bugs she could do. Nature she could handle.
Fashion – not so much. Or at least not as high as Rhonda's love for it.
Oh well, at least she could put her stuff away and get the problem over with. Nadine wasn't one to be intimidated by Helga that often. Somehow, she knew Helga had a tough side that was incredibly stubborn. However, she seemed to have a good side and would admit to help if she needed it. Nadine recalled the time she was looking at her jar of cockroaches making notes when Helga called saying that she needed some of her bugs to get out of paying a bill that she couldn't afford. Granted it was a bad reason to help, but Nadine didn't know why she needed the bugs.
But the fact that she confessed, with a little persuasion from Arnold, to the restaurant and asked for help had to show that she was reasonable. So maybe she would say yes to switching rooms? Nadine wasn't quite sure.
Walking up to the door, Nadine struggled to find her key, having to set her bag down and search in one of her brown shorts' pockets. She also had a hard time opening the door because it seemed that Helga must have let her bags right there.
"That's odd. I thought Olga said that Helga was unpacking her stuff. Maybe she just went right to sleep."
Nadine stepped into the room, seeing that it was dark in the room save for the open curtains. Helga looked to be in bed too, completely exhausted. Deciding just to set her things down on the first bed, Nadine took a good look around. The room was just like Rhonda's room, as she suspected that it would. The only difference was that it was a reflected version of it. It was roomy enough for her, Lila, and whoever was going to be in the room that night. Whether that would Helga or Rhonda she didn't know.
But what she did know was that the view outside looked awesome. Not cool, but awesome! It was perfect. And suddenly she was happy to be staying on the first floor. It meant going outside and sitting on the green grass and maybe finding new bug species during her free time. She smiled as she walked over to the windowed door. Placing her hand on it, she recalled when she heard the waves earlier back in the other room. Rhonda would really love just sitting on the beach reading her magazines. And who knew, this trip could be pretty fun after all. They had the location and the weather for it too. It would be good. Nadine breathed in with content.
"Hmm…" and then she also heard some sheets and blankets moving. Turning around, Nadine saw Helga toss and turn a bit. And she felt bad that she didn't notice it, but there was something wrong. Stepping closer to Helga, she could see sweat on her forehead and tear marks on her cheeks. She also was whimpering continuously, almost as if she was having a nightmare.
Kneeling down, Nadine could even see more tears falling. "She really must be having some sort of nightmare. Either that or she's sick." And it wouldn't be surprising either. After all they all were in a plane for a few days. There could have been a chance that she caught something from anyone. Just in case, Nadine lightly touched Helga's forehead and almost pulled away. She wasn't burning hot, but she was a little warm.
She had to wake her up. Otherwise she wouldn't know what's wrong except for what she had already seen.
"Helga, come on. It's time to wake up." Nadine shook her shoulder. And she continued this for the next few minutes, saying similar things and shaking her shoulder harder. But she was whimpering more and more. Eventually she whined quietly and abruptly turned over to the other side. Nadine was knocked over onto the floor and landed on her elbows. Keeping her eyes on Helga, she was visibly shaking with what seemed to be the chills. "That's it. I have to get some help. Maybe Olga and Phoebe know something." Nadine stood up with the help of one of the wicker chairs. She never kept her eyes off of the blonde as she walked almost backwards toward the door. The girl was still suffering from something, and that scared her. Nadine didn't know what Helga was going through and she felt bad that she couldn't do anything.
Though that didn't stop her from accidentally bumping onto one of the bags that Helga left at the door. She almost fell, but luckily got her footing. Staring down at the floor, she could see some things had fallen out of pockets – a tube of Neosporin, a small flashlight, fishhooks, and a compass. Nadine was confused. Why would Helga need things like fishhooks and a compass? They weren't going fishing or on any expeditions. She picked them up and quickly put them away.
"Right now, Helga needs help." Stepping out of the room completely, Nadine made a break for Rhonda's room. She still tripped here and there but she didn't fall. But these rooms were abnormally spaced out. She lost her breath by the time that she made it there. Leaning over on her knees, she knocked on the door repeatedly. "Ok, ok Nadine," Rhonda opened the door with a red blouse with short sleeves and black jeans that were cut off at the knees. She looked extremely pleased with what she was wearing. That didn't last long though. Nadine didn't even have to look at her friend's eyes to know that she knew something was wrong. That was how close they were.
Quickly she was pulled into the room and stood near the first bed awkwardly. All of the girls were sitting on the first two beds – Phoebe and Lila on the closest bed and Sheena on the middle bed. Olga was still standing where she was earlier. They all turned to her. "Hey Nadine," Sheena said, "What happened with Helga? Does she want to switch?"
Nadine looked down, feeling a sense of guilt for no reason at all. Maybe it was because she left Helga to suffer while she had to help with this problem as well. She really didn't know. She went back to toying with the hem of her shirt. "Um, I don't know."
Rhonda moved from behind her and sat next to Sheena. Crossing her leg over the other she pouted. "What do you mean by that?" she sounded harsh. But Nadine didn't have time to deal with this. She looked at Olga with nervous eyes. "Um Olga?"
The girls' chaperone turned to her. "Yes Nadine? Is something wrong?" This, this wasn't going to be easy. Olga and Helga were sisters. And even though she didn't know how well they got along, she knew that they loved each other. But if what she saw earlier between Olga's teary eyes and Helga being ill, then saying this would be harder than she thought.
Nadine gulped. "Yeah actually. By any chance is Helga sick with the flu or something?" At this, the blonde stared at her with a worried look. And the tanned girl hoped that the answer would be yes because then it would have been expected. But if not…
"No she wasn't sick when I talked to her earlier." That wasn't good. Everyone exchanged more glances. Lila looked at Nadine curiously. "She seemed fine when I told her I was coming here first." Phoebe spoke up next. "All she told me was that she was tired. Did she get sick?" Ok, being tired was expected from the flight and the ride here. So that helped. But still…
Nadine shrugged with a frown and crossed her arms, shifting from foot to foot. "I don't know. I went in there and she was shaking and crying in her sleep. I checked her forehead and she felt a little warm. I also tried waking her up to ask her what's wrong but she won't respond. I'm really sorry, but I don't know what else to do."
"Oh my Baby Sister!" Nadine could have sworn that she felt and heard a rush of air as she figured out Olga had ran out of the room. She looked at everyone as they all shared the same look with probably the same thought. Luckily it didn't last long. "What are we waiting for?" Phoebe asked, "They need our help!" She never hesitated as she jumped off of the bed and out of the door. And even though Nadine and the other girls followed after her, she smiled inwardly at how close Phoebe and Helga were.
"Come on Helga. Please Baby Sister!" They all had bumped into each other at the doorway, and somehow managed to cram inside. When Nadine could see over Sheena's shoulder and stepped around her, it seemed that Olga had turned on the lamps and opened the rest of the curtains to allow light in. Olga had a washcloth on Helga's head and it seemed that she had stopped whimpering.
However she was still shaking with the chills, sweating, and tossing around a bit. And Nadine couldn't tell if she was still crying or not, but it had to stop. Helga needed to wake up.
"Helga!" Phoebe shouted. Running over to her bed, she crawled her way next to her and tried to coax her. The other girls gathered around slowly, sitting on the middle and last beds without a word. Even Rhonda didn't say anything. On the other hand, Nadine sat on the bed closest to the door. If Helga woke up, it was a no brainer that she would want some space and room to breathe. She could even hyperventilate. Of course she wanted to help, but maybe by doing this it would be enough.
"Please, please Helga. You've got to wake up." Phoebe continued to plead. It broke her heart to see this. Helga looked so different like this – sick and weak. But mostly the suffering that she must have been dealing with was hard to swallow. Nadine could feel a prick of tears. And even the other girls were crying a bit.
Helga shifted and gripped onto a part of the white blanket as if her life depended on it. Her unibrow creased and her frown deepened. No one else spoke except for Phoebe at this point. Olga was sobbing so much that her mascara was running down her cheeks. And no one else knew what to say.
"Come on. Helga if you wake up, we'll do anything you want when we get to the market. Buy some cool things, laugh at other people if you want," she sobbed, "Anything you want. I promise. And if we can bring down your temperature, maybe we can get some ice cream or something like that. How does that -"
"No!" Helga shot up.
And at this, Nadine didn't know what to do. Of course she and the others were shocked. Their classmate was awake now and they could help her. She put a hand over her heart, which practically pounded like a drum.
"But how did Helga get like this?" Nadine thought as she looked at Helga's horrified and dazed face from whatever she was obviously dreaming about. And she hoped that it wouldn't happen again.