(S.P. 118, 4th Grade Classroom)
Next day, the classes were about to start, with only one student missing at the 4th grade classroom; Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. "Hey Nadine," said Sid, getting the girl's attention. "where's Rhonda?"
Just then the door was opened, with Rhonda entering the classroom, carrying her books. "Hi Rhonda, are you feeling better?" greeted Gerald as he and Arnold waved hello, only for Rhonda to pass them without returning the wave. "So, I guess that's a yes?"
Rhonda sat on a desk close to Nadine, and the class started. For the most part Rhonda and Nadine didn't interact at all in neither the class or the cafeteria, only when the classes were done, when Nadine was packing her stuff, did Rhonda got up from her desk and went to her friend. "Hey Nadine?" said Rhonda, getting her friend's attention.
"Yes Rhonda?"
"You and me are best friends, and we can tell each others secrets and personal stuff..." said Rhonda, turning to her friend with a worried look on her face. "Am I right?"
"Of course Rhonda." replied Nadine. "What's a best friend for?"
"Well I need to ask you something; If I had taken the decision to tell you something important, something which could change your opinion of me or my family in such a radical way..." started Rhonda, her tone getting worried as she paused. "Would you promise me to keep it a secret?"
"...Rhonda, of course I would keep it a secret." assured Nadine, patting her friend's shoulder.
"Then I want you to come with me." said Rhonda.
The rich girl walked out of the classroom, turning around to watch Nadine following her. She gave her friend a smile before resuming her walk, Nadine following her all the way.
(At the Bathroom)
Once arriving at the bathroom, Rhonda closed the door as Nadine looked around, seeing the bathroom empty. "What are we doing here, Rhonda?" questioned Nadine in a worried tone.
Turning around, Nadine saw Rhonda closing the door while looking down, unnerving the dark-skinned girl a bit. "I'm going to tell you what was inside that document that disturbed me so much." answered Rhonda.
Gasping in shock, Nadine got a worried look as she calmed down. "B-But Rhonda, you said-"
"I know what I told you, but if you can assure me you can keep it a secret from everybody else, then I got nothing to worry about in telling you." interrupted Rhonda. "Do you wanna know it? Not that I will change my opinion or decision to tell you of course."
Remaining silent, Nadine started to think about it, giving her friend a nod in response. "Fine," said Rhonda, looking around before walking closer to her friend and whispering to her ear. "What was in the document was..."
To avoid spoilers, it cuts to the hallways, where Nadine's scream was heard. It specially caught the attention of Arnold and Gerald, who believed to have heard it the closest. "I think I know where that's coming from." said Arnold as he started to run towards the bathroom. "Follow me Gerald!"
(Back at the Bathroom)
Due to the shock, Nadine fell down with the most disturbed expression on her face, while her friend Rhonda just gave her a worried look. "T...That can't be true!" said Nadine in denial. "You must be kidding me!"
Getting teary eyed, Rhonda helped her friend get back up, closing her eyes and starting to cry afterwards. "I also wish it was a lie, but with the possibility that it could be genuine and the fact that it Isn't a joke made by Sid or Stinky..." said Rhonda, sniffing a bit as she opened her eyes. "Just...promise me...that you-"
Before she could finish, Rhonda saw Nadine's hands grabbing hers. She turned up and saw Nadine with an assuring smile on her face, her disturbed look having vanished. "Rhonda, as you already said you got nothing to worry about." assured Nadine. "Even if I'm pestered by the entire city on telling them what you told me, I assure you I won't tell them anything."
Crying once again, this time because of happiness, Rhonda's hands separated from Nadine's and she gave her a tight hug. "Thank you." said Rhonda as Nadine returned the hug. "You don't know how happy I am knowing that I can trust you."
Separating and cleaning her tears, Rhonda walked to the door and reached for the doorknob. "Rhonda wait," said Nadine, stopping her friend and getting her attention. "what about your parents?" asked Nadine.
"I'll ask them today after school," answered Rhonda, taking a deep breath. "hopefully they will tell me it Isn't real. Otherwise though..."
Rhonda started to twist the doorknob, slightly opening the door before being interrupted again. "Rhonda I just noticed something else," said Nadine, getting Rhonda's attention again. "what if anybody asks you instead of me about the document, if they even figure out what's going on?"
"I will of course resist to tell them, this is something only you and me can know for now." replied Rhonda, releasing the doorknob and walking to her friend. "Nobody else can, not even A-R-N-"
"O-L-D." finished Arnold, who was just entering the bathroom with his friend.
Not expecting his arrival, Rhonda screamed and jumped scared, Nadine catching her on her arms. "Arnold! What are you and your friend doing here on the girl's bathroom!?" questioned Rhonda.
"What are you talking about? This is the boys bathroom." answered Gerald.
Looking around, both girls realized what Gerald said was right. With their faces turning red in embarrassment, the two girls slowly walked out of the bathroom, Nadine putting Rhonda on the floor before they walked to the hallway.
(Back at the Wellington Lloyd's House, Living Room)
Once school had finished and she returned home, Rhonda grabbed the dreaded document and went to see her parents at the Living Room. When she arrived there, she saw both of her parents sitting at the couch close to the chimney, hugging together with warm smiles on their faces.
"Okay Rhonda, you gotta take a deep breath and calm down." thought Rhonda as she slowly walked towards her parents. "There's just no way that whatever's in the document you saw yesterday is true, even if it looks completely genuine, you know there's no way they'll tell you It's true."
"Dad, mom, I have to ask you something." uttered Rhonda, getting both of her parents attention.
"Ask away honey." said Brooke as she and her husband turned to their daughter, getting out of the couch the were on and walking to their daughter afterwards.
"We have a lot of documents about our family, that is pretty certain." started Rhonda, pausing a bit and looking at the document before she continued. "But what I'm asking you is if there's any one that's probably fake, one that there's no way could ever be true even in our dreams."
"There are no fake documents about our family, honey." answered Mister Lloyd as she and her wife returned to what they were doing. "All of them are real, I assure you."
Those words were enough to absolutely crush Rhonda, causing her to turn paler as she, on her mind, felt her entire world crumbling into pieces. She released the document, which slowly fell to the ground as the girl went walking back to her room with a horrified look on her face.
"What is this?" asked Mister Lloyd as he grabbed the document and opened it, with he and his wife getting a shocked look at what information it had. "Oh no!"
(On Rhonda's Room)
After a small shock, Rhonda went to her bed and started to cry on her pillow, grabbing a picture of her with her parents before she continued. "I can't believe it! I just can't!" exclaimed Rhonda, looking with a mixed look of sadness/fury at the picture. "Why? Why did my family-no, why did my parents had to be the one to do something like that, WHY?!"
Putting said picture back, Rhonda returned to crying on her pillow before hearing some footsteps. Believing she knew who was coming, the girl quickly went to the door and used some furniture around as a barricade as some knocks were heard. "Rhonda dear, are you there?" asked a familiar voice; the voice of Rhonda's mother.
"Leave me alone!" yelled Rhonda as she finished the barricade.
"Honey, let us explain!" shouted Brooke as she tried to open the door.
"Get away from me! I don't want any company now!" exclaimed Rhonda tears started to form on her face.
After thinking about it for a minute, Mister and Miss Lloyd exchanged sad looks before they left the door alone. "Fine Rhonda, we'll leave you alone." said Brooke as she took out the document from nowhere went to the desk where it originally was, putting it ont he drawer afterwards. "What this document revealed to you must be a shock so, we're not gonna try to make anything worse."
After saying that both adults left the Hallway and returned to the Living Room and Rhonda took out the furniture from her door after a few minutes. And after putting everything back where it was, the rich girl went back to her bed and looked at the ground with a sad expression on her face.
Just then she heard her room's phone ring, with the girl getting up and walking to the phone, answering the call. It was Nadine. "Hello Nadine, I have some bad news." greeted and said Rhonda. "As it turns out the document is perfectly genuine, the information it has is true."
(Nadine's House, Nadine's Bedroom)
"W-What?" asked Nadine in a shocked tone. "You can't be serious Rhonda."
"I'm absolutely serious." replied Rhonda. "Luckily however, I can rest a bit better since only you and me know the secret, and we will not tell it to anybody else."
"You can be sure about that." replied Nadine in an optimistic tone before thinking about it deeply, her tone changing to a worried one in the process. "But what if the pressure from having to hide it forces you to show it?"
"Oh right, that could become a problem." said Rhonda before turning to a photo of Curly. Instead of questioning what was that doing there though, she grabbed it and got a smile on her face. "But I'm pretty sure I know the one who can help us with that."
"You don't mean-"
"Desperate times need desperate measures," interrupted Rhonda. "If I don't survive, remember to keep the secret a secret from any and everyone. And remember that I tried."
"I promise Rhonda." said Nadine in an honest tone before hanging the phone.
Rhonda put the phone back where she got it and, giving a long look at the picture of Curly, let out a sigh before putting it back where she got it and leaving her room.
To Be Continued