Doubting rhea by samantha dias rachel and rhea had been best friends since kindergarten and thought they would be best friends forever. but once they began middle school, rachel began to feel that rhea was growing distant from her. they didn’t spend as much time together as they did in elementary school. they were in different clubs and had different classes. over the past few weeks, rhea had been avoiding rachel, or so rachel thought. this coming weekend would mark a month since they had last spoken. rachel worried that rhea had tired of her. the thought made rachel want to run up to rhea and demand an explanation, but instead she burst into silent sobs. saturday was rachel’s birthday. she had planned a little party just for her and rhea. but when the time came, rhea didn’t show up. rachel was sure her friend couldn’t have forgotten her birthday, and she waited all evening for her call. rachel was about to give up, when she heard the doorbell. there stood rhea at the front door shouting, “hey, birthday ” rachel frowned, “so you finally remembered.” “what do you mean? ” rhea asked. “of course i remembered. it’s the reason i haven’t been able to meet you these past weeks.” rachel replied warily, “you really think i’m going believe that? ” rhea smiled. “when you see your gift, you’ll have no choice but to believe me.” rhea led rachel to a nearby playground, where a stage had been set up. rhea beamed at rachel as the members of incandescent chihuahua, rachel’s favorite band, walked onto the stage. rachel hugged her friend. “i don’t believe my eyes! how did you do this? ” rhea smiled, “i wanted your 15th birthday to be special. you missed their concert last year. their agent owed my dad a favor, but my dad said i had to earn it. so i’ve been working as his assistant for the last month, which is the reason i’ve been so busy. i couldn’t say anything because it’s so hard for me to keep a secret from you.” rachel couldn’t believe how petty she had been and promised herself that she would never jump to conclusions again. 1 select the correct answer. what is the theme of the story? a. we need to work hard to get what we want. b. we need to be more forgiving of others. c. we shouldn’t try to repair a broken friendship. d.