Chapter 2 in all its new glory!
I have gone through and hopefully fixed things enough that it's easier to follow this time around!
The sun was streaming onto Gregory's face, stirring slightly in his sleep before his eyes cracked open. His sleep crusted eyes fluttering, a small groan escaping his lips. Finally, his brain decided it was impossible to go back to sleep, and he began his transition into the new day.
He turned onto his side to see his alarm clock.
6.25 A.M.
Great.
Greg sighed in defeat and swung his pale legs over the side of the bed, stretching his limbs with a groan and yawn. The events of last night flooded back into his mind like blood rushing to his head; Rodrick's taunting remarks rang in his ears, and a twisting feeling danced in his gut.
Greg gulped, and his eyes darted around the hardwood floor; Oh god, not that awful feeling again. He didn't know what was worse, that daunting feeling gnarling his insides or the fact that Rodrick was the cause of all this. Greg gathered himself up and trailed along to the bathroom, finally looking up at his reflection in the mirror. He looked terrible.
The rims of his eyes were red and sore from the restless sleep; his dark brown hair stuck up in more weird directions than it usually did, and a dark, fresh bruise had already formed on his left bicep where Rodrick had grabbed him the previous night.
Greg was at a complete loss at how Rodrick could have this effect on him. He had received far worse treatment from him in the past; for example, at the Roller Rink when he completely hijacked his chances of asking Holly to dance with him, following with Greg being beaten up by a bunch of little girls and then a scolding by his mother.
But what was so different this time? He stopped pondering and decided to try and fix his broken reflection in the mirror before going down for breakfast.
When Greg finally ventured downstairs, he wasn't surprised to see his mother and him were the only ones awake. Hearing footsteps place themselves loudly against the floor; his mom turned around to face him in surprise. Greg was standing there awkwardly, wondering what excuse he could come up with for waking up so early.
"Oh, honey, you look terrible!" She exclaimed in shock, walking over to where Greg stood, placing a hand upon his forehead to see if he had a fever, doting over him.
"You seem to have a normal temperatureā¦" Susan frowned slightly, lips thin and questioning. Greg just shrugged off her hand and trotted over to the breakfast table.
"I'm okay mom... I just didn't get much sleep last night." Greg shrugged once more, trying to make it seem like it wasn't such a big deal. His mother pursed her lips and nodded as if it still was an unconvincing argument; she sighed and proceeded to make toast for him. Greg inwardly sighed in relief; for now, he was off the hook from his mother, but he wasn't off the hook from his brother.
He quickly ate his toast, gulped his orange juice before he scampered over to get his shoes on, causing her head to shoot up from the papers she was signing.
"Why are you leaving so early, Greg? Maybe you should wait a while. I'm sure Rodrick could drive you to school." She smiled gleefully while putting the papers in a folder, on her way to head upstairs to wake up Rodrick. Bad idea.
"No!" Greg blurted out before he could stop himself; Susan jumped slightly at the abruptness, turning towards him with her eyebrows so high they hid in her hair.
Greg licked his lips nervously.
"You know what Rodrick's like when he has to drive me somewhere. I don't want to face him before noon." Correction, he didn't want to face Rodrick at all. Luckily his mom must have believed him because she gave him an amused look and sighed.
"I can't say I blame you on that one, it's a wonder how that boy can sleep for so long..." She pondered while looking down, buttering her piece of toast. Greg took this moment to slip out of the door, shoed tied and backpack on his shoulders.
While walking down the driveway, he wondered what would happen at school today. Rowley would probably be so psyched that school would be out; Greg could almost imagine his wide chubby grin. He couldn't help crack a smile at the thought. He propped up his bag, which was sliding down his shoulder as he turned to walk to his destination.
If he had looked back at his house, he would have seen the silhouette of a young man glowering at his retreating form.
The school day passed in a blur much to Greg's dismay; he knew that any other kid would be counting down the minutes until the school bell rang loudly, marking the end of the school year. For Greg, all he could feel was panic.
"Greg!" Mr. Winsky exclaimed. Greg snapped out of his thoughts and focused on the classroom; chocolate brown eyes lifted to see his teacher staring at him with his hands on his hips in exasperation.
"I know vacation is a mere few moments away, but could you please pay attention to the remaining time in class?" His teacher blamed him as a few kids around sniggered, and Greg had to refrain from rolling his eyes, so he just gritted his teeth and nodded. Satisfied, the teacher turned around and walked back to the blackboard and began writing again.
Greg sighed and looked up, his heart nearly skipping a beat when he saw the clock was a few seconds away from the end of the school day.
"5!" Rowley whispered excitedly.
Greg's heart sped up quicker, just five seconds away from the fated ring of the bell, and five seconds away from his fate with Rodrick.
"4!" The other voice of Fregley chanted with Rowley. Greg's hands started to sweat, and he inhaled a shaky breath, sweat tickling the back of his neck as his eyes shut on themselves.
"3!" A few others joined in on the countdown, whispering as quietly as before. Was it him, or was this room suddenly feeling warmer?
"2!" Most of the class joined now, including Patty. Anxiety seemed to build up in Greg with each roll of whispering that flowed out from his classmate's mouth.
"1!" The entire class, excluding Greg, shouted out the last number and cheered. Greg shut his eyes tightly while his heart pounded inside his head as the sound of the bell rang out.
"Greg! Greg! Come on its summer vacation!" Rowley almost squealed as his face lit up; Greg managed a smile at him. Rowley's smile faded at seeing his best friend's face not match his own.
"Hey Greg, what's wrong?" Rowley worriedly asked as they exited the classroom. Greg frowned, should he tell him about what happened?
"Nothing just a bit of a stomach ache," Greg smiled as reassuringly as he could despite the ache in his arm flaring up at his lie. Rowley's face grimaced at the thought of a stomach ache at a time like this but decided to launch into the plan of his summer vacation anyways. Rowley was a good friend like that sometimes, changing the subject and believe Greg's little lie.
Greg, meanwhile, was not so enthusiastic about his summer vacation like Rowley was. He also felt just the slightest bit guilty about lying to Rowley, sure he could be a bit embarrassing at times, but he had never lied to him before.
His thoughts then switched to what would happen when he got home; Greg knew they would be leaving at 5 P.M. which they would then stay in a hotel considering the camping site was still a long drive away.
Wait, a hotel? Does that mean that� Oh no, please, no! Would he have to share a room with Rodrick?
"Greg! I thought I told you last night that you and Rodrick would share a room! It's only for one night." Gregory Heffley stared at his mom in complete disbelief, was his mother that oblivious to how much Rodrick tried to make his life a living hell.
"But mom! Why Rodrick? I'd rather share with Fregley!" Greg exclaimed, okay, maybe not so much Fregley, but it was enough to make his mother stare at him in disapproval.
"No buts Greg, as I said, it's just for one night. Now get in the car or traffic will be hectic!" Susan narrowed her eyes at Greg, breaking no room for arguments with her stern tone. Greg sighed in utter defeat; he didn't understand his family most of the time. His feet, without his consent, made their way over to the shiny silver van while his fingers trembled as they grasped the handle and slid open the car door.
The sight that awaited Greg was a pair of dark, wicked eyes staring at him.
"Looks like we're roomies, shrimp." Rodrick smiled at him devilishly.
Greg gulped.
He was going to die, and it wasn't like he even had a choice.
