CHAPTER 17: A Monday of Unfortunate Events

The moment my new alarm clock rang, I knew I'd loathe this day.

I hid under the blankets after throwing a pillow to the noisy object that ruined my morning. Its sound became less audible, now that the pillow was on top of it.

I was about to doze off again when someone yelled outside my door, "APRIL! Get ready now! It's Monday."

I groaned. "Five more minutes, Mom!"

It sucks how weekends are so short and weekdays are so long.

"Don't make me come in there!" she said, continuously knocking.

I took the blanket off my head and scratched my head."Fine. I'll get ready!" I responded.

"Good." The knocking stopped and I heard footsteps which were fading as my mom went downstairs.

I grabbed my towel and walked lazily to the bathroom.

After taking a bath, I put on the first bunch of clothes I saw in the closet – a plain gray v-neck shirt and black jeans. I wore my favorite sneakers and then headed downstairs for breakfast.

My mom settled a plate of French toast on the table. "Did you like the new alarm clock I bought you, darling?" she asked when I sat on my chair.

"No," I answered, and started munching on my food.

"Why not?"

"I don't like alarm clocks."

She frowned and was about to say something when we heard my dad's voice.

"Good Morning, ladies!" He entered the room, saving my mom and I from another argument. He was in his usual suit-and-tie work outfit, and was in high spirits unlike me.

"Morning, hun," mom greeted back as she placed two more plates of French toast on the table – one for dad and one for her. She sat down and ate with us.

"By the way…" She wiped some crumbs off the corner of her lips. "My part-time job is now a full-time job! Five full days a week," she said excitedly.

Well that's good news for her.

But even before she was promoted, she went to work every day too – sometimes half-day, sometimes the entire day… So there's not much of a difference, except now she is required to go there every day from morning to evening.

Anyway, I still tried to smile as my dad and I congratulated her.

After finishing his food, my dad stood up from his chair. "I should get going so I won't be late for work. Ready to go, April?"

"Uh..." I looked at my food which was only half-eaten.

"Don't worry about it, hun. I'll bring her to school before going to work," mom replied.

"Alright." He gave both of us a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you two later." He smiled and then went outside to his car. I heard the faint sound of the moving car as he drove away.

I tried to finish my food while my mom washed the dishes. I guess she was moving faster today because next thing I knew, she was standing by the door, dressed in her work outfit.

I was still there, finishing the last bits of my food. For some reason, I was determined to finish what was on the plate.

"April, faster. It's almost 7:30. You might get late," she said as she went out to put her things in the car.

I washed my plate and went upstairs to brush my teeth again. Then I grabbed my bag and jacket from my room, and rushed down the stairs.

And then here goes the clumsy me: I accidentally slipped off the stairs and landed hard on the floor.

My mom heard the loud thump and she ran back inside, only to find me on the floor with one of my legs stretched out.

"Oh my! What happened?" she asked, with a tone of worry in her voice.

"I, uh, slipped–"

"Oh no… We should take you to the doctor now!" She panicked and tried to help me get up.

"No. It's okay, mom. I'm fine." I pushed myself from the ground and slowly stood up. "See?" I smiled and gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, okay." She calmed down a bit took my bag. "Let's go."

I took a step but I cringed. "Ouch!"

My mom knelt down to check on my foot while I breathed heavily because of the pain.

"April, dear, we really need to go to the doctor."

I had no choice.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Ma'am, your daughter sprained her ankle," the doctor said.

"Accidentally," I added while the nurse wrapped something around my left foot.

"Will she still be able to go to school today?" my mom asked.

"That depends on her." The doctor looked at me while talking to my mom. "If she can tolerate it, then yes, it's okay-"

"I can handle this," I said, putting on the flat shoes that my mom always kept in the car. It sucks that I won't get to wear my sneakers.

"Are you sure, April?" mom asked me.

I was about to nod when the doctor butted in, "When I checked her leg, ma'am, there's a possibility that she might have had recent accidents–"

My mom frowned when she heard those words. "Recent accidents?"

"Yes, maybe. It appears that she may have injured the same leg before. It's probably one of the reasons why she easily twisted her ankle this time, unlike what you've said that she has never gotten a sprain before even though she has fallen a couple of times from the stairs," he explained. "If these recent accidents have indeed happened, and she was able to handle them pretty well, then she could surely take this one."

Mom shook her head. "But she didn't get into any accidents since we moved here." She then looked at me. "Right April?"

It took a moment for me to answer. "Uh, yeah… I mean... I'm not the kind of person who gets into that kind of trouble," I lied.

My mom raised her eyebrows, probably suspecting that I wasn't telling the truth.

The doctor cleared his throat. "Nothing to worry! The swelling will heal within 2-4 days. After that, walking will be easier." He turned to me. "But don't be reckless because if your condition gets worse, it might take longer for you to fully recover."

"Yeah, okay," I said.

"And be more careful when going down the stairs, April," he added.

I nodded.

It seemed that my mom shrugged off her suspicions. She thanked the doctor and the nurse, and assisted me as we walked towards the car.

Once we were both in, she started driving me to school. There was silence in the car until she asked, "So April, what recent accidents did you get into?"

"What? None, mom. I-"

"Don't lie, April."

I hesitated to tell her the things that really happened before school started, but I figured that she would soon find out about it anyway.

"I sort of bumped on the edge of the skating rink when I was with the Heffleys there during the weekend before school…"

"Well, at least it's nothing really dangerous," my mom said, relaxing a bit.

"Aaand I almost got hit by a pick-up truck the day before that, ehehe," I laughed and made it sound like it wasn't a big deal…

"WHAT?!" mom yelled.

…Well of course it was a big deal for her.

"Don't worry! I landed on the ground safely. I didn't get any major injury or something... Just a wound on the same leg, and a small bruise on the face," I smiled awkwardly.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?!" she asked.

I shrugged. "I thought you might interrogate and lecture me about it–"

And that's exactly what she did during the entire drive to school. "How many times have I told you to be more careful? April why are you so careless and clumsy sometimes?! Remember when crossing the street, you should stop, look, and listen! I've told you this before…"

"…Please stay away from trouble, April," my mom said when we finally arrived.

"Yes mom, promise!" I raised my right hand. Then I got off the car and limped my way to class.

I entered our room and all eyes were on me. Mr. Stews was already discussing the lesson for the day.

He paused, acknowledging my entrance. "Ms. Preston, why are you late?"

I stopped in the middle of the way and looked at him, "Um, I got into a small accident this morning."

He noticed my foot. "Alright then. Please proceed to your seat." Then he continued the lesson while I made my way towards my seat.

I took out my notebook and pen once I got to my chair. I copied what whatever my teacher wrote on the board. However, some annoying sound bothered me while I was writing. Someone was snoring loud.

I almost forgot that I was seated beside Rodrick. His head was on the table as he snored loud and drooled while he journeyed in dreamland.

Ugh.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Show me your excuse letter," coach said after I asked if I could be excused from today's P.E. class.

I pointed to my wrapped foot, "But coach, I just got this earlier today!"

"I need your excuse letter now," she said firmly.

Seriously, my foot is wrapped and I'm limping. Isn't that enough evidence?

"Could I just give it to you tomorrow? My mom and I were rushing today because she might get late for work and I was already late for school," I replied.

She looked at my foot and considered what I've just said. "Hmm... Okay, fine."

"Yes! Thanks coach."

"But you aren't free to go. Stay there so I won't mark you absent." she pointed to the bleachers, and asked me to just sit there and watch them for an entire hour.

I rolled my eyes. A part of me wanted to leave and just stay somewhere else to pass the time. But I never planned on cutting class… So I just hobbled my way to the bleachers as coach talked to my classmates. I sat down and extended my leg so I could relax my foot.

Great. Let the boredom begin.

After blowing the whistle, our coach stood there and observed the ladies who started running around the track. During P.E., we usually start with that, and then proceed to some other sports lessons.

I then turned my attention to the boys playing soccer at the field.

They ran around, kicking the ball to their team mates, while the opposing team tried to steal it from them. No team had earned a point yet, but it seemed like a friendly game. Their coach interrupted them from time to time. He took the ball and showed how to kick properly and where to aim it.

"What's up with you?"

I looked to my left and saw Rodrick climbing up the bleachers. He was wearing shorts that reached his knees and a shirt that was similar to the ones the boys were wearing while playing soccer on the field.

Surprisingly, I wasn't annoyed when I saw him. Maybe it was because of what happened last Friday... Maybe – just maybe – he could be a good friend after all.

I replied casually, "I sprained my ankle this morning–"

He laughed and sat down a few meters away from me. "Wow, that is so you. Another product of your carelessness…"

Okay, I guess I should take back what I just said about him being a good friend…

I glared at him. "It was an accident. I fell off the stairs."

He smirked."You always get into trouble like that. Remember when you almost got hit by a–"

"Shut up," I snapped. "What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be down there, playing with your class?"

He groaned. "Coach got angry at me for picking up the ball…"

I almost laughed. "You're not even supposed to pick up the ball! That's the point of the game."

"Nah, I just did that on purpose so I could be kicked out of the game. I hate P.E.," he said as he moved closer 'til he was sitting only a few inches from me.

"Don't you like hate every subject?"

"Well…" He looked at the sky and thought about it for a while. "Yeah. You got that right."

"HEFFLEY! Get down here!" Rodrick's coach called him.

Rodrick looked down and cursed.

"Looks like your plan worked, genius," I said sarcastically, holding back laughter.

"You're right." he got up and yawned as he stretched. "Later, Prescott!" he stepped down to the lower bleacher, and tapped my foot heavily three times with his big hand.

I gasped and almost squealed in pain with every contact his palm made with the wrapped part of my foot. My hands shook as I bit my lip and held my breath so I wouldn't cause a scandal.

"Oops..." he removed his hand from my foot, and flashed that I-didn't-mean-it-but-I-actually-did-it-on-purpose face.

"What was that for?!" I scowled and pointed at him. "Y-You're going to p-pay–"

"Gotta go, bye!" he cut me off and went down the bleachers then back to the field with his class.

Could this day get any worse?

. . . . . . . . . .

I surprisingly made it to our usual lunch table where Mae and Olivia were seated and eating their food.

"What took you so long?" Mae asked as I slumped on my chair. "And what's with the narky face?"

"I accidentally sprained my ankle this morning, and so far, the rest of my day has been a nightmare."

"Well that sucks," Olivia said. "Aren't you getting lunch?"

I looked at the long line of teenagers carrying their trays to get their lunch. It wasn't that far but I was lazy enough to stand and go there and then back, so I shook my head. "Nah. I'm not in the mood to eat."

"Don't say 'no' to food. Here. Have my sandwich," Mae handed me a container with a ham and cheese sandwich inside.

I stared at it, and heard my stomach rumble. "You sure?"

She nodded and smiled.

"Gee, thanks." I opened it and took a bite.

Olivia started reading a book while finishing her pasta. Anne came to our table and asked Mae about some kind of homework for their English class.

Our table was quiet – too quiet. It was just then that I realized someone was missing.

"Where's Claire?" I asked Olivia, since Anne and Mae were busy discussing something.

She shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Oh, okay." I arched my eyebrows. "Weird... She's usually here by the time I arrive," I muttered.

Olivia must have heard what I said because she shrugged again, obviously too preoccupied with what she's reading.

I kept eating my sandwich in silence until, moments later, I heard someone giggling. And I knew it was Claire.

I finished the last bite of my sandwich and then looked up from the table. Mae did the same, so I guessed she heard the giggles as well. Olivia kept reading while Anne shuffled through the pages of her notebook, which probably meant that they didn't notice the two figures that were approaching our table.

"Heeyy girls!" Claire waved excitedly.

Anne stopped what she was doing, as if she was about to greet back. Instead of doing so, the three of us stared at Claire and the guy she was holding hands with.

"What's up, Claire?" Olivia replied, still not taking her eyes off of the book she was reading.

"I'd like you to meet a friend of mine." She let go of the guy's hand and held her palm out in front of his chest. "This is Ethan." She began introducing each of us to him.

Ethan's hair was short and brown, a bit darker than Claire's. Its style made him look about 4 inches taller than her. He wore an unbuttoned woven top over a plain t-shirt. Not bad…

"Looks like you're more than just friends," Mae said, a grin spreading across her face.

Claire blushed when Mae said that. She then cleared her throat."We're, um… We're dating."

Olivia gasped in surprise, turning her head away from her book, for the first time in minutes, to stare at Claire and Ethan.

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Ethan said, finally breaking off the awkward silence.

"Why don't you guys take a seat?" I replied, trying to be polite because I just remembered that I was the one who told Claire that she could invite Ethan to our table. I didn't bother mentioning that to anyone.

They agreed and sat down, with Olivia to Claire's right and Anne to Ethan's left.

Olivia returned to her book after being in shock for a few seconds, while Mae narrowed her eyes at the couple across her, as if she was trying to remember an important detail.

"So…" Anne said, resting her chin on her palm and looking at Claire and Ethan. "When did it start?"

Claire happily gave a reply, "Last Saturday! But we met last year."

Mae snapped out of her trying-to-remember-something face. "Oh my gosh! Claire was your–"

"Student buddy, yes," Ethan finished Mae's statement, putting his arm around Claire's shoulders.

Claire blushed again as she nodded.

"Aw, how sweet!" Anne said dreamily.

"That's funny... We were just talking about you last week," Mae added.

"You were?" Ethan laughed.

"About the student buddy thing in general," Claire clarified. "Speaking of student buddies, April here experienced that last week. Right?"

Why did she have to bring that up? I forced myself to reply. "Uh, yeah."

"Oh really? How was it?" Ethan asked me. "Mine was great last year."

"It was... fine, I guess." I shrugged and managed to smile a little.

Suddenly, a dude who looked like a school athlete and was wearing a varsity jacket came to our table and covered Mae's eyes from behind. "I missed you," he said to her in an undertone.

Mae gave a very big smile. She removed the guy's hands from her eyes and stood up to kiss him.

"Guess no one informed us that it's Boyfriend Monday today," Olivia whispered to me.

Olivia's boyfriend (or should I say ex-boyfriend?) moved to another state just before we started school. They broke up last week because they found it complicated to be in a long-distance relationship.

Mae's boyfriend, Matt, said hello to everyone, including Ethan. Apparently they knew each other because they were classmates in most subjects last school year.

"And you are?" he asked me when he finally noticed I was sitting beside his girlfriend.

"April," I replied blankly. "I just moved in last summer."

"I'm Matt, nice to meet you," he said, reaching out his hand.

I shook it. "You too."

"Matt just got back from his last minute family trip. He left the day after we ended our summer jobs," Mae said. She explained that she separated from us after we got our paychecks on our last day at the country club to bond with Matt before he left for his family vacation.

"Oh, I see," I replied, making it sound like I was interested.

Our table became noisier than usual because of the two guys. At first you'd think that Ethan was a man of few words, but he was just as talkative as Claire. Matt, on the other hand, was obviously a chatterbox too. We all stayed a bit longer before the next class.

"It's almost time." Olivia sighed and closed her book, breaking the unending laughter of our friends. "I have to go ahead because I have to get things from my locker."

"Oh I'll go with you," Anne said, taking her bag.

"Cool." she got up and gathered her things. "Nice to meet you Ethan, and good to see you again Matt. I'll catch you all later." She smiled and marched away.

"Toodles!" Anne waved as she walked away with Olivia.

As the clanking sound of Anne's heels faded, Claire turned to me. "Hey I think we should get going too."

"Yep," I agreed, pulling my messenger bag over my shoulder and collecting my books. Then I started standing up slowly so I wouldn't hurt my ankle.

"I'm going with you, then straight to my class," said Ethan while he helped Claire up.

She thanked Ethan and asked the couple across her, "You two aren't going to yet?"

"You guys go ahead. We'll get to class in a while," Mae answered.

Claire smiled. "Alright then! Let's go to class!" She slipped her arm through her boyfriend's and started walking.

"Ouch," I grumbled.

Claire spun around and rushed towards me. "April, are you okay?–"

I raised my hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"She sprained her ankle this morning," Mae filled her in.

Claire's mouth opened when she found out, and then she glowered at me.

I scratched my head. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you that. Sorry."

"April, are you sure you don't want to go to the clinic?" Ethan asked.

"I'm okay. It just stung a little..." I started walking with much caution. "See? No need to worry." I assured them.

"Very well then." Claire gave a comforting tap on my shoulder.

"Bye!" Matt said to Ethan, Claire, and I as we began to make our way to class.

The bell rang exactly when we reached our English classroom. It took us a few minutes longer to get there so I apologized to Claire and Ethan for being an inconvenience.

"It's alright! My teacher comes in late, so no need to worry," Ethan said coolly.

"Okay... Thanks, you two," I replied.

"Oh, don't mention it!" Claire grinned.

I forced myself to give a tiny smile despite how bad this day was going. Then I turned around and headed for my seat.

When I finally settled down, I saw Ethan plant a kiss on Claire's cheek before running away. Her face flushed red as she rushed to her seat. I found out that it was because our teacher was approaching.

Mr. Martins entered the room and called us one by one to check the attendance.

"Alright!" He went in front of his desk and clapped his hands together, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Today, I will assign you partners for your project."

"But, sir, we already picked partners," the kid with glasses and curly hair reminded him.

"Yes, but I changed my mind. I will assign partners so all of you could get to know each other better," he replied, smiling widely because of the decision he had made.

The entire class groaned and complained.

"Okay, okay. Keep quiet now." He took his class record and flipped some pages. He stopped and stared at it for a moment. "Hmm... Since this class has 25 students, there will be 11 pairs and 1 trio. Let's get started, shall we?"

He called each student again, pairing everyone up.

Claire got paired with the curly-haired eyeglasses kid. She looked at me and we had a silent conversation agreeing that this project would be more fun if we were partners.

"Mr. Heffley... Mr. Heffley!" our teacher almost shouted.

My classmates and I turned to look at the back row. Rodrick just snapped out of his sleeping session. "What?" he asked, wiping the drool off of the corner of his lip.

Mr. Martins continued, "You are going to work with Ms. Potts."

I sighed in relief. Rodrick wasn't my partner and that was possibly the only good thing that happened today.

"... And Ms. Preston."

Oh great… We're the trio.

Somewhere at the back of the class, a boy snickered. I guessed it was either Rodrick or his bandmate.

"Shut up," I heard Rodrick say, apparently irritated with his friend, Ben.

I looked over my shoulder and glared at both of them in the corner of my eyes.

My phone suddenly vibrated so I had to check it and open the message I just received. It was from Claire.

Claire: At least you won't have to deal with him on your own. Piper's there to help you. Don't worry bout it. :))

She had a point there.

I texted back to thank her, and then kept my head down as our teacher called the last few names.

"There we have it!" Mr. Martins exclaimed, clapping his hands together once more. "Go meet your partners, or group mates, or whatever you want to call them."

No one made a move.

"NOW," he ordered, his voice more commanding that it made everyone get up from their seats. He then went behind his desk and started searching for something in his bag.

Claire went to the other side to talk to curly-haired eyeglasses kid. She patted my shoulder as she passed by.

"Over here!" a voice called.

I looked where it came from and it was from Potts. She was standing beside her chair in the front row. Her first name's Piper I suppose, since that was what Claire said in her message. I walked towards her carefully so that I wouldn't double sprain my ankle in the middle of a class of noisy and chaotic teenagers.

"April, right?" she asked once I got there. She had long light brown hair that was tied into a pony tail. Her face was a bit pale but had rosy cheeks and pretty eyes. She seemed very amicable and smart, but not the geeky type.

"Yes," I replied. "Nice to meet you, uh, Piper? Is that right?"

"Yeah, Piper. Although you can also call me Pepper. A lot of people call me that… I just don't know why, haha." she smiled delightfully.

"Pepper it is." We shook hands and grabbed some seats.

"So," she started. "We're three in the group. Usually that's an advantage, but since we have him…" she nodded to Rodrick, who was dragging a chair to our direction at a snail's pace. "We're gonna have to make sure all three of us contributes something for the project."

"Yes," I agreed. Rodrick was closer to us now, and I was pretty sure he could hear what we were about to say next.

Pepper leaned closer to me and said in a low but audible voice, "Rodrick is a bit…" She faltered and shifted on her seat when Rodrick was only a few steps closer to us.

"Annoying, arrogant, lazy, selfish, stupid," I said continuously and loud enough for him to hear while he slumped and slouched on his seat. I turned my head towards him at each word so that I was glaring at him directly when I said the last one.

Pepper held back laughter. I thought she was stunned that I was able to say that in front of Rodrick, who just rolled his eyes.

"So you ladies are talking about me." He smirked.

We both ignored him.

"How did you know that?" Pepper asked me. "Well, a lot of people in school know that, but have you been hanging out with him?"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't call it 'hanging out' with him. He was my student buddy last week, and my neighbor. It's a nightmare, I'm telling you."

"Hey, I'm right here! I heard you." Rodrick snarled.

"Anyway," Piper said. "I think this project could be really fun if all three of us will cooperate."

"Yeah. All three of us," I repeated, hitting the words at Rodrick.

"Here we go," Mr. Martins said, silencing most students in the room. He shook a transparent, round container in front of him. Inside the plastic container were pieces of folded papers. "To make sure that all of you will have good books to read, we'll do draw lots for your book assignments. One representative each pair please. Ah, you first." He beckoned to the girl sitting near the door.

The girl stood up and took a small piece of paper from the container.

"Read it out loud, please. What book?"

"The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger," the girl said and then went back to her seat.

"Beautiful!" Mr. Martins exclaimed. "Who's next? Any volunteers?"

"As tribute?" someone at the back answered and laughed with his partner.

"Okay, Mr. Walder. Get over here."

The boy picked another piece of paper. "The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald," he read to class while walking back to his seat.

"Oh yeah, Leo DiCaprio!" His partner pumped his fist in the air.

"May I remind everyone that this is a book reading assignment – not a movie-watching project. So please make sure you read the books… Next up?" Our teacher then scanned the room and stopped when he saw our group. "The trio… Ms. Preston."

I got up and walked towards Mr. Martins, who was holding out the container. I swiftly took a paper without thinking about it. "Les Miserables by Victor Hugo."

"That's great. Next?!"

Pepper gave me a high-five when I got back to my seat. "Nice pick," she said. "I've read the book."

"Same here" I smiled. I read that years ago, which was an advantage because it would be easier for the two of us to just re-read and take notes.

Mr. Martins was about to call another person from another pair when someone knocked.

A student who was never in our English class opened the door. The boy looked almost as tall as Rodrick, his hair so dark that it was almost black. He adjusted his backpack over his right shoulder and said, "Good afternoon, sir. Sorry I'm late."

"Are you part of this class?"

Unidentified guy glanced at the piece of paper he was holding on his left hand, which was probably his schedule. Then he looked at the top of the door to see the room number. "Yes sir."

"That's not possible," Mr. Martins tapped his chin and examined the student. "Everyone in my class is present today. What's your name, young man?"

Unidentified guy cleared his throat. "Luke Anthony Stark."

"You're not in my class list."

"Oh that's because our family just moved in town last weekend so I was enrolled late. The registrar gave me a schedule with the list of rooms and everything, but I've been having trouble all day looking for them."

"Alright. Come in, come in." Our teacher motioned for Luke to get inside. "We must get you a partner for the class project, shouldn't we?"

Luke Anthony smiled.

Mr. Martins glanced over his class list. "Ms. Potts," he called.

Pepper jumped into attention.

"You're now going to work with this young lad right here," he said.

Wait, what?!

"Shit." I heard Rodrick say.

"Oh man." Pepper sighed as she got up from her seat. "Nice meeting you, April. I guess I'll work with you in some other project. I'm really sorry. This would have been awesome." Her words were sincere, but I guess she was also relieved that she wouldn't be working with Rodrick anymore.

"Yeah…" I tried to hide my frustration. "It's okay. I'll be fine I guess."

"You will be." She then turned to Rodrick. "Hey Rodrick, cooperate with April, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever." He lazily waved his hand in the air.

"Ms. Potts, might as well pick your book." Mr. Martins shook the container.

Pepper gave a sad smile and turned away from us. She took one small paper from the container. "To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee," she read.

"Awesome," Mr. Martins commented. "Get some chairs and sit down. Now, moving on…" he continued talking and calling students, while Pepper and her new partner sat on vacant chairs that weren't so far from where Rodrick and I were seated. I listened to their conversation.

"I'm Piper, also known as Pepper here in school and at home. You can call me whichever you want." She shook hands with Luke Anthony. "You're Luke right?"

"Yes." He grinned. "Though I prefer being called Anthony, or Tony if you would like it to be less than three syllables."

"Tony, huh?" Pepper smiled and managed to give a laugh. "Tony Stark… Like Iron Man?"

"Well." Tony shrugged. "My dad loves reading comic books."

They laughed together. It looked like they were having a good time…

"So…" Rodrick heaved a sigh. "It's just us again." For a second he flashed an evil, mischievous smile.

I glowered at him and gritted my teeth. "Don't ruin this for me, Heffley."

He shrugged off his wicked grin and glared at me too. "Shut up. You're not the only one affected. I'll suffer too."

I rolled my eyes. Why the heck does this always happen?

A/N: I'm sorry for the very very late update! It sucks, I know... Anyway, I still hope you liked this chapter! Don't forget to favorite, follow, or review :)