Chapter 10: Finale!

*Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules! will be released tomorrow Australian time > 6PM!*

(Thursday)

Well, I was up all night tossing and turning

over this Rowley situation, but I finally made

up my mind. I decided the right thing to do

was to just let Rowley take one for the team

this time around.

On the way home from school, I came clean with

Rowley and told him the whole truth about what

happened, and how it was me who chased the

kids with the worms.

Then I told him there were lessons we could

both learn from this. I told him I learned to be

more careful about what I do in front of Mrs.

Irvine's house, and that he learned a valuable

lesson, too, which is this: Be careful about who

you lend your coat to.

To be honest with you, my message didn't seem

to be getting through to Rowley.

We were supposed to hang out after school

today, but he said he was just going to go home

and take a nap.

I couldn't really blame him. Because if I didn't

have my hot chocolate this morning, I wouldn't

have had much energy, either.

When I got home, Mom was waiting for me at

the front door.

Mom took me out to get some ice cream as a special

treat. And what this whole episode has taught me

is that every once in awhile, it's not such a bad

idea to listen to your mother.

(Tuesday)

There was another announcement on the loudspeaker

today, and to be honest with you, I kind of

figured this one was coming.

I knew it was just a matter of time before I

got busted for what happened last week.

When I got to Mr. Winsky's office, he was

really mad. Mr. Winsky told me that an

"anonymous source" had informed him that I

was the real culprit in the worm-chasing incident.

Then he told me I was relieved of my Safety

Patrol duties "effective immediately."

Well, it doesn't take a detective to figure out

that the anonymous source was Rowley.

I can't believe Rowley went and backstabbed

me like that. While I was sitting there getting

chewed out by Mr. Winsky, I was thinking, I

need to remember to give my friend a lecture

about loyalty.

Later on today, Rowley got reinstated as a Patrol.

And get this: He actually got a Promotion.

Mr. Winsky said Rowley had "exhibited dignity

under false suspicion."

I thought about really letting Rowley have it

for ratting me out like that, but then I

realized something.

In June, all the officers in the Safety Patrols

go on a trip to Six Flags, and they get to take

along one friend. I need to make sure Rowley

knows I'm his guy.

(Tuesday)

Like I said before, the worst part of getting

kicked off Safety Patrols is losing your hot

chocolate privileges.

Every morning, I go to the back door of the

cafeteria so Rowley can hook me up.

But either my friend has gone deaf or he's too

busy kissing the other officers' butts to notice me

at the window.

In fact, now that I think of it, Rowley has been

totally giving me the cold shoulder lately. And

that's really lame, because if I recall correctly,

He's the one that sold me out.

Even though Rowley has been a total jerk lately,

I tried to break the ice with him today, anyway.

But even that didn't seem to work.

*April*

(Friday)

Ever since the worm incident, Rowley has been

hanging out with Collin Lee every day after school.

What really stinks is that Collin is supposed to

be my backup friend.

Those guys are acting totally ridiculous. Today,

Rowley and Collin were wearing these matching

T-shirts and it made me just about want to vomit.

After dinner tonight, I saw Rowley and Collin

walking up the hill together, chumming it up.

Collin had his overnight bag, so I knew they

were going to do a sleepover at Rowley's.

And I thought, Well, two can play at tHAt

game. The best way to get back at Rowley was

to get a new best friend of my own. But

unfortunately, the only person who came to mind

right at that moment was Fregley.

I went up to Fregley's with my overnight bag so

Rowley could see I had other friend options, too.

When I got there, Fregley was in his front

yard stabbing a kite with a stick. That's when

I started to think maybe this wasn't the best

idea after all.

But Rowley was in his front yard, and he was

watching me. So I knew there was no turning back.

I invited myself to Fregley's house. His mom said

she was excited to see Fregley with a "playmate,"

which was a term I was not too enthusiastic about.

Me and Fregley went upstairs to his room.

Fregley tried to get me to play Twister with

him, so I made sure I stayed ten feet away

from him at all times.

I decided that I should just pull the plug on

this stupid idea and go home. But every time I

looked out the window, Rowley and Collin were

still in Rowley's front yard.

I didn't want to leave until those guys went back

inside. But things started to get out of hand with

Fregley pretty quickly. When I was looking out the

window, Fregleybrokeintomybackpackand ate the

whole bagofjellybeansIhad in there.

Fregley's one of these kids who are not supposed

to eat any sugar, so two minutes later, he was

bouncing off the walls.

Fregley started acting like a total maniac, and

he chased me all around his upstairs.

I kept thinking he was going to come down off

of his sugar high, but he didn't. Eventually, I

locked myself in his bathroom to wait him out.

Around 11:30, it got quiet out in the hallway.

That's when Fregley slipped a piece of paper

under the door.

I picked it up and read it.

That's the last thing I remember before I

blacked out.

I came to my senses a few hours later. After I

woke up, I cracked the door open, and I heard

snoring coming from Fregley's room. So I decided

to make a run for it.

Mom and Dad were not happy with me for getting

them out of bed at 2:00 in the morning. But by

that point, I could really care less.

(Monday)

Well, me and Rowley have officially been ex-friends

for about a month now, and to be honest with

you, I'm better off without him.

I'm glad I can just do whatever I want without

having to worry about carrying all that dead

weight around.

Lately, I've been hanging out in Rodrick's room

after school and going through his stuff. The other

day, I found one of his middle school yearbooks.

Rodrick wrote on everybody's picture in his

yearbook, so you can tell how he felt about all

the kids in his grade.

Every once in a while, I see Rodrick's old classmates

around town. And I have to remember to thank

Rodrickformakingchurchalotmoreinteresting.

But the page in Rodrick's yearbook that's

really interesting is the Class Favorites page.

That's where they put pictures of the kids who

get voted Most Popular and Most Talented and

all that.

Rodrick wrote on his Class Favorites page, too.

You know, this Class Favorites thing has really

got my gears turning.

If you can get yourself voted onto the Class

Favorites page, you're practically an immortal.

Even if you don't live up to what you got

picked for, it doesn't really matter, because it's

on permanent record.

People still treat Bill Watson like he's something

special, even though he ended up dropping out of

high school.

We still run into him at the Food Barn every

once in a while.

So here's what I'm thinking: This school year

has been kind of a bust, but if I can get voted

as a Class Favorite, I'll go out on a high note.

I've been trying to think of a category I have

a shot at. Most Popular and Most Athletic are

definitely out, so I'm going to have to find

something that's a little bit more in reach.

At first, I thought maybe I should wear really

nice clothes for the rest of the year so I can

get Best Dressed.

But that would mean I would have to get my

picture taken with Jenna Stewart, and she

dresses like a Pilgrim.

(Wednesday)

Last night I was lying in bed, and it hit me: I

should go for Class Clown.

It's not like I'm known for being really funny at

school or anything, but if I can pull off one big

prank right before voting, that could do it.

*May*

(Thursday)

Today I was trying to figure out how I was

going to sneak a thumbtack onto Mr. Worth's

chair in History when he said something that

made me rethink my plan.

Mr. Worth told us he has a dentist's appointment

tomorrow, so we're going to have a substitute.

Subs are like comic gold. You can say just about

anything you want, and you can't get in trouble.

(Friday)

I walked into my History class today, ready

to execute my plan. But when I got to the

door, guess who the substitute teacher was?

Of all the people in the world to be our sub

today, it was Mom. I thought Mom's days of

getting involved at my school were over.

She used to be one of those parents who came

in to help out in the classroom. But that all

changed after Mom volunteered to be a

chaperone for our field trip to the zoo when

I was in third grade.

Mom had prepared all sorts of material to help us

kids appreciate the different exhibits, but all

anyone wanted to do was watch the animals go

to the bathroom.

Anyway, Mom totally foiled my plan to win Class

Clown. I'm just lucky there's not a category

called Biggest Mama's Boy, because after today,

I'd win that one in a landslide.

(Wednesday)

The school paper came out again today. I quit

my job as school cartoonist after "Creighton the

Curious Student" came out, and I didn't really

care who they picked to replace me.

But everyone was laughing at the comics page at

lunch, so I picked up a copy to see what was so

funny. And when I opened it up, I couldn't

believe my eyes.

It was "Zoo-Wee Mama." And of course Mr. Ira

didn't change a single word of Rowley's strip.

So now Rowley's getting all the fame that was

supposed to be mine.

Even the teachers are kissing Rowley's butt. I

almost lost my lunch when Mr. Worth dropped his

chalk in History class—

(Monday)

This "Zoo-Wee Mama" thing has really got me

worked up. Rowley is getting all the credit for a

comic that we came up with together. I figured

the least he could do was put my name on the

strip as the co-creator.

So I went up to Rowley after school and told

him that's what he was gonna have to do. But

Rowley said, "Zoo-Wee Mama" was all His idea

and that I didn't have anything to do with it.

I guess we must've been talking pretty loud,

because the next thing you knew, we attracted

a crowd.

The kids at my school are AlWAys itching to

see a fight. Me and Rowley tried to walk away,

but those guys weren't going to let us go until

they saw us throw some punches.

I've never been in a real fight before, so I didn't

know how I was supposed to stand or hold my

fists or anything. And you could tell Rowley

didn't know what he was doing either, because he

just started prancing around like a leprechaun.

I was pretty sure I could take Rowley in a

fight, but the thing that made me nervous was

the fact that Rowley takes karate. I don't know

what kind of hocus-pocus they teach in Rowley's

karate classes, but the last thing I needed was

for him to lay me out right there on the blacktop.

Before me or Rowley made a move, there was a

screeching sound in the school parking lot. A

bunch of teenagers had stopped their pickup

truck, and they started piling out.

I was just happy that everyone's attention was

on the teenagers instead of me and Rowley. But

all the other kids took off when the teenagers

started heading our way.

And then I realized that these teenagers

looked awfully familiar.

That's when it hit me. These were the same

guys who chased me and Rowley around on

Halloween night and they had finally caught up

with us.

But before we could make a run for it, we had our

arms pinned behind our backs.

Those guys wanted to teach us a lesson for

taunting them on Halloween night, and they

started arguing over what they should do with us.

But to be honest with you, I was more concerned

about something else. The Cheese was only a few

feet from where we were standing on the blacktop,

and it was looking nastier than ever.

The big teenager must have caught my eye,

because the next thing I knew, he was looking

at the Cheese, too. And I guess that gave him

the idea he was looking for.

Rowley got singled out first. The big kid grabbed

Rowley and dragged him over to the Cheese.

Now, I don't want to say exactly what happened

next. Because if Rowley ever tries to run for

President and someone finds out what these guys

made him do, he won't have a chance.

So I'll put it to you this way: They made Rowley

eat the Cheese.

I knew they were gonna make me do it, too. I

started to panic, because I knew I wasn't going

to be able to fight my way out of this situation.

So I did some fast talking instead.

And believe it or not, it actually worked.

I guess the teenagers were satisfied they had

made their point, because after they made

Rowley finish off the rest of the Cheese, they

let us go. They got back in their truck and

took off down the road.

Me and Rowley walked home together. But neither

one of us really said anything on the way back.

I thought about mentioning to Rowley that

maybe he could have pulled out a couple of his

karate moves back there, but something told me

to hold off on that thought for right now.

(Tuesday)

At school today, the teachers let us outside

after lunch.

It took about five seconds for someone to

realize the Cheese was missing from its spot on

the blacktop.

Everybody crowded around to look at where the

Cheese used to be. Nobody could believe it was

actually gone.

People started coming up with these crazy theories

about what happened to it. Somebody said that

maybe the Cheese grew legs and walked away.

It took all my self-control to keep my mouth

shut. And if Rowley wasn't standing right

there, I honestly don't know if I could have

kept quiet.

A couple of the guys who were arguing over what

happened to the Cheese were the same ones who

were egging me and Rowley on yesterday afternoon.

So I knew it wasn't going to be long before

someone put two and two together and figured out

that we must have had something to do with it.

Rowley was starting to panic, and I don't

blame him, either. If the truth ever came out

about how the Cheese disappeared, Rowley would

be finished. He'd have to move out of the state,

and maybe even the country.

That's when I decided to speak up.

I told everyone that I knew what happened to

the Cheese. I said I was sick of it being on the

blacktop, and I just decided to get rid of it once

and for all.

For a second there, everyone just froze. I

thought people were going to start thanking me

for what I did, but boy, was I wrong.

I really wish I had worded my story a little

differently. Because if I threw away the Cheese,

guess what that meant? It meant that I have

the Cheese Touch.

*June*

(Friday)

Well, if Rowley appreciated what I did for him

last week, he hasn't said it. But we've started

hanging out after school again, so I guess that

means me and him are back to normal.

I can honestly say that so far, having the

Cheese Touch hasn't been all that bad.

It got me out of doing the Square Dance unit

in Phys Ed, because no one would partner up

with me. And I've had the whole lunch table to

myself every day.

Today was the last day of school, and they

handed out yearbooks after the eighth period.

I flipped to the Class Favorites page, and

here's the picture that was waiting for me.

All I can say is, if anyone wants a free yearbook,

they can dig one out of the trash can in the

back of the cafeteria.

You know, Rowley can have Class Clown for all I

care. But if he ever gets too big for his britches,

I'll just remind him that he was the guy who ate

the Cheese.

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Finale!

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Finale!

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