6

I didn't notice. And let me tell you, that wasn't easy to do. Chirag might be small, but that kid can really punch. Friday Well, I guess Chirag must have complained to a teacher about my little joke, because today I got called down to the front office. When I got to Vice Principal Roy's room, he was pretty mad. He knew all about how I started the joke, and he gave me a speech about "respect" and "decency" and all that. But luckily, Mr. Roy got one crucial fact wrong, and

that was the identity of the person we were playing the joke on. So that made the apology part a whole lot easier. I AM DEEPLY SORRY, AND NOW I DO INDEED ADMIT THAT YOU EXIST, SHARIF. Mr. Roy seemed pretty satisfied with my apology, and he let me go without even tacking on any detention. I've always heard that when Mr. Roy is done chewing a kid out, he sends them off with a pat on the back and a lollipop. And now I can tell you firsthand that it's true.

Saturday Rowley's birthday party is tomorrow, so Mom took me to the mall to get him a gift. I picked out this cool video game that just came out, and I handed it to Mom so she could pay for it. But Mom said I had to buy it with my own money. I told Mom that first of all, I have zero money. And second of all, if I DID have any money, I wouldn't be wasting it on ROWLEY.

Mom didn't seem too happy with what I said, but it's not MY fault I'm broke. I actually had a job this summer, but the people I worked for stiffed me, so I didn't earn a single penny. We have these neighbors named the Fullers who live a few doors up, and they go away on vacation every summer. They usually leave their dog, Princess, in the kennel, but this year, they told me they'd pay me five bucks a day to feed Princess and take her out. I figured I'd earn enough to buy a whole pile of video games with that kind of money. nkledc. But I guess Princess is gun-shy about going to the bathroom in front of strangers, so I ended up spending a lot of time standing around in the hot sun waiting for this dumb dog to hurry up and go.

I'd wait and wait and nothing would happen, and then I'd just take Princess back inside. But EVERY time I'd leave, Princess would make a big mess in the foyer, and I'd have to clean it up the next day. Toward the end of the summer I got smart and realized it would be a whole lot easier to just clean up all of Princess's messes at once instead of doing it every single day. So I fed her and let her do her business on the foyer floor for about two weeks. Then, the day before the Fullers were due back, I headed up the hill with all my cleaning supplies.

But guess what? The Fullers cut their trip short and got home a day EARLY. I guess they didn't know it's polite to call ahead and let people know when your plans have changed. Tonight, Mom called a house meeting with me and Rodrick. She said that the two of us are always complaining that we don't have any money, so she came up with a way for us to earn some cash. Then she pulled out some play money she must've dug