7

After class ended I went to the front office to see if there was anything they could do to help me. The school secretary let me look through the Lost and Found box for a replacement shoe, but the only thing in there that even came close was a girl's winter boot. Right then Mr. Nern came out of the teacher's lounge, and the secretary asked him if he happened to have any spare shoes. Mr. Nern said he actually had an extra pair in his office, and he went to get one for me.

I never noticed before, but Mr. Nern has some GIGANTIC feet. And I hope just because he lent me his shoes doesn't mean I have to keep playing checkers with him at recess. Wednesday Since I'm not hanging out with Rowley after school anymore, I've got a lot more time on my hands. But the thing I've learned is that you should never tell your mom you've got nothing to do.

So I've being going outside after school just to avoid doing chores at home. Mom's been telling me I should branch out and try to find new friends in the neighborhood, but where I live, the pickings are pretty slim. A few housing is down are the Lasky boys, but THEIR idea of a good time is stripping down to their underwear and wrestling in the front yard. Diagonally across the street is a kid named Mitchell Flammer, who I think is a year or two younger than

me. But I don't even know what he LOOKS like, because I've never seen him without a motorcycle helmet on. A few houses down on the right, you've got Aric Holbert, who was suspended three weeks ago for breaking in and vandalizing the school. He tried to deny it was him, but it was pretty pointless. Then there's Fregley, who lives a few houses up from me. If there's anything GOOD that's come out of my

situation in the past few weeks, it's that I haven't had to walk by Fregley's house on my way up to see Rowley. Unfortunately, Mom's always trying to set up a play date between me and Fregley. She says she feels bad for him because he seems like a lonely boy. I really wish Mom wouldn't say things like that, because then it makes me feel all guilty. And trust me, I already feel bad ENOUGH seeing Fregley out on the playground every day.

But today I had a really crazy thought: I realized that if I became friends with Fregley, I could mould him into EXACTLY the type of friend I wanted. I could basically take all the things I like about Rowley and teach Fregley how to do them. Plus, Fregley could bring something EXTRA to the table. I've noticed that at my school the most popular guys have a funny sidekick. One of the boys in Bryce Anderson's entourage is Jeffrey Laffley, and I GUARANTEE you the only reason Bryce keeps Jeffrey around is for comic relief.