Mob School Survivor Read online

  I poured out all that gunpowder from my explosion. I didn't want to keep it as a souvenir—it just brought up bad memories. But maybe I could do what Great-Great-Grandpa Gerald did and recycle it.

  I put the powder in a tidy little pile, and I left a note next to it.

  Then I hurried up and got out of there, because I was starting to feel like someone was watching me from the windows.

  Now I'm back at my house, and I have to say, I feel better. I'm still not ready to face kids at school tonight. I wish I could wear a Jack o' Lantern over my head.

  But at least right now, I MIGHT be able to get some sleep. Wish me luck.

  DAY 30: FRIDAY

  Wow. Somehow, my worst school night ever might have led to my BEST school night ever. Funny how things work out.

  Last night started with a burned pork chop dinner. I thanked Mom for making it, but she said she DIDN'T make it. Chloe made it, as a special surprise for me.

  Well I practically fell over when I heard that, but Chloe just smiled and offered me another chop. I guess she wanted to thank me for standing up for her at school.

  Then Sam was the first one to greet me at school. He bounced right over.

  I looked over my shoulder, in case he was smiling at someone standing behind me. Nope. That big, goofy grin was meant for me.

  Sam said he was sorry for thinking I wrote that letter to Willow. Turns out, it was BONES who wrote the letter!

  I asked Sam how he knew. He said that after Willow got my note at her house, she used a potion of Invisibility to spy on Bones. She knew he kind of had a crush on her. And sure enough, she caught him telling one of his friends about the letter.

  Anyway, Sam said he and Willow were back together now. Then he gave me a special gift from Willow: a bottle of splash potion I could use on Bones the next time he got in my face.

  So now I'm thinking that having a witch in my circle of friends might not be such a bad thing.

  I might not even HAVE to use a potion on Bones, though. He didn't come anywhere near me at school last night.

  But you know who did? Eddy Enderman.

  He caught my eye, and when I didn't look away, he teleported right next to me.

  I wasn't the least bit scared. In fact, I just said hey. Then I asked him what happened to him last weekend in the schoolyard, right before the storm. I was still kind of sore about that.

  Eddy just said that he's not a fan of rain—and he had needed to get home before the clouds broke.

  Then it all made sense. Endermen can't get wet. I KNEW that! So I guess Eddy wasn't avoiding me that day. He just didn't want to get caught in the storm.

  Anyway, that's not what he wanted to talk about last night. He said his mom told him about my history report. It turns out that his mom is Mrs. Enderwoman. Who knew?

  Eddy said he was named after his grandpa, just like I was named after my great-great-grandpa. I figured that meant his grandpa's name was Eddy. But he said Edward was actually his middle name—that his real name is Louis.

  LOUIS EDWARD ENDERMAN.

  He said it just like that. Then he was gone.

  I'm pretty sure that I'm the only boy at school who knows Eddy's real name.

  Except maybe Ziggy Zombie.

  Ziggy came up to me right after Eddy left. First, he said my rash looked better. He seemed kind of disappointed about that. Then he asked why I ditched him at the sleepover. He must have been working up his courage all week to ask me that.

  I felt kind of bad about it, too. Maybe, in a way, Ziggy looks up to me like I look up to Eddy. And I really should be nicer to him, even if he has terrible table manners.

  Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that blowing up at school might not have been the WORST thing I've ever done.

  I still don't think violence is the answer. I think that whenever you can, you should make like a slime and try to let things bounce off you.

  But every once in a while, you might have to fight back against a bully. Or a vending machine.

  Just sayin' …

  DAY 1: SATURDAY

  I just realized that my first 30 days of Mob Middle School are officially OVER. And I managed to mess up every part of my 30-Day Survival Plan. Every. Single. Part.

  Just in case you weren't keeping track, here's what happened:

  • I did NOT keep a low profile. Blowing up in the cafeteria is pretty much a high-profile move.

  • I did NOT avoid skeletons. In fact, I hit one dead-on during that little explosion we talked about earlier.

  • I looked an Enderman RIGHT in the eye. But I guess that can turn out okay. At least, if the Enderman's name is Louis Edward.

  • I did NOT come up with a cool nickname. Definitely not.

  But somehow, I still managed to survive. Not everything turned out the way I wanted it to. But some things turned out even better.

  Now, about that nickname. I'm feeling a lot less itchy now. Somehow, the explosion seemed to have cleared up my rash. But I know that people are still going to call me Itchy, so I'm going to have to find a way to make that name cool.

  How can I do that, you ask? Well, I've been working on a new rap song.

  It's going to a while to get it right. But like Mom said, the sun will go down again tomorrow. So there's still time.

  Here's what I've got so far: