that. The last game we played was Hide-and-Seek.
My plan was to just hide in the ball pit and stay there until the party was over. But
some OTHER kid was already in there.
[Image: A cartoon of two boys playing in a ball pool.]
It turned out this kid wasn't from Rowley's party. He was from the LAST birthday
party that happened an hour earlier.
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I guess he must have hid in there during Hide-and-Seek, and nobody ever FOUND
him.
So Rowley's party had to be put on hold while the staff tried to track down this
kid's parents.
[Image: A cartoon of a woman talking on the phone as a child cries loudly in the
birthday party.]
After that situation got cleared up, we had cake and watched Rowley open his
gifts. He mostly got a bunch of kids' toys, but he seemed pretty happy about it.
[Image: A cartoon of a man clicking pictures of the boy opening his birthday gift in
the party.] "Yaaay!"
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Then Rowley's parents gave him their present. And guess what? It was a DIARY.
It kind of ticked me off, because I knew Rowley asked his parents for a diary so he
could be just like me. After Rowley opened his present he said:
[Image: A cartoon of two boya talking to each other.] "We can call ourselves the
"Diary Twings"!"
I let him know exactly what I thought of that idea by slugging him in the arm. And
I really don't care that it was his birthday, either.
[Image: A cartoon of a boy looking at the other one who is hurt.] "Owww..."
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One thing I will say, though. I used to be mad at Mom for getting me a journal that
looked too girly. But after seeing Rowley's diary, I'm not so mad anymore.
[Image: A Diary with 'Sweet Secrets Diary' written on the cover.] "Sweet Secrets
Diary"
Lately, Rowley has been TOTALLY riding me. He reads the same comic books I
read, drinks the same kind of soda I drink, you name it. Mom says I should be
"flattered," but to be honest with you, it's totally creeping me out.
A couple days ago, I did an experiment to see just how far Rowley would go.
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I rolled up one of my pant legs and tied a bandanna around my ankle and went to
school that way.
Sure enough, the next day Rowley came to school wearing the same exact thing.
And that's how I ended up in Vice Principal Roy's office for the second time in a
week.
[Image: A cartoon of a man, in the window, talking to the two boys outside.]
"There are some thugs outside my house sporting "Gang Colors"."
Monday
I thought I was totally in the clear for the Invisible Chirag thing. But, boy, was I
wrong.
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Tonight, Mom got a call from Chirag's DAD. Mr. Gupta told Mom all about the
prank we were playing on his son, and how I was the ringleader.
When Mom questioned me, I told her I didn't even know what Chirag's dad was
talking about.
[Image: A cartoon of a boy talking to his mother.]
Then Mom marched me up to Rowley's house to hear what HE had to say.
Luckily, I was prepared for this kind of thing. I had already drilled Rowley on what
to do if we ever got busted, and that if we both just denied everything, we'd be OK.
[Image: A cartoon of a boy talking to his friend.]
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But the second Mom started asking Rowley questions, he broke down.
[Image: A cartoon of a boy and his mom in front of a house. The boy at the door is
crying loudly.]
So after our visit to Rowley's house, Mom drove me over to Chirag's to apologize.
And let me tell you, THAT wasn't a whole lot of fun.
[Image: A cartoon of two boys with their respective parents.]
Mr. Gupta didn't seem too impressed with my apology, but believe it or not, Chirag
was actually pretty cool about it.
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After I apologized, Chirag invited me inside to play video games. I think he was so
relieved to finally have one of his classmates talking to him again that he just
decided to forgive me for the whole incident.
[Image: A cartoon of Two children playing a video game on the T.V.]
So I guess I forgive him, too.
Tuesday
Even though Chirag let me off the hook last night, Mom