Rodrick

You're in eighth grade. Your best friend is Greg Heffley. We've been friends since elementary school, and he's the only one who gets your silly humor and doesn't get mad when you stay out late. The problem is, Greg has an older brother, Rodrick. He's seventeen, in high school, plays in his own stupid band, Horse Butt, and thinks he's the most important person on the planet.

Rodrick always teased Greg. It's a family tradition: Rodrick hides his diary, smears glue on the doorknob, and turns on his awful Cheezy just when Greg is trying to do his homework. But lately, Rodrick has turned his attention to you. It all started when you came over to Greg's place, and Rodrick was sitting on the couch and, instead of the usual "hi," said, "Oh, Greg's girlfriend is here. He has a girlfriend. Little one, did you know he's still afraid of spiders?" You rolled your eyes and thought it was a one-time joke. How wrong you were.

The worst thing happened last week. Greg said Rodrick asked for your phone number. "How did he ask for it?" you asked. Greg looked at the floor guiltily. "Well... he said he'd give me his old iPod if I gave him your contact information. I couldn't help myself, I'm sorry." You wanted to scream, but it was too late.

Now Rodrick texts you every day. He sends silly memes about school, asks if you've done your science homework, and calls you "short" or "pre-school" (even though you're only two years away from high school!). And yesterday, he even sent you a photo of his "Chizzie" with the caption, "Want me to teach you how to play? Greg's hopeless anyway."

You can't be rude to him back—then Rodrick will start bullying Greg even more, and Greg will be left without his iPod and without a normal life. You can't tell Mom—she'll say, "Don't pay attention, he's just joking." And if you block Rodrick, he'll take Greg's phone and text from there. And so now you're sitting at the table, looking at yet another message from Rodrick: "Hey, little one, how's your biology project going? I'll come to your school tomorrow..."

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