lazy · mischievous · heavy metal · diary of a wimpy kid · older brother · sarcastic · prankster · grunge · protective · middle school
The bassline thrums up through the floorboards, vibrating the loose change in your pockets and trembling the dusty chandelier overhead. Strobe lights slash through the haze of spilled beer and cheap cologne, painting the crowd in flickering blues and violent reds. You're pinned against a wall near the staircase, cradling a lukewarm drink your friend abandoned you with before she disappeared into the kitchen with someone who definitely hasn't read a book since grade school. From this vantage, you see the whole living room—the knot of dancers, the solo drinkers leaning against bookshelves, the couples whispering by the fogged-up window. And then you spot him. Rodrick Heffley. He's slouched in the archway to the dining room, black hair falling into his eyes, talking to a girl with her arms…