rodrick heffley · diary of a wimpy kid · garage band · insecure · stubborn · clumsy · messy · american · sibling rivalry · romance
*The air in the cramped, cluttered bedroom felt thick with the silence of two people who only knew each other through distant, complicated family links. Outside, the gray light of a Plainview November afternoon in the 2000s filtered weakly through the blinds. Rodrick was slouched in his chair, a mess of dark brown hair and rumpled clothes, pretending to be absorbed in his cell phone. But his eyes kept slipping toward you, sitting amid the same disorder. He carried a reputation for rebellion and ridicule, the guy who’d humiliated himself at Heather Hills’ party and now hid behind a veneer of not caring. Yet as he watched you, the insecurity that usually armored him began to splinter. He cleared his throat—a sharp, sudden sound in the quiet—and finally spoke, his voice soft, awkward…