𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐀𝐆, rodrick heffley

00. prologue

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜
chapter zero: prologue

[a/n]: let the games begin! don't be silent and please comment <3
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━━━ THE WESTMORE MIDDLE SCHOOL PARKING lot is a daunting thing. It is bustling with small sedans and SUVs, girls and boys in jeans and colorful polo shirts. Haley Buxbaum begins to ease her car onto the pavement  when a white van with obscenely large black lettering on the side screeches past her, loud music blaring from the speakers inside.

Rodrick Heffley.

She sticks her head past the edge of her red BMW convertible, lowering her chic white sunglasses. Rodrick is saying something (most likely unbearably obnoxious) to his little brother, Greg, who has a dismayed expression on his face.

"Move it, Heffley, this is not a place for conversation!" she yells over the vibrating screaming from the van. She squints into the sun, scanning the area for her younger sister, Alex.

"Shut it, Buxbaum, don't you have nerd duties to attend to?" Rodrick yells back, turning his head to face her and glaring harshly with his black-rimmed eyes.

"Don't you have detention to attend to?" Haley shouts. She then groans. "You have no respect for driving rules! How'd you even get your license?"

"How do you know I did?"

If anyone looking at the couldn't tell already, Haley Buxbaum and Rodrick Heffley hate each other's guts. 

He hates her stupid student council president announcements, and the way she walks around school like she's a princess. She hates his stupid smug half-smiles and the way he carries himself like he's proud of not giving a shit about school and spending much of his downtime in a detention classroom.

Something about it irks her as someone who's spent her whole life trying to receive praise and accolades.

But before someone says something along the lines of 'oh, he/she isn't really that bad. All you've got to do is give he/she a chance,' Haley really must disclaim that the hatred is mutual. Their relationship - or whatever they've got; 'relationship' really is an icky word to describe what they have - is perfectly harmonious the way it is.

A few exchanged nasty insults, and they're on their merry way.

When the van leaves (thank goodness!), Alex comes lumbering out of the school's double doors, racing toward the waiting car. "Sorry!" she says breathlessly, tossing her backpack into the backseat before hopping into the passenger side. "I had to talk to Mrs. Maloney about something. Did you know that a coefficient is different from an exponent?"

Haley opens her mouth to say something, then closes it. "Wow," she says, driving smoothly out of the parking lot. "I guess you learn something new every day."

"Whose van was that, by the way?" Alex asks once Haley is cruising down Maple Street, suburban comfort surrounding them and a chilly autumn breeze raking through their hair. "The one with the music."

Haley shudders, sparing her sister a glance and shaking her head simply. "Rodrick Heffley's. That insufferable son of-" She stops and collects herself. "That insufferable guy."

"Heffley," Alex repeats, something stirring in her mind. "Yeah, I have English with his brother, Greg. Rumor has it he's got a massive crush on Holly Hills."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Actually, Rowley was saying in English today that Rodrick's got a massive crush on you," Alex murmurs, cocking her head to the side as if she were contemplating a difficult math problem (knowing Alex's lack of aptitude for math, it was probably '2+2').

Haley almost chokes, her face screwing up as if she just tasted something repulsive, and she coughs out an incredulous laugh. "Rodrick Heffley does not have a crush on me, Alex. Don't seek that kind of information out from a middle school boy. They don't know what they're talking about."

Alex chuckles in response. "Yeah, that's what Greg said, too. That Rodrick doesn't like you. Actually, he hates you, apparently. Why's that?"

"You're very inquisitive, today, Alex," Haley sighs, her knuckles turning pale white against the leather steering wheel.

"Don't know what that means," Alex says, shrugging.

Haley exhales sharply through her nose, staring straight through the glass windshield of the car, out onto the winding road. She makes a turn, then speaks up. "I don't know, Alex. Sometimes people hate people just because."

"That's stupid."

"Yup," Haley agrees, popping the 'p.' "Well, if you ever do meet him - God forbid - you'll find that he's not the brightest."

Haley turns into the concrete driveway of their Cape Cod style home, parking her car and getting out.

When she and Alex enter the kitchen, her parents are sitting at the dining table, the orange light shining above them. Long gray tendrils of steam waft from the liquid like smoke from a chimney top.

"Girls!" her mother exclaims once they enter the house. "We have great news."

"What is it?" Haley asks, furrowing her brows.

"We're moving," her father says, equally as giddy as her mother.

"Moving?" Haley whispers quietly. "But...we've lived in this house all our life. Both me and Alex. It was always this place."

"Well, you girls are getting bigger, and we found a beautiful house," her mother explains, attempting to lighten the situation. "It's not even that far away. You guys will still be going to the same school, have the same friends. We just wanted a slight change of scenery."

"And we've met our neighbors," her father adds, pressing his hands together. "They're a very nice family, they've got two boys, one's Alex's age and one's your age. There's Rodrick and there's Greg-"

"Wait, hold on a minute," Haley interrupts, holding up a hand. "Heffley?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

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CLARA'S CORNER

the tea is brewing