The (Not so amazing) adventures of Max

Nineteenth Entry: The One with the Dreadmore Drama

Monday, September 11

So today was a total disaster, in the best and worst ways possible. But mostly the worst. I'm still not sure how I'm going to survive this school year. Seriously. I mean, I can barely get through the first few weeks without ending up in some ridiculous situation.

Let me explain.

It all started first period. I was half-asleep in homeroom, trying to figure out how I was going to survive the day when—guess who walks in? Mr. Dreadmore.

Yeah. I should've known it wasn't going to be a normal day. He marches in like he owns the place, looking all serious, and I swear, the second he laid eyes on me, I could feel the tension in the air.

He had to know I was the one who skipped last Friday. There's no way he didn't. And honestly, I can't believe I didn't just drop dead right there from embarrassment.

But here's the thing: he doesn't even bring it up. Instead, he starts lecturing the whole class about how important attendance is and how we need to be here every day. Yeah, we get it, Mr. Dreadmore. Attendance = good student. You don't need to remind us every single day. But of course, I'm the one who feels like he's looking at me the entire time, like he's plotting his next evil plan to ruin my life.

I'm sitting there, trying not to make eye contact, thinking maybe I'll just turn into a rock or something and disappear. No such luck.

The rest of the day is pretty normal, if you don't count the fact that every single class feels like Mr. Dreadmore's watching me, waiting for me to slip up again.

But the real fun started at lunch. I was sitting with the guys—Lo, Max, Eli, and Leo—when I noticed a weird vibe from Max. He was acting all jumpy, like he was hiding something. He kept looking over at me and then quickly glancing away.

I finally asked him what was up, and that's when he dropped the bombshell: apparently, Dreadmore had been talking to the principal about me. Not in a "hey, let's congratulate Max for being a star student" kind of way, but in a "I'm seriously concerned about this kid's future" kind of way.

I couldn't help but laugh—mostly out of pure disbelief. I mean, what does Mr. Dreadmore have against me? I know I skipped once, but he's acting like I'm some sort of school villain. It's like he's got me on his personal hit list.

So now, I'm kind of stuck in this weird tension where I don't know whether I should apologize or just keep pretending I don't care. But knowing Mr. Dreadmore, I'm pretty sure he'd just punish me for apologizing, so I'll probably just keep acting like everything's normal.

But seriously, this guy is obsessed. It's like he's trying to ruin my entire high school experience just because I missed one day. I guess he doesn't have a life outside of school.

Anyway, I've got a long day ahead tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure Mr. Dreadmore is planning my downfall. So, here's hoping I can survive.