The (extremely goofy) adventures of Max

Entry 10: The Excuse of a Lifetime

Monday, April 8

Well, today was something.

So, first thing's first—I didn't finish my assignment. At all. Not even close. But I still had to walk into class and face the music.

I'm sitting there at my desk, trying to look like I have it all together (spoiler: I don't), when Mr. Dreadmore walks in and does that thing where he just stares at the class like he knows someone is about to be in trouble. He looks right at me, and I swear I could feel the sweat start to form.

"Max," he says, and the entire class goes silent. I hate when he says my name like that. "Where's your assignment?"

I froze. I should've been honest and said, "I didn't do it," but that's not how I operate. Not when there's an opportunity for a brilliant excuse. So instead, I stood up and immediately launched into the most elaborate, creative, and totally made-up story I could come up with on the spot.

"Mr. Dreadmore," I began, voice serious and professional, "you're not gonna believe this, but I had this crazy situation happen last night. I was sitting down to do my reading—just getting into it, right? When my younger brother Sammy—he's 10, he's a handful—decided it was the perfect time to start reprogramming the family's Wi-Fi router. So, the entire Internet went down. Like, completely. No connection. And you know how I work best—when I've got everything I need, especially when I'm gaming. No Wi-Fi? No focus, no work. So I couldn't get any research done."

I paused, waiting for him to respond, but he was just looking at me, so I went on. "So then, as I'm trying to figure out what to do, my mom and dad come in and say, 'Hey, you're not getting off that easy.' So, they decide to go on this big surprise family outing to this really weird place called 'The Museum of Ancient Broken Gadgets.' I mean, who even goes there? But anyway, they dragged me out, and there was no Wi-Fi there, either. I spent three hours looking at old VHS tapes and broken TVs, and I couldn't get any reading in. Then, when I finally got home, the entire neighborhood's power went out for, like, two hours. You can see how that would really mess up my night, right? So, yeah... that's why I couldn't do it."

Now, I have to admit, I thought the story was really good. I mean, I had the whole thing down to the details—power outages, malfunctioning Wi-Fi, ancient gadgets, and Sammy being a troublemaker. It was practically a masterpiece of improvisation.

Mr. Dreadmore just stared at me for a few seconds, and I thought maybe I was in trouble. But then, he actually started chuckling. "Max," he said, still trying not to laugh, "I know you're making that up. It's too ridiculous to be true."

I was like, "No, no, Mr. Dreadmore, I swear!" but he just shook his head, smiling.

"Alright," he said, holding up a hand. "You've got a good story, I'll give you that. I'm letting you off the hook this time. Hand it in by Wednesday, alright? But don't think I won't be watching you next time. You've got three more days to get that reading done, Max."

I let out a huge sigh of relief. I couldn't believe he actually bought it—well, not completely, but enough to let me slide. I was literally grinning ear to ear. I felt like I just dodged a bullet, even though I knew I was going to have to cram like crazy tomorrow to finish it.

So, that's it. I didn't have to face the wrath of Mr. Dreadmore today, but I've got to finish this reading by Wednesday—or else he might actually have to bust out his next "Max" punishment, and that's something I'm not ready to deal with. I've got three days to do it, and let's see if I actually get it done this time.