COME MY WAY • RODRICK HEFFLEY

eighteenth chapter

rodrick was surprised to see the chubby boy at the community service center, i mean sure he knew that rowley's parents were tight asses but he didn't expect them to be the type to drag their son for volunteer work.

but then again, he remembered how the kid was actually into stuff like this and soon enough the surprise factor died down.

rowley froze on the spot, his eyes practically bulging out of his sockets. rodrick liked that he made him afraid, it made it obvious that he was the boss and he loved pushing around his brother's friends.

so he smirked to himself, "what are you
doing here baby hippo?"

rowley began to stammer, absolutely at a lost for words to say. it was evident he was terrified and rodrick continued to play with his emotions.

he found it fun watching the poor boy struggle and rodrick was feeling pretty confident until his demise spoke up,cutting off the intense silent stare dagger rodrick had given rowley.

"excuse me but is there a problem here?" giselle's voice interrupted, her tone lingering with a protective instinct to it.

now it was rodrick's turn to look terrified, he instantly stood still, his eyes gaping in horror at the sight of giselle smiling condescendingly at him. rowley looked relief, sighing to himself as he slowly walked out of rodrick's sight.

"rodrick heffley," giselle mentioned his name, causing him to show off his panic even more. she sounded cool and collected like nothing ever scared her, in fact even when rodrick almost broke her nose, giselle never looked like she was in fear.

he gulped down the rest of his dignity, as he began to approach her tall desk. "oh, hey giselle." he replied, letting out a smile that probably looked as if his mouth were on anesthesia.

the girl shook her head at him, grinning to herself. "are you scaring my newest volunteer rodrick?" she questioned, turning towards rowley who stood innocently to the side. "was he scaring you rowley?"

rodrick couldn't even budge or make a single move, the girl had him practically wrapped around her finger.  "uh pfft, i would never." rodrick scoffed, trying to regain his confidence. "i love the guy," he explained, grabbing onto the boy and wrapping his arm around rowley's shoulder. "to..death.. even," he added, through his gritted teeth.

rowley looked uncomfortable and by the funny look on giselle's face it was obvious that she knew this was all an act. "very funny, heffley but i know big brothers like you, terrorizing younglings." she responded to his hopeless lie, chuckling to herself while rowley nodded his head like he was sending her a signal. "quinn's the same with her little sister."

"not me," rodrick lied, but he wasn't fooling anyone.

"oh come on, we can't start lying to each other now," she said, eyeing poor ole rowley who was still stuck in rodrick's unloving embrace. "so please let him go."

rodrick sighed in defeat, freeing the boy away from his hold and with the taste of freedom, rowley had ran off somewhere far away from rodrick's grasp. he was lucky enough giselle was there to protect him.

"now what brings you here?" she asked.

"i'm here to sign up for the..talent show," he answered, feeling a little shy bringing up their upcoming performance. he couldn't even understand why, but giselle just made him very nervous. as if it weren't obvious enough.

she looked surprised to hear that rodrick would be signing up, but didn't question it as she pulled out the clipboard filled with the signup sheet, handing him a pen in the process.

he smiled at her politely before writing down 'loaded diper' onto the piece of paper. "thanks," he said as he realized that she was still eyeing his handwriting.

oh god, rodrick thought. what could she possibly be thinking about?

"so this is your band huh?" she questioned, her tone didn't seem sarcastic and rodrick hoped that she was genuinely interested. "loaded di-per."

he liked being able to talk about his music. "yeah, but its pronounced diaper." he corrected her with a proud grin on his face.

giselle smiled at him, "i see." she responded and rodrick couldn't help but feel a little happy she didn't try to question his spelling. usually other people stared at him weirdly for the way he wrote things down or anything else that he did. "so what kind of music do you guys make?"

yes, now this was a question rodrick loved to hear. "we're kinda punk, rock n' roll." he answered, feeling more comfortable talking to giselle. "basically everything awesome."

she laughed, not in a mocking kind of way, this was a genuine one and rodrick couldn't help but grin upon hearing the way she laughed. it was like music.. "sounds legendary." she complimented.

"maybe.. you could ..come listen to us sometime," rodrick blurted out, his surge of confidence shocking him. "if you want to..we have rehearsals and we don't mind--"

"--i'd love to sometime," giselle interrupted, hoping this would assure the boy that she wouldn't mind.

rodrick smiled at her, feeling himself light up with happy emotions on the inside. he couldn't believe this friendship actually felt like it could be going somewhere.

it made him feel positive about himself and as his eyes roamed back to the desk, he could help but notice the usual sketchbook she always had in her hands each time he saw her.

perhaps, next time he'd be able to ask her about her interests...he just needed that push of confidence one more time.