A/N: Nothin' really to say except for enjoy this next chapter and I don't own Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

As soon as I got outside, I sat down at the curb, pinching the bridge of my nose and rubbing at my eyes. I was still festering with irritation, but it wasn't solely with Rodrick or my family – it was more or less aimed towards myself. Now, normally I wasn't one of those smiley, happy-go-lucky types of people, sure, but something was up tonight. Rarely did people get under my skin so much and so persistently, and I was sure they weren't doing it on purpose. I could only assume there was something wrong with me, but I couldn't pinpoint what, and that only egged my frustration on.

I was prepared to put my head in my arms and fume in my irritation when I heard the door open behind me. Footsteps headed my way and I didn't bother looking up – I could smell the soft floral scent of perfume and knew it was my mom. She settled herself down next to me (with a barely perceptible grunt) and glanced over at me, her eyes boring into the side of my face. "Look at me, Irene."

I winced and turned my head to face her. She only used my real name when she was about to talk about something serious. I blinked in surprise when my eyes landed on her face – she'd never looked so old before. She had crow's feet lining the edges of her eyes and laugh lines permanently etched into her forehead. She looked…tired. "Is everything alright with you?" She kept her gaze firmly pinned on mine. "You seem more irritable than ever."

"Yeah. And I'm sorry." I dropped my gaze back to the dirty asphalt of the parking lot. "I don't know what's wrong. Everything and everyone just seems to keep getting under my skin tonight…"

My mother raised an eyebrow knowingly, which brought my eyes flickering back onto her face. "Everyone, or someone?"

My brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"That Rodrick boy. You two seemed to be goading each other." Mom smiled. "It seems like he's the only one getting under your skin – you haven't snapped at us at all tonight."

I grimaced again – the way she said it made me feel guilty, like I snapped at them all the time. "I guess so. He's just irritating. He kept staring at me and making comments and….I dunno."

"Maybe you two need to actually talk," She suggested. "Instead of making snarky little comments to one another."

I laughed dryly and gave her a look. "You think that'll help?"

She shrugged. "You never know." My mom, the optimistic. "But whatever's going on, you should come back in." Her smile was soft and she got to her feet with another groan and extended a hand to me.

I took it, got to my feet, and was swept into a soft hug. Feeling like a little kid, I returned the hug, and we split to head back inside the restaurant.

She gave me a look as we sat down at our spots and I nodded reluctantly, glancing over at Rodrick, who was busy picking at his teeth unsubtly. I pursed my lips, musing for a minute – how to start a conversation like this? 'Hey, nice teeth,' or 'you missed a spot'? I settled for the easiest, "Hey."

He blinked and looked at me, one eyebrow quirking. "Are you actually talking to me, Your Highness?"

I resisted the urge to scowl darkly, though my hands tensed up on my lap. "Yes, I am, believe it or not. I'm trying to start an actual conversation here."

"That's new," He smirked and leaned back in his chair, picking up his drink and slurping obnoxiously at it.

I glanced at his younger brother, who was preoccupied with scribbling on his napkin. "Is he always this obnoxious?"

Greg blinked up at me and nodded. "Yeah."

Now it was Rodrick's turn to scowl and I felt a certain thrill in seeing him do so. "Shut up."

I grinned. "Yes sir, your Obnoxiousness."

He glowered at me with no trace of a smirk on his lips. "Shut it."

I finally chuckled and held my hands up defensively. "Alright, alright, whatever you say." I rolled my eyes and reached for my drink. Before I could sip at the straw, however, I noticed that his lips had returned to their previous form and I immediately narrowed my eyes at him, suspicious. "What did you do?"

"What, ME?" Rodrick said innocently. "Nothing."

"I'm sure," My eyes narrowed even further and I dared to take a sip of my drink. Nothing came up the straw and I frowned, sucking harder, only to inhale a great amount of what tasted like ketchup mixed with Sprite. I spluttered and coughed, jerking my soda away from me, my throat constricting as I gagged.

Rodrick burst into laughter. "That never gets old."

"How old are you, five?" I spat, snatching up a napkin and rubbing my tongue with it (probably not the best of ideas). So much for trying to be civil with this guy, I mused irritably, rolling up the napkin into a crumbled ball. I quickly removed the straw from my drink, only to discover that the end was wedged into a soaked ketchup packet. I scowled – now my Sprite was ruined. Despite that, however…I'm sure my reaction must have been pretty funny. And it was a clever idea…not that I'd tell him that. I simply grunted, plucked the packet from my straw, unfolded the napkin, and refolded it with the packet inside. I moved my soda away from me and shot him a look. "Thanks for that."

Before he could reply, Izzy reached for my soda eagerly. "Hey, can I have a sip?"

I opened my mouth to warn her, reconsidered, and grinned – what was a little joke between two siblings? I shot Rodrick a look – he was grinning just like I was and he gave me a barely perceptible nod. I resisted the urge to snicker childishly and simply said, "Yeah, sure. It's kinda flat anyways." Despite the fact that I'd removed the packet from the straw, the soda was sure to taste odd anyways.

"Thanks." She gave me a puzzled look and slurped happily at the straw. As soon as the liquid entered her pursed lips, she froze, her eyebrows shot up, and she shoved the soda away from her, gagging. "Ewwww! What was THAT?"

I couldn't help bursting into laughter – if my face had looked like what Izzy's did now, I honestly couldn't be too mad at Rodrick for laughing at me. To my utter surprise, he joined me, and he lifted his hand for a high-five that I unthinkingly gave him.

Izzy looked at me, her tongue dangling between her lips, her eyes wide. "What was that?" She repeated firmly, her voice lisped.

"Sprite, of course," Recovering from my bout of laughter I blinked innocently.

"No, it wasn't," She glowered at me, moving her curly brown bangs away from her face. "It tasted DISGUSTING!"

"Oh, well, blame him," I jerked a thumb towards Rodrick, donning a smirk of my own. "He added a secret special ingredient: ketchup."

"Oh, ew," Izzy muttered, reaching for her own drink and tossing it down eagerly in order to get rid of the unpleasant taste. "That wasn't very nice," Once finished, she glared at me.

"Oh, come on," I smiled. "It was just a joke."

She eyed me suspiciously, studying my face. I knew the smile was odd but I couldn't help it. Her reaction had been hilarious. "Whatever," She declared finally, turning away from me with a huff.

I turned back to Rodrick, cupping a hand over my mouth to stifle the remnants of my snickers. "Okay, Heffley, I gotta give that one to you."

"Duh. It works on pretty much everyone." He rolled his eyes and leaned over the table, resting on his elbows. "Including family members."

"I'll have to remember that one. But now I have to get a new drink…and I won't leave the table this time," I leered at him.

"Whatever. It'd be stupid to pull the same thing twice. You gotta give me more credit than that," Rodrick rolled his eyes again, still smirking, but pushed away from the table. "Gotta piss like a racehorse," was all he said before he vanished among the other diners.

"Classy," I muttered, but inwardly I was singing at the opportunity. I could already see the waiter heading towards us, awkwardly balancing a tray full of food (I assumed somebody had ordered a burger for me) and delivering it to us. I waited impatiently as he gave everyone their foods and left with a nod and a smile after being reassured that we were all set.

I immediately reached for the salt and pepper shakers, ignoring the tantalizing smell of my own food, and grabbed Rodrick's plate (he'd ordered a burger too). I lifted the top bun, sprinkled a heavy, HEAVY layer of pepper on top, set it back on the patty, and did the same to the bottom bun, this one with salt. It wasn't as clever as his ketchup-in-a-straw trick, but it would do, and I quickly shoved his plate back into position with a smirk, setting the shakers aside. I swiftly glanced up the table, hoping nobody had noticed, and was relieved to see that they were all immersed in conversation.

My eyes were drawn to Frank when he glanced at Rodrick's food. "Oh, oops. I think they gave Rodrick my order." He passed his plate of ribs down and received the burger instead, and, with my heart pounding, I watched in growing horror as he lifted the burger to his mouth, prepared to sink his teeth in.