"And I could have just one wish, I'd have you by my side." –Stay, Miley Cyrus

Rodrick sat at the dinner table, picking at his mash potatoes sourly. He glared down at the food as if it was the one that had broken up with him less than three hours ago. Greg sat across from him, looking like he was enjoying the food very much, and their mother, Susan Heffley, looked at her oldest son, concerned.

"Rodrick, honey, are you alright? You haven't touched your food…" she finally said. The family had been sitting there for awhile, awkwardly silent for most of the meal.

Rodrick looked over at her, trying to look less shattered. "I'm fine, mom," he answered, unable to keep the irritation out of his tone. "Just having a bad day."

"Oh, what happened?" she asked sympathetically. She had the temptation to reach over and hold her sons hand, but after all the times he's gotten annoyed and said that he's not a baby anymore, she decided against. But she still looked interested and empathetic for Rodrick.

"Nothing," he replied. He shot a glance over at Greg, telling him to change the subject.

This was obviously understood because the middle Heffley child quickly interrupted the conversation with, "Well, I had a great day."

Susan looked at Rodrick, thinking she should try and pry the information out of him, but came to the conclusion that she should just go with it. She then looked at her husband, and finally got around to paying attention to Greg. "Oh yeah? What happened?" she asked, trying to sound as interested in this as she had about Rodrick's "bad day."

Greg answered quickly, a smile forming on his face. "There's a new girl at school," he said. Just as he expected, this pleased his mother and she smiled. The topic of girls with her sons was as close as she could get to talking about boys with the daughter she always wanted. He continued, trying to keep the conversation going. "She was home schooled until today. Her name's Taylor."

The name didn't click in Rodrick's brain until a few minutes later, and just as Susan was about to ask if the girl was cute, Rodrick stood up from his chair. "Greg," he practically hissed. "I need to talk to you." He did his best to sound like he wasn't about to murder the little guy, but all the emotions that were currently flowing in him weren't exactly helping with that.

Before waiting for an answer, he stomped off to another room, leaving the family confused. Greg stood up cautiously and quickly made his way into the room that Rodrick had walked into. The second he crossed the threshold, he was greeted by being grabbed by the shoulders and looked into the eyes menacingly.

"What is Taylor's last name?" Rodrick asked, sounding dead serious.

Greg gulped and leaned back, trying to get out of his older brother's grip. "Uhm… uh, I don't know. Bradford… or, yeah, it's Bradford," he answered quickly. The death grip on his shoulders relaxed as Rodrick released and stood up straight, looking down at Greg.

Rodrick opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it, thinking that their parents could hear them. "Come with me," he ordered as he walked off into his room. Greg followed unsurely and soon as he was in the room, Rodrick shut the door and took a deep breath. "Jillian broke up with me today." Greg didn't exactly mean for a small giggle to come out, but that's what happened and Rodrick looked down at him like he was about to kill him. "I need you to get a date with Taylor."

Rodrick had met Taylor. He knew that she was thirteen and she was home schooled, he probably would have even considered her pretty when he was thirteen. "What?" Greg exclaimed like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard in his life. "No! Why?"

"Because!" Rodrick snapped. "If you get close to Taylor, Jillian will have to get close to me!" The logic didn't make much sense, but that's what Rodrick had thought would work. He thought that he would have to drive Greg to Taylor's house, and then Jillian would have to see him, and she would realize that they're perfect for each other. Yes, it was a long shot, but let's face it; Rodrick wasn't exactly the smartest guy.

Greg kept grimacing, like he really didn't want to ask out Taylor. It wasn't that she wasn't nice or pretty or anything like that, he just didn't want to ask out a girl. Really, he didn't even know how to ask out a girl. He had built up the courage to ask out Holly Hills… right after she moved away when her dad was relocated.

"Come on! For your big brother?" Rodrick was basically begging now. "If you do this, I… I'll never tease you again!" he said. Greg didn't buy it, of course, but he couldn't help but feel bad for Rodrick. He knew how much Jillian meant to him, even if he really didn't understand why. So he agreed. Maybe he would regret it later, but he was going to ask out a girl he just met for his brother…

Remember how I said the story would get better? Yeah, I meant after this chapter. :P I promise that this story will be long, and hopefully good. Decent, at least. Lots more will happen than just what the summary says. Twists and turns, that's what I'm swearing right now. The chapters will get longer too, and MAN that was a fast update! Well, see ya!

~London