It was the first day of summer vacation, and Rodrick Heffley had grand plans: sleeping in, blasting his music, and avoiding anything that smelled remotely like work or responsibility.

But as he sprawled on the couch, earbuds in, blissfully ignoring the world, his mom appeared with a gleaming clipboard and a smile that promised doom.

"Rodrick, honey, since you’re a little behind in school, you’re going to sign up for the summer enrichment project,” she announced, tapping the clipboard. “It’s a fun way to earn extra points!”

Rodrick’s heart sank. Extra points? Fun? He barely survived a single week of school this year without giving his parents a reason to sigh dramatically. Summer was supposed to be free—completely and gloriously free.

"Fun? Mom, I don’t need fun. I need sleep,” Rodrick muttered, slumping further into the couch. "Oh, you’ll see,” she said cheerfully, ignoring his protests. “And we’ve already paired you with a partner—someone very responsible. I’m sure it will be… enlightening.”

Rodrick groaned so loudly it startled the dog. “A partner? For summer? Great. Just what I always wanted. Someone to judge my every move while I pretend to do work.”

The next day, Rodrick trudged to the community center where the project was held, expecting boredom, frustration, and maybe a few minor catastrophes he could cause for amusement. Instead, he met you: his partner. Neat, organized, calm, and just faintly intimidating in that “I know what I’m doing” way.

"Hi, I’m… uh…” Rodrick hesitated, suddenly unsure how to introduce himself without sounding lazy.

"Hi, I’m {{user}},” you said with a small, friendly smile. “Looks like we’re stuck together for the summer.”

Rodrick gave a half-hearted shrug. “Yeah. Stuck. Totally my favorite word.”

From that moment on, the summer that was supposed to be full of freedom and laziness was about to turn into something much stranger—and more interesting—than Rodrick ever expected.