DAY 13: TUESDAY

Yeah, so Sam was NOT back to normal last night. He's kind of a sensitive slime. You'd think insults would just bounce right off him, but no.

I'd apologize for the Willow Witch thing, except I'm fighting my own battle with Bones and his rattlers. And right now, I'm doing it alone. Unless you count Ziggy Zombie, who seems to be my new lunch buddy.

I blame that on Sam and his cheerfulness. We should have shut down the Ziggy thing the first time he sat with us, but Sam had to be all friendly and welcoming. So Ziggy keeps coming back around.

Luckily, the rash on my head is clearing up, so Ziggy has stopped being so fascinated by that. But at lunch last night, he was chewing carrots with his mouth open.

I turned almost completely around in my chair so I didn't have to see it. But that put me face to face with Bones.

Bones grinned at me and said, "Hey, Itchy. Where's your pal Sticky?"

Man. You bring your pet squid to school for just ONE day, and no one will let you forget it.

I ignored Bones, but then he and his gang started flicking food at me. I could feel it hitting my back, like little arrows. But I practiced self-control and didn't even flinch.

Then Sam showed up. FINALLY. When I asked where he'd been, he said he was carrying Willow's lunch tray for her.

Sure enough, the witch was sitting at the other end of the table with a tray of food. But why did she need help carrying it? She had two perfectly good arms, didn't she?

That's what I wanted to say to Sam. But I didn't. Because of the sensitivity thing. And because Bones had just chucked something at my head that felt an awful lot like an egg. A cracked egg.

As the egg goop seeped down the sides of my face, I looked at Sam. He hadn't even noticed. Boy, if a creeper can't count on his buddy during times like this, who can he count on?

That's when Ziggy got up and started wiping my face with a napkin. I sure hoped it wasn't the one he'd used to wipe his own disgusting mouth. But it probably was. Man, did my face itch after that.

Things got worse after school when I tried to talk Sam into joining sprinting. I don't know what his deal was, but he just flat out said NO. I didn't even know that word was in his vocabulary.

I told him how fast he would be—that he can bounce faster than most guys can even walk. But he wouldn't listen. Then I saw Willow coming toward us, and it all started to make sense.

Sam told me he was walking Willow home. She was going to show him how to use gunpowder to brew splash potions or something like that. And he actually sounded EXCITED about it!

That's when Bones rode up on his spider and started making kissy noises. Willow gave him the stink-eye, but Sam didn't seem to notice. He just bounced off into the sunrise with his witch by his side. That boy got bit by the love bug—bad. I sure hope it's not contagious.

Just the thought of liking a girl that much makes me itch. But these days, what doesn't? I gave my body an all-over scratch when no one was looking. Then I marched right over to sprinting class. I told the teacher, Mr. Carl, that I wanted to join.

I probably should have slowed down and thought about it. For one thing, the teacher is a creeper. And like I said, creepers aren't known for their sprinting.

Plus, as soon as class started, someone grabbed me from behind. I jumped so high I almost blew up, especially when I saw who it was.

Ziggy Zombie.

Yup, he's taking sprinting class, too. Lucky me.

So when people say they hate Mondays, I get it. Hopefully tonight is a better night.