I stayed up late again that night, but not for homework.

Now that Operation: Get a Life was actually going to happen, Leo and I needed to figure out what the whole thing should look like.

The basic idea was super simple. We decided that every time I did something I’d never done before, it was going to count as part of the mission. That was it. No points this time, no bonuses, no lives to lose. If I got back into Cathedral at the end of the year—mission accomplished. And if not—welcome to Loserville.

The next thing I did was look at a calendar. There were 195 days to go until the Spring Art Show at school, on March 23. After that I’d have to reapply, and I was either in or out. So I decided I was going to have to do 195 things I’d never done before—at least one new thing every single day.

One hundred and ninety-five chances to Get a Life.

“And I’m bringing back the No-Hurt Rule too,” I told Leo. “Same as last year. No one gets hurt from any of this stuff I’m going to do. If that happens, it’s game over.”

“Yeah, okay, but you still get credit for today,” Leo said. “That rule wasn’t in place when you dropped those balloons on Zeke’s and Kenny’s heads.”

I decided I could live with that. But I did have a few other conditions.

“I’m including myself in the No-Hurt Rule this time,” I said. “If I get a detention, it’s one week of time out. If I get suspended—game over. And most of all, if Mom finds out about any of this—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Game over,” Leo said. “I think I’m bored already.”

But I wasn’t budging on that one. The last thing Mom needed right now was to start worrying about me all over again. And the last thing I needed was for her to think I was up to my old tricks.

Even if I wasn’t. Technically, this mission was like the opposite of the last one. The whole idea back then was to break as many school rules as possible. This time around, it was about keeping me in school, but something told me Mom might not see it like that. After the way things went in sixth grade, I was pretty sure she’d put me up for adoption if she even heard the words mission and Rafe anywhere near each other.

“So we’ll just have to make sure she never finds out,” Leo said. “And that means Georgia too, because her mouth is about as big as the city.”

Again, I could live with that. No Hurt, no Mom, no Georgia—no problem.

And in the meantime, game on!