Well, it seems like this road is going on forever.

Well, I had spent the last week sick in bed with a bad case of the stomach flu. What else is new? Oh, I don't know, I got sick because I refused to play my role and shut my mouth. Well, guess what? That's a load of hooey. The reason I got sick because someone decided to mess with the cafeteria workers' stuff and make about 20 people sick. Or was it 30? I don't remember.

Anyway, with that in mind, I got out of bed and forced myself to take a long hot bath. (I had to take sponge baths, which I think are unnecessary and unsanitary. I mean, germs live on sponges. GERMS!) I spent a good while in the bath, letting everything soak in, and thinking about what I was going to do next. I had gone from the naive, clueless "girl" to a boy no one knew, save for Clayton, Milton, the twins, and Claire.

Holy crap! I just remembered something. I forgot to mention that mom was sending me back to Hebrew school to continue my studies, as going to the academy was out of the question. (Still no word on if I'm going to Hollowpond High.) I feel bad for not telling you that; my faith is as important as me getting into a good high school.

I'm going to ignore everything else and claim that the second I got out of the tub and went back to my room, I felt slightly dizzy and had to lay back down. I guess I pushed it by taking that bath. But on the other hand, at least I'm clean.

Before long, I stripped my bed sheets and sent them to the laundry room, then went to the linen closet and got clean bed sheets. As I'm putting my bed back together, Jem comes into the room. But this time, she's all kindness. (I had better keep on my toes; you'll never know what she might do or say next.)

Jem said to me, "Jed, I have a confession to make." Here we go again. "I know it's not easy for me to admit that you were right, but you were right. I shouldn't have tried to make you become something that you're not; in doing so, I almost destroyed who you really were."

"OK, where are you going with this?" I said with a suspicious look on my face.

Jem said, "For years, I had begged God for a sister, but all He gave me was you and Kieran. I thought that if I could make you into a girl, I could be happy. Well, I guess I was wrong, because you somehow found a way to break away from the role that I forced you in."

"And your point is?" I said.

"Maybe I was wrong for forcing you to give up your identity and play a role that you weren't meant to play," said Jem. OK, now we're getting somewhere. "I should have known that you weren't fond of wearing dresses and playing with dolls, but..."

Jem would have continued when Kieran came into the room. He was still mad at Jem for not reading him his story. I said to him, "Aren't you a bit too old for the Bearstein Bears?"

Kieran stared at me like I had grown three extra heads. He then laughed, saying, "And why did you stop watching Disney movies?"

"Disney movies are so boring, a baby could figure out the plot before the main characters do," said Jem. "Besides, Disney movies are for kids."

"Yeah right," said Kieran. "You're never too old for a Disney movie."

At this, Jem, Reggie (who came into the room), and I burst out laughing. Kieran stared at us like we had gone off the deep end. Poor kid; he's going to be so messed up when he turns 13 years old and realizes that Disney movies will no longer appeal to him like they once did. (And when that happens, I'm going to serve him a great big heaping bowl of "I-Told-You-So".)

Reggie then said, "You can't watch Disney movies when you're 13 years old; it'll look too weird. Plus, non-Disney cartoons are better."

"Yeah right," said Kieran. "Disney movies are better. Why can't you admit you're stupid and you don't know what you're talking about?"

Reggie laughed, but Jem rolled her eyes at him. Kieran glared at them before storming from the room. I stood there watching the whole scene with a blank look on my face.

I hate to say it, but I knew Reggie and Claire were right. Non-Disney movies were better, sometimes better than Disney movies.

But let's leave that debate with those who know what they're talking about.

Anyway, "Away in England" is back on tonight, and this time, the magnificent trio of Harry, Hermione, and Lydia is down to two when the monster lurking through Hogwarts attacks Hermione. Ron is blamed for the attacks and nobody believes him when he says he didn't have anything to do with that attack. I wonder if parents in England are demanding that their children return home due to the attacks.

If I were a parent of a student experiencing those attacks at their school, I'd yank my kid out of there and sue the school for negligence and child endangerment. No way is Harry Potter realistic if parents aren't complaining about their children's health and safety while they're at Hogwarts.

Well, that's all for now; I hope I can get back to school soon, as I've missed a ton of schoolwork while I was sick. I'm sure the person who did this will be arrested for child endangerment and mishandling cooking utensils. There's no excuse for why that person did what they did, not caring about the health and safety of the students and staff of Lochland Middle School. I hope the same justice served to Claire's tormentors was served to that person as well.