If I hear one more crack about my name, I think I'm gonna hurl.

Rat-Nose here.  Mark (aka "Rat-Nose") Ratinauer of McKinney, Texas.  Thought I'd write in here while waiting for the washing machine to stop; washing some jeans and a couple of shirts of mine before school.  Then, when the buzzer goes off, I can stick them in the dryer; hopefully they'll be dry by seven o'clock, when the bus comes.

I am not having an easy time of it at school.  Kids are making fun of me, calling me Ratty, Mouse Boy, or other euphanisms just as colorful.  I am not amused!  I hate being picked on just 'cause of my last name!  They also call me Polack or Kraut-Head.  It's getting to be way past annoying!

I'm not so sure whether I like some of my teachers.  Some of 'em are real winners (not!!); if you ask me, I think they learned teaching in elementary school:  they DKS (don't know shit)!  I also get hassled by some of the jerks (jocks) or pop kids; they give me no end of grief!

I'm not so sure where I fit in anymore.  I am not the athletic type (unless you count skateboarding or rollerblading as a sport), I'm deffo not one of the popular crowd (who would be, with this mug of mine??  I'm not exactly movie-star material in the looks department!), and I'm so allergic to math I break out in numbers.

I'm also having a hard time with Amber, my youngest sister.  She's now seven, but she acts more like one or two.  She is very spoiled; always has been.  She has Down syndrome, so she goes to a special school for handicapped kids.  She's a pain in my ass.  My other sister, Kendall, 11, isn't too bad, but Amber drives me up a tree with her constant whining!!

Doesn't help she flushed my rat down the toilet last month because it scared her.  I will never forgive her for that; "Mutt" was my buddy!!

Still have our cats, but we may end up getting rid of 'em because Kendall has developed an allergy to their fur:  she's always sneezing or sniffling; it sounds like she's got the world's longest cold that never seems to go away!

I am seriously thinking of moving in with my friend Gabe.  Anything to get away from Amber or ma constantly hassling me.  She's always after me to pick up my things or to do my homework, like I don't have any brains in my head or something!

Well, I am going to go; sorry if my life is so boring!  That's how it is, especially since summer vacation has since gone by the wayside and am back in prison (ah, er school)!  I will write in here again soon; until then, this is Mark Ratinauer signing off!  I'm outta here!

~Mark (Rat-Nose).  :(

*to be continued.*