In May, Greg begins his plans to be named Class Clown. He decides that while his teacher Mr. Worth is absent for a dentist’s appointment, he will crack a bunch of jokes when the substitute teacher is around. After all, “[s]ubs are comic gold” because “[y]ou can say just about anything you want, and you can’t get in trouble” (201). However, Greg’s plan falls apart when he comes in the next day and finds that the substitute teacher is his mother. He complains that his mom “totally foiled [his] plan to win Class Clown” (203). Later, Greg is shocked to discover that the new school cartoonist is Rowley Jefferson, and the comic “Zoo-Wee Mama” is a hit around school.

Greg is furious that Rowley has become popular from the comic they came up with together, and one day after school Greg confronts Rowley and a crowd forms to watch them fight. Before either of them can throw any punches, “[a] bunch of teenagers [stop] their pickup truck” and head for Greg and Rowley. As the other students run off, Greg recognizes the teenagers as “the same guys who chased [Greg] and Rowley around on Halloween night” (208). The teenagers notice Greg staring at the Cheese on the blacktop, and they force Rowley to eat it.