Valentine's Day Dance
Valentine's Day Dance is an event that appears in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel. It takes place at Westmore Middle School at night (or in The Last Straw, during the day). It was first mentioned during Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules in which Greg says that he might not get a partner for the dance.
The Last Straw
In The Last Straw, it was announced that the school would be having it's very first dance. It was supposed to take place in night, but it was put smack in the middle of the day because they couldn't get enough much chaperones. After hearing this, many kids got excited as this was the first ever dance that is happening. For Greg, this is his chance for him to interact with Holly Hills. He digs through his dresser and finds a good shirt but it had a jam stain on the left, so he remembers only to show his right side to Holly Hills.
The day of the dance came, and people who didn't pay two dollars for the dance had to go to "study hall". The others sat in the bleachers, one side boys and one side of it girls. The dance turned out to be boring, as it has old music that kids weren't even listening to these days, such as the hokey pokey.
The principal then announced that people must dance, and that it would be worth 10% of their phys ed grade. Greg knew that he is flunking the skill and knows that it's time to get serious. He came up with a move that is easy and would technically qualify as "dancing". However, a bunch of guys who were worried about their grades started copying Greg. Greg went to the other side so he could dance without having a bunch of copycats.
Just then Holly broke from her pack to get a drink, and Greg sees his chance and tries to go there and say something to her. But then surprisingly Fregley came out of nowhere and become hyperactive because of the sugar of the cupcakes he eaten and shouted,"Boogie!". This ruined Greg's chance with Holly Hills for the dance as it ended.
The Third Wheel
In The Third Wheel, the dance is a much bigger plot point, being the main event of the book. The dance was not organized by the teachers, but by a group called the Dance Committee. Weeks before the dance, the boys thought that it was boring, but then when the Candy Grams came, all of them were excited about being asked and pretty much got a girl with them for the dance.
The theme for the dance is the "Midnight in Paris" theme. Uncle Gary volunteered as the DJ and was also selling the "Botson" shirts. Luckily for Gary the lights were off so the kids didn't know they were getting ripped off. A couple could have a photo taken in front of a backdrop of Paris. There was a long table with punch, snacks and strawberries to dip into a chocolate fountain.
During the dance, Greg and Rowley went with Abigail Brown as a dance group because her boyfriend, Michael Sampson, couldn't come due to family obligations. The dance, however, turned out to be a disaster:
At around 7:50 PM, some senior citizens from Senior Citizen Centre came in the gym, and shortly after there were many of them . A teacher asked them what are they doing here, and the Seniors said they reserved the gym for a meeting. Then one of the teachers, Mrs. Sheer, said she reserved it for a dance two weeks ago, and the seniors said they booked it two months ago and had paperwork to prove it. Some of the members from the Dance Committee got into the conversation, and to Greg, it is going to get ugly. Just before a fight broke out, Mrs. Sheer said the seniors can have the meeting the other side while the kids can dance on the other. But the partition idea pretty much ruined up the "Midnight In Paris" theme thanks to the Seniors and Gary's "Botson" T-Shirts were discovered. Everyone who got the T-Shirt asked Gary for their money back, but Gary distracted them by turning up the music high and everyone hit the dance floor.
When the people were dancing, Greg finds out that a boy would try to break the Girls' big group, but only to be bounced off by the girls. Just then, a senior went to the dance side and told Gary to turn the music down because it was too loud, and he turned the music down by around 80%. Now, everyone could hear what the seniors said in their meeting, but some of the girls took out their music players and kept on dancing. The boys, however had enough of having their best behavior in front of the girls for that long and they started getting crazy and ruining the dance. The teachers tried to calm them down, but they didn't stop. And all the late-comers that were coming were turning back once they saw what was happening.
Meanwhile, Greg saw Abigail talking with her group of friends, and they all went to the women's bathroom. Greg tried to see through the men's bathroom next door to see what they are talking about, but he gets distracted by the noises. He then went to to go to the stairs, but the Mad Pantser struck again there and pantsed Rowley.
Later that night, Michael Sampson came holding hands with Cherie Bellanger. Michael had thought that if he said he can't come, Abigail will not come. However, Abigail spotted him and both of them don't know the other person was there. Heartbroken, Abigail started crying a lot because she knew that Michael was cheating on her. Her group of friends confronted her and attempted to cheer her up.
At the same time, the Senior Center meeting ended, and they came over to the dance to take over. They even ate all the snacks. Since there was no strawberries left to dip in the fountain, the kids started sticking their fingers, but the teachers ended up shutting the fountain down, because a kid lost his contact lenses there and Mrs. Sheer had to fish it out. Even the music was ruined because the seniors made sound requests. Greg's cologne also started attracting old women, which made him hide in the corner. He knows that the dance was a disaster and hopes it will be over quickly. But just then, Ruby Bird stared at Greg and started moving towards him. Luckily, Greg saw Abigail came out of the bathroom and grabbed her hand to get out of the scene.
The dance ends with a final song announced by Gary. While dancing with Abigail, Greg spotted some pimples there and thought it was chicken pox and screamed out loud. That caught everyone's attention. But, it was revealed that Abigail actually had makeup on which when she cried, it washed off of her. Greg, Rowley, and Abigail then left the dance.
After the Dance
Rowley and Abigail became a couple as revealed in Hard Luck and it was even mentioned the couples table became more empty since half of the couples broke up after the dance. As for Greg, he didn't get a chance to go with Abigail and knew that Rowley took his idea of the dance.
Trivia
- This is the only event taking place in two books.
- In both books Greg tried to make a good impression on Abigail Brown and Holly Hills but failed to become couples.
- In Hard Luck, after the dance, half of the couples broke up afterwards for unknown reasons.
Appearance
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Mentioned)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (First appearance)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck (Mentioned)