As soon as I finished my muffin, I went across the hall to Molly's apartment.
Molly came to the door wearing her purple bathrobe and eating a chocolate-covered donut.
"I'm having a mental health day," Molly announced.
Tate had told me all about mental health days.
You get to sit around in your pajamas, watching TV and eating your favorite foods.
"Well, I'm having an emergency!" I said.
Molly stopped chewing her donut.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Is somebody sick?"
I shook my head.
"No one is sick—except me.
I'm sick of my cousin, Oliver, and he isn't even here yet!"
Molly looked puzzled.
"Iggy," she said.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about my bratty cousin, Oliver," I said.
"He's coming to visit, and he's going to share my room!"
I told Molly about Oliver visiting over winter vacation.
"My mom said Aunt Julia and Uncle John want to take a cruise," I added.
"Without Oliver?" asked Molly.
I nodded. "My uncle has been working really hard.
They want to take a vacation by themselves."
Molly giggled. "They probably want to get away from Oliver for a while!"
"I bet you're right," I said glumly.
"But why do they have to leave him with us?"
Just then we heard Josh and Jenny walking up the stairs with their dad.
Molly and I looked down.
They were all carrying grocery bags.
"I've got a problem!" I burst out.
Josh looked up at me.
"Really?" he said.
"Maybe we'd better have a powwow."
My friends and I have a "powwow" whenever somebody has a big problem.
We get together to figure out a solution.
"That's a great idea!" I said.
"I'll go get dressed," said Molly.
"A powwow sounds like more fun than a mental health day."
"We'll meet in five minutes outside on the front steps!" said Josh.
Soon we were all sitting on the front steps.
But it was freezing outside, and an icy rain had started to fall.
"Let's go inside by the radiator," said Jenny.
We went into the front hall and stood by the big radiator.
It was making loud banging noises.
But at least the front hall was warm.
I told Josh and Jenny about Oliver's coming to visit.
"And he's going to share my room!" I groaned.
"So I won't have any quiet time to work on a new invention.
And I really wanted to get into the Inventor's Hall of Fame!"
"How do you do that?" asked Josh.
"You have to invent something really amazing," I explained.
"And if you do invent something cool, you win a trophy.
Plus, you get your picture on the Inventor's Hall of Fame website."
Molly's face lit up.
"You would be famous, Iggy!"
"But now Oliver is coming," I said.
"He'll spoil everything!"
"It could be fun," said Josh.
He was trying to cheer me up.
"You'll be like a big brother to Oliver."
"Me, a big brother?" I said.
I had to admit I hadn't thought of that.
"We could fix him a cute little bed in your room," Jenny chimed in.
"And invent games and fun activities to do!" added Molly.
I smiled. "You guys are the best friends ever!" I said.
I was starting to feel a little better.
Maybe Oliver's visit wouldn't be so bad after all.
I'm glad I didn't have a crystal ball to see the future right then.
Because if I'd had a crystal ball, I would have seen the truth.
Oliver was going to be trouble—big trouble!