

Near the end of the book, Rafe has to go in with his mother to talk to the principal about one of the rules he broke.

Miller refused to give Rafe his journal back unless he pays $1 per page. Miller, also known as Miller the Killer, the school bully, stole Rafe's journal that had drawings and Operation R.A.F.E inside. and encourages him to work on his schoolwork.

He finds consolation in Jeanne Galletta, who is skeptical of Operation R.A.F.E. He has a verbally abusive stepfather-to-be named Carl (aka Bear), who "watches" over him when his mother is not home. His mother constantly works double shifts at a Swifty's Diner and barely gets to see Rafe and his sister Georgia. Rafe is bored at Hills Village Middle School with sixth grade at first, but he and his friend Leonardo the Silent invent "Operation R.A.F.E." (stands for "rules aren't for everyone"), a challenge to break every rule in his middle school handbook.
