Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Enhanced Edition recap

Greg Heffley begins middle school determined to improve his popularity, while treating his loyal friend Rowley as both companion and social liability. His plans repeatedly reverse on him: wrestling reveals his lack of preparation, a haunted house fails, the school play becomes a humiliation, and an accident that breaks Rowley's arm makes Rowley more popular. Greg and Rowley later join Safety Patrol, but Greg frightens younger children while wearing Rowley's coat and initially lets Rowley take the blame. Their friendship collapses, and Rowley gains further attention with a comic idea they once shared. At year's end, teenagers force Rowley to eat the notorious moldy cheese from the schoolyard. Greg tells their classmates that he removed it, taking the resulting Cheese Touch onto himself and saving Rowley from humiliation. The gesture reconciles the boys, although Rowley ends the year with the popularity and public praise Greg had pursued for himself.

Greg Heffley starts middle school and begins a journal at his mother's urging. He immediately describes school as a competition for status and worries that his cheerful but childish best friend, Rowley Jefferson, may hold him back. At home, Greg deals with older brother Rodrick's tricks, younger brother Manny's favored treatment, and his parents' attempts to control games, chores, and family behavior. The schoolyard has its own feared landmark: an old piece of moldy cheese that supposedly passes a lasting social stigma to anyone who touches it. Greg and Rowley try to find ways to distinguish themselves, but Greg's calculations rarely account for Rowley's feelings or for how their classmates actually respond.

Greg's first middle-school plans do little for his reputation. In physical education, he assumes his familiarity with professional wrestling will translate into skill, only to struggle when the class begins real matches. He and Rowley build a small haunted attraction, but poor planning and adult intervention quickly close it. On Halloween the boys provoke older teenagers traveling in a pickup truck and are chased through the neighborhood, creating a conflict that remains unresolved. Greg later takes part in the school production of The Wizard of Oz as a tree; resentment and confusion disrupt the performance. During the winter, Rowley receives a Big Wheel. A game on a hill goes wrong when Greg causes Rowley to fall and break his arm. The cast earns Rowley sympathy and attention at school, frustrating Greg, who tries to connect himself to his friend's sudden popularity.

Rowley's broken arm makes him more popular, while Greg's attempts to benefit from the accident only reveal his jealousy. The boys later join the school's Safety Patrol. While filling in on Rowley's route and wearing Rowley's coat, Greg frightens a group of younger children. A witness misidentifies him, and Rowley is punished. Greg initially remains silent rather than risk his own position. When the truth emerges, Greg loses his patrol duties, while Rowley is reinstated and praised. The betrayal seriously damages their friendship. Their conflict deepens when Rowley continues a school-paper comic based on an idea the boys developed together and finds success without Greg. Greg sees Rowley's recognition as another prize that should have belonged to him, while Rowley has growing reason to recognize how unfairly Greg has treated him.

Greg and Rowley remain estranged after the Safety Patrol incident and Rowley's success with the school-paper comic. Their anger nearly turns into a fight, but the older teenagers from Halloween return and corner them near the school. The teenagers force Rowley to eat the moldy cheese that has remained on the blacktop and then depart. When other students discover the cheese is missing, Greg understands that Rowley will be rejected if anyone learns what happened. He announces that he personally picked up and threw away the cheese. His story gives him the dreaded Cheese Touch and lowers his own standing, but it protects Rowley from the same humiliation. The decision repairs their friendship. Rowley ends the year receiving recognition for his comic and enjoying the popularity Greg had wanted, while Greg accepts his classmates' avoidance and closes the journal with his closest friendship restored.

Near the end of the school year, Greg and Rowley's friendship is already damaged by Greg's conduct on Safety Patrol and his jealousy over Rowley's successful school-paper comic. The older teenagers whom they angered at Halloween return and corner them beside the school. They force Rowley to eat the decaying cheese that students have avoided all year, then leave. When classmates notice that the cheese has disappeared, Greg realizes that the truth would make Rowley a social outcast. He claims that he picked up and discarded it himself. The feared Cheese Touch therefore falls on Greg, but his decision shields Rowley and repairs their friendship. Rowley receives public credit for his comic and finishes the year with the recognition Greg wanted. Greg's own campaign for status ends unsuccessfully, yet his final lie is an unusually unselfish act: he accepts ridicule to protect the friend he had repeatedly taken for granted.