The cage shook again as Cuddles turned around. Evan watched in horror as the cage nearly toppled off its table.
I’ll kill Andy! Evan thought bitterly. How could she do this to me?
When the bell rang, the other kids all gathered up their books and headed out the door. Evan stood up and walked over to Cuddles’s cage.
Panting loudly, Cuddles stared up at him. He’s too big to fit on his wheel, Evan realized. If he grows any more, he’ll burst out of the cage!
How much Monster Blood did Andy feed him? Evan wondered. He had to find out.
He turned to Mr. Murphy, who was reading over some papers at his desk. “I’ve got to find someone,” Evan called up to him. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t take too long,” the teacher replied without looking up.
Evan hurried from the room—and ran into Conan. “Hey, I was looking for you,” Conan said, sidestepping to the right, then the left, and stretching out both arms to keep Evan from getting away.
“No time now,” Evan said sharply. But Conan wouldn’t let him pass. “I’m kind of in a hurry,” Evan told him. “I don’t have time to be stuffed into my locker right now.”
A big grin crossed Conan’s handsome face. “Hey, I’m sorry about that,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Huh? You’re sorry?” Evan’s mouth dropped open in shock.
“Yeah. No hard feelings,” Conan said, lowering his eyes. “Shake.”
Evan stuck out his hand. Then remembered Conan’s crushing handshake. He tried to pull back his hand.
Too late.
Conan gripped it tightly and began to squeeze. As he squeezed Evan’s hand, his grin grew wider and wider.
Down the hall, Evan saw Andy heading out the door. He tried to call to her. But all that came out of his mouth was a squeak of pain.
Andy disappeared out the front door of the school.
The bones in Evan’s hand cracked and crunched.
When Conan finally let go, the hand looked like a sad lump of soft red clay.
“Wow! That’s some handshake you’ve got!” Conan cried, laughing. He pretended his hand hurt. He shook it hard and blew on it. “You killed me that time! You been working out or something?”
Conan headed off to basketball practice, laughing and shaking his hand.
He really cracks himself up, Evan thought. An angry cry burst from his throat. He slammed his good hand into a locker. He was so furious, he thought he could feel steam pouring out his ears.
“Evan—you’re keeping me waiting!” Mr. Murphy called in a singsong from the classroom doorway.
“Coming,” Evan muttered miserably, and slunk back into the room.
* * *
He tried calling Andy for hours that night. But there was no one home.
In his sleep, he dreamed that Trigger ate a big glob of Monster Blood and grew to giant size. Evan tried to stop him. But the enormous dog took off after the mailman.
It wasn’t much of a chase. Trigger caught the mailman easily. The mailman was the size of a hamster.
Evan woke up drenched with sweat. He glanced at his bedtable clock. Only six in the morning. He normally didn’t get up until seven.
He climbed out of bed, anyway, feeling shaky and scared.
He decided he had to get to school before everyone else. He had to see if Cuddles had grown any bigger.
“Evan—where are you going?” his mother called sleepily as Evan headed out the front door.
“Uh—school,” Evan replied. He had hoped to sneak out before she woke up.
“So early?” She padded into the room, struggling with the belt to her blue cotton robe.
“Well … I have a science project I need to work on,” Evan told her. It was almost the truth.
“A science project?” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Yeah. It’s … big!” Evan replied, thinking quickly. “It’s really big! So I couldn’t bring it home.”
“You’re going without any breakfast?” Mrs. Ross demanded, yawning.
“I’ll grab something at school,” he said. “Later, Mom.” He disappeared out the door before she could ask any more questions.
A red sun was just climbing over the trees in a gray sky. The air still carried the chill of the night. The lawns Evan passed shimmered wetly with morning dew.
