“I guess it didn’t cheer you up,” Andy muttered. She pulled up another handful of grass and let the blades fall over the legs of her white jeans.
Evan stomped over to the edge of the creek. He kicked a rock into the water.
“Come on, Evan,” Andy called. “You have to admit it’s a little funny.”
He spun around to face her. “It’s not,” he insisted. “Not funny at all. What if Cuddles just keeps growing and growing? Then what?”
“We could put a saddle on his back and give everyone hamster rides!” She giggled.
Evan scowled and kicked another rock into the creek. “You know how dangerous that Monster Blood is,” he scolded. “What are we going to do? How are we going to get Cuddles back to hamster size?”
Andy shrugged. She pulled up another handful of grass.
The sun sank lower behind the trees. A shadow rolled over them. Two little kids chased a white-and-red soccer ball on the other side of the creek. Their mother shouted to them not to get wet.
“Where’s the Monster Blood can?” Evan demanded, standing over Andy. “Maybe it tells the antidote on the can. Maybe it tells how to reverse the whole thing.”
Andy shook her head. “Evan, you know it doesn’t say anything on the can. No instructions. No ingredients. Nothing.” She climbed to her feet and brushed off the legs of her jeans. “I’ve got to get home. My aunt doesn’t know where I am. She’s probably freaking out.”
Evan followed her toward the street, shaking his head. “How big?” he muttered.
She glanced back at him. “What did you say?”
“How big will Cuddles be tomorrow?” Evan asked in a trembling voice. “How big?”
“Andy—will you hurry up?”
Evan had agreed to meet Andy at her aunt’s house the next morning so they could go to school early. But Andy had found a spot on her jeans and had gone back up to her room to change.
And now they were no longer early.
“Sorry,” she said, hurtling down the stairs two steps at a time. She had changed her entire outfit. Now she had on a red-and-black-striped vest over a yellow T-shirt, pulled down over pale blue shorts.
“Didn’t you leave out a color?” Evan demanded sarcastically, grabbing Andy’s backpack for her and hurrying to the front door.
She made a face at him. “I like bright colors. It suits my personality.”
“Your personality is late!” he declared.
She followed him out the door and down the front lawn to the sidewalk. “At least I have a personality!” she cried. “What’s your hurry, anyway?”
Evan didn’t answer. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, then began running toward school.
“Hey—wait up!” Andy called, running after him.
“How much Monster Blood did you give Cuddles, anyway?” Evan demanded without slowing his pace. “The whole can?”
“No way!” Andy called breathlessly. “Just a spoonful. He seemed to like it.”
“I guess he liked being as big as a dog, too,” Evan said, turning the corner. The tall, redbrick school building came into view.
“Maybe he’s back to normal today,” Andy said.
But as they came near the building, it was easy to tell that things were not normal.
Evan heard a loud crash from the side of the building. It sounded like glass shattering.
Then he heard excited shouts. Loud kids’ voices filled with alarm.
“What’s going on?” Andy cried.
They dove up the stairs and burst into the building. Running full speed, they turned the corner and made their way to the science classroom.
Evan reached it a few steps ahead of Andy. Hearing excited shouts and cries, he lurched into the room—and then stopped with a startled cry.
“No! Oh, please—no!”
“Stand back! Everyone stand back!” a red-faced Mr. Murphy was screaming.
Cuddles uttered a loud grunt and flailed his giant legs wildly in the air.
“He—he’s ten feet tall!” Evan heard Andy scream at his side.
“Al-almost!” Evan stammered.
The grunting, groaning hamster towered over Mr. Murphy. Its pink paws batted the air. Its monstrous mouth opened wide, revealing two enormous, sharp white teeth.
