Conan rubbed his stomach and uttered a short whimper. “Ow. He really hurt me.”
Mr. Murphy narrowed his beady black eyes at Evan. His chubby face turned bright red again. “Evan, I saw the whole thing. I really don’t understand you,” he said softly.
“But Mr. Murphy—” Evan started.
The teacher raised a hand to silence him. “If you were angry about what happened in class,” Mr. Murphy said, “you shouldn’t take it out on other kids.”
Conan rubbed his stomach tenderly. “I hope Evan didn’t break anything!” he murmured.
“Do you want to see the nurse?” Mr. Murphy asked.
Conan shook his head. Evan could see he was having trouble keeping a straight face. “I’ll be okay,” he said, and staggered away.
What a phony! Evan thought bitterly.
Did Conan know the whole time that Murphy was standing there? Probably.
“Go take care of Cuddles,” Mr. Murphy told Evan, frowning. “And try to shape up, Evan. I’m going to be watching you.”
Evan muttered a reply and trudged back into the classroom. Sunlight streamed in through the wall of windows. A strong breeze made the window shade flap over the open window near the teacher’s desk.
Feeling angry and upset, his stomach churning, Evan made his way through the empty room to the hamster cage. Cuddles wrinkled his nose in greeting. The hamster knew the routine by now.
Evan gazed into the metal cage at the brown-and-white creature. Why do people think hamsters are cute? he wondered.
Because they wrinkle their noses? Because they run around and around on wheels like total jerks? Because of their cute little buck teeth?
Cuddles stared up at him with his little black eyes.
He has Mr. Murphy’s eyes, Evan thought, chuckling to himself. Maybe that’s why Murphy likes him so much.
“Okay, okay. So you’re kind of cute,” Evan told the hamster. “But I know your secret. You’re just a big fat rat in disguise!”
Cuddles wrinkled his nose again in reply.
With a loud sigh, Evan went to work. Holding his breath because he hated the smell, he pulled out the bottom tray.
“You’re a messy little guy,” he told the hamster. “When are you going to learn to clean up your own room?”
Still holding his breath, he dumped out the old newspaper shavings and replaced them with fresh shavings from the box in the supply closet.
He returned the bottom tray to its place as Cuddles watched with great interest. Then he poured fresh water into the water bottle.
“How about some sunflower seeds?” Evan asked. He began to feel a little more cheerful, knowing his job was almost finished.
He removed the seed cup from the cage and made his way across the room to the supply closet to get fresh sunflower seeds.
“Okay, Cuddles,” he called, “these look yummy!”
He started to carry the seeds back to the cage. Halfway across the room, Evan stopped and uttered a startled gasp.
The cage door hung wide open.
The hamster was gone.
A choking sound escaped Evan’s lips as he stared at the empty cage.
His eyes darted frantically around the room. “Cuddles? Cuddles?” he called in a frightened voice.
Why am I yelling? he asked himself, spinning around in a total panic. The dumb hamster doesn’t know its name!
He heard footsteps out in the hall.
Mr. Murphy?
No, please—no! Evan pleaded silently.
Don’t let it be Mr. Murphy. Don’t let him return until I have Cuddles safely back in his cage.
Cuddles was Mr. Murphy’s most precious possession. He had told this to the class time and again.
Evan knew that if anything happened to Cuddles, Mr. Murphy would be on Evan’s case for the rest of the year. No—for the rest of his life!
Evan froze in the center of the room, listening hard.
The footsteps passed by the room.
