Free Guinea Pigs Don't Talk by Laurie Myers Page B

okay," she said, holding him close to her and stroking his head. She looked at Squeaky. "You're fine too."
    "What about the test?" Joe asked.
    Mrs. Flowers glanced at her watch and let out a sigh. "We don't have time to finish. I guess we'll have to try it again tomorrow."
    The class groaned. Lisa lowered her head.
    "I'm sorry, Lisa," Mrs. Flowers said. "I should have told you that Bruiser and Squeaky fight when they are together. That's why we keep them in separate cages."
    Mrs. Flowers's kindness didn't make Lisa feel any better. Bruiser was still missing a piece of his ear, even though it wasn't bleeding. It looked like someone had taken a pair of scissors and snipped out a slice.
    "Animals can be very territorial," Mrs. Flowers explained.
    "What's territorial?" Joe asked.
    "When an animal lives in an area, he begins to feel that it belongs to him. He wants to protect the territory, and sometimes he will fight when a new animal comes in, especially if it's another male."
    I should have figured that out myself, Lisa thought. Why in the world did I do such a stupid thing? She shoved her hands in her pockets. When she did, she felt Angel's note.
    Angel had told her to put the guinea pigs together! That's why she had done it. And Angel had known exactly what would happen.
    Lisa's eyes widened with anger. She looked at Angel. Angel was smiling. Her eyes were glued to Lisa. Lisa blinked and turned away. She didn't like looking at Angel. Angel's eyes were ... She thought for a moment.
Piercing!
That was it. Angel's eyes were piercing.
    Piercing eyes looked at you as though they could tell what you were thinking. Lisa didn't like that. Angel Peterson was the last person she wanted to know her thoughts. Because, at that moment, Lisa had only one thought.
Revenge!

3
The Lunchbox Plan

    "That Angel is itchin' for a switchin'," Lisa said. She sat on her bed with her arms folded behind her head.
    "Angel is always trying to start trouble," Traci said as she studied Lisa's collection of ceramic animals. She picked up a small tiger. "Angel loves trouble. I think she is addicted to it—like some people are addicted to drugs."
    "Do you think she was mad because I had her desk?"

    "Could be," Traci answered. "Angel's like that. Any excuse to cause trouble."
    "That's terrible," Lisa said. "Why does Joe hang around her? She's always telling him what to do. At lunch today she made him get her a straw. Then she made him carry her tray and throw her garbage away."
    Traci put the tiger back on the shelf and picked up a monkey. She studied his face. "I guess he's used to it," she said. "He has lots of older brothers and sisters. They're always telling him what to do."
    "What about Angel?"
    "Nobody tells her what to do."
    Lisa fell back on her pillow. "Poor Bruiser," she said. "I feel awful about his ear."
    "Don't worry about Bruiser," Traci said, picking up a family of fat pink ceramic pigs. "He's just like these pigs."
    "Pigs?"
    "Yeah," Traci said. "All Bruiser cares about is eating! That's why he's so fat."
    "What does he eat?"
    "Anything and everything. Once I made him a shoebox house. He loved to go inside and hide. Then we noticed that the door to his house was getting bigger and bigger. He was eating his house! He loves cardboard."
    "Noooooooo!" Lisa said. She rolled across die bed, laughing.
    "And at Thanksgiving we had a big turkey made out of construction paper. It was too close to his cage and he ate the head off the turkey."
    Lisa grabbed her sides as she laughed again.
    "But his very favorite is when kids feed him their leftover lunches. Mrs. Flowers says we shouldn't give him junk because he's fat."
    Lisa sat up and wiped her eyes. "Bruiser likes people food?" she said.
    "He loves it," Traci said. She put the pigs back on the shelf. "I've even seen him eat broccoli."
    "That's it!" Lisa said.
    "That's what?" Traci asked.
    "That's how I'll get my revenge," Lisa said.
    She jumped off the bed and pulled her desk drawer open. She