Free The Word Eater by Mary Amato

stolen Fip and, even worse, had intended to delete a teacher. But she couldn’t help feeling at fault. She shouldn’t have brought Fip to school and she shouldn’t have experimented on anything living. It was too dangerous, and the consequences were too unpredictable.
    Mrs. Norker glared at both of them. “Tell me exactly what’s going on here.”
    Lerner pushed up her glasses. If she told the truth, it would be the end of her private experiments with Fip. Keeping Fip a secret all to herself was exciting, but the responsibility was becoming overwhelming.
    Lerner took a deep breath and handed Mrs. Norker the bottle. She told them about Fip and how whatever he ate disappeared. As Mrs. Norker and Mrs. Nitz listened, the wrinkles on their foreheads kept getting deeper.
    Lerner imagined what would happen next: The principal would run to her office and call the FBI. The FBI’s Division of Unexplained Phenomena would assign the X-Files team to confiscate and study the worm. Tearfully, Lerner would say good-bye to Fip, but she’d receive a Medal of Honor for discovering a new species and becomethe youngest person to be appointed X-Files Consultant. Every day after school, they’d want her to go over to the FBI building and help with Fip-related research. Maybe they’d even allow her to skip school entirely and serve the nation by working for the FBI.
    Mrs. Norker held Fip’s bottle up and looked at the worm inside. “If you think this is funny—”
    â€œNo!” Lerner said, “I—”
    â€œTelling crazy fairy tales isn’t going to help. I’m calling your parents, Lerner.” She turned to Mrs. Nitz. “I suggest you take your son home and have a long talk with him about all this. First thing on Monday morning, we’ll have a conference. I’d like your husband here, too, Mrs. Nitz, and both your parents, Lerner.” She shook her head and handed Fip’s bottle to Lerner. “You’d better own up to the truth.”
    While Mrs. Nitz and Mrs. Norker worked out the details for the meeting, Lerner stood holding the bottle in a confused fog. Lerner had spilled her guts and they didn’t believe her. Now what? They weren’t going to let her or Bobby off the hook without an explanation, but if they didn’t believe the truth, then what could she and Bobby do?
    She glanced over at Bobby. He was staring at her. Like it or not the two of them were caught in the same net.
    On the ride home, Lerner’s parents were mad, but they were willing to hear her side of the story. She tried to explain the whole thing about Fip to her parents. They listened quietly and then her mother said that maybe they should all see a really nice kind of doctor. Lerner knew what that meant. They thought she was crazy.
    She spent the night in her room, trying to figure out what to do next.

Lerner woke to the sound of Mr. Nitz shouting. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window. Bobby was sitting on his back steps, staring at his shoelaces. Lerner opened the window wider.
    â€œYou have nothing to say, do you?” Mr. Nitz was saying. “Well, that’s because you don’t even have half a brain.”
    The words hung in the air like a black cloud.
    Lerner grabbed a piece of paper. If Fip could take the Attacka out of Attackaterriers, he could take the meanness out of Mr. Nitz. She wrote in tiny letters:
Mr. Robert Nitz’s meanness toward Bobby
    Last night, she had promised herself no more risky experiments, but this one felt right.
    Fip was hungry, and the tiny letters went down quickly.
    Lerner looked out her window.
    â€œLook at me when I’m talking to you,” Mr. Nitz said.
    Bobby looked up. Mr. Nitz froze and then shivered, as if an invisible creature had scurried up his spine. His neck lengthened and then his whole body relaxed. He shook his head, confused. “I don’t know what got out of me. I mean, what got into