Free Out to Lunch by Nancy Krulik Page B

angry. Are you mad at Jeremy or something?” she asked.
    Suzanne shook her head. “No. I just thought it was really rude of him to try to break up our game.”
    Katie nodded. “I guess we could have asked him if he wanted to play with us instead.”
    “He wouldn’t have wanted to play hopscotch,” Suzanne told Katie. “None of the boys play hopscotch anymore.”
    Katie shrugged. Suzanne was probably right. But they could have asked Jeremy to play anyway, just to be nice.
    Just then Mandy Banks came strolling over. Miriam and Zoe were right behind her. They were each carrying flat, smooth stones—perfect for hopscotch.
    “Can we play with you?” Mandy asked.
    Suzanne smiled brightly. “Sure. You’re right after Katie, Mandy. Then Zoe, then Miriam. This game is for third-grade girls only . . . right Katie?”
    Katie didn’t answer. She didn’t like it when games were just for girls or just for boys. She was much happier when everybody got to play. Katie tucked her red hair behind her ears. Then she reached out and tossed her stone toward the square with the four in it. The small rock soared right over the box, and landed on the eight instead.
    “Your turn, Mandy,” Suzanne called out cheerfully.

Chapter 2
    Classroom 3A was a wild place after lunch.
    “Look out, incoming plane,” George shouted as he threw a paper airplane toward Kevin.
    Kevin laughed. “Back at ya!” He tossed the plane back to George.
    Suzanne ducked as the paper plane shot over her head. “Hey! Watch it!” she shouted at Kevin.
    “That’s enough now,” Mrs. Derkman told the class. “Recess is over. Please take out your writer’s notebooks. We’re going to work on our biographies.”
    Katie smiled. She loved writing biographies. Right now she was working on one about her dog, Pepper. Katie had taken care of him since he was a puppy. Pepper was like a brother to her—even better because Pepper didn’t argue or ask to share her toys.
    Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. Katie looked over toward the class hamster’s cage. Boy, did Speedy’s wheel need oiling.
    Mrs. Derkman must have heard the squeaking, too, because she said, “Oh, class, before I forget—the classroom floors are being cleaned this weekend. I will need someone to take Speedy home. If you’re interested, bring me a note from your parents saying it’s okay.”
    Katie knew she couldn’t even think about bringing Speedy home for the weekend—not with Pepper living there. Dogs and hamsters didn’t always get along so well.
    Still, Katie really wished she could take Speedy home. She cared about him more than anyone else in the whole class. Maybe that was because Katie was the only one in the class who had actually been Speedy.
    It was true! Katie had actually turned into the class hamster for a whole morning!
    It happened a few weeks ago. After a really, really bad day, Katie had made the mistake of wishing she could be anyone but herself.
    There must have been some sort of shooting star flying through the sky at the very moment Katie had made the wish, because it had come true. (And everyone knows when you make a wish on a shooting star, it comes true!) The only thing was, instead of turning into some one else, Katie had turned into some thing else—Speedy!

    Katie shivered a little as she remembered being a hamster. It was really scary. She thought she’d be stuck in that tiny, smelly glass cage forever. But eventually she’d gotten loose. And luckily, once she was free, Katie had somehow turned back into herself.
    Katie didn’t understand how any of it had happened. All she knew was that she was really glad to be an eight-year-old girl again.
    Ever since she’d spent time in Speedy’s body, Katie had taken great care of the little hamster. She always made sure his water bowl was full, gave him plenty of chew sticks, and brought him fresh carrots from home.
    Of course, Katie had never told anyone about turning into Speedy. She didn’t think they would believe her.