Guinea Pigs Don't Talk Read Online Free Page B

whispered.
    Rip rip rip rip rip.
    "The wire," Lisa whispered.
    Click. Click.
Rip.
Click. Click.
Rip.
    "She's following the wire around the room," Traci whispered.
    "And we know where that leads," Lisa added. She held the microphone out toward Traci.
    Click. Click.
Rip.
Click. Click.
Rip.
    "Squeaky!" Mrs. Flowers said. "Guinea pigs chirp. Guinea pigs purr. They even squeak. But I have never heard one talk."
    Lisa lifted the microphone to her lips, and in her squeaky voice answered, "We only talk when we have something to say."
    Click. Click.
Rip.
The clicks were getting louder.
    "Squeaky, you never told me you could talk," Mrs. Flowers said.
    "You never asked," Lisa said into the microphone.
    Click. Click. Silence.

    Traci poked Lisa's shoulder and pointed to the floor between them. Lisa looked down and saw the rosebuds on Mrs. Flowers's high-heeled shoes pointing under the front of the desk. Lisa felt tension on the wire.
    "Squeaky, save us," she said as the microphone slipped from her hand.
    The class laughed.
    "Come out, girls," Mrs. Flowers called. She rolled the remaining wire into a ball.
    Lisa and Traci crawled out to face the class.
    Everyone was laughing—except Mrs. Flowers.

11
The Secret Ingredient

    Lisa sat at her desk. Her trick had worked, and she felt good about that. Mrs. Flowers had not punished them. She felt good about that too. But something was bothering Lisa. She had two enemies—Angel and Joe.
    Lisa had two enemies, and this was only her third day in her new school. That was almost one enemy per day. If she kept this up, by the end of the week she would have five enemies. And in two weeks—ten enemies. By the end of the year she would be the number-one enemy in the school. That was not what she wanted.
    Lisa sighed. She had not planned for her first days at school to be like this. Things had simply gotten out of hand. She tapped her pencil on her desk and thought about how it had happened.
    It had all started with the guinea-pig fight. Squeaky was being ... what was it Mrs. Flowers had said? Territorial, that was it. Squeaky didn't want anyone new in his territory.
    Angel was the same way. She didn't want anyone new in her territory. And in the middle of the school year Lisa had dropped in and taken Angel's desk. Just like Bruiser had dropped into Squeaky's cage.
    But Angel wasn't the only problem. Lisa felt a sudden stab of guilt as she realized what had made the problem worse—her own desire for revenge.
    Revennnnnnnnnnge.
The word suited its meaning. It sounded good, and it felt good. But there was a problem with revenge. One person's revenge led to another person's revenge. Then double revenge. It kept getting worse. It might never stop, especially with Angel and Joe.
    Lisa had to do something, and fast. But what? She needed a solution. She tapped her pencil two more times and the solution came to her. It was
risky, and it would require a secret ingredient. But she had no choice. She had to try it.
    Lisa looked at the clock. Ten minutes till recess. Perfect. She would try her solution at recess. There were two things she had to do.
    First, she pulled out some paper and wrote three notes—all the same.
Meet me by the slide

at recess.
    Lisa passed the notes to Traci, Angel, and Joe.
    Second, Lisa needed to get the secret ingredient. She would have to use her lunch money, which was in her bookbag. She tiptoed quietly to the wall where the bookbags hung. She reached into hers.
    "Lisa, what are you doing back there?" Mrs. Flowers's voice startled her.
    "Getting something from my bookbag," she answered. Angel, Joe, and Traci were all looking at her.
    "Well, I think you've done enough for one day," Mrs. Flowers said. "Plant yourself in your seat until recess."
    Lisa quickly grabbed the money and slipped it into her pocket. She hurried back to her desk. When she sat down, she checked her watch

    again—five minutes until recess. There was barely enough time to run across the street