3 BUG IN THE BAG

CHAPTER 3 BUG IN THE BAG Alexander watched his principal all morning. She signed papers and made phone calls, but she didn't do anything strange or monster-y. Finally, it was time for lunch. Alexander dashed down to the cafeteria. "Hi, Salamander!" A girl was waving him over to the lunch line. A girl with a bunny backpack. "Dottie hey!" said Alexander. He ran up to her. "Hope you like pork," said Dottie. She pointed to the menu.

Alexander smiled at Dottie, although he felt a tiny bit sad. She used to be a member of the S.S.M.P. but had recently left the group. "So, um," Alexander said. He looked up at the shiny decorations. "What are all these stars and stuff for?" "Don't you know? Today's our ninety-eighth day of school!" said Dottie. "In two days, the whole school's having a 100th Day party."

"Cool," said Alexander. He didn't say anything as they moved through the line. But by the time they got their milks, he spoke up. "Would you like to sit with me and Rip and Nikki?" "Thanks, but I can't!" said Dottie. "Playing monsters with you guys was fun, but now I'm playing superheroes with kids from my class. Have a good lunch!" Dottie hopped away. Alexander sighed, then headed to Rip and Nikki's table. "What's up, Salamander?" asked Nikki. "I just saw Dottie," said Alexander. "It's so weird how she dropped out of the S.S.M.P., right in the middle of her birthday party."

"It's too bad," said Rip with his mouth full. "She was one heck of a monster fighter! She Rip paused, and cocked his head to the side. "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" asked Alexander. He looked at Nikki, who shrugged. "A clicking sound," said Rip. "Like tap shoes." He started chewing again. "Oh well, it stopped. I guess HEY!" Rip picked up his lunch sack. "Another ant?! Stay away from my raisins!" He brushed the ant away. "It must've hitched a ride on my pants from the caboose this morning." "Or maybe Mr. Plunkett's class is making ant farms!" said Nikki, smiling.

"Ms. Vanderpants would never let him do that activity again!" said Alexander. "Remember how she freaked out about all those ants?" "Speaking of our freaked-out principal, how was she this morning?" asked Nikki. "Were you able to switch folders before she got there?" "Yeah," said Alexander. "And I snooped around a bit. I found a file cabinet full of spaghetti." "Weird!" said Nikki. She ate a spoonful of BBQ sauce. "She also said something odd about giving me extra challenges, whatever that means," said Alexander. The recess bell rang. "Let's go, weenie!" said Rip. Alexander sighed. "Go on without me," he said. "I have to do make-up work. See you after school."