2 A SNACK FOR STELLA

CHAPTER 2 A SNACK FOR STELLA Alexander hopped down his front steps. A girl in a hoodie waved to him from the sidewalk. "Hey there, Salamander!" she called. "Salamander" was Alexander's nickname. His teacher had called him that on his first day of school, and it stuck. "Hi, Nikki!" said Alexander. He walked over to her, swinging his new lunch box.

Nikki leaned in. "Any S.S.M.P. news to report?" she whispered. S.S.M.P. stood for "Super Secret Monster Patrol." The S.S.M.P. was a group of kids sworn to protect Stermont from monsters. Alexander and Nikki were two of the group's three members. "Nope," Alexander said. "I thought there was a monster in my kitchen, but it was just a coatrack." Nikki nodded. "Well, you never know when a big, ugly creature could show up." "Hey, weenies!" barked a voice. "Wait up!" A spiky-haired kid ran through somebody's flower bed to catch up with Alexander and Nikki. It was Rip Bonkowski, the third member of the S.S.M.P.

"Guys," said Rip. "Look what happened!" He held up a broken skateboard. All four wheels had been mashed flat. "Did you throw it off a building?" asked Nikki. "Huh? No!" said Rip. "Something superheavy must've mashed it into the sidewalk. But I'd only stopped for a second to feed her!" Alexander raised an eyebrow. "Feed who, Rip?" Rip pulled a radish from his pocket. It was covered with nibble marks. "Stermont Stella," he mumbled.

"The gopher?" asked Alexander. "The one who dove into her hole to hide when those shadow smashers came to Stermont?" "Yeah," said Rip. His cheeks turned redder than the radish. "Those shadow smashers really scared her! I've been stopping by Derwood Park every morning to bring her a snack. She needed a, um..." "A friend?" said Nikki. She grinned. The sun sparkled on her braces. "Rip, did you actually do something nice for someone?" "What?! No! Stella's just a gopher!" Rip threw his radish at Nikki. "And anyway, what about my smooshed skateboard! Who would do something so mean?" "Maybe someone who doesn't like gophers," said Alexander, laughing. "Now, let's get to school."