5 SHAKE ON IT

CHAPTER 5 SHAKE ON IT After the world's longest spelling quiz, the students headed to the cafeteria. "Aw, rats," said Nikki. "I miss having pie for lunch." Alexander, Rip, and Nikki sat at their usual table. Alexander pulled his lunchbox out of his backpack. It was covered in sand from his cracked ant farm. "Hey, Nikki," he said, "I packed some strawberry gummies for you."

"Thanks, Salamander." Nikki smiled, flashing her sharp-looking fangs. She was secretly a monster— a good monster— called a jampire. Jampires loved red, juicy treats. Alexander brushed off his lunchbox and flipped it open. AAAAAGN! He jumped out of his chair. Rip and Nikki peeked inside the lunchbox. It was full of ants. Most of them were crawling around on the red gummies. "Looks like ants really do love the sweet stuff," Rip said. "Were those ants in your backpack?" asked Nikki, taking an ant-free gummy.

"They must have crawled out of my cracked ant farm," Alexander said. "So much for that science project." Alexander sat back down. He checked his sandwich for bugs. There were none. He took a bite as he watched the ants march out of his lunchbox. "Cheer up!" said Rip. "It's not like Plunkett needs any more ants! There were a zillion in his giant ant farm!" He tossed Alexander a peppermint. Alexander made a yuck-face. "Is this more sidewalk candy?"

"'Yep!" said Rip. "I still have a few pieces left!" "Uh, no thanks," Alexander said. He scooted the peppermint back to Rip. "We really need to figure out what kind of monster left that footprint! I don't think it's a trample hamster since the footprint wasn't round. But it still must be big enough to—" BOOOOOM!! There was a thundering rumble as the whole building shook for a few seconds. The cafeteria grew quiet. "What was that?" asked Rip. "Was that an earthquake?!" asked Nikki.

Alexander shook his head. "It—" He was interrupted by the loudspeaker. ATTENTION! This is Principal Vanderpants. You may have noticed a minor vibration. This shaking was likely caused by bulldozers at our new school building down the street. There is no reason to panic. Alexander watched the ants scurry down the table leg and out of sight. "I think those guys have the right idea," he said.