Chapter 4

Chapter four After we ate our ice cream, we headed right to our apartment. As we walked, I began to wonder whether Cheerio was going to like Fred. Then I started to worry about it. "Do dogs and frogs get along?" I asked Papa Pete. "It depends on which dog and which frog," he answered. "If you're talking about Cheerio, we'll just have to wait and see how he reacts." We walked into the living room and put Fred's tank down on the coffee table. Cheerio,

who had been asleep, jumped off the couch and sniffed all around the tank. His little nose was working overtime, and his tail was wagging like crazy. And the strange thing was that Fred was not afraid of Cheerio. In fact, he came out from behind the plants in his tank and jumped onto the glass. His bulging little eyes opened wide and stared right into Cheerio's. "Well, look at that," Papa Pete said. "It looks like they want to meet each other." "Ms. Flowers said it was okay for us to take Fred out of the tank, as long as we keep our eyes on him," Frankie said. "Hank, you should hold him," Ashley suggested, "since he likes you best." Ashley carefully took the screen top off the tank, and I reached in to pick up Fred. He settled into my hand and never took his eyes off Cheerio. Cheerio let out the sweetest little whimper and put his nose right on the top of Fred's head. Fred let out the funniest little croak you've ever heard. That scared Cheerio, who backed up on

his short legs. "It's okay, boy," I said to him. "Fred is just talking to you." "I wonder what he's saying," Ashley said. Before we even had a chance to guess, Fred leaped out of my hands and onto Cheerio's back. Cheerio waited until Fred was comfortable, then took off trotting around the apartment. Fred looked all around, checking out the carpets and furniture legs, croaking happily. "Now we know what Fred was saying," Ashley said as we all laughed. "He was saying, 'Hey, Cheerio, take me for a ride.'" "In all my years," Papa Pete said, "I have never seen anything like this. It's amazing."

He took out his phone and snapped a picture of Cheerio and Fred. "Wait until I show this to my bowling team," he said. "They're not going to believe it. I don't even believe it, and I'm watching it happen!" We were so interested in Cheerio and Fred that we didn't even hear the front door open. It was my dad and my sister, Emily. My dad was carrying a large bunch of red and pink roses. "Hi, everyone," he called out. "Emily and I got your mom's favorite flowers for her birthday tomorrow. She's going to be so—" He was interrupted by Cheerio, who bolted across the living room to say hello. Fred had to hang on with all four of his little legs. As Cheerio ran across the room, Fred looked like a rodeo star riding a bucking bronco.

I lunged for him and grabbed him off Cheerio's back just before he went flying into the air. "What is that, and why is it here?" Emily asked, pointing to my hands. "It is a he, and his name is Fred. He's my guest for the weekend." "Have you gotten Katherine's permission for him to stay here?" she asked. Katherine is Emily's iguana, who doesn't have a friendly bone in her body. I could say the same thing about Emily, but I won't. "I'm sure Katherine will be glad to have another reptile in the house," I told her. "Frogs are amphibians, not reptiles," Emily

said in her most know-it-all voice. "Reptiles have scales." "Just like you," I said in my most funny voice. "Hank, you and your sister are turning this house into the Zipzer zoo," my dad said. "Where is this frog going to stay? He can't stay on the coffee table. That's where I'm putting your mother's birthday flowers." "He'll stay in Hotel Hank," I said. "Otherwise known as my room." "Ashley and I will help you carry the tank in there," Frankie said. "Come on, Ash." Frankie and Ashley picked up the tank and headed to my room. I said a quick good-bye to Papa Pete, then followed them, carrying Fred in my hands. We all knew that we had to get out of there fast, before my dad said Fred couldn't stay. We placed the tank on my desk, next to my bed. Carefully, I put Fred down on his plastic log, and Ashley put the screen cover on tightly.