Anyone But Me Read Free

getting late.”
    Katie nodded and slowly took a nibble of her bread. She slowly chewed each tiny bite until the toast practically melted in her mouth.
    Katie wanted to be late.
    If she arrived after the bell rang, the class would all be seated and doing their work by the time she got there. Mrs. Derkman would be upset that she was late. But it was worth it if she could avoid even a little bit of George’s teasing. Definitely.
    “You’ve got to get going,” Katie’s mother warned her. “You can eat the rest on the way.”
    Katie didn’t say anything. She slipped on her backpack and headed for the door.
    “Have a good day, kiddo,” her mother called.
     
    By the time Katie finally reached the school, everyone was inside the building. Katie stood outside by her classroom window. She watched as her classmates scrambled into their seats. Katie knew she should hurry inside. But her feet just didn’t seem to want to move.
    Just then, the wind began to blow. It started out as a slow and gentle breeze. But within seconds the wind was swirling round and round like a tornado. The weird thing was that the wild wind was only blowing around Katie. The leaves on the trees weren’t moving. The bushes weren’t moving. Even the flag up on the flagpole wasn’t moving.

    What was going on? Katie was really scared. She wished she were inside. Away from this wind. She hugged herself tightly, and closed her eyes.
    And then, suddenly, everything was calm again. The wind had disappeared as quickly as it had started. Katie stood perfectly still for a moment, waiting to see if it would start up again. Finally, when she was sure the storm was over, Katie slowly opened her eyes.
    Everything seemed blurry. Katie blinked really hard. Nothing changed. She still couldn’t see very well.
    But she could smell really well. And her nose was twitching. Katie stood up tall and sniffed at the air. All around her were yucky smells: salami, egg salad, old sneakers. It was hard to tell where each smell was coming from. The scents were all mixing together.
    Katie hadn’t only become a champion smeller. She could also hear really well. Too well, in fact. Everyone in the classroom seemed to be shouting. All the noise was making her nervous. Katie could feel her heart beating really, really fast.
    Now Katie was really scared. She wanted to run right home. But her parents were probably at work by now. There was no one at home to take care of her. If Katie didn’t show up at school, Mrs. Derkman would phone her mother for sure. Katie definitely did not want that to happen. She ran towards the classroom. She’d have to hope her sight got better.
    Bam! She bashed right into a solid glass wall.
    That was weird, Katie thought. There hadn’t been a glass wall there before.
    “What’s going on here?” Katie cried out.
    Nobody answered. All the kids in the classroom were so busy yelling, they couldn’t hear Katie’s cries.
    “Hello!” Katie shouted. “Can anyone hear me?”
    Katie began running wildly in circles. She didn’t get very far before she bashed head first into another glass wall. Ouch! That one really hurt.
    As she reached up to rub her head, Katie noticed that her hand looked strange. This hand was small and furry. This hand had nails that really needed to be clipped. Katie touched her face. Her cheeks felt big and round like huge empty pouches, and her face was all hairy!

    Quickly, Katie looked down at her body.
    “Aaah!” she cried out. “I’m naked!”
    Actually, she wasn’t completely naked. Her back and stomach were covered with orange-brown fur!
    And that’s when Katie realized what had happened. She wasn’t outside anymore. She was inside—in a hamster cage. She’d become Speedy, the class hamster.
    Katie tried to scream, but the only sound that came out of her mouth was a loud squeak.

Chapter 5
    “Hey, look at Speedy!” Zoe Canter called out from the other side of the glass. “He’s going crazy!”
    Within seconds,