Item 12 Read the novel excerpt.

Superhero 101: A Dog's Day

Trace was still thinking about the conversation with his grandmother when he stopped so abruptly that Liam literally collided with him. “Hey, what gives?” Liam asked. “You were this close to wearing my ice cream in your hair. Why’d you stop?”

Tia and Blade had continued walking, but now they were headed back toward their friends to find out why they had stopped. Blade immediately noticed Trace’s countenance and followed his gaze. She was the most intuitive and observant of the group. Suddenly, she gasped.

“What is wrong with you two?” Liam, who was more interested in saving his ice cream than saving the world, asked before they had a chance to explain.

Trace spoke in hushed tones, “Look, over there. It’s Casper. He’s supposed to be in prison. What is he doing at the pet store?”

Liam and Tia looked toward the pet store as the four friends dodged into an alleyway, trying not to look too conspicuous. Casper was obviously in disguise himself with his dyed brown hair and beard. The last thing the group needed was for Casper to realize that he had been spotted by his nemesis. The last time he and Trace had met, Trace and his friends had thwarted Casper's plot to create a deadly toxin designed to help him take over the world. That was three months ago, and now it looked like he had somehow escaped from prison and was up to something equally menacing and ominous.

Casper was leaving the pet store and getting into a car, so the friends hurried to their car. They followed him to an abandoned pet-food manufacturing plant at the edge of town. Once Casper ducked inside, the four friends did the same but were soon confronted by an angry pack of dogs. Trace motioned for his friends to come close to him as he created a shield around them. He remembered the time when Tia had used her superpower to make the group invisible. They had been running from Casper and his henchmen. “Tia, make us invisible!” Trace shouted.

However, the friends’ scent wasn’t invisible, and the dogs could not be deterred. The dogs followed the friends as they made their way to where Casper appeared to be manufacturing something that smelled awful.
Read the excerpt from "Superhero 101: A Dog's Day."

Liam and Tia looked toward the pet store as the four friends dodged into an alleyway, trying not to look too conspicuous. Casper was obviously in disguise himself with his dyed brown hair and beard.

Which phrase in the excerpt helps the reader know the meaning of conspicuous?

with his dyed brown hair and beard

looked toward the pet store

dodged into an alleyway

pet store as the four friends