Puppy Love Read online

  Megan looked mad. She stormed up to the counter. “I’m leaving her here,” she said, handing me Tallulah’s leash.

  “For how long?” I asked, hoping my voice sounded normal. I was terrified that Megan would use her powers of evil to figure out what I was up to.

  “I don’t know,” Megan snapped. “I have to go look for a dress for the party.”

  I felt myself turning red. “Oh?” I said. “What about the one you liked so much?”

  “Someone else got it,” she answered. “I went to pick it up last night and it was gone. I looked everywhere in that store for it. I even had them call the store over in Brixton. They didn’t have one in my size either.” She looked at me. “I can’t believe someone else would buy my dress,” she said, apparently forgetting for a minute that she and I weren’t friends and that, normally, I wouldn’t care anything about her dress problem.

  “That’s too bad,” I said.

  “Now I have to go find another one,” she said. “I’m so mad. Why does everything happen to me?”

  I was hoping she would leave soon. Knowing that her dress was in the other room, I was getting more and more nervous. I don’t know how criminals can lie. I’m terrible at it. I was convinced that it was totally obvious that I was the one who had stolen Megan’s dress out from under her.

  Then I had another realization. If Megan went shopping before I could return her dress, she still wouldn’t be able to get it. Then, even if I did return it, I’d still feel bad. It was stupid, I know, but I couldn’t help it. After all, I was going through a lot of trouble to not be like her. If in the end she didn’t get the dress she wanted, then it would basically be like I’d kept it.

  “You know,” I said, thinking fast. “You might want to check the store again later today.”

  “Why would I do that?” asked Megan, as if it was the stupidest suggestion ever.

  “Well,” I said. “Sometimes people get things home and decide they don’t like them. Maybe whoever bought it will return it.”

  “You’d have to be an idiot to return that dress,” Megan said. “It’s perfect.” She hesitated. “Still,” she said. “I guess there’s a chance.”

  I could see her mind working and hoped that for once she’d see things my way. My heart raced as I waited for her to say something.

  “Yeah, maybe I’ll check the store again this afternoon, just in case.”

  She didn’t even thank me for the suggestion, which was no big shock. She just turned and walked out. I breathed a big sigh of relief. I still had time to get the dress back.

  But only if I worked fast. I looked at the clock. If I left right then, I could get to the mall and return the dress in time for Megan to find it when she went back later in the day. Then I remembered the leash in my hand, and Tallulah on the other end of it. I couldn’t just leave her at the shop. And I couldn’t take her to the mall with me.

  I could take her to my house, though. I’d left Rufus there, and although I hated to subject him to even an hour with Tallulah, I could put her in the yard with him, take the bus to the mall, come back and pick Tallulah up, and be back in the shop before my mother suspected anything. It was a perfect plan.

  I told my mother I was taking Tallulah to the park. She was busy going over the receipts for the week and was a little distracted. “Have a nice time,” she said as I grabbed the dress bag from the storeroom and hurried out.

  “We have to hurry,” I said to Tallulah as we walked toward my house.

  Tallulah ignored me. She was too busy sniffing around some bushes. I stopped and let her smell. She was really sticking her head in the bush, like she had found something fascinating.

  “Tallulah,” I said, tugging on her leash. “Come on. Please?”

  Tallulah gave a sharp bark as something burst from the bushes. It was a cat, a small orange-and-white tabby that took off down the sidewalk. Tallulah, barking like crazy, ran after it. Somehow she managed to wrap the leash around my legs. When she pulled, I stumbled. Not again, I thought as I felt the leash start to slip from my hand.

  As the leash slid over my wrist, it caught on the dress bag. I watched in horror as Tallulah took off and the dress, caught in the leash, went with her. She followed the kitty as it ran down the street, the dress flapping behind her. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I just stood there and watched, horrified, as the dress got dragged along the sidewalk.

  Tallulah and the cat disappeared into a yard a few houses away. When I finally got my legs to move, I ran after them. Tallulah had lost sight of the cat and was running around the yard yapping. The dress was still attached to her leash, and now the bag had torn open. The dress was being dragged through the dirt.

  I tried to catch Tallulah, but she kept darting just out of reach. With every step, her tiny paws pressed the dress deeper and deeper into the dirt.

  “Stop it!” I shouted.

  Tallulah, to my surprise, stopped barking and looked at me. She sat down, right on top of the dress, and stared at me, her mouth open. I swear it looked just like she was laughing.

  I shooed Tallulah away from the dress and held it up. There were dirty paw prints all over it. Looking at it, I wanted to cry. There was no way I could return it now.

  I couldn’t believe what was happening. First I’d stolen Megan’s dress. Then, when I tried to do the right thing and return it, I’d ruined it. Now there was no way I could make things right. I wadded up the dress, shoved it into what was left of the bag, and walked back to Perfect Paws. Tallulah walked in front of me, bouncing along like the happiest dog in the world.

  “That was fast,” my mother called out from her office when she heard me come in.

  “Yeah,” I said, quickly stuffing the dress underneath the front counter so she wouldn’t see it. “Tallulah wasn’t really into it.”

  When Megan came in that afternoon, she was in an even worse mood than she’d been in that morning. She had a bunch of bags in her hands, but her face was tight and angry-looking.

  “Find anything?” I asked her.

  She held up the bags and shook them, as if the answer should be obvious. “No one returned the dress,” she said, like it was my fault. Which it was, but I couldn’t tell her that. “I’m stuck with one of these. But I don’t like any of them.”

  I didn’t say anything. If I had still been operating under my original plan, I would have been thrilled to see her so unhappy. Instead, I felt guilty. Megan’s dress was sitting in the bag under the counter, less than a foot away from her. But even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t give it to her. I’d ruined it. Well, Tallulah had ruined it, but it was the same thing.

  Megan took Tallulah and left. For the rest of the day, I tried to think of some way to make things better. And I kept thinking, all through the weekend, which seemed to stretch on forever. I’d shoved the bag with the dress in it into my closet when I got home on Friday. I couldn’t even look at it.

  I was feeling terrible. I didn’t want to, but I had to tell someone. Being all alone with my guilt was making me crazy. I needed someone to tell me what to do. I tried to call Shan, but no one answered at her grandparents’ house. Finally, I went looking for my mother. I fully anticipated her being horrified at my behavior, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do.

  I found her in the bathroom. She was standing in front of the mirror, a bottle of something dark in her hand and a towel around her neck.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her.

  “Just touching up my roots,” she answered, putting the tip of the bottle against her scalp and squeezing.

  “You’re dyeing your hair?” I said, surprised.

  “I’m not dyeing it, exactly,” she said. “Only the gray parts.”

  I stood in the doorway, watching her for a minute and trying to work up the courage to tell her about the dress. And that’s when I got my Grand Idea.

  Chapter Sixteen

  On Monday morning, I arrived at Perfect Paws with the dress in my backpack. Also i
n there was a bottle of dye. I’d bought it at the drugstore on my way to the shop. Now all I needed was some time alone to do what I needed to do.

  “Do you mind watching the store by yourself for a few hours?” my mother asked me when she saw I was there. “I need to go to the printer to okay the new design for our business cards, and then I thought I’d pick up another case of that all-natural flea soap. We’re running low.” It was like she’d read my mind.

  “Sure,” I told her, trying to sound casual. This was perfect. With her gone, I could dye the dress and have it hidden again before she came back.

  “There are no appointments until one,” she said. “I’ll be back by then.”

  “Great,” I said. With no responsibilities, I was totally free and clear to work on the dress.

  As soon as my mother left, I took the dress out of the backpack. Then I read the directions on the back of the bottle of dye. It said to add the dye to a tubful of water and mix it well.

  “No problem,” I said. I could use one of the tubs we washed the dogs in.

  I set the bottle beside a tub and turned on the water. As it filled up, I looked at the dress. Because it was white, I figured it would be no problem to dye it. I’d wiped a lot of the dirt off, and the remaining paw prints were light enough that I was pretty sure the dye would cover them. I’d picked a nice blue color. I would still be stuck with a dress I didn’t want, but at least I could wear it. And with any luck, Megan wouldn’t notice that it was the one she’d wanted.

  I was about to pour the dye into the water when the door opened and someone came in. I looked out and saw Megan standing by the counter. Now what? I thought. Hurrying, I grabbed up the dress, wadded it into a ball, and stuffed it into the hamper we used for wet dog towels. Then I went to see what Megan wanted.

  “Tallulah needs a bath,” Megan said. “I want her to look beautiful for the party tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” I said quickly. “I can do that.”

  “Fine,” Megan said. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

  I thought about the dress. If I took an hour to wash Tallulah, I wouldn’t have much time to dye the dress before my mother got back. But if I hurried, I could just make it.

  “That’s perfect,” I told Megan, taking Tallulah. “Bye.”

  I didn’t wait for her answer. I carried Tallulah into the washroom. Since the sink was already filled with warm water, I put Tallulah in it. When her feet touched the water, she started scratching at the side of the tub, trying to get out.

  “Stay still,” I told her, attempting to hold her with one hand while I reached for the bottle of Snowy Kote shampoo that we use to get white dogs nice and clean.

  Tallulah ignored me. She got more frantic, scratching and whining. Her little paws scrabbled against the sides of the tub, making an awful sound.

  “Tallulah!” I said. “Come on. It’s not that bad.”

  I almost had my fingers on the bottle. Then Tallulah jumped up, splashing me. I tried to cover my face, and when I did, I knocked over the bottle of dye. It all poured into the tub, turning the water a bright blue. I looked down in horror as Tallulah splashed around in the water, soaking herself.

  “No!” I shrieked. “No, no, no, no, no.” I tried to grab Tallulah, but her paws slipped and her head went under the water. When she came up, her face looked like she’d eaten a blueberry pie and gotten it all over her fur.

  I picked Tallulah up and put her in another tub. I washed her with Snowy Kote, hoping it would remove the dye. It didn’t. When I was done, she was still blue. All of her, from the tip of her snout to the tip of her tail. Looking at her, I wanted to laugh. But I was so upset, all I could do was fight back tears.

  When Megan showed up an hour later, she took one look at blue Tallulah and let out a piercing scream. “What did you do to her?” she yelled, reaching down to pick up her dog, then pulling back, like maybe Tallulah was contagious or something.

  “It’s dye,” I told her. “I’m really sorry. It was an accident. Don’t worry. It will wear off.”

  “Wear off?” Megan shouted. “How long will that take?”

  I honestly didn’t know. “A couple of weeks?” I suggested. “A month or two?”

  “A month or two?” Megan glared at me. “What about the party? It’s tomorrow, in case you’ve forgotten. I can’t take her to the club looking like this. Everyone will laugh at her.”

  I glanced at Tallulah, who was licking her blue paw. It looked like she was sucking on a Popsicle.

  “At least she matches the color scheme,” I said.

  Megan made a sound like she was going to explode. She snatched Tallulah’s leash from me. “You are never going to live this down,” she said to me. “I can guarantee that.”

  She turned and stomped off, pulling Tallulah behind her. I couldn’t do anything but watch them go. I raised my hand to rub my eyes, and that’s when I noticed that my fingers were blue. I held up my other hand. It was blue too. The color stopped halfway to my elbows. I looked like I was wearing blue gloves.

  “That’s just great,” I said. There was no way the dye was coming off. My mother was going to see it. Everyone was going to see it. My life was over.

  I went back to the sink. The blue water was still sloshing around in the tub. I thought about trying to dye the dress after all, but what was the point? I wasn’t going to wear it. Not after what had happened. Megan would take one look at it and know what I’d done. I would look at it and know what I’d done. Worst of all, Jack would know what I’d done, because Megan would be sure to tell him.

  I opened the drain and watched the blue water go down. Then I cleaned both the tubs. When I was done, my hands were still blue and the dress was still white with little brown paw prints. I sat down in a chair and put my head in my hands.

  When my mother walked in, half an hour later, the first thing she said was, “Why are you wearing rubber gloves?”

  I wiggled my fingers at her. “They’re not gloves.”

  “What happened?” she said, sounding really worried. She came over and took one of my hands in hers, turning it over and back again like she’d never seen a hand before.

  “It’s a long story,” I said. “I’m not sure I want to tell it. I don’t come out looking so great.”

  “How bad can it be?” she said. “It’s just a little dye.” She looked at me strangely. “You weren’t trying to dye your hair, were you?”

  “I wish it was that,” I said.

  “Worse?” asked my mother, like there was no possible way it could be.

  “Way worse,” I said.

  I told her the whole story, even showing her the dress. She looked at the paw prints and sighed. “It really was a beautiful dress,” she said. She held it up in front of me. “Oh, and I bet you looked gorgeous in it.”

  “I did,” I said. “Thanks for reminding me.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, folding the dress up and setting it down. “I know how you must feel.”

  “I doubt it,” I told her. “I bet you never dyed your arms blue trying to cover up the stains you got on a dress you stole out from under the nose of a girl you wanted to get payback on because she was all over this guy you weren’t even sure was worth liking.”

  “When you put it that way, well, no,” my mother said. “But I think I have some idea. And like you told Megan, it will wear off.”

  “Not before tomorrow night,” I said.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I picked up the phone and dialed Shan’s grandparents’ number. It rang seven times, and I was about to hang up when an old-sounding voice said, “Hello?”

  “Hi,” I said. “Is Shan there? This is her friend Allie.”

  “Allie,” the voice said, sounding really happy that I’d called. “Shan talks about you all the time. This is her grandfather.”

  “Hi, Mr. Chan,” I said.

  “Shan tells us all the funny things you do,” he said.

  I had no idea what these funny things were, but I wa
s sure going to ask Shan when I got to talk to her. “Shan says she’s having a great time,” I told him.

  “Yes,” said Mr. Chan. “Next time I hope you will come with her.”

  “That would be great,” I said. “So, is Shan there?”

  “No,” he said. “She is at the movies. With her friend. The boy from down the street. I forget his name.”

  “Hector,” I heard another voice, a woman’s, call out.

  “Yes, yes,” Mr. Chan said. “Hector. She is out with Hector. At the movies,” he repeated, I guess in case I’d forgotten in the past five seconds.

  “Okay,” I said. “Well, could you please tell her I called?”

  “I will,” Mr. Chan said. “Bye-bye.”

  I said good-bye and hung up. I really wanted to talk to Shan. Besides my mom, she was the only other person who would understand the utter calamity of my life. But I couldn’t talk to her because she was too busy with Hector. Hector. Her friend the boy, as Mr. Chan would say. But I knew he wasn’t a friendboy. He was her boyfriend. Shan had a boyfriend, and what did I have? Blue hands and a ruined dress.

  I flipped over onto my stomach and pressed my face against a pillow. It was all stuffy, and I couldn’t breathe. I wondered, briefly, if I could suffocate myself that way. Probably, I thought, I’d just pass out and humiliate myself some more by falling off the bed. I pictured the paramedics carrying me out of the house, one of them looking at the other and saying, “What’s with her blue arms?”

  I turned over onto my back, just in case. Why, I wondered, was I so completely hopeless? Why did so many bad things happen to me? Why couldn’t they happen to Megan, or to one of the Megbots? I felt like I was Sleeping Beauty and my parents had forgotten to invite the evil fairy to my christening. Now her curse was upon me. Only instead of falling asleep, I was doomed to complete social failure.