The Love Pug

by J. J. Howard

  “You got my stuff out of my locker? Thanks, Emma! Wait, why do you have my combination?”

  “Who do you think put the spirit boxes in your locker during basketball season?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  “Always looking out for me. Even if you have to snoop to do it. Hey,” he said. I’d been putting the lid back on the mayo jar, but the change in his tone made me look up. I sometimes forgot just how green his eyes were. He was lucky—they looked even greener because of the contrast with his dark hair.

  “I really am sorry we didn’t get to play our New Year’s trivia game.”

  Why did Theo sound so serious all of a sudden? I waved a hand in the air. “It’s fine. You’ll make it up to me by volunteering at the winter carnival.”

  I stuck the mayo in the fridge and turned to see Theo staring at me, realization dawning on his face. “Em-ma. You don’t mean the dunk tank. I’ve told you before …”

  “It’s for charity, Theo,” I reminded him.

  “Theo, would you like me to make you something to eat?” Dad appeared in the kitchen doorway, and I jumped again. “Sorry, Em,” Dad said, seeing that he’d startled me again.

  “He’s already made himself a sandwich,” I told Dad.

  “Yeah, hope you don’t mind, Mr. Winters,” Theo said.

  “Of course not, Theo. Did Emma give you your school things?”

  “She did. What would I do without Emma?”

  “I don’t know what I would do myself, Theo,” Dad said. Now he sounded serious. What was with everyone today?

  Cupid gave a bark as though he were agreeing with Dad, and then all three of us laughed. Theo waved goodbye before heading home.

  I carried Cupid upstairs. He has very short legs, so I try not to let him use the stairs too much—I don’t want him to hurt his tiny back. When I got to my room, I changed into my pajamas and sat down at the little vanity table that had been my mother’s. It was another of those old-fashioned things I liked so much. Although I didn’t really wear makeup yet, I still liked to sit in the small chair like Mom used to, staring into the same mirror. I always wondered if I looked like her. My mom had died when I was so young, three and a half, that I didn’t really remember her. Of course, I’d seen lots of pictures. It was clear that we had the same auburn hair, pale skin, and light hazel eyes. But it was hard to tell from a picture whether we truly were alike.

  What I mostly wondered, as always, was whether or not she would be proud of me. I liked to think that she would. But there was no way that I could ever really be sure.

  I pulled out my journal and, at the top of a fresh page, wrote the question that was chasing around in my head: What would Mom think if she could meet me now?

  Usually, I loved to write. It helped me gather my thoughts together. But now I couldn’t think of what else to say. I swallowed past a sudden lump in my throat and closed the journal. Then I said good night to Cupid and turned out the light.

  The walk from my house to school is only about five minutes. But on that first day back after winter break, I walked slowly, appreciating the satisfying crunch of frost-covered leaves beneath my feet. Besides, school didn’t start for another hour, so I had lots of time.

  I knew Ms. Bates would be in the library when I got there. Ms. Bates is the school librarian, and also the advisor of SAC, the student activities committee. I hoped she had time to go over some of my ideas for the winter carnival and the Valentine’s dance.

  Ms. Bates is one of the smartest people I know, which is saying something, considering that I know my father and both of Theo’s parents. Ms. Bates seems to collect misfortunes, though. She is always dealing with some catastrophe or other. When I reached the library, it was clear what today’s problem was: The temperature inside had to be at least ninety degrees.

  I found Ms. Bates standing on a chair, peering up at the ceiling. “Oh, Emma!” she said when she turned around and saw me. “The heat’s been blasting all night, and I don’t know how to shut it off! And Mr. Carver won’t be in for another hour—I’ve already checked.”

  Mr. Carver was sort of the Hagrid of our school—the one who had all the keys and fixed everything. I walked closer to where Ms. Bates stood. Her light brown hair was escaping from her ponytail, making her look frazzled.

  “Why don’t you come down?” I called up to her. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I was kind of afraid she would fall.

  “Well, there are pipes up here,” she told me with a shrug. “I’ve looked everywhere else.”

  “Maybe take off your sweater?” I suggested gently. Poor Ms. Bates’s face was red and glistening with sweat, but she still wore the Ravenclaw cardigan I’d gotten her for Christmas.

  “Oh!” She looked down at herself, as though surprised she had the sweater on. “Good point, Emma. Thank you!” She hopped down off the chair and tugged off her sweater. “What are you doing in so early?” she asked me as she smoothed down her white blouse.

  I held up my notebook. “Well, I had some ideas for things we should lock down for the carnival. But they can wait until your sauna is fixed.”

  “No, no!” Ms. Bates exclaimed. “Let’s start talking now.” She collapsed into her creaky office chair with a sigh. “Everything in this old town is always breaking! Between you and me, Emma? It would be nice to head out of town once in a while.”

  Personally, I didn’t understand why anyone would ever want to leave Highbury, but Ms. Bates had been wishing she wasn’t stuck here for as long as I could remember. In her heart of hearts, I knew she always really wanted to go to New York City and work in a library or a bookstore there. If she lived in such an exciting place, Ms. Bates often said, she could finally start that novel she’d always wanted to write. She’d told me about it in September while I’d helped her plan the fall carnival.

  I would really miss her if she ever left. Ms. Bates was one of my favorite adults.

  The phone on her desk rang, and after she said hello and listened for just a few seconds, I heard her say, “Oh, thank goodness! See you soon.

  “Mr. Carver’s coming in early,” she told me. She sat back in her chair again, fanning herself with a manila folder. I felt a small shudder at the state of the folder—she’d crossed out the label on the little notch at least twice and written over it, and the edges were all bent and crinkly. Just looking at it was stressing me out.

  “What if we met up after school instead?” I asked her. Dad only had morning classes on Thursdays, so he could walk Cupid if I stayed late at school.

  “Sounds like a plan. I’m going to head to the faculty lounge to get some coffee. Iced coffee,” she added dramatically, and I had to giggle as I followed her out of the library and into the much-cooler hallway.

  The school was still pretty empty as I walked to my locker—just a few tired-looking teachers headed for the coffee machine like Ms. Bates. I thought about what else I could get accomplished now that my main mission for the morning hadn’t worked out.

  Then it hit me: Annie’s new neighbor, Frankie, had said, “See ya at school.” He must have been starting today. It wasn’t much notice, but I could get Mrs. Kruger in the front office to help me pull together a new-student welcome basket. We didn’t get very many new kids, so it was tradition to provide them with a basket, and a “buddy” to be their tour guide for the first day.

  I wondered who would be a good buddy for Frankie and immediately thought of Theo. Even though Theo was a grade ahead, he would be the perfect person to show Frankie around and introduce him to people. Everybody likes Theo.

  I rounded the corner and almost ran into Theo himself.

  “Hey, Em,” he said with a smile. “What are you doing here? This is early even for you.”

  “I was gonna meet with Ms. Bates, but the library was on fire.”

  “What?” he asked, his eyes wide with alarm.

  I pulled on his arm to stop him racing off toward the library. “Not literally. The heat is stuck on—it was running all night and it was sup
er hot in there. Ms. Bates said we could meet after school instead. Anyway, what are you doing here so early? You usually like to slide in two minutes before the late bell.”

  Theo laughed. “I was hoping to make up my math test, but Ms. Marshall’s not here yet.”

  “Well, I’m going to the front office. I forgot to tell you yesterday: Hallie and I met two new kids moving in next door to Annie Taylor. Mateo is a senior, but his younger brother Frankie’s coming here to start in seventh. I thought maybe you could show him around?”

  “Sure,” Theo said, and we headed off together toward the front office.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Kruger,” we said in unison as we entered.

  “Good morning to you, Emma! And welcome back, Theo!” Mrs. Kruger beamed at us. Even though everyone likes Theo, adults love him. But Mrs. Kruger also loved me; I was willing to bet that I was one of the only students who ever asked her about her cat, who had a problem with hair balls.

  “Mrs. K, did you hear about a new student starting today?” I asked now.

  “We got a phone call just before the holiday break,” she said, opening a folder beside her computer. I had to admire Mrs. Kruger’s organizational system. Her folders were all labeled perfectly. “Frankie Elias Castillo. Grade seven,” she read out loud, and then looked up at me. “How did you know?”

  “I met him yesterday. He moved next door to Annie Taylor.”

  “Oh, I remember Annie Taylor. Such a sweet girl! Is she still cheerleading?”

  “Captain of the squad,” I answered. I didn’t tell her that I hoped she and Frankie Castillo’s handsome big brother were already hitting it off, thanks to my little Cupid. “I was hoping we could pull together some welcome stuff for Frankie. Like an HMS T-shirt, and maybe some other spirit stuff? And Theo said he’d be his buddy, unless you’ve got someone else picked out.”

  “That’s a very sweet idea,” Mrs. K said. “I think all of that stuff’s locked in Vice Principal Jericho’s office closet, so we’ll have to wait until she gets here. And I don’t see a buddy assignment anywhere in the file. It’s so nice of you both to help a new student get settled. So, Theo, where were you visiting this time?”

  “Morocco and Egypt,” Theo answered. “Both were amazing! It’s nice to be home, though.”

  “I’m sure it is. There’s no place like Highbury.” I smiled at Mrs. K, since I agreed completely about our town.

  Just then, the bell on the top of the office door dinged, and in walked a short, pretty woman with light brown skin and dark hair. Behind her, walking with his head down, was Frankie Castillo.

  “This must be Frankie!” Mrs. Kruger exclaimed. “We were just getting everything ready for you. I have your schedule and such right here.”

  “Thank you.” The woman smiled at Mrs. K. “I’m Aitana Castillo, and this is indeed my son Frankie.” She leaned in a bit closer to Mrs. Kruger and said in a lower voice, “He’s not very happy to be here, I’m afraid. I apologize in advance for any surliness.”

  “I understand completely,” Mrs. K said. “It’s hard to change schools. But, Frankie, I have your buddy standing right here. This is Theo Knight. He’s one of our top students. And I hear you’ve already met Emma Winters.”

  “Yeah,” Frankie grunted, reaching up and taking the schedule Mrs. K held out to him.

  Mrs. Kruger was peering down at her computer. “It looks like you’ve got history with Mr. Turner first period.”

  “I had him last year,” Theo said cheerfully. “He’s really nice. Frankie, you can come with me and I’ll show you where the room is.”

  “Okay,” Frankie said, although he didn’t sound very excited about it.

  “Your mother will take care of your paperwork, Frankie,” Mrs. K explained. “You go start getting the lay of the land with Theo and Emma.”

  Mrs. Castillo gave a grateful smile to Theo and me.

  “Thanks, Mrs. K,” I said. “I’ll come back at lunch for those things we were talking about?” She nodded. “Oh, and I hope Waffles is doing better now that she’s on that new medicine.”

  “She is! Thank you so much for asking,” Mrs. K said, then gave us a happy wave as Theo, Frankie, and I headed out of the office.

  “She has a kid named Waffles?” Frankie asked.

  Theo snorted. “I wish. I think it’s her cat, though, right, Emma?”

  “Waffles is a cat,” I answered with a nod.

  Frankie let out a small grunt. Theo opened the door to the stairwell, and Frankie walked through without looking back at us. Theo raised an eyebrow at me, but he followed Frankie and let the door swing shut.

  Frankie definitely didn’t seem very happy to be here in Highbury. I hoped his brother was having a better time of it at the high school, with Annie as his tour guide.

  * * *

  At lunchtime, as planned, I went back to the front office to pick up the spirit stuff. Mrs. Kruger had gone above and beyond, putting everything in a basket and tying it with black-and-gold ribbon to match our school colors. The basket was heavy to carry along with my backpack, but I made it to the cafeteria huffing and puffing.

  The cafeteria was already loud and packed with students. All the grades eat together because our school is so small. I spotted Theo first, sitting with his friends from his grade. Sometimes Theo ate with those friends, and sometimes he sat with me and Hallie for lunch. He floated easily between groups.

  Today, I figured Frankie would probably be sitting beside him. But Theo caught my eye and shrugged; I followed the direction of his gaze and saw Frankie sitting off at a table by himself.

  The sight made me feel sad, but then again, I could tell from Theo’s shrug that he’d tried to invite Frankie to sit with him and his friends.

  I marched over to where Frankie was picking at a sad slice of pizza and plopped the basket down in front of his lunch tray.

  “Welcome to HMS!” I said.

  Frankie frowned, glancing first at me and then the basket warily. “I don’t need any of that.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Oh.” I stared down at the basket. Did he mean he wanted me to take it back? I wasn’t sure what reaction I’d been expecting, but this definitely wasn’t it.

  “Look, it’s really nice of you and all,” Frankie said. “But I’ve moved schools before, and I’m kind of over all this welcome-wagon crap. No offense.”

  I was plenty offended, but I wasn’t going to give Frankie the satisfaction of showing it. “Fine by me,” I said coolly, but I left the basket sitting where it was. I certainly wasn’t going to take it back after I’d carried it all the way here.

  Before I could lose my temper and snap at Frankie, Hallie came up behind me with her tray. She pushed the basket aside and sat down opposite Frankie. “I know, changing schools sucks,” she said.

  I stood frozen, feeling awkward. Was Hallie taking Frankie’s side?

  “But Emma’s just trying to make you feel welcome here,” she continued, and I felt myself relax. Of course Hallie would have my back. I sat down beside her. Without even looking over at me, Hallie handed me half her turkey sub, and I took a bite. “When I started new in fourth, my mom forgot to send me with a lunch or lunch money. Emma gave me her lunch, then marched back up to the cafeteria line and charmed another meal out of the lunch lady.”

  Frankie smiled. It wasn’t a huge smile, but it was a smile. I looked over at Hallie with a grateful smile of my own.

  I thought about how maybe Frankie had a best friend, like I had Hallie, and had to leave them behind to move here. If that were true, it was no wonder a basket full of Highbury Hornets stuff wasn’t going to magically fix all that.

  “So, you guys are the Hornets?” Frankie asked.

  I nodded. “The high school teams are the Tigers, but somebody decided to go for alliteration with the middle school mascot.”

  “It could be worse,” Frankie said. “At my old middle school we were the Ducklings.”

  “I’m sure the other teams were petrified,” Hallie said
with a straight face. I giggled.

  Frankie snorted. “Yeah. Terrified.”

  “Did you play any sports at your old school?” Hallie asked Frankie.

  “Just soccer.”

  “Soccer tryouts are next week here,” I told him. I wasn’t very athletically inclined myself, but I did keep track of the sports seasons as part of the Spirit Club. Theo played soccer, and I always made sure I got his name to make his spirit boxes. No one else knew all his favorite cookies and snacks like I did.

  “Cool. I’ll probably try out,” Frankie said.

  “I’m going to go to Morning Mugs on the way home, get a milkshake or something. You want to come?” Hallie was asking both of us.

  “I have to meet Ms. Bates right after school, but I could come after.”

  “Sounds good,” Frankie said.

  I looked over at Hallie. Her low-maintenance approach to welcoming Frankie had definitely worked out way better than my giant-basket method had.

  I took the last bite of my half of the sub and tried not to let that bother me too much.

  * * *

  I stepped into the bright, cozy interior of Morning Mugs and breathed in the smell of their yummy hot cocoa. I expected Frankie and Hallie to already be there, but there were only a couple of adults sitting at the little round tables.

  “Hi, Emma,” Stella greeted me from behind the counter. She and her sister Shana had owned Morning Mugs forever. “And, Abby, hi!” she added as Ms. Bates stepped in behind me.

  When I’d told Ms. Bates about Frankie, and how Hallie had invited him here, she’d suggested we could have our meeting at the coffee shop as easily as in the library. Besides, it was still pretty hot in there, even after Mr. Carver had fixed the thermostat.

  “I just had to get out of that library, Stella,” Ms. Bates was saying as we followed Stella to a corner table. “No hot tea for me today. Put my usual on ice, please.”

  “Sure thing, Abby.”

  Stella didn’t have to ask me for my order. I’m a creature of habit, and since she and Shana let me bring Cupid in with me, I’m kind of a regular. In the winter, I always order their delicious peppermint cocoa.