The Love Pug

by J. J. Howard

  “They go perfectly with your dress for the Valentine’s Day dance.”

  My heart sank. Oh no! I couldn’t possibly wear these earrings to the dance. But somehow I heard myself lying. “Yeah,” I said. “They’ll be great.”

  Too bad I’d planned super far ahead—as usual—and found my dress for the Valentine’s Day dance over winter break. Of course I’d shown it to Hallie the very next day.

  Thankfully, Frankie appeared then, so I didn’t have to keep lying. “Hey,” he said, sitting down beside me.

  I’d have been happier if he’d sat beside Hallie. “Hey yourself,” I said. “So, how’s your first full week at HMS going?”

  “So far, so good,” Frankie said, taking one of my potato chips and popping it into his mouth. “The school lunch here is tragic, though,” he said. “Back home in Baltimore we had the best cafeteria. On the last Friday of the month, we had crab cakes.”

  “We have some good stuff,” I said, feeling defensive of the school, even though I almost always packed my lunch. “The peanut butter fudge is amazing.”

  “Yeah, that is pretty good,” Hallie agreed. “But they only make it once a month.”

  “I’ll watch out for it, but in the meantime, I’m having my mom get me some Lunchables or something,” Frankie said. The bell rang. “Well, see you guys later,” he added, getting up and walking away before I could figure out anything else to say.

  I frowned as I tossed out my trash and followed Hallie out of the cafeteria. My plan to get Frankie to ask her to the dance was off to a dismal start.

  Maybe, I thought, I did need Cupid to actually set things in motion, just like he had with Annie and Frankie’s brother. I knew from Annie’s online posts that she and Mateo were officially going out. Which was great. They made such a sweet couple.

  And, of course, Cupid’s magic also seemed to be working with my dad and Ms. Bates, though I was less certain whether that was a good thing.

  To get Frankie to ask Hallie to the dance, maybe Cupid had to work his magic on them. Which meant I’d need to get Frankie, Hallie, and Cupid together all in the same place.

  Then it hit me—the carnival! I could just bring Cupid to the winter carnival, which I’d been planning to do anyway. Sure, animals were technically no longer allowed at any carnivals (thanks to Travis), but Cupid was extra well-behaved, and I’d keep him in his stroller the whole time. Frankie and Hallie would both be there. And then everything would fall perfectly into place.

  As I was setting up the paint and brushes for the carnival face-painting table, someone came up behind me and put their hands over my eyes.

  “Guess who?” a girl’s voice asked.

  Cupid wasn’t barking at all, which meant it was someone I knew. The smell of lilac perfume tipped me off.

  “Annie!” I whirled around and stepped into a huge hug from my former babysitter.

  Annie is just one of those naturally happy people, but she looked even happier than usual. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and her dark brown eyes were bright. Her glossy brown hair was pulled back in a perfect messy bun that was somehow surviving the breeze. And then I saw, standing just behind her, Frankie’s brother, Mateo—who looked equally happy.

  “So … how is everything going?” I asked Annie, but Cupid’s indignant yelp reminded her that she hadn’t said hello to him yet.

  Annie went over to Cupid’s stroller and he rolled over for her to scratch his belly.

  “Oh, Cupid looks so adorable in his winter coat!” Annie cooed. “Is this a new one?”

  I nodded. “I just couldn’t resist getting it. Doesn’t he look good in green?”

  “This dog has more coats than I do,” Mateo said, but he too reached down and scratched Cupid’s belly. “What a cute little guy.”

  “When does the carnival start?” Annie asked me.

  “In twenty minutes.” I looked down at my watch. “Oh no, make that fourteen minutes!”

  “Well, I’m sure it will be amazing. Your events always are.”

  “Aw, thank you, Annie. But it’s not my event.”

  “Uh-huh. Sure it’s not.” Annie winked at me. “Well, we just wanted to say hi. Frankie’s around here somewhere,” she added, with what seemed like a significant look. What did that mean? Why was she bringing up the fact that Frankie was around?

  But then she and Mateo were already walking off, holding hands. I watched them go with a smile—Cupid’s first match! Then I shook myself mentally, remembering that I had a lot to do before the opening of the carnival.

  I glanced around. The face-painting table was pretty much set up, but where was Hallie? I could handle the prep work, but if I were the one to actually paint the faces, we’d run out of customers very fast. Drawing something on a regular flat surface was difficult enough for me!

  I remembered that Hallie had said she’d bring a friend from art class to help her. Maybe she was off meeting that friend.

  “Emma!”

  I heard Hallie calling my name and turned around. My best friend was walking up to the table. Beside her was none other than Travis Meyer. My heart dropped. Oh no. Was Travis the art class friend she had mentioned?

  I tried not to let a scowl show on my face. I peered behind Travis and was relieved to see that, at least, he didn’t have his bounding brown dog with him this time.

  As Travis and Hallie stopped at the table, I leaned down and whispered to Cupid, “Why aren’t you barking?” Weren’t dogs supposed to just know when people were no good, and bark at them? But Cupid just gazed back at me, confusion in his big, round eyes.

  “Hi, Emma,” Travis said. I nodded back at him wordlessly.

  “Travis is going to help me with the face painting,” Hallie said quickly. “He promised.”

  “I did,” Travis said, shooting Hallie a look I couldn’t figure out.

  Why was everyone being so strange today?

  “Excuse us a second,” I told Travis, and pulled Hallie by the arm away from the table.

  “Why are you yanking me?” Hallie asked, snatching her arm away.

  “You know why! I told you I couldn’t forgive Travis …”

  Hallie raised her chin a notch. “You said to find someone talented to help me. And Travis is the best artist in our class.”

  My face was burning. “But you remember what happened at the fall carnival …”

  “I want to give him another chance. And I want you to give him one too.”

  Hallie sounded serious. I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say. She didn’t wait for me to answer; she just went back to the table and started moving around the supplies I’d set up.

  And then I heard Travis exclaiming, “What a cute dog!” I looked over to see that he was reaching into the stroller and petting Cupid, who had traitorously rolled over to expose his belly again, just as he had for Annie. He accepted Travis’s scratching with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. “So different from my big mutt.”

  Yes, I thought. Much better behaved.

  I walked back over to the table, trying to focus on the face-painting setup. “Okay, well, everything should be ready,” I told Hallie, “and I put you near the fountain in case you need to change the water for your brushes.” I still felt a little shaken by Hallie’s proclamation. It wasn’t like her to disagree with me.

  My little pup added insult to injury by giving Travis a slobbery kiss. Hallie laughed and leaned over, accepting her own friendly licks.

  “It’s two tickets per customer,” I told them, trying to get everyone back on track. “Unless the customer wants a complicated design—like on their whole face—and then it’s four. Just be sure to keep it moving. If the littles can’t decide on a design, you may have to basically pick one for them.”

  Travis gave me a salute, and I frowned harder at him. Then he chuckled. “Emma, I have three younger sisters. I’m good with little kids.”

  Travis had three little sisters? How did I not know that?

  “Okay, w
ell, text me if you need anything or have any problems,” I said. “I’ll be back by as soon as I’ve checked on a few things.”

  “Okay, bye,” Hallie said, but she didn’t smile. She sat down in the chair Travis had pulled out for her.

  I pushed Cupid’s stroller away, still shaking my head and muttering under my breath. As I started down the main path, I nearly ran into Theo, who was carrying a giant armful of stuffed fish.

  “Hey, Em. You should come see our EA table. It turned out awesome!” He paused when he saw my expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, just a project not working out the way I’d planned.” I patted Cupid’s head distractedly. “I’ll come see your table. I was going to check in on every table anyway.”

  Theo gave me a smile, like he found me amusing, but I decided to ignore it. I followed him to a green-and-blue table. EA stands for Environmental Activists, one of several do-gooder clubs that Theo is a part of at our school.

  They’d strung up a big banner over their booth that said (DON’T) GO FISH!, with the ocean painted underneath.

  “Great banner!” I said, admiring it.

  “Thanks. I got Hallie to paint it.”

  “Oh, cool. I didn’t know she was doing that.” I usually knew everything Hallie was up to. I wondered when she’d had time to paint it. “So, what’s the object of the game?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s a play on that old carnival game where people throw Ping-Pong balls into bowls with real fish in them,” Theo explained. “Our fishbowls don’t have any fish in them, because that would be inhumane. It’s also to symbolize the fact that our oceans are being poisoned,” he added solemnly. “If you get two balls into the empty bowl, you win one of these stuffed fish. And everyone gets a pamphlet about ways people can cut down on plastic waste and help our oceans.” Theo grinned broadly.

  I had to smile at his enthusiasm, and his weirdly creative idea. “Sounds great. The kids will love it,” I told him.

  I looked around and saw that Mr. Carver had started letting people in the front gate of the park. The carnival had officially begun.

  “I’ve gotta go,” I told Theo. “Dad’s bringing sandwiches from The Elephant at noon. He’s bringing your usual, unless you want something else?”

  “No, that’d be great. Thanks, Emma!” Theo’s first customers were already stepping up to the table. I waved goodbye to him and headed toward the cotton candy stand, where several members of the cheer squad were working. They seemed to know what they were doing, so I kept moving. I checked on the hockey team, who didn’t have anyone there to take tickets, so I drafted Danny Lewis, a kid from my grade, to help out.

  Next, it was time to check on Ms. Bates at her book swap table. She didn’t have any customers—understandably, not many people remembered to bring a book with them to the carnival to swap, or wanted to carry one around with them as they ate and played games. But Ms. Bates still hosted the book swap table every year.

  Just like last year, she sighed and said, “No one reads in this town, Emma! That’s the problem.”

  I promised her that my father would bring her a book (he’d told me this morning) and a tuna salad sandwich from The Elephant—her favorite. Ms. Bates looked more cheerful at that.

  I checked on Skee-Ball, the popcorn stand, the dime toss, and the Anime Club’s drawing table. Everything was humming along smoothly. Mr. Martin was giving hayrides in his tractor around the back of the park, and, of course, Shana’s and Stella’s table full of goodies from Morning Mugs was already crowded with customers.

  I looked down at Cupid with a satisfied smile. Everything was going very well.

  I glanced up and saw Travis walking toward me. Well, maybe not everything.

  “Hey, Emma!” he said.

  I stiffened. “I thought you were working the face-painting booth …”

  “I am, but Hallie sent me to ask you if you could find someone to help us take tickets and refill our water and everything.”

  I nodded. “I’ll get someone to help you guys, and I’ll send them your way.”

  “Cool. Thanks, Emma,” he said, and headed off.

  “Travis, wait!” I called. He turned around. “What kind of sandwich would you like? From The Elephant—my dad’s bringing lunch.”

  It was only polite, after all. Even though it was Travis.

  “Oh, thanks! They have a turkey sandwich—with avocado and sprouts? I like that one.”

  “I’m familiar with that one,” I told him. He’d just described my usual. “Consider it done.”

  “That’s so nice. See ya!” He gave Cupid another quick pet before scampering off.

  Cupid sat up at the edge of his stroller, tail still wagging.

  “Okay, so he’s polite,” I said to my dog. “But don’t forget he’s not always so nice. Especially not at carnivals. He may like dogs, but he couldn’t keep his safe and under control. No matter how much you enjoy his belly scratches!”

  Cupid let out a short bark. Was he actually disagreeing with me? Not him too. I frowned at the possibility.

  Just then I spotted Frankie Castillo, wandering around the carnival and checking out the booths. I had an idea.

  “Frankie!” I waved him over to me. “How are you enjoying the carnival?”

  “It’s okay. My brother basically dragged me here.”

  I decided to ignore his negative comment. “You need to have your face painted—really get in the carnival spirit. Remember how you told Hallie she could paint your face? I think that if everyone sees someone as cool as you with a great design, her table will get a lot more business,” I suggested with a bright smile.

  Frankie’s face turned a little bit pink at my compliment, but he smiled and nodded. “Okay, Emma. I’ll get my face painted. If you go with me.”

  I glanced at my watch. I’d been planning to take another lap around the carnival and check on everyone again, but that could probably wait for a few minutes.

  Frankie pointed at the Skee-Ball booth and started walking that way, but I took his arm and began steering him back toward the face-painting table. “I was going to win you something,” Frankie said.

  “That’s so nice, but no time,” I said. I kept marching, one arm pushing Cupid’s stroller, the other steering Frankie.

  “That’s right, you pretty much run the events, don’t you? Hey, I can push the stroller for you,” he said, stepping in front of me and taking over pushing. I couldn’t decide if I found it nice or bossy, but focused on getting him over to Hallie.

  We reached the face-painting table, and I saw a long line had formed.

  “It looks like they’re doing okay,” Frankie said. “Not hurting for business at all.”

  “Yes, for now. When I came by before, no one was here,” I lied.

  Hallie finished painting a little girl’s face to look like a yellow butterfly. The girl giggled happily when Hallie showed her a hand mirror, then stood up.

  Still steering Frankie, I stepped in front of the next customer, a teenage girl I didn’t know. “He was here before and they were out of paint,” I explained with an apologetic smile. “He’s got a rain check, so he just needs to go next. I’m so sorry.” The girl frowned and stepped back. “I’ll give you some extra tickets for your trouble,” I told her, and handed her some extras I’d stashed in one of the handy side pockets on Cupid’s stroller. She shrugged as she accepted the tickets. Luckily she didn’t complain or leave the line.

  I pushed Frankie into the chair facing Hallie. “Here’s your next customer,” I told her. “Frankie’s really excited to get his face painted.”

  Hallie looked a little confused about my helping Frankie to butt in line, but she didn’t say anything about it. “What kind of design were you thinking of?” she asked Frankie as she swirled her paintbrush in the dirty water. Which—oops—reminded me …

  “Frankie,” I said, “after you get your face painted, could you do us a huge favor and hang out here and help these guys?” I hadn’t forgotten T
ravis’s request for someone to help. I’d just been distracted. “Hallie needs someone to refill her water and keep track of the tickets and stuff. We’ll get you lunch, of course, for helping.”

  “Sure, I can help,” Frankie said. “I don’t know what kind of design I should get, though. What do you think, Emma?”

  “Hmm. Maybe a pirate?”

  “I can do a great zombie. It’s extra tickets, though,” Hallie said, still wiping off her brushes.

  “She does do a great zombie,” Travis chimed in.

  “Okay, zombie it is,” Frankie agreed.

  “Just don’t make it too gross,” I pleaded. “Not that Frankie could ever actually look gross. I mean …” I blushed. I’d kind of meant that he was too cute to look gross even as a zombie, but I couldn’t exactly say that out loud.

  Hallie just shrugged. “Okay,” she told Frankie. “Close your eyes.”

  “No prob,” Frankie said, smiling at Hallie and doing as she said.

  I watched them with satisfaction as Hallie got to work. Everything was off to a great start already! Before I knew it, Frankie would be asking Hallie to the Valentine’s dance.

  Although … I had the nagging feeling that I was forgetting something—but what?

  “Emma!” someone yelled from the dunk tank. “There’s a problem over here!”

  Uh-oh. I couldn’t worry about Frankie and Hallie right now—there was a dunk tank crisis to deal with!

  “Be right there!” I called back. Before I turned to go, I asked Frankie, “What kind of sandwich would you like from The Elephant?”

  He shrugged. “Roast beef, I guess.”

  I pulled out my phone to text the order update to my dad.

  Roast beef. That was Hallie’s favorite. They were sandwich twins—that had to be a good sign.

  Then, pushing Cupid quickly in his stroller, I zoomed across the carnival to see what was happening at the dunk tank.

  * * *

  When I got home from the carnival, pushing Cupid’s stroller up our front walkway, I felt so relieved, just like I always did when a big event ended well. There had been a couple of hiccups—Travis being there, for one, although at least he’d managed not to spook any horses or dogs, and the snafu when the dunk tank had started to leak—but overall, Ms. Bates and I had agreed it was a great success.