by Daphne Maple
“Sash, you’re here,” Taylor said when she saw me. A gust of wind caught her braids and she smiled as she brushed them back from her face.
“Are we late?” Bri asked, pulling her phone out of her pocket in mock concern, making all of us laugh.
“I know, I’m on time, it’s a shock,” I joked as I shifted the weight of my backpack. All those library books made it heavy.
“We’re happy to see you,” Kim said. Her cheeks were pink from the wind as she smiled at me.
“I decided to stop eating breakfast at home,” I confessed as we started toward school. I’d realized that eating on the run would tackle two problems at once: being on time in the morning and taking care of my breakfast dishes. So today I had an English muffin wrapped in a paper towel that I held up to show my friends and then bit into.
“Way to multitask,” Taylor said.
“I didn’t want to be late because I have an invitation for you guys,” I said once I’d swallowed.
“Yes,” Taylor said immediately. “I’m in.”
I laughed. “I haven’t even told you what it’s for yet.”
“If you’re there, we’re there,” Taylor said. Then she made a face of mock concern. “That is, unless you’re finally getting around to cleaning out your closet. If that’s the case I might be busy after all.”
Bri and Kim both laughed at that and I couldn’t help joining in. My mom demanded a clean room and I often accomplished this by stuffing things in my closet, stowing them behind boxes and hanging clothes. Taylor joked that one day the whole thing would erupt like a volcano and she was probably right.
“No closet cleaning,” I assured them. Taylor drew an arm over her forehead in joking relief. “I was actually wondering if you guys could come for a sleepover after my dance recital next Saturday.”
The show was a matinee and I’d already gotten tickets for my friends. No matter how crabby I felt about the last sleepover or the unfair way club jobs were divided, it meant a lot that they would be there. After all, Kim had been coming to see me dance since my very first performance, when I was one of the snowflakes in The Nutcracker. I was onstage for all of two minutes, but Kim still brought me a big bouquet of pink roses because she knew they were my favorite. She’d been at every show since, roses in hand, and at this point I couldn’t imagine dancing without her there. And having Bri and Taylor with her would be even better.
“A sleepover after your show sounds great,” Kim said as Taylor and Bri nodded. “We’ll be there.”
“My mom and I will make something really special for dinner,” I added. My mom and I had not actually discussed this yet—she was so annoyed with me lately that it didn’t seem like the best time to ask for a favor. But I figured if I searched out a recipe and wrote down the grocery list and presented it as a fun mother-daughter activity, she couldn’t say no. I wasn’t sure when we’d actually have time to prepare a meal, but I’d figure that part out later.
“It’ll be fun knowing we’re invited to the home of the star after the big dance,” Kim said proudly.
I squeezed her arm. She was the best!
“What happened to you last night?” Bri asked as she fussed with the combs that held her hair back from her face. “We had a group text about the club meeting today.”
“Oh, I didn’t even see it,” I said. I was done with my muffin and tossed the balled-up paper towel into a garbage can as we passed it. I could feel the muffin bouncing in my stomach with each step—maybe eating on the go wasn’t such a great idea after all. “I was so busy writing to the Santagelos and responding to new requests, I didn’t check for new texts.”
The minute the words were out I knew I’d made a mistake. Taylor’s brows scrunched up. Kim bit her lip and Bri put her hands on her hips.
“Wait, aren’t the Santagelos the family that was supposed to come into the shelter today, the one we decided to reschedule?” Bri asked sharply.
“Yeah, but it’s fine,” I said, the words rushed. I so did not want to talk about this.
But of course Bri did. “We made that decision on Saturday,” Bri said. “You had days to let them know we needed to change their appointment.”
I bristled at her mention of Saturday. “We” hadn’t decided; they had.
“Letting people know something like that so last-minute is really unprofessional,” Bri went on, shaking her head.
“I did my best,” I said between clenched teeth. I did not want to get into this now, right before school.
“The important thing is that they know now, though,” Taylor said, her forehead crinkled as she glanced between me and Bri.
Bri looked away.
I hoped Kim would say something supportive, but she was twisting a lock of hair and acting like she hadn’t even heard Bri’s last remark. “Are you guys ready for the math test?” she asked.
The English muffin was a rock in my belly. I’d completely forgotten about the test.
“You’ll do great,” Taylor said comfortingly to Kim.
“Anna helped me a lot,” Kim said, smiling slightly. “I think I’m ready.”
Kim had a tutor—of course she was ready. The only one poised to fail the test, the report, and possibly all of seventh grade, was me.
The wind had picked up by the time the final bell rang.
“It’s like a hurricane out here,” Bri said, holding up both hands to keep her hair from blowing free of its combs.
“Actually, it’s not,” Taylor said, with a rare frown. “I used to live in hurricane country and those storms are serious.”
“Sorry,” Bri muttered, but I could tell she wasn’t.
I could sympathize: she’d just been joking and Taylor had kind of overreacted. But since I was annoyed with Bri, I wasn’t going to feel bad for her.
“I’m just glad the math test is over,” Kim said, obviously eager to change the subject. She’d already told us at lunch that she’d known how to answer every question and was pretty sure she’d aced the exam. So remembering it made her smile, but it gave me an icy feeling. Because unlike Kim, I’d really struggled and had probably gotten my worst grade of the year, at least until I handed in a blank sheet of paper for my Mongolia report.
“Sasha, you remember you’re picking up Waffles and Lily today, right?” Bri asked in a bossy tone.
That did nothing to make me feel better. “Of course I do,” I snapped.
Bri raised her eyebrows. “You don’t need to take my head off about it,” she sniffed. “I just figured a reminder wouldn’t hurt.”
She always figured that.
We’d reached the corner where we had to separate to get our dogs. “See you guys at the shelter,” I said, trying to sound cheerful.
I went to get Waffles first and made the unfortunate discovery that he had thrown up right in the front hall. It didn’t seem fair to leave that for his owners to find when they came home, so I took a few minutes to clean up before securing Waffles onto his leash and heading to pick up Lily.
Being at Bri’s house reminded me of the sleepover that past weekend and it was not a happy memory. “Let’s go, Lily,” I told the shaggy tan dog, who would not drop the rubber dog bone she held in her mouth. “Put down your toy so we can go see your friends.”
Lily looked up at me with sweet brown eyes but kept the toy tight between her teeth. It was impossible to be annoyed with an animal this cute, though, so instead of telling her again to drop the toy, I sat on the floor and hugged her. Waffles climbed right onto my lap next to her. Despite being slightly smooshed it was the best I’d felt all day. I was smiling by the time Lily finally dropped the bone and we were able to head to the shelter.
“Is everything okay?” Bri asked the second the dogs and I walked in. She rushed over and threw her arms around Lily.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” I said, slightly confused.
“You took so long to get here,” Bri said, her voice muffled by Lily’s fur. “And you didn’t answer my texts. I was worried something h
ad happened.”
“I guess I forgot to turn my phone back on after school,” I said, letting Waffles off his leash so he could go play. “Sorry you were worried. It just took a while because Waffles puked and I wanted to clean it up.”
“Gross,” Taylor said, wrinkling her nose. She was petting Oscar in his cat bed on the windowsill and had overheard me.
“It’s nice you cleaned up, though,” Bri said, standing up as Lily padded off to greet Boxer, Hattie, and Gus, who were playing with Caley. Big Al, who had been slightly less fearful lately, wandered over and she bent down and rubbed his ears.
For the first time in a while I smiled at Bri and really meant it. Her concern for Lily was sweet and it was nice to hear her say something complimentary about me for once.
I looked around to see who needed an extra hand and was about to join Tim, Jinx, Popsicle, Waffles, and Mr. S, who were playing with a red and orange striped ball, when there came a low growl from the back corner. We all turned to see Violet baring her teeth at Missy, who had accidently walked too close to Violet’s cage. Apparently Violet was feeling territorial and Missy, who did not react well to stress, had frozen. Violet took this as a threat and growled again.
Bri was closest and she walked over, beginning to speak to Violet in a soothing voice. Kim was on her heels and carefully scooped up Missy before stepping in front of Bri to pacify Violet. And a moment later, Violet was allowing Kim to rub her ears.
Crisis averted, thanks to our resident dog whisperer.
“Good job, Kim,” Alice said. She had come out of her office when the growling began.
I heard Bri snort as she walked past me, her expression stiff.
“Violet’s still having a hard time,” Alice went on, walking over to stroke the Dalmatian. Violet leaned her head against Alice’s leg. “But I’m seeing some improvement.”
“I think in this case she just misunderstood Missy’s intentions,” Kim said. She still held the small Yorkie, who had burrowed against her shoulder.
“And the way Missy froze up just made it worse,” Alice agreed. “But I do think we’re getting closer and—”
Just then the phone rang and Alice headed back to her office. Since everything had settled down, I decided to join in the game Tim still had going on at the front of the shelter. But the moment I picked up the ball, Alice stuck her head back out of the doorway. “Sasha, it’s someone interested in the club,” she called.
I looked around to see if the other girls noticed that I was going to have to leave dog playtime to answer the phone yet again. But Kim was coaxing Missy to play with Humphrey, Taylor had started playing fetch with Gracie and Popsicle, and Bri had joined Caley with Hattie, Gus, and Boxer. They didn’t even glance up as I sighed and walked into the office. They were too busy having fun.
The call was short but another one came in a few minutes later, and by the time owners began arriving for club pickup a couple of hours later, I’d spent more time in the office on the phone than out playing with the dogs. Again.
Mrs. Washington came in first and Gus bounded up, happy to see her. A minute later Mr. Wong came in for Hattie, with Mr. Cronin right behind him. Mrs. Benson was the last to arrive and as always it was strange to see our English teacher, who usually wore pressed pants and neat button-down shirts, walk through the door in worn jeans and her Ohio State sweatshirt.
“How did things go today?” she asked as Missy walked up and sat on her foot. I couldn’t help smiling at how cute Missy was or at Mrs. Benson, who was really just another happy dog owner hugging her pup.
Bri opened her mouth to respond, but Mrs. Benson had already turned to Kim. “Did you make any progress getting her to fetch?”
The two of them launched into a conversation about Missy while Taylor, Tim, and Caley packed up most of the toys, leaving some out for the shelter dogs. Bri was leashing up Lily and I noticed she was frowning again.
I knew I needed to get my stuff and get Mr. S ready to go, but I’d had so little dog time that I couldn’t resist picking up Boxer’s Frisbee and tossing it across the room for him. And when he brought it back there was no way I’d deny him a second throw, not when he looked up at me with pleading eyes, eager to race after it again.
“Sasha, we’re ready,” Bri said in a crabby tone a minute later. Or maybe it was a few minutes. Gracie and Violet had joined the Frisbee game and it had been going so well I didn’t want to stop. But Bri, Kim, and Taylor all had their jackets on, and Caley and Tim must have left when I wasn’t looking.
“Sorry,” I said, stumbling a little as I rushed to get Mr. S leashed up and put on my coat. “I’m ready now,” I said, leading the way out.
“Except for your backpack,” Bri said drily.
“Whoops,” I said sheepishly, going back for it.
We waved good-bye to Alice and walked into the chilly evening. It was dark outside and the streetlights cast a soft glow on the sidewalk as we started down Main Street.
“Now I’m running late,” Bri said as she tugged on Lily’s leash. Her free hand was jammed in the pocket of her light down jacket and she didn’t seem to have noticed that her hair was slipping out of its combs.
“Sorry,” I said, my voice pinched because I wasn’t actually sorry at all. Mr. S looked up at me, concerned.
“It’s bad enough you keep us waiting in the mornings,” Bri snapped. “It’s not fair to make us late at night too.”
“I wasn’t late this morning,” I pointed out.
“For the first time in ages,” Bri grumbled.
Kim and Taylor exchanged a look but neither of them spoke up to defend me.
“I just wanted to stay a little later at Dog Club because I barely had any time to play with the dogs,” I said, the hot coal of anger heating up in my belly. “You probably didn’t notice but I was on the phone half the time talking to new clients.”
“I hope you didn’t mess up scheduling with them too,” Bri said snidely. She sounded like her old self, the Bri who said whatever she wanted without thinking about how it might make someone feel.
And how it made me feel was furious. But Kim spoke up before I could say anything.
“Bri, that’s not fair,” Kim said, clearly upset. “Sasha does a lot for the club.”
“So she’s always telling us,” Bri said, spinning on her heel and nearly getting tangled in Lily’s leash so she could face Kim. “And you work your magic with the dogs and Taylor takes pictures—you’re all clearly the most important parts of this club.”
Kim took a step back, obviously surprised at Bri’s attitude. “We’re all important to the club,” she said uncertainly.
“Actually, Bri has a point,” I said, my anger bubbling over. “She doesn’t do as much as the rest of us. And none of you do as much as I do.” Mr. S was looking from me to Bri, clearly upset. I rubbed his head, which usually soothed me as well, but not today. I was too riled up for anything to soothe me now.
“Yeah, we know,” Bri said, rolling her eyes. “It’s all you ever talk about.” Lily gave a short bark and Bri patted her on the back.
“Because I’m sick of it!” I exploded. “I don’t get to play with the dogs, I’m behind on all my schoolwork, I messed up at my dance rehearsal, and I’m probably going to fail our social studies report.”
“It’s no one else’s fault that you’re disorganized,” Bri said dismissively.
“Well, it’s also no one else’s fault that you don’t do more to help out,” I said, hands on my hips.
“Actually, that is someone else’s fault,” Bri said tartly as she rested her gaze on Kim. “Kim takes over everything. She’s the dog whisperer”—her voice turned sour on the words—“and she acts like the rest of us don’t know anything.”
“That’s not true,” Kim said, her eyes narrowing.
“Yes it is,” Bri retorted. “You never let anyone near Violet when there’s a problem. You just rush in and take over, like you’re the only one who can help.”
“This club
wouldn’t even exist without me,” Kim said, biting off the words. “So you’re right, I do think I know what I’m doing! And so does Alice and so do all our clients.”
“That’s because you never give the rest of us a chance,” Bri huffed.
“If you want to participate more, just do it,” Kim said, tugging viciously at the strap on her backpack.
“You could start by helping me call people back,” I said, still indignant about her earlier remarks. “Then you’ll see how much time it takes.”
“I’d probably get it done in five minutes,” Bri said frostily. “And I wouldn’t make scheduling mistakes.”
“Guys!” Taylor said, holding up a hand like she was a crossing guard. “Let’s calm down. I’m sure we can figure this out.”
“Tell her to calm down,” I said, seething as I glared at Bri.
“Sash, I know you’re upset, but you do forget things sometimes. Maybe if you made a list or something, you could get the calls done faster,” Taylor said in a way that she clearly meant to be mollifying but that only enraged me more.
“So you think it’s my fault, too?” I shouted. Mr. S tipped his head up to look at me, worried that I was so mad. I scratched him behind his ears to help him settle, but my stomach was still churning with anger.
“I was just saying that maybe organizing a bit more would be a good idea,” Taylor said meekly, looking at Kim to back her up.
But Kim had folded her arms over her chest. “I can’t help with that,” she said brusquely. “You guys know how much time I spend on schoolwork and tutoring. I can’t be calling people about the wait list or helping you figure out how to manage it, Sasha.”
My eyes widened at her words. I couldn’t believe Kim would stab me in the back like that! And she wasn’t the only one with school problems—thanks to all my Dog Club work, I was drowning in them.
“Right, of course Kim could never be on the phone during club because she’s the only one who can manage the dogs,” Bri said sarcastically. Lily whined and leaned against Bri’s leg, obviously upset, but Bri stayed rigid, her eyes flashing.