by Lauren Brown
Georgia and Roxy burst out laughing.
“Kim, is there anything you can’t relate back to something that has to do with dogs?” Roxy laughed. “How about this? Let’s make a pact right now not to talk about Liz Craft anymore unless she has something to do with official Doggy Divas business?”
“Sounds like another one of Roxy’s Rules to me. You got a lot of those!” Georgia said. “But I’m in. Liz gives me a headache. I think I have a Barbie doll that’s more sincere and real than she’ll ever be!”
Roxy smiled. Her cell phone started buzzing with a call from a number that she didn’t recognize. She just assumed it was a new client.
“Doggy Divas, this is Roxy!” she chirped into the phone as she pulled out the appointment book. The schedule was so full that she hoped this was a client wanting to cancel a walk. “How may I help you?”
“Yes…hello, Roxy,” an official-sounding voice replied. “This is Victoria Malone from Channel Two news. Do you have a moment?”
Roxy was sure that this had to be a prank phone call.
Victoria Malone knew about the Doggy Divas? Was this Liz disguising her voice?
Roxy couldn’t believe the caller was really Victoria Malone. She watched Victoria every night. She did a segment called “Vic’s Picks” about the coolest things going on around town. It was Roxy’s favorite part of the nightly news.
“Why, yes, of course I have a moment,” Roxy said in her most professional tone. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, Roxy, I’ve heard remarkable things about the Doggy Divas. Is it true that you and your partners are only in the seventh grade?” Victoria asked.
Roxy gulped. Was it illegal for seventh graders to walk dogs?
“Um, yes,” Roxy said trying to keep her cool. “That’s correct.”
“That’s very impressive. I’d love to do a segment on the Doggy Divas on ‘Vic’s Picks.’ Would that be okay with you and your business partners?”
Roxy nodded her head vigorously but realized that Victoria couldn’t see what she was doing through the phone. Kim and Georgia were making all sorts of faces and hand gestures as they desperately tried to figure out who Roxy was talking to.
“Oh, my God!” Roxy squealed. “Yes! We would love that!”
What would we love? Georgia mouthed. Roxy waved her hand in front of her face and tried to concentrate.
“Okay, I’ll come by with a camera crew on Saturday afternoon and just follow you guys around as you do your thing,” Victoria explained. “I’ll have Sal from my office call you in a few minutes with the rest of the details. Thanks so much, Roxy. See you this weekend!”
Roxy hung up the phone in disbelief.
“Um, yo, Roxy! You going to tell us what that was all about?” Georgia asked. “What in the world is going on?”
“Are we in trouble for something?” Kim asked.
“Kim, it’s okay! I promise you that we are absolutely not in trouble,” Roxy stood on her chair for dramatic effect. “Ladies, I have big news. You’re never going to believe who was on the phone!”
Georgia and Kim sat up straight.
“Well, come on,” Georgia said. “Don’t leave us hanging!”
Roxy took a deep breath.
“We’re going to be on TV!” she shrieked. “That was Victoria Malone from ‘Vic’s Picks’! She wants to do an entire segment on the Doggy Divas!”
Georgia pulled Roxy down from the chair, and they started jumping and hugging and screaming all around Georgia’s kitchen. All the dogs looked at them like they were crazy and dashed off into the other room.
“How did this happen?” Georgia asked breathlessly between high jumps. “She really cares about our dinky little dog-walking business?”
“That’s exactly why she cares about us!” Roxy exclaimed excitedly. “How many seventh-grade entrepreneurs do you know that have cleaned up their town? We’re like hometown heroes!”
Kim sat motionless in her chair. She twirled a Doggy-O around her finger. Her face was glum.
“What’s the matter with you?” Georgia asked. “Get up here and celebrate with us!”
“Are you okay, Kim?” Roxy asked. “The dogs always come back out to play after they run off, and they really couldn’t have gone very far if that’s what you’re worried about…”
“No, it’s not that,” Kim said quietly. “I’m fine. This is really exciting news.”
Roxy and Georgia exchanged a concerned look and sat back down.
“What’s wrong?” Roxy asked.
“You look like you’re going to throw up,” Georgia exclaimed. “And if you do, you better get to the bathroom now! My mom will kill me when she gets home and sees chunks on the kitchen floor…”
“I’m not going to throw up. At least I don’t think so,” Kim said quietly. “Guys, I can’t be on TV!”
“Well, good thing there’s no such thing as smell-o-vision yet,” Georgia said. “I mean, your perfume today does help, but nothing beats a nice bubble bath…”
She stopped talking as soon as Roxy caught her eye with a look that clearly said, “Shut up.”
“I mean, you’ll be fine,” Georgia promised. “We’ll help you pick out an outfit and do your hair and make sure you shower if a bath isn’t your cup of tea.”
“Don’t worry, Kim. We all have to figure out what we’re going to wear.” Roxy groaned as her cell phone buzzed again. “Doggy Divas, Roxy speaking.”
“Yeah, hi there, Roxy,” a gruff voice said. “This is Sal with Channel Two. We’ll be filming you this Saturday for ‘Vic’s Picks,’ all right?”
“Why, yes, of course, Sal,” Roxy said sweetly. “We were expecting your call.”
“I need you to email me all your addresses. We’ll follow each of you around that morning as you go on your walks, and then Vic will chat with you girls at the dog park,” Sal explained. “Expect us at ten.”
“Okay, Sal. We can’t wait,” Roxy said as she bounced up and down. “We’ll see you on Saturday.”
Roxy snapped her phone shut and squealed with excitement. She whipped out her BlackBerry to update the Doggy Divas Twitter feed and Facebook page with the news while Georgia went to call her mom. Kim still sat there looking grim.
“Kim, you’re in luck,” Roxy declared. “We’re going to give you a makeover.”
“We are?” Georgia asked doubtfully when she walked back into the kitchen.
“You are?” Kim asked hopefully.
Roxy shot Georgia a pleading look.
“I mean…of course, we are!” Georgia corrected herself.
“I don’t know. All your clothes are so, uh, sparkly,” Kim said sadly. “And makeup makes my eyes twitch.”
“Maybe it’s the dog hair that makes your…” Georgia was cut off by Roxy again.
“Saturday morning, be at my house at 8 a.m. That will give us plenty of time to get you glamorous before the cameras come,” Roxy said. “Georgia and I will make you look beautiful—I promise! Just think of it as another one of Roxy’s Rules!”
“I’m going to throw up,” Kim said. “I can’t do this.”
“No throwing up!” Roxy insisted. “Everyone go home and email your clients that a camera crew will be with you on Saturday afternoon. And get some rest—we can’t have circles under our eyes on camera!”
“You do realize that you’re going to have to email Liz about this, right?” Georgia asked. “Let’s just start preparing now. She’s going to steal the spotlight for herself!”
Of course she will. Roxy gulped.
“I’ll handle it,” she said. “I’ll just email her like I would any other client and not make it such a big deal.”
And, of course, that’s way easier said than done…
DOGGY CONFESSIONAL
IZZY
We're going to be on TV? Did K
im freak out? I hope Kim gives us one of her splendid spa days to make sure we're camera ready! And it wouldn't hurt if Kim treated herself to something nice and sweet smelling too. She deserves it. She spends so much time taking care of us that she forgets about herself. Now that's a true friend.
Chapter Twelve
The week flew by so fast that Saturday arrived before Roxy was ready. Everyone at school had heard that the Doggy Divas were going to be on “Vic’s Picks” and wanted to book their dog walks for Saturday so they could be on TV too. The girls decided that the only way to keep things fair was to give clients with standing Saturday appointments first dibs. But the girls did send out a mass email to all their clients so they could cheer the Doggy Divas on at the park during the interview.
Unfortunately, little Roxie was already on the schedule for Saturday afternoon. Roxy hoped that Liz had a baton-twirling lesson or something to keep her away. But that hope was dashed when Roxy received an email response from Liz that simply said:
Roxy,
Since I’ll have to get little Roxie groomed and bathed for this opportunity, I assume that means you’ll be adding more free walks to my account to cover those costs. I know the Doggy Divas offer grooming, but my Roxie’s fur can only be washed by Bruno at Pooch Palace, so you’ll have to cover that expense. We’ll see you on Saturday.
Liz
Roxy was upset that Liz had just signed her name. Usually their emails ended with “xoxoxoxo to infinity” or “Love, your best friend in the world.” It was just another reminder that their friendship was done. Roxy felt uneasy as she started pulling out makeup, hair products, and possible outfits to wear. She wasn’t convinced that Liz would stay so cordial once the cameras started rolling. Last year, Liz had written an essay in English class about how her five-year plan included starring on a reality TV show.
The doorbell rang, and Roxy looked out her bedroom window. Georgia and Kim stood on the porch bursting with nervous energy. The plan was to get ready together—give Kim her makeover—and then head home to wait for their assigned cameramen. Roxy’s mom answered the door. When Roxy ran downstairs, her mom was talking a mile a minute to Kim and Georgia about how proud she was of the Doggy Divas.
“You girls are an inspiration!” Roxy’s mom gushed. “I always knew my Roxy was talented, but this is beyond what I thought she would accomplish…”
“Okay, Mom, that’s enough,” Roxy said as she grabbed Kim and Georgia by the hands and dragged the girls up the stairs. “We’re very busy…”
“Wow, your mom is really impressed that we’re going to be on TV, huh?” Georgia asked as they settled into Roxy’s room. Georgia dumped out a bag of hair accessories and costume jewelry onto Roxy’s bed.
“Aren’t your parents?” Roxy asked as she started brushing the knots out of Kim’s hair. Kim actually handed her a dog brush, and Roxy didn’t argue. She needed those heavy-duty bristles to get through Kim’s frizzy mane. Roxy was afraid to ask Kim when she’d brushed her hair last.
“They’re proud of me, but they’re working today—like they do every weekend,” Georgia said as she started filing Kim’s nails. “They were gone before I woke up this morning.”
“I didn’t even tell my mom,” Kim said as she closed her eyes so Roxy could curl her eyelashes. “She would have wanted to make me over herself. It’s like her dream to have a spa day with me. But I knew that as soon as I mentioned the word ‘dog,’ I’d lose her attention.”
“Well, I think she’ll be very impressed with how you look,” Roxy said as she applied some mascara on her own lashes and then dabbed a bit onto Kim’s. “Don’t open your eyes, or you’ll have globs all over your face!”
“It burns!” Kim cried as her eyes started watering.
“Um, okay, so I think we’re good with the mascara, and we’re just going to skip the eyeliner,” Roxy said as she handed Kim some deodorant.
Georgia ran a flat iron through select strands of Kim’s hair. Now that it was brushed and untangled, Kim’s hair was almost too fine to hold the style Georgia was working on, but she didn’t give up.
“Owwwwww!” Kim screamed. The iron slipped from Georgia’s hands and burned Kim’s wrist. “Okay, enough!”
“I’m sorry, Kim. I really am. But it hurts to be beautiful!” Georgia laughed. “We’re almost done. Roxy, what color eye shadow do you think would look best with Kim’s complexion?”
“I think gold or green. Or maybe green on the lids and gold on the brow?” Roxy answered as she pulled out a tight, off-the-shoulder cream-colored sweater that she thought would be perfect for Kim. She paired it with a pair of skinny jeans and her lavender Uggs. “Kim, you have the perfect face for makeup!”
“I have no idea what that means, but I feel like a science experiment!” Kim laughed as Roxy handed her the sweater and jeans to put on. Kim slipped into the Uggs, and Roxy dabbed light-pink lip gloss on Kim’s lips while Georgia spritzed Kim with some light, flowery perfume.
“Are you ready for your big reveal?” Roxy asked as she and Georgia ushered Kim over to the mirror.
“I guess so,” Kim said slowly. “My eyes are itching, and my face feels stiff. And this isn’t really an outfit that will let me run after the dogs…”
“Whatever you do, do not touch your face or rub your eyes!” Roxy demanded. “You’re like a work of art—and you wouldn’t scribble all over a fresh painting, now would you?”
“You can suck up the outfit for one day. Tomorrow you can go back to tool belts and faded tees!” Georgia announced. “Okay, Kim, close your eyes. I think you’re going to like what you see!”
Kim squeezed her eyes shut as Roxy and Georgia positioned her in front of the mirror. “Okay, now!” Roxy and Georgia sang in unison.
Kim’s eyes flew open. She was shocked at first, but then she started twirling around and posing in front of the mirror. “Is this really me?” she asked. “I feel like Madonna or something!”
Roxy and Georgia high-fived each other. Kim looked like a totally different person. Her lifeless brown hair now had shine and body to it. Her face, which was usually covered with dirt, was vibrant with just enough makeup to look natural. And no one had realized that Kim had such a tiny waist hiding beneath those frumpy T-shirts. The sweater showed off her model-esque frame.
“Okay. You guys have to get home. We have less than an hour until the camera crews show up at our houses!” Roxy said. “Kim, be careful. Do not eat anything. Do not touch your face. And do not let the dogs near your clothes!”
“Another one of Roxy’s Rules?” Kim laughed as the girls gave each other a quick hug and ran out the door.
About thirty minutes later, Roxy let a grumpy, overweight cameraman named Bobby into her house. He smelled like coffee; his stomach peeked out from under his white T-shirt; and he called Roxy “sweetheart.” She felt really weird when he followed her into the bathroom while she brushed her teeth—especially when he asked her to do it again.
“Don’t spit in the sink so many times, sweetheart,” he told her.
Roxy didn’t understand what this had to do with dog walking, but she went along with it. Her parents kept a watchful eye from downstairs, but Roxy saw their faces beaming with pride. She wondered how the other girls’ shoots were going as she grabbed her canine kit and led Bobby out the door and on the way to the first house.
“Great, sweetheart,” Bobby said as he zoomed in on the kit. “Just keep smiling.”
Bobby followed Roxy on her usual route. First, she picked up Horton, who barked incessantly at Bobby’s camera. It took five treats to finally get the corgi to calm down. Then she picked up Precious, who ran into the street to chase a cat—with Horton flying after her. Roxy went tumbling down, and Bobby had to help her up. He made Roxy put Precious back in the house, knock on the door, and pick her up all over again.
Surprisingly, Chloe and Tyler were on their best behavior. They w
ere intimidated by Bobby’s deep voice and curious about the large camera looming over them. Then the moment Roxy dreaded arrived. It was time to pick up little Roxie.
“What’s the matter?” Bobby asked. “At every other house, you skipped right up to the door with a big smile on your face. Does this dog bite or something?”
Roxy tried really hard to think of a good answer in case it was shown on TV.
“Well,” Roxy laughed nervously, “the dog doesn’t bite, but I’m not so sure about the owner.”
Bobby raised his eyebrows and watched Roxy knock on the door. Liz opened the door with little Roxie in her arms and a big, welcoming smile plastered on her face.
“Roxy! Come in.” Liz gave her a big hug. She shook Bobby’s hand and batted her eyelashes. “We’re so excited to get little Roxie on TV!”
Roxy looked around to make sure they were at the right house. What was going on here?
“Roxy and I have been best friends for years. Right, Rox?” Liz cooed to Bobby. “It was just a cool little coincidence that my dog was named Roxie too. It was meant to be, I guess.”
Roxy was so nervous that she thought she would throw up all over Liz’s pink leather loafers—the same loafers that Liz hadn’t let Roxy buy at the mall over the summer because she claimed they were “last season.” And she was calling her Rox? They were back on a nickname basis?
“I just gave my little Roxie a very special treat in honor of her TV debut,” Liz said as she handed over little Roxie. “Have fun!”
Roxy gulped. This sounded awfully suspicious. Little Roxie was bouncing around more than usual.
What’s going on? Roxy started to panic.
“You got it, sweetheart,” Bobby said to Liz. “We’ll be interviewing all the girls at the dog park, so be sure to meet us over there to cheer on your best friend.”
Roxy was so worried that something was going on with little Roxie that she didn’t even hear what Bobby instructed her to do next.