by Daphne Maple
“Yeah, they’re all over town,” I said with a sigh.
“Actually, this is a new one,” Rachel said, passing it over hesitantly. “They seem to be taking a slightly different approach.”
That didn’t sound good. I took the flyer and the three of us bent over it.
Pampered Puppy Doggy Day Care is the best dog care center in Roxbury Park! We have experienced professionals ready to shower your pet with love. Your dog will love our superior facilities and newly installed dog run. Best of all, we create an individual dog care program for each dog who comes through our doors. Sign up today for our special deal and treat your dog to the best care in town!
Below the text was a picture of two smiling professionals hugging a group of dogs—different caregivers, who hadn’t been on the other flyers or in the video. Which meant the Pampered Puppy had a pretty big staff.
“Yikes,” Sasha said. “This really is, um”—she searched for the word—“aggressive.”
“Like an attack,” I agreed. “On us.” It was starting to seem like Brianna’s mom was every bit as difficult as Brianna.
Kim held up a hand. “Not necessarily,” she said. “I mean, they don’t come out and say our club isn’t as good as theirs.”
“I guess not,” I said, reading it over again. “But they say that their dog care is the best in town, and the only other doggy day care is us.”
“Yeah, but that could also just be a way to promote themselves, not to put us down,” Sasha said. “You know, like how the deli next to the gas station is called the World’s Best Deli.”
“Maybe,” I said slowly. “But either way, it’s pretty attention grabbing.”
“So is the promise of an individualized dog care plan,” Sasha said, looking back at the flyer. “What is that anyway?”
None of us had an answer for that.
“We need to do something to get our club out there,” I said finally. “To let people know we’re great too.”
“We’ll help,” Rachel called. She was sitting and eating with Emily, Dana, and Naomi but they were clearly keeping tabs on our conversation.
“That reminds me, I brought some flyers for you guys,” Kim said, digging them out of her bag and passing them over.
Emily grabbed them. “We’re on it,” she said. “And if we happen to cover a few of the Pampered Puppy flyers, oh well.”
I couldn’t help grinning at that, though Kim looked concerned. “We don’t want to damage their notices,” she said.
“Don’t worry, I’m just kidding,” Emily said. “We’ll play fair. Even though I’m not sure they will.”
I worried she was right, but there was nothing we could do about that. There was something we could do to help our club though. “I say we print up a whole bunch of flyers and do what Pampered Puppy did and paper the town.”
Sasha nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking that too. We haven’t been very aggressive in our advertising, and now seems like a good time to start.”
9
When I walked into the shelter with Coco and Gus, I nearly ran into Tim, who was dashing out.
“Sorry,” he said, making sure Coco, Gus, and I were okay before he went on his way.
“Where’s the fire?” I called.
“No fire,” Tim said. “But I had the best idea and I need to get supplies.”
With that, he was gone.
I shut the door behind me and began unclipping Coco and Gus from their leashes. “What’s going on with Tim?” I asked Caley and Kim, who were already there.
“It’s a mystery,” Caley said. She was petting Oscar, who was curled up in his favorite spot on the windowsill.
“We were talking about playing dog tag and he suddenly raced out, shouting about his amazing idea,” Kim said. She was on the floor cuddling Humphrey, Popsicle, Lily, and Gracie. Which would be impossible for most people, but somehow Kim was able to snuggle them all.
“Maybe he’s figured out the cure for cancer,” Caley said. She was playing fetch with Daisy, Boxer, and Coco, and Gus ran to join in.
“Or global warming,” I said with a grin.
The door to the shelter opened and Sasha, Mr. S, and Hattie walked in. Hattie stood still for a moment, looking around the shelter in wonder. Lily caught sight of her and rushed over to say hi. Boxer, Popsicle, and Coco followed.
“I want to hug Hattie but I guess I have to wait my turn,” I said, laughing as Hattie joyfully greeted her doggy friends. It was so good to see her back.
“She’s the girl of the hour,” Caley agreed.
We waited our turn, along with Kim, and finally got to snuggle the happy sheepdog. But only for a minute. Once she caught sight of her favorite red ball, she was off, Coco, Lily, and Gus right behind her as Sasha picked it up and tossed it across the room.
“Where’s Tim?” Sasha asked.
We explained Tim’s baffling exit.
“Oh, that sounds exciting,” Sasha said. “I wonder what it is.”
Then the front door opened and Tim came in, an old plastic laundry basket tucked under one arm.
“The greatest idea ever involves doing laundry?” Caley asked, one brow raised.
“Of course not,” Tim said. “This isn’t a laundry basket; it’s a basketball net.”
Sasha frowned. “It’s a bit big, isn’t it?”
Tim laughed. “Dog basketball,” he clarified.
Sasha, Kim, Caley, and I exchanged amused looks as Tim set the basket down in the center of the shelter. The dogs immediately came over to investigate but when they saw it wasn’t food or a toy, they lost interest pretty fast.
“I’m not sure your target audience is convinced,” Caley joked.
“That’s because the game hasn’t started yet,” Tim said, rolling his eyes. He went into the food room, came out with a box of dog treats, and grabbed a blue rubber ball, which he threw across the room. Boxer, Lily, and Coco streaked after it, and Boxer came out the victor, ball in his mouth. But just as he was about to give it to Tim, Tim put the basket in front of his paws. “Drop it,” he said firmly.
Boxer looked up, confused. Then he opened his mouth and the ball fell into the basket.
“Good dog!” Tim cheered exuberantly.
Boxer looked over at Lily, as though saying, “What’s he talking about?” but then Tim rewarded him with a doggy treat and Boxer was in. The next time he got the ball, he dropped it into the basket and wagged his tail expectantly.
It didn’t take the other dogs long to figure out the game, and soon all of them and all of us were playing dog basketball. I stopped after a few minutes to take some pictures but then jumped back into the action.
“This was a genius idea,” I told Tim awhile later, wiping some sweat off my brow.
“That’s just how I roll,” Tim said smugly.
We all laughed but then Kim looked at the clock and turned serious. “We need to print out those flyers,” she said, brushing some hair out of her face. “And I’m hoping Alice will be okay with us leaving a little early so we can get a bunch of them up tonight on our way home.”
It had been so fun to run around with the dogs that I’d almost forgotten the awful events of lunch. But Kim’s words brought it all back.
“You guys are putting up more flyers?” Caley asked. She was panting a little; dog basketball was seriously strenuous.
“Yeah, to get the Roxbury Park Dog Club name out there,” Sasha said.
“So people know there isn’t just one doggy daycare in town,” I added.
Tim was nodding. “That’s a good idea,” he said. “I can put some up too.”
“Count me in,” Caley said.
“Great,” Kim said, smiling as she went into Alice’s office to print out the flyers and ask about leaving early.
“Pampered Puppy really is making a splash,” Caley said with a sigh. Humphrey had collapsed at her feet and she sat down next to him to give his belly a good rub.
“Yeah,” Sasha said. We were all slowing down now and she was petting Boxer an
d Lily, who were sitting next to each other, tongues hanging out as they recovered from the game.
Kim came out of the office with the flyers. “Alice says it’s fine if we leave in about fifteen minutes,” she said, tucking the stack of papers into her backpack.
“Sounds good,” I said, not fully meaning it. I’d much rather be playing with the dogs than sticking flyers up all over town. But of course we had to do it—nothing mattered more than making sure the club kept getting new members.
Hattie came over to me and dropped a Frisbee at my feet, then looked up, waiting.
“You still have energy?” I asked her, sending the Frisbee across the room. She ran after it, along with Coco, Gracie, and Daisy.
A few minutes later Ms. Wong came in and called Hattie. Hattie glanced over at her new owner, who gave a big smile. But then Hattie turned and followed her furry friends to get the Frisbee.
“She’s having such a good time,” I heard Caley tell Ms. Wong as I threw the Frisbee for the dogs again. Lily and Boxer had joined in, so it was a bit of a mob scene. I took a quick photo when Hattie managed to wrestle the Frisbee from Boxer and came streaking back.
“Clever girl,” I told her. “And now it’s time for you to go home.”
It took a little to convince Hattie that playtime with the Frisbee was over, but soon she was heading out with Ms. Wong, and Kim, Sasha, and I gathered up our stuff.
Kim passed some of the flyers over to Tim and Caley. “It’s good we’re doing this,” she said. “I think it will help us get a few new members.”
“I hope so,” Caley said as we headed out.
It was chilly out, the sun low in the sky as we started up Main Street, posting flyers in every bit of empty space we saw. My fingers were freezing by the time we’d stapled up the last one and were walking down Spring Street.
“So now we wait,” Kim said, “for the calls to start flooding in.”
“I’ll keep you posted,” Sasha said, sounding hopeful.
I waved at my friends, then started toward my house, my fingers double crossed that maybe this would put the Pampered Puppy threat behind us for good.
The next day I was walking away from my locker when something cold, wet, and sticky sloshed against my back.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” an insincere voice said behind me. “I tripped.”
I turned to see Brianna, an empty cup from Fresh and Fruity Smoothies in her hand.
“You got smoothie all over me,” I said, hardly believing it even though it was trickling down my back.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again, but the corners of her mouth were quivering as though she was about to burst into giggles.
I fled to the bathroom, which was empty, and took off my shirt. Luckily the smoothie was thick, so it hadn’t spread over too much of the fabric. I rinsed my shirt off, accepting that I would smell like blueberries for the rest of the day, then put it back on. The wet spot in the back clung uncomfortably to my skin. I had a few minutes before homeroom would start so I stood in front of the hand dryer, trying to dry out or at least warm the spill. And to blink back the tears that were making my eyes blurry.
Brianna had done this on purpose, that I knew for sure. And I also knew that it was time to stop pretending that this was getting better because it wasn’t; it was getting worse. Brianna was out to get me, and I had no idea what to do about it. Which meant only one thing.
It was time to get help.
I told Kim and Sasha everything at lunch.
“This is so not okay,” Sasha said angrily as she inspected my shirt, which had dried but was crusty and stiff where the smoothie had landed.
“I don’t understand why she’s bothering you,” Kim said, frowning. “You’re, like, the nicest person ever.”
“And you’ve never done anything to her,” Sasha added, sending a glare in Brianna’s direction. Brianna was on the other side of the cafeteria with a few girls from my math class, so she didn’t notice, but Sasha’s anger on my behalf was comforting. As was Kim’s clear dismay.
“We have to make her stop,” Sasha said determinedly.
Kim nodded. “Yeah, she needs to back off and leave you alone.”
“But how do I make her do that?” I asked. Even in my yucky shirt I felt a million times better now that my friends knew what was going on. “My dad always told me to ignore bullies, but that totally hasn’t worked.”
Kim wrinkled her brows thoughtfully. “Remember in fourth grade when we had that workshop on how to handle teasing?” she asked Sasha.
Sash frowned. “Kind of.”
“Well, the speaker had all this advice, like being more confident,” Kim said. “Because apparently that makes it harder for kids to pick on you.”
“Taylor’s pretty confident though,” Sasha said.
“Usually,” I said. “But the stuff Brianna says does make me feel bad.”
“That was another tip,” Kim said. “That you aren’t supposed to show when you get upset. Which is pretty tough to do when someone pours a smoothie all over you.”
“Or tells you you’re clumsy,” Sasha said sympathetically, squeezing my hand. She knew that had come from Brianna without me even saying, which just showed what a great friend she was.
Kim was scowling. “You’re not clumsy,” she said. “You’re tall and graceful like a supermodel. She’s probably just jealous.”
I snorted but Sasha was nodding. “That’s what my mom says,” she said. “That people who tease do it because of their own reasons, not because of you. Like they’re jealous or feel insecure about something.”
It was hard to imagine Brianna being insecure about anything. And I was still thinking about what Kim had said. “You know, I think I probably do let it show when Brianna hurts my feelings,” I said. I was sure she’d seen the tears in my eyes today when she gave me the smoothie bath. “Do you think it would help if I shrugged more stuff off?”
“It’s worth a try,” Sasha said, taking a bite of her salad.
I’d been so focused on our conversation that I’d forgotten to eat but now I realized I was hungry. “Maybe there are other ways I can show her I don’t care, like making a joke or laughing off what she says,” I said, opening my yogurt and mixing it.
“That could work,” Kim agreed. “And maybe you can also just walk away instead of responding.”
“Or look blank, like what she’s saying doesn’t make any sense,” Sasha said.
I nodded as I ate, feeling good about the Brianna situation for the first time, well, ever. My friends’ ideas could really solve this once and for all.
“Oh, and you guys,” I said, “guess what business her mom owns.”
Kim drew in a sharp breath. “Not Pampered Puppy!”
I nodded. “Yeah, and Brianna keeps telling me that her mom is going to put us out of business.”
“Well, then that’s another thing she’s wrong about,” Sasha said firmly.
“Yeah, no one bullies any of us or our Dog Club,” Kim agreed.
The bell rang just as I took my last bite of yogurt. “Thanks so much, you guys,” I said, feeling super grateful to have such good friends on my side.
“That’s what we’re here for,” Kim said.
And Sasha nodded. “Team Taylor forever!”
10
It was my night to clean up after dinner, so I was in the kitchen filling the sink with soapy water. My dad was out and Jasmine had made lasagna, which had been yummy but was a pain to clean since it involved a lot of dishes and scrubbing the baking pan, which was crusted with dried cheese and noodles. It was going to take me forever to get it all done. I was just piling the first round of pots in to soak when I heard the front door open.
“Hey, girls, I brought you something,” my dad called as he came into the kitchen carrying a bakery box. “Cookies from Trattoria Romana,” he said, opening the box with a flourish.
“Delish,” Anna said, swooping in to grab the first one.
I couldn’t help glarin
g at her, and she smiled at me sweetly. “How’s the cleanup going?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a cookie. Trattoria Romana had the best Italian food in town and their cookies were awesome, all buttery and sweet. I picked one that was crescent shaped and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
“How was your client dinner, Dad?” Anna asked, reaching for a second cookie.
My dad looked confused for a second but then cleared his throat. “Productive,” he said.
I was about to ask him more about it but he was busy fussing with the cookies. “I brought extras in case you want to take some to school tomorrow,” he said as Jasmine and Tasha came in.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said. Kim and Sasha would be excited to share these. I’d have to make sure I brought enough for Emily, Rachel, Naomi, and Dana too.
“You can’t take all of them, Taylor,” Anna said, as though reading my mind.
“I’m sure Taylor isn’t planning to steal all the cookies,” my dad said mildly, loosening his tie.
“Last time you brought us brownies, Taylor took almost all of them,” Anna reported.
“I brought them to share with my friends,” I said crossly.
“Whatever,” Anna said, rolling her eyes.
“Do you girls need me to help you divide up the cookies?” my dad asked.
I was instantly ashamed and I could tell Anna felt the same.
“No, Dad,” we said, nearly in unison.
“Well, if you’re sure you can handle things, I think I’ll go upstairs and get out of my work clothes,” my dad said.
He headed upstairs and Tasha gave us her social worker look. “You guys seem to have a lot of issues these days,” she said, sitting on one of the stools at the island and selecting a green leaf-shaped cookie.
“The only issue I have is Anna bothering me all the time,” I grumbled.
“If you stop being so annoying, I’ll stop bothering you,” Anna said, glaring at me.
“I’m not doing anything,” I snapped. “You’re the one picking a fight.” Seriously, Anna was the only person I knew who could ruin something nice like my dad bringing us cookies.
“Just don’t take them all,” Anna said, heading out of the room.