In the morning, my radio alarm blared rock and roll music. I hit snooze, twice. Then I remembered. Oh no. My essay.
My gut twisted inside and I swallowed to keep the acid down. Rushing to the top of the stairs, I hollered to Mom in the kitchen, using an agonizing voice. “I don’t feel good. I don’t think I can go to school today.”
I hurried back to bed, pulled the blankets up to my chin, and pretended to be sleepy. Mom’s footsteps thump-thump-thumped up the steps. She plopped beside me on the bed. Colton jumped on the other side and buried his nose in my hair.
Mom stroked my forehead. “You’re not running a fever.” She looked at Colt. “What do you think? Did she do too much yesterday?”
Colton whined and licked my face.
“Trina, you need to go to school, even if Colton would like you stay home. Tonight is your last puppy class, and if you don’t go to school, it means you miss class tonight.”
“Ah, Mom. I’m tired and my stomach hurts.”
“Rules are rules. If you feel bad later, you can call me at work.”
Of course, English was my first period class. There was no way getting around not having my homework. As I walked in, I bypassed Mrs. Stevens’s desk. After everyone was seated, she scanned each paper. “Trina, where’s your essay?”
Thinking fast, and knowing she knew about Colton’s puppy mischief, I took a quick breath and rushed out the lie. “Colton ate it.”
The class snickered.
I hung my head and bit my cheek. Why did I say that?
Mrs. Stevens didn’t have the same sense of humor. She told the class about the day’s assignment, and then made eye contact with me. “Trina, please step outside.”
My stomach made a thousand slip-knots. And of course, wearing my hair in a ponytail made my ears stick out and burn rosy red. I walked, looking at the black and white speckled linoleum to hide my freckles from curious eyes.
Mrs. Stevens closed the door, and I moved away from the rectangle window. She put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Now, tell me the truth. Your grades last year were impressive or you wouldn’t be in this class. And—” Her head titled as she studied me, “—You don’t seem to be the kind of person to make up stories.”
I lifted my blotched face, and blinked away a tear. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stevens. I’ve had so much to do, and I ran out of time last night. I didn’t want to mess up my grade, and that was the first thing that came to me. Colton does chew on everything.”
She stared at me. “So you didn’t finish your essay?”
Shaking my head, my finger wiped the tear dripping on my warm cheek. “I didn’t even begin.”
“Thank you for being honest, Trina. I’ve heard about what you’re doing with the puppy. You’ve taken on a big job. I’ll give you one more day. If you don’t turn in your essay tomorrow, I will call your parents. They need to know if you’re having trouble with so much responsibility.”
I lifted my head higher. “I promise. It will be on your desk tomorrow.”
As soon as I arrived home, I hurried Colton outside, and then we raced upstairs. Colton didn’t like waiting for me to do my homework first, but I surprised him with a chewy filled with cheese.
Ideas poured out onto the page and my fingers typed fast. Before long I finished the first draft. I wrote and used examples of how everyone should push themselves out of their comfort zone to learn new things. Even if you are afraid, once you’ve found your heart’s desire, you should never give up. Failure is a lack of trying. Then I revised three times and printed.
One assignment completed and now a quick romp outside. This would be my recess and then back to work.
Maybe if I get up thirty minutes earlier in the morning, Colton would have extra training time. I need another me.
With two out of three assignments completed, I started thinking about what I’d wear to dog class. During each training session, Wesley set Kaiser’s mat next to where I stood. If someone walked over to visit, he made sure they couldn’t get close, and he’d interrupt our conversation to add his bits of uninteresting subjects.
I watched Patrick and Annie raise their eyebrows and snicker, but I couldn’t help feel little butterfly wings flapping and tickling inside my stomach. He really was interested in me. And he was kind of cute.
I guess Sarah had rubbed off on me after all.
Since the evenings had cooled, I decided to wear long jeans and my green PAALS tee shirt to match my eyes. Colton sat next to me, watching me blow-dry my hair. I pulled the sides of my hair up into a small pony tail, keeping the hair out of my face. I even added round, green studs the size of a pencil eraser in my ears and some lip gloss. Ready, we bounced down the stairs.
During puppy class, I spoke to Colton like he was a small toddler. He understood what I said, and I hoped he wouldn’t be overly social. “Tonight, Colton.” Hearing his name, the top of his ears pitched forward, his head tilted, and his warm brown eyes looked straight into mine. I pointed my finger to my nose. “Colton, listen. You must Come when I call you.”
He blinked, and wiggled his nose.
Each dog was attached to a long rope. When it was my turn to demonstrate, I gave the command Stay and ran as far as I could the other direction. I dropped the line and called, “Colton. Come.”
He ran straight to me, his tongue lolling to the side, showing all of his teeth, forming a giant smile.
“Yes! Good boy!”
Everyone did this command in their section. Every few minutes a dog or two ran loose, dragging their rope to the other side of the room for a quick visit with another buddy. I kept Colton’s attention. The frustrated students called their dogs, and before long it was quite noisy and confusing. Ms. Sue caught the rowdy dogs and returned them.
For the last performance of our six-week training class, our dogs were put in their place. We had a list of new commands to perform: Wait, No, Drop, Leave it, Kennel, Hurry, Place, and Stay.
Most of the puppies did well. Now, we had one final command. Every dog sat on their Place and was told to Stay. We backed away, and had only one chance to silently hold our palm flat, signing Stay
Standing by the wall for three minutes, seemed an eternity. The puppies sat or lay, panting, casually glancing at each other. I held my breath and tried to ignore Wesley nudging me. I needed to concentrate on Colt.
Colton squirmed and grew antsy. It was against the rules to give any coaching signs or encouragement. Uh, oh. My heart played Dad’s favorite tune: Help! I need somebody! Help!
First, his tail switched back and forth, and then he looked both directions. He licked his lips, and shook from his head to his tail, trying to calm himself. Maybe to find his self-control, but it didn’t happen. His expression told me trouble brewed, and he meant to cause a ruckus.
I swallowed, but I couldn’t respond to him. His true personality craved to surface.
He took one step and he was off. He ran to Tanner and nosed him. Lucy watched and followed. Then he corrupted Sasha and Kaiser. One at a time, Colton told each puppy to misbehave without any sound. In seconds, all five dogs were having a free-for-all.
Ms. Sue attempted to look stern and quietly said, “Trina, get Colton and put him back in his Place.”
All my friends and their parents chuckled. Each student retrieved their pup. We tried one more time with success. My little rascal was a handful for sure.
He wasn’t the star pupil I had expected. Tonight, he was the class clown like me. I had to do something. How could I deal with our futures if I couldn’t pull it altogether?
Chapter 22
September
Sitting at my desk after school, I changed the calendar page. A warm rush spread through me as I spotted the purple circle wrapped around my birthday. I planned to cross out each day until the twenty-first. Fourteen years old! My heart danced as I daydreamed about my surpri
ses to come.
Since Colton’s scare with the horses, Morgan had opened up a tiny bit about herself. Depending on her mood, she jabbered without thinking, and on other days she never said a word.
Saturday afternoon, Morgan helped me with barn chores. As I swept the barn floor, she casually mentioned her grandparents. I almost stopped breathing. Hiding my surprise and excitement at hearing her intimate secrets, I never glanced at her.
Morgan continued to speak from Rapp’s empty stall. “My grandparents on my father’s side—” Her voice grew softer. “I wish they lived closer.”
I shied away from being nosey and hoped she’d tell me more. As I walked up to the hayloft and threw bales down to the feed room below, I kept the conversation moving. “My grandparents live in Virginia. I know what you mean. They always make me feel special, but I see them maybe twice a year.” I carried a flake of hay to Sonny’s stall, and Morgan’s loud voice filtered from the other end of the barn.
“I’m thinking about going to see them so I’m not sure if I can make it to your birthday party.”
“Oh, no! I’ll be so disappointed.”
Then her eagerness to talk hit me in the head. Morgan couldn’t talk face to face. We went about our chores, having a distant conversation until we met in the tack room. I opened the cooler and offered her an apple and some chips.
As she chomped into her apple, I asked, “Do your grandparents ever come to your house?”
With her apple between her teeth, she grabbed items from her trunk, stashed them under her arms, and walked out. I stared at the empty doorway as my stomach churned. Did I say the wrong thing? She avoided me the next hour, and I walked home. She had made it clear not to ask questions about her grands.
Early the next morning, I woke, worrying about Morgan’s distress. But when she arrived at the barn, she rambled on as if nothing had happened.
I pressed my lips together and just listened.
She cleaned Knight’s stall, and blabbered. “You know, Trina, if I save some money, I could go see my grands. They’d never come here. It’s something I’ve thought about since we moved out of their house, and that was three houses ago. I found out there’s a train that goes to Florida, and I could be there in one day.”
I stopped picking Chancy’s stall and stuck my head out the door. “You used to live with your grandparents?”
She walked up to my door, and made eye contact. “Trina, now that I can do most of the barn stuff by myself, is there any chance I can cover for you when you need extra time?”
I choked. “You want to earn money? Doing menial work?”
Morgan leaned her head. “My parents never give me any money. They pay for everything or set up accounts at the stores for me to purchase what I need. That way they know everything I buy. Even the taxi driver is covered when I need a ride. It must be nice to have your own spending money.”
“Why wouldn’t your parents pay for everything on your trip?”
“Well, I may go with a friend from school who has grandparents in the same town. And I’d need to have my own cash.”
“Yeah?” My jaw dropped, and at the same time, I wanted to say, “Your story is getting stranger.” But I grabbed a wild strand of hair, twirled it around, and told myself not to react. I breathed through my nose and whispered it out my lips. “I’m glad to hear you’ve made a new friend at your school. Why don’t you invite her to hang out at the barn?”
“Well, she doesn’t live in my neighborhood, so we don’t ride the same bus.”
“Morgan, just the other night, I tried to figure out how to make more time for all of my homework and training Colton. I’m kind of struggling. And my parents don’t know yet. I still have time to get my grades up. But if you really want to earn some money and do some of the chores, you’d be a huge help. Which days can you work?”
Morgan chuckled. “I’m here every day. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“Wow! This is perfect timing. Now that I’m not riding much, I don’t need money for lessons. Let’s go tell Mrs. Brown.”
Morgan sucked in a panicked breath and wrinkled her eyebrows. “Can’t we do this between us? If Mrs. Brown knows, she might say something to my parents, and then they’d get upset with me and probably with her.”
“I guess?” I bit my bottom lip and frowned. Should I believe her? “Okay. I’ll keep my name on the chalkboard. When you help me, we’ll share the money. And if you work without me, you’ll get it all. I’ll keep track of what I owe you. I get paid every two weeks.”
Morgan smiled at the floor. “Thanks, Trina. That’d be great.”
“Where in Florida do your grandparents live? When are you planning to go?”
She shrugged. “In Bristol, a little town close to Tallahassee, Florida. I don’t know when. We’re still in the talking stage. But we’re working on it. The time has to be just right.”
I walked away and processed what she had said. I worried about not getting Mrs. Brown’s permission, but I sure needed an extra hand. After sweeping the barn, I found Morgan cleaning her leathers in the tack room.
She glanced up at me. “Look. I’ve learned how to do another thing. You’ve taught me well.”
I sat next to her and examined her bridle “Good job. I…”
Morgan stared at me. “What?”
“Umm. Since you’ve asked, would you mind helping me, today? I have to work Colton at the grocery store, and mom’s waiting for me.”
Morgan straightened and for the first time beamed. “Yes, that’d be awesome. I’m here until who knows when. And it will give me something else to do. And—” Morgan glanced each direction, “Mrs. B isn’t around.”
“That’s true. But at some point, she’ll find out. I’ll need to explain before she gets upset about me keeping it a secret. I know she’ll be fine with it.”
Morgan looked at her boots. “Well, if we can wait just a little longer, maybe I’ll have saved enough money, and she won’t need to know.”
Her comment caught me off guard. As she headed to her stall, I stared at her back and concern welled up inside of me. Morgan had everything she ever needed, except for parents who cared. What did she mean, “The time had to be right?”
Chapter 23
As I walked in the house, Mom popped up in her recliner. “Oh, good. I was getting ready to call you. Everything okay at the barn?”
Another rock hit the bottom of my stomach. I didn’t look into her face. “Yep.” I swallowed. “Come here, Colton.” I pulled out his newest cape from his supply bag. His little bottom jiggled, and his tail waved. “Want to go to the store?”
He wiggled faster, making his long body into a U-shape. I fastened his cape around his chest and read the writing: “Please don’t pet me. I’m working.” My heart sputtered, feeling the pride in what I was accomplishing.
Mom parked the car. Colton leaped out, and heeled next to my side. As we approached the store, the automatic doors slid open. He took two steps back and stared. The doors closed, and he froze. He walked forward again. The doors split apart, and he looked both directions as we walked through. Once through, he turned sideways to watch the doors close behind him.
While we waited for Mom to speak with the manager, Colton analyzed the doors. He put his front paw on the black rubber mat, and the door slid open. His head tilted, and I could see his brain ticking. Curious customers let him experiment. His eyes glowed at the magic.
Mom returned. “The manager is excited you’re here. I need to pick up a few things. You go ahead without me.”
I stood taller and made Colt pay attention. “Ready? Walk.” Before we entered an aisle, I said, “Sit.” He listened and followed like a pro, showing off.
A couple of children dashed up and down the aisle, passing an inch from his body, laughing. He showed great restraint, watching their excited behavior. His ears moved,
and his mouth stretched across his teeth in a grin. I knew if he had the opportunity, he’d enjoy chasing them. I called, “Colt, Heel.” He kept his eyes on me and walked at my side.
The next challenge was to walk down the meat aisle. Colton’s nose lifted toward the refrigerated shelves. His nostrils opened and closed.
I looked at him. “How can you smell anything? All the meat is sealed.”
He blinked at me.
I sniffed, trying to detect any odors, but I didn’t have a dog’s nose.
He had been fed people food as treats, but he learned to sit under a restaurant table without begging. We stayed in the meat section until he no longer showed any attention to the aroma.
We strolled up another aisle where a woman pushed a grocery cart with a pretend blue plastic truck cab on the front. Her toddler sat inside the cab, twisting the steering wheel back and forth and roaring loud motor sounds.
The lady stopped and stepped toward us. “Can my son pet your puppy?”
“Thank you for asking, but right now he’s in training. I’m teaching him to ignore his surroundings and to listen only to my commands.”
The woman smiled. “I understand. You’re doing something wonderful. He’s a beautiful dog. My brother has diabetes, and he’s had an Alert Dog for three years. Whenever his insulin goes haywire, his dog smells it through his skin and will lick his arm or leg to warn him. Having a service dog has improved his health.”
“That’s great. This is my second dog to train. He has a lot to learn before he qualifies.”
Colton stayed in a Sit while I spoke. He did the best he could, waiting for me without squirming. He could only restrain himself for a short amount of time. Talking was my first mistake and my fault for what happened next.
When the child rumbled like a truck, Colt bounced up at the noise, and poked his nose inside the truck window. The child screamed like he had been stung by a bee.
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