Pugs and Kisses

by J. J. Howard

  I held up the doll/robot to show everyone. Most people cheered, though I noticed my great-aunt looked pretty confused.

  Then it was time for the dancing. Tali and her escort, Alex, started off, and then all of the damas with their escorts were supposed to join in. I felt a sudden rush of nervousness at the thought of dancing with Calvin.

  I’d known for a long time that I’d have to dance—that this part of the quince party would call for it. But when Calvin had stopped talking to me, I’d expected to sit out this part.

  Nothing could have prepared me for the way it felt when Calvin, looking so handsome in his tuxedo, reached for my hand. Even though he’d said that coming tonight didn’t really change anything, I couldn’t help but feel a swell of hope that maybe it would.

  The band was playing a song that sounded familiar. Knowing Tali, it had been in some romantic movie she’d made me watch. I followed Calvin the few steps it took to reach an open spot in the small area reserved for dancing. Calvin put one hand on my waist, and I darted a look over at Tali to remind myself what I was supposed to do. I’d danced at other quince parties before, but it had always been with one of my cousins or a family friend. Calvin seemed to know what he was doing, though.

  “You’re good at this. Dancing,” I told him, looking up at him for the first time.

  “My mom’s job again,” he said. “Remember, this is my tux. Most of the events I’ve had to wear it to, I’ve also had to know how to dance.”

  “Did you take lessons?”

  He laughed, and we were so close I could feel the rumble in his chest. “No, my sister taught me.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “Well, Chelsea kept making fun of me for stepping on her feet.”

  “Ah, that might make it less fun,” I agreed. “My older sister never makes fun of me. My cousin Javier is the one who does that,” I added, nodding to where Javier was dancing in the corner with his mom.

  “That was cool how your sister gave you a robot.”

  “Yeah, she likes to put her own spin on things for sure.”

  Calvin grinned. “Speaking of spins …”

  Calvin spun me around in an expert way. I felt a laugh bubble up out of my chest. I’d dreaded this night for so long, and now here I was, dancing and laughing. With Calvin. And for the moment, it seemed we’d both forgotten about the Osito lie.

  I realized then that the song had ended and everyone was leaving the dance floor. The official part of the dancing was over. Calvin said he was going to the bathroom and I pointed out to him where it was.

  The minute he left my side, Tali appeared, grabbing my elbow.

  “Calvin came!”

  “Shh!” I said, pulling her farther away, to the other side of the room. “Yes, he showed up. He said he didn’t want me to have to come alone,” I added once we were in a slightly more private spot. I glanced around. “Don’t you have more important things to attend to, birthday girl?” I asked.

  My sister’s eyes sparkled. “My guests can wait. So he just showed up? You didn’t know he was coming? That’s so romantic!”

  I shook my head. “He still hasn’t forgiven me for lying. He just came tonight to help me out. That’s all.”

  “Uh-huh,” Tali said, in a tone that meant she didn’t believe him at all. “Come on, let’s get some punch for your escort while we’re over here.”

  “Okay,” I said. The truth was I hoped more than anything that Tali was right. But I’d already had my heart broken once this week when I lost Osito. Hoping for something, I knew, didn’t always work out.

  The rest of the evening seemed to fly by. Papi presented Tali with the traditional pair of high-heeled shoes to symbolize her growing up. But since our mom was our mom, the heels were still pretty low. I caught Tali’s eye and winked at her as she stood up in them. Then we all feasted on delicious food: chicken and rice, roast pork, arroz con gandules, blanditas, all kinds of salads, flan, and a big white cake. Calvin ate every bite off his plate, even trying the more unfamiliar foods—well, at least the ones that were vegetarian. I was impressed. And again, so grateful to have him there.

  Before I knew it, someone turned on the overhead lights, and it was time to go home.

  “Thank you for coming,” I told Calvin as I walked him outside. I’d have to stay later to help my family pack up and bring all the presents and leftover food home. “This would have been … really embarrassing without an escort. After everything, you still coming … I just … thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Calvin said, his hands in his pockets. He’d seemed open and relaxed all night, but now he seemed stiff again, clearly remembering Osito. “I … I had a nice time.”

  “Me, too,” I said.

  Calvin checked his cell phone. “Okay, my dad’s coming to get me, so I should go. I’ll see you at school.”

  I looked down at my feet. The Calvin who’d spun me on the dance floor seemed to have vanished. My hopes sank, and my heart felt tight in my chest.

  “See you at school,” I echoed. But when I looked up, he was already gone.

  I went over to Phoebe’s on Sunday afternoon to finally finish up my coding project. First, I filled her in on the quinceañera and how Calvin had shown up. She was excited, and wanted to discuss it at length, but I told her I didn’t really feel like talking about it. And I needed to focus on schoolwork now—specifically, the presentation for Waggle Walkers.

  “I have some stock images I saved,” I explained, opening my laptop on Phoebe’s bed, “and of course the footage you shot. I was hoping you could shape it into something, at least.”

  “Move over, let me drive,” Phoebe said, shooing me away from my laptop. “Hey, what’s in this folder?”

  “What are you doing?” I reached for the computer. “That’s just stuff Calvin’s sent me. Like pug pictures, and memes and stuff.” Trust my BFF to go opening all the random files on my computer.

  Phoebe clicked on the folder. “Some of these are of Osito. And Pancake. You acted like you never got any footage of them!”

  “I meant to film Osito barking, to make it look like he was talking,” I explained. “But in all the chaos I just never got around to it.”

  “Ana, I know it was my idea and all, but I’m no longer convinced that the whole talking dog concept is the only way to go here,” Phoebe told me.

  “Then why didn’t you say … ?”

  “You got so stuck on it that I never said anything. But you’ve got all kinds of great stuff here—in fact, you’ve got everything you need. Let’s just record one more voice-over about how you took care of Osito—add that personal touch—and I’ll put it all together.”

  “Are you serious? You think you can use some of this and make it okay?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Phoebe asked with a snort. “I’ll make it awesome.”

  * * *

  The plan was, we were supposed to email Ms. V our websites on Monday morning, so she would have time to evaluate them before our class presentations. The grades we got would be based mainly on the sites, but our presentations counted, too.

  In coding class that afternoon, Calvin went first. His presentation for his New York newbies website was great, but I could see that his site was pretty basic. I had planned to help him with the coding, I remembered then. Until he had, very justifiably, stopped talking to me. I sighed.

  When he was finished, he sat down beside me, looking a little disappointed. For the first time, though, I wasn’t thinking about grades and how I had to be the top in the class.

  “That was good,” I told Calvin, wanting to be supportive.

  “Thanks,” he whispered to me, but he was focused on the next presentation.

  I had trouble paying attention because I was getting really nervous for my presentation. But I did cheer for Phoebe when she presented her great filmmaking website. And then, finally, it was my turn.

  I stood up and handed Ms. Vasquez my laptop so she could cue up my video pre
sentation. She had a printout of my Waggle Walkers site in front of her, to refer to as I spoke. She nodded at me.

  “My website is called Waggle Walkers,” I began.

  I stood in front of the class, knowing that Calvin was watching. I concentrated on the presentation that came up on screen—with Phoebe’s help, it had really come out well. There were images of Osito and Pancake. Two doggy best friends. And lots of other funny dog memes from the folder on my laptop. There was also voice-over: me talking about how much dogs bring to our lives. Phoebe had sneak-recorded me; she’d gotten me talking about why I loved dogs so much and recorded me without my knowing. When I was so upset that every time I tried to read my script I sounded like a robot, Phoebe had found a way to get me to loosen up. She was right, I realized. All along, for my project, I’d had everything I needed. All the footage from Calvin, and the two pugs—and my amazing best friend to put all the pieces together.

  When the video was over, everyone clapped, which surprised me. Ms. V looked extra proud. I gave Phoebe a grateful look and mouthed Thank you. Then I finally met Calvin’s eye. He gave me a small smile and then a thumbs-up sign. I told myself not to take the gesture too seriously, remembering how cold he’d seemed at the end of the quince. It was dangerous to hope too much, I reminded myself.

  At the end of class, Ms. V handed us back printouts of our sites with our grades on them. I looked down and my stomach jumped when I saw my grade: A. I was relieved and happy. But I had other things on my mind, too.

  * * *

  At lunch the next day, Phoebe waved Calvin over to our table.

  “How’d you do on your coding project?” she asked him. “I got a B-plus.”

  “Same here,” Calvin said.

  I looked down at my cup of soup. What I’d wanted had come true—I’d gotten a higher grade than Calvin, which meant that I likely still had the top spot in the grade, and would likely get the Crown Point Prize. I was excited, and proud of myself for my hard work. But suddenly, the idea of winning—of everything going according to plan—no longer seemed as important as it once had.

  I realized Calvin was talking to me. “Your website was great, Ana,” he was saying. “I could see how it would really help people who need dog walkers. Like, um, your neighbor,” he added.

  Suddenly everything felt awkward again. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment.

  Why, oh, why hadn’t I trusted Calvin enough to tell him the truth? After all, he’d never been anything but helpful and nice, since that first day in the park when he’d carried my bag and helped me get out of the pounding rain.

  Phoebe jumped in to fill the silence. “I think we all did great work.”

  “Thanks,” Calvin said. “Well, I gotta go. Bye, you guys.”

  I sighed as he walked away.

  “You’ve still got it bad,” Phoebe said.

  I gave a start and dropped the spoon I’d been holding in midair—probably for an awkwardly long time, now that I thought about it. “What? I don’t … I mean, I’m not …”

  Phoebe snorted. “You’ve got just as big a crush on him as ever. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m not going to do anything right now. He’s still not over my lying to him. He said …”

  Phoebe made a dismissive noise. “You gotta strike while the iron’s still hot. Do you want to wait until Lucy Alvarez gets her hooks into him?”

  “Low blow.”

  “Just trying to help you out, my friend. Besides, what do you have to lose? What’s the worst that can happen? If he says he still can’t forgive you—well, then, at least you’ll know. But the worst thing that can happen if you do nothing? Well. Calvin’s a cute and nice guy. If it’s not Lucy, somebody else will notice that before too long.”

  Phoebe was right, as usual. It was finally time to admit that I did like Calvin—a lot. And it was time for me to be brave.

  “Okay. Say I do want to do something. How do I show him I’m sorry—and that I’ve changed?” I asked.

  “I don’t know exactly. But whatever it is, I think it should be big. You kind of messed up big time. In the movies, it always takes a grand gesture to apologize for something like that.”

  “A grand gesture, huh? Like what?”

  “Play to your strengths,” Phoebe advised sagely, while trying without much success to punch a hole in her Capri Sun pack.

  Just like that, I had an idea. I stood up and picked up my lunch bag. “I have to go. I’m going to get started right now.”

  “Wait!” Phoebe called.

  I stepped back. “What is it?”

  She raised her drink packet and the straw. “Open this first?”

  I laughed, punched in the straw, and headed to the library to get started on my idea.

  Website name: Calvin’s NYC

  Place ideas:

  –BEST smoothies—at Succo.

  –Historical sites downtown: Federal Hall, Tenement Museum, Trinity Church, maybe Custom House?

  –Meatless Mexican—best veggie enchiladas since he likes Mexican food and doesn’t eat meat.

  –Final stop: Tyro’s Bike Shop.

  I took a deep breath and composed the text. First, I copied in the URL of the website I’d made for Calvin. Then I wrote my apology:

  Calvin, I’m so sorry I lied to you and didn’t trust you. It wasn’t fair.

  I made this for you. I know you’re not too sure about NYC, and that you miss Florida. But there’s so much in my hometown for you to love. I thought maybe I could show some of it to you.

  This website will take you to some places that I hope you will like.

  If you decide to do this tour, it needs to start on Sunday morning at nine. There will be a surprise for you at each stop if you do.

  Hope you can make it!

  Ana

  Then I held my breath, and hit send.

  * * *

  An hour later, I got a text back.

  Wow, a whole website 4 me? Ok—I’ll start the hunt @9 on Sunday

  A smiley face seemed like a good sign! I sent back a of my own and got back to planning.

  All day Saturday was devoted to running around getting everything set up for Calvin’s scavenger hunt. The website would give him directions to each spot and a hint about what he would find there. I enlisted Phoebe and Tali, of course, and my sister got Ella and Haley to help, too.

  The plan was this: I was sending Calvin to five stops. Tali was the first stop—she would meet Calvin at the gift shop at the Tenement Museum. She would give him a book on the history of the Lower East Side. Next, Ella and Haley would meet him at Succo and give him a green smoothie.

  I really wanted to add another historical stop, but nothing was open on Sunday. Phoebe convinced me that what I had planned would be cool enough, so next I was sending him to Meatless Mexican, where Phoebe would be waiting with a to-go order of veggie enchiladas.

  The final stop would be Tyro’s Bike Shop.

  I was really hoping that part would go well.

  Thanks to helping Mrs. Ramirez with Osito for a year, I had a bunch of money saved. I wasn’t much of a spender. I wasn’t even really sure what I’d been saving up for. I’d wanted a robot kit for a while, but Tali had gotten me that for her quince.

  So I used all the Osito money to get Calvin a bike. With the help of the kind people at the shop, I’d picked out a few options and paid enough to cover whichever one he would choose. Tali would meet Calvin there to tell him he should pick out the brand and color and style he wanted.

  And then the final stop was me. If Calvin wanted to, he could come see me at the park where we met. If he didn’t, I told myself, that was okay, too. At least I’d know that I had tried.

  On Sunday, I got up bright and early and texted all my helpers to make sure the plan was in place. It was. When Tali texted me that Calvin had shown up at the Tenement Museum, I knew he was following my hints and the route. That made me excited. So excited I couldn’t focus on the homework I had planned t
o do that day.

  I decided to go for a walk to get rid of some of my pent-up energy. I walked over to the deli and got a bagel with cream cheese. On my way back home, it started to rain—a fast, heavy shower—a lot like the day I’d met Calvin, but without the lightning and thunder. I hadn’t brought an umbrella, so I got soaked in minutes.

  Shivering, I raced for my building. My first thought was that I hoped the rain wouldn’t stop Calvin from finishing the route.

  My second was that, if by some miracle he actually wanted to come see me at the end, I now looked like a drowned rat.

  I hurried up the stairs to our apartment and unlocked our front door. I heard familiar voices in the living room; my parents were in there, speaking with a woman. But who?

  And then, before I could even step all the way inside—I saw him. A tiny, adorable, black pug barreling toward me at top speed, tongue and tail wagging.

  Osito!

  “Osito!” I cried. I couldn’t believe it was really him.

  When he reached me, he pawed frantically at my legs, asking to be picked up. I scooped him up and gave him a kiss on his soft, furry cheek. Oh, how I’d missed my little bear!

  I finally walked into the living room, Osito in my arms, and realized that it was Rosa who sat there talking to my parents.

  “Hello, Ana!” she said with a smile.

  “Hi, Rosa. How is your mom feeling?” I asked as Osito licked my cheek. I laughed.

  “She’s doing a little better, thank you. And I wanted to thank you again for doing such a fine job cleaning her apartment.”

  “Oh, it’s not a big deal,” I said, sitting down with Osito on my lap. “I was glad to help.”

  Rosa looked expectantly at my parents, as though she was waiting for them to say something. I looked from my mom to my dad, confused.

  “Ana, Rosa came here to tell us that Mrs. Ramirez has decided that it’s too much for her, caring for Osito,” Mom finally said.

  My heart started pounding, and without thinking I held Osito tighter against me. That was why Rosa had come, then. To let me say a final good-bye.