by J. J. Howard
Eric touched my shoulder. “Seriously, C. Are you super nervous or something?”
“Or something,” I told him. I bit my lip and looked away.
We followed his mom into the ballroom. There was a huge circular space in the center for the dogs to run. It was just like the Winsted Winner’s Circle, only much bigger and indoors. A small black-and-white dog was trotting around as we walked in. There were lots of people in the rows of metal folding seats. I caught sight of Lily and Mel and waved. Dad and Aunt Pam had also wanted to come, but Dad had had to go into the office for work, and Aunt Pam had a friend’s baby shower to attend. I’d told them it was fine if they didn’t come—in fact, it was better for me. I’d also been worried that Lori might come, but she’d called yesterday to say she’d be too busy at O.P.
We got to the starting area, and I had to give Potato to a lady in a peach-colored suit. She whipped out a little measuring tape and started checking him out thoroughly, making noises that I couldn’t figure out. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was passing or failing. They were being much more thorough than at the last show. She recorded all her mysterious results on a clipboard and handed him back to me.
“Excellent specimen,” she pronounced.
“Thank you?” I responded. It really seemed like sort of a strange compliment. Excellent specimen? Potato was more than that. He was kindhearted and good and warm. But Potato still lifted his head regally, as if he knew he was being praised.
We stood waiting for a few more minutes while the current round finished, and then it was our turn. This show was arranged by breed. There were only four pugs. So my work was really going to be cut out for me, especially since I now knew what a great “specimen” my little Potato was.
We watched a dappled black pug make the circle. He seemed very young and puppyish, and he kept speeding up and slowing down. His owner or trainer, a big man in a tweed suit, kept frowning down at him.
We were up next. My stomach tightened. I was going to be the one to lead Potato around, just like last time. I smoothed down my green skirt. I’d had to assure Eric earlier that it had no pockets.
But my jacket did. And that was the key to The Plan. I carefully removed the green jacket and set it down on the table near the end of the ring. I knew just how cookie-motivated Potato was. The plan was to have Mel sneak over and stuff the jacket with Potato’s favorite treats, then lead Potato within smelling distance of the jacket and let his chicken-cookie addiction take care of the rest.
But then I looked back at Eric. We locked eyes, and I saw the eagerness and hope in his expression. I felt a new wave of uncertainty wash over me. I thought about the songs Lily told me Eric sang to Potato, and the way Eric had always been nothing but kind to the little pup. I realized then that it was selfish of me to try to take back a dog that was never really mine to begin with. Potato already had a good home with someone who loved him. And regardless of what Eric anticipated, I knew Eric’s parents would see it the same way.
And there was something else as well. I blushed as Eric’s dark eyes held my gaze. I was starting to get the feeling that Mel was right. As much as I wanted to resent Eric, I couldn’t deny I’d grown to like him. Like him like him. It wasn’t just that he was cute—which he was. It was the way he and I had connected—about dogs, and Star Trek, and everything. And even though I knew he saw me as just a friend—potentially less—I couldn’t let my hurt feelings get in the way of his dog-show/Potato dreams.
But before I could motion to stop Mel, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her sneak up. She was following the next phase of The Plan—to stuff dog biscuits into the jacket. I tried my best to steer Potato as far away from the jacket as possible, but I underestimated his smelling range. Even from across the room, Potato knew what was in that jacket, and he would stop at nothing to get at it. He bounded across the room with the force of a Great Dane, and I had no choice but to let him drag me.
As I’d predicted, Potato started jumping up to try to reach the treats. He wouldn’t trot forward—he wouldn’t do anything except jump up, hoping for chicken goodies. Eric looked at me in panic. Mrs. Chung was back on her phone and was missing everything. As much as I tried to steer Potato in the correct direction, he found a way to wriggle free from my grasp and run to the jacket, eventually succeeding in pulling it down. Then he managed to poke his nose in and get a mouthful of treats. He dragged the jacket with him over to me, then he started doing the circle like we’d practiced, only he had a mouthful of green jacket trailing behind him.
The lady in the peach suit came over to us and told me we had to stop and that we were disqualified.
Disqualified.
My stomach sank.
My plan had worked.
I scooped up Potato, suit jacket and all, and walked back over to Eric.
“What happened?” He was staring at me with his mouth open.
“I—I—I’m sorry,” I stammered. I couldn’t even bear to look him in the eye.
“Are we disqualified?” Eric asked.
I nodded, staring down. Potato was still in my arms, his head down now, as if he knew he’d done something wrong.
Eric went over and told his mom what had happened, and she shook her head, looking disappointed. Then he motioned for me to join him in the backstage area. Clutching Potato, I did so.
“Cecilia,” Eric said quietly, “I saw Mel stuffing your jacket with treats. Were you trying to sabotage Potato’s performance? I don’t understand.”
I looked up. Eric’s expression was a mixture of disappointment, anger, and confusion.
I paused, debating telling him a lie. But then I realized it wasn’t worth it. I let my words pour out. I told Eric everything—about my dad finally letting me have a dog, and my plot to make Potato fail so badly that he would lose the dog show, and then no one in the Chung family would want him. As I spoke, I felt terrible, but also like a weight was being lifted.
“But,” I continued, looking seriously at Eric, “when I saw how much you seemed to want to win, and when I heard about what a good job you were doing taking care of Potato, I knew that I needed to put my selfishness and my … weird feelings behind me and let go of the idea of keeping Potato. But it was too late. And I ruined everything. I’m so, so sorry.”
I buried my face in my hands.
“Weird feelings?” Eric asked. “What weird feelings?”
Darn it! I thought. Why did I have to mention the mess that is my emotional state? And also, really? That was the only thing he took away from my long-winded rant?
“Nothing,” I said quickly. “I just meant—I mean,” I stammered. Just say it, Cecilia, I told myself. What harm can come out of being a little less chelonian? Of being braver? Maybe it was time to step out of my hiding place and into the light.
My heart was pounding, and I took a deep breath.
“What is it, Cecilia?” Eric’s eyes searched mine, confused but not angry.
“I just—I just don’t know what I feel about you,” I blurted. “I made all these assumptions about you before we even met—that you were a snob, that you were arrogant, that you—”
“Go on, Cecilia,” Eric interrupted, rolling his eyes. Still, though, no anger. He even wore a half smile.
“And then we met, and you took away my Potato, and I got so, so upset. I hated you.”
Potato’s ears perked up at the sound of his name. He leaned in, as if listening intently.
“You made me this deal, and at first I was in it for the money—which I recently realized doesn’t really matter, but that’s a whole other story—and for the Potato time. But then I got to know you better. And I … I kind of liked the guy I got to know.” My cheeks were very hot.
Eric’s eyes widened. I could tell I was freaking him out. But I was almost done with what I had to say, so I barreled on.
“So what I’m trying to say is,” I said, trying to keep my cool even though my heart was pounding even harder, “I like you, Eric. Despite every bone in my
body telling me not to. Even though you adopted the one dog I love more than anything in this world. Even though you can make me mad more than anyone I know. And I know that you don’t like me—you made that really clear at the Spring Bash. But I just wanted to tell you everything—to try to explain what I did. I guess I just hope that we can be friends.” I heaved a big sigh. “Oh, and I promise not to sabotage Potato’s showbiz career again. And I won’t try to steal him or any of your dogs … from now on,” I finished, wincing. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for confirmation that he hated me.
But when I peeked, all I saw was Eric looking back at me, a huge grin on his face.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, annoyed. “Is my mortification that amusing to you?”
“No, not at all,” Eric said, trying to suppress a laugh. “It’s just … you are so wrong. About most things.” He started stepping closer to me.
“Wrong?! Wrong how?” I felt ridiculous, and not just because I was practically yelling during the intermission of a dog show and also wearing a ridiculous green suit (and also holding a dog that, let’s face it, still kind of looked like a potato, excellent specimen or not).
Eric stared at me but didn’t say anything. It seemed that he was searching for the right words.
“Just spit it out, Chung!” I nearly shouted. “Argh! You make me …” My words trailed off.
He stepped even closer, until we were practically nose to nose. “What, Cecilia? I make you what?”
I was glad he’d called me by name just then, otherwise I’m pretty sure I might have forgotten it. I definitely forgot to breathe for a few seconds. I put Potato down and held on to his leash.
Still standing close to me, Eric said softly, “You don’t know a thing about how I really feel.” He paused and stared at me for a few more seconds. “It was never really about the dog show … or proving a point. I mean, it was—I do still love rescue dogs and am pretty bummed that Potato didn’t win today—but those things weren’t really that important to me. What really mattered to me was finding a way to spend more time with … you.” He looked down, blushing a little, then back up again. “Not unlike the great lengths you went through to spend more time with Potato.” He bent down to Potato and gave his head an affectionate pat.
I gaped at Eric, waiting for him to continue.
“And all that stuff at the dance, I only said it because I was trying to act cool in front of those guys. I know it’s a shock, but they don’t actually even think dog shows are all that cool.” He stood back up, leaning in close to me again.
“Well, I don’t think dog shows are cool,” I interjected. But I didn’t say more—I had no idea how to respond to the other stuff he’d said. My pulse was racing.
Eric laughed again. “Well, I think that’s fine. We don’t always have to agree on everything.”
There’s that word we again.
“So what I’m trying to say,” Eric continued, “is that I like you, too, Cecilia. A lot.”
Oh my God.
“But … I’m just your sister’s weird friend,” I blurted.
“You are my sister’s friend. And you are a little weird. But you’re also my friend. And hopefully more.”
He leaned even closer, and then he kissed me.
His lips were warm, and the warmth spread all the way down to my toes in a matter of seconds. He pulled away and smiled down at me. “Make sense?”
I nodded, still at a loss for words. He leaned forward and kissed me again, but we broke apart when we heard the sound of throats clearing.
I turned around—Lily and Mel were standing in the backstage area, beaming at us. “I knew it! I told you, didn’t I?” Mel was saying to Lily, and she was nodding and smiling.
Mel winked at me.
When I looked down at Potato, I could almost swear he did the same.
First kisses at regional dog shows
“Come on down, what do you say? Get your tickets for this May Day!” Lily called out to the cafeteria at large. It was after school, and we were stationed at our table, selling tickets to the school’s May Day festival.
“Do you have to do it like that?” I asked her.
“Like what?” she asked.
“In that weird voice. And in rhyme.”
“I love to rhyme—all the time—have some lime!”
“Wow, for someone who loves it so much you certainly are bad at it,” I said, laughing.
“Hey, you’re new to the student activities committee,” Lily teased. “You need to watch and learn!”
I laughed, and then I looked at my watch and stood up. “Eek! I have to go.”
“We just got here! And we signed up to work the table until four,” she reminded me.
“I know, but can you please, please cover for me, Lil? Dad said he had some big surprise, and he made me promise to meet him by four fifteen. Pretty please?”
“Okay, go.” Lily waved a pile of May Day tickets dismissively. “Besides, since Eric bought tickets for you guys on the first day, what do you care who else is going?”
I paused in putting on my coat, feeling my cheeks warm up. “He did? That’s cool.”
“Well, what do you expect?” Lily laughed. “Aren’t you guys, like, together?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. It had been a couple of weeks since the dog show, and the kiss, and I’d been spending nearly every day with Eric, and it had been awesome. “But,” I added, “he hasn’t actually asked me to May Day yet.”
“Well, he bought the tickets—he probably just forgot the asking part. Boys can be sort of slow about stuff like that,” Lily said, nodding knowingly toward Joey Lewis with an eye roll.
“I guess,” I said, thinking I still had a lot to learn about boys. “See you later?”
“Later!” Lily said with a wave.
I ran down the front steps of the school, and ran most of the way to Orphan Paws, where Dad was picking me up.
He was waiting when I got there, parked right in front of the shelter. “You’re late!” he called, but he was smiling. “Get in.”
I climbed into the passenger side and pulled the door shut. “I’m here … what’s the surprise?”
“Keep your hair on.”
“What does that mean?” I asked him.
He rolled his eyes at me. “It means you’ll find out when we get there.” Dad cleared his throat. “While we drive … I’ve got some news.”
“What is it?”
“Well, first—I won my case.”
“Dad! That’s amazing!” I reached across the seat to side-hug him. Of course the seat belt snapped me back instead because he had to hit the brakes right then. We both laughed, and I blew him a kiss. “Guess I’ll hug you later.”
“I’m pretty sure you will,” he said. “There’s more—after the verdict, I got a new job offer. A small firm in Winchester. It will mean a regular salary. Plus, I’ll still get to work on cases I really care about.”
“Congrats, Dad!” I felt a swell of pride and happiness.
“Thanks, C. I’m really excited.” And for the first time in forever, he looked it.
“So where are we going? To see your new office?”
We were at a stoplight, and Dad looked over at me and smiled. “That’d be kind of a boring surprise for you, kid. Nah … actually … we’re here.”
Dad turned down a quiet, tree-lined street, and we came to a stop outside a small white-and-blue house.
“Is this … ?” I asked, afraid to hope.
He smiled. “To rent—at least at first. I finally signed the lease today. This was the place I was telling you about. It’s all ours.”
I felt a huge rush of joy. The house was perfect. “That’s awesome!”
“You don’t know the best part,” Dad added with a grin. “I made sure to check with the owner. She’s fine with cats and small dogs. I already paid the pet deposit.”
“That’s great,” I said truthfully. And it was. But even though I’d been wanting a dog forever
, in that moment I didn’t really want a dog. I wanted a specific dog: Potato. But he still belonged to the Chungs, even after what had happened at the dog show.
“Oh, sweetie, I know you had your heart set on Potato. But we’ll find you another great little guy. First, go on inside and check things out, yeah? Your aunt Pam is calling—she’s probably lost.” He held up his phone and turned away to answer it, but there was a glimmer of mischief in his expression that I couldn’t quite figure out.
I walked across the lawn, feeling excited for my dad, but a little wistful, too.
When I opened the door, Eric was standing in the middle of the empty room. He was holding a huge potted cactus. “I brought you something,” he said.
I smiled, remembering the cactus he had brought me the day he took Potato away from Orphan Paws. “Another one? Thank you,” I said, reaching for the plant.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said, moving closer. “But it’s not really the cactus that I was talking about.”
He moved aside and I saw that Potato was sitting behind him, wearing a little sign around his neck. My heart jumped. There were also about ten other pots with all sizes and colors of cactus arranged all around him. I knelt to read the message Eric had written on Potato’s sign in silver metallic pen.
There were just two words:
MAY DAY?
I looked up at Eric, grinning and blushing. So he’d just been waiting for a special way to ask me! “Yes, of course I’ll go with you!” I exclaimed. I was glad my dad was still outside because I couldn’t resist giving Eric a big hug and a quick kiss. He grinned.
“I’m glad,” he said. “I already got us the tickets. Oh, and there’s more. Look on the back of the sign.”
I flipped the card over, and there were two more words:
I’M YOURS.
My heart melted. “Eric, that’s so sweet,” I said.
He blushed. “I mean, it’s true. But see, that note is from someone else, too. It’s also from Potato.”
“What do you mean?” I asked slowly, not wanting to get my hopes up too high.
“Your dad said you are allowed to have a pet here. So, now … you have a pet here.”
