“He’s gone soft,” Kyle says.
“Yeah, gone to the dogs,” Justin agrees. The guys slowly drift out the door. It’s just me and Leo left now.
“You doing okay?” I ask.
“Yeah.” Leo sighs. “I guess we should have seen this coming.”
I nod. “By the way,” Leo says. “Did you talk to Carly yet?”
I tell him about going over to Carly’s place and about the race.
“Running? You? The man who’s—”
“Yeah, I know. The sweat thing. Carly and Buddy might run it with me.”
“What are you thinking, Turk? I know Carly’s into running. But, jeez, you said you’d do it too?”
“Yeah.”
Leo shakes his head. “So when is this race?”
“The end of June.”
“That’s just a few weeks away. How far do you have to run?”
“Five miles.”
Leo lets out his breath in a long, low whistle. “Are you gonna train?”
“I think I’d better.”
“Well first, how about a hot chocolate on our way home? This could be our last before you have a heart attack during that race.”
“Sure, Leo. I’ll buy, okay?”
When I phone the dogs’ owners, a lot of them say they want the guys to keep walking their dogs. But, as usual, that leaves me with Rowdy. So I end up doing what Ms. Kynsi told me to do way back in the beginning— starting small and doing the work myself.
And when it comes to Rowdy, the best way to burn all that energy is running. Plus it’s good training for Pets In The Park, which is just two days away.
Leo has almost stopped rolling his eyes when I leave the school in my running shoes. This is a lot for him to wrap his mind around.
“There’s still time to back out,” he tells me Friday afternoon at my locker.
“Nope.”
“Okay. I tried to warn you.”
“Yeah, I know. Hey, do you have any spare cash?”
“A bit,” Leo says. “Why? You up for a hot chocolate?”
“No. I’ve gotta run over and pick up Rowdy. But I was thinking I could use a few more sponsors for the race on the weekend.”
Leo groans, but he signs my pledge form and hands over five dollars.
“Seriously Leo, about this running. I still don’t understand why Carly’s so hooked on it. But I’m starting to think I might finish the race without dying.”
“Good for you. I still wouldn’t risk it.”
“Hey, I’m not looking forward to it either. But I’m in deep. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“No,” Leo shakes his head. “Spare me the gory details, okay?”
chapter fifteen
“You’re up early today,” Mom says. “And that’s good, because I’ve been thinking.”
This means trouble!
“We haven’t had any quality family time for a while. That last time—when we had all the dogs—I’m not sure that really counts.”
I cringe, remembering that night.
“So,” Mom continues, “I was thinking maybe today—”
“Not today,” I say. “You know that race you and Dad sponsored me for a while back?”
“Yes.”
“It’s this morning. Over at Hawrelak Park. Did you forget?”
Mom and Dad both jump. “No, of course not.”
What would the parenting magazines say about that?
“But you could help. Rowdy and I need a lift over to the park.”
Mom looks worried. She’s probably picturing Rowdy bouncing around inside her Mercedes.
“Come on,” I say. “It’ll be fun. And I’ve really missed our family time lately...”
Mom pauses. I can almost hear the wheels turning in her head. And I can almost see the headline from her parenting magazine: Learning to Meet Your Teen Halfway.
“Well, uh, I guess we could give you a ride. Let’s take your car, Mack.”
Mom keeps glancing back at Rowdy and me as we drive to Hawrelak Park. I try to keep Rowdy on the floor, but he jumps up on the backseat about a dozen times.
“Do you want us to stay?” Dad asks.
“No, it’s okay.”
The fewer people that see me puke or pass out during the race, the better!
I follow Dad’s gaze over to the parking lot where some dogs are sniffing around the cars. One has just lifted his leg to pee on a tire. That’s all that Dad needs to see before he’s happy to beat it out of here.
“Okay then. Will you need a lift home?”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
“Have a good run,” Mom says as I fumble out of the backseat with Rowdy.
I frantically look around for Carly and Buddy. There’s no sign of either of them. There’s just tons of dogs and tons of runners and tons of other people.
I notice that the runners have numbers pinned to their shirts. A guy with a German shepherd jogs past Rowdy and me.
“Hey! Where did you get the number for your shirt?”
“Over there.” He points up ahead. “At the registration tent.”
A man in an official-looking vest sees me. “You’d better get over there with your pledge form. The race is starting soon.”
“Here, pin this on,” the woman at the desk tells me. “Then hurry over to the start.”
I’m looking around for Carly the whole time. No luck.
The next thing I know, Rowdy and I are jammed into the starting area with the rest of the dogs and runners. While Rowdy bounces beside me, I take one last desperate look for Carly. There’s still no sign of her. Darn! I’d hoped she’d be here. That she might give me another chance. Not that I can blame her if she doesn’t.
“Go!”
The clock starts and everyone takes off. Rowdy and I run with the crowd. Even though we’ve barely started, I’m already breathing hard. This can’t be good!
Then suddenly, Carly and Buddy are beside us.
“Carly,” I pant out. “You’re here!”
She smiles. “Yeah. What did you think?”
“That I’d screwed up too bad,” I gasp, “and that you weren’t coming.”
“Well, I’m here.”
I’m so relieved that my knees nearly buckle underneath me.
A few minutes later, Carly asks, “How do you like your first race so far?”
“It’s okay.” I hope I don’t look like I’m in too much pain. “Rowdy and I are probably running way too slow for you and Buddy. You can go on ahead if you want.”
As I say this, I feel like I’m an early explorer, telling the rest of the crew to save themselves, and leave me here to die.
Then Carly smiles. “Okay. I’ll just step it up a notch. See you at the finish line.”
I watch as Carly’s stride lengthens. Moments later she’s moved up through the crowd with Buddy, and I can’t even see her ponytail bobbing.
“Yeah, see you at the finish line,” I say as I settle in for the long run ahead. “We’ll get there too. Right, Rowdy?”
For more titles in the Orca Currents series, please click here.
Dog Walker Page 6
