by Holly Webb
Ellie handed out the invitations as soon as she got to school. She really hoped Christy wouldn’t mind that hers was different. Lila had done her best, but it just wasn’t as special as the glittery ones Ellie had worked so hard on.
It was a pity that Christy had to see Lucy’s one, Ellie realized, as she watched her two friends excitedly tearing open their envelopes. Maybe she should have explained what had happened first.
Lucy beamed as she opened the envelope. “It’s so pretty! Did you make it?”
Ellie nodded.
Christy’s cheeks went pink as she looked over at Lucy’s invite. She quickly stuffed her own plain one into her bag. “I can come,” she muttered. “I already asked Mum.”
“That’s great!” Ellie tried to hug her, but Christy backed away.
“I’m just going to talk to Jessie and Lydia,” she said, then ran off across the playground.
Ellie stared after her, hardly hearing Lucy’s excited questions about the party.
Christy seemed really quiet all day. She didn’t hang around with Ellie and Lucy at all at break or lunch, just went straight off to play some energetic game with the others.
Ellie was worried Christy was upset about the invitation, but she didn’t want to abandon Lucy to go and ask. Maybe she was just imagining it? At least she and Christy were walking home together tonight, they could talk on their own then. But the day seemed to drag on forever.
After school, Ellie walked out with Lucy, who was chattering about her mum signing her up for the new ballet class. Christy trailed behind them.
Mum waved to them from the gate, and Rascal barked excitedly, jumping around on the end of his lead.
Ellie smiled. She couldn’t be miserable when she got a welcome like that. She hurried forward, and crouched down to hug him. Rascal licked her all over, and Ellie laughed, looking back to introduce him to Lucy.
“Lucy, this is my dog, Rascal!” Ellie took his lead from Mum – or tried to. It slipped through her fingers as Rascal saw Christy behind Lucy, and leaped up excitedly to say “hello”, with loud and joyful woofs.
Lucy screamed, and Ellie almost did too, she was so surprised. Rascal wasn’t being fierce, he just wanted to be friendly. Frightened, he slunk back to Ellie, and she grabbed a tight hold on his lead.
“He won’t hurt you,” she told Lucy. “He just saw Christy and wanted to say ‘hello’…” She trailed off. Lucy was so pale.
“I’d better go,” Lucy whispered. “There’s my mum. Bye, Ellie. Bye, Christy.”
Ellie looked at Christy in horror, but her best friend just shrugged.
Mum stared after Lucy worriedly. “Oh dear, was that your new friend? She’s not used to dogs, is she?”
Ellie sighed and nodded. “Come on, Rascal,” she murmured, pulling Christy with her. As soon as they’d got far enough ahead of Mum, she asked, “Are you upset with me? It was an accident about the invitation, I promise it was! I’d made you a really nice one, and Rascal spilled milk all over it.”
Christy nodded, but she didn’t look very convinced.
“You didn’t even talk to me today,” Ellie went on, hating the way her voice sounded whingey.
“You haven’t talked to me since Lucy came,” Christy muttered.
“I promised Mrs Harley I’d look after her!” Ellie cried.
“That doesn’t mean inviting her to your party!” Christy burst out.
Ellie stared at her, hurt. “But I like her…”
Christy glared back. “More than me?”
“No!” Ellie shook her head, and Rascal looked up, glancing between them anxiously. “Of course not!”
“Well, that’s what it looks like!” Christy snapped, and marched off down the road, slamming her garden gate behind her.
Ellie stared after her. Today was supposed to have been so special, and it was ruined – Christy was furious with her, and Lucy was scared of Rascal. How on earth was she supposed to have a fun birthday sleepover now?
As soon as she’d got home, Ellie had raced up to her bedroom and burst into tears. A few minutes later, Lila put her head round the door. “Mum said you’d had a row with Christy. Want to talk about it?”
Ellie sniffed, and told her what had happened with the invites.
“Don’t worry, Ellie. You’ve been friends with Christy since Reception,” Lila pointed out, sitting on the bed next to Ellie and hugging her. “She’ll get over it.”
“But my party!” Ellie wailed.
Lila frowned. “Perhaps you need to do something nice, just the two of you. Christy’s feeling left out because you want to be friends with Lucy, too.”
“Maybe I have been hanging around with Lucy a lot…” Ellie blew her nose. “But Christy’s still my best friend.”
“Prove it to her then.”
Ellie thought. “I could invite her to the park with me and Rascal at the weekend.”
“There you go. But try and find a time to ask her when it’s just you,” Lila suggested.
Ellie nodded. It would be tricky, but hopefully she could talk to Christy properly after school. Lucy was going to her first ballet class tomorrow.
It was torture sitting through a whole day next to a silent, miserable Christy. After school, Ellie waited behind her in the cloakroom, and put a hand on her arm.
Christy jumped. “You scared me!”
“Sorry. Christy, listen, I didn’t mean to upset you by being friends with Lucy.”
“It just seems like you’re with her all the time…” Christy muttered, as they walked out to the gate.
“Only because I offered to make her feel welcome. She’s nice, but you’re my best friend!” Ellie laughed. “And Rascal’s – look!”
Rascal barked delightedly as he saw them.
“Do you want to come to the park with me and Rascal on Saturday? And Bouncer too?” Ellie asked hopefully, as Rascal threw himself at her and Christy, whining and scrabbling at their knees.
“Yes. Yes, definitely!” Christy laughed and hugged Rascal, and smiled gratefully at Ellie, and then hugged her too.
“You don’t mind about me asking Lucy to the party?” Ellie asked anxiously.
Christy shook her head. “No, I was just being stupid. She’s nice.”
But Ellie watched Rascal worriedly as he jumped around. She was friends with Christy again, and that was fab, but what was she going to do about Lucy? How could Lucy come to her sleepover party if she was terrified of Rascal?
Ellie had been practising letting Rascal off the lead and calling him back in the garden, and she was feeling pretty hopeful about their trip to the park with Christy and Bouncer on Saturday. Jo had suggested that everyone practised calling their dogs lots – even indoors – and then making a big fuss and giving them a treat when they came. Ellie was sure that Rascal understood what “Come!” meant, and she’d been using his favourite squeaky bone to encourage him to come, too. The park close to her house was one where dogs were allowed to be off-lead as long as they were under control. Ellie was really looking forward to letting Rascal run around with Bouncer without worrying about him getting all tangled up in his lead.
“Jo said we had to make sure our puppies come even if they are distracted, so I got Max to throw a ball around at the other end of the garden. He still came back to me!” Ellie told Christy proudly. “The only thing is we haven’t been able to practise with other dogs around. I think if there are lots I might not let him off – just in case.”
Christy nodded. “You can never tell with some dogs, whether they’re going to be friendly or not. And some owners aren’t even looking!”
They’d deliberately come to the park early in the morning, so it was quite empty, and after a good run around to wear off some of Rascal’s energy, Ellie unclipped his lead. She was trying to feel confident – she knew that if she sounded worried when she called Rascal, he’d pick up on it and be naughty. Rascal looked up at her curiously, as though he wasn’t really sure he was allowed to go.
Ellie smiled. “Off you go! Chase Bouncer!” She let Rascal run about with Bouncer for a bit, and then decided she’d call him back just to make sure he came – then she could make a fuss of him. Jo had explained how important it was to make the recall fun. Ellie watched carefully, picking a moment when Rascal was running in her direction anyway, to make it easier for him to do as he was told.
“Rascal! Rascal! Come!” she called loudly, trying to sound as though she was certain he’d obey her.
Rascal raced towards her eagerly, and Ellie laughed in delight. “Good boy, Rascal! Yay!” She patted him lovingly, and gave him one of the little bone-shaped biscuits he loved.
“He’s got so much better,” Christy said admiringly.
Ellie beamed at her. “He’s a star.”
She’d brought Max’s Frisbee, which Rascal loved to chase in the garden. Here in the park they’d be able to throw it much further, without worrying about it going over the fence. Rascal was so excited when he saw her pull it out of her rucksack that he barked non-stop.
Ellie laughed. “OK, ready?” She hurled the yellow Frisbee across the park, and Rascal set off after it like a little brown and white bullet, then launched himself into a huge leap to catch it out of the air.
“Wow, he is good,” Christy said, as Rascal galloped back across the park, stopping every so often to give the Frisbee a really good shake. He brought it back to Ellie, and stood there with his tail wagging hopefully.
Ellie took it back – avoiding the slobbery side – and threw it for him again. The Frisbee curled out across the park, and Rascal raced away. It was only then that Ellie noticed the cyclist riding along the path. It was a boy about their age. He was riding really fast, and Ellie realized with horror that Rascal was going to cut straight across his path. Rascal only had eyes for the Frisbee, and the cyclist wasn’t looking for small dogs coming at him sideways.
“Rascal! Rascal! COME!” Ellie shouted, but she knew she hadn’t a chance – Rascal was concentrating on the Frisbee, and he went on running straight for the bike.
The boy on the bike saw Rascal at the very last minute, and pulled up with a screech of brakes, the bike twisting round and falling over sideways – with him underneath.
Ellie gave a horrified gasp, and she and Christy ran to help.
As the boy struggled out from under his bike, he murmured, “Hi, Ellie. Hey, Christy.”
“Josh! Are you OK?” Ellie gazed down at him in surprise – it was one of the boys from their class. She helped Christy pick up his bike. “You’re not hurt, are you? I’m so sorry – Rascal was chasing his Frisbee, I don’t think he even saw you.”
“I’m fine,” said Josh, as he slowly got to his feet.
Meanwhile, Rascal had come trotting back, the Frisbee dangling from his mouth. He spat it out at Ellie’s feet. She picked him up, her heart thumping. It looked like he and Josh had had a narrow escape.
“I thought I was going to hit him,” Josh admitted. “That’s why I pulled up so fast.”
“It’s OK, it was my fault,” Ellie told him shakily, clipping on Rascal’s lead again. “I’m just really glad you’re not hurt. See you on Monday, anyway.”
Josh pedalled off, looking a bit wobbly, and Ellie and Christy exchanged glances.
“I think that’s enough practice for now,” said Christy. “Let’s go home!”
At dog-training on Monday evening Jo was really impressed with Ellie and Rascal’s recall, and stopped her after the class to make a fuss of Rascal.
“But we tried it in the park, and he nearly got run over by a bike,” Ellie admitted. She explained about the Frisbee, and Jo nodded. “That just sounds to me like bad luck. Rascal’s done really well, but there was no way he was going to come back in the middle of fetching his toy. You need to keep practising, that’s all.”
Rascal wagged his tail, as though he thought Jo was right.
“I was going to ask you, is there any way I can stop Rascal jumping up at people?” Ellie asked hopefully. “I’m having some friends round for my birthday, and one of them, Lucy, is nervous around dogs.
Rascal jumped up before and she got really upset.” Ellie sighed. “He was only being friendly. I don’t see how anyone could be scared of him!”
“Your friend probably can’t help it,” Jo said. “The tricky thing is that dogs can sense when people are nervous, and sometimes it makes them worse!” She looked down at Rascal thoughtfully. “This is going to sound weird, but the best thing to do is ignore him when he jumps up at you. If you give him any attention, it’s only going to make him more excited. Turn your back on him and walk away. And if he sees you and doesn’t jump up, reward him for it, but you’ve got to be calm, or he might get excited and jump up again. I’m sorry, Ellie, it’s not something you can cure overnight. Could you shut him in a different room while your friend is round?”
Ellie sighed, and nodded. She supposed it was the obvious answer, but she’d really wanted Rascal to be part of her birthday.
That week at school Ellie and her friends spent every spare moment planning the sleepover.
“Are we going to watch a DVD?” Lydia asked at break on Wednesday, and Ellie blinked worriedly. She hadn’t actually thought about what they were going to do. “I’m still thinking,” she said quickly.
Ellie went back into class frowning. A DVD… That was what everybody did.
“What’s the matter?” Christy hissed, while Mrs Harley was fiddling with the interactive whiteboard.
“I want to think of something really fun to do at the party,” Ellie whispered back, glancing between Christy and Lucy.
Christy frowned thoughtfully. “Would Max let us use his PlayStation?”
Ellie shrugged. “It isn’t really his, it belongs to all of us, it’s just usually Max who plays on it. But would it be that fun?”
Lucy poked Ellie’s arm excitedly. “I’ve got this great dance game! Where you all have to dance along with the people on the screen, and you sing as well!”
“I love karaoke!” Christy whispered. “And you can teach us the dancing, Lucy!”
Ellie beamed – she felt like dancing round the classroom right then, only she couldn’t because they were supposed to be in the middle of literacy. Lucy and Christy were getting on together, and her party was actually starting to sound like fun!
Max had (very grumpily) agreed that Ellie and the others could use the PlayStation, but there were lots of other things on Ellie’s perfect party list.
Number one was getting Rascal to behave around Lucy. Ellie had grabbed the chance to talk to her at lunch on Thursday, when Christy was at tennis club. She didn’t want to embarrass Lucy.
“Are you going to be OK at my house? With Rascal there, I mean?” Ellie asked carefully.
Lucy looked down at her feet. “I’ll try. I just get scared when dogs jump up.”
Ellie nodded. She’d been practising Jo’s special method, but it wasn’t going very well. When she walked away from Rascal he ran round her in circles. Last night she’d ended up tripping over him twice.
“He’s very friendly,” she told Lucy.
Her friend nodded sadly. “I know. He’s really sweet. I just can’t help it.”
“Don’t worry,” said Ellie. “I can shut him in the kitchen.”
Lucy gave her a grateful look, and Ellie smiled at her, but inside she couldn’t help wishing there was another way.
“Happy birthday, Ellie!” Grandad was almost hidden behind an enormous present.
“Thanks, Grandad.” Ellie beamed, taking the parcel. She had no idea what it could be. Her birthday present list, which she’d given to Grandad, Grandma and Auntie Gemma, as well as Mum and Dad, had been quite short. All she could think of were new dog books, fun craft stuff and toys for Rascal. Mum and Dad had surprised her with a fantastic camera, the first one she’d ever had of her own. It already had about thirty pictures of Rascal on it. But so far her favourite present was Auntie Gemma’s – a set of dog bowls to paint herself. She
was really looking forward to decorating them with Rascal’s name.
“Anyone would think you liked dogs, Ellie.” Max had smirked, as she opened her presents.
“What is it?” said Ellie. The parcel felt squishy and was strangely light.
Grandad laughed. “Open it and see!”
Ellie sat down at the kitchen table, which was already covered in wrapping paper and bits of ribbon, as well as a pile of opened presents. It was so nice that her birthday was on a Saturday this year, and she didn’t have to rush off to school. And Mum was making pancakes for breakfast – her favourite.
Rascal was enjoying Ellie’s birthday, too. Standing with his paws on a chair, he nibbled the wrapping paper. He loved the way it crinkled. He then sniffed the pile of presents, and tugged at the ear of a big pink fluffy rabbit. It smelled good, and it looked chewy.
“Oh, that’s lovely.” Mum laughed as Ellie showed her Grandad’s present – a blue cushion with a photo of Rascal’s face on it. “Did you get it printed?”
“Yes, at that T-shirt place. Do you like it?”
Ellie nodded, as Lila came over to have a look. “It’s such a nice photo of Rascal!”
“I thought you could put it on the window seat in your room.” Grandad beamed. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to have breakfast,” he said, getting to his feet. “All ready for the party then?”
Max groaned, and Mum frowned at him. “Don’t, Max. Just be grateful you hadn’t already gone to stay at Lewis’s, or you might have caught his bug, and you’d be throwing up too.”
