Cute as a Button

by Chloe Taylor

  “Just this once,” Marcus teased. “Don’t get used to it. Wanna get Draper in his outfit while I finish cleaning up?”

  Draper’s tail kept wagging and wagging . . . until Zoey tried to put the outfit on him. Then it drooped, and Draper squirmed in Zoey’s arms.

  “What, you don’t like Zoey’s clothes?” Marcus asked. “What kind of spokesdog are you, Draper?”

  “He’s the best spokesdog ever!” Zoey said, trying again to put the outfit on the not-particularly-cooperative dog. “Because good spokesdogs get lots of . . . treats!”

  As soon as he heard the word “treats,” Draper stood at attention, allowing Zoey to finish buttoning the outfit. Then he trotted over to the counter where the treat tin stood and pointed his nose in the air.

  Marcus laughed. “Draper is definitely Pavlov’s dog,” he said.

  “Who’s Pablo?” Zoey asked.

  “Not Pablo. Pavlov. He was a Russian guy who did these experiments about dogs and how they’re conditioned to respond to things. Like when you say the T word, Draper is conditioned to go over to where he knows the T-R-E-A-T tin is located.”

  “That’s not conditioning. That’s just because Draper’s brilliant. Right, best spokesdog ever?” Zoey crooned, scratching behind Draper’s ears. He wagged his tail and barked in the direction of the treat tin.

  “I’ll give you one now, but you have to perform for the camera before you get the rest,” Zoey said, giving him a treat and putting some extras in her pocket.

  Marcus and Zoey went out into the backyard, followed by Draper, whose nose was trained in the direction of Zoey’s pocket.

  “Okay, I’ll stand over here,” Marcus said, walking across the yard so he wasn’t shooting into the sun. “You get him to run toward the camera.”

  Zoey moved to just behind Marcus’s left shoulder.

  “Come here, Draper!” she called to the dog, who was sniffing the base of an ornamental maple tree.

  He turned to look at her, but didn’t come. Instead, he lifted his leg and relieved himself.

  Marcus started laughing.

  “Best spokesdog ever!” he said. “Right.”

  “You better edit that out,” Zoey warned him.

  “Don’t worry. I will,” Marcus promised.

  “Draper! Here, boy!” Zoey called again.

  Draper started ambling slowly in Zoey’s direction.

  “Can you get him to look a little more enthusiastic?” Marcus asked. “He looks like he’s half asleep!”

  “He’s old!” Zoey protested. Still, she reached into her pocket for a treat and held it out to Draper on the palm of her hand. “C’mon, boy! Treat!”

  As soon as he heard the magic word, Draper’s ears pricked up, and he switched gears from amble to lumber. Zoey encouraged him to move even faster by repeating the T word over and over. By the time Draper reached her, he’d almost made it to a trot.

  “Good boy!” Zoey told him, giving him the treat.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘frolicking,’ but it’s probably the best we’re going to get from an old boy like Draper,” Marcus said.

  They repeated the exercise a few more times, so Marcus could get additional footage. But once Draper realized Zoey had run out of treats, he lost all interest in the proceedings and flopped down onto the grass in protest.

  Marcus reviewed the video he had. “It’s okay. I think we’ve got enough of this,” he said.

  Zoey, who was looking over Marcus’s shoulder at his phone’s screen, started laughing.

  “Look at him! He’s so cute with his ears bouncing.”

  “I know.” Marcus walked over and patted Draper’s head. “Come on. Let’s get him leashed up and take him for walkies, so I can get some footage of that.”

  Draper perked up when he heard “walkies,” another of his magic words. He didn’t jump up—the arthritis in his poor old legs made it too hard for him to do that—but Zoey knew if he could have jumped, he would have. Instead, he struggled to his feet, ungainly but dignified.

  Zoey went inside to get his leash from the counter and then hooked it up to his collar.

  “Okay, Draper. Let’s go and show off your outfit to the neighborhood!” she said.

  Marcus walked ahead of them backward, filming them walking down the street. Zoey made sure to tell Marcus when he was about to bump into someone’s mailbox or trip over a dip in a driveway. As if on cue, someone approached, walking an Italian greyhound.

  “I love your dog’s outfit,” she said. “Where did you get it? Roxy would look adorable in that.”

  “I made it,” Zoey said.

  “Seriously? You should start a business,” the dog owner said. “I bet you could sell a lot of those. Just precious.”

  “Funny you should say that,” Marcus said, keeping the camera rolling. “Check out Zoey’s Myfundmaker page—she’s launching a project to sell them.”

  “Great!” the dog owner exclaimed. “What’s the name of your project?”

  “Um . . . ,” Zoey said, looking at Marcus in a panic. She hadn’t gotten around to thinking of a catchy name yet.

  “Doggie Duds!” he said without missing a beat.

  “I’ll be sure to look out for it,” the dog owner said. “Roxy definitely wants one of those outfits. Don’t you, Rox?”

  Roxy, who had been sniffing around the back of Draper’s outfit, looked up and wagged her tail.

  “See? She does! We’ll be looking for your Doggie Duds online!” the owner said as she walked off with her dog.

  Marcus pressed pause on the video and gave Zoey a high five.

  “Wow. We couldn’t have paid someone to be a better advertisement!” he said.

  “How did you come up with that name on the spur of the moment?” Zoey asked. “My mind was a total blank!”

  “What can I say? Pure genius,” Marcus said.

  “Okay, don’t get too carried away,” Zoey said. “Otherwise your head won’t fit back through the front door.”

  “Speaking of which, that’s where we should go. Back through the front door. I want to do a little ‘What was your inspiration for this project?’ interview with you, and my director’s vision tells me it should be at your worktable,” Marcus explained.

  Zoey understood creative vision, but she couldn’t help teasing her brother. “Where’s your director’s chair?”

  “Ha, ha, ha,” Marcus said. “We’ll see how hard you’re laughing when my awesome video gets your project funded. Come on, we have Oscar-worthy work to do!”

  Marcus had Zoey sit at her sewing table, making sure that her dressmaker’s dummy, Marie Antoinette, was visible behind her. Then he experimented by moving the light around until he was satisfied.

  “Okay, here we go,” Marcus said. “Doggie Duds interview, take one. What was your inspiration?”

  “Well, I guess the inspiration was my aunt’s dog, Draper, who stays with us when she travels on business. He was keeping me company while I was designing people clothes, and I decided I should design him something too.”

  “Some duds of his own?” Marcus asked.

  “That’s right. And then when we went out for a walk, people starting asking me where I bought Draper’s outfit, because they wanted to buy one for their dog.”

  “Leading to the creation of the Doggie Duds project.”

  Being interviewed by Marcus was actually kind of fun, Zoey thought. Because he was her brother, she wasn’t nervous, not the way she was when she was on Fashion Showdown or when she was interviewed for the online version of Très Chic. It was just like hanging out and chatting with Marcus, except he was filming her with his phone.

  “That was fun,” she told him when they finished. “Seriously, thanks, Marcus. It’s really great of you to do this.”

  “Anything to help my little sis launch her megaempire. It was fun for me too. Just promise you’ll let me do all the music for your runway shows when you’re some famous fashion mogul.”

  “It’s a deal!” Z
oey said. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

  Draper came over and put his head on Marcus’s knee.

  “Draper wants in on this deal,” Marcus said. “He says he wants five percent of the profits, payable in dog T-R-E-A-T-S, for being the inspiration and spokesdog.”

  “That’s pretty steep,” Zoey said. “I need money to buy fabric.”

  “Draper drives a tough bargain,” Marcus said, petting Draper’s ears, “but maybe I can convince him to negotiate.”

  They were still laughing and negotiating over Draper’s cut when Mr. Webber came home for dinner.

  “Do you want to come over for a sleepover on Saturday?” Kate asked Zoey on the bus the next morning. “We haven’t had one in a while. Priti already said she can come.”

  “Sure,” Zoey said. “I just have to check with Dad tonight.”

  That night at dinner, when she asked her dad about the sleepover, he said, “Sure. Actually, that will work out well.”

  “What do you mean ‘work out well’?” Zoey asked.

  Her father fidgeted with his fork and then put it down resolutely.

  “There’s something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you both,” he said.

  Zoey and Marcus gave each other a What’s this all about look.

  “You know how much I loved . . . will always love . . . Mom, right?” Dad asked them.

  “Yeah . . . ,” Marcus said.

  Zoey just nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

  “It’s been ten years since she passed, and . . . to be honest, I’ve always been too busy looking after you guys and working to even think about it.” He took a deep breath. “But someone at work has a friend he thinks I’d really get along well with so . . . he set me up on a, you know, date.”

  Wait. Dad is going on a DATE?

  “Look, I know you might have some, you know, feelings about this, so you can ask me any questions you want,” Dad said. “And it’s just a date. I’m rusty at this stuff, so it’s not like I’m going to be rushing into anything.”

  Zoey definitely had feelings. Shock was the first one. Dad had never dated, ever. Did this mean she was going to end up with a stepmom? She liked things the way they were, just her, Dad, and Marcus. How would it be to add another person in the house? Stepmothers were always evil in fairy tales. Zoey knew those were just fairy tales, but still . . .

  She needed to know more about this . . . lady.

  “What’s her name?” Zoey asked.

  “Cara Richards.”

  “Does she have kids?” Marcus asked.

  Zoey hadn’t even thought of that. What if her dad married this Cara Richards lady, and she ended up with stepsisters and they had to share a room and she had to get rid of her workspace? Even worse, what if the stepsibling turned out to be someone like Ivy Wallace, the meanest girl at Mapleton Prep?

  “She has a son and a daughter,” Dad said. “I think the son is a year or two younger than you, Marcus, and the daughter is the same age as Zoey.”

  Zoey had a vision of her worktable and Marie Antoinette being carried out of her room to make space for a future stepsister’s bed. It was a vision she didn’t like at all.

  But then she remembered how many times Dad had seemed sad when he came home from parents’ night, because he was there by himself. How she’d overheard him talking to Aunt Lulu once about how lonely it felt being a single dad. As much as Zoey didn’t want things to change, she didn’t want her dad to be lonely.

  “Where are you going to take her?” Zoey asked.

  “I don’t know. I was thinking about the Jukebox,” Dad said. “The food is good, and it’s not too loud, so you can actually have a conversation. What do you think?”

  “It’s okay,” Zoey said. “But it’s not really datey. You should take her to that place with the fish tank. . . . What’s it called?”

  “Aquaterra,” Marcus said. “Yeah, that place is much more date-worthy.”

  “Good idea,” Dad said. “Like I said, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.”

  He looked at Marcus, then at Zoey. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  “I guess,” Marcus said.

  Zoey shrugged and nodded.

  But as she went upstairs to her room after dinner, she still wasn’t sure if she wanted Dad’s date to go well so he’d be happier, or for him to have total date fail so that everything in her life could stay exactly the way it was.

  Chapter 5

  No Puparazzi

  Some entrepreneur I am! I didn’t even realize that all the most successful projects have videos to explain what they’re about and to get pledgers interested. But luckily for me, Marcus a.k.a. The Best Brother in the World (and he didn’t even pay me to say that!) not only told me about it, but also offered to shoot and edit the video for me. He’s just sooooooo awesome. (Okay, he might have paid me to add the last part. J/k!)

  Draper is the star of the campaign, which makes sense because he was the inspiration for Doggie Duds. That’s the name of the project; again thanks to brilliant and witty (!!) Marcus, who thought of it on the spur of the moment when my mind was a total blank. In honor of Draper’s stardom, I designed him a red carpet outfit. I can’t wait to earn enough money to make it. We’ll have to call him Dapper Draper.

  I’m really excited to launch the Myfundmaker campaign, but I’m also nervous. I’ve got mixed feelings about some other stuff too. Things might be changing around here. I know change doesn’t mean bad; sometimes change can be for the better, like when Ms. Austen started as the new head at Mapleton Prep and we didn’t have to wear uniforms anymore. But what happens if they change for the worse?

  When Mr. Webber came downstairs dressed for his date on Saturday night, Zoey was horrified.

  “You’re wearing that?” she exclaimed.

  Her father looked down at the crumpled pants, polo shirt, and sweater he had on.

  “What’s the matter with what I’m wearing?” he asked, looking confused.

  Zoey shook her head.

  “Dad, Dad . . . this is what happens when all you watch is sports,” she said. “You can’t go out on a date in that. Especially a first date.”

  “Are you going to tell me what I am supposed to wear?” Dad asked.

  “Come on,” Zoey said, heading for the stairs. “It’s time for the Webber version of Fashion Police, starring Jack and Zoey Webber.”

  “Now I’m really nervous,” her father said.

  “You should be more nervous about showing up on a date dressed like that,” Zoey said. “I haven’t ever been on a date, but even I know you have to dress to impress.”

  Mr. Webber laughed. “Okay, Fashion Police. Sentence me to a better outfit.”

  Zoey went into her dad’s closet and picked out a pair of dark jeans, a crisp oxford shirt, a tweed jacket, and a pair of polished loafers.

  Her dad went into the bathroom to change, and when he came out, he gave a little twirl. “What’s the verdict, Officer?”

  “So much better!” Zoey exclaimed. “Now you look like a cool dad instead of a dork dad.”

  Her dad looked at himself in the mirror that hung on the inside of the closet door.

  “You know what? I feel cooler too,” he said. He came and sat on the bed next to Zoey. “Zo, I’m really nervous about tonight. It’s been so long, I think I’ve forgotten how to do the whole dating thing.”

  “You’ll be fine, Dad,” Zoey said, giving him a hug. “Just remember what you always tell me—be yourself, and she’s sure to like you.”

  “I give good advice, don’t I?” her dad said. “Maybe I should start listening to myself.” He held her hand. “Listen, Zo, are you sure you’re okay with this? You know, me going out on a date?”

  “I guess,” Zoey said. “I mean, I sort of have mixed feelings about it.”

  “I sort of have mixed feelings about it too,” he said. “Let’s just see how it goes. It’s only dinner.”

  “But what if you really like her and th
en you get married and I have a stepsister and we have to share a room and I don’t have any room for Marie Antoinette and my sewing machine and—” Zoey blurted.

  “Whoa there, honey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Even if I think this lady is the bee’s knees, I won’t rush into anything,” Dad said, patting Zoey’s leg for reassurance. “Remember, you and Marcus are still my number-one priority. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Zoey said. “Have a good time, Dad. And try not to tell too many corny jokes.”

  Mr. Webber laughed. “Got it. I’ll only tell asparagus-y jokes. Okay?”

  Priti was already over at the Mackey house when Zoey walked over there for the sleepover. Zoey had gone excavating for fashion treasures in Kate’s closet and found a beading set Kate had asked for in a rare display of interest in something other than sports gear. Except it had been gathering dust in the closet ever since Mrs. Mackey bought it, and Kate’s mom kept nagging her to do some beading.

  “Look at all these amazing beads!” Priti exclaimed. “I can’t believe this has just been sitting in your closet! We have to make something.”

  “Stop, you sound just like Mom!” Kate groaned.

  “It would be fun to make something,” Zoey said, eyeing the beads longingly. She touched the sticks and stones bracelet on her wrist, the one from her fashion fairy godmother, Fashionsista.

  “What if we made matching BFF bracelets? We could pick beads that represent each of us and create a pattern,” Kate suggested.

  “I love it!” Priti exclaimed.

  “It’s a miracle,” Kate said. “You’ve managed to get me excited about beading!”

  Zoey laughed. “Let’s choose our colors before you lose steam,” she said.

  “I pick gold,” Kate said, “because someday I want to win a gold medal in the Olympics.”

  Priti surveyed the selection of beads. “This one is perfect for me,” she said, picking up a rose gold one. “Because it’s got bling, but the rose color is warm and sunny.”