White Teeth Teens

25. Doggy in the Window

Friday is Dean's first game back on the field. It's another away game, though. The team wears their dark blue jerseys to school and Ben looks ridiculously cute. I tug at the white collar whenever I get a chance. After lunch, I slip a note into his pocket that reads: "Good luck! Run that team all over the place. xx Rory."

Liz and I drive to the animal shelter when school ends. She claims there's a new dog there that Garrett and Paige can't stop talking about.

Most of the dogs bark and claw at their doors as we enter the kennel, except for a fluffy black dog sitting quietly in the corner of its stall. The dog has white and brown markings on her face and a black tail that looks like it would seriously hurt if it whipped you in the face.

"This is Ellie," the shelter manager says. "We think she may be a Bernese Mountain Dog mix and she's about eleven months old."

"So she's still growing?" asks Paige, poking her finger through the metal door.

"That's correct!" The manager smiles. "She's so lovely. A couple decided that she was too much to handle, so they brought her to us."

"How so?" Liz asks.

"Too much dog for two people, I guess."

Liz scoffs and Garrett rolls his eyes. "What is wrong with people?"

"Can we say hi to her?" I ask.

The manager attaches Ellie's collar to a leash and takes her into the playroom as we follow behind. Everyone squats down on the floor as the manager unclips Ellie. She runs over to Paige first and rolls into her lap.

"Oh my god!" Paige coos, scratching Ellie's belly.

"Ellie!" I clap my thighs.

Ellie's ears prick up and she comes barreling at me. She sniffs all over my face as I run my fingers through her soft fur. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that my family was just talking about getting a dog. Ellie would be perfect!

I'm stuck with babysitting duty when I get home because Mom and Dad are going out to dinner, Dean's hanging out with friends after soccer, and Logan went to the movies with Selena.

While Mom and Dad get ready, I sit on the edge of their bed and I plead my case about Ellie. It goes in one ear, out the other.

"Leftovers are in the fridge," Mom says as she pokes a stud through her earlobe.

"But can't you at least consider it?" I beg.

Dad ignores me. He looks at his watch and tells Mom they're late. Maybe I can try again when they come back later, hopefully tipsy and more open to ideas.

Val calls me as I'm watching Disney Channel. "Allison's having boyfriend issues. We need a girl's night," says Val.

"Tonight?" I frown. I had toyed with the idea of inviting Ben over while my parents were out but I knew that if he actually came here, I'd be filled with too much guilt to even talk, let alone sneak up to my bedroom.

When Val says "Yes, tonight", I tell her I need to stay home incase Colin wakes up but they could come over.

"Be there soon!" she says and hangs up.

Ten minutes later, there's pounding on the front door. I open it and find Val and Allison both in Uggs, sweatpants, and a sweatshirt. Allison's face is all red and puffy. She pouts and opens her arms out, asking me for a hug.

"See, Al?" Val holds up the baby monitor displaying a sleeping Colin. "If Rory can do it, you can do it."

Allison pulls off an Ugg and throws it across the room at her. Val shrieks and ducks.

"Hey!" I whisper-shout. "Shhh!"

Allison covers her face with the hood of her sweatshirt and apologizes. This feels like déjà vu but the roles are reversed and this time the joke's on Allison.

"Oh no, please don't tell me you hooked up with my brother too," I say.

Allison's eyes go wide. "Oh my god. No way! I'd never."

"Thanks," Val says, slumping into a chair.

"Okay, so what is going on?"

Allison sits down on the couch with her legs pulled up to her chest. "I'm three days late. And when I told Fred today, he totally flipped out and he's a complete jerk and I hate him!" She wipes her eyes.

I hand her a box of tissues and Val says, "It's fine. You're not pregnant."

"I could be. I should've gone on stupid birth control but I didn't want my parents to know I was having sex!" Allison tugs at her hair. "So stupid!"

"Did you use a condom?" I ask.

Allison gives me a look. "Obviously."

"Periods come late sometimes," I say.

"My period is never late!

I didn't have this worry. There were too many other things on my mind about that summer night to even consider being pregnant.

"I can't have a child. I need to go to college!" Allison takes out her phone. "How much do you think an abortion is?"

Val snatches the phone from her. "Stop, Ally! You're being ridiculous."

"Why don't you take a test?" I suggest.

Val looks up at me, "She took one this afternoon and it was negative."

Allison whips her head around. "Tests can't tell that early, Val!" Her phone starts vibrating in Val's hand. It's a picture of her and Fred kissing.

"This is the eighth time he's called. You should answer," Val says. I nod in agreement.

Allison stands up and answers. "Hello?... Hi." She looks at us like "What do I say?" so I point towards the dining room where she can go have some privacy.

Val lies down on the couch and rubs her eyes with the heels of her hands. "She's being so dramatic. I told her not to have sex with him yet."

I pinch the end of my sleeve to feel the cotton fabric. "Have you had sex?"

"No. Have you?" She pushes up to sit. "Did you sleep with Ben?"

I shake my head quickly. "No, no. Of course not!" My heart is racing. Please don't ask me anymore about this.

She bites her lip. "Dean's had sex, hasn't he?"

Phew. I shrug. "Probably."

"You gave him my number?"

"Is that okay?"

She's trying not to smile. "Yeah, it's okay."

I knew she liked him.

"They won, by the way." Val holds up her phone to show me the text thread between her and Dean.

Shit, my phone's been charging this whole time! I leap over the couch and run to it on the counter. Ben texted me that they won and my brother scored twice.

Me: sorry, val and allison are over! Im so happy for u guys! Call u later?

Ben: have fun :) 

Allison walks out of the dining room with a dumb smile on her face. "He apologized," she announces. She sits between us on the couch and wraps her arms around us. "We're gonna name her Aurora."

"Who?" Val asks.

"The baby!"

Val and I roll our eyes and decide that whether Allison is either PMSing or pregnant, she's allowed to fulfill her chocolate craving. We raid my kitchen cabinets for ingredients to bake chocolate chip cookies, but we skip the baking part and eat almost all of the dough before my parents come home.