Behind The Mask

Chase's Past Part 4

 "Sorry I'm late!" Archie soon returned, bringing fair amounts of food, panting also. It seemed like he ran all the way back here.

"No problem, but please tell me to bring healthy meals for the little dude." Lucky said.

"C'mon Lucky, it looks like he's been working all day. No matter what, he needs to fuel up."

"It's Chase."

Everyone turned to the young German Shepherd.

"What?" Archie was confused.

"My name...I-It's Chase." Chase said softly. It quickly took a second for Archie to process and form a grin on his face.

"Chase, huh? Nice name." Archie complimented and set the food in front of Chase, revealing cooked meat and some regular dog food.

Chase just stared at the meal in shock, as if he was walking to the stairway of heaven. Without wasting a second, Chase quickly destroyed the food, shocking the three older dogs.

"Jeez, talk about having a large appetite." Lucky sweated.

But, Archie noticed the way Chase tackled the food. It was like he hasn't eaten for quite some time. Before he knew it, Chase had finished the food.

"T-Thanks for the food." Chase said with a nervous laugh and a blush as he licked his lips and rubbed his stomach.

"Haha, you really enjoyed it, huh?" Arya asked, even though surprised by Chase's action, she was still glad that the young puppy enjoyed the food.

"Yeah, I did." Chase said, making the three dogs laugh.

"I'm glad you did. Now with that outta the way. Can you answer some questions for us please?" Archie asked as he sat down. Chase gulped as he figured what he was going to question.

"S-Sure." Chase stuttered as he, Arya and Lucky also sat down.

"I hope you don't mind, but how long has it been since you've eaten?" Archie asked. Chase suddenly sweated at the question, he quickly tried to figure something out so the dogs wouldn't suspect him.

"I-I haven't eaten anything after...d-dinner yesterday, so that's basically it." Chase stuttered between his lies and nervously chuckled.

"But, I thought you said you and your parents were broke. How are you able to afford food?" Lucky asked, which made Chase nervous once again.

"W-Well, my parents work extra hard to get a little more money so they can put food on the table. So that's why." Chase explained.

"Wow, your parents really seem amazing. I bet you look up to them." Arya complimented his parents with an oblivious cheerful smile.

"Y-Yeah, they really do work hard and I try to be just like them." Chase said, trying his hardest not to cringe at that lie. The three dogs smiled, but Archie felt a little un-satisfied with that answer for some reason. Why do I feel like he's not telling the truth Archie thought, but quickly shrugged it off.

"So...how much are you gonna earn with that?" Archie asked and pointed at the batch of logs that had been wrapped up.

"Um...I get...five dollars." Chase lied, making all three of the dogs look at him suspiciously.

"Five dollars? With all of that wood, it sounds like a rip-off." Lucky said.

"He's kind of right. Chopping wood probably isn't easy, you should earn more for that type of job." Arya added.

"W-Well, sometimes, when I bring more than what I have right now, sometimes the prices would get higher." Chase said, trying to make everything seem alright. He then looked up at the sky and saw that the sun had passed mid-day.

"Uh, I should probably go." Chase said, surprising the three dogs by standing up and picking up the batch of wood on his back.

"Hold on, that seems a bit heavy, do you want one of us to help you carry that?" Archie asked, offering his help. Chase seemed a little bit surprised, because of the fact that he has never been asked that before.

"Thank you, but I can handle it." Chase politely declined and slowly walked away from the three dogs.

"What a strange pup." Lucky commented and Arya looked over at her boyfriend and noticed a look on his face.

"Archie...is everything okay?"

That question made Lucky also look at Archie and noticed the look he was giving towards the way that Chase left.

"I don't know. I feel like he's hiding something from us." Archie said, referring to Chase. But that sentence made Lucky chuckle a little bit.

"Oh, come on Archie. What does a pup like that have to hide?" Lucky said, making both Archie and Arya frown at him.

"Wait, that didn't sound right. Sorry, but you know what I mean. The biggest problem with him is that he and his parents are broke, and they're able to manage by just a tiny bit. I don't know what he could be hiding more than that." Lucky reasoned.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess you'd be right. I don't see what else he could be hiding when he told us everything that's going on." Arya slightly agreed.

Archie didn't respond to it though, only sighed.

"I mean, it's not like there's anything going on at home. Chase has great parents, just like we and everybody around here does. I think that's more important than anything." Lucky said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Archie sighed in defeat.

"Anyway, let's go before our parents get worried." Archie then said and both of them nodded, following Archie out of the forest.

But unbeknownst to them, Chase was hiding behind a tree, listening to their conversation the whole time.

Have a great family, just like everybody else Chase thought. He was right. He was the only pup going through something different, caused by his parents. If I admit what's going on, how would others react? I'll be judged and left out and probably...Chase couldn't even finish those thoughts as they were too violent. He needs to blend in with the other people.

Chase then shook his head, he needed to focus back on his work and carried the wood.

But much to his dismay, he only received a smaller amount of pennies. Chase went to the shopkeeper and tried to buy some of the liquor, but the keeper denied it.

"Sorry, pup. But this is way too little for anything at all." He denied and Chase began fearing for his life.

"N-No, please! You have to give me something. I can't go home empty handed." Chase begged, his eyes began to water and dropped his head down.

"I said beat it!" The shopkeeper yelled, and used his leg to kick Chase away. Luckily he didn't do it too hard, but it wasn't a light kick either. Chase's body slid through the floor and got up, facing the shopkeeper.

"Come back when you have more money!"

And just like that, the door slammed.

Chase looked down on his paw, revealing all of his earnings he made today. And even when he worked so hard and brought lots of wood.

It still wasn't enough.