Dog Boy

33

School was starting to feel a little bit less anxiety inducing. Jackie was doing a lot better, thankfully. She even had the confidence to walk around without her hood up. While non-canis people were by no means comfortable around us, most people seemed to have gotten past the initial shock. The constant feeling of being stared at like a creature in a zoo was subsiding, replaced by occasional passing glances. I still didn't like it, but it was an encouraging sign that things were improving.

During lunch we made sure that everything was ready for the first meeting of our club. The school had apparently sent out an email to all the canis students about it, so we hoped to get a good turn out.

After the bell rang for the last period of the day, I made my way swiftly to our designated classroom. It was one of the art rooms, and we were offered it partially because the art teacher, Mrs. Anderson, was also canis. When I got there, I found a nice little poster outside saying "Welcome to the Canis Club," with little drawings of paws. Inside, Jackie and Sadie were already there moving tables.

"Just make sure that when you're done you line the tables back up," Mrs. Anderson said. "There's strips of tape on the floor with the table number written on them."

Mrs. Anderson appeared to be some kind of dark colored labrador. Labradors seemed to be one of the more common canis breeds, along with golden retrievers.

"Alright," Sadie said, "thanks again for letting us use your room."

"Oh it's not much trouble," she said. "I have an open period at the end of the day on Friday to get all my work done, so you guys are free to use my room."

"Thanks," I said, setting down my backpack. I went over to Jackie and gave her a quick kiss.

"Well I appreciate what you're all doing for your fellow canis students," Mrs. Anderson said. "You seem to be holding up well, but I know that a lot of them... they need some friends."

"And I think a lot just need a break," Jackie said.

Mrs. Anderson nodded. "Well good luck to you all, let me know how it goes."

We waved bye to her as she walked out the door. A moment later, Aidan walked into the room. He was carrying a laundry basket full of board games, and had a cheerful expression.

"Woah," Sadie chuckled as he dropped them down on a table, "that's a lot."

"Yeah," I said, "you sure we're even going to have that many people?"

Aidan shrugged, and laughed. "I could've brought a lot more. I'm not passing up an opportunity to rope people into playing some of my games."

I walked over and examined some of them - they all looked to be kind of intense strategy games.

"Uhhh," I said, a bit uncertain.

"Don't worry," Aidan smiled. He opened his backpack, pulling out more games, these ones in smaller boxes and looking a lot more casual. "Like I said, I could've gotten more. Next week I'll maybe load up my car with another basket."

I laughed. "We'll have to see. I'll be happy if even just a few people come."

I felt my tablet buzz in my pocket, and found a text from Douglas asking a few people to come outside and help bring in the pizzas. I recruited Jackie, and we left the classroom and made our way outside to the parking lot.

When we got to Douglas's truck, I ran my hand through my hair, a little bit overwhelmed.

"That's... a lot of pizza," Jackie said as she looked into the back of the truck.

I got a whiff of it, and as always, the smell permeated my canine senses. I suddenly realized I was very hungry.

Douglas smiled. "The school gave us money, we might as well use it. Load up."