Changing

Chapter 3; another year

Camm darted out the back door to the sight of mum and dad prying the two dogs off each other. As soon as Tikky saw a glimpse of Camm, she ran up to her like a little lost puppy. As she came closer, Camm could see blood dripping from her mouth, staining the wood on the patio. Camm was shaking so bad, she had never witnessed anything like this before. She drug Tikky over to her water bowl, directing her to gulp the water and wash out her mouth. It wasn't much use.

Nelly had finally risen from her slumber and walked out to explore the scene. Once she saw Coco walking up the patio, mum a firm hold of her collar, Nelly'a eyes widened and darted to see if she was alright. As the dog came closer to Nelly, Camm could see scratch marks on the side of her rib cage.

"It must have been from Tikky protecting herself, " mum exclaimed. "She looked very aggravated with Coco. She's just a puppy, she wanted to play, but Tikky did not. So she warned her off but Coco took it too far. So this happened."

Nelly looked desperate for a different answer. She didnt want her new dog to be the one causing all this violence between them. She glanced over to Camm who looked frightened, caring for the huge black dog beside her, gulping the water from the bowl.

Nelly had enough of this sight. She drug Coco through the front doors of the house and into her bedroom, to get away from all the chaos.

Camm sat in the back yard with Tikky for a couple hours, trying to keep both of them calm. Would this ever happen again? What would happen if it did? Would one of the dogs have to go? Would it be Tikky?

These questions raced through Camm's mind all morning before she decided it was finally time to go eat breakfast, no matter how bad she wanted to stay by her companions side.

**a few months later**

Camm was now starting fourth grade. Only one jaw-fight has broken out since the first, and that was over tug-of-war, and "who got the tennis ball first." Things were looking good for the family.

But Camm now had other things to worry about. At this point, homework was assigned almost every night for the students in Mrs. Goodwin's class. Math started to get more confusing. Every night she got stressed over the homework, making her mum, who tried to help her, very stressed, too. At school, Camm soon became a quiet girl. Not the fun, energetic girl she always used to be. A couple girls in her class didn't really interest Camm much. They always wore the most perfect clothes, and even wore makeup now and then. They treated Camm very nicely, but she knew they were fake. A couple of her friends have told her that the two girls talk behind everyone's back in the class. Such as, they'll call Camm pretty, then the next moment someone tells her that the two girls think she's weird because of her crooked teeth. She pretended like she loved her teeth so people could stop talking about it, but it didn't work out as Camm planned. She soon was starting to realize that school was a bit like reality, and she should start acting like it. So she distanced herself from others, only letting her friends see the true side of Camm. But sometimes that was frightening. Camm had bottled her emotions for so long, they started to show. When she didn't get her way, or when she was upset, she'd hit someone, mostly on the upper part of the arm. She also did not know the meaning of the word "No." She knew she had to change, but she didn't know how. So she just went with it.

Every day when she arrived home from school, she entered the gate and faced the caring, affectionate dog she had soon become very close with. Sometimes it seemed Tikky was her only friend in the world. Especially since Nelly was beginning to pack her things one box at a time, getting ready for her move to college. It'd just be Camm, her mum and dad, the two dogs and the two cats now. Nelly would leave her cat, Dexter, and her dog Coco behind, leaving Camm to take care of her. Of course mum would be helping, but at night it wouldn't just be Tikky joining her, Coco would also be in her room. Camm had realized that Tikky was becoming a little protective of Camm, so she despised it when Coco came anywhere near Camm. But Tikky knew to keep her distance, for she knew Camm hated the sight of the two dogs fighting.

One day Camm came to school, just like a normal day. About three hours into the day, just before lunch, she saw a girl beside her with scars and scabs on her wrists.

"Whats that from?" Camm asked without thinking twice about it.

The girl just sat there awkwardly, looking at the ground. She didn't answer her question. Camm turned back around to face the teacher, day dreaming about what that could have been. Cat scratches maybe? But how could it? They looked like perfect cuts. What if she did it herself?

Camm re thought this. It had come to the possibility before. One of mum'a friends got depressed once in a while, to the point where mum had to make an emergency visit. But why would you hurt yourself when you're sad? Wouldn't that just be more torture to you?

The thoughts slipped out of Camm's mind as she realized she was missing important instructions about a math assignment that was due the next day.