Broken

Sixteen.

The next day was all about Mykie and I would gladly oblige. She was proud of me for ultimately receiving the long awaited apology from Jake, however, she didn't want to press the situation more than it needed to be.
Chris was neutral about the conversation when he called me late last night. I told him what I had said and that I finally got the apology but he only grunted and sighed into the phone. I asked if he was still planning on being my date to Mykie's party. He responded with only a concerning 'yup'.
After weeks of crying myself to sleep eventually turning into watching everything and anything on Netflix to finally fall asleep at 2am from pure exhaustion, I was able to fall asleep at a decent hour. Annoyingly, the dry phone call with Chris kept my mind wandering last night. I eventually drifted off to sleep before Mykie woke me up what seems like five minutes later.

"Sarah! Sarah! Wake up! There's a really cute and nice dog outside!" She opened the curtains then hopped onto my bed. Her tiny body didn't move the bed at all. I covered my head with my blanket, angrily growling at the bright sunlight.
"It probably has an owner. Just call the number on the tag."
"HE doesn't have a number on a tag because HE only has HIS name on HIS collar." With every exaggerated word of the dog's sex, she leaped her body above my bed then plopped it back down.
"Then take him to the shelter."
"Already did. No chip. No call about a missing dog named Mickey." The name made me lower the blanket to just reveal my red and tired eyes.
"His name is Mickey?" I grumbled. She leaped off the bed to her feet as she hummed 'Hey Mickey' toward my bedroom door. I pushed the covers away, sprung out of my bed and ran to catch up with Mykie.

We both approached the front gate to the apartment complex cautiously. It was the last place she had seen Mickey. The water bowl she left was still full. We got closer to the bowl with no sign of the dog. I pointed to the bowl on the ground.
"Hey. That was part of a very expensive set as a birthday present from Tom Hanks."
"I'll buy you a new one." She whispered, still inspecting the surrounding area with her eyes. I released an exaggerated and loud sigh before turning around to go back to the apartment. I was immediately stopped by a little tan brown dog sitting on the pavement. His one floppy ear bounced at every movement. His big smile with his panting tongue. He stood up and wagged his tail. I fell in love instantly.
"Hey there, buddy. Hi." I lowered my body to his level and held out my hand. Mickey pushed past my hand and sat down between my legs. He looked back up to me, still smiling.

"He didn't do that to me." Mykie laughed. I pet his head laughing before beginning a gentle examination of his condition.
"He's not that dirty or skinny. His teeth and ears are clean. Nails are trimmed. He definitely hasn't been on the streets very long." I praised him on letting me poke at him. "Good boy!" His tail wagged uncontrollably. "Seems like he knows commands." I stood up in front of him. He kept his eyes on me. "Can you sit?" I snapped my fingers. He sat his butt on the ground. I raised my eyebrows in shock. "Good boy!" I praised him again. Mykie and I giggled at his beaming happiness and personality. "Let's go see if we can find something to make a leash. He needs food but not out here with the coyotes." Mickey watched us walk by him. The sound of panting was still behind us. We turned around to see Mickey following us. I told Mykie to keep walking ahead. Mickey's eyes were stuck on me. I turned around to meet up with Mykie. He followed me again.
"Looks like you got yourself a dog." Mykie nudged my arm. I smiled at the little face looking back at me.

"If I get to keep him, I think I'm going to name him Deeohgee." I said excitingly, handing Mykie another neon pink balloon. She balanced her stance on the ladder before taping it to the wall.
"What do you mean 'if'?" She took one step down the latter and held out her hand for another balloon. I shrugged my shoulders.
"He's too cute to not have a family looking for him."
"Or maybe he found his family." She held out her hand again, smiling wide. I handed her the balloon smiling wide too. I glanced at my phone again. No text from our neighbor, Abigail, an elderly woman that happily accepted our offer to dog-sit. Abigail was going to walk Mickey/Deeohgee around the complex to see if anyone would claim him. And no text from Chris. Mykie cleared her throat. I shoved my phone back into my leggings pocket.