Nobody's Dog by Ria Voros Read Free Book Online Page B

I could have enough money to adopt a dog by the end of the summer. And I’ll be showing more responsibility.
    â€œSure,” I say. “ I’ll do it.”
    A few hours later I find out how Libby feels about this new arrangement.
    â€œThis sucks, Mom!” I hear her shout downstairs. Their windows are open, like ours, because it’s so hot. I had no idea Libby even had a loud setting.
    Soleil says something I can’t make out.
    â€œBut he doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m a loser.”
    â€œNo, he doesn’t. I’m sure he thinks you’re wonderful.”
    â€œNot wonderful, Mom. And I don’t need to be babysat.”
    â€œIt’s not babysitting,” Soleil says.
    I lean out my window to hear better.
    â€œAre you paying him?” Libby asks.
    â€œThat’s not the point. You can’t go back to camp and I can’t leave you alone. That’s the end of it.”
    â€œ
He
stays alone all day. Why can’t I?”
    â€œDoesn’t it seem a little silly to have both of you alone but in the same house? Libby, there is no negotiation here.”
    â€œI can’t believe this.” A door slams. Her bedroom door.
    â€œLib.”
    I can hear Soleil knocking on the door. “Lib, open up. I just don’t want it to be like last time, okay? I’m trying toprotect you.”
    I don’t hear the door open and Soleil doesn’t say anything else.
    ----
    j, that’s a crazy story about the dog. maybe you can keep it if no one owns it. did you mean you walk him at night? must be awesome to explore in the dark. hope you don’t get mugged lol! france is definitely great — by france I mean girls. i’ll fill you in when i’m home.
----
    My mom sits on the couch, shelling peanuts into a bowl, as I tell her what the kids have been calling me at school
. Nobody wants to play, and nobody wants to be Nobody’s friend!
She hands me a peanut and it grows in my palm until it’s an apple. Another weird dream. I take a bite
. They’re just kids,
she says
. They have no idea how great you are. Just hang around people who do.
I want to tell her that hanging around my parents all the time isn’t a lot of fun, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings. She reaches out to touch my face
.
    The shriek of my alarm makes me bolt out of sleep. Midnight. I slam the snooze button and look out the window. The dog’s not there.
    I stand with my head out of the window for twenty minutes, listening to every little sound on the street. A few cars drive by. A cat screeches behind someone’s house. A waft of skunk hits my nose and makes me want to gag. Maybe the cat gotsprayed. You have to watch it around here with skunks.
    Twenty-five minutes and the dog still hasn’t shown up. I start to get the feeling he’s not coming. Maybe he roams a different place every night. Maybe he got locked inside. Then a thought hits me: maybe he got picked up by the pound. I think about turning on my computer to look up the pound’s number, but just then I see a shape moving on the other side of the street.
    It’s him.
    My chest tightens as I hold my breath — a flash of memory runs across my brain so fast I can’t chase it. This dog definitely triggers something. I scramble for my hoodie. J is back and ready to go.
    The air is a little cooler than last night so I’m glad I brought a tuque. I sneak behind the neighbours’ bushes so there’s less chance to be seen. The dog waits on the sidewalk, his tail wagging. It’s a bigger wag than last time and I take that to mean he remembers last night. It’s almost like he’s picked me — I’m the winner.
    â€œGood to see you too,” I say, and squat down beside him. He comes close and sniffs my hand. I stroke his back, feel the layers of thick fur. He lets me pet him for a minute but then he trots away, like he’s saying,
Come on,