Fall Out Girl (4 page)

“I don’t see why I can’t sell it,” Jake said with a pout.

“Because, middle schoolers are a bunch of babies. They’ll tell on you.” I put the money back and hung the birdhouse.

“Thank you for doing this for Mom.”

“I’m not doing it for her. I’m just tired of being hungry.” I dropped to my bed. “But here’s the deal. After expenses, we save the rest, and when I turn eighteen, we’ll hit the road.”

“And go where?”

“Far away from this hellhole.”

“What about Mom?”

“She won’t mind, Jake. She’ll be thrilled to be relieved of the burden of having us around.”

Sorrow clouded Jake’s eyes. He sighed, a sigh so sad it made me want to wrap my arms around him.

I ARRIVED AT the shelter and parked beside a familiar pickup truck. Brandon and his wife, Meggie, were the founders and owners of the center that rescued abandoned dogs and cats, and helped them find a home. One or the other of them were always at the shelter, it seemed.

I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and strolled to the old brick building. Inside, the familiar smell of bleach and pine disinfectant filled the air. I waved at the receptionist. “Hey, Vanessa.”

“Hi, Luna, guess what? We got three puppies. They were left at the front door, inside a cardboard box. You gotta see them. They’re the cutest mutts in the world.” She grinned and sipped from her large strawberry milkshake. She blames her pregnancy for the constant craving, but I know better, she’s always adored the drink.

“At least they weren’t abandoned in the middle of anywhere,” I said. The previous week we got a puppy left on a deserted road. When we found him, he was dehydrated and starving. Despite our efforts, he died two days later.

“We’re waiting for you to name them,” she said in between slurps of the drink. Brandon and Meggie often reward me with naming some of the animals.

“I’m on it,” I responded, smiling genuinely for the first time that day.

I rap my fist at the office’s door before opening and entering. Brandon was on the phone with a toothy smile spread across his face. “Wonderful. We’re always in need of help. No, no, we currently have another volunteer about your age. Yeah, she’s always overloaded.” He waved to me and put a hand on the phone’s speaker. “Hi, Luna, we have a new volunteer interested. Wait a moment, though, I need to talk to you.” He motioned to the chair in front of his desk and returned to his conversation, his anxious tone giving away our dire need of volunteers. I shook my head; Brandon shouldn’t let interested people in on that little secret. Not until they’d committed to helping first.

I crossed the office and stuffed my bag inside my locker (a drawer in an old metal filing cabinet). Meanwhile, I overheard him continuing his campaign to recruit whoever was on the other line.

“Yep, sure. I’ll provide you with the initial paperwork. We need parental consent, and you’ll need to have an active health insurance and provide us with proof. We also would like a commitment of at least two hours a week, for a period of six months.” He said all of this in one breath. “But we can be very flexible, of course.”

His eyes sparkled while he listened. “As long as you agree with the requirements, fill out an application, and your parents sign a liability waiver, we’ll be good to go.”

I sank in a chair and pretended to be checking e-mail on my phone.

“Wonderful,” he said with an expression of great relief. “You need to go through orientation to be acquainted with our mission and regulations. During the orientation, we’ll provide you with a Volunteer Handbook. It’ll take about three hours. Will you be available tomorrow?”

After a pause, he continued, “Yes. Super. Today, I can give you the paperwork. I’ll give you a tour of the facility, and introduce you to the staff and volunteers. Tomorrow we’ll go through a full orientation.” He grinned again. “Perfect! See you then.”

He hung up the phone and directed his beaming eyes at me. “We got a new volunteer. He sounded very interested.”

I gave him a tight smile. I wasn’t in the mood for chatter. “What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked in an attempt to escape.

“I’ll have you mentor him. Show him around and stuff. But please, don’t scare him away by making it seem like we’re desperate for help,” he said, a deep frown in between his brows.

Is he serious? I simply nodded and gave a tight smile.

He handed me a pile of outdated brochures and envelopes. “If you have extra time, would you take care of these? We need to mail them. Our funds are running dangerously low.”

The center’s funds were always running low. “Sure, will do.” I gathered the papers and put them on top of the file cabinet. Was it all that he wanted to talk about? “Anything else?”

“No, no. Just wanted to tell you the exciting news. Another young volunteer Luna! Imagine that!”

“That’s super,” I said with my best to appear excited. I closed the office’s door and shook my head. I hoped it was no one from school.

I helped Maggie clean the kennel quickly so I could play with the puppies.

They reminded me of the Three Musketeers, so I named them Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They were indeed the sweetest things in the universe. I settled them in the play area. I wish I could take one home.

“Hello,” a girl called, peeking her head through the door.

“Oh, hi. May I help you?” I asked.

The girl slid inside the kennel, closing the door behind her. “Hi, I’m Charlotte. Mr. Kite said it was okay for me to come and see the animals.”

“Sure, come closer, Charlotte.” I beckoned to her. “I’m Luna. I just started with some socializing time with these cuties.”

“You can call me Lottie. Everyone does.” She smiled and pushed back the glasses sliding on the bridge of her nose.

She approached, and her eyes twinkled behind the thick lenses. There was something familiar about her features.

Sitting on the floor, with one to the dogs sprawled on my lap, I asked, “Do you want to pet him?”

She leaned over to pat the furry pup. He made a sound that more resembled a lazy cat’s purr than anything else.

“Does he have a name?”

“This is Porthos.”

“We have a dog,” Lottie said.

“Yeah, what kind?”

“A golden retriever. Her name is Princess. She’s really old.”

“I used to have a dog, too,” I said.

“What happened to it?”

“It was a long time ago,” I simply said, and shrugged. “Do you want to hold him?”

“Can I?”

“Here, just don’t move too fast. He is still getting used to us.” I carefully placed Porthos in Lottie’s arms.

“Is your family here to adopt a pet?” I asked hopefully. We were running out of room. Soon we’d have to turn down animals. Which meant they would go to a different center and risk being euthanized.

“No, for volunteering,” she said, giggling as Porthos licked her face.

Oh, she must be the volunteer Brandon had talked about earlier when I arrived.

The door squeaked open, and I heard Brandon’s exultant voice. “This is our kennel.”

While Charlotte played with Porthos, I watched Athos and Aramis tugging a yellow squishy ball and listened to Brandon’s babbling. God, he was a horrible sales person. He said, “Part of your job will be filing paperwork, making phone calls, and providing tours to potential adoptees and small groups. Are you good with computers, video cameras, and photography?” Before the person responded, Brandon continued, “Are you okay with cleaning duty? Luna, one of our volunteers, cleans and feeds the dogs every evening. You could help her.”

Meggie appeared from the back of the kennel. “Oh, hi everybody,” she said.

“This is my wife, Meggie Kite,” Brandon said, by way of introduction. “This is Caleb Cahan, our newest volunteer,” he said as euphorically as someone who had just won a prize.

I froze. Caleb? It couldn’t be. I died a thousand deaths. My head whipped around to the entrance of the kennel, where Brandon and Meggie talked to Caleb.

Caleb’s eyes met mine, and he flashed his gorgeous, white teeth at me.

“Oh, Luna will be happy to have help,” Meggie said, nodding my way. She turned to Brandon and asked, “Can you give me the pictures you want me to put on the school’s bulletin board? I’ve got to get Emilia, and I’m running late. The new dog vomited twice after we washed his stall,” she said.

“Sure. Well, Caleb this is it. Luna will show you the animals,” Brandon said and left with Meggie.

With a confident swagger, Caleb approached us.

“Cale, look, this is Porthos. I think he likes me,” the girl said. She motioned to me and added, “Luna, this is my brother Caleb.”

My eyes narrowed and I cocked my head. I tried to suppress my surprise and irritation, but the words spilled out of my lips nevertheless. “What are you doing here?”

“Volunteering,” he said with a shrug and his trademark grin, which I was starting to find very irritating. “As of tomorrow, I’ll be part of the gang.”

The surprise on my face must have morphed into horror because he chuckled, the bastard.

“You, um, you look different.” He pointed to my outfit, his eyes trailing over my body. The horror turned into full-blown panic. I almost died. Again.

“You look the same,” I said with forced sweetness.

“You know each other?” Lottie asked, furrowing her brows.

“No,” I said.

“Yes,” Caleb said at the same time.

“Do you know each other or not?” Lottie demanded.

“We, um, we have a class together,” I clarified hesitantly.

“And we have a date Friday,” he added.

“Cale, are you volunteering here because of Luna?” Lottie asked while stroking the puppy.

He smiled, full of mischief. “Giving of myself to animals in need played a role in my decision. But, yes, I thought volunteering would be a good way to start making new friends.”

“Wow, you’re smooth,” Lottie said, laughing and rolling her eyes, “but handsome.” She lifted her eyes to me. “All my friends say he is hot,” she observed. What a strange thing for her to say. “Do you think so too, Luna?”

Whoa! Did Lottie think there was something going between her brother and me?

“Enough, Lottie.” He reproached his sister the same way I would Jake.

She frowned. “What?” she protested. “You say girls are
hot
all the time.”

“That’s different!” He defended himself.

I collected the drowsy puppy from Lottie. “You’re good with animals. Being in a strange place, and the separation from his mother had made him hyper,” I said, returning the dog to a crate.

“Brandon wanted you to show me the kennel,” Caleb said with an idiotic grin.

“Follow me.”

The tour only lasted a couple minutes. I showed him the animals and explained their schedule and the procedures of how to handle them. When the mini tour was over, I pointed to an animal on the far end and said to Lottie, “Go check that cat, he just got here.”

When Lottie raced to see the animal, I turned to Caleb. “Why are you here?”

“Giving back to my community,” he said with what had to be mocking altruism.

“Cut the crap. How did you find out I volunteered here?”

“You shouldn’t go around acting like you think so highly of yourself.”

“Urgh. Pointless. Talking to you is pointless.” I narrowed my eyes and pointed a finger at his chest. “Piece of advice? Keep your mouth shut. You tell a soul about my khakis and you’re dead.”

“Chill, your rep is safe with me. Besides, everyone knows you
work
here. It’s not like it’s classified info. Andrew was the one who told me.”

“Well, they don’t know the details,” I said, planting my hands on my hips. I didn’t advertise my volunteering. It was for college-application purposes only.

He raised a cocky brow and said, “That you transform into an angel, talk like a fairy, and cuddle with kittens?” His eyes skimmed over my body. “I assure you, your secret is safe with me. I don’t want any other guy having the same fantasies about you that I’ve been having for the last half hour.”

AND THAT, LADIES and gentlemen, was the most horrifying moment of my meager existence, thus far. Why, one might ask. Well, there’s no way to put this nicely, so let me be blunt. I blushed. Yes, and it was mortifying. I didn’t do girly stuff, blushing was for the weak. What would be next? Giggling? Fainting?