Dog-sitting

The next morning when I walked into homeroom, Mr. Johnson wasn't there. Instead, Ms. Darbus was seated in his desk, reading a piece of paper. I leaned towards Troy who was sitting beside me.

"What's she doing here?" I asked.

"I dunno. Maybe Mr. Johnson is sick," he replied.

"Maybe but he was fine yesterday," I pointed out. "Oh no! What if he realized I'm his daughter and decided to flee the country?"

I guess I said that a little too loudly, because Taylor (who was sitting beside me) turned around and stared at me, right in the middle of a seemingly important conversation she was having with Chad. I also got a glare and a "Shhhhhhhh!" from Ms. Darbus.

Luckily, right then the final bell rang and Principal Matsui's voice came on over the intercom.

"Good morning students and teachers of East High! It is Tuesday, and Day 5 on the school day cycle. Today at lunch time the drama club will be meeting to look over scripts for our fall musicale. The volleyball team also has practice, and the chess club will meet in Room 109. If you are interested in running for Student Council, please talk to Miss Friesen by the end of the day. Another thing to note is that the library will not be open today during free period, so homework will have to be done somewhere else. And just a reminder that the dress code must be followed at all times. Please refer to page 245 in your student handbook if you need refreshing on what's appropriate and what isn't. Thank you everyone and have a great day."

After he was done speaking, Ms. Darbus cleared her throat.

"As you may have noticed, students, I am not Mr. Johnson. He had some family business to attend to and he will be gone for the rest of the week. I will be filling in for him until then."

"Awww, man!" exclaimed Chad. Several groans were heard throughout the room.

"That's enough, Mr. Danforth! Half an hour of detention after school. Anyone else care to join him?"

The room grew silent, and Ms. Darbus gave us a satisfied smile.

"Good. Now, while Mr. Johnson is gone, he needs someone to volunteer to walk and feed his dog, Oreo, every day. Is anyone willing to do it?"

No hands went up. Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. I nudged Troy, and whispered "Put your hand up!" His hand shot up and Ms. Darbus looked pleased.

"Why thank you, Mr. Bolton. I'm sure Mr. Johnson will appreciate it greatly. Come see me after class to get his house key and some instructions."

Troy gave her a weak smile and nodded.

After homeroom, we both had a spare. As soon as we walked out of the classroom, Troy pulled me aside.

"Roof, 5 minutes, be there!" he whispered in my ear. I ran to my locker and dropped off my stuff before making my way up. Troy wasn't there yet so I went to look out the window. The view of the Albuquerque skyline was phenomenal. Then I heard Troy come up behind me. He slipped his arms around me so he was holding me while we both enjoyed the view.

"So Gabs, why exactly do you want me to walk Mr. Johnson's dog? In case you haven't noticed, I'm really busy, with basketball and the musical and such."

"I had the greatest idea Troy! Ms. Darbus gave you the keys to Mr. Johnson's house, right?"

"Right…"

"So, we can go to his house and look for clues that might prove he's my dad!"

"That's a great idea! We can see if he has any pictures of your mom or letters or maybe a divorce certificate!"

"Yeah, or find out if he's married, or had kids, and how old they are! If he has kids our age, the chances are less that he's my dad. But if they're just little…Oh, this is so exciting!"

"I know! And think of all the other things we could do…alone…in an empty house…with no parents nearby…" I swatted at his arm.

"I don't think so, mister!" I said.

"Don't worry Gabi, I was just joking," he said, smiling.

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After school, Troy and I walked over to Mr. Johnson's house. It was a fairly large home, in the same neighbourhood as my house. We unlocked the door, and we were greeted by a black and white ball of fur. Oreo started barking at us. I giggled, and Troy gave Oreo some ham leftover from his sandwich at lunch. Oreo accepted it happily, and calmed down. We walked with Oreo for about half an hour, and then returned to the Johnson residence. After feeding Oreo, we began our search of the house.

First we walked around the house, getting to know where everything was. On the main floor there was the living room, kitchen, dining room, office, bathroom, master bedroom and ensuite. Upstairs were three bedrooms and a bathroom. One room had a couch and TV, one looked like a guest room, and one was a baby's room. The basement contained a large rec room, a laundry room, a guest room and a bathroom.

We determined that Mr. Johnson had one child, a baby. Then we decided it was time to search. First we went into the office.

We looked through files and stuff. We found electricity bills, medical bills, mortgage bills, and stuff like that. We found the pop quiz Mr. Johnson had given us the day before in Science, to see where we were at.

"Yes! I got 100!" I exclaimed. Troy just gave me a weird look.

We found pictures of him and his family. His full name was William Peter Johnson. His wife was named Allison and his baby girl was Heather. She was about one, by the looks of it, and extremely adorable.

We were able to determine his family emergency. There was an obituary on the desk for a "Lester Charles Johnson," who must have been his dad. I felt bad for Mr. Johnson, and then realized that my grandpa might have died. Too bad I never met him.

We didn't really find anything interesting in the study so we moved on to the bedroom. After a few minutes I found what I was looking for. In an envelope, in the bottom drawer of one of the bedside tables, I found…

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Sorry, another cliffy! Haha I just couldn't resist. I'll probably update tomorrow, so watch out for that! Review please! And thanks to everyone who ahs reviewed so far! The more reviews, the sooner I update!

-freakymathgirl