The backyard was surrounded by bushes, which left little gaps at the bottom. There was also a garden that was full of tulips. I noticed that they were mostly purple, which happens to be my favorite kind of flower. Aside from the garden, the pond had a couple of water lilies in it, that played a roll in the calming affect. I could see that coming out here would be my favorite thing to do. The atmosphere was calming. Any rage I had for David, slowly disappeared. My body and mind had become totally engrossed with outside.
So engulfed by my new found serenity, I hadn't noticed the small puppy sitting at my feet, staring at me with big blue eyes.
The dog didn't seem like a biter, so I picked it up. Assuming that it belonged to one of my neighbors, I was going to bring it home.
I knocked on the front door of the house, which was directly to the left of my home. No one responded, so I knocked again. By the third knock, I walked away. As I reached the sidewalk, the front door opened. And to my surprise it was Freddie who opened the door.
He closed the door and behind him and stepped forward.
"How can I help you," he asked just as chipper as always.
"I um found this dog, and wanted to know if it belonged to you." At that very moment, the puppy decided to pee on me. The worse part was that I was still wearing Freddie's shirt.
Freddie reached for the puppy and once again had a remorseful look on his face.
"I'm so sorry; Sir Lance a-lot is still being potty trained."
"Yeah, I'm just going to go home now. I don't want the smell of puppy pee to be permanently stuck on me."
I walked home; leaving a sorry Freddie outside. I would have talked a bit, but the smell was not being kind to my nostrils.
After a relaxing shower and an awkward dinner, I went straight to bed. The dream that night was so vivid.
I walked into the kitchen, only to find my mom sitting with some papers in her hand.
"Mom, what's going on," my voice shook a little.
"Sam, this isn't easy, but I'm sending you to live with your dad and stepmom."
Her words hit me. I didn't want to go with him. He abandoned me.
"Sam, you can't live here."
"And why not?"
"Because I said so and that's final."
"NO, you can't make me go with him. He never wanted me and now you don't." I was too angry to cry.
"Sam, look around. I'm a addicted to drugs, I can't let you live like this anymore."
"I'm seventeen; I have been living like this for eleven years."
"I know, but you need a good head start in life. I never pay the bills and can't buy you the things you want or need."
I frantically searched my brain for any excuse for me to stay with her. "I can stay and take care of you, like I always do."
"No kid, I don't want you to see me die from using."
"But we need each other." By now I would say anything to stay.
"No we don't. I need help and you need someone to love and protect you."
I didn't say anything else. There was nothing more I could say.
"Your dad will be here tomorrow. Pack your things and try not to remember me like this."
I walked to my room and cried my self to sleep.
When I woke up, my face was wet from tears. Crying in my sleep wasn't a foreign concept to me. Though it's been happening less and less.
Getting dressed had become a challenge. I wasn't exactly comfortable with dressing in the clothes that Jennifer had gotten for me. But my clothes just didn't seem as appealing as before.
I did the only rational thing I could think of, I picked up the house phone and called Tucker. Five minutes later, he rang the door bell.
"How did you get here so fast," I asked him as we walked up the stairs to my room.
"I live down the street from you," he said in his 'duh' voice, but in my defense he never told me.
After one look in my closet, Tucker gasped and turned to give me a fierce glare. I quivered under his gaze.
"You have amazing clothes," he yelled at me. "Yet, you choose to wear cargo pants and a frigging oversized tee shirt! No more of that young lady," he said in an affirmative tone.
I nodded my head in agreement.
"Okay, let's get you ready for school."
While Tucker continued to get my clothes ready, I went to get us some food.
As I made it back to my room, I saw the outfit Tuck, had laid out for me. It consisted of a pink and white strip tab sleeve tee. Also accompanied by a pair of light wash skinny jeans and classic black glossy pumps.
I was speechless. There was no way I could pull this off.
"Tucker I can't pull this off."
"Yes you can. Now go get dressed. I'm going home, so I can get ready." He left without another word.
I got dressed and decided to leave my hair down, in its natural curls. I said a quick goodbye to Jennifer and walked out the door. I stopped abruptly because I saw Freddie Benson walking up the drive way.
"Good Morning," I said.
"Good morning and you look very nice today."
"Thank you, how can I help you," I asked.
"Well since they don't make hallmark cards that say 'sorry my puppy peed on you'. I wanted to know if you wanted a ride to school."
"Sure, that's incredibly nice of you."
The ride to school was actually fun. We laughed the entire way, which wasn't very long. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was halfway full.
Freddie insisted on opening my door, when I told him that it wasn't necessary, but his response was that 'chivalry isn't dead'. So I dropped it.
When we reached the school doors, Freddie and I went separate ways. He went to talk to his friends and I went to my locker.
Tucker made it to school a few minutes later and once again his outfit was over board, but I seemed to get passed it. We talked for a few minutes, before the bell for homeroom rang.
"See you in bio," he said.
"Sure thing."
My thoughts were filled with thoughts of Freddie. He was cute, funny, and kind. So I wondered why he was still single. Everything seemed perfectly normal with him. Heck, if he asked me out. I would say yes, but I also like him as a friend. It was nice to have someone like him and Tucker.
Once I got to biology, I decided the first thing to do would be to ask Tucker about Freddie. For some reason I was terrified of asking Freddie himself.
As soon as Tuck sat down, I asked him.
"Why is Freddie single?"
"Well, it's nice to see you too," he pretended to be offended.
"Oh, Tuck you know it's always nice to see you."
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
"Just answer the question," I said with a glare.
"Okay, calm down. He doesn't have a girlfriend because he just got out of a relationship.
Now that wasn't a response I was expecting.
"Well Carly Shay broke up with him. Girl is strong, because I could never. I mean, have you seen Freddie?"
"Yes I have seen him." I wanted to add shirtless, but I didn't feel like going into details.
"Wait do you like him," he asked with a smirk on his face.
"No, I just met him. Why did they break up?"
"My my aren't we curious for someone who doesn't like him?"
"Tucker don't," was all I had to say for him to drop it.
"Well nobody knows, but they were like the perfect couple around here. She took it hard."
"I thought she broke up with him," I asked slightly confused.
"She did."
The conversation ended there. Tucker and I went back to paying attention. I was mostly zoned out, replaying our conversation in my head.
A few classes passed and it was time for lunch. I was stuck by myself because Tucker had a doctor's appointment. That was until a tray landed across my own. I looked up and saw that it was Freddie.
"So what's the reason for you sitting with me?"
"What do you mean," he asked confused.
"Well yesterday you walked me home because you spilled your food all over me. This morning you drove me to school because your puppy peed on me. So what did you do?"
"Well smarty pants, I just wanted to spend time with you. Contrary to popular belief, I enjoy being around you."
My face started to heat up a little, so I quickly changed the subject.
We mostly talked about school and about how good he was at sports. He was surprisingly more interested in me than himself, but I would rather leave my life out of our conversations. I didn't think it was possible for us to run out of topics.
We eventually picked up our trays and went separate ways. On my way out I spotted a girl. She was at the charity stand, working to feed the hungry. She was very pretty, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. My eyes landed on her name tag and it read 'Carly Shay'.
I got out of the cafeteria as quickly as I could in hills.
The rest of the day was not as exciting because I didn't have Tucker.
I somehow managed to get through the day and I was extremely happy when it ended walked to my locker and immediately smiled when I saw Benson waiting for me.
"So you stalking me know Benson," I asked jokingly.
"Ha, real funny Puckett. But I wanted to know if you need a ride home."
"Sure."
So we walked to his truck and made our way home, with goofy smiles displayed on both of our faces.
