Riley (3 page)

As Kat went into her classroom, she had a funny feeling in her stomach. She knew she couldn't talk to Grace about what had happened. Not yet.

Kat sat down without looking at the new girl.

“Time for our library visit,” Ms. Mitchell said. Kat felt better. She'd forgotten that it was library day. Thank goodness! She could avoid Grace for a little while longer.

Kat grabbed her library book from her library bag. Then she rushed to the back of the classroom to line up. When her class went to the library, they had to walk in partners. Grace was still sitting at her desk, and Kat didn't want Ms. Mitchell to force her to be Grace's library partner.

But who would Kat walk with? She had been Heather's buddy last week. But today Heather had already partnered up with Sarah.

Ms. Mitchell was looking at Grace. Then she turned toward the back of the room. Was she looking for Kat? Frantic, Kat turned to the closest person. It was Owen. His best friend, Ari, was away sick today.

Kat stopped to think. Would Megan and Cora tease her if she asked Owen to be her partner? They said he was in love with her, just because he blushed when she talked to him.

Should she do it? Grace still didn't have a partner. Ms. Mitchell was coming toward Kat.

She had no choice. “Owen,” she blurted out. “Buddy up?”

Owen blushed. “Okay.” He nodded.

Kat stood next to him, uncomfortable. She watched as Ms. Mitchell spoke softly to Megan and Cora. Gently, the teacher encouraged Grace to stand beside the two girls.

Then Ms. Mitchell led the line out of the classroom. Kat didn't want to look, but she couldn't help it. Grace walked along beside Megan and Cora like a gloomy shadow, her face down, her braids dangling.

She'll find a friend eventually
, Kat told herself, trying not to feel guilty.
If she can stop looking so scary.

The class listened as the librarian talked to them about nonfiction books and how to search for them on the shelves. Then they were given ten minutes to think of a subject they were interested in and find books about it.

Picking a subject was easy for Kat. Dogs, of course. And she even knew where to search on the shelves, because she'd done it so many times before. It was especially nice because Megan and Cora were in a completely different aisle of books.

Kat buried her face in her book. She didn't even look to see where Grace was or how she was doing.

But then Owen came over and began looking at books on the shelf right below hers.

“Looking up dogs?” Owen said, without looking at Kat. “I know how much you love them.”

“That's right.” Kat glanced over at him. She was curious to see what he had picked. “I didn't know you were interested in…” Kat peered at the cover of the book he was reading. “Pigs.”

Quickly Owen slammed the book closed and looked at the cover. He blushed. “Oh,” he said. “Pigs? Oh, well, not really.”

Kat tried not to grin.

Owen shoved the book back on the shelf and grabbed another one. He seemed to begin reading at a random page.

Kat peeked over Owen's shoulder. “Owen, I didn't know you could read upside down,” she said.

Owen's face was totally red. “Oh, right. Um, see you,” he said and hurried away.

When it was time to return to class, Kat and Owen walked back together. Kat saw Megan and Cora pointing at them. The girls were whispering to each other. They ignored Grace, who trailed behind them. Her face was like a mask.

Lucky for Kat, the rest of the afternoon went quickly, with no shared seat work. She was able to avoid talking to Grace. In fact, she hardly even had to look at her!

When the bell rang at the end of the day, Kat met up with Maya at their usual spot. They hurried to Tails Up! and checked in with Aunt Jenn.

“Hello, little Riley!” the girls called as they burst into the doggy day care room. They rushed over to Riley's kennel. The golden retriever puppy jumped up. She wagged her tail and wiggled happily.

“Here we go. Out you come!” said Kat. As she held the puppy in her arms, all her troubles melted away. She bent her head to breathe in Riley's sweet smell. She felt a soft, wet nose press against her chin. Riley's tongue gave her a quick kiss.

“Do you want to hold her?” Kat asked Maya.

“No, just put her down so she can run free,” suggested Maya. “She's probably excited to be out of her kennel!”

Kat set her down, and Riley raced straight over to Maya to say hello. Then she ran straight to the back door, sat down, and looked back at the girls with her beautiful brown eyes.

Kat and Maya laughed.

“Okay, we understand!” Kat said. “You want out, right?”

The girls grabbed Riley's chew toys and several dog biscuits. When they opened the door, Riley went tumbling out into the backyard. Just like yesterday, she raced across the lawn. She investigated each of the trees, sniffing all the way around. She explored the flower beds. She barked at a squirrel. She grabbed a stick and growled, shaking it in her mouth. The girls laughed again.

“Let's give her some time to burn off some energy before we do her lessons,” Kat suggested.

“Good idea,” Maya agreed. “Hey, so did you apologize to the new girl this afternoon? Grace, right?” She looked at Kat curiously. “You didn't say anything about her on the way over here.”

Kat sighed. She explained that she had chosen Owen as her walking buddy to the library just to avoid Grace. And that even though Megan and Cora had left her alone, Owen had followed her around.

“Well, you did encourage him,” Maya teased. “Poor boy. He just wants to be near you.”

Kat raised her eyebrows.

“Sorry, Miss Sensitive.” Maya grinned. Then she frowned. “But what about Grace? You didn't say sorry to her?”

Kat shook her head and looked away. “No. Not yet,” she said.

Kat pointed at Riley and laughed. “Oh, look, Maya!” she cried. “Riley is trying to sniff the flowers!”

The golden retriever pup was in a small garden. She was fascinated by a plant with beautiful yellow blossoms. The plant was taller than her, and the blossoms towered above her. But she was determined to sniff them. She raised her head as high as it would go, but she couldn't reach.

“Riley's up on her back paws! She's balancing!” Kat said.

Sure enough, Riley balanced for about five seconds and took one sniff of the blossom. Then she snapped at it and toppled over into the flowers.

“Riley!” cried Maya, concerned.

But Riley bounced back up like a rubber ball. She wagged her tail and came running. Her eyes were sparkling. Her mouth was full of yellow petals.

“Oh, Riley. Naughty girl,” Kat told the puppy. She tried to make her voice sound stern, but it was hard. Little Riley looked so proud of herself!

“Okay, Riley. Time to do some more training now,” said Maya firmly. “Right, Kat?”

Kat nodded.

“Okay. Riley, sit, girl. Sit.” Maya raised her hand, palm open, as Aunt Jenn had shown her.

Riley looked up at Maya and wagged her tail. A petal dropped from her mouth. Kat tried to hide a giggle.

“Sit, Riley,” Maya repeated. She lifted her palm again.

Another petal fell.

Kat didn't speak. Neither did Maya. Both just looked at the pup and waited.

Suddenly Riley sat. Just like that.

“Good girl, Riley,” Maya said, stroking Riley's soft head. “Well done.” She gave the puppy a biscuit.

Kat clapped her hands together. “Nice one, Riley!”

For the rest of the afternoon they reviewed
sit
,
lie down
, and
come
with the pup. Finally Riley lay down and wouldn't get up. She was exhausted.

“That's all for today,” Maya told her. “We have to go now, but we'll be back tomorrow.” Riley wagged her tail happily as Maya picked her up.

Kat sighed as she followed Maya and Riley back inside. When puppies were happy, they wagged their tails. When they were sad or lonely, they whimpered. When it was time for a walk, their eyes lit up.

You could always tell when a puppy was happy or sad or excited. It never tried to hide its true feelings. It never tried to pretend it was something it was not. And it was hard to hurt a puppy's feelings.

But Grace, Grace was different. What was she actually like? Was she mean or not? Why was it so hard to tell?
Why aren't people more like puppies?
Kat wondered.

The next morning, Kat still hadn't decided whether or not to apologize to Grace. Then she was late, so she didn't even have time to say hello before the class started. Not that she was too sorry about that.

Kat waited to see if she and Grace would have to do shared seat work. Instead, Ms. Mitchell began to teach the class about a kind of poetry called Japanese haiku. She told them that a haiku is a short poem with three lines. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third line has five syllables.

Ms. Mitchell read the students some examples of haiku. Then she asked them to write their own poem.

Kat looked at Grace out of the corner of her eyes. Grace's chin was tucked down. Her hair fell in front of her face so Kat couldn't see it.

Kat was relieved. She doodled little drawings of puppies across the top of her page as she thought.

A pug puppy. A Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever puppy. A Great Dane puppy.

Then she began to write. It took her a few tries.

Puppies

Wiggly, wobbly, soft

Mouth smiling, eyes so trusting

Puppies are the best

Not bad
, Kat thought, nodding her head.

But when she looked up, Grace was staring right at her page. She was reading Kat's poem!

Grace's own paper was blank.

I bet she's going to copy my haiku
, thought Kat angrily. And, sure enough, just then Grace bent over her own notebook and began to write.

Grace was a copycat.

Then Kat smiled. She couldn't help it.
A copycat copying a poem about puppies!
The idea gave her the giggles.

Kat survived until the bell rang for lunchtime. She met up with Maya, and they went to her house to eat.

After lunch, she managed to avoid Grace. But, when Kat came in from afternoon recess, Grace's desk was smack up against hers. Maybe someone had bumped it when they had left for recess. Maybe someone had pushed it too close.

Grace wasn't there yet, so Kat got up and grabbed the edge of her desk. She would just move it back to where it had been. It didn't have to be so close. She gave it a shove.

“Hey!” It was Grace, and she was glaring at Kat. Her arms were straight down at her sides, and her fists were clenched.

Kat's stomach tightened. “I was just…” she began.

“Yeah, I see. I know,” Grace said in a tight voice.

Kat could tell she was trying not to yell. Just then Ms. Mitchell called, “Okay, class. Attention, please.”

Grace sat down, and Kat did too. She kept her eyes on the front of the classroom where Ms. Mitchell was starting her lesson.

But then something caught her attention. She stole a look.

Grace was pulling a folded note out of her desk. Grace's name was on the outside of the piece of paper. She read the note, and then her face went hard, like stone. The note must have said something nasty.

Grace scrunched the paper up into a little ball and jammed it back into her desk. She didn't even look at Kat, but Kat felt a sinking feeling. Grace had seen Kat shove her desk. She knew Kat didn't like her. For sure Grace would think Kat had put the note in her desk.

Kat wondered what it had said. How bad it could have been. Part of her wanted to blurt out that she didn't write the note. That she'd never do anything so mean. But the other part of her was too afraid to talk to Grace. She looked so angry. Kat was afraid of what Grace might say back to her.

Finally the bell rang to end the day. Kat had never been so happy to leave her classroom. It felt like she was escaping something.

Maya was waiting by the oak tree. When she saw Kat's face, she frowned. She put her hands on her hips. In a silly voice, she said, “Listen, girlfriend, I am so over this. You're turning into a total drama queen!”

Kat knew Maya wanted to make her laugh, so she tried to smile. The girls set out for Tails Up!, and Kat told Maya about what had happened with Grace's desk and the note.

“What did the note say?” Maya asked.

“I don't know,” Kat replied. “But it really upset Grace. And I mean
really
.”

Kat paused, hoping her friend would say something comforting. She didn't.

“Sorry, Kat. But you're probably right,” Maya said. “Grace will think it's you who wrote the note.”

Kat nodded glumly.

“But, hey, what do you care anyway?” said Maya. “You don't like Grace.”

“I don't like her, but it's not nice for someone to hurt her feelings on purpose,” said Kat. “She may not like me either, but I don't want her to think I'm mean. I don't want her to think that I'd write a rotten note about her and stick it in her desk!”

“Well, if she knew you at all, she'd know you could never do that,” Maya said, as they reached the main street in town. “There isn't a mean bone in your body.”

Kat was silent. She wanted to think that was true, but it wasn't. She had plenty of mean bones. For example, when she was little, she had knocked on old Mrs. McCormack's door and then run away. Lots of times, when she'd done something bad, she'd tried to make it look like it was her brother's fault.

“Hey, let's forget about Grace for a while,” Maya said, interrupting Kat's thoughts. “Look, we're almost at Tails Up! We have something much better to do than worry about that new girl, right?”

“You're right,” said Kat. She would put Grace out of her mind. They were going to play with Riley! What could be better?