Daphne Maple - Roxbury Park Dog Club #4: All Paws on Deck

Ive graded your tests, my English teacher, Mrs. Benson, said crisply. The bell for first period had barely finished ringing but she was already starting class and everyone, even Dennis Cartwright, class troublemaker, was sitting down quietly. Mrs. Benson had that effect on people. It wasnt like she yelled or made scary threats. She just had this look that made you want to do your very best for her.

Which was why I was biting my lip as she began passing back our papers. I really had done the best I could. But wed just finished a biography of Marie Curie and even though it was pretty interesting, Id gotten a little confused during Mrs. Bensons lectures about it. Id try to take notes but she talked so fast that Id still be writing down the first thing she said while she was already onto a whole other subject. And then Id be so lost I wouldnt know what to write. My notebook was a mess of scribbles that didnt even make sense. Plus sometimes the book got a little confusing. Which was why Id probably done pretty badly on this test. And that was not going to make my parents happy at all.

Mrs. Benson set a paper in front of my best friend Sasha, who looked at it and grinned. It wasnt so long ago that Sasha was the one having trouble with her homework, but not because she didnt understand it. Shed just gotten so busy with the Dog Club wed started, and the dance classes she took after schoolplus the new dog shed adopted from the shelter where we had the club. But Taylor, our other best friend, and I had helped Sasha figure out how to manage her time a little better and judging from the expression on Sashas face, it was definitely working.

I saw Taylor give Sasha a small thumbs-up, so she must have noticed too. Then both of them looked at me just as Mrs. Benson put my paper on my desk. Shed set it facedown and just seeing that made my stomach twist. Good grades came face up. I took a breath and turned the paper over slowly. A bright red 68 was scrawled at the top.

My face felt hot and my eyes prickled. My parents had told me how important that test was and Id promised them Id study every night. And I had. But Id still done terribly.

Its okay, Kim, Sasha whispered sympathetically. Only the best of friends would risk a Mrs. Benson look by talking in class.

I tried to smile at Sasha but the corners of my mouth wouldnt cooperate. The red 68 made smiling impossible.

So that concludes our unit on biographies, Mrs. Benson said. She was back at the front of the room, her hand resting on the pile of books on her desk. And now we move on to one of my very favorite books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Kwan, Danny, and Taylor, would you please help me pass these out?

When Taylor set the book on my desk she reached over and squeezed my arm. The beads at the ends of her braids clinked gently as she moved down the aisle, and my skin still felt warm where shed touched me. The 68 still ate at me but it helped to have Taylor and Sasha.

So I did the only thing I could. I opened my notebook and got ready to write down everything Mrs. Benson had to say about Tom Sawyer.

As soon as the bell rang Taylor and Sasha came over to me.

Dont worry, youll do better on the next one, Sasha said, pushing a dark brown curl out of her face. Sasha usually wore her hair back in a ballet bun or braid, but curls were always springing free as if they had a life of their own.

Yeah, its just one test, Taylor added. She was wearing a bright pink T-shirt that made her dark brown skin glow.

I wish my parents thought that, I said as we headed into the crowded hallway. It was our first year at Roxbury Park Middle School and so far it had been going well, at least the part that didnt involve English. Or math, another subject where I was barely keeping up. But at least we had our community service project. At the beginning of seventh grade, we all had to sign up for an after-school volunteer job, and the three of us worked at the Roxbury Park Dog Shelter. That was how wed come up with the idea for our Dog Club. It was also where Taylor and I had become friends. When she first moved to town at the start of the year, after her family spent a month of vacation with Sasha and her mom, I wasnt exactly happy to see her. Not that she wasnt nice, but she and Sasha had all these inside jokes and I felt like a third wheel. Sasha did everything she could to bring us together, but in the end it was a big dog named Boxer who made me see what Sasha had always known: Taylor was awesome. It had been the three of us ever since.

Taylor put her arm around me. Well help you study for the next one, she said.

Oh, thats okay, I said automatically. I knew they wanted to help but they were both super busy, plus this was something I needed to figure out on my own. If everyone else in my class could do well on these tests, I could too. I just needed to try harder. But thanks.

Were here if you need us, Sasha said, patting my shoulder. Oh, and I got an email this morning from another family interested in the Dog Club.

That was good news. Not so long ago wed been struggling to find enough clients to make money to help the shelterand that was the whole reason wed started the club in the first place. When wed first begun volunteering there, wed quickly realized that the shelter had real financial problems. In fact, Alice, who ran it, had been forced to consider closing down. At the same time my neighbors, the Cronins, had been asking me about walking their dog, a sweet basset hound named Humphrey, after school. I couldnt help them because of my work at the shelter on top of my homework, but then I came up with a solution to both problems: the Roxbury Park Dog Club. It was simple, really. Dogs whose owners were busy at work could come to the shelter in the afternoon to play with the dogs there, and of course with us and the other shelter volunteers. The Cronins were our first clients but others soon followed and the club took off. There had been a few bumps along the way, like Clarabelle, the poodle who got muddy in the shelter yard right after an expensive grooming. And Sierra, a dog too wild for us to control. But wed handled those problems and we, or to be more exact, Taylor, had found a way to fix things when we didnt have enough clients.

Mrs. Halifax said she and her husband saw your pictures in the paper, Sasha said, grinning at Taylor. As soon they saw them they wanted to sign their dog up for the club. Two weeks ago there had been a photo spread of our Dog Club in the Sunday magazine, with some of the gorgeous shots Taylor had taken for our club blog. Our phone hadnt stopped ringing since! Well, Sashas phone really. She was the one who handled new clients so Alice sent all messages straight to her. My job was to write the blog and Taylor made it beautiful with her doggy pictures. Together we really were an unbeatable team.

Did you make an appointment for them to bring their dog by? Taylor asked.

They said theyd call back to schedule a time, Sasha said. Which is good because were pretty booked up. Before we accepted any new dogs into the club, we made an appointment for them to come in, along with their owners, to get a sense of what we did. That way we could make sure the dog and Dog Club were a good fit.

What kind of dog do they have? Taylor asked.

Sasha grinned. A Saint Bernard, she said. And apparently shes still a puppy.

Whoa, Taylor said. Thats a big puppy.