Alex smiled at Jared, under the assumption he was now the temporary owner of a stray dog in need for a home. "Okay, boy. I'll just let my dad know what happened with you and me just now, and we'll get you sorted out." Jared, unsure about what to do, simply followed him along into the living room, where his dad was writing something on a pad of paper. “Hey, Dad?”, Alex asked. Mr. Henderson didn’t look up, too focused on his work. Instead, he responded with a short “Mm?”
“So, this guy came by and he said he found this dog, here, and he’s a stray. So, I was thinking, we could hold onto him and-” Mr. Henderson clutched his temple, shaking his head. “Alex, please. I love you. I love you so much. But you are going to put me into an early grave with all this. Last month, it was spiders. Last week, it was frogs. This week, it was cockroaches. Yesterday, it was mice. And today, a DOG? What did I say last time? I said, 'no more animals without our permission being brought into the house'. And what will your mother say when she gets home?”
Alex sighed, more annoyed than sad. “Dad, he’s a dog. Not a reptile or a rodent or an insect. He’s not some pest.” “Well, how do you know he doesn’t have rabies? Fleas? Ticks?” “He’s not foaming at the mouth and didn’t bite me, and if he has fleas we can get a collar or shampoo to-“ “Alex, please. I know you love animals, but this home is not your own personal ark. You can’t bring every animal you feel sorry for under this roof.” “But this is different, dad. He’s a dog, and the guy who had him told me he doesn’t have a home. Maybe we could-“ “Alex, we should drop that dog off at the vet and-or the pound, if anything. We can’t keep-“ “Dad, please.”
The conversation went on like this for some time until, eventually, after a lengthy and detailed explanation from Alex with the help of his genius-level intellect, his dad saw his side of the argument. “Hmm… Well, yeah. Okay, Alex. I guess if you put it that way… You can keep him. BUT. You have to take care of him. Food, water, bathroom OUTSIDE, walks, everything. Do you understand?” Alex’s face lit up like a candle. “Yes! Yes, dad! Thank you!” Mr. Henderson ruffled his son’s hair, and chuckled. “And, you know what, son? maybe your sister will like him, too!”
Jared’s ears perked up. Sister? Right, he remembered. This was Cassie’s house. Jared was shaken to his core. What would he do? What could he do? This was the definition of an unsure moment if Jared had ever felt one. Either he would be humiliated in front of Cassie due to the fact that he was a dog, or he could use his situation to his advantage to get closer with her than he ever could have as a human teenager. As he weighed the pros and cons of each, his thinking was cut short by a car pulling up in the driveway, and the garage door opening up.
“Oh, looks like your mother and sister are home.”