It had been a trying day for the poor teenager trapped in the body of an English sheepdog.
He could almost rest easier if only Cassie's mom didn't keep bring up the possibility of getting him fixed. Even now, just thinking of it, got his boys to drawing up a little tighter in their furry sac.
At least he wasn't permanently exiled from hearth and home. He could visit Cassie and, if he could get very lucky, oh please god make it so, maybe he would be able to visit her again at shower time. He wasn't proud of it, but getting to see Cassie naked had been one of the very few perks of his enforced transformation. He was still frustrated that the moment had proved so fleeting, although the image remained burned into his brain.
He emerged from his fog of thoughts when Cassie stepped outside the house with a stainless steel dog dish in her hands. She walked over to him and placed the dish on the ground. It looked like she had just used a can opener to slice open the can and drop the glop into the dish. Jared looked at the so-called food and felt the onset of stomach upset, as well as more than a little mental distress at the sight of the slimy, brownish-gray chunks of something meant to pass as meat.
He sniffed of the unappetizing contents of the bowl. "I know," Cassie said in an apologetic tone. "Dad bought the dog food, but I promise I will go to store and buy you something that looks less disgusting soon."
Jared could see that there would be no point in complaining. As bravely as he could, he opened his jaws and took a couple of quick bites of the congealed gravy and cuts of extremely sub-prime meat. At that point, his doggy instincts craved more of the stuff and motivated him to wolf down the contents of the bowl and then lick clean the sides of the stainless steel dish with his tongue. He then cocked his head and looked up expectantly at Cassie.
She smiled. "That's all there is, boy."
Jared let a soft whimper escape his throat despite himself. He was used to three hearty meals a day, plus plenty of between-meal snacks. Twice-a-day feedings were a serious lifestyle change.
"I'll be back in a few," Cassie announced, choosing to overlook the dog's begging for more food. "We'll go for a little walkie. Does that sound good?"
Any chance to spend time with Cassie sounded good to Jared. He sprawled on the grass to give his hastily consumed meal time to digest. He was bothered by the fact that he had actually enjoyed the taste of the canned dog food.
As they walked toward the community park, Jared detected a familiar scent long before the impostor jogged into view in sneakers, athletic socks and running shorts, and very little else.
Current dog and former dog exchanged a meaningful look as the impostor drew to a slow halt, stopping to chat with the girl from school who had recognized him and, for some reason, was apparently leading the former Jared on a leash for a walk.
"Hi, Cassandra," the impostor said, stopping and stretching, showing off his sweaty torso for her.
Jared chuckled inwardly at the impostor's rookie mistake. "It's Cassie," Cassie corrected the impostor.
Jared, from experience, knew she hated her full name of Cassandra.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the impostor tried to recover smoothly. "How are you, Cassie? Uh, is this your dog?"
Cassie smiled and, although she tried not to stare, her gaze lingered a little too long on the impostor's sweaty muscles. "My muscles," Jared sulked as he watched Cassie go a bit gaga for his former body. "Yea, his name's Shaggy," she said.
The impostor's eyes widened. "Uh, why did you name him Shaggy?"
She laughed. "Isn't it obvious?"
The impostor laughed, too. "Uh, yea... obvious."
"I've been hoping you might call me, Jared," Cassie spoke boldly, summoning the courage to take advantage of this unanticipated encounter. "I enjoyed getting together with you for coffee. Maybe we could do it again?"
"No!" The real Jared wanted to scream. "You met with me for coffee, not him! I'm the real Jared!"
The impostor adopted a sly smile. "Maybe we can do even better than that," he said. "How about dinner? This Friday?"
Jared felt pushed to the limit and suddenly lunged, jaws open, at the impostor.
Shocked, Cassie pulled back on the leash as Jared lost his cool and barked furiously at the impostor.
"Shaggy, bad boy," she delivered in an extremely disapproving tone that immediately squashed Jared's spirit and left him a sniveling, submissive wreck. "Very bad. Stop that!"
Jared felt himself compelled to sit at her feet. "That's better," she said.
The sound of her craved approval brought music to his ears. He felt genuinely sorry for having provoked her to reprimand him.
"It's no problem," the impostor acted unconcerned. "He's just doesn't know me."
"He's usually so friendly," Cassie said.
"Well, he just needs to get to know me better," the impostor said. "Bring him with you on Friday."
"On our da... dinner?" Cassie said, not wanting to jinx it with the word date in case Jared just wanted to be friends.
"Sure, why not?" The impostor said. "I thought we'd go to Andy's Pizza Parlor. They allow dogs on the outdoor dining patio if they are leashed."
"OK," Cassie said. "We'll see you Friday."
Before they parted, Jared was sure he detected a bit of a smirk on the impostor's face... or rather his former face.
This was, indeed, a revolting development.