Jen shook her head hard to dislodge the thought. Whatever special training Mina was going through, she was sure she wanted no part in it. She felt the curse give one last push, then it faded entirely. She turned her attention back to the conversation when she heard her name mentioned.
"Of course, Jen is our star pupil." Amelia was saying with pride. "Her progress has given me high hopes for our first official class. Do you think her sister shares her temperament?"
"I'm afraid Emily is quite a bit more willful than Jen." Tracy sighed. "She's always been a handful, but recently she seems to have gotten much worse. To be perfectly honest, your little training program is probably my last hope for her. I was going to ship her off to a military academy, but since Jen has been so much happier and behaved after staying here I'm willing to give it a try."
"Well," Amelia said primly, "I can't promise anything at this time. This program is still too new. We've only had two students so far, and of them only Jen was completely successful. Betty believes that Mina will still come around, but that still remains to be seen. This new class starting today will be the first real test."
"How many students do you have?" Tracy asked curiously.
"40." Amelia said. "23 boys and 17 girls. Not counting Jen and Mina, of course."
Tracy sat up straight at that. A look of concern etched itself deeply into her face.
"I'm not sure I feel comfortable having Emily around boys during this." Tracy said firmly. "With the way she's behaving, I've always feared she would get up to something... Inappropriate."
Amelia waved her hand dismissively in the air in front of her.
"No need to worry about that. I have always kept the bitches separate from the dogs. I'm not about to change that policy now. They will remain on opposite ends of the building for the duration of their stay."
This seemed to appease Tracy, but the seeds of worry had been sown. Amelia saw the look on her face.
"If you are concerned about the well-being of your daughters, perhaps you would like to stay and oversee their training? I dare say I could use the extra help. Finding employees willing to assist in this endeavor that can pass a background check as well as the aptitude test Betty devised has proven problematic."
Tracy looked hesitant, and just a slight bit insulted.
"I'm not like Jen, I'll have you know." She said haughtily. "I don't feel the need to sleep in a kennel. Not even for my daughters."
Amelia and Alice looked at one another, then burst out laughing. Amelia doubled up in her seat and wheezed for quite some time. Alice recovered much more quickly and addressed the rather disgruntled Tracy.
"I don't think it will be necessary for you to go quite that far." She giggled. "In addition to training and boarding dogs, this facility also used to host regular dog shows. Though we haven't had any for some time now, we still maintain rooms upstairs for our more prestigious guests. They're mostly used by staff members who need to stay late to deal with sick or recalcitrant pups theses days, and since we're still in the early days of our new program, Amelia is allowing anyone who wishes to get overtime to stay and assist with night shift. You'd be staying there."
"I don't think I can afford-" Tracy began, but Amelia, having recovered from her fit of laughter, cut her off.
"No, no!" She gasped. "I wouldn't dream of charging you. For anything! It's thanks to you and Jen that I was able to come up with this new scheme and your glowing review has helped sell it. I insist that you enjoy our free room and board at your leisure. If you wish to repay us then you can just help out with training or in the kitchens when you can. Whatever you feel like doing to help!"
"Well, if you're sure..."
"Of course I'm sure." Amelia said firmly. "As Jen's mother you have first hand experience with how our program has helped her and can assist our trainers with the other students as well as Emily, and Jen can assist us, too. Her experience can help us guide the students at their own level in ways that we would probably never think of. With the two of you on board there is no way we can possibly fail!"
Tracy sat for a moment in silence while Alice and Amelia gazed expectantly at her. She looked thoughtfully down at Jen. Jen stared fixedly back, willing her mother to accept. She wondered briefly if she could use the curse to convince her, but discarded that idea. There were too many people in the room. She wanted to keep the curse secret. A hidden advantage, if she used it correctly. Tracy held her daughter's gaze for a few moments, then looked back up at Amelia.
"I'll do it." She said firmly. "But I need to run home and get some things. Clothes, toiletries, and such."
"Of course!" Amelia said happily, jumping to her feet. "Go and grab whatever you need. We'll prepare things here. Would you like to leave Rex with us?"
"Might as well."
"Very good. I'll call Steven and have him check Rex in. Alice, you take Jen to see Betty, then we'll have her join the others. Tracy, do you want Jen to stay with you, or should we board her in the kennel with Emily?"
Once again, Tracy looked down at Jen before responding.
"I think she should stay with Emily. At least for now. Until she gets settled in."
That seemed to settle matters. Tracy and Amelia headed back out to the foyer while Alice clipped a leash to Jen's collar and led her back to Betty's office.
"So... What's it like?" Alice asked as they walked. "Being a dog, I mean."
"It's not bad." Jen replied hesitantly, a little surprised at the question. "It's... Relaxing. I don't really have to worry about things. I just eat, sleep, play, go for walks, and the like."
"But what about, um, human stuff? Don't you have to worry about school, or a job? What about your friends?"
Jen had to think about this for a minute. She didn't really have to worry about school. Sure, there was still the graduation ceremony, but that had been delayed until September while they finished the renovations on the town's football stadium. She could go to college, but she had no idea what she wanted to major in. Working just didn't appeal to her, either in her new life or her old. As for her friends, well, she hadn't really spoken to any of them since school ended. She wondered what they thought of her now? The curse would make them accept that she could be this way, but she never specified that they had to accept her as she was now. It was quite possible that most, if not all, of her friends now considered her as little more than one of the loser nerds she used to pick on. To her surprise, Jen found herself saying much of this aloud.
Alice halted halfway down the corridor leading to Betty's office and listened to Jen vent her feelings. Of course, Jen made no mention of the curse itself, but her fears of what her friends might think still carried weight. Inwardly, she cursed herself for not considering this before when writing the dare for Kyle to read. But no. That wouldn't be fair to anyone. It was bad enough that she had changed the world as much as she had, forcing people to like her no matter what was a step too far. When Jen had finished her self-pitying rant, Alice reached down ruffled her hair affectionately.
"Is that all?" Alice said kindly. "You just reminded me of why I don't miss high school. Look, I know this may sound a bit trite, but if your friends decide they aren't your friends over something as stupid as this, then maybe they weren't really your friends to begin with. You were a cheerleader, right?"
"Head cheerleader." Jen interjected bitterly.
"Right. Cheerleaders are traditionally cliquey to the point of being cliche. I don't know your friends, but if they were anything like the cheerleaders when I was in school then there is a good chance that most, if not all of them, were always looking for a way to knock you down while desperately hiding their own dirty secrets. So yeah, they may ditch you now, but honestly it won't matter. High school is over. Go out, enjoy life, and forget the drama. Anyone who truly valued you as a friend will follow, and you'll make even more friends to replace the ones you lost."
This made Jen feel marginally better. Alice was right. Who cared what anyone thought. If they did try to make a big deal out of it she could just leave. Walk away. Ignore them utterly. There was nothing to stop her. And if that didn't work, she always had the curse to fall back on...
Jen shook her head. Using the curse on Kyle was one thing, and she had pretty much gotten what she wanted out of it besides revenge, but she needed to be careful. She didn't want to hurt people like Kyle tried to hurt her. The curse should only be a last resort. She looked back up at Alice, who was smiling faintly back down at her.
"Thanks." Jen said quietly.
"You're welcome." Alice said, her smile widening. "Now let's get you checked in, then I can show you the real play yard."
Alice led Jen the rest of the way down the hall and knocked on Betty's door.