Boys Are Dogs Read Free Page A

hands.
    Mouth open, he panted. I guess the morning excitement wore him out.
    The sun warmed my face. In the distance I saw rolling hills. Our old apartment had a view of the freeway, and we heard cars zoom past all day and night. I didn’t mind it so much, but I wouldn’t miss it, either. And okay, I’d never say so, but it felt nice having a real yard with grass and my own puppy.
    When my mom came outside a minute later, I pulled my hand away and wrapped my arms around my knees, doing my best to look bored.
    “There you are,” she said, handing me a book. “We got you a dog-training manual to teach you how to take care of Stripe, or whatever you decide to name him.”
    “My gift comes with homework?” I asked.
    “It’s not homework. It’ll be fun.”
    Easy for her to say.
    The book was called Good Dog! Raise Your Puppy Right . The cover showed three fluffy baby Labradors lined up along a white picket fence—one yellow, one brown, and one black. None of them looked like Stripe. Of course, Stripe didn’t look like any dog I’d ever seen. His large head seemed too big for his skinny body. And he wasn’t exactly spotted, since there was black fur in his white spots and white fur mixed into his black parts. Especially on his back, where he had a huge black and white patch that was almost heart-shaped.
    I flipped past the introduction and read the first page out loud.

    I looked up and said, “Guess you and Ted should have read this a couple of days ago, huh?”
    Mom just smiled at me, kind of sadly. “I know this is hard for you, Annabelle. So many big changes to deal with, and you’re being wonderful about it. I appreciate that. Please, though. Just give him a chance.”
    I stared down at the book, not answering her. I couldn’t, because I didn’t know if she was talking about the new puppy or about Dweeble.

chapter two
new friends with weird hats
    Y ou were supposed to call me as soon as you got to your new house,” Sophia said on the phone the next morning.
    “I know, but yesterday was really busy. My mom and Dweeble got me a puppy.”
    “No fair!” Sophia cried. “I want a puppy!”
    “He is pretty cute,” I whispered. Sure, I was upstairs in my room, behind the closed door, but I needed to play it safe. I didn’t want Mom and Dweeble to hear how happy I was about Stripe. If they knew I liked him, they’d think their plan worked. That’s why I didn’t pet him when I’d come downstairs for breakfast. I just ate my cornflakes silently and then took the portable phone upstairs so I could call my friends.
    “When my dad moved out of our house, all I got was a cat,” Sophia complained.
    This was news to me. “When did you have a cat?”
    Sophia sighed. “Three years ago. We only got to keep her for a few days because then my dad came home, and he’s allergic.”
    “So what happened?”
    “We gave her to my mom’s cousin.”
    I wondered what would happen if things didn’t work out with Mom and Dweeble. Who’d keep the puppy? Would we stay in this house, or move into another place? We couldn’t go back to our old apartment because there were already other people living there. But maybe if we asked nicely, they’d let us have it back.
    “So how’s the house?” Sophia asked.
    “It’s okay,” I said, even though it wasn’t. When I woke up this morning I got scared because I didn’t realize where I was at first. My old furniture looked small and shabby in my new room.
    “Mia and I are meeting at the community pool. You should ask your mom to drive you over.”
    I groaned. “She won’t do it. They’re organizing their closets all morning.”
    “On the last day of summer?” asked Sophia.
    “At least she’s taking me to the mall later to get some school clothes.”
    “I’m so jealous. You don’t have to wear a uniform anymore. And you get to go to school with boys.”
    Sophia has been obsessed with boys all summer and I don’t get why. As far as I could tell, boys weren’t