Puppy Love by A. Destiny and Catherine Hapka

puppy.”
    â€œSounds like my parents.”
    â€œYeah. Rex was really old when he died, and he was pretty cranky the last few years.” He shrugged. “Actually, he was always pretty cranky. We started calling him T. Rex because he was always trying to bite people. Looking back, I realize it’s probably because we never taught him any better.”
    â€œSounds like something Adam would say.” I tried not to look too lovesick at the mention of his name.
    â€œRight,” Jamal agreed. “Anyway, Rex was pretty much untrained. But I want to do it right this time. I had it all figuredout—I’d go to the shelter and find some tall, lean dog that could keep up with me whether I was doing a long run or a sprint.”
    I watched Ozzy as he grabbed the tennis ball in his mouth and tossed it up, leaping after it. He was definitely athletic, but the words “tall” and “lean” weren’t the first to spring to mind.
    â€œSo what happened?” I asked.
    â€œWell, first my friends tried to change my mind about what to get,” he said. “My girl-crazy cousin Reggie thought I should pick out something small and fluffy and cute. He says that kind of dog is a girl magnet.” He grinned at me. “So what do you think? Is it true?”
    I had the uncomfortable feeling that he was flirting with me. But I tried to sound casual as I replied, “I don’t know. Maybe you should take a poll of all the girls you can find. That’s another way to meet them, right?”
    That made him laugh. “Anyway, that was Reggie. My friend Kenny had the opposite opinion. He wanted me to get a big dog—something tough-looking and macho.”
    I looked over again at Ozzy, who was neither big and tough nor cute and fuzzy. “So how’d you end up with Oz?”
    â€œWhen I went to the shelter, there was just something about him. Yeah, he’s not much to look at, I guess. He’s sort of scruffy and gangly and looks like three different dogs put together.” He shrugged. “So I don’t know. He just has, like, a good energy, you know? We got along right away. Plus, I could tell he was active enough that he’d be able to keep up with me while I run, even if he wasn’t exactly what I was picturing.”
    I couldn’t help being impressed. Most of the guys I knew at school were all about the optics. Who had the snazziest car, the best clothes, the prettiest girlfriend. That was the main reason I had zero interest in getting to know most of them—and didn’t mind that it seemed to be mutual. Took it as a compliment, almost.
    But Jamal didn’t seem to be that way at all. Was it a public school vs. private school thing? Were people just less shallow at MVHS? I tended to doubt it—I’d gone to public school up through eighth grade and didn’t remember it being that much different.
    So maybe it was just him. In any case, hearing him talk about choosing Ozzy made me feel a bit sheepish about the reasons I’d chosen Muckle. But never mind. It had worked out for the best—I was crazy about the little monster now, regardless of his breed.
    Ozzy and Muckle had stopped chasing the tennis ball to wrestle, but now Ozzy bounded toward us with the ball in his mouth again. He dropped it at his owner’s feet and barked. Jamal scooped up the slimy ball and tossed it in one graceful motion. Nice.
    Wait, why was I noticing that? I wasn’t interested in him that way. Maybe being in love with Adam was making me more sensitive to male beauty in any form.
    â€œI guess it’s a good thing we both found Adam, right?” I said, my mind now wandering in that direction. I shot a surreptitious look around the rest of the dog park, but my future boyfriend was still nowhere in sight. “Um, so you were saying you had a study hall with Adam once. Do you know him well?”
    â€œNope.” Jamal bent to grab the ball again