PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XI Part IV

Patches felt the hairs on his neck stand upright. "What is your problem?!" he barked out, spinning to face the dog and placing his paws on the counter for support. "You keep sneaking up on me like this!"

"Hey- if you need to look at those j-just ask," she said, approaching the dog and reaching for the files.

Patches let the smaller dog collect them; he got what he needed for now. "My my, you sound nervous. Was there something you didn't want me seeing in there?"

Dell didn't respond but quickly flipped through the papers, finding the one she was looking for and frowning intensely. Absolute shame was painted across her face as she folded the files back up.

Patches let loose a giggle. "Next, you'll tell me it was a phase, right?"

Dell loudly huffed, clenching her paws in frustration as her cheeks reddened. "Yes," she barked out, "I didn't know how dumb I looked! Oh Dog, why did you have to look at it?"

"Ha, well, of course a gem like that would draw my gaze," he proudly stated, puffing up his chest. "You know, that wouldn't be a very flattering photo for any dogs to find out about..."

Dell frowned. "Augh, I just want to forget that day. Everyone in school saw me dressed up like I had just got out of the grave. I can't believe I wasted so much money at Dog Topic- just- aghhhh! Everyone thought I was just the biggest idiot!" Dell gestured frustratedly. "I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."

Patches shrugged, suddenly taking in the fact that Dell was wearing her oversized hoodie again, this time relatively blood-free but still soaking wet. He briefly appraised the skull pin that still adorned it, pointing at it with an open paw. "Looks like you haven't entirely gotten past that little 'phase' of yours."

Dell looked at the pin, clutching it. "That's... I mean, I just really enjoy skulls, okay?"

"Dogs are going to think a lot more than just 'She likes skulls' when they see you in a bloodied hoodie like that. The stains won't ever fully come out, Dell- might be time to toss it, eh?"

"That's... No, I'm never getting rid of this. This hoodie was a gift."

"I can tell, it's not even fitted for you- and that colour really doesn't match your fur." Patches began walking past the terrier, making his way to her room so he could fill his pockets back up with all the tools he had collected on his little adventure thus far.

"Can you stop tormenting me already?" Dell demanded.

"Maybe after you start taking my advice a bit more," Patches yelled from the hall.

Dell took another look through the files, sorting them as she had done before. "So, why were you using the phone?" she asked, walking towards her room and shutting the door as Patches explained.

"Oh, just to see if anyone's stuck at home today."

"And... Was anyone home?"

Patches nodded, handing Dell her backpack. "Ginger. The dog that nearly killed me yesterday."

Dell stuffed the files back into her backpack, putting the bulky thing down by the door. "We're not going to hurt her, are we?" she asked.

Before Patches could answer, the dogs could hear the phone's electronic ringing coming from the kitchen. Dell's ears piqued up, and she turned to leave the room. 'That's weird," she thought to herself.

"Don't pick it up. Whoever that is, they don't need to know where you are right now."

"... It's probably just the school calling to see if I'm at home or something."

Patches shook his head as the phone continued to ring. "No, it literally cannot be that, unless they have your phone number stored elsewhere. We took your file, remember? It's probably just a call for your dad or-"

"Oh my Dog! I know who it is!" Dell interrupted, practically sprinting out of her room on all fours to get to the phone before it'd hang up. She ran down the hall, using the narrow walls for stability, as she hanged a left and nearly slipped on the carpeted floor. She tumbled into the kitchen and fumbled the phone off its receiver.

She took a second to breathe, smiling like a madman, and raised the phone to her ear. "Hello? Who is this?" she said, almost rhetorically.

"Hey! Dell, are you alright?" It was just who she thought it'd be, the only one who knew her number by heart.

"Yeah!" She beamed, her heart running a mile a minute. "Especially now that I'm talking with you." She chuckled a bit at her comment, the warmth in her chest beating back any doubt of being caught up on how awkward she was.

"That's great to hear! I just wanted to check in on you; you've been missing class recently."

Dell remained silent. A pang of guilt hit her in the chest.

"If you run, you could probably still make it to the assembly, and show up for homeroom."

"Oh, well... Sorry, I guess I haven't felt that good recently... After the whole killer running around our school thing."

There was an uneasy pause. "... Yeah, crazy, isn't it? Though, you know we have tests coming up soon."

"Wait, are people seriously worried about tests right now?"

"I am, you know how much I worry about my life after I graduate."

Dell grabbed the spiralling wire coming from the phone, slowly entangling her fingertips around it. "But... Shouldn't we be worrying about other things?"

Dell could hear the shift of fabric. "I don't know, but, if you're not gonna show up to school- do you want me to come over and bring you your assignments?"

"I... Yes, I'd love that a whole bunch, but..."

"... But what?"

"Oh, um, I heard something happened at school yesterday. Did they talk about that at the assembly?"

"Of course. We're still not counting absences until further notice, buuut tests still count, and remember we're coming up on midterms in a month or so."

"They didn't say anything else?"

"Huh? Oh, no... Why would they?"

"Uh..." Dell trailed off, eventually clearing her throat and speaking up in a hoarse tone. "I'm just worried about something like that happening again."

"Oh, well, I'm sure it won't. I heard we're getting close to capturing the dog responsible anyhow."

"Heh... Hopefully..." Dell paused. "So... when are you going to come over?"

"Oh, well, we're having a break, so I'll pop over in a few minutes. Sound good?"

"Yeah! Thank you so much, Cujo."

"No problem, and hey, maybe we can hang out a little after?"

Dell jumped, first at Cujo's question, then at seeing Patches' paw come from her peripheral and depress the receiver's hook switch, terminating the call.