Because It's You

1.2 || Unconditional

The owner of the hand withdrew immediately. He was a good looking teenage boy, almost a head taller than Gil himself, with blonde-ash colored hair similar to Tara's. Their faces were also a few points similar to each other. In fact, JamJam had seen him a few times before as well, as he was also in the same circle of friends that Gil belonged in.

"A mutt will just be a mutt," the boy spat, although a trace of nervousness was still in his voice.

Abe Scifa was Tara Scifa's fraternal cousin, and he was also a popular kid at school. However, unlike Tara, it took longer for Abe to warm up to JamJam. Even now, their level of civil towards each other was still below freezing point.

Sensing Gil's disappointment as Tara pulled away with Abe, JamJam also felt apologetic. However, he could not help himself. His current dog instinct knew that Abe was never really into animals and was just tagging along on his cousin's whims. Even with JamJam's cute and usually docile personality, Abe was never won over. His patch of skin where Abe had forcefully pulled before still stung a little. What JamJam did not understand was, if Abe was truly scared of dogs, why would the latter even aggravate JamJam further by inflicting pain?

JamJam barely tolerated Abe because Gil had a crush on the beautiful cousin.

Gil gently stroke JamJam's fur while wistfully looking at the pair of cousins. JamJam could only sigh inwardly,

"Kid, this is just a crush. Although it still makes me wonder how you can survive being friends with these pompous rich kids."

"Let's just ignore the stupid dog and go home," another teenage boy yawned in boredom as he slung his satchel over his shoulder. The other boy also shrugged and grinned. He was a red-haired boy with freckles who had not yet lost all of his baby fat. He looked adorably innocent, if not for the next words that came out of his mouth,

"Yeah, Tara, the dog is just a dog after all. How could it know what's good for him? At least the owner knows who to suck up to, by sticking around with the rest of us."

"Ohoho!"

The four people bickered amongst each other, leaving Gil gaping alone although he was clearly being verbally bullied.

JamJam trotted calmly towards the boy that had belittled Gil before, and lifted up his left hind leg.

"Urgent situations demand urgent measures. I would normally never pee in public, but... ."

Obviously, the kid's skinny legs, with a pair of shiny white shoes attached to them, was a perfect spot to relieve himself. What could an innocent dumb dog do but to follow his instinct?

The freckled boy shrieked profanities that not any underage boys should even know about, as the stream of warm liquid stained his pants and shoes. JamJam quickly hid behind Gil's back afterwards.

The boy would get a warning letter from the school's counsellor the next day, because the guard had reported his behaviour. Although the high-class school had its share of bullies, most of the children came from prestigious families. It was a public secret, but bullying must not occur in the open. However, for these influential people, anything that happened behind closed doors and away from the public eyes, was fair play.

JamJam knew all about the cruelty of the world, and he had realized that the freckled kid was the easiest to taunt.

He walked ahead as Gil followed him from behind, while conversing with Tara and sometimes Abe himself. JamJam tilted his head as he watched the three youngsters.

Abe Scifa, was also equally cruel and crafty. He knew how to hurt those he did not like but still gained sympathy in the process. Tara Scifa, despite being spoiled, was kinder and had more childlike innocence compared to her cousin of the same age.