A New Me (Discontinued For Now)

More Lies (10)

I sat right against Duke and watched the family go crazy over getting prepared to leave. Duke was softly licking my fur which was oddly comforting.

Mast— Alex was keeping an eye on the two of us just in case the pitbull goes by his horny dog instincts again and attacks me.

"Oh yeah, Mom, why are you and Dad here so early? You were supposed to be gone for another month or so," Alex asked while putting waters in a large beach bag.

Their mom glanced up at her son before turning her gaze back to her phone where she was texting someone named Ryan.

"Well, your dad and I wanted to come home early so that we could spend the fourth with you guys. We also realized that we missed you," she answered with a small smile.

After that it was silent but Alexander had a big grin on his face.

"You know, you look like a feisty puppy but really you're the sweetest little thing," Duke barked quietly.

I took my gaze off of my best friend to look up at the dog who, right now, is treating me like his child or something.

"Feisty?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Also, I've been meaning to ask you this earlier but you really smell like this human boy I saw yesterday. I mean, you have your own scent but it's mingling with his. Can you explain why?"

I froze. What can I say? If I tell him the truth will he believe me? Think I'm crazy? Can dogs even be considered crazy like the terms people use?

"Uh, he was my previous owner before I came here. He couldn't take care of me since he was homeless."

Duke nodded his large head slowly. "I see. Why would he come here though? Alex always used to talk about him in a bad way whenever he had the chance."

I raised my head quickly. Alex would never talk bad about me. Since day one we were friends. Right? I mean, he was the only kid who was nice to me on my first day of school. That had to mean something. He couldn't have possibly thought about me the same way everyone else did. I hope.

"What did he say?" I asked curiously.

Duke thought for a minute. "Well, if I recall correctly he said something about the boy stinking horribly, not being able to be trusted, uh, and only being his friend because he felt bad for him. He said other things but I kinda forgot those."

Those three things were enough to make my heart feel like breaking in two. I had actually thought someone wanted to be my friend because of me not because of the pity they feel for me. Alex was supposed to be different. He was supposed to be my best friend!

My ears drooped slightly but not enough to make anyone think something was wrong even though right now, it felt like everything was just falling apart.

I slowly turned my head towards Alexander. He was laughing and talking with his younger sister, not a care in the world. I lowered my head so that I was laying on my paws but never did I take my eyes off of Alex.

My life will never be as perfect as his. He has money, a girlfriend, a loving family and plenty of friends. He even has a dog now. What do I have? Let's see... I have people who love betraying me, no home, no family and more importantly no will to even live.

That realization hit me hard as a stone to the nose. I had no reason at all to live. No one would notice if I was gone. Either that or they wouldn't care.

"Duke?" I whimpered quietly.

"Yes Shiloh?"

"If I went missing would you care? Would you try to find me?"

Duke shifted underneath me. "Why would you ask that? Of course I would care. I know we haven't exactly met on best terms and we've only known each other for not even a full two days but honestly I want to protect you from this harsh world. There's something about you that makes me feel overprotective. I can't explain it but it's a strong feeling."

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least one perso-,er, animal cares about me.

"Why you ask?"

I wracked my brain for excuses but at the end why would I lie? I should just be truthful. Not about the whole ordeal but about simply why I had asked Duke such a question so randomly.

"I just feel like no one would care if I went missing or something happened to me. I felt that they wouldn't even notice so I asked you to see if what I feel was true. It wasn't so thank you," I told him truthfully and gratefully.

"Now why would–" Duke had started to say but I was carefully picked up. Although it was carefully it hurt the way the grabbed my by my front legs.

An unfamiliar and new scent filled my nostrils. It smelled homey, like cinnamon and pumpkin spice. This was a female holding me, I knew that much but who was it? I couldn't see her because she was making me face away from her.

"This is your new puppy?" the unknown woman asked while turning me around so that I could finally see her face.

A sound of confusion unintentionally slipped from my muzzle.

Holding me was a woman around her mid thirties. She had nearly pitch black hair that was hanging loosely around her face, giving her a younger look. Her eyes reminded me kind of like my human ones but they were a darker gray. Even though her eyes were full of life, under her eyes though was a different story. Large black bags were residing there but she had tried to cover it up with a fair amount of concealer. To anyone who wasn't looking for it, they wouldn't notice the bags at all.

"Yeah, that's her. Her name is Shiloh," Alex answered.

He started his decent towards us causing my heart to start beating rapidly. Rage enveloped my whole being and without warning I started growling at him menacingly. Obviously not expecting it, Alex stopped dead in his tracks to look at me worriedly.

"What's wrong Shiloh?" he asked.

I let my upper lip uncurl so that it was hiding my teeth once again.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows with my actions. He obviously didn't know that I knew what he really thought of me. I could really take advantage of that.

Once my former best friend assumed I wouldn't growl at him anymore, he started towards us again.

"So, Miss Kodi. I hear you're still looking for your son," Alexander started while stroking my fur.

The woman sighed sadly. "I am, yes. I really wish I wasn't so stupid then as to let my ex-husband kick him out of the house. I-I don't even know if my baby is alive anymore. I mean, a nine year old surviving on the streets all by himself?"

"I'm so sorry. I'm still keeping an eye out for him."

"Thank you so much Alex. I should be going now. It was nice seeing you all! Oh and Shiloh is a very beautiful puppy."

As the woman said her goodbyes after setting me down on the couch, I started at her, trying to figure out why she seemed so familiar. All of a sudden I realized exactly who she was and what role in my life she had played seven years ago...