Purple Nails and Puppy Tails (6 page)

Aly bit her tongue—hard enough that it even hurt a little. Both sisters seemed to have moved past the Melvin vs. Sparky fight, and Aly really didn't want to get into another one.

“Maybe,” she said, stopping right in front of Pups 'n' Stuff.

Miss Nina was standing behind the counter as they walked in.

“Are you girls ready for Doggie Makeover Day on Saturday?” she asked. “My friends and I are going to bathe and groom all ten of the pooches.”

Aly wasn't sure they were completely ready. Ten sets of four dog paws each was an awful lot of puppy nails to paint, even with their friends helping.

“I'm
so
ready!” Brooke said. “And we're here to
buy collars and bows and sweaters and bandanas and jackets.”

“And paw-lish,” Aly added. They couldn't forget that.

“Why don't we pick out the paw-lish first?” Miss Nina said, pushing up her sleeves.

She walked the girls over to the paw-lish bin and pulled out a few colors. “We have Bone White, Red Rover, Grass Green, Purple Paws, and Hound Dog Blues,” she said.

“I think we need two of each,” Aly said.

“Maybe not white,” Brooke said. “That one's so boring.”

“I thought maybe some of the boys could get white,” Aly answered, picking up a tube of paw-lish. “You know, just in case red or purple doesn't go with their fur or their sweater or something.”

Brooke scratched her head. “I think the boy dogs
won't mind. There are boys in my class who like red and purple.”

Aly thought about that. Brooke was actually right—there were boys in her class who liked red and purple too.

“So just the four colors?” Miss Nina said.

Aly nodded.

“You know,” Miss Nina added as she placed the paw-lish tubes on the counter, “my boyfriend wears nail polish. He's a rock musician. Lots of guys who play rock music wear nail polish.”

“Maybe our dogs will be rock stars! Maybe
Melvin
will be a rock star!” Brooke said. She was looking at the different outfits and pulled out a leather vest. “This looks like Melvin,” she said, bringing it to the counter.

Aly picked it up. It was pretty cool. But it was also $175. “Brooke,” she said, “this is a little too expensive.
If we get him this, we won't have enough money to spend on the other dogs.”

Brooke crossed her arms in front of her. “It's just because you hate Melvin. If you loved him like I did, you would get this vest. If it were for Sparky, you'd get it.”

Aly sighed. “It's not that, Brooke. I don't hate Melvin. I just want to give all the dogs a fair chance. They all have to look good so they'll all get adopted.”

Miss Nina walked over to a different wall and pulled down a black vest decorated with sparkly gold lightning bolts. “Here,” she said, giving it to Brooke. “I think this will look neat on Melvin, just like a rock star. And it's much less expensive.”

Brooke gave Aly one last glare and then inspected the vest. “Well, it
is
cool,” she said.

“My boyfriend would love it.” Miss Nina grabbed
a sparkly gold collar and leash, too. “And I think these match perfectly.”

Brooke's face lit up. “Let's get those,” she chirped.

Aly let out a big breath. At least Melvin was taken care of.

The girls split up the rest of the list, and with Miss Nina's help, they picked outfits for each dog.

For Bob, the one Charlotte liked: a plaid sweater with a green collar and leash.

For Marjorie: a pink T-shirt with a silver heart on the back, a silver collar and leash, and pink bows for her ears.

For Laces: a denim vest, a yellow collar and leash, and a yellow bandana for her neck.

For Reginald: a neon-green T-shirt with a fluorescent yellow leash and collar.

For Penny: a gold-and-silver-striped sweater, a silver leash and collar, and one gold bow.

For Frida: a dark-purple beret, a plum-colored bow, and a lavender collar and leash.

For Murphy: a black T-shirt with a silver star on the back and a matching silver leash and collar.

For Sneaker: a hot-pink warm-up jacket, a rhinestone collar and leash, and a hot-pink bow.

Slowly but surely, the pile on the counter got taller until only one dog was left: Sparky. What would make Sparky look his very best?

Aly looked at the clothing racks and shelves, and then she saw it: a little blue T-shirt with a sparkly rainbow on the back and a sparkly rainbow-colored collar and leash to match. He'd look like a walking version of their rainbow sparkle pedicure, and considering how magical that pedicure was for the soccer players, Aly figured it would be even more magical if it was all over Sparky's body.

Miss Nina rang up all the puppy outfits. “Six hundred and twenty-five dollars.”

The girls were shocked—the clothing was so tiny; how could it cost so much?

“We have more than that,” Brooke told her.

Aly unzipped the pouch and counted out the money, handing Miss Nina the exact amount.

“How much do we have left?” Brooke asked.

“Thirty-one dollars,” Aly answered, and then she saw Brooke's eyes move around the store and zero in on a sign:
FOR SALE: PUPPY PERFUME! $30!

Brooke made a beeline for the display. “This!” she said. “We need this so that they all smell good!”

She brought the bottle to Aly. Aly spritzed it in the air and sniffed. It smelled like fresh grass and clean laundry. Not bad. And they did have some money left.

“Okay,” she said, handing Miss Nina another thirty dollars. “We can put this last dollar in the donation jar back at the Sparkle Spa,” she told Brooke. “For whatever charity we decide to donate to next.”

“It was so nice of you to raise the money for these dogs. There are so many dogs that need to be adopted and not enough people who get involved,” Miss Nina said.

Aly watched Miss Nina's fingers as she started bagging all their merchandise and noticed the cool polish job. She felt kind of proud that it was her mom who did Miss Nina's manicure and applied the rhinestones to her pinkies.

“Did you two ever think about adopting a dog?” she asked.

“I looooove Melvin,” Brooke said, pulling on her braid with one hand and holding one of the clothing bags with the other.

Aly picked up the second bag. “I like Sparky,” Aly said. “But we're not allowed to have a dog. Our parents said.”

Miss Nina nodded sympathetically. “Well, maybe you can get them to reconsider.”

“I doubt it,” Aly said. “They seem pretty serious about it.”

As Brooke and Aly walked back to the salon, Aly thought it would be hard enough convincing her parents to adopt one dog. But two? No way. Especially if one of them was Melvin.

A
ll week long Aly had been thinking about Doggie Makeover Day. She hoped the old-timers would like their outfits and wouldn't squirm or chew or cry once they were dressed. She hoped all the groomers would show up. She hoped the pet-icures would go well.

She also hoped, deep down in the bottom of her heart, that somehow, magically, Mom and Dad would fall in love with Sparky and let her adopt him. And that bottom-of-her-heart hope was what
Aly was thinking about when she and Brooke were in the backseat of their dad's car on the way to the shelter on Saturday morning, with their bags of outfits and paw-lish and puppy perfume for the makeover event.

“You know, I had a dog when I was growing up,” Dad told them from the front seat. “His name was Mouse, because he was huge. A sheepdog.”

“That doesn't make sense, Daddy,” Brooke said. “If he was so big, you should've named him Elephant or something.”

“It was a joke, Brookie,” Dad said. “Anyway, he was a great dog. If I were home more to help take care of it, I'd get you girls a dog, but it doesn't seem fair to leave all that work to your mother.”

Aly thought about this for a moment. Was this good news in terms of possibly getting Sparky, or bad news? She wasn't quite sure.

“What was the best part about having a dog?” Brooke asked.

“Oh, I don't know if I could pick one thing,” Dad said. “Dogs are good company, and they're fun to play with in the yard, and once Mouse even scared away a burglar.”

“A burglar?” Brooke gasped. “Really, Daddy?”

“Yes. He was a special dog,” Dad said, pulling up in front of the shelter. “You know, I'm proud of you girls for helping out the community like this, even though we're not getting a dog.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Aly said, her heart dropping into her stomach.

“Yeah, thanks,” Brooke said, looking just as sad as Aly felt.

When the girls got out of the car, Mrs. Franklin and Sadie were waiting for them just inside the door—
dressed, as usual, like twins: Sadie wore yellow and pink bows on her ears. Mrs. Franklin had on a yellow-and-pink-striped hat.

“I'm so glad you're here,” Mrs. Franklin said. “Your friends are already inside.”

Charlotte, Lily, and Sophie were planning to help. And Jenica was going to be around, volunteering.

Aly and Brooke followed Mrs. Franklin through the shelter and waved at Irena, who was in the middle of a cat adoption. They finally reached the old-timers' room. “I'll be right back, girls,” Mrs. Franklin said as she headed back down the hallway. “I have to let Isaac know you're here.”

Miss Nina was already in the room, with Bob walking behind her on a leash. Lily, Sophie, and Charlotte were there too.

“Oooh, he looks so fluffy!” Charlotte squealed, kneeling down next to Bob. Miss Nina handed her
Bob's leash and went to get Marjorie out of her cage.

“Hi, Bob,” Charlotte said. “Do you like it when people call you Bobby?”

Bob licked Charlotte's hand, and she laughed.

“Are you going to adopt him tomorrow?” Aly asked, putting her bag of dog accessories on the floor.

“I think so,” Charlotte said. “My dad wants us to come here with Minerva to make sure they like each other. If they do, Bob's coming home with me.”

“I'm getting Melvin,” Brooke said.

Aly closed her eyes and started counting Mississippis so she wouldn't scream at her sister. “Stop it, Brooke,” she whispered.

“The slobbery one?” Lily asked. “Ick. I didn't think anyone was going to take him. Are you sure that's the one you want?”

“We're not getting a dog,” Aly said. “Brooke's just pretending. Right, Brooke?”

Brooke looked like she was about to cry. “I guess.” She frowned.

“I'd pretend to get Sparky,” Sophie said. “He's so cute, with those comic-book eyes. But I'm not allowed to have another pet—just my gerbil.”

“I'd pretend to get Sparky too,” Aly said. Then she walked over to his cage. “Hey, where is he?”

“He's in the back, waiting for his bath,” Sophie said. “Miss Nina and the other groomers just started. They've got Bob, Laces, and Murphy done. And Marjorie's back there now, along with Frida and Sparky.”

Bob started barking when Irena walked into the room with Isaac, Mrs. Franklin, and Sadie.

“Let's set you up in that corner over there,” Irena said. “Isaac's going to be taking pictures. And don't worry if things get a little messy with the dogs.”

Aly looked down at her T-shirt and jeans. She was glad she wasn't wearing any of her favorite clothes.

Irena continued, “There are towels and treats for the dogs, and a basket for all your dog polish.”

“It's called paw-lish,” Brooke told her. “And Hound Dog Blues is going to be the doggy Color of the Week.” She giggled. “I mean, the Color of the Day.”

Irena laughed. “Excuse me,” she said. “Paw-lish. Anyway, I'll be coming in and out, but Nina said she'll keep an eye on you and the dogs. Isaac will be here too, if you need anything.”

“Okay,” Aly said, glancing up at Isaac. He smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.