March 18, 1999
My heart pounding against my chest, I nestled myself further into the bushes behind my neighbor’s house, praying to whatever gods I could think of that I wouldn’t get caught. I even folded my hands, clasping my clammy palms together in a pose that looked more like a mockery of my pious neighbor Mrs. Gray than a position of reverence. My silent pleading to the universe was cut short as I burrowed further into the huge prickly plant, my heart beating heavily against my chest as I heard one of the worst noises in the universe, a croak. I hated frogs, and the thought of one of the dreaded creatures anywhere near me made me begin to feel itchy all over. Whenever I saw their slick olive colored skin and their big blank eyes, I felt the the strongest desire to hide in a corner. As I reached for a stick that was nestled near my knee, something I hoped I could use to fend off the approaching amphibian, I heard the noise again, inches from me. Suddenly the branches that had settled against my face and shoulders began to rustle, and I buried my head into my arm in an attempt to keep from screaming. But the feeling of a hand on my shoulder caused me to remove my face from the rough polyester of my mustard yellow sweater vest, and look up at the person who had joined me in the large plant.
“What are you doing in my bushes?” a boy about my age asked, his nose inches from mine, golden hair curling against his forehead. Unsure of how to reply, I decided to go with the best option I could think of, which was to not reply at all. As the boy waited for my response, I stared blankly at a blade of grass resting under his grass stained knee, attempting to ignore the fact that his features grew more and more agitated as the seconds passed, his brown eyes slowly squinting as his eyebrows sloped down into a glare. As he continued to glower a dimple appeared on his chin, his teeth sinking firmly into his lower lip as his frustration grew.
“Why are you in my backyard?” the boy demanded, his increased annoyance obvious from his tone of voice, as he rephrased he is previous question. My fear increased as I realized I’d have to reply to the boy, that there was no way I could avoid talking to him, and I grimaced as my stomach clenched, filling with butterflies. I hated talking to new people. But, I was aware of the fact that I was in his backyard, and even though I was seven I still had manners. With trebling hands, I pushed my big wire rimmed glasses up my nose, taking a deep breath before replying to the boy.
“My brother threw my book over the fence,” I muttered quietly, hoping the boy would leave me alone. Instead he pressed his face even closer, a huge grin spreading from cheek to cheek, adding a brilliant white to his tan face. With a flourish he pulled
my weathered copy of Pride and Prejudice out from behind his back, its torn and tattered cover faded to a soft pink that I found almost comforting. Ripping it an almost to aggressive manner from his fingers, I pulled my book close against my chest, curling my fingers around it as I tucked it under my chin. I resisted the urge to grin like an idiot as the realization that my book hadn't met an early demise hit me.
“I’m Liam,” the boy stated after a moment, holding his hand out in a gesture awkwardly formal for two seven year olds. Looking blankly at his hand, it took me a moment or two to recognize what he was expecting. Sighing at the prolonged human interaction I was having to endure, I looked down at my hand in a slightly dejected manner.
“Prudence,” I replied, wrapping my fingers limply around his, hoping he wouldn't realize how entirely uninterested I was in playing with a boy, “Prudence Platt.” Present Day
“You’re kidding me, right?” I demanded, my hands resting on my hips, my eyes boring into the brown ones of my best friend. Liam stood at my door, a red leash wrapped around his knuckles, his dog Chowder standing at his feet. His golden hair was slicked back and slightly wet thanks to the rain outside, and he smiled softly, knowing there was no way I’d actually say no to what he’d just asked me to do. “That dog is always biting me,” I added, hoping that I could convey how much I would hate doing what Liam wanted me to.
“Prudy,” Liam sighed, running his hand through his hair as some of the drying curls fell into his face, “You know I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if it weren’t for the fact that my roommate is allergic to dogs.” Still feeling extremely reluctant, my eyes drifted down to the fluffy Border Collie that Liam and his brother Marcus had adopted from an animal shelter in high school. While most people would describe the creature as cute and adorable, I knew its true satanic nature. I still had a scar on my lower leg from when Chowder had decided we didn’t have to play tugawar with a rope. “Prudy?” Liam whispered, interrupting my thoughts about his evil dog, and causing my eyes to drift up from his dog to his face.
“What about Marcus?” I whined in desperation, realizing with a sinking feeling in my stomach that there was no way I was going to get out of this situation. The slight downward curve of Liam’s lips answered my question even before he actually replied.
“He can’t have pets in his building.” Biting my lip, I tried to think of a reason, any somewhat legitimate reason, that I could not have a dog. Sadly, since I’d adopted a month or so ago, I knew there wouldn’t be any decent reason to say no. “Please Prudence,” Liam pleaded, his eyes boring into mine, causing my heart to beat slightly faster, “You’re my last chance.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, ripping my gaze from Liam’s and redirecting it to his feet, “I’ll take Chowder.” Holding my hand out, I waited for Liam to place the leash in it, but unsurprisingly he threw his arms around me instead. Pulling me flush against his well muscled chest, he placed his face inches from my ear, his breath fluttering my long black hair.
“You are the best person in the entire world, Prudence Marie Platt,” Liam whispered, squeezing me even tighter before loosening his grip and taking a step back. “You have no idea how much this means,” he added, placing the leash in my hand, his fingers rubbing softly on my wrist before his hand moved back to his side.
“It’s fine,” I heard myself say in a slightly breathy manner, even though my mind was screaming for me to tell him just how much I hated this. All negative thoughts left though as Liam flashed me a huge dimpled grin, mirth dancing in his deep brown eyes.
“I’m going to that new bar tonight with some of the guys from my Chemistry class, and it would be awesome if you came.” Pausing for a moment to think, I was about to say yes when Liam spoke again. “You could bring your roommate too, Katie or whatever her name is. She’s really hot.” Reluctant to go out with Liam, and watch him spend the whole night hitting on my roommate, I decided to decline.
“I have an essay due tomorrow for my composition class,” I sighed in false reluctance, only feeling slightly guilty for lying. I watched as a frown crossed Liam’s face for a moment, but then he shrugged it off, wrapping his arms around me in another hug, though this one was infinitely shorter. Patting his hand awkwardly on my shoulder, he bent down to ruffle Chowder’s fur.
“You behave for Prudy, or I’ll send you back home to live with dad,” Liam chuckled, his dimples growing more pronounced on his tan face as he grinned. In response Chowder barked, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, as he slobbered with excitement. Standing back up, Liam pecked his lips against my cheek before turning towards the door. “Thank you so much,” he smiled over his shoulder, completely unaware of how fast he was making my heart beat, “I’ll make it up, I swear.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I laughed, waving my hand towards the door. “Have fun tonight.” Nodding his head in response, Liam pulled the door shut behind him, leaving me alone with his sadistic dog.
“So,” I muttered, glaring down at Chowder who had already began chewing on one of my plum colored suede boots, “Who is going to be sleeping outside tonight.” Reaching down at the end of my statement, I wrapped my fingers firmly around the shoe and pulled with a reasonable amount of force, already frustrated with myself for giving in to Liam. Instead of releasing my shoe though, Chowder just pulled the boot from my hand and ran down the hall to Katie’s room.
“No,” I squealed, racing after the dog, praying he wouldn’t ruin my favorite pair of winter shoes. My feet pounding loudly on the wooden floor of my apartment, I tumbled into Katie’s room, my fuzzy socks causing me to slide across the wooden floor. Placing my hand on the wall for balance, my fingers groped blindly for the light switch. When I flicked the lights on, I was met with a very upsetting sight.
Chowder stood on Katie’s bed, my boot resting under his stomach, his lips pulled up in a snarl. “Give it to me,” I shouted, hoping that the damn dog would just listen to me and make my life easy for once. In response to my demand however, Chowder just growled, his eyes glowing with Satanic hell fire. Grabbing Katie’s rainbow umbrella out of the corner, I pointed the end of it at his face, waving it around like a sword.
“Back away from the boot,” I ordered, jabbing at the evil Border Collie. As he moved to avoid my stab, I jumped forward onto the bed, my hand reaching for my shoe, pulling it against my chest as I successfully wrangled it away from one of the Devil’s most ferocious hell hounds. “Ha,” I shouted triumphantly, raising my boot into the air as if it were a trophy and not a piece of footwear, “I’ve defeated you.”
Lowering his head in acknowledgement of my victory, Chowder hopped off of Katie’s bed and scurried out the door. Relishing in my success, I waved my boot around in the air, swishing my hips around in a little victory dance. Unfortunately a shrill accented voice interrupted my joyous celebratory jig.
“Bloody hell,” my roommate Katie screeched, her voice reaching a pitch only dolphins could hear. “Why is Liam’s damn dog in our apartment?” Rushing back into the main room where the front door was located, I saw Katie standing in the entryway with an absolute look of horror on her face. As I entered the room her pale blue eyes drifted up from Chowder, the full power of her glare now resting on me. “Why,” she paused, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, “Is that dog here?”
"It's a long story," I mumbled pathetically, avoiding Katie's piercing gray glare with as much energy as I could muster. She knew how much I hated that dog, and how extremely opposite my feelings for the owner of said dog were. Unfortuanetly she realized that I would do anything to make Liam happy, and she wasn’t going to let me get away with being the world’s biggest pushover when it came to him.
My heart pounding against my chest, I nestled myself further into the bushes behind my neighbor’s house, praying to whatever gods I could think of that I wouldn’t get caught. I even folded my hands, clasping my clammy palms together in a pose that looked more like a mockery of my pious neighbor Mrs. Gray than a position of reverence. My silent pleading to the universe was cut short as I burrowed further into the huge prickly plant, my heart beating heavily against my chest as I heard one of the worst noises in the universe, a croak. I hated frogs, and the thought of one of the dreaded creatures anywhere near me made me begin to feel itchy all over. Whenever I saw their slick olive colored skin and their big blank eyes, I felt the the strongest desire to hide in a corner. As I reached for a stick that was nestled near my knee, something I hoped I could use to fend off the approaching amphibian, I heard the noise again, inches from me. Suddenly the branches that had settled against my face and shoulders began to rustle, and I buried my head into my arm in an attempt to keep from screaming. But the feeling of a hand on my shoulder caused me to remove my face from the rough polyester of my mustard yellow sweater vest, and look up at the person who had joined me in the large plant.
“What are you doing in my bushes?” a boy about my age asked, his nose inches from mine, golden hair curling against his forehead. Unsure of how to reply, I decided to go with the best option I could think of, which was to not reply at all. As the boy waited for my response, I stared blankly at a blade of grass resting under his grass stained knee, attempting to ignore the fact that his features grew more and more agitated as the seconds passed, his brown eyes slowly squinting as his eyebrows sloped down into a glare. As he continued to glower a dimple appeared on his chin, his teeth sinking firmly into his lower lip as his frustration grew.
“Why are you in my backyard?” the boy demanded, his increased annoyance obvious from his tone of voice, as he rephrased he is previous question. My fear increased as I realized I’d have to reply to the boy, that there was no way I could avoid talking to him, and I grimaced as my stomach clenched, filling with butterflies. I hated talking to new people. But, I was aware of the fact that I was in his backyard, and even though I was seven I still had manners. With trebling hands, I pushed my big wire rimmed glasses up my nose, taking a deep breath before replying to the boy.
“My brother threw my book over the fence,” I muttered quietly, hoping the boy would leave me alone. Instead he pressed his face even closer, a huge grin spreading from cheek to cheek, adding a brilliant white to his tan face. With a flourish he pulled
my weathered copy of Pride and Prejudice out from behind his back, its torn and tattered cover faded to a soft pink that I found almost comforting. Ripping it an almost to aggressive manner from his fingers, I pulled my book close against my chest, curling my fingers around it as I tucked it under my chin. I resisted the urge to grin like an idiot as the realization that my book hadn't met an early demise hit me.
“I’m Liam,” the boy stated after a moment, holding his hand out in a gesture awkwardly formal for two seven year olds. Looking blankly at his hand, it took me a moment or two to recognize what he was expecting. Sighing at the prolonged human interaction I was having to endure, I looked down at my hand in a slightly dejected manner.
“Prudence,” I replied, wrapping my fingers limply around his, hoping he wouldn't realize how entirely uninterested I was in playing with a boy, “Prudence Platt.” Present Day
“You’re kidding me, right?” I demanded, my hands resting on my hips, my eyes boring into the brown ones of my best friend. Liam stood at my door, a red leash wrapped around his knuckles, his dog Chowder standing at his feet. His golden hair was slicked back and slightly wet thanks to the rain outside, and he smiled softly, knowing there was no way I’d actually say no to what he’d just asked me to do. “That dog is always biting me,” I added, hoping that I could convey how much I would hate doing what Liam wanted me to.
“Prudy,” Liam sighed, running his hand through his hair as some of the drying curls fell into his face, “You know I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if it weren’t for the fact that my roommate is allergic to dogs.” Still feeling extremely reluctant, my eyes drifted down to the fluffy Border Collie that Liam and his brother Marcus had adopted from an animal shelter in high school. While most people would describe the creature as cute and adorable, I knew its true satanic nature. I still had a scar on my lower leg from when Chowder had decided we didn’t have to play tugawar with a rope. “Prudy?” Liam whispered, interrupting my thoughts about his evil dog, and causing my eyes to drift up from his dog to his face.
“What about Marcus?” I whined in desperation, realizing with a sinking feeling in my stomach that there was no way I was going to get out of this situation. The slight downward curve of Liam’s lips answered my question even before he actually replied.
“He can’t have pets in his building.” Biting my lip, I tried to think of a reason, any somewhat legitimate reason, that I could not have a dog. Sadly, since I’d adopted a month or so ago, I knew there wouldn’t be any decent reason to say no. “Please Prudence,” Liam pleaded, his eyes boring into mine, causing my heart to beat slightly faster, “You’re my last chance.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, ripping my gaze from Liam’s and redirecting it to his feet, “I’ll take Chowder.” Holding my hand out, I waited for Liam to place the leash in it, but unsurprisingly he threw his arms around me instead. Pulling me flush against his well muscled chest, he placed his face inches from my ear, his breath fluttering my long black hair.
“You are the best person in the entire world, Prudence Marie Platt,” Liam whispered, squeezing me even tighter before loosening his grip and taking a step back. “You have no idea how much this means,” he added, placing the leash in my hand, his fingers rubbing softly on my wrist before his hand moved back to his side.
“It’s fine,” I heard myself say in a slightly breathy manner, even though my mind was screaming for me to tell him just how much I hated this. All negative thoughts left though as Liam flashed me a huge dimpled grin, mirth dancing in his deep brown eyes.
“I’m going to that new bar tonight with some of the guys from my Chemistry class, and it would be awesome if you came.” Pausing for a moment to think, I was about to say yes when Liam spoke again. “You could bring your roommate too, Katie or whatever her name is. She’s really hot.” Reluctant to go out with Liam, and watch him spend the whole night hitting on my roommate, I decided to decline.
“I have an essay due tomorrow for my composition class,” I sighed in false reluctance, only feeling slightly guilty for lying. I watched as a frown crossed Liam’s face for a moment, but then he shrugged it off, wrapping his arms around me in another hug, though this one was infinitely shorter. Patting his hand awkwardly on my shoulder, he bent down to ruffle Chowder’s fur.
“You behave for Prudy, or I’ll send you back home to live with dad,” Liam chuckled, his dimples growing more pronounced on his tan face as he grinned. In response Chowder barked, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, as he slobbered with excitement. Standing back up, Liam pecked his lips against my cheek before turning towards the door. “Thank you so much,” he smiled over his shoulder, completely unaware of how fast he was making my heart beat, “I’ll make it up, I swear.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I laughed, waving my hand towards the door. “Have fun tonight.” Nodding his head in response, Liam pulled the door shut behind him, leaving me alone with his sadistic dog.
“So,” I muttered, glaring down at Chowder who had already began chewing on one of my plum colored suede boots, “Who is going to be sleeping outside tonight.” Reaching down at the end of my statement, I wrapped my fingers firmly around the shoe and pulled with a reasonable amount of force, already frustrated with myself for giving in to Liam. Instead of releasing my shoe though, Chowder just pulled the boot from my hand and ran down the hall to Katie’s room.
“No,” I squealed, racing after the dog, praying he wouldn’t ruin my favorite pair of winter shoes. My feet pounding loudly on the wooden floor of my apartment, I tumbled into Katie’s room, my fuzzy socks causing me to slide across the wooden floor. Placing my hand on the wall for balance, my fingers groped blindly for the light switch. When I flicked the lights on, I was met with a very upsetting sight.
Chowder stood on Katie’s bed, my boot resting under his stomach, his lips pulled up in a snarl. “Give it to me,” I shouted, hoping that the damn dog would just listen to me and make my life easy for once. In response to my demand however, Chowder just growled, his eyes glowing with Satanic hell fire. Grabbing Katie’s rainbow umbrella out of the corner, I pointed the end of it at his face, waving it around like a sword.
“Back away from the boot,” I ordered, jabbing at the evil Border Collie. As he moved to avoid my stab, I jumped forward onto the bed, my hand reaching for my shoe, pulling it against my chest as I successfully wrangled it away from one of the Devil’s most ferocious hell hounds. “Ha,” I shouted triumphantly, raising my boot into the air as if it were a trophy and not a piece of footwear, “I’ve defeated you.”
Lowering his head in acknowledgement of my victory, Chowder hopped off of Katie’s bed and scurried out the door. Relishing in my success, I waved my boot around in the air, swishing my hips around in a little victory dance. Unfortunately a shrill accented voice interrupted my joyous celebratory jig.
“Bloody hell,” my roommate Katie screeched, her voice reaching a pitch only dolphins could hear. “Why is Liam’s damn dog in our apartment?” Rushing back into the main room where the front door was located, I saw Katie standing in the entryway with an absolute look of horror on her face. As I entered the room her pale blue eyes drifted up from Chowder, the full power of her glare now resting on me. “Why,” she paused, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, “Is that dog here?”
"It's a long story," I mumbled pathetically, avoiding Katie's piercing gray glare with as much energy as I could muster. She knew how much I hated that dog, and how extremely opposite my feelings for the owner of said dog were. Unfortuanetly she realized that I would do anything to make Liam happy, and she wasn’t going to let me get away with being the world’s biggest pushover when it came to him.
