The Dog Walkers Enemy

[HamstersAreMyLife]

Hey! I'm a hobby writer and wanted a platform to share my stories, and decided why not here!
These are the first two chapters of my current WIP! (Middle Grade Rom-Com)

Chapter 1




The crisp morning air felt good on my skin as I walked up the tallest, longest hill in the neighborhood.
“Slow down, Rusty!” I yelled at the more red-than-golden golden retriever mix.
It was hard for all of us to keep up with Rusty.
Judy, Albeit a huge great dane, was an old lady who had trouble with her joints.
Thor, despite the big-boy name, was a tiny black chihuahua.
And me? well, lets just say I’m not the most athletic person you’ll ever meet.
I felt a hard tug at both of my hands as this time all three of the dogs gained rapid speed, a bright red water hydrant in sight.
“Woah!” I yelled as I almost face planted on to the hard concrete.
The hydrant was my, and all the dogs, favorite spot on our walk.
For them, they got to sniff out stories and get a bathroom break.
For me, I got to catch my breath and massage my poor leash indented hands.
I watched as the dogs all excitedly sniffed the hydrant as if it wasn’t a daily routine.
After a minute, I rallied them back over to my feet and we began walking again.
It was a little past six thirty in the morning.
It was nice to be able to walk my clients early in the day, before their owners left for work, and before I had to leave for school.
I looked around at the orange turning trees, smiling to myself.
I love fall. Everything about it.
We had made it to the first drop off point on the walk, Rusty’s house.
I walked up to the front porch and rang the doorbell.
A flushed Mr. Inglworth answered it, one sock on his right foot, the other in his lefthand.
“Here he is!” I said as I handed back a thick blue lead with a panting Rusty on the end of it.
“Thank you, Emma! I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”
Mr. Ingleworth said this almost everyday, clearly aware of his dogs rambunctious behavior.
“Nothin’ I can’t handle.” I responded with a smile.
He nodded at me and cautiously closed the door, careful not to accidentally shut it on Thor.
“One down, two to go.” I told myself, checking the time on my watch.
Six forty-two.
We walked past a few more houses before turning left to the small blue house with the gorgeous flower garden in the front.
We walked along the small stone path, and I carefully made sure not to let the dogs touch the flowers.
I knocked hard on the front door, remembering that Mrs. Mathews still hasn’t fixed the doorbell.
The door came rushing open.
“Hey Emma!!”
Mrs. Mathews was a kind lady.
She was on the bigger side. Her thick gray hair was always in a bun and she was always wearing the most tacky floral dresses, but somehow she managed to pull them off.
“Hey Mrs. Mathews. He was a good boy as always and did his business.”
“I’m glad!” She said, taking Thors leash.
I watched as she picked him up and let him slobber all over her made up face.
I love dogs, but even I felt a little grossed out standing there watching.
“See ya tomorrow!” I told them as I turned around back to the stone pathway.
“Thank you Sweetie!” She hollered back at me.
That left just one more dog to drop off.
“Okay, Judes. Let’s get you home.” I told the sweetest dog I had ever met.
I wasn’t allowed to have a dog since my dad was allergic, so he had made the agreement that I can walk and petsit them, as long as I’ve changed and showered by the time he had gotten back from work.
It was tricky, but I would do anything to spend time with my favorite canine companions.
As I walked Judy over to her house, which was just across the street from Thors, I thought about how happy I was when my parents had finally allowed me to dog walk.
It had been one of the best days of my life.
My parents kept telling me how little it would pay, how there were probably a lot better jobs out there, but I continued to tell them that the money didn’t matter, the dogs did.
I mean sure, it was nice to have some money I could put away towards my book addiction, but I really just loved walking the dogs and being able to clear my head before school.
Judy’s house was a large three story stone house, which me and my little brother had nicknamed “The Stone Castle” when we were younger.
It had a long winding sidewalk.
Judy and I slowly walked toward the front door, which was recently painted a lilac purple color.
Judy started to pant excitedly as we got closer.
Before I could even ring the doorbell the door swung open and Lillie, the four-year-old girl who lived there, was standing in the entryway.
“Hi Miss Emily.” She said as she tilted her little head up at me, her blonde pigtails swaying back and forth.
“Hey Lillie. Here ya go.” I said to her.
It was always a pleasant surprise when Lillie answered the door.
“Judy!” Yelled Lillie.
Her and Judy were roughly the same hight, Judy maybe passing her by a couple of inches.
Lillie let out high pitched giggles as Judy licked her on the nose.
“Bye Lillie. Tell your parents “hi” for me.” I told her.
“Okay.” She said, gently hugging Judy around the neck.
I closed the door for her, and walked along the sidewalk.
I checked my watch.
Shoot. It was 7:02. I was late.
I started running toward my house.
Breathing hard I turned the corner and ran into my small driveway, hopped on my purple bike, and pedaled as fast as I could.




When I had gotten to school it was 7:13.
I had gotten there with two minutes to spare. Phew.
“Emma!! Where were you?” Said a tall, brown haired boy standing next to my locker.
“Sorry Jay, Judy’s been walking extra slow lately.” I told him, part truth part lie.
“Poor girl.”
“Yeah.” I said, a sad look in my eyes.
Judy was the first dog I had ever walked, back when I was fourteen, and over these three years we’ve gotten really close. It hurt to see her age like this.
“Did I miss anything exciting?” I asked.
“Bryan and Allison broke up last night. I guess he didn’t want to go to prom. Oh, and mr. H is sick.” He told me, his words hard to understand as he smeared watermelon flavored chapstick over his flaking lips.
“Dang! They were like, THE couple of Northwood High.”
“I know right! Everyone was shocked.”
I didn’t typically like to gossip, but Jay loved to, and he was slowly pulling me toward the dark side.
I grabbed my books out of my locker and we walked to math.
Math was the only class we had together, and even though I couldn’t stand this class, knowing that Jay was there hating it with me was somehow comforting.
“Can I hang at your house tonight? Rachel is out of town and I am SO bored.” He hunched over and dragged his feet dramatically.
Rachel was his girlfriend whom he spent way too much time with.
Jay’s parents were always arguing and I think he likes the peace and quiet that she has.
“I guess.” I told him.
“Thank you!” He said, his teen eyes widening into that of a puppies.
“Not the puppy eyes.” I said, trying to sound annoyed even though I was holding back a laugh.




I parked my bike next to the front door and pulled out a book from my backpack.
I sat on the front step and began to read, eagerly waiting for Jays car to pull in.

About ten minutes later the beat up red Hyundai parked itself in my driveway and an overly excitable Jay hopped out for the Drivers side.
“Hi again.”
“I’m starving.” He said.
“It’s nice to see you too.” I joked.
“Oh shush, I saw you twenty minutes ago.” He said as he opened my front door and headed straight to the kitchen.
Before I could even set my backpack down on the floor he was already digging his unwashed hands into a bag of goldfish.
“Hands.” I told him.
He put the bag down and turned quickly to the kitchen sink, where a sign read “Wash nice and neat before you eat”.
My family was full of germaphobes, and even though I didn’t inherit that trait, I still followed the family rules, and insisted that my best friend follow them too.
Once Jay was finished stuffing himself with smelling crackers we headed upstairs to my room.
“I love it here.” He cried as he draped himself over my pink polka dotted comforter.
My room was pink everything, and I loved it.
I grabbed some pajamas out of my dresser and headed into the bathroom to shower.
Jay and I had been friends for three years, since ninth grade, so he understood my dads rule about washing off the dog.
“Can I play Minecraft on your computer while you’re in there?” He hollered from behind the bathroom door.
“Be my guest.” I hollered back, turning on the warm water.




I stepped out of the shower, my body suddenly being blasted with cold air.
I tugged on my pajamas, ran a hairbrush through my straight blonde hair, and walked back into my room.
“Whatcha building?” I asked as I looked over Jays shoulders at his Minecraft world.
“A Farmers Market.” He responded, his eyes still fixed to the screen.
I pushed the glittery MacBook shut and watched his face.
“Hey!”
“C’mon, I wanna talk to you. You haven’t been over in months.”
I had been on vacation in Florida visiting family for a month, and when I got back I had found myself replaced by Rachel. I knew that that was an immature way to look at it, and I should of been happy for him, but I still couldn’t help but feel jealous of the attention he had been paying her.
I had told him how I had felt, and he felt horrible for ever making me think I could get replaced, and I felt horrible for making him feel horrible.
In the end everything worked out, and we agreed he would spend just enough more time with Rachel since he was dating her and not me.

“Okay, fine.” He said, putting my computer on my small white nightstand.
“What do we talk about?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“How were the dogs today?” He asked, noticing I had added another dog plushie to the collection proudly displayed on my bed.
“They were good! Rusty has obtained a pretty bad pulling habit, but we managed.”
“Oh good.” Jay said sarcastically.
“I’m home!!!” Shouted a voice from downstairs.
Quick thumping beloved from the hallway, the sounds of feet heading towards my door.
“Jay!!”
“Micheal!”
Micheal was my twelve year old brother. He was honestly pretty cool for a younger brother, and we found ourselves having out and goofing off constantly.
“How’ve you been? How are things going with Rachel?” He said Rachels name in a deep voice, moving his eyebrows up and down.
“I’ve been good, things are great, and please never do that again.” Jay told him.
He sat down on my bed and slammed his head against the pillows.
“How was school?” I asked him.
Michael had been getting bullied up until a few days ago, when he had finally confessed to the principal.
“They’re going well. Sophia hasn’t said a thing to me, even though she won’t stop glaring from cross the cafeteria.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I said, squeezing his knee.
“Nice nails.”
He pointed to my fingernails, painted a dark navy blue, my second favorite color.
“Oh, thanks! I couldn’t sleep last night.” I said, holding back a yawn.
“Do you guys wanna play a boardgame?” Jay asked, looking at me, at Michael, and then back to me.
“Why not?” I said grinning.


















Chapter 2






I woke up with a piercing headache from the night before.
Jay loves to scream when he wins.
I got out of bed, slid my cold feet into my favorite puppy slippers, and headed to my bathroom.
I quickly took my retainer out, and then quietly ran downstairs for breakfast.
I liked to wake up at 5:30 to get in time to myself before walking the dogs.
Our house was very serine in the early morning.
I walked into the pantry and grabbed a box of coco crispies from the shelf, a guilty pleasure of mine.
I grabbed a bowl and slowly poured the artificial cereal, careful not to wake anyone up.
I quietly grabbed a small spoon out from one of the drawers, and walked over to the barstools to enjoy my breakfast.
I looked out the window at the moonlit front yard as I scooped the chocolatey goodness into my mouth.
When I had finished I put the bowl into my sink and trudged upstairs.
I grabbed a cute but cozy outfit and brought it into my small bathroom with me.
I brushed my teeth and threw on the outfit.
Then came my favorite part, accessorizing.
I put in my favorite pair of stud earrings. On one side a black and white dog, and on the other, a bone.
I put a gold heart locket around my neck, a black headband in my hair, and misted myself with my favorite Lavender scented perfume before leaving the bathroom.
I grabbed my backpack and a pink zip-up hoodie off the floor, and ran downstairs, ready to start my day.
First I stopped at Rusty’s house, and Rusty’s energy quickly snapped me out of my morning funk.
Then came Thor. Today was extra chilly, and he was handsomely dressed in a blue and yellow knit sweater.
Lastly I picked up Her Majesty Judy, who was all smiles.
As I walked along the sidewalk, surprised to be walking at a steady pace even though Rusty was in the lead, something caught my eye.
On a lightpole, there was a red flyer.
When I read what it said I let out a loud gasp.
Dog Walking, $20 a day.
“Who in their right mind would pay $20 a day for a mile long dog walk?” I thought to myself.
I shook my head and continued walking.
It was nothing to worry about. My customers were loyal, and I only charged $5 a day.
We had made it to the fire hydrant, and I looked at it in disbelief as another red flier sat right on the top.
This time, this one had an image of a boy walking a small shi-tzu, an overly cheerful smile glued to his face.
The dogs walked up to the hydrant, and even though I noticed the poster was in Rusty’s reach of aim, I didn’t bother moving it.




As I rode to school on my bike, not running late this time, I couldn’t help but think about that boy on the poster.
I had never seen him around the neighborhood before, and even though I had told myself not to worry, in the back of my mind, I was definitely worrying.



When I got to school the first thing I did was tell Jay about the fliers.
“Chill out. It’s probably nothing.” He told me.
“But how do you know it’s nothing? What if it was something? You should have seen the fliers. One of them had a picture of him walking an adorable tiny dog. You know no one can resist Shi-Tzus, and you should of seen his stupid smile.” I told him, talking at 1,000 words per minute.
“Yeah, but you said he’s charging twenty bucks, right? There ain’t know way anyone would pay that much.” 
“I guess…” I said, pictures of his stupid fliers filling up my mind.




The cafeteria was loud and crowded as always, and I my eyes darted frantically as I searched for Jay.
He wasn’t at our usual table since he had broken it laughing so hard and the school still hadn’t fixed it almost a month later.
I spotted him at the table far back in the corner.
The table was littered with crumbs from what appeared to be yesterdays lunch and my family and their raging fear of anything remotely germ-y popped into my mind.
“I miss our old table.” Jay told me as I sat sown across from him.
“Same.” I said, glancing his way but really peering over his soldier to watch the lunch lady.
She always opened the line a few minutes after lunch time was supposed to actually start.
“GO!” I yelled, and me and Jay hopped up, swung our legs over the long bench, and speed walked over to the line, first as always.
“Good afternoon Miss. Sanders.” Jay said, flashing his newly braces-less teeth.
“Good afternoon, Jay.” She told him, laughing.
He had a way with the lunch ladies.
Today was pizza day, my favorite.
I watched as she put two large pizzas of pepperoni pizza and an apple on Jays plate.
I stepped up behind him and she grabbed me two slices of cheese from the side tray, and an apple, and put them on a hot plate.
I grabbed it from her gloved hands, set it down on my tray and grabbed and apple juice from the refrigerated section.
I followed Jay back to down to our seats when someone quickly blocked my path.
“Woah!” I screamed as my arms bent in toward my body, my apple rolling off my tray onto the floor.
“Sorry.” The body said, dragging his doodled on neon blue tennis shoes across the floor and not bothering to turn around.
I rolled my eyes, and grabbed my apple off the floor.
“I may not be a germaphobe, but no way am I eating something off of this floor.” I thought to myself.
“Did you see that!?” I asked Jay as I sat down.
“That was totally rude.” He said back to me, biting the pointed tip off of his pizza slice.
“You can have my apple. I’m on a no green diet.” He told me, handing me his fresh produce.
“Thanks.” I said, giving him a sincere smile.
“Is it just me, or is everyone ruder this year?”
“It’s the weather.” Jay responded, turning his head to look out the window.



I decided to stop at my favorite local book store on my way home from school to get my mind off things.
Janice the cashier greeted me with a friendly smile.
“Hi!” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
“How’s it going?” She said back.
“It’s going.” I told her.
I headed back to my favorite section, Ro-fantasy.
This bookstore was my favorite for many reasons, but one of them was the specific sub sections that they organized their books into.
I skimmed the shelf and picked up what looked like a new release since I hadn’t seen it before.
“We got that one in a few days ago!” Janice said, watching me.
I looked over the synopsis and decided to buy it.
“Good pick!” Janice said taking my book from my hands.
“I can’t wait to read it.” She told me, scanner in hand.
Me neither!” I told her.
I gave her $20 and she handed me back $1.01 and the book, now in a plastic bag with a smiley face on it.
“Thank you!” I told her.
“Have a good one!” She said, waving.
I walked out the door, the cold Autumn air hitting my face.




I walked through my front door to be greeted by a familiar odor, cookies.
My mouth began to water as I set my bag down and headed over to the kitchen.
“Hey hon, I’m making your favorite!” My mom said.
“Chocolate chip?” I asked, turning on the oven light to sneak a peak.
“Yup!” She watched me with a loving smile.
“How was school?”
“Typical. But, get this! There’s a boy in the neighborhood who’s trying to do a dog walking business. He’s trying to get people to pay $20 a day. There’s no way he’ll get many customers.”
My mom nodded her head as she put measuring cups and mixing bowls into the dishwasher.
I waited for a response.
“I’m sure he won’t be any competition.” She told me.
I smiled, truly wanting to believe those words.
“You better take a shower. Dad’s gonna be home early tonight.”
I ran up the stairs and turned on the water.




After my shower I changed into my favorite pair of dog pajamas and cozied up in to my nice warm bed, eager to start my new book.

[Paws to the Sky]

Hey, this is great……… I’ve really enjoyed reading it, and I would love to read more. Please carry on posting………

[Willow2022]

Hey I just found this and omg I hope you write more because I 100% love it and am wishing you write more lol. Of course no pressure if you don't but I wanted you to know you did a really good job! I got hooked!

[HamstersAreMyLife]

Thank you both very much!!
I’ve been pretty busy, but I do plan on continuing it!!