Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter Read online

  That’s when I totally lost it and screamed, “Wow! MacKenzie is just so WONDERFUL! I bet she farts GLITTER too!” But I just said it inside my head, so no one else heard it but me.

  I was SO freaked out by all the stuff those kids were saying that I almost fell out of my chair.

  It was like MacKenzie had STOLEN my identity or something.

  I seriously considered calling the authorities and having her thrown in jail.

  OMG!

  Brandon and I were quietly FUMING!!

  We were SO mad, our heads were about to EXPLODE!!

  But the worst part was that MacKenzie just stood there with this stupid grin on her face, nodding like every word they were saying was TRUE.

  Like, WHO does THAT?!!

  It was clear to me why she’d tried to sneak off before they saw her.

  It was going to get really complicated really fast with TWO Nikki Maxwells in the room.

  I wanted to scream, “Will the REAL Nikki Maxwell PLEASE stand up!”

  WHICH NIKKI IS THE REAL ME?!!

  Completely fed up, Brandon glanced at the door and cleared his throat.

  “Listen, Nikki, it’s getting late. I think we should get going. It was really nice meeting all of you.”

  “Yeah, same here. Hopefully, we’ll see you all again soon,” I said sweetly as I plastered a big smile across my face, “IF MacKenzie decides to let HER band, Actually, I’m Not Really Sure Yet, play at your graduation party!”

  Then I glared at MacKenzie like she was a wad of gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe.

  That’s when she started to panic.

  “Um, wait, guys! Please, don’t leave yet. I need to . . . um, explain a few things, okay?”

  “Actually, MacKenzie, I’ve already heard quite enough! North Hampton Hills sounds like a really great school. I’m really, um . . . happy for you,” I said.

  MacKenzie blinked in surprise. “You are? Really? Thanks! Well, um . . . the least I can do is get you guys another cupcake. You never finished eating the last one.”

  “Thanks for the offer, MacKenzie. But don’t worry about it,” I said.

  “Are you sure? I hear the double chocolate ones are really good. But my favorite is the red velvet with cream cheese frosting. Or I could buy you BOTH!” MacKenzie rambled.

  Brandon and I just shook our heads.

  We’d had all we could take of MacKenzie’s CRAY-CRAY antics.

  All she needed to complete her very bizarre act was some CIRCUS music.

  We quickly headed for the door as MacKenzie continued to recite the cupcake menu.

  Then, out of nowhere, she suddenly shouted, “Okay, great! It was cool hanging out with you. I miss you, too! Love you guys!”

  Okay, THAT was totally weird. What alternate reality was SHE living in?

  Or was she just suffering from some obscure disease, like, um . . . early-onset . . . middle-grade . . . DEMENTIA?

  Once we were outside, Chloe and Zoey met back up with us in front of the cupcake shop.

  “Chloe and Zoey! You’ll NEVER in a million years guess who we just saw inside!” I exclaimed.

  That’s when we heard a strange tapping sound.

  The four of us gasped and stared at the huge window of the CupCakery in disbelief.

  Finally, Chloe and Zoey uttered . . .

  “UM, WAS IT . . . MACKENZIE?!!”

  MacKenzie had pressed her face against the window and was frantically waving at us like we were leaving on a cruise ship or something.

  Of course we all waved back at her.

  Both of my BFFs stared at MacKenzie with perplexed looks on their faces.

  “Is she sick or something?” Chloe wondered aloud.

  “WHY is she acting so . . . strange? And . . . friendly?” Zoey pondered in awe.

  “Listen, guys! Just keep smiling at her and slowly back away. I’ll call you later tonight and fill you in,” I explained.

  Brandon and I said good-bye to Chloe and Zoey and then headed across the street to Fuzzy Friends.

  We planned to hang out there for a half hour until my mom picked me up.

  Although I hadn’t been to Fuzzy Friends in a few weeks, it seemed more like months.

  Once on the sidewalk, Brandon glanced warily over his shoulder at the cupcake shop.

  “You know something? MacKenzie reminds me a lot of the stomach flu! Just when I think she’s gone for good, she comes roaring back with a vengeance!”

  “Tell me about it!” I sighed.

  It was quite obvious that MacKenzie was up to something. I shuddered at the thought that we were possibly pawns in some scheme of hers.

  I couldn’t help but wonder whether that illness Brandon had mentioned was CONTAGIOUS.

  Because I had a sinking feeling I was about to contract a really UGLY case of the MACKENZIE FLU too!

  !!

  WEDNESDAY—5:27 P.M. AT FUZZY FRIENDS

  As we walked along, Brandon and I agreed that MacKenzie was always creating DRAMA just to undermine our friendship. Which, BTW, included that nasty rumor that he had kissed me on a bet just to get a free pizza. Of course, I was DYING to ask him about it.

  “So, um, did you actually win a FREE . . . pizza?”

  “Oh, that?” He rolled his eyes in embarrassment. “Mr. Zimmerman said a camera company donated pizza gift cards to our photography team. So it had nothing whatsoever to do with . . . um, you know.” He blushed. “You didn’t believe that silly rumor, did you?”

  “Of course not! I’m not THAT stupid. I knew all along that MacKenzie was lying! So I didn’t believe that rumor for one second,” I lied.

  As we walked up the sidewalk to Fuzzy Friends, I immediately noticed something strange. . . .

  BRANDON AND ME, DISCOVERING AN ABANDONED DOG!

  It was a beautiful, adorable, well-groomed golden retriever.

  The dog curiously cocked its head and stared at us. As we approached, it stood up, wagged its tail, and seemed to be really friendly.

  “Poor thing,” I said. “I wonder who left it out here? And why?”

  “I’m not sure. But it doesn’t look like one of our dogs.”

  Brandon stooped over to pat its head and checked for an ID on its collar.

  The dog licked his hand and then barked as if to say hello.

  That’s when we noticed the note attached to its collar.

  I opened it and read it aloud. . . .

  Dear Fuzzy Friends,

  Unfortunately, I had to move into a senior citizen building, and no pets are allowed.

  I love Holly very much, so please take good care of her and her critters! I know you will find her a wonderful home.

  Thank you for your kindness!

  “Critters? What critters?” I asked, confused.

  “Hmm. This box says ‘For Holly.’ So maybe her toys and stuff are inside. Let’s take a look,” Brandon said.

  Curious, we both peered inside the box. . . .

  WE WERE VERY SHOCKED AND SURPRISED BY WHAT WE FOUND!!

  Lots of cute, sweet, wiggly little PUPPIES! We had a hard time counting them as they jumped, tumbled, and scampered inside the box.

  But there seemed to be SEVEN in all! And, they were TOTALLY ADORABLE!! . . .

  “I still have time before my mom gets here. Would you like me to help you take them inside and register them?” I asked.

  “Yeah, thanks. But, to be honest, I’d rather we skip all the, um . . . paperwork.”

  “Then HOW will people know Holly and her puppies are available for adoption?”

  “That’s exactly my point! Right now I don’t want ANYONE to know Fuzzy Friends has eight more homeless animals, okay?”

  “But WHY?! I don’t understand!”

  Brandon closed his eyes and sighed. “This is serious stuff, Nikki. Are you SURE you wanna know? I’m warning you! If I tell you, I might have to KILL you!” he teased half seriously.

  “OMG! Brandon, is something wrong?”

  “Well, according to our
case manager, Fuzzy Friends has been at full capacity all week. And it gets worse. We won’t have room until Sunday morning! He has actually been refusing new animals,” Brandon explained as a look of sheer frustration crept onto his face.

  “Well, we can just get some extra cages and find some space. How about the storage room?”

  “Nikki, it’s not that simple. Based on the size of our center, we can only have a certain number of animals on the premises because of the city ordinances.”

  “Oh! I didn’t know that.”

  “I absolutely HATE when this happens, because we’re turning away animals, and not all places in the city have a no-kill policy like we do. So do you know what that means?” He paused and shook his head sadly.

  It took a few seconds for me to figure it out. And then my heart sank!

  “OH NO!” I groaned. “If Fuzzy Friends doesn’t have room, that means Holly and her pups can’t stay here! But what if they end up at . . .”

  I gasped at the HORROR of it all. I could barely bring myself to say the words.

  “. . . one of th-those OTHER p-places?!” I stammered. “Brandon, we CAN’T let that happen!! What can we do?!”

  “Well, I guess we can keep them here as long as no one knows about it. Including our case manager. It’s a serious violation that could get us shut down, so I understand his concern. But I can’t put Holly and her pups at risk like that either. I’d NEVER, EVER forgive myself if . . .” His voice cracked and trailed off as he gave Holly a big hug and buried his face in her fur.

  She looked at Brandon sadly and whimpered.

  Then she licked his face like he was a human lollipop until finally he broke into a big smile. . . .

  BRANDON, THE HUMAN LOLLIPOP !!

  It was almost like she knew the serious situation she and her pups were in but didn’t want Brandon to be upset about it.

  Brandon’s eyes started to glisten and fill with tears. He blinked and quickly wiped them away.

  “Brandon, are you . . . okay?!”

  “Um, I just had some dust in my eyes or something. I’m . . . fine,” he muttered.

  He was obviously LYING! The poor guy looked like his heart had been ripped right out of his chest. I got a huge lump in my throat and felt like crying too.

  I felt just horrible for my friend and the eight abandoned dogs he’d already fallen in love with. Suddenly I had a huge surge of energy! Sorry, but I was NOT giving up without a FIGHT! “Listen, Brandon! I’ve got your back on this! Just tell me what I need to do!”

  Brandon cocked his head and stared at me in disbelief. “Nikki, are you SERIOUS?!”

  “As SERIOUS as a HEART ATTACK, dude!”

  He grinned from ear to ear. “Yeah, me too! I guess I can ALWAYS count on you, Nikki!”

  Then we gave each other a high five to seal our deal to keep Holly and her puppies safe until we could find good homes for them.

  “So, I hope you’re good at keeping secrets,” Brandon said with a crooked smile.

  Suddenly it became apparent that the task ahead of us was going to be far more difficult than Brandon and I had EVER imagined. . . .

  “OMG! DID YOU JUST SAY ‘SECRETS’?!” a voice squealed in excitement behind us.

  Startled, Brandon and I nearly jumped out of our skins. I could NOT believe someone had been eavesdropping on our very personal and private conversation. We CRINGED and slowly turned around. I was PRAYING that it WASN’T who I thought!!

  But, unfortunately, it WAS!! . . .

  MACKENZIE! AGAIN ?!

  It was the second BIG MAC ATTACK that day!

  I suddenly got the very creepy feeling that she was STALKING us or something!

  “So, what’s the BIG SECRET?!! You can trust me. I won’t tell a soul, I promise! You guys aren’t in any kind of TROUBLE, are you?” she asked, staring at us suspiciously.

  Brandon and I exchanged worried looks and then gazed nervously at MacKenzie.

  It was quite obvious we were both thinking the EXACT same thing. . . .

  OH, CRUD!!

  !!!

  WEDNESDAY—5:35 P.M. AT FUZZY FRIENDS

  “MacKenzie, WHAT are YOU doing here?!” I blurted out for the SECOND time today.

  “Listen, Nikki, it wasn’t MY fault those IDIOTS from my school got their facts about us all mixed up! But that little accident WAS my fault, so I wanted to personally deliver this,” she said, opening her designer bag and taking out a cupcake box. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Was MacKenzie actually doing something NICE for a change?

  “So the ONLY reason you’re here is to deliver a cupcake?” Brandon asked skeptically.

  “Come on! Don’t be ridiculous! You think I came here just to SPY on you? PUH-LEEZE! I have way more IMPORTANT things I could be doing, like dusting my FABULOUS shoe collection.”

  “Okay, let me get this straight. YOU bought US another cupcake?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  MacKenzie shook her head and giggled sarcastically. . . .

  “OMG! MacKenzie, you SHOULDN’T have!!” I muttered.

  I didn’t know which was more DISGUSTING. That nasty-looking cupcake or the fact that I had just thrown up inside my mouth.

  “You don’t have to thank me!” MacKenzie smiled.

  “No, I meant it. You really should NOT have done this! ICK! WHAT is that green gooey stuff?” I asked.

  “Who knows!” MacKenzie shrugged. “The waitress at the CupCakery cleared your table and tossed it. But I fished it out of the garbage and brought it here because I wanted you two little LOVEBIRDS to have it!”

  EWW! That’s when I threw up in my mouth again.

  Brandon and I just rolled our eyes. It was quite obvious that MacKenzie had something up her sleeve and was just playing mind games with us.

  “What’s wrong? You two don’t look very happy,” she scoffed.

  “Why would we be?” I shot back. “You’ve been practically STALKING us!”

  “Well, Miss Smarty-Pants, maybe I wanted to take the scenic route home today!”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “MacKenzie, you WERE spying on us! Just admit it!!”

  “Shut up, Nikki! I’ve got a perfectly good explanation! I was just, um . . .” She hesitated.

  I had to admit, MacKenzie looked silly standing there thinking and making weird faces like she was suffering from severe constipation.

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, we’re WAITING! . . .”

  “Actually . . . I was, um. Okay, FINE!” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at us. “So what if I was SNOOPING?! Stop pretending you’re so PERFECT! You dirty, LAW-BREAKING, animal shelter . . . um, RULE VIOLATORS! These mangy mutts, er, I mean . . . POOR DOGS are in extreme . . . DANGER! Thank goodness I got here in time to . . . SAVE THEM!”

  Brandon and I froze and gasped. . . .

  “So you DID hear us!” I said, trying not to panic.

  “Every. Shady. Sneaky. DETAIL! I just hope your little secret doesn’t get leaked to the Channel 6 investigative news team,” MacKenzie snarled. “Then Fuzzy Friends will lose its license and be shut down! And every last one of these flea-infested MUTTS will be out on the street. Probably getting RUN OVER! Or worse! All because YOU two refused to follow the rules!”

  Brandon looked like MacKenzie had just slapped him. He stared down at his feet.

  Her harsh words and accusations had obviously knocked the wind (and good intentions) right out of him.

  “Brandon, I expected so much BETTER from YOU! I thought you had integrity!” MacKenzie scolded him as he hung his head in shame.

  “WHAT is wrong with you, MacKenzie?!” I cried angrily. “You transferred to your dream school and have everything you’ve ever wanted. Why do you STILL have to DESTROY anything that breathes?”

  “Oh, I dunno!” She smirked as she took out her cell phone. “I guess bad habits are hard to break!”

  Desperate, I tried to reason with her.

  “MacKenzie, can’t you see the lives of these innocent animals are at stake?! Not
every shelter in this city is safe!” I explained, blinking back tears.

  Holly must have sensed I was upset or something because she suddenly bared her teeth, growled, and lunged at MacKenzie.

  Brandon grabbed her collar just in time. “Whoa, girl! Calm down! Everything’s fine!”

  Alarmed, MacKenzie cautiously backed away from Holly. “That dog just tried to ATTACK ME! Keep that thing away from me or I’ll call animal control! That savage beast is . . . DANGEROUS!”

  OMG! I was SO angry, I wanted to slap that girl into tomorrow. . . .

  “You say that like it’s a BAD thing!” She sneered as she dialed a number on her cell phone.

  Then MacKenzie did the unthinkable.

  It was like she had stooped to a new LOW and started DIGGING.

  “Hello? Is this the Channel 6 news tip hotline? I just found out some dirt on a local animal shelter. I think they’re ABUSING animals! Yes, I’ll hold.”

  Brandon looked overwhelmed and totally defeated.

  He just sat on the step, staring like a zombie and quietly petting Holly.

  Thanks to MacKenzie, Brandon stood to lose TWO things that he CHERISHED . . .

  Fuzzy Friends, and Holly and her pups.

  His lofty DREAM of helping animals and keeping them safe was quickly turning into his

  WORST NIGHTMARE.

  And there wasn’t a thing we could do about it!!

  !!

  WEDNESDAY—5:48 P.M. AT FUZZY FRIENDS

  Calling this FIASCO a nightmare was an understatement !!

  MacKenzie was patiently waiting on hold to report Fuzzy Friends in hopes of closing it down.

  I had to do SOMETHING! But what?!

  I finally came up with four ideas. Unfortunately, each of them had a DOWNSIDE. . . .

  1. THE FUNKY PHONE: I could grab MacKenzie’s cell phone and quickly toss it into the sewer drain near the curb. Then she wouldn’t have a phone to be able to report us.