“Oh Nathan look at this one!” I squealed.
Nathan couldn’t decide what to get me for my birthday, so he told me he’d take me out to see what I wanted. I’d always wanted one thing; a dog. From being a small child, I’ve always been fascinated by them and I’ve always wanted one. But my little sister got ill, and we got told that we weren’t allowed pets because they might make her worse.
“For Christ sake…just pick one, then can we just fucking go home?” sighed Nathan, glancing over the railing at the tiny puppies wagging their tails excitedly.
“This’ll be my first pet Nath! I’m too excited to just pick one randomly! It has to be special…” I smiled.
“Who said you’re definitely getting it?”
“Why else would you bring me to a cats and dogs home?”
“To trick you, Kris.” he winked.
I tore my attention away from the tiny puppies in front of me and stared at Nath. He was laughing his head off.
“Am I laughing?” I asked sternly.
Nathan shook his head slightly and left me to my own devices. I did feel slightly awkward, because he’d left me alone in a room full of people. It was freaky. I thought I was going to have a panic attack or something. I stared and stared at the little happy faces in front of me and there was one that caught my eye. In the corner, there was a tiny white furball. It was the cutest little pup, fast asleep. When I bent down in front of the glass, it looked up at me. I smiled and tapped the glass gently. It stood on it’s four legs, like Bambi did in the film, and staggered forwards. I bit my lip; it’s tiny face was inches from mine. It’s safe to say that it was love at first sight.
“You don’t want that one…” tutted the woman stood behind me.
I looked over my shoulder at her. She was the owner.
“And why not?”
“He’s the runt of that litter.” she nodded. “He won’t last long even if you do take him. He’s miles weaker than the others.”
I looked back at his tiny face. His big eyes looked so sad. He was practically begging me to take him home with me.
“I don’t care.” I smiled. “He’s perfect.”
She walked away in a mood just as Nathan came back. He spotted the smile on my face and instantly looked relieved. We didn’t say a word to each other, just knelt down and admired the pup. I could tell Nathan loved him just as much as I did. He just sat there with his tiny furry face milimetres from the glass. Nathan thought I didn’t see, but his face broke into a smile when the pup looked at him.
“Are you sure?” asked Nathan.
“Yes.”
He stood up.
“Right, let’s go home. What?! It’s not your birthday until Saturday!”
“But Nathan…” I whined.
Nathan sighed, flicked his fringe off his face and pulled me up.
“But nothing! It’s either Saturday or never…plus that might not ven be your present.” he winked.
I pouted and stomped my feet slightly as we walked to the car park. I sulked all the way home and didn’t say a single word to Nathan. He knows how much I want a dog, and that it’ll be my first in my 18 years of life. Nathan kept glancing at me as he drove back to mine. My moody moments were horrible, even I admitted it, because I never shook them off easily. Nathan placed his hand on my thigh every few minutes, to see if I’d talk to him. All I did was tense my thigh muscles up, and move my leg until his hand wasn’t on it. Nathan hgot the message eventually, and sighed when I just got out of the car and stormed to my front door in a huff.
“Fucking arsehole.” I mumbled, slamming myself face first onto the sofa.
My eyelids began to feel heavy as the evening wore on. The sun was slowly sinking behind the clouds; so slowly I though night time would never arrive. I checked my phone: 9 missed calls and 17 messages from Nathan. I let my phone fall to the floor and my heavy eyelids dropped over my blue eyes.
*
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR KRISLIN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUU!!” sang Mum.
Yes, Saturday ahd finally arrived, whichalso meant my 18th. I’ve not seen or spoken to Nathan since Tuesday when he brought me to the cats and dogs home. I’ve notreplied to any of the texts he’s sent me either. He knows I’m pissed off. As I opened the present off my sister, I laughed slightly. She’d bought me 2 bottles of vodka and about 4 big bags of Skittles. She knew Skittle vodka was my only weakness.
“Now you can make your own without robbing mine!” she laughed.
Just as I went upstairs to get ready for my birthday meal, I heard a knock on the door. Crouching behind the bannister, I saw Nathan’s shoulder through the gap in the door. I stayed there for about 5 minutes, just listening to their conversation.
“Ah Nath, that’s sweet! She’ll love it!” I wanted to shout ‘No she fucking won’t mum!’…but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead, I crept into my room and got ready. Nath was taking me to some fancy place in town; he knows I hate eating out. I just feel so awkward.
“Can I come in, or are you just gonna ignore me?” I heard him grumble.
“Depends…are you really taking me to this shit place or is it a KFC bucket between 2?” I retorted harshly.
“It’s not shit! It’s a nice place and I am actually taking you!” he raged quietly. “You need to calm down with the paranoia…” Turning away from Nath, I closed my eye to sweep my eyeliner over the top. He sat on my bed with his back to me. I realised my dress wasn’t zipped up properly.
“Nath, will you-…oh my god!” I squealed. There he was, with a huge grin on his face, and the tiny white furball I’d seen in Thursday in his hands. His tiny pink tongue was slightly poking out of his mouth, and it looked as if he was smiling at me. My heart melted.
“Nathan…I-I don’t know what to say! Oh my…I thought you were being serious when you said I might not get him!” I gasped.
Nathan placed the pup in my hands, and spotted my dress wasn’t zipped up properly. He fixed it for me, then moved my hair out of my face.
“You look amazing…” he smiled, edging closer to me.
“You don’t. You look awful.” I winked. “What should we call him? I like Sparkie!” grinned, rubbing the puppy’s tiny ear.
“I was thinking something manly like, Rex…or Butch…or Stan. Y’know, cos he’s gonna be a killer.”
I gave him the ‘Really bitch?’ look, and told him to get serious. He laughed. After debating for five minutes, we finally decided.
“Frankie.” we said simultaneously.
At that exact moment, Frankie’s head jerked and he looked up at our faces. He looked even smaller in the middle of my double bed.
“Thank you so much Nathan.” I whispered. “I love you.”
