Page 12 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)
Dallas
A fter sleeping for the rest of the weekend, it was time to knock the first painful moment out of the way—taking a tour of the new shelter. Kami practically had to drag me out of bed and into the car on Monday afternoon.
“Did you look at the pictures Mom sent us?” she asked, excitement in her voice as she pulled out of the driveway. “The shelter looks amazing.”
I tugged my green jacket sleeve. “It looks all right.”
She nudged me with her elbow, the car jerking as she lost her grip on the wheel. “We’re going to love it.”
“I hope we do.” Not .
After around ten minutes, we arrived at April Springs Animal Shelter.
The building already looked much bigger than our shelter from Dallas.
Dogs, cats, and paw prints filled the walls, the shelter’s name plastered on the front.
The lot was filled with cars while still having enough space left.
A family walked to their car with two kitten boxes, the little boy and girl smiling.
We got out of the car and walked into the lobby, a fresh smell greeting us.
Yeah, calling this a massive upgrade was an understatement.
The ceilings were higher, and photos of animals surrounded the large seating area.
There was even a full-blown store for pet supplies, not just a small shopping corner like the last shelter had.
As much as I hated to admit it, this place was almost better than what I was used to. Almost . The work experience would determine the rest.
Kami inhaled a breath. “Ah, smells so good in here. Not like stinky animals.”
“It does,” I said, staring up at the large ceiling, where a single balloon stayed. I wished I could float away like it. You can get through this, I reminded myself. It won’t be as painful as you think .
The blonde lady at the front desk gave us a warm smile as she walked over, her clacking high heels bringing her to my height. “Hello, how can I help you?”
I mustered a smile, trying to appear more excited than I felt, though her warm welcome did calm my nerves.
“Hello. Our mom is Dr. Leanne Friar. We’re stopping by to take a tour of the shelter.
” I was surprised that I was the one who spoke first and not Kami, but that was when I noticed she was looking off in the distance at someone.
“Oh, Dallas and Kami!” The woman’s smile grew as she shook our hands. “Amy Landers. Your mom has been telling me how much you loved helping out at the shelter in Dallas.” She faced a boy who looked through some sheets at the front desk. “Oliver, would you like to give Dallas and Kami a tour?”
The boy looked up from the papers. He resembled the woman a lot—tall and lean, honey-blond hair, golden-brown eyes. “Sure.” A smile lit up his face, his lip ring shining. “Welcome to our shelter, guys. ”
“Thanks,” Kami and I said at the same time, though she sounded way livelier than I did.
“This place looks amazing,” she continued, twirling a lock of black hair around her finger. “You guys do a really great job maintaining it.”
Freaking heck, I hoped she wasn’t flirting with him.
“Thanks.” Oliver’s warm smile grew, the dimple in his left cheek prominent. “But the best part of this place isn’t the looks.”
“Yeah, there are some attractive people here, don’t you think?”
My jaw about hit the floor. What the heck was she doing? Hadn’t she gotten dumped two weeks ago?
Oliver’s cheeks turned pink as his lashes fluttered. “Um, thank you. If you’re talking about me.” His warm smile turned into a sultry grin. “Because if you are, I’d have to say the same back.”
“Can you cut it out?” Mrs. Landers let out a tired groan like she’d seen this happen too often. “Oh, Dallas, I’m so sorry. Oliver forgets that this isn’t the place to look for hot chicks.”
Now all our jaws were on the floor, though I was on the verge of laughing, unlike Oliver and Kami, who both had cheeks as red as an animal’s gumline.
“ Mom ! I thought you were the adult!” Oliver exclaimed, the red in his cheeks expanding.
Gosh, and I thought I got red fast. He faced me again but couldn’t look Kami in the eyes.
“I was going to say the best part about this place is the adorable animals .” His normal smile returned. “Let me show you guys down the hall.”
Oliver walked us to the store and gave us a tour. Like I’d observed earlier, there was much more stuff here for pets and their owners. It was big enough to be a small mall shop or tourist attraction. There were two people working at cash registers while several customers shopped around .
I played with a black-and-purple cat toy before noticing Oliver and Kami were already walking down the hallway again. I scurried to follow them.
Oliver gestured to the windows, where people were meeting new cats. “This is where families are born.”
“Aw, they’re so cute.” Kami stepped closer to a window where a couple had brown-and-black kitty twins, both kittens rubbing against them. When the couple looked up at us, Kami backed away. “Sorry. Have fun with your new family.” She spun around and faced us. “We need to adopt a cat here, Dallas.”
I snorted. “Houston would have a time and a half chasing them around.”
Oliver laughed. “The joy of having dogs.” He gestured for us to follow him.
“The bunny and hamster room is next.” He went to the other side of the hallway and led us to a small room where bunnies and hamsters sat in their cages.
“We don’t have many here, but they’re still just as important. My friend just adopted one.”
I smiled at a black bunny in the cage . Crescent . “They’re perfect.”
“Cuties,” Kami cooed, examining each bunny and hamster cage. “I want them all.”
After we met the bunnies and hamsters, Oliver led us into the cat kennel. The long hallways went on for days, cat cages covering the walls from ceiling to floor. Kami stopped at a fluffy white cat’s cage and cooed at her.
I took a few pictures of the cats and sent them to Toby, hoping it would make it feel like he was still with me. I knew he wouldn’t reply for a few hours because the dude was the worst at replying—despite promising he would blow up my phone—but it still felt lonely.
Sighing, I approached a cage that had a poster. Yellow needs a home . Male. Eight years old . My heart clenched. People didn’t like adopting older cats, and some never ended up with a home. Thank goodness this wasn’t a kill shelter.
Something stung behind my eyes as Yellow looked up at me with wide green ones.
Oliver noticed me staring at Yellow while I pressed my hand against the glass—which I wasn’t allowed to do. “He’s one of my favorites.”
“I hope someone adopts him soon,” I said, my voice thick.
Yellow meowed at me again and put his paw on the cage. A stupid tear spilled onto my cheek.
Oliver’s face fell. “What’s wrong?”
I’m losing my mind. That’s what’s wrong.
“H-He’s just really adorable,” I stammered, wiping the tear from my cheek. Stop embarrassing yourself! You haven’t even been here for half an hour yet!
“Dallas gets emotional around animals sometimes,” Kami said, rubbing my back. “And I can’t blame him. All these babies make me want to cry.”
“Me too.” Oliver gave a warm smile. “You know, if I actually cried.”
I laughed, the burning behind my eyes subsiding. “Teach me your ways.”
After we finished touring the cat kennel, Oliver brought us through some offices and pantries. We waved at Mom in her office as she set things up, smiling like she couldn’t be happier.
For the first time, I didn’t feel upset about her getting a job here. She deserved everything she wanted and more.
“Okay, now for my favorite part.” Oliver opened one of the double doors. “Our dog oasis.”
“Yes!” Kami shouted before clamping her hands over her mouth. A few dogs howled like crazy. “Whoops.”
“Be careful of the echo,” Oliver said with a laugh as we continued walking. “But trust me, it sounds like white noise once you get used to it.”
The dogs barked as if they were being lit on fire, the sound bouncing off the walls. We’d only been in here for ten seconds, and Kami was already standing beside a little girl, looking at a cute girl dog that looked similar to Houston. Medium-sized black lab. Beanie .
“You’re going to get her?” Kami asked the girl. “She looks like the dog I have at home.”
The girl nodded. “We love her. She likes to kiss.”
“Aw.” Kami clasped her hands over her chest. “Have fun with her. Getting a new pet is the best feeling.”
“She’s going to be perfect here,” Oliver told me, and yes, he was still smiling. I wondered if he was conditioned to always smile here by his mom or if animals made him this happy. If it was the latter, I knew I’d get along with him well.
Grr!
I jumped to see a brown Pit Bull behind me, but my nerves went down when I saw his cute puppy eyes. “Hey, there.” I checked his name tag. Bruce. “You’re so adorable.”
He barked, wagging his tail. Why was every animal trying to make me cry?
Was it part of their plan to get adopted?
When we finished the kennel tour, Oliver brought us back to the lobby.
“Last thing, the break room.” He opened the door, revealing a moderately sized room with four circular tables and a counter area with a bunch of cabinets.
“No one’s here right now, but this is where I hang out with my friends in between tasks. We even have snacks stocked.”
“This is three times the size of our break room in Dallas,” Kami said, looking around the room with wide eyes. “Ours was more like a walk-in closet. If even that big.”
“It wasn’t that small,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. But yeah, once again, a massive upgrade. Our break room could fit six people at most while this one could fit almost an entire class. And it was so much cleaner, almost like no one even hung out in here.
“Most of the volunteers here are our friends, and the other workers barely come in here, so we’ve basically claimed this place as our own,” Oliver said.
Kami nodded. “Given that there are snacks, sounds like the place for me.”