Trash’s paws were mere inches from Bent’s beautiful face. Sarah closed her eyes instinctively. She held her breath, waiting for the huge dog to tackle the tall boy.But, to her amazement, Trash was lying down on his side when she opened her eyes. His four massive paws were raised high in the air. He whimpered softly. “Oh my, aren’t you lucky,” Mrs. Smith said. She straightened her jacket and untwisted the long strand of pearls around her neck. “Trash is usually so well behaved. He does get excited from time to time when there are new visitors.”Sarah rolled her eyes at her mother’s statement. Trash was not a well-behaved dog. Charles made Trash the crazy, over-hyper, four-legged beast he was. The only reason the Smith house stayed immaculate was that Mrs. Smith’s housekeeper knew how to quickly clear the mess Trash caused — from broken China, to muddy, paw printed carpets, to ripped apart sofa cushions — before Mr. or Mrs. Smith discovered them. Bent stooped to stroke the dog’s belly. He smiled down at the dog with his sparkly, chocolate brown eyes. Sarah couldn’t help feeling jealous. Even Trash — a dog — got more attention from Bent than she did! Elly crossed her arms over her chest. “Cute dog,” she said with a fake smile. But it was obvious she didn’t like Trash or most dogs in general. “How did you do that, anyway?” Mrs. Smith asked Bent. “I really thought Trash was going to jump all over you.”Bent now stroked behind Trash’s ears. The dog began to thump its tail happily. “I love animals, especially dogs,” Bent said. “I have four dogs, myself. All Siberian huskies. I’ve learned to make them obedient.”Sarah could practically see Elly’s face cloud in terror. “A-are Siberian huskies…they’re like…like wolf dogs, right?” Bent turned his sun-kissed face up to Elly. He seemed to sense her uneasiness. “Yes, they’re like wolves. Only my dogs won’t harm anyone. At least not without my permission.”Elly giggled nervously at Bent’s apparent joke. “Why is he called Trash?” Bent asked Mrs. Smith. He looked as if he was trying hard to not crack up. Trash started to lick Bent’s hands. His fluffy tail continued to beat the ground in loud thumps. Sarah noticed Bent refused to acknowledge her. He acted as if she wasn’t even there! Unfortunately, Sarah’s mother seemed to love the attention from Bent. She wasn’t aware, or didn’t appear to care, that he was completely ignoring Sarah. “Trash was Charles’s dog. Sarah’s older brother. Charles is at Yale now.” Mrs. Smith smiled her proud smile. She loved to brag about Charles. Bent’s eyes flitted for a split second towards Sarah again. He cleared his throat. “I’m planning to attend Yale, myself, in a couple of years.” Mrs. Smith nodded in approval. “I’m sure you’d do great there. In fact–” she clicked her fingers as an idea dawned on her — “You should talk to Charles. I’m sure he could tell you all about school.”Sarah almost groaned out loud. “I’d appreciate that,” Bent said. He stood up from the ground. Trash whimpered for him to pet him again. “Okay. It’s been fun. Now we should go,” Elly said. She tugged at Bent’s arm. Bent smiled at Mrs. Smith and he smiled down at the dog. As he turned to head out the door, his eyes paused for the briefest moment on Sarah. And then he was gone.Mrs. Smith spun on her heels and walked towards the dining room. “You should find a boy like that, Sarah.” She tilted her head back to study Sarah’s slight frame beside the stairs. She made a ‘Tsk tsk’ sound with her mouth. “Pity such a nice-looking boy should go for an impertinent thing like Elly. He could do so much better.” Sarah stood at the door a little longer. She could hear the car door open as Bent and Elly climbed into his car. “–And please wash your hands after touching that mangy dog,” Elly snapped just as the car door shut. Sarah watched from the small window beside the front door, as the taillights of the magnificent car faded away down the street, taking its magnificent driver out of sight. Sarah spun slowly around, and let out a shrill scream. Do you like animals? I love animals. I always find it odd when people don’t like animals. I have a few friends who are very allergic to cats or dogs. That makes sense then why they don’t like to be around pets. But I am always surprised when someone says ‘I don’t like cats because they’re scary or mean.’ I think it’s a riot. Now some dogs I don’t like. Especially the super tiny dogs that go ‘Yip! Yip! Yip!’