CHAPTER 1: ARIA

Aria breathed deeply in the cool Autumn air, and her Samoyed, named Crystal, padded over to her. Crystal’s plush white tail wagged as she barked at Aria and made a pawing motion in the air. Laughing, Aria fed Crystal a treat. It was a cool Saturday morning, and she felt like relaxing in the sun.

In the town of Scarsdale, there are cold winters. Like, cold cold. But Aria liked it. She was born on February twenty-eight in the wintertime.

“Hey, Aria!” A familiar voice shouted. One of her best friends, Elaine, appeared with her Samoyed by her side, wearing a navy sweater and baggy jeans. Elaine’s Samoyed was named Icicle, she looked a lot like Crystal. With her fluffy tail, she looked like the spitting image of her. Icicle was playful, nice, cute and, well, silly like Elaine (although Aria was much funnier)…but protective too. She had begged for half a year to her mom until her mom finally let her have one as long as she was responsible for the poop and accidents in the house, and also that she finally had enough money to pay for it as well as the other things their family needed. Elaine felt her mom just got sick of her asking all day, everyday.

Soon, Aria’s other best friends emerged from the front door, and they all had their Samoyeds with them. Chloe’s Samoyed, Glacier – a wise dog, sniffed Crystal and Icicle, then bounded away next to Chloe, licking her hand. Glacier could tell when someone was happy or sad, and knew exactly what to do when they were feeling any strong emotion.

Mandy’s Samoyed, Tundra, was an overexcited puppy and began to jump on Glacier, who shook her off easily with a thump. Tundra whined softly and padded behind Mandy.

“Hi, guys! I just had a feeling that you guys were coming. This is around the time of our Dogs Club meeting. Alright, come to order!” Aria commanded. 

She was the president, who had started their club, the Dogs Club, because she had gotten her Samoyed first. (Samoyeds are their favorite type of dog.) “Chloe, you’re my vice president, so report to me first! Any dog sightings or news?” 

“New Australian Shepherd pups in the Bloomgarden family, Rudolph–male: three months old. Frosty–female: four months old.” Chloe reported.

“Great! They want dog-sitters?” Aria asked.

“Yes. Ten dollars for an hour on Monday.” Chloe nodded her head importantly.

“Elaine, my secretary. Are any of us free?” Aria yawned, stretching. She scratched Crystal behind the ears.

“Hmm…let me see…Mandy and I are the only ones free, Mandy can go, I can’t exactly go. I still have a little stuff to do!” Elaine said. Since she always finished her work early, she had extra schoolwork. Her teacher had to sign her up for the advanced classes that took the same time as the period they were having. Elaine had only accepted a few. However, Elaine never seemed to be engaging with any. 

“Okay!” Mandy exclaimed as Tundra wagged her tail furiously.

“Good, we’ve got that all figured out. Mandy, my treasurer, how much money do we have?” Aria sighed.

“Twenty bucks, we’re not spending any because we don’t need it,” Mandy said, counting the bills in a little electric Samoyed-bank.

“Yet,” Chloe chimed in.

“What about you? Any other reports, Chloe?” Aria asked.

“Yeah. The James family needs dog-sitters. They're taking their kids to a movie, so they need somebody to dog-sit their Collie. Cassandra-female: One year old. Thirty dollars for three hours on Wednesday. Anybody free?” Chloe said.

Aria opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Chloe…

“Only Aria and I are. Aria can take the job,” Chloe added, then quickly made the best dog-sitter-serious face. “Yeah, I know I just answered my own question.”

Elaine snorted, and said, “After my game on Saturday, y’all wanna come over? You know, like, watch a movie? Play games? Eat pizza?” She paused. “We could also discuss this stuff there. ‘Cause my brother isn’t home those days and he hates it when you guys come for some reason. He’s like: ‘Why does she get to have playdates?’ And I’m like: ‘Why do you get to have extra screen time on the days I have meetings?’” Elaine shook her head, smiling.