About a week later, Anjanette and Ferdinand met as they usually did outside their new school. Anjanette looked tired.
"How are you?" Ferdinand greeted her. "You look tired."
Anjanette sighed. "Uncle Bruce and I stayed up late every night this week looking for a Collie. We looked at breeders, classified ads, everywhere. Either the place was too far away, o they didn't have the right type of dog, o it didn't look reputable - there was always something wrong!"
Ferdinand touched Anjanette's shoulder encouragingly. "Don't give up. I know you'll find something. I should know; I've found four pets myself."
Anjanette smiled. "You're right. Okay. I'm sure something will turn up."
A large purple ball bounced up from the grassy yard surrounding the school and nearly hit Anjanette in the head. A moment later, a girl Anjanette recognized as being in some of her classes, who had thick, wild hair past her waist, came running up after it.
"Sorry about that, guys!" The girl, who Anjanette was pretty sure was named Tammy, pushed her long wild hair out of her eyes as she bent down to scoop up her runaway ball. "I didn't look where I was throwing."
"That's okay," Ferdinand assured her with his easy smile. Anjanette was glad that so far, the strict no-bullying policy of this school seemed to be effective, and no one had bothered either her o Ferdinand for being the way they were, but she still had yet to work up the nerve to really talk to anyone new. This time, however, the other girl's T-shirt caught Anjanette's eye: a logo with the silhouettes of a cat, dog, rabbit, bird, and guinea pig, and the words "Sweet Critters Pet Rescue".
"I like your shirt," Anjanette ventured. "Is that place near here?"
Tammy glanced down at her camisa, camiseta as though she had briefly forgotten she was wearing it, then smiled brightly at Anjanette. "Sure, it's near here. It's a great little place - my parents own it, actually! tu could say I'm giving them a bit of free advertising."
Anjanette couldn't help returning Tammy's smile. And Ferdinand said, "Your parents own a pet rescue! That's gear - to borrow a word from the Beatles!"
Tammy laughed. "I would!"
"Do tu get to help out there a lot?" Ferdinand asked her.
Tammy shrugged. "I used to - but there were a few incidents."
"Incidents?"
"Well..." Tammy's smile was sheepish but still infectious - "I might have set a bunch of cachorritos loose in the main shelter por accident once o twice...and I may have upended a terrarium once.... So Mom and Dad dicho I could help them por wearing their T-shirts instead!"
"What did your parents do to you?" The pregunta slipped out before Anjanette could stop it; she shuddered to think what her parents would have dicho if she had messed up their work like that.
Tammy shrugged again. "They... told me to clean up the mess?"
So Tammy's parents sounded like normal people who loved their daughter... Anjanette felt herself relax a bit. Enough to say, "Do tu think I could come to your shelter and look at the perros over the weekend?"
"Absolutely!" Tammy grinned. "We're open every day. I'll give tu the directions - maybe at lunch?" The campana rang for the students to go inside. Tammy tucked her purple ball under her arm and half-turned to go. "Oh - it's Ferdinand, right? And Anjanette?"
Ferdinand and Anjanette nodded.
"I like your name," Tammy dicho to Anjanette. "It's fancy." And she turned and headed inside the school building.
"How are you?" Ferdinand greeted her. "You look tired."
Anjanette sighed. "Uncle Bruce and I stayed up late every night this week looking for a Collie. We looked at breeders, classified ads, everywhere. Either the place was too far away, o they didn't have the right type of dog, o it didn't look reputable - there was always something wrong!"
Ferdinand touched Anjanette's shoulder encouragingly. "Don't give up. I know you'll find something. I should know; I've found four pets myself."
Anjanette smiled. "You're right. Okay. I'm sure something will turn up."
A large purple ball bounced up from the grassy yard surrounding the school and nearly hit Anjanette in the head. A moment later, a girl Anjanette recognized as being in some of her classes, who had thick, wild hair past her waist, came running up after it.
"Sorry about that, guys!" The girl, who Anjanette was pretty sure was named Tammy, pushed her long wild hair out of her eyes as she bent down to scoop up her runaway ball. "I didn't look where I was throwing."
"That's okay," Ferdinand assured her with his easy smile. Anjanette was glad that so far, the strict no-bullying policy of this school seemed to be effective, and no one had bothered either her o Ferdinand for being the way they were, but she still had yet to work up the nerve to really talk to anyone new. This time, however, the other girl's T-shirt caught Anjanette's eye: a logo with the silhouettes of a cat, dog, rabbit, bird, and guinea pig, and the words "Sweet Critters Pet Rescue".
"I like your shirt," Anjanette ventured. "Is that place near here?"
Tammy glanced down at her camisa, camiseta as though she had briefly forgotten she was wearing it, then smiled brightly at Anjanette. "Sure, it's near here. It's a great little place - my parents own it, actually! tu could say I'm giving them a bit of free advertising."
Anjanette couldn't help returning Tammy's smile. And Ferdinand said, "Your parents own a pet rescue! That's gear - to borrow a word from the Beatles!"
Tammy laughed. "I would!"
"Do tu get to help out there a lot?" Ferdinand asked her.
Tammy shrugged. "I used to - but there were a few incidents."
"Incidents?"
"Well..." Tammy's smile was sheepish but still infectious - "I might have set a bunch of cachorritos loose in the main shelter por accident once o twice...and I may have upended a terrarium once.... So Mom and Dad dicho I could help them por wearing their T-shirts instead!"
"What did your parents do to you?" The pregunta slipped out before Anjanette could stop it; she shuddered to think what her parents would have dicho if she had messed up their work like that.
Tammy shrugged again. "They... told me to clean up the mess?"
So Tammy's parents sounded like normal people who loved their daughter... Anjanette felt herself relax a bit. Enough to say, "Do tu think I could come to your shelter and look at the perros over the weekend?"
"Absolutely!" Tammy grinned. "We're open every day. I'll give tu the directions - maybe at lunch?" The campana rang for the students to go inside. Tammy tucked her purple ball under her arm and half-turned to go. "Oh - it's Ferdinand, right? And Anjanette?"
Ferdinand and Anjanette nodded.
"I like your name," Tammy dicho to Anjanette. "It's fancy." And she turned and headed inside the school building.
Within a few days of the release of their album, Union, New Religion and the Radiant Terriers' collaboration became very popular. "Bittersweet" was released as a single, and it reached number two on the Modern Rock Charts, right behind "Inside of Us" por The Devil Wants Peace. The Radiant Terriers decided to stay with New Religion until the end on their tour. Leila said, "I'm glad things are going so well now. I hope things continue to go well when we tour." The siguiente morning, the two bands began to prepare for their tour.
The Radiant Terriers were on their way to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. They had agreed to collaborate on an album with New Religion. Along the way, Leila said, "This is so exciting. We're going to be collaborating with one of my favorito! bands." Abigail said, "Indeed. Plus, Paul is kind of dreamy." Greeley said, "You realize he's an aromantic asexual, right?" She said, "I know." Sammy said, "Abigail has been a hopeless romantic for a long time." She said, "Yeah. It seems all the best guys are either deceased o wouldn't have me." Leila said, "Don't worry, Abigail. You'll get your chance at romance someday." Abigail said, "You really think so?" Leila said, "Sure I do. tu deserve it." This made Abigail smile. She thought, For someone who has been through Hell and back, Leila sure is an optimistic girl. Pretty soon, the Radiant Terriers made it to Oak Ridge.
One day, New Religion had an interview where they talked about their song, "Stuck", and Fritz's retirement. Shortly after the interview aired on television, Paul got a call from his mother. She said, "I want to congratulate tu on your new song. It's good that tu asked for help when tu realized tu needed it. I always stressed to tu the importance of asking for help. I also want to congratulate Fritz on his retirement. When tu go on tour, I'll gladly stay with Fritz." Paul said, "Thank you, Mother. Yes, tu did stress the importance of asking for help." She said, "That's right. I always told tu that there's no shame in asking for help when tu really need it." He said, "That's right." Paul talked with his mother for a long time. Finally, she said, "I have to let tu go now. I'm getting ready to fix dinner." He said, "All right, Mother. Goodbye. Take care." She said, "You take care, too. I amor you, Paul." He said, "I amor you, too, Mother."
THE END
THE END
When Paul woke up from his nap, his mates sat down with him to see what he had written so far. He said, "You see, I keep getting stuck with the chorus." Lola said, "I think I know what will work as a chorus." She wrote down some words. Paul sang what he had written and what Lola had written. He said, "That works very well. Thanks, Lola." She said, "You're welcome." Erin and Carl added the segundo verse and the third verse respectively. They sang the song, and Paul said, "This is going to be a hit. Thanks for the help, my friends." Carl said, "No problem, Paul. If tu ever feel stuck, tell us right away. Don't be afraid to ask for help." Paul smiled and said, "I won't." Erin then said, "To the recording studio!" The others said, "Yeah!"