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Chapter 2: A New Dog on the Block

"Grape! Grape!"

Grape Jelly Sandwich, the purple she-cat, groaned in her little cat bed as her annoying yet sweet and friendly dog companion, Peanut Butter, cried out her name, waking her from her precious cat nap - for the billionth time today.

"What is it now, Peanut?" Grape asked from underneath her blanket with slight irritation in her tone.

"You gotta see this!" Peanut shouted in his usual animated, happy-go-lucky self. "It's outside! You could see it out the window! C'mon!"

With no other choice, the annoyed purple feline threw off the blanket and followed Peanut to the window. Grape looked outside the front yard and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Grape wasn't surprised about this, though. Peanut had disturbed her beauty sleep countless times with equally stupid (if not, stupider) reasons before.

"Do you see it?" Peanut asked excitedly as his little tail swooshed furiously.

"Uh...what am I suppose to be seeing?" Grape said. "All I see is the front yard, Mom's flower garden, the sidewalk, the street, a fire hydrant, cars driving by, and our neighbors' houses. Should I go on?"

"No! No!" Peanut replied. "Not those things. There!"

He pointed to the left: there Grape saw a human teenager carrying his bike with an unfamiliar black and white dog following him. Grape then realized who the teenager was.

"See?" Peanut said.

"It's Brian," Grape simply stated. "One of our human neighbors across the street - oh, and there's a black and white dog who I have never seen before following him."

"You got it!"

Grape looked at her canine friend with full irritation on her face.

"You woke me up from my nap just to see our neighbor with his dog? Most of our neighbors have dogs. You're friends with most of them, remember?"

"I know, I know," Peanut said. "but this is different."

"How so?" Grape asked, facing Peanut with her hands/paws on her hips.

"Don't you remember? When Brian and his family moved into the neighborhood about a year ago, Mom and Dad brought us with them to go to their house warming party. Remember while Mom and Dad were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Edwards - and while you were sleeping right next to Mom's feet - Brian and his little brother Ian took me to their room and we played video games, board games, and watch movies - and then you wanted to be with us, just because you heard us watching Brain's collection of Pridelands."

"Oh, yeah," Grape said. "I almost forgot Brian was into Pridelands. I always forget that some humans love it too."

"And don't forget dogs," Peanut said, smiling proudly.

"Peanut, you're the only dog I know who loves Pridelands," Grape pointed out.

"Well, I can't be the only dog," Peanut said. "There has to be hundreds of dogs who enjoy Pridelands just as much as humans and cats."

"Yeah, but they have to hide it from the outside world, otherwise they'll lose whatever dog friends and dignity they have," Peanut stated.

"Hey! I still -"

"In any case, could you go back to why you woke me just to see Brian with a dog following him, please?" Grape said, getting more annoyed by this.

"Oh, yeah. I remember Brian said he had seen Pridelands so many times, he knows what everyone says by heart," Peanut said. "I then told him I did too, so we did a little challenge -"

"Yeah, I know," Grape informed. "You guys put the TV on mute and then the two of you repeated everything the characters said perfectly -"

"- And then you joined in by repeating everything the girl characters said," Peanut reminded her. "Right after you said you'd take no part in our 'childish, idiotic game'."

Grape's purple cheeks turned red from hearing that.

"...Well...it did seem indecent for boys to impersonate such awesome and feminine heroines such as the ones from Pridelands, that I felt that I should give them the nobility and decency they rightfully deserved."

Peanut snorted. His best friend could be such a terrible liar sometimes.

"Anyway, as much fun as it was strolling down memory lane, what does all that have to do with Brian bringing home a dog?" Grape asked.

"Oh, right," Peanut said. "Well, while we were playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Brian and Ian mentioned that they always wanted a pet of their own. I asked them why doesn't their parents get them one, and they said that they've been asking them for years, but they just won't get them a pet."

"...So...the reason you woke me up from my nap was to show me that after all these years Brian had succeeded in getting a pet?" Grape asked with more irritation in her tone.

"Yep!" Peanut replied proudly.

Grape slapped her face in utter displeasure. It was a mystery why she kept Peanut alive after all these years.

"...In that case, I'm going back to bed," She said flatly as she went back to her cat bed. "Good for Brian and Ian that they now have a pet of their own, but not good enough to wake me up for it."

Just as she got back into the bed and brought the covers over herself, Peanut cried out her name again.

"What!?" Grape screamed, bringing Peanut right into her face. "What is it now!?"

"...I-I forgot to tell you that...Furboy 105 had finally updated his fanfic, Pridelands: Of Kings and Alphas," Peanut replied, nervously. "I already read it while you were sleeping, and I was going to wake you to tell you, but that's when I saw Brian with the dog."

Grape dropped the frightened pooch in utter shock.

"A-After six months of waiting...he has finally updated...?" She spoke in monotone.

"...Y-yes," Peanut replied.

Then her mood turned from shock to pure excitement. Wasting no time, the purple she-cat literally jump and ran in the speed of light to the den, where the desktop computer was located. Peanut got up and casually dusted himself off. He knew that would make Grape happy. That fanfic was her absolute favorite.

He then went into the living room to play Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Maybe I'll pay Brian and Ian and this new dog a visit tomorrow, He thought. Yay that they finally got a pet - and yay for me too; I'm gonna make a new friend! Maybe I should invite Tarot too?

I'd love to come, Peanut, came the telepathic voice of Tarot, Peanut's mysterious and mystical girlfriend.

Great!

About ten minutes prior to when Peanut and Grape had seen them, Brian and Stacy were a block away from his house.

"Before we get there, Stacy - there's some things I need to warn you about," Brian said.

"Warn me about?" Stacy asked, concerned.

"You see, my parents and my sister aren't exactly...animal lovers."

Stacy stopped in her tracks.

"Then...maybe it's a bad idea for me to stay with you if they're gonna hate me," She said.

"Oh, no, no, no," Brian said. "They aren't animal lovers, but that doesn't mean they'll hate the instant they see you. They just don't like to have the responsibility taking care of a pet, but that's okay, though."

"How?" Stacy asked, starting to have second thoughts of staying with the human.

"I'll be your responsibility," Brian replied. "But before we get into it, let's just see if my folks will agree to letting you stay."

"Do you really think they'll let me?" Stacy said. "If they aren't animal lovers, I don't see how they would. And if they don't, it's okay. You've already done so much for me, Brian. I don't wanna a burden."

Brian smiled at the humble she-dog.

"...Not to sound gross or anything, but you're kinda cute when you're modest," He admitted.

Stacy warmed up a little from hearing that.

"And don't worry too much about it," Brian continued. "My folks already know I've wanted a pet for years. I used to constantly ask them if I could get one, and they'll always answer with 'we'll see'. So, logically speaking, they didn't say yes or no, right? That alone should give us the advantage."

"Yes, it kinda does," Stacy agreed.

"Good," Brain said. "And look, here we are."

The both of them walked up to a two-story house with a well kept front lawn.

"Your house is beautiful," Stacy complimented.

"Thanks," Brian said.

Brian then pulled out a remote control from his pocket and pushed the big red button: the garage door opened up; and Brian brought his bicycle inside, with Stacy slowly following him. Brian then placed the bike at the far corner and then brought the kickstand down.

"All right, let's see how things go from here," He said, after closing the garage door.

"...Yeah..." Stacy said with doubts.

"Okay, wait here for a bit," Brian instructed. "My mom should be making dinner right now, so I'll go see if she and my dad are in a good enough moods to let you stay."

"All right."

Brian then opened the door leading to the kitchen. There, Brian could see his mother was indeed cooking dinner.

Joan Edwards was a well kept woman who liked to have everything neat and tidy; she stood about 5.6, and weighed about 105 lbs; her hair color was burgundy red that came down to her shoulders, and had baby blue eyes (the same color Brian had). She was basically your typical stay-at-home mother, who enjoyed some good, juicy gossip.

While Joan was cutting some celery, her middle child cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned around in response.

"Hey, Mom," Brian greeted.

"Oh, hi, Brian," Joan replied, looking over shoulder. "You've been gone for a while. I was wondering when you'd be home."

"Yeah, sorry about being late," Brian said, trying to figure out what to say about Stacy. "You see, I've got rather...sidetracked..."

"Ah, forget it, honey," Joan waved it off, returning to her celery. "As long as you're home and safe, it's alright. Dinner's almost ready, anyway. Go wash up and call your father and brother over here. Janet called while you were gone. She said she and Travis are eating at McDonald's and then they're off to the mall, so they won't be back till around nine. So it'll just be us for now."

"Actually, about that, I...kinda...met someone while I was bike riding...and I...brought her home..." Brian finally began.

Joan ceased almost immediately of what she was doing and then turned around to face Brian.

"Who?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Brian hadn't invited anyone to dinner for years.

"A girl," Brian replied, not exactly lying.

"A girl?" Joan asked, stunned. "Is she from school?"

"No."

"Do you know her from somewhere?"

"No. We just met."

"Just met? How did you meet her?"

"Let's just say she ran into me. After that we talked a little, and she seems nice - so I invited her over for dinner."

Joan had the excited look on her face she'd get when she had heard the juiciest gossip there was.

"Frank! Come down here!" She called out to her husband.

Soon they heard Frank coming down the stairs and walking into the kitchen.

Frank Edwards was lean, tall man with black spiky hair (Brian couldn't remember a time when his father didn't have his hair spiked), black eyes, and always had a serious look on his face; he had a strong and firm body; height was 5, 11 and weighed about 180 lbs. Brain resembled so much like his father, save for only the eyes.

"What is it, Joan?" Frank asked.

"Your son has brought home a guest," Joan replied, still eyeing Brian.

"Guest?" Frank asked. "What guest?"

"By what Brian has already told me," Joan answered. "it seems he's brought home a girl."

"Really?" Frank said; excitement was clearing displayed on his face. "About time you brought home a girl, son. For a moment I was worried what you were swinging at."

Brian didn't know whether to be annoyed or upset at his old man's remark. His dad had been pestering him into getting a girlfriend since junior high.

"She's not the girl you guys are hoping for," He stated straight out.

"What?" Frank asked.

"Then what is she?" Joan asked.

Brian figured it was best to come clean.

"Stacy, you could come in now," He called.

Just then the garage door opened, and Stacy, the stray black and white she-dog, walked in slowly and cautiously. She avoided eye contact of Frank and Joan as she walked right next to Brian.

"Mom, Dad, this is Stacy," Brian announced. "Stacy, this is Frank and Joan - my parents."

"...Hi," Stacy greeted in monotone, now looking at them.

Brian's parents did nothing but stare at the stray animal with their eyes wide open.