Page 24 of Counting the Stars

“I’ve been skunked! I’ve been skunked!” Alex starts jumping around the kitchen.

A second later, I notice a rancid smell wafting upward.

“How can it be even worse than before?!” I cover my nose, still watching Alex wiggle all over the place. I imagine that’s how I look when I accidently walk through a spiderweb.

“I think I pulled a little too hard on his stomach and released something from the depths of his bowels. Oh my God, I’ve been skunked!”

“You can’t get skunked by a dog.” I place the garbage can on top of the counter and jump down. I try my hardest not to laugh, but I can’t take it anymore. Between the stress I put on myself today and the craziness of our night, I lose all control and burst out into hysterical laughter.

“This isn’t funny! If the smell is permanent, you’re going to have to marry me now because no one will be able to tolerate being in the same room as me. Oh. My. God. Is this what happened to Stinky?” He begins rummaging through our refrigerator.

“What—what are you doing?” I wipe the tears springing from my eyes. I haven’t had a full-on belly laugh like this since the time Aly told me the story of how Jax was doped up on pain meds and thought he lost his penis.

“Tomato juice!” Alex waves his arms frantically. “I’m looking for tomato juice. Isn’t that how you get the skunk smell out? I think the scent seeped into my pores. Maybe if I drink it, it will counteract everything and I won’t smell like this for the rest of my life!”

“You. Are. Nuts.” I grab onto the countertop, trying to gain what little composure I have left. “One, the tomato juice thing is a myth. Two, we don’t have any. And three, Gus is a dog, not a skunk. We probably need some fresh air.” I walk over to the window in the living room and open it, welcoming the cool breeze that drifts through.

“Fresh air,” Alex says to himself. “Yes, that’s what we need. Come on, Gus!” he yells to the hound, who obedientlyfollows. As he gets to the door, he turns around, giving me a sheepish look. “Umm…sorry about tonight. Rain check?”

“Yeah.” I laugh and wave toward the door. “Go take care of Gus. Hopefully, he can get everything out of his system before you bring him back to Travis.”

“God, I hope so,” Alex says and closes the door.

I walk back to the kitchen and place the garbage can on the floor. Turning, I notice the purple gift bag on the table. I grab it, pull out my wacky present, and give it a squeeze. It’s so uniquely Alex and I love it.

Once things have calmed down, I decide to finish the movie that’s only halfway through. It’s a rom-com about a boy who’s in love with his best friend, but the girl is scared to get into a relationship and keeps pushing him away.Oh, how relatable.I settle on the couch with my bananasaurus rex and realize we never had the chance to talk about his list.

I can’t help but wonder if maybe that’s for the best.

13

Alex

The walk of shame.

Never in a million years did I expect to do one…especially with a dog.

The ride back to Travis’s was fragrantly painful despite keeping all the windows down and the air conditioner on full blast. It’s a pretty chilly night and I can’t feel my fingers. Still, I have bigger things to worry about at the moment.

Gus appears no worse for wear despite the never-ending flatulence. I took him for a long walk around the condo, hoping he would clear out his system, but we had no such luck. I even called a twenty-four-hour emergency vet hotline to see if there was something I should do or if I needed to bring him in to get checked out. Since the furry guy is showing zero signs of distress, it looks like we’re in the clear.

“Might as well get this over with,” I say to Gus as I open the passenger side door to let him out. He happily hops down and looks up at me, anticipating my next move.

“Let’s go, Sir Smelly Butt.” I begin walking down the gravel path toward Travis’s house.

“Hey!” Travis opens the door as we make our way up the walkway. “You’re back earlier than I thought. Everything okay?”

“Umm…yeah.” I look down at Gus, who seems completely normal. Maybe I can get out of this without Travis knowing. After all, the vet said he’s fine. No harm, no foul. “The dinner Gabby made was…unexpected, and things ended early.”

“Really?” Travis crosses his arms and leans into the doorframe. “What happened?”

“Gabby decided to try out some new ingredients that didn’t go over very well. We ended up ordering pizza and had an early night.” I take a step backward, hoping Travis isn’t in a chatty mood. Gus happily hops up the two front steps and leans into his owner’s side.

“Did she say why she wanted to see you alone?”

Ugh. Why can’t this guy be like his best friend? Jax would’ve already ended the conversation and closed the door…probably right in my face. Still, he brings up a good point.

“You know, she didn’t.” I scratch my head. “I mean, it’s not unusual for us to do something without the rest of the group, but it did seem like she wanted me there for a particular reason.”

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