Alpha Dog (27 page)
Later that evening, I took Seamus to the park. I was careful to slow my pace so that he could heel without straining himself. I could tell it was getting easier for him. Dr. Skyler had said he should be completely better by September, but I was beginning to think it would be sooner than that. He was a tough one.
We crossed the pea-gravel pit, circled the swimming pool and came to “our” picnic table beneath the live oak trees.
“Here you go, buddy,” I said, lifting him to the tabletop. I sat down beside him and began stroking the dark wiry waves along his back.
To our left the sun was setting, bleeding orange-red streaks into the sky. The wind was picking up, and our grassy surroundings were taking on the heavy bronze hue of evening.
Seamus flopped down next me, resting his shoulder against my waist, and heaved a contented sigh.
“Yeah, I know,” I said, petting the soft fur behind his ears. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Published by Delacorte Press
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead; events; or locales is
entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2006 by Jennifer Ziegler
All rights reserved.
Delacorte Press and colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ziegler, Jennifer.
Alpha dog : a novel / by Jennifer Ziegler.
p. cm.
Summary: Feeling humiliated after being dumped by both her boyfriend
and the school’s popular crowd at the end of her junior year in high school,
Katie endures more embarrassing moments while taking a summer class at
the University of Texas in Austin, and living away from home in an
apartment with an overly hip roommate and a psychotic dog.
.5-point Apollo.
eISBN: 978-0-307-43308-4
v3.0