The house phone echoes through the house. I trudge down the stairs to answer it. I was trying to take a nap after school since I didn't get any sleep last night.

"Hello?" I say groggily into the receiver. I hold the phone to my ear as I plop back onto my bed after coming back to my room. My hands rub at my eyes to take away any sleep.

  "Hello ma'am. This is Main Street Animal Clinic. We would like to inform you that your dog is ready to be picked up. Is now a good time?" the receptionist chirps in a perky voice. My eyes widen slightly and I pin the phone to my shoulder with my ear. I look down. I'm wearing a pair of sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt that is covered in stains with my hair in a messy bun. I scramble around my room gathering article of clothing to make a decent outfit that I can wear in public that doesn't make me look sketchy. I get a pair of TNA leggings and my grey knit sweater and throw them on along with a maroon beanie. I pull out my hair elastic and let my hair do what it wants.

  "Uh yes that will be fine. Thank you," I say breathlessly into the phone. We exchange our goodbyes and I slam the phone back into the receiver.

***

  "Good evening. Are you here for Lacy?" asks the receptionist. I recognize her perky voice from the phone. She sits behind her desk looking up at me waiting for an answer. She clicks the button on her pen multiple times which I can't tell if it's because she's impatient or out of habit. She wears purple scrubs with a tag clipped to the collar which reads Amanda.

  "Yes," I reply. Then I add on, "How is she?" I bite my lip waiting for her reply. She gives me a warm smile.

  "It was successful...for the most part." She says slowly. Her face shows she didn't want to add the last part, but did it to be honest. My heart drops.

  "What do you mean? Is she okay?" I question while stepping on my tiptoes to see over the desk and the receptionist at the room behind her. Multiple dogs howl and bark in an unorganized orchestra of various pitches and duration. I love animals so this didn't bother me and clearly didn't bother the receptionist.

  "Oh no. She's fine and will have a healthy recovery. We couldn't successfully reattach the leg. We bandaged it and let the stump heal over. She should be fine," she assures me.

She stands up and gestures to the room behind her. I follow close behind her to where a vet has Lacy on a leash. Even though the poor dog was brutally attacked and lost her leg she has a smile-well as close to a smile as a dog can have- on her face with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. The vet drops the leash and leaves having completed her job. I crouch down to Lacy's level and scratch behind her ear.

Amanda giggles and crouches down too. I straighten up and gather her leash in my hand. Amanda follows and turns to me all playfulness she had before is gone.

"So how did she lose that leg. It's not everyday we get something like that. Do you or anyone at home abuse her at all?" She questions with her eyes narrowed. My jaw drops. Protectively I push Lacy's head into my leg.

"I would never harm an animal and neither would my dad. I'm not cruel and chopping off an animal's leg is disgusting. Someone ran over her leg. Thankfully that's all they got," I lie.

Amanda's face softens. Approval mixes with sympathy. She gives Lacy one final pat on the head and a dog treat from a jar before she lets us leave.

***

  "Hey dad I'm home," I shout while unhooking Lacy from her leash. I generally push her and help her walk. She tries to run away to wherever she wants to go, but trips because she isn't used to having three legs. She gets back up and carefully limps into another room. My heart pangs with guilt.

  "Uh huh. Okay. I understand. I'll let her know as soon as possible. Bye," my dad says in a hushed tone. He sits at the kitchen table with his ear pressed against the phone. He pressed a button to end the call and his head drops to his hands. His fingers massage his temples.

  "Dad?" He instantly perks up. Once he sees me his eyes narrow and he points a menacing finger at me.

  "You told him!" he screams. I cringe at his sudden outburst.

  "What do you mean? I told everyone what?" His whole body is shaking. He is furious. Unintentionally I take a couple steps backwards. My back connects with the wall.

  "Everyone in this town knows I'm faking my degree. I'm out if a job because of you!"

  "What? Dad I didn't tell anyone! This is ridiculous! Please explain this to me."

  "When you filed that report to the police I didn't know you were reporting me or else I wouldn't have let you gone." My brows furrow in confusion. I slowly walk over to stand in front of him.

  "Why don't you tell me what's going on here." I rub my hand soothingly up his back to relax him. His hand brashly grabs me and throws my arm away. It's sore, but I won't say anything. He sits in a seat and glares at me. His fists clench and unclench.

  "When you went to the police station to report that false report they found a message on your phone to see what secret I had. Someone left a tip to the police about my false degree which resulted in a search at my office. They know that I faked it and now the whole town knows too."

  "Dad it wasn't me I swear! I went to report someone threatening me!"

  "You're a liar!" He yells. Spit flies from his mouth and lands on my hand.

  "No, daddy, I swear I'm not. Please you have to believe me," I plea. If looks could kill I'd be dead right now. He stands up almost knocking his chair down in the process. I flinch. His head is bent downwards so he can look at me. We're basically face to face.

  "You are lying. The only people who know about the degree is you, Henry, the man I told you who made the false degree, and myself. I called to see if it was Henry and the professor and they both denied it. It's ridiculous to even think I would report myself. And where does that leave us? With you."

  "No it wasn't. Someone else knows. When I went to the police station I handed in my phone. I got a text saying that someone knew what your secret was, but I guess they inspected your work more when I handed it in. I'm sorry for that, but someone else knew that's why I was there!" I cry. His hand goes sailing through the air and connects with my face. Pain explodes on my cheek and my hands immediately cover the place he slapped me. Tears stream down my face and I can't stop them.

My father just hit me.

He stares at his hand in shock. His whole body is shaking. He swallows and looks at me with tears in his eyes.

"Marley, I'm sorry. But because of you I've lost my job. I want to tell you that we are moving in a month. I can't stay here anymore." And with that he's gone.

My body crumples to the floor. I wrap my arms around my knees and try to breathe. Lacy trots into the room. She licks off all the salty tears and pushes her head under my arm to snuggle.

I read online once that dogs can sense sadness and try to comfort their owners. I'm so glad that it's true.

***
A/N- Boo school starts tomorrow. Not ready but I don't have a choice.

QUESTION: What is your theories about who the stalker is? Or any theories in general about this story? I would love to hear them!

~Mar