It was a bright, beautifully sunny day when I failed my English final. I took great pride in having good grades, so this was awful. My mom always expected the best from me and this would get me grounded and phoneless for a month. I had to figure out a way to tell her without starting World War 3, so I walked home. It was the first day of spring, around 60 degrees, and nature was finally waking up from the dreary winter that had seemed to last forever. I walked into my empty house and sighed, I still hadn't thought of what to say to her. I put my bag down and looked out of the window at the woods across the street. It was a beautiful day, and I'd hate to waste it. I decided to go exploring for a while.

As I was dancing around and singing, I tripped on something small and fell hard on my side. I quickly got to my feet and looked at what I had tripped over. It was a small, yellow, ball- shaped, thing that was whimpering. I picked it up and saw that it was a small, golden retriever with chocolate eyes. I gasped and it licked my face. Laughing, I checked it for injuries and saw that it was a boy. I set him back down and sat in front of him. I couldn't leave him here, the coyotes would get him or he'd freeze or starve to death. I couldn't take him home, because then my mom would really lose her head. I decided to give him some food and water. He inhaled the water and ate so fast I thought he was going to throw up! He seemed really tired so I laid a towel down for him to lay on. Once he was asleep I started looking for shelters to take him to, but something in me felt a connection to him. I didn't want to give him away, I wanted to keep him. I checked the time, 5:30. I had been in the woods for 3 hours! I took the puppy inside of my house and thought again on what I'd tell my mom.

I hated lying, and thought honesty is the best thing, just telling her straight up would be best. I took a quick shower and then heard tires in the driveway. Panicking, I let my mom inside. "How did your last final go today?" she said, getting right to the point, "English, wasn't it? You have a hard time in that class, right? Well, you've finally had an A, so this should help it, right?" I swallowed hard, "Well, you see........" Suddenly, we both heard barking. "What's that?" my mom asked. "Oh, it's just the neighbors dog, you know how she loves to bark! Ha!" I said, nervously looking towards my room, where the puppy was. "So, tell me what you got on your test." she said, getting right back on subject. "I.....I, uh.....what's for dinner?" "I put some chili in the slow cooker before I left for work. What did you get?" "Would you like some wine?" "Jessica, I don't drink. What did you get on the test today?" She said, using her 'mom voice' and her 'teacher look'.

"Well-" There was a loud crash in my room and scratching on the door. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" My mom screamed, running towards my room. I ran faster, and threw myself in front of the door. "It was the neighbors. Nothing to worry about here. Why don't we go eat?" "Jessica Maddison Heaver, What is in your room? And for God's sake, what did you get on that test? If you don't open that door and tell me right now you're grounded for a month and you won't go to Morp!" I sighed, and opened my door. The puppy ran out and jumped into my arms, licking my face. My mom gasped, and walked into my room. There were pee stains on the floor, the tv was knocked over and my homework was chewed up. "JESSICA! YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE! I NEED AN EXPLANATION RIGHT THIS SECOND!" My eyes widened, and I began to explain, "Well, um, I was exploring in the woods after school, and-" "Jessica Madison," she sighed tiredly, and I gulped nervously, yikes, middle name too? I was finished. "Why were you in the woods? YOU HATE THE WOODS!" she continued. "Well, I needed to get some fresh air! And today's the first day of spring, I didn't want to waste it! And then, I found this little guy." "Yes, I see that." Mom replied, glaring at the puppy.

She sighed and rubbed her face, closing her eyes, "Please tell me you're test went well." "I got a 50......" I mumbled. "What?" She said, popping an eye open. "I got a 50." I said loudly, looking at my feet. "Percent? Or out of 60 questions? PLEASE tell me out of 60 questions." "50 percent....." I mumbled. "That's it. Give me your phone, IPad and that dog! I'm calling the nearest no-kill shelter and he's going away. Clean up your room and then get some dinner." I sighed and handed her the requested items. I cleaned up the room, and taped my homework back together best I could. Coincidentally, it was my English homework! I screamed into my pillow, my English teacher was NOT going to like that! Once I went out to eat dinner, I saw my mom sitting at the table. "I called every no-kill shelter on the mountain, and they're all full! I don't know what to do." "We could keep him?" I replied. "AFTER WHAT YOU JUST DID?! NICE TRY JESSICA." I sighed and kept eating.

The next day I talked to my English teacher and she let me retake the final. I got an A on the retake and went home to tell my mom. She was thrilled and said, "This is great, but you still failed it the first time. In college, this won't happen, so you're lucky that teacher took pity on you." "I know, Mom." "Good, because I don't know what to do with this dog and I'm getting used to him. What do you want to name him?" I smiled, "Dylan."