Will and I were just sitting on his front porch, when a dog came out of nowhere. He happily trotted up to us. He was just a puppy. He didn't look much older than six months old.

He had light tan fur with spots of whites on his nose, feet, and tail. His eyes were a clear crystal blue. The fur was on the shorter side and his ears were all perked up. His paws were big, meaning he would grow a little more.

Will stood up and looked around. There wasn't anyone in sight.

"There's no one here. Maybe he got out, check his collar," Will said.

The dog had a collar with tags. One tag had his shot records on it and the other had a single phone number. There was no name or anything on the tags.

"Oh it has a phone number." I pulled out my phone from my back pocket. "Go get him some water, I'll call the number." I told Will. He went inside to get water for the dog.

I dialed the number. It rang a few times before the person on the other side of the phone picked up.

"Hello?" They said.

"Hi, my name is Cora Barnes. I'm calling because your dog just showed up at my front door. Is-" I started.

"Keep the dog. I don't want it anymore. Keep it away from me and please don't call me again." She interrupted me.

"But ma'am your dog."

"I told you to keep it. I want nothing to do with that mutt. Have a nice day." She snapped angrily and hung up the call.

I looked down at my phone in shock. What kind of person would say that about their dog? I sat back down on the steps. The dog came and sat next to me. He looked at me happily.

"How'd the call go?" Will asked as he set down a bowl of water in between us for the dog.

The dog immediately started drinking the water. He's probably hungry too.

"It was horrible. The lady picked up and once I mentioned the dog she cut me off and told me to keep him away from her. She was all bitter and rude."

I looked down at the cute boy. He's such a sweet dog. I don't know why the lady doesn't want him.

"What are we supposed to do, Will? The owner doesn't want the dog anymore."

He shrugged. "I don't know, Cora. We can't keep it here. Mom is allergic to dogs."

"I can try to get Dad to agree to keep him, but no promises. We might have to find a family to give him away to."

Michael pulled up with Kenzie and her friend. They saw the dog and immediately ran straight to him. Micheal got out with a confused look on his face.

"Where'd you get the dog?" He asked.

"He just walked up to us when we were sitting here. We called the owner and she made it clear that she didn't want him anymore. Cora's going to see if she can keep him." Will explained to his father.

Michael nodded and bent down to pet him. "He's a cutie. Good luck getting Randy on board"

"Thanks Michael" I rolled my eyes playfully at him.

"Come on girls, we gotta get your soccer stuff, so we can go to practice" he said. The girls went inside to get their soccer stuff.

I stood up and Will stood with me.

"Do you want me to go with you? Or do you want to go alone?"

"I think I can brave it alone. If I don't make it back, tell Connor he was my favorite." I said jokingly.

He nodded seriously. "Farewell soldier" he fake saluted me and we both died laughing.

Once I stopped laughing I looked at Will. "Okay but seriously if we end up with this dog you are going pet shopping with me. I don't care if you want to or not. I will force you to come with me."

Will chuckled at my statement. "It's a date"

"Sayonara" I waved. I picked up the puppy and took him to my car. I set him in the passenger's seat before getting in the driver's seat myself.

"You better not go to the bathroom in the car" I pet his cute little head. He tilted his head at me.

I started my drive to the house. The dog seemed to like the music I played. He was wagging his tail the entire ride there.

I couldn't help but wonder how far the dog had traveled. The lady could've lived hours away for all I know. She could've lived in the next town over. Either way I bet this dog is hungry and he needs food.

I stopped by the store to get a leash, so he's not running around everywhere.

I pulled up to the house and put the car in park. I looked over at the dog. "Let's hope Dad thinks you're as cute as I do"

He followed me out of the car and I pinned the leash on his collar. I noticed that the boys' cars weren't here.

"Dad!" I called the house. "Are you home?"

"I'm in my room, I'll be out in a second" he called.

I thought about what I was going to say when he came out of his bedroom.

"What the hell is that?" He asked.

"It's a dog," I said quietly.

"I can see that Coco. What is it doing here?" He asked.

"Well you see, it came up to me and Will, when we were at his house" I started.

"Did you try to find the owner?" He asked.

I nodded and explained the story about the owner not wanting him. They probably just kicked him out with nothing.

"Can we please keep him, Dad? Will can't keep him because Karla's allergic. I really think he came to us for a reason. He could've kept walking, but he came up to me and Will. I promise, I'll train him and take care of him. I'll buy everything he needs. Dad please. Can I keep him?" I gave him puppy dog eyes.

"I don't know Coco," Dad said. The dog went up to him and rubbed him as he tried to get him to pet him. He laughed and reached down to pet him. The dog licked his face happily. "Okay we can keep him, Coco, as long as you promise to keep up with him. Clean up after him, train him, and everything a dog needs. I will pay for the vet bills for his check ups though."

I jumped up and hugged my dad. "Thank you, thank you, thank you" I squealed. "I'm going to tell Will. Thank you so much, Dad. I'm going dog shopping."

I went outside and loaded the dog back in the car. I drove straight to Will's house. He must've seen me pull up because he was outside as I got out of the car.

"Will, I get to keep him!" I yelled with excitement. "Hurry up, we have to go to the pet store!"

"Okay okay, I'm coming" he chuckled. He went back inside for a few seconds before coming out to my car. He got in the passenger seat of my car.

I drove to the mall where the pet store was. I happily jumped out of the car. The dog followed me and I grabbed his leash. Will chuckled at my excitement and got out of the car too.

We walked into the store and Will grabbed a cart. I started listing all the things I needed for my new puppy.

We went to the bed section first. There were so many different cute beds to choose from. After looking for one for a couple minutes, Will helped me choose one with a wicker basket base with a big, white, fluffy pillow attached to it.

We were on our way to the bowl section and Will asked, "Have you thought of a name yet?"

I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't even thought of a single name for him yet. "No I haven't, I feel like a terrible dog mom"

He chuckled at me for what felt like the twentieth time since we found the dog. "Not to worry, I'll help you out"

I grabbed a bowl stand that came with two bowls.

"What about Biscuit?" Will asked.

I shook my head. "Not feeling it"

As we shopped. Will and I both were shouting out names, but none of them seemed to stick.

"Rocket?" He suggested.

"No. Atlas?" I shook my own head to that one.

We made it to the toy aisle. I knew this is where I'd most likely spend the most money. I saw a bone shaped wicker basket for his toys and I couldn't resist getting it. I got some squeaker toys, some balls, and a tug of war rope. I forced myself out of the aisle before I could spend any more money on toys.

Will and I walked around the store looking at random things. I got him a new collar and an ID tag to put his name and my number on it.

"Apollo?" Will suggested.

"It's cute, but I don't think it's quite right"

We looked around for a little longer and I saw the cutest red bandanna. I picked it up and showed it to the dog. His tail wagged with excitement. Was he thinking it was a toy? Most likely but it gave me the cutest idea for a name.

I turned to Will with a smile on his face. "What about Bandit?"

"That's a great name" He smiled.

I bent down to the dog. "Hello, Bandit" I pet his head. He wagged his tail and kissed my face. "I think he likes it" I smiled up at Will. He was already smiling down at me.

"Yeah me too"

I stood up. "Okay the last thing on the list is a crate" I said.

"I think they're over here" Will pointed to a part of the store. I followed him to where the crates are supposed to be.

Since he was supposed to be a little bigger we got a bigger crate. Will carried the crate to the register and I had everything else in the basket.

"Did you find everything just fine today?" The girl asked. She looked up and saw Will, which instantly put a smile on her face. "Hey Will"

"Hi Jackie. I didn't know you worked here."

She nodded as she continued scanning items. "Yeah, I started this summer with Mason. I thought Karla was allergic to dogs," she said.

"She is. This is actually my friend's dog. Jackie, this is Cora. Snowflake, this is Jackie." Will introduced us.

I don't know how to feel when he calls me his friend. We're more than friends at this point, but we're not dating. Friends don't kiss each other. I don't know what we are at this point.

"Nice to meet you Jackie" I smiled kindly at her.

"Right back at you, Cora. So what's the bundle of fur's name?"

"Um Bandit."

"He's a cutie. Would you like to get his tag engraved? We do it here for sixteen-ninety-nine." She held up the tag and collar.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great," I answered.

She handed me a form to fill out and a pen. I filled out the form as she scanned the rest of my items. I handed her back the form.

"Okay, that'll be $108.85. Your tag will be ready to pick up in about thirty minutes. You'll get a text telling you when it's ready." She smiled at me as I paid with my card.

"Okay that sound great, thank you"

Will was already loading up the stuff in the cart. I helped him with the rest of the stuff.

"Thank you Jackie, tell Mason I said hi" He waved at her.

"I will" She promised and waved back at him.

We packed all the stuff in the car. Will got in the driver's seat this time and I got in the passenger seat.

"We have thirty minutes before we have to pick up the tag. What do you want to do?" He asked.

I shrugged. I don't know what to do. We can't take Bandit in many places and I don't want to leave him in the car for long.

"We can go to Riley's to get ice cream floats. We can get them to go so we can eat them in the car with Bandit."

"Okay."

We went to Riley's and ordered ice cream floats. I got a big red float and Will got the classic root beer float.

"Thank you for coming with me for this." I said as I took a bite of my float.

"It's no problem, I feel partly responsible. He showed up at my house. I feel like a dad or something" She shrugged it off.

If I'm Bandit's mom and Will feels like Bandit's dad, what does that make us?