This giant bowl of snacks is going to be the bomb, Troy thought as he emptied the last bag of chips into the huge metal serving bowl. “Snacks are ready!” he announced loudly. Though, apparently, not loud enough to penetrate the wall of noise surrounding the billiards table. Shouts of encouragement and friendly insults were being tossed about in equal measure, and not a single person looked his direction.

  They’ll notice eventually, he shrugged and smiled and headed over to the one person not seeming to be enjoying the party. Having recently been dumped by the current pool champion, Troy’s best friend Sam was half heartedly playing with his puppy while chilling in his favorite spot on the orange couch next to the Xbox.

  When they moved here five years ago, Troy’s parents found the biggest farmhouse they could with plenty of land. And with a promise to keep it clean, they had let him claim a huge portion of the main floor to set up as his own game room. This afternoon was especially special because he had finally convinced them that he was responsible enough to have friends over while they went out on a date. Their only stipulation was that he had to babysit his little sister Emily. Luckily, with the promise of unlimited screen-time for the night, she was tucked away safely in her room.

  “How do you like what I did to the room?” Troy asked, plopping down and sinking into the wonderfully ugly and unbelievably comfortable couch.

  “I love it. The lights are sick.” Sam forced a smile as he gestured to the lights strung across the ceiling and the LEDs running along the edges of the room. A fun side-effect of Troy’s dad working in the tech industry was that he had spared no expenses in getting the old farmhouse decked out with the fastest internet possible, which led to Sam being over often enough that the game room was as much his as Troy’s.

  They sat in an awkward silence for a bit as Sam looked everywhere but the pool table. Finally Sam sat back. “Bruh, what else can I do? Rose wants me to be more responsible. What could be more responsible than taking care of a puppy?”

  Troy didn’t know what to think of the puppy. Sam’s sudden urge to prove that he could be responsible was definitely going to cut into their gaming time. But, Troy was glad that his best friend was finally re-entering society after disappearing for several days, even if it was with a puppy.

  “Bro, it's been almost a week. Why are you even trying to get back with her? You are only sometimes happy when you guys are together, why keep trying?”

  “You wouldn’t understand. Being friends is cool, but at some point you gotta take the next step. Someday you’ll grow up and ask your girl out.” Sam ducked out of the way as he said the last part, narrowly avoiding Troys punch. However, the puppy escaped Sam’s grasp and took off towards the pool table. Sam watched him go, dejectedly calling out “Et tu, Brute?”

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  Troy figured the little guy was going to harmlessly attack their friends around the pool table, but the puppy swerved at the last moment and headed straight for the table of snacks. He watched in horror as the puppy jumped way higher than Troy thought was possible for such a tiny animal, landing right in the middle of the plastic table. The giant metal bowl hit the tile floor with a sound like a gong going off and all the partying paused in shock. The destruction of the snacks would have been sufficiently awful, but the little guy flailed on the table trying to get purchase as he slid into the row of drinks that Troy had just set out, punch flying every-which-way.

  Troy’s surprise quickly morphed into exasperation and he rushed to grab the dog. However, his little sister Emily suddenly popped out from behind a curtain and snatched him up. “Don’t worry Troy, I got him. I’ll take him outside. Don’t be mad, he is just a little guy.” She took off, looking over her shoulder as if to make sure he wasn't going to stop her, and then pushing the screen door open with her shoulder.

  “You are supposed to be in your room! Don’t let him near the chickens!” Troy yelled as the door slammed shut.

  “Well, I guess that is my cue” said Sam, heading for the same exit “Sorry for the mess.”

  “Not a chance,” said Troy. “Em will take care of your puppy for a bit. You gotta help me clean up and then we need to play at least one round of smash bros before you disappear again.”

  “Wow, that was an impressive amount of chaos and destruction” Pearl said, ditching the pool table to help them clean up.

  Sam elbowed Troy, “Dude, now’s your chance.” Troy rolled his eyes, then went to get some towels and the broom and dustpan.

  Sam consistently teased Troy about not asking out Pearl, but their relationship was still going great while Sam had gone through three painful breakups in the same amount of time, all with the same girl. Of course, that didn’t mean Troy was going to wait around forever. With mounting pressure from other boys that had started to show interest in Pearl, he needed to make his move soon. But, he was content waiting until she turned 16 in a week, or maybe until school got out next month.

  They were just finishing cleaning up when the dog started barking like crazy. Sam was out the door in a flash. Troy glanced longingly at the party as Pearl pulled him out the door as well.

  Troy expected to see the dog trying to get to the chickens, but instead he saw Emily chasing the puppy, who was far out in front, running up the path to the top of the huge hill that looked out over all their fields. Sam was gaining quick, and Troy and Pearl were only moments behind. Sam shot past Emily and scooped up the puppy right before the top of the hill. And then they all stopped as they looked out into the field where the dog was still straining to get out of Sam’s hands, yapping non-stop.

  There was a tiny dark green creature in a tuxedo, maybe three feet tall, standing in the middle of their freshly plowed spring wheat field. He looked like a tiny James Bond, but green, and with a cat-like face and a bracelet with bright green gemstones on one wrist.

  While Troy and his little sister Emily stood transfixed, staring at the creature, and Sam was busy restraining his puppy, Pearl, like a real teenager, pulled her phone out and started recording.

  “What is that?” Troy whisper-yelled.

  The cat person turned and glared at them from across the field and the puppy abruptly stopped yapping. Then, the cat looked right at Pearl with her phone held out and his glare turned into a huge pointy-tooth-filled smile. He held up his hand as if he wanted them to stay where they were, and the gemstones on his bracelet started flashing.