In front of me stands a woman about twenty-six years old. Her hair is in a bun; she's wearing black-rimmed glasses and a red blouse with black pants.

‘ What can I do for you? ’ she asked and adjusted her glasses.

‘ I'm from the ad, ’ I said.

A smile blossomed on her face, she looked at me differently, her gaze changed immediately, she grabbed my hand.

‘ Come in, honey, ’ she says.

I stand in the hallway. All the shelves in the hall were filled with books that even some didn't fit, and lay on the reading table. Along the stairs that led upstairs hung pictures and drawings of dogs.

Have loved animals since childhood. My first pet was a Panther Chameleon. His name was Teddy and he lived in a big aquarium that we had in the hall. My second pet was an English bulldog, Tracy, who was the last pet we had.

A woman approached me with a little puppy sitting in her arms. He looked like a toy. It was white in color, but it had dark, wavy hair in places. She hands him to me, and he yawns sweetly. I give her the money for the puppy, walk outside and go home.

I go to my room, open the dresser, and grab the gift ribbon with the bow on it. I still have this ribbon from Christmas, when I was wrapping Christmas presents for my family. I put the puppy on the dresser and tied the ribbon around his neck.

The doorbell rings. I put the dog on the floor and went to answer the door. As it turned out, it was the mailman who had brought me the new issue of «Celebrities of Hollywood» magazine.

I jump up on the bed and open the first page: «Charlie Oliver got kicked out of the club again». This news doesn't surprise me at all. I've seen a couple of movies with Charlie, but over time I haven't watched him in any way, and now the only thing I know about him is this: Charlie is a scandalous actor in Hollywood.

The day flew by and it started to get dark outside, and I grabbed the dog and headed to Bella's birthday party. I'm wearing navy blue pants, a white shirt, and I've got my sweatshirt on top with a lock on it.

Knock-Knock-Knock.

The door opens and Bella appears. The dark brown shadows emphasized the expressiveness and depth of her eyes. Her eyebrows and lips were slightly highlighted. She was wearing a beige dress, and her hair was neatly done on her head. I can't take my eyes off of her.

‘ Jake! ’ she says. ‘ You came to! ’

I look at her and I remember that I'm holding a puppy behind me. In a slow motion, I intercept the puppy with my other hand.

‘ Happy Birthday! ’ I say, and hold the puppy in front of me.

She covers her nose and mouth with her folded palms, and inhales as she takes her hands away from her face, her eyes glistening like she got a backstage pass to a Harry Styles concert.

‘ God, Jake! ’ she said. ‘ I've wanted a dog for a long time. ’

‘ And here it is, ’ I said.

‘ Thank you! ’ Bella says. She takes the puppy in her hands and kisses me on the cheek.

That kiss was very tender like the first snow that fell in early December, barely taking it in my hand… it melts…

In the doorway I notice Jenny who was flickering from one room, to another. She was running around like a turret, taking pictures with her phone of everything in sight. She caught me under her lens.

‘ Hey, guys, this is Jake Evans! ’ she says. ‘ A future celebrity. ’

I looked at the camera incredulously. It was like being asked to wish happy birthday to someone you hardly know, and holding the phone very close to your face.

‘ God, Jenny, put the phone away, ’ Bella quips.

‘ No, I have to get a picture of the day, ’

‘ Hey, Barbara, it's your turn! ’ Jenny shouts and rushes out into the hall like a hurricane.

We laugh.

I see all the people in the hall that I saw at Bella's last birthday party. All of her near and dear friends are here. Barbara, Shawn, Cassandra, Teresa, Jenny, and even her friend from North Carolina, Fred, who came to congratulate Bella. Bella's mother, Melissa Falls, comes out of the kitchen. She clasps me in a hug, then takes my hand and places it beside Bella's. We were standing so close that not even air would have leaked through our distance. Mrs. Falls takes a couple of pictures with the family camera.

‘ As a memento, ’ she says.

‘ Gosh, who do we have here? ’ she says and turns her gaze to the puppy.

‘ It's a gift from Jake, ’ Bella says.

‘ That's great! ’ Mrs. Falls says. ‘ I think they've been waiting for you. ’

Joining the others, Bella's friend Teresa suggested we play a game. This game is very simple; you ask a group of people a question and they have to answer it, then we check to see who was right.

‘ Who's first? ’ Jenny asks.

‘ What is Cassandra's favorite color? ’ Shawn asks the question.

‘ Red, ’ Fred replies. ‘ White, ’ Jenny shouts out. ‘ Blue, ’ Teresa said. ‘ Green, ’ Bella says.

‘ The correct answer is green. ’ Cassandra says.

Bella claps her hands together and takes a list of questions.

‘ When was my first kiss? ’ Bella asks the question and bites her lower lip.

‘ At 12? ’ Barbara asks uncertainly. ‘ At 14, ’ Shawn says. ‘ At 11, ’ Cassandra replies. ‘ At 13, ’ I say. ‘ At 15, ’ Jenny shouts. ‘ I know he was at the school prom. ’

Bella closes with flyers and smiles embarrassedly.

‘ The correct answer is 15. ’ Bella says.

‘ And I knew, I knew! ’ Jenny repeated cheerfully. ‘ That kiss was with a guy before Jake. ’

I see Bella's embarrassment and, to get the subject across, I suggest we take a photo together. Jenny puts the question sheets on the couch, picks up her phone, and turns on the front-facing camera. We get as close to each other as we can so we can get in front of the lens. And we take crazy pictures, we get about ten of them, and only one of them is where we all look good.

Fred went to change after Jenny spilled wine on him. When he returned, I noticed one inscription on his T-shirt: «Smile as often as Ellen Shaw's guests».

‘ That's… ’ I interrupt halfway through.

Fred noticed my gaze, which was directed at his T-shirt.

‘ Oh, it's on NBC. ’ He began to explain. ‘ It's a comedy show. ’

‘ The Ellen DeGeneres Show! ’

His eyes lit up.

This is a funny show where the famous TV host Ellen DeGeneres invites famous personalities – actors, singers, athletes – into her studio and embarrasses them. The show is full of jokes, pranks, and various tasks that the stars must perform.

‘ I love this show! ’ I say.

‘ Your favorite episode? ’ he leaned forward, a twinkle in his eye.

‘ Oh, I won't say. Probably the one with the «Hot Questions» segment for Kris Jenner. ’

‘ I love it when Ellen scares the guests. ’ he says.

‘ Yeah, it's funny, ’ I say.

The time flew by so quickly, and when I glanced at the clock, the hand was showing eleven at night. I said goodbye to everyone at the party, and headed for the exit. Bella walked me into the hallway and gave me one last hug. I felt warm inside.

Today I have a free day, so I decided to go to my parents' house. They live in another part of New York City. So I had to take transportation to get there. A cab was already in front of my house. It takes about thirty minutes to get from me to our house. When I entered the house I heard nothing; only silence, as if no one was home. I slammed the door and saw my brother Dale, running toward me.

‘ Jake, you came! ’ Dale yells.

The nanny follows her brother.

‘ Susan, isn't it? ’ I turn my gaze to her.

‘ Yes, ’ she answers. ‘ And you must be Jake? ’

‘ Yeah, ’ I nod.

My older brother Mike comes out of his room, and pulls his headphones out of his ears.

‘ When did you come in? ’ Mike asks. His eyes were not happy, and he had his arms crossed over his chest.