Connor willed himself out of bed. Even if the sunlight does not penetrate his blinds, it is bright enough to wake him up. He didn't check his phone. Instead, he just planned his Saturday. Job hunting with Joules. The question is, how will I get to the job if I find a new one? Rideshares might remove about an hour's worth of pay each time or two hours a shift. Entire shifts on Saturdays and Sundays are the only options. Eventually, he rolled out of bed and stretched.

He yawned as he walked down the stairs in a near stupor from morning fatigue, with Joules trotting alongside. And then a jolt of pain struck him as if by a brick. His body tumbled over, and the side of his face stung in agony.

His mind danced with torment. Only one source could inflict this pain, and Joules didn't hesitate to clutch Axel's wrist. She pulled and yanked on him, and blood dripped as Axel screamed.

"Get your fucking dog off of me."

As soon as his flight response kicked in, Connor pulled himself together and got down on his hands and knees to reach for Joules.

"Joules!" His hands wrapped around the hybrid's neck, her deep growl stopped, and she let go.

"You piece of shit," Axel clutched his injured wrist. "That's the second time."

Connor pulled Joules further away and noted his own injury wasn't as bad as it seemed. Compared to previous hits, anyway.

"What did I do this time?"

"You were supposed to quit on Thursday, not last night. I showed up at a party in a fucking Uber."

Connor had his back turned and hurried Joules back into his room. "Sorry to hear that," he said and closed his door. Pain throbbed in his face as he quickly got to his computer and logged into his cloud. With the last ten minutes of video from his security camera now saved on his phone, it secured the evidence to protect Joules.

Thank God. He realized he got lucky with installing the camera the day before. If Axel gets to their mom first, he has the evidence of what happened. Outbursts of his took about a week off each time, but damn, he really wanted to use that car.

Thumps rattled the floor outside his door, and another thump came as a door slammed shut.

It's safe.

Quietly, he stepped out and went outside for Joules to do her business. He checked his phone, something he was avoiding.

"Are you done working?" Olivya messaged.

He considered responding yes to be snarky because it was nine o'clock in the morning. Instead, he opened several subsequent messages, and one was a photo of her at the pool.

Am I overthinking things? Connor thought. No. The throbbing in his head made it clear.

Axel is a dick.

***

An alert popped up on his phone. Astrophysicists report the dimensions and mass of the meteor are only partially understood. He looked up at the small, fuzzy white dot near the horizon.

Getting bigger, he thought, and his face stung again.

He didn't take the companies with easy-to-use forms for granted. Application after application, he must have applied to ten jobs already, mostly retail positions. After taking a sip of his coffee, he looked for another and wished that the coffee shop was hiring. He can walk to it, and it's close to school. However, the employees all looked like they had just graduated from college.

"What kind of dog is this?"

Connor turned his head to see a middle-aged woman with her coffee standing next to Joules. Joules, lying on her side, head to tail, was over seven feet long. She drew attention.

"Hybrid mix," he said.

She was stunned briefly, but not the small child standing behind her.

"Is it safe for my daughter to pet it?"

"Yes, of course."

Joules felt the small hand on her side and rotated, lifting her front leg. Her tail didn't wag, and she didn't bother to look at who was petting her.

"I've always wondered what this dog was. We've seen you around," the stranger said.

"Yeah, this isn't the first time someone has told me, as she stands out a lot."

After a moment, the kid got up and went on their way.

He recalled a whimpering noise that caught his attention while riding his bike five years ago. A gray mass whimpered as he approached. He didn't know it was a hybrid then but believed it to be the largest dog ever. He waved a truck down and hitched a ride with Joules to the vet. They found no tag or chip, and Connor stayed at the vet all day, skipping school and begging his mom after she showed up to drive him home. After visiting Joules at the vet for a month, watching her recovery, feeding her, and playing with her, he became the new owner. And six months later, with a dog DNA test, she turned out to be a wolf mixed with a malamute. Food costs were high enough for Tabitha to complain. She delegated it to him to pay for it or get rid of Joules. He's been finding ways to make money ever since, starting with mowing his neighbors' lawns as a twelve-year-old.

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Connor thought, would my life be any different if Axel had his own car?

"Oh my God, what happened?"

Gold rushed into his view, and his face felt a warm air breeze that shocked his posture straight.

"Miss Saunders?" He was stunned at how close she leaned in, and he failed to not glimpse at specific areas of her.

"What happened?" She lifted his chin and looked at the bruise.

"Someone hit me."

"Connor, who hit you? Was it that Neville kid?"

"What?" He then remembered she had vouched for him at the principal's office. "No, my brother."

"It looks like it's swelling," she said. "Here." She placed the iced coffee she had just purchased on his face.

"Will this work?"

"Just hold the cup," she said.

He unfroze and held her beverage. "This is kinda embarrassing."

"It won't be as embarrassing as a swollen face."

She sat on the other side of the table, gave Joules a quick pet, and crossed her legs as she observed Connor.

"So your brother hit you?"

"Yeah, this morning."

"Connor Voll, right? If my memory serves correct."

"Yeah."

"Axel Voll?"

He fumbled her iced coffee and gave a drawn-out "Yes."

"I remember him. We had a few of the same classes," she said. "You two don't look or act alike."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

His stomach churned. They knew each other, and with girls throwing themselves at Axel. Was Stephanie the same as them?

She saw Connor stare off, away from her. "We weren't a thing if that's what you were worried about."

His face told her his worry, "I wasn't wondering that."

"Sure. He had a crush on me, though," she smirked.

"Yeah, who doesn't?" Connor spoke without thinking.

She lifted a hand to cover her chuckle.

"I, uh, didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine. So, Connor Voll, what are you up to?"

He pretended to work on the laptop, using one hand to move the cursor around randomly. "Looking for a new job," he told her.

"What? No more pizza delivery?"

"Nah, me using the car pisses off my brother."

She chuckled at his language.

"Mad, really makes him mad."

"I'm sorry you two don't get along."

"It is what it is."

She pondered for a moment. "Joules can't be taking up every dollar you earn."

"I also save for college," he said. "I have several months of money for food saved up for her. But next year, I'll have to start here at a community college to keep Joules. Dorms won't take pets."

"Scholarships?"

"I have a few small ones already."

"Nice. There are scholarships and grants for working a job during school," Stephanie said.

He looked off the screen. "Really?"

"Really," she said. "Though I'm surprised, you should find ways to text the new girl. Or any girl, for that matter, instead of working."

"She uh... still hasn't spoken to me."

"There are plenty of empty chairs at the workstations, but she sat next to you. It's cute."

"Oh, God..." He caught himself embarrassed and staring at her, tracing her blonde hair draped over one shoulder and examining her posture with her legs crossed and her hands locked on the knee. It reminded him of when Teresa sat at his table in class. He straightened his posture.

"Um, I'll try to text her." he broke his gaze. "And thank you. I'll look into it. The work scholarship."

She nodded. She still seemed concerned about his face and kept a close eye on it.

"Did you get that kind of scholarship?" He said.

"No, the government awarded it to me."

"Really? Where to?"

"MIT," she said without a hint of arrogance.

He stared at her with suspicion. "The one in Massachusetts?"

"Yup." She laughed and reached for her drink. Connor handed it over, and she took a sip and handed it back to him.

"In what?"

"I have a degree in physics, astrophysics, and engineering."

"Damn," he drew out. "That's a lot of bachelor's degrees."

"PhDs."

He held his breath, forgot to blink for a minute, and said, "That's a lot of PhDs." Connor figured she must be twenty-three if she was in the same class as Axel. "How is that even possible—"

"Beat up your little brother?" A man walking by interjected.

Stephanie played along. "Yeah, I had him in a headlock."

"You scuffed him up real good, there. I wouldn't want to be one of your siblings."

She smiled. "He's actually my student. I ran into him here."

"Damn, kid, your teacher beat you up?" He sipped his coffee.

Connor lifted his shoulders. He didn't want to get involved with what he deciphered as flirting.

"So, I'm Ryan. I have to get going, but can I get your number?"

"I'm flattered, Ryan, but I'm taken."

"Ah, the good ones usually are," he said. "Enjoy your morning then." He nodded and walked off.

Connor waited until he was a healthy distance away. "You're taken? Is your boyfriend Einstein's great-grandson?"

"No," she said, "I just didn't want to give him my number."

"Oh. was it because of me? Next time I can hide behind a tree or something—"

She laughed. "It's fine. It's what I say when this happens. How's the cheek?"

He removed the coffee from his face. "I should have iced it at home. It does feel better," he handed the cup to her. "Sorry for holding it for so long."

She took a sip and stood up. "No worries, I have to go. This was fun."

Getting hit in the face was worth it. If he hadn't, he'd still be at home. "Yeah, thanks for the ice."

As she stepped back towards the coffee shop, she said, "Don't mention it, and good luck with the job hunt."

"Thanks, bye," Connor waved.

She waved goodbye, and Connor watched her walk inside the shop to the back door through which she came.

"Wow," Connor murmured, and he continued his job search.