The announcement hit the school like a meteor crashing into a sleepy town: Pet Day was coming.
Students could bring their pets to school. Dogs, cats, turtles, even rabbits—anything that didn't breathe fire or legally require a permit.
Nick, Zaid, and K were instantly interested. But for one reason only.
"Pearl's gonna be there," Nick whispered, eyes dreamy.
"You don't even know if she has a pet," K said.
"Doesn't matter. I'll bring the entire zoo if I have to."
K rolled his eyes. "You don't even have a fish."
Zaid clapped his hands. "Then we'll get pets."
Nick blinked. "From where? Petflix?"
"No bro," Zaid said confidently. "From the streets. Real dogs. Gully cats. Underdog energy."
So the plan was born: Operation Impress Pearl With Borrowed Pets.
—
The morning of Pet Day
The school field looked like a literal petting zoo. Dogs yapped, cats slinked under benches, some kid brought a goat, and in a completely unrelated moment of "Why is this happening?"—a full-grown horse was tied near the parking lot.
"Who brings a horse to school?" Nick asked.
"Someone with a strong will and a big enough truck," K said.
They were pet-less, but determined.
Nick whispered like a villain, "To the canteen alley."
This is where their genius (read: desperation) would shine. Two canteen cats—mysterious, grumpy, and always loitering—were spotted in the shadows. Nick pulled out his secret weapon: half of yesterday's sandwich.
"Here, kitty kitty," Nick cooed like a boy who had never interacted with a feline in his life.
Miraculously, the cats came forward. Hungry, maybe. Curious, definitely.
"Grab them," Nick whispered.
Zaid lunged. One cat fled. The other stayed—probably out of pity.
"Got one!" Zaid declared.
K returned, panting, holding a street dog on a belt.
Nick's jaw dropped. "Where did you even get that?"
"Outside the chai shop. We made eye contact. I offered a biscuit. He's ours now."
The trio, now holding one cat and a slightly confused street dog, strutted back like heroes. Everyone else had actual pets. Groomed. Leashed. Named.
Their dog had no name. Their cat looked like it paid taxes.
But they were proud.
—
In the field, the chaos peaked.
Someone's parrot was yelling "Mummy!" repeatedly. A rabbit broke free and was chased by four toddlers. The horse neighed dramatically, like it wanted its own trailer.
Pearl was standing under a tree. She had no pet.
Nick gasped. "She didn't bring anything!"
"She's probably above this," K said.
Nick fixed his shirt. "Time to show off."
He gently placed the cat on the grass and posed beside it like it was his long-lost companion. Zaid held the dog's leash proudly, despite the fact that it was now chewing his shoelace.
"Say something smart," K whispered.
Nick walked toward Pearl, casual and cool (in his mind).
"Hey Pearl," he began. "Didn't bring a pet?"
"Nope," she smiled. "Don't have one. But I love animals."
Nick beamed. "Same. This is Tuna."
She looked at the cat. "It's cute. Looks… wise."
"Yeah, he's seen things."
The dog barked. Loudly. Startled, the cat leapt—and scratched Nick's arm on the way up.
"AHHH—TUNA, NO!"
The dog, sensing chaos, joined the excitement by chasing the cat. Zaid tripped over his own leg. The leash snapped. K yelled, "CODE RED!"
Pearl tried not to laugh. "Your dog's running."
"He's not ours!" all three boys yelled at once.
Pearl giggled. "What ?."
Nick clutched his bleeding arm and grinned. "Fire truck "
—
Absolutely! Here's Part 2 of the Pet Day story, picking up right where we left off:
⸻
Chapter: Pet Day Pandemonium (Part 2)
The chaos from Tuna the cat's grand escape still lingered like the smell of canteen samosas in the air. The cat had vanished under the sports shed, the dog had run toward the basketball court, and Nick was still dramatically nursing a tiny scratch on his arm like it was a battle scar.
"Bro," Zaid said, holding his hands on his knees, panting, "I'm never kidnapping a cat again."
"That wasn't kidnapping," K said, "that was a mutual misunderstanding."
Nick sat on the edge of the sandbox, eyes locked on Pearl who was now laughing with her friends, probably retelling the story of "the idiot with the cat named Tuna."
"I think it went well," Nick mumbled.
"You got attacked and your dog ran away."
"She smiled at me. I saw it. That's a win."
Suddenly, there was a loud neigh.
The three turned around.
The horse—yes, the mysterious Gandalf-looking horse—was gone.
It had broken free and was galloping down the football field like it was auditioning for a wildlife documentary.
"WHOSE HORSE IS THIS?" yelled Preeti Ma'am from the announcer booth, holding a megaphone and a coffee.
K looked around. "I don't know what's worse: the fact that there's a horse or the fact that nobody's stopping it."
Nick squinted. "It's heading toward the principal Mam."
Sure enough, the horse crashed into the stage stand, sending teacher and kids flying in every direction.
Someone screamed. Someone cheered. Someone tried to give the horse a biscuit.
"We need to do something!" Nick said.
"You're not Batman," Zaid replied. "You're a guy who got bodied by a cat."
Still, the trio joined the group of brave teachers and random students trying to corner the horse. They formed a human wall… which the horse casually walked around. It was smarter than them.
—
Finally, one of the school peons—let's call him Mr. Suresh, a man who looked like he could tame dragons—walked up with a bucket of water and calmly whispered something to the horse.
The horse stopped. Blinked. Nodded.
"Did he just speak horse?" K whispered.
Mr. Suresh tied the horse back and everyone cheered. Someone played "Champion" by Dwayne Bravo from their phone.
—
With the Great Horse Incident™ over, the day moved toward the Pet Talent Show, hosted by none other than Umar, the self-declared best dancer in school and now the emcee for the event.
"Next up," Umar announced dramatically, "we have Snuggles the rabbit, who can jump over a bottle of water."
The rabbit looked deeply uninterested but managed to hop over the bottle with mild enthusiasm.
People clapped.
Then came Oreo the Dalmatian, who chased a frisbee, and Rocky the parrot, who said "Launde, paise do!" which got the loudest laugh of the afternoon.
Zaid leaned to Nick. "Bro, imagine if we still had that street dog. He could've peed on command."
"He did pee on my shoe," K muttered.
Nick smiled. "It's okay. We don't need talent. We have vibes."
Pearl passed by again, her hair glowing in the sun like an Instagram filter come to life.
"You sure you're not concussed?" Zaid asked.
—
As the day wound down, the animals were slowly taken home. The field smelled like fur, sweat, and processed cheese. A winning combo.
Pearl was helping her friend put away a pet cage when Nick walked over.
"Hey," he said, trying to sound cool but came off like someone mid-sneeze.
"Hey," Pearl said, adjusting her glasses.
"Had fun?"
"Yeah. It was wild. Literally."
Nick chuckled awkwardly. "Didn't know you liked animals."
"Who doesn't? I like people who like animals."
Nick's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Well. That's me. I like… animals. All of them. Especially… horses."
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "You're scared of them, aren't you?"
Nick nodded instantly. "Terrified."
She laughed, and for a moment, it felt like the horse never broke a speaker and Tuna the cat never disrespected him.
"Thanks for today," she said. "It was fun watching you guys."
"You're welcome," Nick said. "We'll be here all week."
She walked away, and Nick stood there, glowing like a human lightbulb.
—
Back in class, the aftermath of Pet Day settled in.
"I think it went great," Nick announced.
"You got scratched, lost a dog, almost died via horse, and still didn't get her number," K replied.
Nick leaned back in his chair. "But she smiled."
Zaid clapped slowly. "This man's living on breadcrumbs."
"Breadcrumbs of hope," Nick said proudly.
—
Later that day, Principal Sharma made an announcement.
"Due to excessive chaos, injuries, animal escapes, and a horse-related audio system failure… Pet Day will now be restricted to photos of pets only. Thank you."
Nick, Zaid, and K gave each other a high five.
"Legendary," K said.
"Unforgettable," Zaid nodded.
"Totally worth it," Nick smiled.
Later some time at home
Nick " well it was fun but did all that really happen though"
Author " the pet day was real and someone actually brought the horse it's just the part after the cats and dogs were fake "
Nick " so i went through all that for nothing "
Author " it wasn't for nothing it was a grate chapter "
Nick " nah it's not like you got scratched by a cat "
Author " sorry about that "
Nick " make sure not to harm me … you … us in the story "
Author " sure got it 🤞"
Nick " is that a cross … did you just cross your fingers and also you use emoji in a novel "
Author "ahhh … I gotta go "
Nick "wait you can't leave yet "
Author " Bye "