Lucky You! You Get To Aisha's

The summer air hit my face like a slap as she yanked me through the front door, the leash jingling with every step. My sneakers scuffed against the pavement, but Sanah's grip was relentless—her phone now angled to film my hunched shoulders, the way my free hand kept twitching toward the collar like I could somehow hide it. "*Faster,*" she ordered, snapping the leash just hard enough to make me stumble into her shadow. Aisha's house loomed three doors down, its porch light already blazing like a beacon. "*They*," Sanah whispered, pausing to drag her thumb over my bottom lip, "*are gonna wreck you.*"

Nyla was already waiting on the lawn, her phone flashlight trained on us like a spotlight. The second she saw the leash, her squeal split the night air—*"HE'S ON A LEASH HE'S ON A LEASH!"*—and the front door burst open, revealing Aisha in pajama shorts and a manic grin, her arms spread wide. "*Welcome home, puppy,*" she sang, wiggling her fingers in a come-hither gesture that made my stomach drop. Sanah's laugh vibrated through the leash as she took the first step forward, her shadow stretching long and predatory across the grass. I didn't move—*couldn't*—until the collar jerked tight, and the bell's chime scattered my resistance like leaves in a storm.

Aisha's fingers were cold as she grabbed my chin, tilting my face toward the porch light. "*Look at him,*" she breathed, her nails digging crescent moons into my jaw. "*He's already broken.*" Nyla crowded in from behind, her breath hot on my neck as she toyed with the leash's clasp. "*Not broken,*" she corrected, her knee nudging the back of mine until my legs wobbled. "*Trained.*" Sanah watched silently from the doorway, her phone still recording, her foot tapping an impatient rhythm against the welcome mat. The moment my knees hit the hardwood floor, she finally spoke—soft, smug, and soaked in victory: "*Show them what you learned, puppy.*"