Purple Nails and Puppy Tails Read Online Free Page B

and get two “paws-up”—but once they did, the old-timers would be on their way to new homes. Or at least Aly hoped they would.

five
Reddy or Not
    O n Thursday night boxes of green- and red-pepper pizza were on the welcome desk. Lemonade and apple juice cartons sat on the windowsill. People sat in pedicure chairs, at manicure stations, some even on the floor. True Colors had never looked quite this way before.
    It was the first meeting of the polish-a-thon planning committee, and the salon was packed. All the manicurists from True Colors were there, along with the Auden Elementary soccer team. Charlotte, Lily,Sophie, and even Mrs. Franklin showed up. She’d left Sadie at home.
    Joan and Aly were the “captains,” while Mrs. Tanner was on the phone being interviewed by the local paper, The Auden Herald .
    â€œIt’s great having you all here,” Joan said. “We have a lot to figure out tonight. Anyone who wants to bake or be involved with selling the cookies and brownies and dog treats, come with me. Anyone who’s going to help out with the polishing, you can talk to Aly.”
    Aly walked to the front door, a clipboard in her hands. Brooke, Lily, Sophie, Jenica, Mia, Giovanna, Joelle, Anjuli, and almost all the manicurists from True Colors followed. She was kind of nervous, looking at the group in front of her.
    â€œFirst, thank you, everyone, for volunteering your time,” she said quietly. Joan had helped hermake a list of what to say, and it started with saying thank you.
    â€œSpeak louder!” Jenica said.
    Aly turned bright red.
    â€œI’m happy to do whatever it takes to get the dogs adopted,” Jenica added.
    â€œMe too,” Mia agreed.
    â€œSecond, we have to go over the rules. Grown-up manicurists, an adult manicure is ten dollars. Sparkle Spa manicures are five dollars. If too many kids show up, we might have to send them to True Colors, since it’s just Brooke and me polishing. My mom said that’s okay—their manicures will still be five dollars.”
    Lisa, one of the salon’s manicurists, nodded. “Sounds good,” she said.
    Aly smiled. She felt a bit more relaxed. “For the polish-a-thon, people can get only one color—not fancy stuff.”
    â€œThat’s too bad,” Joelle said.
    â€œIt would take too long,” Brooke told her, answering for Aly. “We have to go as fast as we can to raise enough money for all the puppies.”
    â€œWhat about featuring one special manicure for the day, an easy one—like a sparkle top coat or a rhinestoned pinkie?” Giovanna suggested.
    Aly thought about that. If it was something easy, they could probably pull it off. Plus, people might be disappointed with just regular polish.
    â€œA paw print!” Brooke said excitedly. “We could do a paw print on people’s thumbs!”
    â€œIn a different color,” Sophie added.
    Aly nodded her head. “Okay, we’ll do special paw print manicures and pedicures for anyone who wants them. I like it.”
    â€œIt makes sense because of the dogs,” Jenica said. “But what do we do? The people who aren’t polishing?”
    â€œYou’ll be assisting,” Aly said. “The kind of stuff Brooke and I do for True Colors all the time.”
    â€œLike keeping the polish wall organized?” Joelle asked.
    â€œExactly,” Aly said. “Joelle, do you want to be in charge of the polish display in the Sparkle Spa, and, Mia, you can be in charge of the wall in True Colors?”
    Mia nodded.
    Brooke’s friend Sophie raised her hand. “I want a job,” she said.
    â€œWe really need a polish checker, Sophie—someone who can make sure the bottles don’t run too low and can replace them when they do. We also need someone to collect the donations.”
    â€œI can do that,” Jenica said. “I’ll do it in the main salon.”
    â€œAnd I’ll