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squeamish that he’s drooling all over her foot. “I’m Mia, by the way.”
    “I’m Ben, this is Theo, and Atticus is the one slobbering on you.”
    “Are you brothers?”
    “Friends,” Theo and I answer together. Nice.
    “That’s my Dad and Gus.” I point to them still working on the bus.
    “You’re going to rescue a dog in a school bus?”
    “It’s kind of a long story.” It’s not even lunchtime and my day is already a long story. Geez.
    “Did you steal the bus?”
    “Um, no, why would you ask?”
    “
That
would be a long story,” she says. “I stole an ATV once. And a small sailboat. And a snowplow.”
    “Did not.”
    “Well, not at the same time. But you can see why I asked if you stole the bus.”
    “Ohhhh-kaayyy.” Is this what career thieves or compulsive liars look like? She’s probably eighteen or nineteen, and there’s a lot of her crammed into a little waitress uniform. I count six earrings in the ear facing me, and she’s got purple and green streaks in her hair. Black fingernail polish and red cowboy boots and a ton of noisy bracelets. She’s not pretty, but there’s something about her that makes you keep looking, and the longer you look, the more interesting she is. I’ve never seen anyone like her.
    Theo’s checking her out, too. “Did you really just quit your job?”
    “Yeah. I should have left months ago. It’s a hostile work environment. Sharkey, he’s the owner, said the uniforms brought in the big tips. He’s the kind of perv who orders the uniforms one size smaller than what the girls tell him. The hem’s always creeping up and there are buttons missing in the front so you’re showing thegoods more than you’d like. Still, he promised that they didn’t allow touching, it’s policy. So when Bobby patted my bottom and said ‘You might as well go out with me because I’m gonna tell everybody we did anyway,’ I’d had enough.”
    “What are you gonna do now?” What is with all the up-and-quitting jobs today?
    “Follow my dream. This job just paid the bills while I got on my feet.”
    “What’s your dream?”
    “To be a triple threat.”
    The only triple threat I can think of is the football player who can run, pass, and kick. I don’t think that’s what she means, even though she’s, um, hefty enough to hold her own on a football field.
    Theo asks, “Singer, dancer, actor?”
    “Not the kind in football,” she laughs. I turn red, embarrassed that I thought that a minute ago.
    “Are you any good?”
    “So far I’m just good at being told ‘You’re not really what we’re looking for’ and ‘Come back when you have more experience.’ ”
    “Bummer.”
    “Your dad’s waving at you. Introduce me.” She’s halfway across the parking lot before I can get to my feet. Theo and I jog after her.
    “Hi, I’m Mia.” She’s shaking hands with Dad andGus. “These guys just gave me the guts I needed to make a major change.”
    “There’s a lot of that going around.” Dad smiles at Mia and raises his eyebrows at me. I look away; it’s cute when
she
does it.
    They’re chatting about chasing dreams; I’m not really paying attention. I’m watching Atticus watch Theo texting. Atticus is sitting with one paw raised and he keeps reaching out to scratch at Theo’s leg. He wants Theo to put the phone away. So do I.
    “So, how about I come with?” Mia’s asking Dad and my attention is back on their conversation. “I’d like to help rescue a dog.”
    “It ain’t a real bus route, ya know, stoppin’ to pick up people along the way,” Gus grumbles from under the hood. She looks over his shoulder.
    “Nice ride. In-line six-cylinder, four-stroke-cycle diesel engine, right?”
    “Finally. Someone who knows engines.” He glares at the rest of us. Mia’s in and we all know it. She texts her roommates to let them know she’s going on a quick trip and will be back in a couple of days.
    She makes Dad show her his license and she sends his info