Susanna's POV

L.A. has been with us for a little over two weeks now. Thank God things are finally starting to settle down into a normal pace again. In fact, things have been so busy no birthday celebrations really got to happen in the mid October, or at least, not yet anyway. Fallon and Kelsey came up with a pretty good plan though. Only us girls are in on it, though. So it should be fun... when we finally let them in on it. Hehe.

Anyways that brings me to today, Joey said he wanted to take me somewhere but no matter how hard I pry, he will not budge or even tell me the tiniest bit of information. "Joey, come on. Just a little hint." I begged.

Joey shook his head, "I'm driving, Sus. Your puppy dog pout and batting your eyelashes won't work if I can't see you."

"Wait! How'd you?" I blubbered, completely flabbergasted.

He ginned, "I know you pretty well."

Joey finally pulled to a stop in front of a store that I'd never seen before. "Here we are."

"But where is here?" I asked, curious. When we stepped around the corner of the building I saw the store front sign. PET SHOP! I turned back to my boyfriend, eyes wide, feeling a huge smile on my face. "What are we doing here?" I could barely keep the hopeful edge out of my voice.

"Well I was thinking. Fallon and Kelsey both have dogs. And Brycie has kids. So I thought you needed a pet too." Joey gave me a classic grin of his.

I couldn't help but laugh at how he had said that. "You know, Brycie might get you for the way you said that, if she was here."

"But she's not. I'm safe. Let's go pet exploring!" He grabbed my hand and we dashed towards the store and inside.

I stopped once we got inside, I have no idea why I do that, but a place like this I have to just stop and take it all in. The first room was mainly a lot of cages, but off to the left birds of every variety and color, chirped and squawked there welcome call. Next to them were tiny gerbils, hamsters, and mice. I heard the sound of barking, from farther back in the building.

I met Joey's eyes and neither one of us said a word, we stepped back into the next room of the store. Several aisles were filled with toys, food, and that sort of things. The wall to the right sported huge fish tanks. "Ooh fish." I stopped and watched how graceful they were, missing my fish back home a little bit as I did.

"Goldfish. You mind your own business, they mind theirs." Joey said, matter of factly.

I had to laugh. "Yeah, right. You've never had any like I have back home. Three Shubunkins and a Golden Comet. They do anything but mind their own business."

Before I go on, the owner comes up, "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, thanks. Just looking." Joey replies. The man walks away and we go to the back to look at the puppies. They are all adorable, yet expensive. And they are just "designer dogs", which back home are just called mutts. Don't get me wrong, mutts are some of the best dogs to have but not $500's worth.

"Let's go." I beg. And we speed walk to the front of the store past the snakes, turtles, and iguana with it's claw stuck in the cage. We pause, as someone passes by to the check out counter. The owner turns to the freezer behind him and pulls out a gallon Ziploc bags. I resist the urge to gage, as he reaches inside the bag. "Okay. I'm not afraid of rats, but that's just disgusting." We practically run the rest of the way out of the store.

We find ourselves at the Dairy Queen across the street, mainly cause I really wanted to wash my hands after that sight back there. When I come back out of the backroom, Joey is sitting at a nearby table, I stop by him and look at him. "Joey, I think the table is only for paying customers."

"Yeah, I know that Sus." Joey does a game show hand gesture thing and a high school boy stops by us with a drink holder. "This is Ryan. Were friends now."

"I was gone like not even five minutes. Nice to meet you, Ryan." I say, smiling. "Joey... what did you.... oooh a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard! Your a good boyfriend, Joey Stamper." I sat down and started stuffing my face.

Ryan smiled as Joey started sipping on a green Artic Rush. "Joey told me that you went to the pet store across the street. If you're really looking for a pet, you might want to check out Talent Animal Sanctuary. All rescue pets."

I stopped mid-bite, partly because I was getting a spine freeze (don't ask, it's my version of a brain freeze) and Ryan had really piqued my interest. "I love rescues! Most of my pets I've ever had have been rescues of one kind or another."

"This is perfect for you then! It's at the Talent Academy. Sort of in there garden area, I've got several friends that are students there. You two should check it out." Ryan said helpfully, then wrote down the address.

"Thanks, Ryan. I really appreciate that." I replied feeling really happy. And not just because of the Blizzard, either.

"Hey, no problem. It was nice meeting both of you. You take care now. God bless!" And with that Ryan was disappeared into the back.

"That kid's the manager here." Joey said, a peaceful smile on his face.

"Awesome choice." I smiled back. "Why does that Talent place sound familiar?"

"Chad was a guest teacher there last month, in September." Joey said, "I know the place. It's pretty cool looking."

Joey's POV

~15 Minutes Later ~

"Welcome to Talent Academy!" I said in a grand voice. Maybe the guys do have a point about me being dramatic. At least sometimes. I pulled the car into a parking spot and we got out.

"This is AWESOME!!!" Susanna said practically squealing. She grabbed my hand and we ran following signs pointing to a garden and sanctuary entrance. We both stopped inside of the gates, and gasped. Susanna was all starry eyed as she said, "Look at it, Joey. Isn't it beautiful?"

I glanced at the garden, then back at her. "Yeah, definitely beautiful."

Just then, a pair of teen girls walked up. "Hi, I'm Carrie." The black haired one said.

The lighter haired one smiled, "And I'm Grace."

"We're students here at Talent." They said in unison and then laughed.

"We heard something about an animal sanctuary where people can adopt animals?" Susanna questioned.

"Yeah, right this way. Anything for Joey Stamper and his girlfriend." Carrie said, wearing a Cheshire Cat grin.

That made us both be at a loss for words and blush like crazy. Yeah even if we've been dating a little while, we still do this regardless.

Grace laughed, "What kind of animal are you interested in? Sorry, Joey, we don't have any fish?"

"Such stereotypes, and all from just one little live stream. Ahh, you fans." I said, we all laughed, because we all knew I was joking.

Susanna was the one to break the silence. "What about dogs? Do you have any dogs?"

"Of course." The girls answered, and led us to a nice fenced off area, with lots of room and dog toys everywhere. "Would you like to go check them out?" Carrie asked.

Susanna looked just like a little kid. "Yes! So very much so!" The teens opened the gate, and Sus stepped inside. She was giggling as dogs and puppies of a wide variety of sizes pounced, yipped, and rolled all around her. She gazed at each one a wide smile on her face. Then her eyes grew wide and soft at the same time. Over at the edge of the fence was a little dog hiding under a bush. Susanna carefully stood up and made her way over to the bush, hunkering down and started clicking her tongue.

About a minute later, a small white dog crawled out. It's eyes met Susanna's and it immediately started wagging it's brown and white striped tail back and forth. It's tiny ears were brown and its feet were stripped with brown too.

Carrie gasped, "You got him to come out! He hasn't let ANYONE touch him since he came in."

"Does he have a name?" Susanna said, her eyes never leaving the puppy.

"No. We let the rightful owner name them." Grace said with a smile, "That little guy just found his. Follow us and we'll show you to the adoption office."

We followed them into an office, at the back of the school, and Susanna filled out some paperwork. When it came time to pay, I stopped her from reaching for her purse. "Call this a little birthday present from me to you, Sus."

"Thanks, Joey." She kissed my cheek, and I smiled. So worth it!

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Author's Note:

So.... an unexpected little surprise.... There's actually a connection here being made between Shake It Off and Write Your Story. I have had this in mind for a while and it's been super hard, keeping it a secret. Finally here it is. If you want to read the chapter about Chad being a guest teacher check out Chapter Nine in Write Your Story... or here's the link...

http://www.wattpad.com/125606936-write-your-story-untitled-part-9

But if you haven't read any of it yet you might want to go do that first. Don't have to but it might make it a little easier to understand.

Is this going to be the last connection between the two stories or not???? Hmmmm... keep reading both to find out!!! :D

Love ya lovelies! Never give up and always keep God in sight!!!!