Coco left, and Duke gave Mr. Quacky a hug.

  “I think Peanut’s right, Mr. Quacky,” Duke said sadly. “Coco is too cool to be our friend.”

  “All right, Underdogs, it’s time to practice for our next challenge!” Nova announced the next day after school.

  Duke, Peanut, and Harley had all gathered in Nova’s backyard to work on their school spirit challenge for Field Day.

  “Let’s warm up with some laps around the house!” Nova suggested, and she took off running, with Harley and Peanut at her heels. Duke just sighed and sat down in the grass.

  Nova stopped and looked back at Duke. “Come on, Duke! It’s warm-up time!”

  “What’s the point?” Duke asked.

  “The point is, we want to pass the loyalty challenge,” Nova said. “We passed the first test, didn’t we? Let’s keep the momentum going!”

  Duke moaned and lay back. “You don’t get it! Why are we trying? So we can fit in? So we can impress meanies like Mandy and Randy?”

  Harley and Peanut looked at Nova. They hadn’t really thought about it like that before.

  “Well, I’m not doing it for anyone else but me,” Nova replied. “I want to be the best Nova that I can be. And to be my best, I have to at least try my best. So if warming up is not right for you, don’t sweat it.”

  “Actually, we’ll be the ones sweating it,” Peanut mumbled, and the three dogs took off running around the house.

  Duke stayed and stared at the Barksdale sky. It was perfectly blue, the color of a robin’s egg, and clouds that looked like cotton-ball puffs floated in the air.

  Barksdale even has the best sky, Duke thought. What is a weird scaredy-dog like me doing here, anyway?

  After five laps around the house, Nova and Peanut stopped in front of Duke, panting. Harley kept going.

  “Just one more. WHOOPEE!”

  Harley ran around the house three more times before she finally stopped.

  “Okay, Nova, what’s next?” she asked eagerly.

  Nova picked up a clipboard. “Well, we all know that the best way to show school spirit is with a cheer,” she replied. “I asked everyone to come with an idea. Who wants—”

  Peanut waved his paw. “Oooh, me, me, me!”

  “Let’s hear it, Peanut,” Nova said.

  Peanut cleared his throat.

  Nova, Harley, and Duke stared at Peanut.

  “Um, I like the rhyme, Peanut, but what do stinky feet have to do with school spirit?” Nova asked.

  Peanut shrugged. “Nothing, but it’s funny.”

  Nova looked at Harley. “What did you come up with?”

  “Check this out!” Harley said, and then she began to sing.

  “Whoa, nice, Harley!” Peanut said.

  Nova nodded. “Yes, lots of great stuff in there, Harley, except it doesn’t rhyme like a cheer should.”

  She turned to Duke. “Did you come up with anything?”

  Duke sighed. “Um, sure.”

  His voice sounded flat and bored.

  “Hmm, well, that could maybe use some more pep,” Nova said. “Here’s the one I came up with:

  “Give me a B! Give me an A! Give me an R! Give me a K! Give me an S! …”

  Peanut started to make loud snoring sounds while Nova chanted and chanted.

  “… Give me an L! Give me an E! Give me an A!.…”

  Duke actually did doze off. He woke up just as Nova finished, and he wiped the drool from his chin.

  “… Give me a D! Give me a Y! What’s that spell?”

  “You can’t spell out ‘Barksdale Academy.’ That will take too long!” Peanut cried.

  Nova sighed. “I guess you’re right. We can keep working on the cheer at our next practice. We also need a routine to show our school spirit, too. My sister Nina was head cheerleader when she was in school, and she said making a pyramid always impresses the judges.”

  “You want us to build a pyramid? What, out of big rocks?” Peanut asked.

  Nova shook her shaggy head. “No, I mean we use our bodies to make a doggy pyramid. With me and Duke on the bottom, and then Harley stands on top of us, and then Peanut climbs to the very top.”

  “Hmm,” Duke said. “That doesn’t sound too bad. Just as long as I definitely get to be on the bottom.”

  “Dude, you would totally squash us if you were on the top,” Peanut pointed out.

  Nova walked out to a big patch of grass and planted her front legs on the ground, keeping her back flat.

  “Duke, come next to me and do the same thing,” she instructed.

  Duke got into position next to Nova.

  “Harley—” Nova began, but Harley was already running toward them.

  “I got this!” she said. “HERE I COME!”

  She jumped onto Nova and Duke, planting two legs on Nova and two on Duke.

  Duke started to giggle. “Harley, that tickles!”

  “I’m not doing anything. I’m just standing here,” she protested.

  Duke’s back moved up and down as he laughed. “I can’t help it. It tickles!”

       “Hold still, Duke,” Nova said. “Peanut, you need to climb up onto Duke’s back and then jump onto Harley’s back.”

  Peanut looked up at Harley. “It’s high, but I think I can do it,” he said. He jumped onto Duke.

  Duke giggled again. “Now you’re tickling me!”

  “Knock it off, Duke!” Peanut said. “I’m losing my balance!”

  But Duke couldn’t help it. He giggled harder. And harder. His body shook.

  Peanut jumped up on Harley’s back.

  “I did it!” he cried. “But, Duke, stop laughing! You’re shaking the whole pyramid! I’m going to—”

  Harley and Peanut tumbled off Nova and Duke. Still shaking with laughter, Duke bumped into Nova, knocking her down, too.

  The four pups giggled, scrambling to their feet.

  “Sorry,” Duke said. “I didn’t know I was so ticklish!”

  Harley grinned. “It’s okay, that was fun!”

  Peanut shook his head. “Yeah, but I don’t think this is gonna work for Field Day.”

  “Maybe not,” Nova said. “But don’t worry, Underdogs! We’re going to get this right in time for the K-2 exam!”

  “How are we going to do that?” Duke asked.

  Nova grinned. “Remember what we learned in the agility challenge? We’re going to do things the Underdog way!”

  “The Underdog way? Don’t you mean the loser way?”

  The Underdogs turned to see Mandy, Randy, and Coco on the sidewalk next to Nova’s yard.

  “We’re not losers!” Harley shot back.

  “Yeah, we passed our first exam this year!” Nova added.

  “But you got the lowest score,” Mandy pointed out. “Which makes you losers.”

  “Yeah, with a capital ‘L,’” Randy said, chuckling.

  Coco, Duke noticed, was gazing at a bird in a tree.

  Why won’t she stick up for us? he wondered, and it made him feel sad.

  Peanut marched up to Mandy and Randy. “Don’t you have anything better to do than watch us practice? Shouldn’t you be practicing your own cheer?”

  “Don’t worry about us,” Mandy replied. “We’ve got something planned that’s going to be the absolute best.”

  “Right, the best!” Randy echoed.

  Mandy looked at Coco. “Right, Coco?”

  “Er, yes, right,” Coco replied, avoiding the gaze of the Underdogs.

  Then Mandy and Randy lifted their snouts in the air and trotted away, with Coco at their heels.

  Duke ran after her.

  His cousin stopped. Mandy and Randy looked back and glared at her.

  “I will just be one minute,” Coco said. “What eez it, Duke?”

  “Why didn’t you say anything back there?” he asked. “Do you really think my friends and I are losers?”

  “Of course not,” she replied. “You are very nice. But eet is all fun and games, is eet not?”

  Duke frowned. “I don’t think name-calling is very fun.”

  “Field Day will be over soon,” Coco said. “And then we will hang out again, Cousin. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Duke agreed with a sigh.

  He walked back to his friends.

  “Don’t let Coco bother you, Duke,” Nova said. “She’s new here, and she’s just trying to fit in with her team.”

  “That’s what she said,” Duke replied. “But it still hurts my feelings.”

  Peanut slapped him on the back. “You’ve got us, dude! Now, what were we doing before those fur-brains interrupted us?”

  “We were trying to come up with a school spirit routine,” Nova replied.

  “Trying—and looking ridiculous,” Duke said.

  Nova grinned. “Don’t worry. Nobody is going to make fun of us on Field Day. I’ve got a plan!”

  The sky above the Barksdale Academy competition field was the perfect shade of blue on the morning of Field Day.

  All the students from Barksdale sat on one half of the bleachers. The pups from Pawston School for Canine Excellence sat on the other half.

  Duke got a little nervous when he saw the polished group of Pawston pups. But they all looked a little nervous, too.

  Then it hit Duke. They’ve never won a Field Day against Barksdale! I guess the Pawston pups are underdogs, too, just like us! he realized.

  Duke quickly relaxed as the Field Day festivities began. First, each Barksdale team performed their school cheer, starting with the first-year students. Groups of adorable little puppies tumbled and jumped on the field, and the older pups clapped and cheered. Over at the judges’ table, Principal Finefur and Coach Houndstooth scribbled down scores.

  “When do we find out if we pass the K-2 loyalty test or not?” Duke asked Nova.

  “Remember last year? The judges will add up our scores for school spirit and overall performance after the event is over. If our total score is more than sixty-five, we’ll pass,” Nova explained.

  Then Principal Finefur’s voice came through the speakers. “And now it’s time for the year-four students to show us some school spirit. First up—Team Underdog!”

  Duke, Nova, Peanut, and Harley stood up. They piled their paws on top of one another and cheered together. “GO, UNDERDOGS!”

  Duke felt pretty confident as they walked out onto the field and faced the bleachers. Nova’s granny had made them special pom-poms to wave during their performance. They had come up with a new cheer and a new routine, and they had been practicing it all week.

  Harley, Duke, Nova, and Peanut lined up on the field.

  “Ready, Underdogs?” Nova called out.

  “READY!” Harley, Duke, and Peanut shouted back.

  Then they launched into their cheer.

  Then Duke, Nova, and Peanut got down on the ground. Harley hurried down the field and then began running toward the three dogs. Duke squeezed his eyes shut. He knew what was coming, but he was too afraid to watch.

  Right before she got to them, Harley launched into the air. She soared over Nova, over Duke, over …

  Well, she almost soared over Peanut. Instead, she landed on him, squashing him. Everyone in the stands laughed.

  “Don’t give up, guys!” Nova called out. “It’s our big finish!”

  Peanut shook himself off and jumped to his feet. The four dogs held paws.

  “GO, BARKSDALE!” they yelled.

  Duke’s heart was pounding as they ran back to the bleachers.

  “Sorry, pups,” Harley said. “Especially you, Peanut.”

  “It’s okay,” Peanut said. “You almost made it.”

  “I think we did pretty good,” Nova said. “We were loud, and we didn’t mess up our cheer. I feel good about this!”

  They sat in the bleachers and watched the other year-four teams perform their cheers.

  Athena’s team brought a table with test tubes onto the field and mixed chemicals to make puffy clouds of blue and yellow—the Barksdale colors.

  Another team made a pyramid. And another used blue-and-yellow ribbons to deliver their rhyming cheer.

  “Rah, rah, Barksdale, we’re the best!

  So much better than all the rest!”

  Peanut whispered to Duke. “I think our cheer was better.”

  “Yeah,” Duke agreed. “Compared to everyone else, I think we did okay.”

  “And finally, let’s see what Team Awesome has to offer!” Principal Finefur announced.

  Everyone cheered and looked for Mandy, Randy, Ollie, and Coco to come down from the stands. But that didn’t happen. Instead …

  BAM! A huge cloud of blue smoke appeared on the field, and the four pups emerged from it as if by magic. They were all wearing shirts covered in shiny blue and gold sequins, and Ollie was holding an electric guitar. He played a chord, and then Team Awesome began to sing.

  Clap your paws and stamp your feet.

  Because we know Barksdale can’t be beat.

  When we say ‘Barksdale,’ you say ‘win’! Barksdale!”

  The crowd in the bleachers answered back. “WIN!”

  “Barksdale!”

  “WIN!”

  “B-B-B-B-B-B-Barksdale ROCKS!” Team Awesome finished, and then fireworks lit up behind them.

  Every dog in the stands jumped to their feet—even the Underdogs.

  “Wow, that was amazing!” Nova said.

  On the field, Coco was grinning, and Duke felt happy for his cousin. But a thought worried him.

  After today, Coco’s going to be more popular than ever, he thought. She’s never going to want to hang out with me again!

  “And now it’s time for the games to begin!” Principal Finefur announced to the crowd. “Each class of students will compete in a set of three challenges. The winning team in each challenge earns a point for their school. Principal Howler and Coach Curlytail from Pawston will join me and Coach Houndstooth at the judges’ table.”

  Duke settled into his seat on the bleachers to watch the Barksdale teams compete. The first-year challenges were the simplest: a beanbag toss, a baton relay, and a tail-wagging contest. The Barksdale puppies won the toss and the relay, and lost the tail-wagging contest when a Pawston poodle wagged her tail the longest. The scoreboard read:

  “Bowwow, Barksdale!” Nova cheered, and everyone clapped as the first-year students left the field.

  The Barksdale second-year students won the sack race and the beach ball toss but lost the barking contest when a Pawston bulldog barked the loudest.

  “Bowwow, Barksdale! Barksdale is the best!” the Barksdale students cheered.

  A team of Barksdale third-year students wove around orange cones to win the speed relay, and another Barksdale team filled a can with balls the fastest to earn another point. But a Pawston team beat everyone to the finish line in the wheelbarrow race.

  “Barksdale is doing great!” Nova remarked as the fourth-year students made their way onto the field. “It looks like we’re going to win for the fifty-fourth year in a row. I kind of feel bad for Pawston.”

  “Me too,” Duke agreed. “I just hope Team Underdog doesn’t mess things up too much. We didn’t do so well when we practiced the challenges in your backyard.”

  Nova grinned. “We just have to try our best, and I’m sure we’ll get enough points to pass. Let’s stay focused and remember what we practiced!”

  Duke gazed over at Team Awesome. They all strode confidently onto the field. Then he blinked. Coco didn’t look as confident as the others. In fact, his cousin looked kind of nervous.

  That’s weird, he thought. What does Coco have to be nervous about?

  “Our first challenge is an egg race,” Professor Finefur announced. “The first team to reach the finish line without breaking their egg will win a point for their school.”

  The pups took their places for the challenge. Rows of four cones were lined up from one end of the field to the other—one row for each team. In the Underdogs’ row, Peanut stood by the first cone, Duke stood by the second, Nova by the third, and Harley by the fourth. In his mouth, Peanut carefully held a spoon with an egg resting on it.

  “ON YOUR BARK, GET SET, GO!”

  Peanut slowly walked across the grass to bring the egg to Duke. To his left and right, Duke could see other dogs moving faster, but he tried not to worry about that. He just focused on Peanut.

       “If we take it slowly, we won’t drop the egg,” Nova had said during practice.

  Peanut reached Duke and gently transferred the egg to the spoon in his mouth. Duke took a deep breath and made his way toward Nova. She eagerly wagged her tail, waiting for him, but she refrained from cheering him on. In practice, that had spooked him and he’d dropped the egg.

  Duke reached Nova and dropped the egg into her spoon. She walked toward Harley, and Duke looked back at the other teams. Two of the Barksdale teams had already dropped their eggs and were out! But Ollie on Team Awesome was zipping toward Coco. And on the Pawston side, three teams were still in the race.

  Nova reached Harley. Harley spit out the spoon in her mouth … and gobbled down the egg!

  Then her eyes got wide with horror as she realized what she’d done.

  “Oh no!” she cried. “I … I saw the egg and my brain yelled ‘EAT!’ and …”

  “It’s okay,” Nova told her. “Look, Coco’s on her way to the finish line. Team Awesome’s gonna win this for Barksdale!”

  Coco hurried toward the finish line, three steps ahead of a spotted Pawston pup.

  “Go, Team Awesome!” the crowd cheered.

  Then Coco tripped! The egg flew out of her spoon. It somersaulted through the air.

 

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