𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

VIII

F A L L O N

"If you knew better, boy you would do better. Can't nobody love you like I do. Baby, I could do better."

. . .

"Really, Stella?" I groan, shaking my head at her.

She sends me a sheepish smile. "I wouldn't ask you if I had someone else, you know that," she replies with a begging tone.

Opening my eyes, I meet the eyes of another girl with blue eyes and blond hair. Clutching onto Stella's side while glancing around her.

"Please," Stella whispers. "Nicholas is busy with work and has busied himself in the library, and I can't bother him!"

I had plans, too. Maybe they weren't as important nor work-related, but they were plans, at least.

I was going to call with a few friends, play games, and socialize. Then I'd maybe ask Donia to come over and watch a movie. Anything else than this.

But babysitting wasn't a part of the plan. Not at all.

I didn't know what to think when Stella came in last minute, begging me to babysit her cousin since both her parents left for an emergency and left their kid with Stella.

But Stella has an emergency as well. So, who am I to be the cause of her not being able to tend to it?

"Sure," I say, and Nicholas walks into the kitchen right then. He gets a glass and starts to fill it with water.

Stella claps her hand together, pushing away the little girl that's clutching onto her side. "Thank you so much, Fallon," she smiles and hugs me.

"Of course," I grin, patting her back. Stella lets go of me before turning towards her little cousin.

"I'm going to leave you with Fallon, alright? I need to go to work," Stella explains. The girl furrows her eyebrows, clearly not liking being left alone with strangers.

I'm not fond of kids, but I'm not a mean person to them either. I have patience with them, but I'd rather spend my time watching some mindless show instead of trying to entertain a kid.

"I wanna come," she whispers to Stella, her voice soft and vulnerable.

"I don't have time for this, I need to go," Stella sighs, standing up and growing irritated that she can't get to her work as quick as she thought she could.

"I'm sorry for her behavior," she mutters to me. Why that makes me frown instead. It's normal for a girl not to want to be left alone with a stranger.

I remember hating it when I saw the image of babysitters approaching me when I was younger because I knew that that meant that my parents were leaving.

"Fallon, some of her dolls are in her bag and she even brought her iPad with her, so she can't get bored since she spends hours on that thing."

"Don't leave," the little girl frowns, jutting her bottom lip out as she pouts.

"No, I need to go. Have fun."

And with that, Stella abruptly leaves the kitchen without a proper goodbye. That's how she's always been.

She doesn't like goodbyes that take too long, she'd rather just rip the band-aid off and leave without shedding too many tears and experiencing too much pain.

The girl just stands there, looking at the spot Stella had been standing in just a few seconds ago.

Her frame is sinking in as if she wants to hide from the world.