𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 [a rini au]

twelve

Jenn's house was precisely how Nini imagined the inside of her brain to be like— unorganized and scattered. When Nini entered her neighbor's home on Monday morning (only five minutes late, and after a fight with the snooze button on several alarms), she almost tripped over shoes laid messily beside the door, and was met with the hectic sound of a Disney song she vaguely recognized being blared at full volume.

As Jenn opened the door and welcomed Nini inside, she warned Annie to turn down the music, threatening to not let her attend soccer that day if she didn't comply. Which, in all honesty, would've been perfectly fine by Nini. A few hours of babysitting where she could just put a movie on the TV to entertain Annie would have been easy money. Unfortunately, Annie, who was curled up in a blanket on the couch with an iPad, obeyed her mother and turned the music down. Nini sighed in disappointment.

"And Annie, put your soccer clothes on!" Jenn instructed, gesturing towards the yellow shirt and black shorts laid beside her on the couch.

"I am!" Annie grumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Not a morning person, Nini noted.

"Alright, follow me," Jenn directed Nini, leading her into the kitchen, which was no less messier than the entryway or living room.

Nini could tell that they'd had pizza the night before, as an open Domino's box with a singular half-eaten slice remaining in it was sprawled across the table. There was a bright yellow stain on the tablecloth that Nini inferred was orange juice, as an empty bottle of Tropicana was laid beside the pizza box. The sink was filled with a variety of rinsed but not-yet-washed dishes, and next to it was a roll of paper towels that looked as if it had only one or two sheets remaining.

Nini realized she must have stared too hard or something, as Jenn quickly stated, "Sorry about the mess!" in an apologetic tone.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it," Nini replied, waving her hand nonchalantly.

"So, I keep the cereal in this cabinet," Jenn carried on, opening a cabinet above the stove. "Annie's favorite is Honey Nut Cheerio's, so if you could just put that in a bowl with some milk for her breakfast, that'd be great."

She opened another cabinet, filled with plates, bowls, and mugs. "Bowls are in here! Give her one of the plastic ones, though. She's super clumsy."

"Got it," Nini nodded, adding a mental note to the growing list in her mind.

"I think that's all you need for today! After soccer you guys can stop at Thanks A Latte, it's this awesome café—"

"Oh, yeah! I went there with my grandma the other day. The coffee is amazing."

"Right! Annie loves the vanilla scones from there, so after soccer if you wanna stop and get her a couple of those and, like, a lemonade, that'd be great. Just keep the receipt and I'll pay you back for everything."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good," Nini concurred, twisting a finger around one of her long braids.

"Perfect! Okay, great," Jenn clasped her hands together. "After that, you guys can head back here, and you can put on a movie for her or something. You don't have to worry about lunch— I'll pick up something for her on my way home."

Nini nodded again, mentally processing all the information set for her. Honey Nut Cheerio's with milk, plastic bowl, Thanks A Latte after soccer, vanilla scones and lemonade, movie when they returned.

"Got it."

"Alright, well, I'm off to run some errands. You guys have fun!" Jenn waved, planting a kiss on Annie's head and instructing her to "be good for Nini!" before departing out the front door.