Little Miss Babysitter

-- 9 --

"You. Are. A. Dumbass." Carter specified, pawing at his chicken salad. "Who lights their own house on fire?"

"Apparently she does." Taya mocked, leaning into Carter's shoulder for a half instant, before reclaiming her rightful position on the booth seat. A light rose quality adorned her cheeks.

I narrowed my eyes into tiny rectangles, and curled my lip menacingly. "Oh really? Okay, then. So who was it, again, that I caught watching an X-rated video in my living room?"

Carter's blooming blue eyes widened, and he sent me a daring look. Jason looked absoultely petrified, as he stared down his spaghetti and meatballs.

I let free a delicious laugh, and crossed my arms out in front of me. "My dear, sweet Taya. We all know Mary, your lovely sister, don't we? --Jason, your cousin?-- Well, why don't we refer to her as her.... pseudonym?"

Carter blew his blonde bangs away from his face and gave me a crooked glance. The one tooth that was bigger than the rest poked out of his lips just a bit. "What's that?"

"A stage name, dumbass." Taya commented, slapping him upside the head. He faked a cry, and jammed his hands deep into his pockets, ignoring his food once and for all.

I turned to Jason with a wry smile, not quite willing myself to notice how white he was. "Marilyn? You remember that name, surely. Why, you picked it out in the video store, yourself."

"Ela--" He warned, but I shushed him with my short, cackle of laughter.

"She's gone mad." Carter whispered ever-so discreetly into Taya's ear, and she agreed with the flick of her head. Her blonde locks whipped around, slapping Carter in the face. He looked bewildered for a moment, before he rolled his eyes, and chomped down the rest of his food. Like a vicious animal, eating it's prey. Disgusting.

"You too, Carter. You were there. You watched as--" I prepared my sentence, standing upright. "As Taya's sister had sex with a guy for the camera!"

I could basically hear all of the gasps that sounded out from the entire cafeteria. A cold sweat broke on my back, and I had finally won. I smiled brightly in victory, as I looked down at the beet red faces of my companions. They stared down at their plates, their ears all the same, familiar color of red.

"I rest my case." I said finally, as I flopped down into my chair, yet again. "And this time, if you dared put anything on my chair, I'd take you the fuck out."

Jason's head shot up, and he glowered at me with a funny look in his eyes. "I'd like to see you try."

And in that moment, I didn't see Jason's face looking at me, with his strangely bright leafy eyes.

No, I saw someone else. And that simple visage knocked my breath out of my lungs, and I had to lean away a bit to attempt at recovery.

I saw none other than the 17 year old junior that I babysit, everyday from 3 to 8 PM.

Nathaniel Rider.

A horrible sense of burning at the back of my throat forced me to shut up, and I quickly focused on my half eaten sandwich. I'm sure that transition from cocky to insecure was as rocky as they get.

"Ela?" Taya said quietly, her fork poking at the covered bubble on my wrist, making me flinch. I suddenly drew my hand back, and patted it down to try and calm the splitting pain travelling up the east side of my arm. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" I squeaked, nibbling on the tips of my fingers. I sighed, peeling back my skin tight sleeve. "Okay, something. I got a little burned in the fire, but I don't really want people knowing."