Babysitting the Bad Boy's Little Brother

Chapter 2

The alarming alarm woke me up at 9 o'clock this morning. The sound I set yesterday is very annoying. Taylor, as much as I love you, I really can't stand "I Knew You Were Trouble" screaming in my ear, waking me out of a dead sleep. It's a good song, but I need an actual alarm sound to wake me up in the mornings. I still have a good three episodes to watch this week because apparently someone can't stay awake during The Fosters marathon. I lazily got up to take yet another shower and pulled out a black with horizontal white striped short sleeve shirt and some skinny, skinny jeans. I ignored the makeup on my vanity and just threw on some mascara and left the house.

Sophie's mom texted me: Hey, I know it's early and I just met you yesterday, but since you mentioned to me that you were a babysitter, would you mind babysitting Sophie tonight around five? I'm sorry for the late notice but I just found out around 6:00 am that the hospital needed me.

I replied: Oh, I'd love to Ms. Kate. And, it's no problem at all. I'll come over to your house at 4:50 pm if that is okay with you.

Sophie's mom: That is perfect. Thank you so much, sweetie, I appreciate it. I will be home five in the morning tomorrow morning. There is a big guest room next to Sophie's room that you can stay in. You are welcome to any food in the house. I will pay you two hundred dollars tonight if that is enough.

That's a lot of money. I'll put it towards my babysitter fund for pizza and ice cream. It's hard being a single mom taking care of a six-year-old and working twelve-hour shifts at a hospital.

I decided to work on my college scholarship essays. After all, school is the only way to get where you want to go in life. I'm going to study sociology hopefully. That way, I can be a journalist, someone in the law field, or really anything. It's a broad four-year degree that could count towards a lot of careers. Ever since I could remember, I have been dedicated to school and only school. It was the only thing that mattered to me and it still is.
The popular girls would roll their eyes at me and make fun of me for being smart. I remember being in middle school, everyone was "dating" and getting their lives caught up in others. I was never like that, even though my friends tried to convince me that I was a bum and didn't know what fun was. Boys would bug me, randomly asking me out just for the fun of it, only to be knowingly rejected. They didn't matter to me, for I would have rather had my nose in a book than my lips on someone else's.

Another thing that has influenced my career interest is that I love to help people and make them happy. Ever since I was a kid, I would always go out of my way to make my friends and family happy. I was a people pleaser and found myself getting run over by others a lot. People would take advantage of me because I was nice. I strived to be perfect; to make a difference. I wanted to be a good influence and role model for someone, anyone. I wanted to inspire others to be nice to others because you don't know what a person is going through. Don't judge them, one can't handle half of what they've dealt with. There's a reason they do the things they do, there's a reason they are who they are.

***

It was time to babysit Sophie. I got dressed and cleaned up the food mess. Yet, another failed attempt to watch my favorite tv show. I am seriously not a tv person. I can stay awake reading a story or writing a story on Wattpad, but no, I can't stay awake watching stupid tv.  I really need a life.
I drove over to Sophie's house to watch her. It took around thirty minutes to get there. Sophie lives out in the county. She has a decent house, it looks pretty on the outside. I knock on the door, and I hear a little girl screaming and peeking out of the window.

"It's Emma, Mommy, Emma's here!" She giggles. Someone is happy to see me.

"Hold on sweetie, I'm going to get the door." She says.

Soon, the door opens, and I see her mother with a little Sophie behind her leg. As soon as she sees me, she runs and jumps into my arms, me catching her and picking her up. This is why I love babysitting little kids.

"I missed you!" She exclaims.

"I'm glad you are here. And, five minutes earlier than you said." Ms. Kate says and looks at her Apple watch which flashes 4:45 pm. "Thank you for coming."

"You're very welcome. Thanks for allowing me." I say, politely.

"Here is your money," She hands me two-hundred dollars, "I really appreciate it. I'll be back around midnight. There is a guest room to the right if that is okay."

"Yes, ma'am. Have fun and be safe. I'll take care of miss Sophie."

"Work isn't supposed to be fun, but I'll try. Thank you, darling." She says and grabs her nursing bags, and then heads out of the door.

"Let's play, Emma, let's play!" Sophie screams.

"Okay, sweetie, what do you want to play?" I ask.

"Dress up! I want to be a princess!" She says, excited.

"Okay, then we can play dress up. I'll help you."

***

An hour later, I am in a dress that is at least three sizes too small, and toe-pinching plastic high heels that are also too small.

"I'm bored Let's play something else!" She says.

"How about we get changed and I cook you some dinner instead?" I say, hopeful.

"Yes, I'm hungry! I want icey cream!" Sophie says, smiling. It is so cute to hear her talk.

"We need some real food first. How about pizza?" I said.

"I love pissa! We need to eat pissa, Emma!" Sophie laughs.

"Okay, then I'll make us some pizza then."

***

I made pizza and we ate it. Thankfully, I didn't burn the house down. I haven't baked homemade pizza since my mom was alive. And even then, I didn't do it alone. This is the first time I've actually made it alone. I know she would be happy. I miss her a lot. I found some ice cream in the freezer and fixed Sophie some. She quickly finished it. "You were quite hungry, weren't you, little tiger?" I asked her.

"I was very hungery. Hey, I like tigers." She giggled.

"Me too," I tell her.

I checked my watch, it was almost eight.

"Sophie, it's time to go to bed."

"Nooo! No bed. I want to watch a moovie!!" She demands, throwing a tiny fit.

"I guess we can watch one movie. What do you want to watch?" I ask her, annoyed at the thought of not letting her get the proper amount of sleep for her age.

"Yay! I wanna watch the wittle mermaid!" She says, happily.

I turned on their smart tv and selected Netflix. I then logged into my account, found the Little Mermaid, and started the movie.

"I want popcorn!" She says.

I didn't respond. Instead, I looked for some in the cabinet and put it in the microwave. When the popcorn was done, I put it in a bowl and let her eat some.

"Thank you, Emma!" She says as she crunches popcorn in her small mouth.

Thirty minutes later, I found a sleeping Sophie on the sofa while Ariel was singing "Under the Sea". I slowly picked her up, took her to her bedroom, and lied her on her bed, putting a Frozen blanket over her. I then tucked her in, gently kissing her on the forehead before I left. I wish I had a little sister. Or a sibling of any type, but I don't. And I won't.

I went back to the living room and turned off the tv. I ate the popcorn because I didn't have the heart to waste it, thinking of the less fortunate. After the popcorn was gone, I rinsed out the bowl and cleaned up all of the messes I've made since it's my responsibility.
When I was done, I lied back on the couch and found myself dozing off to sleep too.

***

Thank you guys for the reads! I posted the first chapter and I was surprised that people actually read it. Don't worry, we will get to the main part of the story shortly, but they say baby steps. I love y'all soooo much!!