The Babysitter » styles

II

“Who knows what's right?"

My mom pulled up into Anne's laneway, looking grumpy that she “had" to drive me to my job. Once she saw their mansion, however, her eyes widened.

“You work for rich people?" she gasped.

I nodded soundlessly, in awe myself at the size of Anne's house. Allie never mentioned that her aunt was rich.

I grabbed my bags and hopped out of the car, flinching as Mom backed out of the laneway quickly and drove out of sight.

Walking up to the door, I nearly tripped because of all my bags. My idiot mother hadn't offered to help me, so I was carrying four bags by myself.

Once I reached the door, I set down my bags to knock. The opened instantly, and I was pulled into a bonecrushing hug.

“You must be Clara!" a woman, who I presumed was Anne, exclaimed. She released me, and I rubbed my arms.

Anne had brown hair and kind, green eyes. She looked like one of those mothers who baked cookies every day so that you could have some after school. I immediately envied the boy I was babysitting.

Anne looked at my bags. “Oh, hunny, you didn't have to bring anything. Did Allie not tell you? Oh, it doesn't matter. Come, now, I'll show you your room."

She grabbed two of my bags and led me to a staircase. “My" room was on the third floor, so we had to go up two flights of stairs. Once we reached the room I was going to be living in for the next week, I was gasping for breath.

“You'll get used to it, love," Anne said, noticing my exhausted state. I was embarrassed to see that I was sweating, and Anne just stood there.

She opened the big double doors that led into my room, and my mouth fell open.

The room was about three times the size of my room at home. There was a big bed (I think it was queen size) against the far wall. The sheets were black and white, and perfectly made.

To the right of the bed was a brown lamp with patterns overlapping. To the left was a digital clock. It read 4:29 PM.

There were two doors leading off into other rooms, and I told myself that I'd explore them later.

“Alright, so," Anne began. “Harry is usually at a friend's house, so you don't have to worry about him too much. He's at his friend's house right now, and he should be home around nine. When he is home, however, be cautious. He tends to go from one mood to another very quickly. He likes things to go his way, but you can do whatever you want. Sometimes his friends come over, and be aware of them as well. As I'm sure Allie told you, he doesn't like his babysitters and always finds a way to get them to quit. His friends usually help with that." She took a breath. “He usually makes his own meals, but if he doesn't, he's not very picky about what he likes to eat. I think that's about it. Any questions?"

I shook my head, taking in all the information.

“Well, I should get going," Anne said. “I left my phone number and a map of the house on the fridge. If you need anything, just call or text me. There's money in my room if you need to get groceries or you just want to order something."

“Okay," I said.

Anne nodded. “Well, I really hope Harry likes you, Clara."

I nodded as well. “Me too."

Once Anne left, I went to see what was in each of the other doors.

In the first one was a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and a shower. I was surprised to see that my favourite shampoo and conditioner was already in the shower. I assumed it was the work of Allie and went to investigate the other room.

It was a ginormous walk-in closet, complete with clothes. So that was why Anne said I didn't have to bring anything.

Once I began looking at the clothes, however, I was glad I brought my own clothes. Most of the clothes were crop tops that barely counted as shirts and short shorts that were practically underwear. I wondered if Anne put these in here, simply assuming that this was my style. Whoever it was, they were so wrong.

Some of the other clothes were skimpy dresses that barely covered the butt, were extremely tight, and had a low cut neckline. I pretend gagged, before grabbing my own clothes and hanging them up.

Once I was done, I decided to have a jacuzzi bath. It was the greatest bath I'd ever had.

I walked downstairs, drying my hair as I went. I was hungry, so I decided to make myself supper. I wasn't sure what to make, so I just settled for a grilled cheese.

I walked to the living room, my mouth falling open at the size of their TV. If my dad saw this, he'd freak.

I saw down on one of the chairs that resembled movie theater seats. I rested my arms on the arm rests, flipping through the channels. They got more channels than I did, and I spent at least five minutes watching some really weird cooking show just because I didn't get it at home.

Once I found a show, I relaxed into the seat, nearly having a heart attack when I realized it was a recliner.

I laid back, feeling exhausted. Maybe I could just take a little nap...

~*~

I opened my eyes blearily, blinking a couple of times and waiting for things to come into focus.

I was still laying down, except when I tried to sit up, I realized that my hands were tied to the arm rest and my feet were tied to the foot rest.

“Ah, Sleeping Beauty's awake," a low voice drawled.

I whipped my head around to find a young man sitting in one of the chairs nearby. He had messy curly hair and dark green eyes. His hands were behind his head, and one leg was crossed over the other. I would be lying if I said he wasn't attractive.

“Why are you here?" I asked, tugging at the rope. Where the hell did he even find this? “Did something happen to, uh, Harry? I'm his new babysitter, I apologize if he did something rash, you know how little kids are, although I don't quite know how old he is, but I'd imagine he's around seven through ten years old, possibly older, since his mom lets him go over to his friend's houses all the time and I'm eighteen and my parents don't even let me do that, even though- um, sorry, I'm rambling, I tend to do that a lot. Why am I tied up?"

The man just sat there, an amused smirk on his face.

“Okay, stop looking at me like that," I said. “Did anything happen to Harry? Where even is he?" I looked around the theater thing.

“He's right here," the man said. I slowly turned my head to face him. He mockingly smiled at me. “Looks like you're my new babysitter."

~~

dedicated to @sempiternal_bliss (I hope I spelled that right) bc she's amazing and also a canadian :))