Emma Wells is an innocent, intelligent, straight-A teen who never gets in trouble. Emma lives alone, and she has a job of babysitting young kids during the summer while their parents are working.
But, when Emma starts babysitting a little boy named...
Today has been uneventful so far. Just as any other day would be when I'm at home. I am supposed to go babysit Alex at twelve for the last time until school starts. I'm two days away from the start of the junior year. It sounds like so much fun. Not. It's noon and I have been up for barely two hours. So far, I've given myself a facial, painted my nails dark red, took a shower, and braided my hair. Weird thing is that I only have two hours until I have to be somewhere.
According to Claire, Alex has been missing me for quite some time now. I haven't babysat in weeks and I miss him too. He's a sweet kid. The only setback is Austin. Last night, we awkwardly met and I was there with a date. The tension was there the whole time. He was there with some girl to be fair, so there is nothing on me. I can't be blamed for anything. Why am I being so petty? This never happens. It doesn't matter.
It stays hot pretty much all year in Torrance, making it a longer summer temperature-wise. It's always hot in California. Even though summer doesn't last as long because school gets in the way, it's still hot enough to go to the beach in late September. I have a love-hate relationship with Cali.
It's now 11:30 and I'm leaving for Alex's house. I should be there until seven-ish tonight. Not too long, thankfully. I've gotten used to babysitting and staying with kids for a long time because it really benefits the parents. Tomorrow I'm going shopping last minute for school things. Alexis has already volunteered to "assist" me. She's insisted she does my makeup again. She can never go out without any herself. I rarely put it on if I don't need it as opposed to when I used to love it like her. It depends on if my face is breaking out or not. Which, it usually is. I get into my car to drive over to Alex's house. My phone sings but I don't touch it. Never look at your phone while driving. Bad things do happen. It dings. I ignore it. Another ding. I quickly slide the silent button on my iPhone. That should be enough for now. I think too much, more than I talk. Sometimes, I stress over the littlest things.
When I get to Alex's house, he greets me, as usual. He's wearing Paw Patrol pajamas. If I weren't babysitting today, I'd probably still be in my pajamas too. It has been a stormy, unusually cold and windy day so far. My phone says it's sixty-six but it feels way colder. I checked my messages and it shows one missed phone call. My aunt, Carrie called me and texted me. She sends me a picture of a bathing suit she designed that a company manufactured and shipped.
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One of my designs came in today. I could just picture you wearing this. The swimsuit has the bohemian flair to it that I know you like. It's forty-seven degrees in NYC now on July 30th. Can you believe that? It will be one heck of a cold winter. You should come to visit sometime, I haven't seen you in FOREVER.
I miss her, a lot. I haven't seen her since I was thirteen after my mom died. Carrie is twenty-seven. You would think otherwise based on her perfect looks and spontaneous personality. My other aunt, Amber, didn't even attend her funeral. Another reason I should hate her, besides her being a bitter, cold-hearted person. She's thirty-seven, the oldest of the three.
