I HADN'T BABYSAT in such a long time. Not because of any particular kid or their behavior but because I needed more money if I wanted to go haul shopping with Annalyn.
My parents consistently told me that working at bell wasn't a decent enough job for me, that resulted in me quitting the one job that gave me a somewhat decent salary of $8.45 an hour. My mother easily provided me with a babysitting arrangement with one of her coworker's daughters.
$10 being the legitimate hourly rate, my mom thought this was insanely generous but I was babysitting for 4 hours and at the end of the day $40 isn't that majestic in the pocket.
The little girl that I was babysitting had the name of Gracelyn, which happened to be my middle name, nonetheless I thought it was rather coincidental. She was 6 years old and she had an older brother by the name of Grayson, who apparently lived at football practice and could never take care of her.
She was a single mother which I thought was tough, knowing my family had recently been in the same predicament. That was until Eli came into my life and put a ring on my mother's finger, now I had a father; one I was very fond of due to the mere fact that my mom finally had a reason to be happy. Anyways I'll continue, Georgia was the woman's name. The same woman I would be meeting in less than an hour.
I turned on my bedroom light and laid down contemplating everything that I would do with the little girl. Hopefully she had an interest in dolls or playhouse, that was all I knew: oh, or we could watch some TV unless she needs to do homework or something.
I change out of my lacrosse uniform and slip on a pair of higher-trimmed denim shorts. It was nearly 90 degrees here and even though I loved the sun, the humidity was a pain and that caused me to pull my curly hair into a high ponytail. The higher the ponytail, the less poofy the hair becomes.
I yank my tennis shoes off and buckle up my Birkenstock's. I lean down to get them and feel my shorts pull up revealing all of my butt. I hesitantly question whether or not to change my shorts but my conscience tells me to keep them on to avoid the hassle.
I tuck a plain white singlet into my jeans and pull on my over the shoulder bag. I quickly stepped in front of the mirror and brushed loose strands of hair behind my ear.
I breathe in lightly before going downstairs. Eli said he could drop me off on his way back to his office, I immediately accepted the offer. I wait in the garage, my foot tapping slowly as I look at the clock knowing Eli isn't ever late, he wouldn't be late this time either, not on an occasion as important as this.
I huff as the garage door opens and I walk towards the car whilsy trying to block the sun from my eyes. He smiles, patting my bare thigh as we begin driving down the street.
"Mrs.Georgia will be able to drop you off afterwards, I'm going to have to talk to your mom about getting you a car, jeez, hassling you around everywhere is quite tiring."
He laughs and I laugh along, knowing good and well that my mom would never allow me to get a play wagon let alone a car. I sigh lightly, enjoying the careless mood. Reason #1,000,000 why Eli was such a great guy for my mother.
I pull my phone from my back pocket and check the time, reassuring that we wouldn't be late. "It's fine Ty. Seriously, I would never make you late on your first job." He chuckles, lightly nudging my shoulder. I grin, "Yeah, I guess so. Or mom'll simply kick you out of the house."
Sometimes I wondered how Eli could put up with my mother. She is, hands down, one of the most impatient, impulsive, timely, negligent people I know, yet Eli still loves my mom more than I think she loves herself, ugh goals.
I pick the almost nonexistent nail polish from my cuticles as we drive down the street, we turn into the driveway and I am relieved to see a well cared for estate. I sigh in relief and Eli laughs,
"You didn't think your mother and I would have you babysitting in a shed now would you?" I shake my head, smiling as we pass through the front yard and knock on the tinted glass door.
I hear a distant shuffling followed by a faint gasp, then the door swings open and out pops the most adorable little girl I've ever seen. Her blonde hair was almost longer than mine, which actually wasn't that long so never mind.
She had freckles dotted across her chubby cheeks and a loose baby pink dress on. I gasp and squat down in front her poking her stomache playfully and she giggles,
"You must be Princess Gracelyn, I've heard so much about you. We're going to have a lot of fun tonight!"
I smile, picking her up and propping her up on the side of my waist as we walk into her house.
After both of our parents leave, I let Gracelyn run around a little bit before analyzing the house, it seemed nice and sturdy for a much bigger family yet I keep quiet. We ended up doing just as planned, playing with dolls and participating in dress up.
She had even done my hair, which now stood in a slightly deformed braid. It had been only 2 hours and Gracelyn was already tired.
I tuck her into bed and await the next 2 hours of complete silence, not wanting to turn on the TV or accidentally break anything. I grab a small glass from the cupboard and fill it up with ice and water as the front door opens, an abundance of shuffling and muffling follow behind it. The sound of a key hits the floor and I gasp in relief as I turn the corner and analyze what was making all of the noise.
The low sound of a moan escapes the girls mouth as the guy, who I'm guessing is Grayson, kissed her neck and pushed her against the wall. I cough lightly, breaking up the intimate thing.
"You must not've known, but no company tonight."
I murmur, gulping down a cupful of water. I place it on the counter nearby and shift into the hallway waiting for a reaction.
"Oh shit, baby. I completely forgot. My mom had to leave tonight and it slipped my mind to tell you."
His voice was low and he gave her a sympathetic glance. The girl sighs lightly before grabbing his hand. "We'll finish this tomorrow," she whispers, glaring at me;
"Walk me out?"
I frown at the girls tone. I refill my cup of water and sit on the island awaiting the football player boyfriend to come into the house in which he rarely is in.
"So you must be the babysitter."
The boy replies, his tone sharp as he turned the corner and sat his football gear near the kitchen table. He ran his fingers through his hair and breathed out lightly.
"And you must be the annoying brother who's never home."
I remark, sipping my water while giving him the side eye. He chuckles, "Whats with your hair?" He tries to change the subject and I set my glass down, hopping off of the countertop.
"How about you ask your sister, you know. The one you never hang around with," I respond.
I could basically feel him rolling his eyes as he stood up, he was at least 5 inches taller than me. "That's what I was planning on doing." He huffed before walking behind me.
I dreadfully hope she isn't awake or I'll have to cook her something and I'm not really in the mood to blow up some random lady's house.
I begin up the stairs, eyeing a few toys we had left behind from earlier. I stop and kneel to get them, immediately becoming aware of my shorts issue.
I hear the boy's breathing hitch and I chuckle. I drop all of the toys into the bin at the top of the stair case and slowly open Gracelyn's bright pink door. I sigh in relief as she lays effortless on her bed, sound asleep.
She shifts hesitantly and I slip into the small space between the door before Grayson followed. I kneeled down beside her and Grayson sat on the edge of the bed, resulting in a squeak and dip from her princess mattress.
Gracelyn sits up and yawns lightly. I smile at her patting her shoulder lightly. She furrows her brows and wipes her groggy eyes with her small fists.
"Gray!" she giggles and jumps onto him, his biceps flex as he carries her and places her on his lap, he caresses her cheeks with the pad of his thumbs and makes a low gurgling sound in his throat. Gracelyn falls back in laughter.
I chuckle lightly, watching them have their brother-sister bonding time. "Is mommy here?" her voice is soft with sleep and I notice that she's due to fall back asleep anytime soon. "Your mommy's going to be home in a little bit, but you've gotta go to bed."
I squeeze her cheeks lightly and she giggles. I lean up and pull the covers over her body, she relaxes and begins falling asleep almost instantly. I tip toe towards the door and wait for Grayson to exit, hoping that he doesn't make any noise.
He fulfills my wishes as he steps back into the hallway and breathes lightly. I make my way downstairs, placing my glass into the sink and washing it as Grayson snacks on a small bag of spicy cheetos.
I lean over and snag a few and I can tell he doesn't like to share. He stays on his phone the entire time and I sit along side him, I spin around lightly in the high chairs.
He looks incredibly intent on reading something and I take this time to analyze his facial features. His jawline was sharp and I forced myself not to drag my finger across it, knowing it would surely bleed.
His eyes are a mix of hazel and green and his lips are light pink and plump. Fuck, he was gorgeous. I place my chin in the palm of my hand and stare at his jaw as it occasionally pulsed beneath his skin.
His skin was perfectly tanned and it looked like his body was really benefiting from his football workouts. His fingers tapped on his screen furiously and it looked like he was in an argument with someone, based on the frequent breathes and huffs that would escape his decadent lips.
I tilt over barely enough for me to see a glimpse of his screen and read what he was writing, a long list of texts had gone back and forth and it seemed as if he was in a roast session with a group of friends, well hopefully.
He chuckles lightly and I quickly lean back into my seat, my curiosity getting the better of me. "What?" I try not sip too much of his kool-aid in hopes that he would tell me. "Oh, this kid thinks he's funny by trying to flame on some of my friends." He sounded more amused than annoyed and I nod my head slowly.
"Guessing he's not doing very well, huh?" he turns to me, his eyes glancing at my face before he turns back towards his phone screen. "Yeah, he's pretty stupid." he murmurs and I see him clench his jaw before typing rapidly onto his keyboard.
I breathe out lightly and stand up, stretching, and take a glance at the clock that beamed from the oven. 9:34. I had thirty more minutes until I could leave.
I grin at the thought of 40 bucks being placed in my hand just for this, I pull my messed up hair from its ponytail and notice Grayson glance at me. I feel my face heat and I walk into the living room, noticing my bag was still placed where I left it earlier.
I pull my phone from the back pocket and turn it on. The light illuminates my face and I flinch lightly before going back into the kitchen and leaning onto the counter. I wasn't facing him anymore and I was completely okay with it.
I continue scrolling through my phone and hear a camera go off. I turn to him but he's already intent on his phone once again. I roll my eyes and go back on my phone.
My first babysitting experience was nothing more than plain vanilla.