Babysitting the Bad Boy's Little Sister

10

The boys disappeared after the weirdness that took place in the dining room, and I was more than relieved. I spent the next few hours babysitting Bee like the whole weekend was supposed to go, and then her parents arrived.

"Thank you so much, Kate," Mrs. Matthews comments, picking Bee up as she runs to hug her.

"We really appreciate it." Mr. Matthews adds.

"It was really no big deal at all, we had so much fun together. Didn't we?" I smile at Beth and she lights up, nodding vigorously.

"Yeah! Can she come over again soon?" Bee pleads in her mother's arms and we all chuckle. Mrs. Matthews gives me an enthusiastic look and I promise Bee that I'd be back to do art and play dress up whenever she wanted.

They thank me once again as I'm walking out the door, and Mrs. Matthews walks me out to my car, giving me a tight hug before I get inside. I smile and wave to the family on the porch, the lack of Sam bothering me in the back of my mind. I start my car and pull out of their winding driveway onto the street, and head home. But, first: coffee. I'd almost completely forgotten about coffee all weekend and I decide I have to ask the parents about it the next time I stop by.

Overall, it was a pretty good weekend, albeit packed full of confusion. But that's behind me now. After this time, Sam probably won't stay home when I'm babysitting, which would be a blessing and a curse. It was nice to have someone else around my age, especially a guy, for protection. Not that he would really do anything that I couldn't, but it was nice to not focus on the safety of the whole household by myself.

I stop into my favorite local coffee shop, and greet the worked in the practically abandoned building. I order quickly and thank them as I always do, since what they do is a blessing. I still can't believe people haven't discovered them yet. I set my drink on the roof of my car before getting in and going home. As I hit a red light, I plug my phone into the aux and shuffle my Spotify. Lemon Demon begins to play, and I smile, pondering the reasons why the universe decided this was what I needed to listen to. As I listen to the lyrics, I decide that that reason was because I needed to order pizza. I speed dial Eli through my car, and the ring is insanely loud until he picks up.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Pizza tonight, my house?" I ask, knowing the answer.

"You want me to text everyone else?" I can hear his smile through the phone.

"Yeah, let them know they can come over whenever, I'm almost home."

"Okedoke, see you soon."

"Byeee!" I hang up, and put both excited hands on the wheel, pulling onto the main road that leads to my house.

---

By the time I've gotten everything out of the car, and greeted my family, telling my mom about the weekend, Eli has arrived. He bombards me with a hug when I open the door and I hug him back tightly. It's so nice to have a best friend. No drama, just fun and complete relatability. It was a fun weekend, but I'm glad I'm home.

"So, how'd the weekend go?" Eli asks once we make it to my room.

"It was interesting, that's for sure. Sam was there," I mention, trying to be nonchalant about it.

"Um, what? Tell me everything! Was he there all weekend? Did he hang out with you? Please don't tell me he made a move on you-"

"Eli, slow down," I chuckle, sitting loosely on my bed as he takes a seat on my floor. "Yes, he stayed all weekend. No, nothing happened, thankfully." I fidget with my hands.

"No way."

"What?" I look up at him, confused.

"You like him, don't you?" He scoffs, grinning like an idiot.

"I do not like him. I don't even know him," I don't sound convincing.

"You totally do. Kate, I would say to get that shit in check fast. You've heard from everyone that he just dates girls for the image and then drops them."

"I don't think that's true, Eli. His mom told me he was the one who was broken up with, and he may have been trying to save his own ass, but he seemed genuine when he told me he wasn't that kind of guy." I want to believe him. If not for my sake, then for his.

"I just want you to be careful, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter anyway because even if I did like him, which I don't, he wouldn't like me back," I scoff, standing up and dusting nonexistent dirt off my pants. "Lets just drop it, okay? This conversation sucks."

"Alright," Eli replies, shrugging. "Oh, I just got word that Ty is picking Lainey up and they're on their way."

"Awesome, I'm gonna go order a couple pizzas."

---

The evening was fun, even though it was the usual. Tyler and Lainey let themselves in and headed to my room where we all played Mario Kart until the pizza arrived. We eventually thought it'd be fun to go for a midnight walk to look at the stars, so we went to the end of my pitch black street and laid down in the emptiness to stargaze. It was so peaceful and it was nice to have a night full of laughter.

When we get back, we decide that because Tyler is leaving for lacrosse camp in a few days we are treating this as a kind of "going-away party."

"Remember when we all went to have that picnic and Ty forgot all the food?" I barely spit out through my giggles.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who packed the food, how was I supposed to remember?" He's trying to defend himself but he's amused like the rest of us.

We all laugh over several other stories of our friendship before I tell the boys that they have to leave. Lainey is spending the night, so once the guys head out, I help her set up sleeping bags on the floor of my bedroom.

"This is just like when we were little," I giggle from the inside of my sleeping bag. We are both burrito'ed up with all our limbs tucked in.

"I'm gonna miss this when we're old," Lainey sighs. It sobers the moment but it's bittersweetness makes us appreciate the moment even more. "So, Eli told me you had a thing with Sam Matthews over the weekend."

I blush in the darkness, staring at the ceiling. "It wasn't a thing, he just stayed at the house. Basically the only time I was with him was at meals."

"He told me it was pretty obvious you liked him, Katie," I hear her shuffle in her sleeping bag and the lamp switches on. "I'm your best friend. You can tell me."

"I don't know what to say," I sigh. "It was so weird, Lainey. We had a few times where we were, like, super close. And I... well, I thought something might've happened if I didn't stop it. Or if he didn't."

"So he made a move? Isn't he a player or something? I don't know him but I've heard rumors," Lainey sounds genuine and I can't get upset at her for assuming.

"I believe that he's good. Even if he's super moody, and really weird at times, he's just really... kind."

"Oh, girl, you sound like you're down bad for this boy," Lainey chuckles, giving me a suggestive look.

"He's really attractive, I don't know," I giggle and she feigns shock before joining me in laughter.

"Well, whether he's a player or not, I know you're smart and you'll make the right choices. Plus if he does anything I will personally hunt him to the ends of the Earth for you."

"Thanks, Laines. I needed to hear that." She flips off the lamp switch and rolls away from me, the glow of her phone reflecting onto the ceiling.

Having my friend express positivity about the whole situation is great and all, but now I'm really confused. Should I just go for it? Or should I wait until there's actual evidence of him being interested? I'm not going to be able to sleep with all these questions in my head.

As soon as I close my eyes, I hear the ping of my text ringtone. Bothered, I pick my phone up, the screen practically blinding my already-adjusted eyes.

hey

A text from an unknown number.

It's Sam btw

Oh. Butterflies in my stomach.