Babysitter | Calum Hood

12

When Mrs. Hood invited me to their annual family barbecue, my instinct was to decline immediately. Sadly, my mother, who does not understand that socializing with the Hood clan is not my thing, accepted before I could say no. As of now, I grimaced at my outfit in my mirror. The jeans I was sporting didn't fit me like I wanted them to, but the shirt was nice so the outfit was better than nothing.

As my mother got ready for another fifteen minutes, even if she was scolding me for getting ready so late, my fingers typed out replies to my Twitter messages I haven't replied to. Most of my internet friends wished me luck on going to a social event because most of us are introverts.

I'm more of an extrovert, but not with people I don't know and people I don't like. It's weird being yourself to people you've just met. What if they judge you? The world is a very judgmental place. If they look friendly, I'll obviously act casual, but that's rare. It's even weirder being yourself in the presence of people that you don't like and vise versa. If you don't like them, you try to isolate yourself. If they don't like you, then you don't really want to give them another reason to not like you.

Overall, it's unfair how some people, including myself, can't be who they are openly in fear of being judged. At the barbeque, with a family where two fifths of the family doesn't like me, it's going to be more awkward than Luke - and that kid is awkward.

Once my father yelled at my mother for being slower than a snail, she retorted with a "Shut up, Greg. You knew what you were signing up for when you married me", we all climbed into the car. I was still on my phone with my headphones plugged in, blasting One Direction's third album. With Harry's angelic voice flowing into my ear, my mother's nagging about how I better talk to people at the party instead of the people on my phone was tuned out.

Seeing the usual suburban house made me cringe slightly. I didn't want to be here when there was a great chance of Calum being here. I bet Michael is here, so maybe it won't be bad if it's just us talking. Right when I walked in, I came face to face with Joy and she led my family to the small buffet table they set up outside. I internally screamed when I saw the chocolate fountain down the yard. This family goes all out for a petty party.

My mother nudged my arm, obviously seeing me eye the fountain with greed. She laughed softly and urged me to go try it and report back to her on how it tasted. I wasted no time with walking towards it. I might've jogged a little just because I was that desperate to taste the chocolate waterfall on my tongue. I quickly grabbed a marshmallow and dipped it in the fountain. I giggled excitedly as I saw the sweet tasting chocolate drip down onto it instantly.

"I'm guessing it's your first time with a chocolate fountain?"

I shriek, not expecting someone to speak to me as I was interacting with food. Being the idiot I am, a brown stain appeared on my shirt and I laughed loudly because it looked like shit.

"Why are you laughing at your stained shirt?" the girl with really nice eyebrows asked me. Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders beautifully and her olive skin radiated a content aura. She was breathtakingly beautiful and I had a stain that looked like poop on my right boob.

"It looks like something pooped on me, not going to lie," I mumbled, feeling comfortable with this girl. She smiled brightly at me and I wished I had teeth as perfect as hers.

She awkwardly tried to examine my shirt, but the stain was right on my breast so it was more difficult then it should be. "Um, do you want to borrow a shirt? I'm kind of the reason there's a brown blotch on your shirt. It's really cute by the way," she smiled warmly and I thanked her and told her I had a spare shirt in my car. She nodded. "Come sit by me afterwards. My name's Mali and you're the only girl here that looks my age and I don't want to be alone in a yard full of ten year old boys."