It Started With a Dare

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 (Re-written)

~~~

The thing with children nowadays is that they are easily satisfied. Just hand them a phone or a tablet then they're content. One of those types of children is Lilianna, my three year old cousin. I was assigned to be her babysitter on special occasions. Other than having so much free time, it might be also the fact that she was named after me... and her mum.

Uncle Patrick was my father figure during my stay at my grandparents' house. He lived right next door and was newly wed to Aunt Lily. Trying to get Aunt Lily pregnant took quite a while, so they treated me like their kid. So when Aunt Lily got pregnant and found out that it was a girl, Uncle Patrick named her Lilianna. She goes by Lia though since her full name can be quite a mouthful.

Now, I'm just being a couch potato in my living room while Lia watched videos on my phone. It has been like this for the past two hours since Uncle Patrick left Lia while he and Aunt Lily go to the hospital for a checkup before all three of them go see a film, which was the reason it was better to leave Lia with me. The cinema was on the next street from my flat building.

My best guess on the checkup though was Aunt Lily pregnant again.

"Anna, your phone is ringin' again," Lia whined. I took a peek and saw it was another text from Alex. I left it unread and let Lia continue watching cars converse. It was completely lame. I had half a mind to let her watch Winnie the Pooh, Hey Arnold, or even some old anime, like Pokemon or some Studio Ghibli movies. Aunt Lily would eat my fingers for dinner though. She claims the videos that Lia watch are educational, which they are, but not fun.

I should play some Disney movies instead.

After digging in my stash of DVDs, I finally found The Little Mermaid. I placed the disk on the player and went back to my comfortable position on the couch. Then Lia tossed back my phone.

"I think your boyfriend really needs to talk to you," Lia said.

I stared at her to see if she was teasing me, but all I saw was childish innocence. "He's not my boyfriend," I said, opening my inbox. "Where'd you learn about boyfriends and stuff? You're three."

"Maisie, Athena, and Holly," Lia answered, referring to our cousins.

I swear, even though those three are about my age, all they think about are getting boyfriends. Seeing Lia with her eyes glued on the screen, I read over my messages.

Alex: Hey, love.

Alex: No good morning for your darling?

Alex: Are you ignoring me... again?

Alex: I've been stabbed, and my hands have been chopped off. Please reply.

Alex: This is Alex from the other side. I'm actually now sitting beside you, love.

I rolled my eyes at the absurdity of his message. Nonetheless, it made me laugh. Then I typed my reply.

Me: I'm not psychic like you, so I can't tell, nor do I care, if you're sitting right beside me, darling.

Alex: I was kidding. Did you like me dead? Or sitting right beside you?

Me: You were kidding? I couldn't tell. I'm sure my answer to your question will just offend you, so I'll leave it unanswered.

Alex: Wow. I'm already offended, love.

Me: Bite me.

Alex: I'll just kiss you. It's way better.