In Love With my Babysitter

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"See you tomorrow!"

My friends waved their goodbyes and stepped into the limo, provided by yours truly. I waved back with a big smile plastered to my face. But as soon as the chauffeur drove away, the my face dropped.

Throughout the whole picnic, Luis hadn't said a word to me. How unbelievably rude. It seemed, almost, that he liked my friends better than me.

I picked up the folded picnic blanket and silently followed him into the house, where he took off his dirty sneakers and flopped onto the sofa with a groan.

"Auughhh, I'm so tired." he moaned, closing his eyes. I shot him a look knowing he couldn't see it. Of course he was tired-- He'd spent half the entire picnic chasing Bex and Celina around the field.

When I didn't reply, he opened one eye and asked, "Why so quiet?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and said, "Nothing. I'm going up to change. You probably burned off all the calories you gained at the picnic, so we'll eat dinner early."

"Oh. Awesome then." He closed his eye again and I walked towards the kitchen. Wow, some babysitter you are. I called out for Beth to prepare dinner soon, then trudged up the stairs into my room. Quickly I changed into something more presentable for dinner, stuffing my knit sweater and jeans into the hamper. Looking at the clock, I noted that I had about an hour till dinner, so I pulled Jane Eyre out from my shelf and started reading, trying to forget about everything else.

* * * * *

Exactly forty minutes later, I closed my book and sighed. Back to the real world, I thought. Well, then again, Jane Eyre's problems sounded much worse than mine.

I pulled on a pair of my favorite ballerina flats (Leopard spots!) and stepped downstairs, to see Luis on the phone with someone. When he turned around and saw me, he grinned and handed me the phone.

"Just in time," he said. "Your mom was asking for you."

My face immediately fell. I walked over and nearly snatched the phone out of his hand, and held it to my ear. "Yeah?"

"Oh, Jaylee, it's you!" the voice on the other end squealed ecstatically.

"Yes, mom, it's me." I said, rolling my eyes. "What is it?"

For some reason, my mother seemed to be completely immune to my snarky attitude. It ticked me off even more, and for a moment I wondered if that was her goal.

"Well, I just called to make sure everything was fine! I'm in L.A. right now, and yeesh, the students here don't know a thing about modeling."

"Thaaaat's great. And yes, I'm fine." I replied in a monotone voice.

"So how's the babysitter?"

"Uh...good."

"Alright. Just remember, sweety, that-"

"Yes, I know. Call nine-one-one i he tries to rape me. Got it."

"Goody, you remember! Well, have fun at home, and don't forget that Mrs.Blythe's dinner party's this Saturday. Tell her I'm terribly sorry I couldn't be there, 'kay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Byeee Jaylee, love you!" she said and hung up. I put down the phone and muttered how she should just stop nagging me like I was a ten year-old.

"Call 911 if I try to rape you? What was that about?" I heard Luis' amused voice and realized that he was still there. I turned to him and shrugged. "My mom's crazy like that. She's paranoid, really--thinks I'm going to get myself led astray and come home pregnant one day."

His eyebrows raised. "So is she all nuts around your boyfriend, or what?"

"Who said I had one?" I replied matter-of-factly, and walked towards the dining room where a delicious smell was starting to waft out. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw Luis' mouth slightly drop.

"Come on, dinner's almost ready." I called out, and Luis followed behind. Somehow he managed to get to my chair before me and pulled it out. I shot him a wierd look and he just grinned. "I almost forgot to tell you, but..." he leaned in and whispered, "You look really nice." Then he pushed my chair in, and walked over to the other side of the long oak table.

Pathetic, I thought, crossing ny arms across my chest. The moment he hears I don't have a boyfriend, he's out to get me? Instead of coming up with something nasty to say to Luis, I recited the dinner etiquette rules that had been drilled in my head.

        "Greediness should not be indulged in. Indecision must be avoided. Do not take up one piece and lay it down in favour of another, or hesitate. Never allow a servant to fill your glass with something that you do not wish to drink. You can check him by touching the rim of your glass. Never use a napkin in place of a handkerchief for wiping the forehead, face or nose. Everything that can be cut without using a knife should be eaten with the fork alone. Never lay your hand, or play with your fingers upon the table. Do not toy with your knife, fork or spoon, make crumbs of your bread, or draw imaginary lines upon the tablecloth, etc..."

Finally, the servers arrived with our food, and I could finally forget about everything around me. My mother always told me that it took her five years along with a a strict etiquette teacher to teach me how to stop eating like a pig, except by then I'd already become a chubby little girl. (Of which my mother immediately reacted to by forcing me into a diet)

After my wineglass had been filled up with lemonade and my plate had been piled high with legs of lamb, steak, spinach, and who knows what else, I proceeded to eating as fast as I could without (a) choking myself and (b) looking like a pig. Finally, when I looked up, I saw that Luis had already finished his heap of food.

"You know you could've just left, right?" I asked, dabbing my mouth with a napkin.

"I was waiting for you," he replied, as if it were his job to be a perfect gentleman to me.

Sighing, I got up and some men came to clean up our plates. I called out some words of gratitude to our chefs for the dinner, then walked into the living room.

"So I heard you're supposed to be living here for a while." I said to Luis. "Where's your stuff?"

"I'm going home today to get all my stuff--I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"I see..." I thought for a while, debating whether or not I should tell him. "Well, tomorrow there's going to be a summer pool party at my friend's house. If you wanna come, bring along your swim trunks."

"Of course I'm coming!" he said with a grin. "I'm your babysitter, remember?"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Right. By the way, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this whole babysitter thing. I mean, I honestly don't get why Mom hired you to watch over someone only a year younger."

"Of course." He looked at the clock, reading 7:04. Looking back at me, he smiled and said, "Thanks for the dinner and everything, but I've got to get to Meggie's birthday by seven thirty."

Meggie? "No problem. I'll go call Mr. Roberts to drive you home."

"It's alright, I drove my car here."

In my mind I was screaming with envy--He can drive?!--but aloud I only said, "I insist. I'll just go tell our other chauffeur to drive your car home."

"Well...okay then."

I led him out the door as I called out for the two chauffeurs, and when the limo pulled up in the driveway followed by his own sleek silver car, he smiled and waved, "I'll be back tomorrow!" Then he stepped into the limo, and the car pulled away. As soon as it was out of sight, I went back in the house for a nice, long shower.

*  *  *  *

Dressed in my fluffy sleep robe and a pair of even fluffier panda slippers, I went to my room to study a bit more. Soon though, my eyes couldn't stay open any longer and I crawled into bed.

So, a babysitter, huh, I thought. This summer might just get interesting.