FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT

SPOTLIGHT

Uhm, hi. Me again.

VengefulMarionettes.

This will be highly recommend only for 15+ due to racy content.

Thanks.

[By the way, the raping of the vote button would be appreciated.]

. . .

"Please, just for one more night!" I pleaded, desperation evident in my tone.

"Can't you leave him home alone?"

I let out an exasperated breath, trying to keep calm. "He's only SIX. Of course not!" As if she needed to be reminded- she knew full well. After all, I HAD been paying her to babysit for over a year. "Look, all I'm asking is for one night. That's it. One. I'll figure out something for tomorrow night."

"I have bunco club tonight, sweetheart. I can't- there will be eight people here at the very least, Allie. Not the ideal place for a kid." She paused slightly, "However.."

I flinched, and gave her a once-over, taking in her hair wrapped securely into a fluffy towel, bathrobe belt tied and knotted securely around her waist, rabbit slipper covered feet, and the absence of her usual heavily applied makeup. The area surrounding her was a wreck. She certainly didn't seem like she was about to entertain house guests. I looked at her with apprehension, the tension thick, and saw her eye me pointedly- or to be more specific, the worn leather wallet clutched in my right hand.

So that's what she was playing at. Sly old woman- I can't say I was surprised, though.

Gritting my teeth, I pried out an additional twenty and shoved it at her. "This is all I can afford at the moment."

Damnit, I already lost forty- and now this?

It couldn't be helped. I absolutely refused to leave James home alone. I grew up with scare company, what with my mother always sick and my father working, and can still recall the overwhelming feeling of loneliness without any difficulty.

I saw her triumphant smile as she accepted the worn out bill, and tucked it into her small pocket.

I raised my voice. "JAMES?" I heard the padding of little feet as he bounded up the steps from where he had been playing on the lawn, a toy truck firmly in his grasp and bits of grass strewn in his dirty blond hair. "Hey, sweetie. I'll see you around nine, alright?" I dropped to my knees, hitting the floorboards of the deck with an audiable thwhack. "Be on your BEST behavior for me, ok?" I looked at him sternly, and he nodded. I smiled, brushing the few strands of hair from his face before gathering him into a hug. "Mom would be so proud of you." I whispered, before letting go.

I stood and brushed myself off, giving Janice a look of acknowledgement. I turned and headed down the steps, but not before I saw my little brothers eyes mist over with unshed tears.

My heart clenched, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying, tasting metallic on my tongue.

. . .

I walked into the break room.

"Hey, Melody."

She glanced at me, and my red rimmed eyes. "Girl, pull yourself together."

I turned and appraised myself in the broken mirror haphazardly affixed to the locker door. She was right; I looked like my grandmother had just been hit by a train.

Not that I actually knew my grandmother.

"Can you play waitress? This place is oddly packed, and Stacy, being Stacy, isn't here." Melody rolled her eyes, jaw working furiously as she talked around a mouth full of toffee.