The Wrong Babysitter

The Wrong Babysitter Published by P J Miller at Smashwords License Notes Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non- commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support. The Wrong Babysitter "Aww Mum," complained Mel, "I don`t need a babysitter. I`m not a simpering child." "I think you do, Melanie," replied her mother, rather too sternly. "Remember what happened last time we left you alone." Mel pouted, how could she forget when her mother reminded her nearly every day. It was hardly her fault the house had nearly burned down. Well, ok, maybe it was, but even so...a babysitter at fourteen? How embarrassing. "I`ll just sit at my computer till you get back. I don`t need anyone to watch me do that." It was more of a hopeful suggestion, she didn`t really expect it to be accepted. She knew her mother well. Once the woman`s mind was made up, there would be no changing it. "She`ll be here soon," replied her mother, confirming Mel`s thoughts. The girl sighed loudly. "Who is she?" One of the dragons from her club no doubt. "You`ll find out when she arrives. Why don`t you go and put the kettle on." Suggested her mother. "It`ll be nice to welcome her with a cup of tea." "Got any battery acid, Dad?" Mel yelled. "Melanie!" Her mother was shocked. She watched her daughter go into the kitchen as ordered. "That girl, honestly." The girl`s father chuckled, eliciting a stern look from his wife. "She`s not too keen on this idea, is she?" He grunted, pulling his shoes on. "And I can`t honestly say I blame her." "Well, she`ll just have to get used to it." "She`s right about one thing." He replied. "She`s old enough to look after herself." He looked carefully at his wife. "What was the reason for the babysitter again?" Mel`s mother didn`t like being questioned. "That girl has no common sense. She needs someone to keep her in check." Bit like you, she thought. "I think you`re being too hard on the girl. Anyway, I`m sure you know best." Anything for a quiet life. He was a big strong man but couldn`t stand his wife`s strident complaining when she failed to get her own way. The woman smiled. She`d won again, as usual. The doorbell rang and Mel`s heart sank. She`d been hoping the babysitter would get lost, or something. "Get that, would you Mel?" The girl managed to look exasperated and bored at the same time. What was she, a skivvy? Mel opened the door and her chin nearly hit the floor. "What?" She stared at the girl standing before her. "Are you kidding me?" Mel`s mother was behind her and welcomed their visitor. "Oh hello," surprise evident in her voice. "You`re a bit younger than I was expecting." She was looking at a short, decidedly overweight girl with closely cropped hair and beady little eyes. "Hi. I`m Clara. I was sent because Jackie couldn`t make it tonight." The girl smiled, carefully avoiding looking at Melanie. Mel had no such inhibitions. "It speaks!" She glared at the girl, fists clenched. She grabbed her mother`s arm. "We need to talk," in a flat voice she had never used before. Her mother was surprised. This was a new side to her daughter. She followed the girl into the kitchen while her husband led Clara into the living room. The muscles seemed to ripple across the man`s back as he opened the door for the girl. Wow, she thought, wouldn`t want to meet him in a dark alley. Oh, I dunno though. She giggled. Mel turned and stared at her mother. "What`s wrong honey? She looks like a nice girl." "Yes, well, rabid dogs look nice till they tear your face off." Her mother started. "What?" She stared at her daughter as if she`d never seen her before. "What on earth are you talking about?" "Firstly, she`s no older than I am. Why the hell do I need a babysitter my age?" "Language honey," her mother reprimanded the girl. Mel continued as if she hadn`t heard her mother. "And to make it even worse, it had to be her. The worse possible person in the whole world you could have chosen." "Well, I didn`t exactly choose her." "If you wanted to completely ruin my evening, you couldn`t have chosen a worse girl," she paused for a moment, "girl? Nobody in their right mind would even call that," she was getting warmed up now and started enjoying herself, "that thing, a girl." "Shh. Quiet honey, she`ll hear." "I don`t care!" she yelled, "I don`t want her here." "That`s too bad, young lady." Young lady! That was that, then. Mel knew further argument was pointless. "She`s staying and that`s final." Mel decided to escalate things a little anyway. "Well, thanks for completely ruining my life. I`ll never live this down at school. A babysitter at my age, and to make it even worse, it had to be her!" "I`m sure you`re exaggerating, dear." "Oh, you think so?" Mel hardened her voice a little. "She`s in my class. How do you think that`s going to look? I`ll be the laughing stock of the entire school." "Well, it`s too late to change the arrangements now. Besides, she`s already paid for, so she`s staying." "In fact, it`s worse than that. I`ll be laughed out of every place in town." Mel hadn`t finished much to her mother`s annoyance. "Oh come on. Why would she ever bother to tell anyone? What could she possibly gain from it?" Mel stared at her mother disbelievingly. "Didn`t you ever go to school, mother?" Her mother turned to leave but Mel caught her arm. "She`ll do it because she can, because she wants to, because she knows it`ll make me a laughing stock and because she`s a spiteful little bitch." The woman walked out of the kitchen, wide eyed. She`d never been spoken to in this way by her daughter and didn`t know how to cope with the new situation. She grabbed her husband`s arm. "Come on dear, we`ll be late." She looked over at Clara, failing to see anything she didn`t like. She looks fine to me, she thought. Silly girl`s flipped her lid over nothing. I`ll deal with her later. "Have fun girls," looking pointedly at Mel. Her daughter was standing in the doorway, arms crossed tightly across her chest in defiance. Just when Mel thought things couldn`t possibly get any worse, her mother had one last message. "Oh yes, since Clara is the babysitter, she`s in charge." The pair walked out, closing the front door gently behind them. Mel felt that the bottom had fallen out of her world. How could they do this to her? Clara and Mel stared at each other across the room for a few seconds before Clara smiled. Ugh, thought Mel, she even looks evil when she`s smiling. "Well. Melanie." Mel smiled back. Her smile didn`t quite reach her eyes. "The name`s Mel," she replied coldly, "as you well know." "I don`t like this any more than you do, Melanie." Clara said a little too loudly for Mel`s liking. "I didn`t ask to be here and I know you don`t want me here." "You got that right." "Well, we`re stuck with each other for the next four hours so we might as well make the most of it. I think..." Mel decided she wasn`t interested in hearing Clara`s plans. "I have a great idea. You just stay out of my way and I`ll stay away from you and we`ll be just fine." "Sounds good to me." Clara smiled again. "And don`t worry, I won`t tell anyone at school that I had to babysit for you, Melanie." Mel glowered at Clara before leaving the room. She knew full well that Clara would do just that, purely out of spite. She`d gladly take every opportunity to rub anyone`s nose in the mud, and she`d enjoy every last tiny moment of discomfort she caused. Mel was already dreading going back to school the next day and the evening had barely started. "I`m going upstairs on my computer." Said Mel, getting her things from the living room. The further away from you, the better. She thought. "Ok," replied Clara. "I can let you do that, Melanie." "What?" If looks could kill, that fat girl would have shrivelled up on the spot. "I`m in charge, remember." Clara smirked. How can I forget, reflected Mel, eyes narrowing. I really wish I could. She made her way up the stairs, determined to ignore the girl downstairs. She knew Clara would never let her forget this as long as she lived. And there would, no doubt, be plenty of painful reminders in the days ahead. Clara smiled, listening to Mel clumping angrily up the stairs. This was like a dream come true. Who`d have thought she`d end up babysitting that little stuck up bitch. She`d have some stories to tell back at school. Of course, she`d embellish them a little, or improve them. She turned the television on and settled down. Mel fired up her PC, still smarting at the indignity of it all. After messing about aimlessly for a while, she spotted her best friend, Sarah, online and they chatted a bit. Mel decided to tell Sarah of her problems, confident that she wouldn`t blab. "Babysitting? You`re kidding!" Mel shook her head sadly. "And you`ll never guess who it is." "You`re right. Who is it." Mel laughed. "You could at least try." "I`m no good at guessing." "Well, this one`s easy." "Just tell me." Also laughing. "I`ll describe her to you. " "Oh, ok." Mel thought for a moment. "Well, she`s..." "Aha. So we know it`s a woman." "Shush, let me finish." Chuckling. "She`s short, fat and ugly. She has beady, evil little eyes that stare out at you from under rolls of skin hanging off her forehead. Her hair looks dirty and scraggly all the time." Sarah gaped. "God! I hope she can`t hear you." "Nah, she`s downstairs. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, she`s arrogant, she`s ignorant, a nosey first class annoying slob." "Wow! I don`t know anyone like that." "Yes you do. She`s our age. Think about it." "Ohhh, yes. I can see someone now, but she can`t be babysitting. She`s far too young. " Mel nodded. "No!" Sarah showed her amazement. "Not that fat pig Clara?" "Yep." Mel sat back. "Can you believe it? All the people in the world and they send that stupid sow." Outside the bedroom, Clara was fuming, fists clenched. "The Clara that raids scarecrows for her clothes?" They both laughed. "The Clara that even the rugby players run away from?" They went on and on. Clara`s face grew more and more red by the second. "The Clara that even rabid dogs are afraid to bite?" Clara decided she had heard enough and crept back downstairs trying to ignore the ribald laughter. She reached the living room and burst into tears. She wasn`t all those things they had called her. Was she? Actually, she conceded, she probably was, but that didn`t excuse them saying so. She sat down and, with some difficulty, unclenched her fists. I`ll get you for that tomorrow girlie, she promised herself. But what to do about the other girl. Who was it? She hadn`t recognised the voice. She couldn`t let it go though. Oh no, ladies. You don`t know Clara very well if you thought you could get away with that sort of thing. She soon felt somewhat better, imagining what she was going to do to Mel and her mystery friend. Mel decided she was thirsty and headed to the kitchen. She found Clara already there spreading jam on a slice of bread. Well isn`t that a surprise, she thought. Should I tell her she`ll get fat eating that stuff? No, better not. She won`t like the truth, it`s too late for her anyway. She couldn`t help smiling. Clara looked up when Mel entered, saw the smile on her face and automatically smiled back. She kicked herself. Why the hell am I smiling at that evil cow? Her smile faded and she went back to spreading jam. Mel noticed the smile and softened slightly. Maybe I won`t be too hard on her tonight, she thought. Doesn`t mean I have to like her though. She grabbed her drink from the fridge and tasted it. Her face screwed up. "Ugh. Where`s the sugar?" Clara`s ears pricked up. Sugar? She pretended to be engrossed in her jam sandwich but watched where Mel put the jar. The girl left the kitchen without looking back. Immediately, Clara dashed over to the cupboard and grabbed the sugar jar. She tipped it upside down and watched in horror as the lid popped off. "Oh great. Nice one Clara." She stared, with dismay, at her sandwich, covered with a large pile of the white stuff. She sighed. That was just her sort of luck. She carefully spooned the sugar back into the jar, shaking the excess off her sandwich. Well, no need to get mad. It`s only sugar. She`d just eat the rest. Her mouth was already watering. All that jam and sugar had left a sticky mess on her hands too. She licked off what she could then she opened a tap, stepping back with a cry as a jet of water hit her squarely in the face. She vaguely heard a sugary crunch underfoot before she found herself flying through the air. She landed on her backside with a painful thump. ... - tailieumienphi.vn