Chapter 14 - Babysitting

"Hey, Little Dove, have anything planned?"

I gasped, swiveling around on my heel, my heart beating fast. I was walking to class with my earbuds in, trying to drown out my surroundings, when Gene snuck up behind me, pulling one of my earbuds out.

"What do you mean, Romeo?" I questioned, attempting to put my normal straight face on as my heart was rapidly beating. It was like I was running a whole mile in one spot.

"It's your turn to pick what we do. I got to sneak into your house, so now you have to figure out what you want us to do." My eyes followed his hand when he raised it to his hair, brushing his hair back. "You there?"

Immediately, I nodded my head, maybe a little more than I should have. I mentally swore at myself for zoning out and bit the inside of my cheek, trying to figure out what to say.

"Help me with babysitting today."

Gene froze in place, staring at me with a raised eyebrow, seeming surprised. "You want me to what?"

"Help me with babysitting," I repeated slowly, smiling at him. It was funny to see him so clueless at once. I could already tell what he was going to say just based off of his body movements. It was just like he was fidgeting, fingers rubbing together as he furrowed his eyebrows. When he opened his mouth, I brought my hand up to silence him. "Don't worry, Gene, I'll be there. You'll be fine."

The rebellious teenager bit his lip, nodding his head. "I'm not good with children."

I rolled my eyes and took my earbud from him. "Meet me in the front after school."

•••

"Frogger was not that good, Gene," I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

Gene leaned forward on the couch, giving me a judgemental look. "Fine, what was your favorite game as a child then?"

I grinned, thinking back to when I would constantly argue with my brother, taking cards and stealing glances at each other's things so that we could have the upper hand and win.

"I liked Snakes and Ladders."

Gene deadpanned, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. I mean, Snakes and Ladders was a classic, how could I not love it? It was such a simple game to learn as a child.

"You cannot say that Snakes and Ladders was better than Frogger."

"Uh, yeah, I can. At least situations can change in Snakes and Ladders. In Frogger, you're doing the same thing for hours, trying not to get run over by a car."

"You're ludicrous, Little Dove."

I rolled my eyes as the side of my mouth turned up into a slight smile. Something about arguing with him made me happy, which seems completely absurd. How would arguing make you happy? I guess it just reminds me that Gene wasn't that type of person who would agree with everything you say. He is true to himself, and he isn't afraid to state his opinion.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang, sending a chill down my back. I wasn't sure how this was going to go, I haven't babysat since I've moved, so this will be a new experience. Usually, I would be babysitting children that I already knew from the neighborhood, but since this is all new to me, I don't really know anyone.

I sprung from the couch and scurried to the door, eager to make a good first impression. Gene remained sitting on the couch fiddling with his hands, not knowing what to do.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and smiled wide, first looking at the mother. "Hello!" I greeted, trying to put energy into my tone.

"Hi!" She smiled back, "Wow, you really do look like your mother."

I laughed a bit awkwardly, my face beginning to get red. I never knew how to respond to that. Do I say thank you or just ignore the comment?

"This is Annalise," The mother said, gesturing to the child next to her. "I'll just be doing some errands so call me if you need anything."

"Okay!" I said as she hurried away to her car, eager to leave.

I turned to Annalise who had a light red tint on her pale face. "Do you like Snakes and Ladders?"

The little girl looked up at me, seeming confused to what I was talking about. Maybe babysitting isn't really my thing.

"Who's into Snakes and Ladders? She probably likes Frogger."

Annalise immediately perked up, taking a step into the house to look where Gene was. "Frogger?" She questioned, "You have Frogger?"

Gene laughed as I sighed, disappointment evident on my face. Of course this is how it goes: I get a babysitting job, but Gene is the one who has fun with it.

"Want to play Frogger? I have it on my phone."

The little girl's eyes lit up and a smile took over her face. She looked like she was over the moon with joy. "Yes!"

I never knew someone could be so happy about playing Frogger.

I slowly closed the door, a frown on my face. This day has not been going my way.

"You alright, Little Dove?" Gene asked, a smirk plastered on his face. I rolled my eyes at him and walked to the couch reluctantly. "Hey, we can play Snakes and Ladders as soon as we're done with Frogger."

I looked up at him with squinted eyes, trying to figure out what he was doing. Gene never makes decisions like this to please people. He must be planning something.

"Okay," I said quietly, still not sure what his plan was.

•••

"Gene, you're cheating! You have to move down the snake if you land on the head!"

"No, Genie isn't cheating, he can stay if he wants to," Annalise defended, grinning at Gene.

I opened my mouth in shock, surprised that they were bending the rules when I just read them. Gene smirked and winked at me, causing my whole face to light up like a traffic light. He's been so weird today.

"I'm hungry, can you make me some food, Little Dove?"

I opened my mouth to say something rude but Annalise interrupted me, asking if I could make her food too. Taking another deep breath, I forced a smile on my face and nodded, walking to the kitchen to make sandwiches.

I knew better than to keep Gene alone with a kid for a long period of time so I scrambled to get all the ingredients, grabbing the bread and peanut butter with some jelly. We love the classics.

As soon as I was done and I cleaned up the kitchen, I took the plates and went to the living room. My heart sank when I saw that it was empty. I knew that they were up to something. "Annalise? Gene?" I called out, taking cautious steps to the table, setting the plates down carefully.

"Now!" I heard Gene yell before I started getting hit by nerf darts.

I screamed, grabbing a pillow in an attempt to shield my face. They really have no mercy, the darts going straight to my head.

"Gene!" I whined, laughing at the same time. As soon as I got close enough, I threw my pillow down and leaped at Gene, fighting for the nerf gun. I knew he was stronger than me so I tried to kick him as much as I could in an effort for him to lose his grip enough for me to yank it out of his hands.

When let go, I turned it back around, firing him with the nerf darts. Gene starts to laugh and runs to Annalise, hiding behind her so that I wouldn't hit him.

"That's no fair Gene!"

Everyone went silent when the doorbell rang. Perfect timing, we didn't even eat our sandwiches yet.

I put my nerf gun down and took a hold of Annalise's hand, guiding her to the door. After I looked through the peephole, I opened the door, a tired smile on my face.

"Wow, you look tired, don't you Anna?"

"I had so much fun!" Annalise responded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Thank you so much," Her mom told me, Hanson game an envelope. "There's the money for taking care of her today. I hope she wasn't too much of a hassle."

"She was great!"

"Thank you again."

"Of course, call me if you ever need me to look over her again."

"Okay, good night!"

"Good night!" I replied, waving as they left.

Exhausted, I glanced over at Gene who was awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, looking at the mess of nerf darts on the ground.

"You should probably leave before my mom gets home."

"Are you sure? I don't really want to leave this mess behind."

"It's okay, I'll clean it up. We'll have an even bigger mess if my mom catches you here."

Gene rolled his eyes at me but slightly smiled nonetheless. As soon as he was out the door, he turned around a sympathetic look on his face.

"Thank you for inviting me, I had a lot of fun today."

Shocked, I stood still for a moment before nervously tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "It was really no problem."

The somewhat rebellious teenager smiled, his dark teal eyes boring into mine. "You really are something special, Little Dove."

It was like time slowed down and there was a magnetic force that was driving us together. I couldn't take my focus off of him, my heart beating fast. We were almost so close that our noses touched when it all stopped. Gene bit his lip and pulled away, a slight pink tint present on his cheeks.

"Goodnight Little Dove."