Sorry I’m skipping the day ahead. I really wanted to get to the babysitting job.

___________________________________________________________________________

Seb was waiting for me, leaning on my locker. He smiled when he saw me, but then he seemed to realize it, and his smile faded a little. When I got to him, his smile was only a polite one. I pushed him aside and put in my combination.

“You remembered.”

“Yeah, is it that surprising?”

“I thought you might ditch or something,” I put everything in my backpack and faced him. He raised an eyebrow as he stared back at me. His hair was all messy from gym, which we had for our last period. I resisted the urge to run my hand through it.

“I wanna see the little kid you torture,” He teased. I smacked his arm again, which I found myself doing quite often now.

“For your information,” I said as we started walking to his car, “She’s like my little sister. Sweet and totally adorable.”

“Oh, really?” He asked as we walked out the door. I followed him to his car and he opened the door for me. I smiled as I got in.

“So you actually convinced the parents to let me stay?” He got in through the driver’s door and started the car.

“Yeah. It was a pain though. They were totally convinced that you were my boyfriend, and that our “so-called” project was just a lie. They didn’t say that directly, but I’m sure they were thinking it.”

“Ah, so now you can read minds?”

“Shut up.”

I gave him the directions. When we got there, as soon as Seb parked the car, a little redhead ran out the door to greet me. She didn’t know Seb was here too.

“Julie!” She called out and gave me a hug.

“Hey, Emma,” I smiled. Then she saw Seb, and her eyes widened. I chuckled. “Emma, this is Seb.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” She asked. If she wasn’t so cute, I would have been really annoyed. I just laughed and let it slide, even though it did bother me. A lot. Why did everyone think he was my boyfriend?

“No, he’s just here because of a project we have to do together.”

We walked inside to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who were going to a dinner party. Mr. Smith talked with Seb for a few minutes, and seemed to approve of him. I had a hard time resisting the temptation to start laughing.

After they drove away, Emma seemed really excited in giving Seb a tour of her house. He was really nice, letting her lead him away.

I busied myself with filling in the packet. What was you and your partner’s job(s)? How much money did you earn?

“Let’s watch a movie!” Emma said when they came back.

“Sure, what do you wanna watch?” I asked.

She took out a DVD and inserted it in the DVD player. She turned on the TV and joined us on the couch.

“Little Mermaid?” Seb asked when the movie started. “Good choice.”

I laughed.

“It’s my favorite movie,” Emma told him. The she turned to me, “Can we have popcorn? Pleeeease?”

“Sure,” I started to get up when Seb stopped me.

“I’ll get it.”

“Are you sure?” I teased, “I know you love this movie too.”

He rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen.

When he came back, he had two bowls. He handed one to Emma and one to me.

Finally, the movie was over and Emma wanted to play with lego. Seb went back into the kitchen to fix her a quick dinner.

“You can cook?” I asked.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me,” He smiled.

I stayed with Emma, and helped her build a castle.

“Why did you think Seb was my boyfriend?” I finally asked. I’ve been wondering that since she said it.

Emma shrugged, “I don’t know. You guys just kinda looked like you were together.”

When Seb was done, she ran to the kitchen and ate. After she finished, we played with her for another hour.

“Time to go to bed,” I said when I glanced at the clock and saw that it was getting late.

“Go and brush your teeth,” Seb said, “Julie and I’ll clean up.”

She ran up the stairs and I looked around. There were Lego pieces everywhere. We both bent down on our knees and started picking the legos up. I looked up to see Seb right in front of me. His face was so close to mine. I could see every little feature he had. So perfect.

Without meaning to, my gaze fell to his lips.

Kiss me, I suddenly thought before I could stop myself.

It was as if he could read my mind. He leaned in and kissed me. I felt his arms wrap around my waist, pulling me towards him. Somehow, I had one hand around his neck, and the other one in his hair. I pulled him closer to me.

Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from the stairway. I pulled away and turned to see what it was. Emma was standing there, watching us quietly.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” I got up and walked towards her. I felt myself bush. I didn’t look back at Seb.

“It’s ok,” She said as she followed me upstairs, “I won’t tell mommy or daddy.”

I didn’t say anything as I got out her pajamas and let her change. All I could think about was our kiss. I couldn’t believe he actually kissed me. What happened to moving on? I was mad at myself for kissing him back. It was probably just another mind game of his, and I had fallen directly into the trap.

“I thought he wasn’t your boyfriend,” Emma said as she climbed onto her bed.

“He’s not.”

“Oh,” She nodded like she understood.

“Goodnight,” I turned off the lights and closed the door.

I stopped and hesitated. What would I do when I see Seb again? I stood behind the railing of the staircase and peeked down. He was sitting on the couch, hunched over. He looked so perfect. But no, I couldn’t be falling for him. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my face with my hands.

I couldn’t just hide upstairs until Mr. and Mrs. Smith came back. I slowly made my way down and quietly sat down next to Seb.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Then I felt him look at me. I glanced up and met his eyes. I wanted him.

“I’m sorry,” He said quietly. “I …”

“We broke up,” I interrupted. My voice was shaky.

“I know.”

“Then why did you …. Kiss me?”

Before he could respond, the door knob turned and Mr. and Mrs. Smith walked in. I gave them a weak smile.

“Emma’s fast asleep.”

“That’s great,” Mrs. Smith said, “Thank you so much for looking after her again, Julie. Emma really likes you.”

“I love looking after her,” I faked a smile as she handed me the money.

We exchanged goodnights. Then Seb and I walked out to his car. We sat in silence as he backed out the driveway and started driving to my house.

“Julie,” He said quietly, without looking at me. I kept my gaze out the window.

I couldn’t help it. I wanted to move on, and at the same time, I wanted him. Badly.

When he pulled into my driveway, just as he stopped, I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and opened the door.

“Julie,” Seb put his hand on my arm to stop me.

“I can’t,” My voice broke. All I was focused on now was to get away from him, so I could think it over.

I grabbed my bag and ran out. I quickly opened my door and then closed it once I was in. I looked out the window to see Seb wait for a few more seconds, and then he backed out of the driveway.