The Babysitter

Chapter 28
The Babysitter, Part 28

Part 28

I didn’t have a chance to think about anything after the quick shower. The moment she heard the sound of the water no longer running, Noelle called through the door, “Miley? You have one minute to dry off and get dressed. Then I’m coming in.”

That got me moving. It was humiliating enough when I was bottomless in front of both Paige and Noelle. The last thing I needed was for Miley’s babysitter to see me totally naked. As long as she believed that I was thirteen, my body wasn’t doing me any favors. Jumping into action, I grabbed my towel and did a quick yet thorough job of getting the majority of the water off of me. My hair was a whole different story, but I’d have to deal with that after putting on the sleepwear Noelle picked out for me. I made short work of pulling on the plain panties, followed by the pink tank top that one of Paige’s friends must have brought over. Once all the important areas were covered, I rounded out the casual ensemble with the loose shorts. 

I had barely finished the rushed process when Noelle twisted the doorknob and cracked the door. “Are you decent?” she asked. 

Due to my actual age, I understood exactly what she was doing–following through on what she said she would do in sixty seconds, while also entering the bathroom in a way that gave me the chance to protest if I wasn’t fully dressed yet. “Yes,” I muttered. Stalling wouldn’t do me any favors at this point.

“Okay,” she said. Opening the door the rest of the way, the brunette gestured to the sink, “Brush your teeth, and then it’s time for bed.”

I was nervous to argue about anything at this point, especially when I felt somewhat cornered while the tall girl was standing in the doorway, but I had to bring up a concern that she would surely understand. “Umm, my hair?” Going to sleep with wet hair wasn’t good and, since Paige or one of her friends had stolen my hairdryer, my only option was to towel dry to the best of my ability and stay up until it was only a little bit damp. 

“Hmm,” she hesitated. I could practically see her bounce from thought to thought. Since she was the one who had sent me off to shower, it wasn’t like she could claim that I had done so as a tactic to push back the embarrassingly early bedtime. At the same time, however, she believed that I was the difficult brat who lived a few doors down. Going too easy on me would go against her purpose for being here. Making a snap decision instead of deliberating for too long, she said, “You’re right. Brush your teeth, then go sit at your desk.”

While I truly had been asking in the name of not damaging my hair, I didn’t mind that the delay meant that I’d have a little bit longer to figure something out. Of course, I didn’t know what Noelle had in mind. More schoolwork? It would be difficult to brainstorm when also trying to do an assignment at a pace that would satisfy Noelle as she supervised over my shoulder. Still, it was better than being put to bed, where my options would be even more limited. 

Brushing my teeth was a chore. My electric toothbrush had been replaced with a plastic, pink one. And, without my phone, I couldn’t time myself like usual. After feeling out two minutes to the best of my ability, I caught yet another glimpse of myself in the mirror after spitting. As much as I hated to admit it, I could see how Noelle was still making the mistake of wrongly viewing me as a younger girl. With wet hair and no make-up, I did look rather immature in the pink top. Like always, my height wasn’t doing me any favors. My boobs were actually more existent now that I wasn’t stuck in a snug training bra, but my limited curves weren’t going to be enough to convince Miley’s babysitter of anything. 

I reluctantly walked over to my desk, sensing Noelle hovering behind me in case I decided to make a break for the bedroom door or something. Even when I was barefoot and in PJs, she clearly didn’t trust me in the slightest. 

Once I was seated, Noelle found an empty notebook in the small stack of school supplies Paige left on my desk. Everything Alyssa-related was gone, but Paige probably thought about the fact that leaving it totally bare would look suspicious. So there was still my ceramic mug of pens and pencils, as well as a couple of blank notebooks and scratch paper in the corner. Noelle opened to the first page and grabbed a blue pen from the mug. Taking her time to write a couple sentences on the first line, she then set the notebook right in front of me. The words waiting for me were, ‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

Noelle set the pen down on the page. “You’re going to write lines for me before bed,” she explained, “Let’s say 1000 times.”

I stared at her writing, face flushing as I put together that she had specifically chosen phrases in response to how the afternoon and evening had gone since she arrived. My insistence about who I really was. The way Paige made it seem like I was a liar at every turn. As for the middle bit, that was probably just a general counter to Miley being such a handful. “Noelle-”

“And no talking,” she added, cutting me off, “One more word, and it’ll be 2000 lines and another spanking.”

That shut me up real quick. As much as I didn’t want to write the ridiculous sentences over and over again, especially since the second half was actually true despite what Noelle believed, I would much rather sit at my desk and do the demeaning busy work than suffer over her lap again. So I fell silent and picked up the pen.

Before I could get started, Noelle said, “Don’t rush, either. I want every line to be pretty and legible, and I want you to actually think about each word as you go, as well as what you’ll do differently tomorrow.”

As in, how I would act like Miley, ironically lying by omission the entire time. But since Noelle had taken my ability to speak away, unless I wanted to be punished, I simply began writing without any further attempts to stall or protest. 

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

My handwriting was fairly nice in general, and particularly so when I was compelled to take a more deliberate speed. Once Noelle was satisfied that I was committed to working on her assignment, she stepped away and walked over to my bedroom door. “I’ll be right back, Miley. If you get up from that spot, you’re going to be in serious trouble. Do you understand?”

I opened my mouth to reply, before remembering her recent directive. Catching myself, I just gave an awkward nod instead. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Noelle was the right choice to watch Miley. I was eighteen years old, and even I was thoroughly intimidated by her. And since I still had no plan whatsoever to sort all of this out tonight, all I could do was remain at my desk and continue writing lines even after Noelle’s footsteps faded down the upstairs hall.

After a full page, I was only done with 25 iterations. That meant 39 more pages of the same. I wasn’t sure whether Noelle wanted me to do front/back or not, so I skipped to the next page for the time being. Maybe a little wasteful, although that was always a tough balance when weighed against how I disliked resting my right forearm on the metal of a spiral notebook. 

It wasn’t long until I heard Noelle coming back up the stairs. She gave a nod of affirmation when she saw me where I was supposed to be. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder, and she was carrying all of Miley’s summer work in her arms. “For tomorrow,” she simply said. After setting down the pile on the edge of the desk, Noelle went over to my bed and sat down on the edge. Only after pulling out her laptop and opening it up did she ask for the permission that she already gave herself. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Plenty of friends had lounged on my bed before, so it wasn’t really a big deal, although it was a bit different when a girl I barely knew was making herself at home in my room. Then again, there weren’t any other seating options besides my desk. And since I was stuck writing in silence, there wasn’t anything I could do to object anyway. The two of us worked in silence, although only one of us was actually being productive. I would much rather be working on schoolwork, even if it was Miley’s stuff, as at least that would be engaging. 

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

The first sentence was easily the worst, every single time. It’s all I had been called for hours, even when Noelle wasn’t around, and it really was starting to get to me. Turning my head whenever anyone said ‘Miley,’ for example, even when I was fully aware of what my actual name was. And now I was writing it again and again, further echoing the false name into my mind. I obviously would always be Alyssa, and a single night of Noelle’s insistence and Paige’s smirking iterations wouldn’t be enough to condition me away from that or anything, yet that wouldn’t stop the nickname from being temporarily internalized. 

It could have been fifteen minutes or an hour before Noelle finally broke the silence. “How many do you have so far, Miley?” she asked, “And how’s your hair? You may speak, since you’ve been so well behaved.”

My cheeks turned a little bit pink at what had to be an intentional reference to the lines I was writing. “Umm . . . ” Since I had committed to 25 per page for ease of counting, I was set up to give her an answer right away. “Almost two hundred,” I said. Then, after giving my medium length red locks a touch, I added, “And kind of damp? I could probably go to bed.” 

It was extra humiliating to suggest turning in for the night myself, even when Noelle had been the one to make the call earlier. At the same time, the solitude sounded nice. I hadn’t really had a moment to myself ever since getting home from ballet. 

Whether I’d be able to come up with a last second idea or not, it would be nice to be done with Miley’s babysitter for the evening.