As I saw the little devil jumping on the couch, throwing cereal all around, I reminded myself -once again- why I had to babysit Lauren.
The money was useful for a 14-year old.
It was much more entertaining than going fishing with Charlie.
Little Lauren lived right next door to the Cullens'.
Which included a certain Edward Cullen.
Just thinking about him made my heart stop for a second and then resume beating at a furious pace.
Now, who was this Edward Cullen?
He wasn't a popular kid or the golden boy of Forks. He wasn't a rebel, nor was he a geek.
No, Edward Cullen was none of them. He was, in reality, just a normal boy. A normal boy, with normal looks, and a normal family.
He was just Edward. Tall, lanky, shy.
He was all awkward limbs and long fingers. He had weird hair and the greenest of eyes. He was polite and silent.
He wasn't boisterous like Emmett, but he wasn't brooding like Jasper either.
And, he was the object of my affections.
So, I braced myself for a flailing arm or two, and tried lifting the she-devil off the couch. Which, for the record, wasn't particularly easy, because-
Lauren was not a skinny kid.
I didn't have any younger siblings or cousins, which left me entirely confused as to how to lift a child - of any age.
I didn't trust myself with her additional weight on me. The last thing I needed was to fall down and break her hand and my back.
So I very carefully tackled her onto the couch and trapped her chubby form with my skinny one. All this while she continued to cause me bodily harm.
Finally Lucifer grew bored of killing me and resumed watching SpongeBob dance and poke people.
I removed my weary form off her limp one and was on my way to the kitchen to wipe some spit off my face when I saw them.
Edward and Alice Cullen.
Alice was Edward's really tiny, really cute 7 year old sister.
She had black hair, wore pink constantly and always hugged everyone. Even random strangers.
How did I know that? Well, let's just say I had been on the receiving end quite a few times.
Now, if only the elder Cullen kid would learn a thing or two from his sister and let me feel that absolutely flat and non-muscled, prepubescent chest against mine…
"Bellllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". And the she-devil strikes again.
"Yes, Lauren?" I ask, because frankly, what else can I do? It's not like I can tell her to shut the hell up.
"I don' drink this. Gimme candyyyyy" she cries. Like literally, cries – in her nasally voice, no less. And she drags out the letters, which makes her even more annoying.
" Lauren, you have to finish off your cereal and your milk. Mommy's orders", I say and even smile at her. See? I'm making an effort.
But of course she has to go and scream her stupid little head off.
"I want candy! I want candy! Candy!"
And I can take no more of this.
See, normally I'm not a pushover. I'm stubborn.
But this annoying, irritating monster has used up all my patience. So, I relent.
"Fine. Finish your milk and I'll give you a lollipop, alright?" I say all this in an extremely even tone, which is quite an accomplishment.
You know, considering Lucifer is slowly and painfully destroying my ear drums.
I watch, with fingers crossed, as she takes the glass of milk, and smells it.
She smells it.
"It doesn't smell good", she whines.
"Don't smell it then. Just cover your nose and drink it all in one go",I manage to tell her through my clenched teeth.
Then she complains that it's cold.
Of course it is, she spent the better half of the last 15 minutes refusing to drink it.
So I warmed it up for her, like the little slave that I am.
Finally, after a hundred more whines, she drinks the whole glass- with much coercion on my part.
And just when I thought that the ordeal was over-
"Yuck!" she spat.
She. Spat.
And I was supposed to clean that up. Like the little slave that I am.
Just like that, all my dreams of having a moment of solitude to myself were shattered.
After spending a solid 20 minutes cleaning the whole mess up – because apparently, Lauren could hold a lot in her mouth at one go- I had to go search 's cabinets for a piece of candy.
Lauren had good memory and pestered the hell out of me until I finally caved and agreed to let her have her beloved candy.
I'd almost given up on the task, when I came across a lone lollipop in a jar. I guess little Lauren had already finished the rest. No wonder she threw a tantrum for candy all the time.
I fished it out of the jar and handed the pink lollipop to her, seeing her cranky face transform into one of joy at the very sight of it.
As I wandered back into the living room to keep a watch on her, my gaze fell upon the Cullen siblings.
They were playing catch, with Alice running after the ball every time, but stopping on the way to try to catch a butterfly.
I could see Edward's face and he looked extremely bored. An idea planted itself into my head.
Mrs. Mallory had told me to take her out on the lawn if Lauren got bored inside.
My mind made up, I called out to the little monster-
"Hey Lauren, you wanna go out and play for a bit? " I asked, with the first genuine smile upon my face.
A smile that only grew wider as she wore her shoes and followed me out into their lawn.
Right besides the Cullen siblings, who both looked up and saw us coming out.
For the first time ever, I looked right into the green eyes of Edward Cullen.