NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Yet another story that blindsided me!:) This one is my version of Adventures In Babysitting, script written by David Simkins, and movie directed by Chris Columbus, featuring my OC as the babysitter.

SYNOPSIS: After her boyfriend cancels their date, Anna volunteers to babysit for the Irvine-Hardy's. It was SUPPOSED to be a quiet, boring night watching TV with three kids...

DISCLAIMERS: Not mine (except for Anna and her grandparents) Chase and Tempest Irvine-Hardy are borrowed from Wrestlefan 4 and Dark Kanenite with permission.

The Greatest Night of Your Life

By Debwood-1999

Chapter One

"Well I'm just outa school, Like I'm real real cool, Gotta dance like a fool, Got the message that I gotta be, A wild one, Ooh yeah I'm a wild one, Gotta break it loose, Gonna keep 'em movin' wild, Gonna keep a swingin' baby. I'm a real wild child."

Anna Hollenbeck bounced around her bedroom floor to the beat of the old Iggy Pop song that blasted through her iHome speakers. She was getting dressed and ready for her six-month anniversary date with her steady boyfriend, Mike Mizanin. It was going to be a fantastic night, she just knew it.

Anna was seventeen, blonde, and a senior in high school who lived with her grandparents (which she didn't mind, because her grandparents were young enough to still be cool) following the divorce of her mom and dad. Her grandma was cool enough to help her pick out a nice-looking outfit from Kohl's, and her grandfather was cool enough to not lay down a set-in-stone curfew. Which was even cooler, considering that her date with Mike could go longer than anticipated.

A knock on the door interrupted Anna's impromptu dance routine. "Yeah?"

"It's your grandma. Are you decent?"

Anna turned off the music. "Sure. Come on in."

Anna's grandma stepped in and nodded in approval at her granddaughter's outfit. "You look lovely. That dress is very becoming."

A smirk crossed Anna's lips. "Well, you did help me pick it out." It was a mock layered dress, with a scoop neckline, a wide black belt, and a zigzag print cardigan in cool pastels. Teamed up with a pair of black flats, simple jewelry, and a touch of makeup, it was the perfect date outfit.

Anna's grandma spent the next few minutes flittering around like a pixie, touching a blonde curl here, smoothing out a crease there, straightening out her neckline and checking to make sure her perfume wasn't too strong or too weak. "You look lovely, Sweetheart. Mike is gonna be busy trying to fend off the other boys."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Anna glanced out her window in time to see her boyfriend pull up to the house in his car and honk the horn. "Oh crap, he's here!" she exclaimed, picking her purse up off the bed.

"Language, Anna," her grandmother called out.

Anna didn't hear her grandmother's gentle admonishment. "Okay, Anna, just relax," she instructed herself as she rushed down the stairs, putting her earrings in as she went. "Tonight is going to be the greatest night of your life."

In the foyer, Anna heard her grandfather tell her, "Call us if you're gonna be late."

"I will, my phone's on." she answered back, unlocking the front door and pulling it open. Sure enough, there was Mike on the doorstep. But instead of looking spiffed up and fancy, he looked rumpled and grubby in jeans and a t-shirt. "Mike, hi!"

"Hi Anna."

Suddenly, Anna felt self conscious as she glanced down at her carefully chosen outfit. "Uhhmm...I'm a little overdressed."

Mike shook his head. "No, it's just uh, I have to cancel. My little sister got sick and my parents are going out tonight, so I've been drafted to look after her. I was going to Walgreen's to pick up some medicine, and I thought I'd swing by and tell you. I'm really sorry."

Anna looked visibly disappointed. "Oh, well…I could come over and help out. We could make some chicken soup or something."

Mike shook his head. "No, no. You don't want to be there. She's contagious. I don't want you to get sick. Look, we'll do the French restaurant thing next week, okay?"

"Okay. When?"

Mike pressed his lips into a tight line. "I don't know…Friday…Saturday. I gotta get going…my sister's waiting for me." A pause. "You're upset about tonight, aren't you?"

Anna blurted out "No!" but then reconsidered. "Well, yeah, a little. But I understand."

Mike grinned. "You know Anna, girls like you come along once in a lifetime."

Flattered, Anna smiled and moves to kiss him, but he stopped her. "Oh! Contagious. Here. I'll kiss you." With that, Mike left Anna standing in the doorway after a peck on the cheek.

~~~BABY~~~

Later, in Anna's bedroom...

"Contagious?" AJ Lee tossed the magazine she was reading aside and climbed off her best friend's bed. Anna had just told AJ what had happened.

Anna, still in her dress, flopped back onto the bed. "Yeah, that's what he said."

"He's lying," AJ snorted.

Anna glared in shock at her best friend. "AJ!"

"God, I don't know why you're making such a big deal about him."

"Because," Anna fired back. "Mike's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Anna, he's the only thing that's ever happened to you." AJ continued to pace. "That's why we have to get out of this place. It's like a Dairy Queen. You only get one flavor. Of course, it's all variations on a theme, but it's still only one flavor when it all comes down to it. "

Anna laughed. She didn't want to admit it, but AJ was right. Sure her best friend was a couple tacos short of a combo plate, but she was a pretty smart girl. "AJ, you know, I asked you over here to cheer me up. Now I feel worse."

"Oh Anna, I'm sorry." AJ sat back down the bed. "I'm just in a really bad mood. My parents are driving me crazy. My stepmom is such a pain. If I don't get out of the house I'm gonna spike her Diet Pepsi with Visine."

"Don't do that!" Anna said laughingly, before she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

Anna's grandma entered. "Anna? Hi AJ."

AJ nodded. "Hi."

"Hi Grandma," Anna sighed.

"Anna, I just got off the phone with Chris Irvine-Hardy. He wants to know if you can baby sit for him and Matt tonight."

Anna and AJ shared a look. After a pregnant pause, Anna said, "No, tell him I can't."

"Why not?"

Anna turned back to AJ. "Wait, do you want to do something?"

AJ shook her head. "I have to go home."

No use fibbing, thought Anna. "Because I want to stay home and be depressed."

"Oh, go sit for the Irvine-Hardy's!" AJ fired back, punching her best friend in the arm in jest. "That'll depress anyone."

Anna groaned. "I'm too old to baby sit."

~~~BABY~~~

Anna's grandmother didn't buy her excuse, and an hour later (after a change of clothes), Anna was behind the wheel of her grandmother's Roadmaster station wagon on her way to the Irvine-Hardy's.

~~~BABY~~~

At the Irvine-Hardy Residence...

Nine year-old Tempest Rose Irvine-Hardy skated into the kitchen, where her older brother was making some macaroni. "Hey, Chase! Guess what?"

Tempest's brother, a fifteen-year old carbon copy of his father, shook his head at his little sister. "Mod is gonna kill you when he catches you wearing your skates in the house. And take off that stupid Thor helmet!"

"Thor's awesome, and Mod's gotta catch me first. Guess what?"

Chase took his bowl of macaroni out of the microwave. The bowl was a little too hot for him to handle properly, so he balanced it on the tips of his fingers as he tried to bring it to the counter. "I don't care, wing head."

Tempest smirked. "Mod got Anna to baby sit for me."

"Anna?!" Chase jumped in surprise. The too hot bowl of macaroni slipped out of his grasp and fell on the counter, and macaroni spilled everywhere. "OW! Temper!"

Tempest laughed at her older brother and skated off. "Bye!"

Chase rushed out of the kitchen, the mess abandoned for the moment. He could hear a car pulling up at the curb and rushed up the stairs, climbing over his younger sister as he went. "Temper, will you get out of the way?! Anna's here!"

In the upstairs bathroom, Chase gave himself a once-over and smirked. "Lookin' good, Mongoose McQue—oh, crap! NO! I can't have a zit on my face now! And it's not ready to pop! CRAP!"

Frantically, Chase pawed through one of the bathroom drawers, and then fumbled through the medicine cabinet in search of something to get rid of the blemish. His search was unsuccessful, and he shut the medicine cabinet door and charged out of the bathroom as Anna rang the front doorbell.

"Temper!" Chase shouted as he rushed down the hall to his sister's room. "Temper!"

~~~BABY~~~

Chris Irvine-Hardy, dressed appropriately for a dressy/casual affair, opened the front door to let in the babysitter. "Anna, hi. Come on in."

"Hi, thanks."

"Anna, thanks a million for doing this," Chris smiled in relief as he ushered Anna down the front hallway. "I'm really sorry about the short notice."

"Oh, it's no problem. I'm glad I could help out," Anna shrugged, her bland smile concealing the disappointment about her canceled date.

~~~BABY~~~

Chase shook his head as he looked around his sister's bedroom. Tempest was totally ga-ga over Thor from The Avengers movie, as evidenced by the posters and pictures of the superhero that were pasted all over the walls. She had a Thor plushie on her bed that she slept with every night. She'd even gone so far as to pester her Mod and Dad for Thor bedclothes.

"Temper, did you take my Clearasil again?"

Tempest looked up from the floor, where she was sitting and coloring yet another picture of her favorite superhero. "I ran out of brown," she said simply.

"Great! How am I supposed to cover up my zits?"

Tempest held out a tube of paint. "You want some orange?"

"I can't use paint!"

Tempest ignored her brother's outburst and held up her picture. "What do you think? I think it's my best one yet. Look, I got the sunrays, the cape, and the helmet, and…"

Chase was stunned. "Great, you wasted all my Clearasil on another picture of Thor?"

Tempest shrugged. "Thor's my hero."

"Thor's a flamer," Chase snorted.

Tempest set her picture down. "He is not."

Chase couldn't resist. "Yeah, he is," he fired back, a devilish smirk crossing his face.

"He is not!"

Chase leaned up against the doorjamb. "Thor's a complete flamer."

"Take it back, Chase!"

"No."

Tempest jumped to her feet. "Take it back!" she shouted, lunging for her big brother, who stepped easily out into the hallway. Her helmet slid off, revealing a tied back spill of dark curls. "Take back what you said about Thor!"

Chase snorted in laugher and ran down the hall, with his little sister in hot pursuit. Tempest stomped after her brother, who charged down the stairs and nearly fell on one of his sister's skates. "OW!"

Tempest shouted, "Take it back, Chase! Take back what you said about Thor!"

Chase picked up the skate. "You're gonna kill someone with one of these things."

"Take back what you said about Thor!"

Chase shook his head, smiling and unaware that Anna was behind him. "No."

Tempest suddenly found a way to end the fight. "If you don't take it back, Chase, I'll tell Anna about all those love poems you write about her."

Chase paled, and suddenly grew serious. "All right, Temper, I'm sorry. Thor's not a flamer."

Tempest smiled. "Thank you." She waved. "Hi, Anna."

"Hi," Anna smiled as the younger Irvine-Hardy ran back to her room.

For a full minute, Anna waited for Chase to turn around. It was no secret to Anna that Chase Michael Irvine-Hardy had a crush on her. Of course, she was a senior, and he was merely a sophomore, so he didn't really have a chance. Still, it was cute and funny, and Anna got a nice laugh out of watching Chase make a fool out of himself whenever she was around.

Finally, Anna decided to end the teasing (for the moment, anyway). "Hi."

Chase turned around and stammered. "Uhh...uhhh...Hi. You didn't just hear what we…"

"Oh…no."

"Good." A pause. "Boy you look great. I mean really…your hair…your eyes…"

Anna smirked. "What about them?"

"Oh, um…they're so well placed," Chase stammered.

"Chase, relax," Anna laughed.

"Oh, relax...uhhhmm. Take your coat?" Chase tried to help Anna out of her gray car coat like a gentleman, but he pulled the garment off rather quickly, and Anna stumbled backwards and had to catch herself. "Oh sorry. Sorry."

"It's cool. Thank you."

"Boy, this is a really cool coat. No way is this from Sears or anything like that. This is way too cool."

"Thanks. It was my Uncle Toby's."

Chase nodded. "He's got great taste."

"He died last year."

Chase tossed the coat aside in surprise, as Chris bounded down the stairs.

"C'mon, Junior," he admonished his oldest, ruffling his hair. "Stop fawning all over the babysitter." A pause. "Anna, why don't you come on into the kitchen so we can hammer everything out..."

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly this chapter fell into place. In case you're wondering, Mod is an abbreviation for My Other Dad. Matt's the dad in this one, and Chris is the "mom," I guess. Chase and Tempest were originally twins, but I thought it would be fun to age Chase so that he's closer in age to the babysitter.

BTW, we'll meet Matt in the next chapter, as well as Chase's best friend, Phil Brooks. There's gonna be a nice little psuedo-Jeripunk vibe in this one.

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