Hector was 13 when he got his first babysitting job. Though he was incredibly nervous, his dad assured him he would be fine. Besides, he knew these kids and he was going to have some help. But as his dad pulled up in the driveway, he was still shaking. He hesitantly rang the doorbell and was greeted by a tallish woman with blonde hair. She welcomed him in wish a warm smile.

"Okay," she said quickly, a little flustered. "Everyone is here. Oh, and your little helper is very excited. She's been talking about it all day." Before Hector even had a chance to respond, she shouted, "Li-Li! Hector's here!" Hector could hear a pair of feet running down the hallway. Suddenly, the feet stopped and a loud thunk was heard, followed by a cry of pain. The woman sighed and excused herself. In a few minutes, she returned with a small nine year old girl with a neon pink cast on her left arm, and a new band-aid on her knee. And one on her arm. And one on her forehead. The girl smiled up at him.

"Hey Lissy." Hector smiled.

"Hey Hector." Lisa replied.

"Okay," Lisa's mom interrupted, "Jessica and Keith are downstairs in the playroom. There's a list of emergency numbers on the counter, dinner is in the refrigerator, um, band-aids are scattered throughout the house. Lisa can show you anything else. Good? Good. We'll all be back around ten o'clock. Keith and Jessica should be asleep at eight, and Lisa at nine-

"Mo-om." Lisa protested, "That's not fair."

"Fine." Lisa's mother said. "Oh look, a wordball!" Lisa gasped and turned around. "So where were we? Right, back at ten. See you then!" Lisa giggled.

"That rhymes!"

"Right, sweetie. Now, be good for Hector." Lisa's mom kissed her on the head.

"I will mommy."

"Bye guys! Love 'ya Lisa!" And she was gone.

Lisa and Hector made their way down the familiar halls until they got to the basement stairs. Hector walked down the stairs. Lisa walked down three stairs, tripped, and fell down the rest.

"Oh my gosh, Lisa, are you okay?" Hector quickly asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."Lisa dusted herself off. "Let's go."

They found Jessica and Keith sitting on the floor, surrounded by paper and crayons.

"They've been at it for hours." Lisa clarified. "They won't stop until they can write their names."

"Hey Jess," Hector hugged his sister. Hey Keith." They both looked up.

"Hi!" They said simultaneously, then went back to their work. Hector picked up some of the papers around them.

"Well," he commented, "For five year olds, they're pretty good."

"Yes," Lisa agreed, "They sure have their "i"s down." Lisa jumped up and pulled a deck of cards out of a nearby cabinet. "Wanna play?" Hector consented, and they started an intense game of go-fish. By the time Jessica and Keith had gotten bored of coloring, Hector was beating Lisa by four. They put the cards down and resolved to finish later. As dinner approached, the four made their way upstairs. It took Keith a little while to make it up each stair, but after seven minutes, they made it up safely.

Hector opened the refrigerator to find four tupperwares full of food for their respective meals. Lisa and Hector pulled them out and set them on the counter. There were sandwiches for the older children, and yogurt for the younger ones. Lisa passed out the yogurt while Hector got them all water to drink. Suddenly, Jessica started crying.

"Jess, what's wrong?" Lisa asked, concerned. Hector went over, looked at her food, and switched her and Keith's.

"Jessica only likes the blue yogurt. Keith can have the strawberry." Lisa nodded.

"They're so picky!" She exclaimed. Hector snorted.

"Are you kidding me? When you were four, you wouldn't eat anything if it wasn't green. Your mom had to put food coloring in your eggs!"

"She did no- Well, it was my favorite color. You can't blame me for that." Hector just laughed.

As eight o'clock approached, Jessica and Keith became sleepy. Hector picked up Jessica and Lisa picked up Keith.

"We set up a mattress next to my bed. They are going to sleep there." Lisa said. When they got to her room, Lisa opened the door. She was extra careful not to trip over the threshold. They changed the two five year olds into their pajamas. Lisa laughed at Jessica's.
"How cute!" She exclaimed. By the time Jessica and Keith were safely tucked in and in dreamland. Lisa and Hector both sighed.

"Do you think I was the difficult to put to bed when you were a child?" he asked Lisa.

"Oh yeah. You remember that story your mom always tells about the time you got your big boy bed and wouldn't stop getting out? It was three in the morning before anybody got any sleep!"

"Oh yeah?" Hector retorted. "Well remember that time I was over and you refused to take your bath and ran around the whole house stark naked?" Lisa stuck out her tounge. They casually talked until the clock chimed nine.

"Well Lisa, it appears you have to go to bed now."

"No, wait! Mom said-" The events of the conversation played back in her head. "There was no wordball!" She exclaimed. "I always fall for that." Hector laughed.

"Alright then, get into your pajamas." He told her.

" NO! You have to leave first!" Lisa said, wide eyed. Hector did as he was told. In five minutes, he knocked quietly on the door.

"Are you done?"

"Um," came a strangled reply, "almost." In five more minutes, he got slightly worried and opened the door. He found Lisa rolling around on the ground, tangled in her polka dot pajamas. She innocently looked up at him.

"Help, please?"

Hector tried not to show his smile. He helped Lisa out of her shirt and slid the pajama top over her. She did the same with the bottoms. When she was finally ready, she got into her bed. She was asleep within the minute. Hector looked over the three sleeping children and grinned. He did it! Now, he was exhausted. Without a second thought, he climbed into bed next to Lisa and promptly fell asleep.

When the parents got back to Lisa's house and looked in her bedroom, they didn't even try to conceal their smiles. Jessica and Keith had kicked off all of their blankets, so they used each other for warmth. Lisa had her arm over Hector, who was still in his day clothes.

Some friendships are meant to be.

Everyone had a great time that night. Hector learned a lot about babysitting, and a lot about his friends. For example, Lisa kicked in her sleep. He noticed that fairly early on.