Disclaimer: This disclaimer would love to say something to you. It likes peanuts and reviews. BTW, James Patterson owns everything except my characters. Okay, cool. Have a cantaloupey day.

Okay, so listen, how do you get ready to baby sit someone that you think might be a mutant? I had no idea until I made this awesome list. Check it out if you're dealing with something similar!

How to Get Ready For a Babysitting Job if you Suspect That Your Babysittee Might Be A Mutant In 10 Easy Steps

1. Put on an orange shirt that says "ACTING CENTER 2007" and comfortable running shorts.

2. Tie your hair up into a ponytail.

3. Look in your mirror. See that you look bad in orange and running shorts and ponytails make your head look misshapen. Change into a graphic t-shirt that says "PEACE" and denim shorts. Let your hair down and put a pink clip in to tie back your bangs. Love it.

4. Go downstairs and then run back upstairs because you forgot your cell phone.

5. Realize that your cell phone is in the living room on the floor covered in dog slobber.

6. Decide that you don't really need a cell phone after all.

7. Pack a bag. Bring a hair brush, some construction paper and markers, crayons, dolls (that I don't use anymore, no matter what Mom says), scrunchies, some movies that are okay for kids (as in, NOT Superbad, even if that movie is sooo good), story books, band-aids, a blanket, one inappropriate movie for when Zendi falls asleep and I'm bored, and as many pages as I could find on the internet about mutant people (by the way, not all mutants are green people, internet! Some of the pages I visited had no idea what they were talking about.)

8. Tell your Mom that you think you found another mutant maybe.

9. Walk out to the bottom of your driveway.

10. Wait for Jay to come running down the street, saying he's sorry he's late but he tripped and fell down some stairs on the way here.

"Are you okay?" I asked. His face looked fine. I mean, that's not what I meant…I mean…Ugh. His arms looked beat up and his knees were all bloody.

"Yeah I think." he hesitated, he looked nervous and jittery.

"You're lying to me." I said.

"No, I really think I'm okay." he said.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, you didn't fall down the stairs, did you?" I narrowed my eyes and we started walking.

His eyes darted around quickly and he breathed out. "Okay, someone pushed me down some stairs. It's not a big deal, okay?"

I just looked at him incredulously, whatever that means. Why did he let people do stuff like that to him?

"Why do you let people do stuff like that to you?" I asked.

"I don't. I didn't let him push me down the stairs. He just did." Jay walked ahead of me.

"That's not what I meant." I said. "Anyway," Ella's tip of the Day: If a conversation gets awkward, take an easy approach and veer away from that conversation. "Did you bring anything?"

He raised the bag in his hands, obviously grateful to have steered clear of talking about that. "Just some normal stuff. Movies and stuff."

"Did you bring a movie for when Zendi's asleep and you're bored?" I asked.

"Am I a bad babysitter if I say yes?" he asked, grinning at me.

"Yes, but I'm also a bad babysitter then, because I brought Superbad for when she falls asleep." I said.

"You're kidding." he said, scratching his head, skeptically.

"Why? It's a good movie." I protested.

"Oh, I know. I brought it too."

"Cool. We can watch your version and my version and see how they compare." I smirked.

"Mine is so much better." he said.

"Michael Cera looks cuter in mine." I said.

"Well, mine's more epic." he said.

"There's no way that's true because mine must be more epic than yours. Girls' copies of movies are just generally better than boys'." I shrugged.

We stopped walking. "We're here." I said.

"I pray that in this house there will be a small mutant girl who has awesome powers and can kick ass harder than both of us put together. And also, please make Ella realize that my version of Superbad is better than hers." Jay closed his eyes and looked up to the sky.

"And also please let Jay's version of Superbad suck. And also make Zendi go to bed early so that we can watch Superbad twice." I added.

"Amen." Jay said. And we walked inside.

Zendi's house is really nice inside. There's a giant chandelier above your head when you first walk in. I always feel like the chandelier is going to crash down upon the unsuspecting visitors so I ran inside, through the front hallways quickly and motioned to Jay to do the same.

Mrs. Jones (Zendi's Mom) had walked into another room and we were just standing there, waiting for Zendi to come bouncing through the hallways.

"Hey, do you think they have a butler?" Jay asked looking around.

"Possibly." I considered it.

"He's probably evil." Jay said.

"Thanks, Jay." I sighed.

"What? I think he's probably evil."

"Uh…why?" I raised my eyebrows.

"It just seems…justifiable." he nodded.

"No, it doesn't." I shot back. "And don't say that in front of Zendi. She'll have nightmares and we won't get to watch Superbad."

"Oh, horror of horrors." Jay replied. Tonight he was wearing a blue shirt that said, "I TRIP UP STAIRS" on it. What. A. Dork. Unfortunately, he had proved this to be wrong because instead of tripping up stairs, today he had been pushed down stairs. Haha, I make myself laugh.

"Yeah."

Mrs. Jones had sent Jay to the bathroom when he first got here so that he could wash blood off his legs and arms. Just cause, you know, it was kinda gross.

He looked much better now. Like, as in, not bloody.

Mrs. Jones walked in, he heels clicking loudly on the shiny floor. "You guy are really doing me a favor. Just so you know, Hendrix, isn't leaving the house for twenty minutes. I pay you extra." she said absentmindedly.

"Ah, twenty minutes is no big deal, Mrs. Jones." I said.

"Yes, but dear…Hendrix is…" she trailed.

"Oh, okay. So you'll be home at-"

"Midnight…1:00 at the latest." she nodded. I've left you a list of numbers and information on the counter. Zendi's bedtime is 8:00. Hendrix will be home at 10:00 at the latest, but he'll probably just go to bed. I would doubt that he'll give you any trouble." she thought for a second. "If he does, please call me."

"Yeah. Got it." Jay said.

"You kids are lifesavers. Thanks a ton." she grabbed her bag and gave us a smile.

"Bye." I waved from the door and then closed it behind her.

"So…what now?" Jay asked.

"Well, we should probably start investigating." I said.

"We should actually check in on the kid we're babysitting first, you know?" he looked over at me.

"Good idea." I sighed. I wanted to know for sure that there was something up with Zendi. I wanted to be the Encyclopedia Brown for mutants.

It didn't take long to find Zendi, considering she ran right up to me and wrapped her arms around my leg. "Hi, Ella."

"Hey, Zendi." I said.

"Um…hi." Jay said awkwardly.

"Who are you?" Zendi asked, looking up from her position.

"Jay. I'm Ella's friend." he said.

Zendi reached up and pulled my hand until I leaned down to her level.

"What's up?" I wondered.

"Are you two gonna make out in front of me?" she whispered. I jumped up and looked at Jay frantically.

"Uh…no. I mean, we're not…who wants to color?" I grabbed my bag.

"Okay, sure." Zendi stood up and pulled the edge of her turtleneck. She ran down the hall and we followed her.

"What did she ask you." Jay asked, following my quick steps.

"Nothing. I mean, something. But, it's weird. So, no, she said nothing." I decided and walked into the living room. An orangey glow was cast across the floor from a lamp on a side table. I pulled out some crayons and markers and construction paper out of my bag and set them on the ground.

I sat there awkwardly with her staring at me and Jay intently.

"Um…" I trailed off.

"What's your favorite animal?" Jay asked, scooting closer to Zendi.

"Snake." she said, then thought about it. "No. Maybe a puppy."

"Cool." Jay said, and handed her some crayons. "But I've never heard of those animals. Are you sure they're real?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. I shot him a weirded out look.

"Yes." Zendi said with a smile.

"I don't think so." Jay said.

"Jay, there are such things as a snake and a puppy. I know for fact." she crossed her arms, looking confused.

"I still don't believe you." he said, looking defiant. What was he getting at?

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they are. You are just stupid if you don't know that." she laughed.

"It might help if you drew a picture or something of these 'animals'." he put air quotes around 'animals'.

"Fine. But you guys have to leave the room because what if I mess up? Then Jay will never know what a snake and a puppy looks like." she decided, waving her hand at us.

I slowly walked out and closed the door behind us. Then I pushed Jay against the wall.

"Whoa. Where did that come from?" I hissed.

"I don't know. I think I'm just really good at this." he shrugged.

I let go of him and leaned against the wall. "Of course. Mr. Perfect has little kids falling at his feet." I said.

He breathed out. "Yeah, well, Mr. Perfect also has people pushing him down stairs." he glanced over at me.

"Mr. Perfect is a wimp who won't stand up to idiots or anything." I said.

"Who are we talking about again?" Jay asked.

"You, dumbass." I whispered so that Zendi wouldn't hear me swearing.

It got really quiet when suddenly a giant sound ran through the house and made me jump.

"Sorry!" yelled a voice from upstairs. Then 'Forever Young' turned on, loudly enough that we could hear it.

"Wow, that kid has got some issues." Jay looked at the ceiling, which was vibrating from the sound.

"He's getting ready for his date." I reminded him.

"That is not how you get ready for a date." Jay laughed.

"How would you know?" I narrowed my eyes.

We stared at the wall on the other side of the hall for a few minutes.

"Kay, you can come in now!" Zendi yelled.

"Ready to learn what a snake and a puppy look like, Jay?" I asked.

"Yes." he said.

Zendi was pointing to a misshapen demonic looking dog with massive blue eyes and a tongue bigger than it's stomach. "This is a puppy."

"Ohhhh! Now I remember those things." Jay said, smacking his forehead.

"And this is a snake." she pointed to a squiggly line that was bright green.

"Wow, that's good artwork." Jay picked up her drawing and lying on the ground. She lay down next to him and they both looked at it.

"Nice detail." he nodded.

"Thanks. The green on the snake is my favorite." she said.

"Yeah, same here."

I was grateful that Jay was so good with kids. It wouldn't have been good if we were both awkward with children.

After that, it was about 6:00. I figured we could pop in a movie for her to watch and go investigate. She seemed excited, but already had a movie picked out. She grabbed Jay's hand and led him over to the couch. He sat down while she rummaged through a basket with old movies in it.

"Can we watch this?" she asked, holding up a cassette.

"Funny Girl? You like that kind of movie?" I raised my eyebrows. She nodded enthusiastically. I was kind of expecting her to pull out Barbie and Friends, not a Barbara Streisand movie. "Well, alright. I'll get it set up."

I hadn't used a tape like this before. I shoved on it, but it wouldn't go in. It like went in the quarter of a way, but then it wouldn't go in the whole way. Old DVDs are so annoying.

Jay walked up behind me, turned the tape around and I realized that if you turn the tape around it goes in and you don't need to shove.

"Interesting." I said, smirking.

"I'll stay with her and watch the movie. You go…search for stuff that would indicate, ya know, weirdness." Jay said and sat down next to Zendi. She smiled and leaned against him. It was very cute.

"I have to go check on something. I'll be back in a flash." I said.

"Okay." Zendi said.

When I got into the hallway, I felt a little disoriented. I didn't know which way was the stairs to go up. I kind of just paced around until I saw an elevator. I would love to have an elevator in my house. I would just ride up and down all day.

I pressed the button and it dinged and opened. There was red carpet on the ground and shiny gold walls. Sheesh, Zendi's mom must do some business down at the editing company.

There were a few buttons inside. The bottom one said '1', the next one said '2' and it went up to 4. I think '1' was the basement though.

Suddenly I heard feet running down the hallway and then Jay appeared, looking out of breath.

"You're supposed to stay! Is the movie that girly?" I asked.

"Nope, Zendi said that I should come with you because you could get lost in a house like this. She said you'd get scared without me." he grinned evilly.

"Yeah. If there's any monsters in the house, no using me as a shield." I pulled him in to the elevator.

"Did Hendrix leave yet?" he pushed the '3' button.

I listened for Forever Young, but didn't hear anything. "I guess he left for his date." I said.

"I still don't know how he got a girlfriend." Jay complained as I felt the weird rising sensation in my stomach.

"Jealous?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No way." he said.

We rose higher in silence.

Suddenly, I felt the elevator jerk to a stop.

"What'd going on?" I asked, when the doors didn't open. Next went the lights and then we were standing in the dark.

I flipped out. "NO! Jay, it just stopped! We're going to be in here forever and ever! What if we die in here?" I hyperventilated.

"Okay, okay." I heard him knocking on the elevator door.

"Don't do that!" I found his arm and latch myself onto him. "How is this possible?"

"We just might have a power outage or something. Just…hold on." he said. I whimpered and stood, trying not to move. I don't have great vision at night. I think dog's are supposed to, but the 3% that I have in me apparently does not.

I was close to having a nervous breakdown when the lights flickered on and the door opened. I ran out into the light of the new hallway.

"Thank God!" I shrieked and pressed myself to a wall. Jay ran out too. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. It just came back on." he whispered.

"Why were you so calm?" I breathed.

"You think I haven't been locked in dark closets before? The only thing I was worried about was whether there was enough air in there."

"Okay, so…what should we be looking for?" Jay asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we should find Zendi's room?"

"Yeah. That'd be a good start." Jay said.

We looked through all the rooms upstairs, but couldn't find a room that looked little girlish. At one point, we found what I think might have been her mom's room. It was all feng shui. There were dim lamps and a few unlit candles. Instead of chairs, there were big pillows that I really had to strain myself to refrain from jumping on them. There was some relaxing music playing in the background. I think it was Egyptian or something like that. I started to walk in, but Jay put his hand in front of me.

"Wait." he narrowed his eyes. "What if there's lasers all over the floor and if you touch one, you'll die?" he asked, in all seriousness. I glanced over at him. He glanced over at me.

I hesitated. I was about to say something along the lines of 'are you crazy?' but instead I gave in. "Good point."

He stepped carefully into the rooms and then brought his other foot to that spot. Then he repeated this until he was across the room. "Okay, your turn."

I skipped across the room, making sure to touch every possible spot of floor that I could. He winced, but realized that there were no lasers on the ground. "Good thing you pointed out the lasers, Jay, or else I might be dead right now."

"Shut up." he murmured. "Now, if I were a mom…"

"Wow, that's something I never want to hear come out of your mouth again." I said.

"Where would I keep stuff about my mutant daughter."

"My mom keeps it in her mind." I said,

"Well, let's hope her mom doesn't do that also."

Suddenly, I heard a voice from the doorway. "Dudes, what are you doing in my mom's room?"

Hendrix was still home? I thought he had a date. Well, this was going to make this a little harder than I wanted it to be.

Hope you liked this chapter! Please review so that I write more. If you have any ideas as to what should happen next tell me. And if you have an idea for a mutant person, that's be great to. Just post it with the name and the looks and I'm come up with the rest. Cool? Cool. Okay, maybe I'll post another chapter today. KEEP ON READING AND REVIEWING! There's a little button below that just loves being clicked. Don't make it unhappy!