บท 35: 35
EMILY'S POV.
"Actually," She paused, scanning me. "I think it might be nice. I need a change of environment, and since Lucas will be home," She turned to him, "you'll be home, right?"
"Yeah." He replied, with a sigh.
"Then, everything is settled. I'll be a good girl." She said, and winked at me. I didn't need anyone to tell me she meant exactly the opposite. Already, she hated me.
The cold was too much as I walked back to our mansion in my drenched suit. When I got to my room, I squeezed, and hung them up for drying, before preparing a warm bath for myself.
I was famished, but couldn't bring myself to go down to the living room. Wariness had seeped into me, and I didn't want to run into anyone. The evening had been nothing short of embarrassing, and worse, the next day was set to be a lot worse.
What could I wear that could help me feel better? Well, since I was going to be a babysitter, I could dress in a semi-formal way because I couldn't see myself caring for Sadie in a suit, or a tight, white shirt.
The next day, I found a white short-sleeved T-shirt with the words shine written on my chest in black, and paired it up with a pair of free office pants. My hair went into a bun atop my head, and I wore comfortable sandals.
It was a semi-formal look, and the best I could probably go for.
When I went down the stairs, I heard the clinking of plates coming from the dining hall. The dining hall was shielded from the living room with curtains made of shiny strands, so I couldn't see whoever was in there.
I peeped in, and saw Sadie sitting on a chair, munching on her Fried Egg Sandwich with delight, as her legs swung to and fro. Her eyes widened, as she stuffed her mouth full, making satisfied sounds. She spotted me immediately, and smiled.
"Come in, come in. We were just about to call you." She said, with a full mouth, beckoning to me with her little hand.
"We?" I asked, then spotted Lucas opposite her in a white sweatshirt, and black joggers. His brown hair fell on his forehead softly, and sat atop his eyelids. It gave him a casual, yet appealing feel. Thankfully, he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were fixed on his phone, as he bit into his sandwich. "Oh." I said, pushing aside the strands of the curtain, and stepped in.
Thinking of the provoking words he had said when we had chicken broth, made me feel uncomfortable.
I took my seat with a chair in between me and Sadie, and a maid served me with breakfast.
"Good morning, Alpha Lucas." I greeted.
"Please call me Lucas when it's just us. Alpha Lucas sounds weird." He said, raising a glass of water to his lips.
"You can't even read the mood." Sadie said, looking at a long slice of vegetable she had taken out of her sandwich, while making loud chewing noises.
What mood was she talking about?
"Is Katie not around?" I asked, taking up my sandwich.
"She went out with John." She replied, and I sighed. I wished Katie was around. It would make things less awkward.
After a quiet breakfast, Sadie took my hand forcefully, and led me to the farther part of the living room, and up the staircase next to John's study.
"Today, you have to do everything I say." She said, as her little legs climbed the staircase faster than I could ever hope to climb them.
"Alright." I replied, only for her to shove me roughly into a room, and lock the door.
"So, I prepared something for today." She said, striding to the wardrobe. "Ooh!" She squealed in delight, as she threw it open.
She threw a pair of black, fishnet pantyhoses my way, and a short, pink glittery skirt that seemed to throw little beams of light everywhere.
Then she fished out a purple cropped top that also seemed to have too much glitter. It had no arms, and was really fitted.
"Change into those." She said, and I looked at the clothes she had thrown on the floor.
"Your babysitter is not supposed to do all these." I said, and she stopped, with her back to me. She didn't say a word, didn't move a muscle, but that made her scarier.
"Put it on while I'm nice." She growled, and honestly, I felt more scared of her than I felt about the elders. "The next time you run your stupid, fat mouth at me like that, challenging me, then, I'll show you what I can do." She threatened, and continued to fish for things in the wardrobe.
I stared at her, and bit my lip, wishing I could just go to her, hold her little neck, and throw her down the window.
Instead, I picked up the clothes, and shamefully changed into them.
After dressing, I felt oddly uncomfortable. The pantyhose had really big holes, and the skirt was too short. The top seemed to scratch my skin, and it was hard to even try to feel comfortable.
I felt like I had stepped out of a cartoon world.
I really didn't want to wear that crap. It was too flashy, and made me look too dumb.
"What are you still doing?" Sadie asked, pushing open the door. "Get out." She ordered, and even though it tore me apart to take such a nasty order from a kid I could be a mother to, I had no choice, but to do it.
Sadie sat me in front of her dressing mirror, and began to work on my bun. She loosened my hair, and when they cascaded down my shoulders, she ran her hands through them.
"Hair as ugly as the face." She said with disgust, and I bit the inside of my lip. Sadie parted my hair, with a rather sharp object I felt uncomfortable with, and packed my hair in two high ponytails.
Unbelievable! Since when did babysitters get treated in that manner? Why were they bent on making things hard for me?
"Ooh, Sadie's a natural." She said, clipping childish pins to my hair. She applied a huge amount of blush to my cheeks, and inexpertly applied red lipstick to my lips, smearing my chin with it. It seemed rough, and the lipstick wasn't limited to the edges of my lips. It crossed them in some places.
If you asked me, I looked like a clown. After all that horrible transformation, Sadie took me back down the stairs, and when Lucas saw me, he began to cough, but I knew he was actually laughing.
Sadie sat me in a chair, and brought out her phone, clicking pictures, and acting lovey dovey with me.
"Hey, hey, smile! Smile like the sun." She ordered, and I bared all my teeth, making her hit my face with the phone.
"Ah!"
"You look horrible if you do that! Seriously, you're so ugly. Now, smile like I'm doing." She said, and I did. She clicked, and next she made me pout like a kid, which I also did.
"Now, pose like Wonder woman. Do it, do it." She said, excitedly, then her voice lowered dangerously. "Do it."
With my cheeks heating up, and coloring as much as the makeup, I raised a hand up, and tried my best to pose like wonder woman.
Lucas couldn't hold his laughter, and I felt like disappearing into the floor.
Sadie also made me do a lot of weird poses. She made me carry a club like Harley Quinn, and had me blow a kiss to the wall. She also fondled me, and pretended we were the best of sisters.
After all that, my mouth dropped when she simply clicked on all the photos, and uploaded them on her social page.
"Sadie…" I called, but stopped myself in time. She began to dance with her shoulders, and dialed someone's number.
I felt humiliated, and wondered if the makeup was enough to cover up what I really looked like.
Damn, even with that, anyone would still recognize me.
Sadie stayed on a phone call for a long while, and I watched Lucas reading a newspaper.
Then all of a sudden, Sadie laid two yoga mats on the floor, and I groaned in anger.
"Lucas, can you make videos of us? We're going to do a cat pose, and meow." She said, handing him the phone, and he smiled, flashing beauty.
"I… I'm not flexible. I…"
"Who says yoga is for flexible people?" She asked, and got on all fours. "Hurry. My friends are coming, and I need to show them the yoga pictures." She snapped, and I got on all fours. "Arch your back."
"Won't they hear you snapping at me?" I asked.
"That's why I'm smiling at you. I'm muting the sound, and adding music to it." She said, and I shuddered. She was horrible.
I arched my back, and looked at Lucas, who had a straight face on.
"Now, Meeeeeow!" Sadie said, and I died a thousand times.
"Meeeew…" I said, and Lucas burst into laughter, throwing the phone onto the sofa.
"Lucas! You're ruining this!" Sadie snapped, getting to her feet, and snatched the phone from the sofa.
"Just kill me." I muttered, sitting, and feeling like I already looked as red as a tomato.
Sadie made me do more embarrassing yoga, and the times I fell were twice my age. Who did yoga with a short skirt, and a male stranger watching her?
The videos came out weird. I looked like a lady who had made it out of a psychiatric officer by running. Sadie, and Lucas laughed at the videos, and I felt more than humiliated.
"They're almost here. Jean texted me just now." Sadie said, jumping to her feet. "Now, it's Japanese class. I told my friends you're really good at Japanese. Are you?"
"No." I said immediately.
"Then I'll teach you a few words. Come with me. You must say it with confidence. Hear me?" She said, strictly, and pushed me into a room.
"Okay, so I bragged a lot about you. I told them you only like talking to me, so you might not really talk much to them, so… listen up. You must practice this. The tone, the words… Not a single mistake must be made. Now, listen up. When they say hi, you say: Watashi no namae wa Emily desu."
My eyes doubled, and my neck pushed forwards.
"Wata…wata what?" I asked.
"Hey!" She screamed, and I jumped back. "Watashi no namae wa Emily desu." She repeated, and tried my best to say it exactly as she said hers.
"Watashi namae wa…"
"Watashi no namae wa!" She snapped.
You're a brilliant student, Emily. It's just a few strange lines.
"Alright, say, Konnichiwa, Emily desu."
"That's better. Konnichiwa, Emily desu." I repeated, and she nodded.
"Take out your phone, and record the next one." She ordered, and I did as she said. "Dōshitemo dansei ga hitsuyōna ndesu."
"What?" I asked.
"Listen to the recording over, and over, and say it perfectly." She said, and as she left, I kicked the air. They were all the same. They loved using others for laughs.
Shortly, her friends arrived, and they were all older. Most of them were teenagers, but they interacted with her like she was on the same level with them. Sadie was too bossy. It showed even when she was with her friends. Derel, and Derella also dropped by, and Derella began to talk rapidly to Lucas about something. When they had all settled down, Sadie came to call me.
"HI…" they all said without sync.
"Konnichiwa, Emily desu." I said, with a smile, and they nodded among themselves. "Dōshitemo dansei ga hitsuyōna ndesu?" I asked, and their mouths dropped.
Damn. I needed no one to tell me my words meant something else. One look at Sadie who was folding her expanding lips made it obvious.
"Otoko ga hituyou?" One of them asked, with wide eyes, and the others looked at me in disgust. Just then, Lucas grabbed my arm, and led me away.
"What the hell was that?" He asked in shock, when we had entered a room.
"What? I just repeated what Sadie told me to." I asked, and he held up his phone, tapping quickly on it.
"Repeat what you said." He said, holding it in front of me. He had opened a translating app.
"Konnichiwa, Emily desu." I said, and it translated immediately.
*Hi, I'm Emily.*
I hesitated before saying the other, and he raised a brow. "Dōshitemo dansei ga hitsuyōna ndesu." I repeated, and was horrified.
It read: I'm desperately in need of a man.
My eyes widened, and my hands flew to my mouth.
"Damn that…" I said, strongly, almost cursing, but held my tongue immediately. "She made me say that! Why's she like that!? What's her deal with me? Why would she make me say that? How is that supposed to occur to an eight-year-old?" When I was done, I was breathing hard. I had totally forgotten who he was, and had ranted out my frustrations.
He looked at me for a while, then chuckled.
"You should be smarter. Kids these days are like that. You can stay here till they leave." He said, and left. I sank to the floor, and bit my lip so hard that it bled. It was way too humiliating. How could I say that to a bunch of high schoolers? My crazy dressing only made it easier to believe that I was truly crazy.
~
The torture didn't end. Later in the evening, I cooked, and sang for Sadie, and even went to the large playground behind the mansions, and played with her.
The worst was when she forced me to swim around in a mermaid suit, calling me Ariel, and filmed me struggling to swim. It was just my legs that were bound together, but I almost died out of panic.
John and Katie returned, and when Katie saw me, she almost laughed, but held herself immediately.
They began to talk, while Sadie took more photos with me, but then… my dark day suddenly brighte ned up.
Why?
I heard John saying something really sweet. My smile went as wide as my ears, and it was the first natural smile that Sadie caught in her photos throughout the day.
It was a genuine smile.
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