It was the summer in between freshman and sophomore years of college, and Zack was close to broke. He’d spent more money than he’d realized over the last year at parties and getting into clubs: things added up when you went out as often as he and his friends did. Regardless, the simple fact of the matter was that he needed to make some cash this summer. He’d done some babysitting back in high school, and since the neighborhoods he worked in tended to be fairly affluent, he’d made a fairly decent amount of money. Zack put out the word on the local Facebook page that he was available to babysit, and sat back to wait for parents to reach out.
It was only a few hours later than he received a frantic phone call from a woman, Mrs.Reynolds. She informed Zack she was a friend of Mrs. Anderson, a woman who he had babysat before in the past and who had recommended him highly.
“My usual babysitter came down with a nasty fever and had to cancel, but me and my husband are going out for an anniversary boat ride and dinner. We’ll be back tomorrow morning, and we need someone to watch our daughter Bella. I understand this is incredibly last minute, but we’d give you a huge bonus when we come back.” She said. Zack thought for a second. Given how rich these families were, a huge bonus on top of what he’d already be getting paid for overnight work? He might not even need to find another client this summer. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” He said.
Zack jumped in his beat up old car and headed for the Reynolds’ household. Much like the other houses in this neighborhood, it was a beautiful place with a large yard and a pool in the back. He rang the doorbell and a harried looking Mrs. Reynolds answered the door. “Oh, thank goodness you are here.” She said. “Emergency numbers are on the fridge, meals are in the freezer and only need to be reheated really—BELLA”—she yelled up the stairs. “Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice.” The woman continued, hurriedly throwing a last few things in her purse. “I’m meeting my husband at the marina and I’m already running a bit behind, so I have to go, have fun!”
With that, Mrs. Reynolds rushed out the door, leaving Zack staring after her as the door slammed shut, leaving him alone with the girl he was going to be watching. “Don’t worry about Mom, she’s always a bit frantic before big events.” A voice came from the stairs. Zack looked up to see a blonde girl of about 12 looking down at him from the landing. “I’m Bella. I’m guessing you are the babysitter mom and dad hired?”
Zack smiled. “Yes, I’m Zack. Nice to meet you Bella.” He said. “What do you want to do?” He then asked.