Alice, Leo, Chris, Mouse, and I got out of Mom's car and she smiled at us.
"Have fun, kids." Mom said, beaming.
I groaned, "Mom..."
She giggled, "Sorry, Honey. Well, I hope you enjoy your first day at work. Don't worry about Charlie and James, I can take them grocery shopping with me."
Chris and I exchanged a look and I started to wish I hadn't taken this job.
Mom drove away and my friends and I went into the park building.
A woman with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, who was probably 17 or 18, greeted us.
"Hey," She said, smacking her gum loudly and smiling, "Welcome to the park program. I'm Caitlin and I'll help you plow through all of this! Ready to watch over little kids and try not to get tied up in jump ropes and poisoned with tainted Kool-Aid?"
Caitlin laughed loudly and Leo mouthed 'I told you so'.
I rolled my eyes at him and smiled at Caitlin.
"Yep, we're ready!" I said, smiling politely.
Caitlin nodded and said, "Come on, let's meet the kids!"
Leo's face paled and glanced at me.
I shook my head at him and we followed Caitlin.
"This is stupid," Mouse whispered, "Remind me why I'm here?"
"Because you can take down the kids if they get out of control." Leo said, adding in a whisper, "They do that sometimes."
We all gave him a 'you're a moron' look.
Caitlin stopped at a door and said, pushing it open, "Here they are!"
We went into the brightly colored room. Kids ranging from roughly age seven to fourteen sat at three large polished wooden tables. There were large windows in the room and drawings clearly done by little kids covering the walls.
The kids went around the table and introduced themselves.
There were a lot of seven, eight, and nine year olds.
After a blonde little seven-year-old girl named Chloe introduced herself, there was a girl with really long jet-black hair and brown almond-shaped eyes.
"Hi," She said, "I am twelve years old and my name is-"
"Bailey," Said the curly-haired boy sitting next to her, "Her name is Bailey."
The girl raised an eyebrow at him and said flatly, "I think I know my own name, Emmet."
The boy, Emmet, shrugged and rolled his eyes.
The girl, Bailey, smiled tightly and said, "Yep, call me Bailey."
The boy next to her said, "Okay, my name is Emmet Peterson and I am twelve years old. Please excuse my friend here, Tails- Er, Bailey, for some of her odd or rude comments. You know, weird stuff about robots or space aliens. Hehehe..."
"Okay," I said, trying to add to the conversation, "Is there anything you want to say about yourselves?"
"Umm... Bailey's crazy?" Emmet said, and Bailey punched his shoulder.
"Something about yourself." Bailey said.
"Baliey's Korean-American."
"No one cares!" Bailey said, rolling her eyes.
I glanced at Caitlin for help and she shrugged and leaned over to whisper to me, "They're mingling, getting to know each other. It's good for them."
"Sh-she's just af-fraid." Leo said timidly, "She's afraid of the k-kids."
"Oh, and you're not?" Mouse said, grinning.
Alice smiled at the kids and said in her sweet-little-anime-character voice, "Well what do we have planned next? Do you kids want to go outside? Or play some games?"
The little blonde girl, Chloe, walked up to Alice and tugged on her skirt.
"Can we watch a movie?" Chloe asked, sucking her thumb.
Alice bent down to her level and said gently, "Um, wouldn't you rather go outside and get exercise? Go out and play?"
Chloe stared at Alice like she was crazy. She stared for a long, long time before turning back to her seat.
Alice blinked and glanced at Caitlin.
Caitlin shrugged and said in a hushed voice, "Um, you should probably let them do what they want..."
"I think going outside to play is an excellent idea." Bailey said, standing up and beaming at Alice, "Sorry, what did you say your name was?"
Alice smiled, "Oh, I'm Alice. Thank you, Bailey, for supporting my idea."
Geez, Alice. Way to sound like a voice-recording. I thought.
The blood drained from Emmet's face and he said, "Hey, uh, do you think there's anything else we could do?"
"Like watch a movie?" Chloe said, sucking her thumb and boring holes in Alice.
Alice avoided the seven-year-old's glare and cleared her throat.
"Um," She said, "How about we go outside then?"
The kids in the room all exchanged looks with each other and Caitlin said, "Yeah, you should do what Alice says. She's a smart girl."
Alice smiled proudly and led the kids outside.
Once the kids were all on the field, Bailey pretty much 'owned' all of them. So, she's good at sports. That's good to know.
Leo stared at Bailey throughout the whole game of softball. He was breathing heavily and starting to sweat.
Chris rolled his eyes and said, "Leo, calm down. Those kids aren't going to hurt you."
"You don't know that!" Leo said, "And look at that Bailey girl! She's kicking some little kid ass!"
"Shh, Leo!" I hissed, "Watch the language."
Leo shrugged and said, "Doesn't make a difference. Mary already swears like a sailor."
"Your sister?" Alice asked, "Isn't she five?"
Leo nodded grimly, "One of the worst ages a child can be."
We all rolled our eyes at Leo and he said, laughing hollowly, "Oh, okay. So that's how it's gonna be, eh? Well, when you get brutally murdered by these kids, don't come crying to me."
Alice and I looked at each other and we started laughing. Chris and Mouse laughed too and Leo pouted.
When the game was over, Alice, who was definitely the most interested in this whole program, smiled cheerily and said to the kids, "Okay, time to go inside now!"
Chloe and a boy who looked about her age exchanged a look and followed Alice.
We all went inside and back into the first room, where the kids all sat around their tables.
We could hear yelling coming from outside our room and I exchanged a look with Leo. What?
Mouse opened the door and Kathy stuck her head in the room, "Hi guys!"
Chris stifled a shriek and Kathy came in, pulling her brother, Lunkwill, by the wrist. I had met him a few times before. He was twelve years old.
"Oh my gosh, what a coincidence!" Kathy said, giggling, "I had no idea you guys worked here!"
"Mm-hmm." Mouse said, rolling her eyes.
Kathy didn't seem to notice and she continued cheerily, "Okay, Lunky! Are you ready for a summer full of fun?"
Lunkwill groaned and said, "Kath, this is for kids. I don't want to be here."
Kathy sighed and said, "Look, Lunkwill, I know you don't like people, but this is a good way to meet people and get them to maybe like you. Maybe you'll even get to meet some girls and go on your first date-"
"Kathy, shut up!" Lunkwill said, "You're not my mom..."
Kathy pouted and said gently, "Would you be happier if I brought your diary, Lunky?"
Lunkwill blushed beet red and said, "I-it's not a diary, Kathy."
Wow, poor kid. I thought.
"What a loser." Mouse whispered, chuckling.
"Lunky, you're acting like a baby." Kathy said.
"You're the one calling me 'Lunky'!" Lunkwill said, "Seriously, can we please leave?"
Embarrassed, Lunkwill glanced around the room and his eyes fell on Bailey.
Lunkwill's face got redder and his eyes got wider when he stared at her.
Emmet noticed Lunkwill's dreamy stare at his friend and his jaw sagged a bit. Emmet looked really creeped out.
Bailey glanced at Lunkwill and looked away quickly.
Emmet started laughing and said something to Bailey, and she punched him hard on the shoulder.
Kathy also noticed Lunkwill's gaze and she said, "So, are you sure you can't stay for just a little bit?"
"I-I can stay..." Lunkwill stuttered, staring at Bailey, who put her head down on the table.
Kathy gave Lunkwill a little push and he ran over to sit by Bailey.
Emmet stared at Lunkwill from the other side of Bailey, disgusted.
Bailey seemed to be trying really hard not to look at Lunkwill, but she eventually turned to him and said, "What?"
"N-nothing." Lunkwill blushed and smiled dreamily at Bailey.
Leo whispered to me, "Puppy love."
I laughed and Chris hissed, "Kind of like you with Charlie."
I turned to him and gave him a disgusted face.
"Hypocrite." I scoffed.
