Always Watching, No Eyes--Slender Woods Series (1)

"We'll be gone for the weekend until Sunday late at night. Make sure to get Jamie in bed around ten ish, and be sure that he's fed. Don't let him go anywhere unless you're with him and make sure he doesn't break anything." Mrs. Carmichael told me as her and her husband were dragging their luggage to the door. "Oh, and Emma, by the way, there is emergency money in the cookie jar. Only use it if absolutely necessary." I knew the drill. I'd been babysitting for the Carmichaels for years. They overpaid me like crazy, but hey, who was I to stop them?
"Jamie! Come on down, Emma's here!" Mrs. Carmichael hollered upstairs. Their house was a 2 story cozy house with a loft above the second floor. It looked like a large log cabin from the outside, and forest surrounded the perimeter with two trails that led to the road and to the crystal clear lake, about 200 feet away. Of course it was extremely nice; the Carmichaels were one of the wealthy families in Birmington Springs. My family, on the other hand, was not. We weren't extremely poor, but definitely not rich. My dad was one of the fishermen of the town, and we lived in a lake house along the shore. It was no shack, of course. It was just enough for my parents, my little brother and sister, and myself.
I heard two feet thudding down the stairs. Jamie came sliding down the railing and dismounted with a hop onto the ground.
"Hey you." He said, winking. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, brother." Oh, and here's another thing--the little runt had a huge crush on me. Ever since he was 6 and I was 8 and I babysitted him for the first time, he's flirted with me. Now I'm 15 and he's 13 and he's STILL at it. I shake it off though; he's WAY too young for me.
Mrs. Carmichael just laughed. "You two have fun, alright? See you Sunday. Goodbye!" And with that, the Carmichaels left, the screen door shutting behind them. The setting Friday sun made the woods a beautiful orange hue. The one good thing about the Carmichaels house was the A/C. Back at the lake house, all we have is mesh screen windows. It's like a big oven in there with the Texas summer heat and all. I wiped sweat off my forehead and slumped on their modern couch.
"So...Emma...whatcha wanna do? I was thinking swimming. Did you bring a bikini? I mean, you don't really need one..." Jamie said, wiggling his eyebrows. I snorted.
"Shut up, squirt. Your mom said that I have to watch you, and I don't feel like boiling outside, thank you very much. So we're staying indoors. Don't you have video games or something to play?" I popped in my ear buds in and put on some One Direction. Apparently I was blasting my music loud enough for Jamie to hear because he began to lip sync the words to "Nobody Compares" with over dramatic gestures. I threw one of the couch's throw pillows at him and he smiled.
"You're a dork."

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The rest of the evening played out as usual, I made Jamie some mac n cheese, one of the few things I could actually cook, Jamie cracked a few perverted jokes, and I laid on the couch watching 30 Rock. Something was weird about tonight though... the woods outside seemed darker than usual, and it felt like a pair of eyes were watching me behind my back at all times. I'd turn around, but nothing was there. It was probably just a load of crap; scared alertness from that movie I saw the other night. But whatever it was about tonight gave me a huge headache.
And all of a sudden, I was just not in the mood to deal with Jamie.
"So Emma...wanna play cards? Black Ops? Catch? We can wrap the neighbors house!!?? Emma? Emma? Huh, Emma? Sounds like fun right?" Jamie urged, shaking my arm.
I rubbed my temples. The beating of my headache got worse.
"Not now, Jamie." I groaned. But he wouldn't stop. He tugged at my arm.
"C'mon! It's always 'Not now, Jamie, I just want to chill'. Let's have fun! Emma, please?!"
I have no clue what happened at that moment, but something came over me like a tidal wave. I looked Jamie in the eyes and glared.
"Jamie, SHUT UP. I don't give a fuck if you're bored, alright? You're just gonna have to DEAL WITH IT. I'm tired of you bothering me ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Just fucking LEAVE ME ALONE! Can't you see I have the worst god damn headache EVER?" I screamed right in his face.
He stood there, shocked. He blinked once, and I knew I hurt his feelings.
My headache was gone, just like that, in an instant. It was like it wasn't even me who said those words. I'd never cussed at Jamie in my life.
"Jesus, Jamie, I'm sorry..." I whispered, looking at the ground. "I did not mean to say that... believe me I-"
"I get it." He said, stone cold.
And with that, he turned around and ran straight out the back door, into the dark woods.