I Knew Babysitting Paid, But It Finally Paid Off

The boys' concert was over and we all crammed into my Mustang. Their next concert wasn't for a few days and we decided a sleepover at my house was absolutely necessary. I was driving, since it was decided I was the most responsible driver who also knew where my house was. Manda was riding shotgun, playing with the stereo, and the guys were squished in the backseat.

Manda got irritated with the radio very quickly, there was nothing good on. I could tell she was about to break something if I didn't intervene.

"Manda, why don't you put in a CD, before you break my car. Please and thanks."

She grabbed my CD case and started flipping through my collection. She scoffed and made faces at a few, and finally decided on a burned CD and turned on Sweet Talk 101, one of our favorite songs. The volume was on low, but that didn't stop us from screaming at the top of our lungs and changing the lyrics to our own. From the backseat we could hear the guys laughing.

The Kevin, gaining control if his laughter asked us, "What band was that? They're really good."

Manda and I gasped unable to believe our ears.

"You guys don't know Cute Is What We Aim For?!" I said in disbelief.

"They're AMAZING!" Manda shrieked.

Manda and I began to quiz them on whether or not they knew the bands we listened to. We decided we needed to do some serious work tonight.

When we got to my house, my mother was waiting the the living room for Manda and I. Oops, I forgot to mention the boys were sleeping over.

I opened the door, Manda, Joe, Nick, and Kevin following me.

"Uh, hi mom." I said awkwardly as she stared at the three famous musicians in our front hallway.

"You don't mind if Joe, Nick, and Kevin sleep over, do you?" I asked, nervous. Please don't say no, please don't say no.

'No, I don't mind. Just don't get too loud. And don't let Joe or Manda have any caffeine." She said, smiling.

Everyone laughed, even my mother knew all about them. She went up to bed and I brought them to the basement, where we would be sleeping tonight.

"You can throw your stuff over there." I said, pointing to the spot between the treadmill and the couch.

"You've got a nice place here." Joe said.

"I know right?" Manda answered. My house was pretty her's too; she spent so much time here.

Manda and I got right to work, introducing them to Cobra Starship, The Academy Is..., Danger Radio, We The Kings, Hit The Lights, Cute Is What We Aim For, Envy On The Coast, All Time Low, The Hush Sound, Motion City Soundtrack, Armor For Sleep, and Forever The Sickest Kids, just to name a few. Soon enough though, we were all pretty tired. Manda and I went upstairs to change, letting the boys change in the basement.

"Manda, I can't find my shorts!" I said frantically.

"What?! They have to be here somewhere!" She said.

"Oh wait! I think they're still in the basement, from last night!" I said.

-Joe's POV-

My phone started to ring. I looked at the caller id. Why would Manda need to call me if she was only upstairs?

"Hello?" I answered, slightly confused.

"Hi Joe. Wanna do us a HUGE favor?" Manda said.

"Sure. Whatdya need?"

"See, Kristen left her shorts in the basement from our sleepover last night and we're too lazy to get them. Wanna bring them up to us?"

"Uh, okay. What do they look like?"

"Kinda tan-ish with orange-y snowflakes over them."

"Okay, found them." I picked up her shorts from under the coffee table and hung up. As I rounded the corner and out of sight of my brothers, I held out her shorts so I could get a better look at them. They were short. Really short. And I found that I really didn't have a problem with that.

Okay, now I had to find her room. Couldn't be that hard right? I walked around the first floor. Kitchen, bathroom, dining room, living room. No bedroom. Okay, next floor.

As I reached the landing, I noticed three closed doors. Just great, I didn't wanna open her parents door, that would be really awkward.

Oh wait. Her room is probably the one behind the door with all the pictures of me and my brothers plastered on it.

I knocked and a few seconds later Kristen opened it.

"Oh my God, you're a lifesaver Joe!" She exclaimed, hugging me. She smelled sweet, like frosting or cotton candy or something.

She took her shorts and went into what I presumed was the bathroom to change, leaving me with Manda who had already changed.

I walked into her room, observing her walls. They covered in pictures and posters of my and Kevin and Nick and Fall Out Boy.

"Wow." I said, slightly stunned. Manda chuckled.

"She sure does like her posters." She said.

I turned to the wall that her bed was up against and felt my jaw drop. I was looking at the biggest poster I had ever seen. It must have been seven by five feet.

"Where the hell did she find a poster that huge?"

"Ha-ha yeah. Aeropostale, believe it or not. They were having a promotion for Infinity On High and it was in the window. She called like them like a million times so they finally gave it to her."

"Talking about my amazing Fall Out Boy poster?" Kristen said, startling me. I hadn't heard her come back.

She crossed the room and grabbed a dvd.

"C'mon, lets go watch this." She said, linking arms with Manda and grabbing my hand.

For the next two hours we watched Meet The Robinsons, one of my favorite movies. Kristen and I shared the recliner with Kevin, Nick, and Manda spread out on the rest of her couch.

An hour into the movie, Manda, Kevin, and Nick were fast asleep and Manda had kicked Nick off the couch onto the floor.

Kristen began to nod off against my shoulder. I just held her close until the movie was over, and I fell asleep with her in my arms. And as weird as it sounds not having known her for long, it felt right.

I woke up a few hours later from a cat jumping on top of me. I looked around. The t.v. was off, along with the lights, and Kristen wasn't anywhere to be found.

I got up to go look for her. I found her asleep in her room. I stood there in the doorway just smiling. She looked so peaceful and really cute with the covers almost covering her head. I entered her room closing the door behind me.