I Knew Babysitting Paid, But It Finally Paid Off

Joe looked at me incredulously, probably questioning if he heard me correctly. Or my sanity.

"What?" He said, still looking a me with that questioning stare. I was starting to get a little freaked out. Stop staring at me!

"Yeah. Let's go to Maine. All of us, you and me, and Nick, and Manda, and Kevin. We can stay at my aunt's cottage. I'm sure she won't mind." I said, the words coming out in a rush, unable to stop from my sudden epiphany.

"Kristen, we're on tour. We could only stay for like one night." Joe said, still staring at me. What is wrong with you boy! Why are you still staring at me?!

"No, I know. Thats all the time we need. Think about it Joe. You guys can use a little vacation. The beach, the ocean. We can go and hang out on the pier, they have all sorts of games and rides. And we can go shopping in the port, they have an amazing little designer knock-off store. And there's a candy store."

Joe's eyes lit up at the words 'candy store'. I knew that it was a done deal now. I grabbed his hand and dragged him outside to find Manda and his brothers, not caring that I was still in my pajamas. We found them on the swings. I ran over to Manda.

"MANDAWE'REGOINGTOMAINE!" I shouted, mushing the words together and saying it in one breath. To the boys, it probably sounded like gibberish, but Manda and I could understand each other when we weren't even saying proper words.

She jumped off the swing and ran over to me. We started jumping up and down and screaming.

"Uh, Joe? What did she say?" Kevin asked, staring at us uncertainly.

"We were thinking of heading up to Maine for an overnight. If you guys don't mind."

"No. We can uses a little break from tour." Nick said.

"Manda! We have to pack!" I realized.

Manda and I skipped arm in arm back to my house to pack, leaving the boys in the park.

As we headed into my bedroom, Manda started up some conversation.

"Sooo..." She said.

"So?" I replied, wondering what was on her mind.

"I woke up last night to notice that you and Joe had disappeared."

"I actually came upstairs alone and fell asleep and woke up to Joe snoring in my ear." I said, grabbing a few bags for all our stuff. "I don't remember him coming upstairs."

"So he just invited himself into your bed?" She asked, astounded.

"No. He said that I told him to. I guess I woke up last night but I was too tired to remember."

"Riight." Manda said, sarcastically.

"Nothing happened, Manda. I think." Joe wouldn't take advantage of me, would he?

For the rest of the morning and a bit into the afternoon, we all packed our bags and my car and took showers. I was the last one to take a shower, and was getting dressed when I heard a knock on my door.

"Yeah, come in." I said, walking over to my closet to look for a shirt to match my blue and black checkered skinny jeans. I was pulling a t-shirt over my head just as the door opened, revealing Joe.

"Hey." He was leaning against my doorframe already wearing his signature white Ray Bans. He had showered just before me, so his hair was slightly curled and wet, dripping onto the shoulders of his light purple t-shirt.

"Hey." I said, leaning against my closet door imitating his stance. He walked over to me, stopping once we were just a few inches away.

"Got a question for ya." He said, his eyes studying my Nightmare Before Christmas poster behind my head.

"Mmm?" I said curiously. He smelled like my banana body wash. Yummy...

"Is there really a candy store? Or did you just say that to get me to say yes?" I laughed.

"Yes, there's really a candy store." I took my hand and placed it on his cheek, moving his face to look at me. "Joe. Why would I joke about such a serious matter as a candy store?"

"Okay good. Because now I really want candy." He whined, acting like a little kid.

I heard Manda calling for us downstairs, so I kissed him on the cheek, then led him down to where Nick, Kevin, and Manda were waiting.

"You two are the slowest people on the face of the planet. Can we leave now? I need to work on my tan." Manda said impatiently, her arms crossed.

"Yeah do we have everything?"

"Yeah. Can we go? I call shotgun!"

Her and Joe raced towards my car. Joe beat her and got in before Manda had the chance to.

"Hey! I called it!" She whined, pounding on the door.

"Nuh-uh! I thought it before you did!" Joe argued through the window.

"That's not fair! I CALLED IT!"

"You two are such little kids. Its ridiculous." I said, getting in the driver's seat. "Are you gonna get in or not?"

"No. I don't wanna go now." She said.

"Okay, but your gonna miss out on a lot of tanning. And shopping. And cute guys. Other than these three." I said, trying to lure her into the car. It worked. She couldn't resist shopping and cute guys.

For the next two hours that it took to drive to the cottage, Joe was gloating over the fact that he got the front seat, Nick and Kevin were arguing over guitars, and Manda was rocking out to her iPod. Finally though, I pulled into the gravel driveway of my favorite place in the world.