“YOU DIDN’T!” squealed Scarlett in delight. “You actually met them? You met Artemis and Captain Strong? What were they like? Tell me everything and don’t leave a thing out.” 

 “I don’t know...” I stuffed a cookie into my mouth. Jason and Amy were a normal couple who wanted a night out on the town. “They were just like... normal people.”

 “Normal?” Scarlett grabbed a handful of gummy worms. “That’s lame.”

 “Not too lame,” I reply. “Their babysitting money bought the food.”

 Scarlett’s eyes widened as she stared at the mountain of junk food on the coffee table that she was helping me eat. “You serious?”

 “Yup yup.”

 Scarlett stroked her chin like a megalomaniacal genius. “Interesting...”

 “No. Nope. Not uh. I won’t do it.”

 “What?” Scarlett asked with faux innocence. “You haven’t even heard my idea yet.”

 I defensively picked up a slice of cheese pizza. “I don’t need to! I’ve been apart of enough of your schemes to know not to be apart of it.”

 “Okay. Okay. Here me out.” She pulled her legs beneath her. “The supes paid you good for like two maybe three hours of work, right?”

 “Yeah... What evil scheme is cooking up in your head, Lettie-O Spagetti-o?”

 Scarlett jumped to her feet. “Don’t you get it! Babysit for other superheroes!”

 “Huh?”

 She pulled out her phone. “Sonic Storm – children. The Viper – children. Dr. Von Magick – children. Though online, they are his clones. Miss Mayhem and Jolt – children. You could be their babysitter. You could make bank!”

 An uncomfortable knot formed in my stomach. Scarlett was technically right. The League of Heroes was the biggest superhero organization in the country, with satellite offices all over the world. Some of the biggest names in the superhero industry protected Queensbridge City and the surrounding tri-state area. Several of the superheroes had families of their own.

 “I... Well, you see...”

 “See!” Scarlett tutted. “You can’t come up with a good argument about why my idea wouldn’t work.”

 Not wanting to admit that my best friend was right, I darted out of the living room. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

 “Fine!” She shouted back. “I can smell your cowardice from here, woman!”

 “I think you are mistaking that with my SELF-PRESERVATION!”

___

 After an extra long, overly steamy shower, I joined Scarlett downstairs for part two of our movie night.

 “You should ask Artemis or Captain Strong to spread it around that you’re open for babysitting,” Scarlett muttered under her breath as we watched our third horror of the evening.

 “Let it go, Lettie.”

 “Not until you admit that it’s a good idea.”

 In pure cinematic nature, the phone rang. We screamed.

 “Relax!” I slapped Scarlett’s arm. “It’s just my cellphone.” I picked up my phone. “Hello?”

 “Hi-yah, is this Clary?” asked a man’s voice.

 “Yes...” I gestured for Scarlett to pause the movie. “May I help you?”

 “Yeah. The Strongman says that you’re a babysitter and that his kid loved you.”

 “You mean Penny?” Pieces began to come together in my head. Was I about to get another babysitting job? “She’s a great kid.”

 “Are you free to babysit this Saturday?” he asked.

 “Um...” Frantic, I race into the kitchen to look at the giant whiteboard calendar stuck to the side of the fridge; forgetful of the fact that I did have multiple calendar apps on my phone. Scarlett followed closely behind, eager for any gossip. “Yeah, I’m free.” I uncapped a marker. “Can I get a name?”

 “Robert Masters,” he said. “The Crimson Defender.”

 “The Crimson...” I could feel myself start to hyperventilate. The Crimson Defender was probably the greatest, if not the coolest... There are too many adjectives I could use to describe him. The point was that he was a genius. Any cool tech that nerds like me could dream up, Masters was developing it. Rumor has it that he was developing technology that could alter the fabric of time.

 “The Crimson D-defender,” I finally manage. I looked over at Scarlett, who was literally bouncing. She shared my love for the genius superhero. “Yeah. Um... I’m totally free. When would you... I mean... When should—“

 “When you and your friend there are done fangirling,” said The Crimson Defender. “I’ll have my secretary text you with the details and give you your security passes.”

 The call disconnected.

 “Was that a babysitting job?” asked Scarlett. “It was. Wasn’t it? The Crimson Defender wants you to babysit. Doesn’t he?”

 “Uh-huh. His... his secretary is going to text me.” I lay down on the wood laminate floor and stared up at the ceiling. “Scarlett... I’m in over my head.”

 Scarlett lay down on the ground next to me. “So, what are you gonna do?”

 “I’m gonna babysit.”