I walked to the Scheds' house. God help me. The Scheds are the smelliest, most obnoxious, intolerable kids you'll ever meet. The parents aren't much better. They just leave me with the kids and run out the door. They don't even pay that well. I don't even know why I still babysit for them.

I walk up to their porch and ring the bell. Mrs. Sched opens the door, and I can hear commotion on the other side. I heard a vase break.

"Good afternoon dear. Larson! Stop that this minute!" She turned back at me, "Won't you come in dear?"

I stepped inside, "How long will you guys be gone?"

"We'll be back around six. If any of you get hungry there's some tomato and cream cheese you could fix. Oh, and Jamie needs a bath if you don't mind."

I looked at the kid. Ugh. I need Mr. Clean in the flesh for this one. I faked a smile, "No problamo Mrs. S."

Mr. Sched came in, trying to straighten his tie. "Oh, thank God you're here," He turned to the missus. "We're going to be late honey, let's go."

They started for the door, "Good bye! Have a fun time!"

"Thanks for coming on such short notice Tammy!" They yelled back. After two years of babysitting these monsters, they still can't get my name correct.

I looked to the kids; they barely noticed their parents were gone. I promised myself I would control these monsters today. I took a deep breath.

I clapped, "Alright! I'm in charge now!" Surprisingly, they all stopped and looked at me. This strict thing really works.

"Today I'm not taking any crap from anyone. I'm running a different system now. I'll treat you based on how you treat me. Do you want to see me get angry?" They all shook their heads in unison, "That's what I thought. Now, Jamie, get ready for your bath."

"But,"

"No buts Mr. I'll be there in a minute."

The four year old reluctantly walked to his room with a confused face.

"Now, since you two are older, I expect you both to play nice. Right?"

"Right." Anita nodded.

Larson wasn't as easy.

"Uh huh. Yeah right. What are you going to do about it? Tell my mommy? That doesn't work." He crossed his arms.

I bent down to his level, "I know that doesn't work. If you don't behave, you'll get a spanking and get sent to your room. This isn't my first rodeo kid."

"What? You used to be the cool babysitter. What happened to that Tommi?"

"I don't know Larson, but I have a feeling she's not coming back. Play nice while I give your brother a bath."

He put a pouty face on, "Ok."

…

At 6:15 I heard the garage door open. Thank God. This whole assertive thing really did the trick. I got Jamie clean in a half an hour, and I didn't have any more problems with Larson after our little "chat". It didn't even seem like Anita existed, but she's ten so she was never really a problem.

The couple came in, "How was your day kids?"

"Good," Jaime and Anita said in unison, while Larson just crossed his arms.

"Larson, did you have a good day?" His mother asked.

He shook his head no, "What happened dear?"

"Tommi was mean."

"Oh. I find that very improba-"

"She said she would spank me."

Suddenly Mrs. S didn't look so delightful anymore. She stood up.

"Is this true, Theresa?"

"Well first it's Tommi, and second-"

"Is this true?"

I took a deep breath and tried to look confident, "Yes ma'am. It is."

"I can't believe you have the audacity to tell that to a six year old boy. You should be ashamed of yourself," She slapped me right across the face.

My wyes enlarged with anger, "I had the courage to be assertive, something this family needs more of. Because I showed them I was in charge, I didn't have problems all day. If you want to have your own kids push you around, and turn into ruthless adults, go ahead. I was not aware you wanted to let your kids do anything they want."

Everyone stared at me wide-eyed, "How dare you talk to me that way!" She started crying, "Leave this house right now Tara!" She wiped the tears from her eyes.

I stomped away, "It's Tommi!" I slammed the door.

Without realizing it, I started walking fast. I couldn't believe what I had just done. What's better, it started to rain. Not hard, but just enough to make it dramatic. My house was seven blocks away. Fun.

There was a guy on a bike rounding the corner. Ooh. He was beautiful. You don't see very many guys that look more than decent these days. But then again, I'm way to busy to examine male facial features.

He didn't look that stable on the bike. When he was about twenty-five feet away from me, he fell over. I chuckled a little. I can't help laughing at accidents like that. I ran over to check on him.

"You ok?" He looked at me. He was even more beautiful with eye contact.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He blushed a little. I could tell he was embarrassed.

I looked at his bike, "Looks like you got a flat tire. I can fix that for you, but you'd have to come to my garage."

"Ok, how far away is it?"

"About seven blocks from here."

"Ok," He stood up and dusted off, which didn't work in the rain. "Lead the way."

"My name's Tommi by the way."

"That's a cool name for a girl."

"Thanks, what's yours?"

"Uh, Tommy."

I laughed, "That's not confusing is it? I spell my name with an "i" at the end instead of a "y"."

"That's kind of cool." He looked at me and smiled. I like this. I've never had a boyfriend before, or even really thought about it, but now I think a seed was planted.

"So, where do you go to school?" He asked.

"I don't. I've been working since fifth grade."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I always assume everyone has the same privileges as me. No wait, I didn't mean to say-, I didn't want you to think-," He sighed, "Please excuse my spoiled butt."

I chuckled, "It's okay. I get it. Turn left here."

We turned the corner.

"If you couldn't already tell, I'm not exactly smooth with the ladies."

I gasped, "No. Really?"

"Don't make me feel worse."

I laughed, "I was just joking. I am also clueless when it comes to the opposite gender."

"Really? You struck me as the kind of girl with experience."

"Are you calling me a-"

"No! Good God no! Ugh," He face palmed, "I just meant that you seemed to have the ability to socialize well. Did I word it right that time?"

I golf clapped, "Yes you did. By the way, I'm just messing with you. I'm not that hypercritical. It's cute when you accidentally offend me."

He blushed, "Uh, how much longer until we reach your house?"

"About three blocks."

"Cool."

We just walked side by side the rest of the way home. About a block away, he reached for my hand and squeezed it.

I squeezed back.