Babysitting a brat

As Lauren entered the living room, she saw the 'brat' in question lying on the couch, watching TV. Patty was a blonde like her mother, her hair in silly pigtails. Even though it was a late Friday afternoon, she still wore her school uniform consisting of a blue pleated skirt, a white blouse and white knee socks. Though she was dressed very youthfully Patty was in fact 18.

"Ah, hi, Lauren." smiled Patty as she noticed Lauren entering the room. She thought it would be fun having the young beauty from next door as her temporary babysitter.

Great, thought Lauren, the brat knows my name but Mrs. Smith doesn't... "That's Miss Lauren to you. Or Ma'am. Or Lady Lauren." berated her Lauren. Even if she was only to chaperone her for a few minutes, until the real babysitter arrives, she would not let her treat her like one of her girlfriends. "Am I understood?"

"Yep, geez..."

"Yep is not a word."

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, Miss Lauren." rolled her eyes Patty.

"Better." Lauren smiled to herself.

She saw that Patty was watching MTV, but even despite her young age of 18, she already considered herself 'too old for that stuff'. She slouched in the comfy armchair, picking up one of the fashion magazines she found nearby. At least her mother has good taste, she noted upon flipping through the pages. She planned to read an article or two, and hoped the babysitter would arrive by the time she finished. Patty needed little 'looking after' anyway.

When she glanced up at the screen after the first article, she saw some annoying bikini-clad bimbo shaking her tits in front of the camera to rap music. Good way to teach little girls how to be sluts, she thought. She grasped the remote out of Patty's hand and switched channels angrily.

"Hey! I was watching it." sulked Patty.

"Not anymore." shrugged Lauren. "You are too young to watch MTV, anyway. Here, watch cartoons instead." she switched to one of the cartoon channels as she returned to reading.

"Boo! Cartoons are for children." argued Patty.

"Exactly." she nodded.

"I'm no child! I'm a woman."

"Hah! You still have a long way to go before becoming a woman like me." laughed Lauren. eighteen. The age where all girls thought themselves to be real women. Ridiculous, she shook her head at the silly idea, despite only being a few years older herself.

Patty just crossed her arms in front of her with a pout on her face. She didn't like Lauren just showing up and already treating her like a child. Especially since she was only a few years older than her. She thought she would be more fun. But she would show her she was a real woman. "I have a boyfriend, you know."

"No, you don't." said Lauren without looking up from the magazine.

"I do!" she insisted.

"Then what? One boyfriend hardly makes you a woman." she shrugged.

"How many boyfriends have you had?" asked Patty curiously.

"I..." the question took Lauren by surprise. Maybe she should have said 'a boyfriend' and not 'one boyfriend'.

"A lot?" urged her Patty with wide eyes.

Lauren stopped to think. Should she say 'yes', she would deem her a slut. But should she say 'no', her previous reasoning would only question her own womanhood. "That's none of your business."

"Do you have a boyfriend now?"

"No." said Lauren. Damn it, she should have said 'yes'. "Not at the moment." she added hastily, hoping it would sound better. It didn't. "Boyfriend doesn't make a woman, anyway."

"Then what does?"

Lauren thought about the suitable answer for a moment. She definitely didn't want to scare the brat with the 'juicy' details, and talking about having children would only make her look bad. Then she glanced at the fashion magazine in her hand and blurted out "Clothes." It was the best she could think of in the heat of the moment.

"Clothes?"

"Have you heard the saying 'manners maketh man'?"

"Kingsman?"

"Among others, yes. Well, clothes maketh woman." she explained. She must have read it in the magazine before. Or was she just making it up? Whatever, she was talking to a kid. She would likely forget it within minutes.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that a woman all dressed up in respectable clothes -- not like those sluts in that clip you were watching -- can demand respect from everyone around her." Lauren was content with her explanation.

"What is respect?"

Oh, for the love of... "It is when you do what your elders tell you to, because you respect them."

"Do you respect me?"

"No. Why should I?" laughed Lauren. "You're not my elder. You are just a kid in school uniform."

"But I'm the only one wearing 'respectable clothes' right now." she grinned.

"I... That's irrelevant." Lauren defensively clenched her towel against her body.

"Does that mean you are not a woman at the moment?" teased Patty with a smile.

"No! I'm still an adult. That means you do what I say. Am I understood?" snapped back Lauren angrily.

"Yes..."

"What was that?"

"Yes, Miss Lauren..." Patty rolled her eyes.

"Good. Know your place on the food chain."

Patty had had enough. She stormed off angrily. She was going to show Lauren that she was a real woman. She went into her mother's bedroom and started looking through her clothes. Her mom was definitely a real woman, so anything she found could be working.

A few minutes later, Patty entered the living room again. "Look, Lauren! I'm a woman now." she cheered.

"I told you how to address me." said Lauren, not bothering to turn towards her.

"Look, Miss Lauren! I definitely look like a woman now."

"Yeah, yeah... whatever..." she nodded, hoping she would just shut up if she didn't argue.

"You're not even looking!"

"I do. You look like a 'real' woman." she lied, lost in the article she was reading.

Patty started to moved in front of Lauren to catch her attention, when the doorbell rang.

"Finally." said Lauren. It must have been the babysitter. "Mind making yourself useful? Let her in."

"But... fine..." sighed Patty as she sulked out of the room.

Patty strode through the hall and opened the door to be greeted by a woman in her late forties. As annoying as Lauren had been thus far, she already dreaded what this hag would be like. Like all the ones her mother'd hired before.

"Ah, you must be the kind neighbour looking after the kid." said the elderly woman at the door when she saw Patty.

"What?" asked Patty surprised, but then she realized she was wearing her mother's clothes. The babysitter must have mistook her for an adult, the neighbour. "Yep... I mean, yes." she stammered, trying to maintain her newfound cover. At least until tricking Lauren.

"I'm Mildred. Nice to meet you." shook her hand the woman.

"I'm... Patricia. Nice... nice to meet you." she smiled back.

"How was she... what was her name again? I'm terrible with names."

"Lauren. She - She is in the living room, watching TV. Follow me." said Patty, stifling a giggle. Lauren was definitely in for a surprise.