Emma was sitting in her room, engrossed in a book, when her mother knocked on her door.
“Emma, can I talk to you for a second?” her mother asked, peeking her head inside.
Emma looked up, her curiosity piqued. “Sure, Mom, what’s up?”
“I have a favor to ask you,” her mother said, stepping into the room. “One of my friends needs a babysitter tonight, and I thought you might be interested.”
Emma’s heart sank. She had never been good with kids and didn’t relish the idea of spending an entire evening looking after someone else’s children.
“I don’t know, Mom,” she said hesitantly. “I’m not sure I’m the best person for the job.”
“Nonsense,” her mother said, waving a hand. “You’re responsible and level-headed, and I know you’ll do a great job. Plus, it’s good experience for when you start your private tutoring job next month.”
Emma’s mother had a point. Emma had agreed to start teaching some of the neighborhood’s kids to earn some extra cash. But she hadn’t expected to start so soon.
Emma sighed. She knew her mother was right. As much as she didn’t want to do it, she couldn’t exactly say no.
“Who am I babysitting?” she asked, hoping against hope that it wouldn’t be a handful of rowdy children.
“Her name is Lily,” her mother said. “She’s ten years old, and she’s bringing two of her friends over to play.”
Emma groaned inwardly. This was going to be a disaster. She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle three kids at once.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Emma said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
“Great!” her mother said with a smile. “You’ll be a fantastic babysitter, Emma.”
Emma rolled her eyes at her mother’s enthusiasm. She stood up and walked to her closet to find something to wear. She didn’t want to look like a complete slob in front of the kids.
As she got dressed, Emma couldn’t shake the feeling of dread in her stomach. She had no idea what to expect, and she was worried she wouldn’t know how to handle the kids.
Once she was ready, Emma grabbed her bag and headed out the door.
Emma took a deep breath and rang the doorbell of Lily’s house, feeling a knot form in her stomach. She could hear the sound of children’s laughter and chatter from inside the house, and her nerves only grew worse. When the door opened, Lily’s mother greeted her with a warm smile.
“Hi, Emma! Thank you so much for coming tonight. Lily is so excited to have you babysit,” she said, ushering Emma inside.
As Emma stepped into the living room, she saw three girls, all around ten years old, playing with toys and chatting animatedly. The girl with curly brown hair, who must be Lily, looked up and beamed at her.
“Hi, Emma! I’m Lily,” she said, running over to give her a hug.
“Hi, Lily,” Emma said, returning the hug.
The other two girls, one with blonde hair and the other with red, glanced over at Emma and gave polite waves.
“Hi, I’m Sophie,” the blonde girl said.
“And I’m Sarah,” the redhead added.
Emma greeted them both with a smile, feeling a little more at ease now that they seemed friendly and well-behaved.
“Lily, you remember the rules we talked about, right?” Lily’s mother said, getting their attention. “Emma is in charge tonight, and you need to listen to her.”
Lily nodded enthusiastically, but the other two girls just rolled their eyes.
“Can we go play now?” Sarah added, tugging on Lily’s sleeve.
Lily’s mother gave Emma a quick rundown of the evening’s activities and emergency contact information before leaving for her own evening plans. As soon as she was out the door, the three girls turned to Emma with mischievous grins.
“So, what are we gonna do, Emma?” Lily asked, bouncing on her toes.
“Yeah, we don’t want to be bored all night,” Sophie chimed in.
Emma felt a wave of panic wash over her. These girls were going to be a handful, she could tell already. But she tried to keep a calm demeanor and smiled at them.
“Well, we can start by playing a game,” she said, hoping to keep them occupied.
“Let’s play hide and seek!” announced Lily, excitedly.
Emma’s heart sank. She knew that hiding spots in the living room were limited, and she had a feeling she would be found easily.
“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Emma said, trying to hide her growing sense of dread.
“Great!” Lily said, clapping her hands together. “You can be the first to hide, Emma.”
Emma hesitated for a moment, but then decided to go along with it. “Okay, I’ll go hide.”
She quickly made her way to the living room and looked around for a good hiding spot. She saw a small side table next to the couch and thought it would be perfect. She crouched down and squeezed herself under the table, hoping that the girls wouldn’t find her too quickly.
“Ready or not, here we come!” she heard Lily shout from the other room.
Emma held her breath as she listened to the sound of the girls running around the house, trying to find her. She tried to quiet her breathing and stay as still as possible, but her heart was racing with anticipation.
After a few moments, she heard footsteps approaching the living room. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the three girls walk in, searching for her.
“Where could she be?” Sophie asked, looking around the room.
“I don’t know,” Lily said, scratching her head. “Let’s split up and search.”
Emma watched nervously as the girls split up and started to look for her. She could see their feet as they walked around the room, trying to find any sign of her.
Suddenly, she heard a giggle and knew that she had been found.
“Gotcha!” Sophie called out, grinning triumphantly.
The three girls crowded around the small table, trying to pull Emma out from her hiding place. But in their excitement, they accidentally caught her shirt on the edge of the table. As they tugged at her, Emma’s shirt rode up, revealing her midriff.
The girls paused, their eyes widening as they took in Emma’s protruding belly. Emma felt a rush of embarrassment flood over her, and she tried to pull her shirt back down, but it was stuck.
“Ooh, Emma, you have a big belly!” Lily teased, poking her finger into Emma’s exposed skin.
Sophie and Sarah joined in, giggling and prodding at her belly as well. Emma felt herself turning red with embarrassment and tried to squirm away from their poking fingers.
“Stop it, guys,” Emma said, trying to sound firm but failing to hide the tremble in her voice.
The girls seemed to take this as a challenge and redoubled their teasing, poking her belly even more aggressively. Emma couldn’t help but feel humiliated as her shirt remained stubbornly caught on the side table, leaving her midriff exposed to their teasing.
“Let’s tickle her!” Sophie exclaimed, and before Emma could protest, the girls had pounced on her, their fingers digging into her sides as they tickled her relentlessly. Emma tried to force herself to laugh along, but all she could feel was embarrassment as her shirt rode up even further, revealing even more of her chubby belly.
Emma’s face turned beet red as the girls continued to tickle her, their fingers finding all the sensitive spots on her body. She tried to push them off, but they were too strong, and her body kept jiggling with every movement, making the girls laugh even harder.
“Your belly is so chubby, Emma!” Sophie exclaimed, poking her finger into Emma’s exposed skin.
“Yeah, it jiggles so much when we tickle you!” Sarah added, joining in with the teasing.
Emma’s embarrassment turned to anger as she squirmed and wriggled, trying to get away from their tickling fingers.
“Seriously, stop it now!” Emma shouted, her voice rising in desperation.
Despite Emma’s protests and attempts to cover up, the girls refused to stop tickling her, their fingers dancing over her skin and making her shirt ride up even more. Emma felt utterly humiliated as she was exposed to their teasing and tickling. She begged them to stop, but they just laughed and continued to torment her.
While the girls kept tickling her relentlessly, Sophie’s fingers eventually found their way to Emma’s belly button, causing her to shiver with discomfort.
“Look at her belly button!” Sophie exclaimed, poking Emma’s exposed belly button with her finger.
“It’s so big and round!” Sarah added, giggling uncontrollably.
Emma’s lips began to tremble with embarrassment as the girls poked and prodded the sensitive area, leaving her feeling exposed and humiliated. Despite her attempts to squirm away from their tickling fingers, the girls held her down and kept teasing her.
“Stop it, please!” Emma begged, her voice cracking from the mixture of embarrassment and discomfort. “I don’t like this. Please stop!”
The girls just laughed in response, not taking Emma’s words seriously.
Emma’s chubby belly jiggled uncontrollably with every touch, causing her to feel even more self-conscious about her body. The sensation of being tickled on her belly button was the most uncomfortable and exposed Emma had ever felt, and she couldn’t bring herself to laugh along with the girls’ teasing. Instead, she felt a lump form in her throat and tears welling up in her eyes, as the girls continued to tickle her without mercy. The girls seemed to be enjoying her discomfort and helplessness, and Emma felt humiliated that they were able to reduce her to such a state.
After a while, Emma managed to catch her breath as the tickling stopped. She got up and assessed the damage, her shirt ripped apart, and attempted to regain her composure. The other girls appeared pleased with themselves, realizing they had the upper hand.
“I believe it’s time for you to head to bed,” Emma stated firmly, hoping to maintain some authority.
Lilly couldn’t help but comment, “Your face is so red!”
Sophie chimed in, laughing, “Are you blushing because we saw your big belly?”
Emma’s cheeks turned even redder as she tried to ignore their teasing and sat on the sofa, feeling rattled. She had never felt so exposed and humiliated before and wasn’t sure how to handle the situation.
As the girls went to bed, still giggling and whispering to each other, Emma slowly got up from the couch and made her way to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and took deep breaths, trying to calm down. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, her shirt still in tatters, and felt a pang of embarrassment.
As she made her way back to the living room, Emma couldn’t help but dread the next time she had to come back to this house for her private tutoring job. What if the girls decided to do something even worse next time? She shook her head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts.
Two hours felt like an eternity to Emma as she waited for Lilly’s mother to come back home. When she finally arrived, Emma put on a polite smile and thanked her for having her over. Lilly’s mother reciprocated with kind words and offered to give Emma a ride home which she accepted gratefully.
Throughout the car ride, Emma remained quiet, lost in her thoughts. She couldn’t shake off the feeling of vulnerability and humiliation that she had experienced earlier in the evening. The events of the evening replayed in her mind over and over again, causing her anxiety to rise.
As they arrived at Emma’s house, she forced a smile and thanked Lilly’s mother for the ride. When Emma finally reached her room, she collapsed onto her bed, feeling emotionally drained. She replayed the events of the evening over and over again in her mind, trying to make sense of what had happened. Why did the girls do that to her? Was it something she had done to provoke them? Emma couldn’t find any answers to her questions, only a deep sense of shame and embarrassment.
As she lay in bed that night, Emma knew that she couldn’t let the girls get the best of her again. She vowed to herself that she would be more assertive and set clear boundaries during her tutoring sessions. It wouldn’t be easy, but Emma was determined not to let her vulnerability be exploited again.