“Kids, this is Sebastian, your new babysitter!” The woman motioned to the short, black-haired teen Sebastian, as he waved to them. They looked at their mother obediently, curious of the newcomer, though they only offered a stare in response.

The mother had lead Sebastian into the warm home, away from the sharp, cool air of the October evening. She gave him a tour of the building, from the orange kitchen with the smell of chicken noodle soup in the air, to the two little bedrooms, painted and decorated with their own toys, with a clean lavender smell. Finally, she leads him to the brown, cozy living room, where the kids aged seven and five sat patiently on the leather couch. 

“Uh, hey guys,” he greeted, feeling their stares burn holes in his chest. He cleared his throat. “I look forward to being here with y’all! We’re gonna have lots of fun!” He put on his biggest smile, hoping they weren’t scared of him. Still, they were like mice. 

“Sebastian, these are the kids, Daniel and Aurora.” It was then the kids responded, waving and shyly mumbling ‘hello’. The woman turned to Sebastian, slowly walking towards the door.

“Now I must be going. Remember, dinner’s in the kitchen and kids in bed before I return. Bye, kids! Love you!” She waved from the door, the kids replying in a chorus of ‘bye mom’. She closed the door and left. Once he heard the car outside startup, Sebastian turned back to the kids, clasping his hands. 

“So, who wants dinner?” Both kids raised their hands wildly. He could’ve sworn he saw the lights flicker and something move out of the corner of his eye, but brushed it off.

“Alright, alright,” Sebastian chuckled, before pointing to his left. “To the kitchen!”

———-

“Do you need help?” The small boy, Daniel, asked. His round, brown eyes looked expectantly at Sebastian. Sebastian huffed, annoyed at the predicament he was currently in. 

“No, I don’t need any help,” he replied, pushing back his black curls from his face so he could see the bowls better. He was so close, he could almost touch them! Maybe a spatula could help?

“I can help.”

“Daniel, you’re even shorter than I am, how could you possibly reach–” Suddenly, the bowls started to lift on their own, slowly making their way to the counter and interrupting Sebastian. They floated slowly, the way planets float in space. Sebastian could only watch the bowls as they slowly drifted to the counter. At least they were supposed to, except Daniel must’ve been too excited to show off his cool trick, and they started to float around the room. 

“How–how are–what?” Sebastian got down from the counter he had been kneeling on and jumped up to grab the flying bowls. He placed them gently on the counter, before turning to Daniel, who was grinning proudly. “Did you–did you do that?” Danial nodded vigorously, his grin growing bigger. There was a moment of silence, Sebastian looking between the kids to see that none of them seemed as surprised as he was. 

“I’m hungry” shouted the youngest, Aurora, breaking the moment of awe. Sebastian took a moment to collect himself, clearing his throat.

“I uh, yeah, uh, let’s eat.”

———-

“I want more cookies!” Aurora argued, stomping her foot. Sebastian sighed, starting to lose his patience. He could’ve sworn the lights blinked as she shouted.

“Listen kiddo, your mom said you could only have two, you can’t have more–”

“Noooo, I want cookies!” she shouted, interrupting Sebastian’s statement, this time accompanied by the flickering of lights, and the room darkened and lit up in waves. Sebastian felt his stomach sink, his throat tight. If one of them can make things float, what could the other one do? Sebastian kept eyeing the lights.

“Look, if you’re still hungry, then you could have a small snack but no cookies.” Sebastian remained firm, he was not about to do the kid’s bidding. That was just poor parenting. Despite his firmness, Aurora let out a scream, finally turning the power completely off. Aurora went quiet for a moment, before beginning to cry. Sebastian looked around quickly, hoping that what just happened was a coincidence, but the lights didn’t change. 

“Okay then, you control electricity,” Sebastian commented, his voice low and on edge. “That’s totally something kids can do.” He looked down at Aurora, who was sniffling. He sighed. He knew there was no way he could win this round.

“Okay, so how about this: you get one more cookie, and don’t tell your mom about what happened. Deal?” Aurora nodded eagerly. She got up and ran to the cookie jar, incapable of standing still as she watched Sebastian walk over and grab the jar. Accepting defeat, he lowered it the jar to her height, and the moment Aurora was within reaching distance from the cookies, the lights turned back on.

“And they’re back on.” Sebastian sighed in relief, returning the jar to its original place on the fridge, before walking back to the living room to think about what just happened.

———-

Sebastian had been at this for several hours, and he didn’t know what to do. These kids were the weirdest pair of kids he had ever met, and watching them would be more than he was getting paid for. Aurora didn’t seem to have a lot of control of her power, and her emotions affected them. Daniel seemed to have better control. That must’ve been the reason why nobody ever came back. The kids probably believe that there’s something wrong with them, he thought. Having a new babysitter every time their parents left, revealing their powers, only to never see them again? They must feel really hurt.

Sebastian could only relate. He would never forget how it felt to never have support around. Never forget the emptiness he felt when he was never invited to a birthday party, or when nobody sat with him at lunch. He always thought he was a freak. That was in the past though, and he learned his lesson. Sometimes, it’s better to keep some things a secret.

———-

The woman stopped to look in each room to see if her kids were sleeping when she arrived. Sebastian stood by nervously, hoping the kids wouldn’t pull a stunt on him. Sure enough, when the mother peeked into their rooms, both kids were sound asleep.

“I see you did a good job today,” the woman commented with a relieved smile. “And I’m so grateful for that. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something were to happen to the kids.” She raised her hand for a handshake. “And I hope you’ll return? It’s okay if you don’t want to, many people don’t come back even though they never tell me why….” the woman began to ramble before Sebastian took her hand.

“I would love to return,” Sebastian said, immediately seeing the wave of relief roll over her. Sebastian what he was getting into, but he also knew these kids needed someone to help them out. He at least wanted to try.