Undiscovered Gyrl: The novel that inspired the movie ASK ME ANYTHING (Vintage Contemporaries) by Allison Burnett Page A

kidding.”
    “Nope.”
    “Jesus, that’s terrible.”
    “Even worse for the girl he raped.”
    He laughed. It came back to me how much I liked him at the interview. I started getting that fluttery butterflies in the heart feeling you get when a boy in fifth grade calls you at home for the first time. Which, if you think about it for like a second, is a pretty weird way for a girl my age to react to a man old enough to be her father. But, hey, I never claimed to be normal!
    “Look, Katherine—”
    “Katie.”
    “Katie, I don’t know if you’ve ever done any babysittingbut my wife and I just lost our nanny. She moved back to Guatemala to take care of her dying sister and left us high and dry for the holidays.”
    “That sucks.”
    “It sucks even worse for her dying sister.”
    My turn to laugh.
    “How would you like to be our full-time nanny for a few weeks? From eight to four every weekday until Christmas. I remember you said how much you love kids.”
    This totally confused me because I don’t love kids at all. I panicked and wondered if maybe he was mixing me up with someone else.
    “You’d work through Christmas. Then we go on vacation for a week. In the new year, if you like the job and we like the job you’re doing, we could make it a permanent thing. If it’s not working out on either side, we part ways with no hard feelings, and at least you helped us get through the holidays and you picked up some extra cash.”
    “You live pretty far away. I don’t have a car. Is that a problem?”
    “We’ve got an extra one. A Volvo. But here’s something you should know. Our son Cole’s only fourteen weeks old.”
    “Wow. I’ve never really taken care of a tiny baby before.”
    “If you’re up for it, my wife Maggie’ll teach you. It’s easier than you think. He sleeps half the day.”
    “I’m up for it.”
    “Fantastic. It pays thirteen bucks an hour. If we need you to stay late, it goes to fifteen.”
    I said very casually that it all sounded fine. Meanwhile I was overjoyed, jumping up and down like a maniac. Right then Rory walked into my room and thought I’d finally lost it. I signaled for him to shut up. As soon as the call ended, I ran right past him down the hall to my mom’s room. She was as happy as I was and really proud of me for making such a good impression that Mr. Spooner would trust me with his baby.
    I wanted to go out and celebrate immediately of course, but Rory had to be up with his band at the crack of dawn to travel to a gig 12 hours away. All week he’s been asking me to come with him but no way am I going to be trapped in a farty van with a bunch of guys listening to loud music and playing computer games. Anyway now that I had a new job starting Monday it was a mute point because I needed to be fresh and rested. So instead of celebrating we talked till I yawned my brains out and he got the hint. As soon as he was gone, I called Jade.
    “Bitch, get over here right now! ’Cause I gots to celebrate!”
    Just my luck she met some cute boy at the Gap this morning and they had plans to smoke hash. I was so desperate I called Merci Gregoris, my smiley, fat, bleached blonde, mole-covered lab partner from high school who goes to the same college as Rory. She answered on the first ring but shewas in a car full of sorority twats. I was the last person she wanted to talk to. Highly ironic when you consider that in high school she would have had a heart attack if I had ever asked her to do something on a Saturday night.
    Friendless, I poured some wine, lit a cigarette and called my dad to tell him that my boss turned out to be a rapist but that I already had a wonderful new job. He didn’t give a shit until I mentioned that it came with the use of a car. Boy, did he perk up. He’s off the hook now. Asshole.
    I am too excited to sleep. I wish Dan was here. I am going to call him and tell him that I have a car now and that any time he wants I will come over and make love to him.