Babysitting is about taking care of someone helpless. Ellie’s crush on Nova makes her feel helpless. Use the jobs themselves as parallels. When Ellie calms a crying baby, she is practicing the patience she needs to handle her own heart. When Nova solves a sibling fight, she is demonstrating the emotional intelligence Ellie wishes she had.

Setting: Claudia’s bedroom, Tuesday 5:30 PM.

Ellie sits on the edge of the floor pillow, holding her official BSC record book. She watches Nova take orders for the week. Nova’s handwriting is perfect. Nova remembers that the Perkins child is allergic to strawberries. Nova makes it look easy.

Internal Monologue (Ellie): "She doesn’t even know I’m staring. Why would she? She’s Nova. I’m just the sitter they call when she’s sick. I have a crush on my better. It’s mathematically correct to feel this way."

If you are a fanfiction writer looking to explore this theme, here are three rules to make your story stand out:

If we were to script the ultimate "Ellie has a crush on Nova, who is clearly my better" fan chapter, it would likely include these three pivotal moments: