One Hot Summer

Chapter 18: Jaws

RILEY

It had been two weeks since Bennett and I had last talked. After I left his room I promised myself I wasn’t going to get caught up in his charm ever again. However, there were three things very wrong with this promise. Number 1, I lived with the guy. Number 2, I worked with the guy. Number 3, and the worst one of all…I was pretty sure I could see myself falling for him. He unleashed feelings inside of me both physically and mentally that I’d not felt before.

I’d never experienced inner turmoil quite like this before but today none of it mattered. Today was a big day for the pool. Ann had been trying for years to figure out how to pull this event off and she finally felt like this was the year. It was the first annual showing of Jaws at the pool. We had all hands on deck with a full staff. Tickets had been sold out for almost two weeks. It was a BYOT (Bring Your Own Tube) concept and we were only allowing age 10 and up. I was eager to run this event and prove myself as head lifeguard.

“You look awfully focused” a voice called from behind. I instantly recognized Olivia’s playful tone.

“I am beyond focused. This even has to run as smooth as possible” I replied as I tried to figure out how each lifeguard would be spaced. Before I could make anymore marks on my clipboard my whole body was being spun around. Olivia stared at me with her big green eyes, “Something is going on. You’ve been keeping to yourself for the past few weeks. You know I’m here for you. What is up?” She said, her tone now serious yet soft.

I felt my shoulders drop and a sense of safety wash over me. Plopping down on a bench I rested my face in my hands. The remnant’s of my inner turmoil surfaced. If I tell Olivia what happened, I’ll feel much better and possibly get some advice on how to move on. But…if I tell her what happened it’ll be impossible for me to forget.

I glanced up, my hand covering my mouth. My eyes drifted to hers. Rising to my feet I grabbed Olivia by the wrist and pulled her to the far side of the pool where no one else was.

“Okay, here’s goes nothing” I began, “Bennett and I kind of…messed around a few weeks ago”. For some reason I couldn’t bear to look at her. My eyes stayed glued to the concrete beneath my sandals.

The immense silence left a ringing in my ears. After what felt like hours I finally looked up. Olivia’s eyebrows were at the highest they could reach. Her eyes wide and her mouth partially hanging open.

Embarrassment flooded my abdomen as I turned to make an exit from this conversation. “I knew this was a bad idea” I said. Before I could take a step in any direction Olivia stopped me. “I knew it!” She yelled in a whisper. “He has been staring at you for the past several weeks and you’ve been ignoring him. I had a feeling” she said as if she’d just uncovered the lost city of Atlantis. The excitement in her discovery made me sick.

“Well, that’s not all…” I said nervously. Her brow furrowed in the middle.

“We were messing around and I went to take things further and…” I stopped and glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “And well…he rejected me” I whispered. “b***h!” Olivia gasped. I c****d my head to the side and shot her a confused glance. “Sorry, but holy crap. You should fire him!” She said crossing her arms. Her response made me chuckle.

“First of all, he’s a great lifeguard. Secondly, firing him is not a professional response. My feelings are hurt and so is my ego but regardless I just have to move forward” I told her as I restarted my checklist.

Looking up from my clipboard I noticed Olivia staring into space. I rolled my eyes. “Come on, liv. Lots to be done” I said moving as far away from the conversation as possible.

BENNETT

My mind was a mess of Riley. I couldn’t stop thinking about the look in her eyes when I stopped her. I couldn’t stop thinking that she hated my guts. I knew I should have never even engaged in anything with her. No matter how badly I had wanted to. It had been 2 weeks. Well, actually it had been a total of 16 days since she’d last spoken to me. She hadn’t even looked in my direction. If I asked her a work related question she’d answer my feet. I suppose this was for the best. We weren’t meant to be part of each others lives like that.

I slowly roped off the slide and diving board for the nights event. “How much do you want to bet some little jerk will get in here with a shark fin?” I heard from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Nick and Milo talking.

“I swear I will carry someone out of here if they try to pull that s**t” Milo responded. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at their conversation.

“Let a kid be a kid” I said in my best dad voice. “Nah, they will be getting a first class ticket out of here” Nick said puffing out his chest. “There isn’t going to be any shark fins” Riley said walking over to us with her clipboard tucked under her arm. “How do you know?” I asked. Riley looked up and whipped her head in my direction. “Because, we will have lifeguards checking for them at the entrance while taking tickets” she said. I chuckled at her which was the wrong thing to do. I couldn’t help it. She looked so cute and tiny standing in the middle of the three of us.

“Congrats, Ben! You just got put on ticket duty” she said before turning on her heels and walking away. Ouch! I’m back to Ben. Nick and Milo giggled like little school girls behind me.

“Trouble on the home front?” Nick asked sarcastically placing a hand on my shoulder. “She hates me. That’s all. Always has. Always will” I say, my eyes still glued to Riley.

*Whistle blows* “alright guys! Let’s gather around” Anne says with a clap of her hands. I take a seat next to Olivia who shoots me a death glare. What the hell did I do to her?

“I’m so excited for tonight. This event is sure to be the best one yet and hopefully an annual tradition for our town.” Ann says smiling proudly. She looks to Riley who’s standing nearby, “Before we continue I want to give the greatest of thanks to our head lifeguard, Riley. Not only does she go above and beyond for every shift she works but she works tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure we run as smoothly as possible. None of tonight could’ve happened without her”. A eruption of applause breaks out and I can’t help but feel proud for Riley. I’d never met anyone with a better work ethic. I’d grown up around adults who didn’t have to do much to live a certain kind of lifestyle. She was kind of incredible. I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when Ann continued her spiel.

“Aside from making sure our guests have a great time we need to remember that safety is our top priority. The pool will be filled with inner tubes but we need to make sure that we have eyes on the water at all times. You all know the signs. No running around the pool. Ultimately this is a movie so we want to try to keep our guests engaged. Food and drinks will be sold at the concession stand but have to be consumed within the food court”. Riley continued on, “I’ve got everyone’s positions. If I haven’t already told you where you’ll start please come find me. If you have any problems during the night please come to me or Ann first. Let’s have a great event everyone”.