Holden Peters expects nothing exciting to happen during the summer before his final year of high school. But in a spontaneous act of bravery, he saves his pretty next door neighbour from drowning and is deemed as a local hero.
Thanks to his newfound...
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"If the water turns dark blue, it means someone's pissed in it."
I saluted lazily, an indication that I was paying attention without having to waste my breath. The annual Splash happened to fall on the day before Christmas. I didn't expect many people to turn up this year, considering it was the perfect opportunity for slackers to buy last-minute presents and for families to start cooking up mouth-watering feasts. But when thirty or so people started loitering around outside the gates, twenty minutes before opening time, I had a feeling there were going to be a lot more.
"What's with the line up?" I asked while Dean explained the pleasures of scooping kiddie crap out of the pool.
"Electricity is down on the other side of town so all the major shopping centres don't have air conditioning," he explained, unlocking a wire crate filled with swimming equipment. "Forecast predicted it to hit forty degrees by midday."
I let out a low whistle.
"Hurry up and get changed," Dean said, in response. "Or you'll be the first to drown."
"Manopause, honey!" Iris shouted from inside the office. "It's just his manopause talking."
"Cheers, Iris!" I bellowed back.
I headed towards the staff bathrooms, gym bag in hand and an unopened uniform in the other. Once I was in a cubicle –this one showcasing a lot of swear words and declarations of love- I opened the plastic bag in which my lifeguard attire came in and got dressed.
When I stepped out, crumpled clothes in my arms, I caught sight of myself in the mirror and Jesus Christ I looked like a human highlighter. The uniform was in the traditional colours of yellow and red, but they were so damn bright that I looked like French fry slathered in mustard and tomato sauce.
So much for looking bronze, buff and badass.
My phone buzzed as I walked out of the change rooms, notifying me about a text from Tess.
Remember, some things are out of your hands.
I grinned and replied back the same response: some things are out of my hands. I threw my phone into Dean's office for safe keeping and waited while he unlocked the gates and announced the pool was open. Impatient kids, teenagers and exhausted-looking parents burst through the turnstile at an alarming rate.
For the first couple of hours on duty, it was smooth sailing. No one approached me directly, which was good. I don't think anyone recognised me as that-guy-who-saved-that-girl-that-one-time. I wanted it to stay like that. It helped that my duties were pretty low key.
The high lifeguard chairs and shiny whistles were reserved for the more experienced employees. My job was to walk the perimeter, keeping close attention to the children's section, so I was mostly in the shadows during the summer craze. I liked to think of myself as the ninja lifeguard.
