lifeguard↠ e.d.

twenty bucks

seven
ethan

"so, ethan." blake says. "where's your little girlfriend? i'm pretty fucking surprised you're not sitting with her."

"do you see her anywhere?" i roll my eyes. "she's not eating in here since she works sunrise. she has to stay with the kids." because believe me, if she was in here i'd be sitting with her. "and she's not my girlfriend." yet.

"oh come on ethan! we're not stupid." jessica squeals. "but don't let her take you away from us. we've known you for how long? she cant just stroll in here and you're whipped for her already."

"where's the old ethan? he's more fun." justin crosses his arms. "are you too caught up in impressing her?"

"no, i-"

"good. she's way too much of a goody two shoes."
"yeah, i really don't like her."
"she's up smiths ass."

"they're family dumbfuck." i roll my eyes and shake my head.

"she could be into some freaky shit for all we know!" justin exclaims, putting his hands up.

"speak of the devil..." jessica trails off, nodding to the door.
in walks grace, a little girl holding her hand. she tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. her mesmerizing brown eyes skim over the room, and they land on me. she smiles at me, her nose scrunching slightly as she did so. i smile back, and i swear, i felt as if we were the only two people in the room. actually, make that the world. the little girl drags grace on the way to the bathrooms. everything was perfect until the dumbass next to me ruins the moment.

"if you go up to her when she comes back , you owe me twenty bucks." justin laughs, hitting my arm. i force myself to look at him.

"i don't owe you shit."

"jesus christ ethan. where has the rebellious ethan we've always known gone? the one that doesn't back down from dares and bets?"

"he's still here."

"well then fucking prove yourself." every millisecond that he was talking made me want to walk right out.

i cross my arms and lean back in my chair. why was everyone being so annoying all of a sudden? who cares that i happen to like a girl? who cares that she doesn't like to get in trouble like the other lifeguards do? people are getting on my damn nerves.

i knew i didn't have to prove to them that i was still the same old ethan, yet i still leaned back with my arms crossed, not daring to look over to where i saw grace last.

"it's your last chance man. besides, id like twenty bucks in my pocket."

i stared at my half eaten food on the table. out of the corner of my eye i could see grace slowly walk out of the cafeteria, her smile dropping just as slow. her eyes stayed on me. i could feel the sadness overcome her, as if i was experiencing the same thing. she walks out with the little girl in hand.

everyone around me mumbles profanities.

"i was really expecting you to go over there." jessica raises her eyebrows.

"shit. me too. i really wanted twenty bucks."

"well you're shit out of luck." stop talking. i needed to contain myself. i was about to snap any second.

"anyways, you should have seen the look on her face!" blake snickers, hitting the table while laughing hysterically. everyone else falling behind him, laughing.

count to ten.

"ethan, you should do that more often. that made my day." jessica exclaims.

one, two, thr-

"okay, come on guys. she's super cute don't joke about her like that-"

and that's when i snapped. i wasn't even paying any mind to who said it, because frankly, i didn't care.

"you know what? you all don't know shit!" i yell, standing up from my chair. "i'm fucking leaving. you're all getting on my damn nerves." i didn't care that i was getting literally everyone's attention in the cafeteria. all i cared about was if grace was mad at me. what am i becoming?

i storm to the door.

"bye babe! come talk to us when you're sane." jessica calls out. i flip her off. turns out that counting to ten rarely helps when the people around you relentlessly fan the flame inside you.

"wait! ethan!" justin yells. i reluctantly turn around. "do i still have to give you twenty bucks?" i swear, my eyes almost rolled out of my head.

i ran, and i ran to where i thought sunrise was, and by then i had subtly calmed down. the sight of grayson and grace playing with the kids, and having a picnic calmed me down even more.

"miss grace! there's your boyfriend again!" one of the little girls exclaims. her little fingers point to me as i walk up to all of them.

"lennon, he's not my boyfriend you silly girl." grace scrunches her nose as she tickles her.

"not yet." i wink, and all the kids start oohing. i laugh, and squat down.

"no! no! no!" a little boy yells. "my friend is sitting there!" i jump up, and back up from that spot.
"oh, i'm sorry bud. he moved out of the way before i could sit on him. he's okay."

"her." he corrects, going back to his sandwich.
"yeah ethan. don't assume genders." grayson rolls his eyes and snaps his fingers.

"sorry, sorry."

"ethan, what are you doing here?" grace asks, squinting her eyes. "you seemed to be having fun with your friends."

"n-no. they're stupid-"

"bad word! bad word!" all the kids yell, and we all have to calm them down. grayson, alisha and grace definitely doing a better job than i did.

"they're special." i correct myself when they're all calmed down. "they make dumb bets, about me having to prove myself- you know what? i'm not even going to make myself deal with that stuff anymore. i have more important things on my mind."

grace blushes, looking down at her hands. oh god, i love it when she does that. grayson pretends to throw up, and eventually all the kids start doing it too.

"okay, okay! that's enough throwing up. ethan, you sit here. we're going to all have a tea party." one of the little girls bossed, causing me to laugh.

and after that, we all had a tea party, pouring imaginary tea, and i somehow ended up with a tiara on my head. but it was all worth it when i saw graces eyes crinkle up, and her head thrown back from laughter. no matter how fucking cheesy it sounds.

L I F E G U A R D

there's definitely more lifeguards, just didn't mention them ;)
also, let me know if you liked the chapter!