Page 15 of Absorbed

Pulling into the dark driveway, the only light in the house was shining from her mom’s bedroom window. She put the car in park and grabbed the pile of paints and paper from the seat beside her. Even though it felt a little childish, she thought about giving her mom the aurora borealis painting as a sort of peace offering. This particular artwork was one she didn’t want to hide away. She hoped it could bring a little light back for them both.

Chapter Seven

Stacey showed up at the pool at 6:25 pm the next day, Tuesday, to work her first night swim. She was freshly showered, with her hair done and makeup on. Jessie Thomas was also on the schedule, and it was their first shift working together. Wearing her new swimsuit with cut-offs, she practiced plastering a smile on her face in the mirror at home, and pushing out her chest, hoping it would make her look more attractive. All day she’d run through possible topics to talk to Jessie about: What church do you go to? When did you start skateboarding? Were you born in Mesa Valley? She desperately wanted it to sound natural when she offered to give him a ride home.

When she got to the pool, though, the door was locked. She leaned against the painted cinderblock wall facing the parking lot, hoping Jessie would walk up and see her looking cool and casual. She sucked in her stomach, and propped her right foot up like Julia Roberts on the Pretty Woman movie poster. But after ten minutes, her standing leg was sore. When she shifted her weight, she realized her left Birkenstock was stuck to gum.She was leaning over, scraping the gum off with a stick into the planter when Mark finally pulled into the parking lot.

Stacey stood back up, scowling at him with her arms crossed as Mark approached with his Carl’s Jr. dinner in hand. She salivated at the smell of the greasy fries, her mother’s bland turkey meatloaf turning over in her stomach. Mark’s shaggy hair and wrinkled T-shirt looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.

“Look who’s here! It’s Miiiiiiss Punctuality. And, tell her what she’s won, Johnny!” Mark said, pushing his cup and bag into Stacey’s hands so he could unlock the door. Stacey uncrossed her arms, taking the bundle and a deep inhale of the fried food smell. She considered reaching in the bag to steal some fries.

“Bob said we always need to be on time,” she reminded Mark.

“For him, you do. For me…” He took the food back and looked in her eyes. “...you should chill.”

Stacey followed Mark into the guard shack, flipping on the lights, and set her bag in her locker. He sat at the desk and began eating his burger.

“Don’t we need to clean the bathrooms?” Stacey asked.

“Be my guest,” Mark replied through a full mouth without turning around.

Seriously? He’d better not be expecting me to clean this place by myself. Night swim starts in a few minutes. Where’s Jessie?

The lobby door swung open with a loud squeak. Jessie held the door as he and Melissa came into the guard shack. They both had bags of Del Taco and Macho 44 cups. With a nod to Mark, who nodded back in response, the pair flopped onto the couch beside one another, deep in conversation about the last episode of 90210, grabbing food from each other’s bags.

Stacey stood next to her locker feeling invisible. What the…doesn’t anyone realize I am standing right here? Did Melissa give Jessie a ride to work? Are they together now? She shook her head and rolled her eyes, then threw open the door to the pooldeck and started emptying the overflowing trash cans. Jessie and Melissa could deal with the bathrooms.

At 6:59 she slumped into the furthest lifeguard chair, next to the deep end, and Mark opened the doors to the public.

About fifty people came to the pool that night, the most Stacey had seen so far. There were even a few skater kids she recognized who were a couple of years behind her in school. They did tricks off the diving board while Jessie teased them from his tower opposite her.

“Real men aren’t afraid to eat it doing tricks,” Jessie told them through his megaphone. “I’ll give a dollar to whoever lands the loudest belly flop.”

One after another, the skater kids ran off the end of the board and landed with a loud smack on the water. They climbed the ladder out of the pool, their bellies splotched red, and looked to Jessie for their score.

Stacey was embarrassed on their behalf, torturing themselves for his entertainment. After watching the fully-clothed kids and the toddlers in floaties nearly drown in the deep end over the weekend, Stacey was even more afraid of what accident might occur because of the diving board that summer. She was fairly certain they’d end up having to backboard one of these skater kids if Jessie kept egging them on. But it did help pass the time, and strangely the sound of their skin slapping the water actually cheered her up.

After thirty minutes, they rotated their lifeguarding positions, and it was Jessie’s turn for the first break. Stacey took over his position watching the shallow end, and Melissa was on duty to watch the deep end. But, rather than go inside as they usually did on breaks, Jessie went to the diving board to show the hot-dogging skaters how to land back-flips and gainers. Stacey was supposed to be focused on the shallow end, but it was impossible for her not to look over her shoulder in his direction. She wasintoxicated watching every muscle in his lean body engage as he flipped off the board. It was like he moved in slow motion. And his teeth somehow glowed whiter at night.

Then Melissa’s voice came over the megaphone. “Is that the best you can do, JT?” she said after he’d executed a perfect back flip and landed feet first. “If you’re such a stud, why don’t you show us your belly flop?” Over the megaphone, Melissa gave Jessie her “judge’s score,” and the sound of her voice grated on Stacey’s nerves.

After thirty minutes of listening to Melissa’s sassy flirting with Jessie, it was Stacey’s turn for a break, and all she wanted was to get as far from both of them as possible. She held her towel tight and walked into the guard shack. Mark was dozing in the chair, his feet on the desk. She grabbed her book from her locker and stormed out, winding through the lobby to the front of the facility, slamming doors behind her. The glass in the metal frame of the cashier’s window rattled. Stacey leaned against the outside wall of the building and slid down to the concrete, tossing her copy of Animal Farm beside her. She closed her eyes and collapsed against the warm cinder block.

The door inched open a few minutes later and Stacey looked up to see Mark peeking out, then down at her. “What are you doing?” he asked, a spot of what looked like ranch dressing crusted in his goatee.

“Reading,” she sneered.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Whatever.”

“You look miserable,” he said.

“I’m not miserable!” But even Stacey could hear how pathetic she sounded.

“If there’s an accident, I need you in the guard shack so you’re ready to respond,” he said, but Stacey didn’t move. “Like, NOW.”

Stacey rolled her eyes. Now he wants to act responsible? She grabbed her book and followed him back inside.

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