Page 40 of Absorbed

“Good morning!” Stacey sang out as he closed the locker door. Her voice came out unusually high and chipper.

Jessie turned toward her, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He nodded while yawning, but said nothing. He flopped down onto the couch, leaned his head back, drowsy.

Stacey shrunk back.

The door from the pool deck swung open. Bob said, “Off your butts. Time to clean.” He held the door open, a garbage bag and trash grabber in his other hand. “Someone must have climbed the fence. They left quite a mess.”

“Get out here!” Melissa barked across the pool behind him. “I’m not doing this by myself!”

Jessie leaned his elbows onto his knees and pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes. Stacey chewed the inside of her cheek, then walked out the door, accepting the bag and grabber from Bob’s outstretched hands. Melissa watched her, then turned, tossing her ponytail behind her, strutting toward the bleachers with her grabber held aloft like a wand.

Littered beneath the benches were PBR cans, chip bags, candy and ice cream wrappers. In the already hot morning sun, spilled beer and melted chocolate sludge were dried in sticky puddles onto the benches and pool deck. A corner of the shallow-end pool cover was pushed back and it sagged down into the water. More trash hovered at the bottom of the pool, while the rim was lined with black residue and burnt firecracker wicks.

“Who did this?” Stacey asked no one in particular. She reached between the benches to grab a can. It spilled as she pulled it out. The sour smell of beer hit her nose at the same time it splashed off the hot concrete.

Bob and Jessie came up beside her carrying buckets of soapy water.

“Neighbors called the police when they heard fireworks at about 1 a.m.” Bob said. “Whoever it was jumped the fence and ran off as the police pulled up.” He began scrubbing the bench with a sponge.

Melissa was beneath the bleachers. “Morons!” she bellowed.

“Totally worth it,” Jessie muttered as he walked to the edge of the pool. He knelt down to scrub the burn marks.

Stacey squinted in his direction.

“It happens every summer,” Bob said. “At some point the city will pony up for motion lights, cameras, and alarms.”

“Will somebody turn some music on, please?” Melissa whined.

“Stacey? You’re our resident DJ, right?” Bob lifted his eyebrows in her direction.

Stacey dropped her garbage bag and trash grabber. Standing at her locker, she flipped through her CD catalog, but couldn’t stop her thoughts from spinning.Why the hell is Jessie giving me the cold shoulder?

She flipped past the albums of mellow music and classic rock that Bob approved of.

Does Jessie want to cancel our date? Or did he forget?

Her hand hovered over the Violent Femmes album, all the curse words in “Blister in the Sun” forming a rant in her head. Bob would have a conniption fit if she played that. She popped The Combat Rock CD into the stereo and turned the volume past Bob’s red marker line at seven, up to 8.5, the loudest she could get away with.

“Surprising choice, Chapman,” Bob said as she rejoined the group. She picked up her trash bag.

Right before the second song ended, Stacey stripped down to her bathing suit. Jessie didn’t look up from scrubbing burn marks off the concrete. She dropped her trash bag next to him, then got into the pool. Standing waist deep in the water, she plucked random pieces of garbage from the bottom of the pool with the grabber and dropped them in the bag she’d set next to him.

“Should I Stay or Should I Go” came over the speakers. Stacey started humming.

Jessie lifted his eyes to meet hers. Stacey raised one eyebrow. He smirked and nodded.

Stacey’s brain surged with excitement.Does that mean…we’re on?She flicked water at him.

Jessie locked eyes with her, his smirk fading, and gently shook his head. His blonde locks swept across his lashes. She couldn’t tell what he meant.

Over his shoulder, Stacey could see Bob and Melissa’s backs were turned. She looked at Jessie again and lifted her hands up, shrugging, as she mouthed “What’s up?”

Jessie looked down, focusing his attention on scrubbing the stain.

Stacey turned away, dragging her feet across the shallow end. A million thoughts swam through her head.

Did I do something wrong? Or make too big a deal of our kiss? Maybe there’s still time to call Gabe back.

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