Page 9 of Absorbed

“Jess,” Bob said. “Your shift starts at one this afternoon. Don’t be late again.”

“Yes sir!” Jessie said, holding his folded flyer to his forehead and saluting Bob. Stacey couldn’t imagine anyone staying angry with Jessie when he flashed his beautiful smile like that.

Jessie pushed the flyer into his pocket, grabbed his skateboard, and headed out the back door. Stacey quickly followed, hopeful for an excuse to talk to him.

As soon as he got outside, though, Jessie set his board down and started toward the boulevard. Stacey stopped, slumping her shoulders. Bummer.

She wondered if he had a car. They rode the same bus in middle school. She knew he lived in the Desert Oasis apartment complex, two blocks from her house. She saw him doing tricks in the parking lot sometimes. But they lived more than three miles from The Plunge, on the other side of town. There were massive hills between the pool and their neighborhood, and most roads didn’t have sidewalks. Is that why he was late? Would he ride his skateboard back and forth every day, in hundred-degree weather? How would he get to Riverside? Would it seem creepy to offer Jessie a ride?

Desiree threw open the door behind Stacey, then stomped passed with Chad trailing after her. He grabbed Desiree around the waist and she pushed him off, storming over to a small white pickup in the parking lot that said “Toy” on the tailgate. Chad caught up to her again, whispering too softly for Stacey to hear.

Despite Desiree’s crossed arms, Chad put his hands on her hips and leaned down to look into her furious eyes. Even from her vantage point, Stacey could see the moment Desiree’s defenses melted away. Within seconds, Chad was kissing her cheek, then her mouth, then Desiree’s arms were around his neck. He lifted her off the ground, her short dress revealing lace panties beneath.

Stacey hadn’t known what to expect from her first job, or what it would be like to work at the pool. But thinking aboutJessie in his dripping wet shorts, she felt a surge of desire rush throughout her whole body. And while watching Desiree and Chad’s passionate parking lot make-out session, she began to imagine a summer romance that would put any Eternity ad to shame.

Chapter Five

Stacey stood in front of her mirror Sunday morning, attempting to look cute and casual while remaining as covered as possible. Since the swimsuit outlet wasn’t open until Monday, she had no choice but to wear the horrendous Lands End one-piece for her first shift. But all she could think of was Tiffany and Melissa’s perfect bodies in their tiny two pieces. Every time she looked at her own reflection in this suit, she envisioned herself on a platter with an apple in her mouth.

For the past couple of years, Stacey’s wardrobe had been prep-school-girl-grunge. She’d doubled down on plaid skirts with knee socks and platform Mary Janes, or Levi’s with buttoned collared shirts over lacy camisoles. None of that paired well with what was basically was a red leotard, and it was too hot out to hide under a flannel.

She settled on wearing loose overalls with no shirt and Birkenstocks. As Steven Tyler screamed out of her stereo, Stacey acknowledged that her hair was finally long enough to resemble Alicia Silverstone’s. At least my hair covers my back-fat.

Back in the guard shack in time for her shift, Stacey was surprised to find Mark snoring on the couch. He had one arm over his eyes, his other hand holding a half-eaten burrito in his lap.

Bob’s attention was on the sports pages while a baseball play-by-play came from a transistor radio on the desk. He barely glanced up to take the money from arriving swimmers, let alone acknowledge Stacey as she came in.

“Is there a certain locker I should use?” Stacey asked.

“Whichever one is free,” Bob said without looking at her.

The only unclaimed locker had an unidentifiable reddish-black furry residue in the base. Stacey hung her backpack from the hook at the top and made a mental note to find out if the pink powder antibacterial stuff could clean that mess up, too.

Chad was already outside on his tower, in red trunks and aviators, applying sunscreen, and the first couple of swimmers were slithering into the water. She grabbed the doorknob and was about to head out to the pool when Bob stopped her.

“You can’t wear those overalls,” he said.

“Oh…” Stacey’s heart sunk. “Yeah. Right. Of course not.” She went back to her locker and started unhooking her straps.

Stacey peeked over her shoulder. Mark still hadn’t moved. Once she was sure Bob wasn’t looking her way, she wrapped her towel around herself, up high under her arms, letting the overalls drop to the ground. She quickly shoved them into her backpack and hustled out the door.

Scanning the pool deck for anyone she knew, Stacey headed for the far lifeguard tower. She climbed the ladder one-handed while the towel was secured with the other, then slumped into the chair. Chad smiled and waved across the pool and she timidly waved back. She squinted in the white light of the sun reflecting off the water. Forgetting her sunglasses was another rookie mistake she’d never make again.

After all her worry, Stacey didn’t see anyone she knew. At one o’clock on the first Sunday in summer, the last thing anyone going into their senior year would want to do is hang out at the community pool. With only a chain link fence separating the pool from the outside world, she’d felt like every cheerleader and star-pitcher would be laughing at her, a fat dork up there posing as a lifeguard in an old lady leotard. She couldn’t get that fear out of her mind.

In reality, the pool was occupied by a dozen little kids, most around six to eight years old, with their parents and grandparents. They didn’t care who the lifeguards were. It was summer, it was hot, and The Plunge offered cheap entertainment.

Lifeguarding got really boring, really quickly. And hot. Really hot. Hiding inside her towel, Stacey curled under the minimal shade provided by the ancient, dusty umbrella, fanning herself in an unsuccessful attempt to minimize boob and butt sweat marks. What she hadn’t expected, though, was how quickly she would embrace her newfound power.

All afternoon, Stacey blew her whistle, yelling, “No running!”

She knew the concrete was about a thousand degrees and kids were running to avoid second degree burns, but that didn’t matter. Stacey was a lifeguard now, and she loved the authority that gave her.

Within her first ten minutes, a scrawny boy with eyes red from the chlorine stood at the base of her tower shuffling from foot to foot. “Will the water actually change colors if someone pees in the pool?” he asked.

“Do you want to find out?” Stacey replied. “If I see it happen, I have to announce to the whole pool who peed and make everyone get out.”

The kid’s eyes grew wide, and he ran in the direction of the boy’s locker room.

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