𝐸𝓁𝓂𝒶𝓍 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉𝓈

•'¯'•. [ꜰʟᴏᴀᴛɪᴇꜱ].•'¯'•

  In which Max Mayfield is a lifeguard and she meets a very attractive girl in a very unflattering pair of water wings.

[Max's POV]

 It's a normal day, nothing much has happened. I wanted this job because Billie told me about all of the girls who hit on him, but, none so far. Although, I swear I've saved seven children's lives today. It's not like it doesn't come with it's advantages, I do get paid. I'm about to take my break and switch places with Billy when I see another little girl drowning, one of her water wings floating away in the pool. I roll my eyes, this was getting very old very quick.

The other water wing falls off of her arm, which means now I have to jump in and save her because she's drowning. It's kinda predictable at this point. I hop off of the chair, diving into the pool. I let my instincts kick in as I simply black out from what I'm doing and save the kid like I had plenty other times. I carry the girl out of the pool, sitting her down so I can perform mouth-to-mouth. I puff into the girls mouth and pump her chest until she coughs up the water she had just swallowed. I roll my eyes as she sits up. 

"Where are my floaties?" She bites her lip. That's when I realize that she isn't a little girl.. she looks about my age. My face flushes with heat. "I uh.. I'll get them." I hop over the side of the pool and swim over to grab one, noticing that the other one isn't anywhere in sight. I throw the one that is there up to the girl.

I look down, wishing I hadn't. At the bottom of the pool was her deflated water wing. I can not believe this shit. I dive down, opening my eyes through the stinging, touching the bottom of the pool and reaching for it while I fight against the current that's trying to pull me up. I finally get hold of it, swimming back up to the top and then over to the girl who lost it. "I didn't know they made adult water wings." I push myself up onto the concrete. She looks at me with furrowed eyebrows. "They're called floaties.. and they don't." I laugh "That doesn't make it much better.." She grabs the floatie from me, attempting to blow it back up. "Be careful not to overwork yourself! You did almost drown."

I grab it back from her. "Here, I'll do it for you." Her face is red, but I know it's just from the sunburn. "I- no don't touch it-" She snatches it from me right before I put my mouth on it. "My mouth has been on that.." I raise an eyebrow "So..?" She looks mortified. "I.. uh.. just don't like germs." I chuckle. A little too late for that. "I did give you mouth to mouth, you know?" She makes this noise, she quickly gets up.

"Well, you have lifeguarding things to do." I shake my head "Actually, my brother is about to take shift.. I could.. help you swim on your own.. if you want?" She looks at me like she doesn't know if I'm making fun of her or not. "I.. guess that wouldn't hurt." I stand up, holding out my hand. "Max," she hesitantly puts her own hand forward. "El.." I smile, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to the shallow end. 

"Now, why is it that you don't know how to swim?" She frowns. "I was almost drowned by my dad as a kid.. he would put me in a tub and just.. make me try to float." I feel stupid now. "I'm so sorry.. I can't imagine.." But, yes I could.. because that sounds like something Neil would have done. "Here, I'm not going to let go of you.. do you trust me?" She looks at my hands, slowly nodding. "I- don't think you're going to try to drown me.. so, I suppose."

 I walk back a little so I'm standing level to the shorter girl. "Not so bad is it?" She shakes her head. "How do I.. swim?" I nod, letting go of one of her hands. I wave my hand around in the water, wading. "You just, kick your arms and legs around a little, want to try?" She nods, brushing a strand of soaking wet hair out of her face. She lets go of my hand. "I'm gonna hold onto you now, okay?" She nods again so I put my hands on her waist. I can feel her breath hitch. She must be nervous.

"Hey, it's okay.. you're with a trained professional. I grew up swimming in the ocean, so.." She smiles, beginning to wade correctly, so I ease up on holding her. "The closest I've seen to an ocean are your eyes..." Now it was my turn to feel embarrassed. Was that what flirting feels like? Is El flirting with me? I gulp, stepping out a few feet. "Now, lay on your belly and do the same thing, just this time move your arms all the way around. Try to swim over to me."

I can see the fear taking hold of her, but she's going to learn one way or another. She slowly begins moving through the water, suddenly, she doesn't seem as scared. I grab her hands when she reaches me. "See? Now you can swim!" She smiles, releasing one of my hands. She seems frozen. After a while, she reaches out to grab my whistle, it falls to the bottom of the pool. "Oh, I'm sorry!" I shake my head, but it seems like that was on purpose. "Nah, it's fine." I dive down to get it, but then I'm met with the face of El, she quickly pulls me in for a kiss. I blush, but give into the kiss, quickly pulling away before we resurface.

"Thank you for helping me, Max." Her cheeks are a bright pink that could only be caused by the kiss. "Yeah.. no problem." I bite my lip, a smile threatening to creep onto my face. "Do you want to.. go to the mall.. after this?" She seems nervous, playing with a strand of her hair. "Yeah.. sure. Just, let me get changed?" She nods, swimming over to the ladder to get out. I look over to Billy who's smirking, a cigarette in his mouth. He gives me a thumbs up. I push myself back onto the concrete, shuffling into the locker room to change. 

El meets me outside of the locker room, a smile on her face. "So, what was that kiss about?" I ask as we are now clear of other people. "I just wanted to return your breath.. obviously." She looks at me, stopping where she is. "But I changed my mind.. can I have it back?" I smirk, rolling my eyes. I grab her arm, pulling her behind a tree. "I mean.. I guess since you did almost die, you might need a little extra.." She wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me down to meet her lips. I lean into the kiss, sliding my arms around her waist. She pulls back after a few seconds. "I guess I won't need my floaties anymore.."

A/N
1230 words
fun fact, 
this idea came to me when I was watching
Pool Kings
enjoy!
-Roza