Lifeguard

4. Meet the team

Sydney had just entered the swimming pool in the centre of the closest town to the strip of beaches. The town was alive, hustle and bustle coming from every corner of it, during the 4 months of summer. She knew it would be difficult to call it home, but it was beautiful enough to be a temporary home to her.

Her mind was busy going over her conversation with Kyle Roche on their way to the pool. She had found it extremely kind of him to call another lifeguard to take their spot because Kyle had proposed walking her to the pool. Sydney wondered why his moods changed so quickly, but it was impolite to ask such thing.

She quickly dressed in a training swimsuit, put her cap and goggles on, and motioned for the pool. She was bubbling with excitement to meet more people, hoping to become acquaintances with some of them. Sydney was curious who her coach would be, as Kyle should have already returned to his lifeguard post.

''Hello, everyone. I'm Sydney,'' She nervously waved a hand, smiling at everyone who had gathered to warm up. A boy and a girl her age, who looked strikingly alike, greeted her back, ''it's nice to meet you.''

''Likewise,'' They replied at the same time as if they had rehearsed it, ''I'm Tom,'' the guy pointed at himself, ''and this is Teah.'' Tom pointed at the girl beside him. The more Sydney looked at them, the more she thought they had to be related.

At first, she thought they were cousins, but then she declined that thought. They were the same height, had the same hair colour, and said the same things at the same time... all that lead to either very close siblings, or twins.

''Are you both lifeguards?'' Sydney raised an eyebrow as she started warming up. The only difference between Tom and Teah – other than their sexes – was Tom's blue eyes while Teah had light brown ones.

Tom and Teah glanced at each other with widened eyes, then broke out in laughter, ''honey, we're twins! We do everything together.'' Teah said with a friendly expression on her face.

Sydney was about to ask which their lifeguard posts were, but a familiar voice filled the whole pool, and all chatter came to a halt. Tom and Teah exchanged knowing looks, Tom cleared his throat and said,

''This is Kyle Roche. He is... uh, a handful.''

''I know who he is.'' Sydney murmured quietly, finding it hard to believe he was everywhere she went.

''But how?'' Teah whispered, curiosity evident in her voice.

''I work with him.''

Before Teah and Tom could say anything, Kyle took a speaker and began, ''welcome to another day of training. We'll start with 1,600 m warm-up, followed by different drills which you'll need a partner for. Team up!''

Kyle left the speaker aside and jumped from the chair he had climbed on to speak. Tom and Teah instantly teamed up, and Sydney couldn't blame them. She was still curious what Tom meant when he said Kyle was a handful, and she would make sure to ask him later.

Sydney watched with horror how people teamed up, and she was left alone because she didn't know anyone. Finally, a fairly good-looking guy made his way towards her, and she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

But his expression changed just as quickly as he had appeared, he turned around and found another partner. Sydney felt something inside her sting from the horror in the guy's eyes. She wondered how scary she must have looked.

''Sydney Fotos, it looks like you and I will be a team here, too.'' Kyle's voice made her turn around, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Sydney nodded, still not over how quickly that guy had decided against teaming up with her, ''let's jump in the pool.'' She was starting to think he did everything on purpose to annoy her, but then again, he barely knew her.