Lifeguard » Cashton

I. Hunger

☼Ashton☼

Stupid sun, I wonder what would happen if it burnt out. We'd all die, but at least it would be cold, and I wouldn't have to work anymore.

Sheesh, this is what I think about when i'm supposed to be, as my boss says, "guarding the lives of the youth."

The cheap plastic chair, I sit on, aches my butt, and I constantly have to adjust myself. I squint to see the clock on the other side of the pool, it reads 11:38, which means 22 more minutes until adult swim. Also, 3-hours, and 22 minutes until I can go home, and the second-shift people take over.

I used to be able to stay home, eat lots of food, and sleep all day, but now I have to wake up at 7:30, every Monday through Friday, to clean dead, or possibly alive, frogs out of the pool.

Some may say, "At least you'll be tan!",
but that literally means nothing to me.

Heat was the enemy. Getting burnt to a near crisp, due to heat, was the worst part of the job. Maybe applying more sunscreen would have some benefit, but who has the time.

Actually, there was plenty of time, but pure laziness stopped that effort. I burn, I don't tan. It didn't take me long to realize this, maybe a week of working in the scorching sun.

Also, the fact that i'm the only sophomore lifeguard, but I do try my best to keep away from the obnoxious senior lifeguards, who think they're the shit.

It's mid-July, which means only a month and a half left before another hell starts, and this hell ends, but not forever.

I'll, graciously, be working our indoor pool soon after school starts. The indoor pool shift, which my boss got on his hands and knees begging me to work. Not really, but I imagined him doing that.

At least it's three-days a week, which he has yet to tell me the exact days, and I won't be working 6 and a half hours a day, as I do now, but 3 hours a day. It's still going to suck, because I have a feeling i'll be getting a lot of schoolwork this year.

Eventually, it was time for me to blow my whistle, and alert the few kids in the pool that it was adult swim. One day, I will scream "Everyone evacuate the pool, there is a great-white shark in the 3-feet zone!", because honestly how funny would that be.

I wouldn't lose my job from doing, because Chris, my boss, likes me too much. I am a bit concerned with myself for having the urge to shout about a giant sea-animal in the pool, but I try not to contemplate myself.

Anyway, my boss Chris needs me, I am probably the only one at this pool that arrives on time, and does all my work. I mean as much as I hate this job, I do think that I should work for the money I earn, and not just sit around like a potato.

I hop up from the hard-plastic lifeguard chair, and stretch my back. Hearing two cracks as I twist from side-to-side. I look around for Michael, the one who's supposed to lifeguard the adult shift, but he is nowhere to be seen. Typical.

The rules state that I have to remain at my post until he comes, because the pool is not allowed to go unattended. I glance at the pool, and notice that no adults have gotten in yet, but I was starting to get a little bit irritated. I looked around to see Felix, another one of my dickhead co-workers, walking out of the lifeguard office. He had his phone in his hand, which is against the rules unless you're on break, and a towel under the other.

"Hey, Felix!" I shouted at him.

He looked up from his phone, and over to me. "Hey!" He shouted back, before looking back down at his phone, and continuing to walk to the lifeguard table set by the entrance of the pool.

What a fucking idiot.

"Felix, I didn't mean hey like hey-hey, I meant like hey get over here." I shouted back, and nearly face palmed at the stupidity of my sentence.

He looked up from his phone, and over to me again. He looked confused, and literally so stupid. Sometimes I just want to punch the stupid from their faces.

"Anyway, where the hell is Michael? It's his shift, and he's not here." I shouted, because he continued to stand the 10-feet distance away from me, and it's not like I could go anywhere.

My eyes fixed on the pool again, and luckily there weren't any adults swimming in it still. "I don't know, he's probably at the snack-bar." He shouted, and looked half-heartedly around for him.

People were starting to look at us, and it made my skin itch. "Well, could you please tell him to hurry, and cover his shift? This is supposed to be my break-time." I shouted annoyed.

He nodded, and dropped his gaze off of me, and slowly made his way to the snack bar.

The snack-bar was located on the side of the pools main building, and was run by the freshman, and sophomores who were unable to lifeguard yet. I should be working it, but no, I had an early birthday, passing the age allowed to lifeguard.

The snack-bar was past my line of sight, but I saw Felix turn around the corner to get to it.

"For fucks sake." I whispered to myself.

My stomach was beginning to growl of hunger, and all I wanted was my subway-sub located in the office fridge.

I glanced at the pool for the third-time, and saw a women entering the "free-style lane." The free-style lane was a lane, blocked-off only to those who wished to swim laps without kids splashing, or getting in their way.

I sighed, and turned to see if Michael was on his way over here yet, and he finally was. Felix, and Michael were slowly walking around the corner, and were laughing at something, which pissed me off even more. Felix waved to Michael, and walked off in the direction to the lifeguard table.

I looked up at Michael, who whispered a quite "sorry," before lightly jogging over to me.

"Michael, seriously? This is like the tenth time this has happened, you know this is your shift." I said angrily to the red haired boy.

"Sorry Mr. Ashton, it wont happen again." He mocked before shoving the remainder of his skittles into his mouth, and placing the wrapper into his pocket.

"Whatever, sorry if I sounded bitchy, i'm just hungry." I said feeling a little bad, but not really bad, because I was tired of his shit.

He laughed, and looked to the pool. "Maybe I should call you Hulk now, because you turn green when you're angry." He joked, with a mouthful of skittles.

He's so dumb, how do I even respond to that. "Yeah, that sure makes sense. Bye, Michael." I forced out a little laugh before turning around, and making my way towards the lifeguard office.

A/N: shajjshajaja, okay surprise! thanks for 2k reads on "guilty." i'm so excited about this story, holy shit! thanks for reading, and voting! :-)

-serena x