INEVITABLY YOURS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"I'm done today, I'm done today!" Tori cheered excitedly the next week.

"Don't be too happy about it, Tori," Steven grinned. "You won't like what we have to do today."

Tori sighed. "What do you have for us, Steven?"

Steven pointed to the wooden tables where there were different piles of equipment waiting to be used.

Veronica could see yellow rubber gloves, plastic buckets, nets, grab hooks and trash bags.

She also spotted a pile of dark rubber that looked like it was meant to be worn.

That didn't look promising.

"What the fuck are those?" Veronica found herself asking.

"Those are your outfits and equipment for today," Steven answered. "We're cleaning out the lake."

"Excuse me?" Jade asked. "That lake is disgusting."

"Yeah. Hence the assignment."

"We have to get in there?" Toni wondered.

"Yup. Don't worry; the water isn't more than waist-deep."

"According to whose waist?" Veronica wanted to know. "Because, if you haven't noticed, I'm really short without my heels."

"So am I," Tori added.

"Me, too!" Jade whined.

It was obvious that Steven was trying not to roll his eyes at the expected lack of enthusiasm.

"Anyway..." he said, picking up a one-piece from the table. He held it up, showing them what it looked like. "It's mostly adjustable: you can make the straps shorter or longer, depending on how tall you are. So, girls; relax. You can wear it over the clothes you're wearing now, and the pants tuck into boots, so nothing should get wet. Unless you fall over; in which case, I can't help you."

Steven opened a plastic tub next to the table, revealing the boots he had mentioned. "There should be some for everybody," he explained. "If not, then you might have to wear boots that are a little bit bigger than your regular size. Anyway, we're gonna get the trash out of the lake and put it either in the buckets or the trash bags, depending on how deep in the water you are. It'll be better to use buckets if you're out in the middle of the lake. Now suit up and let's get started

With only minor grumbling, the group of them put on their wet suits and boots. They pulled on thick, rubber gloves and took different equipment with them to get the trash out of the lake.

Some of them grabbed long poles with nets at the end to fish out what couldn't be pulled out with the grabber tools.

"This is bullshit," Sweet pea swore as he and Fangs grabbed a bucket.

"Would it be dumb to wear two pairs of gloves?" Tori asked Toni. "I don't want to mess my nails up."

"Use one pair of gloves, Tori," Steven cut in. Veronica could see that he was trying to hide a smirk as he said that.

Tori pouted, still looking unsure about the status of her manicure, but did what Steven said anyway.

About ten minutes later, once everyone successfully got into their gear, they made their way to the lake.

Veronica could swear she looked like a yellow chick considering how short she'd become and some guys made fun of her.
She managed to get a glimpse of Jughead who was also wearing his gear. He looked like he was in deep thoughts and made her curious.

The lake was a manmade one, meaning it really wasn't more than about three feet deep. The problem was, the water was murky, made dirty and disgusting by years of trash constantly falling into it, whether it was on purpose or accidental.