Collide (Hiatus)

Kelly | Summer Job |

"It's hot as hell." My friend Jenny yells from her lifeguard post on the beach.

Of course it's hot, its Flordia.

I think this to myself as I put on a fresh layer of sunscreen as grab my book sitting down in my beach chair.

We rarely have any problems on our beach, Panama beach is pretty calm this time of day.

"You should've grabbed one of the mini fans they handed out on the first day of work." I say as I crack open my book and start to reading it.

"Fuck that, I want a big fan." she sighs as she starts yelling at some kids who are pushing each other into the water.

"If your head is not above water I cant see you, and as a life guard, I have to automatically assume its an emergency, that's more work for me!" she yells as she runs her fingers through her hair

"Hey stop yelling at them, didn't you ever do any of that as a kid?" I say peering up at her as I laugh softly.

"No, I used to step on anthills." she says laughing.

"You're terrible!" I say laughing as I go back to reading my book.

My dad demanded that I get a summer job so I could help out food on the table but since I'm 16 now, I often feel like I'll be working forever.. So why waste my life doing it now?

My dad says that fairy tales are full of shit, that they make life look so glamorous when it really sucks. However my mother loves them, she used to stay up all night with me to watch all of the Disney princess movies. We still do it sometimes, yet we can recite every single word like we wrote out the movie script oursleves.

Jenny peers down at my book, "Damn how many books are there of that series?" she says.

Jenny has 20/20 vision, as to I was graced with the presence of glasses that confirm my blindness for me every time I take them off for a brief second.

I'm reading "A Tale Of Unfortunate Events" and since I loved the movie so much, I went out and blew my money on the whole book series, which I'm still not finished with.

But then again I have a summer to read 'em, so I plan on finishing.

I look up from my book occasionally to check on the kids before going back to reading my book. In the corner of my eyes I spot a little boy drowning.

Keep in mind that Panama beach is pretty calm most of the time, so I'm not used to emergencies.

"Jenny! He's drowning!" I say as I put my book down and grab my floatie and run out then to go get him.

Jenny comes down from her post, but about time she's down, another girl is having trouble swimming. It was like an episode of baewatch...

The boy, dark brown hair covering his head as he flapped his arms for help, could be no older than about 6 or 7 years old. We have a policy that doesn't allow kids under 14 to come to the park alone, especially if they can't swim.

"Help! I can't swim!" he squeaks as I grab him out of the water and hold him in my arms.

"Hey! Calm down, I gotcha!" I say as I carry him back over to the shore and set him down in my beach chair

As soon as he calms down he looks up at me with a look of embarrestment on his face, his cheeks are instantly rushed with a fusion of pink and red.

It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

"You know you're supposed to have someone above 16 with you at all times." I say sternly, yet softly, knowing the limits with a child.

"I know, but I wanted to learn to swim by myself. I wanted to show my big brother so he would be proud of me." he says, almost about to cry.