The Bad Boy Manual

#1 Unsuspecting

"Uh-oh," I groan, as I put down the two glasses of ice-cold lemonade next to the empty reclining chair. Didn't I tell him to stay put? Where the hell is the new guy?

"Thanks, Nico," a brown-eyed blonde in a white-and-black bikini picks up the drink.

I smile at my girlfriend, Stefani, and sit beside her. I make sure that my eyes do not linger on her body for more than three seconds. "It's a really hot day. Won't want you to dehydrate."

"Red iced tea would have been better though," she pouted her full pink lips. 

"Oh. You want me to get a glass?"

She waves my concern away. "I just can't believe you're spending your summer in this clubhouse instead of having that roadtrip with Chris and her college friends. It would have been fun."

"I didn't ask you to stay for me," I tell her gently, not wanting to have a fight in front of so many eyes.

"I don't want to be that girl who came alone! Everyone brought their boy friends! I would have become the laughing stock of the group!"

I idly scan my surroundings before I quip, "We hardly know those people. It can be dangerous."

"It's an adventure!"

"Then tell your parents that. They didn't permit you. You can't just run away and not turn up for a week. They'll be worried sick."

She throws her arms in the air. "Why are you on their side and not mine? I'm your girlfriend!"

"Because I love you, sweet heart." I hold her hand but she just snatches it away. "I can't let you do stupid things."

"Then bring me somewhere fun! It's summer vacation, Nico!"

We are starting to gather attention. I want to tear my hair out. "I told you. I'm saving up."

Her eyes are now fully glaring at me, the glass of lemonade left forgotten at the table. "You don't need to work. You can just ask your dad to buy you a new car."

"We've been through this a hundred times." I take a deep Zen breathe. "Okay. I'm sorry that you didn't get to go. I'll make it up to you, somehow." I change the topic. "Where's Arthur?"

She lounges on the chair and pointedly ignores me. She types something on her pink phone and  I wait for a while for her to speak. A heartbeat later, she dramatically puts on her earphones, dutifully shutting me out.

Here goes the silent treatment again.

Fine. I yank my shades off and let my eyes roam the crowded pool area. The sun is high in the afternoon sky, nearly blinding me with its beams. 

Ah. I spot the tall British ginger at the twenty feet platform.

I should have known that the guy would take off the second I left him. So much for being a responsible lifeguard. I bet he only applied for the position so that he could show off his body. Or the pay.

Nope. Definitely to show off. 

If he wants the cash, he won't be so stupid as to earn such an obvious offense on his first day.

My attention is snatched from my co-life guard when I hear a chuckle and a squeal. A little bliond boy is running after a beach volley ball beside the pool. Just one slip, he will fall into the water.

The little boy stops and picks up the ball under the diving platform.

Oh shit.

"Arthur, no!"

Arthur Miller kicks off the diving board, yelling something incomprehensible a moment before he flatly hits the blue surface of the nine-feet deep swimming pool. On the good side, only a handful of daredevils swim in that pool so the damage is minimal and limited only to annoyance. On the bad side, the whole pool rippled, and a great deal of water spilled out onto the poolside.

Tsunami.

I cringed.

Man, that got to hurt.

The people tanning around the pool, now dripping wet, are shouting obscenities at the poor Brit. he is yet to resurface, and I know that he is now in absolute pain. Above the babble, a woman's banshee shriek silences the entire pool side.

"My son!"

Instantly, I find myself running.

"Nico!" Stefani shouts behind me. "Don't you dare leave. We're not yet done --"

As I dive into the pool, all sounds cease to exist for a split second. When I resurface, everything explodes back into my ears. I focus entirely on locating my target, but the little boy is not floating.

Double shit.