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CHAPTER TWO

FLORIDA, 2019

As I park my car in the staff parking lot, the new number of cars present throws me off guard. I get out of my car as soon as Adelaide does, and I gesture to all the cars around us, giving her a confused look.

"What's going on?" I ask, "did we hire a bunch of new people overnight?"

"Oh, no," she laughs, I wait for her catch up to me so we can walk into the beach club together, "these are all the local college kids who are home for summer break,"

"And do we like them?" I ask her, re-adjusting my bag's strap on my shoulder.

"A lot of them are pretty cool, yeah," she sighs and pulls her dark hair up into a ponytail, "it's just a couple of the guys...well, you'll see what I mean. I'm pretty sure they're here today, or at least one of them–"

Our conversation is interrupted by the sound of a girl squealing, and I look towards the pool to see a petite girl clinging onto a tall, dark man, "Todd! Oh, I missed you so much!!"

"It's good seeing you too, Marilyn," Todd says, prying her off of him, the smile on his face still big as they get to talking.

"Marilyn Coker, a freshman at Miami. She's the towel hut girl," Adelaide whispers to me, "And that's Todd Coleman, a senior at FSU. He's a lifeguard, too."

I look at her, "Is he one of the guys?"

"Yeah but he's pretty tame," she says, "It's when he gets with Nolan, that's when problems arise."

"Aye, Addie!" Todd calls out to her, jogging over to us and giving her a hug, "How's your momma doing?"

"She's doing well! Waiting for summer break to come along so she can get a break from West Bay."

"Ah, Mrs. Rivera... She'll always be the best history teacher I'll ever have," He smiles and looks at me, "Sup, I'm Todd."

"Hunter," I grab his hand and we shake for a second before I let go, "Good to know I'm not alone on the stand anymore."

"Oh, today is going to be a blast," he rubs his hands together mischievously, "Wait until you meet Nolan–"

"Nolan's here?!" Marilyn crashes into our conversation, her strawberry-blonde curls flow down the back of her royal blue tank top, she looks me up-and-down before her eyes land on my face, "You're new. I'm Marilyn."

"Nice to meet you," I smile, stretching out a hand, but she turns back to Todd. Adelaide rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, he had to drive his brothers and sister to school but he should be here anytime now," Todd turns to me, "I'm just setting everything up so we can just chill until the guests arrive."

"I'll hang out with–"

"No, Marilyn," Adelaide tells her, "Staff meeting in the dining room, remember?"

"I still have to go to those?" She groans while Adelaide cocks an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, you're still a food runner whenever it gets busy," She tells her. Marilyn reluctantly follows Adelaide towards the dining room. I look past the pool and the boardwalk and towards the crystal clear Gulf of Mexico, admiring its stillness at this hour.

"You can put your stuff in the pool supply hut," Todd tells me, taking a seat under an umbrella to beat the heat.

"I know," I tell him, walking towards the hut and placing my bag down before opening the door, "I've been working here for almost a month now, I know how it works here."