Learning to Swim

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Dakota, your four O’clock group is here,” this girl Lizzie tells me and I nod my thanks.

I plaster a big smile on my face and greet the group of people that I will be stuck giving a tour for the next hour. There are a bunch of excited little kids and then their parents, most of whom look like they would rather be anywhere but here. They are scattered all over and so I try to get them all into one group to start the tour.

I have been giving tours at the local aquarium since I turned sixteen, the age you need to be to work here. I only give tours on the weekends because of my job at Oliver’s during the week. I don’t like working here nearly as much as I like working there. You would think it would be kind of fun getting to see all the cool fish and things, but I’m telling you it is not even close to being fun.

At first, it is kind of interesting, but working here got old real fast. I still love seeing the dolphins and other fish, but it is the people that are hard to deal with. I have to give the same tour multiple times a day to a bunch of little kids that never listen when I say not to bang on the glass or to stay with the group. Every time a kid wanders off there will be some parent complaining how it is our job to keep track of them. I find this ridiculous since the parents come on the tour too. I mean, it’s not like I’m getting paid to baby-sit their kids while they are standing right there. I’m getting paid to show them around and give facts about marine life.

Not to mention the horrible outfit I’m forced to wear. The actual clothes aren’t so bad, a navy blue shirt with the aquarium’s logo paired with tan dress pants. It is the hat that makes me cringe every time I see it. It is shaped like a dolphin and is huge. When I wear it, it looks like I’m wearing a stuffed animal on my head, which I pretty much am. I couldn’t count the times I heard the parents in the group laughing about it or the little kids asking why I would wear something so silly. You would think that if little kids thought it was silly my boss would say we didn’t have to wear them, but no. He continues to try and improve them. Note the sarcasm on the last part. His last ‘improvement’ was adding gaudy gems all over it. Personally, I think he just likes to laugh at us when he sees them.

As if all that weren’t bad enough, we have to be happy at all times. And when I say happy I mean all employees have to have the biggest, cheesiest grin on their face at all times. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t even leading a group at the time, you still have to be smiling. You also have to talk in this high-pitched cheerful voice that is so amazingly corny that even the kids roll their eyes. My boss has actually fired people for frowning and talking normally.

It would be bearable if I had a friend to work with, someone like Maggie. All of the employees here, though, are either older that lost their job because of the bad economy and were forced to get a job here or are high school dropouts. The only normal person working here is Lizzie, but she refuses to be friends with anybody. She is always giving everyone dirty looks for no reason, when our boss isn’t looking that is. I’m not sure what her problem is, but I try to stay out of her way.

I guess I shouldn’t be complaining and just be grateful that I was able to get two jobs. It’s just so hard sometimes, never having a moment to breathe. Last night with Liam was the first time I have been able to relax in I don’t even know how long.

As I go through my tour, I say what I have to and lead them where we need to go, but my mind is elsewhere. Thoughts of Liam have been going through my head all day, almost making this job bearable. I keep recalling our kiss from last night. I shiver every time I think about it and I keep finding myself bringing my fingers up to my lips, as if I could still feel Liam’s imprinted upon them.

The kiss was amazing, to say the least. At first, Liam was surprised, but a few seconds later he was kissing me back with a startling amount of passion. I have never felt anything like I did in that moment. It was like little shockwaves were flooding my body and I had never felt so alive. It was nothing at all like my first kiss.