loosely based on a day when i had some very tired gay panic
-----/////-----
The sun was beating down bight and hot as Raelle sat perched in her lifeguard chair for the third hour in a row. She gritted her teeth against the shrieking of the children in the pool below her. She could feel her skin begin to go from tanning to burning despite at least three layers of sunscreen coating every inch of her. She scanned the pool every thirty seconds to be sure that every kid in the pool was swimming and not drowning.
Exhaustion had begun to set in and she found herself repressing yawns. She checked her watch and saw that it was five minutes until time to bring the kids back down to join the rest of the camp. Raelle debated with herself for a moment, then blew her whistle with a piercing shriek. She could waste at least five minutes by making the kids clean up after themselves. "Everybody out!" she called to a collective chorus of disappointed groans.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." She dismissed them and waited until they were all up and out before climbing down and putting her rescue tube away. "Make sure you have everything and I mean everythingthat belongs to you picked up and taken inside with you or I willthrow it away at the end of the week."
Raelle gave the same speech to her charges every day she worked, but she still found socks, shoes, goggles, and towels out on the tables every time she came to lock up. It was a minor irritation but it was still grating. The heat was still radiating off of her skin as she walked her group inside. She wore a simple blue halter style bikini top and a towel wrapped tightly around her waist, a bag tossed haphazardly and half-open over her shoulder.
"Alright everyone, sit here and wait for Coach 'Costia. She should be here in just a minute." Raelle dropped the bag on a table as she left them all to get changed and went to do the same for herself. She made her way to the front office, toweling herself off as she climbed over mats and other pieces of sporting equipment used to keep the kids entertained for as long as they could.
"Hey Abby, could you clock me out? I'm going to change and head out for my lunch break." Raelle popped her head into the office area to see the other coach in her chair spinning aimless circles attempting to make her breeze.
"The next person to claim that global warming is a Democratic con is going to catch my fist in their face," Abigail swore, hitting a button on the computer to do as Raelle had asked. "Don't forget that a new gymnastics coach is coming in at two, so be sure to be back in time to show her around between campers leaving and classes starting."
"Yes, Boss." Raelle chuckled and brushed her friend off. "See you in a bit."
When she had first started working at the sports camp a few summers before, Raelle had despised Abigail Bellweather with every fiber of her being. It had taken a good while for her to even begin getting along with the young woman who now felt like family to Raelle.
The turning point had been Tally Craven. She was the human version of an exclamation point. Abigail and Raelle had both loved her from the moment they met her. Through her, they had come to appreciate and then love one another. They could never have been the kind of family unit they were without her. Tally held them together.
By the time she got back, Raelle felt much more awake. She was greeted back at the gym by the tall redhead with a wide smile. Seeing her and the horde of children in her wake added another level of exhaustion to the already worn out blonde. "I truly don't understand where all of your energy comes from." Raelle chuckled, now wearing a soft pair of grey shorts and a distressed, thin blue tank top. She was infinitely more comfortable now as a long and strong arm draped across the shoulders.
"Yoy just have to learn to have fun with anything you might be doing... all the time, no matter how you are feeling. Tally laughed darkly. "Did we have any near-drownings today?"
"No attempted drownings yet this season, but we have only just begun, right?" Raelle wiggled her eyebrows at the dark humor, cracking a small smile.
"Have you seen the new girl yet? Dark hair and trouble. Just your type." Tally teased. Her smile was willful and excited. "Drop dead gorgeous if you ask me."
"Instead of giving me a hard time, aren't there some kids somewhere you should be throwing through the air?" Raelle asked, shoving her friend into a pile of mats as they walked. She kept on, leaving Tally to pick herself up, to the uproarious laughter of the kids scattered about the building supposed to be practicing.
Raelle had completely forgotten about the new girl and prayed that it wasn't another teenager looking for a summer job. She went back up to the front office and clocked herself back in for the remainder of the day. Raelle turned back at the sound of Abigail's voice and very nearly fell over.
Black hair, bright blue eyes, and a mischievous smile. Tally had a point. Tally had a serious point. Raelle forgot how to speak completely and didn't hear a single word Abigail was saying. Her heart was pounding too loudly in her ears.
"Uhm...uh, yeah..." Raelle said quietly, wishing she had showered or done her hair...or anything else. "Good God."
