Chapter Text
It wasn’t until about two weeks into the job that Kate started hearing about the lifeguards who had come before her. One lifeguard in particular.
This was a Summer-Only public pool, which meant that for the rest of the year it was only available for the high school’s swimming and water polo teams. But apparently those summers had been quite eventful.
It started with a mom coming up to Kate’s chair and saying, “You really seem to know what you’re doing.”
Kate stopped eyeing the pool for a moment, always on the lookout for kids who could cause trouble.
“Well, that’s why they hired me,” Kate replied, not sure if the surprise in this woman’s voice should offend her or not.
The woman let out a strange laugh. “You’d be surprised. This place doesn’t have the greatest track record of competent lifeguards.”
Kate tilted her head. Before she could ask any further questions, the woman saw her seven-year-old about to sit on their lounge chair, soaking wet, and hurried back to save her clothes and her phone.
The whole thing mostly slipped her mind until her co-worker, Boom Boom as he was affectionately called, brought up “the incident.”
“Yeah, a couple years ago,” Boom Boom said, “One of the lifeguards almost let this kid drown.” At Kate’s expression, he continued after closing his locker and taking Kate’s rescue buoy to start his shift. “Almost closed down the pool for the rest of the summer because the kid’s family was apparently super rich and threatened to sue. They ended up just firing the guy, but no one forgot it.”
“Wow. That’s…unfortunate. For the kid.”
Boom Boom nodded. “Everyone has slightly different accounts of what happened that day, but all are in agreement that the lifeguard sucked at his job.”
Kate was pretty new in town, so she didn’t know many people yet at all. Her dad was military, so they moved around a lot, but he’d promised she could stay the entire senior year of high school here in Texas. Noah had taken after their father and went to Camp Pendleton instead of college, which meant he wasn’t around either. It was mostly just her and her mom, so Kate got this lifeguard job just to have something to do for the summer besides worry about college applications.
Boom Boom was the only person Kate actually felt comfortable around so far, but they didn’t talk much except for the minute or two they had between shifts.
It was a small outdoor pool that only needed one lifeguard, and by the end of her shifts, sitting in that Texas heat always made Kate want to take the longest coldest shower possible.
There wasn’t much to do sitting up in that chair except survey the kids running around (no matter how many times she specifically told them not to).
She got familiar with the regulars – the families that came every weekend, or the groups of kids her age trying to act cool and not actually getting into the pool until it was too hot to just sit there tanning.
She didn’t really want to be friends with them. She’d make friends during the school year, probably. Not that it mattered, really, because she wouldn’t be here for very long.
Plus, the tallest guy in every single one of those groups always tried to hit on her. She’d keep her face as passive as possible and glare down at them. The chair almost doubled her height, and it was nice to feel like she was sitting on a throne sometimes.
She’d remind them that she was working, and that she wasn’t interested. Would never be interested, even when she was done with her shift.
They’d give up after a few minutes, thankfully, and leave her alone.
The one and only time it didn’t happen was when these two guys, also probably about seventeen, started coming to the pool in July. One was tall and fit, and sometimes had a blonde girl with him, the other almost the same size with darker skin and slightly longer hair. The latter seemed a little more reserved and was always doing laps. He had to dodge kids the entire time, which was pretty entertaining to watch, and Kate wondered if they were both on the school swim team or something.
And if they were, why they kept coming to this pool instead of finding an emptier one.
She heard them call each other Jesse and Kai, so Kate filed that away. Jesse – who very much reminded her of Noah – was also pretty loud, shouting Kai’s name all the time to get his attention, so it wasn’t easy to ignore them.
Kate wondered when their small duo would get bigger – guys like that always traveled in packs.
The blonde, which Kate had figured out was Jesse’s girlfriend, would come sometimes, but not always. They didn’t seem to have any other friends, at least initially.
The first time Kate had to talk to them was to tell Jesse not to throw a football across the entire pool.
“Hey! Can you maybe not do that?” she asked, making her voice carry. “You might hit someone.”
Jesse looked over at her, his arm halfway through the motion of throwing, and froze. “Oh. But Kai can catch it, though. I promise!”
They both looked at Kai, who didn’t seem too sure about it now that there was extra pressure.
Kate almost smiled in amusement, but stopped herself. “Yeah, maybe, but maybe not.”
Jesse looked disappointed at the thought of a fun time ruined, but Kai just started wading back to where Jesse was.
“C’mon, dude, she’s right.”
Jesse sighed, but slowly lowered his arm. “Fine,” he grumbled half-heartedly.
That was easier than she thought it would be. Usually people gave her trouble even about small stuff like that, but Jesse and Kai started a contest of who could swim faster through the maze of children, the football forgotten within minutes.
On their way out a few hours later, Jesse came up to her, and Kate steeled herself.
He read her name plate and let out a snort. “Is your name actually Whistler, or is it because you’ve got that thing around your neck?”
Kate self-consciously looked down at her bright red whistle that matched her swimsuit. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but it was kind of funny. “Just an unfortunate coincidence.”
“Fitting. You’re new, huh?” he then asked. “Not just at the pool, but in town.”
Kate nodded. “My family just moved here.”
“And you’re going to the high school?”
“Yep, senior year.” He seemed genuinely curious, so Kate found she didn’t mind answering his questions. She put her hand up to block the sun for a moment because this tiny umbrella hooked to her chair didn’t do much.
“Kai’s a senior, too,” Jesse said, throwing an arm around Kai’s shoulder as he came up beside him. “I’m already college-bound, so will never have to set foot in this place again, thank god.” He looked around at the buildings of the school nostalgically.
“He’s ditching us to go play football professionally,” Kai supplied.
Kate wondered who “us” was, if maybe Jesse’s girlfriend was still in high school, too.
“And Kai plays water polo, which is why I believe you made a mistake not seeing us make an awesome pass across the water.” Jesse’s tone was teasing. “Would’ve blown you away.”
Alright, Kate could play this game. She played it with Noah all the time, so she gave him a wry smile. “I’m not convinced. I think Kai could’ve caught it, I just wasn’t sure about your throwing skills.”
Kai barked out a laugh and punched Jesse in the arm. “Bro, devastating.”
Jesse also smiled, as though he was happy Kate had quipped back at him.
“Whatever. You’ll see, one day, Whistler! Whistler in name and profession,” he added. “I’ll prove you wrong.”
Kate rolled her eyes. She focused most of her attention back on the pool as the guys – with Kai still laughing – started to make their way towards the parking lot.
Glancing at them, Kate couldn’t help a smile. Maybe she didn’t have to wait until the school year to start making friends.
Those two definitely weren’t who she imagined getting along with, not in a million years for a multitude of reasons, but they seemed like good guys who could tell her the ins and outs of this town, which was pulling Kate more and more into its eccentricities day by day.
*****
The next weekend, Kate found out that Jesse and Kai did have another friend. And she was…tiny.
That word was in the midst of a lot of other adjectives in Kate’s mind, but those made a flush creep up her neck, so she tamped them down.
Everything except this girl’s physical stature was not tiny though. The three of them hung out in the parking lot for a while, and Kate learned that she had a loud laugh that seemed to burst out of her, and she was really good at taking up space. She also pushed Jesse and Kai around like they couldn’t pick her up with one hand.
The weirdest part was that almost all of this girl’s energy noticeably evaporated the minute she stepped foot into the pool area. She quickly left the guys to find a lounge chair in the very back corner.
She didn’t have a swimsuit on – not that Kate was particularly interested in whether she did or not – nor did it look like she actually wanted to be there.
At first, Kate assumed she might be Kai’s girlfriend. But that was disproven when Kate noticed they didn’t act couple-y at all. They acted like best friends, and Kate couldn’t see any evidence that they were more than that.
“Lucy! Can you toss me the sunscreen?” Jesse shouted.
Lucy. Kate filed that away, too.
Lucy chucked the bottle at him, and Jesse caught it with an “Oof!”
“Really, Luce?” He said with a look of exasperation, and Lucy just grinned and shrugged.
“Punishment for makin' me come here.” Her voice had that Southern twang to it.
Then, Lucy glanced at Kate.
Well, she probably glanced at the lifeguard stand, and Kate just happened to be sitting there, so the only problem was that Kate was already looking at Lucy, and they made eye contact. Which Kate was definitely not ready for.
It had seemed like a subconscious act from Lucy, like she didn’t mean to keep looking, but she was.
Kate was glad she could blame her reddening cheeks on the sweltering afternoon, at least to herself, as she tried very hard not to squirm or act like she’d been focusing her attention on Lucy – and their group in general – and was actually doing her job.
It was probably only a second, maybe two, but it felt like a lifetime before Kate tore her eyes away to watch the boy on the diving board and try to assess whether it seemed like he was going to land on someone.
He wasn’t, but Kate kept watching the board…because there was nothing else occupying her mind at the moment. Not at all.
She didn’t care about the possibility that maybe Lucy was still looking in her general direction. Or if she was smiling, or if–
“Hey,” a deep voice said from Kate’s right, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Kate whipped her head around to see Kai standing next to her chair tilting his head up at her.
“Hey. What’s up? Is there a problem?” Kate asked. Other than chatting with Jesse and Kai last weekend, no one paid her any attention unless there was a problem.
“No, just…wondering if you’re closing the pool today.”
Kate hesitated before answering, for what reason she wasn’t really sure. “Yeah, I am.”
“Cool.” Kai tapped his fingers against the white wood. “I have a strange request, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay…” Kate said slowly, knowing she’d likely say no. She did a quick sweep of the area to check if everything was okay.
“Could you keep it open an extra, like, twenty minutes? After everyone leaves? And…let us use it, alone?”
“Why?”
“Just trying to help a friend,” was all Kai said.
Kate looked back, waiting for him to supply more information, but he didn’t. She couldn’t just grant his request, no matter how well-meaning it was, without knowing why first. Especially because she didn’t know him – them – at all.
“Your other friend? Lucy?” Kate pried, and immediately regretted using her name.
Kai slowly smiled but furrowed his brow. “You know her?”
Kate shook her head. “Jesse is…really loud.”
“Very true,” Kai said with a laugh and a nod. “Well, yeah, her. It’s a long story.”
Sitting back, Kate thought about it for a moment. Was it really that bad, to keep the pool open a measly twenty minutes?
Kate wanted to know this “long story.” She could guess – her first thought was swimming lessons because maybe Lucy had never learned as a kid, and she was self-conscious about it. That was…reasonable.
A scream from a kid momentarily distracted her, but it was a happy scream, thankfully.
“Jesse also really wants to prove to you he can throw a perfect spiral over thirty yards. Y’know, to mend his bruised ego.”
At that, Kate felt a smile tug at her mouth when Kai winked.
“Twenty minutes?” Kate found herself clarifying, surprised she was bending this easily. Then, she remembered that Lucy didn’t have a bigger bag with her, which meant she had no swimsuit. If it wasn’t swimming lessons, then what was it for? Kate’s curiosity was definitely piqued.
“Yeah. Only twenty, I promise.”
Kate pursed her lips and glanced at her watch. Two hours until closing. “I’ll have to stay out here with you all, just in case.”
Kai nodded in understanding. “Is that a yes?”
“I guess so.”
Kai beamed. “Thanks! We owe you.”
Kate tried to wave it off, but Kai was already heading back to Jesse and Lucy to tell them. Kate pointedly did not direct her gaze that way for another half an hour to avoid what had happened a few minutes ago.
But if, later, she happened to notice that Lucy did not get any closer to the water the entire time they stayed there, or that her smile was especially mesmerizing whenever Jesse or Kai cracked a joke, those were observations. Kate’s duties included observing the entire swimming and deck zones and everyone in it, so she was doing her job.
Later, when everyone else had left, Kate tried not to eavesdrop or get in the way of whatever was about to happen. She wanted to be a fly on the wall for this.
It was a bit weird to her, though, that Lucy was also ignoring her. The guys had laid down for a few minutes next to Lucy, talking to her quietly enough that Kate couldn’t hear anything they were saying.
The silence after all the children left was really nice. The sun hadn’t gone down yet, but it was noticeably cooler than before, which Kate welcomed.
And when they all got up, Lucy’s stiff posture only relaxed a bit when Kai let her take his arm and walk her across the concrete.
The next five minutes were spent slowly and painstakingly getting Lucy closer and closer to the pool, until finally she sat down on the edge.
She took a deep breath, and put her toes in.
“You’re doing great, Luce,” Jesse said. His voice was soft, so different from what Kate was used to by now, and Kate suddenly felt like she was intruding on a very private moment.
She didn’t feel like she should be witnessing this, but maybe that was why they’d asked her. Kate was a stranger to them, so it didn’t really matter what she thought about all this.
Kate dug through her bag just to preoccupy herself, until something clicked.
Actually, a lot of things clicked together at once.
She hesitantly faced forward again, her focus on Lucy, who was still clutching Kai’s arm as they started up a normal conversation, seemingly to keep Lucy calm. Lucy’s eyes either stayed shut or fixated somewhere in the distance – anywhere but the water in front of her.
This was a small town. Kate didn’t know Lucy at all, but Lucy’s shift in demeanor around the water and her unwillingness to interact with Kate except for that accidental glance, could mean something.
Kate realized that it wasn’t impossible that the “kid” Boom Boom had been talking about, who had had a bad accident at this pool a few years ago, was the very girl sitting in front of her right now.