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Making Waves

Page 14

by Nicole Leigh Shepherd


  She sprints across the room and scoops Victoria up into her arms. “There you are!”

  The Beachwood Country Club manager follows behind her. He ignores me and walks directly over to Brody. “Way to go, son,” he says, smacking Brody on the shoulder.

  He thinks Brody did this by himself? My shoulders sink. I fumble for the door handle, a sudden case of claustrophobia overwhelming me.

  And that’s when I hear Brody stand up for me. “It was Abby Berkeley,” he says, attempting to correct the manager’s oversight. “She helped Victoria calm down and find her mom.”

  “Thanks, uh …” The manager glances down to check my nametag. Unfortunately for him, I’m not wearing one.

  “Abby,” I answer. He obviously wasn’t paying attention. I nod at him and step outside to begin my shift.

  I head to the lifeguard stand, barely able to control my inner fuming. I can’t believe the manager just dodged me like that. My family would have a field day if they knew. I can already picture my brothers storming in with a baseball bat, ready to teach that manager a lesson for ignoring their little sister.

  Not that I need their help.

  I look over at the snack bar, scene of my imprisonment, and catch sight of the pool. I can’t help but smile despite my frustration. Zoe is perched on a lifeguard chair. She’s clearly attempting to watch the water, but two little girls won’t stop badgering her.

  I’ve been so involved with lifeguarding, training with Brody, and working the snack bar that I haven’t had time to hang out with Zoe—or any of my other friends really—since that night at the pier. I wave at Zoe enthusiastically, but she barely nods in return, probably because between guarding the pool and entertaining the two girls clamoring for her attention, she’s already maxed out.

  I remind myself to text her before my snack bar shift to catch up. From the looks of it, I’d say she’ll probably tell me that she’s been babysitting. A lot.

  “There you are …” Katie says as soon as she spots me at the lifeguard stand. “What took you so long?”

  “Lost little girl,” I say, pulling myself up on the seat.

  “August is definitely the time of year for lost kids,” she says, scanning the packed beach. “Kids have been on the beach for a couple of months. They get a little more brazen while their parents get a little more relaxed.”

  “How was your meeting with Denise?” I ask, hanging my bag over the seat.

  “Fine. Quick.” Katie is all business. She’s obviously still concerned about today’s water conditions.

  “That’s good.” I pull out my whistle and adjust my sunglasses. When I look out at the ocean, two red flags flap in the rough wind. “And the rip currents?”

  “Just a lot of whistling for people to move back in … Like right now.” Katie stands up and blows her whistle, furiously waving her arms for a group of kids to move away from the cliffs and back to shore.

  The scene reminds me of the talk we had on my first day—about how people get near the red flags even though they shouldn’t.

  “So you were gonna tell me about how to figure out where the rip current is.” I shade my eyes from the sun. I can’t seem to locate the signature backward wave we were told to keep an eye out for in training.

  “See out there,” Katie points to a section of water a few yards away from the cliffs. “That swirl is the rip current. That’s what you want to avoid.”

  I look in the direction Katie’s pointing, just barely making out the current, when I spot a group of boys tossing a football dangerously close to the flag.

  “Urgh …” Katie says. She blows her whistle.

  The boys don’t move.

  Katie grabs her buoy. “Don’t those morons see the flags?”

  “Can I go?” I’m eager to get some real in-the-water experience.

  Katie skims her foot along the edge of the stand. “I don’t know. You have no experience with rip currents. They can be tricky even for an experienced lifeguard.”

  “I can do it.” I tear off my shades and grab my buoy.

  “Okay. Just stay away from the rip. Move the boys and get out. I’ll be right behind you,” Katie says, talking into the two-way radio.

  I jump from the stand. This is it. The day I make a name for myself. I jog into the shallow surf, my heart pounding. The water splashes against my shins.

  I surface dive into a waist-high wave, reminding myself to swim with the current, not against it, if I get caught.

  I emerge from the wave and spot the boys. They’re tossing a football directly in front of me, oblivious to the current. All it would take is a couple of steps backward and the boy farthest out would be instantly pulled under. I have to act now.

  “Excuse me,” I say, trying to get their attention. The undertow pulls me back a step.

  The boy next to me dives to catch the football. He does a belly flop into a wave, splashing me in the face. To his great pleasure, he manages to retrieve the football.

  I decide that now is as good a time as any to make my big entrance. “Please either return to shore or swim away from the flag. We’re keeping bathers close to shore today.”

  “Nah, I don’t think we’re going to do that. Thanks for the advice, though,” says the boy who threw the football. He turns to the guy who caught it. “Hey, Jonah! Doesn’t she look like that girl from Baywatch. Not the one with the big boobs, the other one.”

  “Oh, yeah. I know who you mean. My dad was, like, in love with her. Nicole Egg or something.” The boy standing next to me—Jonah, apparently—squints. “Don’t you work at the snack bar?”

  I lose my balance for a moment, the undertow pulling me to the right. “It’s very important that you listen to me about the current. It can be very dangerous. Please make your way to the sand.”

  “Save me, Snack Girl—I’m drowning.” A third boy smacks the water with his hands, pretending to be sucked down into the water.

  I hear a splash behind me.

  “Is there a problem?” Katie asks. Her voice is more severe than I’ve ever heard it.

  “We’re just having a little fun,” the boy who threw the football says, his voice taking on an apologetic tone that wasn’t there before.

  “You better not be giving Abby a hard time, Todd,” she says sternly, glaring at the boy.

  “No. Wouldn’t dream of it.” Todd holds his hands up like he’s about to get arrested.

  “Good. Exactly what I want to hear.”

  The water pulls me again. I take a few steps toward Katie.

  “This is a dangerous situation today,” Katie reiterates to the boys. “You need to move.”

  The group of them finally begin to trudge back to shore. They don’t seem happy about it.

  Katie turns her attention to me. “Abby, please return to the bench to watch the other swimmers.” She purses her lips.

  “I can handle …”

  “Please.”

  I clear my throat so I don’t cry. I charge roughly ahead through the water and squeeze my buoy handle. I don’t know how I’ve been managing to kid myself this last month, thinking that the club might accept me as one of their own if I win the scholarship. Between Brody getting credit for helping that little girl and now this, I’m starting to feel like this place will never see me as anything more than a charity case, as the snack bar girl who they “let” lifeguard because Brody Wilson made a special request. I kick the sand as I make my way back to my assigned spot.

  Brody is there when I reach the stand.

  “What was that all about?” he asks, reaching out a hand to comfort me.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” I pull away from him and begin my climb back up the chair.

  “Not your day, is it?” He jokes.

  I grimace. “Not my summer.” I throw my buoy down, not bothering to check whether I’ve managed to hang it correctly.

  “Don’t let those boys bother you,” Brody says, plopping himself next to me. “They’ve probably had a huge crush on you
all summer.”

  “I don’t think so ….” I wrap my towel around me and let out a sigh. All this work for nothing. What lifeguard can’t even move swimmers?

  Brody kneels down and begins gently rubbing my wet foot. “Abs, I know you want to be the best.”

  I move my foot away from his touch. “We’re at the club,” I say through clenched teeth.

  He pushes himself back up, clearly deliberating about how best to deal with me. He ultimately goes with teacherly advice. “You’re a new guard. You can’t expect to be the best your first summer. It takes time to learn how to be a good lifeguard and—”

  I cut him off. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

  Brody continues where he left off. “And it takes time to learn how to deal with the members.”

  I look up at him. I’m fairly sure my disappointment has reached my eyes. “I can’t even get some kids to move.”

  “Don’t take it so hard,” Brody urges, placing his hand onto my shoulder.

  I shudder, shaking his hand off. Brody Wilson is the prince of Beachwood; he can’t even begin to understand how I feel. I was right to dodge his invite to the Luau. My conviction that I won’t be able to attend—with or without him—was renewed the moment the manager walked into that tower. And the boys’ refusal to listen just confirmed it.

  A shrill voice calls out, “Is there a problem?”—the same question that Katie just asked those guys by the cliffs. Except the woman before me is definitely not Katie.

  “No. No problem, Denise,” I answer, as chastened as the boys were just a few minutes ago. There will be a problem when you find out Brody and I hang out every day after our shift.

  I look out at the water again. My stomach is in my throat.

  Katie jogs up to us, holding the football. “No problem,” she echoes. “Abby is doing an amazing job.”

  “That’s what I like to hear, Berkeley,” Denise says, grinning proudly. Brody and I can be seen in the reflection of her wrap-around sunglasses. We both look like we’re crawling out of our skin.

  Denise continues. “I stopped by to remind you that the sign-up sheet for the Last Blast Competition will be posted outside the snack bar tomorrow morning. I hope you’re participating this year. It’s going to be a great event.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” I say, keeping my eyes on Denise’s supervisor’s jacket and off Brody.

  “Fabulous. I think you’re going to be one of the favorites to win.” Denise pulls out her radio. “Now get back to work.” She walks briskly toward the tower.

  My mood lifts for the first time today. Denise sees me as a lifeguard. She wants me to compete. And after I win the scholarship, the rest of the club will follow her lead. They’ll have to.

  Brody taps my foot with his buoy. “See? That has to make you feel better,” he whispers.

  I exhale, allowing Denise’s encouragement to wash over me.

  “So I’ll see you later tonight for training?” Brody asks. The twinkle in his eye tells me that he has more than just training on his mind.

  I nod, staring at the water. I’m grateful that he doesn’t bring up the Luau again. One thing at a time …

  Katie climbs back on the stand as Brody walks away. “What was that all about?” she asks.

  What? Does she mean me and Brody? The way he was talking to me? I turn my head right and left, frantic that Denise saw the way Brody and I left things, that she’ll realize something’s been going on between us—even if it’s only training. I can’t let everything fall apart now, not when I’m so close to winning the scholarship—and maybe something more.

  That’s when I make eye contact with another unwelcome voyeur. Lexi. She nods at me, raising her left eyebrow. She’s seen. She knows.

  She jogs up to join Brody as he makes his way to the tower.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Thanks to my morning shift at the snack bar, I’m the first in line at the Last Blast Competition sign-up sheet the next morning. Who knew all those hours at Sunset would be good for something? My insides twist as I sign my name next to the number-one spot—whether it’s due to excitement about the competition or anxiety about what Lexi’s going to do with her big discovery, it’s too early to tell.

  “There you are!” Zoe calls out. I’m shocked to see her at this hour.

  “Zoe!” I yell, holding out my arms for a hug. “What are you doing here this early?”

  “Signing up for the competition. Duh.” She doesn’t hug me. “I was worried that Denise would have an epiphany and only allow beach guards or something.”

  “That sounds like exactly the sort of thing she’d do.” I adjust my ponytail, feeling surprisingly uncomfortable around my best friend.

  She grabs the pen from my hand and quickly signs her name under mine. “So I haven’t seen you in forever, Abby Cadabby.”

  “I know! Not since that night at the pier.”

  “Speaking of which, I wanted to tell you about that girl we saw, the one that Brody was with.” She twirls the pen around her finger by the attached string.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it. I know all about her.” I look around, surprised that we’re still the only lifeguards here. With everything I’ve heard about the competition, I’d think that people would storm the snack bar to get their names on that list.

  “You do?” She stops twirling her finger. The pen hangs there.

  “Yeah. Turns out she’s Brody’s sister.” I eye Zoe curiously. Why are we even talking about this?

  “So I’ve heard. But Kylie and Missy told me that—”

  I cut her off. “Zoe, I’m really thrilled to see you, but Brody and I are kind of in a reasonably okay place, and I don’t want a turn in the Kylie-and-Missy rumor mill to ruin that.”

  “Fine.” She crosses her arms, still holding on to the pen for dear life. “So what have you been up to lately?”

  “Oh, training, lifeguarding, training, working at the snack bar, training.” I giggle, trying to lighten the mood.

  “That’s a lot of training,” Zoe deadpans.

  “I really want to win that scholarship.”

  “Shocker.” She holds the pen by the attached string and hangs it back around the pushpin.

  “It’s not just for me, you know?” I play with the pushpin.

  “It isn’t?”

  I push the pin in hard and face Zoe head-on. “Don’t you want to catch the look on Lexi’s face when something finally doesn’t go her way?”

  “Now that I’d pay to see.” She beams. It seems as if we’re finally connecting again. “So I guess you’re too busy to come to the bonfire then?” she asks, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

  So much for connecting.

  “What bonfire?” I ask, crossing my arms.

  “Uh. Just the biggest party of the summer.” Zoe looks at me like I’ve swallowed a little too much saltwater.

  “I thought Last Blast was the biggest party of the summer ….”

  “Okay, so this is second only to that.”

  “What makes it second?”

  “It’s only for lifeguards.” She pauses, catching sight of Jason who’s just arrived at the snack bar. “But a lot of times people try to bring a few friends from the club anyway.”

  I nod at Jason, wondering whether he’d be the kind of “friend” the other lifeguards would want at their bonfire.

  “Are you bringing anyone?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I thought I’d see if Kylie and Missy want to come.”

  I narrow my eyes, surprised that Kylie and Missy are at the top of Zoe’s list. What has she been doing in my absence?

  “Anyway, people get together on Saturday night at a secluded beach that’s only accessible during low tide. There’s a DJ and a bonfire and food and drinks.”

  “Nobody told me.”

  Zoe rolls her eyes. “Maybe that’s because you’ve gone off the grid.”

  “I’ve just been working and training a lot.”

  “I know. You mentioned that. That’s w
hy I’ve stopped asking you to come babysit with me.” She waits for my reaction.

  I’m at a loss.

  “Or haven’t you noticed?”

  “I had. And I wanted to ask you—”

  “Surprise. Surprise. Look who it is.” Lexi sneers, interrupting my attempt to fix things with Zoe.

  “You got me,” I say, my stomach dropping. Is Lexi going to spill the beans now or wait for the perfect moment?

  “Should have known that Abby Berkeley would be the first to sign up for the Last Blast Competition.” Lexi pushes in front of us, grabbing the pen.

  “Obviously,” Zoe mutters under her breath. Then she switches to her normal voice. “Okay, girls, I gotta go. Some of us have to babysit.” She takes off toward the playground to greet a mom and her twins waiting by the swings.

  I turn back to Lexi. “How are you on this gorgeous August day?”

  “I’m fine. But it’s you I’m worried about, Snack Girl. You’re juggling an awful lot this summer, don’t you think?”

  I can’t kill her now, I tell myself. I’ve got to save it for the competition. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I plop my bag on a stool.

  I feel Jason’s eyes on us as he hangs some glasses.

  “Well …” Lexi trails the edge of the granite countertop with the tip of her index finger. “You know. It must be hard trying to keep all your secrets in order.”

  “Yeah. Sure. I guess,” I say, trying to maintain a calm exterior. Meanwhile, my mind races: Is this it? Is this the moment she tells me that she’s going to rat me out?

  “Hey, Mr. Murphy,” I hear Jason say to my left. I glance in his direction and discover that Zoe’s dad has just sat down at the bar. Big surprise.

  “Early bird today?” Jason asks.

  “Rough night,” Zoe’s dad grumbles. “Give me my usual.”

  Lexi continues, ignoring the scene unfolding beside us. “Lifeguarding shifts, working the snack bar, training for the competition—must be tough.”

  How long is she going to make me suffer before she just comes out with it already?

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit early for a Jack and Coke?” Jason asks. I can’t seem to tune out their conversation. “How about a little OJ?” he suggests.

 

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