by Jade Parker
“What do I do?” she asked. “I don’t know what to do.”
I didn’t have time to explain. I started breathing into the little boy’s mouth, remembering everything they’d taught us in CPR class, tilting his chin back. Two quick breaths, then pumping on his chest. Counting the pumps. Then two more quick breaths.
The little boy coughed, spit up some water, and started crying.
It was the first time I was ever glad to hear a kid cry.
“There!” I heard someone shout.
I looked over and a woman was rushing over with a couple of other people, Nick, an EMT, and Sean. The EMT got there first and started checking the boy’s vitals. I heard Whitney telling the woman she was going to have to wait.
Sean pulled me to my feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Only then did I realize that I was trembling. “You’re all blurry.”
“That’s ’cause you’re crying. It’s okay.” He put his arms around me and held me. It felt really good. Suddenly I was cold and he was warm. “You’re a hero.”
“Whitney helped,” I said. “And Nick.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Whitney said.
“Come on. We need to get you warm,” Sean said.
I looked back at the medic. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Looks like.” He winked at me. “You did a good job.”
“Thanks. But if Whitney hadn’t seen him —”
“Will you shut up already?” she asked. “You did it by yourself.”
“No, I didn’t. We’re a team.”
“You can argue about it later,” Sean said.
He took me to the first aid station and wrapped a warm blanket around me, like I was in shock or something.
“See, I knew you were dependable,” he said quietly.
“Why do you make all these exceptions for Whitney?” I asked. Maybe I was in shock because the question seemed to come out of nowhere.
“It’s not me making the exceptions, but I can’t talk about it.”
“Do you want her to be your girlfriend?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. Not even close.”
“Well, how’s our little heroine?” a deep voice boomed.
I looked past Sean to see Mr. T standing there, grinning broadly.
“I’m not really a heroine,” I said. “I was just doing my job.”
“Remember what you just said, because that’ll make a good sound bite when you’re interviewed.”
“I’m going to be interviewed?”
“TV stations are on their way.”
“Whitney spotted him. If she hadn’t —”
“Whitney wants to stay low-key, so we’re just going to talk about what you did. This is Amber.” A young woman with short black hair and glasses stepped forward. “She’s our publicist. She’s going to prep you and help you through this.”
“Can I stay low-key, too?” I asked.
Amber smiled. “It won’t be bad. Just a few questions and a few answers.”
“You can do this,” Sean said.
“How do you know?”
He grinned. “I just know.”
* * *
“I was just doing my job.”
I didn’t sound too stupid. Mom had TiVoed the news so we could watch my interview — over and over if we wanted. Although I thought once would be enough for me. We were sitting on the couch together. She was squeezing my hand, like she thought maybe the interview was going to have a bad outcome.
The camera cut away to Mr. T, looking very important as he explained how all the students who worked at the park were trained to save lives.
Mom clicked the remote and muted the TV. “I’m so proud of you,” she said.
“I didn’t do it alone, though,” I said. “I can’t figure out why Whitney didn’t want any attention. And Nick called for help. He should have been on the news, too.”
“They helped, but you were the one who saved the little boy’s life, when you get right down to it.”
“I guess.”
Doing the interview hadn’t been as hard as I’d expected, mostly because Sean had hung around off camera, giving me a thumbs-up, making me feel like I could do the interview — could do anything, actually.
I knew he was probably being so supportive because he was my supervisor. He’d stayed with me for the interview, then checked up on me several times throughout the afternoon. They’d had a counselor come talk to me, to help me adjust to my new heroine status and to offer guidance and an ear if I wanted to talk about what had happened, what I’d done.
He’d been helpful, but Sean sitting down with me during my break and just letting me talk it out had helped a lot more. It’s kind of overwhelming to realize that you’ve saved a life. But talking with Sean made me realize that nothing monumental was going to change in my life.
Yes, I’d have some attention for a few days, but I was still me. And I still had a job to do.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” I said. I got up off the couch, walked to the front door, and opened it.
Sean was standing there.
“Hi,” I said, totally surprised to see him. As long as I’d known him he’d never actually come to my house. Stopped by to pick me up, but it was usually a quick stop at the curb and me hopping into his car so he could take Caitlin and me wherever.
“Just wanted to check, make sure you were doing all right,” he said.
I smiled. “You don’t have to keep checking up on me.”
“I like checking up on you.” He seemed embarrassed by that admission, stuck his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “So are you gonna ride with us to work tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I thought I would. If that’s okay.”
“Course it’s okay. I can’t believe you’d think it wouldn’t be.”
“It’s just that things have been kinda weird lately — with everyone. I can’t explain it.”
“I know what you mean.”
Did he? Did he really? Did he know that most of that weirdness had to do with how I was feeling about him? How confused I was? Was Whitney right? Did he really like me? In that I’d-like-to-kiss-her kind of way?
“Honey, who is it?” Mom called out.
“Sean!” I yelled back.
Mom walked into the foyer. “Hi, Sean.”
“Hi, Ms. Johnson.”
“Why don’t you come on in?”
“Uh, no thanks. I was just checking on Robyn. I need to go. See you tomorrow,” he said.
He turned and headed down the sidewalk.
“Sean, wait.” Closing the door behind me, I hurried to catch up with him. Then wondered what it was I thought I needed to tell him so badly. He was looking at me so intently, like he thought I was going to say something really important.
“I just wanted you to know that I don’t tell Caitlin everything. There’s been a lot lately that I haven’t told her, and I just needed you to know that. Caitlin is my best friend, but you’re my friend, too —” I squeezed my eyes shut. That sounded so lame.
Because I wasn’t really thinking of him as a friend. I was thinking of him as more than a friend — but I didn’t know how to tell him that. Or maybe I was just afraid that he’d burst out laughing.
I opened my eyes. “Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I don’t tell her everything.”
“That’s good, because I don’t tell her anything.”
“Maybe you should. She’s great at listening.”
“She’s great at talking. You’re the one who listens.”
“I can’t believe how much you’ve noticed about me.”
“I’ve noticed a lot — for a long time.”
He turned and walked away before I could say anything. He got in his car and drove off.
I stood there for several moments wondering if maybe he’d been trying to tell me something today — by always being there, by always checking up on me. By noticing all the small things
about me.
I’d told him the truth. I hadn’t told Caitlin about a lot of things. But I suddenly realized that I was going to have to tell her this. I needed to tell her that I liked her brother.
The question was: How?
Two nights later, the park was closed to guests. The employees were hanging around, waiting for it to get dark enough for the movie to be seen on the Tsunami wall.
I was walking through the park, headed to the Tsunami lounge deck where I was going to meet up with Whitney. Caitlin had plans to stay close to Tanner, to watch the movie in a double inner tube, holding hands. Sounded romantic.
I still hadn’t figured out how to tell Caitlin that I liked her brother, although I was starting to wonder if maybe I needed to tell him first. Things between us were even weirder. He said hi when I got into the car in the morning and he talked to me if something came up about the job, but other than that, he was avoiding me.
But it wasn’t like he was angry with me. Or that he didn’t like me.
I thought maybe he was feeling the same weirdness I was, wondering if I liked him, since I was wondering if he really liked me. As I walked past the entrance that led to the main gate, I heard “Brawk! Thanks, mate!”
And knew that Sean was near the gate, feeding the parrot. I thought about walking down there, talking to him, but I saw Caitlin at the water’s edge of Tsunami, talking to Tanner —
Not really talking, actually. It looked like maybe she was yelling. Another girl was standing there and Tanner had his arm around her.
What was up with that?
I turned and started walking toward the wave pool. About the same time, Caitlin spun on her heels and started walking away from the pool.
“Caitlin?”
It looked like maybe she was trying not to cry. She stumbled to a stop in front of me. “Did you see him?” she asked. “Did you see him kissing her?”
I shook my head, totally confused. “No. What? Who? Tanner?”
“That skank. She works in the gift shop. He was kissing her. He’s such a jerk. I want to go home.”
She stormed past me, heading toward the locker room. I hurried to catch up.
“You can’t go home,” I said.
“Why not?” She didn’t slow down.
“The movie —”
“Do you really think I care?”
She pushed on the door and disappeared inside the locker room. I glanced around and followed.
I found her sitting on a bench, her face buried in her hands.
“Caitlin?” I said softly, sitting beside her.
She lifted her tear-streaked face. “I really liked him, Robyn. He never kissed me. Why did he kiss her?”
“Because he’s a jerk or stupid or … I don’t know. I don’t have the code to understanding guys yet.”
“I don’t think there is a code. But you’re right. He is a jerk, just like my brother.”
“No,” I said sternly, so sternly that her eyes widened in surprise. “Sean isn’t a jerk.”
“Yes —”
“I know he’s your brother, and I know he gets on your nerves but he’s not a jerk. He’s the reason you’re working at Tsunami.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He knew you wanted to work there, so he talked to the right people and made it happen.”
“He never said anything —”
“Of course he didn’t. He’s a guy. Guys don’t always talk about the good things they do. But Sean did it for you. He’s nice, Caitlin, and he cares about people and he’s always there when someone needs him. He makes me smile, and sometimes he makes me laugh. And I like him. I like him a lot.”
She sniffed and wiped at her tears. “What do you mean? You like him the way that I liked Tanner?”
“No, I like him differently because I know him. I don’t know if you really knew Tanner.”
“But I thought I did. I mean I thought I really liked him, Robyn. Why did he kiss that other girl? He and I had so much fun the other night.”
I leaned over and hugged her. “I know you liked him. And I’m sorry.”
She pulled back. “But you and Sean — is that why you were hanging out together at the party?”
“I don’t really know anymore. I mean I thought maybe he liked me, but now’s he’s avoiding me. I just need you to stop calling him a jerk. Because he’s not.”
“This is weird. How can you like my brother?”
“I just do.”
It took a while but I finally convinced Caitlin that if she left without watching the movie that Tanner would have won. I’m not sure what he’d have won — but it was just important that she stay.
Besides, it was a big night for Whitney and me. And even though Caitlin didn’t like her as much as she liked me, our little clique of two had grown to three, even if she hadn’t been around much to see it. Whitney was our friend now, and friends were there for one another.
I knew Whitney would never admit it to anyone, but she was nervous about tonight, about how our idea of a float-in movie would work.
When Caitlin and I finally met up with Whitney at the lounge chairs, Caitlin told her about what had happened with Tanner. It surprised me that she did, but I figured she was still upset and needed to vent.
“He’s obviously a dumb jock,” Whitney said when Caitlin finished telling her everything. “Anyone can see that you’re way better than the gift shop girl.”
Caitlin seemed to perk up at that announcement. I don’t know why, but Whitney had a way of saying things so there was no room for argument. If she said it, it was true.
“You’re right,” Caitlin said. “I’m never ever going to get involved with a jock again. As a matter of fact, I may swear off guys completely for the summer. Just wait until school starts —”
“You’re overreacting,” I told her.
“I’m not so sure. That article I read about summer romances was right. There’s just something about the summer that turns people into idiots when it comes to love. I mean, look at you. And my brother.”
“I guess.” Although I didn’t feel like an idiot. And I wasn’t sure what I was feeling was just a summer thing. I think maybe part of what I was feeling had been there all along.
“I can’t believe you decided to stay in Mini Falls,” Caitlin said. “You could have chosen anything.”
“I like it there.”
One of the advantages to being a park hero — other than the fact that you just feel really good for having made a difference in someone’s life — was that you got to choose the area of the water park that you wanted to work in. I could have gone anywhere.
As crazy as it sounds, I told them that I wanted to stay at Splash. But since I was suddenly in a position of power, I did pull a few strings about something else.
“I’m going to go check on the movie, see how much longer before they start it,” Whitney said.
“Bring us back some ice cream, will you?” Caitlin asked.
“Sure.”
Whitney was eating a lot of ice cream lately. I thought maybe it had something to do with Jake.
I’d had my fifteen seconds of fame — or fifteen seconds on TV. It wasn’t so bad. I didn’t know why Whitney didn’t want anyone to know that she’d helped, why she didn’t want to be interviewed.
“So what do you think her real story is?” Caitlin asked. “Because I get the impression she’s not telling us everything.”
“I don’t know.”
“There’s something going on with her,” she emphasized. “That was just weird that she didn’t want anyone to know she’d helped.”
“We’ll figure it out before the summer is over,” I said with confidence.
“Yeah,” she said. “We will.”
A few minutes later, the Tsunami waves calmed.
Whitney came back. “It’s time.”
She grabbed an inner tube. “Come on.”
Caitlin and I grabbed our inner tubes. She put her hand on my arm. “J
ust so you know, when it comes to Sean, we still have a lot to talk about. I’m talking intervention stuff here, because you’re my best friend, and you can’t get together with my brother.”
I gave her a smile, turned, and rushed into the pool, with Caitlin following. It was strange to have her following me when I usually followed her. And I wasn’t too worried about the intervention stuff. Caitlin wasn’t going to change my mind about him. I knew that much for sure.
Caitlin, Whitney, and I went out pretty far, along with most of the other employees. Then we each got into our individual tubes. The night had grown dark, only a few distant lights were on. An image came up on the wall and Jaws began.
I heard someone scream and someone else laugh.
I didn’t think anyone was going to take this movie seriously. But it was kinda cool to be watching the movie while floating in the pool.
I felt a tug on my inner tube, looked back. Sean put his finger to his lips and started pulling me back. Whitney and Caitlin were already too absorbed in the movie to notice.
When we were a good distance away, where Sean could stand in the pool while I bobbed beside him, he said, “I heard you decided to stay at Splash.”
“Yeah. I like it there.”
“That doesn’t really work for me.”
“Why not?”
He released a short burst of laughter. “You really don’t know, do you?”
I thought maybe I did but I was afraid to say it in case it wasn’t what I thought.
“I like you,” he said.
I slid off the inner tube so I was standing in the pool in front of him. The water was lapping at my waist.
“You do?”
“I have for a long time.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because you’re Caitlin’s friend and it just seemed kinda weird, you know?”
Yeah, I did. I took a deep breath —
“I really like you, too,” I confessed.
He grinned. “Enough to date me if we can figure this Caitlin thing out?”
“I don’t think Caitlin is going to be a problem.”
“You’re going to have to leave Mini Falls, before we can do anything official.”
I smiled brightly. “Actually, you’re the one who’s going to be leaving.”
He stopped grinning. “What? What are you talking about?”
