by Jade Parker
“Don’t you think it’ll be awesome for the park to serve patriotic food on the Fourth?” Whitney glanced around the table, her deep green eyes imploring someone to make the sacrifice for her.
“All right. I’ll give it a try,” Jake finally said.
Why was I not surprised? I thought maybe he was crushing on Whitney, but was trying really hard not to let anyone know. He seemed shy, which I so didn’t get because he was really cute. And watching the way Whitney studied him, I thought maybe she thought so, too. Or maybe she was craving the hot dog. I couldn’t imagine never eating meat.
Jake took a bite, chewed, swallowed, nodded. “Not bad. Tastes like a hot dog.” He finished eating it in three bites.
“I’ll take your word for it,” I said, shoving my plate to the center of the table.
“You lack an adventuresome spirit,” Jasmine said, winking at Jake before taking a bite of her hot dog. The girl was fickle.
“What are you — a fortune cookie?” I asked.
Robyn kicked me underneath the table. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that I didn’t always play well with others and that I was edging toward one of those moments. Who could blame me? I’d wanted to play with Tanner, and Jasmine had convinced him to play with her instead. And yesterday with Michael —
“So why isn’t Romeo here?” Jasmine asked.
She was back to Romeo after having her moment with Jake? She was really too much.
“He’ll be at tomorrow night’s meeting,” Whitney said, but her voice was a little tight, as though maybe she was thinking Jasmine needed to be off the team. Fine with me.
“What meeting tomorrow night?” I asked.
“We’re having a team meeting tomorrow night after the park closes. Did I forget to mention that? Lights Fantastic is going to set up a couple of lights to get some readings and measurements or something. I figured we should be there.”
“Most definitely,” Jasmine said. “I could file a report if no one else wants to be there tomorrow night.”
Not to be mean, but I didn’t think she knew how to file anything except a fingernail.
“Thanks, Jasmine, but I really want the entire team there,” Whitney said.
“Whatever.”
“Well, yeah, since I’m the person in charge.”
I had a feeling that Whitney liked Jasmine about as much as I did. Imagine that. We were in sync. By the end of summer, maybe we’d be best friends.
“Why are you in charge?” Jasmine asked.
“Because it was my idea.”
“You thought of the Fourth of July?”
Jake’s mouth dropped open. Me? I figured Jasmine’s dumbness was just an act. Maybe she thought guys dug stupid girls. But I knew my brother didn’t, and I figured he was pretty typical for a guy.
I stood up. “I’m outta here. I gotta get something to eat — something that’s a normal color — before I go back to work.”
Everyone else mumbled something about needing to eat, and Whitney adjourned the meeting.
“She’s a piece of work,” I said to Robyn as we headed to the food court. Without me saying it, she knew who I was talking about: Jasmine.
“Don’t let her bug you.”
“She was hanging all over Michael yesterday.”
“So, do you like him?”
“No.”
“Then why do you care?”
“It’s just not fair that she can get any guy’s attention.”
“She might get it but she can’t hold it. She and Tanner already broke up.”
“If they were really even together for more than a kiss.”
We went to Scavenger’s. Although it was a sturdy building, it looked like a shack that would collapse at any moment, as though it had survived a storm. It was all part of the island illusion. They served hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, candy, and anything else unhealthy. Robyn and I each bought a regular-colored hot dog. We sat at a table beneath an umbrella.
“So does Whitney like Jake?” I asked.
“I think so. They sorta hang around together, but he hasn’t really asked her to do anything with him. She always does the asking.”
“She tells you everything, doesn’t she?”
“No, not really.”
“What do you think her big secret is?”
“I don’t know. I think Sean knows. I’m trying not to get mad at him for not telling me.”
“He knows if he told you that you’d tell me. I mean, best friends tell each other everything and he knows it.”
A little secretive smile spread over her face before she bit into her hot dog.
Okay, she wasn’t telling me some things, but that was okay. Because I knew I didn’t really want to know if it involved my brother.
After we finished eating, we headed in opposite directions. She went back to Mini Falls and I strolled to Tsunami. The wind picked up and I could see dark clouds rolling in. I groaned. It was always a pain when it rained. Well, not the rain so much. The lightning. If we spotted lightning or heard thunder, we had to clear the pools. I’d had more than enough of evacuating pools this week.
As I neared Tsunami, I started glancing around. I didn’t even realize what I was looking for until I spotted Michael and my heart gave a little kick. He was playing in the water with his brothers. He hadn’t arrived before I left for the meeting, so I’d figured he wasn’t coming today. I’d been disappointed. But now I felt this strange little excitement.
I watched as he picked up one of his brothers and started to swing him around —
Michael came to an abrupt stop. I didn’t know if it was because he saw me and thought I’d blow my whistle at him or if he was just glad to see me.
“Morgan, you’re dawdling. People are waiting to eat.”
Trent. Why was it that lately he was always catching me at the worst possible moment? I hurried to my station and relieved the guy who was on the tower. After he came down, I climbed up.
The umbrella that provided shade started rattling as the wind began to gust. I looked at the sky. The clouds were growing darker. Not good.
Just rain. Just rain. Just rain.
I heard the roll of thunder. In orientation, we were taught: “If you see it, flee it; if you hear it, clear it.”
I wasn’t the only one to give three short bursts on my whistle. “Out of the pool!” we all started yelling.
I could hear whistles blowing throughout the park. Water is a conduit for electricity. If lightning hits a pool, it can hurt or kill someone.
I heard a drop of water hit the umbrella. And then another.
After everyone was out of the pool and we all did a last visual scan of the water, we climbed down from our towers and headed to the pavilion. By the time we got there the rain was coming down heavily. The park had several covered pavilions and people headed to them when it rained. They weren’t the safest place. But there were too many people and not enough buildings. The wise people went into the various souvenir shops, mini-restaurants, or into the locker rooms.
It was eerie once all the yelling stopped, and people weren’t rushing down slides or through tubes any longer. There was a hushed silence as people waited. The scent of rain mingled with chlorine.
“So are we going to get a refund?” Michael asked from behind me.
I wondered how Michael had managed to find me in the crowd. Of course, I guess I stood out in my red swimsuit and visor. Or maybe not. There were several lifeguards around. I didn’t want to be glad that he seemed to take an interest in me, but I was.
“Depends how long it rains,” I told him, glancing over my shoulder. “It has to rain an hour and a half. And you don’t get a refund; you get a rain check, which means you can come back another day without paying.” Someone would just stand at the gate handing out rain checks as people left.
“I know what a rain check is,” Michael said.
I shrugged. “I don’t know what you know.”
“Doesn’t seem fair. I mean, we just got here a
little while ago.”
“Should have gotten here sooner. It was beautiful this morning.”
“I didn’t see any lightning just now.”
“Thunder means lightning was somewhere.”
“But not close enough.”
“Lightning isn’t predictable. You can’t take chances.”
He shifted around so he was standing beside me, almost in front of me. “Want to go get a Coke?”
I almost said, “What? With you?” Instead, I very practically said, “I’m working.”
“No, you’re not. You’re waiting for the storm to pass over.”
“I have to make sure people don’t go back to the pool until it’s safe.”
“You really take your job seriously.”
I couldn’t tell if he thought that was a flaw in my character.
“Sure. Don’t you take your work with the lights seriously?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess.”
The rain suddenly stopped. People started moving out.
Trent blew his whistle. “Y’all have to wait thirty minutes after the last roll of thunder sounded. We’ve got twelve minutes to go.”
People grumbled, but they also started to relax. Waiting out a storm causes a tenseness because we’re crammed together, with nothing fun to do.
“He’s worse than you,” Michael said.
“He’s doing his job.”
“So what made you want to work here anyway?”
“I love the water,” I confessed.
“Playing around it, I can see. But working around it?”
“I just like it. I wish I lived on the coast or on a tropical island.” I nodded as I realized my preference. “A tropical island would be better.”
“Have you ever been to an island?” Michael asked.
I shook my head. “Nope. This is the closest I’ve ever come.”
“Me, too. Maybe someday …”
I wondered if he was hinting that maybe someday we’d go to an island together. Yeah, right. And Jasmine would spoon-feed us ice cream.
Trent blew his whistle. “Okay!”
Everyone screamed, yelled, and started running for the pool.
“I gotta get back to work,” I told Michael.
“Maybe I’ll see you when you take a break later.”
“What about Jasmine?”
“What about her?”
“I thought you were ice-cream buddies.”
“Not really.”
Did I want to take a break with him? Was I treading in dangerous water?
“Morgan!”
I spun around. Trent jerked his thumb toward the pool.
“I was just on my way.”
I hurried past him, feeling so stupid. Model employee had suddenly turned into Miss Get-in-trouble-whenever-she-can.
Still, I was actually thinking about taking a break with Michael. What would it hurt?
* * *
Tanner came to relieve me when it was time for my break. He gave me the smile that caused a dimple to form in his cheeks on either side of his mouth. When I’d first met him, I’d thought it was the cutest. I’d wondered if he had the dimples when he kissed. I’d been anxious to find out. But we’d never kissed. Now I couldn’t have cared less about his dimples.
“So how are the plans for the Fourth coming along?” he asked as I stepped down from the platform.
“We’re not allowed to talk about them. They’re very hush-hush.”
“Really?”
“Would I say it if it wasn’t true?” I wiggled my fingers at him and walked toward the deck.
Michael met me there.
“Break?” he asked.
“Break.”
He grinned. He didn’t have Tanner’s adorable dimples, but his smile seemed more sincere. “How about the food court? I need my afternoon smoothie energizer,” he said.
While I found us a table, he got us each a tropical smoothie.
“Thanks,” I said, before taking a sip on mine. “So how’s the light show coming along?”
“Pretty good.”
“Whitney said you were going to set some things up tomorrow night.”
“No big deal. Dad just needs to get the lay of the land, so to speak. I don’t really want to talk shop.”
“What do you want to talk about then?”
“I don’t know. Tell me about Caitlin.”
I laughed. “You make it sound like she’s someone who isn’t sitting right here.”
“You’re avoiding the topic.”
I shrugged, sipped some smoothie. “Not a lot to say, really.”
“You have a boyfriend?”
Okay, he apparently didn’t have a problem diving into deep water. “Nope.”
“Someone you like?”
“I like a lot of people.”
“Seriously.” His voice was a little stern, but I didn’t want to play seriously.
“Seriously. I like Robyn and Whitney —”
“A guy. Are you interested in a guy? Like that lifeguard that watches you all the time?”
I almost choked on my smoothie. “What lifeguard?”
“I heard someone call him Tanner.”
I scoffed. “We are so over.”
“So he was your boyfriend?”
I was flattered that he thought I had a boyfriend, that he thought other guys were interested.
“No. Tanner and I hung around together for a while, but it wasn’t anything.” I was impressed by my ability to make it sound as though it had never been anything. Maybe I was really over him. I leaned forward, tired of talking about me. “So how did your dad get into lights?”
“Okay, that wasn’t a very subtle change in topics.”
“I just don’t want to talk about me. I’m feeling boring these days.”
He grinned. “You’re not boring. As a matter of fact, there’s usually excitement when you’re around.”
“Yeah, right. So much excitement that people are calling me whistle-blower and not in a flattering way.”
“Ouch!”
“Exactly. So your dad?”
Michael shrugged. “He used to be in a band —”
“What? You mean like a play-music-go-on-tour kind of thing?”
He grinned. “Yeah. They even cut an album, but it never amounted to much. But they’d do all this light stuff as part of the show and after a concert, people came up to the stage more interested in the light show they’d seen than in the music they’d heard. So Dad decided maybe his talent rested in lights instead of bass guitar.”
“I’ve never known anyone in a band.”
“You still don’t.” His grin grew.
“I almost do. Do you play music?”
“Nah, I’m kind of a computer geek, which works since the light show starts with the computer.” He angled his head. “What’s wrong?”
I probably appeared stunned. Hadn’t I told Robyn that I wanted a geek?
“You don’t look like a geek.”
He laughed. “What does a geek look like?”
“Geeky.” Not cute, not tan, not hot. Not like Michael Romeo.
“I’m all about designing stuff on the computer,” he said.
We talked a little more. He designed the Lights Fantastic Web site, created trailers for books he enjoyed reading and posted them on YouTube. It sounded neat and interesting. I was going to have to rethink what I considered geeky.
I looked at my watch. “I need to get back to work. Thanks for the smoothie.”
When I got back to my station, Tanner climbed down.
“So who was the guy?” he asked.
“Not your business.”
I climbed to the platform and took my seat.
I hadn’t planned to use Michael Romeo to get back at Tanner, but I had to admit that it felt pretty good that Tanner noticed.
* * *
“So what’s your problem lately?” Sean asked me after we got home.
We were in the kitchen. I was looking over the p
izza coupons. Mom had left us a note. She and Dad had gone to a movie. Sean and I were supposed to fend. Fend meant call out for pizza.
“What do you mean?” I asked. He liked meat on his pizza. I liked vegetables, and since it was National Catfish Day, I was thinking of ordering cinnamon sticks to celebrate the holiday. I deserved a treat after the past few days.
“Trent said you’ve been goofing off. That doesn’t sound like you.”
“What? Trent doesn’t sound like me? I wouldn’t think so since he has a guy’s voice and I have a girl’s voice.” I held up a flyer. “How ’bout half pepperoni, half mushrooms?”
“Just order a large all meat and a medium all vegetable.”
I knew I could distract him with food. I placed the order. And what was Trent doing telling on me anyway? I know people have the impression that girls are gossips, but I swear boys are, too. And sometimes I think they’re worse because they aren’t as up front about it as girls, so the general population doesn’t know how much they gossip. I’ve listened at Sean’s bedroom door enough times to know that he really does talk about other people — a lot.
I grabbed my latest teen mag from the stack of mail that had arrived that afternoon. I loved reading teen mags, taking the tests. I’d learned a lot of things. I knew I was outgoing, felt comfortable talking to guys, and was ready to be kissed. I plopped down on the couch in the living room.
If the pizza wasn’t going to arrive in twenty minutes, I would have gone up to my room. But what was the point?
The couch groaned as Sean dropped down on it. “Come on, Caitlin. Trent said you’ve been talking to a bunch of guys.”
“A bunch? How about two? And it’s really not any of your business.”
“It reflects on me if you’re not doing your job.”
I looked over the top of my magazine. “I’m doing my job. I wasn’t even on duty yet when I was talking to Tanner yesterday.”
He grimaced. “Tanner? Do you like him again?”
“No. I don’t like anyone. If you’re talking to a girl, does it mean you like her?”
“Forget it.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t usually this agreeable around Sean, but since I didn’t want to discuss the subject —
“There’s a test in here that let’s you determine how well you know your girlfriend. Want to see how you score?”
