Absorbed

Chapter Eight

B y mid-June, everyone on The Plunge staff understood their responsibilities, and (for the most part) had stopped complaining about them. Mark was an excellent mentor to the other guards in terms of his mastery at putting in minimal effort without getting in trouble with Bob. They all knew when they could cut corners on certain chores and enjoyed the extra time in the guard shack lounging away from the heat.

In her first two weeks, Stacey discovered favorite shady parking spaces based on the time of her shifts and the quickest routes for picking up fast food. Determined to prove she was chill and win over anyone at the pool, she started going on lunch runs for Bob and herself. Eventually Mark and Tiffany accepted her offers, too, and as they ate, she found ways to talk to them about music and movies.

One morning when she brought her CD organizer into the guard shack, Stacey told Mark she agreed with him about Mariah Carey’s voice being shrill, and he said she should pick something good to listen to while they cleaned. They were all tired of the Beach Boys. She chose Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever album, and everyone seemed to like it. Even Bob, who had strict rules about what played over the loud speakers outside. The next day she chose Oasis, and the day after that The Eagles.

“What’s on deck for this morning’s tunes?” Chad asked Stacey as he picked up the bucket and trash-grabber from the corner.

“ Singles soundtrack.” She knew the albums made their maintenance duties tolerable, but was even more grateful it had scored her at least a few extra popularity points.

Chad gave her a quizzical look. “I can’t think of any specific music in that movie.”

“You’ve been missing out.” She selected track four.

“Oh, damn! I love ‘Dyslexic Heart.’”

She nodded, hoping it wasn’t obvious how proud she felt.

Work at The Plunge could be mind-numbing. Guards had the same daily cleaning tasks, sat in the same two towers, rotated every half hour, hour after hour, day after day. That was how Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon became their favorite game.

“Meryl Streep and Keanu Reeves,” Tiffany challenged Stacey one afternoon.

Two minutes passed before Stacey replied: “Keanu Reeves was in Parenthood with Diane Wiest. She was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon, and he was in The River Wild with Meryl Streep. Three degrees of separation.”

Whoever had the least separation points at the end of a round won, and Stacey won pretty often.

Bob allowed them their game so long as it didn’t interfere with their work. As a baseball coach, he could get on board with anything that resembled a team-building exercise, but he had zero tolerance for people being late or missing their shift without calling ahead.

Despite his warning from Bob at orientation, Jessie was late again less than two weeks into summer. By 12:28 he hadn’t arrived for his noon shift. Tiffany called him and woke him up. Considering the distance on a skateboard, the crew commented it was miraculous he managed to get there by one.

Bob was not as impressed. Before the day was over, he phoned everyone on staff. “Be here at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, in your swimsuit. You will address the issue of punctuality and dependability as a team.”

It was still hazy when Bob opened the door Saturday morning and ushered the crew out to the deep end of the pool. He had already removed the cover.

“You will all be treading water for as many minutes as anyone is late this summer,” Bob explained. “Because this is the first offense, I won’t make you do the full hour that Jessie was late. But be warned that next time it happens, I won’t be so lenient. Today it will be the twenty-eight minutes it took before anyone called to find out why he didn’t show up.”

“Sorry I didn’t call sooner, guys!” Tiffany said.

“This is about teamwork, Tiffany. At least you were looking out for your teammate. Now, the timer will start once everyone’s in the water. It will be paused if anyone floats. It will be restarted if anyone gets out before 28 minutes are up.”

Mark leaned against the tower, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, like he was all too familiar with this exercise. Stacey wondered how many times over the past three years Mark had been the reason the crew had to tread water, and for how long.

Stacey’s arms were wrapped tight across her belly, gripping her T-shirt. She had her red bathing suit on under her shorts and tee but was still uncomfortable wearing only her swimsuit in front of the other lifeguards. Now she had to undress in front of the whole crew. Despite the chill in the air, sweat gathered under her arms and trickled down her ribs. She hoped no one had noticed.

The other guards peeled off their clothes like it was no big deal, then slithered into the water. The longer Stacey waited, the bigger a spectacle she would be.

“Like ripping off a Band-Aid,” Stacey muttered to herself.

She held her breath, slipped her shorts off quickly, yanked her T-shirt over her head, then started down the ladder. Only after she was submerged to her shoulders did she finally exhale.

That’s when she noticed that the only guard not in the water yet was Melissa. “This is totally unfair, Bob,” Melissa protested. “The rest of us should not be held accountable for Jessie’s irresponsibility!”

“If you have a problem with the way I run this facility, Melissa, you are free to quit,” Bob said, his arms crossed. “Otherwise, get in the water.”

Melissa let out an audible gasp, then pursed her lips, pulled off her tank top and climbed in.

Coach Bob stood on the side of the pool like a swim meet official, stopwatch in hand. He waited to say go until Melissa was in the water.

Treading water came naturally to Stacey, after numerous childhood games of Marco Polo. Once the timer began she was able to relax. During lifeguard certification, they had to tread water for ten minutes with their hands on their heads, and Stacey hadn’t found it difficult.

Melissa’s voice arched over the pool. “I can’t believe you couldn’t show up on time for a noon shift! Seriously?!?” she shrieked.

Jessie rolled his eyes and turned away from her.

Whatever connection Jessie and Melissa had earlier in the week had faded, and it buoyed Stacey’s mood.

Chad paddled closer to Jessie. “How long can you keep your hands up, dude?” Chad asked.

“I dunno. Never did more than the ten we had to. You?”

“Me either. Loser buys lunch?”

“You’re on!” Jessie said.

“I’m in,” Tiffany said.

“Me, too,” Stacey chimed in. “I hope you brought plenty of cash.”

Desiree and Melissa moved away from the crew, relocating under the diving board where they whispered to one another. Melissa paddled, chin lifted, as she struggled to keep her hair out of the water.

“All right, then,” Chad said. The four competitors circled up in the center of the deep end. “Both hands have to stay dry.”

“No kicking or knocking into each other, right?” Tiffany asked.

“Right. And no spitting water or splashing,” Chad agreed. “Everyone ready?”

They all nodded.

“Go!”

Eight hands popped out of the water.

Stacey was giddy to finally do something with Jessie.

They all eyed one another, making faces and pretending to be fierce.

“I can already taste that Famous Star with cheese,” Chad taunted.

“No way. Sweet success smells like orange chicken,” Tiffany replied.

As the sun rose above the facility roofline, and birds in nearby trees chirped above the humming of the valves and motor in the equipment room, Coach Bob announced, “Ten minutes down. Eighteen to go.”

Mark and Melissa both groaned. Melissa’s chin skimmed the water, her bun fully submerged. She scowled at Jessie.

“How ‘bout a round of Six Degrees?” Jessie asked.

Stacey smirked. This really was her lucky day. Her arms felt heavy and sore, but she was determined not to stop, and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon would be a fun distraction.

Tiffany and Chad nodded in agreement, their elbows dripping as they reminded themselves to keep them up.

“Clint Eastwood and River Phoenix,” Jesse said.

Stacey was a huge fan of River Phoenix, and her mom loved romance novels, so they’d watched all the movies made from the books she’d read. “River Phoenix was in Sneakers with that guy with the glasses who was in The River Wild with Kevin Bacon AND Meryl Streep. She was in The Bridges of Madison County with Clint Eastwood. Three degrees!” Stacey blurted.

Tiffany’s hands slapped the surface of the water. “How’d you…”

“You lost!” Chad shouted at Tiffany. He let his own hands fall, then maneuvered his way to Desiree.

“Dang!” Tiffany said in mock-annoyance.

But Stacey and Jessie kept their hands up, staring into one another’s eyes. Stacey pursed her lips with one eyebrow cocked.

Mark moved in closer to the group, and let out a belch that smelled like rotten eggs, hovering above the powerful chemical smell of the chlorine Bob had added that morning.

“Gross!” Desiree and Melissa plugged their noses and struggled to stay afloat beside Chad.

“You guys don’t have to keep going,” Chad said. “Tiffany’s buying lunch.”

“Nice job,” Jessie told Stacey, ignoring him. “You gonna quit, Chapman?”

Stacey’s heart raced. “Nope.” He called me Chapman!

“Cool. You got a Six Degrees challenge for me?”

“Robin Williams and Chris O’Donnell.”

“Who’s that?”

“He was in–” Desiree said.

“Don’t tell him the names of movies!” Stacey interrupted. “That’s cheating!”

“You can’t pick someone no one knows.” Jessie argued.

Desiree chimed in. “Everyone knows who Chris O’Donnell is!”

“Chad, Mark…help me out. Is Chris O’Donnell an actual actor you’ve heard of?”

Mark shrugged. “I’ve heard of him. I don’t like any of his shitty movies, but I know who he is.”

“Sorry, man,” Chad said. “He’s pretty famous.”

“Has he been in any movies lately?”

“Duh!” Melissa rolled her eyes, doggy paddling. “Like three in the last year.”

“Okay…so, I’m the only person who doesn’t know who this guy is?” Jessie said, gesturing with his hands. He asked Stacey, “Well, what does he look like?”

“Light brown hair, blue eyes,” Stacey said. “He’s young. Super-cute.”

“So he looks like me?”

“Ehhh…” Stacey teased. “Sort of. A paler, preppier version of you.”

“Oh my god…” Melissa exhaled behind Stacey.

Jessie nodded, pleased he’d gotten Stacey to admit what she thought of him. “Can you tell me if I’m right if I guess a few movies he’s in?”

“Booo.” Chad cupped his hand around his mouth. “Loser needs help.”

Stacey shrugged. “Sure.”

“Was he in Dead Poets Society ?”

“Uh uh.” Stacey shook her head.

“ Hook? ”

“Nope.”

“Admit defeat, Jess,” Tiffany chimed in. “Stacey’s a film genius.”

Jessie shook his head intently. “He wasn’t in A Few Good Men or Footloose, right?”

“Right,” Stacey said.

“Oh, wait, is he the guy who plays Robin in Batman?”

“Yes.”

“Geez… Okay. So, he’s in that with Val Kilmer. Hmmm…”

Bob started counting down the last five minutes and warned the crew not to stop moving. Everyone but Jessie and Stacey were basically floating in place, fluttering their hands in the water so Bob wouldn’t punish them further. Stacey’s whole body was aching. Still, she refused to give up or let her hands drop.

“So, Robin Williams was in Hook with Dustin Hoffman, who was in Rain Man with Tom Cruise, who was in Top Gun with Val Kilmer, who was in Batman with Chris O’Conner.”

“O’Donnell. But what about Kevin Bacon?”

“Shit. Right. Tom Cruise was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon, so…”

“Uh huh…”

“But no Hoffman or Kilmer in that. Or Williams or O’Connell.”

Stacey laughed. “O’Donnell.”

“Can you do it?”

“Robin Williams was in Hook with Dustin Hoffman, who was in Rain Man with Tom Cruise, who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon and Keifer Southerland, who was in The Three Musketeers with Chris O’Donnell. Four degrees.”

“I’m impressed,” Jessie said.

Stacey was breathless and her cheeks hurt from grinning, but she clasped her hands atop her head, kicking her feet hard beneath her.

“I really thought you’d give up.”

“You don’t know me very well,” Stacey said, looking straight at him. “I don’t quit when there’s something I want.”

Jessie squinted and cocked his head, quizzically.

She lifted both eyebrows and raised her chin in response. The sound of the guards panting around her was drowned out by the beating of her heart. She was flirting, and for the first time the guy she was flirting with knew it.

Bob blew the whistle. Stacey tied with Jessie, both making it all the way to the end with their hands up.

They climbed out of the pool. Stacey’s shoulders were on fire and her legs felt like Jello, but she couldn’t remember another time she felt so confident. Without grabbing her towel or her clothes, she stood in front of Jessie in her red swimsuit with her hands on her hips, water dripping into a puddle around her feet. “If you ever need a ride so you won’t be late again, I can pick you up,” she offered.

He smiled. “Thanks, Stace.”

“Anytime. Need a ride home today?”

Jessie’s eyes scanned the length of her body. When his eyes met her gaze, he nodded. “Sure.”

“Hey, Jess,” Chad called from the door of the guard shack. “We’re getting donuts. Wanna come?”

Jessie’s eyes were locked on Stacey’s.

“Jessie?” Chad called again.

Stacey stared back at Jessie. She knew she wouldn’t have to worry about being invisible anymore.