9
B efore Blake knew it, his shift was nearly halfway over.
“Waaaaalk,” he reminded a pack of middle schoolers for the fiftieth time that day. He was stationed on the Cannonballer, waiting until the kids were out of the plunge pool before letting more go down the slide.
“ WALK! ” Blake’s co-worker Hannah screamed from where she was elbowing her way up the slide’s platform to relieve him, expression as pleasant as ever. “Hey B, boss says to take your lunch.”
“Thanks Han,” Blake said, handing over his rescue tube and bullhorn. He edged down the steps beside the line.
It had been an uneventful morning other than a three-year-old puking in the wave pool and a high schooler doing a dead man float in the lazy river for a TikTok prank.
However, water park superstition spoke that a quiet afternoon shift would mean a wild shift in the morning.
Blake felt bad for whoever was opening the next day.
He walked around the kiddie pool as he approached the castle, looking at the front of the fiberglass pirate ship.
Merry kids were blasting each other with the water cannons and slipping down the slides, unaware of the now-blank bow of the ship.
It was completely undamaged, although smooth of the wood grain detailing that decorated the rest of the boat.
To Blake’s relief he’d only heard Noel mention anything about it.
Inside the castle, the arcade was as crazy as ever.
A horde of children stampeded past Blake towards the golf course, faces and hands sticky and pink with cotton candy.
His coworker Alex was attempting to console a little girl that was sobbing over a broken Poppit at the prize counter while his service dog rested beside him.
Kids strutted around with tickets looped around their necks and arms like fashion accessories.
Squeezing by the children running wild, Blake headed behind the snack bar and clocked out for lunch. He found his manager Lovepreet pacing in the kitchen, taking a business call. She smiled at him as he passed her, kara bangle gleaming on her wrist as she wiggled her fingers in greeting.
“ Hey ,” Blake mouthed, waving back. He gestured towards the pile of reject corndogs. “These free?”
Lovepreet rolled her dark eyes, cocking a hip. “They’re y our arteries,” she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, shaking her head so that her thick braid whipped over her shoulder. Even though she was exasperated, she was still smiling.
Then, despite her warning, Blake descended on the pile of discarded food like a man starved.
Deep fried dog in hand, Blake turned to look out over the arcade for any sign of Marin and Matt—he found Matt several minutes later, slumped over in the soundproof karaoke booth that the guys liked to hotbox after hours. He’d apparently dozed off, drooling all over the glass door.
“ Matt ,” Blake sighed in chagrin, stomping over to go wake him up. He was lucky there wasn’t anyone queuing up at the snack bar.
Blake opened the door and—to his mild surprise—Matt slumped out of his seat and into his arms. He gave Matt a firm shake, only for him to slowly flutter one eye open before the other.
“Oh hey B!” he greeted Blake nonchalantly. “Man I was having the best dream…”
“You. Are. At. Work.” Blake told Matt in staccato grunts, giving him another little shake with each word. “You had no room to lecture me on my sleeping habits!”
“It’s not my fault!” Matt whined, flopping around in Blake’s grasp. “Marin’s voice is almost as relaxing as Noel’s! I couldn’t help but fall asleep!”
Blake groaned, dropping his chin to his chest. “You’re impossible.”
He resettled Matt in the booth, glancing around the immediate area.
Unable to find Marin, he figured that the merman was likely up in the offices as they had planned.
Once making sure that Matt was properly conscious and back behind the snack bar, Blake headed up the stairs to search for Marin.
He’d only managed to get to the back hall when the song reached him.
It was something in Japanese, probably from an older anime.
Marin’s voice was a warm, silvery tenor and it wrapped around Blake like a physical presence.
It was as if he’d been immersed in a balmy ocean, completely surrendered to the peaceful pressure of the depths.
It was like nothing he’d experienced before, as if everything in his body simply gave up, but he was devoid of fear.
In the depths before him, a pale light was glowing up from the craggy rocks below.
Blue and lilac hair diffused in the water around him, ensnaring him, gentle hands caressing his cheeks as he spotted obsidian eyes gleaming out from between the floating tresses.
Blake leaned into his palm, allowing himself to be led forward, their lips almost slotting together—
“Alex, get him onto the couch!” a muffled voice called from the surface.
Marin pulled away, smile playful.
“Time to wake up,” he said with a tap to Blake’s nose, and Blake’s eyes snapped open.
“Get out of the way, Matt!”
Blake found himself lying on the dirty couch in the break room with Alex’s service dog Sadie on his chest. Marin knelt by his side, looking sheepish. Alex, Matt, and Lovepreet were hovering over them, their faces clouded over with anxiety.
“You okay there Blake?” Alex asked as Blake eased himself up onto his elbows. Sadie climbed off as he moved, wagging her tail. Blake gave her head a pat. “Try not to move too much. We radioed for one of the other lifeguards to take a look at you.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Blake insisted, pressing his fingertips to his temple. “Please don’t call an ambulance. I’m already in enough debt as it is.”
“That all depends on what happened,” Lovepreet told him, crossing her arms over her chest and quirking an eyebrow.
“He passed out when he was heading for the break room,” Marin explained. “I was back there waiting for him and I heard him fall, so I went to grab help.”
“What, are your naps contagious now or something?” Lovepreet teased Matt, who stuck out his tongue at her.
“Are you feeling okay?” Alex asked Blake. “What happened?”
“I…” Blake tried to piece together the last few minutes of his life. He’d grabbed some corn dogs, yelled at Matt for falling asleep, went upstairs to find Marin, heard him singing, and then… and then what?
“Hey, came as fast as I heard!” Jace called, jogging into the room. His tawny hair was flying around as he charged towards them, shades slipping down his nose to reveal his golden-tan face.
Alex and Lovepreet stepped out of the way to allow him to approach. Alex recalled Sadie to his side where she dutifully sat, watching the scene with stoic brown eyes.
Jace was toting a massive first-aid kit that Blake knew from experience only contained instant ice packs, band-aids, and sugar-free lollipops. He dropped it on the couch by Blake’s feet, crouching down to observe him. “You okay?”
“Just a little dizzy,” Blake reported. “I must’ve had a palpitation or something. I felt fine until right before I passed out.”
“I could use a lollipop,” Matt said, looking at the bag with covetous eyes.
“No lollipops for you!” Lovepreet clicked her tongue, tapping Matt on the forehead with a scolding fingertip.
Jace tossed him one anyway.
“I’m gonna get your legs adjusted, stay lying back,” Jace directed, scooting Blake’s knees up so that they were elevated above the level of his head. He gathered up Blake’s hand, pressing two fingers to the divot between his tendons. “Is your breathing okay?”
Blake nodded, not wanting his speaking to affect his heart rate. Jace set his hand down after a few moments.
“Well, your pulse seems fine,” Jace said. He squinted his eyes at Blake, suspicious. “You been eating enough lately?”
“Uh,” Blake said, staring down the hallway at the uneaten corn dogs that he had dropped. He didn’t want to lie to his buddy (and former friend with benefits), but he also didn’t want to get sent home. “I had breakfast this morning.”
Lovepreet and Jace were now both squinting at him, skeptic.
“Please don’t write an incident report about this,” Blake begged Lovepreet. “I promise I’m fine to keep working, I need the hours.”
“Hmm,” Lovepreet pursed her lips, unimpressed. “Sounds like something someone who regularly skips meals would say.”
Jace continued to gaze down at Blake, wary. “I’m gonna grab you some juice. Stay there for now.”
Well, that was better than nothing.
Blake sat back up, allowing Marin to help him before sitting beside him. Matt took a seat on the floor next to the couch as if he lived there, sucking away at his lollipop.
“How are you, Blake?” Marin asked.
“Yeah, you doing okay, B?” Matt chimed in. Blake nodded.
“Yeah, I think I’ll live,” he said. He waved at Lovepreet and Alex. “Thanks guys, I think Jace’s got it from here.”
“Okay. I hope you feel better, hun. Don’t overdo it,” Lovepreet told him with a gentle tap to the shoulder before taking her leave.
“Radio us if you need anything, okay?” she said, indicating the walkie talkie strapped to her belt.
She hesitated for a moment, before glancing over at Blake and adding: “We give langar at the temple every night, if you ever need to stop by. I know my sister would be happy to catch up.”
Blake thanked her, a little embarrassed to have been offered assistance for his less-than-stellar food situation—he figured he should probably take Lovepreet up on it at least once. It was better than going hungry on the regular, and the food at langar was delicious at that.
Alex plopped down on Blake’s other side. “I think I’ll stay here with you guys. I needed a sensory break anyway,” he said, popping in his earbuds. Sadie sidled up to him, resting her chin on his knees. It was a veritable party.
Jace returned from the snack bar with a big cup of punch and some fruit gummies.
“Sorry, this was the healthiest stuff in stock,” he said, handing over the spoils to Blake.
He didn’t even have to face Matt to know to smack away his grabby hands.
“Have these and sit for another fifteen minutes. Be sure to get something more substantial in you than corn dogs after that though, okay?”
“What, pizza?” Blake grunted into his drink.
“Don’t think I won’t tell Lovepreet to send you home,” Jace glared.
“Ugh, fine. I’ll go out and grab a sandwich,” Blake groused. “That healthy enough for you?”
“You need to sit and rest,” Marin reminded him, hand gentle on his knee.
“Let me call Faren to pick up some food, it should be their break anyway,” Alex told him, digging around his pocket for his phone. “I don’t want you driving yet.”
Within moments, Alex and Jace’s datemate Faren had materialized on FaceTime. After filling them in on the Water Zone happenings, Alex passed the phone to Blake so he could give Faren his order.
“Sorry about all this,” he grumbled. “You really don’t have to, that’s got to be expensive—”
Faren rolled their eyes at him as they organized a colorful row of tattoo ink at their workstation. With a flip of golden-brown curls, they affixed Blake with a withering glance and said: “Blake DeLuca, stop playing the stoic hero and let your friends get you some goddamn food.”
“Oooh, if B doesn’t want a sandwich, can you bring me one?” Matt interjected, eyes sparkling. “I want a large turkey and salami with provolone on Dutch crunch, extra Italian sauce, and—”
“Ugh, I’ll come pick you up, you little glutton!” Faren threw back their head with a gargantuan sigh.
“But I’m still clocked in,” Matt complained. He walked over to Blake on his knees, embracing Blake’s calves to his chest. Marin bristled. “And B just had a near-death experience, I can’t leave him alone.”
“I’m hanging up,” Fahren scowled into the camera, but not before they took a moment to glare daggers at Blake. “You better text me what you want, DeLuca. And that is a threat .” With a menacing gleam in their eyes, they revved their tattoo pen at him before the FaceTime ended.
After checking on Blake once more, Alex excused himself to go clock out, patting his hip so that Sadie would trail behind him.
Meanwhile, Blake struggled, trying to peel himself out of Matt’s grasp as he was aggressively coddled.
“It’s not like I got stabbed, Matt,” he sighed, patting his friend’s arm. “And I won’t be alone. Marin is here.”
“Okay,” Matt relented, giving his legs a little squeeze before standing up.
He waved as he trotted out of the room with the intention of clocking out after Alex. Blake took another sip of his fruit punch, cringing at the offensively sweet flavor. He glanced towards Marin who was watching him with an even expression.
“Okay, what did you do?” Blake asked.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Marin replied, but the tiny smile creeping up the corner of his mouth betrayed him.