Waiting on the Sidelines

“Well, you’re a bad-ass,” he smiled. “I’m pretty sure we’re good for the summer gig.”

I sat on the bench and grabbed the towel to dry out my hair some. I pulled the braid out slowly to try to preserve some of the waves left behind. As my head was slung over, I heard one of the lead guards pop the bullhorn on and start talking.

“OK, listen up. If I call your name, stick around cuz we need to have you fill out your hiring paperwork. Not everyone will get hired, so I’m sorry for those of you who won’t be joining us this summer. But, thank you all for trying out.”

I held my breath for just a moment with a brief flash of fear. What if I don’t make it, or Reed doesn’t make it? But the worrying was for naught as our names were the first two they read off. Reed high-fived me and sat down next to me on the bench, our legs touching. He didn’t move and I wouldn’t dare move.

Once the paperwork was done, I pulled out my shorts and slid them back up over my now dry suit. I fished out Reed’s glasses and put mine on, too. We waited at the counter for Penny to work out schedules. I leaned against the counter and Reed stood right next to me, casually slinging his arm around my shoulder, holding his hat over my shoulder in his right hand. I didn’t dare look at him, but I saw Penny chuckle a little at the surprised look on my face.

“OK, you two kids, here are the slots we have open. How you wanna work it? You can sign up together or work splits, whatever works best for you, but grab your spots quick if you want them,” Penny said, sliding over a large clipboard with two months of squares on the papers.

“Together works for me, you?” Reed said, almost sounding hopeful.

“Sure,” I shrugged, playing it off while my insides were doing cartwheels.

We signed our names for mostly Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, the 1-5 p.m. shift. We threw a few Fridays in, too. I let Reed pick because he had places he needed to be, and I was already at the only place I wanted to be this summer.

The next day was a mandatory work day for everyone. It was camp day, so groups of kids were going to come in every hour to use the facility. It wouldn’t be as crowded as normal and would provide some great training, Todd said.

Penny handed us two shirts each and a pair of trunks to Reed and a one-piece suit to me. I went into the ladies locker room to try it on because you never know how those things are going to fit. The center’s colors were dark purple and silver, so all staff members had to wear logo shirts and the right kind of suits. Penny explained that the cost of our uniforms would just come out of our first paycheck.

I stuffed mine into the bag I brought and Reed slung his over his shoulder as we headed out. Always the charmer, Reed winked at Penny and told her he’d be sure to bring her a coffee when we reported for duty tomorrow.

“I take tea in the afternoon, pumpkin,” she sassed right back at him.

We both agreed that Penny was awesome. Walking out to the parking lot, our hands slung dangerously close to one another, almost as if we were both reaching for each other but also both unwilling to give into the urge. I stared straight ahead, sucking on my lip and just trying not to pay attention to the electricity firing off of my fingertips. I had never felt this with Sean, I thought.

Without warning, Reed scooped me up and slung me over his shoulder to join the T-shirts and swimsuit he had put there and took off running. I lost my breath for a second and then the blood rushed to my head as I hung upside down staring at his back and the heels of his shoes. His hands held tight over my upper legs, and I became acutely aware of every place on my body that was touching him. I started giggling uncontrollably, a bit unlike me.

“Reed, no no no, put me down,” I begged, lying through my teeth. “Hey, my bag, my bag. I dropped my bag.”

He just turned around on the balls of his feet and took off in the direction we came from, refusing to let me go. “I’ll get it, not putting you down, nope. Not going to do it!” he said, laughing a bit himself.

He ran back to my bag, stopped and bent forward, telling me to grab the loop on my bag. “I can’t!” I laughed uncontrollably. “I can’t reach it.”

“I’m going to drop you, then,” he threatened, jokingly of course.

I reached down and snagged the end of my bag with my fingertips. “Got it, I got it,” I yelled. He didn’t wait a second longer and just took off running. I couldn’t stop laughing, but I was also in wonder over how strong and fast he was. Not that I was very heavy, but he was running in a full sprint and I was clinging to the sides of his shirt, though it never felt like I slipped at all. He slowed to a jog when we got near the Jeep.