Robyn (2 page)

“I’m the park’s general manager,” he continued. “We have our permanent employees who are in charge of various aspects of the park. You may or may not meet them. Then we have our summer supervisors, who you will come to know.

“Our job here —
your
job here — is to make sure our guests feel like they’ve stepped into paradise. Keeping them happy is our number one priority, that and keeping them safe. That’s a big responsibility, but we know you’re up to it or we wouldn’t have hired you.

“My assistant, Gretchen, has your assignments” — a young woman with blond hair standing beside him waved her hand — - “and once she passes those out, you’ll report to the customer service hut where we’ll pass out your uniforms. Enjoy the summer.” He pointed a finger at us, to dramatically
emphasize his next words. “But mostly, be
watchful
out there.”

He hopped off the bench, and Gretchen climbed up. She smiled brightly. “All righty! Here we go!” She began calling out names and handing out the envelopes.

It was several minutes before she called out, “Caitlin Morgan!”

Caitlin released a little squeal like she’d just been announced the winner at the MTV Awards. She hurried forward to get her envelope.

“What did you get?” I asked her as soon as she came back to me.

“I thought I’d wait until you get yours.”

“Don’t you want to know, like now?”

“Well, yeah, but —”

“Robyn Johnson!”

My heart slammed against my ribs. This was it. I edged my way past the people who were too interested in reading about their own assignments to really notice me. I wiped my hands on my shorts before taking the envelope.

I thought Sean was looking at me. It was a little hard to tell with his sunglasses. I smiled. He didn’t smile back. Okay, so he wasn’t looking at me. Or maybe he took his job too seriously to smile. Either way, I felt a little silly as I went back to where Caitlin waited.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the side, away from everyone else.

“Who should go first?” she asked, studying the envelope in her hand.

“You,” I told her.

“Okay.” She tore off the end of the envelope, blew into it — no doubt to build the suspense — then tipped it so the slip of paper fell into her hand. She turned slightly so I could read it at the same time that she did. She was just a little shorter than me, which made reading over her shoulder easy. She unfolded the paper —

“Yes!” she said before I got a chance to see what it said. “Tsunami! Hottie heaven! Yes, yes, yes!”

“That totally rocks!” I said. Wow. What could be better than being paid to hang out where the cute guys were?

She was grinning broadly when she turned to me. “Let’s see what you’ve got,” she said.

I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. My first job ever! I’d remember this summer forever.

I slid my fingernail beneath the flap, worked it free, and pulled out the sheet of paper. I unfolded it and stared at the bolded words. “Splash? What is Splash?”

I didn’t remember ever slipping and sliding my way along that slide. Was it new? Obviously, it created a splash, so it was probably a big ride, maybe a large waterfall or a multistory vertical drop —

“Oh, no! Isn’t that in the kiddie area?” Caitlin asked.

My stomach dropped down to my toes like the floor at Screaming Falls had just opened beneath me. “Kiddie area? Do they
even need lifeguards in Mini Falls? Aren’t the parents still watching the kids?”

“They have lifeguards everywhere. Liability issues.” She moved to the large board where a huge map of the park indicated where we were. It had the typical “You are here,” with a red arrow. Caitlin studied it for a minute, then pressed her finger to the area on the other side of the park designated as Mini Falls. “There. It is.”

“Well, somebody’s got to work it,” I said, determined to put a positive spin on this. Whenever Mom and I drove anywhere, she’d listen to CDs about the power of positive thinking. I wanted to stay positive. But most of the guys who hung out in that area would be, like, forty-two inches
short
or shorter. And still hanging out with their mommies.

“But you’ll be working with
him
!” Caitlin exclaimed.

“Him? Him who?”

“Sean. He’ll be your supervisor. That’s his area. I know, because I overheard him
complaining about it to someone. I mean, no one wants to work there. It’s miserable. Whining babies and all that.”

“You know, you’re really depressing me here.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just so awful. It’s easier to work for people you don’t know, people who have no expectations about you.”

“Sean has expectations about me?”

“Probably. Don’t you think? He knows everything about you.”

“Everything?”

“He’s known you as long as I have.”

“Still, there are things he doesn’t know.” Lots of things.

I wanted a loophole. A way out of this disaster. I really thought I could have handled being around kids all day — but being around Sean Morgan?
I don’t think so!

I mean, I knew him. He knew me. It would be weird — especially since, like I mentioned, we had this whole avoidance thing going.

“But isn’t there some sort of rule about
people who know each other not working together?”

“Family members can’t work in the same area. You’re not family.”

“Yes, I am. Sorta. We’re sisters of the heart.”

“I don’t think that counts.”

I looked at the paper again. My assignment hadn’t changed. How bad could it be?

“So, we’ll hook up at lunch at the lounging deck in the Tsunami area, because sorry — no way am I going to Mini Falls where all the babies are. Okay?” Caitlin asked.

“Sure.”

I picked up my tote bag and slung it over my shoulder. “Guess we need to go get our uniforms.”

I was nothing if I wasn’t an optimist. I was certain I’d discover some advantage to working in this particular area. Still, I was having a difficult time imagining what it could be.

Splash. Basically, it was a little twelve-inch-deep wading pool at the bottom of a winding slide. At the top, water swirled through a very shallow pool and over the slide. Nearby was a large mesh container that contained inner tubes. We grabbed a tube and put it at the top of the four-foot-high slide. A kid wearing a life preserver climbed onto it. Then we gently pushed him off the landing and he glided toward the water.

Splash!

Another lifeguard — and sometimes a parent if the kiddos were really small — - stood near the bottom of the slide but within
easy reach just in case a child toppled. But that rarely happened. It was the shortest slide in the park, specially designed to give the little tykes a safe thrill.

It wasn’t very challenging work, but then my concern wasn’t the work so much as the supervisor. I really didn’t want Sean judging me. Caitlin was right. It would be weird.

I’d gone to the locker room, found my locker, and changed into my uniform — a red tank bathing suit and red visor. I had a whistle draped around my neck. My red hip-pack was buckled securely. Attached to it was my park photo ID. Lying off to the side, a little away from the water, but within easy reach, was my red rescue tube. I was prepared. Totally.

But still, the excitement factor here was going to be negative twenty and falling faster than someone shooting down the Bermuda Triangle — which was almost a total vertical drop until the slide suddenly wasn’t anymore and you were, like, hurtling
through the air, before you disappeared into the twelve-foot pool beneath you.

Big difference between twelve inches and twelve feet — not to mention the guys who hang out at each one. As much as I hated to admit it, because it made me seem so shallow — pun intended — I was disappointed in the guy factor here. I’d thought it would be fun to work someplace where I was paid to keep an eye on cute guys.

“Hey.”

I looked over. A blond guy in red swim trunks and a visor that matched mine walked over and placed his hands on his hips. He was cute in a chipmunk kind of way. He had really puffy cheeks when he smiled, and he was smiling now.

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m Nick.”

“Robyn.” The conversationally challenged, apparently.

He looked around. “So who did we tick off to get this gig, huh?”

I laughed, not sure what to say to that. I mean, yeah, it was a lousy job but complaining wasn’t going to change anything.

“Have you worked here before — at the park, I mean?” he asked.

I shook my head. “First time.”

“Me, too. So maybe it’s just a matter of working our way up to the cool rides.”

“Maybe.” But if that was the case, then Caitlin would be suffering beside me. Although, technically, she wasn’t at a ride.

“I spent a lot of time here last summer,” Nick said. “It all looks different, though.”

“You spent time in the kiddie area?”

He laughed. He had a great laugh, and I thought working with him could be fun. He seemed easy to talk to.

“No way. Never even got close. Nah, I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just because there’s no one here yet.”

Well, except for the employees, of course. But I guess we didn’t count.

I caught sight of Sean swaggering in our direction. He was in his red Paradise Falls
swim trunks, with a whistle draped around his neck, tapping against his bare chest. His attention was focused on the girl walking beside him. They were talking, he was smiling. He never smiled at me like that.

As they got closer, I recognized her. She was the blond I’d noticed earlier, the one who’d been sitting by herself, looking bored. She was decked out in the official Paradise Falls uniform and had her hair pulled back now. So I guess she wasn’t a supermodel. She was just like the rest of us.

Sean pointed toward me, said something that made her smile and made me suddenly feel self-conscious. What was there to say about me?

He led her over. She was smaller than I was. Slender. Petite. Her large, really dark-lensed sunglasses made it look like she was trying to hide.

“Hey, Robyn, Nick, this is Whitney. She’s going to work at Splash.”

Apparently, she needed a personal escort.

“Hey,” Nick said, his smile even bigger than it had been when he was talking to me.

“Park will be opening in fifteen. Got any questions?” Sean asked.

Nick and I shook our heads. Whitney just sighed.

“Okay then. To start with, a couple of you help the kids climb into a tube at the top, one catches ’em if they spill over at the bottom. Think you can handle it?”

Was that a serious question?

I nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“Okay then.”

“Okay then” seemed to be all he could think to say to signal that we were good to go. I wondered if he was as nervous about being my supervisor as I was about having him as my supervisor.

“So, Nick, why don’t you start out at the bottom of the slide?” Sean suggested. “Every fifteen minutes we’ll rotate positions so no one falls asleep. Then we’ve got what we call rotators who’ll come through and relieve you for break and lunch.”

“Awesome,” Nick said, before hopping on the slide and riding down to the bottom, fake-screaming like he was terrified.

I laughed. Sean cleared his throat. I stopped laughing. This was serious business. For a minute, I’d gotten caught up in the fun and forgotten.

“Hey, Nick, we’re not supposed to actually play on the slides,” Sean called out.

“I wasn’t playing, dude,” Nick said. “I was transporting.”

“Yeah, right,” Sean grumbled. He looked at me and Whitney. “Okay then, if you’ve got no questions, I’ve got other areas to watch, employees to supervise, so I’ll check back later.”

He waited a second to see if we had questions. We didn’t. Then he walked away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Whitney sat down on the edge of the pool, near the slide. She waved at Nick. He waved back. Then she put her arms behind her, leaned back, and began kicking her feet in the water, creating little splashes.

It seemed like if we were going to work together that we should at least be friendly — - like lab partners at school. It was easier to work with someone you knew. Not easier if he was your supervisor, but easier if you were equals. And Whitney and I were equals, working in the same position. Who knew? Maybe we could even be friends.

“So have you worked here before?” I asked Whitney.

She scoffed. “No.”

“So where were you hoping to work?”

“Why would anyone
hope
to work anywhere?”

“I mean, if you could work anywhere in the park you wanted, where would you want to be assigned?”

“Ooh, toughie. Let me see. How ’bout
nowhere
?”

What was her problem?

“Look, I don’t mean to be nosy, but with your attitude, it’s like you don’t want to work.”

“Right on.”

“Then why are you here?” I asked.

“My dad’s making me.” She looked around and pointed. “Any idea who that is?”

I glanced over to where she was pointing. It was the guy from this morning, the one I’d seen watching her. He was working the ice-cream cart, wearing red shorts and a white polo shirt with the little Paradise Falls logo on it.

“No,” I said. “I saw him this morning, though.”

“Yeah, I did, too. He kept looking at me.”

“Maybe he thinks you’re cute.”

“Well, yeah, of course. Who doesn’t?”

Maybe me?

Reaching up, she released her hair and shook her head, sending the long strands flying before settling back again. “I guess as far as jobs go, this one isn’t too bad. I can improve my tan, play in the water, watch cute guys walk by.”

She already had an end-of-summer tan. I didn’t know how she thought she’d improve it.
As for cute guys walking by, most were at the age where they still waddled.

And speaking of waddlers … I spotted a group of about a dozen kids walking toward Splash. They were trudging along in a single line, all holding on to a length of jump rope — a lady at each end. I’d seen groups like them plenty last year. They were day-care kids, on a field trip.

I looked at Whitney. “Looks like we’re about to get busy.”

She pushed her sunglasses down her nose. She had the greenest eyes I’d ever seen. “You don’t really expect me to help, do you?”

“Uh, well, yeah.”

She shook her head. “Think again.”

“You’re gonna get fired,” I felt a need to point out.

“No, I won’t.” She nudged her sunglasses back into place. “I’m just so adorable. I can do anything I want and never get in trouble.”

Great.
Just the type of person I wanted to be around all summer.

I heard several screeches and turned back to the day-care kids who were scrambling up the steps to the slide.

“No running!” I yelled down.

But they kept coming at the speed of light.

Wasn’t this summer going to be all about fun?