The Lifeguard Hates You (Completed)

August Chapter 32

It was the end of a goddamn era.

It was Rory's last day at work.

We had all requested to work it, the full-timer's I mean. Me, Shawn, Jay and Rory, all working one last shift together before she left for bigger and brighter things in Toronto in three days.

I still couldn't believe that this day had come. I kinda sort of thought that it never would.

But the shift ended, like all shifts do. And while the rest of us were getting ready to go home for the night, Rory was cleaning out her locker. It was honestly heart breaking to see.

That had been her locker for six years. She had always had the one between mine and Jays, and now it was going to be someone else's.

"Should I take the tape off, do you think? Or should we let the new hire just tape over it?" she asks and for a moment we're all just silent.

I know I'm shocked by the question. It's jarring to think of anyone other than Rory using that locker. Let alone someone taking the tape off or putting tape over. It seems altogether too permanent for my liking.

Jay, however, comes to our rescue with the perfect compromise. "How about we just put a lock on it and save it for when you come back next summer?"

That's the plan, of course. That next summer Rory would be back for the Fablehaven Permit. She was the only reason we had it after all.

Jay has been sure to tell both me and Shawn that he's absolutely certain that Rory won't be coming back next year but I'm holding out hope. Rory has promised us both that she'll be back next summer, and I'm choosing to have faith and believe her.

"You think that's fair?" she asks and I shrug. I don't really care if it's fair.

My plan was to put a lock on that locker the second she left so no one else could use it.

"Well, I mean, there are other lockers, they could easily use one of those," Shawn adds and Rory smiles, and stops worrying the edge of the tape that had her name on it.

It'll forever have the pretty cursive of her name with a heart drawn in beside it.

"I still can't believe we're going to have a new full-timer starting with us as soon as week," I say with a sigh. "It still doesn't seem real to me."

That's the thing I'm the most worried about, having to deal with new people. Having to train them up to be as good as Rory. Having to build rapport, because this new full-timer was going to be with us all year. If their personality didn't mesh with ours it was going to be a problem.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that, I fully plan to have you guys helping with the hiring process," Jay tells us.

Both Shawn and I are staring at him, because we don't like the way he's saying that. But Rory's distracted us by putting her cardboard box filled with all the things from her locker into Jay's arms. Something he takes without a single complaint, in fact the second she gets close to him he smiles down to her and she up at him, sharing this little moment that we're not used to witnessing.

They're an official couple now, which meant they were going to be doing the dread long distance while she was in Toronto. I wasn't all that surprised. Once Rory had that near death experience I was basically assuming that would be enough to straight Jay's priorities out.

And I was right.

That near death experience scared him straight into flat out telling her he loved her.

It was a surprise to all of us.

I mean, I always knew he liked her, I knew that there were feelings there, but not even Shawn knew that it had gone that deep. And Rory sure as hell hadn't expected it. She accepted it wholeheartedly, but she had been just as surprised.

But him telling us that he's going to be having us help with the hiring process is a completely different surprise.

"Oh no," I say quickly. "They don't have you filling in for Laney until the new Coordinator comes... right?"

Because it would be so like Laney to have Jay do her work for her while they found her replacement.

"No, of course not," Jay says. "I got the job."

For a second we're all quiet and then Rory squeals and jumps into his arms. Or well, she jumps at him and kind of hangs off of him because his hands are full now that he's got her box.

She pairs her congrats with a kiss to his cheek. He turns to smile down at her and then they're kissing. Nothing R rated, a simple peck and that's it.

That was another thing Shawn and I were going to have to get used to. Those two and their PDA. They were nearly as bad as me and Shawn could get, but Jay never liked PDA with Marnie, he had completely changed his mind for Rory though.

To be fair, she was totally worth it and I'm glad he figured that out.

Shawn however, is not as excited as Rory and I.

"Are you shitting me?" he cries throwing up his hands in frustration. "What the fuck dude? Why the fuck haven't you been telling me shit? Why am I the last to know?"

"Well, I just found out too and I'm his girlfriend," Rory remind him but that doesn't sate Shawn at all.

"I'm his best friend!" he cries as if that matters more. "And now, now that he's leaving we're going to have two new hires! This is just bullshit!"

"Okay calm down," Jay orders. "I didn't tell anyone until it got confirmed, which was today, by the way. It also means, as my first act of business, I'll be hiring both my replacement and Rory's. And yes, I'll be getting your help!"

I turn to Shawn with a smile but he's still shaking his head.

I know exactly what his problem is too. It's all too much at once, all this change, no matter how positive it was, was scary.

Yes we started this change when we moved in together this summer, but I don't think either of us ever thought it would get this far.

"Well, I think it's going to be great," Rory says with a smile. Which she has to say because Jay's her boyfriend now and she has to be supportive. "You guys are going to get to pick who you work with, and you're going to get a Coordinator that knows the job and will actually help you out!"

She's got a point, that's exactly what it is that we wanted, let's be honest here. It's definitely something that we can look forward to, but I know Shawn isn't going to see it that way.

It didn't matter if he wasn't comfortable with all the changes around us.

Jay still took over for Laney, literally the next day, just like he said he would and Rory left three days later.

We all had gathered around the front to say good-bye. To watch Coog put all her bags into the back of his red pick-up truck. We all hugged her good-bye, though her good-bye to Jay took longer than ours.

And we all waved her off as that red pick-up truck drove away.

I knew that Jay was worried that she wouldn't come back, that she wouldn't keep her promises to him. But I wasn't worried.

I knew this wasn't good-bye for real, this was just good-bye for now.

And that was what was going to get me through this.