Chapter 22
The next day I woke up early to begin what I knew would be my morning routine during the week for the remainder of the holidays. I didn't mind though; teaching swimming lessons in the morning was refreshing, and I would still have the rest of the day to do anything I wanted after I was finished my shift. Sid would be coming with me too, since I had come up with the idea for him to volunteer as an assistant instructor every day while I was teaching. It would allow him to accumulate the required number of community volunteer hours he needed as a prerequisite to graduating from high school. Although he still had four years in which to get the needed forty hours, I thought it would be a good idea for him to do it early and not have to bother about it afterwards.
He had taken up my idea with enthusiasm when I had suggested it at the start of his holidays, but it was a different story this morning. "Go away," he groaned when I shook him lightly to wake him.
"It's 8:15, I need to be at work for twenty to nine so I can be ready for lessons to start at 9," I told him. "Let's go, we have 25 minutes, you need to get ready." He got out of bed with bad grace and lazily started about getting ready. I left him for now and finished my breakfast, after which I put on my familiar red and black work uniform. Making sure I had my whistle and everything else with me, I headed back towards the front door and was surprised that Sid wasn't already there. Puzzled, I went to his room - and stopped dead in the doorway; Sid was sprawled on his bed, still in his nightclothes and half-asleep.
"Screw you, I'm not taking you today," I said. "When you can wake yourself up and get ready in time, you can come with me. Otherwise you can walk." He barely acknowledged me and I left the house without another word. When I reached the Y, I saw that most of the other guards were already there. Amongst them were Janet, Kelly, Brianna, Ben and Adam. A couple of the new ones were there too, and I smiled; the instructors were the same for all the morning lessons in one session, and since each session lasted two weeks I was at least assured that this one wouldn't be too trying for me. Everyone here so far were ones that I was on good terms with for now, and most of them gave me a quick wave or smile as I walked in.
The lessons were quite uneventful, apart from the normal panicky three-year-olds who burst into tears at the thought of having to leave their parents even for a half-hour swimming lesson. However, all of us were experts at dealing with this and had no trouble convincing the kids to take part in lessons. At eleven, when the last set of classes was done, I climbed out of the pool soaked and shivering slightly and headed towards the sauna. This had always been the norm for the guards during summer lessons; they would teach lessons and then all go to the sauna and chat for a bit while marking report cards for the kids. I had never joined them in the past because Blake, Shelly or someone else like them had always been there, but this time I decided there could be no harm.
Going in and sitting down I immediately understood why the guards spent time in here even in the summer. After freezing in a pool for two hours it felt absolutely incredible to be hit by the wave of heat which washed over me. The others came in too, discussing the various kids they had encountered in their lessons; the troublemakers, the perfect swimmers, the one terrified of water, every kind of child I had ever encountered. I didn't talk much unless anyone asked me a question, although at one point when I looked up I noticed Alexis and Megan conversing in low tones and with worried looks on their faces. "What's the problem with you two?" I asked.
Both of them looked at me as Megan spoke. "It's nothing really, I'm just panicking and overreacting a bit, I guess," she said hesitantly. I chuckled.
"If it was nothing then you guys wouldn't be looking as if one of you had been sentenced to jail," I said. "What's up?" They grinned sheepishly and finally Alexis answered.
