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Next Monday
"Have a nice day," I smile at the customer. It's my first shift at Starcourt and it's going fairly well. I begin to organize the cash register when a large pile of clothes are placed in front of me. I look up to see Billy with a smirk playing on his lips. "Hi," he says, still smirking. "I'd like a fitting room, please." I let out a laugh. "You're already patronizing me on my first shift?" He pretends to act shocked. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He tries to hide his smile. "I'll go set up a room for you, then." I playfully roll my eyes. He follows me to the back of the store to the dressing rooms. Immediately after I open a room up for him, he pushes me inside and starts to kiss me. "Billy!" I laugh. "Billy, I'm working." "A short break never hurt nobody," he smirks, an inch away from my face. "I hate you sometimes." I give in and kiss him. "I know." He grins.
The next day during my break I head over to Scoops Ahoy to hang out with Steve. I notice that Robin, one of my newer friends, is working the front at Scoops. She doesn't look the slightest bit entertained. "I didn't know you worked here," I say to her when I walk in. "I mean, it is only my second day." She shrugs. "Same here," I lean up against the counter. "I work at The Gap." "Very nice," she stands up straighter. "How's that going?" "It's going." I laugh. Steve comes through the back area of Scoops. "Do you guys know each other or something?" He asks, an eyebrow raised. "Yeah, we met at Billy's birthday party." I shrug. "Anyways, do you wanna go get a hot dog on a stick or Burger King? I haven't tried either." "Definitely Burger King." Steve replies. "I'll be back in a bit," Steve then tells Robin. "When you come back you'd better start slinging more ice cream!" She calls to him as we leave Scoops. "What's that all about?" I raise an eyebrow. "Are you not doing your job, Steve?" I tease. "She's just being annoying, per usual. We take turns. Earlier it was my turn, now it's hers. We have a system thing going." Steve rolls his eyes. "Okay, then." I raise my eyebrows. "How's The Gap?" He asks. I shrug. "It's going good. It's busy as hell, though." "Same at Scoops." Steve says. We order our food and find a spot to eat. "Holy shit," Steve says after he takes a bite of his burger. "This is the best thing I think I've ever had." I frown. "Mine tastes kind of bland." "Whitley, don't rain on my parade." "Okay, my bad."
Friday
Today was my first day off from work. Thank god. Nancy also had a day off from her job, so she invited me to go to the pool with her, her mom, and little sister Holly. It just so happens that Billy is life guarding at the same time we'll be there. I put on my new backless one piece swimsuit that I got (with a discount!) from The Gap. I then slip on a pair of jean shorts, and then my flip flops. I run outside to where Nancy's mom has parked in the driveway. "Hi Mrs. Wheeler!" I smile when I get in the car. "Thank you for driving us." "It's no problem," she smiles back and starts driving to the pool. "Cute suit," Nancy compliments me. "Thank you!" I grin. "Your's is even cuter." Once we get there, we set up our towels next to the lounge chairs in the shade. Mrs. Wheeler sits on the lounge chairs next to a bunch of other moms. "Help me with sunscreen?" Nancy asks me. "Of course." I help her put sunscreen on her back. She helps me next. "Ladies," I overhear one of the mom's say amongst each other. "She's coming down." I glance over to see what they're talking about. The female lifeguard, Heather Holloway, is climbing down from the lifeguard chair. "Showtime." The same mom says. All of the mom's, Mrs. Wheeler included, look the other way. I follow their gazes to see Billy leaving the pool house. They all watch him as he makes his way to the lifeguard station. Um, creeps? Billy smirks at me as he walks by. "Afternoon, ladies." He says to Nancy and I. He then winks at me before climbing up the ladder. "I forgot that he worked here," Nancy says. "Anyways, wanna get in the pool?" I nod. "Yeah." I slip off my sandals and take off my shorts. We climb into the pool together. "Is it just me, or is it weirdly warm over here?" I ask her as we wade in the shallow end. "Nope. I feel it too." She makes a disgusted face. "I don't event want to know what it could be." I laugh. "I think we both know." We swim around in the less shallow area and toss around a beach ball with some other people. "I think every girl here is checking out Billy." Nancy tells me. I frown and look around to see that she's right. Literally every girl is looking at him. "Now he's looking at you." She giggles. I turn to look at him and immediately lock eye contact with him. He smirks when he sees that IVE noticed his stare. I look back to Nancy. "Sometimes he's too good looking for his own good." She laughs. "You're not wrong."
Nancy goes to get us lunch from the snack shack while I swim around in the lanes. I'm a horrible swimmer, but at least I try. After a few minutes of swimming in the lane, I see Nancy wave to me that she has the food. I swim over to the ladder. When I look up, I see Billy smirking down at me with my towel in his hands. "Aren't you supposed to be on duty?" I ask him. He wraps my towel around me. "Yeah, but I had to come down to tell you how beautiful you are." I feel my cheeks getting hot. "Am I making you blush?" He smirks. "Well, you're shirtless and you're being sweet, so yes." I playfully roll my eyes. He laughs. "I'll start being sweeter, then." He goes back up to the lifeguard station and I go over to Nancy, who's started eating without me. As I walk back, I notice that I'm getting glared at by most of the girls at the pool. That's odd. "Are you friends with the lifeguard, Billy?" Mrs. Wheeler asks, the lounge chair moms watching me as I respond. "Um... yeah." I say. "He's my boyfriend." The women seem surprised by my response. As I eat my lunch, I overhear them chattering amongst each other. "I thought he'd be into prettier girls. Who'd have known?" "Cheryl!" "Well, She's not wrong... he could do better." I feel tears coming, so I quickly get up to run to the girls locker room where the bathroom is. I lock myself in a stall and let the tears out. As much as I hate to admit it, their comments hurt me. It certainly doesn't help any of my self esteem issues. "I think she went in there," I hear Nancy's voice. "Thank you." Billy's voice. There's a knock at the stall door. "Baby, it's me." Sniffling, I crack open the stall door. He pushes it open and let's himself in. He locks the door behind him. "Why are you crying, babygirl?" He cups my face with his hands. He wipes my tears with his thumbs. "You're supposed to be on duty." I avoid his gaze. "Yeah, well I said screw it because I saw you run off upset." He nudges my face up so I can't avoid his gaze. "What happened, Whitley?" "It's stupid." "It's not stupid if it's upsetting you this much." He studies my face. Since when is he the therapist? "Whitley?" He asks again when I don't respond. "It's just... those women in the lounge chairs. They were checking you out all day like a bunch of creeps, and then they overheard that you're dating me, then they started talking about how... how they thought you'd be into prettier girls, how you could do better than me." I feel the waterworks coming again. Billy tenses up. His expression quickly turns angry. "Those bitches." He growls. "I'm going to–" "Billy." I pull grab his hands. "Stop." "What they said isn't fucking true. You can't let them get to you." He says, holding me in his arms. "Too late," I say. "Whitley." Billy says. "They're just fucking jealous. You're perfect, do you hear me? You're fucking perfect." "I love you," I say without thinking. He pulls away to look at me. He's smiling. "I love you too, babygirl."
