four
grace
i stumbled to the pool, still kind of in awe of ethan, a stranger that out of no where wanted to help crack open my shell. he had all the confidence in the world. most people would be so embarrassed if they ever said anything ethan does, i know i would be.
"what did you guys talk about?" alisha suddenly appears in front of me. "grayson told me that he took you to the beach so you could talk."
"n-nothing." i shake my head. "just keep in mind there may or may not be a food fight tonight." i rush, and her mouth hangs wide open.
graysons ears perked up when he heard 'food fight', but he continued to play with the kids.
"oh god. there hasn't been a food fight in years." alisha rubs her temples.
"also, it may or may not be because of me. at the beach, he told me that he was going to help me break my firsts. and since i've never been in a food fight, i guess that's one of them."
"he's probably going to get in a lot of trouble helping you do the firsts things. he may or may not take the blame for everything. just be aware of that." alisha was the most realistic person i've ever met. and i appreciated it. a lot.
suddenly, my mind automatically flips to what could happen. what if they make him leave? i probably won't see him again, and i need to, depending on how my goal over the summer was to put his guard down. to see if he isn't the jerk he's made out to be.
he's bad news grace. just calm down. besides, he doesn't get caught. barely gets into trouble.
"not necessarily... doesn't he get by with that type of thing?" i ask.
"oh he'll definitely get caught. people will for sure rat him out. but they wouldn't kick him out or anything. probably just a warning." alisha shrugs.
"i don't know. it would just suck if i was the reason he got kicked out." i pick at the already chipped nail polish on my fingernails, which was something i did when i was anxious.
"knowing him, he probably would come back anyway."
"i'm guessing you're talking about-" grayson gets cut off. he runs his fingers through his hair. sweat trickled on his forehead, but he wipes it away.
"your brother. grace was worried that ethan would get kicked out if he started a food fight." alisha responds.
"a food fight? why the hell would he do that?"
my eyebrows raise and i scratch my head. "i uh, i uh don't know."
alisha rolls her eyes at me.
"ethan said he wanted to help break some of graces first-" i hit her side
"just be careful grace." he sighs. it was as if he's said it a million times before. his tone of voice gave it away. maybe i wasn't as special as i thought. . .
but maybe i was. hopefully i'll find out.
sooner or later.
L I F E G U A R D
once all the parents that were in charge of the kids got them, our job was over for the day. they didn't stay overnight like the rest of the teenagers, and i wasn't sure why, but i also wasn't complaining.
soon enough, it came to dinner time. only our group of friends, and ethan was aware of what was going to happen, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was telling everyone. we all walked in the cafeteria and all the staffers were in there, spreaded sporadically throughout the building.
"hey sweetheart," ethan walks over to me with a smile. he shifts his gaze behind me. "you guys know what's going down tonight, i assume grace told you. just sit anywhere. i was trying to sit people everywhere so we're more spread out." for some reason, they listen, and go sit at one of the empty tables.
"as for you, you can come with me," he grabs my hand to take me to where the other lifeguards were sitting, but i stay back.
"hey, i think i'm going to stick with them.." i trail off, i look back at them. i catch grayson staring, but he quickly looks away.
he furrows his eyebrows. "okay, then ill sit with you." ethan flashes a smile at me, and we walk over to our table. ethan sits next to grayson, and i sit across from him, next to jack.
"ethans here. whoop whoop." avery rolls her eyes.
"listen, i have to make sure grace actually does something. this would be a damn waste if she didn't do anything." ethan laughs.
"she's fully capable. go back to your little lifeguard frie-" chris sighs, crossing his arms.
"he's fine guys..." grayson says quietly. ethan looks at him, and his face lights up.
ten minutes later, when everyone got their food, and started to eat, ethan was staring me down. "hey, these mashed potatoes would look even better thrown at you." i roll my eyes.
"just tell me when you're ready sweetheart."
"you know damn well she's not going to admit when she's ready!" jack butts in, laughing. i hit his arm.
"i am t-"
"so you're ready now?" ethan questions, raising his eyebrow.
"i. . ." i trail off. "no. . ?"
"so innocent," he laughs, and shakes his head. "or, is it innocence or terror?"
"neither." i cross my arms. "start the food fight."
"are you sure? actually, i don't really wanna pressure you into anythin-"
i cut him off when i grab a handful of mashed potatoes, and i rub it on his face. slowly dragging down.
next to me, i hear laughing, and i start to laugh too. ethan slowly stands up, flinging his mashed potatoes across the room, to one of the guy lifeguards. right when it hits him, utter chaos unleashes.
food is being thrown left and right. even my friends at our table are throwing it at each other. laughs, profanities, and accusations filled the room.
ethan climbs across the table, and stands right in front of me. "you look rather, clean." ethan smirks, i wipe some of the mashed potatoes off his eyes. before i know it, he's spreading jello all across my face. "messy and sweet. my favorite combination."
"ethan!" i exclaim. not being able to contain my excitement, i grab my drink, and i pour it on his head. his fluffy hair soaking up some of the liquid, but it still runs down his body.
ethan grabs the fruit that was in his bowl, and i grab mine too. "y'know, fruit leaves pretty fucking big stains, and i happen to like this shirt, and i like your shirt on you, so let's throw these at," ethan pauses. when he looks around, i take the opportunity to splatter the fruit on his stomach. i rub around the fruit to spread it even more on his shirt. and this time, i smirk.
"oh sweetheart." ethan laughs. "hey, you should do that again. i like the way your hands feel." i throw the other cup of fruit that he tried to give me behind me.
"sorry ethan. one time thing." i joke.
"not for long."
i look around for something else to throw at him, but everything on our plates was either on us, on the floor, or on someone else.
right when i see something perfect, i glance back at him, and he's looking at me. we both run towards the pie that's sitting on the counter as fast as we can, but i get to it first.
"gotta be quicker than that ethan." i wink, right before i push it on his face.
"oh, you're gonna pay for that grace." ethan shakes his head to get the pie off, and it worked. most of it was off his face.
"what flavor?"
he licks his lips. "lemon meringue." ethan gets some on his thumb. "try it."
he sticks his thumb in my mouth, and my tongue explores the pie on the pad of his thumb. his other hand grabs the other side of my face. his eye contact remained consistent as he takes it out and trails it down my bottom lip, letting it snap into place. my breathing hitches.
an empty cup hits ethans back, so he turns his attention to the person that threw it. she points to the door.
and there stood my uncle.
L I F E G U A R D
d.r.a.m.a.