I shut my car door with a quick snap, pocketed my keys, and took off for the back door; the only door that the employees of El Sol Resort, one of the best resorts in the entire state (it was rated at five stars and ultra expensive), were allowed to use. The front entrance was entirely forbidden to us. I suppose the guests didn’t care to see the humble servants that catered to their every need. It was just too upsetting to witness hard labor. Ah well. I could really care less. They paid my generous check every week, so I didn’t utter a word of complaint.
I walked into the locker room, one that we all shared whether we were male or female, and made my way over to my locker. I spun in the combination and pulled the lock off. From inside I took out my flowered shorts, white tank top, sun glasses, and whistle. I scrunched my nose up at the entire outfit. I was required to wear it by the boss man, and though a lot of the fine girls that lounged by the pool liked the view the snug shorts had to offer (every angle of me was sexy, if I did say so myself), I despised walking around in them. They were ugly and had a flare of…they just were not my style. I sighed heavily as I threw my lifeguard attire over my one arm, slammed my locker shut, and headed for the changing stalls. I slid out of my jeans and leather jacket and got dressed listlessly for work.
I finished and stepped out of the stall in record time. I stopped in front of the mirrors and ran my fingers through my coppery brown hair; giving it the ‘disheveled look’ that drove all the girls crazy. I grinned at my good-looking self, not caring if I was being more than a tad bit narcissistic. I had an excellent body, a smile that brought more than just girls to their knees, and blue eyes that could capture a girl’s heart with just one intense look. I was the definition of perfect, a god brought to Earth, and I insanely loved it.
“Admiring yourself, again, Jake?” a voice snickered suddenly. I jumped at the surprise that I hadn’t heard someone else enter the room. I turned around to see who was teasing me, ready to tell the a**hole to f*** off, but clamped down on my tongue firmly. There, standing on the other side of the locker room, was the one girl that I hadn’t been able to charm to bed yet. It was Lisa Barker, one of the hottest girls from school. She was gazing at me with a smirk on her heart-shaped face, her gorgeous brown eyes glinting with good humor. God, I wanted her so badly. I’d been trying for the past six months now to get into her pants, but to no prevail. It was if she didn’t even register my obvious advances. Most other girls would have caved by now or told me to p*** off, but not Lisa. She was playing hard to get, which ultimately made me crave her even more.
“How can I not?” I asked back, flashing her one of my brightest smiles. It did nothing to penetrate her radiating self-confidence bubble. “I’m just so amazing.”
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Lisa laughed as she went to her locker. “Maybe one day it’ll come true.”
“Ha,” I chuckled warmly, not minding her teasing. It was sexy and gave her an edge most other girls I’ve been interested in didn’t have.
“You still seeing that Mason kid?” I asked casually as I went to take care of my clothes. They were practically a famous couple in our school, having been going steady for almost three years now. Was I jealous? Only over the fact that Hale had access to her incredible body any time he wanted.
“No,” Lisa muttered stiffly, slamming the door of her locker. It snapped back towards her sharply, but she was out of its way long before it could hit her. “We broke up a couple of days ago.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, not sure if I honestly meant it or not. I was always saying things that I never meant, but knew that girls wanted to hear. How else was I supposed to get them to screw around with me? I was a dog, I’ll admit that, but I wasn’t a stupid dog.
“He’s an a**,” Lisa spit. “I don’t regret my decision one bit. He can go rot in Hell for all I care.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I’d much rather not,” Lisa said, staring down at her feet; her eyes still blazing from the anger that she felt towards Mason. “It’s sort of personal.”
“All right, I can respect that. But if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, or a guy to make Mason jealous, I’m here for you,” I told her. I watched Lisa’s twisted expression melt as she raised her head and gave me a heart-bursting smile.
“Thanks, Jake,” she said as she pulled out her dark denim blue waitress outfit.
“Any time,” I replied, locking my locker. “Well time to go make the ladies swoon,” I said as I slapped on my dark and expensive sunglasses. “Wouldn’t dare want them to have to miss one second of my god-like body.”
“Oh no, what a horrible thought” Lisa giggled, seeming to be in a much better mood. “Have fun,” she called as I walked from the room. I nodded once and was gone.

I spent the next four hours mostly sitting around on my a**. There were hardly any people around the pool (much to my disappointment) and those that were really didn’t need my special lifeguard skills. I lounged in my chair, wishing I were somewhere else, or at least had my Blackberry. A few flirty texts with some random girls would cheer me right up, but nope. Cell phones weren’t allowed during working hours, and it was really hard to hide my phone were I was at (I’ve tried), so I was left to sit and sigh periodically.
Finally my work day was over and I could go home. I went back to the locker room and found only Lisa inside. She smirked slightly when she saw me walk in, but that was about it.
“How was the past four hours?” I asked, doing my best to keep my eyes from trailing over her body. Her waitressing outfit clung tightly to every curve in her small, but plump body and it was taking all my concentration not to drool over her.
“Sleaze balls, horn dogs, prissy b****es, and snot nosed children,” Lisa listed off, ending with a shake of her head. “I hate working here. The management sucks and I’m treated like s***. Why do I even stick around?”
“The pay’s good?” I suggested with a shrug. “That’s why I stay. If I was only making minimum wage than I’d walk right out of here in less than a heartbeat. Maybe I might even work at McDonald’s. At least the people there are friendly.”
“You don’t seem to be the kind of guy that would serve cheap, greasy food to fat people,” Lisa said.
“I could do it,” I challenged as I made my way over to my locker.
“I’d love to see that,” Lisa scoffed, doing the same as me.
“One day I’ll have to then,” I said, beginning to pull my tank top over my head.
“Stop!” Lisa ordered when all my chest was exposed but the shirt wasn’t completely off.
“Like what you see?” I teased, shimming a little towards her.
“No, and before I lose my lunch I would appreciate it if you would go into one of the changing rooms,” Lisa replied.
“I think not,” I said, yanking my shirt entirely off. “You can go into the changing rooms if you can’t handle all of this.” I gestured to my rock hard abs and tanned torso.
“Fine,” Lisa snipped, taking out her normal clothes and marching away.
It got silent as I stripped the rest of my lifeguard outfit off and got dressed into my previous clothes.
“You’re an a**, you know that?” Lisa suddenly said as she stepped out of the changing room.
“But a sexy one,” I pointed out.
“Whatever,” Lisa said with a roll of her eyes. She put her stuff back in her locker, pulled out her purse and coat, and then shut her locker. “Well I’ve gotta get going. I need to get home and study for that Chemistry test tomorrow.”
“I can walk you to your car,” I suggested.
“Why?” Lisa asked, gazing at me sharply. I realized just then that she was still very upset over my bringing up Mason and I felt…guilty…and sympathetic? What the hell? I never felt those things. I only ever pretended to.
“It’s just me walking you to your car. It’s not like we’re hooking up or anything…Unless that’s what you have in mind because I’m all game for that.”
“Shut up,” Lisa sighed. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry. I just—yes, you can walk me to my car.”
“Yes!” I cried enthusiastically as I quickly checked my pockets to make sure that my car keys were still there. Lisa waited for me and then started walking towards the doors when she saw that I was good. I trailed after her and soon we were out into the brisk twilight of the fading day. We moved along side by side, neither one of us saying anything. I picked up that Lisa didn’t want to talk, she just wanted someone with her, and I was curious about why that was, but I kept my mouth closed.
We reached Lisa’s small gray car sooner than I liked, and I opened the door for her. She plopped down in the driver’s seat, but didn’t start the engine. And I didn’t move away.
“Would you like to hang out this Friday?” I asked her, needing to break the quiet. “There’s this new horror movie coming out and—“
“We both know that watching a movie is the last thing you want to do with me,” Lisa cut me off, barely a hint of a smile on her lips.
“You never know,” I said playfully back. “I might just surprise you.”
“You don’t want to date me,” Lisa mumbled softly, gazing off into space like I wasn’t there anymore. “Mason doesn’t.”
“Well Mason’s a f***ing p**** that needs to get his head out of his a**,” I said, leaning up against her car’s door.
“No, he’s not. I can understand why he doesn’t want me anymore. I wouldn’t want me.”
“He’s a p**** if he doesn’t see all the great things about you,” I told her, my voice taking on a caring quality that I hadn’t used in a long time.
“I’m pregnant,” Lisa whispered, the word barely tumbling from her lips. I heard it like the snap of an open palm slapping against a cheek.
“Is it his?” I asked.
“No,” Lisa shook her head. “He thinks I cheated on him. I didn’t, though. I would never.”
“What? Lisa, I don’t understand,” I said, leaning in to…what? Hug her? I wasn’t good at comforting girls. What was I doing?
“It’s not your problem,” Lisa said, snapping a bright smile at me. It looked completely fake, but I stepped back from her anyways.
“I can help. I can take care of the a** that did this to you.”
The words shocked me, and I saw that it did Lisa, too, but I was glad that I’d said them out loud. It felt…nice.
“That’s sweet, but I’m good,” Lisa told me, patting my hand with her ultra-soft one. “I have everything under control, or at least I will after tonight.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, not believing her.
“Yup,” Lisa said and reached for her door. “Bye, Jake. It was nice talking to you. See you later.”
She snapped her door shut and waved once at me before starting up her car. I stepped back and watched as she drove pointedly out of the parking lot and down the street.
“Bye, Lisa,” I whispered to the last of her car’s fumes before turning to go to my own car.

The next day at school I was trailing through the lobby when I found a group of the few guys that I hung out with standing in a tight circle. It seemed as if they were waiting for someone, and deep down I knew that it was me. Oh great.
Richard Kresconko noticed me first and called out to me.
“Hey, have you heard the news, man?” he asked as I stepped up to the group.
“I just got in, so no. What’s up?”
“You know that girl you’ve wanted to nail for the past few months?” Mike Mark asked from beside Richard.
“Yeah,” I almost snapped, not liking how he’d referred to Lisa.
“Well I guess sometime early this morning she got arrested,” Mike said, glee dancing in his eyes. He was like a f***ing chick when it came to gossip.
“Why?” I blanched, hoping that it was all a joke; that they were all just being their stupid, a**hole selves.
“She stabbed her dad last night,” Lucas Waite chimed in before anyone else could. “She just snapped and took a butcher knife to his back. They don’t know if he’ll live or not.”
“Where’d you hear this?” I coughed out.
“The radio as I was driving into school this morning,” Mike said.
“Good thing you didn’t get with her,” Lucas commented. “That could be you fighting for your life in the hospital right now.”
“And there’s also word that she’s knocked up,” Richard added as an afterthought.
“I know,” I murmured as the words from last night drifted into my head. I have everything under control, or at least I will after tonight. That phrase, plus the stuff I’d just learned, came together to paint a stark and bitter picture. “I know.”