"Will I be with you tomorrow?" I asked when he handed over my time sheet.
"Not tomorrow, honey. It's my day off, but you should be in good hands," he said, shooting me a wide smile before heading through the same door Josh had disappeared behind. I decided to walk around the outside of the building to wait for my ride rather than cut through the receptionist's area. The last thing I wanted to do was give Josh another excuse to snub me. Butch showed up after only a few minutes and I climbed into the van quickly, grateful to put some distance between the rat and me.
"How'd it go?" Butch asked as he maneuvered into traffic.
"Okay. They assigned me with a nice guy you'd probably like. People are freaking slobs though!" I griped, looking at my dirty, grimy hands that were also scratched up from the pieces of driftwood Larry and I dragged out of the way earlier. Half my nails were broken down to the quick while the other half had an inch of dirt crammed underneath.
"Looks like you had a tough day," Butch observed, taking in my battered hands. "You should bring Buttercup's gardening gloves with you tomorrow."
"That's what I was thinking," I said, resting my head back against the seat in exhaustion.
Once we got home, I showered thoroughly before crawling into my favorite PJs. It was still the afternoon, but I was beyond tired. Switching on my fans, I opened all my windows before crawling into bed with Player.
I ended up dozing off before dinner and slept through the night, but woke up the next morning feeling refreshed but ravenous.
"Feeling better?" Buttercup asked when I joined her in the kitchen.
I shrugged, grabbing a coffee mug from the cabinet. "I'm still sore and my fingernails may never be the same again, but I guess I'll survive. I did the crime, I guess I have to pay the piper," I answered, using one of Buttercup's favorite quotes.
"I'm glad you have that attitude. Your dad and I still feel three hundred hours was excessive, but we're proud of your maturity."
"It stings a little since technically I did nothing wrong except the underage drinking, but at least I feel like I'm doing something good. I'd be singing a different tune if they had me volunteering at a hospital or something," I said, shuddering slightly.
Buttercup nodded, well aware of my aversion to blood.
"Who's giving me a ride in today?" I asked, before heading back to my room with coffee in hand.
"I am. What time do we need to leave?"
"I have to be there by nine, so probably like a quarter till."
"Okey-dokey, artichokie."
Vanessa was sitting at her desk when I arrived at the beach patrol office with five minutes to spare. I was dressed in old clothes again like I had the day before, but this time I had come prepared with gloves.
"How'd it go yesterday?" Vanessa asked after greeting me.
"Not bad. Larry's cool. People are slobs though."
She laughed. "Welcome to tourist season. It'll get better once summer ends. It's the double-edged sword of living in a beach community. We need tourist dollars, but unfortunately, they don't always appreciate the importance of protecting the environment like we do."
"Well, I got all summer to show them," I joked.
She smiled and pulled up the work schedule on her computer. "Larry's off today, but I matched you up with one of our younger workers, Josh. He's going to be manning his lifeguard stand, so you'll be working around that area. That way if you need anything he'll be on hand."
I muttered a string of curse words under my breath. I'm pretty sure Vanessa heard me, but she was still looking at her computer screen. It was bound to happen. As a matter of fact, I'd been expecting it. Just not so soon. I needed more time to mentally prepare myself. Then maybe the urge to punch him in the nuts would have passed.
"You okay?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have something caught in my throat."
"Oh, there's water over there if you need it. Josh told me to tell you to meet him out back when you got here," she said, smiling warmly before returning to her work.
Clutching the desk for a moment, I debated running out the front door. I could go see my court advocate and beg for a different assignment. Hell, I'd take a hospital instead. Mopping up blood and guts would be better than spending the day with Josh. All I could hope for was that he would remain on his lifeguard stand, too busy to give me much thought. Josh and I had proven we were about as good a mix as oil and water. My feet felt like they were encased in cement, but I managed to pry myself away from Vanessa's desk and headed out back where Josh was waiting for me.
I found him already behind the wheel of his ATV when I shoved open the heavy door. Without saying a word, or even looking at his face, I slid into the seat beside him. Not that he acknowledged me either. He kept his eyes straight ahead as he guided the four-wheeler through the back lot and down the beach access path to the sandy beach. With each minute that passed, the anger I felt for him rose to a slow boil. The fact that he seemed equally mad at me only fueled my fire. He had nothing to be mad about. If anyone was wrong here, it was him. He had betrayed me.
Josh parked the four-wheeler behind his designated post. Neither of us talked as we climbed from the vehicle and headed in separate directions. Josh climbed the ladder of his stand, holding a bottle of water and one of those long floats that all lifeguards carried. I snatched my gloves off the seat of the ATV along with a heavy-duty trash bag and stuck my tongue out at Josh like I wanted to the previous day.