"I was just doing my job." He shrugged, looking self-conscious for the first time since saving Jilly Ann.
"If we wouldn't have been there, she would have drowned," I said, thinking of the ramifications of my statement. "Buttercup and Butch would say fate brought you there at that moment."
"Fate?" he asked skeptically, popping a fry into his mouth.
"Well, Butch and Buttercup say a lot of crazy things, but listen, if I wouldn't have been at the party that led to me being here doing community service, you wouldn't have been at that exact spot, and that little girl might have drowned. It makes sense."
"That's not necessarily true," Josh said modestly. "Chris is the one who spotted her and probably would have reached her in time."
"Maybe, but it was you who dove under and found her," I pointed out, taking another bite of my burger.
"That's an interesting theory, but it still doesn't make everything right."
"That's not what I was saying," I said defensively.
"Rain, there's nothing cosmic about what happened. I did what I was trained to do today. You and your buddies trashed public property and now you're paying the consequences, that's it."
"Seriously? How many times do I have to say it? I DID NOT TRASH THE BEACH," I bristled. "I got invited to a party, so I went."
"And like I told you, I had no way of knowing that. Anyway, it wasn't like I broke the case for the cops. Evan had been pulling that shit for a long time. The cops were going to bust it up even before I called, so your friends were screwed no matter what."
"They weren't even my friends," I said, exasperated. "As soon as I saw the idiots throwing the bottles, I was going to bail. That was the time your buddies decided to show up."
He kept his head down, swirling a fry around in ketchup.
"I planned to clean it all up the next morning," I added, which was the truth.
His head snapped up immediately in response. "By then it would have been too late. That whole area would have been covered in water at high tide, which means all those bottle caps, broken glass, chip bags, and other trash you guys had thrown around would have been swept out to sea," he said, angrily dunking a fry in ketchup.
"Okay. I get that, but again, I did nothing wrong."
"Except stand by while a bunch of assholes trashed a beautiful beach."
Clearly we were at an impasse. If Josh wanted to continue to judge me for a crime I didn't commit, there was nothing I could do but work my community service hours and accept that he and I would never be friends.
We finished lunch in silence and worked the rest of the afternoon in much the same way. Josh attempted to start up a conversation while we drove back to the station, but I shut him down
. I couldn't act like everything was all fine and dandy when he thought I was something I wasn't.
I left Josh to rinse off the ATV while I headed inside to talk to Vanessa.
"I heard you had an exciting day," she commented.
"Yeah, it was crazy. Josh and Chris were like superheroes. I can't believe how they didn't even hesitate," I marveled.
"That's what they're trained to do."
"It was amazing."
"I agree," she said proudly. It was clear that Vanessa was fond of all the guys at the station.
"I better head out. I'm sure my dad is waiting. See you tomorrow," I said as the phone rang. Vanessa waved to me as she picked it up.
I found Butch out front waiting for me, but he wasn't alone. Josh was standing next to the driver's side window talking to Butch animatedly like they were long-lost pals. I had no idea they had ever met. Go figure, Butch gets the animated Josh while I got Mr. McJudgy Pants. I sighed, opening my door to climb into the passenger seat. I slammed the door a little louder than necessary, but neither seemed to notice as they continued their conversation about some eggs Butch had found in our yard.
They wrapped up their conversation and Josh's eyes met mine as Butch thanked him and pulled away."What's the matter, Dewdrop?"
"Nothing," I mumbled, embarrassed to admit what my problem was.