A Beautiful Wish Ch. 07

"Who is this young hunk?" asked Dawn as she gestured towards him.

Karen looked at the teenager, then looked past him. "Who? You mean Jimmy? He's the Jr. counselor for the boys. You'll be the counselor for the girls."

Dawn bounded up the bleachers and plopped down next to him. "Hi James. Would you mind if I called you James, Jimmy is a little boy's name."

His mouth was hanging wide open, and it took him a lot of energy to speak, "Uh, I, that is... sure!"

"Thanks! My name is Dawn. It looks we will be working together."

Karen watched them in awe. She turned to George and said, "Well, at least we won't have a problem getting along with her."

He chuckled nervously, "Dawn's alright. Well... I should get going."

"Wait!" she said as she grabbed his arm. She let go almost immediately. "Uh, sorry."

"It's okay. What's up?"

Karen got a little closer to him and lowered her voice. "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted last week. You were trying to be nice and... well, I wasn't very gracious about it."

George waved her off, "It's all good. Did you get a chance to work it out at least?"

"No, but I feel a little better knowing that someone cared. I... um, I heard about what happened between you and Rocko. I can talk to him for you if you want."

"Nah, that's alright," he said as he waved her off again.

"Are you sure? I feel a little responsible for... ah," she looked away, her shame still with her.

"Honestly, it's all good. I'm just glad you're okay."

She nodded, and appeared a bit relieved.

"And, I'm sorry too, about telling you that I didn't care. I shouldn't have said that. My offer still stands. If you need someone to talk to about... anything, you know where you can find me."

She smiled, for the first since all of her drama started. "That's really cool of you, George. You know, you seem... different somehow."

"Oh?" he did his best to act surprised. He had already admitted to himself that he liked the positive attention he got from his new body.

"Yeah, you seem confident. You've always been so quiet and distant. It's nice to see you break out of your shell a little bit."

He hadn't expected that. It dawned on him that Karen hadn't really been paying attention to his appearance at all. Like Lindsey, perhaps that wasn't what was really important to her. He felt a bit shallow for placing so much importance on his looks. He resolved to stop worrying about what other people thought so much.

He blushed once more, "I'm a work in progress."

"I hear that," she added with a chuckle. George thought she looked so much prettier when she was smiling.

He looked up to see Dawn holding Jimmy's headphones to her ear, bobbing her head to some tune. Jimmy eyes kept diving to the swell of her breasts. "Alright, you guys got work to do. I'll see you later."

"Okay, see you later, George."

"Master, wait!"

George had turned to leave, but stopped when he heard Dawn's voice in his mind. "Yeah, Dawn?"

"I want to do something. Do you trust me?

He was wary, but how could he refuse? "I trust you."

Dawn called out to him, "George, are you leaving?"

He answered back, "Yep, time to make the donuts."

She handed Jimmy his headphones and jumped down the bleachers towards George. Without a moments pause, she brought her hands up to his face and pulled him down gently. She gave him a quick soft kiss. "Have a good day at work, Hotstuff."

Now he understood why she warned him. "You too, Babe. I'll see you at your swim lesson."

They parted. It took all of George's energy not to check if Karen was looking at him. But he managed to walk away without looking back.

"Did I overstep my boundaries?" asked Dawn.

"No. That seems pretty par for the course if we are a couple. Though I have to admit, I kinda feel like I was just peed on."

"I am sorry, it just did not feel right to leave you without at least giving you something to remember me by. But I admit, the woman you wish me to be might have been marking her territory a little bit."

"Babe, I'll be your territory any time."

"Oh! I am missing you already." If one could think a pout, she was doing it.

"Hey, um... I don't mind if you want to pop into my head every now and then. I mean, if you want to see what I'm doing. As long as you don't read my thoughts..."

"Really? That would be so much fun!"

"Yeah, you can have a George cam! Ya know, if that makes you feel better."

"It does. You tend to have a lot of crazy things swirling around you, and this saves me the trouble of having to go back and watch it later."

"Okay, well, send me a message when you get bored."

"Then I will never send you a message, because I do not get bored."

"Ugh! Feisty genies, I tell yeah."

"You like feisty," she purred.

---------------------------

George entered the empty pool area and paused. It was odd to be back here, the place where he had found Dawn's vessel. As he began to set the chairs out at their stations, he wondered why there? Who had left it? How did they know he was Dawn's intended master? How did they even know it was a vessel to begin with?

Wild theories floated through his mind. Was it another genie, perhaps the major genie who created her? Maybe it was a sorcerer like the one that had offered to help Dawn's mother. Was it God? Aliens? The government? The Make a Wish Foundation?

He passed the place where he had watched the sun set and prayed for help. It was one of the lowest points in his recent memory. The only other time he had felt that worthless was the day his father died.

"Why do I have to go and do that?" he thought. His day was going perfectly, and now he couldn't get the memory of his father out his mind.

From the locker room, George began to hear the voices of the other guards. Out of the desire to fix his mind on something else, he positioned himself near the locker room entrance so that he could listen.

"Yeah, yeah, I get that he's a good teacher, but there are plenty of good teachers who are cute too." It was either Michelle or Danielle's voice, he couldn't tell which. "Why can't we get a Mr. Wilson? He's cute, he's everyone's favorite teacher, and he's fun to hang out with."

"Girls, just get over it." It was Linda, his boss. "I'm not firing him for being a few minutes late. And if he's having sex in the equipment room, maybe he isn't as much of a loser as you think."

"I heard it was with the new Jr. in group A. I bet she's a cow."

"Oh, total cow. And Tara, in group C, told me she dresses like a tramp."

"Ugh, why can't ugly bitches just stay at home."

George had heard enough. With only a few minutes before the morning meeting would begin, he decided to relax, and savor the quiet of the pool before it erupted in children. He wasn't surprised by the twin's behavior, but Linda was keeping him on his toes. He had always assumed she only barely tolerated him. But hearing that she respected his abilities, and even stuck up for him in private, made him reevaluate his thoughts about the pool coordinator. She was probably just tough with him because she was trying to give him a kick in the right direction. He wished she would have tempered that with some extension of friendship.

One by one, the other guards filed into the pool area, and took their places on the bleachers. First was Linda, she always stood during the meetings, and before that, made sure the pool chemicals were ready. She always had on a sporty black two-piece with some old college shorts and t-shirt over top. Her long black hair was tied back in a long pony-tail.

"Oh, hey George. Here early I see."

"Yes Ma'am. Turns out I had my clock set for Martian time. I was a whole 27 minutes off for everything and couldn't figure out why.

She laughed, "Well that's good. Ready for work then?"

"Ready and able, Ma'am."

"Glad to hear it. I dig the attitude, you get lucky or something?"

He couldn't suppress a broad smile.

"Hey, alright! Go George! I knew you had it in ya."

"As my Dad used to say, 'Even a blind squirrel finds a chestnut once in a while.'"

She laughed again, "Aww, don't sell yourself short. You're not blind, you're picky."

Michelle and Danielle had entered while he and Linda talked. He remarked to himself that it was a shame he couldn't stand them. They were sexy, and they knew it. But even as they took their seats in the center row, they whispered and gossiped, shooting furtive glances at George, then giggling some more.

Following them was Christine. She always wore the same swimsuits on the same days. Being Monday, she had on her favorite cherry red one-piece, though one would only know that if they were paying attention. She was always covered up, usually in sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt with her guard shirt over that. She only took that off when she was forced to actually swim, which wasn't that often. But George never missed the spectacle. As she caught sight of George relaxing near the top row with his hands behind his head, she stopped short, a look of confusion on her face. George thought this was funny, and flexed his biceps as subtly as he could.

Christine always sat somewhere near the bottom rows, next to Erica and Beth. They were sipping coffee from the cafeteria together. Torrie was widely considered to be the hottest of the guards, though Erica and Beth came close. Erica had on a white two-piece with her trademarked tube top. Beth wore a simple yellow one-piece, but still managed to keep up with her contemporary. Her hair was up in a bun, like usual.

George couldn't help but compare all of the female guards to Dawn. Parts of them had definitely found their way into her creation, from Linda's toned figure, to Erica's lovely hips, and even Beth's overall cuteness. Christine's ample breasts had inspired him as well. Though Dawn's looked just a bit smaller and more perky.

Last to enter was Russell, Eric, and Rocko. Eric and Rocko had been best friends since little league, but Russell had only started hanging out with them recently. He tended to walk behind his friends, and didn't seem to know how he should act. George attributed it to the fact that he was black, and probably wasn't used to being around only white people. Eric was shorter than his friends at around 5'10", with a buzz-cut and red trunks. Russell was a bit taller at 6'1", lean, defined, and wore bright green. Rocko was the tallest, standing almost even with George. Though, up until then he had been much more fit. He had sandy blond hair, blue trunks, and his shades. George couldn't help but smile when he saw Rocko walking a bit funny, holding his stomach. The trio always sat in the upper most rows of the bleachers, with Rocko at the top, and his cronies just below him.

George always sat off to the side, away from the group. He had made attempts to slip into the group in the first week of camp, but they had all shifted away from him.

"OK, everyone, good morning," began Linda. "Let's get the important stuff out of the way first. So, girls, how was your weekend?"

"Amazing!" they yelled out in unison.

Michelle started, "We went to this bangin' club in the city on Saturday. A friend of ours got us in. We tore it up!"

Danielle picked up, "We hooked up with these guys, so cute! They bought us drinks and everything!"

"And later," said Michelle, "we went back to their apartment..."

"And partied some more!" finished Danielle.

Erica piped up, "You guys are crazy! I could never just hook up with a guy I just met at a club."

Linda asked, "So how did you get home?"

"Took a cab," they said.

"But that's like a 200 dollar fare," she said in amazement.

"Who cares, it's on Mom's credit card."

Linda just shook her head. "Anybody else do anything fun this weekend?"

The floor was silent.

"Nobody? What about you, Rock? Didn't you have a date with Karen, or something?"

"Yeah, I was gonna..." he stopped suddenly. "Um, can I use the restroom... please?"

Linda looked puzzled, "Y-yeah, sure."

Rocko sprung to his feet, and made a mad dash for the bathroom. The rest of the guards were a mixture of bewilderment and quiet giggles.

"Is that it then?" continued Linda. Nobody came forward. George watched them from his spot, far removed from all of them. He thought it odd for them to be so quiet. Normally, everyone had something to report, except for him.

"George?"

"Huh?"

"What about you? Scuttlebutt says you have a new girlfriend."

All eyes turned towards him. The sudden spotlight turned him into the proverbial deer. "Well, I, uh..."

Eric called out, "Bullshit, he does!"

"No, no, it's true," corrected Linda with a grin. "She's the new Jr. for group A."

"Way to go, George!" squealed Beth excitedly.

Next came a barrage of questions from the other girls, "What's her name? Where did you meet her? Is she pretty? How much did you pay her?"

George put his hands up like they would be capable of stopping the onslaught. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's true, OK. I just met her a couple days ago."

"Did you fuck her?" asked Michelle.

"I-I don't think..."

"Oh, George!" cried Danielle, in a mockery of Dawn's melodious tones. The rest of the girls giggled.

Christine asked in amazement, "Is it true that you and her... you know... in the equipment room?"

George grinned, and said, "You can ask her. If Dawn wants to tell you about our private lives, she may, but I won't kiss and tell."

"Oh come on, George," whined Erica. "You get to hear about our crap all the time."

"Yeah, George," joined Beth, "be a team player."

The floor began chanting his name. All except Linda, which gave him an idea.

"Think about it this way. Let's say, hypothetically, that Linda and I had a night of wild passion."

Linda laughed, "Oh really?"

George continued, "And, lets also say, hypothetically, that she really enjoyed it. From which, we could suppose that she would like to do it again. We could also assume at this point, that I enjoyed it just as much, perhaps more so."

Danielle quipped, "Probably a lot faster than her too."

"Rubbers help," said Eric. Everyone shifted their eyes towards him. The girls just giggled as they shook their heads. "What? I'm just sayin.'"

Russel was cracking up, "Dude, you're such a tool."

"Shut up."

George smiled, but otherwise ignored them. "How would that make her feel then, if I disrespected such a capable, intelligent, and beautiful woman? Since Linda and I, hypothetically, would be lovers, I would be obliged to treat her with the tenderness and respect she deserves."

There eyes locked. He could swear he saw a glimmer of something more than just amusement. Arousal, perhaps? "I would respect Linda's private life too much to betray that affection. So if someone wanted to know the details of the many pleasurable experiences we would have, they'd have to ask her."

George might have imagined it, but he swore he saw Linda bite her lip the way Dawn did when she was thinking something naughty.

"Um... hypothetically speaking, Ma'am," he added.

The looks on their faces said it all. The twins rolled their eyes. Erica and Beth looked impressed. Christine didn't look at him at all, but was rubbing her hands together between her thighs, though it wasn't chilly. Eric was clearly disappointed and still prying the foot out of his mouth. Russel nodded in agreement.

Just then, Rocko hobbled back into the room. "Alright I'm back! What I miss?"

The twins exclaimed, "George wants to fuck Linda."

"Girls!" chided Linda. Everyone else lost it, filling the meeting with hysterical laughter.

George collapsed in his seat and groaned, the point flying right over their heads.

"Phff, Linda would never fuck a fat turd like you, Dumpy," said Rocko. "She needs a real man, not a big blubbering vagina."

Linda looked pissed. "OK, first of all, eww, secondly, George isn't fat, and third, who I'm fucking is nobody's business. Is that clear, Rock?"

Rocko waved her off and sat back down.

"Girls? Do we understand each other?"

"Yes," said the twins somberly in unison.

"Good. Oh, and George?"

"Yeah, sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"See me in my office later, stud," she interrupted, a saucy grin playing across her lips.

The room went silent once more.

George thought he was going crazy for a moment. "Really?" he asked, spellbound.

"No! Of course not! What's wrong with you people?" she yelled.

Laughter once again overtook the room. Rocko added, "Loser." George laughed as well. He never minded getting zinged if it was in good fun.

"Let's just get this finished, alright?" she picked up her clipboard and proceeded through her checklist. "There aren't any camp events today that we need to worry about. But, this Friday is the first big swim meet. The parents are going to be there, so we need to make sure all the kids have their strokes down by then. With that in mind, I'm assigning a helper for each class. So, who wants to help Christine with the beginners?"

Almost everyone raised their hands, all except the twins.

"Erica? Okay," she checked off her clipboard. "Okay, who's helping Rocko with the intermediates?"

This time, the twins did raise their hands, and quite emphatically.

Linda looked relieved, "He's all yours, girls." She made another check on her clipboard. "And that leaves the advanced class. Who wants to help George?"

No one raised their hand, though George thought Russel was about to. He scratched his ear instead.

"Anybody? Come on, help out."

Everyone did their best to avoid Linda's stare. George thought that he should have expected this, and normally, he would have let it go. But, for reasons he didn't understand, this stung him more than usual. It wasn't like he was grotesque, or unpleasant in any way. There was no logical reason to shun him now. For George, it now felt like they didn't like him on principle.

"Look, if someone doesn't volunteer, I'll just assign somebody."

Still nothing.

He couldn't take anymore. He stood up. "Don't worry about it, Ma'am. I'll manage on my own. I'm used to it." He marched off towards the deep end, where his lessons took place. No one stopped him.

From the locker room, sounds of screaming children slamming lockers indicated it was time for the first lesson. First period was with the oldest kids in groups J and K, the thirteen and fourteen year olds. They were older and stronger than the rest, so he was able to push them further than the younger children. George had an elaborate lesson plan in his head, centered around an aquatic version of steal the bacon, but using specific strokes in the deep end. He didn't really need a second person to help him monitor the game. He knew Linda was just covering their asses, trying to make the camp look good for the parents by ensuring that everyone was showing improvement.

However, he was having trouble focusing on his preparation. There was an uncomfortable, almost queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. His insides churned, turning over and over again as his pride munched on his innards. Before Dawn, he had thought that he didn't care when someone slighted him. He had been down for so long, and there was never a shortage of people to kick him. He had learned to turn the other cheek. But now, he felt so angry at the injustice of it, he thought he could punch someone.

And then, he thought about how stupid he was. He didn't understand why such a small thing like being shunned, by those who had always shunned him, would affect him so. He was going around in circles, and he hated it. He found himself hating them. He needed Dawn. He needed her to talk him down, to soothe him. Her presence was like a drug. Without it, he felt awkward, irritable, and uncompromising.