A Beautiful Wish Ch. 00

From the stairs leading down into the locker room, George could hear the first groups of campers getting ready for their time in the pool. "Alright everyone, kiddies are here," said Linda, "let's try and have a good Friday."

The day progressed slowly and uneventfully. New groups of campers filed in every hour as the previous groups left to go on to their next activities. Though the pool was olympic size and maybe slightly larger thanks to the diving area. It always seemed to be teeming with children end to end. They reminded George of ducklings. They bobbed and floated on foam noodles, and followed each other around in long lines. It was like they were in a race to see who could have the most fun. He thought about joining them. But that would mean taking off his shirt.

The pool was housed in a large atrium, with windows in three directions and a domed glass roof. They provided a pleasant view of the surrounding pine forests and clear summer skies. Most people enjoyed the feeling of being comfortably inside, but also in line of sight of nature. George thought it looked like a giant fishbowl.

George was a lifeguard, but his real job was teaching them all how to swim. He really liked that part. Even though he was out of shape and overweight, he was an absolute fish in the water. His prowess was immediately apparent to Linda when she had first hired him. Right away, she gave him an opportunity to teach the advanced swimming class. Along with a higher pay rate, he also got to choose his shifts and his assignments. However, his frequent late arrivals chewed up most of his leeway, and he ended up getting whatever was leftover most of the time.

Nevertheless, he was fond of the children and he loved teaching them. This made Fridays tough, because all he could really do was sit there and watch. It wasn't all bad. He had taught most of the kids how to swim, and most of them were fairly competent this far into the summer. Situations that required actual rescues were so infrequent that he felt comfortable in letting his attention slide.

Instead, he shifted his attention to the women sprinkled around the edges of the pool. The closest from his position was Erica. She was the homecoming queen at her high school, for good reason. She had short brown hair, high cheekbones, and great curves. Her hips were always what struck him. She would periodically stand up indulge in a long stretch, which showed off the flare of her hips and her flat stomach. Her bathing suits were usually two-pieces with tube tops which had a habit of falling down when she went off the diving board; much to her chagrin and the guys' amusement. Though George could tell she loved the attention. He knew that Erica wasn't so stupid as to wear a faulty swimsuit unless she liked it that way.

After her was Beth. Beth was slightly younger than most of the other guards, but just as beautiful. She had dirty blond hair, which she usually wore up in a bun, and a tight perky body. Her best feature was her cute face. It was freckly and soft, with a slightly up turned nose. She had a flirty playfulness about her that had Rocko and the other male guards counting down the days until she turned eighteen. There had been many what-if sessions among the male members of the staff about being her first. George never participated in those chats partly because he wasn't really chummy with any of the guys, but mostly because he liked Beth. He didn't want to see her as a future piece of meat. But even George would admit that if he had the chance with Beth, he would take it.

Down the line was Christine. There was no mistaking Christine, nobody had breasts that large. She had obvious Scandinavian features: long blond hair, milky white skin, and a bodacious body. While all the guards where well-endowed, Christine was in a league all her own. No matter what boring one-piece suit she tried to hide behind, her heavy, swaying breasts always seemed eager to make their presence felt. She was known as something of a prude, and wore very conservative clothing outside work. A golden cross hung around her neck; George thought to broadcast her piety, perhaps. But all it ever really did was draw more attention to the two large globes cradling it.

Erica and Beth had made it their mission to bring Christine out of her shell. They had succeeded to a degree, and Christine was learning to deal with the affect she had on men. Though she was still shy, she was beginning to loosen up, and every guy she worked with had taken notice.

Lastly were the twins, Michelle and Danielle. Those two terrors were notorious for their weekend exploits, to the point where half the Monday morning meeting was devoted to what they did. And more often than not, who they did. As identical twins, they were completely indistinguishable and inseparable. Both had long straight orange-red hair and wore entirely too much makeup, even in the pool area. While George thought they were sexy in that naughty sort of way, the twins were cruel and shallow. Much of the grief George took from his coworkers came from them. They delighted in spreading rumors about him. Their favorite being a juicy tidbit they got from his sister about a certain shower incident. Their favorite way of passing the time involved inserting different people or objects into the story to get it sufficiently embarrassing, before distributing it to all the other guards and counselors.

George would cheat quick glances at the women whenever the opportunity presented itself. As he became more and more bored, he took more risks and let his glances turn into full on ogles. Erica finally caught him, and in retaliation, sent one of the campers over to give him a quick accidental splash that soaked his guard shirt. Erica just laughed and shook her head. George got the hint and focused his attention back on the pool.

Corina's group came in just before lunch and Karen along with her. George always looked forward to these times because Karen always went into the water with her campers. She would help them swim or play games with them. All the while she would dazzle George with her beautiful body. But once again, his joy was denied him. Instead of entering the pool with her campers, she went up to the top corner of the bleachers where they intersected the wall. She folded her arms around her chest and scrunched her legs up to her torso, much like she was in the fetal position. George was getting worried. It was clear that something was bothering her. He resolved to ask her about it at lunch time.

At last, the first half of the day ended, and everyone made for their lunches. As the campers scurried downstairs to the locker rooms, Karen hovered in the entry way, herding them towards their gender's proper destination. As the last one entered George made his move and sidled up to Karen.

"Um... ," he began.

"Yes?" she asked quickly.

"Sorry, I just... you seemed to be having a rough day today. I was wondering if you needed someone to talk to about it or whatever," his face hung low in slight embarrassment.

Any pleasant facade she was clinging to disappeared. But she managed to force a smile for him. "That's really sweet of you George, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah..." she almost whispered it, but recovered, "I mean, yes. I'm really okay." She tried to look at him, but immediately dropped her eyes in shame. "I just had a rough night last night, I don't really want to bore you with the details," she said unconvincingly.

Lacking the confidence to press the issue further, he settled on an open invitation. "Okay, well, if you decide that boring someone is exactly what you want to do, I'm easy to get a rise out of."

She let out a quiet sigh. "Thanks George," she said. His attempt at humor had no obvious effect on her mood. She turned to go into the locker room but stopped just before she made it to the door. "George, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, yeah!" he said a little too enthusiastically.

She paused, like she was trying to figure out how she should ask it. Finally, she looked him in the eyes, and asked, "Why can't more guys be like you?"

He thought for a moment, and shuffled his weight before answering. He had the feeling she wasn't flirting with him, and needed a real answer. Finally, he said, "Because if they were, you wouldn't date them."

It was her turn to ponder for a moment. "Are we really that screwed up?" she pleaded softly.

He didn't know how to answer her, but opened his mouth as he began to try.

"No, forget I said anything." She moved quickly to the door, but turned back as she was about to enter. Her eyes were beginning to tear up. "See you around," she managed. Her voiced cracked a little. She turned and left, with George alone in the entry way.

Feeling stupid for having tried, he made his way into the boy's locker room and grabbed his lunch. However, his stomach ached in failure, and he found his appetite leaving him. He put the lunch back after deciding to spend his break somewhere quiet. He found a secluded seat down the hall from the pool and stared out a window. After making sure that nobody was around to hear him, he let himself try to find solace in his song. It didn't work this time. He couldn't make it past the slow beginning without feeling worse.

The second half of the day progressed just as agonizingly slow as the first half; with the added torture for George in the realization that he still had another half to go after that one. After his lunch time failure, George was so crestfallen that he didn't even bother trying to sneak glances at the other guards. He kept his eyes down at the pool. But his mind was elsewhere. He kept trying to figure out a way to help Karen without hurting her or himself. But every time he came up with a possible solution, it evaporated whenever it inevitably steered him towards direct intervention. He was convinced that anything involving him actually saying something to her or doing something for her was across some line. The only time he broke out of his funk was when Karen's group entered for their second swim period, but he quickly returned to it when she avoided him.

Finally, the last swimming period ended. The campers gathered their towels and left the pool area while the lifeguards put away the guard stations and rescue equipment. All except George, his station would be left up for the late shift. He stepped quickly to the locker room for a quick bathroom break before his third shift started. As he was washing his hands, he heard Rocko, Russell, and Eric enter after all the campers had finally left. Immediately, Rocko began to recount the events of the previous night's date with Karen as the other guys listened intently. George went to his locker on the far wall away from them and listened, despite his dislike of anything that came out of Rocko's mouth.

"So first I took her to that new water park up in Bayside right. I tell ya, that girl fills out a fuckin' bikini. She looked so fuckin' hot and I could tell she was real into me right. So I'm takin her home and I decided to stop at that lookout over the cliffs. We start makin' out like crazy. I'm tellin' you guys, those tits are amazing!" He made hand gestures indicating a set of breasts at least twice as large as Karen's, but Russell and Eric ooed and awed nonetheless.

"So we're makin' out right. Well I start movin' down to the promised land, and the bitch starts playin' hard to get. Sayin' she wasn't ready or whatever. I played it cool, lay'd a bit of the Rocko style on her. She kept tryin' to act like she wasn't into it, but I got my fingers in there. She was squirmin' all over the place."

"Dude!" said Eric, his eyes wide with curiosity. "What happened next?"

"Well after that she started sayin' she wanted to go home. But I wanted to see how far she'd go. I mean, fuck! I've taken her out three times! She could at least give me a blowjob or something," he shrugged. "She offered to jerk me off, so I let her do that. It wasn't bad, but I'm done with this pussy shit. I'm goin' all the way this weekend."

George was facing away from them, but even a blind man could have seen his disgust. No wonder Karen was in such a sour mood, she had been date raped the night before. And what was worse, Rocko didn't even think it was wrong. He just shook his head.

Rocko noticed this and called him out, "Hey fatboy! You got a fuckin' problem?"

George slammed his locker shut. He forgot his timid nature and said with as much bite as he could, "You raped her you asshole."

"I'm not a fuckin' idiot Shamu. She offered. I just accepted it."

George was getting more and more angry, and struggled not to raise his voice. "And you don't see a problem with that?"

"Don't give me that shit!" yelled Rocko. "All these sluts are into it. They just gotta act like they aren't. It's part of the game. Not like you would know."

"You think Karen sees it that way?" Suddenly, George became aware that Eric was circling around to his right.

Rocko stepped forward, his chest out. "Who's gonna ask her?"

Realizing there was no way out of this without some sort of physical altercation, George raised his clenched fists in as good a fighting stance as he knew how. The other guys just laughed. "Look boys, ol' Shamu here is gonna kick our ass."

"C'mon Rocko," interrupted Russell, "leave the guy alone."

Quicker then George could react, Rocko punched him hard in the eye, knocking him to the floor in the process. Rocko and Eric stood over him and laughed some more. "Fuckin' bitch!" shouted Rocko. Eric snorted deep for a big loogey and spit right in George's hair. Rocko and Eric high-fived each other and made for the exit. Russell looked down at George and sighed. He turned around and chased after his friends.

George sat on the locker room floor for what seemed like days. His head throbbed from the shiner that he could feel forming over his left eye. But that pain was nothing next to the broken slivers of his shattered pride stabbing him like knives. The feeling ran right into his core and didn't allow him to move.

Suddenly, a realization came to him so hard, it almost felt like he was punched a second time in the gut: there wasn't anything he could do to stop Rocko from hurting Karen again, or any other girl for that matter. He felt completely worthless. Apart from his father dying eleven years ago, this day had become the worst day of his life.

Eventually, he did get up. He hobbled over to a sink and washed the spit out of his hair. He examined his new black eye. It was pretty pronounced, even with his longer then average hair, he wouldn't be able to cover it up. With nothing left to do but get back to work, he composed himself as best he could, and headed back up to the pool area.

As he reached the locker room entry-way he almost slammed into Karen, who seemed to be heading in the same direction.

"Oh, sorry George. Um, one of my kids left a towel behind and... oh my god!" she said as she caught a glimpse of his black eye. "What happened to you? Are you Okay?" she lifted a delicate hand to his face to brush his hair away and get a better look.

George recoiled at her touch, she being the last person he wanted to see him like this. "I'm alright. I slipped on the floor and hit my head on a bench." He looked away from her and hurried up the stairs.

"W-wait!" she called.

George stopped and listened, but didn't turn back.

She hesitated before asking, "D-do you mind if I grab that towel?"

George frowned. "You can do whatever, I don't care."

"Okay," she whispered, her voice cracking again.

Predictably, the 3rd shift was completely devoid of any swimmers, leaving George alone with his thoughts. As the hours rolled by and the sun sank low enough to shine directly into the pool area, George thought very seriously about quitting There seemed to be nothing for him there. But then he thought about what he would do if he left. It wasn't like he had somewhere else to go. The loneliness was profound, and George wondered if it would ever end.

The beauty of the setting sun sat in direct opposition to his mood. The reddish gold rays mixed with the water to create dazzling patterns on the walls and ceilings. He put his arms on the window sill and nestled his chin on his knuckles to better watch the show. He would have liked to have been able to share that with someone. But his loneliness only deepened. With no other recourse, he started to hum his song. He didn't get far. Each time he began, his voice broke. And each time he felt the loneliness intensify. Eventually, he gave up. Not even his song could help him anymore.

He let a few tears escape from his good eye. At that moment he needed someone, anyone, to be there with him, to show him something different. He called out in his mind. There were no real words, only the sound of his sorrow echoing through his being, aching for release.

From the stairs leading down into the locker room came sandaled footsteps. George immediately broke from his perch on the sill, heading instead for a spot on the wooden bleachers. He wiped his tears away and tried to look as casual as he could for his latest charges. Just as he got settled, a man emerged from the stairway.

He was handsome and tall, looked to be in his late twenties, and walked with supreme confidence. He wasn't cocky like Rocko, but dignified and strong. He strode right past the log book that all swimmers after hours had to sign as they entered and left, leading George to believe that this man was not affiliated with the college. He would have to have known at least that much. Instead, the man smiled and gave George a friendly wave. George followed him.

"Sir?" he called out. "Sorry, but you need to sign the log book first. And I need to see your school ID before you can use the facilities."

"Oh. Well, actually, I don't have one. I don't work here or anything. You see my girlfriend and I were driving by and she suddenly got the idea in her head that she needed to go swimming. Do you think that maybe, just this once..." he said imploringly.

George thought about it, but not for long. He looked at the clock on the wall. There was only an hour left, and he decided he could use the company. His boss had gone home anyway. And since he felt like quitting, he found himself having a hard time caring what rules he broke.

"Yeah sure, it's cool, as long you guys don't make too much of a ruckus."

"It'll be like we were never here, I promise," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Suddenly, George could hear rapid footsteps from behind him. Before he could turn around to see what made them, the most unbelievably gorgeous woman that George had ever laid eyes on pranced up to the man, and kissed him lovingly on the cheek before affixing herself to his arm. Her red gold hair seemed to blend in with the light of the sunset around them and framed her beautiful face. Her eyes, a dark green, were unguarded and happy, almost whimsical. Her hunter green bikini left little to the imagination. Her body was flawless with almost impossible proportions. George couldn't help but stare.

"Who's this Jack?" she asked with a pretty smile.

"Oh actually, we haven't met. My name is Jack, and this is Jennifer." He extended his hand for a shake.

"George," he said as he shook Jack's hand. He then extended his hand to Jennifer.

She took it gladly. She gazed at him thoughtfully, as if she were trying to read his mind. Finally, she smiled and said, "It's so wonderful to meet you." Before letting go of his hand, she turned it over and examined it thoroughly. "Such wonderful hands. Strong, but with a light touch. I bet your girlfriend must love these."

While George got the impression that he was supposed to be flattered by her attention, he found himself not wanting it. He liked her enough to be sure, but he felt like she was trying to tease him a bit. After the day's events, he wasn't interested in being toyed with. Shifting back to business, he took his hand back and continued.