The Swimming Pool (A Teenage Short Story)

The Swimming Pool

Summer was finally here. Marissa’s mother was working her father was living in his apartment and the live in au-pair was caring for her two little sisters. This in total added up to Marissa being able to do what she wanted for the next couple of months and she had decided long before that she was going to take advantage of the situation and have fun. She had grown up with an au-pair for most of her life. Both her parents worked long hours and even in the best of times her primary care giver had been the family babysitter.

The current au-pair was from Mexico. She was tiny in stature and timid in nature. Even Cassidy who was the smallest of the three seem to be able to tell her what to do on most occasions. Her name was Danna and she was extremely nice. Probably too nice to be in charge of Marissa in the summer months when she was on a personal mission to forge new ground. Marissa did not spend much time with Danna as she never felt the need to get to know the au-pairs that well. They were never there more than a year and it seemed just when you got close to one of them they would leave and you would be forced to break another one in.

Danna had plans for the kids that consisted of trips to the parks, going to San Francisco for day outings, spending time at some of the local museums, touring the zoo a few times and heading down to Santa Cruz Boardwalk which even Marissa enjoyed. Santa Cruz Boardwalk has an old time carnival atmosphere with rides and games and sits right on the beach. The scenery is beautiful and it is a great experience. Marissa would have to make sure that she was available on the days that Santa Cruz was planned but on the rest of the days she had thoughts of her own.

Marissa’s friend Sarah lived a few blocks down the street from her house and today it was a sunny warm beautiful day and she planned on walking down to Sarah’s house and coming up with some plans for an activity. Sarah did not get along with Marissa’s mom and Marissa’s mom did not like Sarah. Sarah had the reputation of being too aggressive with the boys at this early age and she had already began the inevitable experimentation with drinking and thanks to her brother had even smoked pot a couple of times. Marissa didn’t care as she only wanted to hang out ignoring rules and Sarah was just a few short blocks away.

It was 10 AM in the morning and she had decided she might as well roll out of bed and after grabbing something to eat head down for her walk. Danna and her two sisters had already left on some daily excursion so she had no guidelines on what she was required to do or not do. She decided to wear her swimsuit underneath her shorts and a tank top enjoying the rare warmth that never seemed to frequent the coastal community. El Granada and the rest of the beachfront area around San Francisco is surrounded on one side by the ocean and on the other by a very small mountain range. It has the effect of trapping the cool moisture and funneling it up into a never ending foggy overhang that blocks out the sun most of the summer.

You don’t realize how much you miss a hot summer day until you live in the cool darkness for several years. Today she didn’t have to worry about how to keep warm. It was easily going to be in the 80’s and she was excited about the prospects of what that might mean. After throwing on her clothes and grabbing a cinnamon pop-tart she pulled her hair back and headed down the hill. It was always easy walking anywhere from Marissa’s house the difficulty was getting back. She lived on such a steep incline that it was like mountain climbing to forge her way home from anywhere she happened to stroll.

She made the decision before leaving that she would not clean up her room or put away her clothes or make her bed or even put away her glass from the grape juice that she had gulped down before leaving. She would get more than an ear full when her mother returned home that evening but she was beginning to enjoy antagonizing her into a flurry of verbal exchanges as the frustration from a lack of control was weighing her mother down. It was not even that much of a challenge lately to get her mother worked up as she was in a constant state of an emotional rollercoaster ever since her father had moved out.

Sarah greeted Marissa on the front step at her house wearing her swim suit top and a pair of shorts. She looked hot from the sun that was making its way overhead as nobody on the coast was used to the heat that was continuing to rise with each tick of the clock. Marissa sat down next to her and Sarah offered her a raspberry wine cooler and as shocking as it was to so freely accept she found herself doing exactly that gulping it down quickly. It had the taste of cool-aid from when she was a kid. Funny to hear herself thinking this as she was still only 14 and she had just turned 14 a couple of weeks before.

Sarah said her older brother had gone to the store earlier that morning and she had convinced him to bring back 4 wine coolers. She had promised not to tell and since her and Marissa would only drink two each they should be fine with very little affect. They sat on the porch talking about school and how it was going to be so weird making the transition to a new environment and as they did so they finished both of their drinks. Neither of the two girls were that ambitious so it was difficult for them to decide what to do next.

In the end they aimlessly found themselves walking towards the beach which seemed like it might contain a few people since it was such a beautiful day. They had called a few of their friends but unlike Sarah and Marissa most of the other girls they knew seemed to have plans for the week. They made their way past the mini-mart that moonlighted as a video store and walked through the field making their way to highway one which they had to cross in order to get to the sandy warmth on the other side.

As they pushed their way slowly tiring from the lack of physical stamina they made it to the pathway that ran along the beach side of highway one. They laughed at the tourists and the kids as a large family carrying armfuls of supplies was trying to set up encampments preparing to spend what looked like possibly weeks on their visit to the coast. It was at that moment that Sarah spotted the hotel overlooking the ocean and the outdoor fenced in pool that was completely empty and got an idea.

How easy it would be to jump the fence or just stroll through the gate and walk into the pool and spend the afternoon playing in the warm clean water overlooking the ocean. Marissa had a swimming pool at her house but ever since her father had moved out there had been nobody to clean it and the water was now a murky brown and it was inhabited by what sounded like hundreds of frogs. They came out mostly at night and the crackling noise they made echoed through their backyard upsetting everyone in a two block radius. As with most things lately her mother didn’t really care as she was only focused on her own personally issues and her need of a 24 hour support group.

Sarah played out her idea for Marissa and they both excitedly agreed on a plan as they approached the fence with Marissa jumping over first and Sarah following right after. They didn’t see anyone moving anywhere in the pool area or even in the parking lot. It seemed the only activity occurring was the infiltration of large bodied pale tourists that were swarming the beach in a non-stop ant like flow. If they were ever going to find the nerve to sneak in and take a swim now would be the time.

They got close to the chain link waist high fence and Sarah made her leap. Unfortunately she caught her shoe string at the top scraped her leg and lost her shoe as she ended up going over head first. Marissa stood watch her continually repeating “hey, I thought I was going first”. As she looked around she noticed the open gate and walked over making her way through it laughing at Sarah as she lay on the concrete slightly scraped up but rolling back and forth as she was enjoying the activity.

Well, they were in. I guess that is all that counted. They took off their clothes and both stood in their swimsuits staring at the inviting pool. Sarah took a running start and curling up in a ball mid air plunged into the pool full force. Marissa quickly followed suit in the same fashion barely missing Sarah’s head as she catapulted through the air making a huge splash upon impact. They had sealed the deal and were now criminals. It didn’t seem like they were criminals and as crimes go it was rather innocent but it added a level of excitement to the scenario.

They commenced splashing each other as they chased around the small pool not taking the time to notice much around them. As most teenagers go they were as self absorbed as the next one. It was only with a shrill high pitched screaming cry that Marissa hurtled through the air that broke their playful bantering as she saw the boy in uniform staring at them from the side of the pool.

He had full blonde curls with sandy brown streaks wore white pants with a blue/white striped shirt that made him appear sailor like as he stoically watched them forming a slight frown on his face. He was very tan looking to be in the 16 to 17 year old range and was absolutely totally and completely smoking cute. As Marissa’s scream started to tail off and she began the process of closing her mouth she noticed the name tag located on his chest and said the word “Tony” out loud.

He smiled at her now and nodded his head in her direction. “Yes”, he said. “My name is Tony. I work for the hotel cleaning pools and my guess is that you two ladies are not currently guests. I know most of the guests who are currently checked in and I don’t remember you two being one of our current customers.” He had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when Marissa was instantly responding that he was incorrect and yes not only were they customers but their parents would be extremely upset if they were caught talking to a strange boy so it might be best if he left them alone.

Lying to Marissa came so easy, the words flowed from her mouth at times before she realized what she was even saying. She knew that it was wrong to lie but they just came out so naturally that she sometimes felt she was not the one in control of her words. Sarah had stopped splashing and now just stood staring moving her head back and forth between Marissa and Tony as their eyes were locked in a battle of wills. She only paused to admire Tony and how gorgeous he was. They really shouldn’t make guys that cute she thought to herself it just wasn’t fair.

Tony started laughing now as the girls remained in the pool not backing down from this recent confrontation as once Marissa began a lie she always followed it through to completion. She would argue her lie as the truth until she was backed into a corner and had no other choice but to confess or she convinced the other party that she was right. It was throwing her off that he was laughing and she finally yelled at him to stop and asked him what he could possibly find so funny.

He was now bending over holding his stomach laughing so hard and pointing in their direction. This was really starting to annoy Marissa and she was reaching a point where she had about enough of this annoying boy no matter how damn cute he might be. He finally stopped long enough to say “don’t you even want to know how I am 100% sure that you are not guests at this hotel? Do you want me to tell you how I know for a fact that you are lying?” “Fine” Marissa yelled back at him. “Go ahead and let us in on your little funny joke Mr. Tony.”

Tony pointed back at the glass door leading into the hotel hallway and said “do you see that note there on the door. That piece of paper that is taped.” Marissa nodded in acknowledgment. She did indeed see the piece of paper. “Well” Tony said, “On the other side of that paper facing the inside of the hotel for all guests to see before they enter the pool is a warning.” “A warning that simply states the college boys that are currently guests in the hotel were caught less than 30 minutes ago pissing in the pool.” “Please refrain from swimming as there were four of them and it will take several hours to get the pool back to a clean safe environment.”

“So”, Tony said, “No guests at our hotel are or would swim in this pool since you are basically swimming in the urine of four college boy’s form less than thirty minutes ago”. With that he started laughing again making no attempt to control himself. Marissa felt the nauseous feeling welling up inside her and from the corner of her eye she saw Sarah who was screaming at the top of her lungs heading for the stairs as fast as she could possibly move. Marissa then followed as she too only wanted to get of the water before she puked all over herself and in the pool of urine.

OMG, she couldn’t think about it anymore or she surely would find herself getting sick. This might be the most disgusting way to start a summer that she could possibly think of. Tony was still laughing and she swore if he hadn’t stopped by the time she got out she was going to ball up her fist and hit him square in the stomach. How could he think this was that funny. Sarah was now out of the water and she was jumping up and down like she was jogging in place. Tony walked around the edge saying he hoped that they enjoyed the rest of the day but he had only one last thing to show them.

Marissa was now out of the water as well, her face red with anger and embarrassment as she continued to stare at this boy who had just changed the focus of their morning. All she could think about doing was getting home and taking a shower as quickly as possible. She felt so unclean and swore that her skin was turning yellow. Toby was on his way back and held the piece of paper from the door that he must have taken down. She guessed that he was coming back to rub their faces even more in the stupidity of their recent actions.

He handed the paper to Sarah, said again that he hoped they had a nice day and headed back inside. Sarah looked at the paper and seemed confused and her eyes were rolling in multiple directions at once. Marissa was unsure if she was going to faint or if she was losing her focus on reality. What in the hell was wrong with her. She handed the paper over to Marissa and she read the bold typed words clearly stating: TOWELS FOR THE POOL CAN BE LOCATED IN THE OUTSIDE CLOSET TO THE LEFT OF THE DOOR.

Marissa raised her head and saw for now the second time Tony double over in laughter just outside the door to the hotel pointing at them. “You guys are too much” She heard him say as he entered the door and headed inside. She could hear him continue laughing as the sound slowly faded into the background. OMG, he had lied to them. He had made that crap up just to mess with them and they had fallen for it. What was wrong with him.

The two girls quickly gathered their clothes putting on their shorts over their bottoms and walked through the gate to the path heading back down by the beach. There is no way that they could stay here as Tony periodically poked his head out laughing at them for being so stupid as to actually believe what he had said. With every step they took the mood lightened and they eventually began laughing at what had occurred.

Marissa was happy that she had not thrown up in the pool only to find out she was getting sick for nothing. She was laughing so hard she could barely get the words out to Sarah explaining to her how close she had been to vomiting. Sarah only remembered screaming at the top of her lungs. She felt sure that everyone in El Granada had heard her and the two of them would be on the front cover of the Half Moon Bay Review for being the stupidest two girls on the coast.

Headlines “Two girls that will believe anything anyone tells them get punked by gorgeous blonde beach boy who works at the beachfront hotel”. Wouldn’t that be a great story. The laughed some more as they headed in the general direction of Sarah’s house. The rest of the day they walked around the streets eating lunch at Sarah’s not really doing anything else significant. It might have been humiliating but at least they had fun and now could say they had done something memorable.

It would be difficult to top this mini adventure but as Marissa walked up the hill to her house she decided that she would put all her focus in making sure that she found something that would make this look small. She didn’t know what it was but would soon find out she was not going to have to wait that long to find out.