Serena jumped up and down to try and peer over the couple’s shoulders in front of us in line until Aubrey scolded her. It had been about ten minutes since we had lined up for the tube slide, and we still hadn’t gotten to picking our floats yet. Every once in a while, the line lurched slightly and our bare feet would pad over the puddles on the slick floor.
“You think somebody got stuck?” Serena asked.
I snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the lifeguards are trying to plunge an entire beluga whale down the slide.”
“Why a beluga?”
“What?” I asked, taking a step away from her in case she started flailing her arms around like she normally did when she got animated.
“I mean why do you think it’s a beluga whale? That’s oddly specific.”
Sometimes I forgot that this girl was two years younger than us, but every time she opened her mouth, it became all too apparent. “It was a joke.”
She frowned. “It wasn’t a very good one.”
Aubrey snickered. “Sorry, I have to agree with her on this one.”
“When did the two of you become such critics?”
Moving forward slightly, Aubrey answered. “Around the same time you started telling bad jokes.”
I rolled my eyes, feeling no real heat toward any of them. This line truly was abysmal, however, crawling at the pace of a snail. There must have been something going on, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about their plight, too irritated to be stuck with a group of college-aged girls behind me. While I was under no illusion that I was handsome enough to invoke their interest, I did worry about them colliding into my back. They were distracted by gossip about their roommates and had almost slipped once already. I scooted closer to Aubrey, deciding to use her as a barrier between them and Serena. It wasn’t ideal, but I knew she had an inkling that I hated being touched. She regarded me briefly before padding forward a foot or two to then come to another halt.
“You think Miss Halsey’s doing better today?” Aubrey asked.
Based on what I had seen, I doubted it. I imagined she looked less like the typical zombie stumbling around her classroom and more like death itself today. She was probably still guzzling coffee as some hangover cure while her niece and sister berated her for her unwise decisions. That would be the ultimate justice for going crazy at a kid's soccer game.
Serena jutted out her pointer finger. “Ah, there’s the floats.”
The racks, consisting of three sparkling metal poles, were basically barren of said floats. Each pole held a different type of float for someone going solo, with another person, or with a group of four. The latter was what we needed, but there was none left–a single float rested at the bottom of it as a pathetic sort of cover-up.
“What are the chances?” Aubrey grumbled, voicing our predicament out loud.
Pretty high based on how crazy long this line was, but I kept that thought to myself. “What do you think we should do?”
I wasn’t opposed to coming back later if they wanted to, so I decided it best to let one of them decide.
“No big deal. I’ll go by myself, and you both can go together,” Serena said.
“You sure you’re ok with that?” Aubrey asked.
“Of course. I didn't want either of you slowing me down, anyway.”
A rebuttal to her insult died when the girl winked and shot me a wide grin. That little brat thought she was doing me a favor here, didn’t she? Although, I wasn’t sure why. To the best of my knowledge, I hadn’t given off the impression I liked Aubrey. Sure, I would freely admit she was attractive, but they all were. And it wasn’t like I harbored some secret crush on her.
Was it the other way around then? Was she trying to help Aubrey get over Luke? If so, Serena was going about it completely wrong. Dangling me as bait was going to backfire; I didn’t hold a candle to him in terms of looks, personality, or charisma.
No, this was stupid. I was overthinking the actions of an idiot, which left me feeling like a bigger idiot.
“-ok with you?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Sorry, what’d you say?”
Aubrey sighed. “You ok with that?”
Arguing with Serena over this would be futile, and I was sure Aubrey didn’t want to get out of line to wait for someone to bring back two more single floats. I couldn’t ruin her outing over this. I would just have to make sure I sat in the back and did my absolute best to anchor myself in place. And worse came to worst, I was aware we might bump into each other, so at least I wouldn’t be caught completely off guard.
“Just don’t get handsy with me.”
“I’m sure I’ll manage.”
Another wink was aimed in my direction, but I pretended not to see it. It would have been in my best interest to acknowledge her. The wannabe matchmaker scampered around to my left and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear. “You’re welcome~”
Her hot breath tickled my ear, and I instinctively jerked away. “S-Stupid.”
She laughed and ran over to grab a float for herself and another for us. Pulling the single float over herself and allowing it to rest snug across her hips, she dragged back the other. I took it from her, looping my arms through the front hole, and took a few more steps forward. The stairs had finally come into view, no longer blocked by what felt like an endless corridor of bodies.
Serena practically vibrated in place. “I wonder how fast it goes?”
“I'd imagine it shouldn't be that fast because you wind up in the lazy river at the end, right?” Aubrey asked.
“Yeah, it’d be bad for business if they wiped out their paying customers.”
The girl deflated climbing the metal stairs as we trailed behind her, moving at a decent clip. Each footstep clanked and echoed around the structure. We went straight then right traveling alongside the railing and small sections of gates surrounding us. The closer we got to the arched ceiling, the reality of how high it was began to set in. We came upon the top platform, and I watched the family of four be pushed down the slide by one of the two lifeguards on duty. A loud whoosh could be heard, the force of the current creating a strong stream where waves lapped against the sides. The screams also made me rethink claiming that the slide was slow.
"Next."
Serena took off her float and placed it at the edge of the slide, the female lifeguard crouched down to hold onto it while she slipped inside. Once she had her legs propped on top of it and had a tight grip on the handles. The lifeguard stood back up and wiped away the sweat glistening on her brow. “Are you ready?”
She gave her a thumbs-up. “All set!”
That was all the confirmation she needed to give a push. Serena let out a yip before the slide swallowed her up, and I could only see the faint outline of the ripples inside the dark tunnel. Her shrill cries continued, and it was hard to imagine how loud she had to be screaming to still be heard.
“Next.”
Placing down the float in the same spot that Serena had, I held it in place to allow Aubrey to get in. The male lifeguard swapped places with his coworker and did the same for me. He gave me a hard stare, probably curious about why I had decided to sit criss-cross and lean so far back. Under his gaze, I was starting to regret going along with this idea. This was more than I could handle already, her being close enough to reach out and touch if I bent forward in the slightest.
In the end, he didn’t say anything. Not a thing as he shoved us down the slide either. We caught the current dead center and were flung into the pitch black. That was until I learned that certain sections of the slide had lights that illuminated the water, casting it under a purplish tint. Even with the boost of momentum the lifeguard had given us, the ride was much more relaxed than the screams from earlier led me to believe. The real fun came when we hit the current just right and were spun around, slipping and sliding along the walls.
At least, it should have.
Bathed in the purple light, which was doing all sorts of interesting things to her hair, Aubrey appeared deep in thought instead. The rushing water covered the sounds of our breathing. Otherwise, it was quiet between the two of us. I wasn’t sure what to make of this as we emerged from the end of the slide. We skidded on the water, and I had to shield my eyes for a second from the bright lights and the light spray that our float kicked up. Soon enough, we had joined the parade of floats, with Serena being a few spots in front of us.
Directly in front of me, Aubrey had flipped around. Her mouth opened and closed, making me think we were going to have a repeat of what happened on our first day in the clubroom. She proved me wrong, however, when she exhaled sharply. “Hey, Grant?”
“What’s up?”
“Can I ask you something that might upset you?”
I dipped my right hand into the water, palm resting on the surface of it while the tips of my fingers pierced underneath. “You’re the one who wanted us to get to know each other better.”
She blinked at that and then fired her question at me. “Why don’t you stand up for yourself?”