Robyn (5 page)

I looked around for Sean, expecting him to show up and yell at her — but he was nowhere to be seen. Or maybe he was hiding. Maybe he didn’t want to have to get after her.

When she got to the bottom, she looked up at me. “The tubes definitely need to go!”

Something — or someone — needed to go. Her or me.

I wasn’t going to invite Whitney to lunch. I really wasn’t. I didn’t care what Sean said.

But he was the one who came over to relieve us. I guess since he wasn’t taking his lunch at the same time that we were, he had to find a lunch buddy for Whitney. I really didn’t want to be it.

But he took off his sunglasses and stared at me with those amazing blue eyes of his. I stared back. He was bigger. And he was my boss.

What was the deal? Why did he care who she ate lunch with?

“Whitney’s going to have lunch with us.”

Caitlin was already in the lounging area at the wave pool when I arrived. I’d told Whitney to meet us there — which worked since she had to buy her lunch while I grabbed mine out of my locker. I wanted a couple of minutes to prepare Caitlin, to let her know that Sean wanted us to be nice to Whitney.

“That was his big, mysterious you-can’t-be-here-while-I-talk-to-her moment?”

“Yeah.”

“He can be such a jerk.”

“No kidding.”

It was weird. I felt disloyal to Sean — - agreeing with Caitlin. But I always agreed with Caitlin. And right that moment, I did think that Sean was a jerk.

I was still stinging from his getting mad at me. It bothered me more than I’d realized at the time — not so much that I’d gotten into trouble, but that I’d somehow let Sean down. I didn’t know why I wanted to impress him with my ability to be an exceptional employee, but I did.

And it totally wasn’t fair that I’d gotten all the blame when it was Whitney’s idea. He should have at least told her not to come up with any more ideas. Of course, that sounded ridiculous when I thought about it.

“So how long does it take to grab your lunch?” Caitlin asked.

“She doesn’t bring her lunch. She had to get something from Scavenger’s.”

Scavenger’s was a shack-looking building that served hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, candy, and anything else unhealthy. Although it was really a sturdy building, it looked like it would collapse at any moment, like it had survived a storm. It was all part of the island illusion.

“She buys her lunch every day?” Caitlin asked.

“Apparently.”

“That gets expensive. Even with our employee discount. So if she can afford that, why’s she working here?”

“You seem to forget. She’s not actually
working
.”

“Okay, then, why is she getting paid to be here?”

I shrugged. “She said her dad was making her. Let’s just be nice to her and get this lunch over with.”

I saw Whitney looking around. I stood up and waved. When she spotted me, I sat back down. Maybe she wouldn’t come over. But I couldn’t be that lucky. She started walking our way.

“She’s kinda strutting over here like she thinks she owns the park,” Caitlin said.

“Yeah, she really has this attitude. But be nice to her, because for some reason it’s important to Sean.”

“I’m not sure why that would make it matter to me.”

“Come on, Caitlin. He’s your brother.”

“Oh, okay. Although I think that’s a rumor — that he’s actually my brother. I think my real brother was stolen at birth.”

She’d told me that a hundred times. It was like her little joke, but I was starting to think that Sean really wasn’t that bad. I wished I had a brother so I understood how the whole sibling thing was supposed to work.

Whitney walked past me, dropped her leather bag on the ground, and stretched out on the lounge chair beside mine. She didn’t have her lunch with her, so I guess she’d eaten it at the food court. That would explain why it had taken her an exceptionally long time to join us.

“This is Caitlin,” I said. “Sean’s sister.”

Whitney moved her sunglasses down her nose and peered over at Caitlin. Neither one said anything, like they were sizing each other up. It made me uncomfortable.

“Caitlin is a lifeguard at Tsunami,” I felt a need to say, to fill the silence.

“That has to be boring,” Whitney said.

“You’re kidding, right?” Caitlin asked. “Do you not see the smorgasbord of hot guys around here?”

Caitlin was all talk. She’d probably picked up “smorgasbord of hot guys” from one of her teen mags.

“We’ve got some pretty hot guys where we work,” Whitney said.

I know my jaw dropped. What alternate universe was she working in?

“Oh, yeah,” Caitlin retorted. “Mini Falls really appeals to the hunks.”

Whitney shoved her sunglasses back into place. She didn’t say anything. Like she didn’t see the point. Like she thought she’d won the argument or whatever was going on between them.

“Is that a Cartier watch?” Caitlin asked.

Whitney lifted her arm to look at her wrist like she just realized she had a watch on it. “Knockoff.”

“And the Louis Vuitton bag?”

“Knockoff. I order from a designer knockoff website. I’ll try to remember to get you the URL. No promises, though. I don’t usually remember to do inconsequential things.”

I so didn’t get Whitney. It was like she didn’t want us to like her.

“You know, you kinda remind me of someone,” Caitlin said.

“I just have that kind of face.”

“Maybe. So, do you have a boyfriend?”

Caitlin wasn’t one to give up. I might be the good influence, but she was the one with determination. She was also nosy. She liked knowing things about people.

“What is this? An interrogation?” Whitney asked.

“Just trying to get to know you,” Caitlin said. “After all, I know everything about Robyn. We don’t know anything about you.”

“You two are friends?” Whitney asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Caitlin said. “Long time.”

Whitney leaned up a bit so she could look directly at Caitlin. “So, why do you do all the talking?”

Caitlin shifted her attention to me. “I don’t do all the talking.”

“You do most of it.” I shrugged. “But that’s okay.”

I could tell Caitlin was thinking lunch with Whitney was not going to become a routine for us, which sorta made me feel sorry for Whitney. That she seemed to have a knack for getting people to not like her. Well, except for Sean, of course. He seemed to think she was the greatest thing since the invention of the iPod.

“So what do you like to do for fun, Whitney?” I asked.

“Oh, you know? Shop.”

Hence all the knockoffs.

I looked over at Caitlin. She faked a yawn. Yeah, Whitney was really making our lunchtime boring.

Caitlin leaned in. “Okay, check this out. See the guy standing at the edge of the waves?”

It was a lifeguard, holding his rescue tube. Not the guy she’d pointed out the day before. He had blond hair and looked really athletic.

“That’s Tanner. I like him — a lot.”

I could see why. He was cute. As though
he could feel our gazes on him, he looked over at us and grinned. He gave a little wave before turning his attention back to the people in the pool.

I released a tiny squeal, reached out, and tapped Caitlin’s knee. “You go, girl!”

Grinning broadly, she nodded. “I know. He came over and talked to me before our shift started and then came back over on his morning break. It was awesome.”

“You’re not obsessed with guys, are you?” Whitney asked.

“Well, yeah, I am,” Caitlin said. “It’s the whole reason I’m working here. An abundance of boyfriend material.”

Whitney looked at me. “You, too?”

I shook my head. “Sorta, but mostly for me it’s money for a car. I really want to buy a car when I turn sixteen.”

“What kind?” she asked, like she was really interested.

“Used.”

She cringed. “OMG, why would you buy something that someone else has already
owned? They could have barfed in it and you wouldn’t know.”

I didn’t want that image in my head when I went car shopping. Why did she have to say that?

“Look, I need something cheap, okay?”

“Maybe Whitney can hook you up with a knockoff Ferrari,” Caitlin said.

“Maybe I can,” Whitney said.

I felt like I was sitting between two hissing cats. Maybe there was a reason Caitlin and I had always been a group of two. Maybe she didn’t play well with others. Of course, Whitney was difficult to play with.

And me? I just couldn’t wait for lunch to be over.

*  *  *  

I’d never been very good at lying. Maybe it was because when I was a kid, my mom told me that my eyes turned purple when I lied — they didn’t, of course, but when you’re a kid you believe in a lot of things that aren’t true. Like the tooth fairy.

So when I was a kid, I’d always close my eyes when I lied, so Mom wouldn’t see them turning purple.
Duh?!?
I know. Eventually I figured out that closing my eyes gave it away.

Anyway, I still have this thing about thinking people can look at me and tell when I’m lying. But I gave it my best shot. After lunch I told Whitney that I was going to the first-aid station for some Tylenol because I was getting a headache.

Actually, it wasn’t too much of a lie. Listening to her and Caitlin had made my head start to throb. So I did stop by the first-aid station for some Tylenol — as a preventative measure.

Then, even though it was going to make me late returning to my post, I walked slowly through Mini Falls trying to find Sean. I really needed to talk with him. And I figured he would have left Splash when Whitney showed up, because really two of us weren’t needed there. Sometimes I felt
like I was babysitting her as much as I was the kids coming through our area.

I hadn’t signed up for this.

I finally spotted Sean at the petting tank. That was the one awesome thing about Mini Falls. It had two dolphins that just swam around, and people could go up and pet them. An employee stood watch, of course, to make sure that no one hurt the animals. Why anyone would try to hurt them was beyond me, but some people can’t be trusted to be decent. Sad but true.

Anyway, I thought the petting tank was one of the coolest things about the water park.

Sean was the only employee around, so I figured he was giving the tank attendant a break. Sean was explaining about the dolphins, demonstrating how to touch them, and encouraging a young girl not to be afraid. It hadn’t occurred to me that he needed to know everything about all the different positions so he could fill in
for various workers. I found myself being impressed again.

It really was a shame that he was Caitlin’s brother, and my supervisor. And a jerk for chewing me out earlier over something that wasn’t my fault —

He looked up, furrowed his brow. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be back at work?”

“Yeah, but I needed to talk to you.”

“Okay. Hold on.” As soon as the little girl had petted the dolphin and rushed off, Sean motioned me over. “What’s up?”

“This whole Whitney thing —”

“Yeah, look, I’m sorry about that.”

Before I could ask about what exactly, he said, “Mr. T told me that Whitney had that idea about getting rid of the tubes. He liked it, so they took them away while y’all were at lunch.”

Was that the reason Whitney was late in joining Caitlin and me for lunch? Because she was talking to the manager? How many new employees went to talk with the general manager? How bold could she get?

And hadn’t I told him it was Whitney’s idea? Didn’t he even listen to anything I said?

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Just stand around, hold your rescue tubes, and watch the kids.”

“Oh.” Wasn’t as much work, but would probably be more boring. I looked at him. “Oh, okay, great.”

“Yeah, great,” he muttered. “Anyway, thanks for being nice to Whitney.”

“You know, it really bugs me when you thank me for being what I have no control over — I mean, being nice is what I do.”

He grinned. “Which is why I’ve never been able to understand you hanging out with Caitlin.”

“She’s nice, too.”

“Maybe, but I don’t see it. How did she and Whitney get along?”

“Uh, honestly? Not great. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m not sure Whitney having lunch with us is going to work.”

“Make it work, will you? Whitney really likes you.”

I stared at him. “Does she not understand the definition of
like
?”

He grinned. “Come on, she’s really not that bad.”

“You keep saying that.”

“What’s she done that’s so awful?”

I reached into the tank and patted a dolphin as it swam by. It felt so slick. The other dolphin came over, rose up out of the water, and made a gawking noise. I rubbed it, too.

I couldn’t think of anything that Whitney had done that was really and truly awful. It was painful to admit, but I said, “She’s irritating. But I guess she hasn’t done anything
awful
.”

“There you go.”

He reached in to pet the dolphin. Our fingers brushed. My reaction was weird. It felt like electricity had shot through me. He seemed stunned as well, because he moved back quickly.

“Anyway,” he said, adjusting his visor. “You better get back to your post.”

“Right.” I backed up a step. Seemed like I needed to say something else, but I couldn’t think of what it was.

I spun on my heel and headed back to Splash. What was wrong with me? Why did I want to stay by the pet tank so badly?