When people are caught between a rock and a hard place, we often have a fight or flight response. In a split second decision, we either give all we have to defy the situation, or run from it until we run out of breath. Usually when all we see are these two options, life seems awfully hopeless and we lose sight of what mattered at the beginning. Funnily enough, it takes just as little effort to reinstill this hope in a person after she had lost it as to take it away in the first place. Sometimes, all we need is someone who understands. Someone who's there to listen. These two young women will soon find their story evolving and changing at a breakneck pace, but that's alright because they have each other to make it seem like time is standing still.
We met in the summer before junior year of high school. The heat was oppressive and our summer jobs as workers at the local public pool didn't help because we had to sit around for hours on end just staring at strangers having more fun than we would ever have at that hell hole. But perhaps it was our bond as two teenagers who just did not want to be there that made the experience for the both of us enjoyable.
The pool opened on June 20th, shortly after school let out. Since it was my first day on the job, I had to go in early so I could get educated on what to do at each job assignment, though I was informed that I would be spending most of my time at the front desk or cleaning up around the place. Once the bored girl with orange hair had finished telling my vaguely how to do things, she asked if I had any questions, to which I responded negatively. She shrugged, sighed, and went to open the garage doors to the building that held the offices, changing rooms, bathrooms, and showers. It had steel blue paint on all of the cinder block walls and a strange beige horizontal stripe halfway up the wall. The building itself was elevated from the rest of the town and had steps leading up to the large opening which was punctuated by a half wall which separated the pool-goers from the desk workers twiddling their thumbs in a room with two computers, card scanners, and dust-covered filing cabinets. On either side of the desk area were hallways which led to gender segregated, symmetrical locker rooms that blended into bathrooms that blended into showers. Once through that wet, uncomfortable hallway of rooms, the pool was ahead.
As I settled down in a desk chair at the desk that I would be working that day, I heard someone clear their throat meekly to get my attention. I spun around to face the person, remaining seated, but raised my eyebrow in confusion when I saw a short girl with blue eyes and golden hair tied in a low ponytail. She wore a fitted white shirt and revealing red shorts. When I simply looked her up and down and licked my lips a little, she blushed and giggled. I had come to the realization that I liked other girls as a child, so I was pretty shameless in my checking people out. Surprisingly, though, she didn't seem to hide herself at all or protest, so I questioned if she was like me too. I may have just gotten lucky…
"Hi! I'm Christa Lenz," she greeted, putting her hand out for me to shake. I took it with a grin and kissed it. Looking up at her devilishly, I kept her hand close to me, savoring the feel of its softness before replying.
"I'm Ymir. Nice to meet you," I purred. In response, she just smiled back at me and I swear I saw a glint of challenge in her eye, as if she was daring me to keep going after her in a playful chase.
"Thank you. I'm working at the desk today too, so I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other today. I have to say, I am glad to have met you. You go to the high school, right?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"I just moved cross country over here. It's really lucky that I've made a friend already."
"Oh, please. Someone like you? You'd get all the guys in a flash."
"Well that's unfortunate. I don't want all of the guys. Or…any of them. Not that I wouldn't be flattered, of course, but-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the first guest of the day walked in. Immediately, she plastered on a big, fake smile and welcomed them to the pool. I mentally cursed the family out as a large crowd gathered behind them, eager to get the best spots for their towels in the shade. It was a busy day after that and I never had the chance to ask her what she was going to say.
"Hey," I began, prompting Christa to look up at me from her papers. "Wanna go back to the pool?"
"The pool that we worked at in high school?" she asked, raising a confused eyebrow.
"Yeah. I'll be fun. We can walk around and remember all the stuff we did back then. It's when we met, after all. I could stand to relive that," I continued, walking over to where she sat and draping my arms over her shoulders from behind as I glanced over the assignment she was doing. She was studying to become a veterinarian, which I thought was cute at first, but it took up so much of her time. Hell, our sex life was on the back burner so she could spend quality time with some stupidly outdated book from before we were born. But if it would make her happy, I would support her.
"I'd love to, but I don't know if I can, baby."
"Christa…," I breathed, pain riddling my voice.
"Uh… On second thought, I could spare one weekend to visit home."
"Thank you." I kissed her cheek lightly and headed off to do my own studies. Since physical fitness came easily to me, I had decided to get my degree in kinesiology so I could be a personal trainer. Aside from my interest in the subject, it offered me the freedom to go wherever Christa had to for her veterinary career. God knows I'd follow that girl anywhere.
"Hey, baby!" she called from the other room. I could see the gentle orange light of her desk lamp from under the crack of the door of our bedroom, which I used to study.
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
A/N: Yeah, this fic is gonna switch between stuff that happened when they worked at the pool and their lives as college students. It shouldn't be too, too confusing. Anyway, lemme know how you like it so far and what you'd like to see in the future. Have a great day!