I'm sitting on my lifeguard chair, munching on a cherry scone. Some kids are playing a game of monkey in the middle and their screeches are torturous. Some of the older students are lounging about on the pool chairs, reading or talking or even studying. I can spot Penny under an umbrella, her head buried in a book. She's not even wearing a swim suit; she's dressed in her school uniform. I guess I wouldn't expect less from Penny. Agatha's sitting on the chair next to her, tanning on her stomach. The pink bikini she's wearing makes me smirk. What a view.
When Watford first decided to get a pool, I thought it was a tearable idea. But when they started offering upperclassmen jobs as lifeguards - yes, paid jobs - I fell in love with the idea. After working at the pool for two years now, I have almost nearly enough money to buy my own apartment this summer, rather than stay at one of the foster homes.
"Hey, Simon. I'm going on break," one of the other lifeguards, Matthew, calls up to me. I nod at him as he jogs inside the school. Now I'm the only one on duty. Which means I actually have to pay attention. Great.
Being a lifeguard isn't that hard, especially when you have magic. So far I've only ever had two dive in after 4 kids - all of them first or second years at Watford and all horridly bad swimmers. A quick Breath in, breathe out fixed them all right up. Nothing too serious.
I'm almost enjoying the nice weather and (mostly) quiet day when a dark storm descends upon us. That is, Baz shows up. My horrible, intolerable, vampire roommate. He strides casually into the pool area, sets his bag down on a chair, and strips his shirt off. His pale skin looks white under the sunlight. I take in the sight of his chest; despite living together for all these years, I've never seen him shirtless. We always make a point of it to change when the other one is out of the room, or in the bathroom. The sight shocks me a bit: he's toned and muscular, despite appearing lanky and frail, underneath his school uniform. Huh.
"Heads up!" one of the kids playing monkey in the middle screams, just as the ball comes barreling towards Baz, who's standing at the edge of the pool, about to jump in.
He looks up in shock just as the ball collides with his head. The kid must have had a wicked arm, as Baz falls forward into the pool, water splashing with a large slap as he hits its surface. I fight the urge to laugh. Ha. The prick got what he deserves.
The kid who threw the ball runs towards it and I shake my head, giggling.
But then I realize Baz isn't swimming. He's still floating, his face down, just like he landed. Crowley.
"Simon!" Penny calls to me, realizing the same thing as me. "Do something!"
Crowley. Shit. Jesus Christ. Fuck.
"Uh, yeah, right okay," I say, fumbling to toss my shirt off. Aware of everyone's eyes on me, I take in a deep breath and dive off the chair's ledge. The water hits me, slaps me, cold and I'm momentarily stunned into paralysis. I gather my senses after a second and look around. I see Baz's silhouette floating on the surface. I propel myself forward, kicking furiously, until my arms are under him, pressing against his chest. I turn him so that his back is in the water, his face in the air. I surface and see that he's still not breathing. Shit.
I wrap my arms around his long body and clutch him too me. "Breathe, Baz, breathe," I murmur under my breath as I swim slowly to towards the edge of the pool. A crowd has gathered and all of them are dead silent, watching in anticipation. Can a vampire die from drowning?
Dev emerges from the crowd and helps me lift him out of the water and onto the hot concrete. I pull myself out of the water and kneel beside him. "I need a towel' I yell and am immediately thrown one. I ball it up and stick it under his head to prop it up. From what I remember from my CPR class, the head is supposed to be tilted up. I think. Right? God I hope so.
I cast breathe in, breathe out on him, holding my own breath as I await the results. Nothing. he remains completely still.
"Someone call the Mage!" a boy yells, but I shake my head. I can do this. I have to do this. Baz is my roommate; I can't let him die. Sure, he's a vampire, my mortal enemy, and a twat, but he's still the boy I've lived with for almost 8 years now. I can't just let him die like this- Christ, he's supposed to die fighting me!
Trying to gather up the last bits of memory from my lifeguard training, I press my hands against his chest and start pumping. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 . . .
I keep doing it, hoping I can just avoid the last step. But I can't. He's still not breathing, and, and-
"For Crowley's sake, kiss him, Snow!" someone yells.
Everyone lets out a small laugh, but there's a tension in it. Usually people would eat that idea up - me and Baz, kissing - but they all know the stakes here. It's not that funny with his life on the line.
I pump his chest a few more time and then pull his mouth open. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and press my lips to his. His lips are surprisingly soft. And warm. And they taste like honey. Huh.
I realize that I'm not supposed to be kissing him but giving him CPR. I come up, pump his chest a few more times, and try again. I can feel his teeth this time, and there are definitely fangs in there. I try not to think about it as I blow air into his mouth.
When I pull back, I see his eyes twitch in the slightest. Then he's inhaling, his hands clawing at his sides, his eyes bright and wide. He notices me lingering over him.
"Snow?"
I breathe a sigh of relief, unable to fight the smile rising on my lips. "Baz."
"You . . . you saved me?" he asks, wrinkling his nose.
"Yeah. I guess I did," I whisper. We stare at each other for a few more seconds before I'm brought back to reality. I sit backwards and let Baz sit up. Dev helps hiim up and Penny rushes towards me. As she hugs me, I can't help but look over her shoulder at my roommate.
to be continued