Courtney hated water. Maybe it was the fact that she hated taking baths as a child, maybe it was the fact that rain was easily the worst kind of weather (scratch that, it had to be snow, as frozen water was one hundred times worse), or maybe it was just because she had to work at the pool. It wasn't Courtney's fault that just about every other place in town had already hired someone else. From pizza places to cafés to Pokemarts, everywhere else seemed to have hired people.

Perhaps she should have been thankful. As much as she hated the people who went there, from crying children in pool floaties to noisy teens to cranky adults, there was nothing quite like the feel of cashing her end of the week paycheck.

Still, it was hard to be thankful when she had been switched from working at the snack bar to actually cleaning out the pool. Her boss had simply come up to her earlier and said she had the afternoon off.

"You," her boss, a woman in her thirties named Wendy, had said, "are doing pool clean up this week. Be back around seven-thirty."

That had gone from being the most exciting day ever to the dullest in history. All throughout the day, from working at the gym to browsing the bookstore, the fact that she would be cleaning the pool had hung heavily on Courtney's mind. The heavy smell of chlorine had hung in her nose all day.

Courtney checked her watch. It was six-thirty. If there was one thing Wendy hated, it was late workers. She wasn't known for leniency with workers who showed up five or so minutes early, either. The best way to stay on her boss's good side was to always try and play by her rules.

Tomorrow's pay day, Courtney reminded herself. She repeated the phrase in her mind, putting it to memory. That mantra was the only hope that she had.

Courtney looked back down to her book. At her feet, her Pooechyena slept at her feet. She was snoring slightly. Her Pokemon was lucky, Courtney realized. She could sleep through the entire pool cleaning.

Courtney sighed. Getting bitter would only waste more of her precious time. She might as well enjoy what little time she had left to continue reading the book that she had bought earlier. So far, it was pretty good, and worth the spending the last of her previous week's paycheck.

The pages passed her by. Finally, Courtney had a way to ignore the cries of children and yelling adults. The warm sun hung down on her, and she relaxed in her poolside chair.

"Hey, are you the snack counter girl?"

Courtney was sure that she had jumped a few feet in the air. Her Poochyena awoke with a yelp, and Courtney's book fell from her hands and onto her lap with a thump.

"Sorry to scare you." The girl above her looked faintly familiar. She had wavy black hair and dark skin, too dark to simply be a tan. Unlike Courtney, she was actually dressed like someone at the pool, with a light blue bikini and matching colored sunglasses. Despite the protective eye ware, Courtney still felt her heavy gaze. Water covered her skin and reflected in the sunlight.

For a moment, Courtney had no idea what to think. After a moment, she nodded. Her brain was starting to function again, and she recognized the girl.

She was one of the regulars, and seemed to spend most of her day there at the pool. Whether she was swimming laps or grabbing some chips and a hotdog from the snack bar, she was almost always around.

"Sweet," the girl said, and then held her hand out, palm forward.

For a moment, Courtney just stared at it. Then, she reached out and gave her a firm handshake.

The girl laughed. "Well, I was looking for a high five, but that works too." She grinned. "So, are you off duty?"

Courtney nodded again. "I'm not working snack bar for the rest of the week." She absently placed her hand over her book.

"Shelley," the girl said.

Courtney raised an eyebrow.

The girl merely raised an eyebrow back. "And you are?"

"Courtney."

Shelley grinned. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you when you aren't at work, Courtney." She looked over her. Courtney's cheeks flamed at the way she was looking up and down her.

"You like to leave a lot to the imagination, huh?"

Courtney raised an eyebrow. Her cheeks had just barely started to cool. For a moment, her eyes wondered over her own clothing. She was dressed for work, in knee length dark blue shorts, slightly dirt stained white sneakers, and a red T-shirt.

Shelley laughed. "I was just joking. You just don't look like you're going swimming."

"I'm not." Courtney paused for a moment. Her Poochyena seemed to have again found a comfortable spot at the end of her legs and had laid down once more. "I'm waiting for the pool to close so I can start cleaning up." Courtney grimaced. That could consist anywhere from picking up litter to having to add new water because some kid couldn't get out and go to the pool's bathrooms.

"Ah, I see." Shelley sat down on the pool chair beside her and stretched out her arms. "It's a shame, though."

Courtney raised an eyebrow.

"You'd just look super cute in a swim suit." Shelley smirked.

Courtney's face turned even hotter than before.