“I remember that last year we had a lot of issues with people wearing bathing suits that weren’t work appropriate, so let’s try to curb that habit this year, please,” she said. “Additionally, before you leave the pool deck every day, I need you to check in with me to make sure that you’ve done all the required tasks by the end of the day.”
“What required tasks?” Leah asked. “Don’t we just have to clean up the pool deck?”
Courtney froze in place, a look of annoyance crossing her face.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interrupt me,” she said slowly. I glanced at Leah, who was slowly sinking back in her seat. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one feeling this strangely threatening aura coming off Courtney today. What was up with her? “And if you had read the email I sent a couple of days ago, Leah, you would know that last year I found the pool deck often wasn’t cleaned up to my standards when everyone left for the day. Then, I would be stuck cleaning everything up for you because you all couldn’t be bothered to do your jobs. We will not be continuing that this year.”
By then, I was certain Courtney had just completely lost her mind—and that she definitely should not have been made supervisor again. There wasn’t a single day last year that we’d left the pool deck even remotely messy. Usually, Kelly came onto the deck while we were cleaning up and told us when we could leave, so it would have been on her even if it had been. But, of course, Courtney didn’t have any power to exert over Kelly, so she had to use it against us instead. It was ridiculous.
“And that’s not to mention the other tasks that I sometimes need you to do before you leave,” Courtney said. “If you leave without asking me if there’s more for you to do, then I end up having to chase you down later, and that’s no fun for anyone. I don’t care how long after classes are over you have to stay behind to finish everything, you will do it. I don’t want us to end a day with any unfinished work left over.”
That was practically impossible. There was always more that could be done and that often got pushed off until the end of the session. Kelly said we had to prioritize what was most important, and if that meant some other things getting put off, then so be it. We only had so much man-power and had to make do with what we had.
“Um, Courtney?” I said. I raised my arm in the air so she couldn’t accuse me of interrupting.
Courtney stared at my hand for a couple of seconds before audibly sighing and saying, “Yes, Madison?”
“We only get paid for fifteen minutes after classes end,” I said. I lowered my arm again. “You know, about how long it takes us to close the deck and leave. So when are we supposed to do all this extra work you want us to do?”
“Staying for an extra ten or fifteen minutes without pay won’t kill you,” she said. She spoke in the same tone she used against me a lot, the one that made it sound like she was talking to a small child instead of an eighteen-year-old. It infuriated memore than anything else she did. There was no reason for it, she just liked to make everyone else feel small so she could feel bigger. But if she wanted to treat me like that, then I guess I could play by her rules.
“My mom says I’m not allowed to do any work for free,” I said. I blinked innocently a couple of times. “Plus, what time am I supposed to tell my ride to come pick me up if you don’t know what time I’ll be done? I don’t want to leave them sitting in the parking lot for ages. And I can’t tell them just to come later because then I’ll be stuck waiting out there.”
“Well, maybe you should get your own car and drive yourself home like a big girl, then, Madison,” Courtney said.
I scoffed in surprise. Who was she to tell me that?
“And how am I supposed to pay for a car if you’re not paying me to stay late?” I asked. Beside me, Penny snorted.
“I don’t have time to deal with this right now,” Courtney said. She shook her head. “Just figure it out. I don’t care how you do it as long as the work gets done. Now, moving on…”
“Courtney, Will, let’s wrap this up!” Kelly called. She was sticking her head out of the office door. “We still need to set up the pool!”
“Whoops, looks like we don’t have time for the rest of your lecture, Court,” I said, hopping to my feet. “Don’t worry, we all know what we’re doing. Now, do you have our schedules or are we just supposed to guess which kids are ours all day?”
Courtney rolled her eyes but gestured toward the fold-out table that was set-up in front of the office. “Go get your schedules there, then start setting up. Do not be late to your first classes. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Courtney,” we all said in unison. I liked to think that everybody else was also saying it as sarcastically as I was.
* * *
“So on a scale of one to ten, how awful was your first day?” Charlie asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. I pulled the sleeves of the sweater over my hands. His car was freezing again, so he gave me the sweater again less than a minute after I returned it. “I guess it was a seven? Fine, but not the best.”
“I’m surprised it was even that high,” Charlie said. “Courtney seems like she was out for blood this morning.”
“Yeah, but she spent most of the day talking to parents instead of micromanaging us, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”
“Well, I think successfully getting through a first day warrants a celebration, don’t you?” Charlie asked.
“A celebration? What kind of celebration?”
“I don’t know,” Charlie said. But he clearly did because he immediately turned into a Dairy Queen drive-through. “How about ice cream?”
“Well, since we’re already here...” I said with a grin. I leaned forward to read the menu, but Charlie held a hand out to block me from seeing it. “What are you doing?”
“I already know what you want,” he said.
