Save Me

I woke up the next morning feeling quite cheerful, for no reason whatsoever. Just one of those days that you can’t help smiling, you know? Seeing as it was a Saturday morning, I knew Carlie wouldn’t be awake – and what kind of brother would I be if I didn’t let her have a full day in the sunshine? Hah. I got dressed into my uniform red boardshorts and white tank top, then blasted some Breaking Benjamin as loud as my speakers would allow.

5...
4...
3...
2...
1...

My door burst open and Carlie stood there, hair a mess and eyes bloodshot. With no words, she stomped over to my iPod dock and ripped out my iPod, before throwing it across the room.

“Put that on again, and I’ll shove it up your ass,” she growled.

“Love you too,” I grinned.

With a scowl, my younger sister left my bedroom, slamming the door shut. I chuckled under my breath and stepped into my white Nikes, grabbing both sets of keys and my cellphone as I left my bedroom too. My iPod could wait till later. I grabbed a poptart and walked out the front door to my Impala, jumping in and starting the engine. Today’s going to be a good day. I can feel it. Switching my radio on, I grinned at the song that came on.

“Well, they can take, take, take the kids from the summer,
But they'll never, never, never take the summer from me,
It was the very first time that I lost my mind for a week.
They can make, make, make me forget the weather,
If we'll never, never, never wash the sand from my feet,
It was the very last time that we said goodbye to the beach,
Showing off, showing off our teeth.”

The Beach, by All Time Low. Yeah, I have a wide-spread taste in music, but this song is perfect for this glorious summer day in beautiful Florida. About 30 minutes later, I arrived at the beachside. Parking and cutting the engine of my car, I walked over to the main hut where my boss would be sitting. Joe is a large balding man with a surprising agility and insane swimming skills. He’s one of the greatest men I know.

“Tryce! What are you doing here?” Joe asked, a cheerful grin on his face.

“Just covering for Javier. He’s got some family thing he can’t get out of,” I shrugged, smiling simply.

“How good of you to cover,” Joe grinned.

“You know me,” I laughed.

“Always the gentleman. You’d better get over to your station, it’s busy out today,” Joe told me.

“Alright, see you later then,” I nodded.

I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge next to him before leaving. I slipped off my shoes as my feet hit the sand, relishing the feeling of the warm particles between my toes. This was where I belonged. This was where it all happened. The bad and the good and the important things in my life, all on this one beach. All I can say is that I’m glad I have the opportunity to keep this contact, to keep these memories alive.

“Hey Tryce!”
“How’s it going Tryce?”
“Nice to see you Tryce!”
“Looking good Tryce!”

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, shaking my head in amusement. These people don’t know me. Not personally anyway. They just know Tryce Reagan, one of only two popular non-football players in school, Javier being the other one. Sure, Javier and I are on the swim team – but that’s not exactly a massive school sport, is it? All that these people like is the image of ‘Tryce Reagan’, gentleman extraordinaire with enviable looks. So what I’ve been raised with good morals – it’s not an unheard of thing. I guess I’m just not afraid of outwardly believing that everyone should be treated equally, that no-one is above anyone else.

But I’m rambling. I climbed the short ladder up to the seat that overlooks my section of the beach, the red umbrella above me protecting my head from the harsh sun. Still, I’d rather the sun be shining than the rain be pouring. I’m definitely a summer person, that’s for sure! Just the atmosphere of the summer fills me with an optimism that everything’s going to be alright. That there’s hope for better days. I guess I have the glass half full view on life. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that jizz. Hell, if I didn’t, I would be long gone by now. Jensen never lived in the negative. If anything, I’ve put on this way of life for him. He wouldn’t want me to dwell on the past. And so I shall move on.

Joe was right – the beach is quite busy today. I should be getting myself ready for anything. I couldn’t help but grin as I pulled of my white tank top though. I have a weakness, and that weakness is lifting weights at the gym. It’s a ritual, an obsession, one that I’ve gotten so used to that it would be weird without it. One good result? I have a banging body. But hey, I’m not bragging. I’m not that type. Can’t say I don’t appreciate the extra female attention though. I only have one flaw on my otherwise flawless torso – a birthmark the size of a quarter on the middle of my left ribs. But I can’t do anything about that so I’ll just have to ignore it.

Like I thought, it didn’t take long for someone of the female persuasion to walk over to my station.

“Hey Reagan, why don’t you come down here with little ol’ me?” she called up.

I recognise that voice anywhere. Rachel Conroy, the girl from Carlie's year, the year below at school, that has a major crush on me. Javier laughs because I don’t tell her to leave me alone, but I can’t be rude like that. That’s not how I’ve been brought up. Javier thinks that I shouldn’t lead her along, but I’m not leading her along really. I tell her that I’m not interested in dating, but I still talk to her. I guess I am a gentleman really. I just hate seeing people upset. So I climbed down the ladder, smiling at the brunette girl.

“Hi Rachel, how are you today?” I asked, polite like usual.

“Better now I’m talking to you,” she grinned, trying to look innocent.

“Rachel...” I trailed off, warning her.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, although her baby blues sparkled with amusement.

“I know, I know, you just want to be friends,” she mumbled.

“I’m just glad you’re listening to me,” I laughed, nudging her with my hip.

“I’m just glad you don’t shove me away and ignore me like any other guy would’ve. You’re not like the other guys, Tryce,” Rachel said, her voice a mixture of wistfulness and sadness.

“So I’ve heard,” I sighed.

Rachel seemed to pick up on my change of mood, which I was grateful for.

“Look, I know you’ve got to focus on the beach today, but I’ll be sitting over there if you want to talk to anyone, okay?” Rachel smiled.

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind,” I nodded.

I hugged Rachel before climbing back up my ladder, my eyes automatically scanning the water for any mishaps that might’ve happened in my brief lapse of watching. No, nothing out of the ordinary. Good. It makes me feel good to be able to say that I protect the people of these beach.

At least I can protect somebody.