Chapter 4
After listing to the party hardy foursome complain that Michael was not going to be accompanying them when they dove head first into the bar at one pm that afternoon, Michael and Sydney made their way down to the pool area. The sun so high in the sky combined with the fact that they were in the desert made it sizzling out on the pool deck, which was surprisingly empty. Sydney and Michael chose neighboring lounge chairs and began laying out the towels they brought from their hotel room out onto them.
“It sure is nice out here,” Michael smiled at he sat down on the towel-covered chair. Then, he pulled out the small bottle of sunscreen he found in his toiletry case (most likely packed by his mother since he had no recollection of doing so) and began applying some to his nose.
“Can I have that when you’re done?” Sydney asked, sitting down on her own chair.
“Sure. I’ll even do your back if you want,” Michael smiled at her.
“O-oh o-okay,” she stammered slightly. Michael rubbing creamy suntan lotion all over her back and shoulders – yeah, that was going to help her situation. Though she never admitted it to anyone and rarely admitted it to herself, Sydney had always had a crush on Michael. Well not always but ever since their beach trip six years earlier and she was able to catch a glimpse of his body, perfectly toned and tanned from all the time he spent working out during baseball practice. She was far from the first girl in her class to have a crush on Michael Vaughn. In fact, she was fairly sure that every girl had a crush on him at some point, so it was just one of those things, or so she told herself. Nothing would ever come of her crush, though, this she knew. They were too close as friends for anything like that to happen. Besides, why would the most popular guy in school choose one of the nerds over the more beautiful cheerleaders? Oh, that’s right, he wouldn’t.
“Alrighty then,” Michael said. He squeezed a dollop of the white lotion onto his finger tips and began rubbing it across Sydney’s back, starting at her shoulders and working his way down to the strap on her bikini, making sure not to miss an inch. Sadly, the last time he had done that to a girl, he had missed a rather oddly shaped patch on her back, which caused this girl to get a burn in that same odd shape. Not surprisingly, she was not very happy with him and he was not anxious to repeat such a mistake.
While Michael was applying Sydney’s suntan lotion, a guy and girl just slightly older than them walked by them. As they passed they heard the girl say in a most annoyed and disgusted tone, “God Brian, how come you never put suntan lotion on my back?! You’re such a crappy boyfriend!” Once they were a few feet away, Michael could hear the guy, Brian, attempting to apologize and couldn’t help but laugh under his breath.
Sydney, too, heard this exchange between the strangers, but she only found it mildly amusing. For the most part she was focusing on the fact that the strange girl obviously believed she and Michael to be a couple. This horrified her slightly though she did not know why. After all she and Michael were just two friends. The fact that he was putting suntan lotion on her back meant nothing. After all, if she had a female friend who asked for assistance with such a task, she would not have hesitated to help. It was the same situation; no different. At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.
“There all done,” Michael said once he was finished. Then he handed over the tube of suntan lotion so Sydney could put it on her face and wherever else she wished it to be.
“Thanks,” she said softly. After she had applied suntan lotion everywhere she felt was necessary, she settled back against her lounge chair and picked up her book once more. Michael, too, settled back with his hands behind his head, attempting to rest so that the jet lag did not affect him too much later that evening.
Just fifteen minutes after she picked up her book, from the corner of her eye she saw two girls no older than herself approaching Michael in all his glistening chiseled-body beauty. Fighting the urge to throw up, Sydney concentrated even deeper on her book as the two girls struck up conversation with Michael, obviously wanted to be invited to hang out with him, perhaps even more than that. Instead of falling subject to their coy smiles and bikini-clad bodies, Michael simply chatted politely before hinting as subtly as possible that he was not interested.
“Well you accomplished that fairly well considering you left your stick back in Virginia,” Sydney commented softly once the girls were gone.
“Huh?! What stick?!” Michael asked with utter confusion.
“You know, the stick you use to beat off all the women throwing themselves at you,” Sydney explained further.
“Oh,” he said shortly. He was also rolling his eyes but that was impossible to tell due to his sunglasses. “I’ll have you know that I own no such stick and women are certainly now throwing themselves at me.
“Mmhm,” Sydney sighed in a disbelieving tone.
Wanting to change the subject desperately, Michael asked, “So Syd, when do you start your new job again? The Monday after we get back?”
“No, the next Monday,” she told him. She had been one of the lucky ones to graduate college with a job already available and waiting for her. Actually, she had accepted the position back in the middle of April, which made studying for finals even more difficult. The job with a pharmaceutical company was located relatively close to her parent’s home, which meant she did not need to immediately move out on her own. Of course, she planned on doing so well before the end of summer, but at least the pressure was off for the time being.
“Ah yeah…it must be nice having employment,” he sighed.
“You’re going to get some, Michael. I’m sure once you start going on interviews you’ll get snatched up right away.”
“I hope so,” he sighed. Though he went on a few interviews, Michael had yet to land a position. This was partly because of his lack of pursuance on the issue since he was still unsure if he wanted to stay close to home to find a job or go further away. His mother’s cancer was in remission, so he did not need to stick close to home for that reason, but he was unsure he wanted to leave behind everyone else, including Sydney.
“C’mon let’s get in the water and cool off; it’s freakin’ hot out here,” Michael encouraged.
“Alright,” Sydney agreed. She was at a very good part of the novel she was reading, but in a more pressing matter Michael had a very valid point; it was boiling. She stood and shimmied out of her shorts before walking over and dipping a toe into the pool water. “Its freezi-AHH!” she screamed. Before she could even finish the word, Michael barreled into her and tackled her down into the water, where they both landed with a violent splash.
“Oh my god I’m going to KILL you!” Sydney screamed when she finally surfaced after having a very rude introduction to the water.
“But you’re cooler now aren’t you?” he asked with a cheeky grin.
“I’m freezing,” she informed him. Then she waded her way over to the pool edge, climbed out and returned to her lounge chair to plot her revenge.