Swim Day (Part 4) (Patreon)

Nixie’s enjoying her trial period as an instructor—but she isn’t sure this is the job she wants. But is she just looking for reasons to say no?

“You’re all doing great.” Nixie swam to the side of her four students in a near-upright position, a kind of cross between a backstroke and treading water that she’d learned before she’d become a lifeguard. It let her keep an eye on them all while she was in the water. “Terry, keep your fingers cupped.” She held her cupped fingers over her head. “I have webbing, but you don’t.”

The tiger going by grunted at her, but corrected his form.

After she brought her three students to a stop, Jennifer gave her an eager look, mixed with concentration as the rat paddled in place to keep her head above water. “So what’s next week?”

“This is the end of my trial period, so I couldn’t tell you.”

Her ears splayed. “But you’re going to take the job, aren’t you?”

“They’ve got to offer it to me first.” She motioned toward the lake shore. “Come on.”

Swimming back as a giant—and staying giant, even as she climbed back onto land—still gave her a thrilling, disorienting frisson. Following Morningsong’s offhanded advice earlier in the week, Nixie had made sure she was taller than any of her giant students, just as she was taller than any of her little students when she was little herself. (She’d been informed the proper term was “little,” not “normal.”) The difference wasn’t as dramatic—she was a bit over a head taller than Terry, the biggest of the group—but it felt right, somehow. Looking up at giants was fine for her when she was little, but when she was giant, she was going to damn well be a giant giant.

Although this was, most likely, the last time she’d ever be giant. Even if they did offer it to her, could she take it?

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” Terry said.

“Hmm?” She snapped out of her thoughts. “Wouldn’t what?”

“Offer it to you. You’re a natural talent.”

She shrugged, looking away and half-smiling. “That’s the catch, isn’t it, love. It is natural for me. I can’t teach anyone to be a shark.”

Jen put a hand on her hip. “When you’re actually on staff I’m not going to be able to talk back to you like this, so I’m going to take advantage of it now. For fuck’s sake, Nixie, stop selling yourself short.”

“Seriously,” Jason added before she could respond. The squirrel waved back at the lake. “I mean, I know I still suck, but three lessons from you and I’m doing better than I ever did before. And believe me, I’ve tried.”

“All right, all right.” She held up her hands, feeling embarrassed and a little irritated. “Don’t lay it on so bloody thick. I’m glad I’m not making too much of a fool of myself. But I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about moving back. I think I’m in the wrong half of the world.”

Jen tilted her head. “Homesick?”

“No.” She answered so quickly it was almost a snap. All the students looked at her quizzically. Ah, good way to increase your embarrassment there. She cleared her throat. “I mean, I like the place, but it’s not as much that I’m missing it as I don’t fit in here. I have a funny accent, I’m a giant all the time—”

Terry snorted, which made Jen laugh.

“You know what I mean.” Nixie crossed her arms, but couldn’t help smile. “Seriously, between that and being a species it seems like nobody here’s seen except on TV shows where we’re always cast as feral seaside killers… I’m just tired of being looked at like I’m a monster.”

“But you’re gorgeous,” Jen blurted. “And I love your accent.”

Nixie stared at her.

Jason gave the rat a gentle shoulder shove. “How many staff members do you have a crush on now?”

Alison, the ewe who hadn’t spoken up yet besides nodding along with the others, grinned. “That would be one hundred percent of the hot women.”

“Shut up,” Jen muttered, ears blushing. “Just two. Or three.”

Nixie arched one brow. “Hot women?”

Terry helpfully started, “It’s slang here for attractive—”

“I know what it means. I just don’t think anyone here, especially, would call me hot.”

All four of the students just looked at her. Terry and Jen both crossed their arms.

She looked back, feeling a blush started to rise around her own face, and laughed self-consciously. “And if I get offered the job, and take it, this is really inappropriate.”

“We’ll all behave if you’re hired,” Terry said flatly.

Jason pointed at Jen. “Except for her.”

Jen gave him a return shoulder shove. “I don’t know much about where you’re from, Nixie. But I know there’s one thing you can do here that you can’t there, just like me. And you and I are both doing it right now.”

Nixie started to ask the obvious question, but the obvious answer came to her. She touched her fingers to the choker and frowned in thought.

• • •

As Imala Morningsong ran down a list of critiques, Nixie felt each one as a little papercut, sinking a millimeter into her uncomfortable seat with every nick. Yes, the review had started out with positives, but the clear subtext was Boy, you don’t know much about teaching, do you.

When the wolf finished, she leaned back in her desk, eyeing the shark. “So do you have any questions for me?”

That was always a trick question in a job interview, wasn’t it? If you said no you didn’t seem interested enough, even if it was honest, and even if the outcome was a foregone conclusion. “You explained what I could have done better well enough. I’ll keep it all in mind for the future.” She hoped Morningsong wouldn’t ask her for specifics, because in truth it was all a fog. Maybe she’d be able to review it all by tomorrow, but she didn’t see why she should bother.

Even so, Nixie knew the interview dance, and she might as well run through the motions. “Is there anything I can answer for you?”

“Yes. When can you start?”

“I, uh.” Was this just an abstract, offhand question? Just for the files? What? “I guess two weeks?”

“Great. I’ll get the offer letter out to you later today.” She stood up and held out her hand. “Welcome aboard.”

Nixie stood up, feeling so dizzy she barely remembered to shake her new boss’s hand in return.

• • •

When the letter arrived at her apartment the next day, she nearly called them to ask if the number was a typo. It wasn’t insane amounts of money, no—but it was a salary, not an hourly wage, not tied to the number of classes she taught, just “here’s what you get every week and it’s more than you’ve ever made.”

She considered quitting by phone—Bonnie would have had no compunction about firing her that way—but the squirrel worked at the tiny seaside office across the road from the beach every other Wednesday, and she could go in person and look back at that particular beach one last time. While she couldn’t stay away from the ocean, she’d found less crowded and far prettier beaches near Santa Salchicha.

When she got to the office, she made a point of exaggeratedly ducking under the door frame. “Hi, Bonnie.”

“Nixie.” The squirrel looked up from her desk with a stiff, nervous smile. She’d always seemed like she was desperately trying to hide how terrified she was around the shark. “You’re…not supposed to be here today.”

“I know.” She walked over to the manager’s desk, leaning forward. Bonnie looked like she was about to dive under it. Nixie smiled, widely. “Just letting you know I’m not coming back.”

“You’re…you’re quitting? We’ll be sorry to see you go.”

Nixie leaned down farther, keeping her smile. “Will you?”

The squirrel chittered, gripping the desk.

She straightened up. “Thanks for being so understanding and supportive during my time here, Bonnie.” She dropped the smile, looking straight down into her former supervisor’s eyes. “I promise I won’t forget any of it.”

“Great,” Bonnie got out voicelessly.

Nixie turned and walked out, not looking back.

Out on the beach, she strolled toward the lifeguard chair—not a tower by any stretch, and currently occupied only by a sign that read LIFEGUARD NOT ON DUTY, SWIM AT OWN RISK. Well, wasn’t that nice. That’d be a great help to the next dude who got stuck in the rip current.

A soft, startled chirp drew her attention to two otters on a beach towel nearby, a girl and a guy. When they saw her looking down at them, the guy nearly jumped out of his fur.

“Oh, you two. What is it, Aaron and, uh, Mary? You got me suspended from my job, Aaron.”

Mary winced. “I’m so sorry.”

Aaron looked like he was about to start running. “I thought you were about to bite me!”

“Yeah, we kind of established that I was saving your life, mate, not biting you.”

“You want me to say I’m sorry?”

“Are you? Don’t say it just because you think I want to hear it.”

He looked down and sighed deeply. “I was scared, okay? I was scared out of my mind already and I had a giant hook in my foot and when I saw you I freaked out because I’d never seen anything like you and I wasn’t thinking straight to start with.” He looked back up at her, this time finally looking more distraught than frightened or angry. “You did save my life and I kept being a scared little shit. I’m really sorry. Thank you. If you want me to call your boss or something—”

She shook her head. “Nah, I already quit. This wasn’t a job for me. Not here. I’m going to work over the hill in Mensura, where they’re just less worried about sharks.”

“Mensura, uh, with the giants?” Aaron said hesitantly.

“That’s the place. I’m going to be giving them swimming lessons.”

“How?” His voice got squeaky.

She leaned down closer to him again. “Picture that shipwreck you got stuck in, Aaron, and then picture me big enough to bite that ship in half.”

Mary’s eyes seemed to double in size, but she smiled. “That sounds—incredible.”

“It does, doesn’t it. What do you think, Aaron?”

He looked at her, looked at Mary, then fainted.

Nixie straightened up. “This is going to be a great swim day.” She waved to Mary, then walked down the beach into the water.