Lifeguard

Today was a rare hot day in South Park. I even shed my well-known orange hoodie, so that I didn't die from heat stroke.

Summer had just started and already our group was bored with nothing to do. Cartman had suggested that we go to Antarctica, where it was always cold, but that was quickly shot down by the rest of us. I could tell Cartman was suffering more than everyone else, because of his excessive weight. He was sweating while we were sitting in his own home!

"I think the pool opened today," Stan said off-handedly as he switched the channel on the television.

"I don't want to go outdoors. I'll burn into a lobster." Kyle replied. I huffed from where I was sitting on the ground, getting annoyed at everyone's lack of enthusiasm.

"I think we should go to the pool." I stated, ignoring Kyle's glare. "It's something to do and you can put sunscreen on, Kyle. You won't die." I wanted to say that I definitely had a higher chance of dying, but it would just cause everyone to laugh it off.

Cartman suddenly stood up, almost toppling over me, and unnecessarily yelled out, "We're going to the pool!"

That's how we all piled up in Stan's crappy car and drove the 4 miles to the local and only pool in South Park. When we entered the pool area, I was surprised at the lack of people. I noticed Tweek and Craig right away. It seemed Craig was teaching Tweek how to swim and was failing pretty badly at it. Tweek kept flailing and splashing as Craig tried to calm him down. I also saw a few of the girls from our class sitting at the edge of the pool with their feet in the water.

"I'm going into the pool. You gay wads set up our shit." Cartman said as he immediately dove into the pool with a water gun and snorkel. I could tell Kyle wanted to say something, but instead he just sighed and started to head for a group of lounge chairs.

I put down the towels I was carrying and laid back in one of the chairs, feeling the warm sun engulf me.

"Are we going to go swim or what?" I looked up to see Stan standing over me. I got up with a nod and started to rush towards the cool water when suddenly a loud whistle sounded through the area.

I looked over to see a lifeguard with blonde hair and bright, azure eyes walking towards me.

"Butters?" I questioned as he continued towards me. He was wearing the usual lifeguard shirt with red short-shorts. I would be lying if I said he didn't look extremely attractive in the outfit.

"Ken!" He said in his stern, disappointed voice. "There is no running in the area. You could fall and hurt yourself!" He said this like it would be the end of everything if I scraped my knee on the ground.

"Sorry, but is this why you didn't agree to hang out with us today?" I asked, remembering that I had called him earlier to hang out at Cartman's, but was rejected shortly after.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you, but today is just my evaluation day. If everything goes well, I'll get the actual job," Butters explained as he played with the whistle that was hanging from his neck.

"Why do you need a job, though? Don't your parents give you an allowance?" A quick thought popped into my head that I needed to look for a job, but dismissed the idea. I could think of jobs after I had some fun this summer.

"My parents said I needed to do something productive during the summer time. It was either get a job or take summer classes at the community college. I opted for the job, since I need the experience." I was about to ask him how the job was, when suddenly Tweek's screech was filling my ears. I looked over to the pool to see Cartman laughing his head off as he sprayed Tweek in the face with his water gun. Craig looked like he was about to murder the fat boy.

Butters blew his whistle and rushed over, in a fast walk, to them. "What is going on?" He asked in his 'authoritative' voice that sounded more like a little kid disciplining his parents.

"This fat-fuck," Craig growled as he pointed at Cartman. "Swam under us and tried to pull down Tweek's pants and then, after he failed, he sprayed Tweek in the face." I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh at this or scold Cartman. Even though I did feel bad for Tweek, it was pretty funny.

"Now, look here, mister," Butters said, waving his finger at Cartman. "There will be no rough housing in the pool. If I catch you doing it again, I'll have to kick you out for the rest of summer." Cartman scoffed at this and turned around to swim off. I could hear him mumble something about Butters being a faggot.

"Hey!" I turned around to see Stan waving at me from inside the pool. Kyle and he were already making themselves comfortable in the shallow end. "Are you going to join us or just flirt with Stotch?" I could feel the heat climb to my face as I momentarily wished for Stan to drown in the 2 inch water. Kyle and Stan had found out I had a thing for Butters when, during a sleepover, I had murmured his name in my sleep. They haven't stopped teasing me about it to this day.

"Why would Ken be flirting with me?" Butters asked innocently to Stan. Why did he have to be so cute? There should be a law against that. I stole a glance at Butters, wondering what his expression was like, and almost fell over when I saw he was slightly blushing. Not only that, but he was stuttering a little. "H-he would n-never flirt with s-someone like m-me." At this, he hastily walked to his lifeguard chair and sat down.

I could hear my two best friends snickering as I jumped into the pool. I swam towards them, with murder in my eyes.

"Hey, Butters reaction was pretty inserting, right?" Kyle said behind a devilish smirk. He threw his arm around Stan, like they were conspiring together.

"Yeah, Butters seemed a little jittery at the thought of Kenny hitting on him," Stan remarked, a similar smile on his face.

I groaned, feeling that they weren't going to let this go.

"Butters!" I heard Kyle yell at the blonde lifeguard, who had gotten up from his chair and was walking around. When Butters turned around, Kyle continued, "Kenny wants to ask you something." I almost threw myself at Kyle to wring my hands around his neck, but Stan put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"What is it?" Butters questioned with a small smile on his lips. I grimaced as I tried to think of something to say. I could feel Stan's hand slightly tighten on my shoulder.

"Just go talk to him. What's the worst that could happen?" He whispered to me, giving me a genuine smile. I sighed, thinking of all the horrible things that could go wrong, 80% of them being deaths. I knew there was no way for me to get out of this, especially with Butters standing there, anticipating for me to say something.

I dragged myself out of the pool and towards Butters. "Can we talk over there?" I pointed to the entrance for the showers that was blocked to any prying eyes by a brick wall.

"Oh, I don't know, Ken. I'm on duty now, so I have to keep watch of everyone." I looked at the total of 8 people who occupied the pool.

"Kyle, watch the pool and make sure no one dies, okay?" I didn't wait for an answer as I grabbed Butters' arm and pulled him over to the covered area.

"Ken! I'll be fired if anyone comes by and sees I'm not out there!" The blonde lifeguard complained, looking worried.

"Are you not allowed to take restroom breaks?" I asked, feeling that would be ridiculous.

"Well, yeah, I am," Butters said, looking a little lost as how he was supposed to go to the restroom and watch the pool at the same time.

"Then, if someone comes out, just tell them you had to piss." Butters nodded, looking curious as to what I wanted to ask him. "So," I started not sure how I wanted to go about this. It was silent for a few seconds as I tried to organize my thoughts, which was exceptionally hard with Butters staring at me with his huge azure eyes. I decided to just do what I wanted to do for a long time. I leaned down, so my face was right in front of the shorter boy's and moved slightly forwards till I was able to press my chapped lips against Butters' soft ones. I could feel the warmth from our lips slight touch engulf my whole body in seconds. I forced myself to step back and straighten up, not wanting to push anything without Butters' consent. I looked into his eyes, hoping it wouldn't be fear or hatred that I would see. Unfortunately, his face was completely blank. He looked stunned and frozen, not making any movement or sound.

"Butters?" I asked, getting a little worried. I reached over to him, lightly placing my hands on his shoulder to gently shake him. "I'm sorry, was that not okay?" I could see that he was slowly getting over his shock as he finally looked up at me.

"Ken, do you like-like me?" He questioned me in a small voice, hope shining in his bright, blue eyes.

"Yes," I replied just as softly as he did. A huge smile broke onto Butters' face as he quickly stood on his tip-toes to wrap his arms around my neck. I hugged him back, placing my arms around his waist. The warmth, that had surrounded me during the kiss, came back in full force as I felt Butters' body press against my own.

"I wanted to ask," I started as we slowly let go of each other. "Is there another lifeguard position open?" I could feel this summer was going to be the best summer ever, no matter how hot or miserable it got outside.

THE END

If you enjoyed this story, remember to check out the original artwork that inspired it!