The Night Shift Read Online Free PDF Page A

interchangeable to him, really.
    As Collin trudged on the path, he noticed someone in front of him. When approaching closer, it became clear that it was Nick, who seemed to be cutting up some heavy branches with his pocket knife.
    "Nick?"
    Nick looked up and saw Collin, but he hardly reacted. "Hey. Gimme a hand, will ya?"
    "Uh…I'd love to, but I just got a call from Ian saying he wanted me up at the pond or lake or whatever and…"
    "I don't care! Gimme a hand! This is tough to do when you're by yourself, you know."
    Wow, maybe Christine was right. Maybe I WON'T end up liking this kid after all, he coldly thought to himself as he walked over to Nick.
    Collin reached into his pocket and pulled out his own pocket knife. He reluctantly made his way over to a pile of branches Nick had made and was now cutting up.
    "Uh…why are we doing this again?"
    "Lisa says that these wussy campers won't stop complaining about how these giant tree branches keeping getting in their way when they're hiking or walking around or taking a piss in the woods."
    "Hey, easy does it," Collin tried to calm.
    "I'm just so sick of it! Why do I have to waste my time cutting down these branches and chopping them up with a pocket knife just so these stupid campers can take a hike without having to push a freaking branch or two out of the way?!"
    "Uh…yeah…" Collin replied uneasily. "I…have to go. Ian wanted to see me."
    "Whatever."
    Letting out an annoyed sigh, he walked right passed Nick and didn't say another word to him. He continued walking over to the pond and didn't look back once to see how Nick was doing his job.
    After another thirty seconds or so, Collin was on the soft sand right at the foot of the guard tower. Ian was sitting up there as if he was the most important person in the world. He stared down at Collin as if he were a peasant.
    "Hey, buddy. Ya finally showed up."
    "Sorry. I got kinda stalled on my way up here."
    "Ah, whatever. Stuff like that happens. Anyway, I called ya here because I wanted to ask you a favor."
    "What's that?"
    "Some days I'm working in the office when a few of the guys aren't here, and tomorrow's one of those days. So I want you to fill in for me as lifeguard here."
    "You do?"
    "Yup."
    "But I'm not certified."
    "Oh, please. Like you're really gonna need to save somebody. All you gotta do is sit in this chair for a couple hours, blow the whistle whenever a little kid is trying to push another little kid into the deep end, and that's really it."
    "You sure? I don't want someone to be drowning and not have any idea how to save them."
    Ian scoffed. "Please. The water here is, like, five feet deep at the most. Who's gonna drown?"
    "Uh…all right. You couldn't ask someone like Nick to do this instead?"
    "Please!" Ian said as he put his hand up and halted Collin. "Don't mention that kid, all right? You know, he's supposed to be the backup lifeguard, but I don't want him sitting at my post."
    "Why's that?"
    "He and I…don't get along."
    "That's what a lot of people around here said about him, but what would be so bad about just letting him be a lifeguard for a day?"
    "I…really don't want to talk about him."
    "Why?"
    Ian looked like he was getting peeved at the constant badgering. "Nick and I got into a fight about a year ago, and I'm still pissed at him for it."
    Collin's eyes widened. "A fight? You mean, like a fistfight?"
    "No. A fight where we have tea with each other and tell jokes. Of course a fistfight!"
    "Hey, no need to get touchy! But what happened?"
    "Well, I was whoopin' Nick's sorry you-know-what until Randy came along and broke up the fight."
    Randy… Collin thought to himself. The guy who was boss here before Lisa…
    "I'm tellin' ya, Nick's lucky Randy popped out of nowhere and broke it up. If he didn't, Nick would be in a coma right now."
    Collin was quickly getting annoyed by Ian's pompous bragging; Collin didn't even think Ian would be able to take him on in a fight, but he obviously kept that