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One hour later, Rye left his school papers scattered on his table as he went back into his bedroom to change into his swimming shorts. Quickly, Rye strips and pulls on his shorts, puts a towel around his shoulders and slips on sandals. Carrying the extra pair of swimming shorts, Rye goes back to the counter that separates his living room from kitchen, grabs his keys and sunglasses and heads for the door.

Before taking a step out into the bright sunlight, Rye slips on his pair of sleek sunglasses, and then locks the door behind him. Half-walking, half-jogging, Rye hurries to cross the street to meet up with his new otter friend. No more than five minutes after leaving the apartment, Rye hesitates in front of his new friend's apartment door until he gives two quick, hard knocks on the door.

In an instant, the door opens with Cloud standing in the doorway, also dressed in a pair of shorts and with a towel hanging limply in his paw. The otter welcomes Rye with a smile.

"Right on time," Cloud said. He steps out of the apartment, shutting the door close behind him and quickly locking it. "Nice shades."

"Thank you," replies Rye. Catching a glimpse inside Cloud's apartment, Rye frowns at seeing an empty apartment, with only a few moving boxes stacked up against the wall. The swimwear Cloud chose isn't much of an improvement either, since they look like they fit a pre-teen rather than a full-grown teenager.

"Well, shall we?" Cloud asks with a smile when Rye hesitated.

"Yes, of course," replied Rye, almost as an afterthought.

Dismissing the disappointment, both otters start to walk along the sidewalk toward the exit of the apartment complex.

"When was the last time you went swimming?" Rye asked, turning onto the sidewalk bordering the main street.

"It's been a few years," answered Cloud, with his same optimistic smile, keeping his eyes forward. Walking side-by-side, Rye still is guiding Cloud to the pool.

"Your shorts look completely outdated," remarked Rye with a laugh.

Cloud also laughs.

"I brought an extra pair," Rye continued. "These might you fit better."

Rye holds out his second favorite pair of swim shorts out for Cloud to take. Cloud examines the extra pair before taking them, only after sticking his tongue out at Rye.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem," Rye responded with a grin. "Are you exaggerating, that you haven't gone swimming in a few years?"

"Nope, no exaggeration," Cloud answered with the same optimistic tone. "There have been too many trials in my life recently to do much recreation activities. Once I graduate high school, I can get a full-time job and everything will be fine. Almost normal." The white otter chuckled at the last part.

Rye pitied the otter. "Don't you have a job now?"

"Not really. Other than working for the apartment, I just concentrate on schoolwork. I try to keep my mind as stress-free as possible. However, a job wouldn't hurt if it wasn't too overwhelming."

"I could help you get a job at the pool," suggested Rye enthusiastically, eager to help this new, and cute, otter to stay in town.

"That'd be awesome. But don't put your reputation at risk for me." Even with the negative reply, the white otter's smile doesn't falter.

"Don't worry about my reputation. I interview and test the new life guards at the Lagoon. The manager only signs the checks."

Cloud chuckled again, "Working at a pool probably would be good for me."

"It's done then."

"Thank you," Cloud said sincerely.

After the quick discussion, a couple minutes of silence goes by with only the bright spring sunlight to keep the otters occupied.

"You seem to be doing just fine on your own," observed Cloud, breaking the silence. "Do your parents pay for your expenses?"

"No," answered Rye. "I have some really good ties with the landlord at my own apartment complex. She gives me a great discount, and I'm paid a well-enough wage at the pool for my part-time duties."

"Discounted rent? You must be really popular with everyone you chat with; you have a lot of friend at school. Your girlfriend must be so jealous."

"Oh," Rye exhaled, taken off-guard by the sudden assumption. "I don't have a girlfriend, I'm actually single. I'm not exactly looking for a date at this point in my life."

"You're single?" exclaimed Cloud. "What about that mare who you are always hanging around with?"

Rye's heartbeat accelerated ever-so slightly, for a reason he knows: Cloud is showing interest in Rye's love-life. Refusing to assume that Cloud is gay based on hope, Rye doesn't allow himself to think about the possibility that Cloud might be interested in him.

He's just trying to make conversation, Rye tells himself. "She's just a friend. It's kind of irritating actually, because she's interested in me but..." Rye ponders for a moment, trying to find the right words, "... she's not my type."

"Don't like the mares, eh?"

"Something like that," Rye said and smiled even though his thoughts are making him frown. A strange and old excitement of Rye's feelings is stirring inside him, like when he told his parents that he was interested in other boys instead of girls. "Here we are."

Both otters stop in front of a large building with tall glass walls and glass double-doors. Tall white support beams border the large glass panels to hold up the high roof. While Rye leads them in, the white otter takes an interest in the magnificent landscape that surrounds the building; The tropical landscape is planted conveniently spaced apart while still offering plenty of foliage to cover the fresh dirt, without masking the crystal-clear small stream that wove around the planets.

While Rye led Cloud into the building, the white otter is just as impressed with the lobby as he was with the entrance of the building's exterior. Lit-well because of the glass walls and ceiling, and the white tile floor and walls, both otters are able to see the details well. To the white otter's surprise, he sees tropical plants on the inside of the glass walls, wrapping around toward the opposite wall. With two small streams snaking around the landscaping that is inside the building, the landscape is blocked by a rail and several benches.

With Rye continuing toward the front desk, where a fox is waiting shuffling papers, Cloud also notices a couple rooms on the perpendicular walls of the entrance. The stream cuts off the gift shop from the lobby however, so a bridge arches over the stream along with two palm trees making a rough arch over the entranceway, making a very unique entrance.

"Wow," Cloud awed the lobby. Rye found it cute, but quickly notices that he was being attracted to the otter again; but he risks a smile. Cloud looked around the place as if he is a tourist at a tourist attraction.

To the left of the otters lays a darker entrance, also entered by a bridge, but no covering archway, where the recreation room rests, with arcade games and pool tables.

"Hi Aaron," Rye greets the fox behind the front desk, leading Cloud to it. On either side of the front desk, over two different doorways, rest large slate rocks from which the tops of is where the waterfalls begins, feeding the stream that flows through the interior and exterior landscape.

"Hey Rye," the male fox behind the counter returns the greeting. "You need to take some school days off. It gets swamped here when you're not around."

"I'll try to explain that to the principal," Rye laughed. "You might have someone take your second shift for you soon enough though." The otter turned to his new friend, who gracefully offers his paw to shake with the fox, Aaron.

Aaron accepts the offer to shake the white otter's paw. "This is Cloud," Rye introduces the fox to the otter. "He's a new student at the high school and he's looking for a part-time job."

"Really?" Aaron says with an obvious sign of relief lighting up his expression. "Well, I hope you get the job here Cloud. I could really use some time off."

"I'll make it my top priority then," replied Cloud with a smile.

"Mind to buzz us through?" asked Rye with sarcasm.

Reaching under the desk, the fox presses a button and the doorway near the desk can be heard unlocking itself. "Thanks. I'll see you later Aaron."

"Nice to meet you Aaron," Cloud said.

"Likewise."

Beyond the doorway lay a long hallway with a clear glass roof, keeping the building well-lit. A large stone pillar, with water falling over it, towers up around one of the corners that the hallway possessed. Glass steps of a staircase spirals around the large pillar which leads to the second floor.

"Come on," Rye encouraged playfully when he notices the white otter struggling to keep up. Of course, Rye has been through the hall many times so he ignores the fancy decorations mostly, but Cloud is marveling at them. "Here's the locker rooms."

The otters stopped in front of two doors that ends the hallway. Rye opened the door that is marked "Male Lockers" and allows Cloud to walk in first.

"Thank you, Rye."

"De nada."

Lacking a glass roof, the locker rooms are dimmer than the rest of the building, but the windows still allow plenty of light in. The sound of an active shower is heard from beyond an entranceway on the opposite side of the lockers.

"I have a locker this way," informs the blue otter. Open locker cubicles cover the first main room of the locker room, and Cloud is led to a cubicle that is partially hidden by the entrance of the locker room.

"You can change and put your swimming shorts in here." Opening a locked locker, Rye sets his keys, sunglasses and towel inside. "I chose this locker because I can change with a bit more privacy. I'll be in the showers."

"Okay, I'll be right there," the white otter acknowledged, and then he turns toward Rye's locker, and slips off his out-dated swim trunks. Not having a chance to turn away, Rye feels an electric jolt course through his body when he sees Cloud's naked body.

Staring for half a second, the otter recovers and reflexively sharply turns his head away from Cloud's body, hoping, nearly praying, that Cloud didn't notice.

Without much success, Rye made an attempt to walk normally to the showers but he knows he is failing.

Passing through the opposite entranceway, Rye steps into the shower room, and turns on one of the showers. "Calm down Rye," the otter whispered to himself, trying to subdue the conscious image of Cloud naked out of his mind. "Cloud doesn't need to know how physically attracted I am to him."

The otter is able to calm his body down successfully within a few seconds and think clearly once again by the time Cloud comes up and turned on an adjacent shower.

"They look like they fit much better," said Rye, glancing at his swim shorts on the white otter's waist. His tone kept the mood light, which also helped Rye forget the sudden electric jolt that coursed through his body a moment ago.

"They fit perfectly," Cloud agreed, while he's rinsing of his face under the shower's stream of water. "Thank you for letting me borrow these shorts today."

"If you're going to be working here, you'll need a descent pair. You can keep them." Rye wouldn't have normally given up those shorts but he really wants to make a good impression on Cloud. The otter just hopes that it doesn't seem like he is flirting with the new kid in town, even if he isn't sure if he is or not.

"Really?" Cloud shook the water off his face, looking at Rye.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. I have too many swimming suits already," Rye explained and turns his back to the water, letting the stream rinse his tail off. "Well, come on. I don't get that check signed unless I'm actually in the pool area."

Cloud smiled and heads out toward the second exit of the locker room, confident that nothing else will surprise him at this facility. Rye follows the other otter out into the sunlight. Cloud is, however, surprised by the pool itself. It's huge and crystal clear, stretching to the horizon as if it wants to touch it. In the shallow water are placed all sorts of children's fountains and slides, and other obstacles that the children can crawl all over. Beyond the main building, but parallel with it, stands a wooden staircase leading up to a popular water slide.

The concrete that surrounded the pool was bordered by trimmed green grass. Now forest trees, instead of tropical ones, lined the grass that stretched around the majority of the pool. However, to the right of the pool, Cloud was shocked to see sand, and lots of it, separated from the pool by a stretch of grass.

The otter also quickly noticed sand covering half of the property to the east, and that the border runs parallel to the border of the pool. To the far east are burrowed fire pits, that are not lit obviously. Closer to the main building are volleyball courts with a sand floor also. The stream, that seems to go around the entire property, cuts a path through the sand, guarded by foliage and runs into the main building. Several bridges cross the stream opening a passageway to a large plastic playground. Cloud then saw the boardwalk that cut through the heart of the sand pit. Against the building, near where the sand touches the white stone, are dozens of barbeques that are occasionally used by the guests.

"I've never seen a pool like this before," Cloud muttered.

Rye noticed Cloud observing the sand pit. "Near the boardwalk, there are showers hidden in the foliage next to the stream so that no sand gets in the pool," Rye informed the white otter. "Come on, let's go for a dip."

Rye passes Cloud and heads toward the deep end of the pool. Cloud recovers from his shock and awe, and follows.

Reading the depths as they go by, Cloud is amazed how deep it goes and reads aloud: "4FT, 6FT, 8FT, 12FT, 24FT, 30FT." The shallow end and the deep end are separated by several Olympic-size racing lanes.

"That's a deep pool," Cloud says as Rye stops near the highest diving board on the deep end.

"It's for SCUBA divers to practice," Rye said. "Occasionally we're allowed to use it for a game of underwater laser tag. Every summer, we have a week dedicated to games that the whole pool is used for, except for the kiddy pool. Sometimes the deep end is reserved for special occasions. So how good are you at diving?"

"I won't kill myself if that's what you mean," Cloud laughed. He pushed by Rye and started to climb the diving board up to the top, thirty feet high.

Rye dived into the pool just from the edge and resurfaced to look up at Cloud, who seemed perfectly at ease at the top of the diving board. "JUMP!"

Cloud flashed a smile at Rye before he jumped off the board, performed a summersault and dove flawlessly into the pool, hardly making a splash. Rye looked down to watch Cloud swimming near the bottom toward Rye. Cloud quickly swam toward the surface, and before Rye could react, Cloud grabbed his forepaw and yanked him beneath the surface.

Beneath the surface, Rye was still in shock when he saw Cloud floating in front of him with amused eyes. Rye stuck his tongue out at him. Cloud laughed with only bubbles coming from his muzzle, and then started to swim toward the surface.

But Rye wouldn't allow it. He darted for Cloud's paw, and dragged him back toward the bottom of the pool. Even after twenty feet below the surface, Rye didn't let go of Cloud who was struggling against Rye in a playful manner. Rye pushed Cloud against the bottom of the pool and pinned him there. Neither of them did anything for a second while they settled on the bottom of the pool, with Rye nearly saddled on Cloud's hips.

The position the otters were in sent another electric shock through Rye, similar to the one he felt in the locker room.

Quickly, to keep things playful, Rye stuck his tongue out at Cloud, kicked off the ground and swam back toward the surface. Only half a second after Rye broke the surface, Cloud came up next to him.

"That wasn't fair," Cloud protested with a smile.

"Fair?" Rye said trying to hold back his laughter. "You dragged me under first. It was just a little payback."

"Maybe," Cloud laughed, knowing that it was more than fair. Not giving Rye time to reply, Cloud tried to tackle him.

Rye moved out of the way but Cloud continued to swim toward the edge of the pool. Before Cloud was out of reach, Rye grabbed his tail and held him back. Cloud turned back toward him with a half-amused, half-confused look on his face.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rye asked with obvious revenge on his voice.

"You have to dive off the diving board too," Cloud said innocently. "We have to see who is better."

Amused by this idea, Rye darted for the edge before Cloud could continue his own swim.

Quickly, Rye climbed the diving board, while Cloud sat at the edge of the pool, looking up at the blue otter.

"Don't mess up!" Cloud yelled.

Rye smiled, turned his back to the pool and stood on the edge of the diving board only with his webbed toes. Maintaining balance, Rye slowly extended his arms until he was in the beginning position of a swan dive. Time seemed to slow as Rye bent his knees, putting more weight on the diving board, and instantly used all his strength to push off the diving board.

After a twist, Rye strained to perform a back-flip, and straightened his body out just in time to hit the water. Several feet below the surface, Rye's momentum stopped and he swam toward the edge where he could see Cloud kicking his paws in the water.

"Ha, how was that?" Rye asked as soon as he broke surface. He shook his head and the excess water sprayed Cloud.

Blocking the water, Cloud replied, "Not too bad but I can do it better."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Alright then." With that Cloud stood up and went to the diving board. After a quick ascension, Cloud prepared for the dive while Rye sat himself on the edge of the pool, still dripping wet.

To Rye's surprise, Cloud jumped and performed the same dive Rye just did just as flawlessly. The white otter soon surfaced near Rye.

"That's a simple dive," Rye smugly said. Cloud laughed.

For the next half hour, they continued to try to best the other with competition of diving but after Rye saw Cloud performing the same number of flips, and twist in the last dive Rye gave up on trying to best Cloud by diving.

"You're good, I'll give you that," Rye said when Cloud sat next to him on the edge. Other divers began to play on the boards, some trying, and horribly failing to repeat the otters' dives. Thankfully, they were all skilled enough at swimming so Rye didn't have to jump in to save any of them. "Since we can't settle this match by performance, how about we decide based on speed and strength."

Cloud chuckled. "What do you have in mind?"

"Racing," Rye answered, standing up. Cloud followed as Rye led him to the Olympic-size lanes. "Two laps, any stroke you want."

"Okay, you're on."

Both otters climbed on the raised stools. "One. . ." Rye slowly counted. "Two. . ." He held his breath, and without needing to say "three," both otters dove in the water.

Rye kicked with his webbed forepaws, while breaking the water with his paws until he surfaced. Then he threw his arms like propellers, pushing as much water behind him as he could with his webbed paws with all his strength. Without having to come up for air every stroke or so, Rye was able to concentrate on swimming. Soon Rye closed the distance between him and the other edge of the pool where he spun and kicked off the wall.

Any other opponent, Rye would have seen about the halfway mark of the lane, but he did not see Cloud when Rye made his returning trip. Which Rye knew that meant Cloud was right beside him, so he pushed himself harder until he again flipped for the second lap.

Reserving no strength, Rye pushed himself to his limits to reach the other end of the pool. Stealing a breath of fresh air on the turn, Rye made his final flip and struggled to reach the finish line in record time. Soon he felt the tip of his webbed fingers touch the wall and he broke surface to take in a gulp of fresh air.

Looking back down the lane, Rye didn't see Cloud swimming so he looked to his right where Cloud was panting just as Rye was and looking straight back into Rye's eyes.

"Were. . ." Rye tried to say out of breath. He took a few more breaths. "Were you here . . . when I got here? . . . Did you win?"

"I don't know. . ." Cloud answered. "I just arrived. . . I think it was a tie."

"One of us has . . . to have won," said Rye.

"Bah." Cloud sat on the end of the pool, leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees and continued panting. "I don't think I've ever swam so hard."

"Me neither." Rye mimicked Cloud by sitting on the edge of the pool also. "But I still say I'm the better diver, and faster swimmer."

Cloud laughed, knowing Rye was joking around. "How about you were the better diver and I beat you by a millisecond at swimming?"

"Hmm," Rye thought about it for a moment. "Okay, deal. Come now, let us not compete anymore."

"Sounds fine with me, this is too tiring."

Rye stood up and led Cloud toward some of the lawn chairs where he rested, and Cloud in the adjacent chair. Cloud closed his eyes from the sun, while Rye kept his eyes open slightly so he could observe the activity throughout the pool.

"My muscles are sore from that short little swim," commented Cloud with his eyes still shut. "I haven't raced some one as good as you in a real long time. Not even my brothers and sisters can keep up with me."

"You're the first otter I raced since my sister and that was about four years ago," admitted Rye. "She's good but I'm still better."

Cloud chuckled. "Only my tail feels normal."

"Aye, same as mine."

"So what else do you want to do?"

"If you're going to be working here, maybe you should learn the layout of the pool," Rye suggested, still watching the cubs and kits play in the water. "But I'll give you a tour when I'm off-duty. After we dry off, we could go play Frisbee in the Sand Pit if you want."

"That sounds fine," Cloud answered.

The heat of the sun soon had their fronts dried, so Rye and Cloud lied on their stomach to dry off their back which quickly started to dry too.

"I'm really glad you moved to Ab Amor Cloud," Rye dared to admit. "I probably would get slow and clumsy racing the cats and wolves who try to race me."

Cloud laughed. "They're not exactly built to be the fastest swimmers, are they?"

"No, not at all," Rye laughed also. "Lucky you chose this city too because the only otters even remotely close here are my parents and my sister. And trust me, you don't want to meet my sister."

"Why not?"

"She's way too hyper all the time," Rye answered with a chuckle.

Cloud also chuckled. "In that case, I'm grateful I was fortunate enough to come across Ab Amor. Thank you for being my friend today Rye."

"Not at all. I'd hate if you were to leave the city to leave me alone again."

They both laughed again.

Before the sun dried the otters' fur, Rye noticed the lifeguards stand up in their chairs. An instant later, Rye noticed thrashing in the eighteen-foot deep water, and one of the lifeguards jumping in the water.

"Shit," Rye jumped to his feet. Cloud looked at him surprised. "A tiger can't swim. . ." Rye didn't finish his statement as he ran for the pool and dove in.

Beneath the water, Rye saw a young vixen no older than eleven, struggling to get back to the surface. The tiger who dove in to save her was still pawing at the water, but Rye didn't hesitate and dove for the vixen.

Before the tiger was even half way to the vixen, Rye had his arm around her waist, her arm over his shoulder and kicked for the surface. He broke the surface no more than few seconds later, and swam for the edge, setting the vixen out of the water before he got out himself.

The vixen doubled over on all fours and violently coughed, spitting out water and a bit of blood. Lifeguards stationed nearby formed a ring around Rye and the vixen, keeping the other guests of the pool back.

Patting on the child's back, Rye looked toward a female lifeguard.

"Take her to the locker rooms and make sure she's fine," Rye ordered the lifeguard. "If you must, call for an ambulance, but she seems fine."

The lifeguard helped the girl to her feet, speaking softly to her, and led the girl to the locker rooms. The remaining lifeguards returned to their post, while the tiger who earlier jumped in the water walked up to Rye.

"Sorry Rye," he apologized. "I couldn't get there as fast as you."

"Don't worry yourself about it," Rye turned to the tiger. "Worst case is she would have fallen unconscious and we'd have to give her CPR and call for an ambulance. She'll be fine. Go back to your post."

"Right away," the tiger said and departed.

Rye walked over to Cloud, who was among the crowd that formed around the scene, and apologized. "Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize," Cloud said still astonished. "Wow, you really are an exceptional swimmer."

"Thanks," Rye said, feeling his cheeks and ears burn in a blush from the generous compliment; otters rarely gave such a compliment to each other. "I have to talk with Ryan, the manager, and fill out some paperwork about this incident. I hope you don't mind that we have to skip out on the Frisbee game."

"Of course not," Cloud said, following Rye when he started to walk toward the main building.

After showering, they both went back to Rye's locker. Slipping on his employee shirt, Rye handed Cloud an ID card. "Here, this will allow you to play any game in the arcade room for free. It shouldn't take me more than half an hour to clear this up."

"Okay, thanks," said Cloud while they both walked back toward the main lobby. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Are you Rye?"

The otters turned to see a family of four foxes approach them, one of which was the young vixen girl Rye just saved. After nodding at Rye, Cloud parted for the arcade games.

"Yes ma'am," Rye answered to the vixen-woman who spoke to him.

"Thank you for saving my daughter," she said. "We're in your debt."

"All part of the job ma'am," Rye said modestly. "No debt is to be repaid. However, if you and your family would like to participate in a water-safety course, to ensure that today's events will not repeat themselves, the class is held every Thursday and it last for three months. You can pay in-full right now, only five dollars. You can speak to Aaron at the front desk to sign you up."

"Thank you again Rye," the vixen said. "We'll take you up on your offer and we'll make sure that our kits," the woman looked at her daughter and the younger male fox, "stay within their limits."

"If you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to fill out," Rye dismissed himself after the foxes went to the front desk.

Several minutes by while Rye spoke with the manager, reviewed security tapes of the drowning, and discussed the issue further in detail. Meanwhile Cloud played several of the arcade games and several rounds of pool table but soon enough they were reunited and left the pool to go back to their apartments.