As Marcus and Ryan walked out of the school hall hosting the careers fair to the parking lot, now in each other’s bodies, Ryan explained, “I’m going to drive you to the beach, set you up at the lifeguard station, and then let you loose on the beach for a couple of hours to get a good feel for the job. Sound good?” Marcus simply nodded, and eventually they reached the garish yellow car with ‘LIFEGUARD’ in red text along the side. Ryan sat in the drivers’ seat and Marcus in the passenger seat, which admittedly looked fairly strange considering Ryan was in the body of a teenager and Marcus looked like he could be his dad, but nonetheless he drove away flawlessly down the road.
About ten minutes of awkward small-talk, with the pair getting used to their different voices, Ryan pulled into the beach parking lot. As they walked to the small concrete lifeguard building, Marcus noticed that the beach was relatively quiet - not particularly surprising considering the sky was grey and the temperature was quite cool. In the small building, Marcus took a seat and Ryan explained the basics of first aid and how to carry out a rescue, assuring him that he would be watching closely and would intervene when necessary. As Marcus turned to head back onto the beach, Ryan remarked with a laugh, “Damn, didn’t realise I looked so good from behind,” as the door closed behind Marcus.
The next hour or so was relatively uneventful for Marcus, as he patrolled back and forth along the beach with his float in hand. The weather gradually warmed, and a handful of people arrived at the beach with their towels, but otherwise it was quiet. About half an hour in, Marcus thought he would have to rescue someone, but it turned out to simply be a false alarm. Despite this, he was actually quite enjoying himself - and his new body. He loved the power in his thick frame and how he perfectly filled out the wetsuit, and he definitely didn’t want to return to his old scrawny teenage self. As he reached the end of his shift, he returned back to the station to meet up with Ryan.