wawamouse | The Oz community pool AU

Originally posted to Tumblr
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(Same number of deaths) (jk) (maybe)

Some thoughts:

(i'm thinking everyone is like..... 5-10 years younger for this au)

Vern is the shithead parent with the shithead kids who always gets banned from the pool before the season is over and then spends all of autumn getting revenge on the randos who "wronged" him. Rinse and repeat.
Tobias is there trying to have a Nice Time™️ with the kids (he forgot to renew the Club Membership or something so he’s slumming it at the public pool and trying to make a nice time out of it for the children’s sake)
Rebadow comes to the pool everyday full decked out in a hat and shades, fully slathered in sunscreen. Sits at a table with an umbrella or drags a sun chair underneath one of them and reads a newspaper/book/magazine. Sometimes he comes along with a fancy lady with a picnic basket and the regulars are like "Ooh hot date, Bob?" but it's his mom
Busmalis is in the lap pool every morning as soon as the place opens, doing laps breastroke or floating on his back with a kickboard.
Keller does NOT work at the pool anymore but he keeps letting the moms think he does because he still sometimes does lawn stuff on the other side of the fence. He is conning the ladies for their money. He is not above conning Toby for his money also. (Queue Torrid Summer Affair)
Miguel is a swim instructor for like the 7-10 yos and they loooooooooove him. He’s the COOL 😎 swim teacher. He’ll chuck them into the deep end after class until his arms get tired, and also lets the kiddies hold onto his shoulders while he tows them across the pool. he has a whole system of stickers and end-of-week prizes (a rubber bracelet or a cookie or something from the snack shack that he gets for free as an employee anyway). The moms also love him lol.
Chico is a slacker life guard. He doesn’t care (fuck them kids). Like, he’ll still save people if it doesn’t look like anyone else is going to notice and do his job for him, but his main motivation is just not getting fired. He's always chatting up hot mamacitas or talking to his friend by the lifeguard chair. Mainly, he likes blowing his whistle and yelling at people to walk, though as much as he complains about his stupid job, he picks up the most shifts and also helps lug equipment around for the swim classes and subs for the higher level swimmers (easier: all he has to do is make sure they don't drown during laps and "give encouragement") (He heckles them). And yes he does have a big fat crush on Miguel in this (who do you think I am) but he still denies it even though they have hooked up like every summer since they started working at the pool together
Other lifeguards: Huseni Mershah - NOT GOOD AT IT BUT HE'S FIRST AID CERTIFIED; Diane Whittlesey - just 1 of her bajillion jobs; Scott Ross - fired after 2 days when a kid nearly drowned while he was on duty and did nothing; Tony Masters - Clocks in and out with no fuss and nothing crazy EVER happens during his watch but he also works the least number of shifts
McManus is the long suffering general manager of the pool. He is very McManus about it. I feel like I don't have to explain this. His big thing is that he wants to win like a prize or some kind of recognition from the city council for his work in transforming the community through pool activities. He's setting his eyes on the civic center next but first he has to prove that his pool activities are a success (something that is hampered by employees and community members alike)
Ryan runs the snack shack and also is potentially in charge of a ring of teenage delinquents who run around the pool pickpocket and terrorising the younger kids and breaking rules and also sneaking back in after hours to make out and do dumb teenager shit. He's still hustling of course (selling drugs, etc) but he also runs a tight ship—no slacking off if you work in the hot humid climate of the food counter 😔 There's money to be made. Nachos and ice cream to sell. Do NOT open the mini cooler under the counter that says O'REILY on it...
Said runs a summer camp type program for young black youth and brings them to the pool every afternoon that there are no other activities or field trips planned (Arif, Khan, Bismilla, and White are counselors and alternate coming along to help supervise or stay with the kids who opted not to go to the pool). He and McManus often get into debates/discussion about What The Community Really Needs
Groves is there but no one knows what he does and there's a rumor going around among the kids that he ate his mother (He is the pool service technician, but yes, he does also creepily wander around the premises)
The Italians have have like a whole corner of the pool seats always blocked out for themselves. It doesn't matter how early in the day you get there, they will always have that corner and they will always be there (albeit family members rotating in and out throughout the day) until closing time