Volunteered

PAIGE'S MISCHIEF : LIFE JACKET VIDEO
Chapter One, Part One

Paige was having lunch in the student council room, a ham sandwich and some potato chips, when ms. Williams came through the door.

"Hey Paige! I have a friend over at Nova who is looking for someone to volunteer for a couple weeks."

Paige was in her 13th year of highschool. She had held back on her volunteer hours the year before, to postpone her graduation a year while figuring out what she wanted to with her life.

"Ow great," Paige thanked the teacher, taking the yellow sticky note with the contact information on it. She immediately copied the information down into her notebook.

***

It was only a few days later that page started at Nova, the local Yacht & Sailing Club, to start her new position. She was mostly in charge of cleaning up the office and running the small rental stand. They rented out small boats as well as the basics; boating safety kits, maps of the area, rain gear, lifejackets, etc. There was also a shop where similar boating necessities were sold, a chip stand and a gas station for people to fill up at. Paige's supervisor was Carol she was a little rough around the edges but overall very kind. She mostly worked out of her own office adjacent to the store.

Another volunteer working at the Club was Kyle: Kyle was a media art's student at a different school also in his 13th year. He was building out a Youtube channel for the Club with various equipment reviews and local news.

There was also Tim: Tim was the lifeguard but also worked in the office and store. He was sort of jack of all trades free spirit; no one really knew what exactly he did. An easy going and goofy guy, honestly more likely to be pranking one of the other staff members than actually working on anything. Overall Paige liked him, though she did find his lack of organization annoying.

It was Tim that volunteered Paige to help out with the latest video. Paige had just walked into the office; Kyle was working away on his laptop, and Tim was leaning back in a chair with his feet up on the desk.

"Hey Paige could do it!" Tim was tossing a ball up and catching it repeatedly. Evidently walking into the room at that moment had reminded Tim that Paige was around; and was therefore a human that could be conscripted for whatever this latest project was.
Paige stopped and turned her head to him suspiciously.

"Do what?" She wasn't about to get roped into one of the pranks she had heard about.

Kyle filled her in "We don't have anything to post this weekend so we are talking about shooting something quick this afternoon, something I could just edit together in an evening. We looked around at similar channels for some ideas, figured we could do a sort of community safety thing like this" Kyle spun his laptop around to show a video of a few people standing by a pool wearing different lifejackets and PFDs "It's just a basic informational thing about PFD's vs Life Jackets"

"What do you want me to do?" Paige wasn't particularly interested in being on camera or getting wet without a change of clothes.

"Need a star!" Tim missed his ball and nearly tipped the chair over trying to catch it.

"I don't have a change of clothes, don't really want to get all wet"

Tim was distracted recovering from his near fall. "You're perfect, the people will love you."

"My clothes will get all wet..."

"Ow that's fine, Grab a swimsuit from the racks"

***

An hour later Paige was standing on the dock wearing a borrowed, black, one piece bathing suit; and scolding herself mentally for not being harder to push around. Kyle was setting up his DSLR on a tripod and Tim was walking over with an armload of lifejackets; some from the rental shop and one of two from the store. Kyle had clipped a little microphone to his T shirt.

The first life jacket Tim pulled out was blue, it had three straps around the middle that were black. "Ok PFD first" Tim dropped the others a short distance away.

"sounds good" Kyle finished messing with the camera

"Ok Paige, ready to go?"

It was too late to bail now so Paige just gave him a nod.

Kyle pushed a button on the top of the camera "Ok rolling go for it"

Tim opened with some cringe worthy quality content.
"Hey everybody! Tim from Nova Sailing and Yacht Club here with Paige to teach you all about the different PDFs and Life Jackets available on the market and in our shop down Marian road!. There's a lot to choose from these days so we are going to show you four different ones that we have available, and explain why you might use each one" Tim held up the jacket he had been holding and showed it to the camera.

"This is a PDF, these are very affordable and easily accessible but offer less safety than a Life Jacket, they are generally only suitable for slow boating close to shore"

Tim held the jacket open. Paige had not been given a script, so it took her a second to realize he was waiting for her. Paige turned around quickly and slid her arms though the holes. Tim dropped the jacket over her shoulders and there was an awkward moment where she just stood there; unsure of whether she was supposed to do it up or leave it open. Honestly, she was just trying not to stare at the camera. A moment later Tim took the initiative and leaned over, doing up the three buckles and giving each one a good pull to get it snug.

"With any PFD or Lifejacket it's important to make sure it fits, however unlike a lifejacket a PFD will often ride up on the wearer and will not turn someone who is unconscious over onto their back."

Tim took hold of the shoulders of the jacket Paige was wearing and lifted, pulling the jacket up nearly to her ears.

"A PFD that is fit very well shouldn't ride up too badly, but if it rides up over the wearers nose then it won’t keep your head out of the water. Ok Paige" Tim gestured to the water.

"Hold on let me move the camera" Kyle picked up his tripod and rushed over quickly repositioning by the edge of the dock. "Ok go for it"

"Don't swim right away just kinda fall in and see if it will turn you over, then stay there a minute or two so Kyle can get some shots"

"Ok" Page nodded. The water looked cold.

Paige jumped off the dock, doing a sloppy belly flop into the water. She immediately started to tread water instinctively, but stopped herself. Letting the PFD take her weight -- which it didn't really do. She slid down in it as it rode up, getting water in her face, and she didn't feel especially safe in it. Paige held her breath for a couple minutes but kept feeling like she was going to slide out. After only a moment or two she quickly ended up rolling onto her back and treading water, shaking the water out of her face. The jacket was still pushed up around her head obstructing her visibility and annoying her efforts at swimming.

"Ok that's good come on up"

Paige swam over to the ladder and climbed out of the water dripping wet. It was cold but not too bad and the sun was warm. She stripped the PFD off immediately, letting it fall to the dock behind her.

Apparently the next shot was already going...
"Ok so as we just saw that PDF didn’t do the best job of keeping Paige safe. Lucky for us Paige is a great swimmer, but if she had been knocked unconscious, or out alone far from shore she could have been in deep water!"

Paige cringed involuntarily. She hoped it wasn't obvious on camera.

Tim was holding the next jacket. It was yellow with a red stripe down one side and had a large collar.

"Now this is Lifejacket, it has a few extra features that the PFD doesn't. No two Life Jackets are exactly the same but ultimately all should keep you safe without any effort on your part. Even if you are unconscious"

"This particular Life Jacket is the Mustang Little Legends and it is especially great for kids and teenagers. It comes in sizes right from Infant to Teen, it's a great option that is available in all sizes at our store."

Tim turned from the camera and walked over to Paige holding the Life Jacket open. Getting a better look at it now Paige could see it was blue inside, the collar had a grab loop at the top, and it had zipper in addition to a single yellow strap around the waist. There was also a long yellow strap hanging from the back and a matching buckle pointed downwards from the front of the jacket. It was obvious that the long strap went between the wearers legs and clipped in at the front. She had seen straps like that before on kids jackets, Tim wasn't going to do that up on her tho, was he?

As Tim walked up behind her, Paige decided to just take the jacket and put on herself this time. It was awkward enough having Tim put the PDF on her. Tim handed it over without a moment's hesitation--but then Kyle spoke up.
"Ow last time you put the jacket on her, I think we should keep it consistent

"'Fucking Kyle' Paige thought.

Tim pulled the bright yellow jacket back from Paige's hands. "Sure works for me, should I restart?"

"Just take a few steps back and walk over again, I can cut it up"

Tim took three big steps back and looked at Kyle who gave him a thumbs up.

Paige was really trying not to stare at the camera now. Tim walked over and held the jacket open. Paige turned so her back was to it and looked over her shoulder sliding her arms though the holes. Tim pulled it over her shoulders and repositioned them both so they were facing the camera side by side.

"the first major difference with a Life Jacket is that it has nice big flotation panels in the front; those are too make sure it turns you over onto your back."

Tim closed the two halves of the jacket together and zipped them up. The jacket was much bulkier than the PFD. Paige couldn't imagine why someone would wear one of these instead of the much smaller PFD, other than being made to by your parents when you're a kid.

Tim buckled the strap in the front. "Most lifejackets will have at least one strap as zippers can fail in high speed crashes. Another important feature that all life jackets should have is a flotation collar."

Tim lifted the collar up from behind around Paige's head making the jacket feel even more obtrusive.

"this will support your head in the water if you are unconscious, it also sports a grab loop for pulling a child, or teen, out of the water."

'18 was technically not a teen...' Paige bit her tongue and resisted the urge to correct him.

"Another feature of this Life Jacket not found on all models is the crotch strap"

'Wait Seriously?' -- Paige only had a moment to wonder if that had been for real. Tim was bending down behind her, she sensed somehow the moment he grabbed the strap hanging from the back of the life jacket she was strapped into.

As Tim passed the long yellow strap though Paige's legs to his right hand she squatted slightly spreading her thighs apart. Tim then moved around her. As he pulled the strap up clipping it into the buckle at the front of the Jacket Paige found herself awkwardly wondering what to do with her arms, she somewhat instinctively grabbed hold of the heavy flotation panels around her neck.

"Life Jacket Models with crotch straps can be harder to find but we have several down at our shop. They are great as they completely solve the problem of the jacket from riding up on the wearer! But it's still important to make sure the Life Jacket is properly fitted and secure. Tim went on to give the strap around her waist a good pull, taking several inches of slack out of the strap and making the jacket squeeze in around her. Paige found herself wanting to fidget and squirm but resisted and stood still. Then he took hold of the end of the crotch strap and did the same thing. The strap had been hanging loose under her; but Tim pulled the slack though until it came up snug. This time Paige didn't manage to stand still and reacted to the snug strap by squirming just ever so slightly and bending at the waist. Unfortunately, the act of leaning forward slightly made the strap looser and resulted in Tim taking an extra inch of two of slack. Paige felt that as she straightened back up. Tim hardly noticed tho as he was talking to the camera again, Paige was not listening. The jacket around her was bulky and tight and obtrusive. She rolled her shoulders and twisted left and right while holding the thick foam panels in the front, trying to shift it, loosen it a little, or get more comfortable in it. She resisted the urge to reach for and adjust the crotch strap on camera.

"Ok Paige go for it"

She had been so distracted she hadn't noticed Kyle move the camera over to get her in the water. Suddenly she found herself anxious about this. The jacket was so unfamiliar, she wasn't sure what being in the water would be like. At the same time, she was secretly excited to feel how it would compare.

"Go for it girl" Tim gave her a gentle push, not enough to actually push her off, but it was enough to make her jump given the circumstances.

Paige was distracted when she hit the water and as a result was disoriented. Again she had to resist the urge to swim and tread water, doing a better job of it this time, making herself hang limp despite wanting to orient herself. She immediately felt the jacket pulling on her and twisting her in the water. Her face broke the surface a moment later, resting back on the head rest.

'collar not headrest' Paige thought

The jacket... was strange. On one hand she wanted to get out of it and swim, she didn't like relying on it to support her, it was like being out of control. On the other hand tho it was strangely alluring, like being swaddled, it was wrapped around her so tightly the headrest was supporting her head, the strap between her legs kept her securely inside it. It was stark contrast to the feeling of the PFD where she felt like she was sliding out of it. This was comfortable, she could trust it to keep her safe. It felt like it was pushing her up, not just stopping her from sinking. It felt strangely warm too, although she was in the water she felt a distinct sensation, maybe feeling safe also felt warm she wondered.

"Ok that's great"

Paige opened her eyes, when had she closed them? When she hit the water? Or was it as she 'sank' into the lifejacket? She realised she had been squirming a little in the water and quickly tried to come to her senses, blinking and rolling onto her stomach to swim to the ladder. The jacket fought her as she rolled over trying to force her onto her back. It was easy to overpower but tempting to let it take her again. Paige began to swim toward the ladder with a breaststroke; without going underwater as the jacket held her to the surface. It was a little harder to swim in that the PFD due to the added bulk, and the strap between her legs was distracting her on each stroke. She hesitated at the ladder only a moment, she desperately wanted to adjust the strap between her legs, to loosen it or move it before climbing out but was conscious of the camera and how that would look for all the world to see as she would need more than a quick second to adjust it.

Again Tim was at it already as she made it up the ladder.
"Ok now this next Life Jacket is a similar model...