Pools

Dad?

Dad!

Summertime in Chicagoland.

A merciless heat wave

suffocates Lake Forest University,

twisting an academic oasisinto a boiling pressure cooker.

It's a wet heat.

The sun pours down like hot fondue.

The students are drowning.

Just the thought of cheese right now

is making me sweat.

But the deep dish is all dried up anyhow.

Campus has cleared out.

Only a few strange creatures crawl from class to class,

sizzling through a desolate summer semester.

Some stayed to get ahead.

Others, only because they've fallen behind.

And for them...

Kennedy!

summer school is nothing

but an infernal imprisonment.

Excuse me!

Up here.

- Hi. - Hi.

Well, uh, do we know why it broke?

I mean,

I don't think there's a reason. Things break.

Everything happens for a reason.

It's... it's hot.

I... I don't even know why you called me.

I... I don't have any knowledge of the mechanics

of air conditioning systems.

Well, do you know any air conditioners?

I have an air conditioner.

It's not like I... I talk to it or anything.

I don't mean the machine.

I mean, do you know anybody who conditions air?

I don't have a relationship with any air conditioners, no.

- Goodbye, Miss Lewis. - No, no, no!

Wait, wait!

I thought you were finally

calling me back about your academics.

Your absences are... immense.

Your grades, somehow... they're even worse than last semester.

And... can you please explain to me why...

Why aren't you in class right now?

Excuse me?

Because who goes to summer school?

You do.

You do, Kennedy.

And sometimes you just... you just have to...

You have to grind it out.

Down and dirty.

Get a little rough with it.

- What? - What?

Who? What? What?

"Get a little rough" with what?

With your classes.

You have to, you have to... you know what?

Better late than the worm. The, the, the early...

Why don't you just run over to class?

I'll go to my next class.

Honey, sweetie, listen to me.

You got a 34 on your ACT.

You had a 4.0 freshman year and goddammit,

you are a Shepard Silverman scholarship student.

Look... I know.

You've been through some, some tough stuff.

And because of that,

if you can make it through the summer semester,

the school is willing to remove sophomore year

from your transcript entirely.

It's your chance for a fresh start.

But I know you've just got to put your head down and...

BLAAAAAKE!

What are you doing?

If you run really fast down in the hallway,

the wind blows across your face

and it cools you down.

I would try it if I were you.

But then as soon as you stop running,

you're even hotter than when you started.

Nothing lasts forever, Blake.

That just seems counterproductive.

It's worth it.

A few seconds ago, I felt incredible.

- I have an idea. - Let it out of you.

Why don't you drive a car with the windows down?

- Because I don't have one. - Borrow a friend's.

I'm all out of those too.

We could be friends.

- Do you have a car? - Maybe.

Then maybe.

What in the name of Shep Silverman?

Hello!

Over here!

Hey!

What's up?

Are you what I think you are?

Well, what do you think I am?

I think you're an air conditioner.

Well, most people wouldn't say it like that, but... yeah!

Yeah, in fact, I do condition the air.

I mean, it's a complicated process

involving various mechanical and chemical components,

but I'm a big part of it.

And frankly, that human touch is irreplaceable.

- Yes! - Yeah!

You like that?

I need my AC unit fixed.

Ah, I was only hired to do the offices.

You think you could fix mine too?

- You got money? - How much?

64 bucks an hour, plus a $23 service charge.

87 bucks? Are you kidding me?

87 bucks is a steal in this town.

Under 100 is practically robbery.

I should join the union!

Join it!

No wonder you're an air conditioner.

You're ice cold.

Fuck me, 'cuz I'm just an AC guy.

I shouldn't make money,

I should work for free because I'm not a human being.

I'm an air conditioner.

Wait! Wait!

I'm sorry!

I feel horribly about the things I just said!

I didn't mean it!

It's fine.

So can I at least borrow your car?

What'd I do?

You insulted a stranger and then parlayed an apology

into asking to borrow his car.

It was very cavalier.

So goddamn cavalier.

Wait!

Wait!

- Wait, wait, wait! - No, no.

Let me just talk to you for one second!

I just have a question for you!

No! No!

Wait a damn minute.

34.4.0

34.4.0.

Shepard Silverman scholarship student.

Shepard Silverman scholarship student.

Shepard Silverman scholarship...

If you just put your head down...

If you just put your head down.

If you just put your head down.

If you just put your head dow...

Dad?

Do you know anyone who has a pool?

Uh, no.

- Then we'll just have to wait. - For what?

A pool.

Blue and cool, hidden under the cloak of night.

- That's a beautiful thought. - It's a spiritual endeavor.

- You gonna baptize me? - Yeah.

But we'll have to go at an ungodly hour

under the deepest cloak of night.

Could you stop saying "cloak of night"?

Also, like, don't you have class?

Mine starts at 8 a.m.

It's possible.

Whose pool is this?

It's unclear. But

the water belongs to Mother Earth.

Oh, uh, I see. Yeah, tempting, but I can't.

- But you might. - I would if I could.

No, you could if you just would.

- But I don't think I should. - There is no should.

But there is school.

There is only the pool.

Waiting patiently under the cloak...

Oh my God, Kennedy, Kennedy, I'm not... I am not going.

Blake, I can't do this alone.

Well maybe you shouldn't do it then.

This is not helping your case.

With what?

We would have become friends tonight.

I think we still could become friends.

- But should we? - Yes, tomorrow,

I think we should.

What makes you think tomorrow exists?

There will be a tomorrow, tomorrow.

At that point it'll just be another today,

and you'll still be thinking about some tomorrow.

Go cloak yourself.

And cloak this man as his beat van barrels through

the beautiful neighborhoods of Lake Forest,

Chicago's very own Beverly Hills.

Its streets are swimming with mansions,

and its mansions springing with pools.

They hide behind ivy-laden walls,

tucked between old trees teeming with old money,

ripe for the plucking.

Red and hot.

Wow.