My Brothers In Blue

Chapter 5

A/N THIS IS A REALLY LONG CHAPTER!!

Hollie's POV: 

As each day passed, the start of the semester came closer and closer. Don't get me wrong, I was looking forward to the start of the year, but I was worried that the start of lectures would shorten the amount of time I would get to spend out and about in Bondi. It was such a unique area with the most diverse group of character I have ever seen, nothing like the boring cities and towns I had grown up in in England where everyone seemed to act the same. 

That was one of the reasons I had left England. It was too predictable, too claustrophobic. Everything already seemed to be mapped out and I needed a change. It didn't take me long to decide that the change would be to move to Australia as it was something I had wanted to do for a couple of years, ever since I had first seen Steve Irwin, better known as The Crocodile Hunter, on TV. He's definitely my biggest inspiration. Moving to Australia was a huge step but something still isn't right, like I haven't found where I truly belong just yet. 

After a couple of hours of pre-reading through the first few chapters of the thousand page textbook assigned by my professor, I decided to make the most of the beautiful day and got a taxi down to Bondi Beach. The stunning views never failed to amaze me. 

Walking down the sand towards the sea, I quickly dumped my bag and towel down on the sand before stepping into the warm water between the red and yellow flags. I stood still for a few seconds, familiarising myself with the water before breaking into a run and diving head first into the waves. The feeling of the waves washing over me instantly made me forget the long chapters and essays that were waiting for me in a few weeks. It felt good to just enjoy the moment. I could see why they called the sea Doctor Pacific, it was almost therapeutic. 

Half an hour later, I jogged over the burning sand back to my belongings. I sat on my towel and basked in the hot sun, savouring the feeling of the rays on my skin. This was something we hardly ever had back home in England. 

I loved coming to the beach. It's so calming, sitting down and pretending to mind you own business, when in reality everyone is watching each other. Sunbathers watch the people in the water or on the sand around them and the lifeguards watch over everyone. I had so much respect for the lifeguards. 

In England, I had been a lifeguard at the local leisure centre pool, but the job didn't really consist of much lifeguarding. Everyone who came down the the leisure centre to use the pool knew how to swim, so my days were spent watching people swim laps. I had made some amazing friends there though and seeing the lifeguards camaraderie made me miss having a tight knit group of people who I could trust. 

After watching the boys in blue run in and out of the water, ferrying people back to the shore both on the front of the blue boards and on the back of the jetski, I decided it was time to go home. I packed up and walked up to the promenade before passing the famous white tower. The roof was covered in seagulls, all squawking loudly, and the outside of the tower was scattered with different notices. But only one caught my eye. *Lifeguard trials this Saturday*. 

I stopped in my tracks and hurriedly walked over to the blue door which bore the notice. 'It's worth a shot' I thought to myself. 'You'll never know if you don't try'. I quickly made a note of the date and venue of the trials before hailing a taxi back to the dorms. 

5 days later

This was it, the day had finally arrived. The lifeguard trials. Over the past couple of days, I had been swimming every day in the pool outside the Icebergs, trying to be as prepared as I possibly could with the short notice.