Life starts now - A Bondi Rescue story

Training and Rookie Mistakes

A/N: Hello guys :) I'm so sorry for the long wait. Real life has been ridiculously busy, I am swamped with papers, projects and other things from uni. I hope you can forgive me...

I now have a question for you about the direction this story should go. Let me know if you want to read:

a) more about Melanie's family and her relationship with them
b) more off-duty interaction between her and the boys
c) more conflict between her and Alicia OR a closer friendship
d) something else

Thanks for your help :) And now: Enjoy.

The two trainees were learning something new each day. Even during the holiday season, the lifeguards helped them develop or improve the necessary skills. The girls performed rescue drills in various conditions at the three beaches the lifeguards patrolled, trained to use the rescue equipment, most notably handling the jet ski, and were taught about several other aspects of their job.

On the 28th December, Kerrbox and Whippet supervised one of the training exercises for their rookies. It was an underwater race, in which each girl had to carry a weight slab along the ocean floor. They could come up for air as many times as they liked, but the goal was to get as far as possible in 5 minutes.

Kerrbox explained the exercise, noting once again the striking change in Mellie's demeanour when she was in the water.

***

On land, the short brunette was shy and insecure despite her calm, patient and professional manner of dealing with people while on the job. She was hesitant to instigate conversation and often seemed surprised when the other lifeguards asked for her opinion or wanted to know more about their young colleague.

It was quite heart-wrenching because they knew there was another side to the girl as well. One that they only caught glimpses of, but that presented itself in its full glory as soon as Melanie was in the water.

There, she was confident and at ease. The invisible weight that rested on her shoulders lifted, the nervousness that sometimes lurked underneath the surface of her expression melting away. In the water, the teen was free and comfortable.

At times, the boys wondered how their sweet rookie had come to be like that. Not the shyness. In their eyes, there was nothing wrong with being a bit shy or reserved.

No, it was the insecurity that made them wonder. The way she looked at them whenever she didn't get the hang of something on the first try, that mix of sad resignation and worry, as if she expected them to either bite her head off or laugh at her.

***

"Alright", Kerrbox called. "Ready?"

The two trainees nodded, both treading water as they put on their goggles. Whippet grinned and the cameraman looked ready to follow the race underwater.

"Go!"

And under they went.

Melanie picked up the weight and started running. Well, it wasn't exactly fast, but running underwater had that effect. In her head, she was counting beats, had been doing so from the moment Kerrbox had given the start signal. 18, 2, 3, 4. 19, 2, 3, 4. 20, 2, 3...