Love's In The Water ~Jake Nolan~

Chapter Eight

Jake drops me off home after our shift at seven and I'm just in time for dinner. Perfect time to tell dad about me, maybe, leaving the lifeguard service.

I sit down with Emily, dad and my brothers "How was work Eve?" Dad asked "Yeah, good, same old same old. Rescue after rescue, high tide, backpackers being a pain, south corner got some action while Flat rock made its mark and two guys came to the tower all bloodied up all down the sides of torsos and faces" I say "So the normal" Dad said and Emily started telling me about what they did through the day.

"Hey Dad, could I talk to you, in private?" I ask dad after dinner "Yeah, sure" And we walk into the office where Emily usually does her marking during the school term "What's up?" He asks leaning against the desk "I want to finish school. High school at least" I say "What do you mean? You want to go back to high school" Dad said "Yeah. I know it sounds it weird but I want to graduate and do the HSC" I say "What about Bondi? You won't be able to do both" Dad says and I know I'm about to disappoint to him "If I was to go back to school, I would have to quit. And I know that the traineeship was handed to me on a silver platter and there are many people who are waiting but I want to finish school" I finish and Dad was silent for a moment "Have you told Hoppo?" He asks "No. I don't know for sure that I want to leave but its pretty likely" I say "Well, you might want to decide quickly as you'll need time for interviews and then the time to see if you got in or not" Dad said "So, you won't be disappointed if I leave Bondi?" I ask "Yeah, sure, but you'll actually be doing something productive with your time," Dad says "Thank you, Dad," I said and hugged him. It's good to know that Dad will support my decision if I go to school and leave the service.

Dad drives me to work but Hoppo has taken Jake and me off tower duty and put us on the south corner and we watched the no swimming area but still many people disregard the no swimming signs. "Argh, attention all swimmers, swimming in front me please move down to the set of red and yellow flags further up the beach" Jake announced on the megaphone and as usually people don't listen, and we were being sent in for rescues every five minutes. "Have you thought any more about going back to school?" Jake asks once we get a break from doing rescues "It's all I've thought about. I talked to Dad about it last night and he said that he'd be happy in whatever I chose" I say, "That's good, then?" Jake asked "Yeah, but it doesn't make this decision any easier" I said leaning back in my seat while Jake laughed at me "You'll make the right decision and I'm sure all the boys will support you on what it is, even if you do leave" He says and puts a hand on my shoulder, and it reassures me that the people who have shaped will be they when I leave.

"Looks like we're at north" Jake told me after our lunch break "Great," I said and we walked to the 'birdcage' where our shift was. "It's on" Deano radioed through and I was so confused "Copy," Jake said back "What's going on?" I ask as Jake can't keep a secret from me "Nothing. Does that guy have a fibreglass board?" He said completely changing the subject "Yeah" "Go handle it" Jake says and I get on a board and paddle out to him. "Hey mate" I start sitting up and dangling my legs in the water "Hey, what's up?" The man asks "Nothing much. Is that fibreglass?" I ask and I don't want another repeat of the attack, where I was put into hospital "Yeah, why?" He asks "That type of board isn't permitted in between the flags," I say "Why? Isn't the flags the safest?" He argues "Yes, but this part of the beach is where many families with young kids are and if you lose your board you could seriously injure a small kid," I say "So you're saying that I can't surf at the beach?" He says "No, I'm saying that if you go down to the south you can use your board," I say "How old are you?" He asks "Sixteen" "F*ck off. Go get your boss and we'll talk then" He dismisses me. "Mate, you're not understanding. This is not a surfing area, especially not with a fibreglass surfboard. If you want to continue surfing, go down to the south end on of Bondi or I can call the police and they can escort you off at the beach" I say pointing to the shore and he paddles to shore and I paddled in as well and walked back to the birdcage.

"Is this it?" Bisho asked as everyone in the tower watches Eve grab a board and paddled out at a man who was acting to test how well the trainee will react to rude members of the public "Yeah, she's straight out there, no hesitation" Jake radios through "Did she seem nervous at all?" Whippet radios "Didn't seem nervous at all. Told her to go and she went" He radios back. "So far so good. No violence like last time yet" Deano watches as he's the one who's assisting her, while Jake's her mentor "Keep us in the loop, Jakey" Deano says "Will do" He says. They watch as Eve confronts the man, they seem to be going back and forth when the man, dismisses Eve and tries to paddle away but Eve calls him back and looks like she's yelling at him pointing to the shore, and the man paddles to shore. "Yes! Evie! Yes!" The tower appalled that Eve, a trainee and sixteen was able to send a bodybuilder to shore.

Deano - The man that we've got Eve to deal with is a bodybuilder that is a friend of Glick's and we've asked him to act like a rude and stubborn member of the public and give her a hard time and make it hard for her to keep her cool

"How was that E?" Jake asked as I walked back into the birdcage "Holy sh*t! That was the scariest thing I've ever done!" I said sitting down and Jake laughed "How?" "He's a big guy, like a bodybuilder almost and I'm literally the smallest lifeguard," I said taking a drink from my water bottle "What he say to you? What you do?" He asked "It was really chill in the beginning and then I told that he couldn't surf here and that's when it turned ugly," I said, "What you say?" "You can't surf here, there are many families with little kids here and if you hit one of them you'll injure them really bad, then he asked how old I was and told me to f*ck off when I said I was sixteen and go get my boss then he'll talk" I said "Was that when he started paddling away?" Jake asked "Yeah, but called back and told him if he continues to surf there, I'll call the police and they can take you off" I finish and we finish our shift at the birdcage two and a half hours later.