The Misadventures of Bondi Beach

3: Stay Alive

A flash of blue and blonde streaks past heading down to the water. I lift my nose out of my book as one of the Bondi lifeguards -Jethro- races to a rescue. Watching as he paddles out to a young woman on the edge of the sand bank, I place my book down and lean over towards my friends, lounging in the sand next to me; not taking my eyes off the guy on the board.

"I know I'm like the gayest person ever-" I say before Emma cuts in. 

"But you'd go straight for Jethro?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. I turn and stare at her, zoning out a bit before coming back.

"What? No! I'm done. That was my point. Just giving you heteros a little reminder." I wink as she groans and Abi starts giggling.

She remarks, "You're something else, Meals."

I shrug as they make conversation between themselves, bending down to grab my book. Jethro, now with the woman on the board, waits for a wave to surf them back to shore. Something unusual in the corner of my eye causes me to put my book back down. A fair-haired boy in green shorts, around 14 years old, is swimming straight towards the duo. Jethro hasn't noticed. I keep my eye trained on the boy as Jeff prepares for the four foot wave coming in. A little bit of panic flares up. Depending on what happens next, this could go horribly wrong. 

The boy disappears. I scan the area of water I saw him last to no avail. He's just gone. Suddenly, he re-emerges and grabs a hold of the board, adding additional weight to the front. He's messing around, pretending to drown. That won't end well. I can hear the faint yelling of Jethro telling him to let go. I watch in horror as Jeff, momentarily distracted, doesn't prepare for the wave breaking right behind them. It crashes down and the board nose dives...

I shoot up to my feet. Two of the three figures resurface: the boy swims off, laughing, and the young woman uses the board to stay afloat and kick her way back to shore. My eyes are trained on the spot where they were crushed by the shore break, desperately searching for a sight of the third figure. Of a man with long, blonde hair. Nothing. Jethro hasn't resurfaced. 

My adrenaline kicks in. Tugging of my over layer, I start running, ignoring the confused shouts of my friends. People flinch out the way as I book it down to the waters edge. I make a mental note of where the board went down. My heartbeat is pounding in my ears as I reach the sea and dive into the shallow waves. A million thoughts are racing round my mind but only one in particular sticks out. Get to Jethro. 

After what felt like hours but was probably only thirty seconds of swimming, I reach the spot where I last saw the lifeguard. If this was any other scenario I would have laughed. A lifeguard who needs rescuing. How ironic.

The salted water makes my vision blurry. It's murky with sand and froth.  I ignore the stinging in my eyes and start looking. My lungs burn and I'm forced to return to the surface to breathe. A huge gasp of air; silently praying I find him soon; I duck back under and keep searching. Every second that passes is another second Jethro is without oxygen. I need to get him to the surface soon. At this stage, leaving the water to get help is not an option. My legs are starting to tire and become heavy. Damn muscular issues. My lungs are on fire. Desperation hits. I know that I can't keep this up much longer. Wait, is that..? 

There!

 A glimpse of long, blonde hair is all is takes. The second wave of adrenaline floods my body and I force my way through the water to Jethro, swimming up behind him. He's unconscious. Fuck. 
Stay alive.

Panic sets in; my fight or flight reflex kicks into over drive. It's do or die, Cammie. Get out of the water. NOW! I wrap my arms around his chest, hooking them under his arms and kick off from the sand bank. 
Stay alive.