ily ~ Jake Nolan

Chapter 4

Throughout the day I was sent in for rescues all along the beach. After spending a couple of hours at the middle set of flags with Jake I moved down to the south end of the beach. I knew that at this part of the beach the were very dangerous rips, meaning that there would be more people getting themselves into trouble. Luckily I had Azza with me to help. I started off on the megaphone directing swimmers to safety although none of them really payed attention to me. By the time it was time for my lunch break I had already completed around fifty rescues with at least thirty of them being down in the south corner. I returned up to the tower to go and eat something. It was about half one and all I had so far today was some water. I grabbed my lunch out of the fridge and decided to go and sit down on the sand whilst I ate it. I positioned myself in a quiet spot on the beach where I could zone out into my own world. I reached in my pocket to check my phone for the first time since my shift started to see that I had gained several thousand followers on Instagram, beforehand I only had a few hundred followers. I had also seen that I had gained followers from both the Bondi lifeguard account and the Bondi rescue account. All morning the Bondi rescue film crew had been following me, I was going to be in the new season which I was so excited for. Both accounts had tagged me in a photo. It was a photo of me doing a rescue, with the caption 'meet our newest member, 17 year old big wave surfer Lu!' I read through some of the comments and they were all so lovely and supportive saying things like 'yesss show those boys who's boss!' and messages from fellow lifeguards. Maxi commented 'gawnnnnn Lu, can't wait to work with you!' Jules commented 'yesss girl power!' and there was even one from Jake saying 'the best!'. I loved how everyone was hyping me up and I loved how they all supported me.

I quickly finished my lunch and headed back to the tower to see where I would be for the next couple of hours. Luckily I was on tower duty. Usually I would've preferred to be out doing rescues however it was close to 35 degrees outside and inside the tower the AC was blasting and it was lovely. I was on tower duty with mouse and lachie. Lachie was only a year older than me so I found it extremely easy to get along with. I also found it very easy to talk to mouse, he was very funny so the afternoon rolled by quickly. We spoke about all kinds of things,eventually getting onto the subjects of relationships. Mouse was speaking about how he was unlucky with love and how he'd always manage to scare away girls. Lachie was telling me about his girlfriend, how they had met in school and were still together now. I told them about my ex boyfriend and about how I really liked him but how he cheated on me and then moved to America. I mean I suppose it was a good thing as it meant that I wouldn't see him ever again but we were on very bad terms when he left so I never got any closure.

Whilst Lachie, mouse and I were watching the water my eyes always ended up looking at Jake. I couldn't get over how good looking he was. His tattoos each fitted perfectly with one another and his hair fluffy and messy due to the ocean water and the wind. "What ya smiling at" Mouse said laughing as he already knew. I could feel my checks getting redder and redder by the second. Lachie joined in "oh yeah Jake was talking about you earlier" I instantly shot him a look as if to say tell me more. "He thinks you're super chill and funny and even offered to keep an eye on you and take you under his wing". "Hahaha very funny" I replied "I know the new trainees get pranked so you can't fool me" Both mouse and Lachie instantly started laughing. "What?" I said confused. "that's true, all trainees get pranked but not on their first day" mouse said still laughing meaning that what they were saying was true. Jake had been talking to Lachie about me. I couldn't believe it.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of me doing several interviews with the film crew, I was the new trainee so they didn't know anything about me. They asked me simple questions like where I grew up, who were the people who where closest too and why I became a lifeguard. Just as we wrapped out the interview the boys had just finished packing up the beach for the day when I saw a head out the back at backpackers. All I had close to me was a yellow rescue tube. I grabbed it and ran down to the waters edge, I whipped off my shirt and and swam out the hardest I could ever swim. I got out to the patient, tied the rescue tube around her and began to swim back to the shore. On the way back I heard her spew a few times. This indicated to me that she had taken in water. I knew that there was an ambo further up the beach after dealing with a dislocation meaning that we could hand the women straight over to the professionals and everyone could get home. Upon reaching the shore, I was met with two ambo officers and all the lifeguards who had been on duty today. Everyone began cheering as I emerged from the water and handed the girl over to the ambo. The boys all ran around me and hugged me, each of them congratulating me for my boardless rescue. Hoppo even saw it as he could see the commotion from his office and rushed over to check it out. "It looks like we made the right decision hiring you Lu!" he said. This filled me with joy. If hoppo believed in my ability I would be able to go a long way.

Authors note
1072 words
Have a great day :)