Bra Boy Romance || Bondi Rescue

Chapter 70: Performance

We were all laughing and having a great time, when Tink returned telling us it was time to go. Michael was up first, and we all followed him to behind the stage. Hundreds of girls were screaming and shouting, signs were being waved around and the atmosphere was incredible.

“BUBLÈ, BUBLÈ!” They cheered. Jesse wrapped his arm around me. I was nervous as hell for my speech, and Jesse knew. As Michael performed, Jesse whispered reassuring stuff in my ear.

“You’ll be ok Em. This is your story, just make it passionate and everything will be fine.” He told me. I sighed into his strong arms and remembered that first handshake we ever made, which determined my future with him all that time ago.

“But Jesse, my story sucks. It’s not even my story.” I protested. I was telling everybody here about my experience with my sister, Kate, and I knew it was a sucky story, but it was the only one I had and the main reason that we were all here experiencing this amazing feeling.

“Just be yourself ok?” He told me as Michael came off stage. Tink turned to me.

“You’re up Emilee.” She told me with a smile. I grabbed the microphone and breathed before taking my first steps out onto the stage in front of all the teenage girls who flocked to watch the 1D boys perform, and I knew what I needed to do. I needed to make them cry, and I needed them to understand the whole point of this massive festival outside Big Ben.

As I walked out the crowd went silent and I raised the microphone to my mouth.

“Hi.” I said. Murmurings followed my greeting.

“So, my name is Emilee Kerr. I am on a business trip of sorts from Australia, seeking to promote mental health awareness amongst young people through Headspace, which is why today was organised.” You could still hear the crickets.

“I know that this not why most of you are here. Most of you are here to enjoy the musical talents of the One Direction boys.” At this everybody cheered.

“But this is not why I am here.” It went silent again.

“My mum died when I was very young, and I became depressed. I couldn’t live where she once lived, walked where she walked and be happy where she loved and was happy herself. So, I went to live with my aunt and uncle in Bali. I had a half-sister and she went to live in Hawaii. I was happy in Bali, I made heaps of friends and plenty of memories, but none of them came close to the life I had lived in Sydney.” People had their hands clapped over their mouths.

“So, I contacted my dad after 10 years of silence and asked if I could come home. Of course, being my Dad, he told me of course. So I moved back to Bondi in Sydney and tried to resume my life before the depression. But it wasn’t that easy.”

I smiled to myself. I pulled out the piece of paper I had written about my first interaction with Jesse, then modified a bit on the plane so it didn’t sound like it was written by 12 year old.

“The beach was packed all the way from one end to the other and I managed to dodge many of the weird people that crowded the sand and water. The beach was scorching and I did the traditional hop across the sand towards the Bondi Lifeguard Tower. Where Dad told me where to meet him. It also happened to be his workplace- I thought it would be the most amazing thing to ever do- work with your mates on the beach where you’ve lived your whole life and save people on a daily basis.  I took out my iPhone and dialled dad’s number. It went to voicemail. Sighing, I went up to the tower and hesitated before opening the door. You never know who could open that door- there could be an axe murderer.

"Hello?" I asked. I heard footsteps coming and saw the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen. Tanned, tattooed with a mop of brown hair and squinty ocean blue eyes, he looked at me with outmost curiosity.”

Jesse came out onto the stage and stood behind me, starting to form a line.

"Hi, how can I help you?" His blue eyes gleamed and I blushed. "Do you want an autograph from one of the guys?" he asked me. I thought that he was being very facetious.”

I grinned at Jesse and he rolled his eyes. The crowd laughed.

"So, I replied anyway.”

“Sorry, Kerrbox is my Dad- I'm Emilee." I stuck out my hand and the guy shook it. His hands were strong and firm and made me feel safe- I guess that’s what people want to feel if you're a lifeguard saving them. 

“Jesse.” I smiled and he led me up into the main tower and I saw two other guys sitting there watching the water. Jesse directed me to a chair and I sat down. There were four other guys in the tower. I recognised them from the show. Sitting and watching the water was Maxi and Mouse and then there was Jesse. The one who thought I was a fan girl. Mouse turned around and just about fell off his chair when he saw me.

“Shivers, who are you?” I smiled and he went a bit red. Maxi and Jesse were chuckling to themselves, but Mouse seemed quite interested to see why I was there as well.”

Maxi and Mouse came out onto the stage and stood next to Jesse.

“Then they all came over to my house that night for dinner.” I said. Hoppo joined everybody else.

“A couple of months later, my life had steadily improved, other than a few ups and downs.” I remembered Gonzo.

“Then my half-sister came down to Sydney for a visit. She was pregnant, and….” My voice faltered. Tears welled in my eyes. I willed myself to not cry. I didn’t want to remember the events of that day, that when I didn’t pay attention to what Kate was doing- I didn’t feel what she was feeling. Nicola came out and took the microphone from me. Jesse wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me as I cried into his chest. My sobs shaking my body, I listened to what Nicola was going to say.

“Kaitlyn Kerr was 21. She hated her life- simple as that. Like many young girls who fall pregnant, have Suckish lives, Kate didn’t want to deal with it all. And I know that that sounded harsh, and that maybe I should be considerate towards people’s feelings and being blunt about it is rude, but it just happened. Kate’s death inspired Emilee to do this- to get up in front of all you, and cry. And tell her story for you, so that she can raise awareness so that this doesn’t happen again.” Nicola finished my speech and everybody burst into applause. We left the stage and everybody hugged me.

“That was amazing Emilee.” Niall said hugging me. I smiled weakly and Tink hugged me too.

“It really was. So inspirational. Time for your meet and greet.” She said. We followed Tink out towards the tent. The 1D boys took the stage and we waited for people to come and meet us.