Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 57

Emily’s eyes reddened. Chase was staring at the sea. Nothing was out there but waves, and he kept looking anyway. After a moment, he asked, “Did Whitney go offline?”

The staff nodded.

Chase scooped Emily up and turned away. “Emily, I’m taking you back to rest first. Then I’m going to check on Whitney” Emily’s fingers closed a little upon themselves, while in her eyes there gathered a dark, mysterious coldness. When she looked up, her face held nothing but softness and worry. “No, I’m going with you. I’m worried about her, too.”

The staff watched them walk away. Then he made a face. “Please,” he scoffed. “If you actually cared about the lifeguards, you wouldn’t have pushed them out of the way like crazy.”

This was an industry full of shrewd operators, and everyone knew exactly who they were dealing with.

Emily was putting on a show. The moment she heard that Whitney had jumped into the sea to save the lifeguards, she panicked about her own reputation and started playing the devoted sweetheart.

Some people saw through it. But there were always those who took one look at Emily and believed every second of it. Emily’s fans and Chase’s fans were all very hyped now.

[Emily’s not selfish. She literally said she was trying to protect everyone else on that boat!]

[If Emily had been the only one on that boat, she would’ve jumped in with no hesitation.]

[The way she was crying actually broke me. She could barely hold herself together, and she still wanted to go back in. Emily is genuinely too pure for this world!]

[Sure, those two lives matter, but so do the four other people on that boat. Emily was protecting them, and she’s been taking all this hate in silence. She has been through enough. What more do you want from her?]

Whitney’s fans did not agree with it.

Apparently, if Emily said shit smelled good, her fans would be the first ones in line to find out.

*****

The sea was still rough, waves rolling in one after another.

Whitney’s jet ski rode the waves, up and down and up again. Every person watching held their breath, then, slowly, let it go. [She’s getting further and further from shore. Did she go to the right direction? Where are the lifeguards?]

[The ocean is massive, and these waves are no joke. The lifeguards could literally be anywhere. Can she actually find them?

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[This is like finding a needle in a haystack. We can’t even see anyone out there. How is she supposed to rescue them?] [But what if the waves already pulled them under? I can’t even think about it. They knew those waves were coming, and they still jumped in. That takes everything.]

[Real ones, though. They’re as brave as Whitney. Please let everyone make it back. Please let her find them.]

“They’ll be fine.” The wind was screaming. The waves were loud. Whitney’s voice cut right through all of it, cool, certain, and completely sure.

She opened the throttle and flew. And on her pretty face, through all of it, there was nothing but hope.

“Saltwater’s denser than freshwater, and more buoyant. They have life jackets. Even if the waves take them, they’ll come back up.” It was like she knew exactly what the audience was all thinking.

Her voice was hard to make out over the wind. But somehow, it was enough. Like, as long as it was her out there, nothing could go wrong.

Whitney spun the jet ski hard and carved a clean 180 across the water.

Across the screens, people all stood up, and then everyone started typing at once.

[The lifeguards. I see them!]

[She found them. They’re okay. They’re actually okay!]

[Whitney is not real! How did she even know where to look?]

Right as Whitney spun, the camera caught the two figures, floating on the water.

The two lifeguards had tied themselves together somehow, life jackets linked, holding on against the waves.

Chapter 57 They’ll Be Fine

They were holding hands, eyes closed, heads back, gasping.

The waves had taken everything out of them, and what was left was barely enough for them to stay conscious.

As they heard the sound of a jet ski, their eyes snapped open. And there she was, bright, young, right beside them.

The waves rocked the jet ski. She didn’t move with it, just looking at them, steady as anything. “Can you get up?” she asked. The lifeguards stared. She looked like something that had broken through the dark to get to them, and for a moment, neither of them could quite come back from that.

“If you can, climb on.” Whitney pointed at the raft tied to the back of the jet ski.

That seemed to bring them back. They looked at Whitney, then at the raft. “Y–you’re a guest?”

The other one’s face was still pale, brow creased. “What are you doing?” he rasped. “A girl your age, alone. Any idea how easy it is to flip?”

Seeing someone come had been everything for them. Then they saw it was a girl, barely grown. In an instant, the relief curdled into panic.

On a calm day, this would’ve been too far, too dangerous for a girl her age. But now, there was the storm and the waves. One wrong move and the jet ski went over with her.

They’d known the risks when they took the job. If they made it out, fine. If they didn’t, that was the job too. But not some girl with her whole life ahead of her, trading it for theirs.

Their hearts were in their throats. They’d just been through wave after wave themselves, and this was worse.

Then another engine rose somewhere in the distance. And then Ryan was just there.

The two lifeguards went silent and had no idea why he was out here, too. ‘The show just let them come for us? What if something happened?‘ they wondered.