Thrown to Die

I pointed at the old, rusted metal sign by the river.It read:[No Swimming — Deep Sand-Mining Pits]"See that? It's an official warning. The water here isn't safe."Graham Spencer shoved his hands into his pockets and scoffed. "Daelyn Hart, Principal Dawson praised you for staying calm under pressure at graduation. So why are you suddenly chickening out now that we're by the river?"That sign is just there to scare kids. We're all adults now. We just graduated. We're supposed to do something crazy!"I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice calm and professional. "The surface looks flat, but the riverbed drops off without warning. You could take two steps and go from waist-deep water to more than thirty feet."My dad used to serve on a water rescue unit. He responded to accidents here before. Every person who drowned knew how to swim."A few of the boys who had been eager to get into the water began to hesitate.Just then, Zara Valentine shoved her phone in my face, alr

Without a second thought, I pulled out my phone and dialed 911."Hello, I'd like to report an emergency. A group of students are about to go swimming in the river near the abandoned docks on the south side of town. The water there is extremely dangerous."As soon as I hung up, I called our city's water rescue team and reported the exact same situation.The moment everyone saw what I was doing, Zara was the first to scream, "Daelyn, have you lost your mind? You actually called the cops? If you don't want to join us, just say so! Did you really have to call the police? We're graduating seniors!"Graham charged over and jabbed a finger in my face. "What the hell is wrong with you? What if this goes on our records? What if it comes back to bite us later? Can you take responsibility for that?"I looked at him calmly and answered one word at a time, "Going swimming in a restricted area will get you nothing more than a warning."But if someone dies, it'll ruin the rest of your lives. Th

My dad looked at the students, who had all fallen silent, and spoke coldly, "I've already notified your homeroom teacher. Now leave this place immediately and wait for the police and the water authority to handle the rest."Though Graham and the others were unwilling to back down, my dad's intimidating presence left them too afraid to argue. On the surface, they all nodded in agreement.The moment they turned away, however, Graham exploded in their private group chat.[Who the hell does Daelyn's dad think he is? Why's he sticking his nose into this?][Seriously. He's just some washed-up rescue worker. What's he so full of himself for?]Zara's livestream had been cut short. Cradling her shattered phone, she shot me a venomous glare.When she got home, she grabbed a backup phone, maliciously edited together the footage she'd recorded that afternoon, and uploaded it as a short video. The video showed only me being swept away and staggering back onto shore, along with my dad sternl

After more than half an hour of frantic searching, the rescue team finally found Graham unconscious near an abandoned sand dredge downstream.When they pulled him from the water, his stomach was badly swollen, his face was bluish-purple, and he'd inhaled a dangerous amount of water. He was still breathing, but barely conscious.The paramedics immediately began emergency treatment before loading him onto a stretcher and rushing him into the ambulance.Watching her son being taken away, Mrs. Spencer collapsed to the ground, sobbing.As for Brett, the fake coach, he was taken straight into police custody when officers arrived.During questioning, he quickly admitted that he wasn't a professional outdoor instructor at all. He'd only helped organize a few company team-building events for small businesses. He knew a little, but not much. He didn't even have a lifeguard certification.I thought that would finally be the end of it.They'd paid the price for their stupidity and arrogance