Waves

CHAPTER 04

NORA

Mouse's hands snaked out and he grabbed Nora by the waist, lifting her easily and depositing her on dry land. She stumbled, nearly collapsing when her feet touched the ground.

"Alright?" Mouse asked her, for what must have been the fifth time.

Nora nodded, "Alright," She confirmed, "You?"

Mouse looked amused, "Don't worry about me," He said, "Let's get our towels and head home, it looks like a storm is coming."

MOUSE

Mouse led Nora along the grassy side of Ben Buckler's, keeping one eye on the girl and one on his feet. Nora was clearly exhausted. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and her whole body was trembling. If Mouse didn't know any better, he would say she was going into shock, but he had a feeling she was just cold and tired.

In the few hours that Mouse had met the girl, he was already growing attached to her. It was a sort of...pull toward her that he had never felt about anyone before. Like he needed to protect her and be there for her, like he needed to almost be her parent. And more than anything, he already wanted her to be happy. He hoped she was.

"Mouse?" Nora's voice drew Mouse out of his thoughts and he turned back to her.

"Yea, kiddo?"

"That was pretty unusual, wasn't it? The flash rip and stuff," Nora asked.

"Well, not really. It's not all that common, though, either," Mouse answered as best he could. He reached behind him and put his hand on her back, pulling her to walk beside him inside of behind him. He wanted to be able to keep a better eye on her.

"Are you alright?" He inquired again.

"Yes, Mouse. Just tired," She replied, just a hint of amused exasperation in her tone. She clearly was not all that bothered by his fretting.

The two reached the beach, and plodded up the sand, where Mouse spotted two guys standing beside his and Nora's towels with their arms crossed, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes. Of course Reidy and Jesse were the ones to see the two struggle in the surf.

"Hey, guys," Mouse greeted as he walked up to them.

"Hello," Reidy said, while Jesse just smirked at him.

"Nora, this is Reidy and that idiot right there is Jesse," Mouse introduced, sensing the young girl's confusion, "They're coworkers of mine."

"I feel demoted," Reidy said, sounding falsely hurt.

"And friends," Mouse added.

"Well it's nice to meet you, I'm Nora," Nora held out her hand and shook both Reidy and Jesse's outstretched hands.

"Likewise," Reidy said politely, "So you're the foreign exchange student Mouse has been so excited about?"

"I guess," She shrugged, a slight smile making the corners of her lips perk up a little bit. Mouse watched her closely, his eyes scanning her body for signs that she might collapse. The way her legs trembled slightly with even the task of standing up was making him a bit nervous. Out of the corner of his eye, Mouse could see Jesse tense, like he was also waiting for her to collapse. Reidy was clearly watching her, too.

"You two got caught in quite the flash rip," Reidy told her.

"You look exhausted," Jesse said.

"I am," Nora admitted, and even her voice lacked the emotion that Mouse had heard from her earlier.