Waves

CHAPTER 06

FOUR DAYS LATER

MOUSE

Mouse leaned over the counter in the lifeguard tower, a pair of binoculars practically glued to his eyes as he scanned the water for swimmers in trouble. But, although his body was present in the tower, his mind was elsewhere.

It had been four days since Nora had come to his house, and already Mouse had grown an attachment to the young girl. She was sweet and kind, with a warm smile and an everlasting twinkle in her eyes.

Four days into living with her, and Mouse was feeling a strange pull to her. Like he was-

"You're thinking about Nora, aren't you?"

It was Hoppo who pulled Mouse from his thoughts.

Mouse took the binoculars off of his eyes, wincing slightly. He rubbed the area where he knew there were red circles from him holding them to his face so hard. "What makes you think I'm thinking about Nora?" He asked.

Deano, who was leaning against the railing behind the two, gave Mouse a look and deadpanned, "Because we're fathers."

"What does being a father have anything to do with it?"

Deano and Hoppo exchanged a look, before Hoppo said slowly, "Mate, you're feeling a fatherly pull toward Nora. It's obvious."

Mouse frowned. The truth was, he knew exactly what Deano and Hoppo were talking about, but he wished he didn't. He wasn't sure if he was strong enough, much less good enough, for Nora. And he wasn't sure what she felt about him. Besides, at the end of the year, they would have to leave each other, anyway.

"She's going to leave at the end of the year, I can't get too attached," Mouse reminded Hoppo and Deano.

Both of them looked at Mouse like he'd grown not a one, but two extra heads. "A bit too late for that, brother," Jesse piped up from the doorway.

Mouse glanced at him, before turning his attention back to Hoppo and Deano.

"She's a foster child, isn't she?" Deano asked Mouse.

"Well, yes," Mouse replied hesitantly.

"So if you two bond, like really bond, why don't you just adopt her?" Hoppo finished.

Mouse stared at him. And stared at him. And stared at him.

And finally, the words registered in his brain. "Wow," He said, "That's a brilliant idea."

Already, even though he'd only known her for four days, Mouse loved the idea of Nora coming to live with him permanently. And he had a feeling that his opinion wouldn't change. She was a hard worker, and a go-getter, and she wasn't afraid to try new things. Not to forget, she was very polite and, at least during the four days that she'd been there, she'd even kept her room clean.

"Okay," Hoppo said, "Now that we've got that all cleared up, focus on the water, mate."

Mouse grabbed the binoculars and put them up to his eyes again.

NORA

Nora leaned over her desk-well, the desk that was in her room-and groaned. She was already almost finished with her schoolwork for the year, since she basically had three major projects left and a few speeches and stuff. All that was left was math, and then she could have a summer of fun.

"Nora," Mrs. Havs said, her voice coming out grainy, partially because Nora's computer was an absolute piece of trash, and partially because Mrs. Havs was halfway across the world, "You're doing fine in math. I promise that it will be okay. Just keep focusing on your work. You have a month left of math lessons if you do one a day, but I don't suggest doing more than six or seven, since you might forget some stuff."