Swell (Complete)

Chapter Two (Part One)

"So keep your mind open,
But always keep your mouth shut."

....

Marti sat on the front steps of the main school building overlooking the car park and beach across the road. The first day was over, the blonde girl who had approached her was called Debbie, and she had apparently taken it upon herself to invite Marti into the swim team.
Marti had declined, and initially expected Debbie to go away seem as she wasn't in any of her classes, but she hadn't, and when Tom had found them at lunchtime, Debbie had seemed to have definitely wanted to befriend Marti.
It wasn't something unusual, girls using Marti to try and get closer to her brothers. She didn't mind so long as they weren't complete bullies or spoilt brats.
Swim practises were by the pier and from the front steps of the school Marti could see the team gathering where the pier met the sand. She shivered at the thought of going into the water in mid-autumn, but most of the small group were wearing thick scuba type swimsuits.
"So, how does Wheeler Falls measure up?" Iain's cheerful voice surprised her as he sat down on the step next to her. "You're missing the best part of swim practice."
She turned her attention from the swim team in distance to the blonde beside her. "It's... different." She smiled, taking in his messy blonde hair and his playful blue eyes. "What's the best part?"
He shrugged casually. "You'll get used to the boredom, the best part, well, that's easy! It's me!"
She raised her eyebrows. "Really?" Marti couldn't tell if he was joking about the boredom or if his ego was serious. She had never really lived anywhere boring, or maybe it was just that the people she knew had never allowed things to be boring. Tom certainly had ideas to cure boredom.
"Well, you could shake things up a little." He grinned and nudged her side gently with his elbow.
He was joking, he had to be...

Right?

"How would you suggest someone shakes things up here?" She asked slowly, Iain seemed to be very different to Adora; his presence was a lot more confident, in fact his confidence was impossible to miss.
He frowned and pressed his lips together, as if he was thinking hard. "Well, you could bring a big gang here..."
Marti felt herself tensing when he mentioned a gang and frowned. Maybe he wasn't joking.
"But there's not much for a gang to do, so that'd get boring fast... You could be the best surfer in the world..." He started to laugh. "But, that position is already filled by myself, so good luck there." His laugh made her lean forward and put her hand on her forehead as she joined him in spite of herself.
Completely and utterly teasing her, and upon further inspection after his self-boosting comment, she should have guessed he was a surfer. He really did have the typical stereotype look, although his messy locks were shorter than she was used to seeing on a surfer.
"Well, Iain, you have no need to worry about me surpassing your magnificent surfing reputation, I've never even touched a surfboard." She told him, once her embarrassment had subsided.
He looked at her with wide eyes. "Really? You're kidding..."
She smiled and shook her head. "No. Sports are more of a twin thing and mostly Tom's thing. I'm not really into rough riding or risking-injury type things."
Iain leaned back and his eyes travelled over her body. "Well, I guess we can work on that one..."

Will held onto the strap of his bag as he headed through the now crowded corridor to the front doors of the school building.
Another first day over and done with.
The major classes were always shared with his brother, though Tom tended to sit in the crowd and draw attention. He was the show pony of the family; he got it from their father. Marti made friends easily and had a kind heart, courtesy of their mother. Will was more guarded, at least, after Elissa he had made the decision to be guarded. That thought made his heart ache and he looked down at his shoes, avoiding friendly smiles from new classmates.
Being guarded was going to be hard in a small town like Wheeler Falls wasn't it?
The air outside was crisp and fresh, it snapped him from his daze and a smile grew on his lips as he heard his sister's laugh.
At least he wasn't alone in his grief; Elissa had hurt Marti too, and while he wished neither of them had been hurt, he was thankful not to be alone.
He cleared his throat as he took the few steps to her sitting next to Iain on the front steps and felt relief as she twisted around to see him.
"Hey, Will." She greeted him with her infectious smile. It reached right up to her eyes and Will returned the affection and then gave Iain a nod of acknowledgement.
"I'm going to need to tattoo your names on your foreheads I think, in order to be able to tell you apart." Iain laughed and Will widened his eyes. He was a bit too friendly too fast for Will's comfort, but it made Marti giggle, and Will tried to feel better for it. "Unless you keep that growth going." Iain stroked his chin in a gestured to Will's unshaven appearance.
He looked back to his sister, trying to ignore the self-consciousness and frowned. "Tom not here yet?"
"No, but he knows to meet us here." Marti shook her head. He should have expected his brother to be last to the front steps, he was probably exchanging his phone number with an eager line of girls.
"You guys live far?" Iain asked.
"No, but Tom has our keys." Will answered. "For now."
"And here I am!" Tom's voice announced his arrival as he stepped outside and held his arms out. "Did you miss me?"
"Oh with all my heart." Marti stood up and held her hands to her chest in an overly dramatic gesture.
Will took a deep breath in and closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them again Tom was at the bottom of the steps with Marti and Iain had stood up.
"Want to give us a tour of the town Iain?" Tom smirked as he jingled the car keys in his hands.
"I'll have to take a raincheck on that, Adora's bike is getting new tires so I'm her taxi for the day." Iain leaned against the metal banister.
"Oh, Adora rides! Looks like you and her have a bit in common, hey Will?" Marti turned and looked to him with a broad smile.
Will tried to imagine the petite girl riding a motorbike and turned to look at Iain. "What kind of bike does she ride?" He asked, tilting his head.
"A blue bike, with a cute little basket and one of those metal things over the back wheel for her bag." Iain moved his hands as he described the bike and Will couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Oh... A bicycle... Not a motorbike. Sorry, Will." Marti sounded genuinely embarrassed and Will shook his head.
"I struggled to think of what kind of motorbike someone that small could ride, beyond a peewee bike anyway." He admitted.
"Especially when she struggled to find a push bike she fit on!" Iain laughed.
"Are you talking about me?" Adora's gentle voice broke into the group and she walked down to the ground, stopping near Tom and Marti.
"Yea, we were just talking about bikes." Iain explained.
"Will got a bit excited when Iain mentioned yours was getting new wheels, Will rides motorbikes. Needless to say, he's a bit disappointed now." Tom added, a broad smile filling his face as he looked Adora up and down.
"Ohhh. I'm sorry, I can't imagine being able to control a motorbike... Maybe a kiddie sized bike, but not a real road bike." Adora chuckled and shook her head. She looked from Will to Iain. "Come on, Iain, I promised Mum I'd help clear the common room after school."
"Alright. Let's head off then. We'll see you three tomorrow, not so early though." Iain pushed away from the railing and stepped down to his younger cousin.
Will lifted a hand for a small wave and watched as they headed over to the school carpark.
"So, how did we all survive our first day?" Tom asked, as he gestured for them to follow him to his car. "Did we make any friends?"
"Well, I sure did. The blonde girl that was practically drooling over you at lunch invited me to join the swim team." Marti replied as the three siblings made their way to the black Lancer that Tom drove.
"And you didn't join did you? Marti, I rely on your eyes to tell me who to be friends with in the girl's bathrooms! You know that! Gee whiz." Tom pretended to be disappointed as he unlocked the car with the remote and opened the driver's door. "What about you Will? Band geek yet?"
"No. Music class is tomorrow afternoon." Will put his bag at his feet in the front passenger side and closed the door.
"Is Adora in that class with you?" Tom asked as he pushed his bag over the driver's seat into the back. Marti pushed it to the floor and clicked her seatbelt on in the backseat behind Will.
"I'm not sure." Will shrugged as Tom sat down, closed his door and started the car.
"Well, here's to graduating at the end of this school year hey?" Tom reversed from the car park and headed towards the main street exit.
"Speak for you two, I'll have another year left if we stay here. Though, it is pretty." Marti looked out the window as they passed groups of other students walking along the main street of the small town.