Waves

CHAPTER 02

"We'll leave you to settle in, alright? And then we can do whatever you like," Mouse told her, "You don't start school for a few months, since you came just at the start of summer break."

"Sweet!" Nora smiled and said, "That should give me enough time to finish up ninth grade before I start here!"

Mouse nodded, and then he and Deano left the room, closing the door behind them.

When they both left, Nora relaxed slightly. She wasn't too sure how to act around them, but she was gradually getting more comfortable.

She set her backpack on her bed and pulled out her summer pair of clothes, moving out of sight of the door and changing into them quickly. She took her socks off and pulled out her only pair of other shoes, a pair of waterproof KEENS that she'd received for her tenth birthday.

Nora folded her pair of clothes and put it in her wardrobe, and then set her laptop on top and plugged it in. Her iPhone 6 was still nearly fully charged, since she'd been able to plug it in on the plane, so she put that in her pocket and then grabbed the small donation bin purse that she'd used for so long and slid it over her shoulders. She really needed to go shopping.

Both of the boys looked up as Nora walked out of her room, pulling her worn out scrunchie from her wrist and tying her hair into a ponytail. "Hey, guys," She said.

Mouse smiled, "That didn't take you long," He observed. "You want to go shopping for some more clothes?"

"Yep," Nora said, popping the 'p' because she's a wattpad character.

"Okay then, we can go to the beach in the afternoon, it's supposed to get pretty warm today," Mouse told her.

"Okay," Nora agreed with a grin. She added swimsuit to the growing list in her head.

Mouse handed Nora a key with a pink and purple zigzag pattern on it, "Here's your key," He said.

"Wow, thanks," Nora was surprised that she was even given a key, but she supposed it made sense.

Mouse smiled at her and led the way out of the apartment.

The group walked down the street and then turned left, soon arriving at a small outdoor mall just off of the beach. Nora smiled at the cute little shops and swimming stores. This would certainly be a good place to look for a swimsuit.

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It took a couple of hours, but Nora was finally stocked with enough summer clothes for a year's worth of wearing, as well as two swimsuits. Deano had departed to go to his home after they had finished shopping, so Mouse and Nora took the long way home.

"What's that?" Nora asked, pointing over to where people were selling some things out of their garage.

"Oh, it's start of the summer, so everyone is selling their old wet suits and boards-hey! We should go check it out, since you don't have either and I remember reading that you wanted to learn to surf," Mouse led the way over to the garage.

"Sounds great," Nora smiled again. She'd done that a lot more in the past day.

The two split up to walk around, and Nora browsed a few nick-nacks before turning to look for wet suits and boards. Just as she whirled around, an older lady tottered over to her.

"You don't look like you're from here, dear," The old lady observed with a kind smile.

"I'm not," Nora agreed.

"Well, I have a few wet suits that I haven't brought out. They're just in my cellar storage, and I think I have just the one for you. Maybe a board as well. Let me go and grab them," The old lady winked at Nora and then hurried away with surprising agility given her age. Nora would have offered to help the lady carry the stuff up the stairs, but she was a little nervous to go venturing into a cellar of a person she had only just met. Even though she had a gut feeling that everything would be fine.

As she was waiting, Mouse walked up to her. "I didn't find anything that looked like it would fit you, and she didn't have any boards," He said.

Nora glanced at him and replied, "Actually, a lady just came up to me and said she had some stuff in her cellar, so I'm waiting for her to bring it up," She told him.

"You're not gonna help her bring them up?" Mouse sounded a bit taken aback.

"Well, I don't really know her and I didn't really think it was the greatest idea to go into a cellar of a person I hardly know," Nora explained.

"Oh, fair enough."

The two waited in silence for the lady to return. It didn't take her long to come around the side of the garage, toting a faded pink box decorated with purple flowers.

"Here's the wetsuit, dear. It should fit. My daughter was the same age you are when she wore it," The lady said, "I'll just go back for the board right now."

"I can help you," Nora and Mouse offered at exactly the same time.

The lady laughed, "I might be old, but I'm not so old that I can't lift a surfboard," She said, "I'll be right back."

Mouse and Nora both relaxed slightly and let the old lady walk back around the garage.

Mouse picked up a pot and began to admire it. It was painted to depict the ocean, and a tiny little surfer was riding a massive wave. Mouse checked the price and then set it aside. "Do you garden?" he asked Nora.

Nora shrugged, "I can, but I moved around too much to actually have a garden."

"Oh," Mouse turned and walked around, picking up a couple more pots and tucking them under his arm. "Well," He said, "I've always wanted to learn. Maybe you can teach me."

"Alright," Nora agreed with a smile. That sounded fun.

The little old lady came back around the corner, a large, strangely shaped bag underneath her arm as she walked. "Here," She said, handing Nora the bag.

Nora took it carefully, as if she might break the thing inside it. "How much should I pay you, uh...?" She asked, hoping for the lady's name.

"Fifty dollars, and come down here to see me at least once a week. And my name is Rosie."

"Deal," Nora grinned, shaking the lady's hand. She could so see herself doing this every week. She pulled the money out of her wallet and paid for the board and wetsuit.

Mouse paid for his collection of pots, and Rosie also gave him a large bag of an assorted kind of seeds to plant, and a bag of soil. The man looked like a kid on Christmas.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for sticking around! Please comment and vote if you like the story! Once again always looking for constructive criticism!

Have a great day and thanks so much!

-- That_Fanfic_Kid :)