Waves

CHAPTER 12

The group trotted down the stairs, surfboards under their arms, and took off towards the waves.

Nora grinned as she and Matt Dee jumped over the tops of the waves and then flopped onto their boards. Nora already knew how to paddle, since she had been boogie boarding with Talia. She managed to keep up with Matt as the two made their way out into the middle of the impact zone.

"Harrison will join us later," Matt told Nora as they waited in the surf. There was a lull between the waves as they were waiting, which was good because Nora wasn't sure how she would have gotten out while there were a lot of waves rushing her. She'd never been on a surfboard before.

"Okay," Nora said. She remembered Harrison from the party. He had been fun, and nice. A lot like Maxi.

Matt Dee watched the swell, and Nora copied him, but she had no idea what to look for.

All of a sudden, Whippet said, "It's coming, move!"

Nora was grateful for his warning. She struggled slightly to turn her board around and then started to paddle, trying to keep up with Matt and Whippet.

"Get up now!" Jesse hollered.

Nora leaned forward onto the wave and popped up. Or, at least, she tried to. But her feet slipped and instead she ended up falling backward, landing on her back painfully. She sank beneath the waves for a moment, before breast stroking upward until her head broke the surface.

She reached for her board, grateful for the leg rope, and pulled herself back onto it. A little ways away, Matt Dee was sitting on his own board, waiting for Nora. He grinned at her as she wrung out her hair. "You good?" He asked.

Nora gave him a thumbs up and turned into a wave to paddle back out. She did it wrong, though, because a moment later she found herself in the water again instead of on her board. She resurfaced to the sound of Matt laughing at her.

Nora laughed, too, and listened as Matt instructed her on how to lift her board to tackle the waves coming at her.

MOUSE

Mouse leaned back into the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table and holding the ice pack to his chest. Harrison was standing, a beer in his hand as he absentmindedly watched Mouse's talk show with him. He was supposed to be surfing with Nora and the others, but he'd stopped by to talk to Mouse, first.

Maxi had gone down to the beach after saying hi to Mouse. He was more excited than usual to go surfing, and Mouse wondered if it had something to do with Nora also being down there. Maxi loved kids, and he loved to teach. It wouldn't surprise Mouse in the slightest if Nora was going to be his experimental surfing pupil. He wasn't worried. Maxi knew when to back off and when to push.

Mouse was watching the talk show, too, but only slightly. His focus was mostly on Harrison as the younger man sipped his 'special drink', to use one of Nora's strange terminologies.

"What's on your mind, mate?" Mouse finally asked as he reached over and clicked off the show. Neither of them were really watching it, anyway.

Harrison blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and turned to Mouse. "Maxi and I got kicked out of the apartment," He said.

"You did?" Mouse asked in surprise. He hadn't heard anything about this, but he'd been so busy with Nora and his injuries, and having not been at work for the past week, that it wasn't all that surprising he hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, two days ago. We're staying in a hotel right now," Harrison explained.

"So you guys don't know what to do," Mouse realized.

"Yeah. Maxi's thinking about moving back in with his family, but I know he doesn't want to. It's a bit chaotic at his house right now, since his mom just had another baby and then there's a four year old, too," Harrison said.

Mouse chuckled. Maxi was good with babies, but he couldn't imagine the lifeguard turned firefighter living with his mom and dad again. "You know, I have two extra bedrooms," He said, "You're both welcome to stay if you like."

"You do?" Harrison asked in surprise, "I didn't know that."

"Yep, let me show you," Mouse stood and strode to the hall where he and Nora slept. He hadn't opened either of the doors in a long time, since he had no use for them. And judging by the dust on the doorknobs, Nora hadn't explored them, either. She probably just thought they were extra closets or something.

Harrison leaned over Mouse's shoulder, looking at the painted blue walls and plain white bedspread. There was a small closet, and a mirror, and that was about it.

"Not much, but it's a warm bed and there'll be Nora's cooking," Mouse told Harrison.

"That's all either of us need. Thanks, Mouse! Can I pay you or-"

Mouse cut him off, "Move in on Monday and bring Nora a stuffed animal, and we've got a done deal."

Harrison shook his hand and grinned.