Waves

CHAPTER 14

"Okay," Nora hopped off of her bed and pranced to her closet, pulling out a sports bra, a hot pink dry-wicking tank top, and pastel green athletic shorts, "It's a good day to get back to running, then."

"You run?" Mouse asked at the same time Jesse said, "You exercise?"

Nora shot both of them a sharp, slightly mischievous look and replied, "Yes to both, if you must know. I ran and exercised every day back in Nebraska, but it's been so hot here that I was worried I might have an episode if I was doing intense physical stuff."

"An episode?"

"Mhmm. I've passed out a couple of times, and had two seizures. Most of the time when I'm going on super big runs on a really hot day. Like, I think the last seizure was a few months ago when it was ninety degrees and one hundred percent humidity, and something possessed me to do a ten mile run," Nora explained casually.

"You've passed out a couple of times and had two seizures while going on runs?" Mouse asked incredulously.

Nora turned to him, her brows furrowed in confusion, "Why do you sound so concerned?"

Mouse and Jesse stared at her, dumbfounded. Finally, Mouse said, "Uh...because I am?"

Nora giggled at his expression, hitting his arm as she walked past, "Jesse's right," She told him, "You really are going soft."

Mouse looked unamused.

Nora waltzed past him into the bathroom and changed quickly into her workout clothes. She did her morning routine, which consisted of brushing her hair and teeth, styling her hair, putting acne cream on and washing her face, and occasionally adding a little bit of makeup if she was really feeling bold. She tied her hair into a high ponytail, just tall enough that it didn't touch her back at all when it dangled down.

Mouse and Jesse had gone from Nora's room when she returned, which she was grateful for, since it was a little awkward with all three of them standing there. She grabbed her yellow Brook Launch 7's, the special edition ones with sparkly pink clouds and baby blue laces. Her running watch, a gift from her mother, was strapped onto her wrist.

Nora dug through the bottom of her suitcase, looking for one last thing. If nothing else, she would wear it to put Mouse's mind at ease.

A moment later, she found the thing she wanted and pulled it out with a little aha! sound. It was a little device that wrapped around her waist and had little probes that stuck to her chest to measure her heartbeat. It was a fancy thing-given to her by Mr. Harsche. Insurance had bought it for her after finding out about her condition. She could add numbers onto the little dashboard and they would be contacted if she lost consciousness. Her location was also shared with the numbers she entered.

Nora put Mouse's, Harrison's, Maxi's, and Jesse's numbers into the device, before walking out of her room.

"What's that?" Mouse asked her as Nora stopped next to the couch to wrap the device around her stomach. She grabbed the little measure cup things and attatched them to her chest.

"It's what I like to call the 'PassedoutOmeter'," Nora responded, "It measures my heartbeat and stuff and it can tell whether I'm conscious or not. And I entered yours, and Harrison's, Jesse's, and Maxi's numbers into it. That way you'll all get an alert for if I'm unconscious on the side of the road or something."

"Okay," Mouse glanced at his phone and then said, "Oh, I just got an alert. And I can see your location, too."

"Yep," Nora nodded. She plopped down on the floor closer to the door and began to stretch. Mouse watched her for a moment, before he went to the kitchen and grabbed a pan from the stove.