NORA
After school, Nora met Xander, Keitan, and Adam outside the main school building. She was the last one out, so they all jumped up from their spots when they saw her. If she hadn't realized just how nervous each of her friends actually were, she might have laughed at the expressions on their faces.
"Come on," Nora jerked her head at the guys to follow her. She would have reassured them, but she didn't know what to say. This was the first time she'd ever had a friend over at her home.
Home? When had she started calling it that?
"We're not gonna be, like, violently murdered or anything, are we?" Adam asked.
"No, I don't think so," Nora answered with a slight smile.
"Well, we may as well get a move on, then," Xander turned and nodded at Nora to take the lead. She did so gratefully, the already familiar path to school laying itself out in her head.
It didn't take the group too long to reach the apartment. Nora nodded at a guy waiting in the lobby whom she didn't recognize, and he offered her a kind grin in return.
"Where's Mouse's apartment?" Keitan asked as he jogged up to walk beside her.
"This way," Nora turned right, like she always did, and led the way to the front door. She tried the knob before pulling her key out, since she thought that Mouse might have been home before her. He was.
Nora twisted the knob victoriously, and turned back to the others with a grin. "It'll be alright, guys," She said in a failed effort to reassure their apprehensive faces.
Nora opened the door and stepped inside, slipping her shoes off on the mat by the door. Xander was the first of the guys inside, but even his normal confidence was faltering. Nora watched with amusement as he carefully placed his shoes on the mat and stepped aside so that Adam and Keitan could do the same.
"Hi guys!" Mouse clapped his hands together to gain the group's attention, and all four of them jumped in alarm.
"Hi Mouse!" Nora responded with a smile, stepping forward and giving him a sidehug.
"Hey, kiddo. How was school?"
"Good."
"Good. Introduce me to your friends?"
Nora pointed at each one as she said their names, "Adam, Xander, and Keitan. Guys, this is Mouse, he's my foreign exchange host. And then that guy over there on the couch is Harrison, and Maxi's out on the patio."
Her three friends nodded in understanding, their faces still not relaxed.
Mouse seemed at that moment to realize just how intimidating he was being. He grinned.
"Well, there's snacks on the counter and Maxi's grilling cheddar dogs, so we can have those for dinner. What do you kids like to do?"
"Uh, we like to swim and surf," Adam suggested.
"Well the beach is right down there. Let me go and get my suit on, and I'll head down with you guys," Mouse replied, grinning.
"There's a bathroom right down the hall and to the right," Nora said.
"One of you can change in my room, too, if you like," Harrison called from the couch.
Xander took Harrison's room, and Adam went to the bathroom, which left Keitan to wait for whoever to finish first and Nora to change in her room. She put on her favorite bikini, a modest, lilac colored one with slate gray high waisted bottoms.
She walked out of her room just as Keitan went into the bathroom. Adam was standing in front of her in his lobster boardies, which were light blue with lobsters wearing hula necklaces all over them.
Xander and Keitan, thankfully, were wearing slightly more...normal...swim suits. Xander had plain black with two gray vertical stripes on each side, and Keitan had red ones with white stripes.
Mouse walked out of his room only a moment after everyone else had assembled in the living room. He eyed Adam's swim trunks and then looked up, clearing his throat, and said, "Let's go swimming."
It was only five, since Mouse had opened early and therefore gotten to leave early, so the ocean was still manned by lifeguards.
Nora followed Mouse outside, waving goodbye to Harrison and saying hi to Maxi as she walked past him. Maxi glanced up from his phone and said, "Oh, hi guys! Mind if I go down with you?"
"Not at all," Mouse said.
"I'll go put my boardies on," Maxi trotted into the house.
Mouse, Nora, Keitan, Xander, and Adam worked their way down to the sand and dropped their towels down in front of the flags. There was only one set that day, since there were hardly any tourists and school kids were coming to the beach less and less. Nora had also noticed that the water was starting to cool down.
"Come on, kids," Mouse led the way to the water's edge, jumping lithely over the small waves. Nora trotted after him, her friends right on her tail.
--
It was nearly eight o' clock when Xander, Adam, and Keitan left the apartment. After they closed the door behind them, Nora turned to Mouse with an apprehensive expression. "...so?" She asked.
Mouse sighed, blowing air out hard through his nose, and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine," He said.
Nora squealed and jumped up, tackling her host in a hug so powerful that he staggered backward trying to hold them both up.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" She gasped.
"Wow, you're really dedicated to these guys," Mouse observed as he set her back on the ground.
Nora grinned cheekily back up at him, "Of course I am," She said, eyes twinkling, "They're a good group!"
Mouse grunted.