(}--|Next Thursday|--{)
NORA
Nora's first swimming meet was in one day, and she was a bundle of nerves. It had been several weeks since she had started school in Australia, and the first meet was bound to happen, but she couldn't wait for it to be over.
She was thinking about all of this as she sat at Mouse's counter, peeling the skin off of an apple with a knife and reconsidering her life choices. She still had yet to do the poem for Mrs. Sketcher, too, and she knew that her english teacher would run out of patience soon. Besides, it was best to get it out of the way, wasn't it?
She'd already been told by her english teacher that she had until Friday. There was no other option than to work on it.
Nora grabbed her notebook and walked outside to the patio, sitting down in one of the chairs and watching as the sun sank lower into the sky. Already, the days were much shorter than they used to be.
She leaned back in the chair and stared at the sun as it set into the ocean. A perfect blend of oranges and pinks that she delighted in.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Perfect!
Nora bent down and began to scribble on her paper.
I'm supposed to be perfect,
But I'm only human,
And I have plenty,
Of my own demons.
And sometimes I'm scared,
And sometimes I'm mad,
And sometimes I really can't help,
But just let myself be sad.
And those emotions aren't perfect,
Are they?
Or do they make us human?
Who would I be,
Without my suffering?
I think I might be lost,
Maybe even all alone,
But in the end,
When it begins again,
Aren't we all alone?
Save me.
Nora stared at the sentences on her paper. They weren't the best she'd written, sure, but they would have to do, because she didn't want to spend any more time thinking about her own mental battles than she had to. And she'd already had a hard enough day.
Luckily, Olivia Bell had been gone from school on vacation the whole week, so at least Nora wouldn't have to deal with her until the swim meet the next day.
Inside the apartment, Nora head the front door slam. "NORA!" A loud voice called.
Nora scrambled off of the patio chair and slipped inside, "Hi, Mouse!"
Mouse glared at her.
"I hear you have a swim meet tomorrow?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah?" Nora responded nervously.
"How come you didn't tell me? I want to come and see it!" He protested, flinging his hands in the air.
"Well because I thought you'd be working, and also because I wasn't sure if you would want to see it or not," Nora told him honestly.
"Of course I want to see it, Nora. And I have a day off tomorrow," Mouse protested.
"Okay, well it's at two in the afternoon at our school," Nora informed him.
"What are you racing in?" Mouse asked.
"Uh, the 800 meter Australian Crawl, the 400 butterfly, the 100 for both of them, and the 50 for Aussie Crawl."
"Wow, okay. I'll be there," Mouse promised.
Nora just smiled.
(}--|#!#|--{)
Two o'clock in the afternoon found Nora standing by the side of the pool, dressed in her new lap swimming suit that Mouse had insisted on buying her the day before. Speaking of him, she could see her foreign exchange host sitting in the bleachers, along with Harrison, Jesse, Jules, and another guy with black hair and blindingly white teeth that Nora recognized from Bondi Rescue as Bisho.
She was swimming in the second race, so she was entirely geared up and ready to go. Her suit felt tight against her skin, but it was supposed to. Minimal weight, maximum power. Mouse had already explained that to her.
"Go Adam!" She cheered as Adam raced in the men's 800. He was winning by at least a lap, but the distance was growing to a lap and a half, and he only had two more laps to go.
"YEAH ADAM!" Xander yelled, right next to Nora's ear. She winced.
Keitan chuckled from beside her and then clapped loudly and whistled as Adam turned around for his last lap.
"Nora!" Coach Hal, the swim team coach, was calling her name.
Nora stood from her position squished in between the guys and trotted over to him. "I'm here, coach," She said.
"I need you in another race, kiddo, sorry," Coach Hal apologized.
"It's alright."
"I need you to do the 800 relay mixed as well. You'll be on Xander's, Jack's, and Olivia's team, alright?"
"Sounds good. What number am I and when is the race?" Nora responded.
"You're number three and the race is three races after your 800 single," Coach told her.
Nora nodded. And then she heard loud cheering and glanced up as she realized that Adam was getting out of the pool. He grinned at her, his whole body practically shaking with exhaustion from the long swim as he stumbled over to where their team was grouped.
"You're up, Nora," Coach nodded at her.
Nora took up the starting block and felt herself fall into the already familiar stance. She put her goggles on and watched as everyone else stood on their mounts. And then there was the sound of a ding, and it was time to race.
Nora burst forward, her body sliding into the water gracefully, and her arm already coming up to complete her first stroke. She moved powerfully, feeling the water break beneath her body and enjoying the refreshing coldness.
In no time, three laps were done and there were only thirteen more to go. Nora pushed harder. She could hear cheering from her teammates, especially her friends, and she thought she might have even heard Mouse's voice several times amongst the crowd. But when it all came down to it, it was just Nora and the water.
Just Nora and the water.
Ten more laps to go.
Nora pushed harder. She could win this. She would give it her all.
Seven more laps to go.
The lead swimmer was at least half a lap ahead of Nora. Nora gathered herself and forced her body to go faster.
Five more laps to go.
She was gaining on the lead swimmer.
Four more laps to go.
They were almost neck and neck.
Three more laps to go.
The lead swimmer was digging deep and overtaking her. She was going to-no! She wouldn't think like that.
Two more laps to go.
Everything she had left, Nora poured into her strokes.
One more lap to go.
She passed the lead.
Done.
Nora poked her head out of the water and watched as her team cheered for her. She grinned, blushed, and just barely managed to pull herself out of the water. In the lane next to her, the runner up swimmer offered Nora an award winning smile.
"Wow, congrats!" She said, "I'd never received that much competition before!"
Nora shook her hand, "I thought I was gonna lose!" She replied.
"Nah, you had it in the bag. Anyway, I'm Lana. And you are?"
"Nora."
"Nice to meet you. I hope I'll see you around."
"Me too!"
Nora turned and walked to her team, where Keitan, Adam and Xander all swarmed her.
"You did great, Nora!"
"That was awesome!"
"Glad to have you on the team, kid," Oh. And that was her coach.
"Thanks, Coach Hal," Nora responded, "I'm glad to be here."
--
totally did not do the same thing I did yesterady and not write a word...
Anyway, thank goodness I have backup chapters. Thanks so much for hanging in there you guys, and I really appreciate the votes! I won't say I appreciate the comments, since I have none, but it would be great if one of you told me what you thought! Thanks super duper much for the support and have a great day/night!
That_Fanfic_Kid :)