Waves

CHAPTER 041

NORA

"Hey!" Talia protested, turning toward Nora as her eyes widened, "I don't know what I would do without you, Nora!"

"Thanks," Nora responded, somewhat bitterly, but also somewhat relieved. She had been looking for Talia to tell her that she was an okay sort of person, so it brought her great relief when Talia did just that.

"I mean it, Nora. I don't know what I would do without you. Losing my bio dad was a really hard thing, and it's still fresh on my mind, even though it happened a while ago. And my step dad only married my mom two months before you came, so he's still new to the family as well. He's not as amazing as my bio dad, and I don't know what to think of him still. I guess I should give him a chance, since he's not the same person, you know?"

"I don't know, I don't have parents," Nora reminded her, "But it seems like a really hard thing to go through, and if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm right here. I promise."

"Thanks, Nora," Talia leaned back against the sand and watched as the beach slowly returned to normal, "And for the record," She said, "I think Mouse definitely thinks of you as his daughter."

That last sentence left Nora reeling. Did he really? She sort of thought of him as a dad, but she wasn't sure if he returned the feelings or if he was just a really caring sort of guy. If he really thought of her like a daughter...

--

A few hours later, Talia and Nora had returned to their respective homes. Nora was sitting on the couch, scrolling through pinterest for a writing prompt and something to do, and Maxi was watching a talk show beside her.

The front door burst open and Mouse walked through, looking haggard and upset. Nora couldn't blame him, after witnessing what had happened on the beach a little while earlier.

Harrison walked in after him, looking exhausted as well. Nora was suddenly very glad that she had already made dinner, so that Harrison and Mouse didn't have to do it. "Dinner's in the fridge," She said, "I made spaghetti."

"Thanks, Nora," Mouse sighed, setting his stuff on the counter rather roughly and then opening the fridge door to find said meal.

Nora would have thought that he would have been more happy that he had saved a life. Something was definitely wrong, but should she ask, or wait for him to tell her? She didn't want to be insensitive when both he and Harrison were clearly bothered by something.

"What's wrong?" Maxi beat her to the punch, turning off his talk show and leaning over the back of the couch, giving his two friends a death glare.

"The man that we rescusitated on the beach died only a few minutes later in the ambulance and they weren't able to bring him back," Mouse announced solemnly after a few seconds of silence.

Nora let out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. Dying again? That was rough. She felt eternally bad for the man's family, since they had hope and it was just torn away from them.

"He had two kids," Harrison added softly after a moment.

Nora's heart tore again. After losing both of her parents, she knew the pain of missing a guardian to take care of her. Even after all of these years, it still ached immensely, and Nora doubted that the pain would ever entirely go away. It had lessened over time, but not enough that when she thought of her parents, there was still a deep, burning ache.

The only thing that could really help her heal was to gain someone who cared about her again, someone who would stay connected in her life. None of the lifeguards would, because she would leave after a year and then probably never see them, or their show, again.

She wished that wasn't true. It was only May, and she was hoping that somehow she would be allowed to stay in Australia for longer. She had close to six months left, and she was going to use it to the best of her abilites.

The other problem with being in Australia was that her friends were in the opposite time zone. It would be extremely hard for her to connect, because the hours that she would be able to speak with them would be a little awkward. Like six in the morning, for instance.

--

First of all, thanks everyone for 4k views! I never thought that I would earn this many views, and I'm super grateful to everyone who has voted and commented on this story!

Second of all, I have some apologies to make.

So I am working on my lifeguard certification. Sunday, I went to a lap swimming pool and swam my first one hundred meters for training...I was supposed to swim three hundred, but you know, swimming three hundred meters is a LOT harder than I thought it would be!

So then yesterday, I had my first lifeguard inservice. I was super nervous, of course, since I'm going to be working with high schoolers and I thought they might be mean. It turned out AWESOME, if you're wondering. This is my dream job now.

Anyway, I get there, and the first thing my boss says is, "Let's start with the 300 meter swim. Everybody hop in!"

Imagine my PANIC at this moment. But I DID IT and I didn't even finish last! I swam the Frontal Crawl for the first down and back, and then the breast stroke for the next two laps, and then alternated for the rest. I DID IT though!!

ANYWAY, my apology. Nora swam several 800 meter swims in her meet. I realized how unrealistic that was when I swam on Sunday. So super sorry, guys! I'm not going to fix that one, but the next swims will all be a little bit more realistic.

So, have a great day guys and wish me lucj to get my certification. The next big hurdle is the dive and I get a lot of ear infections, so I don't know what I'm going to do about that. Tips in the comments would be absolutely excellent, people.

Bye!

That_Fanfic_Kid