The Exchange Student

"Hey, Princess.....wake up."

I felt myself being shook, and I opened my eyes.

Joe was looking down at me, and he smiled.

"I thought you would never wake up."

I sat up, and I looked at him.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're at a gas station. Then we're on the road again."

He seemed nervous, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay, Joe?"

Joe nodded quickly.

"Of course....but, you better get something. I'll even pay it for you!"

That made me curious even more, but I followed him off the bus.

I noticed a car that was parked beside the bus, and I thought Denise and the family decide to come, but when I did a double-take, I realized it wasn't Denise's car.

"Joe, whose car is that?" I asked, but Joe didn't seem to hear me.

"Joseph." I said, and I touched his arm.

"It's no one, Princess. Go pick something out, and I'll pay."

I frowned, but I brushed it off.

Once in the candy section, I picked out a Kit-Kat bar, and I noticed Alysa in the same section as I was.

Seeing as she was Joe's best friend, she might tell me what was going on with him.

"Hey, Alysa....can I ask you something?" I asked, and Alysa nodded.

"Sure, girlie, what's up?"

I looked over at Joe again.

He was talking to Nick about something, and I turned back to Alysa.

"Joe's been acting strange. What's the matter with him?"

Alysa sighed, and she looked at me.

"Greta decided to follow us to Texas. Actually, she's in this very gas station right now."

"Hey, Alysa! How have you been?"

Before I could register the idea, a girl appeared behind Alysa, smiling.

The girl, Greta, was actually kind of pretty.

She looked like she could be seriously Emma Watson's twin, with dark blonde hair that seemed natural blonde under the gas station lights, and big, brown eyes.

She was wearing a Taylor Swift-styled sundress that was black, and was wearing white ballet flats.

Alysa forced a smile.

"Hey, Greta. I've been good."

Greta smiled, and I actually came to believe she seemed nice, and all the talk about her being mean was nonsense.

"Well, that's good! Oh my gosh, are you Ishani?"

Before I could react, Greta grouped me into a big hug.

"I heard so many good things about you! Are you really British?"

I looked at Alysa, and the forced smile was replaced by a frown.

"Um....yes." I said shortly, and Greta released me.

"You are so lucky to live with Joe and his family! I'm so jealous!"

"Thanks." I replied, and Joe came over to us.

"Hey, Princess, did you find something?" he asked, and he glanced over at Greta.

"Greta, I see you met Ishani." he said, and Greta nodded.

"Yeah. She seems nice."

Joe smiled, and took the Kit-Kat bar from my hands.

"Thanks, Princess."

As we walked towards the counter, Greta looked at me.

"Why does he call you 'Princess'?" she asked, and I blushed.

"It's just a nick-name he came up with. It's nothing." I stated, and Greta frowned.

"Well, it sounds like something a guy would call his girlfriend....you two aren't dating, are you?"

I looked startled, but then I started to laugh.

"No, of course not! We're just friends."

Greta looked at me.

"Good."

I shook my head.

Can someone say awkward?

When we got to the counter, Joe handed me back my candy bar.

"Here's your candy bar back."

I smiled at him.

"Thanks."

Joe nodded as everyone went back outside.

I watched as Greta went back to her own car, and it looked like to me that she seemed a little bit mad.

"Ding dong, the witch is back, ding dong the witch is back..." I heard Alysa sing under her breath, and while I didn't want to believe it, I knew she was right.

I thought she was nice, but I guessed wrong.

Hello, drama!