The Exchange Student

"Boys! We need to talk to you for a minute!"

To me and my brothers, that usually means that some kind of news (good or bad) would surely follow, but none-the-less, we went downstairs, where our mom and dad were sitting at the kitchen table.

"What's up?" I asked, and our mom looked at us.

"You know that exchange program that was at the community center? Well, me and your father decided that we could let an exchange student from England live with us."

There was a moment of silence, and I just looked at our parents.

You could say that our parents were one of the nicest people ever--and they are--but, having a complete stranger living with us?

"That's....great, mom." I said, and both Nick and Kevin nodded.

Mom noticed our discomfort, and she sighed.

"Don't you like the idea?" our mom asked, and Nick shook his head quickly.

"Of course! It's just that...." he trailed off, and Kevin picked off where Nick left off.

"I think what Nick is trying to say is...isn't it a little risky?" he asked.

I know both my brothers weren't trying to be mean to our parents, even I had my doubts about this surprise.

"Risky as in how?" our dad asked.

"What if they are a serial killer or something?" I asked, and our mom glanced at me.

Our mom didn't look too fazed by my question.

"If you're worried, you shouldn't be. When we signed up to be a host family, the woman running the booth gave us the information. And no, she isn't a serial killer."

That basically caught our attention right there.

"'She'?" I asked.

My dad nodded, and pulled out some papers for us to look at.

"Yes. Her name is Ishani Ashby. I think she'd be perfect fit, huh, boys?"

The girl in the picture has curly, black hair, and brown eyes, and was wearing glasses. Also
judging by her picture, she looked pretty short.

"Yeah. She could be our sister...sort of." Kevin commented.

"We just wanted to talk to you before she comes tomorrow, which is Friday." our mom stated, and we looked up.

"Cool." I said.

Shortly after, we were dismissed.

I went into my room, and called Alysa Evans.

Pretty much in short, Alysa was my best friend.

She liked us even before we got famous, which says a lot.

When I called her, I could hear music in the background, and Alysa shouting:

"Turn that down!"

I smiled over the phone.

"Hey, Alysa."

"Hey--Stephanie, I mean it! Turn that down, or else!"

Finally, it was quiet on Alysa's line.

"So, guess what?" I asked.

"Joe, you know I'm never good at those guessing games." she told me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Just guess."

"Fine....um.....you found out that your boxers have been bided on eBay."

"No....wait, what?" I asked, and Alysa laughed.

"Just kidding!" she explained, and I half-smiled.

"Well, that's good...our parents told us we're having an exchange student come and live with us." I stated.

"Seriously? For how long?"

"Our mom said about a year. Then they decided if they want to stay or not."

"Cool. So, who is this exchange student?" she asked.

"Her name is Ishani Ashby. That's pretty much all we know, besides what she looks like, anyways."

"Awesome. I can't wait to meet her...but, I need to go. Stephanie has been getting on my last nerves, so....."

I laughed.

"Okay. I'll see you later then."

"Don't give her a hard time, okay, Joe?"

I was confused for a minute.

"Wait, Alysa, what--"

But, she ended the conversation before I could say anything.