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The Foreign Exchange Student
Mia looked at the variety and shuffled uncomfortably from one leg to another as she sat on a chair in the arrival hall of the airport. And in five and ten minutes she would be meeting her foreign exchange student for the first time. Mia had offered her house and herself as an exchange host for a French student who was to spend a few months in the United States. She was happy about the opportunity but scared that a stranger would be part of her family for some time.
When people began to exit the gates, Mia straining her neck in an attempt to see Léa, the 17-year-old girl who was going to host her. At last, and after what could be considered eternity, she caught sight of a small girl with wavy brown hair, nervously ohecking the surrounding people. Mia used her hand to gesture to the girl, just to make sure that the girl could notice her. “Léa! Over here!” she called.
Instantly, Léa smiled relaxed as she saw Mia and waved to her whilst pulling along a large suitcase behind her. “Hello, I am Léa! Hello, I’m very pleased to meet you,” she said in English, but she had an accent. For the next few minutes the introduction phase ended, and the two girls started talking to each other as they walked towards the parking lot area. Mia got to know Léa a little closer and found out that she was from Bordeaux in the south of France, and that was her first time ever in America. Léa looked at the mountain-filled vegetation and the well-developed green hilly landscape that enclosed their town as Mia escorted them back home.
After that, Mia beat around the bush and began to show Léa to all her friends in the next few days. Still, it’s rather surprising to see how quickly this diverse group of teenagers got friendly with each other. The most prominent of all memories that were associated with summer were to have fun, travel, take rides, spend hours at the lake, go for a hike, or just do nothing. This was quite understandable because Léa was sociable and adventurous by nature; she could easily blend with everyone else. Befo’ long she was truly a catch of that party.
Mia enjoyed doing that to a new individual, showing him or her around the town. Léa is the reason she started to appreciate things she used to not appreciate very much, such as the orange leaves and other small town idioms like pumpkin chucking. She was therefore eager to talk funny stories about the lives of the French students, tell them some French phrases, and make sure the whole group was ready with the amazing crêpes.
A boy who was interested in a worldly and artistic girl like Léa was Connor, a best friend of Mia. Connor had nothing as extremely extrovert as such; by the contrary, he was rather introverted and went to seek his solitude in any case. But he tried to join the group activities every time Léa was present in that place. Mia realised that they were checking each other out when they believed that no one was observing them. The whole atmosphere suggested that perhaps there was some sort of chemistry in the making. The idea of her best friend and her new friend maybe having a ‘hidden’ attraction and thus becoming partners was the last thing that excited her.
It was the time to go back home in France for Léa but she was already at friend’s terms with her fellow Americans. They planned to spend Léa’s last weekend visiting her, so they were going camping. On the first night, they made a fire and spent some time laughing and telling jokes about what ever fun they had for the three months they had been in power. Mia saw that Connor shadows Léa throughout the event and also saw that Léa was constantly by Connor’s side.
And as the other friends tosting off the mallows, Mia trailed after Léa and Connor and they left this forest to rendezvous again in the woods. Twenty minutes later, Connor came back as if he just won the lottery. Mia frowned, looking at him questioningly, yet he just pulled a mock look of indifference but the rapture on his face said it all.
Léa’s final day in New York was a significant day, in so we all decided to go to the airport to say farewell. Oh yes, there was a loss of hugs or rather, good-bye sessions, to say the least couple of teary moments could be expected. But when it was Connor’s turn, he hugged Léa so tight that she said something to him in ear and laughed. Léa said she would do her best to visit again sometime.
Mia caught Connor was not quite right in the few months after that. The normally very quiet boy was more social and even participated in group discussions more. He also looked as if he was always in the process of checking his phone and laptop frequently. Mia thought that he must be in touch with Léa in France over the phone all the time. It gave her great pleasure to notice her old friend so happy. Connor and Léa were friends now and it appeared as distance couldn’t affect their bond that created that summer.
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One year later
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Mia was at the arrival gates of the airport again. This time she was waiting with Connor, who was fidgeting almost constantly in anticipation, or rather stress. Mia blushed a little and grinned, and her friend blushed a little more and looked down, shrugging and smiling. Today, Léa was arriving in their college town for a year as an exchange student of their college.
That is why Mia understood that Connor had applied to all the same colleges as hers, so if he received an acceptance letter to a distant university, he would have valid grounds to turn her down politely. He deliberately followed her to state college so they could be together during the year she was to spend in the United States for her studies. It was still a little hard (for instance, at first) to believe that people could manage their relations when living on various continents. However, realizing that Connor and Léa made a great effort to maintain their friendship and build it up, the idea of distance did matter for her.
After that summer, but up to now, Connor and Léa luckily had the chance to meet two other times in France. Mia enjoyed how the characters of their story developed and would always wish that the two got a shot at marriage. She saw Connor looking around nervously, and he eventually spotted Léa. His serious face contorted with happiness right away. Léa started laughing and immediately ran toward Connor. He ran forward and encircled her in a hug and twirled them around. Mia looked and beamed with joy for her two friends. It was unknown where this year would take Léa and Connor, but she wanted the year to bring that much-needed happiness that belongs to them. The End.
