The Exchange Student

Chapter One

A/N: not edited just thought I'd put up the first chapter for you guys. This took a while to write because I wanted it to be good! I hope you guys think it is!

My parents are going to tell me something. I could just tell by the way they are acting. They don't act this way unless something is up and they wanted to tell me.

"So what do you guys need to tell me?" I ask looking at the two of them.

"Who said we need to tell you something?" My dad says taking some more green beans from the bowl in front of him.

"Nobody needed to tell me anything, I just figured it out by the way you two were acting, so what do you need to tell me."

"We are going to have a exchange student staying with us for this upcoming school year." My Mom says

"When are they coming?" I ask

"Max is coming tomorrow." My dad replies.

I stop eating mid chew and ask

"You decided to wait until the night before to tell me this?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full Elliot." My mom scolds softly "and it wasn't finalized until a couple of days ago."

I finish chewing and swallow before replying.

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"We wanted to surprise you."

"So where will this Max be staying?"

"You and Eric's room, so clean it."

Eric is my older brother who is studying abroad in England for a semester or two. We have a spare room so I don't know why this max guy can't stay in there. So I ask

"Why can't they stay in the spare room?"

"Where do you think Eric's things are going to go?" My dad says

"Oh okay." I reply

A little while later we finished eating and my mom does the dishes she cause she wants me to clean my room because I'm going to be gone tomorrow morning to mid afternoon when Max gets here. I have to go help out at a nursing home so I can get some community service hours. I could of helped out at a soup kitchen but I picked the nursing home because my grandpa and step grandma happen to live at it.

When I was only a couple months old my grandparents on my dads side got divorced. Then when I was about five years old my grandpa got remarried to Minnie. They met on a bus trip Boston. Minnie and I are close. She's the only grandma I had near by since one of my grandmas lives in Florida, and after my grandpa and grandma got divorced my other grandma moved to upstate New York.

When I get to my room I turn on some music and start to clean up Eric and my things. When I'm done cleaning up I take the blankets and sheets off of Eric's bed and put on some new ones. After moving Eric's things to the spare room with my dad it's around eight thirty so I get ready for bed before and watch tv on the small flatscreen in Eric's and my room. I honestly can not wait for this Max guy to get here, sure my parents told me last minute but having anther guy here while my brothers off studying in England for college is going to be great. I text my buddy Josh telling him I'm bringing someone with me to his end of summer party tomorrow night. He replies with a thumbs up emoji. I roll my eyes, Sometimes he can be such a girl.

***********************************

I sleep pretty good, but I wake up a little late because my lousy alarm woke me up fifteen minutes later than it was supposed to. I really need to get a new one of those. After packing my backpack for some stuff I need for he nursing home I head downstairs, grab an apple from the fruit bowl and head out to my car.

I'm an junior in high school but I'm October baby but I was put in kindergarten when I was 4 because my mom didn't want me missing out. I don't know why she thought I would miss out in, but having a car before other people in my class is pretty cool. The only thing bad about it is that people are always begging me for rides, but I only drive my friends. My close friend group consists of another guy and two girls. Anderson is the other guy in the group and the two girls are named Avalon and Verona. Avalon prefers that most people call her Ava because she likes it better and people don't ask her what her name means. . I don't blame her I don't always like being called Elliot. Sometimes I liked to be called Eli.

I unlock my car as I walk over to it, I throw my bag in passenger seat before getting into the drivers seat. I start the car and drive to the nursing home. When I get into the building I check in at the front desk with Rose. After I'm all set checking in I go and put my jacket into one of the volunteer lockers and grab my ID tag of the tag hook for volunteers.

Then I make my way to Minnie's room, my grandpas room is right next door to hers for some reason they won't let couples room together. It reminds me of a church camp I went to during the summer I was going into seventh grade. That camp was weird. I see that the door to her room is ajar which probably means her and grandpa were having their coffee and muffins. That was their usually weekday breakfast. On the weekends they get crazy and eat eggs and sausage.

I open the door and see my grandpa in the chair next to Minnie who is in her wheelchair. She has been in one for a couple weeks she fell and hurt herself a little while ago so she has to go around in a wheelchair until she's better.

"Hi gramps, hi Minnie." I say smiling while I walk over to them and Minnie looks up and smiles at me.

"Hello Elliot, we didn't know you were coming today!"

"I knew." My Gramps says "Elliot here wanted to surprise you."

Minnie hit me playfully acting life she was mad.

"Elliot! You know I don't like surprises!" She jokes

"I know, I know." I say sitting down in one of the empty chairs.

We talk for a little while, and about fifteen minutes after I go to their room there is a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Gramps says

"Elliot, you've got kitchen duty." Esme says popping her head into the room.

Esme is one of my favorite nurses at the nursing home. She is always nice to me and saves me some of the good food when it's lunchtime.

I end up staying at the nursing home longer than excepted because of a little mishap in the kitchen that I had to help clean up. But after I help I head home where I see a new car In the driveway. Must be Max's car. Once I park and turn off my car I get out and head inside.

"Mother, I'm home!" I say walking into the kitchen, where she usually in after I volunteer at the nursing home. She's not there so I make my way to the living room where I see my mother talking to a girl with long wavy brown hair. When I walk in she turns her head as does my mom.

"Whose this?" I ask my mom

"I'm Max." the girl says