Exchanging Feelings (Phan)

2. I don't smoke either

 We all sat at the table, we were having fish and chips for lunch.

“I hope you like fish, Phil. We always eat it here.” – Mrs. Howell said to me.

“I love it Mrs. Howell. You don’t need to worry about me, I’ll eat anything”

While we ate, Dan and Aidan were both looking down at their phones, texting. Mr. Howell kept quiet most of the time, and Mrs. Howell couldn’t stop talking to me. She asked about my flight, said something about the last exchange student who had left a week before, told me a lot of stuff about the touristic places in London… I was trying to be nice to her, but I couldn’t help but notice that we were the only ones talking.

“Your english is pretty good, I must say, Phil. If I didn’t know you I’d say you’re American” – Mr. Howell said.

“Thank you Mr. Howell.” I said.

I was trying my best to sound normal, and I was glad it was working.

Aidan and Dan left the table after 5 minutes and went upstairs, leaving me alone with their parents.

“So… Mrs. Howell, could you please explain to me how do I get to my school? I have no idea where it is, the buses I should take and stuff”

“Oh dear don’t worry about it. Dan goes to the same school as you, so you can go with him"

“oh, that’s great then” – I said.

Something was wrong, I thought. It was too easy. I didn’t need to get to their house by myself, and now I could just go with Dan to school, my host parents were cool, the house was nice… Everything was too good to be true.

After lunch I helped Mr. Howell with the dishes and went back to my room. I was feeling quite comfortable, considering it was my first day. I started undoing my suitcase and putting my clothes in the wardrobe.

While doing it, my mind couldn’t be quiet. All I could think was how much I wanted to be friends with my host brother – Dan. He wasn’t exactly the nicest guy in the world, all he said to me was ‘nice to meet you’ – but still. We were probably the same age, we went to the same school, we shared a house. Why couldn’t we be friends? Aidan was quite young, but if I was friends with Dan everything would be fine. Even if I hadn’t even talked to him properly, I felt it.

Some minutes later, I needed to go to the bathroom. I saw Dan’s door was closed but I could listen – he was probably playing video games. I wanted to knock and ask if I could join, but I thought that if he wanted to get to know me, he, himself, would go talk to me or something. So I just left it.

I lay down in bed again, I wasn’t tired at all, but still I started listening to music and fell asleep.

~

I woke up and heard Dan’s voice. I had slept for 5 hours.

“MOM? MOM ARE YOU THERE?” – He screamed, getting no response.

I got up quickly and opened my door.

“Dan, your mum said she was going to the mall”

“Oh okay, thanks. And my dad?”

“I don’t know sorry”

“okay. My friends are coming over in a few minutes ok?”

“Okay”

“Good then”

He smiled and went back to his room, not closing the door this time. I went to his door and asked

“Hey Dan, I was wondering if I could use your internet for a bit? Just so I can skype my parents”

“Oh.. No problem Phil. I’ll tell you the wi fi password and you can use it anytime”