The Exchange Students

Chapter 4

Hanyu was calling at us to come and eat, so I grabbed one of my blankets and folded it around me so it looked like I was wearing a cloak.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw XinLong looking at me with a soft smile. I quickly left my room, waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

I sat by Zihao and he rubbed my shoulder in a comforting way.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me. I shrugged my shoulders and watched everyone move around.

I smiled as I saw Shuyang and Zeyu playing with our gamin console.

"Sarah, what can we play on here?" Zeyu asked me. I got up from where I was sitting and I helped them pick something out.

"I think you guys can play after we eat," I told them. They did whine and complain until they had the food actually sitting in front of them.

"Woah, this looks really good," I said and looked at what he made.

"Chow mein. It is really good. Especially when Hanyu makes it," MingRui told me. I nodded and took a bite of it.

We all talked as we ate and I momentarily forgot how I was feeling.
~~~
I helped Hanyu clean the dishes up once everyone was done eating. He was washing the dishes and I dried them and put them where they had to go.

"Sarah," I looked up and saw Shuyang standing in the doorway. I set my towel down and faced him.

"We messed something up. I don't know what," he said as I followed him into the living room.

"You guys didn't mess anything up?" I said and looked at him confused.

"XinLong told me to get you out here. He wants to talk with you." I looked over at XinLong who had looked up from his homework.

"Umm, yeah. Sure," I said. He stood up and I followed him up the stairs.

"I wanted to talk about how you were feeling. You seemed happy at dinner," he said. I shut the door behind us and sat down on the floor next to him.

I thought about what I wanted to say, so we sat quietly for a bit.

"I've been through worse things. My mom coming home late is just, not one of the favorable things, I guess," I confessed. He looked at me confused.

"You guys have been here for almost two weeks now, right? Have you ever wondered where my dad was?" I asked him.

He shook his head no then said his response, "if you tell us, we'll respect you for that. I think it's never crossed any of our minds."

We heard a knock on the door, so XinLong got up and opened the door. I saw that it was Hanyu and I stood up also.

"Your friend is here," he told me. I looked at him confused and made my way downstairs.

I saw Layla taking her shoes off with the boys looking at her confused.

"I called you," she mumbled.

"My phone's upstairs. I've been down here for a good portion of the night." She nodded and hugged me.

"Can I stay the night, again?" I heard her ask. I nodded and rubbed her back.

"If you guys need me, I'll be upstairs," I told them and grabbed the bag Layla had with her.
~~~
Layla was sound asleep while I was sitting at my desk, finishing up some homework, when I heard a knock. I slowly got up and cracked the door open.

"Hey." I stepped outside of my room and faced XinLong.

I gave him a questioning look before he spoke up. "How busy are you right now?"

"I'm working on homework right now," I told him. He nodded and looked down the stairs.

Seeing as there wasn't much light entering the small hall, it was hard to see his face well. But, what light did enter, made him look ethereal.

I looked away hoping he didn't catch me staring at him.

"Do you know why she came?" he asked me. I nodded but didn't say anything. He looked down at the floor.

"This is probably weird, but can I hug you?" He looked up at me and opened his arms as a silent way to say yes.

We stood in silence for a while, until I spoke up. I told him everything that I felt like he should know.

"Don't tell anyone, please," I mumbled. He nodded and held me closer.
~~~
After the little moment we had, I went back to my room to find Layla wide awake with a smile gracing her face.

"I'm glad you found someone," she told me.

"I didn't-" "Don't fight me on this one. I know you did." I nodded and sat down next to her.

"Also, thanks for not telling him," she thanked me as we laid down.

"I know what limits I can't pass," I told her and shut off the lamp that settled my room into darkness.

Wack. I don't know what I want Layla's back story to be, all I know is that she has one, and not very many people know it. I had edited this chapter the previous day (January 30th) and my laptop didn't save anything from that. The original one didn't make much sense anyway, so kinda glad it didn't save, but at the same time, I was basically done with it too. Anyways, bye!! Love you all!! <3