Deadly Switch (Foreign Exchange)

I - First Meeting

She bent over laughing, her blond hair dangling down whilst the guy, short blond hair and a bluish white shirt walked away. "There you go!" the guy said to the girl. "Be right back."

"Thank you, sir," he said to the bartender and sat down next to me. He then proceeded to pick up the two drinks he'd been handed and accidentally spilled some on the table. He gasped. "Oh! Oh!" I said. "Damn, I'm sorry," he replied.

"Uh, it's okay. Honestly, it's, it's fine, I can do it," I said and took the rag from him and wiped the drink away. "Your accent, you sound like you're from..." he inquired, looking at me. "Scotland," I finished for him. "Scotland. That's what I was gonna say." I chuckled. "Foreign-exchange student?" he asked. "Yeah." I smiled and nodded. He hurried to wipe his hands off on his pants, offered his hand and said, "I'm Kevin." I glanced down at his hand, then back at him, and replied, "Ana."

"Nice to meet you, Ana." he greeted me. I picked up my pen. "Do you wanna come have a drink with me and my friends?" he asked. Kevin looked over at the blond girl carrying a drink. She smiled and lifted her head gesturing for him to come join her. "Uh..." I hesitated. "Come on," he prodded.

"No, thanks, I'm studying. Yeah," I said finally. "Studying in a bar," Kevin remarked. "Mm-hmm." I acknowledged him.

"I like your style, Ana," he said. I could tell he meant it. "I like yours, too, Kevin." Hey, you can't blame me, I just thought I was being nice. I mean, he was nice and all. "Thanks." He picked up the drinks, smiled at me, and walked away to his friends. The blond girl threw up her hands as a gesture, smiled and said, "Oh, yeah!" She accepted the drink, and Kevin replied, "That's right." She threw a dart at the dartboard. "Almost hit it," she said, grinning. She then stared at me for a bit. It was kinda creepy.

After a bit, I left the bar. Suddenly, I had this eerie feeling someone was following me. I kept walking and looked back. It was a person dressed in all black, and I couldn't see his eyes. I walked faster. As I turned the corner, I stopped short. There he was. About a couple of yards away. Standing there, waiting for me. I turned around and as I reached the corner, I accidentally ran into that blond girl. We both made the same weird high-pitched noise. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry." I rushed to apologize. "Oh, you shattered my eardrum," she replied.

Now that I could get a good look at her, I could see she had some pink highlights in her hair and a nose ring. "I'm sorry, really. There's some guy following me." I glanced back at the spot where I last saw the guy. She turned to look too. "Oh yeah?"

"Hey!" she yelled, walking quickly forward towards him. "creeper!" I followed close behind. "Well, look at this winner. Come closer so we can see your face!" she said. She turned to me and reassured me, "Don't worry, we outnumber him." When she turned back, he was gone. "Yeah, that's right, run home to Mommy," she yelled out. She turned to face me. "My name is Monica." "Ana," I replied. We shook hands. "Come on," Monica said. "I'll walk you home, Ana."

Later, walking down the street, Monica shuddered. She let out a breath as she hugged herself. "God, I'm freezing. What about you? It's balls-ass cold." "'Balls-ass'?" I asked. I had never heard that term before. "Like, really freaking cold," Monica replied. I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Actually, no. It gets far colder than this where I'm from." Compared to Scotland, this weather was actually on the warmer side. Monica remarked, "I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"You miss your family?" I was silent. Soon Monica answered, "It's complicated, huh? My family is complicated, too."

"Where you from?" I asked Monica. "Fallbrook," she replied. "Middle of nowhere, you'd love it." I chuckled. As we approached my apartment, I could hear the faint noise of my roommate practicing her tuba. "What the hell is that?" Monica asked. I don't blame her. She's not... exactly great at tuba. "That's the reason why I study in bars. My roommate." I told Monica.

"No," she said. "Mm-hmm, she plays the tuba in the marching band." Monica found this funny, as did I, and laughed. "Oh. You poor thing!" I smiled and replied, "Yeah."