The Exchange

Chapter 21- A Fire Within & a Fire Without

The house was mostly empty as everyone had migrated to the garden, apart from one or two stragglers making drinks in the kitchen. The back door had been left open and Sasha could smell the thick smokey scent of burning wood, as it seeped into the hall, clinging to the walls and being swallowed by the carpet.

Reaching the door, Carla and Julien walked straight out welcomed by a loud cheer from the group of exchanges who were seated around a fire pit. The sky was darkening outside, so the fire crackled a bright orange against the descending dusk. As it had been a colder day, the night's temperature had also dropped and various people had wrapped blankets around them.

Sasha paused, peeking at the large group of strangers from the interior of the house. She knew she was being silly, half hiding away in the shadows, but she'd never found it easy to meet new people. The slow build of anxiety always seemed to result in her becoming tongue tied and shy. But she had been so pleased that Julien had thought to invite her, it made her feel fuzzy inside, and so she had decided to push herself and go.

Julien was standing at the edge of the fire, greeting friends by pecking them on the cheeks. Carla was still holding onto his arm, giggling and staring up at him with wide eyes. As someone made a joke they all fell about laughing or clinking their beers approvingly.

Staring at them from afar Sasha suddenly felt very alone. She twisted her hands starting to question why she had come. Carla hadn't been the most welcoming, eyeing her up and down and sending her a fake smile that hid a cold and frosty glare. And Julien seemed to have forgotten all about her now he was surrounded by his friends. He hadn't even glanced back once to check if she was still there. It was as though he had removed her from his mind the second they'd entered the house.

As she scanned the circle of people she recognised Luis, someone she had already briefly met. He was clutching a bottle of red wine and appeared to be in a very heated discussion with another boy who had blonde curtains, a nubian nose, a cigarette in his hand and a bored look on his face. Sasha's lips curved into a small grin as she watched Luis become more and more exasperated by this boy's cool and composed arguing technique.

Everyone seemed to be relatively drunk already evident by the hearty chatter that Sasha couldn't understand a word of. She felt completely out of touch standing at the sidelines of the gathering. A girl pushed past her from inside the house flashing her a suspicious look, obviously not recognising her, and went to join the group by the fire.

Deciding that there was only one way that she could calm her nerves, Sasha headed for the kitchen and the collection of alcohol. When she rounded the corner, a slim boy with tawny-hair and a can of cider in his hand came into view, but there was no one else about.

She shuffled over to the kitchen counter, causing the boy to look up.

"Hi" Sasha said sheepishly, feebly waving her hand. 

'Fuck, we're going to do that awkward French and English thing where I don't understand a word he's saying!' she thought. 

But to her surprise the boy responded almost instantly, greeting her in a northern British accent rather than a French one. Sasha almost keeled over from surprise, before praising the lords for not making her the only English one at the gathering. 

"So you're not one of the french exchanges?" she managed to stutter, as a relieved smile worked its way onto her face.

"Uh no, I'm Gabriel. I live just a few streets away from here. One of the exchanges is living with me at the moment," the boy introduced himself with an amused look on his face.

Sasha couldn't help but beam at him. She was so glad to have met Gabriel she could have just run right up to him and kissed him. Her body was already relaxing and becoming less tense and she stretched out her fingers from their clenched position.