𝐈𝐅 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 → 𝖩𝖠𝖢𝖪 𝖣𝖴𝖭𝖪𝖫𝖤𝖬𝖠𝖭

𝐓𝐖𝐎

"Watch where you're going!" She hissed at the boy who bumped into her. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there!"

His accent sounded... Swedish.

"Are you from Sweden?" She wondered, walking back to her class. He nods. "Cool."

She entered the class and sat next to Jack and Jodi. "Funny, intelligent, nice, perfect guy is just gonna walk through that door? I mean, that's... come on. That's crazy."

As if on que, the Swedish dude Amber just met walked through that door. Jack's mouth opened and Amber placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, class, listen up. We have a foreign exchange student joining us today. He comes to us all the way from Sweden and he's gonna be with us the rest of the school year. So be nice and please welcome Stig Mohlin."

Amber furrowed her eyebrows. "Is Stig a Swedish name?" She questioned, making Emily laugh from the back.

Amber turned around. "What's so funny?"

"You can be so stupid sometimes." She stated. "What did I say?" She wondered as Jack placed a hand on her back.

"Uh... hey, hey..." He chuckled. "Okay, yeah, okay, the guy is decent-looking. Yeah, that's you know, obvious, but, you know, you don't know him. He's probably dumb as a..." Jack trailed off as Swede looked at the board

"What's... what's he doing?" Jack questioned as the Swede finished the question on the board.

Amber patted Dunkleman's back as the teacher claps. "He's perfect, yeah." Dunkleman looked down.

"He's not." Amber replied softly, still patting Jack's back. The teacher and Stig high-fived. "I know someone who's perfect. I know two of them, in fact. And they're both sitting at this desk with me."

××××

Amber stood with Jodi and Fareeda. "He didn't even look at me, okay."

Jodi and Fareeda were too busy staring at the Swede to even notice Amber looking at the bruise she forgot to cover up that morning.

"It's the first time in my life that I've ever wanted someone to look at me, and he doesn't." Jodi exclaimed, not noticing the blonde girl apply eye drops.

"Because to him, you're not a tall girl." Fareeda stated, making Amber listen in. "I'm not?"

Amber scoffed and their eyes turned to her. "Obviously. Swedish people are often tall, so to him, you're normal height and we're all dwarfs."

"Yeah, Amie's right. He's from Sweden. It's an entire country filled with giants. To him, you're just another girl."

××××

Amber frowned. "Man, Kimmy works fast. I mean, the guy got out of Customs, what, an hour ago and she's already marking her territory." Jodi stated as Jack approached.

"Jodi, Jodi, Jodi." Jack got all of their attention and Amber sipped on her smoothie he made her. "Look, all right. I know you want to date some guy that's, like, taller than you and stuff, but if you think about it there could be some major consequences. You know, it could backfire big time."

"Okay, backfire how?" Jodi questioned as Amber patted her on the arm, to small to reach her shoulder.

"I'm glad you asked. Let me paint you a word picture."

Fareeda looked at Amber and then at Jack. "How long is this picture gonna take?"

"Just let me do my thing." When he said that, it was rather fast.

"So, let's say that you and Stig date, okay? You, uh, fall in love, stick together through college, down the line you get married, have a baby. And the combined strength of your tall gene and his tall gene creates a zygote in your belly the size of an above-average sized watermelon. Okay? So that would mean that, that puppy's coming out Caesarean. Through the side door. Do you really wanna go through the rest of your life with a big, old scar on that beautiful torso of yours, 'cause, you know, it's what you're asking for."

Amber patted Jack's shoulder. "He makes a valid point." Fareeda told Jodi.

Amber removed her hand from Jack's shoulder. "Why won't you let her date who she wants to date?" She questioned the two, even though she knew the answer.

Jack liked Jodi and Fareeda thought Jack would be better with Jodi than anyone else. And even though there's still plenty more fish in the sea, Jack will always fish for the same one. The one who wants to date a guy taller than her, not smaller than her.

Jodi gave Amber a thankful smile as Jack and Freeda gave her looks of confusion.

Jodi walks away and Jack turns to Amber. "Jack, you need to stop chasing Jodi. If you truly love her, which we all know you do, you'd let her date whoever she wants. And if she doesn't want to date you, you need to respect that, okay?"

Jack sighed. "You've got a point. I'm not going to stop, though! Maybe if I try hard enough she'd like me back!"

Amber sighed sadly and just walked away from them, Fareeda sending her a look of sympathy.

Fareeda, Amber, Jack and Jodi have all been bestfriends since they were younger, and Amber knew that if she had argued with Jodi, they'd both choose Jodi's side.

Well, at least that's what she thought.

××××

Sadness. That's what Amber felt as she realised, Jack will never like her back.

"Mom, what are you doing with the jumbo Swede?" She heard Jack question his mother, Nina.

Amber snorts, walking to stand by Jack. "Well, he's gonna be staying with us. We're his host family."

Amber chuckled, patting Jack's back. "What?" Jack questioned, making Amber lean in towards his ear.

"You're his host family." She joked and Jack ignored the tingling in his stomach. "Yeah! I wanted to introduce myself to you at school today, tell you the great news, but your mom wanted it to be a surprise, so, surprise!"

"Got him." Stig turned to Nina for a highfive. "Why?" Jack chuckled. "Mom, why, why, why would you do this?" Jack asked frustratedly.

Amber placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him a step or two away from the car. "Because! With all the chaos going on in the world today, there's never been a more vital time for humanity to open our doors to strangers from foreign lands."

Amber stood there awkwardly, though she enjoyed watching them. "Mom, the '60's are over, okay? And you weren't even in them." He exclaimed, glancing at Amber.

"Oh, Stig, buddy, we're just... We're gonna have to ship you back, man."

Amber laughed quietly, putting her hands over her mouth to stiffle the laughing. "This isn't a busted Xbox game you bought on eBay. This is a human being. A human being who wants to experiance what America is all about." His mom replied to Jack.

Amber took a sip of her smoothie. "You know what, mom? You know what? What better way for him to experiance what America's all about than for us to just kick him out of it?"

Amber let out a loud laugh, the smoothie came out of her nose which made it sting. "You get in the car! You too, Amie. You need a lift, don't you?"

"But I sit shotgun." Jack pointed at the passenger seat, with a sad voice. "Now."

Amber and Jack shrugged at each other before taking a seat in the back of the car.

"So, Stig, Amber stays over a lot of the time so don't be surprised if she stays over for a whole week,"