Episode 8
The Exchange Student
EPISODE EIGHT
Itâs been a month since Chris left and it was tough for Arden at first but as days go by, Arden slowly moved on and is now doing great, sheâs back to her old happy self and I can see her smile again
As her stay her grows short my feelings for her became stronger but with that comes sadness knowing that one of these days, sheâll be going back to Korea
I arrived at Ardenâs house in my bicycle, I promised her Iâll give her a ride every morning, so here I am..
âArden!â I called out
âIâm comingâ she replied, quickly locking her door
She approached me with a charming smile on her face which made my heart skip a beat then she rode on my bicycle and wrapped her arms around my waist
âAll set, letâs go!â she said
I smirked and started pedaling away
Her arms on my waist, just the two of us, laughing and riding along. Everything felt right, I just wish we could stay like this
We arrived at school and after parking my bicycle in the rack, we went to our room, weâre classmates at this class so we went together
We entered the room and saw almost everybody chatting excitedly, Jamie saw and quickly approached us, following her is Kevin and Ryan, our good friends
Jamie turned to Arden and smiled âhey Ardenâ
Kevin and Ryan smiled and greeted her as well. Arden smiled back and greeted them then Jamie turned to me âFinally you're here, we were waiting for youâ Jamie said with a grin
âWaiting for me? Why?â I asked âand is there something going on? âcoz everybody seemed excited about somethingâ
âWell, theyâre excited for the partyâ Ryan interjected
âParty?â
âYeah, Iâm having a house party this coming weekend and I invited all of themâ Kevin said âand of course you and Arden are invited as wellâ
âAnd thatâs what we like to talk about with youâ
I looked at them and raise my brow âyouâre not making me serve drinks, are you?â
Arden giggled a bit
âNo, not at allâ Kevin said, shaking his hand âactually the three of us are planning to perform songs during the party as a band but we need another guitarist and vocalistâ
âAnd thatâs where you come in my friend!â Jamie exclaimed âyou have an awesome voice and you play the guitar like a boss! Youâre definitely qualified for the job! So are you in?â
I giggled and looked at the three of them âYeah Iâm inâ
The three happily reacted and Jamie gave me a high five âawesome Nicks!â she exclaimed
âThanks a lot Nicks! I owe you oneâ Kevin said with a smile âand see you and Arden at the partyâ
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âLooks like I have something to look forward to this weekendâ Arden said with a smile before drinking her iced tea
I looked at her and smirked âis that so?â I reacted âbut you already saw me play the guitar before, why would this time be any differentâ
âItâs different because this time youâre performing and not just playing aroundâ she answered
âDonât expect too much though, for all you know, weâll just be playing a song or twoâ
âI donât care as long as I see the rock star side of you that youâve been hidingâ she smiled âand for sure after you sing, boys and girls will be lining up to get your numberâ
I scoffed âI doubt thatâll happenâ
âYou never knowâ
I just looked at her as she smiled and continued eating
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Classes are just about over when it started raining heavily, good thing I decided to bring my umbrella today
Ryan tapped my shoulder âHey Nickyâ
I turned to him âyeah?â
âAre you doing something after class?â
âNope, why?â
âJamie âstronglyâ suggested we should practice soâ¦â
âShe got invested again?â
âPretty muchâ
Thatâs Jamie alright, once she got into something, she really puts in so much effort into it
I smirked âIâll meet you guys after classâ
ââkay thenâ
Now I have to go and tell Arden that I canât go home with her today, I hope she brought her umbrella
When classes was over, I quickly went to the lobby and as usual, Arden is there waiting for me, I then approached her
âHey!â Arden greeted âready to go?â
âActually I canât today Ardenâ I said âweâre having a practice todayâ
âOh right, I forgot, youâre a rock star nowâ she teased and giggled âItâs fine, Iâll see you tomorrow thenâ
âYeah and call me when you get home okayâ
She nodded and was about to leave but then I noticed that she doesnât have an umbrella so I stopped her
âWait a secâ I said âdo you have an umbrella Arden?â
She shook her head âI kinda forgot to bring itâ she said âI thought it wasnât gonna rain todayâ
âBoy, your instincts need a tune upâ I teased
She just looks at me adorably that I think my knees were slowly turning into jello
I then took out my umbrella from my bag and handed it to her
âI donât need itâ Arden said
âYeah you do, the rain is pouring so hard youâll be soaking wet in 5 minutesâ I said
âYouâre over actingâ
âIâm just saying so take it, I insistâ
She looked at me and reluctantly took the umbrella âwhat about you?â
âDonât worry I have another umbrella in my lockerâ I assured her, of course Iâm lying but she doesnât need to know that
âOkay thenâ she said âbyeâ
âByeâ I waved and she left
After that I met up with Ryan at the cafeteria and we went to the auditorium where Jamie and Kevin are.
âSo Kev, what do you have in mind?â I asked
âI was thinking of having like song requests and weâll play the requests maybe before the end of the partyâ he answered âwhat do you guys think?â
âI do know a lot of songs so Iâm ok with thatâ I replied
âI know a few songs myselfâ Jamie said âplus we get to jam a lot so Iâm cool with itâ
âBut what if we donât know the song they requested?â Ryan asked
âEasy, we donât play itâ
âYeah, weâll play like a few songs then Iâll end the partyâ Kev interjected
âWell if thatâs the case then letâs do thatâ
We all agreed on that so after that short conversation, we started playing a song we thought will most likely be requested and after 4 songs, we decided to finish the jam session and call it a day, I thought the rain would have stopped by now but I was wrong, it still rained, harder actually, I waited a while to see if a taxi would drive by but it was not my lucky day today, not a single taxi appeared and itâs getting late so I decided Iâll just run really fast and maybe lessen the wetness that I shall endure when I get to my apartment
So I was pacing myself and was about to run when I heard a familiar voice shout âYou are such a bad liar!!â
I looked around and saw Arden standing in the rain with my umbrella. I smiled as she approached me
âIâm busted arenât I?â I said
She smirked âyeah you areâ then she slipped her arm into mine âand you can make it up to me by buying me hot chocolateâ
I laughed and arm in arm, we walked towards the nearest restaurant to buy hot chocolate