Foreign Exchange [closed]

[Ohia_Lehua]

Closed for LustyQuill​

Cassia Bansal
18 years old, about to turn 19 in a month
5'7, long playful dark copper brown waves as soft silk, expressive almond shaped dark hazel eyes with hints of green, warm golden tanned skin and graceful curves in all the right places.
_________________

Turning Fifty for Cassia’s father meant uprooting their family and moving from the sunny warmth of Florida to Washington State where he had spent his childhood and formative years before attending college. She didn’t want to be dramatic but it felt like the end of the world for her. Overnight her dad became a different person, it wasn’t a bad change but suddenly he wanted to go on family weekend camping trips, working out and learning how to fly a plane. It was also nice for Cass to see her overworked mother follow suit and try out new things and while it was all well and fine for her presents Cass just wanted to be left alone and return to the beach and the warmth.

It wasn’t in the cards for her when a year later and only slightly more settled in their new life her father announced that they would be hosting a foreign exchange student. As her father had taken up coaching the high school hockey team Cass naturally assumed that she could be picking up a younger ‘brother’. Little did she know that Kevin, a life long friend of her father’s and owner of the local minor league hockey team had asked her dad for a favor, as one of the host family had dropped out for personal reasons leaving one “kid” all but homeless for the season.

Even more delightful was the news that Cass would be picking him up later on that night when his flight came in. She was annoyed at the sudden upheaval of her night but honestly she wasn't doing anything and the weather forecast promised a nice nearly cloudless night. Plus the more she got to thinking about the more excited she was. The chance to learn about a new culture and maybe even another language was trilling. Sure she was nervous over him not liking her but she had a bunch of younger cousins and they all loved her, chances were he would be no different. Well maybe a little different as she didn't expect him to love her or anything.

At a quarter before midnight Cass stood at the arrival gate with a sign (old shoe box lid), with a name written on it searching for a young face in the crowd. A rather handsome, honestly most gorgeous tall rugged man Cass had ever seen, rounded the corner saw her and smiled. Like a blushing teen, wait she was a blushing teen! Cass smiled back and quickly looked away, her girlish eighteen year old nerves getting the best of her.

She was awkward, clutzy and at best a bit of a dork and Cass knew herself enough to know that if she kept looking at the handsome man she would fall into a fit of quite nervous giggles. Not that it mattered. She would never see the bit of eye candy ever again so what not look. Cass convinced herself at the same moment he stopped in front of her expectantly.

 

[LustyQuill]

Jasper van der Wal

Just turned 20.
6'0" with slightly curly mousey blond and brown hair that hangs just above his shoulders. His deep dark green eyes hint at complexities glossed over by his easy laugh and ever-present bright white smile. At 180lbs, his body is lean and sculpted: an amalgamation of tight folds and sharp corners under a taut layer of supple porcelain skin.

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It has been a long, miserable flight: yet another indication that this entire odyssey was a big giant mistake. First of all, his flight had been code switched from Lufthansa to United which meant no in-flight entertainment, no beer. Having just turned twenty, he was still a full year away from being able to enjoy a beer in public again. Worse, a young couple with a newborn was seated right across the aisle from him and their baby boy cried inconsolably for what must've been 6 hours of the 11 hour flight. No amount of volume on his Beats could drown out that shrieking.

He was leaving his beloved Amstel Tigers behind and emigrating to the US in a last-ditch effort to build a real career as a hockey player. The Tigers had increasingly become more of a hockey club than a real professional operation lately as interest in the sport continued to wane around the Netherlands. Jasper had tried to transfer to other clubs in Germany, Sweden, and Norway but they weren't interested in an "orphan" kid without pro-league experience. Sure, he'd been an alternate for the Dutch National team, but given their performance in the Olympics, that wasn't saying much.

When the opportunity came up to get a "full ride" transfer to a US university AND join a local minor league team, Jasper thought it might finally be destiny opening a door for him. He jumped at the chance without even considering everything that would be required. He sold all his worldly possessions, gave notice on his flat, and bought a one-way ticket to the States, only to find out his host family had fallen through. Once again, he would be homeless.

Fortunately, another offered to take him in at the last moment. He knew literally nothing about what to expect, but he was committed now. All Jasper was really hoping for when he exited the secure area of the airport was to meet a nice older couple and soon find himself a warm place to sleep. When he spotted the beautiful young lady holding a cardboard sign with “Jasper” scribbled on it, his eyes lit up. She fit the somewhat stereotypical vision in his fantasy mind of what a beautiful young American girl would look like - Young, sweet, somewhat innocent, with beautiful long brown hair, golden skin, and fabulous curves...

Who was this? He wondered. Maybe his fortunes were indeed changing. She smiled at him as he approached, almost as if she recognized him.

“Goedemorgen mooie dame!”

She looked up at him, apparently awestruck.

“That’s how we say good morning in Dutch,” he smiled at her.

 

[Ohia_Lehua]

Words foreign to her ears poured like musical honey from the handsome stranger’s lips.

“Um…” Cass had no idea what the man said and even when he translated it for her she was at a loss for words. The accent that accompanied his English words clouded what mind power she had. ‘Gods he sounds like Prince Harry only not British.’ She panicked unsure of why he was talking to her and only partially aware that he had told her that it was Dutch. “Right,” Cass smiled trying to recover whatever goof she might have made of herself in her first impression, stealing a glance at her watch. 12:03. “Unfortunately we don’t have a fancy way of saying good morning, so… Good morning.” She felt the blush rise in her cheeks and she took a deep breath in and slowly let it go hoping it wasn’t as noticeable as it felt.

It was awkward looking around Mr Dutch, mostly because looking away from him was providing a bit of trouble. It seemed all Cass wanted to do was stare up at him, he had to be six feet tall with these golden locks and dreamy green eyes. Yeah he was swoon worthy and it took everything Cass had in her to shuffle over to get a better view of the gateway, hoping that she hadn’t missed her ‘Jasper’ during her fumbled conversation with Mr Dutch.

Looking back at the handsome European, Cass gave a shy wave as she left his side not too sure as to why he was just standing about near her. “Bom dia.” She was pretty sure it meant good morning in Portuguese, or maybe hello. Either way it was her parting word to the unknown looker as she headed towards the gate guard.

“Sir, is that the last of flight 727?”

The elderly man took a look at Cass as if weighing her, spotted her sign and smiled. “I’ll check.” He made a call back on his shoulder walkie and got some static response that he seemed to make better sense of then Cass did. Not that she was trying to listen in but she was pretty worried that she had missed her high school student when she had been distracted by Mr Dutch.

“I believe so. As much as they can say, the plane is empty. Now if he’s wondering the gates or in the bathroom that’s another thing.”

Shit. Cass took a deep breath and tried not to panic. Shit. Maybe he’s just in the bathroom. Shit. Or got lost and can’t find an exit? Shit. Her heartbeat was racing and Cass thanked the guard before turning around to give the lobby a detailed look over. The youngest people were the young couple with the kid, which still aged them out of high school and Mr Dutch. The overweight gamer dude looked youngish but that she was looking for a hockey player crossed him off her potentials list. Leaving her once again with Mr Dutch.

“Excuse me.” Cass returned to Mr Dutch with just the slighted look of concern on her face. “I hate to bother you but you didn’t by chance happen to see a high school kid with a ‘Hello My Name is Jasper’ sticker on did you?” She hoped knowing it was a long shot. “He doesn’t have to be wearing the sticker persay, well chances are he’s not wearing a sticker at all…” Cass rambled nervous she had lost some foreign exchange student. “My point is,” She sighed getting back on track. “I’m looking for a high school foreign exchange student and while there is a chance he is floating about in the gate area or in the bathroom I haven’t seen him yet and I’m starting to get worried.” She had gone into detail again and Cass pressed her lips together and took a calming breath, that honestly didn’t help all that much. “You haven’t seen someone matching that age bracket have you?” Cass asked at last, finally getting to her point.

 

[LustyQuill]

Jasper began to wonder if he'd been too cute by half. He was rather certain this lovely lass before him was the person he was supposed to meet up with, yet she seemed rather convinced it must be anyone but him.

Was it something I said? Do Dutch people offend her? How could that possibly be?

He was so confounded by her behavior, he found himself muted and unable to reply as she wandered off. His confusion turned to amusement as he watched her look around the terminal and even ask the gate guard if he'd seen a kid named Jasper.

A kid? he thought. Why would she be looking for a kid? Does she not know anything about who she was meeting?

Eventually, the young lady came back up to him, rather contrite and asked him somewhat directly,
“Excuse me, I hate to bother you but you didn’t by chance happen to see a high school kid with a ‘Hello My Name is Jasper’ sticker on did you? He doesn’t have to be wearing the sticker persay, well chances are he’s not wearing a sticker at all…” she babbled in a semi-adorable way. “My point is, I’m looking for a high school foreign exchange student and while there is a chance he is floating about in the gate area or in the bathroom I haven’t seen him yet and I’m starting to get worried.”
Jasper smiled as she continued to exasperatedly stream-of-consciousness at him, “You haven’t seen someone matching that age bracket have you?”

Based on her previous reactions, Jasper was farily certain that sarcasm might go over like a rock with her, but he couldn't help himself.

"A young high school student named Jasper? Hmm..." he stroked his chin and looked upward as if he was seriously trying his best to recollect every qualifying young male on the international flight of 300+ passengers.

"No... Can't say I have."

Her shoulders slumped as if his pronouncement was a clarion of doom.

"But..."

She looked up at him, eyes alight. He knew he should just let her off easy. After all, chances were he'd have to spend a good amount of time around her and it wouldn't help things much to incur her wrath so early on... but he couldn't help himself.

"I did meet an older university student named J... something. Jackson? Jordan? Anyway... he kept going on about about how he's visiting America for the first time and was so excited to play some sort of sport... I'm not sure which one. Something about lots of padding and a helmet. American football perhaps?"

"Hockey! Was it hockey!" she blurted out.

"Ah yes, that's the one!"

She seemed desperate now. "Where did he go? Do you remember what he looked like?"

"Hmmm..." Jasper murmured, once again mimicking pensive thought. "Well I'd say he was about 6 foot, maybe a bit taller. Medium brown hair... About 180-200 lbs... Ravishingly handsome..."

Suddenly it looked as if a lightbulb went off in her head. Just as quickly, the hopeful smile turned into a scowl.