Here's my new story!!!! First of all, I'd just like to let you know that I don't know an awful lot about Ireland! I mean, I know where I'm coming from as I'm half Irish and go to a catholic school but I haven't been to Ireland since I was six! (we stayed on my uncle Timmy's farm though! So I have vague memories...) I've done some research though, but if I get anything terribly wrong, please feel free to yell at me! This is fiction though! So, the characters and events can't be compared to real life! Just, if I get things wrong about the towns or schooling or anything, I'm sorry, you can rant at me all you like!!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!

120 84th street, New York, USA

I flipped my head back, shaking my hair around as I stepped out of my Porsche and sauntered towards the front door.

I swung the door open and strolled down the hallway to the kitchen, the smell of banoffee pie drawing me nearer.

"Margaret?" I called.

The bustling cook came hurrying out of the kitchen, carrying a slice of fresh banoffee pie.

"Low fat milk?" I asked.

"Of course, miss Swan" she replied with a nod.

"Low fat cream?"

"Of course Miss Swan"

"Low fat butter?"

"Of course Miss Swan"

"Low fat chocolate?"

"Of course Miss Swan"

I smiled and took the plate out of her hands before turning to head up the stairs.

After walking up three flights of stairs, I headed up the fourth one and opened the door at the top that opened up into my bedroom.

I dumped my Louis V, oversized handbag on the bed and dug inside it until I found my phone and iPod.

Kicking off my heels, I wandered over to my desk, plugged my iPod into the speakers, and placed my phone next to them before walking back and pulling my Macbook out of the bag.

I lay the plate on my coffee table and settled down on my large, leather couch, lying back and resting my head against the arm and opening up my Macbook on my lap.

La Roux's "In For The Kill" blasted from the speakers as I straightened out my miniskirt and waited for it to turn on.

We can fight our desires
But when we start making fires
We get ever so hot
Whether we like it or not
They say we can love who we trust
But what is love without lust?

When the screen came up I clicked on Messenger and noticed Jess was online, I decided to wait for her to start the conversation, no need to seem too eager.

I took a bite of pie and before I had even put the plate back on the table, up popped a message.

OutOfYourMind: Hey! WUUP2?

RulinTheSchool: Nuthin much

I had just clicked send when I heard a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I called, my eyes never leaving the computer screen.

"It's me!" replied Renee through the door.

I sighed and called back, "come in!"

She opened the door and walked over to my desk, immediately turning the volume down before sitting back in the large, leather desk chair.

"Why are you home?" I asked, "it's only twenty past three" she's usually not home till eight, Dad nine.

"I got the afternoon off," she smiled.

I sighed, "You're a lawyer, Renee, lawyer's don't get the afternoon off."

She frowned, "I hate it when you call me that, I'm your mother."

Well maybe you should've tried acting like one before now..."Which means I can call you what I like," I retorted, "but, you're avoiding the subject."

I hang my hopes out on the line
Will they be ready for you in time
If you leave them out too long
They'll be withered by this song

I turned back to the computer screen to see that Jess had replied,

OutOfYourMind: Parents r out of town 2nite, party at mine!

RulinTheSchool: Sounds awesome! B ther at 6?

OutOfYourMind: As always! Spread the word!

"No, I'm not," she sighed, "if you must know, I pulled some strings because I wanted to spend this afternoon with you."

I stared disbelievingly at her, "what?"

"I want to spend this afternoon with you," she repeated.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time, but we haven't spent time together since I was 3"

"Well, yeah, I know we've been busy but-"

I raised my hand to stop her, "oh, please, spare me the pity talk, why did you really get the afternoon off?"

"Well, I thought we could go to the mall and get manicures and go shopping and-"

I raised my hand again, "Renee, please, I'm not going to the mall with you, we both know we're never going to 'hang out', so just tell me the real reason you got the afternoon off."

"But – I – wha – I," she stuttered.

I rolled my eyes and replied to Jess' message,

RulinTheSchool: Will do! Ugh, Renee's trying to be 'motherly'

She sighed, "well I thought we would discuss this over McDonalds-"

I scoffed, "as if that was gonna happen."

She stared at me, shocked, for a second before continuing, "-but, I guess that's not going to work."

"And what did you want to 'discuss'?"

OutOfYourWorld: Ugh! Poor You!

"Well, I noticed on the school website that the foreign exchanges are on in a couple of months, you have to sign up by this Friday."

It took me a while to process what she had just said, "excuse me?"

"Well, it would be a great experience! To stay in another country, becoming part of a foreign family, learning about the cultural differences!"

"No way."

RulinTheSchool: Oh My God! You'll never believe what Renee's trying to get me to do!

"Honey, that's a bit fast, you haven't even had time to think,"

OutOfYourWorld: What?! OMG! She's not making you eat full fat coffee?! EWW!!

"I don't care, have you even read anything about it?"

"Of course I have! I picked up a brochure on my way home!"

"Then you should know, that it also goes the other way," I sighed, "there is no way in hell that I am sharing my room with some foreign kid! GROSS!"

RulinTheSchool: NO! Worse! She's trying to convince me to go in this exchange thing!

"First of all, we have plenty of rooms in this house; there would be no need for them to share a room with you. And second, they don't have to come back here, some of the hosts just, well, host, just to be nice, "she smiled.

OutOfYourWorld: hmm... that's not that bad...

RulinTheSchool: Jess!! Are you kidding me?!

OutOfYourWorld: Well, it could be fun! I've actually wanted to go on one for a while... but my

Parents refuse to pay, say they're 'saving it for university' pfft, whatever...

RulinTheSchool: And what would be fun about it?!

OutOfYourWorld: Well... think of all the cute foreign guys you could meet...

RulinTheSchool: Jess, I've got plenty of them falling at my feet here

OutOfYourWorld: Yes but you've been through them all!

RulinTheSchool: hmmm... True, I do rule the school!

OutOfYourWorld: LOL. So, are you gonna go?

"Bella?" I had almost forgotten she was there when I heard Renee call my name.

I sighed, "pass me the brochure then."

She grinned and pulled the brochure out of her jeans pocket and stood up to come and give it to me.

RulinTheSchool: I dunno...I'm just havin a luk at the brochure...

I glanced at it, in all it's peppy glory, with slogans scattered around the front page such as, "make the trip of a lifetime!" "you'll never regret it!" "You could make a difference with Bronze Exchanges!" "Sign up for an unforgettable experience!"

I opened it up to see a list of different countries.

OutOfYourWorld: Oooh! Wouldn't it be cool to go to India! All those pretty dresses...

RulinTheSchool: Meh, need an English speaking country...

I skimmed through the list, trying to find somewhere that speaks English, when I noticed Ireland.

RulinTheSchool: What do you think of Ireland?

OutOfYourWorld: Ooh! They have heaps of pubs there, don't they?!

RulinTheSchool: Do they? Hmm... Maybe I could go there...

"How long?" I asked Renee, having not seen it on the brochure.

"A year," she replied anxiously.

"A YEAR?!" I screeched

"Well, you'd have lots of time to explore the culture!"

"I CAN"T LEAVE FOR A YEAR!"

"Well, honey, you're gonna have to,"

"NO I DON'T!"

Let's go to war
To make peace
Let's be cold
To create heat
I hope in darkness
We can see
And you're not blinded by the light from me

"Well, your father and I have already discussed it and we believe it's what's best for you."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU CAN"T DO THIS!"

OutOfYourWorld: Yeah, it sounds pretty cool

RulinTheSchool: OH MY GOD! YOU WONT BELIEVE IT! I HAVE TO GO FOR A YEAR! AND APPARENTLY

MY NEAR NON-EXISTENT PARENTS HAVE ALREADY DECIDED I HAVE TO GO!!!

OutOfYourWorld: Wow! Calm down! It's not THAT bad... a year is a bit long but...

"Yes we can, be grateful you can choose the country."

I gaped at her, "but, but, but a year?"

"I know it's a bit long but once you're there, the time'll just fly by!"

I grumbled and crossed my arms across my chest, "there's no way out?"

"Well, no."

RulinTheSchool: argh! MY. LIFE. SUCKS

"Have you decided on a country," asked Renee, still trying to be motherly.

"Ireland," I grumbled.

"Well that should be wonderful!" She gushed, "You'll have so much fun!"

"Whatever, can you leave now? I have to get ready for a party tonight."

"What party? Where?"

"Oh, don't try and take an interest now, Renee," I said, disgustedly.

Here face fell and she turned and headed for the door.

"Shut the door on your way out!" I called after her.

I'm going in for the kill
I'm doing it for a thrill
Oh I'm hoping you'll understand
And not let go of my hand

Kearney Farm, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland

I jumped of the bus and followed my siblings up the familiar road towards home, Alice twirling around in front.

"Alice!" I called out, "Watch the road!"

She turned around and poked her tongue out at me, "Party pooper!"

I chuckled to myself and grabbed Patrick's hand as he started swerving too far onto the road, "careful!"

"Oh, you're such a scaredy cat, Edward!" teased Em and Dom as they started to prance across the road, laughing all the way.

"Come on guys!" I sighed, "get back to the side!"

"You'll have to come and get us!!!" they sang as they jumped onto the grass on the other side of the road.

I sighed and pinched my nose between my thumb and forefinger before calling out, "Alice! Can you hold on to Pat for a sec!"

Em and Dom started to look panicked as Alice took his hand and I rolled up my shirt sleeves, and started to run down the road.

"Run! Run! As fast as you can!" called Emmett.

"You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!" finished Dominic as they started giggling and quickened their pace.

I huffed and sprinted across the road, catching up to them in no time and flinging them both over my shoulder as they screamed and hit my back.

I walked back across the road, placed them back on the ground, grabbing both their hands before they could run again, and started walking quickly to catch up with the others.

"Let us go!" screeched the twins, pulling at their wrists.

"Oh yeah, that's gonna happen!" I snorted, "you pull a stunt like that almost everyday! I might have to hold your hands everyday!"

They looked at me disgustedly, "you wouldn't," they both said.

"Oh yes I would," I grinned.

They both went limp in my hands, reluctantly trudging up the rest of the gravel road until we finally reached home.

I unlocked the big yellow gate and pushed it open, closing and locking it again once everyone was through.

We climbed up the steep, winding driveway until we reached the house.

"Hi mum!" we all called as we walked through the door, heading off to our bedrooms to put down our school bags.

Van Morrison was streaming through the house as Mick, Em, Dom, Pat and I all headed to our room while Alice and Hannah headed to theirs.

Little darlin', come with me
Won't you help me share my load
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road

I climbed up the ladder to my bed on the top bunk, dropped my bag on it and climbed back down, we all filed into the living room where I found mum feeding Catherine in her armchair while Chloe sat on the ground, colouring in.

"Hi mum," I greeted, leaning down to give her a light peck on the cheek.

"Hi kids, have a good day at school?" she asked.

"Yeah," everyone said at the same time before Alice sat down and started a full blown discussion about her entire day, including the 'cute blonde guy that just moved here from Dublin'.

I laughed as everyone went to sit at the dining table to start their homework.

I took Alice's quick pause for breath to ask, "stew tonight mum?"

"Yes, thanks hon," she smiled at me.

From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road
We'll be lovers once again
On the bright side of the road
We'll be lovers once again on the bright side of the road

I turned and headed into the kitchen. As I was chopping the carrots, mum came in, having finally escaped the clutches of Alice's giant mouth and managed to put Catherine in her cot.

She picked up another carrot and knife and started chopping too, "I noticed in the school newsletter, that the exchanges are coming up in a couple of months."

I laughed, "mum, those exchanges cost a fortune!"

"Oh, I know, I know, but you don't have to go on one to be a host family."

I frowned at her, where exactly was she going with this?

"Well, wouldn't it be nice to have a lovely foreign student, staying with us?"

I heard the song change as I replied, "but mum, we hardly have the room, and you only just had Catherine 5 months ago, you don't need the stress of having to house an exchange student"

Oh the morning sun in all its glory
Greets the day with hope and comfort too
And you fill my life with laughter
You can make it better
Ease my troubles that's what you do

"Oh, don't fuss, Edward! Of course we have the room! The bunk below you is free! Oh, it'll be wonderful! They can tell us all about their country and we can show them round the town and-"

"Mum," I tried, "we don't need another mouth to feed, and it'll only stress you out."

"Me?!" she exclaimed, "stressed?! Never!"

I rolled my eyes, "you're not going to give up on this are you?"

"No, not really," she shrugged.

I laughed and sighed, "so when do we have to sign up by?"

A huge smile spread across her face, "oh, I knew you'd see Edward!"

"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off, "when do we sign up by?"

"Friday," she grinned, tossing the carrots into a pot.

"Friday."

Have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there's no one above you
Fill my heart with gladness
Take away my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Soooo, what did you think?! Let me know in a review! Just click that little green button down there... It doesn't bite! Tee hee... REVIEW!!!!!!!!!